Dateline January 20, 2009.

DAILY MARKET REPORT.

Monday Markets Closing Prices.

KLCI 890.28 down 6.19.
DJIA 8,281.22 closed for holiday.
Crude Oil US$34.40.
April FCPO RM1,861.
Ringgit 3.5780.

NEWS.

Malaysian Employers Federation said up to 170,000 workers can be expected to lose their job until 3Q 2009 due to economic slowdown.

COMPANY RESULTS.

TNB Bhd RM6.05. Unaudited 1Q FY 31.8.2009.

Net loss of RM944 million due to RM1.439 billion forex translation loss.
1Q09 revenue up by RM1.6867 billion or 27.2% due to increase in tariff effective July 2008.
Operating expenses up by RM2.318 billion or 48.9% due to higher fuel cost and payment to IPP's. Coal prices in 1Q09 at US$113.9/mt.
Forex losses because of weak ringgit against Yen and USD.
Total TNB borrowings as of 1Q09 at RM24.02 billion with half of its in foreign currency.

Stock Recommendation - Avoid TNB Bhd as the management expect larger forex losses in 2Q09 and until full details of tariff review are available.

Also avoid listed company with large foreign borrowings such as MISC RM8.60, YTL Power Int. RM1.90, TMI RM3.66, etc.


WORLD NEWS.

World Bank forecast global trade to shrink by 2.1% in 2009.

Comment - Still a bullish forecast considering the latest exports numbers by the develop countries showed a significant decrease in exports and imports.

Malaysia need to stimulate domestic economy even further as deepening recession has results in very weak external demand for our exports.

Toll free roads and lower fuel pump prices around RM1.00 per litre are a good start for the government to provide a long lasting impact of putting money into 'rakyat' pocket.