Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : VLSI Technology - Waiting for good news from NASDAQ !!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maui Jim who wrote (3503)	6/1/1998 9:21:00 PM
From: E.J. Neitz Jr	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6565

Jim- I Understand their Products--Malaysia & Asia Worry Us This is on Malaysia --From the Street.com--Demand for Cel Phones Etc--will drop sharply in Asia Countries---- David DeRosa: Bad News and Worse out of Malaysia By David DeRosa Special to TheStreet.com 6/1/98 3:39 PM ET Here is the bad news on Malaysia: First-quarter gross domestic product shrank 1.8%. That is worse than expected. Now, here is the really bad news: Imports into Malaysia fell 18.6% and exports out of Malaysia fell 10.6%, both measured in U.S. dollars. What this tells me is that domestic demand is contracting rapidly. And why not? They are busted. Now, the export figures are even more ominous. Sure, the market demand from the United States and Europe is growing but the problem is Asia. And with the news out of Japan, well, let's just say it doesn't look good. Talk to anyone from there recently? Bet I know what they are saying to you -- it's all the fault of the evil foreign speculators. Denial is an expensive hobby. Meanwhile, we have Mr. Suharto's adopted son, Mr. Habibie, trying to run Indonesia. Elections are promised but it is not at all likely that any meaningful recovery can take place until someone, somehow restores confidence in the government. You can forget about stabilizing the rupiah -- what was it the Bank of Indonesia was saying, 6,000 to the dollar? Huh. It's trading around 12,000 right now. Many things influence the value of a currency -- current accounts, monetary policy, fiscal policy, interest rates -- but nothing matters more than whether there is a basic state of confidence in the government. Beyond that, I am waiting to see what can be done to bring some stability to the situation of the ethnic Chinese Indonesians. By my reckoning, Indonesia goes nowhere without the Chinese business community -- and there is a lot of fence-mending left to be done. Pressing on all of these countries is the weakness of the yen. I note that one bank after another is revising its forecast to 150. Its always nice when markets tell you a nice, clean story. The deeper Japan goes into the economic dumper, the lower goes the Nikkei, the higher go the Japanese government bonds, and lower goes the yen. Japan in a nutshell. Very simple. How bad can it get? A lot worse, I am afraid. So much for the Asian century!