Lifeline For SwissCash Investors?

SwissCash, an internet investment ponzi scheme that has caught many investors on fire a few years ago, has finally laid claim to a RM31million (USD9.1million) settlement with Malaysia's Securities Commission (SC).

Indeed, according to Zarinah Anwar, the Chairman of SC, investors who are successful in getting a restitution are fortunate given the elaborate scam by the Malaysian masterminds who went to great lengths to establish set-ups in a number of jurisdictions in an attempt to appear legitimate.

The SC initiated civil proceedings in the High Court against Albert Lee Kee Sien, Kelvin Choo Mun Hoe and Dynamic Revolution Sdn Bhd and last September, the court ordered them to pay US$83 million (RM280.62 million) — the estimate of total investments in the scam. The SC then obtained a worldwide Mareeva injunction restraining the defendants from disposing of their assets.

As for the investors, you have the SC to thank for as they rightfully have no obligation to the loss of your money in such schemes!



To recap, the scheme offered investors as much as 300% annual return of their investments and many were hooked by the "get rich quick" tags.

There is no doubt over some investors did get their payoffs but just like many of the other get-rich-quick schemes, this kind of scheme works like a musical chair. When the music stops, the ones caught without the chair will be punished or banished!

Despite the lessons learned, I am pretty sure schemes like this will continue to pop up in the future, mainly to take advantage of mankind's major weakness, i.e., GREED! Recently, i have come across another potential scam in-the-making investment scheme involving casino operation, with apparent connection with the upcoming Singapore's new casinos. Similarly, lofty returns were promised with further lavish incentives such as free Macau vacation tour and gifts in the form of gold chain or accessories.

DON'T BE THE ONE CAUGHT WITHOUT THE CHAIR WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS!

The Worst Is Over? Listen To What the Two Richest Men Have To Say

Capitalism is still alive and well, say the world's two richest men, despite lingering shocks from the longest, deepest recession since the Great Depression.

During a live interview in an auditorium filled with nearly 1,000 people at a CNBC-sponsored event at Columbia University in New York, Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates fielded questions from Columbia Business School students on the recession and investing.

Most notably, Warren Buffett said that the financial crisis is behind us, and the bottom has come in stocks, therefore do not pass on something that's attractive today!

Both Buffett and Gates also agreed that although mistakes were made, the fundamentals of the American system and a marketplace-driven system where American invest in education and innovation, coupled with a great long term infrastructure, will continue and augurs well for the future of U.S."

To watch the video of Warren and Gates interview, click this link.

For the full article, visit Yahoo News

For Buffett's latest view on investment, click this link.

To Cut or Not To Cut?

For many Malaysians, the first thing that probably comes into mind is the on-going P1 WiMax advertisement that has caused some gender controversies but essentially tried to convince consumers to switch their internet broadband services to the wireless WiMax technology. The latest P1 WiMax technology is supposed to make the experience of broadband internet surfing better and faster, "plug-and-play" with no physical phone line required.



Now that's not what I am referring to. I am referring to the more pressing issue of Malaysia's Government's recent plan to introduce service tax for credit cards from 2010 onwards. To recap, each card holder will be charged RM50 and RM25 for each principal card and supplementary card respectively, starting January 2010. If a person holds 5 credit cards with two supplementary, the total amount could add up to RM300 each year, and that's a big amount to pay for!


Personally, I hold something like 10 credit cards! Well, it's not that I'd like to have so many of them but merely because of the different kind of benefits that each of these cards could offer. For example, some credit card offer 2% rebate on petrol usage, while some others offer better discounts or rebates for supermarket spending, etc. Essentially, the banks have been very creative in rolling out different kinds of benefits to entice consumers to sign up for different credit cards. Since we can't have all-in-one facility, we have no choice but to sign up for these different cards. After all, there is no harm done provided the use of credit cards are not abused.

With the introduction of service tax, the benefits now seem to be muted. Besides the consumers, the biggest losers will be the banks and the sales agents whose livelihood depends on promoting the credit cards to earn a commission!

While the objective of prudent spending appears sound and should be supported, I believe it should not be done at the expense of genuine credit card spenders. The Government should instead impose targeted measures on credit card holders who defaults on payment on a regular basis. For instance, a mechanism to suspend all the credit cards of a particular credit card holder who defaults more than x number of times should be considered. Else, create more incentives for the use of debit cards instead of credit cards instead.

Nevertheless, if you are holding on to many credit cards right now, do not simply cut them apart. Wait for further advice from banks pertaining to this matter. I believe banks are actively pursuing the matter with the Government in order to come up with better measures. With the Government's constant flip-flopping policies, it will not be a surprise if they decide to change it again!

After all, it's also still not too late to make a final decision to cut your credit cards in December, if the situation renders so.

Power Towards High Income Nation....How la?

Our beloved Prime Minister of Malaysia had finally delivered his much anticipated 2010 budget. It was claimed to be a peoples' budget, with the stated aim of elevating the people of this country to high income status....

Sure, a number of positive incentives were tabled, such as:
- reduction of personal income tax from 27% to 26% effective 2010;
- an increase of RM1,000 for personal tax rebate
- an additional RM1,000 for personal tax relief on pension fund and life insurance
- people who are self-employed are given the option to contribute to the pension fund savings at any amount monthly starting 2010, with the Government contributing further 5% to the amount of contribution;

However, the positives are mitigated by the following negatives:
- introduction of RM50 service tax on each principal credit card holder and RM25 for each supplementary credit card holder
- reintroduction of real property gains tax (RPGT) for real estate disposal, starting from 2010, with a minimum of 5% tax regardless of the duration of holding period (Again, a common Government flip-flop policy sickness has reemerged!)
- realigning the fuel subsidy scheme to make sure that it benefits the lower income group....Whatever that means!

Is there really much to shout about? Hang on a second....how are these supposed to elevate the people to become high-income nation? To make things worse, the Government has also slashed next year's targeted GDP growth to around 3%! On the other hand, Malaysia is barely a decade away from its Vision 2020 target and there's certainly little sign that the developed status objective can be achieved by then! As per my understanding, the nation will need to grow something like 7-8% per annum on average for the next decade in order to achieve that and that's a very tall order indeed!

I am sorry, I just don't see how the "high income" word can be associated in this context! It certainly won't work unless there is a radical change in the governing approach and mindset, and with principal focus on meritocracy, liberalization and enhancing competitiveness as the priority.

What's your thought on the recent national budget for 2010? I look forward to your sharing.

Is Gold Truly A Safe Haven?

Following my post on "How To Invest In Gold?", I received a number of queries on whether investing in gold is truly safe as projected by many investors or analysts.

For the matter, i can assure you that all investments come with risks, with gold being no exception.

With gold prices reaching record highs and recently exceeding USD1,000 per ounce, there were many bullish calls for gold to scale even higher!

Before you decide to jump into the gold rush, i recommend you to first read this new book written by Doug Eberhardt. The title of the book is "Buy Gold Safely". The book reveals the importance of gold, how you can keep your gold investment secured, the underlying secrets of gold investing that the experts do not want you to know, common pitfalls to avoid while investing in gold and much more!

Click Here!

Although some of the information contained in this book are slightly outdated, it certainly pays to understand how gold mechanism works and why it is absolutely critical in preserving our wealth and maintaining a balanced investment portfolio!

On the other hand, do not make the mistake of simply assuming investing in gold at any time is good! Remember the big correction in gold prices in 2008 from the peak of 1000 to the low of 712? Understanding the state of affairs and a sense of timing are still essential!

Click Here!