Takeaways from Lee Heng Guie, CIMB head of economics.

Two presenters: Head of economics, Malaysia and Equity Strategist

Key items:

• The RPGT will be enacted on the opening date. As long as the property sold is before end of this year, you will not get taxed.
• They see a higher chance for a slow recovery than a w or v shaped one.
• Foreign investing in Malaysia is basically a small portion for big fund managers. Despite the insignificant FDI, we still tend to trade in line with other asian economies.
• They see the economic recovery slow but equities are in a bull market but take some profits at this time.
• Malaysia will decouple from the US and world economy at sometime in the future.
• Credit Card service fees will likely stick: service tax of RM50 per card.
  

From my view, they are somewhat inconsistent at times. For instance, they are a buyer of equities but conclude that economic recovery will still be slow. They predict a decoupling from the world economy at sometime in the future, but I imagine they don't have a time frame on that.

My view is that we are in bear market rally and will bounce between highs and lows much like Japan did after their bubble burst. The decoupling will take a long time to happen, and will not happen for years, at least not as quickly as they are predicting. In the mean time, there is still money to be made or lost for a medium term investor.