The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- Malaysia-Market factors to watch Thursday Dec 29
- Management Tip of the Day: Don't worry about your first job
- U.S. online poker ruling at risk in future
| Malaysia-Market factors to watch Thursday Dec 29 Posted: 28 Dec 2011 04:42 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Following is a list of events in Malaysia as well as news stories and press reports which may influence financial markets. WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MALAYSIA, TIMES LOCAL FOLLOWED BY GMT: > Signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Multimodal Freight Sdn Bhd and Transport Workers Union at Kuala Lumpur Railway Station at 8.30 a.m. (0030) MARKET SNAPSHOT: * Malaysia's stock market finished 0.2 percent higher on Wednesday, with gains in leisure conglomerate Genting Bhd, banking group and telecommunications firm Axiata * U.S. stocks fell more than 1 percent on Wednesday after a hefty year-end rally and the S&P 500 erased gains for the year on renewed concerns about the euro zone's financial health. * The euro weakened about 1 percent against the dollar and the yen on Wednesday, one day before an important auction of long-dated Italian debt, while U.S. stocks slid more than 1 percent on concerns about the economy in early 2012. * Malaysian crude palm oil futures climbed to a near five-week high on Wednesday as dry weather in South America sparked concerns about lower soybean yields, potentially tightening soyoil supplies. IN THE NEWS REUTERS MALAYSIA > Giant Vale ship gets China port OK > Asia Rubber-China sells cargo from warehouse * Most Southeast Asian stock markets drifted lower on Wednesday in light trading as market players took profits on recent gainers such as telecom shares. Palm futures buoyed soyoil supply concerns KUALA LUMPUR: The following factors are likely to influence Malaysian palm oil futures and other vegetable oil markets on Thursday. FUNDAMENTALS * Malaysian crude palm oil futures climbed to a near five-week high onWednesday as dry weather in South America sparked concerns about lower soybeanyields, potentially tightening soyoil supplies. * U.S. corn rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday, notching gains for the eighthstraight trading session and hitting a six-week high, as dry weather trimmed crop prospects in Argentina, the world's No. 2 corn exporter after the United States. * Oil prices fell on Wednesday, snapping a string of six straight sessions of gains as part of a broad sell-off across commodities and equities. MARKET NEWS * The euro weakened about 1 percent against the dollar and the yen on Wednesday, one day before an important auction of long-dated Italian debt, while U.S. stocks slid more than 1 percent on concerns about the economy in early 2012. * Oil closed lower on Wednesday, snapping a six-day run-up,and gold prices fell too, hitting three-month lows, as a rally in the dollar pressured commodities denominated in the U.S. currency. RELATED NEWS > Taiwan's BSPA passes in 60,000 T soybean tender > ADVISORY-Astra Agro suspends palm oil auction on Dec 30, Jan 2 DIARY - Malaysia 29 December ALL TIMES ARE PROVISIONAL AND IN LOCAL TIME FOLLOWED BY GMT (IN BRACKETS ) THURSDAY, DEC 29 * KUALA LUMPUR - Signing memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Multimodal Freight Sdn Bhd and Transport Workers Union (TWU) at Kuala Lumpur Railway Station at 0830am (0030). * KUALA LUMPUR - Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi launches Malaysia Islamic Propagation Foundation (Yadim) Customers' Day at Dataran Lanai Coliseum, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur at 0900am (0100). FRIDAY, DEC 30 KUALA LUMPUR - Release of Nov 2011 Money Supply data. SHAH ALAM - Kelington Group Bhd holds EGM at No. 3, Jalan Astaka U8/83, Jelutong Industrial Park, Sha Alam at 1000am (0200). 2012 MONDAY, JAN 2 KUALA LUMPUR - Market and Public Holiday - New Year. - Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Management Tip of the Day: Don't worry about your first job Posted: 28 Dec 2011 04:27 PM PST BOSTON (Reuters) - New graduates should remember that no matter what job you choose today, you build skills and create options for the long-term, Harvard Business Review: the learn, earn, contribute trifecta. The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org (http:\\www.hbr.org). Any opinions expressed are not endorsed by Reuters. "Graduates, take note: Few people start their work life in the right place. So don't stress about your first job out of college. Chances are it's not going to predict your future field, income, or career path. Instead of looking for the perfect job, look for these three things: 1. Opportunities to learn. Whatever job you take, you should acquire new skills and experience. 2. Enough money. You don't have to be a banker. Waiting tables is perfectly respectable if it affords you the time and flexibility to do what you care about. 3. Chances to contribute. Everyone wants to feel a sense of purpose. Find a position that allows you to be a force for good. If you can't find a job that fits the bill, volunteer on the side." - Today's management tip was adapted from "Your First Job Doesn't (Really) Matter" by Jodi Glickman. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| U.S. online poker ruling at risk in future Posted: 28 Dec 2011 04:14 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While the Internet poker world salivates at the prospect of its business coming back to life thanks to an Obama administration ruling, a future U.S. president could reverse that decision and send the industry back to the drawing board if it is not codified into law. Late on Friday, the eve of Christmas weekend, the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel issued a legal opinion stating that the 1961 Wire Act prohibited online betting only for sporting events and contests, not Internet games such as poker or lotteries. That opens the door to online poker and leaves it to each state to decide whether to legalize the multibillion-dollar industry. Pressure likely will mount on the U.S. Congress to address the issue too. A Justice Department memorandum can be withdrawn and a controversial decision can be reversed. Courts can intervene and render it void. One way to assure the future of the ruling is for Congress to codify it into law. "This is just an opinion of the Department of Justice and only reflects what the Obama administration would bring charges on. Future departments of Justice could interpret the Wire Act differently," said Greg Gemignani, a lawyer and expert in Internet gaming with the Las Vegas firm Lionel Sawyer & Collins. It seems hard to imagine a future U.S. administration pulling back should many states go ahead and approve online poker. But there is precedent for reversing a president. At the beginning of President Barack Obama's term in 2009, the Justice Department took the rare step of withdrawing opinions that the Office of Legal Counsel issued during the Bush administration related to interrogations of terrorism suspects by the Central Intelligence Agency. STAGE SET "An opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel can be withdrawn or changed, although it is not often done," said Linda Shorey, a partner at K&L Gates LLP in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who focuses on gaming laws and regulations. "Under the U.S. Constitution, only the courts have the authority to determine whether the Wire Act applies to poker wagers," she said. "The Department of Justice memo is not binding on the courts." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans, has ruled in favor of the poker industry on the Wire Act, saying it only applied to sports betting, but a federal judge in Utah has ruled against it. That could put pressure on Congress to address the issue. But with elections due in November, lawmakers are typically loathe to do anything controversial that could spark the wrath of their constituents. "With the (conservative) Tea Party in such a powerful position (in the House of Representatives), that just seems to me impossible" that legislation would pass anytime soon, said I. Nelson Rose, a professor and leading gambling consultant and expert for states and the industry. The ruling by the Justice Department hands the states the power to make decisions about what forms of online gambling, if any, are legal, he said. If they permit it, then states could reach pacts to allow their residents to play online in each other's jurisdictions as well, Rose said. Republican Representative Frank Wolf, head of the panel that oversees the Justice Department's annual budget, was puzzled by the decision to reverse the long-standing position and planned to ask for an explanation, his spokesman said. The casino industry is eager for Congress to pass legislation that would ensure uniformity in regulating the industry. "If there is not a federal bill then you will see individual states each passing unique sets of rules," Caesars Entertainment Chairman Gary Loveman told Reuters. "It's obviously a far less rational way to proceed and it runs the risk of not addressing the illegal operators in any way." PROSECUTIONS UNTOUCHED While the Justice Department decision will likely have far-reaching ramifications for the gaming industry, one area it leaves untouched is pending prosecutions against individuals and companies facing charges over online poker businesses. Federal prosecutors may still come after online gamblers using state laws that prohibit such activity and they could always add federal fraud, conspiracy and other charges. They did exactly that in New York when prosecutors charged a dozen people and their online poker businesses this year with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, money laundering and violations of a 2006 law banning most Internet gambling. Because they were not charged under the Wire Act, the new legal memorandum will have no impact on that case, said a Justice Department source who declined to be further identified. The prosecutors appeared to carefully avoid using the 1961 law in making the charges, knowing that this controversy over the Wire Act was brewing, according to Rose. "It's actually quite startling that they're charging people with money laundering and illegal gambling and yet never mention the major federal statute," he said, adding that they likely did so "because they knew they were in trouble with the Wire Act." A Justice Department spokeswoman said online poker did not constitute betting on a sporting event under the Wire Act, but said that other state and federal laws will still apply to online gambling. "In states that ban various forms of gambling -- including Internet poker -- the department will be able to investigate and prosecute those gambling businesses under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and other sections of the criminal code," said Justice Department spokeswoman Alisa Finelli. In the New York case, last week an executive for Absolute Poker, one of the three largest Internet poker companies, pleaded guilty to deceiving banks over the processing of gambling proceeds and conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud. Another individual pleaded guilty in May to similar charges. As part of the prosecution, the U.S. government seized the Internet domain names of the three biggest online poker companies: Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Lawyers for the defendants did not respond to requests for comment. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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