$Occidental Petroleum (OXY.US)$ an international oil and gas exploration and production company, recently reported its quarterly earnings as $0.68 per share. 
However, this fell slightly short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.70 per share and is a marked decrease from the previous year's earnings of $3.16 per share, after adjusting for non-recurring items.
The earnings surprise of -2.86% was a disappointing outcome, es...

The market lacks catalysts and the composite index fell 2.56 points.
Although the dust has settled on the state elections in six states, some large-cap stocks continue to be sold, and the performance of the Malaysian composite index remains weak, consistent with the weak performance of regional exchanges.
As of 12:30 p.m., the composite index closed at 1454.60 points, down 2.56 points or 0.18%.
The half-day trading volume was 2.03 billion shares, with a turnover of 0.906 billion ringgit.
There were 455 advancing stocks, 372 declining stocks, 369 unchanged stocks, and 1133 stocks with no trades.
The exchange rate of the ringgit at 12:30 p.m. was 4.6140 to 1 US dollar.
$FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index (.KLSE.MY)$
source: Nanyang Siang Pau, Klse Pulse
Market focus
Is the result of the state election a blessing or a curse? Sin stocks rose first and then fell.
Is it maintaining the status quo with a 3-3 tie to calm the market, or is the expansion of the Green Wave causing more insecurity for investors? Investors this morning were caught in a tug-of-war on sin stocks, which were heavily influenced by the Green Wave, and there was intense volatility in gaming and beer stocks.
On the first trading day after the state election, investors initially poured into the sin stock sector with optimism. Genting and the two 'big lottery' stocks continued to maintain the momentum they had already 'raced' prior to last week's elections, opening high and then turning lower.