Double-dip recession for Malaysia unlikely'

Malaysia is unlikely to face a double-dip recession as the country has come out of a slow growth phase over the last few years, according to an economist.

Datuk Dr Zainal Aznam, a member of the National Economic Advisory Council, said with Malaysia becoming more integrated with Asia, continuous regional growth would be an additional boost to the Malaysian economy.

"If Asian countries, particularly China and India, continue to develop, it would be an additional boost for Malaysia''s economic recovery. Anything that boosts Asian growth will be good for Malaysia," he said.

"If Asian countries, particularly China and India, continue to develop, it would be an additional boost for Malaysia's economic recovery. Anything that boosts Asian growth will be good for Malaysia," he said.

Read more: 'Double-dip recession for Malaysia unlikely' http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20100616181222/Article/index_html#ixzz0r27XeywP

Europe Recession Next Year 'Almost Inevitable': Soros

Europe faces almost inevitable recession next year and years of stagnation as policymakers' response to the euro zone crisis causes a downward spiral, billionaire U.S. investor George Soros said on Tuesday.

Source: World Economic Forum George Soros

Flaws built into the euro from the start had become acute, Soros told a seminar, warning that the euro crisis could have the potential to destroy the 27-nation European Union.

The euro's lack of a correction mechanism or of a provision for countries to leave it could be a fatal weakness, he said.

Germany had imposed its criteria on how a 750 billion euro ($1 trillion) euro zone rescue mechanism should be used and was imposing its own standards -- a trade surplus and a high savings rate -- on the rest of Europe, Soros said.

"But you can't be a creditor country, a surplus country, without somebody being in deficit," he said. Read more

Technical Levels—Not News— Become Main Driver of Markets

As much as Greece, the oil spill and the economy, the markets these days are moved by wild swings between technical levels that at times overshadow the underlying fundamentals.

"Technicals matter in this market," Pimco co-CEO Mohamed El-Erian proclaimed in a CNBC interview Tuesday, underscoring and perhaps understating just how much statistical measures of market behavior influence trading.

In particular, analysts have been watching support tests on the Standard & Poor's 500[.SPX 1115.23 25.60 (+2.35%) ] around the 1040 level and top-side resistance near 1110 as an important gauge for whether the market can stay out of the recently breached correction territory and resume the aggressive bull-market run that preceded it. read more

Forex-Eurousd marching forward.

Broke fib retracement back to 0 or 1.229 and moving further up as stated earlier.

Forex-Eurousd

As indicated earlier in my blog, Euro has fought the bearish movement and refused to move below and away from the fib 23.6. It has now moved upwards and most likely to complete its movement to fib 100 or 1.229. Should it break through fib retracement back to 0%, it will be testing the 200 MA or 1.244. I will not want to short Euro unless it breaks the M formation and breaks its neckline which is around 1.216.

Markets 'Overreact' to Europe's Problems: Almunia

Investors are "clearly overreacting" to the scale of the euro zone crisis, Joaquin Almunia, EU Commissioner for Competition Policy and vice president of the European Commission, said in a press conference in London late on Monday.

Moody's cut Greece's debt rating to junk, the second major ratings agency to do so after S&P's move at the end of April.

"The markets are clearly overreacting to the problems in Europe," Almunia, who was speaking before news of the Moody's cut came out, said.

The markets' reaction to the Moody's downgrade was not as drastic as that in April,when stocks plunged across the board. read more

Forex-Eurousd fighting against moving lower.

Euro retraced to 1.2206 and resting on fib 23.6. It has been stubbornly fighting to stay above that level which indicates that it is not ready to give in to the bearish force. Better to stay sideline. If it rebounces from this level and moves higher, it indicates more upward.

Moody's Cuts Greece Government Ratings to Junk

Moody's on Monday downgraded Greece government bond ratings into junk territory, citing the risks in the euro zone/IMF rescue package for the debt-laden country.

Jorg Greuel | Getty Images Moody's cut the government bond ratings of debt-laden Greece to Ba1 Monday, moving the debt one notch into junk status.

The agency downgraded the rating by four notches to Ba1, placing it one notch into junk status. The outlook is stable.

Moody's [MCO 19.91 0.23 (+1.17%) ] also downgraded Greece's short-term issuer rating to not-prime from Prime-1.

The rescue package "effectively eliminates any near-term risk of a liquidity-driven default and encourages the implementation of a credible, feasible, and incentive-compatible set of structural reforms, which have a high likelihood of stabilizing debt service requirements at manageable levels," said Moody's senior analyst Sarah Carlson. read more