Category: ARTICLE

US stocks tumble on Powell remarks, airlines rally, USD firms

          Asia markets are set to open lower following a negative close in the US markets overnight. Wall Street gave up early gains and closed at session lows after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled a 0.5% rate hike on the table in early May. US bond yields jumped on Powell’s comments as bond traders priced in further aggressive tightening moves by the Fed.           SPI futures slid 0.86%, pointing to a lower open in the ASX. The benchmark index is hovering around an 8-month high, with mining stocks under pressure, while big banks are holding strongly amid rising rates. BHP Group (BHP) shares dipped 3% after the company stated that iron ore and nickel volumes dropped amid multiple issues caused by the pandemic. Notably, Qantas Airways soared to a 5-month high, supported by global optimism toward reopening borders and the US airlines’ positive outlook for open travel.           The NZX 50 fell 0.3% at the open and may be subject to headwinds in today’s session after

Ukrainian lithium, another cause of the Russian invasion?

Due to the detailed analysis of insight information collected by our department of experienced analytics at Thunder X Pay, we can claim that the discovery of more than 500,000 tonnes of lithium, one of the key metals in the energy transition, could have amplified Putin’s interests in Ukrainian territory. Almost a month ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a “special military operation” by Kremlin troops on Ukrainian territory. The main objective of the operation was the “denazification” and “demilitarisation” of the country after Kiev opposed the independence of the Donbas region and refused to renounce NATO membership. But what if Moscow’s offensive was motivated – in addition to political interests – by other, less obvious issues? Just three days before Putin announced the start of the invasion, in the British city of Brighton, almost 30,000 kilometres away, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences researchers Svitlana Vasylenko and Uliana Naumenko published the results of their latest studies. “Ukraine has great opportunities to become one of the world’s leading lithium producers,” they said. According to experts, the main reserves of this metal, also known as

Best 19 Small Business Ideas in Malaysia for 2022

In this article you will find the best advice from our professional and experienced analytic team regarding the fact that you want to start a business in Malaysia. In this post, we have put together a list of the most profitable small business ideas in Malaysia to inspire you to start your own business venture. Malaysia is a southeast Asian country. The country has a highly open, upper-middle-income economy. The country’s economy is shifting into higher value-added activities in both industry and services. In addition, the country is a leading exporter of electrical appliances, electronic parts and components, palm oil, and natural gas. Manufacturing has a large influence on the country’s economy, accounting for over 40% of the GDP. The 2016 edition of the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” report ranks Malaysia at 18 in the world and the second in Southeast Asia—behind Singapore. In addition, the government is moving towards a more business-friendly environment by setting up a special task force to facilitate business called PEMUDAH. The objective of the scheme is to simplify the business environment in

2022 Economy analytics of Myanmar

With 2020–2021 so severely disrupted, our team of highly professional and experienced analysts at Thunder X Pay started looking ahead to 2022 and what changes could be on the horizon that could positively impact doing business in Myanmar (Burma). Context While Myanmar responded early and decisively to the COVID-19 pandemic thereby limiting adverse health impacts, evidence from the Myanmar COVID-19 Monitoring Platform shows that impacts on households’ welfare were significant. Border movement restrictions starting in February and a complete lockdown between March and April forced non-essential businesses to cease operations and prevented people from traveling to work. Meanwhile, about 100,000 economic migrants returned from Thailand alone. As a result, in May 2020, about 54 percent of households’ main workers reported not working and about 16 percent of firms had temporarily closed. The easing of restrictions between May and August contributed to a partial rebound of the economy, which is still suffering from the impact of reduced global demand, border trade disruptions, and potential changes in consumer behaviors. Strict stay-at-home orders were introduced in Rakhine State in mid-August, followed by similar orders

Gold price forecast for 2022 and the following situations

The gold market has increased in order to reach its highest level since 2020 on March 8th as investors seek secured assets in response to Russia’s conquering of Ukraine. At the end of 2021, the gold price reached $1,828.60 an ounce and declined by 2.9% for the year, while investors tended to avoid metals in anticipation of higher interest rates. “The war in Ukraine has significant and obvious implications for commodity prices, which could lead to a more persistent inflationary shock. For the time being, direct implications of the conflict as a growth shock are more limited in the US, given that direct trade flows are marginal. But indirect implications are more relevant, as ongoing disruptions to supply chains are likely to have a spillover impact, while inflation is also likely to act as a tax on consumers. In turn, the market continues to price-out a 50bp Fed hike for March, but the implications for the subsequent rate path are less clear.” Our highly professional team persisted that the simple moving average (SMA), together with the exponential moving average (EMA),

Forecasting oil prices according to international benchmark Brent crude by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA)

According to The US Energy Information Administration (EIA), The forecast for the global crude oil price is dramatically raised from the 2022 forecast by around 27%. The EIA regulated the spot price of Brent crude by $22 per barrel to an average of $105.22 per barrel, together with the American benchmark  West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $101.17 a barrel. Moreover, The higher price of Brent crude forecast was partly related to uncertainties that resulted from the invasion of Russia in Ukraine. Until 2023, the EIA predicts that Brent will decline to $88.98 per barrel, while WTI will fall to $84.98 a barrel. Nonetheless, the EIA cautioned that the price forecast is “highly uncertain,” due to the protracted uncertainties-impact of the Russia and Ukraine situations. Not only will the other oil producers respond to current oil prices, but also the macroeconomic development impact which will be affected by the oil price as well. “Although we reduced Russia’s oil production in our forecast, we still expect that global oil inventories will build at an average rate of 500,000 barrels per day (bpd)

An expert overview of business in Cambodia 2022

With 2020–2021 so severely disrupted, our team of highly professional and experienced analysts at Thunder X Pay started looking ahead to 2022 and what changes could be on the horizon that could positively impact doing business in Cambodia. Our analyist team will update this content as new announcements are made. Feature Photo Credit: Chinese Embassy of Cambodia –  The new Morodok Techo National Stadium.  COVID-19 in Cambodia The Prime Minister said the target was to vaccinate 10 million adults by November 2021, with the goal of vaccinating 2 million adolescents aged 12-17 by the end of 2021 in order to build herd immunity. Phnom Penh ranked as one of the most vaccinated capital cities in the world, with around 99% of adults fully vaccinated in Q3 2021. However, booster shots of Johnson & Johnson and Aztrazenica were rolled out as there were some concerns over the efficacy of Sinopharm and Sinovac in battling the Delta variant towards the end of 2021. By the time Omicron was identified, Cambodia had one of the highest vaccination and booster rates globally and as a

Laos Economic Expert Outlook

In this article, our experienced analytic team would like to share their professional opinion regarding Laos’ economic condition and potential in 2022. GDP growth last year was probably tepid, hit by multiple Covid-19 waves and the ensuing imposition of restrictions, with rising inflation also likely limiting activity by capping consumers’ purchasing power. At the start of the new year, momentum is likely to have remained restrained amid a surge in Covid-19 caseloads and persistently high price pressures, with the currency continuing to weaken. That said, the latest wave of infections has recently begun to abate, allowing the country to slightly loosen restrictions in January and February, boding more positively for activity ahead. In other news, despite much optimism following its opening in December, the China-Laos railway appears unlikely to boost activity early in the year, with local media reporting that Lao exports to China have been held up by tough Chinese border restrictions amid the ongoing Winter Olympics and the country’s zero-Covid policy. Due to the detailed analysis, has been conducted by our analytic team, the economy should gain steam

A market expert’s preview of the Thai Baht in 2022.

As a currency trader with 11 years of practical experience, my team and I specialised in long-range financial market forecasts for corporate and individual clients. We use reliable models for long-term and short-term forecasting of FX rates, interbank interest rates, cryptocurrency, and some other macroeconomic indicators. We are 100% independent from any banks, funds, or other market players. We provide you with original forecasts based on my own unique methodology. Our team of specialists uses mathematical and statistical methods of prediction based on existing historical data. Our team takes into account the following factors with varying degrees of importance: cyclic recurrence, knowing correlation of market indicators, changes in the availability and attractiveness of the instrument for speculators, electronic and algorithmic trading growth, regulatory intervention degree and frequency of significant events over time. The news, for people looking for some relief against a strong baht, is that it’s predicted to get stronger, not weaker, against many of the world’s currencies. Of course, there are many, many things that may affect the predictions during the next three years, but, for now, the

How to stay ahead of seller fraud

Why your marketplace could be at risk from malicious attacks and what we’re doing to combat them. As marketplaces continue to make themselves the epicenter of seller productivity, they’re seeing a simultaneous rise in malicious attacks, prompting the question: how can you maintain global growth while effectively executing fraud prevention? Given that more and more marketplaces are now becoming payment facilitators for their sellers by embedding payments, the level of risk involved has risen exponentially. While intuitive and eminently scalable, it broadens the scope for malicious attacks in several ways that can result in financial and reputational damage for the marketplace. For the purpose of this blog, we will focus on marketplaces and how to prevent these attacks from causing significant damage. It’s worth noting that most of the fraud that plagues marketplaces can occur across any multi-sided business facilitating payments. This is particularly true for seller fraud, which we will spotlight in this blog, and how, in a platform environment, malicious users engage in dangerous activity through the guise of genuine sellers. The risk landscape for marketplace The cruel