As the Malaysian Prime Minister prepares the country for the 12th general election, investors and traders wait hopefully for another stock rally. The question is, will there be one before election day?
Well, OSK Investment Bank Bhd head of research is optimistic that there would be another rally, probably a more sustained one than the short bursts of rallies seen in January. “The market has been waiting for the news since early January. There could be an election rally,” Kenny Yee says.
Our market closed higher yesterday, just. This was largely due to some last minute buying spree by institutional investors; it ended the day 5.63 points higher at 1,423.15.
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Users of Bloomberg, when questioned on this year's probable stock performance in the UK and US, have a more bearish outlook.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index, the FTSE 100 Index, France's CAC 40 Index, the German DAX Index, Italy's S&P/MIB Index, the Swiss Market Index and Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average will decline, according to the Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Survey. Only investors in Hong Kong predicted gains. (The survey measured the confidence of 5,148 Bloomberg users from New York to London to Paris to Tokyo.)
The chief economist at Moody's Economy.com has an even gloomier view. "This collapse in housing value is sucking in all borrowers," said Mark Zandi. As home prices fall and banks tighten lending standards, people with good, or prime, credit histories could fall behind on their payments for home loans, auto loans and credit cards at a quickening pace. A scary domino effect nobody wants to see!
Perhaps now, you might say, Malaysia is a different beast altogether. Perhaps we are now more prepared for this kind of uncertainty. 2008 will indeed be the acid test of the country's economic resilience. We will be okay? I think so. I am optimistic. Are you?
....and oh, Happy Valentines Day! 
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