Cash continues to flow into technology mutual funds despite the sharp fall in Nasdaq and other industrial indices, as it is considered a mega-trend for long-term investment, experts say.
Theeranat Rujimethapass, president of Tisco Asset Management, said that Nasdaq and other industrial indices fell sharply due to short-term market correction, as the share prices in the technology group had risen more than other groups. He added that these indices would rebound from injected liquidity, which was likely to flow into technology shares.
“This is an opportunity to invest in technology shares because they are considered a mega-trend for long-term investment,” he said. “We have found that cash is still flowing into technology mutual funds, although some investors sold some of these stocks to take profit last week.”
Suradech Kietthanakorn, managing director of Kasikorn Asset Management, said that since the sharp fall in the Nasdaq Index, cash was still flowing into the company’s technology mutual funds because it is a stock investors have high expectations from.
“However, we advise investors to evaluate the situation before investing in technology shares because they have a concentration risk,” he said. “Also, investors should diversify investment in line with acceptable risks.”
Somchai Amornthum, executive vice president of Krungthai Asset Management, said the Nasdaq index fell sharply due to the decline in the prices of some shares, such as Apple and Microsoft, which caused a 40 per cent impact on the index.
“However, we believe that Apple and Microsoft will be good choices for investment in the long term because of strong fundamentals,” he said.
He advised investors to diversify risks because technology shares may face volatility in the short term and concentration risk.
The share price of Tipco Asphalt (TASCO) plummetted by 14.64 per cent in morning session on Monday (September 14), the lowest in almost four months, after the company decided to hold off buying oil from Venezuela due to US sanctions from the end of November.
TASCO shares were quoted at Bt20.40 per share on Monday morning, falling from Friday’s close of 23.90.
The move caused the company to temporarily close the oil refinery in Malaysia’s Kemanan until the US sanctions on Venezuela are lifted or it procures oil from other countries instead of Venezuela.
An analyst at Yuanta Securities said this factor had seriously impacted TASCO because 50 per cent of asphalt sales, up to 2.2 million tonnes per year, came from Venezuela’s oil, while another 50 per cent came from oil from third parties.
“The freeze in the procurement of Venezuelan oil will hit the company’s output. Although the company can procure oil from other countries, the company’s cost would increase and their output would also be lower. Production of asphalt from other oil sources cannot match Venezuela’s oil,” the analyst said.
The analyst explained that TASCO’s oil capacity was currently at 4.1 million barrels of which 2.3 million barrels came from eight oil silos and 1.8 million barrels came from rented floating storages whose contract will expire in February 2021.
“This factor would not impact TASCO’s normal profit in 2020 because the company can still produce asphalts until the first quarter of next year, but its normal profit in 2021 would drop to between Bt1.5 billion and Bt1.8 billion if the company cannot procure oil from other countries, causing the share target price at the end of 2021 to drop by approximately Bt12 to Bt15 per share from the current target price of Bt31 per share,” the analyst said.
“However, the company’s normal profit in 2021 would move to between Bt2.2 billion and Bt2.5 billion if the company can procure oil from other countries, causing the share target price at the end of 2021 to drop by approximately Bt5 to Bt8 per share.”
The analyst advised investors to avoid TASCO’s shares at the moment.
The price of gold rose by Bt150 per baht weight in morning trade on Monday (September 14), the Gold Traders Association reported.
As of 9.28am, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt28,750 per baht weight and selling price Bt28,850 while gold ornaments were priced at Bt28,227.92 and Bt29,350, respectively.
At close on Saturday, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt28,600 per baht weight and selling price Bt28,700, while gold ornaments were Bt28,091.48 and Bt29,200, respectively.
Hong Kong gold price dropped by HK$10, opening at HK$17,950 (Bt72,418.81) per tael this morning, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.
The Comex (Commodity Exchange) gold price to be delivered in December dropped by US$16.4, or 0.83 per cent, closing at $1,947.9 (Bt60,908.36) per ounce on Friday.
Gold moved to negative territory on Friday, as investors sold the precious metal to take profit, while it was pressured by strong US economic data.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index rose by 3.74 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 1,283.70 in morning session on Monday (September 14).
An analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index to fluctuate between 1,275 and 1,290.
“Although the index gained positive sentiment from the recovery in foreign indices, uncertainty over the domestic political situation, especially with student protesters planning a political rally on September 19, would cause market volatility,” the analyst said.
“Also, investors would delay investment to follow the discussions of the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting on September 15-16.”
He recommended that investors buy:
▪︎Stocks whose third-quarter performance will improve, such as TU, ASIAN, COM7, CHG, PTG, and PLANB.
▪︎Stocks that would benefit from the launch of the new iPhone model on September 15, such as COM7, SYNEX, SPVI and CPW.
The SET Index dropped further on Friday to close at 1,279.96, down 10.93 points or 0.85 per cent. Total transactions amounted to Bt44.155 billion with an index high of 1,296.13 and a low of 1,279.33.
Syn Mun Kong Insurance Pcl (SMK) has set aside a budget of Bt160 million for 2020-22 as part of its continued digital transformation to become a full “insurtech” organisation, chairman Reungvit Dusdeesurapot said.
He added that the transformation would strengthen the company’s competitiveness and ensure continued growth.
Of the total budget, Bt45 million will be spent in the first year. The company has kept developing new digital insurance platforms to make it easier for customers to access its products and services, he said.
He expects the company’s net profit to continue to grow this year. It made a net profit of Bt409 million in the first half of 2020, up 35 per cent year on year.
Thailand is developing technology to extract rare-earth metals from recycled industrial and household waste to serve high-tech industries.
The focus is on tapping the waste to extract high-value metals, ranging from rare-earth elements to gold, silver and platinum, said Teerawut Tunnukij, senior metallurgical engineer at the Department of Primary Industries and Mines (DPIM).
His department has already succeeded in creating technology to recycle neodymium from electronic waste. Neodymium is a key component in high-power magnets needed for electronic equipment and the engines of electric vehicles.
The DPIM also plans to extract nano copper oxide from electronic waste, such as copper from plants that produce electricity transmission cables. Nano copper oxide is a key material for coating medical equipment to make it bacteria-resistant.
The department will also conduct research and development on special-grade titanium alloys used in robotic technology.
The DPIM has so far developed 55 prototype recycling technologies and is working on another six to eight prototypes per year. The new recycling tech is transferred to around 300 companies every year.
Thailand generates 500,000 tonnes of electronic waste per year, 80,000 tonnes of which is from industrial factories. The 500,000 tonnes of e-waste contains recyclable metal worth an estimated Bt30 billion.
The government will this week consider measures to increase the purchasing power of low-income groups and support small businesses.
Lavaron Sansnit, the director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office, said on Sunday that the Finance Ministry would urge the government’s centre for economic situation administration to approve the latest stimulus measures on Wednesday or Thursday.
Earlier, the government had said that it planned to spend Bt45 billion to boost consumption among grass roots people and support small businesses.
The Finance Ministry is working out details of the shopping stimulus. The government will support half of the daily consumption spending by low-income groups. The measure is expected to be implemented from October to December.
“We want to support as many people as possible, and people are expected to be invited to register for the scheme soon. The measure is aimed at supporting daily spending and reducing the cost of living; it is not a one-time spending on big items,” he clarified.
The concept is that each person will get about Bt3,000 from the government to partially pay for consumer daily spending with their own money, and consumers have to spend the money at small shops, as the government wants to support small businesses, he said.
Meanwhile, Anusorn Tamajai, an economist at Rangsit University, suggested that the government target low-income and small businesses, because shopping stimulus packages in the past had mostly benefited large businesses.
Anusorn said the government should target the 15 million consumers who hold state welfare cards.
Each cardholder may receive grants of about Bt2,500 to Bt5,000 cash handout or credit transferred to e-wallet, he said.
If the government spends Bt45 billion, then it would increase transactions in the market to Bt180 billion to Bt270 billion, boosting economy growth by 0.3 percentage point.
The Bank of Thailand has forecast that the economy will shrink by 8.1 per cent this year due largely to the fallout from Covid-19. More workers are expected to be laid off if economic recovery is delayed by the threat of a second wave of infections.
Anusorn said the United Kingdom’s Brexit deal will also affect Thailand’s export. Currently Thailand’s exports to Britain are worth about US$4 billion annually, representing 1.3 to 1.4 per cent of total exports.
The trade talk tensions between the EU and Britain have worried investors that it may lead to a no-Brexit deal when deadline is reached in December this year.
If there is no deal, Britain will allow 60 per cent of imported goods to have no tariffs in line with World Trade Organisation rules. If so, about 50 to 60 per cent of Thai products to Britain would have a lower tariff burden. These products would cover dog and cat foods, equipments to receive electronic signals, and jewellery, he added.
Biz insightsSep 13. 2020An Xbox One controller sits on display below gaming passes at a Microsoft store in London on July 9, 2019. CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Chris J. Ratcliffe.
By Bloomberg Opinion · Tae Kim · OPINION, BUSINESS, TECHNOLOGY
The latest round of the gaming console wars has officially begun. Following a protracted standoff between Microsoft and Sony over which company would share their plans first, Microsoft blinked first, revealing its Xbox launch details this week. Of note, the software giant is releasing two tiers of devices at different price points. It’s an unprecedented move, but will it pay off? I am not sure.
Responding to industry speculation, Microsoft confirmed on social media the existence of the long-rumored next-generation Xbox Series S console, along with its low $299 price and Nov. 10 release date. At the same time, the company also will roll out a higher-end Xbox Series X for $499. As of yet, Sony hasn’t revealed pricing or release date details for its next-generation PlayStation 5.
The stakes couldn’t be bigger for the two console rivals. The video-game industry has already thrived amid the pandemic as an attractive option for in-home entertainment. As consumer habits get more ingrained, analysts believe the sector may offer one of the brightest growth prospects over the next few years. And it is a enormous opportunity. Research firm Newzoo projects the overall gaming market will grow to nearly $200 billion by 2023 from an estimated $160 billion this year. Even entertainment executives that have long downplayed gaming are increasingly intrigued. In an interview with Variety, Netflix Inc. CEO Reed Hastings said video games were one of the key categories his company is looking at entering in the future.
So, what is Microsoft trying to do with its new strategy? With the two-pronged device offering, the company is hoping it can gain share by attracting hard-core gamers – who crave the best performance – with the Xbox Series X, while also accommodating the casual, price-sensitive customers with the cheaper Xbox Series S. Microsoft also plans to emphasize its Game Pass service, which gives its subscribers affordable access to a library of more than 100 games for a $10 monthly fee.
Microsoft’s plan may seem to make sense on paper, but it has several big flaws. First, the naming convention is a confusing mess. One can imagine the poor store sales clerk, who has to explain the differences between the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and the prior generation’s Xbox One S to the average consumer. In contrast, Sony’s proposition of PlayStation 5 as being much more powerful than the PlayStation 4 is a more concise message. Second, and more importantly, success in the video-game industry has always been about which company can offer the best, exclusive gaming experiences.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, its new hardware strategy doesn’t fix this deficiency, where it lags far behind its Japanese competitor. Simply, the Sony PlayStation’s lineup of exclusive franchises is unparalleled. This year, the game maker has already generated record-breaking sales numbers for its original games such as Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima, presaging further strong results for those franchises. And Sony has already announced upcoming PlayStation 5 titles in key series such as Horizon, Gran Turismo and Spiderman. Microsoft’s lineup doesn’t have the same cachet. To add insult to injury, the company’s anchor title for its next-generation console launch, Halo Infinite, was recently delayed to next year on the back of development complications.
The existence of a cheaper Xbox console may be a critical problem in itself. Earlier this year, a Sony executive said his company believes “in generations.” What he meant was that by launching games specifically designed for the high-performance PlayStation 5, Sony could attract gamers with releases that take full advantage of the advanced technical capabilities and features of the new console. Therein lies the negative consequence of releasing the under-powered Xbox Series S console, which has one-third the graphics performance of the Series X. The inexpensive console’s anemic horsepower will force developers to dumb down their games to work on the lowest-common denominator device. That means Sony’s games will likely have better visuals and more immersive gaming worlds versus the Xbox counterparts.
Even if Microsoft was able to roughly match its rival’s attributes point-by-point, it wouldn’t be enough. Sony has the advantage of the large user base it has acquired during the current generation, which engenders an enormous switching cost for its users. According to Jefferies, the console maker has sold about 110 million PlayStation 4 consoles since 2013, compared to Microsoft’s roughly 50 million units. In its latest financial report, Sony said it had 45 million subscribers for its PlayStation Plus service, which enables online multiplayer functionality for its users. Since tens of millions of PlayStation owners have built up in-game social connections playing games on the Sony platform, they will likely upgrade to a PlayStation 5 to maintain their gaming relationships and access to their PlayStation 4 games, all things being equal.
Bottom line, Microsoft’s two-tiered strategy that attempts to make next-generation console gaming more affordable misses the mark. The company seems to have forgotten the most important video-game industry lesson: It’s all about the games.
– – –
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Kim is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology.
EconSep 13. 2020Lohmann Brown chickens stand outside a barn at Meadow Haven Farm in Sheffield, Ill., on Aug. 4, 2015. CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Daniel Acker.
By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Tiffany Kary · NATIONAL, BUSINESS When covid-19 arrived this winter, Chase Beathard worried so much about meat shortages that he took advantage of a Craigslist ad offering a free boar. Now the 34-year-old breeds pigs.
Producing pork, from his home in Shelton, Washington, places Beathard in a cohort who plunged into do-it-yourselfism while hunkering down during the pandemic. They are gobbling up content, like a YouTube series on growing food from Homesteaders of America that had a 10-fold jump in subscribers in 48 hours. Meanwhile, sales more than doubled at Etsy, an online market for handmade goods. Revenue gains at DIY giants Home Depot and Lowe’s are the highest in nearly two decades. And if you’re looking for a pressure canner, chickens or mason jars, good luck; they’re often sold out.
“Covid-19 has just accelerated some of our long-term homesteading goals,” Beathard said.
While covid has decimated large swathes of the global economy, it has sparked others, like video conferencing and home appliances. Do-it-yourself pursuits, such as bread making, gardening and crafts, have also boomed and appear primed to last after the pandemic becomes a dark, distant memory.
Just as victory gardeners supplemented rations and boosted morale during the World Wars, the DIYers of coronavirus are facing quarantines and shortages with a mix of survivalist bravado and self-expression. Many are skipping the usual retailers, and instead turning to recycled goods, small businesses or individuals for their needs.
Not all of these consumers are as hardcore as Beathard, a plant scientist who lives off a 10-acre plot of land with his wife and four kids.
Take Abdel Elshiekh, a neuroscience doctoral candidate at Montreal’s McGill University. He tried to find moss poles for his houseplant hobby, but they were sold out at Home Depot and Canadian Tire. So the 31-year-old built his own from coconut fiber. Then he made plant fertilizer with banana peels, eggshells and coffee grounds. Soon, he was propagating his own flora.
“It’s a way for me to seek refuge from external events I can’t control,” said Elshiekh, who is also cutting his hair and baking bread.
People who were already DIY hobbyists are expanding their skills. Tynika-Ann Carter, a 24-year-old former model in Western Cape, South Africa, turned to farming and gardening years ago in a quest to replace materialism with something more wholesome. Since the virus, she’s added making baskets, weaving and crocheting. “Covid has given me more time to dive in and give myself fully to the things I love,” she said.
Beathard, Elshiekh and Carter model a new attitude about what’s cool, and show how the pandemic is accelerating it. Like hipsters, they’re setting new trends and flaunting the look on Instagram. But they’re also doing a lot of the hard, survival-focused work that defines homesteading.
Some have dubbed them the hipsteaders.
“We had to learn to do more for ourselves, to be more self-sufficient,” Mary Osirim, a professor of sociology at Bryn Mawr College, said of the past six months of lockdowns and sporadic shortages. This do-it-yourself ethos is being driven by more free time because of less traveling and commuting, but also necessity, she said.
Osirim and her fellow sociologists are only beginning to measure the pandemic’s impact. A survey by Bloomberg News and Morning Consult suggests not only that many more people cooked, baked and worked out at home than ever before, but that they want to continue doing so after the virus.
The poll of 2,200 U.S. residents in late June showed that a third of Americans grew herbs and vegetables and did their own sewing and clothing repairs. Equally significant, 60% of Americans expect in a fully reopened economy to do more for themselves, instead of paying for services.
The survey shows a mix of yearning for tradition and new ways forward. The number of people who want to spend more time raising chickens after the pandemic is 4%, the same as web design. Beekeeping came in at 2%, equaling 3D printing.
While it’s hard to measure the economic impact of hipsteading, it does intersect several giant markets. Globally, there’s $600 billion in home improvement, $576 billion in gardening, $526 billion of handicrafts, $59 billion in kitchenware and $16 billion in organic poultry and meat sales.
That doesn’t even get into clothing and an aesthetic some call “cottagecore,” “farmcore” or “countrycore.” Or shifting real estate values; while views of suburban real estate rose 13% this year, as more people contemplate leaving cities, views of rural real estate grew 16%, according to Realtor.com.
Hipsteading has deeper roots than the past six months. Around 2008 on the streets of Brooklyn, where many a fashion is born, the ironic t-shirts and retro record shops of hipsters gave way to something new: bearded men, small-batch pickles and homemade soaps. Farmers markets proliferated.
By 2013, as Etsy prepared to go public, the term hipsteader made appearances on websites about crab apple cordial and chevron knitting patterns. Since then, as the youngest consumers, Gen Z, eke out their identity, buzzwords like self-care and hygge (a Danish word for coziness) suggest the home-centered mindset is destined to grow.
Then along came Covid-19 and a global recession. Shortages and the need to be frugal created more DIYers than ever.
“When you’re worried that the marketplace won’t function, you engage in more activities necessary to produce your own food or whatever you’re most worried about,” said Beth Redbird, a sociologist at Northwestern University.
And a “psychology of abundance” doesn’t easily return after a trauma, according to Ian Bell, a consumer researcher with Euromonitor International. Activities like stockpiling have continued well after events like Cape Town’s water crisis and Brexit.
Making money off the trend can be challenging, but even do-it-yourselfers need materials and a marketplace. And as people shun travel and leisure, there’s about $1 trillion up for grabs in just the U.S., according to research firm R5 Capital.
Tractor Supply said a shift in spending from travel, entertainment and dining into homesteading, land maintenance and backyard living has helped boost its sales by 35% last quarter-the most in nearly two decades.
The sales booms at Home Depot and Lowe’s came after people cut back on bringing professionals into their homes during Covid, and now these DIYers have more confidence to take on projects. Same goes for Kingfisher Plc, a home-improvement chain in Europe, and Einhell Germany AG, a Bavarian-focused gardening supplier.
Meanwhile at Etsy, which has seen its stock jump about 150% this year after record sales gains, searches for DIY kits have almost quadrupled. Chief Executive Officer Josh Silverman sees this hipsteader movement as an acceleration of a shift toward handmade goods that’s been percolating for several years.
“We want to buy fewer things,” Silverman said. “But we want the things we buy to have more meaning.”
Back in the state of Washington, Beathard now has that boar plus five pigs, 11 piglets, and 34 chickens. And he recently became convinced he needed to buy a dairy cow.
“If the food industry collapses completely, we’ll at least have milk and cheese and butter.”
The Finance Ministry has assured that there are sufficient funds in the state coffers to pay living allowance to elders and disabled people as well as the monthly salaries of state officials.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Lavaron Sangsnit, denied a report that the country had to suspend payment of the allowance to elders and disabled people due to lack of budget, and funds were enough to pay only three months’ salaries of state employees.
He clarified that the government had not stopped the allowance payment but only delayed it, pending budget adjustment for the number of eligible recipients this month. September is the last month of such allowance payment in the 2020 fiscal year. He added that the payment is expected to be finished this month.
The government has already allocated sufficient budget for state officials’ salaries, he added.
Addressing public concerns about non-performing loans in the banking system, he said the government, the Bank of Thailand and financial institutions have joined forces to launch measures to tackle the problem.
An Xbox One controller sits on display below gaming passes at a Microsoft store in London on July 9, 2019. CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Chris J. Ratcliffe. 
Lohmann Brown chickens stand outside a barn at Meadow Haven Farm in Sheffield, Ill., on Aug. 4, 2015. CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Daniel Acker. 
Finance ministry’s spokesperson, Lavaron Sangsnit 
