As one of the world's most important semiconductor powers, South Korea took the lead in releasing PMI data for July. Although exports continued to shrink, the performance was already better than market expectations. Among them, the rise in demand for automotive products and semiconductors slowed down the contraction of trade and achieved a trade surplus for 2 consecutive months
Meanwhile, the index of new export orders rose to 50.2%, breaking out of 16 months of continuous contraction, mainly due to a recovery in demand in the Asia-Pacific and European regions? Samsung, one of the world's technology leaders, recently announced Q2 results. Although revenue and net profit continued to narrow due to the impact of the general environment, performance increased 5% month-on-month, and the chip business also experienced a reversal phenomenon, with revenue rising 7% month-on-month, meaning that the consumer electronics industry is emerging from a sluggish cycle
Coupled with chip giants such as Intel and AMD all delivering performance that exceeded expectations, many investment banks are optimistic about demand growth in the second half of the year and expect the semiconductor industry to be out of the worst situation. With the support of these data, I believe that investors' willingness to hold technology companies will definitely be better than in the first half of the year. In particular, the performance of foreign investors buying back horse stocks seems to be fully prepared for the next rebound
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Australia's largest farm milk company, Bega Cheese, announced a few days ago that due to continued decline in production, the company must make provision deductions of 180 to 280 million yuan in advance. At the same time, it is expected that milk prices will rise again in FY2024
After the news was announced, the company's stock price reportedly fell, even falling below a new low in 10 years
The impact also extended to the Malaysian stock market. Farm Fresh, which claims to be Malaysia's number one fresh milk brand, once fell below a new low in listing on 4/7, and even entered the ranks of fairy stocks. In addition, the main competitor, DLady, is also pulling back one after another. The decline has far exceeded 10 new lows, facing the same experience as Bega Cheese
In fact, there is far more than one factor dragging down these two companies. Judging from the latest quarterly performance, Farm Fresh and Dlady both experienced large declines in net profit, including the impact of rising labor, processing, and electricity costs.
In addition to the fact that the market has high expectations for Farm Fresh itself, the valuation level will naturally also be very high. Once any changes occur, such as poor performance or this incident, the impact on investors will definitely be deeper
Therefore, the current pullback is only an initial reflection; the next key is to return to when the FFB can get rid of the effects of cost and supply issues. The streets are full of companies with higher valuations and lower dividend rates than banks. If you want to see them as a reference for value deployment, I'm sure you have better options
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Daythree is a global service provider (GBS) that provides customers with one-stop service support, such as technical support, customer retention management, accounts receivable management, content review, transaction processing, business analysis, etc. Simply put, it helps enterprises improve business efficiency while reducing operating costs
Its business is divided into three major digital tools, namely Daisy, Saige, and Faith. Through these tools, it provides customers with a range of life cycle management services. From acquisition, participation, retention, to feedback, we collect data between customers and customers, and organize it through an AI automated system to maximize the efficiency of business sales
Furthermore, the Group covers a wide range of customer fields, with the highest contributions being the energy and utilities, telecommunications and media, finance, and infrastructure sectors, respectively
According to the prospectus, turnover for the past three years has maintained double-digit growth, but net profit declined in 2022. This is because it received tax relief approval from the MDEC government department from establishment to 2021, so income tax must begin to be paid in FY2022. However, in January 2023, the Group received another tax exemption and was extended to 2027, which will help increase actual earnings for the next 5 years
Another focus of attention from the market is that Hextar CEO Dato' Wing-ming appeared at the IPO press conference. Although the name was not mentioned in the prospectus, what comes to mind is the private placement of shares, only...

German Chancellor Scholz's administration plans to allocate 20 billion euros (approximately RM101.4 billion) to support German semiconductor manufacturing to support the country's technology industry and ensure the supply of key components at a time of heightened global geopolitical tension. The money will be distributed to German and international companies by the end of 2027, and the capital will be withdrawn from the Climate and Transformation Fund
The German government has agreed to provide 10 billion euros (approximately RM50.7 billion) in funding for a new Intel plant, and is currently negotiating about 7 billion euros (approximately RM35.5 billion) in subsidies to companies including TSMC and German Infineon Technology
Not only Germany, but many countries continue to increase their share of export markets in the future as the semiconductor cycle is slowing down, and improving their market position. China and the US are typical examples, because the beginning of the trade war was for semiconductor-related technology, and many large companies such as AMD, Intel, and Tsmc are stepping up their steps to develop new technologies to ensure that they can maintain their leading position
In particular, the birth of AI has further increased companies' dependence on semiconductors, and is a major trend for decades or even 100 years to come. It can be said that the amount of technology research and innovation in each country will only increase over time
Short-term fluctuations may make you feel uncomfortable, but after all, you will usher in spring and encourage everyone

According to the latest market closing situation, the real estate sector has broken through a new high since April 2022, and has rebounded 23% from the bottom of last year/ trying to break out of the slump cycle since 2018. In particular, after Malaysia ushered in several coups d'état, capital has flowed back to this sector. It seems certain that the worst situation is over
In terms of support, most well-known real estate groups have delivered results in line with expectations in the past few quarters, such as Mahsing, Matrix, Spsetia, Ecoworld, and SimeProp. At the same time, the recovery in net profit also raised the dividend rate for the whole year
In terms of prospects, many large-scale projects have been put on hold after 2018, such as the Malaysia City and Longxin high-speed rail. These projects involve tens of billions of dollars in value, and the impact of the shelving on surrounding real estate development is definitely not small
However, according to the latest analysis report, the Solidarity Government intends to restart pending projects. For example, the Longxin High Speed Rail has reached a preliminary agreement and is currently discussing plans for a second home. Coupled with the Bank of China's help in stopping interest rate hikes, it's all good news that favors real estate development
Since the pandemic, real estate has been one of the areas that has recovered relatively rapidly. The average valuation for the past 5 years has remained below 10. Coupled with the lack of themes in the market and the help of many favorable conditions, the real estate sector has become a safe haven for investors, following the trend to push the sector out of the slump. So whether the rally can continue, I think the 2024 budget will be the biggest key
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The new governor (Chris Minns), located in New South Wales, Australia, said in an interview a few days ago that the government of the former DPRK had excessively relaxed the state's current construction of the Sydney Metro West Line project in Australia. Cost estimates have soared from the initial 16 billion Australian dollars to 25 billion Australian dollars, which has already exceeded the originally allocated budget, so it is intended to put the plan on hold, and it is not ruled out that it will be cancelled
However, the governor publicly stated two days later that it is currently only in the discussion stage, including how to reduce the budget, shorten or replace routes, and expand development value, etc. At the same time, he assured reporters that “if this plan is cancelled, you can cut off my head”
According to the contract, Gammuda was the general contractor for the project and received a contract worth 2.16 billion Australian dollars on March 1, 2022. Construction in April of the same year was also the group's most valuable hand order. As of the latest quarterly report, the Group has completed 26% of its progress. If it is cancelled, then the value of losses will exceed 1.5 billion dollars, which is 4.53 billion in Malaysian dollars
As a result, Gamuda has been somewhat shaken in the past few days since the news was announced. Today, it even fell below a new low in a month, and once pulled back close to 7.5%. However, to me, investors seem to have overdigested this message. In particular, the governor has stated that he will not rashly cancel all projects, urging the public to reassure the public
Coupled with the imminent opening of the MRT3 tender, the high-speed rail agency reconvening the screening process for the Longxin High Speed Rail, and the imminent arrival of the 2024 budget, I think Gamuda is still...