Stocks rally chilled by economic jitters

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) fell 38 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 (SPX) index slid 6 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq (COMP) composite dropped 12 points, or 0.5%.

The retreat came after stocks surged Monday, lifted by upbeat manufacturing data and strong earnings from Europe. But the investors were more cautious Tuesday following disappointing results from Procter & Gamble, and mixed reports on housing, factory orders and personal spending.

"It's the same battle between positive earnings and negative underlying fundamentals in the real economy," said Dan Cook, senior market analyst at IG Markets. "The big question is still where do we go after earnings season."

Better-than-expected corporate earnings helped boost the market 7% in July, which was the best month for stocks in a year. At the same time, however, a spate of disappointing economic reports has raised concerns about the pace of the recovery.

"The outlook is pretty dark," said Cook. "It's not dire, but growth will be slow and investors are starting to wonder where these companies will draw profits from next year."

Investors are particularly worried about consumer spending, which drives the bulk of U.S. economic activity, as household budgets remain strained by the weak job market. As a result, trading could be choppy this week as investors brace for the government's monthly payrolls report Friday.

Economists expect Friday's report to show that employers cut payrolls in July and that the unemployment rate ticked up slightly. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that the nation's jobless rate could rise for a few months before it falls.

Investors will look for clues on the job market Wednesday, when payrolls processing firm ADP releases July data on private sector employment. In addition, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas is due to report on last month's planned job cuts before the market opens.

"Jobs are probably the dominant economic variable with respect to the health of the economy right now," Lawrence Creatura, a portfolio manager with Federated Clover Investment Advisors, adding that consumers who are employed continue to spend.

Despite the broad decline on Tuesday, energy stocks rose as oil prices closed above $82 a barrel and BP (BP) appeared poised to permanently seal the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico. Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and ExxonMobil (XOM, Fortune 500) both gained about 1.5%.

Shares of companies with exposure to the health care industry gained on strong earnings from drugmaker Pfizer. But a dour report from Dow Chemical weighed on the basic materials sector.

Economy: Government figures showed that both personal income and spending were unchanged in June, adding to concerns about the slowing pace of the economic recovery.

Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected spending to remain flat but were forecasting personal income to edge up 0.1% in June, following a revised 0.3% gain in May.

Separately, factory orders fell for the second month in a row, declining 1.2% in June, the government said. Economists expected a 0.5% dip in total orders, after a 1.8% drop in May.

Pending home sales fell 2.6% in June, according to the National Association of Realtors. Economists had expected pending home sales to fall 5% in the month, after a 30% plunge in May.

Earnings: Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500) reported that its fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell 12% from a year earlier, missing expectations. Sales rose modestly, but also fell short of forecasts.

Shares in the company, a Dow component, slid nearly 4%.

Dow Chemical (DOW, Fortune 500) reported second-quarter earnings that missed analysts' expectations, even as sales rose 20%. Excluding certain items, the largest U.S. chemical company said it earned 54 cents in the quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting 56 cents.

Archer Daniels Midland's (ADM, Fortune 500) profit rose to $446 million and trounced forecasts, but the agricultural product company's revenue fell, surprising analysts.

Drugmaker Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500) posted second-quarter profit and revenue that beat estimates.

Other company news: Most major automakers reported improved U.S. sales in July, making it one of the best months for industrywide sales over the past two years. General Motors, Ford (F, Fortune 500) and Chrysler all said sales rose 5% in the month, versus July 2009.

Toyota (TM) said sales slipped 3% in July, but were slightly better than analysts' forecasts. Sales slipped 2% at Honda Motor. (HMC)

French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) has reportedly entered into friendly takeover talks with U.S. biotech firm Genzyme (GENZ, Fortune 500). A potential deal would value Genzyme at more than $18 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Research in Motion (RIMM) unveiled the much-hyped BlackBerry Torch 9800 on Tuesday, a new touch-screen BlackBerry smartphone with a pull-out keyboard and an updated operating system designed to compete with the likes of the iPhone and Android smartphones.

World markets: European markets ended mixed. Germany's DAX gained 0.2%, while Britain's FTSE 100 was little changed. France's CAC 40 fell 0.1%.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.3% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite tumbled 1.7%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar was lower versus the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen.

U.S. light crude oil for September delivery rose $1.16 to settle at $82.49 a barrel.

COMEX gold's December contract edged up $2.10 to close at $1,187.50 per ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down to 2.91% from 2.97% late Monday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. 

Stocks roar into August, Dow gains 200 points

How loyal are S’poreans?

Loyalty and pride remained stable, but two in three

said national unity would be affected by foreign immigrants

Leong Wee Keat

weekeat@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE

This result is an improvement from the 85 and 84 per cent of Singaporeans who said so in 1999 and 2005, respectively.

An Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) survey also found two in three respondents felt the world would be a better place if people from other countries were more like them.

IPS interviewed 2,016 citizens last year, a representative sample, to probe their feelings.— About nine in 10 Singaporeans (93 per cent) polled think the Republic is a better country than most other countries, according to a new report card on national pride.

hahah!   those green clothes should strech all the way across the nipples and the underarm, covering up the nipples and arm pit hairs lar.

Dont ever expose nipples to the sun too much, might get  nipple  cancer....LOL!

pharoah88      ( Date: 02-Aug-2010 08:36) Posted: With the prOmOtIOn  of Cycling in SINGAPORE, what;s NEXT ? MANKINIS ?

“I think the young have taken a different approach. They know it adds to their CV for the next promotion, or in a different company, to have experience abroad,” he said. Mr Lee himself gained new ideas from spending time in Britain as a young man in his 20s, and later in the United States.

For instance, he had noticed in Boston that planes took off and landed over water, and hence created “no footprint of sound of the aircraft over the city”. So he opted to reclaim land in Changi for a new airport, where planes would take off over water, instead of building a second runway at Paya Lebar. Mr Lee also compared Singapore to Japan, which he said is ahead in productivity levels due to the latter’s greater employee- company cooperation and bottom-up rise through the ranks.

Bulls brace for earnings hangover

Stocks edge lower

I hope the National Environment Agency can focus on the health issues of smoking and second-hand smoke instead.

Live, learn and venture overseas

Minister Mentor Lee on not retiring, and how

Singaporeans gain new ideas from going abroad

Neo Chai Chin

chaichin@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE

However, in 15 years or so, the Minister Mentor expects that the Republic will have an intellectual class “maybe three times as big as what we have now”.

The war for talent is turning on two counts here, it seems.

Speaking at a dialogue on the leadership challenge in productivity and sustainable growth, Mr Lee said firstly that Singapore was getting “a lot of talented people” from China, India and Malaysia.

“I’m quite sure that in 15, 20 years, when all these bright kids we’ve attracted from overseas grow up and mature — educated here and maybe educated also overseas — we’re going to have an intellectual class maybe three times as big as what we have now,” he said. These talents will accelerate Singapore’s development.

But a change is also happening among young Singaporeans, he assessed when asked by consultant Philip Merry the same question he asked Mr Lee 15 years ago.

Young Singaporeans now know the value of overseas experience in moving up the corporate ladder and for learning new ways to do things, said Mr Lee, the special guest at the Singapore National Employers Federation’s 30th anniversary CEO and Employers Summit, which ends today.

“I think the young have taken a different approach. They know it adds to their CV for the next promotion, or in a different company, to have experience abroad,” he said. Mr Lee himself gained new ideas from spending time in Britain as a young man in his 20s, and later in the United States.

For instance, he had noticed in Boston that planes took off and landed over water, and hence created “no footprint of sound of the aircraft over the city”. So he opted to reclaim land in Changi for a new airport, where planes would take off over water, instead of building a second runway at Paya Lebar. Mr Lee also compared Singapore to Japan, which he said is ahead in productivity levels due to the latter’s greater employee- company cooperation and bottom-up rise through the ranks.

But the Republic makes up for it “the Singapore way”: Being a safe, clean and liveable city, well-connected to the rest of the world, with an English-speaking environment, and by embracing foreigners.

‘I don’t think there should be a retirement age’: MM

Asked for his views on the ageing workforce’s impact on productivity and growth, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said Singaporeans would be healthier and happier if they worked for as long as they could.

“I don’t think there should be a retirement age,” he said.

Mr Lee said he is still functioning at the rate he was 20 years ago — save for some “aches and pains”, for which he sees a physiotherapist.

He said Singaporeans have to accept the “painful” prospect of being paid less as they work into old age. “You are superior, and suddenly your junior overtakes your position and you have less pay and he’s the boss. So you find the psychological switch unpleasant, but that’s life,” he said.

Neo Chai Chin— Fifteen years ago, when he was asked why Singaporeans were reluctant to venture overseas to learn new skills, Mr Lee Kuan Yew said it was because Singapore was too comfortable.

The higher the COV,  the more the Property Agent will get paid the commission!!

How to curb this escalating COV price - the only way is :

COV price SHOULD NOT be included into the sales and purchase of housing agreement.  In this way, Properpty agenty will only be paid commission based on the  Actual sale price of the house.

COV will then be negotiated between the buyer and seller and be paid directly into the seller's pocket.

This method itself serves as moderator of COV prices and have it under control in a fair mannar.

CONFLiCT  OF  iNTERESTS [COI]

1. MANAGEMENT  is RESPONSIBLE to SECURE HiGHEST RETURNS  for  SHAREHOLDERS

2. MANAGEMENT  increases own compensations is to SECURE PERSONAL iNTEREST and nOt  SHAREHOLDERS' iNTEREST.

 iT iS  a  dIrect  CONFLiCT  Of  iNTEREST  [COi]

There should be no retirement age: MM Lee

There should be no retirement age: MM Lee

SINGAPORE: Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has said that there should be no retirement age for workers.

He made the point at a dialogue session with over 900 senior managers, government officials and unionists on Wednesday.

The session was held in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).

Minister Mentor Lee got the audience in stitches when he made the bold suggestion — no retirement age for Singapore.

He said: "You work as long as you can work and you will be healthier and happier for it. If you ask me to stop working all of a sudden, I think I’ll just shrivel up, face the wall and just that."

The 86—year—old said old people should be more productive.

Mr Lee was responding to a question on challenges Singapore may face with an aging population.

He said that at his age, he may have aches and pains but he can keep going.

He said: "Many of our workers have a preferred retirement, and then they die early! It won’t be long before the message sinks home that if you keep doing what you’re doing for almost the whole of your life, the chances are you will stay interested and engaged in life, there’s something to do tomorrow and you keep going. If you start saying,’oh! I’m old!’ And you start reading novels and playing golf or playing chess, well, you’re on the way down."

From 2012, employers in Singapore will have to offer workers re—employment when they hit the retirement age of 62.

Mr Lee said older workers will need to come to terms with the psychological switch — that is, working for less pay and very likely for a younger boss.

He said: "That’s life! You know American Generals — they don’t do well, they get fired and they give them a medal, they send a new general! I think we have to develop that approach to life. (When) you have reached the maximum you can do at your age in that position, you move sideways and you take less pay and you move gradually, (getting) less and less pay because you are moving slower and slower, especially when you’re doing physical work."

Mr Lee stressed the need to continue learning even as one gets older, adding "I’m still learning."

Attracting talents was another hot topic at the dialogue session. Mr Lee said foreign talents come to Singapore because of the opportunities it offers.

Their numbers will add to what Mr Lee called a growing "intellectual class".

Mr Lee said: "We are going to have an intellectual class, about maybe three times as big as what you have now and that will give us the dynamism, the powerful engine to carry us forward faster."

Mr Lee added that Singapore’s attraction as a liveable, safe city with good infrastructure will support its push to enhance productivity.

The 45—minute dialogue was engaging and peppered with personal anecdotes. For example, Mr Lee shared how many of his ideas were gleaned from his travels.

He noted how a lot of policies in Singapore were the result of his experiences overseas. For example, deciding on having an underground train system over a network of tunnels for buses.

— CNA/ir