Wall Street set to open higher after jobs report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was set for a higher open on Friday after a jobs report suggested the economy still needs the Federal Reserve's support, which quelled fears that the Fed may end its stimulus efforts sooner than expected.
The Labor Department said 175,000 jobs were added in May, just above the median forecast of economists in a Reuters poll, while the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 7.6 percent, with the increase giving a relatively hopeful sign as it was driven by more workers entering the labor force.

The report showed moderate growth but not enough forward momentum to suggest that the Fed will put the brakes on its bond-buying program in the near future.

"The Fed was getting almost exactly what they hoped for in this number, which is solid employment growth, nothing over the top but certainly nothing disappointing here either," said Darrell Cronk, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank in New York.

"It fell right in this middle ground where the markets can become full with it."
The S&P 500 is up about 13 percent so far this year, after repeatedly hitting record highs. Those gains were triggered in part by the belief the Fed's stimulus would remain in place.

But trading volatility has picked up significantly over the past couple of weeks, reflecting investors' concerns over the longevity of the Fed's stimulus program and over a still-sluggish global economy.
On Friday, Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, said on CNBC that a gradual withdrawal of economic stimulus was "adequate, but we have to get moving."

S&P 500 futures rose 5.8 points and were slightly above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 62 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 14.75 points.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said Thursday it is optimistic that sales at its U.S. stores will recover from recent sluggishness to grow in the second half of the year, in part because shoppers are getting more confident.

Apple shares may be in the spotlight after rival Samsung Electronics Co lost $12 billion in market value Friday, amid concern over slowing sales of its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone. Apple shares were flat in premarket trade.
George Soros's firm, Soros Fund Management, which manages $24 billion of the investor's cash, sold much of its Japanese stock position in May, before the recent, steep sell-off, according to a person close to the matter.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, with the Dow swinging nearly 200 points between the session low and high, and the S&P 500 recovering after hitting a key technical level in volatile trading a day before the release of the U.S. jobs report.
(Additional reporting by Chuck Miklojczak; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

By Angela Moon

IBF proposes revisions to Financial Industry Competency Standards

The Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) has proposed revisions to the Financial Industry Competency Standards (FICS).
SINGAPORE: The Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) has proposed revisions to the Financial Industry Competency Standards (FICS).

This comes after a year-long review to find out if the standards are still relevant in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.

Speaking at an industry event on Tuesday, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong said the FICS must continue to maintain the high standards of competency expected of every financial services practitioner.

Mr Wong is also a board member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Mr Wong said: "With the financial industry admitting thousands of new entrants every year, it is no longer sufficient to provide "on-the-job" training and there is an urgent need to ensure that new entrants undergo structured training and acquire basic competencies before they are admitted into the industry.

"As the global financial landscape changes, Singapore's financial sector will also be affected and Singaporeans working in this sector must equip themselves with relevant competencies to keep pace with the industry's changes."

So, the Institute of Banking and Finance will be enhancing the FICS framework to guide financial sector professionals upgrade their skills.

Among them, streamlining the FICS certification from six to four levels, working with industry veterans to capture their experiences as part of training resources, as well as introducing new foundation programmes for Wealth Management, Corporate Banking and Compliance by the forth quarter this year.

The new programmes will be offered at the Financial Training Institute@SMU, the International Compliance Training Academy, Swiss Asia Banking School and the Wealth Management Institute.

In addition, IBF said new entrants with no prior financial sector experience will now be consider for certification at the foundation level, as long as they undergo FICS training and assessments.
Meanwhile, a new Financial IT Academy@SMU will also be set up to train financial services IT practitioners.

SMU was jointly appointed by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore and the MAS as the lead provider to offer training programmes for the financial services industry.

Another plan is in the strengthening of the financial sector training landscape under the Financial Training Scheme (FTS). The FTS is currently administered by the MAS and it provides incentives to financial institutions to enhance the skills of their workers in Singapore.

The FTS has been widely utilised by the industry - close to 400 financial institutions across various segments tap on the FTS scheme each year.

Responding to industry feedback that it would be useful for a central administrator to review the quality of FTS providers, the MAS has decided to appoint the IBF as the overall administrator for the FICS and FTS schemes.

This is to ensure a comprehensive oversight of the financial sector training landscape.

For a start, IBF will be introducing a new framework to recognise providers and programmes eligible for FTS subsidy. And this will allow for a more transparent and efficient process for the industry in seeking FTS support.

Mr Wong said: "As markets evolve with time, as products and technologies get replaced, the ability to continually enhance our competencies will be our core advantage. This means stronger business innovation and continual upgrading of our skills."

He also encouraged industry players to work with the IBF and MAS to groom local talent and build up capabilities of the financial sector.

- CNA/de

Money Is It Your All?

How you relate to and feel about money has a great impact on how good you are at managing your money and making important financial decisions. 

For example, knowing that you are in the financial red zone because of credit card debt is useful but only knowing won't be enough for you to solve your problem till you take the next step. Which is to examine your current spending and taking  steps to reduce your debt.

Some people who continually rack up consumer debt have a spending addiction. Other people who jump in and out of investments and follow them like a hawk have psychological obstacles that prevent them from holding onto investments. Also there are the philosophical and psychological issues relating to money and the meaning of life. 

Saving more money and increasing your net worth aren't always the best approaches. Sometimes its possible to attach too much significance to personal wealth accumulation and neglect important human relationships in pursuit of more money. Some retirees have a hard time loosening the purse strings and actually spending some of the money they worked so hard to save for their golden years.

Some people actually save too much money. As a guide, it is not ideal if you save so much that lose sight of your ultimate goal which is in the case of most people to enjoy life and look after their friends and family effectively. 

Balancing you financial goals with other important life goals is key to your happiness. What's the point, for example, of staying in a well paid admired profession if you don't care for the work and you are mainly doing it for the financial rewards? Life is too short and precious for you to squander away your days. All of these things need to be considered when you you are thinking about and planning out your personal finances including your credit card debt.

Understanding Cash Flow

Cash flow involves money going in and out of business (on a regular basis). This is often a hard task, because it is often ignored. It is almost as if we go into business wishing and hoping our business makes money. In reality it takes careful planning, hard work and making the hard decisions.

How much cash do you currently have in your business? How much is owed to you (accounts receivable)? How much is overdue? How many accounts is 60 or do days past due? If you don't know this information you could be in serious trouble and not even know it.

How much do you owe? Are your expenses higher than your revenue? If so it's time to make more money and cut expenses. Small business owners often have expenses that are way too high. Expenses should be monitored regularly. Here are some tips to help improve your cash flow:

· Pay your bills on time.
· Get a line of credit before you need it.
· Use credit wisely.
· Don't waste money on inventory you won't need for weeks or month from now.
· Rent a space out to someone else in your store or office or warehouse and add this to your cash flow.
· Upsell and cross sell every customer.
In my opinion cash flow is one of the keys to your business success. It is one that is often overlooked. New Business Owners often go into business without enough money to stay in business (or market their business) or on the other extreme buying expensive equipment or things you don't need. Cash flow management requires careful attention, monitoring and constant scrutiny of each and every expense.


This is often a hard task, because it is often ignored. It is almost as if we go into business wishing and hoping our business makes money. In reality it takes careful planning, hard work and making the right decisions.How much cash do you currently have in your business? How much is owed to you (accounts receivable)? How much is overdue? How many accounts is 60 or do days past due? If you don't know this information you could be in serious trouble and not even know it.

How much do you owe? Are your expenses higher than your revenue? If so it's time to make more money and cut expenses. Small business owners often have expenses that are way too high. Expenses should be monitored regularly. Here are some tips to help improve your cash flow:

Pay your bills on time.
Get a line of credit before you need it.
Use credit wisely.
Don't waste money on inventory you won't need for weeks or month from now.
Rent a space out to someone else in your store or office or warehouse and add this to your cash flow.
Upsell and cross sell every customer.
In my opinion cash flow is one of the keys to your business success. It is one that is often overlooked. New Business Owners often go into business without enough money to stay in business (or market their business) or on the other extreme buying expensive equipment or things you don't need. Cash flow management requires careful attention, monitoring and constant scrutiny of each and every expense.

Managing Cash Flow

Effectively managing the cash flow of your business is really about protecting your bottom line. Turning a profit is great but only if you see the cold hard cash that those paper profits are supposed to be bringing in. If to many customers fail to pay you or pay you late on a consistent basis then your business could land itself in serious trouble without you being aware of how bad the downward spiral really was.

Forward thinking entrepreneurs are acting to protect and even grow their businesses. But this means they are protecting their greatest asset. Cash in the bank. Successful entrepreneurs and growth businesses understand that there is a need especially in rough economic times to protect what they have. Otherwise they may find themselves turning a good profit on their goods or services, but they simply don't get enough money in quickly enough to cover all the money going out of the business to pay for materials, stock, staff and all the other costs of running the business.

The flow of cash into and out of your business is of even greater concern to start up businesses as they are in the position of having to also grow a customer base. This means that a great deal more money will be going out the door than is coming in. With the economy being the way it is, managing and monitoring cash flow is definitely a priority for any business because you don't know what's coming in the door at any given time. You can find your cash levels fluctuating wildly.

The key to managing your cash levels is not to let your debtors get out of hand. Understand your monthly income and expenses. Learn to anticipate and avoid cash problems. Discuss with your banker our accountant how to build working capital reserves. A company may have excess cash but be unprofitable. A company may be profitable but lack cash. You want to be profitable and have that cash as well.

The Solution is to keep cash flow plans up to date. Make sure cash flow plans are realistic. Allow headroom in your cash requirements to counter unexpected variances. Be aware of your current cash position, forecasts and bear in mind potential fluctuations. Closely manage your stock and debtors to minimize needs for working capital. And manage your supply chain to gain maximum credit. Talk to creditors early if you need to extend. The bottom line is that you need to control your cash flow and not be at its mercy.

Financial Planning

Financial Planning can be quite a broad topic.
The 4 main core idea of a proper financial planning involves, Budgeting, Debt management, Retirement planning and Insurance coverage.

Budgeting is one of the main foundation of Financial Planning. Always remember what never comes in, can never be let out.

You need to know how much money you have coming in, how much money you have going out, and the difference between the two. Preferably, you need to have a positive cash flow. If you find that you are spending more than you make, then you need to make efforts to decrease your expenses and/or increase your income.

Once you have an idea of your budget. Time to ease the financial burden and one of it usually involves debt management.
Make a plan on getting out of debt and sticking to it. Having too much of a debt is a huge financial burden. Which will cause you trouble if something unexpected were to happen.

Contribute to retirement savings. Fewer and fewer companies are offering pension plans, and Social Security is not a guaranteed option. You need to be saving for your retirement and planning for the future. You also need to take into consideration that people are living longer these days and so your money is going to have to last you longer.

Make sure you have enough insurance coverage. Once you have created and plan your budget, handled your debt management, and started planning for retirement, then you will need to make sure that you have enough insurance. Not having insurance can destroy all the hard work that you’ve done in trying to get your financial affairs in order.

You need to take into consideration what your needs are as far as health insurance, life insurance, home owners insurance, etc. Don’t be tempted to cut back on your insurance coverage simply to save a few dollars. One disaster is all it takes in order to regret that decision.

If you pay attention to these four basics of financial planning, you will find yourself with a lot less stress and with a lot more financial stability.

Euro down against dollar

SINGAPORE - The euro fell against the dollar in Asia Thursday as euphoria over the US fiscal cliff deal gave way to concerns about future budgetary rows in Washington.

The single currency bought $1.3137 in afternoon Asian trade from $1.3184 in New York late Wednesday, while it was also at 114.62 yen from 115.13 yen.

The greenback traded at 87.25 yen from 87.32 yen.

The dollar lifted against the European unit as doubts emerged over the 11th-hour deal reached Wednesday to prevent the huge tax hikes and spending cuts kicking in that would have likely sent the economy into recession. "Currency traders may be positioning themselves for the troubles that lie ahead for the US economy as Congress confronts spending cuts in two months' time," IG Markets said in a report.

"Investors realised that the fiscal problem is far from over as the debate on raising the debt ceiling looms... we expect an uglier showdown than the tax issue," Phillip Futures stated in their own report.

Stock markets worldwide rallied after US lawmakers cobbled together a last-gasp deal to avert the fiscal cliff on New Year's Day.

However, while the plan saw tax rises for only the rich, lawmakers only delayed the imposition of spending cuts for two months, meaning another debilitating stand-off is almost certain at the end of February.

Other feuds yet to be addressed include lifting the US debt ceiling and funding government operations.

The International Monetary Fund also said Wednesday that US actions to avoid the fiscal cliff did not go far enough to address the country's long-term fiscal deficit and debt problems.

The dollar was mixed against Asia-Pacific currencies. It rose to 1,064.37 South Korean won from 1,064.24 won on Wednesday, to Sg$1.2221 from Sg$1.2207 and to 9,645 Indonesian rupiah from 9,630 rupiah.

However, it fell to 30.37 Thai baht from 30.55 baht and to 40.82 Philippine pesos from 40.90 pesos. The greenback was unchanged at 54.49 Indian rupees and Tw$29.01.

The Australian dollar bought $1.0491 from $1.0464 while China's yuan was at 13.99 yen from 13.98 yen.

Japan's Nikkei hits 22-month high

Japan's Nikkei share average climbed to a 22-month high on its first trading day of 2013, as a deal in Washington to avert the "fiscal cliff" buoyed investor risk appetite and the weaker yen lifted exporters such as Toyota.

The Nikkei ended up 2.8 per cent at 10,688.11, its highest close since March 4th, 2011. It was also the Nikkei's biggest daily percentage gain since March 22nd, 2011. Volume was high, with 3.41 billion shares changing hands on the board, compared with 2.85 billion shares traded in the final business week of 2012.

Exporters were in demand, with Toyota adding 6.4 per cent, Honda advancing 4 per cent and Canon gaining 2.4 per cent. "It's a relief that the US fiscal cliff was averted," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at SMBC Nikko Securities, noting that the market was cheering positive developments that happened while Japanese markets were closed for the New Year holidays this week.

"Exporters should benefit from a weaker yen on expectations that they will have strong forecasts for the next fiscal year."

On Wednesday, US president Barack Obama signed "fiscal cliff" legislation that raises tax rates for top earners and extends tax cuts for the middle class. The yen traded at 87.83 yen to the dollar this morning, its weakest since July 2010. A weaker yen inflates exporters' overseas earnings when repatriated.

Yasuo Sakuma, chief executive of Bayview Asset Management, said carmakers and consumer electronics such as Nikon and Canon would attract strong buying on the back of the weaker yen. "Among exporters, consumer products may outperform compared with, say, machinery makers," Mr Sakuma said.

"Investors prefer them to manufacturers like semiconductor manufacturing equipment, whose customers are companies that are still saving on capital spending."

European stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower open today as concerns that the US Federal Reserve may end its asset-buying programme
ahead of time curbed appetite for shares in the run up to key US jobs data.

Reuters 

GIC’s Lim Chow Kiat to Succeed Ng Kok Song as CIO Next Month

Government of Singapore Investment Corp., manager of more than $100 billion of the city’s reserves, named Lim Chow Kiat group chief investment officer as Ng Kok Song, who served the fund since 1986, retires.

Lim, currently Ng’s deputy, will assume his new role as of February, GIC said in a statement on its website. Ng will advise GIC as head of global investments and as a member of the fund’s international advisory board, according to the statement.

Lim, 42, joined GIC in 1993 and became head of the fixed income, currency and commodities department as well as deputy president of GIC Asset Management in 2008. From 2009 until 2011 he oversaw GIC’s investments and relationships in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In April last year he became deputy group chief investment officer.

“Ng Kok Song has been a great influence in developing the professional investment capability of GIC,” Lim said in the statement. “My focus will be to build on that capability and ensure that the GIC investment process remains robust.”

Ng, 64, started as an investment analyst in Singapore’s ministry of finance in 1970. He joined GIC in 1986, five years after the fund’s inception, and headed the equities and bond department, according to the statement. When he assumed the newly created role of group chief investment officer in 2007, Ng was in charge of integrating GIC’s investment strategies in the public and private markets.

Higher Cash

GIC said in July its cash allocation almost quadrupled to 11 percent of its portfolio in the year ended March from 3 percent a year earlier. Stock holdings fell to 45 percent from 49 percent as it pared equities in developed markets, while bond investments dropped to 17 percent from 22 percent, it said in its annual report.

The so-called 20-year annualized real return was 3.9 percent as of March 2012, unchanged from the previous year, it said. The annualized nominal rate of return in U.S. dollar terms was 3.4 percent over five years, 7.6 percent over 10 years and 6.8 percent over 20 years, it said. The fund, which doesn’t report an annual return or disclose the actual size of its portfolio, will release its next performance figures in July.

GIC is ranked the eighth-largest government investment fund globally by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, which estimates it manages $247.5 billion.

To contact the reporter on this story: Klaus Wille in Singapore at kwille@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at apapuc1@bloomberg.net