Business
Phuket Investor: The alternative gold rush

PHUKET: With all the economic strife the world has seen over the past 12 months, I feel as if I’ve turned into a portrayer of doom. So, I’m taking the doom gloves off and jumping on the feel good train, which seems to have hit the European markets this last couple of weeks.
I’m not saying that the problems have gone, far from it, but at least wheels have been put in motion that should stabilize the financial markets in the short term.
The Eurozone’s agreement to further prop up the banking system has given us a small respite from all too familiar financial ruin stories.
However, one thing has come to my attention. Even through all this economic turmoil there are still a few decent bets out there that could potentially turn out a satisfactory profit.
The meteoric rise of the price of Gold over the last few years has been nothing short of astounding – however a correction does seem to be underway. Even though the price of Gold has risen sharply, one area that hasn’t had the same turbo charged boost is the Gold mining companies. This now is beginning to look like a very attractive area for investment.
The graph on the right shows an example of how a selection of Gold mining companies have further lagged behind the physical gold price, and thus, this in itself provides an opportunity for significant rises.
Gold mining stocks have taken a real hammering recently and there are clearly some valid reasons why you should be cautious about gold companies. Many of the major mining companies made a stupid decision a few years ago to hedge their reserves, by selling gold futures (contracts to deliver a certain amount of gold in the future). This locked them out of rising prices.
Also, Asian demand for gold, one of the key drivers of the soaring price, could be hit if China makes it harder to buy gold, or India imposes a rumored tax on jewelery.
All this aside however, it would seem that since April, gold mining stocks, like other mining industry stocks, have underperformed the underlying metal.
In our view, this kind of under-performance is only partly explained by stock-specific issues and by a general trend towards higher industry costs. Despite rising industry costs, we have seen expanding margins in the gold industry, leading to significant improvements in return on equity for gold miners for the first time in many years.
There is an expected rebound in gold mining equities, as the gap between equities and the underlying metal has widened to unsustainable levels. Gold mining stocks are showing very attractive valuation fundamentals, with the market apparently ignoring current gold prices.
These attractive valuation fundamentals could herald an excellent buying opportunity in general. A potential near term re-rating of up to 20%, particularly for the larger gold players.
This is one area I’ll certainly be keeping a close eye on, and in my view could potentially be a wise choice in helping a flagging portfolio get back on track.
For any information relating to Gold mining stocks please contact Alyman@montpeliergroup.com. Anthony Lyman is a Senior Financial Consultant with the Montpelier Group.
— Anthony Lyman
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Business
Governments & old media versus social media – who will win? | VIDEO

We look at the recent changes made by the Australian and Indian governments to except control over the world’s biggest social media platforms. India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social. There is now an open battle between the rise of social media platforms and the governments and ‘old’ media that have been able to maintain a certain level of control over the ‘message’ for the last century. Who will win?
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told. The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Business
The social media giants in battle with ‘old’ media and world governments | VIDEO

“The rules signal greater willingness by countries around the world to rein in big tech firms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter that the governments fear have become too powerful with little accountability.”
India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social.
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The companies are also being made to publish a compliance report each month with details about how many complaints they’ve received and the action they took.
They’ll also be required to remove ‘some’ types of content including “full or partial nudity,” any “sexual act” or “impersonations including morphed images”
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told.
The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Business
Turbulence ahead for Thailand’s aviation industry | VIDEO

When the airlines, in particular, were asking the government to put their hands in their pockets for some relief funding in August last year, it was genuinely thought that international tourists would be coming back for the high season in December and January. At the very least local tourists and expats would head back to the skies over the traditional holiday break. And surely the Chinese would be back for Chinese New Year?
As we know now, none of that happened. A resurge in cases started just south of Bangkok on December 20 last year, just before Christmas, kicking off another round of restrictions, pretty much killing off any possibility of a high season ‘bump’ for the tourist industry. Airlines slashed flights from their schedule, and hotels, which had dusted off their reception desks for the surge of tourists, shut their doors again.
Domestically, the hotel business saw 6 million room nights in the government’s latest stimulus campaign fully redeemed. But the air ticket quota of 2 million seats still has over 1.3 million seats unused. Local tourists mostly skipped flights and opted for destinations within driving distance of their homes.
As for international tourism… well that still seems months or years away, even now.
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