Korea ( South & North ) 01 (May 08 - Nov 10)

[winston]

Remote Viewers' Predictions for 2010-11
Source: BeforeItsNews.com

[Originally posted June 28, 2010]

Team PsiZeta -- the Remote viewing super-team and future seeing group -- has released their 2010-11 forecast. The list of famous and controversial names involved in the project includes the likes of Ingo Swan, Yuri Geller, Ed Dames, David Morehouse, and the Global Consciousness Project.

The Vedanta Three, psychics/RVers from India also contributed.
The majority of the material was provided by remote viewing and psychic disciplines however the team also employed the use a very powerful predictive software program run on an array of HPC Tesla clusters.

Probability 90%
World events and conflict: China Crisis

According to the team 2011 would be the year of the China crisis. It starts off with the exchange of fire on the Korean DMZ and ends with South Korea making a big land grab from the North. Two nuclear devices will be used, one under the ground and the other under the ocean, both by North Korea as a defensive tactic. The massive rocket and artillery batteries of the North will be quickly destroyed by US and Korean air power and 400,000 South Korean soldiers will advance 60km into North Korean Territory.

In a desperate attempt to widen the conflict North Korean will launch its most effective missiles against Japan. Thousands of Civilians will die.

China vehemently protest against the South Korean advance but does not become involved until Japan launches a truly astonishing air operation against North Korean missile sites.

The Japanese Air force meets Chinese fighters on the Russian/DPRK border and destroys all of the Chinese Aircraft then proceeds to take out most of the long range missile sites in North Korea. The US will be caught off guard by the Japanese attack because it was not part of the plan as the US was still moving more air assets into the area.

More surprising will be the material support given Japan by Russia, and the use of Russian air space by Japanese aircraft. The US quickly launches hundreds of cruise missiles hoping to take out any WMD sites than Japan had failed to eliminate, unfortunately the US strikes kill thousands of human shield civilians surrounding the North Korean targets.

Over a period of a few weeks the US and China rattle sabers but do not exchange fire. China pours a huge amount of resources into North Korea, primarily military equipment to shore up the crumbling regime.

China’s duplicity enrages much of the free world and there is a massive anti China backlash. The US severs all economic ties with China. China demands immediate payment of all US debt it holds. A huge Political scandal shapes up as a secret US(military/Federal Reserve) doomsday fund is brought to light. China is paid out the amount of 700 Billion USD.

3 US ships will best lost in the short conflict, including 1 carrier but the majority of the crew and aircraft would escape.

The Korean conflicts ends in another stalemate. 1,600,000 North Korean civilians will escape to the South.

http://www.mindpowernews.com/Predictions2010.htm

[winston]

7 REASONS TO LIKE KOREAN EQUITIES NOW
6 July 2010 by TPC

Barclays says Korean equities are looking increasingly attractive. In a recent research note they listed the 7 reasons to be considering Korean equities now:

1. Valuations – Figure 1 below illustrates just how much Korean equities have fallen from a valuation perspective – we’re not far off now from the lows of late 2008, and are now comfortably below one standard deviation from the usual long-term average level for the market.

To us this is one of the most compelling reasons to be buying Korean equities now – we do not see any reason for corporate earnings to drop by the amount the market fears and even a simple reversion to mean could carry significant upside. To us, this represents an attractive entry point.

2. The Korean Won – For a non-Won investor, the inexpensive Won argues for keeping currency exposure unhedged. Figure 2 illustrates just how undervalued the Korean Won is, and geopolitical concerns in the Korean Peninsula caused it to weaken a further 10% since the beginning of May. We believe this large move downwards is unjustified and the currency should strengthen from here.

3. Positive economic prospects – Korea’s Vice Finance Minister noted that the economy was at a point close to full employment (the unemployment rate fell to 3.2% in May despite a reduction in temporary government jobs).

Most growth-oriented data continues to print strongly (industrial product was up almost 20% y-o-y in April, and the shipments/inventories ratio remained well below its long-term average indicating there was still more to go even from simple re-stocking demand in the electronics sector. Policy tightening is likely to begin later this year.

4. Export strength – Korean exports are a key part of the economy and tend to be relatively closely tied to regional and global economic prospects. A continued global recovery and rising Asian domestic consumption spending in the long-term are likely to go some way in supporting growth.

5. Overblown geopolitical concerns – We believe geopolitical concerns over North Korea are unlikely to spill over into a wider conflict. Threats by the North have not been uncommon, but major regional powers have a strong incentive not to allow an outbreak of conflict, and without substantial backing it is unlikely the North would risk a major conflict.

6. Robust capital inflows – Equity inflows are volatile, as expected, but what has been remarkable to us is how fixed income inflows by foreign investors have been reasonably stable both in Korea as well as other countries in the region.

To us, this is signal of investors’ confidence in the country’s fundamentals, both from a balance of payments point of view and from a fiscal point of view. Korea and Asia have come a long way since the 1997 crisis.

7. Possible MSCI reclassification – MSCI has put up MSCI Korea for review for potential reclassification from Emerging to Developed. While this move is by no means certain, a reclassification would help bring in more rule-based investors to the market, supporting both the currency and equity markets on a medium-term basis.

Source: Barclays

http://pragcap.com/7-reasons-to-like-ko ... uities-now

[kennynah]

aiya...i thought north fired a shot at south...

[winston]

A few months ago, they were pushing Japan and thereafter, unloaded their holdings on you. Now they are trying to push Korea ..

========================================

July 7, 2010
Six Ways to Invest in Korea – Asia’s Can’t-Miss Market

By Martin Hutchinson, Contributing Editor, Money Morning

With the U.S recovery looking a bit iffy after last week's unemployment report, Japan and Britain battling huge budget problems and Europe in trouble because of the Greek debt crisis, investors have quite naturally shifted their focus to Asia.

But even there the pickings seem a bit slim. Asian stalwarts China and India show signs of overheating (India more so than China). Taiwan and Singapore - both excellent markets - seem pretty fully valued right now.

That leaves us with one Asian market whose economy is enjoying well-balanced growth, whose government is a model of competence and efficiency and whose stock market is surprisingly reasonably valued.

I'm talking about South Korea.

http://moneymorning.com/2010/07/07/invest-in-korea-2/

[winston]

SKorea bank raises forecast to 5.9 percent growth

Bank of Korea raises country's 2010 growth forecast to 5.9 percent as global economy recovers

KELLY OLSEN
AP News

Jul 11, 2010 22:25 EDT

South Korea's central bank raised its forecast for the country's economic growth this year to 5.9 percent on solid exports as well as capital and consumer spending amid a stronger global recovery.

The Bank of Korea, which had previously expected an expansion of 5.2 percent in 2010, made the revision Monday in a report on the economic outlook for the second half of the year.

"Goods exports and facilities investment are forecast to maintain strong growth owing to stronger recovery of the global economy, (a) favorable IT industry and demand for changes in production facilities," the bank said. Consumer spending, meanwhile, will get a boost from higher household purchasing power, it added.

The brighter assessment comes after the South Korean government last month raised its forecast to 5.8 percent from 5 percent. More recently, the International Monetary Fund last week said the economy would expand 5.75 percent this year, compared with its previous forecast of 4.5 percent.

South Korea's economy, Asia's fourth-largest, has recovered strongly after contracting during the global financial meltdown, boosted by exports, government stimulus and record low interest rates. It managed growth of just 0.2 percent last year.

The robust recovery and inflation worries, however, pushed the Bank of Korea to raise its benchmark borrowing cost to 2.25 percent Friday from 2 percent, the record low where it had been since February 2009. The hike came earlier than expected.

In its report Monday, the central bank also raised its growth forecast for the second quarter to 1.2 percent from the previous 0.8 percent and said the economy likely grew 7.4 percent in the first half of the year. The BOK is set to announce preliminary gross domestic product figures for the three months ended June 30 around the end of this month.

It also said, however, that growth is expected to slow marginally to 0.7 percent in the third quarter before accelerating to 0.9 percent in the fourth. For 2011, the bank is predicting growth to slow to 4.5 percent.

South Korea's current account surplus is expected to approximately halve to $21 billion in 2010 from last year's record high of $42.7 billion, the bank said, citing a wider services deficit and an increase in imports in line with stronger domestic demand.

Regarding prices, the BOK said that consumer price inflation was expected to increase at a faster pace in the second half of the year and would exceed the bank's medium-term inflation target of 3 percent from the fourth quarter onward.

For the 2010, CPI will reach 2.8 percent, the same as last year, but is expected to rise to 3.4 percent in 2011, the central bank said.

Source: AP News

[winston]

Fidel Castro is claiming that the US sank the South Korean warship that killed 46 people ...

I recall that Pierre Trudeau thinks very highly of Fidel Castro while Pierre Trudeau does not have high regards for the Americans. Hence, Canadians have been allowed to invest and trade with Cuba.

[kennynah]

northerners and southerners still not firing shots at each other yet ah.... then, probably, they wont ever...

[winston]

A few months ago, they were pushing Japan and thereafter, unloaded their holdings on you. Now they are trying to push Korea ..

========================================

July 7, 2010
Six Ways to Invest in Korea – Asia’s Can’t-Miss Market
By Martin Hutchinson, Contributing Editor, Money Morning

http://moneymorning.com/2010/07/07/invest-in-korea-2/

Another "front-runner" asking you to buy Korea. Didnt I tell you that they would be flooding the Analyst Reports, TV, Forums etc. so that you will buy it off them ?

==============================

South Korea ETFs Worth a Look By Kevin Grewal, Contributor

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- As the stability of the U.S. economic recovery continues to remain fragile, investors are turning to international markets to mitigate risk and enhance returns. As for international markets, South Korea is worth a look for good reason.

First, growth in gross domestic product and industrials remains strong and healthy. In the first quarter of 2010, GDP rose by 8.2% when compared to the first quarter of 2009 and recently industrial production rose by nearly 20% from the year before.

As for the remainder of the year, this growth is expected to sustain. In fact, the International Monetary Fund recently boosted its growth forecast for 2010 for South Korea to 5.75%, an increase of about 28% from its previous forecasts, buoyed by government led stimulus measures and improving global trade.

A second force adding to South Korea's appeal is its small government. In 2009, public spending accounted for a mere 27% of GDP, the lowest among "rich" economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This trend enables South Korea to keep a tight grip on government debt.

Thirdly, South Korea's close ties with China make its economy attractive. As China's currency increases its flexibility and the yuan's peg to the dollar is eased, South Korean goods become more competitive in the international markets and could bolster demand for exports.

To further add appeal, South Korea's equity markets are valued relatively reasonably, as they are trading at nearly 14.5 times earnings. Lastly, talks about enhanced trade agreements between the U.S. and South Korea could potentially enhance economic activity between the two nations, leaving South Korea the winner.

In a nutshell, South Korea's economy is enjoying sustainable growth, is well-balanced and has positioned itself to be a major economic player. Some ways to play South Korea include:

iShares MSCI South Korea(EWY), which has 98 different holdings boasting Samsung Electronics as its top holding.

IQ South Korea Small Cap ETF(SKOR), which focuses on small-cap South Korean companies like Kumho Industrial and Daum Communications .

PowerShares FTSE RAFI Asia Pacific ex-Jp(PAF), which allocates 33.8% of its assets to South Korea.
Although South Korea remains promising, it is equally important to note its inherent risks and its political differences between North Korea.

To help mitigate these risks, the use of an exit strategy which identifies specific price points at which an upward trend could come to an end is of importance. Such a strategy can be found at SmartStops.net .

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10804880 ... L_wal_html

[millionairemind]

A few months ago, they were pushing Japan and thereafter, unloaded their holdings on you. Now they are trying to push Korea ..

========================================

July 7, 2010
Six Ways to Invest in Korea – Asia’s Can’t-Miss Market
By Martin Hutchinson, Contributing Editor, Money Morning

http://moneymorning.com/2010/07/07/invest-in-korea-2/

Another "front-runner" asking you to buy Korea. Didnt I tell you that they would be flooding the Analyst Reports, TV, Forums etc. so that you will buy it off them ?

I tot Singapore was also on their "can't miss" list.

[winston]

Single Females

I just saw on CNBC that some restaurants in Korea have single seats that are partitioned, so that females can eat alone without feeling arkward.


Foreigners

Also, if you noticed the Korean CNBC reporters, they tend to say that the foreigners are buying or the foreigners are selling. Is the Korean market actually being controlled by the foreigners ?

Or are the CNBC reporters unconsciously feeling that they are 2nd Class citizens in their own country ? I dont blame them if that's what they feel. There's a lot of Americans all over the place in Korea eg. US soldiers, friends and relatives of those soldiers etc .....