Evening Bamboo Insight: 03 Aug 2014

August 3, 2014 Leave a comment

Evening Bamboo Insight: 03 Aug 2014

Macro

  1. MoneyPak, a Popular Prepaid Money Card, Opens Path to Fraud Schemes

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/popular-prepaid-money-card-opens-path-to-fraud-schemes

  1. Singapore’s GIC Says Investment Environment Will Be More Challenging

http://online.wsj.com/articles/singapore-s-gic-says-investment-environment-will-be-more-challenging-1406931468

  1. No S’more Crises: Global Financial Regulators Gather for Summer Camp; ‘Systemic Risk Institute’ Seeks to Prepare Leaders by Analyzing Response to Lehman Collapse, London Whale and Others

http://online.wsj.com/articles/no-smore-crises-global-financial-regulators-gather-for-summer-camp-1406906444

  1. Three Signs That Point to a Stock-Market Tumble Ahead; Indicators That Preceded Past Downturns Are Flashing Now

http://online.wsj.com/articles/three-signs-that-point-to-a-stock-market-tumble-ahead-1406913915

  1. Out of Many, Two? They may not mean to do it, but America’s political leaders are deepening the nation’s divisions

http://online.wsj.com/articles/out-of-many-two-1406845039

  1. Rising rates not always emerging markets’ poison

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/08/02/Rising-rates-not-always-emerging-markets-poison/

Asia Pacific

  1. (Spore) – Big changes afoot for SGX share trading; A minimum price of 20 cents for mainboard counters, reduced lot sizes and the end of contra trades are some of the major changes that will take place over the next two years

http://www.todayonline.com/print/727391

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/top-stories/regulators-take-aim-contra-trading-errant-listed-firms-20140802

  1. (Spore) – Acra raises the bar for public accountants; From next February, another two years of audit management experience required

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/top-stories/acra-raises-bar-public-accountants-20140802

  1. (China) – Watsa: China Real Estate Bubble Unparalleled In History

http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/08/prem-watsa-china/

  1. (Thai) – Thai Coup Leader Prayuth Cements Power With Hand-Picked Assembly

http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/780339?type=bloomberg

  1. (Macau/China) – Wary High-Rollers Shy Away From Macau’s Casinos; China’s Corruption Crackdown Deals Revenue Blow to World’s Gambling Capital; Hong Kong Luxury Malls Also Suffer

http://online.wsj.com/articles/macau-gambling-revenue-drops-again-1406871798

  1. (HK) – Hong Kong Ramps Up Intervention to Curb Local Currency

http://online.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-monetary-authority-intervenes-to-curb-local-currency-1406883568

  1. (China) – Communist Roots of Capitalist Corruption in China

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/communist-roots-capitalist-corruption-china/

  1. (Msia) – Malaysia likely the only country in the ASEAN region to see faster growth this year

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/08/02/Softer-growth-in-Asean-Malaysia-likely-the-only-country-in-the-region-to-see-faster-growth-this-year/

  1. (Korea) – South Korea’s Education System Hurts Students; South Korean education produces ranks of overachieving students who pay a stiff price in health and happiness

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/opinion/sunday/south-koreas-education-system-hurts-students.html?ref=opinion

  1. (China) – U.S. Firms Wary About China’s Free-Market Claims; When China Whacks Microsoft, It’s Business as Usual

http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-firms-arent-buying-chinas-free-market-claims-1406849667

  1. (Japan) – Doraemon, Pokemon Call on You to Save Their World; Japan launched an industry-wide effort to stamp out online piracy of anime and manga

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/08/01/doraemon-pokemon-call-on-you-to-save-their-world/

  1. (China) – China’s Government Takes Bite Out of Vampire ‘Blood’ Beverages

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/07/18/chinas-government-takes-bite-out-of-vampire-blood-beverages/

 

Life

  1. Arab artists tell stories to make sense of their conflicted world

http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21607758-arab-artists-tell-stories-make-sense-their-conflicted-world-shifting-chronicle

  1. Commemorating the first world war: How Britain’s former dominions remember the war that propelled them to independence

http://www.economist.com/news/international/21610241-how-britains-former-dominions-remember-war-propelled-them-independence

  1. How the first world war reshaped Europe: Redrawing the map

http://www.economist.com/news/international/21610243-redrawing-map

  1. Decluttering the company: Businesses must fight a relentless battle against bureaucracy

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21610237-businesses-must-fight-relentless-battle-against-bureaucracy-decluttering-company

  1. Steal three billion dollars, get a 700 thousand dollar fine: the scammers have a better business model – Sino Forest edition

http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2014/08/steal-three-billion-dollars-get-700.html

  1. Fractals, Freud and Finance

http://www.capitalideasonline.com/articles/index.php?id=4703

  1. The Magic of Feeling Safe at Work; It derives primarily from the experience of feeling valued, accepted and appreciated, recognized and respected. Whatever energy we spend defending our value – staying safe – is energy not available to create value

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/the-magic-of-feeling-safe/

  1. Berkshire Hathaway’s Profound Succession Plan: B.E.R.K.S.H.I.R.E

http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/08/berkshire-hathaways-profound-succession-plan-b-e-r-k-s-h-i-r-e/

  1. On its 110th anniversary, Georg Jensen’s Taiwanese-American CEO David Chu talks about driving the Danish brand into the new ‘Asian Century’.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/specials/raffles-conversation/cross-pollinating-culture-inspiration-20140802

  1. In Defense of Zionism: The often reviled ideology that gave rise to Israel has been an astonishing historical success

http://online.wsj.com/articles/in-defense-of-zionism-1406918952

  1. The Global Religion Crisis: The freedom to worship is under siege across the world

http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-global-religion-crisis-1406824905

  1. Do We Know What We See? A new paper uses a classic experiment to sow doubt as to whether we are aware of everything in our vision

http://online.wsj.com/articles/do-we-know-what-we-see-an-experiment-sows-doubt-1406820378?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLE_Video_Third

  1. Nine Decades at the Barricades: Jim Buckley has seen Washington as a senator, a judge and executive-branch official. He has some ideas for how to shrink an ever-growing federal government

http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-weekend-interview-nine-decades-at-the-barricades-1406931516?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303567304580053772600943974.html

  1. To Get Fluent in a New Language, Think in Pictures; When learning a foreign language, tie new words to bold images and old memories

http://online.wsj.com/articles/to-get-fluent-in-a-new-language-think-in-pictures-1406938139

  1. The madder Beethoven got, the more lucid his musical intelligence became

http://online.wsj.com/articles/book-review-beethoven-anguish-and-triumph-by-jan-swafford-1406927297?mod=Opinion_newsreel_9

  1. Filling in the Origins of ‘Blank Check’; A bit of political shorthand has its roots in mid-19th-century British rhetoric-and chess

http://online.wsj.com/articles/filling-in-the-origins-of-blank-check-1406931483

TMT

  1. The rise of e-commerce has set off a boom in the market for warehouses

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21610288-rise-e-commerce-has-set-boom-market-warehouses-stores-value

  1. (China/Tech) – Alibaba Is Investing Huge Sums in an Array of U.S. Tech Companies

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/technology/alibaba-is-investing-huge-sums-in-an-array-of-us-tech-companies.html

  1. Start-up behind ‘dunkable’ phone technology explores Asian IPO

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/01/us-p2i-ipo-idUSKBN0G137920140801?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews

  1. (India/Tech) – The New Bazaar: In India, Online Stores Catch On With Buyers

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/29/the-new-bazaar-online-shopping-catches-on-in-india-with-buyers-and-global-investors

  1. Will This French Billionaire Bring $3-a-Month Phone Plans to U.S.? Iliad’s Xavier Niel Points to ‘Enormous Potential’ in U.S. Market

http://online.wsj.com/articles/iliad-founder-sees-huge-potential-in-us-market-1406916457

  1. Twitter’s User Problem: Fastest Gains Are People That Don’t See Ads; Nearly 40 Million Active Users Don’t Use Twitter’s Site or App

http://online.wsj.com/articles/twitters-user-problem-fastest-gains-are-people-that-dont-see-ads-1406924973?mod=Business_newsreel_1

  1. Holder Cautions on Risk of Bias in Big Data Use in Criminal Justice; Data-Driven Programs Could Adversely Affect Minority Groups, Attorney General Says

http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-attorney-general-cautions-on-risk-of-bias-in-big-data-use-in-criminal-justice-1406916606

  1. Fine-Jewelry Shoppers Flock Online: Counterintuitive as it may be, the fastest-growing place to buy fine jewelry is online, via computers, tablets and even mobile phones

http://online.wsj.com/articles/fine-jewelry-shoppers-flock-online-1406923710

Consumer

  1. Whole Foods Market: Victim of success; A peddler of pricey organic and natural foods finds it has competition

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21610289-peddler-pricey-organic-and-natural-foods-finds-it-has-competition-victim-success

2. P&G to Shed More Than Half Its Brands; Company to Focus on 70 to 80 Products, Including Tide and Pampers

http://online.wsj.com/articles/procter-gamble-posts-higher-profit-on-cost-cutting-1406892304

  1. Popular or Overexposed? Michael Kors Walks Thin Line; Luxury is a snob’s game, and Michael Kors wants to democratize it

http://online.wsj.com/articles/popular-or-overexposed-michael-kors-walks-thin-line-1406911371

  1. Lobster Dishes With Mass Appeal; This tasty crustacean has accrued stratospheric snob appeal over the years. Now, thanks to record hauls and plunging prices, it’s showing up in downright democratic dishes. Tacos, anyone?

http://online.wsj.com/articles/lobster-dishes-with-mass-appeal-1406912268

Healthcare

  1. WHO Warns Ebola Outbreak Out Of Control, “High Risk Of Spread To Other Countries”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-01/who-warns-ebola-outbreak-out-control-high-risk-spread-other-countries

Investing Process

  1. Does Shareholder Composition Matter?

http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/42_ShareholderComposition.pdf

  1. A Different Look at Neglect By Sectors And Industries

http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/08/neglect-by-sectors/

  1. Strategies to Profit From Corporate Spinoffs; The Big Synchrony IPO Calls Attention to Various Ways to Invest in Such Deals

http://online.wsj.com/articles/strategies-to-profit-from-corporate-spinoffs-1406921136?mod=wsj_streaming_stream

  1. Do Politics-Themed Google Searches Predict Stock Activity? A report suggests that stepped-up Google searching for terms relating to politics points to a lower market

http://online.wsj.com/articles/do-politics-themed-google-searches-predict-stock-activity-1406938584?mod=rss_whats_news_technology&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fxml%2Frss%2F3_7015+(WSJ.com%3A+What%27s+News+Technology)

  1. Research – Quantifying the semantics of search behavior before stock market moves

http://www.smallake.kr/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/PNAS-2014-Curme-1324054111.pdf

 

Filed under Daily Insight

About bambooinnovator
Kee Koon Boon (“KB”) is the co-founder and director of HERO Investment Management which provides specialized fund management and investment advisory services to the ARCHEA Asia HERO Innovators Fund (www.heroinnovator.com), the only Asian SMID-cap tech-focused fund in the industry. KB is an internationally featured investor rooted in the principles of value investing for over a decade as a fund manager and analyst in the Asian capital markets who started his career at a boutique hedge fund in Singapore where he was with the firm since 2002 and was also part of the core investment committee in significantly outperforming the index in the 10-year-plus-old flagship Asian fund. He was also the portfolio manager for Asia-Pacific equities at Korea’s largest mutual fund company. Prior to setting up the H.E.R.O. Innovators Fund, KB was the Chief Investment Officer & CEO of a Singapore Registered Fund Management Company (RFMC) where he is responsible for listed Asian equity investments. KB had taught accounting at the Singapore Management University (SMU) as a faculty member and also pioneered the 15-week course on Accounting Fraud in Asia as an official module at SMU. KB remains grateful and honored to be invited by Singapore’s financial regulator Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to present to their top management team about implementing a world’s first fact-based forward-looking fraud detection framework to bring about benefits for the capital markets in Singapore and for the public and investment community. KB also served the community in sharing his insights in writing articles about value investing and corporate governance in the media that include Business Times, Straits Times, Jakarta Post, Manual of Ideas, Investopedia, TedXWallStreet. He had also presented in top investment, banking and finance conferences in America, Italy, Sydney, Cape Town, HK, China. He has trained CEOs, entrepreneurs, CFOs, management executives in business strategy & business model innovation in Singapore, HK and China.

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