Umana’s dreams come true against Greece |
- Umana’s dreams come true against Greece
- US Marine, listed as deserter, back in military custody
- FTN Financial, the firm that gives some of the best bond-market advice
- Record 18,000 residents involved in Singapore PAssionArts fest
- Next Media Video: Mexican helicopter fires at US agents in Arizona
- The Times: Osborne may merge income tax, national insurance
| Umana’s dreams come true against Greece Posted: 29 Jun 2014 05:53 PM PDT
Umana calmly slotted the ball in the net to send Costa Rica into the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time, saying he believed it was his destiny. "Last night, I dreamt this," he said in a post match interview. "It seems untrue. I was relaxed because I dreamed it. "I dreamed it but I didn't tell anyone. I felt very confident." Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto said he was also confident his team would win the penalty shootout even though his players had run themselves to the point of exhaustion. Reduced to 10 men when defender Oscar Duarte was sent off for a second bookable offence after 66 minutes, Costa Rica gave up an equaliser in stoppage time then held on grimly in extra time to force a 1-1 draw. "We had analysed everything, who would take the penalties, who would go first, second and third," said Pinto, who was banished from the sideline after he incurred a red card for arguing with the referee and forced to watch the shootout from the tunnel. "We talked about this, that if we played for 120 minutes with one player less, we would take the penalties. It's the law of compensation." Pinto also paid tribute to Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas who pulled off a series of stunning saves during the match then a one-handed stop to keep out Theofanis Gekas's fourth spot-kick in the shootout, which Costa Rica won 5-3. "He's one of the best goalkeepers in the world. We continued with our ten men, and knew if we could not win we were happy to go to penalties," Pinto said.
"He is an extraordinary man, and he was recognised today for his abilities." Costa Rica have emerged as one of the feel good stories of the World Cup, unexpectedly topping a group that included former champions Italy, Uruguay and England. Despite their relatively small population of just under 5 million, the Central Americans have defied the odds to advance to the last eight and a showdown with the Netherlands. And Pinto said the dream may not be over yet. "To the people of Costa Rica, this is for you. This is a people that love football, this is to you. You will feel a lot of happiness," Pinto said. "We will continue fighting, we will go on, we see beautiful things, but we want to develop and move on. Costa Rica now face the Netherlands in a World Cup quarter-final in Salvador on Saturday. "The Netherlands is a world class team, great players, brilliant players," Pinto said. — Reuters  |
| US Marine, listed as deserter, back in military custody Posted: 29 Jun 2014 05:52 PM PDT
Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun, 34, is scheduled to return today to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 9-1/2 years after he failed to report for duty there on January 5, 2005, following a visit to his family, the Marines said. He had since been listed as a deserter, the service added. "The Naval Criminal Investigative Service worked with Cpl. Hassoun to turn himself in and return to the United States to face charges under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice," the Marine Corps said in a statement. Media reports said he gave himself up in Bahrain. Hassoun was first charged with desertion 10 years ago after disappearing from his base near Falluja, Iraq, in June 2004 and then turning up in Lebanon a month later saying he had been kidnapped by militants. After a five-month investigation, the Marines alleged that Hassoun had "taken unauthorized leave of the unit where he served as an Arabic interpreter," the service said in a 2004 release. During his disappearance, Hassoun was seen in a videotape, apparently being held by militants, blindfolded and with a sword poised over his head. An Islamic militant website said later he had been beheaded. But he showed up unharmed at the US Embassy in Beirut in July 2004. Hassoun denied deserting and told reporters he had been captured and held against his will. Shortly before the start of military proceedings against him, Hassoun failed to report back to Camp Lejeune after visiting his family in Utah. According to media reports, Hassoun fled the United States through Canada and went to Lebanon, where he was born. Media reports quoted a Marine official as saying Hassoun's case had no connection with that of US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who spent five years as a Taliban prisoner of war before being released last month in an exchange for five Taliban leaders held at the Guantanamo prison in Cuba. The exchange sparked a political uproar in Washington. ― Reuters |
| FTN Financial, the firm that gives some of the best bond-market advice Posted: 29 Jun 2014 05:51 PM PDT
Working for a firm based about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) from Wall Street with roots that date back to the Civil War, FTN's Jim Vogel and Chris Low were among the few who correctly urged investors to ignore the consensus calling for an inevitable selloff in bonds this year. Since at least 2011, FTN's head of interest-rate strategies and chief economist have rightly gone against the pack by calling for low yields. While the bears point to signs of budding inflation and reduced purchases by the Federal Reserve as reasons to stay away from bonds, FTN says Treasuries — the global benchmark for everything from home mortgages to emerging-market debt — are years away from reverting to pre-financial crisis levels as the labour market struggles. Getting it right has never been more important after a borrowing binge helped push the amount of debt globally to US$100 trillion (RM321 trillion) from US$70 trillion in 2007. "If you don't expect interest rates to go back to where they were in the last cycle, you're essentially asserting that something is very different in this cycle," Low, 49, said in a June 24 telephone interview. "You can make that case more easily with every year that goes by when growth remains weak and several hundred thousand people fall out of the labour force." Bond rally Bond investors following consensus forecasts would have missed out on global returns this year that average 4.2 per cent, the best since at least 1997 when Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes began tracking the data. Treasuries have returned 3.1 per cent after losing 3.4 per cent in 2013. FTN, with offices 11 miles from the musical gates to Graceland, was one of 12 forecasters in a Bloomberg News survey of 67 in January that predicted yields on Treasury 10-year notes would be below 3 per cent by June 30. FTN's forecast of 2.6 per cent compared with 2.53 per cent on June 27. Economists and strategists say they weren't wrong, just early. The median estimate in a survey taken from June 6 to June 11 is for yields to end the year at 3.07 per cent. Vogel and Low are calling for 2.55 per cent. Surveys by Bloomberg show the consensus has a track record of overestimating yields after the Fed cut its benchmark interest rate to virtually zero in 2008 to bolster the economy in the wake of the demise of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the collapse of the housing market. Faulty forecasts Quarterly forecasts for 10-year yields made 12 months forward have overshot market outcomes by an average of 0.68 percentage point since January 2009. That's because the consensus expected the Fed's actions to result in more spending and inflation, as has historically happened when the central bank eased monetary policy. "The market has assumed for the past couple of years that you'd see a pattern like we had in the past, so you have this expectation of higher rates," Priscilla Hancock, a global fixed-income strategist with J.P. Morgan Asset Management in New York, said in a June 25 interview. The asset-management arm of the biggest investment bank by revenue has lowered its year-end forecast for the 10-year yield to 3 per cent from 3.5 per cent. Anticipated bond losses have been pinned to signs of faster economic growth that would allow the Fed to stop buying Treasuries and mortgage securities as a means of injecting cash into the financial system and eventually raise rates. Uneven recovery The Labour Department's June 6 report showed nonfarm payrolls grew in May to above the pre-recession peak. Less than two weeks later, the consumer price index for May increased 2.1 per cent from a year earlier, the biggest jump since 2012. Other data reveal the uneven nature of the recovery. The so-called participation rate, which shows the share of working- age people in the labour force, held at 62.8 per cent in May, matching the lowest since March 1978. Wages and salaries have increased 2.5 per cent year-over-year on average since the recession, compared with 4.3 per cent in the previous expansion. An aging population, less spending, slower inflation and greater demand for low-risk, income-producing investments, will keep yields low for years to come, according to Jeffrey Gundlach, the star fixed-income manager at Doubleline Capital LP in Los Angeles whose mutual fund beat 96 per cent of its rivals the past three years. Estimates for US growth in 2014 were marked down to 2.2 per cent from 2.5 per cent the month before, according to economists in a June 6 to June 11 Bloomberg survey. The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast on June 16 to 2 per cent from 2.8 per cent in April. Economic analysis "Some of the growth we wish we could go back to was far more frail than most people realise," Vogel, 58, said in a June 23 telephone interview. Economic growth averaged 2.8 per cent during the previous expansion from the end of 2001 through 2007. Many forecasts for higher yields reflect the teachings of "old analysis" that has become less applicable in an economy where more than three years of rising employment has yet to be joined by higher wages, Vogel said. The market for interest-rate futures shows traders are lowering their estimates of how high the target federal funds rate will go once the central bank starts tightening. Prices now show it ending up at 3.13 per cent, compared with bets of more than 4 per cent at the start of the year. In January 2011, when 10-year yields reached 3.49 per cent, FTN was the only firm in a Bloomberg survey of 70 analysts to predict the 10-year yield would fall to 2 per cent. The median estimate was 3.75 per cent, while the yield ended the year at 1.88 per cent. Record yields In May 2012, when the 10-year note was trading at 1.79 per cent, Low said Europe's financial turmoil and slow growth might push 10-year yields to 1.5 per cent. The yield fell to a record low 1.379 that July. Low started his career in 1987 at Carroll McEntee & McGinley, a primary dealer. Low joined FTN, which trades bonds with institutions and advises on fixed-income portfolios, in 1998 when it opened its New York office. He has been collaborating with Vogel on interest-rate calls since 2000. After leaving his first job as a business reporter for a now-defunct Memphis newspaper in 1978, Vogel was hired by FTN, working in the corporate treasurer's office, then moving to fixed-income in 1982. The bond market consensus is coming around to the view of Vogel and Low. The year-end 10-year yield consensus has declined to 3.05 per cent from 3.44 per cent in January. Citigroup Inc. lowered its projection on June 27 to 2.95 per cent from 3.35 per cent, citing the Fed's reduced estimate for the ultimate level of its federal funds rate target. Expensive bets Traders are finding it too expensive to keep betting against bonds, forcing them to buy the securities to exit their so-called short positions, said Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research LLC in Chicago. He said he expects 10-year yields to fall to 2.25 per cent this year. "The relationship between nominal growth and interest rates is not as strong as they think it is," Bianco said in a June 25 telephone interview. "If you want a fundamental reason for the squeeze, the growth is not there. If rates go to 3.5 per cent, every single person makes money on it except Chris Low and me, because we're the only ones who are bullish on the market." — Bloomberg |
| Record 18,000 residents involved in Singapore PAssionArts fest Posted: 29 Jun 2014 05:51 PM PDT
This year, about 125,000 residents turned up at 40 arts villages in different neighbourhoods and a record-high of about 18,000 residents came together to co-create visual art installations with 80 artists. At PAssionArts Festival @ Sembawang yesterday, 3D paintings by residents of old Sembawang landmarks such as Rotherham Gate, Canberra Gate, Sultan Theatre, Old Sembawang Fire Station and Andrew's Avenue Coffee Shop were showcased. Old kampung games and traditional food were on hand to enhance the feeling of nostalgia. — TODAY |
| Next Media Video: Mexican helicopter fires at US agents in Arizona Posted: 29 Jun 2014 05:46 PM PDT Duration: 00:38, Published 30 Jun 2014 A Mexican military helicopter crossed into Arizona and fired two shots at US border agents on Thursday (June 26), according to US authorities. ― Reuters |
| The Times: Osborne may merge income tax, national insurance Posted: 29 Jun 2014 05:37 PM PDT
The paper said Downing Street was actively considering the plan. Fears that merging of the two systems would lead to security concerns had caused Osborne to pull back from making an announcement in April, the paper said citing a source. "We came within a whisker of doing this at the last budget, but in the end we decided against it," the Times quoted a source as saying. "They are currently on two separate computer systems and we thought the risk was just too great. But it's something we could do in the next parliament." The Treasury's press office could not be reached for comment outside of regular business hours. — Reuters |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malay Mail Online | All To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
