Rabu, 26 Disember 2012

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KL shares stronger in early trade

Posted: 26 Dec 2012 06:07 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened on a stronger footing, in early trade this morning, supported by window-dressing activities in selected heavyweights and index-linked counters, dealers said.

After 42 minutes of trading, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 3.21 points better at 1,674.79 compared with yesterday's close of 1,671.58.

Other regional bourses were also firmer with Japan's Nikkei 225 rising 141.25 points to 10,372.99, Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 164.28 points to 22,705.46 and Singapore's Straits Times added 4.92 points to 3,185.73.

Meanwhile, major equity indices on Wall Street slipped between 0.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent last night.

Back on the local front, the Finance Index eased 1.14 points to 15,277.46, the Plantation Index shed 5.15 points to 8,009.56 while the Industrial Index rose 7.89 points to 2,756.63.

The FBM Emas Index was 19.051 points higher at 11,328.9, the FBMT100 increased 20.12 points to 11,192.58, the FBM Mid 70 Index jumped 15.811 points to 12,145.62 and the FBM Ace Index was up 9.43 points at 4,212.26.

Advancers led decliners 157 to 82, with 177 counters unchanged, 1,232 untraded and 30 others were suspended. Volume was thin at 123.028 million shares worth RM68.358 million.

Among actives, Tiger Synergy added half-a-sen to 33 sen, DSC Solutions was unchanged at 19 sen while GSB Group perked one sen to 9.5 sen.

Heavyweights, Maybank eased one sen to RM9.09 while CIMB and Sime Darby were both up one sen each at RM7.61 and RM9.40, respectively. -- BERNAMA

Wall Street drops in thin session

Posted: 26 Dec 2012 04:15 PM PST

NEW YORK: US stocks fell Wednesday amid uncertainty about whether a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" could be reached by an end-of-year deadline.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 24.49 points (0.19 percent) to finish the session at 13,114.59.

The broad-market S&P 500 lost 6.83 points (0.48 percent) at 1,419.83, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite shed 22.44 points (0.74 percent) at 2,990.16.

"Investors in the US returned to business in the midst of the omnipresent tick-tick-ticking of the fiscal cliff clock," said analysts with Charles Schwab & Co.

The White House and Congress have until the end of the month to reach a compromise on how to avert a year-end crisis that could lead to stiff tax hikes and drastic budget cuts.

Experts say a dive over the so-called "fiscal cliff" could drive the world's biggest economy back into recession.

Obama was to head back to the capital late Wednesday from a shortened family Christmas break in Hawaii, and lawmakers are also expected back in Washington on Thursday.

Stocks in focus during the midweek session included those of online video giant Netflix, which gained 0.47 percent in the wake of an outage of its online film streaming service on Christmas Eve. On Wednesday, Netflix blamed Amazon for the incident, which rents out computing power in datacenters in the Internet "cloud." Amazon dropped 3.86 percent.

US commodities and derivatives market InterContinentalExchange (ICE) and its transatlantic peer NYSE Euronext were down 0.03 percent and up 0.09 percent respectively, after at least one shareholder complaint was filed to contest their planned fusion, announced last week.

Shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion meanwhile soared 11.5 percent, recovering after a plunge on Friday on investor fears that its new smartphone platform will thin the ranks paying for its service.

Tech heavyweight Apple meanwhile lost 1.4 percent. -- AFP

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Holiday travelers stranded as snow and wild weather heads east - NBCNews.com

Posted: 26 Dec 2012 07:49 AM PST

The Weather Channel's David Malkoff reports from Fishers, Ind., where snow and wind are expected to increase over the next few hours, with record-breaking snow possible for much of the Midwest.

By Tracy Connor, NBC News

A Christmas storm that unleashed heavy snow and deadly winds on the nation's midsection set its sights on the eastern half of the country Wednesday, creating a post-holiday travel nightmare with hundreds of planes grounded and roads covered in ice.

As millions of Americans braced for snow, rain, ice or even more tornadoes, some 644 flights had been and hundreds more delayed, according to the travel website FlightAware.com. The airports most affected were Indianapolis, Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles.

"Blizzard warnings stretch for 730 continuous miles due to Winter Storm Euclid," The Weather Channel's Tom Niziol reported.

The forecast called for heavy snow from northern Ohio into northern Pennsylvania into southern New York, possibly severe thunderstorms in the Southeast Atlantic, and a tornado threat in the eastern Carolinas.

In Indianapolis, seven inches of snow fell in three hours Wednesday morning, bringing post-Christmas shopping to a halt, the Indianapolis Star reported

Stephen Canter, 44, ventured out before 8 a.m., and the roads were thick with snow when he headed back 30 minutes later.

"By the time I got home, the street was covered," he told the newspaper. "I don't remember snow like this since Valentine's Day of 2007."

Parts of New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania are also forecast to get hit with more than a foot of snow, and New England could get up to a foot.

 The blizzard warning in Ohio prompted United Airlines to cancel at least 60 percent of their flights at Cleveland Hopkins Airport beginning at noon on Wednesday, according to NBC affiliate WKYC.com.

The weather system, which started over the weekend, has already wreaked havoc, claimed at least three lives and knocked out power to tens of thousands of people.

Wind-toppled trees killed a pickup truck driver near Houston, Texas, and a 53-year-old man in north Louisiana. NBC affiliate KJRH reported that a 28-year-old woman was killed in a crash on a snowy highway near Fairview, Okla.

Witnesses report significant storm damage in Mobile, Alabama. WPMI's John Dzenitis reports.

Hundreds of flights delayed, canceled as holiday storms travel across country

Christmas Day tornadoes – the preliminary count was 34 -- battered southern states, some captured on dramatic home videos. And Little Rock, Ark., didn't just have a rare White Christmas – it had its snowiest day ever with nine inches on the ground.

After sweeping through the Midwest with blinding snow, a major winter storm brought a rare white Christmas to parts of the South and set off damaging tornadoes. The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore reports.

The storms contributed to a 21-vehicle pile-up Tuesday that shut down a major highway in Oklahoma City, as well as tens of thousands of power outages. Emergency service provider MedStar told NBCDFW.com it responded to 71 crashes in the Fort Worth area between 5 p.m. and 9:50 p.m. Tuesday evening.

As it tracked east, authorities were taking the storm seriously.

In Indianapolis, Mayor Greg Ballard ordered "non-essential" workers to stay home and off roads. Homeowners in coastal Long Island, ravaged by Superstorm Sandy in October, were told to take precautions to prevent flooding with seas expected to peak at 15 feet, NBCNewYork.com reported.

By the time it leaves the New England coast Friday, the storm will have left snow from coast to coast – and there could be another wallop coming soon.

Weather Channel meteorologist Guy Walton said a weather pattern with the potential to become winter storm Freyr is poised to enter the West Coast on Wednesday and move through the Rockies on Thursday. It could then head for the lower Mississippi Valley, the Southeast and hit the Northeast on Sunday.

Read more at weather.com

The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Teetering on the cliff, WH, Congress gear up for new round of talks - CBS News

Posted: 26 Dec 2012 09:03 AM PST

As the nation teeters on the edge of the so-called "fiscal cliff," President Obama returns to Washington Thursday to resume negotiations with Congress over a deal to keep taxes from going up on Americans. But a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the state of play as lawmakers trickle back to Capitol Hill for a new round of talks, and voters are expressing diminishing faith in the two sides' ability to hammer out an agreement.

Mr. Obama, who spent Christmas in Hawaii with his family, announced yesterday he would be returning to Washington on an overnight flight tonight. But after ongoing negotiations fell apart last week between the president and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, it's not clear if a deal will be made before a series of tax hikes and spending cuts set to go into effect next year.

According to a new Gallup poll, voters are markedly less optimistic now than in recent weeks that the two parties will be able to hammer out a compromise before January 1. The survey, conducted between Dec. 21-22, indicates that 50 percent of Americans believe that a deal is likely, while 48 percent say it's doubtful; in the previous three weeks, a firm majority of Americans expressed confidence that a deal could be reached.

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Americans are more scared of guns than "fiscal cliff"

Congressional Republicans have indicated in recent days that they have not been in communication with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., over the makings of a possible deal, and signs indicate that Reid is crafting his own package with input from the White House.

Reid's proposal would likely be a stopgap measure extending the Bush-era tax cuts on 98 percent of incomes while letting them expire for the wealthiest Americans. It could also include enough short-term spending cuts to temporarily offset across-the-board spending cuts set to go into effect on January 1, 2013, and try to tie up some year-end loose ends by extending long-term unemployment benefits, patching the alternative minimum tax, and preventing a big scheduled drop-off in Medicare reimbursement rates to doctors at the start of the year.

For such a bill to reach the president's desk, however, Boehner would have to agree to take it up in the House -- a move that could incite further ire among the conservative wing of his party. If he did decide to bring a Democratic bill up for a vote on the House floor, 26 Republicans and all 191 Democrats would have to vote for it to move the process forward.

Many Democrats believe they have a sufficient amount of Republican support, however, and are urging Boehner to bend to their will.

"If Speaker Boehner is willing to bring to the floor of the House a bill, and just let this House work its will, Democrats and Republicans voting as their conscience determines, then I believe we can get something done," Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told Bloomberg TV recently.

Another possibility is that Republicans allow the nation to go over the cliff, at which point the Bush-era tax cuts would expire and rates would go up on all Americans, before promptly working to pass a bill in January restoring those cuts for most of the population. That outcome could increase economic uncertainty on Wall Street but would allow congressional Republicans to uphold their commitment to not raising tax rates.

"I'm not sure if either side is watching very carefully, and listening to what the American people think," said Republican strategist and pollster Frank Luntz in an interview today with "CBS This Morning." "When we asked the American people, Who is the GOP fighting for and representing? The number one answer, the rich. The number two answer, big business. Well, well back is number three, hard-working taxpayers. By the republicans fighting this tax increase on the most wealthy Americans, the public looks at that and says once again the GOP is standing up for the rich."

The Democrats, Luntz argued, have been equally tone deaf.

"What the Democrats don't understand is that the hostility towards how much Washington spends, that this whole discussion over the last six weeks has been about raising taxes on the wealthy rather than cutting wasteful Washington spending," he said.

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Selasa, 25 Disember 2012

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KL shares opened slightly easier

Posted: 25 Dec 2012 06:58 PM PST

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened slightly easier, in early trading, on mild profit taking activities in selected heavyweights and index-linked counters, dealers said.

After 40 minutes of trading, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.26 points to 1,667.14 compared with Monday's close of 1,669.4.

The local bourse was closed yesterday for the Christmas break.

HwangDBS Vickers Research said trading would be quiet today following the absence of visible market leads.

"With some investors still away on holiday, the benchmark index may back off from its immediate resistance barrier of 1,670 amid thin buying interest," it said in a note.

Meanwhile, major equity indices on Wall Street lost ground, slipping between 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent, during the half-day trading day on Christmas Eve due to slow progress in budget negotiations.

The research house said that essentially, US lawmakers were facing a year-end deadline to avert the effects of fiscal cliff.

Back on the local front, the Finance Index declined 36.91 points to 15,216.05, the Industrial Index edged down 0.02 of a point to 2,743.72 and the Plantation Index slipped 9.09 points to 8,010.57.

The FBM Emas Index was 9.75 points lower at 11,286.31, the FBMT100 dropped 10.67 points to 11,148.18 while the FBM Mid 70 Index rose 8.85 points to 12,128.33 and the FBM Ace Index was up 11.11 points at 4,196.93.

Advancers led decliners 119 to 102, with 154 counters unchanged, 1,274 untraded and 26 others were suspended.

Volume stood at 94.232 million shares worth RM47.369 million.

Among actives, Asia Media Group shed 2.5 sen to 21 sen but Permaju Industries added 4.5 sen to 41.5 sen while Sino Hua-An rose two sen to 15.5 sen.

Heavyweights, Maybank eased one sen to RM9.06, CIMB lost seven sen to RM7.57 while Sime Darby and Axiata were both unchanged at RM9.39 and RM6.62, respectively. Bernama

Ringgit opens lower against US dollar

Posted: 25 Dec 2012 06:59 PM PST

The ringgit was lower against the greenback, in early trade, on lack of commercial demand for the local unit, dealers said.

At 9 am, the ringgit was traded at 3.0675/0705 against the greenback from 3.0630/0660 on Monday.

The local market was closed yesterday for the Christmas holiday.

However, the ringgit was mostly higher against other major currencies.

It rose against the Singapore dollar to 2.5074/5117 from 2.5100/5127 and was marginally higher against the yen at 3.5999/6043 from 3.6279/6323 on Monday.

The domestic note appreciated against the British pound to 4.9473/9536 from 4.9590/9651 and was up against the euro at 4.0436/0481 from 4.0484/0533, on Monday. Bernama

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Storm brings white Christmas, tornado threat to central US - Reuters

Posted: 25 Dec 2012 08:42 AM PST

Storm clouds are seen on the east coast of the United States in this NASA handout satellite image taken at 1415 GMT, December 25, 2012. A strong winter storm was expected to bring a white Christmas morning to millions of Americans Tuesday - but also high winds and even the risk of tornadoes for some. REUTERS/NASA/NOAA/GOES Project/Handout

Storm clouds are seen on the east coast of the United States in this NASA handout satellite image taken at 1415 GMT, December 25, 2012. A strong winter storm was expected to bring a white Christmas morning to millions of Americans Tuesday - but also high winds and even the risk of tornadoes for some.

Credit: Reuters/NASA/NOAA/GOES Project/Handout

WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 25, 2012 11:41am EST

(Reuters) - A major winter storm brought a rare white Christmas to the southern U.S. plains on Tuesday, contributing to a 21-vehicle pile-up that shut down a major highway in Oklahoma.

The storm system surging east from Kansas and the Texas Panhandle includes the threat of tornados and severe thunderstorms along its southern fringe, from southeast Texas to Alabama, the National Weather Service said.

The storm is expected to bring blizzard conditions and 6 to 8 inches of snow as it strengthens and moves northeast into the upper Ohio River valley through southern Missouri and Illinois, it said.

Freezing drizzle overnight led to 10 separate collisions on Interstate 40 at Oklahoma City just before 3 a.m., said Trooper Betsy Randolph, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

The 21-vehicle pile-up included three tractor-trailers and shut down the westbound lanes for about five hours, she said. Twelve people were taken to hospitals, and troopers are checking on the severity of their injuries.

In a rare taste of Christmas snow, Oklahoma City is forecast to get 3 to 6 inches of the white stuff on Tuesday. The city's biggest Christmas snowfall was 6.5 inches in 1914, and measurable amounts have been recorded only a handful of times on the date.

Several flights were canceled at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport on Monday ahead of the storm, but conditions on Tuesday morning were good, the airport said in a statement.

Ahead of the storm's path, parts of eastern West Virginia are under a winter storm warning. Ice accumulations of up to half an inch are expected in higher elevations, the National Weather Service said.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Pope tweets about his favorite Christmas tradition - USA TODAY

Posted: 25 Dec 2012 08:56 AM PST

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Isnin, 24 Disember 2012

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2 Firefighters Fatally Shot Near Rochester Responding to Blaze - New York Times

Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:11 AM PST

Four firefighters were shot — two fatally — after responding to an early morning blaze on Monday in Webster, N.Y., about 12 miles northeast of Rochester, officials said.

The Webster police chief, Gerald L. Pickering, said at a news conference that the firefighters were "fired upon by one or more shooters."

The scene of the fire, which continued to burn through the morning as it spread to several houses, remained "an active crime scene," Chief Pickering said, though officials said there was no further shooting.

Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester said two firefighters were in "guarded condition."

Evan Dawson, a reporter for WHAM-TV in Rochester, said on Twitter that relatives of one firefighter said he had been shot in the back and seriously injured but was expected to survive.

The firefighters were from the West Webster Fire Department, about four miles from the blaze.

Chief Pickering said that, with authorities establishing and investigating the crime scene, "it took a while to make it safe" for firefighters to move in and combat the flames.

The site of the fire, Lake Road, runs along a narrow spit of land that divides Lake Ontario from Irondequoit Bay. Houses near the affected area are detached wood-frame homes with yards, across the street from the lake.

Michael D'Amico, a contractor who has lived on Lake Road for 20 years, said residents were evacuated to a school. "We still can't go back," he said.

He said four houses had burned so far. The area is home to many summer houses, he said, but some people lived there year-round.

"A lot of times I get woken up by gunfire, but I don't think too much of it," Mr. D'Amico said, noting that the area often attracted duck hunters.

"Usually the gunfire comes from the lake or the bay," he added. "This was from further down the road."

J. David Goodman contributed reporting.

Christmas prayer for nonbelievers - Lebanon Daily News

Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:55 AM PST

Editor:

In a recent letter, an individual expressed his doubts that Jesus Christ ever existed and recoiled when anyone wished him a "Merry Christmas."

My first inclination was to feel sorry for this person. However, feeling sorry for someone is only an inward expression and does no good for the person who has doubts. I then decided to do something more practical - to pray for him.

I'm relatively sure that this person would take exception to this and scoff at the idea of being prayed for. If we were face to face he might even tell me not to do that. He might even laugh at the very thought of being prayed for, or someone interceding for him with Jesus.

Just the same, I did that and invite others to do the same. He's not alone in his doubts that Christ ever existed. There are many like him who refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ. However, these "many" acknowledge His existence every year of their lives simply by abiding by the calendar that is based on Christ's birth.

So this Dec. 25 (which is a day set aside to celebrate Christ's birth), the whole world will once again acknowledge Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Christmas story will be told again and again by many who do believe in this Man who changed the world and the lives of untold millions of believers.

By His very existence, Jesus has made it possible for us who do believe, to have an eternal presence with Him and God the Father. Jesus has changed the world as He has changed individual hearts, bringing peace and joy to the recipient.

So whether this person who wrote the letter disparaging Jesus and His birth likes it or not, I am praying that God will soften his heart to receive the true Gospel message of Jesus' birth, death, resurrection and eventual return. Merry Christmas.

JOHN H. HUBER
MYERSTOWN

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Ahad, 23 Disember 2012

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KL shares higher on buying of heavyweights

Posted: 23 Dec 2012 06:47 PM PST

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened higher, continuing its rally from last week, with buying interest by fund managers in selected heavyweights and index-linked counters, dealers said.

After 15 minutes of trading, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 8.39 points to 1,667.24, pushed by gains mostly seen in Petronas Gas and Sime Darby.

Petronas Gas jumped 7.225 per cent or RM1.38 to RM20.48 and Sime Darby rose 11 sen or 1.176 per cent to RM9.46.

The Finance Index improved 44.721 points to 15,236.32, the Industrial Index gained 53.66 points to 2,770.98 and the Plantation Index increased 14.92 points to 7,994.44.

The FBM Emas Index jumped 46.93 points to 11,284.1, the FBMT100 was 50 points higher at 11,146.6 and the FBM Mid 70 Index rose 26.5 points to 12,116.25 but the FBM Ace Index eased 1.61 points to 4,199.09.

Gainers led losers 86 to 80, with 105 counters unchanged, 1,375 untraded and 31 others were suspended.

Volume stood at 36.756 million shares worth RM27.842 million.

Among actives, TH Heavy Engineering shed half-a-sen to 56 sen, TH Heavy Engineering-WA slipped one sen to 34.5 sen while XOX was unchanged at 21.5 sen.

Heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM9.05 while both CIMB and Axiata rose two sen each to RM7.65 and RM6.59, respectively.

Meanwhile, Tradewinds, Tradewinds Plantation and Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) have requested for suspension of trading today pending an announcement of a material corporate proposal.

It was reported earlier that Tradewinds might privatise both Tradewinds Plantations and Bernas and streamline all its commodity-based businesses under one listed company. Bernama

Ringgits opens lower against US dollar

Posted: 23 Dec 2012 06:49 PM PST

The ringgit was lower against the US dollar this morning on lack of interest for riskier assets ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays.

At 9am, the ringgit was traded at 3.0700/0730 against the greenback from 3.0585/0615 on Friday.

However, the ringgit was mostly mixed against other major currencies.

It eased against the Singapore dollar to 2.5117/5145 from 2.5064/5098 but was marginally higher against the yen at 3.6349/6397 from 3.6359/6407 on Friday.

The local currency appreciated against the British pound to 4.9565/9629 from 4.9688/9749 but was down against the euro at 4.0438/0484 from 4.0418/0467,previously. Bernama
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