More than 700 companies valued at below US$100 million on Bursa

Mon, 23 Mar 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: The double whammy of the Covid-19 outbreak and the oil price crash has dampened investor sentiments around the globe, especially on net export oil-producing economies like Malaysia.

The FBM KLCI has plunged nearly 18% year to date (YTD). Valuation wise, KLCI’s current price-to-earnings ratio (PER) stood at 14.56 times, representing a 15.1% discount to its 10-year average of 17.15 times.

Simply put, it is the market in which investors, with cash in pockets, could cherry-pick the good bargains.

Since investor sentiment is transient in nature — they come and go like dark clouds, as such we look into how many Malaysian-listed companies lie in the affordable range, to a business-centric and well thought out billionaire investor that has US$1 billion (RM4.43 billion) cash on hand.

According to Bloomberg data, there are about 868 companies which market capitalisation (cap) is at or below US$1 billion.



Big caps at discount on valuation



There are 31 big-cap companies, which market cap is in between the US$500 million to US$1 billion categories.

The stock exchange, Bursa Malaysia Bhd, is among the 31 listed entities.

Bursa Malaysia closed at RM4.70 last Friday after it rebounded 28 sen or 6.33%, giving it a market cap of RM3.79 billion, less than US$1 billion. The stock exchange is trading at PER at 20.45 times compared with its 10-year average of 23 times

LPI Capital Bhd, which sits on top of the list, came in at a total market cap of RM4.31 billion. The home-grown insurer last closed at RM10.82 as of last Friday — indicating its current PER valuation stood at 13.37 times, representing a 23% discount to its five-year average PER of 17.38.

With US$1 billion in hand, the billionaire investor can even afford to buy out utility companies, namely YTL Power International Bhd (RM4.1 billion), Malakoff Corp Bhd (RM3.32 billion) and Gas Malaysia Bhd (RM3.21 billion).

The three utility giants’ stock price fell in the range of 7% to 30% YTD, to close at 53.5 sen, 68 sen and RM2.50 last Friday.

Shares in Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd saw its price dropped by more than half year-on-year (y-o-y) to 73 sen, valuing it with a total market capitalisation of RM3.81 billion. The stock is currently trading at a PER valuation of 5.98 times, according to Bloomberg. The media stock’s PER valuation is indeed at a 73% discount to its five-year average PER of 22.3 times.

It is worth noting that many of these companies are trading substantially lower than their net asset values. The list of companies includes Malaysia Building Society Bhd, FGV Holdings Bhd, Oriental Holdings Bhd, Affin Bank Bhd, Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd, Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd, DRB-Hicom Bhd and AirAsia Group Bhd.

A random check on all the stocks’ valuation, in comparison to end-October 2008 period (the heights of the global financial crisis), four out five of the stocks have suffered lower PER valuation during the 2008 selldown period.




Mid-large cap choices


There are 124 companies that are valued between US$100 million and US$500 million.

A billionaire investor, who has US$1 billion in hand, could afford a buyout of some oil and gas giants, Bumi Armada Bhd, Velesto Energy Bhd and Sapura Energy Bhd, which have been succumbed to irrational selldown after the meltdown on the crude oil prices.

Remarkably, shares in Supermax Corp Bhd was the only one yielded positive among the top-31 companies within the category. Supermax which gained 7% YTD, closed at RM1.49 last Friday — valuing the rubber glove maker at RM1.96 billion. Valuation of Supermax which was widely viewed as one of the beneficiaries for the pandemic containment efforts stood at 18.85 times PER, 33% higher than its 10-year average of 14.18 times.

Companies that sit above the RM2 billion mark within this category include Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd, Shangri-La Hotels (Malaysia) Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd and UMW Holdings Bhd — which saw their share price slid between 13% to 68% y-o-y.

In particular, Aeon Credit is trading at a single PER of 7.86 times based on last Friday’s closing of RM8.58. The valuation is at a 17% discount to its five-year average of 9.47 times.

While Shangri-La Hotels’ stock price was holding up strong at RM4.85 despite the concern on the Covid-19 outbreak that will affect occupancy rate. The five-star hotel group is trading at PER of 33.7 times, which is a 12% premium to its five-year average of 29.92 times.

Meanwhile, Allianz Malaysia, which used to trade above six times average PER in the past five years, is currently trading at a 32% discount at 4.31 times PER at RM12.02. Interestingly, Allianz’s net tangible assets (NTA) currently worth about RM11.89 per share — indicating that the investor gets to own 98% of the tangible assets for every ringgit invested into the insurance company.

Some of the notable consumer-related companies within US$100 million-US$500 million market cap range, includes Guan Chong Bhd (RM1.78 billion), Leong Hup International Bhd at RM1.68 billion, 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd (RM1.49 billion), Aeon Co (M) Bhd (RM1.40 billion) and Padini Holdings Bhd (RM1.35 billion), which saw their share price tumbled 9% to 47% YTD. This group of companies, except for Leong Hup which was newly listed last year, were trading below their five-year average PERs.

Among the semiconductor companies that are within US$100 million and US$500 million range, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd (RM1.81 billion) was the only one traded at a premium to its historical values, which stood at 13.44 times PER, representing a 7% premium relative to its five-year average of 12.48 times.

Meanwhile, Frontken Corp Bhd, VS Industry Bhd and Pentamaster Corp Bhd are all traded at a discount to their historical values. Their share prices had plummeted 20% to 45% YTD.



Cheaper companies but cheaper quality



With US$1 billion in hand, billionaire investors will be spoilt for choice at bargain prices for stocks with a market cap of US$100 million or less.

There are 713 companies valued at below US$100 million, based on last Friday’s closings, according to Bloomberg.

Out of the top 31 market cap companies within this category, there are five loss-making companies.

Interestingly, companies in which NTA is significantly higher than their respective share prices include MNRB Holdings Bhd, MPHB Capital Bhd, Sunsuria Bhd, Muhibbah Engineering (M) Bhd, Malayan Flour Mills Bhd, Can-One Bhd. Share prices in these companies have tumbled 25% to 66% YTD.

MNRB’s NTA at RM2.97 per share is about close to five times higher than Friday’s closing price of 52 sen. While Can-One’s NTA stood at RM9.01 per share, close to four times higher than its share price of RM1.93, and MPHB’s NTA of RM1.88 per share is more than two times higher than its last trading price of 56.5 sen.

In terms of price valuation, all of the companies were traded below their five-year average PER, except for Amverton Bhd and Ayer Holdings Bhd which are both involved in property development.

Amverton, which has a valuation of RM438 million, saw its share price closed at RM1.20 — implies current PER of 85 times, three times higher than its five-year average of 28 times.

Ayer Holdings current PER stood at 29 times, representing 22% higher than its five-year average of 23 times, as of last closing price of RM5.20, valuing the company at RM389 million total market capitalisation.



https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/more-700-companies-valued-below-us100-million-bursa

15 Very Safe Blue Chips To Buy During This Bear Market

Mar. 16, 2020


Summary

• The bear market so many have long feared is here. Stocks didn't just enter a bear market last week, they crashed into one with gusto.

• COVID-19 panic, combined with worst oil crash since the Financial Crisis, have combined to create a perfect storm of fear, literally the second highest in 30 years.

• However, regardless of when this bear market ends (and it surely will), great companies are always on sale, BUT especially when the market is panicking.

• CFR, UMBF, ADM, CAT, GD, PH, CNI, GWW, MDT, SWK, TJX, ROST, CB, ADP and APD are 15 very safe blue chips who have collectively delivered 15% CAGR returns over the last 23 years.

• From today's 25% undervaluation they could deliver about 17% CAGR long-term returns. Just don't forget to always use the right asset allocation for your needs, because when the bears roar on Wall Street, almost no stock is spared short-term pain.

1.  Why are global markets melting down over this?

Because while the COVID-19 Pandemic is indeed a global health crisis, what the market is worried about is the effect on earnings and the economy, both in the US and around the world.

US supply chains have been disrupted, with The Harvard Business Review estimating the end of March will represent peak supply chain disruption.

China's new cases have fallen below 40 per day over the last week (just 18 yesterday) and it's begun lifting travel restrictions, even in Wuhan where all this began.

By Q3 Goldman expects supply chains to be back up and running. By Q4 all COVID-19 effects are expected to reverse, resulting in 4+% GDP growth in 2020.


2.  Does that mean the market is 100% wrong to dive into a bear market? 

No, because the combined effects of the pandemic + oil crash are expected to hurt earnings significantly.





3.  Goldman expects S&P 500 earnings to fall 5% this year due to the pandemic. 

The big hit will come in Q2 and Q3, and then a strong recovery in Q4.

Goldman is forecasting a 27% bear market, that would be relatively short and mild. It expects a market bottom by the middle of the year and then a 31% rally to close the year about -2% for stocks.

That's not necessarily an outlandish forecast, given that the average non-recessionary bear market since 1945 has been a 24% decline.

Goldman Sachs just put out a new research note which states

• it expects -5% EPS growth for the S&P 500 this year (about $156.75)
• it expects the S&P 500 to bottom at 2,450 in the middle of the year
• 2450 on S&P 500 represents a 15% decline from today's levels
• it represents a forward PE of 15.6 vs 16.3 25-year average (about 4% undervalued)

Goldman expects earnings growth to "collapse" in the second and third quarters of 2020 before rebounding through the end of the year and into 2021. The S&P 500 will bottom out at 2,450 in the middle of the year, roughly 15% lower than its current level, the analysts projected. The fresh low will give way to a fourth-quarter surge and push the benchmark index to 3,200 by the end of 2020, they added." - Business Insider



4.  Of course, the big question is whether or not we get a recession this year.

Jeff Miller and Moody's both estimate about 50% probability of a short and mild recession this year.

For next year the bond market/Cleveland Fed/Haver analytics model estimate about 21% chance of recession.

The bond market is potentially so nonchalant about next year's recession risk because it's now pricing in a near 100% probability of a rate cut to zero on March 19th (Fed meetings last two days).

Moody's estimates that each 25 bp rate cut stimulates economic growth by 0.1% to 0.15% within a year. The Fed will have made the equivalent of 7 rate cuts within two weeks, potential boosting growth by as much as 1% for 2021.

The Fed is also injecting at least $1.5 trillion into the repo market and resuming QE, all to ensure ample liquidity to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis.

So this is the good news. The bad news is that until now and the end of the year we have to deal with the second-highest market volatility in modern history.




5.  Why are some people so worried that this historically mild bear market might become a raging inferno of paper wealth destruction?


Because low oil prices could trigger a wave of bankruptcies in that sector among highly leveraged junk bond rated companies. You can see that until just recently, investment-grade bond yields have been tracking 10-year yields lower. Junk bond yields have been rising throughout this crisis, as bond investors demand extremely high risk-premiums to buy high-risk bonds.

COVID-19 on its own is likely only capable of generating a short and mild recession, similar to the Gulf War oil shock recession of 1990, which lasted eight months and caused a 20% bear market.

BUT the potential is there for cascading loan defaults to trigger significant financial losses for bond investors, banks, and anyone holding high-yield debt.




6.  The Fed's Emergency Rate Cut

The Fed's emergency rate cut (the first since 2008) was NOT meant to cause stocks to go up, as so many think. Rather it was meant to reduce short-term borrowing costs, which are mostly based on LIBOR, which you can see tracks the Fed Funds rate relatively closely.

Along with the Fed's repo short-term and QE long-term bond-buying, which is designed to ensure sufficient liquidity in the financial system, the Fed is just trying to grease the wheels of the financial system.

The goal is to either

• ameliorate the effects of the economic slowdown, or,
• if we get a recession, maximize the chances of it being brief, and a recovery being strong and beginning as soon as possible.

7.  Bargains galore for blue chip dividend investors

So how long with the COVID-19 pandemic and bear market last?

In the meantime, there are bargains galore for blue chip dividend investors to cash in on.

There has always been volatility in the stock market and there always will be. That’s guaranteed as long as humans are the ones making buy and sell decisions.

In the short-term, the reasons for market sell-offs feel like they matter a lot. In the long-term, investors tend to forget the specific reasons stocks fell in the past.

In the short-term, market downturns feel like they will never end. In the long-term, all corrections look like buying opportunities.

Regardless of how long this correction lasts, to win in the stock market over the long haul you must be willing to lose over the short-term." -Ben Carlson (emphasis added)

8.  15 Very Safe Blue Chips To Consider During This Bear Market

Dividends are a function of share count, not price.

However, given the rapidly changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as significant economic/earnings uncertainty, for this article, I wanted to highlight companies with

9/11 blue chip quality
5/5 dividend safety
trading at fair value or better

These 15 blue chips are

• Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR)
• UMB Financial (UMBF)
• Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM)
• Caterpillar (CAT)
• General Dynamics (GD)
• Parker-Hannifin (PH)
• Canadian National Railway (CNI)
• W.W. Grainger (GWW)
• Medtronic (MDT)
• Stanley Black & Decker (SWK)
• TJX Companies (TJX)
• Ross Stores (ROST)
• Chubb Limited (CB)
• Automatic Data Processing (ADP)
• Air Products & Chemicals (APD)

Fundamental Stats On These 15 Companies

• average quality: 9.9/11 blue chip quality vs. 9.7 average dividend aristocrat and 7.0 average S&P 500 company
• average dividend safety: 5/5 very safe vs 4.7 average aristocrat and 3.0 S&P 500 average
• average yield: 2.9% vs. 2.3% S&P 500 and 2.7% most dividend growth ETFs
• average valuation: 23% undervalued vs fairly valued S&P 500
• average dividend growth streak: 35.7= dividend aristocrat/champion
• average 5-year dividend growth rate: 10.3% CAGR
• average analyst long-term growth consensus: 9.0% CAGR vs. 6.3% S&P since 2000
• average forward PE ratio: 13.6 vs 13.7 S&P 500 bottom on December 24th, 2018
• average PEG ratio: 1.51 vs. 1.69 S&P 500
• average return on capital: 58% = 84th industry percentile (very high-quality by Greenblatt's definition)
• average 13-year median ROC: 65% (relative stable moats/quality)
• average 5-year ROC trend: +6% CAGR (relative stable moats/quality )
• average credit rating: A (investment grade, very-high quality)
• average annual volatility: 24% vs. 15% S&P 500, 26% Master List Average, 22% average aristocrat
• average market cap: $38 billion
• average 5-year total return potential: 2.9% yield + 9.0% growth +5.4% CAGR valuation boost = 17.3% CAGR (12% to 22% CAGR with 25% margin of error)

Collectively these this is a group of dividend aristocrats, with a nearly 36-year dividend growth streak, A-rated balance sheet and returns on capital that are in the top 16% of their respective industries and growing over time.

In other words, just the kind of sleep well at night blue chips you can safely buy when bear market choppy waters are upsetting most investors.

9.  Risk management is the most important part of long-term investing success.

These are the risk management rules I use for all the portfolios I manage including my own. They are merely guidelines to start thinking about the best way to build a sleep well at night bunker portfolio for all market conditions, including bear markets such as this one.

10.  Consider Nibbling Today

Bottom Line: No One Knows Where The Bottom Of Any Bear Market Is So Consider Nibbling On These 15 Safe Blue Chips Today

Here's Ritholtz Wealth Management's CEO, Joshua Brown with what he's telling his clients about market timing right now.

Why don’t we just sell everything and wait this out? Get back in when the dust settles?”

The great answer is that you won’t know when the dust settles. There’s no airplane writing the “all clear” in the sky above your neighborhood. And when the dust settles, do you think stocks will be at their lows? Or will they have already rallied furiously, in anticipation of this? Let me give you an example.

Today is March 9th. Precisely eleven years ago today, in 2009, the stock market stopped going down. There was no reason. The dust had settled, without fanfare or any sort of official announcement. If you had polled people that day, or week or even month, most would not have agreed that we had seen the worst.

The economic headlines were not improving. But there it was. And by June 1st, less than 3 months later, the stock market had climbed 41% from that March low. And even with that having happened, the majority of participants still weren’t clear that the dust had fully settled. That we had, in fact, seen the worst.

There were still people calling us 3, 5 and 7 years later who had gone to cash and still hadn’t gotten back into stocks. They missed a new record-high a few years later and hundreds of percentage points in compounding on their assets." - Joshua Brown, CEO Ritholtz Wealth Management (emphasis added)

Don't get me wrong, I don't know where the bottom of this bear market is, given the factors that are hurting the global economy and corporate earnings right now.

All I do know is that great companies are on sale. I also know that the market, when it becomes excessively fearful becomes very wrong about the intrinsic value of companies.

The prices you see on your screen today are the transitory manic depressive opinions of the often mentally unstable Mr. Market. (If I have offended Mr. Market, my apologies). Mr. Market did not carefully value your companies today and decided that they are now worth less. No, he woke up in a grumpy mood and indiscriminately marked them down as if they were overripe bananas at the grocery store. (You cannot have enough metaphors here.)

The stock prices on your screen say nothing about what these companies are worth. Nothing at all. But that is all that is going to matter in the long run. I promise you one thing: The value of your companies doesn’t change 8% a day, day after day."- Vitaliy Katsenelson, CEO of asset management firm IMA (emphasis added)

CFR, UMBF, ADM, CAT, GD, PH, CNI, GWW, MDT, SWK, TJX, ROST, CB, ADP, and APD represent blue chip quality dividend growth stocks with 5/5 very safe dividends that have bright futures ahead of them.

They might not necessarily have a great 2020, but good long-term investing requires looking beyond one or two bad years and looking at the likeliest long-term growth potential.

11.  Luck is when preparation meets Opportunity

(Source: AZ Quotes)

By no means am I saying anyone should go "all in" to any stock all at once. That's market timing, and numerous articles I've shown why that doesn't work for regular investors.

I never buy at the bottom and I always sell too soon." ~ Baron Nathan Rothschild

I'm a big advocate of buying in stages, nibbling rather than chomping on quality companies at reasonable to attractive valuations.

Where once many of the world's best dividend stocks were overvalued, today you can buy the kind of quality bargains only available in a market panic.

No one rings a bell at the top or the bottom. And 80% of the market's best days come within two weeks of its worst.

According to Bank of America, 99.6% of long-term returns over the last 90 years have come from just the 90 best market days.

So as Buffett famously said, "be greedy when others are fearful" because some of these fantastic quality bargains won't last long.

Whether the market bottoms tomorrow, in mid-2020 or the end of the year, I'm confident that anyone buying these companies today, as part of a diversified, and prudently risk-managed portfolio, will be very pleased with the results in 5+ years.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4332110-15-safe-blue-chips-to-buy-during-this-bear-market

The Objective of the Lock-down: Stay At Home - Protect Your COMMUNITY against Covid-19

Related articles:

Coronavirus: how Malaysia’s Sri Petaling mosque became a Covid-19 hotspot
Gathering at complex on outskirts of Kuala Lumpur has emerged as source of hundreds of new infections across Southeast Asia
Nearly two-thirds of Malaysia’s cases linked to four-day meeting

Only half of the Malaysian participants who attended have come forward for testing, the health minister has said, raising fears that the outbreak from the mosque could be more far-reaching.

Health D-G warns of tsunami-like third wave of Covid-19 if Malaysians don’t play their part now

Health D-G warns of tsunami-like third wave of Covid-19 if Malaysians don’t play their part now

Wed, 18 Mar 2020

KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Malaysia could suffer a third wave of Covid-19 infections reaching tsunami-like proportions unless Malaysians strictly adhere to social distancing guidelines, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

Dr Noor Hisham made the grim prediction as he reminded Malaysians to stay at home as much as possible to avoid Covid-19 from continuing to spread.

“Today is the first day of our ‘movement restriction order’. In simple words ‘please stay at home’ and distance yourself from others.

“We have a small window of opportunity to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission. Please help MoH to play your part, as each and every one of us has the responsibility to take all the precautionary measures to keep ourselves and families safe,” he wrote in a brief message on his Facebook page earlier today when urging for Malaysians to complement the Health Ministry’s efforts to combat Covid-19.

“Failure is not an option here, otherwise, we might face the 3rd wave of the virus. The next one will be as big as a tsunami, more so if we have a lackadaisical attitude.

“I plead to all Malaysians, please take this movement restriction order seriously. ‘Stay at home’,” he concluded.

Malaysia is under the government’s restriction of movement order now from today until March 31, with all public gatherings banned with the aim of preventing crowds from forming and to slow the spread of Covid-19.



https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/03/18/health-d-g-warns-of-tsunami-like-third-wave-of-covid-19-if-malaysians-dont/1847760

Stock Market Bubble Threat

Stock Market Bubble Threat

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram



KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Mar 11 2020 (IPS) -


The US is currently still in a stock market bubble which, if history is any guide, is likely to end, as argued by Thomas Palley. While President Trump would, of course, like to sustain it to strengthen his November re-election prospects, the Covid19 black swan is already showing signs of pricking the bubble

Meanwhile, US business investment has declined for many years. As shares of GDP, corporate profits or even market capitalization, such investment has been in decline for at least four decades. Clearly, ‘neo-liberal’ economic policies have failed to decades-long trend.


Financialization ‘unreal’

Julius Krein has underscored some dangerous financialization trends. Global stocks are now worth almost US$90 trillion, more than world output. Including equities, bank deposits, (government plus private) debt securities, etc., the total value of financial assets rose from US$118 trillion in 2004 to over US$200 trillion in 2010, more than double world output then.

Half of Americans own no stocks, while just ten per cent own over 80 per cent of equities, and the top one per cent has almost 40 per cent. With no increase in real investments, more funds in financial markets have served to worsen wealth inequality.

‘Capital returns’ in 1980, in the form of share buybacks and dividends, were about two per cent of US GDP, when real investment was close to 15 per cent. By 2016, real investment had fallen to around 12 per cent of output, while capital returns had risen to about 6 per cent.

Ironically, in an age of ostensible globalization, rising capital returns has become increasingly national in some economies, rather than involving cross-border capital flows, which fell from US$12.4 trillion in 2007 to US$4.3 trillion, i.e., by 65%.

The rise of finance, at the expense of the real economy, over the last four decades has slowed productive investments and economic growth, ending the post-war Keynesian Golden Age quarter century. Meanwhile, as profit rates declined, debt has increased.



Inflating stock market bubbles

Since the 1980s, as Palley has shown, ‘engineered’ US stock market bubbles have obscured lessons from preceding busts, explaining them away as Schumpeterian creative destruction. While each new bubble may retrieve some of the preceding loss, it never fully restores earlier economic gains.

Investors buy stock, expecting to sell at higher prices. Such purchases push up share prices, drawing new investors into the price appreciation spiral. The share price bubble continues to inflate until faith in ever rising prices ends, with the bubble imploding when enough buyers start selling.

Each new stock market bubble seduces share market punters to invest ever more, to gain even more, while obscuring public understanding of the economic malaise. And when prices fall, many shareowners hold on to their stocks, hoping for prices to recover, to make more, or at least, to cut losses.

Thus, stock market dynamics resemble Ponzi frauds, with earlier investors profiting from new investments. Handsome gains draw in more investments until even these are insufficient to meet rising expectations. Changes in market sentiments can slow the bubble’s growth, or cause reversals, even collapse.

Along the way, all investors feel richer, triggering wealth effects and market exuberance, typically irrational. When downturns occur, many are too embarrassed to admit to losses, especially if they have induced others, relatives and friends, to invest.

Thus, the dynamics of stock market speculative bubbles are akin to a collectively self-inflicted fraud as most retail investors lack the ‘inside’ information needed to make sound portfolio investment judgements.



Promoting stock market addiction

The US Federal Reserve’s apparent commitment to the stock market since Alan Greenspan was in the chair, and its growing, albeit varying influences on financial asset prices has been seen as giving the green light to speculation, enabling serial asset price bubbles over at least three decades.

Despite its balanced official mandate, unsurprisingly, US Fed leadership is widely believed to favour Wall Street, while mainstream economists view asset price inflation as the unavoidable price of overcoming recession, sustaining economic growth and the bubble’s wealth effect.

Unlike the Roosevelt era, when economic policy and war achieved full employment and improved labour conditions, decision-making in recent decades has been seen as better serving capital, with the bias justified by insisting that the interests of capital and labour are ‘joined at the hip’.

With 401K (a US employer sponsored retirement savings plan allowing employees to invest a portion of their salaries before taxes) and other investments in the stock market, widespread ‘middle class’ addiction to stock price inflation has also been economically and politically self-deluding.

But despite the sustained US stock market bubble after the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, the US ‘middle class’ continues to be economically squeezed, with relatively few having benefited significantly.

This stock market addiction is rooted in an illusion promoted by Wall Street, their enablers in the public authorities, and their cheerleaders among mainstream economists and the business media who identify the notion of shared prosperity with stock market indices.

But the history and dynamics of stock market bubbles imply that they simply cannot be the basis for shared prosperity, as suggested by all too many emerging markets’ governments. Sadly, wishful thinking to the contrary perpetuates the mass delusion promoted and perpetuated by those who stand to gain most.

Stock market bubbles serve to obscure the dangers of neoliberal financialization for the economy. Demystification of obfuscating narratives can not only improve public understanding of the problems, dangers and challenges involved, but also inform the reforms needed to address them.


http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/03/corrected-version-stock-market-bubble-threat/?utm_source=English+-+IPS+Weekly&utm_campaign=632464bdfe-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_15_04_37&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_eab01a56ae-632464bdfe-5479385&fbclid=IwAR3nWVA4e7I-IeHH88Vu2BjDk1zKs054pSBUVX108-1Ly9GukR0rBDEV79w

Top 50 Best Bursa Malaysia Dividend Stocks of the Year (2018)

Stock Name	Total Dividend (cents)
NESTLE	280
PANAMY	248
DLADY	200
PEB	195
BAT	155
UTDPLT	140
CARLSBG	100
HEIM	94
PETGAS	72
PETDAG	70
PBBANK	69
LPI	68
AIRASIA	64
F&N	57.5
MAYBANK	57
BKAWAN	55
TENAGA	53.27
HLBANK	48
HLIND	47
AJI	46.5
KLK	45
AEONCR	41.13
HLFG	40
ORIENT	40
ALLIANZ	40
HAPSENG	35
UCHITEC	34
BURSA	33.6
PCHEM	32
MISC	30
PERSTIM	30
CHINTEK	30
MPI	29
PPB	28
AMWAY	27.5
LITRAK	25
CIMB	25
SAM	23.36
GENTING	21.5
SDRED	21.5
ATLAN	21
TIMECOM	20.56
RHBBANK	20.5
IOICORP	20.5
SCIENTX	20
MAGNI	20
HARISON	20
PETRONM	20
HAIO	20
MAXIS	20

https://www.malaysiastock.biz/Report-Analysis/Top-KLSE-Dividend-Stock.aspx

3 Years Continuously Improvement in Dividend (2017,2018,2019)

3 Years Continuously Improvement in Dividend (2017,2018,2019)

Stock Name	Dividend (2019)	Dividend (2018)	Dividend (2017)
AHP	5.75	5.63	5.2
AIRASIA	90	64	12
ALLIANZ	65	40	12
ALLIANZ-PA	78	48	14.4
ARREIT	6.2	6.08	5.49
AXREIT	9.26	8.74	8.26
BIMB	16	15.5	14
BOILERM	2	1.75	1.5
CARING	6	5	3
DIALOG	3.8	3.2	2.65
FPI	11	10	8
FRONTKN	2.5	1.5	0.5
HLBANK	50	48	45
HLFG	42	40	38
HLIND	50	47	45
JOHOTIN	6.4	5	4
KLCC	38	37	36.15
KOTRA	7.4	5	4
MAGNUM	16	15	11
MASTER	2	1.5	1
MBMR	13	12	3
METFSID	2.17	1.99	1.51
OPENSYS	1.5	1.25	1
PBBANK	73	69	61
PETGAS	82	72	66
PTRANS	1	0.95	0.7
RCECAP	9	7	3
SAM	29.05	23.36	17.23
SUNREIT	9.59	9.57	9.19
TIMECOM	29.03	20.56	17.2
TMCLIFE	0.2	0.18	0.17
ZHULIAN	12	10	7.5

https://www.malaysiastock.biz/Report-Analysis/Continuously-Improvement-Dividend-KLSE-Stock.aspx

Negative Interest Rates Explained

Excellent video on negative interest rates.

How Negative Yields Work | WSJ