"I am willing to take on anyone from the Badawi regime and Bank Negara that by H1 of 2009, the KLCI will drop below 700. If I am wrong in my analysis, I will pay the first five individuals from the said Badawi regime and or Bank Negara the sum of RM5,000. These five individuals must within a week register at my website that they are willing to take me on in this challenge."
"They have to provide their full name and address in accordance with their NRIC/MyKad and their designation.If they lose to me, they must pay me the same amount!"
Among other things, he predicts the following:
"Here are my warnings for 2009:
By 2nd Half of next year, the automobile industry will go into a tailspin and suffer massive losses.
By 2nd Half of next year, credit card debts will soar, credit limitswill be drastically reduced (worse than 1997/1998) and interest rates on outstanding will increase sharply. It is already happening!
By 2nd Half of next year, shipping rates will drop drastically andthis is also happening. Our ports and shipping companies will suffer.
By 2nd Half of next year, our housing market bubble will burst notwithstanding all the stimulus and pump-priming. Arab investors will not be coming. Dubai and Abu Dhabi is already in a financial property gridlock! Why would they come here when they have to save their own asses?
By 2nd Half of next year, our exporters will be in tears, when Letters of Credit (L/Cs) will not be honoured and inventory stacks up at ports and in factory premises. Chinese exporters are already stipulating what LCs from which global banks will only be accepted.
By 2nd Half of next year, FELDA settlers will also be in tears. Having spent their windfall early this year (because of Badawi regime's false optimism), their savings will be down and they will bleed.
By the 3rd Quarter of next year, corporate NPLs will shoot up!Relaxing mark-to-market rules will not help.
Malaysia will have a huge immigration problem when these hardworking people are thrown out of work and have to compete with the swelling ranks of Malaysian unemployed.
In the meantime capital outflows will continue."
I have to say this upfront, I am apolitical and do not support either government or opposition parties. I don’t know who this writer Matthias is but I really think his opinion is very misleading. I am offering my counter-arguments. You will be the judge whether they make sense to you.
ReplyDeletePoint 1: Matthias is forecasting a KLSE index of below 700 by 1H 09 and challenged PM to bet with him. That makes him the greatest investment guru and economist of all time, better than the likes of Buffett, Soros, Freidman, Krugman and Federal Reserve of USA. No one in this world predicted the severity of the US financial crisis and certainly no one can guarantee how a share market would perform in a week time – not to mention by 1H 09. Matthias is either a dead serious genius or some boastful political animal trying to grasp the limelight from the financial turmoil to score a cheap point against the government.
Point 2: Matthias criticised the government of asking everyone to spend money instead of saving up. Well, almost all governments in the world including the US, Germany, China and Australia are pleading to the people to spend. Malaysia is just responding and echoing the global call for more fiscal and domestic expansion to avoid a deep economic depression. If everyone is tightening up the belt, the economy will contract. Simple economy theory. On this count, again, I can see Matthias is running a political smear campaign against the government.
Is Matthias a political opportunist or a Albert Einstein in investment and economy? You be the judge.
Matthias Chang used to be a practising lawyer but recently made a name for himself as Dr. Mahathir's special advisor in charge of Chinese affairs.
ReplyDeleteHe is well known for speaking in defence of Dr. Mahathir and it follows that he spoke against Pak Lah.
He had made many bold statements and this challenge is typical of them.
Whatever it is, he is bold enough to predict this and it is up to the others whether to accept. Meanwhile he is making a name for himself, for better or worse.
We are fortunate to have people like that to make this world more interesting.