Wall Street drops as investors wary of weak earnings

Wall Street drops as investors wary of weak earnings: NEW YORK: U.S. stocks slipped in light trading on Monday, pulling back from recent five-year highs ahead of an earnings season expected to be weak.

Astro IPO Blue Form undersubscribed

Astro IPO Blue Form undersubscribed:

For the Astro Blue form IPO, it is undersubsribed,meaning those who apply will get the shares, provided there is no error in the filling up the form etc.
Astro subscribers can apply 3000 shares via the blue form.
The final retail price and final institutional price have been fixed at rm3.00.
For some unsuccesful applicants applying white form online, already know the result via funds being returned back into bank account.
Did u strike? Blue or white form or ATM or online?
More on Astro IPO
http://politemarket.blogspot.com/search/label/Astro

Axiata, CIMB, Public Bank lead KLCI higher

Axiata, CIMB, Public Bank lead KLCI higher: Shares of Axiata, CIMB and Public Bank led the FBM KLCI higher at midday, though the 30-stock index was off its morning high of 1,668, as some investors took profit ahead of the weekend.

U.S. House Intelligence panel head blackballs China's Huawei

U.S. House Intelligence panel head blackballs China's Huawei: WASHINGTON: U.S. companies should avoid doing business with China's Huawei, the world's No. 2 maker of telecommunications gear, for fear its equipment could open doors for spying, the head of the U.S. House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee said.

China expected to cut fuel prices this month

China expected to cut fuel prices this month: BEIJING, Oct 6 – China is expected to reduce its petrol and diesel prices this month due to an anticipated drop in the price of international crude oil price. According to data showed by China’s major oil industry service provider, Chem99.com, prices of a basket of crude oil prices, namely Brent, Dubai and Cinta had on an average dropped 1.86 per ...

31% of Americans without health insurance live in households making $50k or more, and 38% are between 18-34 years old

31% of Americans without health insurance live in households making $50k or more, and 38% are between 18-34 years old:
The Census Bureau recently released its annual study on “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011,” and reported that in 2011 there were 48.6 million Americans living in 20.5 million U.S. households without health insurance, which was a slight decrease from the 49.9 million uninsured Americans in 2010.
The chart above shows the distribution of those 20.5 million uninsured households by household income level in 2011.  There were 3.1 million U.S. households making $75,000 per year or more who were not covered by health insurance in 2011, and this group represented 15% of the total number of uninsured households last year.  There were 3.3 million American households without health insurance with household income between $50,000 and $75,000 in 2011, representing 16% of the uninsured.  For those two groups combined, 31% of Americans without health insurance last year were living in the 6.4 million uninsured U.S. households with annual income of $50,000 or more.
Q: With $50,000 or more in household income, wouldn’t many or most of those 6.4 million American households be without health insurance voluntarily?  That is, couldn’t many of those households afford some type of low-cost basic health insurance?  As one example, you can purchase high-deductible basic health insurance coverage through BlueCross BlueShield of Texas for as low as$80 per month for a 30-year old male and for $102 per month for a 30-year old female, which is about the same as the monthly cost of a cell phone or cable TV plan.
Alternatively, with those income levels (especially the 3.1 million households with income above $75,000), couldn’t many of those households choose to forgo health insurance in favor of being “self-insured,” at least for routine health procedures? Given the widespread availability of more than 1,300 convenient and affordable retail health clinics around the country at Wal-Marts, Targets, Meijers, CVSs and Walgreens, these households could easily operate on the “pay-as-you-go” model of self-insurance for health care, at least for routine medical services.  And even for more expensive medical procedures, there are market-based medical providers like MediBid and the Surgery Center of Oklahoma that provide low-cost, cash-only medical services like surgery and MRIs at huge savings for self-pay patients.
It’s also the case that about 4 out of 10 uninsured Americans (38.1%) in 2011 were between the ages of 19 and 34 years, and more than half of the uninsured were between ages 19 and 44.  It’s possible that many of the younger people in those age groups are voluntarily uninsured and instead decide to be “self-insured” because they are young and healthy and elect not to purchase health insurance.
As Thomas Sowell wrote three years ago when Obamacare was being rushed through Congress before the August recess:

As for those uninsured Americans who are supposedly the reason for all this sound and fury [Obamacare], there is remarkably little interest in why they are uninsured, despite the incessant repetition of the fact that they are.  The endless repetition serves a political purpose but digging into the underlying facts might undermine that purpose. Many find it sufficient to say that the uninsured cannot “afford” medical insurance. But what you can afford depends not only on how much money you have but also on what your priorities are.
Many people who are uninsured have incomes from which medical insurance premiums could readily be paid without any undue strain (see chart above). Many young people, especially, don’t buy medical insurance and elderly people already have Medicare.  The poor have Medicaid available, even though many do not bother to sign up for it, until they are already in the hospital– which they can do then.
Throwing numbers around about how many people are uninsured may create the impression that the uninsured cannot get medical treatment, when it fact they can get medical treatment at any hospital emergency room.

MP: We’ve now got Obamacare coming soon, and everybody will be forced to buy a federally approved insurance policy whether they want one or not, even those who can currently afford insurance but choose not to, and the young 18-34 year-olds who also currently elect not to buy insurance.  We might have another very expensive government solution to what might have been very much of a non-problem.

America’s booming energy industry has emerged as the no. 1 job-creating sector of the U.S. economy

America’s booming energy industry has emerged as the no. 1 job-creating sector of the U.S. economy:

Overall job growth in the U.S. has been stubbornly sluggish over the last few years, and total payroll employment in August of this year was still almost five million jobs, and 3.4%, below the peak level of payroll jobs at the beginning of 2008 (see chart above).  Meanwhile, there’s one sector of the economy that is booming like never before, and creating jobs at a record pace – America’s thriving energy industry, especially the recently emerging shale oil and gas business.  Just the direct jobs for oil and gas drilling activities have increased by more than 27% since early 2008 to a level in August of this year that was the highest monthly total since late 1987, almost 25 years ago (see chart above).
Over the last year, America’s oil and gas companies have been hiring an average of almost 100 new workers each business day for activities directly related to oil and gas drilling, and then there are the thousands of additional indirect jobs that are being created each month throughout the long supply chain that supports shale energy in industries like railroads, trucking, fracking sand mining and processing, housing, construction, steel tubing, and heavy drilling equipment, and even banking, legal and financial services.
A USA Today article “Want a job? Look to the energy field” profiles the shale-driven jobs bonanza that is booming thanks to the unconventional oil and gas revolution in America.  Here’s an excerpt:

Of all the places that America’s new jobs are, the emerging energy business, directly or indirectly, might be responsible for more of them than almost anything else.
Since 2002, the exploration of natural gas deposits embedded in shale, followed by oil drilling that began in earnest late in the decade, has created more than 1 million jobs, says Moody’s Analytics economist Chris Lafakis. That’s out of 2.7 million the whole country created.
Just counting positions directly in the energy industry, the shale boom has accounted for as many as 33,000 new U.S. jobs this year, according to Bright Labs, a San Francisco start-up whose website provides job-hunt data and tips.
More than 3,500 are in metropolitan Houston, Bright says. But the job expansion stretches through cities of all sizes. Oklahoma City’s 400 jobs are near the top of the list, Bright says. Denver, Pittsburgh, and Williston, N.D. — all near newly exploitable oil and gas deposits — are also seeing big changes from shale for shale-related jobs.
The most plentiful jobs — at least, of those that end up being advertised online — seem to be in engineering. Six of the top eight most-filled new jobs in the industry are for some kind of engineer, says Bright senior data scientist Jacob Bollinger.
But the shale job surge is more broadbased than those numbers alone would suggest, thanks to the energy industry’s complicated infrastructure and supply chain, researchers say. While oil and gas deposits are concentrated in a handful of places, more than 30 states saw oil and gas support employment, including suppliers and service companies that work with energy companies, rise at least 50% in the past decade, Moody’s says.
Because new rigs have to be built, and oil and gas have to be moved to market either via newly built pipelines or by truck and rail, new jobs abound at both drilling companies and their suppliers, says Tom Tunstall, research director for the Institute for Economic Development at the University of Texas San Antonio. It has closely studied the development of the Eagle Ford shale field that spans more than a dozen counties in South Texas.
In Pennsylvania, where officials say shale added 18,000 new energy industry jobs between 2008 and last year, another 5,000 jobs were added for freight trucking, and 500 more were created to build roads, according to a state-sponsored study this summer.
One company that’s gotten a big boost is the Union Pacific railroad, which now gets about 2% of its business from shale-based companies, hauling everything from tank cars of oil to sand used in the process of extracting gas and oil from deep underground, CEO John Koraleski says.
Rising U.S. energy production also is creating manufacturing jobs for everything from steel for piping to rail cars. Among the biggest: a $650 million, 350-job plant by French tubing manufacturer Vallourec to make products for shale drilling in Youngstown, Ohio, and a planned natural gas cracking plant outside Pittsburgh that could add 10,000 construction jobs and hundreds of permanent positions at Shell, if it goes forward.
“Every week, I see a billion-dollar investment,” Navigant Consulting energy economist Julie Carey says.

MP: America’s booming energy industry is attracting billions of dollars of new investment and has emerged in recent years as the economy’s single largest job creating sector, with shale-based energy alone being responsible for more than a million new jobs over the last decade, according to the Moody’s report referenced above.  Without the powerful economic stimulus from the emerging shale revolution over the last few years, the weak economic growth and sluggish pace of job creation in the U.S. during the sub-par recovery would likely be much, much worse.  It’s perhaps ironic that despite what some have called President Obama’s ongoing “war against fossil fuels,” it might actually be the fossil-fuel based stimulus to the economy that is now helping Obama politically by keeping the economy out of another recession.

Don't Trade. Invest for Long Term

Don't Trade. Invest for Long Term:

Investing Rules – How to Invest in Stocks

by DEEKSHA on AUGUST 11, 2012

Investment is defined as putting aside certain sum of money with the expectation of gain in future. We invest our money in various financial products like gold, real estate, bonds, stocks with the aim of getting better returns over this money instead of keeping it idle in savings account.

Before Investing we should Ideally

• Assess income and expenditure

Before investing we all should be aware of the total monthly income and total expenditure so that an estimated amount can be calculated. This amount can give an idea about the excess amount or the amount which can be saved.

•  Make Financial goals

It is advisable to jot down the financial goals on a piece of paper so that money can be invested accordingly basis the time horizon.

•  Know Oneself

It is essential to analyze one`s own risk taking capability and financial personality basis which amount can be invested in high risk or a low risk instrument

In this article we shall discuss regarding rules of investing  and stock market basics some of which may be specific to stock market trading whereas other may apply to all investment products.

1. Diversify

There is a common Saying:- “ don’t put all eggs in one nest.”

This rule works with all investment products. Nobody can predict the future as there could be a sudden economic, political or any other change which may lead to huge losses if investment is done in similar products. Thus investing only in equities or investing solely in debt is not advisable.  In case of a mixed portfolio the impact of loss would not be enormous.

Example:-Mr. Ahuja had purchased shares of Satyam Computer services for a total value of Rs.50000 in November 2007 as he received a bonus from his company. He had invested the entire amount in 1 particular company. Everything was working fine in Mr. Ahuja`s portfolio till 2009 but suddenly things began to change as the scam came in place. After the scam, entire portfolio was in red due to excessive purchase of one particular stock.

CBI has confirmed that total loss to investors due to this scam is Rs.14, 162 Crore.

2. Make a Thorough Research

This rule also applies to all investment categories. Before investing one should make a detailed research about the quality of the companies selected. Quality signifies strong management team and a proven track record.

 3. Not To Panic

It applies particularly to stock market investing. It usually happens that in case of crash of a stock market, people get panic and they sell off their holdings the very next day. But instead of selling at the first stage itself one should review his portfolio and then decide if the stock has lost its attractiveness and if more attractive stocks are available in market.

4. Expect Corrections to Happen

It`s been observed that many investors believe in only one sided direction of markets like in case of downturn people loose faith in equity products and stop investing in these products. But in reality markets tend to return to the mean over time which means market extremes never lasts forever be it optimism or pessimism.

Also when there are no more buyers, the market turns lower and vice versa.

5. Know Your Risk Tolerance

As highlighted previously also it is very essential that the investors analyze their risk tolerance level and accordingly select the investment products as some of the products/ stocks are more risky than others. One should figure how much downside one can tolerate without selling

6. Portfolio Monitoring

It becomes very essential to keep a track on the portfolio regularly as nothing is permanent. High return generating products may lead to huge losses for the investors after some years if the company is going through a bad time.

Example:-the shares of Kingfisher Airlines which were attractive once upon a time no longer attract the investors due to crisis within the company.

7. Don’t Follow Others Blindly

When the prices are high a lot of people are actively buying the stocks. When price is low demand is also low as the people are pessimistic and also discouraged. Thus the entire market collapses. We should adopt an independent thinking instead of blindly following what other are following.

Benjamin Graham says” Buy when people are pessimistic and sell when they are optimistic.”

8. Avoid Fear and Greed

Greed and fear are human emotions which create obstacles in the path of successful investing. One should follow a disciplined approach to trading and should be able to figure out time to exit. There will be corrections as stocks go up and down.

9. Remain Flexible and Open Minded

There is no particular investment which remains best throughout. Depending on the situation one needs to switch to different investment avenues. If a planner suggests to shift the amount to bonds or other debt products looking at the volatility one should be flexible enough to support the advisor

10. Invest For Max Real Return

One should take into account the real return after taking into consideration the impact of taxes and inflation.

Real Rate of Return= {(1+ rate of interest)/(1+inflation rate)-1} *100

Example:-if inflation is 6% and rate of return is 10%, the real rate of return equals:-

{(1.10/1.06)-1}*100=3.77%

11. Learn From Your Mistakes

We should not be discouraged from the losses rather earlier mistakes should be taken as a learning experience. We should analyze and check what went wrong previously so that same mistake can be rectified in future.

12. Don’t Buy Market Trends

We should not base our decision on what`s happening now.  The individual stocks can rise in a bear market and fall in bull market. Thus we should study all the factors before taking any decision.

Conclusion

Investors should carefully read all offer documents and do a detailed study about the various products available in the market and should know stock market basics before investing. These rules would also be helpful in making a right investment choice.

http://www.ninemilliondollars.com/2012/08/investing-rules-how-to-invest-in-stocks/

Health is Wealth Bullbear Stock Investing Notes

CPO prices rebound as selling seen as overdone

CPO prices rebound as selling seen as overdone: Crude palm oil (CPO) prices recovered at midday on Wednesday after the recent selldown which saw the CPO futures for third-month delivery falling to the lowest in July 2010 on Tuesday.

Best Buy founder presses forward on possible RM33.7 billion buyout plan

Best Buy founder presses forward on possible RM33.7 billion buyout plan: NEW YORK, Sept 3 − Best Buy Co Inc founder Richard Schulze and at least four private equity firms have started examining the books of the world’s largest consumer electronics chain, early steps toward what could become a potential US$11 billion (RM33.7 billion) buyout, according to people familiar with the matter. Apollo Global Management LLC, ...

Budget 2013 At a Glance

Budget 2013 At a Glance:

From Malaysiakini

.

Budget 2013 speech - salient points

4:10PM Sep 28, 2012

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is reading his fourth budget speech which is aimed at shoring up support before the 13th general election and rein in the deficit.
"Since the last 55 years, Malaysians have placed their trust in the same government at every stage of the nation’s development. We thank you for your trust. We have never betrayed the people. Instead, we have repaid the trust given to us manifold," said Najib.

"This government has never promised the moon, the stars or the galaxy. We have never painted a pretty picture based on wishful thinking. As a responsible government, we continue to speak the truth even though it may be unpleasant.
"We have never misled to the rakyat with tall tales. On the other hand, we have always offered solutions and provided good leadership to every problem faced by the rakyat.

"Managing a complex multiracial country like Malaysia is not easy. It requires sincerity and intelligence because Malaysians are a discerning lot. In fact, the rakyat has given the mandate to the same Government 12 times since 1959, indicating that this Government has done the right thing.

"The trust that exists between the rakyat and the government cannot be broken no matter how strong the lies. In this regard, the Budget that I am tabling is in appreciation of all Malaysians who have placed their trust in us all this while."
AT A GLANCE

Total budget: RM251.6 billion

Operation expenditure: RM201.9 bil
Development expenditure: RM49.7 bil

GDP growth 2012: 4.5% - 5.0%
GDP growth 2013: 4.5% - 5.5%

Revenue 2012: RM206.2 bil
Revenue 2013: RM208.6 bil

Deficit 2012: 4.5%
Deficit 2013: 4.0%
Budget 2013 in graphics - click here
SALIENT POINTS
Macro

• Total expenditure - RM249.7 bil, down 1.1 percent, but 7.2 percent higher than 2012 initial budget

• Deficit - Expected to go down by 0.5% to 4% in 2013. Target is to reach 3 percent by 2015

• Federal government debt 2012 - RM502.4 bil (highest in history) or 53.7 percent (highest since early 1990s)

• Government revenue RM208.6 bil, up RM1.4 bil

• Government estimated to have overspent RM19.6 bil in 2012

Small and medium industries

• RM1 bil SME development scheme

• Group insurance for petty traders with maximum RM5,000 coverage

• New loan facilities for petty traders

Tourism

• Target for Visit Malaysia Year 2013/2014: 26.8 mil tourist

• Three-year tax holiday for tourism companies handing 750 foreign tourists and 1,500 local tourists.

Agriculture

• RM705 mil for replanting, technology development, smallholder assistance and product development, particularly for oil palm.

• RM200 monthly allowance, 10 to 20 sen/kilo income support and up to RM100,000 coverage for fishermen

• RM2.4 bil in subsidies and incentives for rice plantations.

Commerce

• 10-year tax holiday for Tun Razak Exchange companies, expected to attract 250 companies related to finance sector

• Skim Jaminan Modal Kerja expanded for companies with shareholdings worth RM20 mil, and offered up to Dec 31, 2013

• RM350 mil for entreprenuers under TEKUN programme, including RM50 mil for the Indian community

• SME Bank bumiputera fund - RM1 bil

• Bumiputera equity holding up: 23%

Education and labour

• RM1 bil to improve school infrastructure

• RM1.2 bil for pre-schools under government programmes including Permata

• RM10,000 launching grants for private pre-school operators

• Five-year tax holiday and building allowance for pre-school operators

• Six pilot pre-schools for the disabled

• RM3.7 bil for vocational training

• Additional allocation of RM500 million for training of teachers in core subjects: Bahasa Malaysia, English, Science and Maths

• Free health checks, twice a year, for Perkeso members

Research and development

• RM600 million R&D grants for five universities. Focus: Nanotechnology, automotive, bio-technology and aerospace technology

• Tax holiday for research and development investment (10-year tax holiday for statutory earnings)

• RM2 billion for green technology scheme

Pensioners and senior citizens

• Minimum pension for those who served at least 25 years up from RM720 to RM820.

• 50 percent off passport fees for senior citizens starting Jan 2013

Armed forces

• RM200 a month incentives for armed forces personnel

• Allowance hike from RM4.00 to RM7.80 an hour for reserve corps and territorial army

• One-off payment of RM1,000 for army veterans who served for at least 21 years, where 224,000 will qualify.

• Insurance coverage of up to RM15,000 for police and army.

Crime

• RM591 million for crime prevention

• 1,000 motorcycles for the police neighbourhood patrol unit.

• Additional 10,000 volunteer police

• 496 CCTV in 25 local councils

• RM10,000 grants for neighbourhood associations for patrols

• New uniforms for 300,000 Rela members

• Incentives for companies that install security systems

• Additional 150 staff for Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)

• RM20 million for legal aid

Rural development

• RM88 million for Orang Asli development

• 40,000 water tanks for those in the interiors of Sabah and Sarawak

• 19,000 homes to get electricity and 24,000 homes to get tap water

• 441 kilometers of new rural roads

Health

• RM100 million to improve 350 government clinics

• 70 more Klinik 1Malaysia to be established, increasing total number to 240.

Youth and sports

• Velodrom in Seremban, Negri Sembilan and a Badminton Academy in Bukit Kiara,Kuala Lumpur

• Subsidy of two percent of interest rates business loans for young entrepreneurs for loans up to RM100,000

• RM200 rebate for smart phone purchase for those aged 21 to 30 years.

Public transport

• Half price Komunter fares for those earning less than RM3,000 a month.

• Formation of RapidKuantan.

Housing

• Affordable housing - 123,000 units to be built, in areas such as Sungai Buloh and seremban

• First home scheme - income cap raised from RM3,000 to RM5,000. Join income limit is RM10,000. Applies only for houses below RM400,000

• Up to 50 percent stamp duty exemption for first home owners until Dec 14, 2014

• Real property gains tax (RPGT) for properties sold within two years of purchase raised to 15%;  2-5 years 10%. No RPGT for properties sold five years after purchase

• Tax breaks and incentives for contractors and banks who offer loans to contractors to revive abandoned housing projects. Original buyers of abandoned projects will be exempted from stamp duty for loan refinancing or ownership transfer agreements

Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M 2.0)

• RM500 cash for households with combined income of RM3,000 or less

• RM250 cash for unmarried individuals who are 21 and above and earning RM2,000 and below

• Disbursement - Early 2013

Subsidy cuts

• Sugar prices to increase as a result of subsidy cuts by RM0.20. New prices are RM2.50 per kilo for Peninsular Malaysia and RM2.60 per kilo for Sabah and Sarawak.

Tax cuts

• 1% tax reduction for those with a taxable income of RM2,500 to RM50,000

• Tax cuts for corporations

Students

• RM10,000 rebates and 2% interest subsidy on loans to purchase new school buses, to replace buses which are 25 years or more. (Capacity 12 to 18 seats)

• RM2.6 bil in welfare aid for schoolchildren

• One-off payment of RM100 for each primary and secondary school student

• 20% discount for National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) loans for those who pay off the entire amount outstanding (valid until Sept 30, 2013)

• 10% discount for PTPTN loan repayment for those who pay consistently

• 100 neighbourhood internet centres

Civil service bonus

• One and a half month bonus, disbursed in three months.

Women, family and community

• 500 women trained as board members under Women Directors’ Programme.

• The Single Mothers Skills Incubator Programme (I-Kit) will be improved to provide advisory services and training for single mothers in entrepreneurship.

• RM50 million for Get Malaysian Business Online Programme (GMBO) to assist small entrepreneurs, particularly women, to increase online sales with RM1,000 grant.

• RM25,000 for free mammogram examination for women, aged 40 and above.

• RM1.2 billion to 1Malaysia Welfare Programme (Kar1sma) under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. To assist senior citizens, children and disabled workers as well as chronic illnesses.

• RM400 million for 1Azam or Akhiri Zaman Miskin programme for the low-income group to generate income. Programmes under this initiative are Azam Kerja, Azam Tani, Azam Niaga and Azam Khidmat.

• Six more Anjung Singgah centres for senior citizens, street children and those who need temporary shelter. Five Anjung Kasih in Sibu, Miri, Temerloh, Seremban and Ipoh hospitals for poor patients or family members.

Health is Wealth Bullbear Stock Investing Notes

All Eyes on Tesco's Results

All Eyes on Tesco's Results:

By G. A. Chester | 

September 28, 2012 

TSCO.LTesco

CAPS Rating0/5 Stars

 $332.98 $0.98 (0.30%)

+ Watch TSCO.L

Britain's No. 1 supermarket with a market share of over 30% -- streets ahead of rivals J Sainsbury, Wm Morrison, andWal-Mart-owned Asda -- issued its first profit warning in 20 years following poor Christmas trading.LONDON -- All eyes will be on Tesco (LSE:TSCO.L  ) when it announces its interim results on Wednesday this coming week.

Moreover, Tesco acknowledged its home market performance in 2011-2012 reflected deeper-rooted problems. The group had been over-greedy in its U.K. business -- "running the stores too hot," as chief executive Philip Clarke put it -- to squeeze out cash to fund international expansion.

Tesco's results on Wednesday will give us an idea of how Clarke's plans to get U.K. operations back on track are progressing. News on two or three other areas of the company's activities will also be keenly scrutinized by shareholders.

GroupLet's begin with Tesco's overall performance. How will the group have performed in the first half compared with last year's first half? And is it on track to meet analysts' consensus forecasts for this year's key full-year numbers? Here's your cut-out-and-fill-in table!

	H1 2011/12	FY 2011/12	H1 2012/13	Forecast FY 2012/13	Forecast FY growth
Revenue* (billion pounds)	32.2	65.2	?	67.2	3.1%
Trading profit (billion pounds)	1.8	3.8	?	3.6	(3.0%)
Trading margin	5.5%	5.8%	?	5.4%
Underlying profit before tax (billion pounds)	1.9	3.9	?	3.8	(4.0%)
Underlying earnings per share (diluted; in pence)	18.3	37.4	?	35.1	(6.3%)
Dividend per share (pence)	4.63	Final: 10.13 Total: 14.76	?	14.83	0.5%

*Excluding VAT, including petrol.

In a June trading update, the company said: "At this early stage of the year, we are performing in line with market expectations for the Group." In spite of that, analysts' views on full-year EPS vary widely from the consensus, ranging from a low of 29.9 pence to a high of 37.3 pence.

On trading profit, look out for how this number measures up against the forecast of one of Tesco's three house brokers for a first-half fall of 9% to just over 1.6 billion pounds.

Personally, I think the number to keep a particular eye on will be the level of the interim dividend, which could be the truest barometer of management's confidence in getting the U.K. business back on track this year. An interim above 4.8 pence would be very encouraging, a modest sub-inflationary increase would be in line with market expectations, and a flat dividend would suggest management could be cautious on how things are progressing. A dividend cut would be a real shocker.

U.K. operationsThe key U.K. operational number to watch out for -- an indicator of how management action to turn around the core home supermarket business is going -- is U.K. like-for-like sales (excluding VAT and petrol).

The table below shows the trajectory across the past five quarters.

	Q1 2011/12	H1 2011/12	Q3 2011/12	Q4 2011/12	Q1 2012/13
Growth	(0.1%)	(0.9%)	(0.9%)	(1.6%)	(1.5%)

Another quarter of -1.5% or, heaven forbid, a slide back to negative growth of worse than -1.5% would be hugely shocking. In fact, any negative growth worse than, say, -0.5% would be a disappointment. One of Tesco's house brokers is forecasting a flat U.K. performance for Q2, while another is actually forecasting positive like-for-likes of a modest 0.1%.

International operationsTesco's nascent "Fresh & Easy" U.S. business is currently a small part of the group's international operations -- and a detractor from profits, being loss-making -- but it will perhaps be the part of global operations shareholders are most keen to hear news on. Earlier this year, the company put back the breakeven date of Fresh & Easy from the current financial year to 2013-2014.

As recently as last week, Tesco's chief executive insisted he would continue to persist with Fresh & Easy, having previously said there would be a significant reduction in losses during the current year.

In the first half of last year, Fresh & Easy made a trading loss of 73 million pounds on revenue of 300 million pounds. One of the house brokers has penciled in a loss of 70 million pounds for this year's first half. A lack of progress or even a serious deterioration of prospects might not actually hurt Tesco's share price as a number of major shareholders have been calling for the company to pull out of the U.S.

Results checkoutTesco is probably one of the most popular shares with small U.K. investors. It's also a favorite of legendary U.S. billionaire investor Warren Buffett. In fact, Buffett bought a trolley-load of Tesco shares earlier this year.

You can find out the price the Sage of Omaha was willing to pay for his shares by downloading an exclusive Motley Fool report: "The One U.K. Share Warren Buffett Loves." You can have this free report dispatched to your inbox immediately, simply by clicking here.

"10 Steps to Making a Million in the Market" is the very latest Motley Fool guide to help Britain invest. Better. We urge you to read the free report today -- it may transform your wealth.

Further investment opportunities:

• The World's Greatest Retailers
• How to Unearth Great Oil and Gas Shares
• 8 Shares Held by Britain's Super-Investor

http://www.fool.com/investing/international/2012/09/28/all-eyes-on-tescos-results.aspx

Health is Wealth Bullbear Stock Investing Notes

CPO futures fall to lowest since July 2010

CPO futures fall to lowest since July 2010: Crude palm oil (CPO) futures for third month delivery fell to the lowest since July 2010 on worries about the impact of rising stocks and decline in demand.

3M to buy Ceradyne for US$860m

3M to buy Ceradyne for US$860m: NEW YORK, Oct 1 – 3M Co plans to acquire Ceradyne Inc for about US$860 million (RM2.63 billion), adding advanced technical ceramics to its diverse portfolio, which ranges from Post-It notes to films used in television screens. The offer of US$35 per share represents a premium of about 43 per cent to Ceradyne’s Friday closing. The company’s shares ...

Economic Report 2012/2013: Federal Govt revenue at RM208.7b in 2013

Economic Report 2012/2013: Federal Govt revenue at RM208.7b in 2013: The Federal Government's revenue for 2013 is expected to be marginally higher by 0.7% to RM208.70bil, partly due to high-base effect in 2012, supported by higher tax revenue with increases seen in sales taxes and individual tax collection.