Posted onto Michael Bay’s official site comes “The Last One”, the final theatrical trailer for Revenge of the Fallen, and an amalgamation of all the trailers we’ve seen up to this point.

What is the hottest topic in town beside H1N1? Of course is the launch date of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I guess 90% of youngsters did watch the part one on last year, it was a great movie, it brings back my child hood memory.

Below are the updates from hollywoodinsider.ew.com

Paramount was looking for bigger with Michael Bay’s highly anticipated Transformers sequel and it looks like they’ve got it. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen debuted to a record $16 million last night, the most ever for a Wednesday midnight run. (Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight scored $18 million for its midnight run last year, but that was on a Friday.)

So how high will Transformers 2′s grosses go this weekend? Predictions have ranged anywhere from $125 million to $160 million for the five-day frame. Whatever the number, it will be good news for the box office, which is having trouble maintaining last summer’s record draw. Check back here tomorrow for more detailed predictions in the Box Office Preview

Source from http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/06/transformers-midnight-grosses.html

My colleagues told me all the weekend tickets are fully booked. I think I can only watch it 1-2 weeks later. Who can I watch with? Sigh.

Investing in natural resources sectors is a good option for investors who wish to capitalize on opportunities provided by the regional natural resources sectors. The regional natural resources sectors are expected to benefit from robust demand for resources materials driven by rapid industrialization, urbanization and rising consumerism trends in the fast growing and heavily populated countries such as china, India, Brazil and Indonesia.

In some of these resources sectors, the available supply is relatively scarce and faces significant constraints in production expansion due to the high costs of exploration and development. Other obstacles such as geopolitical, industrial and environmental issues can also severely limit the capacity to increase production. Thus, a favorable demand supply condition can develop and lead to price rises in the affected resources as witnessed by the rally in the process for a number of commodities such as crude oil from 2004 to mid-2008. It is during such periods that inflation may escalate and for this reason, investing in resources companies that benefit from the higher prices for natural resources commodities is a good hedge against rising inflation.

Public Natural Resources Equity Fund (PNREF) is designed to allow investors to capitalize on the favorable demand and supply trends for natural resources through investments in related sectors in the domestic and overseas markets.

FAQS
Q1: What are the main features of PNREF?

An aggressive equity fund that is designed to help investors capture the long-term growth potential offered by the natural resources sectors in the domestic and overseas markets as well as to capitalize on the current attractive stocks valuations.

PNREF invests in a portfolio of equities and equity-related securities of companies that are engaged in or are substantially related to the natural resources sectors in the domestic and overseas markets.

The resources sectors which the fund will invest in include energy (oil and gas exploration, extraction, production, transportation and power producers), metals and mining (industrial and precious metals exploration, extraction, production and transportation), agriculture, forestry and paper.

To achieve increased diversification, the fund may invest in selected foreign markets which include Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and other markets.

Equity exposure: Generally range from 75% to 90% of its NAV (Net Asset Value).

Suitable for investors with aggressive risk-reward temperaments.

Q2: What makes PNREF attractive to prospective investors?

PNREF allows investors the opportunity to participate in the long-term growth potential of companies that are engaged in or are substantially related to the natural resources sectors.

Q3: What are the prospects of investing in the natural resources sectors?

Investing in the regional natural resources sectors enables investors to participate in the strong growth of these sectors. The region’s natural resources sectors are expected to benefit from robust demand for resources materials driven by rapid industrialization, urbanization and rising consumerism trends in the fast growing and heavily populated countries such as China, India, Brazil and Indonesia. Strong demand coupled with tight supply conditions in certain resources have led to the rally in the prices for a number of commodities such as crude oil from 2004 to mid-2008.

Investing in natural resources commodities can help to hedge against inflation.

Natural resources sectors also provide the benefits of diversification as these sectors are often driven by different factors from those driving other business sectors. The liquidity and diversity of the natural resources sectors also present many investment opportunities to investors.

Q4: In view of current global market uncertainties, why should investors consider investing in natural resources?

Following the retracement in commodity prices and the corresponding correction in natural resources sectors, the valuations of a number of natural resources stocks have fallen to relatively attractive levels vis-à-vis the favorable longer term dynamics for the affected commodities. As mentioned earlier, a favorable demand supply condition can develop and lead to price rises in the affected resources as witnessed by the rally in a number of commodities such as crude oil from 2004 to mid-2008.

Q5: What is the fund’s benchmark index?

An appropriate benchmark to be used to evaluate the performance of PNREF is a customized index based on selected sectors within the S&P/Citigroup BMI Asia ex Japan Index comprising Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong, China ‘H’ Shares, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

The selected sectors are customized to the following weights:

• o 40% Energy Sector
• o 30% Metals and Mining Industry
• o 30% Agricultural Product Sub-Industry

Q6: What is the fund objective and investment strategy of PNREF?

PNREF is actively managed and aims to achieve capital growth by investing in a portfolio of equities and equity-related securities of companies that are engaged in or are substantially related to the natural resources sectors in the domestic and overseas markets.

The resources sectors which the fund will invest in include energy (oil and gas exploration, extraction, production, transportation and power producers), metals and mining (industrial and precious metals exploration, extraction, production and transportation), agriculture, forestry and paper.

In identifying companies for investment, the fund manager relies on fundamental research where the financial health, industry prospects, management quality and past track records of the companies are considered.

The fund may also invest in fixed income securities such as sovereign bonds, corporate debt and money market instruments to help generate returns.

Q7: What level of risks will we be looking at when investing in PNREF?

As the fund generally invests 75% to 90% of its NAV in equities in the natural resources sectors, PNREF may experience significant volatility in times of adverse market movements.

The asset allocation, liquidity management and diversification strategies employed are central to the efforts to manage the risks posed to the fund.

Q8: Who are most suited to invest in PNREF?

Investors who wish to capitalize on the current attractive stocks valuations and participate in the long-term growth potential offered by the natural resources sectors in the domestic and overseas markets.

Existing and prospective investors with aggressive risk-reward temperaments and can withstand extended periods of market highs and lows in pursuit of capital growth.

Q9: When is PNREF going to be launched?

30 June 2009

Q10: What is the Initial Issue Price? And when is the offer period?

The initial issue price is at RM0.2500 per unit during the 21-day offer period from 30 June 2009 to 20 July 2009

Q11: What is the approved fund size of PNREF?

The approved fund size for PNREF is 1.5 billion units.

Q12: Please tell us the service charge and the annual management fee involved when investing in PNREF. Is there any repurchase charge?

During the offer period from 30 June 2009 to 20 July 2009, the service charges are as below:

After the offer period, the service charge is up to 5.5% of the NAV per unit. The annual management fee is 1.70% per annum of the NAV.

There is no repurchase charge.

Q13: What is the going rate for annual management fee of a global natural resources unit trust fund in Malaysia?

The rate charged by some of the unit trust companies can be as high as 1.80% p.a. of the NAV.

Q14: What is the minimum initial investment and minimum additional investment of the fund?

The minimum initial investment is RM1, 000 and minimum additional investment is RM100.

Q15: Will there be any special promotion to support the launch of PNREF? Please give us the details.

There will be special service charges offered during the period of 30 June 2009 to 20 July 2009 for investment above RM5, 000 per transaction. The service charges are as below:

Q16: Approved for EPF Members Investment Scheme?

No.

Is time for you to invest in natural resources, don’t miss this opportunity!!!

For those people who want to know more about Naturally Plus products, the business and the company, below are the location and schedule.

Hope to see you all in KL Pearl Point Hotel.

Swine Flu has explored few weeks ago, and we can read it daily on TV news and press. Previously people said Malaysia health department are covering it, but now they are ordered not to hide any case from public. Why I know it? Because someone from media told me about this. I told him my mother in law want to bring Carmen to Genting for holidays, but he told me about this. He said ‘they’ are covering this case, he said the first person who got this virus is getting worst. Serious?

My friend sent me an email about this. I hope to share it here with everyone, please read it.

Scams! Ok, here’s a sensitive issue so if you disagree, please comment. Taken from an old lowyat.net post:

This information is meant for you to know and warn your family members and loved ones before they become victims.
“People got victimized by scams because they don’t know about it and they don’t know about it because those who knew about it did not share it” Here are some hot scams in Malaysia:

1) The Cafe Scams - Island Red Cafe & Stevens Corner(strange, both in Pandan Indah) – Island Red Cafe collects members RM6,000 each and promised 5% return every month and even give you a name in the ROC as a shareholder but what’s the point when they run away ? Stevens Corner, the famous
Indian coffee shop follows due to drop of business since their renovation. They collect RM3, 000 per member and promise return of RM150 monthly and plans to open nice franchisee cafe called Stevens Tea Garden. Someone mentioned they will make you sign an agreement that give them the rights NOT to pay you anything in future. If you really wish to join, ask for a copy of their agreement and consult your lawyer BEFORE paying them. Bet you will NOT get a copy. Both collect monies from new members with MLM (multi level marketing) recruitment schemes and pay the old members like Sunshine Empire. You never know when they will run away.

2) Sunshine Empire – This licensed and legal Company has an impressive office at the ground level of KUB building along Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, near Menara Public Bank and AmBank Building.
They also have a showroom office at the ground level in the next building. 2 or 3 months ago, Singapore’s Straits Times and The Paper published big news reminding their people to be careful and NOT to believe in them. Hope someone can put up the link or Google for it. (As expected, they STOPPED paying back members now and all investors LOST their money). Someone below has put a link to the Singapore news. In fact there are more to it. Although

Singapore is investigating them, they did not stop their business as the business is legal and so far, no Singaporean has failed to receive their commissions as promised. Thus, the government cannot stop them yet.

The news published that the founder, director and group president is someone named James Phang but he is NOT the owner. Isn’t this quite strange? At the end of the game, James Phang can just disappear from the Company easily and claimed that he was just “employed”. Such trick always happened in scam businesses.

Now, the Company has STOPPED paying commissions and interests to members with the excuse that the Singapore government has freeze their bank account while under investigation. Do you think their boss will be so stupid to keep much money in the bank to be freeze? They are all transferred away. It’s just an excuse not to pay back to members and members are only paid “e-bonus-points” which is cashless. If they wish to convert to cash, they have to recruit new members to pay those cash and the recruiter less out from the amount. So victims act like Vampires and “forced” to victimize other victims if they wish to get their monies back. And their victims will later transform to vampires and the scam carries on?

3) MOBILWALLET – This Company owned by 2 young men, Stanley & Rey Gan, office in Queens Avenue Park has collect multi-millions the last 2 years. Claimed that they tied up with Telekoms, Utility Board payment like Water & Electricity bills, even Maybank got fooled by them. Advertisement Billboards everywhere. They STOPPED paying back their members few months ago and the members cannot do anything because they are made to sign an agreement unaware that they have to claim if the company stopped paying them by CHANGING terms and policies.

4) Water businesses – Oxygenated and alkaline water products – Some of these are bottled water and some are filters or equipment that claimed the trick. One of the better known Companies that sold “oxygen” water is SITO (supposed to stand for Selangor International Trading Organization and claimed Selangor State Government owned some share in it). The key person and founder is a Dato Robert Ong from Rawang but his name is no longer in the business now. Their products are sold for RM2 to RM3 for a 350ml bottle and now concentrating mostly in the Indian market. Their Chinese and Malays market are long gone since a year or 2 ago. Their customers are made to believe that their water has more oxygen and able to give miraculous effects for the body. Water is H2O, how to put more O into it? Anyone knows how much oxygen do we breathe into our body everyday at FOC? Latest news is that this SITO Company is going to create new label to market under a new Company since the SITO name has already gone bad. Someone informed that this Company owes a lot of money (due to refunds) to ex-stockiest but just refuse to pay them.
(Latest news, SITO shifted to another place and their MLM business has closed but planning to start again with a different name, bewares!!)

Alkaline Products – Can anyone explain how it can work for the body? The stomach’s gastric liquid is so acidic that water of any pH that goes through it will not make any difference.

5) Car Fuel Booster – K-Link, the famous scam MLM Company that sold the foot patch TAKARA, later the “cock-ring” and energy-card launched the patrol-saving pills last year. Got so hot that even grocery shops are selling for them. Recently many of these cars that used the pills are rushing to the workshops to clean the residual. Few months ago, another MLM Company launched a fuel booster gadget, claimed that saves up to 20% fuel that is attached to the cigarette lighter. Started off well using binary plan but business begin to fade now and most users find it NOT effective.

6) Perfumery Products (e.g. Lampe Berger & Bel Air).
Lampe Berger is not so hot now in the neighboring countries but there are still new victims every month in Malaysia. Must thanks to those who have contributed and kept the thread alive here in Kopitiam. Bel-Air has closed in Malaysia. LB is almost zero in Singapore. This perfumery product from France with over 100 year’s history is just bottles and fragrance (check the factory’s website) but the Company marketing them in Asia claimed “aromatherapy” products. Hong Kong TVB aired a program that exposed their scam but their members claimed that HK’s TVB already apologized to them. Note that the biggest strength in a MLM Scam is their members will go all way out to lie in order to defend for their Company. The reason is simple; these members fear that they will not be able to make their money back if the Company collapsed. Knowing that the Lampe Berger products are moving slow, they add a line of skincare products named Estebel, also claimed to have over 100 years history in France.(Hardly anymore Chinese newcomers, they are now tapping the Malays in Malaysia)

7) Energy Products (e.g. stone pendants, bracelets, mattress and pillows). They use all sorts of gimmicks and demonstration to make you into believing them. They will do some tricks and demo to prove that these products really produce energy BUT are there any tricks in their demo? So what if there really produce energy; is it good or strong enough to help the body? The effect is actually PLACEBO which I will elaborate in a new thread soon. Hi-Tech products (names like bio-tech, nano-tech that claimed millions of dollars of research involved, e.g. Bio-Young and XKL few years ago). Most of these will claimed a professor behind them(even with name and picture of a person) or used words like “U.S.A. formula”, “German Technology” or “Nanotechnology” and no further details(more details later). If you ask for more details like the professor or factory’s address, the answer will be “trade secrets”.

9) Investment Schemes – SWISSCASH is the King of all. Swisscash is nearly over now but there are many similar and smaller ones that are still on. (Now, it’s closed or stopped paying back members)

10) GoldQuest – This Company that claimed to be HK-based started with some non-value gold-plated coins that are sold for over RM2, 000 have several names and changed products several times. Quest Vacation, QuestNet, etc. They have several offices in Amcorp Mall, PJ and their key person(in fact, the owner), a Malaysian Indian was arrested last year in Indonesia for having involved in a very big Philippines scam. Most of their overseas offices are closed or inactive but their Malaysia business is still hot, with some “energy” products. (Can someone please provide a link which showed the news that their boss was involved in a big scam in Philippines and was arrested in last year?)

11) Numerology & Fortune telling – A Company named Visible is using MLM to sell fortune telling classes using your birthday based on Numerology fortune telling. Prospects will be told that they need to buy a certain “number” between 1 to 9 in the form of pendants or bracelets made of stainless steel and sold from RM600 to M20, 000. Customers or rather victims are mostly females from rural areas. Very hot in Penang now and a number of spin-off Companies have started.

12) MJ-Life – This Company boost of a very big background with many years of history which is NOT true. Their people or associates may be long in business but nothing to do with their MLM launched recently. Why do I consider it a scam or bad? New members are told to pay a sum of money (up to RM1000) and you get NOTHING for it. You only get a membership can entitle you to enjoy all sorts of special price and discounts when you have medical check-ups in their centers. They will claim all those check-ups cost more if done elsewhere. It’s not true. Only the naive and those new to medical check-ups will fall victims to them. Most members who paid the money ended up with nothing.

13) Seaweed Venture Scams – 1 such Company is located in Taman Maluri, Cheras. They will ask you to invest a few thousands ringgits for their venture of growing seaweeds in East Malaysia and you are guaranteed returns. To gain your confidence further, they will tell you your investment money is secured by “insurance” or “unit trusts” & “trustees”. When you ask for further documents to prove, they will give all sorts of excuses or just ignore you because they know they cannot get you. These Seaweed scam is one of the hottest now, warn all your friends about it before they are victimized.

14) MXM(previously MGM) – This is a master scam among the younger group, very successful 2 or 3 years ago but since there moved to their big 10-storey office at Phileo Damansara and changed name to MXM, their business dropped. They collect members RM3, 000 to RM4, 000 with credit card monthly easy payment and in return you get a hospital benefits insurance from Pacific Insurance worth only a few hundred RMs together with some you-don’t-need medical check-ups from their associate Company Pathlab. Also talk about fitness, lifestyles bullshit that is all worthless.

15) Gano Excel – This company from the north, a copycat of DXN selling Lingzhi capsules created a new Company called Gano iTouch to cash-in on the internet like e-Cosway after their Company went down the drain since the last 2 years, selling Linzhi and some no-value energy pendants and alkaline water gadgets. They provide free transport every weekend from KL to visit their Alor Star office.

16) NuLife (HK) – This Company started by some HK people has been in Malaysia for more than 10 years but they have flopped in HK and Malaysia due to bad management and a product scam making use of a prosecuted American named Dr Jeffrey Bland, found guilty of false products claim. Since this case in the US leaked out and many Malaysians found out that the real boss in HK is a Steven Tang (he cheated many Malaysians in another scheme about 20 years ago) their business went down all the way. Now they claim Malaysian partners cheated them and start a new Company in Malaysia. Watch out, this new Company will come out with some investment scheme idea that will get many to lose their money.

17) Arowana Fish Breeding, Oora from Germany, biofuel (Complex Maluri) etc – These are some newer scams. Arowana fish venture ask you to invest some money and give you fixed return. Biofuel will tell you their Indonesia connections (just like Sunshine Empire before using Taiwan) & Oora from Germany (I never trust those cruel Germans) that market some bio-chips and a gadget that claims to give energy and therapeutic effects of acupuncture, tai-chi, yoga, etc depending how you set the toy-like gadget, wear it on your body and you get the effect later. They could not explain or provide any demonstration to prove their effectiveness. Only doctors and papers claim that I will never trust. The health effect is actually PLACEBO, which I will elaborate in a different thread.

Lastly but not least, thank you for reading to the end and I hope you can come back for more details and updates or help to contribute for me to update. I hope to receive information of any scams so that I can share them here to protect others. Although most of those above-mentioned are marketed through direct-selling or MLM schemes, I will soon add non-MLM scams. Please contribute.