Archive for the ‘Hong Kong’ Category
Reading up on feng shui could improve your financial skills. (CFP)
Peter So, a popular local feng shui master, is trying to convince undecided investors not to purchase property in Hong Kong until 2015.
So said past experience showed the city’s property prices rising continuously for five years and then falling over the next six. He said prices peaked in 2009, the final year of the last cycle, and were now due to tumble.
“The theory has never been wrong in the past,” said So. “Apartment prices fell in value almost 50 percent between 1986 and 1991 and then rebounded to another high in 1997. They slumped again in 2003 because of the breakout of SARS, and it is acknowledged that property prices have been way up over the past few years, even though the city’s economy was damaged severely by the global financial crisis.”
So said the next bottoming of the property market would occur in 2015 and he had now started saving money ahead of the eventuality.
As to stocks, So eschewed predicting whether it would be a lucrative market or not this year, but advised investors to differentiate odd years from even ones when buying, a tactic he said was effective eight times of 10.
“Though the stock market is volatile, rough fluctuations still can be determined. Generally, the market rises high initially but ends low in odd years. The trend reverses in even years. This is an even year, so investors should consider buying stocks in May or June, when the market will be at the year’s bottom,” said So.
However, just like the mercurial markets, predictions from different feng shui masters vary, sometimes considerably.
Edwin Ma, another local feng shui master, disagrees with So about the city’s property market.
“If I am to make a suggestion to my clients, I will definitely advise them to pour money into the property market this year,” Ma said.
Ma anticipates a flat year in housing prices, but he said it was still worth investing since “in comparison with stocks, property prices are de facto guaranteed to make a fortune, while most stocks were not”.
He added: “The stock market seemed exuberant last year, but it has become the playground only for rich people because profitable stocks were no longer affordable to most ordinary investors.” – read more at ChinaDaily.com…
The world's most expensive apartment sold in this Hong Kong building for 57 million US dollars last year. Will we see some wealthy mainlanders splashing out for more multi-million-dollar apartments in 2010?
Increasing Presence Of Mainland Chinese Buyers Indicates Growing Clout Of This Group In Hong Kong
Reflecting the growing clout of wealthy mainland Chinese in Hong Kong, figures released this week by Centaline Property Agency indicated that mainland property buyers comprised 18.1% of luxury apartment buyers in 2009, compared to only 11.2% in 2008. According to Wong Leung-shing, an associate director of research at Centaline, this is the fastest rate of growth among mainland buyers of HK luxury apartments (costing at least HK$10 million (US$1.29 million)) in six years. – read more at JingDaily.com…
Workers assembling vehicles at the SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co production line in Liuzhou, Guangxi. GM and SAIC together operate eight joint ventures in the country. (Agencies)
As part of this, the new venture would bring under its umbrella all the Indian operations of GM including the two vehicle manufacturing facilities, a power train unit and the nationwide distribution network.
GM would also produce and sell small cars and mini-commercial vehicles developed by Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co in India under the new joint venture.
“Over the past decade, SAIC and GM have created one of the world’s most successful automotive industry partnerships,” said Nick Reilly, executive vice-president and president of international operations, GM.
“Both companies felt this was the proper time to deepen cooperation beyond China’s borders in order to enhance partnership as part of long-term growth strategies,” he said.
“Changes in the worldwide economy have created new opportunities in emerging markets,” said Hu Maoyuan, chairman of SAIC.
“By leveraging our individual assets and those of our China joint ventures, SAIC and GM are in a strong position to introduce competitive products outside China that will satisfy the needs of consumers in India and other high-potential global markets,” he said. – read more at ChinaDaily.com…
Hong Kong Disneyland
The Hong Kong Economic Times cited an unnamed source as saying that Disneyland is considering a further enlargement, after it announced a deal in July to expand the venue by almost one quarter.
But a Disneyland spokeswoman said there was no such plan.
“The current position is to implement the extension plan as agreed in July with the development of the three themed areas in phases. There has been no discussion on further expansion,” she told AFP.
Under the deal announced in July, Disney would invest 6.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (795 million US) to build 30 new attractions over the next five years.
The government will retain control of the park with a 52 per cent ownership stake.
Since its opening in 2005, Hong Kong Disneyland has been desperate to boost the number and quality of its attractions at the three billion US dollar venue as it struggles to attract visitors. – read more at ChannelNewsAsia.com…
Cathay Pacific jets in Hong Kong
“The rebate applies to the end of December and we are now asking the Airport Authority to extend it into next year, which would be welcomed by all airlines using Hong Kong International Airport,” said chief operating officer John Slosar.
The authority introduced a relief package in April to help airlines using Chek Lap Kok. The concessions comprised a 10 percent cut in landing and parking fees, which will cost the authority HK$200 million, and an interest-free deferral of rental payments.
The authority is studying a request by the industry group, the Board of Airline Representatives, to extend the discounts.
Cathay’s landing, parking and route costs declined 8.3 percent to HK$5 billion for the first half of the year, accounting for 17.05 percent of its total operating expenses.
“The concessions did help Cathay but it can only save a very insignificant amount from a 10 percent discount in landing and parking fees,” Quam analyst Allen Wong Kin-sing said.
Slosar said: “If we face a situation where costs like oil are rising as our revenues remain flat, we will surely see the squeeze on our margins continue.” Brent spot doubled to US$80 (HK$624) a barrel from US$40 in January.
Hong Kong’s largest airline had one of its strongest weeks last week on improving cargo business and more premium traffic, Slosar said.
“Looking ahead, December bookings are marginally ahead of 2008 in economy class but remain flat in the front end. January and February are still looking slow but that may be because of the current trend for late bookings,” he said.
Demand for cargo business is very strong with a “big backlog” in Hong Kong. – read more TheStandard.com…
eBay headquarters in Singapore
The aggressive plans come after the company saw its mainstay e-commerce business as well as its money transfer arm PayPal grow strongly despite the economic crisis.
Almost half of the world’s internet users live in Asia and the growing affluence in the region represents a significantly untapped market for the online marketplace eBay.
It predicts that more consumers are looking to stretch their dollar through online shopping.
With that, eBay’s money transfer business PayPal, which accounts for a third of its revenues, is also expected to do well.
John Donahoe, president & CEO, eBay, said: “Even in the face of the global economic recession, both eBay and PayPal cross border business are growing greater than 50 per cent.
“So we have set goals to more than double in the Asian region over the next three years and I’m more than comfortable that we are going to exceed that.”
Declining to give actual figures, eBay does say that in 2009, more than half of PayPal’s growth is expected to come from outside the US.
There are about 12 million PayPal accounts currently in Asia and that number is set to grow.
To cater to regional demand, eBay has already boosted the number of currencies that PayPal can transact in.
Just this month, it added the Taiwan dollar, Philippine Peso, Malaysian Ringgit and Thai Baht to the existing stable, which include the Japanese Yen, Chinese Yuan and Singapore Dollar.
The other existing currencies are the New Zealand Dollar, Australian Dollar and Hong Kong Dollar. – read more at ChannelNewsAsia.com…
The West Kowloon Express Rail station, scheduled for completion in 2015
It will feature greener designs and be packed with energy-saving devices, although the upper floor and roof will use glass panels to allow as much natural light as possible, MTR Express Rail Link general manager Paul Lo Po-hing said yesterday.
The four-story building will provide more open spaces and green zones at ground level, instead of the conventional wall effect of a tall building, with nine platforms for long-haul trains and six for short- haul, 144 immigration counters and 600 car parks to accommodate 10,000 travelers per hour.
The company has also reserved an area for a one-stop immigration clearance point.
The gross floor area is around 380,000 square meters.
“It will be like having another airport in terms of its size and function,” design manager Frank Yuen Cheung-fan said.
Yuen said the size of the station is more than 70 percent of the airport’s Terminal 1 and more than double Hong Kong Station.
Construction of the station, part of the HK$55 billion Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link project, will begin at the end of the year and is scheduled to be completed in 2015.– read more at The Standard…
Hong Kong's Harbour City
The Canton Road shopping center in Tsim Sha Tsui is hoping the spike in sales will continue and has budgeted HK$13 million for Christmas promotion.
“This growth could be attributed to the revival of consumer confidence,” assistant general manager (leasing) Canis Lee Lai-yi said yesterday.
According to her, the growth in the first six months was rather slow at 6 percent, but it bounced back strongly as shoppers have adapted to the human swine flu pandemic and signs of economic recovery have surfaced.
Lee said based on the current performance and the expected surge in retail sales in the Christmas peak season, annual retail sales are likely to break last year’s record of HK$13.4 billion.
The rent for new tenants and renewed leases has increased 25 percent, with the per- square-foot rents starting at HK$200 to HK$600 or even higher.
Lee said as long as sales are satisfactory, tenants are willing to pay a reasonable rent.
Lee does not consider the opening of more malls in the area as a threat to Harbour City since the formation of a retail cluster will boost the appeal of Tsim Sha Tsui as a shopping destination for tourists. read more at The Standard…
United Commercial Bank - San Francisco
The state authority appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver.
United Commercial was one of five banks seized by regulators on Friday, and one of 120 seized this year. It was by far the biggest bank closed Friday. The closure will cost the FDIC fund around $1.4 billion.
To protect the depositors of United Commercial Bank, the FDIC has entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with East West Bank, of Pasadena, California, to assume all of the deposits of United Commercial Bank. This agreement included all U.S. branches of United Commercial Bank, the Hong Kong branch of United Commercial Bank, and the subsidiary of United Commercial Bank headquartered in Shanghai, China, United Commercial Bank (UCB-China).
The 63 U.S. branches of United Commercial Bank will reopen during their normal business hours Saturday as branches of East West Bank. All locations in Hong Kong and China will reopen on Monday, according to normal business hours. In addition, UCB-China, the Shanghai, China, subsidiary of United Commercial Bank, which was also part of Friday’s transaction, will continue its regular banking operations without interruption with the full support of its parent company, East West Bank, whose qualification, according to an FDIC statement, has already passed the preliminary review by the China Banking Regulatory Commission.
Depositors of United Commercial Bank will automatically become depositors of East West Bank. Domestic deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, and the Hong Kong deposits will continue to be covered by the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Scheme and the full deposit guarantee currently in force in Hong Kong. The FDIC says it is in close cooperation with the Chinese banking regulatory authority regarding regular operations of UCB-China. read more at HongKongHerald.com
Macau at Night
The authorities attached importance to issues concerning young people employment and have used different channels to provide teenagers with up-to-date employment information, the daily quoted the SAR’s Labour Affairs Bureau Director Shuen Ka Hung as saying.
According to Shuen, the bureau not only set up “recruitment and employment matching” on the Internet, but also held career talks so as to help improve local young people’s understanding of Macao’s employment market. read more at news.xinhuanet.com…
