Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Report: FBI probes hacker attack on Citigroup

Wah...be hacker is much better then invest....earn more hahaha

WASHINGTON: The FBI is investigating a hacker attack on Citigroup Inc. that led to the theft of tens of millions of dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The bank strenuously denied the report. Citing anonymous government officials, the Journal reported that the hackers were connected to a Russian cyber gang.

Two other computer systems, at least one of connected to a U.S. government agency, were also attacked.

In a statement, Citi said "any allegation that the FBI is working on a case at Citigroup involving a breach of Citi systems resulting in tens of millions of dollars of losses is false. There has been no breach and there have been no associated losses."

Dow Jones & Co. spokesman Robert Christie said the Journal stands by the accuracy of its story.

The Journal reported that the attack on Citigroup's Citibank subsidiary was detected over the summer, although it may have occurred up to one year earlier.

The FBI, the National Security Agency, the Homeland Security Department and Citigroup worked together to investigate the attack.

Cyber crime is of increasing concern to businesses and the federal government, with President Barack Obama calling it one of the "most serious economic and national security challenges we face."

On Tuesday, Obama announced the appointment of Howard A. Schmidt, a former eBay and Microsoft executive, as the government's cyber security coordinator.

Internet attacks on banks are very common, said Tom Kellermann, a former senior member of the World Bank's Treasury security team and now vice president of security awareness for Core Security Technologies.

While he said he has no knowledge of an attack specific to Citigroup, Kellermann said Tuesday that large financial institutions are "consistently targeted" by criminal organizations in Eastern Europe, Brazil and Southeast Asia.

"Ninety-eight percent of bank heists are now occurring virtually and not in the real world," he said, adding that the industry is "hemorrhaging funds" as a result.

Banks that accept deposits made more than 53,000 reports of wire transfer fraud between April 1996 and the end of 2008, according to the Department of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

These reports are filed when a bank suspects criminal activity, though they are not necessarily evidence that a crime was committed.

Nevertheless, such reports have been increasing.

Nearly 15,000 of these reports were filed in 2008, up from 9,300 the year before.

It's often difficult to determine who pulled off a virtual bank heist.

Hackers tend to use "botnets," worldwide networks of "zombie" personal computers they've infected with viruses without the knowledge of the computers' owners.

And even if the hackers are caught, punishing them is another hurdle.

"Less than 30 countries have actually criminalized cybercrime," Kellermann said. - AP

Gamuda expects projects to boost performance

UALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — Gamuda Bhd expects its performance in the remaining quarters of the current financial year to improve with projects progressing on schedule and recovery of the property market.

The group said that work progress of the electrified double track project is expected to pick up in the remaining quarters of the financial year.

“The work progress was behind schedule due to delays in design approval and late handover of land by the authorities,” it said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia today.

As a result of the handover land delays, the government has granted the project an interim extension of time of 11 months to complete the project, Gamuda said. The project completion date is now revised from January 2013 to December 2013, it said.

On the new Doha International Airport project in Qatar, Gamuda said progress claims submitted to the Qatari Government were being settled within the contractual period.

“Qatar, which is rich in oil and gas resource, is unaffected by the Dubai debt crisis. The project is progressing on schedule,” it said.

Its Yenso Park and Sewage Treatment Plant projects in Vietnam were progressing well and the recent devaluation of the Vietnamese Dong has no significant near term impact, the group said. Gamuda said its established developments like Kota Kemuning, Bandar Botanic and Valencia Development gained the most from the market turnaround in the middle of the last financial year.

“The property sector continues to gain momentum and the results for the quarter showed further improvement and the products in demand for the quarter were semi-detached houses, bungalow homes and commercial shops,” it said.

“With its substantial locked-in unbilled sales of RM700 million, the property division’s performance is expected to improve further in the remaining quarters of the financial year,” it added.

On its water-related concession division, Gamuda said the Selangor state government’s offer to Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) was deemed lapsed and of no effect.

Last month, the state government informed Splash that it was unable to proceed with its takeover offer due to Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd and Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd’s disagreement with its offer to them. Gamuda has a controlling 40 per cent stake in Splash.

For the first quarter ended Oct 31, 2009, Gamuda posted a higher pre-tax profit of RM83.488 million compared to RM71.977 in the same quarter last year.

The increase in pre-tax profit was due to higher contributions from all divisions, it said. The group’s revenue rose to RM623.960 million from RM613.964 million previously. — Bernama

Monday, December 21, 2009

Camera Fever.. which one should i choose..?help


Should I go for nikon 5000D or Canon D1000...Please help...Recently i have camera fever liao.....but share market not looking good now....hai...



Nikon D5000




Canon 1000D

Kencana 1Q net profit at RM30.82m

KUALA LUMPUR: KENCANA PETROLEUM BHD [] posted slightly lower net profit of RM30.82 million in the first quarter ended Oct 31, 2009 compared with RM33.06 million a year ago.

It said on Monday, Dec 21 revenue declined by about 12% mainly due to progress achieved for contracts in hand, which was in line with the project delivery schedule. Profit before tax fell 5% from RM43.9 million to RM41.8 million. Earnings per share were 3.41 sen compared with 3.67 sen.

When compared with the fourth quarter ended July 31, 2009 profit before tax rose 7.5% to RM41.8 million from RM38.9 million.

"The increase in profit before tax for the current quarter was mainly due to better management of costs," it said.

On the outlook, it said capital spending in the upstream oil and gas sector was expected to be resilient despite the lower world oil prices. This was based on continued active exploration and production activities by the oil and gas companies.

Yeah Christmas discount on highway

Class 1 vehicles on the PLUS and ELITE highways will be enjoying a total of 20% discount on toll charges from 12 midnight to 7am (their definition of off-peak) from the 22nd to 24th of December and from the 28th to 30th of December. This is an increase of 10% on top the existing 10% discount currently offered by PLUS and ELITE.

These off-peak hours are beyond the normal bedtimes of many people so please remember to get enough rest before driving. You shouldn’t be driving if you are sleepy. For some people, even getting enough sleep is useless as their body clock tells them they should be asleep during that time. Stop by the highway rest areas whenever necessary and minum kopi!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Iraq aims to power into oil big league


BAGHDAD, Dec 13 — Iraq, emerging from the shadows of war, expects to boost its oil output to rival the level of top producer Saudi Arabia after awarding some of its most attractive oilfields to global energy companies this week.

At the end of a two-day bidding round for 10 oil contracts — the second auction since the 2003 US invasion — Baghdad had received pledges from oil firms to boost output by 4.765 million barrels per day, almost double Iraq’s current output.

If all deals from the two auctions and others on the table are added to national production, Iraq would have output capacity of 12 million barrels per day in six years, overtaking Russia and challenging top exporter Saudi’s 12.5 million bpd, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said.

“Iraq is a powerhouse in the region and it will regain its place, its rightful place,” Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters in Bahrain after the auction concluded.

Iraq has leveraged its huge and cheap-to-pump reserves to lure the world’s top energy firms into deals at knock-down rates.

Some 30 international oil companies braved the threat of violence and attacks to come to Iraq, putting aside security concerns just days after car bombs killed 112 people in Baghdad.

Oil majors from the United States appeared conspicuously uninterested in the fields on offer in the second round, confounding expectations that they might end up with the lion’s share of Iraq’s oil sector as a result of the US-led war.

Security may still be an issue. The series of car bombs on Tuesday was the third major assault on government buildings in Baghdad in four months and a bloody reminder of the fragile security as Iraq heads into a general election in March.

Thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police were deployed in the streets of the capital to protect the auction and army helicopters buzzed overhead. Oil executives travelled in convoys of armoured SUVs with armed guards.

“The terrorists tried to send a message to the companies through the bombings ... that Iraq is unstable and investment will be overshadowed by risks,” Shahristani told state television on Friday night.

“But this message was not delivered and never deceived them. They came and submitted competitive offers that surprised the global oil industry.”

Amid fierce competition, a group led by Russian energy giant Lukoil won a deal to develop the West Qurna Phase Two oilfield, which with 12.9 billion barrels of reserves is one of the world’s largest untapped supergiant fields. Supergiants have reserves of 5 billion barrels or more.

Lukoil’s win was made sweeter by the fact it had lobbied unsuccessfully since the 2003 US invasion to revive a Saddam Hussein-era contract for the field.

The 12.6 billion barrel Majnoon field, another supergiant, went to a partnership of Royal Dutch Shell and Malaysia’s Petronas on Friday.

Only two of five fields offered on the first day were initially awarded as firms steered clear of more dangerous or troublesome areas, including the supergiant East Baghdad field partly under Baghdad’s Sadr City slum, and northern fields where violence is still rife.

The Qayara field in the north near the violent city of Mosul, which was not awarded on Friday, was won by Angolan state-oil firm Sonangol yesterday. Sonangol ceded to Iraq’s demand that it more than halve its fee to US$5 (RM17) a barrel. The African oil giant also won the nearby Najmah field.

For most other fields, companies undercut what the government was willing to pay. The big fields were awarded at lower fees than deals from the first bid round as energy firms upped their game to avoid returning home empty-handed from a rare opportunity to access cheap Middle East reserves.

“They were astonishingly low figures. But 2009 will be remembered as the year that Iraq opened its door to the international oil companies and then shut it. It’s 10 fields and that’s it,” said a senior oil executive.

“So it’s strategic for the oil firms, either you are here or you aren’t and this is the chance.”

Lukoil and Statoil agreed the lowest fee in their deal for West Qurna Phase Two. The firms pledged to boost output to 1.8 million bpd for just US$1.15 per barrel.

Shell and Petronas won Majnoon with a fee of US$1.39 per barrel and a pledge to raise output to 1.8 million bpd, more than double what Iraq expected.

France’s Total had negotiated for that field under Saddam Hussein and was among the front runners to win it. Halfaya, with 4.1 billion barrels of reserves, was consolation for Total. CNPC, Total and Petronas won it with a fee of US$1.40 per barrel and a plateau production target of 535,000 bpd.

Petronas also won the small Gharaf field with Japan’s Japex. Russia’s Gazprom won the Badrah field.

Shahristani told companies that missed out not to worry as Iraq had “scores” of fields, including supergiants, left to offer, he said. — Reuters

Tanjong 3Q net profit up 83% to RM177.7m

KUALA LUMPUR: Power and gaming company Tanjong plc posted net profit of RM177.76 million in its third quarter ended Oct 31, compared with RM97.13 million a year ago as earnings were boosted by the overseas power plants.

It said on Friday, Dec 11, that revenue was marginally higher at RM985.17 million compared with RM986.51 million. Earnings per share were 44.08 sen compared with 24.09 sen.

It declared a third interim gross dividend of 17.5 sen per share for the financial year ended Jan 31, 2010. The dividend will be paid on Jan 15 to shareholders who are on the record of the company as at Jan 4.

Tanjong's power-generation revenue decreased by RM21 million to RM717 million due to a reduction in energy billings by Malaysian power plants, offset by increased revenue from overseas power plants.

However, gaming revenue increased by RM16 million to RM178 million due to seven additional draws.

Group profit before taxation for the current quarter increased from RM139 million to RM253 million due to a higher contribution from overseas power plants, lower corporate and business development costs and a RM55 million provision for windfall profit levy in the corresponding quarter.

Stocks to watch: Tanjong, Tan Chong, Astro, LCL

KUALA LUMPUR: The local stock market may continue to show some consolidation next week, starting Dec 14 in the absence of strong leads from institutional players but there could be some upside for selected stocks from several positive corporate news and underpinned by a firmer close on Wall Street.

Last Friday, the 30-stocks FBM KLCI closed just 0.1 point higher to close at 1,260, driven y late support for selected big caps. The gains were seen in the finance, PROPERTIES [] and PLANTATION []s. Thee is evidently support to ensure the FBM KLCI does not slip below 1,260, the same level it has been hovering for several weeks.

On Wall Street, the Dow and S&P 500 closed up for a third straight session on Friday, Dec 11 after several solid consumer-related reports reinforced investors' confidence in a steady recovery by the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 65.67 points, or 0.63 percent, at 10,471.50. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.06 points, or 0.37 percent, at 1,106.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.55 point, or 0.03 percent, at 2,190.31.

At Bursa Malaysia, stocks to watch include Tanjong plc, TAN CHONG MOTOR HOLDINGS BHD [], Astro All Asia Networks while LCL Corp Bhd and VASTALUX ENERGY BHD [] could see more selling pressure. ETI Tech Corp saw its director disposding of his shares on Dec 9 and 10.

Stocks which could also attract interest are big caps Tenaga Nasional and Maybank and lower liners Petra Perdana and Petra Energy.

Power and gaming company Tanjong posted 3Q net profit of RM177.76 million compared with RM97.13 million a year ago as earnings were boosted by the overseas power plants. Revenue was marginally higher at RM985.17 million compared with RM986.51 million. It declared a third interim gross dividend of 17.5 sen per share.

Tan Chong Motor is making its foray into Vietnam. It received Vietnam's go-ahead to set up a subsidiary that will manufacture and assemble buses, trucks and cars. The company's total investment is expected to be US$15 million (RM50.9 million).

Astro All Asia Networks is aiming to get 500,000 of its current subscribers to take up its high-definition television (HDTV) services, or Astro B.yond, by end-2010.

ASTRO B.yond is an Internet Protocol-ready next generation set-up box that can deliver high-definition TV. Currently, Astro has 2.9 million subscribers in Malaysia, which translates to about 48% household penetration.

LCL may continue to see selling pressure after its share price fell to a historic low 22 sen, down 10 sen, with 41.4 million shares done after it said it could not repay RM72 million to two banks and it could possibly face more defaults.

Malayan Banking is set to raise its stake in Vietnam's An Binh Bank to 20% by acquiring another 5% for US$19.3 million (RM65.5 million) this month. Maybank owns 15% now.


Interest in Tenaga could perk up after Khazanah Nasional disposed of a 2% stake at RM8.10 per share for RM702.7 million. Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, which undertok the placement, said there was strong demand from institutional investors.

Khazanah was the single largest shareholder with 37.77% or 1.6 billion shares before the placement exercise, according to Tenaga's latest annual report.

Petra Perdana is believed to have placed out a 25% stake or 48.8 million shares in PETRA ENERGY BHD [] at RM1.91 for a total of RM93.208 million. However, the name of the buyer was not disclosed.

In Vastalux, vice chairman and executive director Mohamad Nor Abdul Rashid sold anothert five million shares in the open market on Dec 8, reducing his direct stake of 23.94 million shares. He had earlier disposed of 26 million shares in two transactions.

In ETI Tech, director Dennis Chuah sold 15.39 million shares on Dec 9 for 50.9 sen per share while on Dec 10, he disposed of 3.489 million shares for 49.1 sen. He had also acquired 5.546 million shares on Dec 10 at 47.2 sen.

After the recent transactions, Chuah's direct interest was reduced to 103.748 million shares or 15.24%.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

BToto 2Q net profit dips to RM102.5m

KUALA LUMPUR: BERJAYA SPORTS TOTO BHD [] posted net profit of RM102.54 million for the second quarter ended Oct 31, 2009, down 9.8% from RM113.74 million a year ago due to lower revenue from its main principal subsidiary, Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

It said on Thursday, Dec 10 group revenue and pre-tax profit fell 9.0% and 9.2% respectively. The decrease in revenue from RM941.8 million to RM857.1 million and decrease in pre-tax profit from RM162.4 million to RM147.4 million were mainly due to the lower revenue recorded by Sports Toto.

However, the decrease in revenue was mitigated by higher revenue reported by Prime Gaming Philippines, Inc.

"Sports Toto recorded a decrease in revenue and pre-tax profit of 9.4% and 8.9% respectively compared to the previous year's corresponding quarter.

"The decrease in revenue was mainly due to the previous year having the benefit of stronger sales from the high Jackpots in the Mega 6/52 game. The lower decrease in pre-tax profit was due to a lower prize payout in the current quarter," it said.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Peugeot to buy stake in Mitsubishi

TOKYO (AP): Shares in Mitsubishi Motors Corp. jumped 18 percent Thursday following a report that French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen will buy a 30 to 50 percent stake in Japan's No. 4 automaker.

The Nikkei business daily said Peugeot Citroen will spend up to 300 billion yen ($3.4 billion) to acquire the stake in Mitsubishi. Investors took heart from the report, lifting shares in Mitsubishi by 17.6 percent to 140 yen in the morning session.

Mitsubishi declined to confirm the report, which gave no sources. But the Japanese company issued a statement saying: "There are no facts to be announced."

The paper said Peugeot Citroen - Europe's second biggest car company - and Mitsubishi are in the final stages of capital tie-up talks. The deal could effectively put Mitsubishi under Peugeot Citroen's control, creating the world's sixth-largest automobile alliance.

The French carmaker may seek more than a 50 percent stake in Mitsubishi, hoping to tap into Mitsubishi's expertise in electric vehicles and other environmental technology, the paper said.

The two companies already have collaborated, agreeing to launch an electric car in Europe by the end of 2010.

It will be based on Mitsubishi's i-MiEV, which was launched on the Japanese market in June.

Mitsubishi will make 2,000 units of the i-MiEV in the current fiscal year to March 2010. The company said Thursday it aims to boost i-MiEV production to 15,000 units by March 2012.

Mitsubishi and Peugeot Citroen have also agreed to set up an auto factory in Russia to make mid-sized sport utility vehicles.

Production at the Russian joint venture will begin in early 2012.

Mitsubishi had formed a capital tie-up with DaimlerChrysler AG, which held a 37.3 percent stake in the Japanese automaker.

But DaimlerChrysler sold the entire stake in Mitsubishi in 2005, ending the tie-up.

Kuwait sells Citi stake, makes US$1.1b

KUWAIT: Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund said on Sunday it had sold its stake in US bank Citigroup, making US$1.1 billion (RM3.7 billion) in profit.

Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) transferred the preferred stocks it owned in Citigroup to normal stocks and sold all of them for US$4.1 billion, KIA said in a statement.

"Kuwait Investment Authority had invested an amount of US$3 billion in Citigroup in the form of preferred stocks in January 2008," KIA said.

Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund, which manages state assets in the world's fourth-biggest oil exporter, has come under fire from some parliamentarians for investing US$5 billion in Citigroup and Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch has since been bought by Bank of America.

The value of foreign assets managed by the KIA, fell by about nine billion dinars (RM104.6 billion) in the nine months to December 2008, due to the financial crisis, two lawmakers said in February after a government briefing. KIA managed assets worth about 49 billion dinars at Dec 31, the MPs said.

Since October 2008, KIA has reduced the exposure of its key Future Generation fund to global equities markets, shifting assets to cash funds, the government said in January.

In May, Kuwait's Finance Minister Mustapha al-Shamali told Reuters that the Gulf state was not reducing its dollar assets and was keeping some liquid assets to meet its budget requirements. - Reuters

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Green Packet's P1 wins RM41.5m project

Written by Joseph Chin
Wednesday, 02 December 2009 18:48

KUALA LUMPUR: GREEN PACKET BHD [] has secured a contract worth RM41.5 million from the government to provide broadband to underserved areas in Malaysia.

The company said on Wednesday, Dec 2 the universal service provision project tender from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission was to roll out broadband services using 4G WiMAX in Perak and Kedah.

"The contract will not have any material effect on the earnings of Green Packet Group for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2009 but is expected to contribute positively to the earnings of group in the future," it said