Maltastar
Half Way Mark
The end of June is the half way mark of a year that started with a lot of promise and turned into a nightmare for people like me who genuinely believed thatMalta
Events that happened after the election dismayed me more than the result of the election itself. Whoever loves Labour more than himself must be utterly unhappy that we have not only thrown away an election that should have been clearly won, but even more so that we are prejudicing our chances for the next one too.
The PN are aware of the unorthodox
way, as are the rest of us, how the party media was used to discourage
contestation and to disadvantage those who dared to. How the original decision
for holding the early contest before analysing the
election result was taken on the wrong premise that Alfred Sant would not be re-contesting, a premise he changed as
soon as such decision was taken without a single word being uttered about it in
the decision making process.
Yet the PN media and their friends in the English language press see no news value in them. Compare this to the great hype and ensuing damage about the stories of a few summers back related to speculation of corrupt practices in the 1992 leadership election. The conclusion is clear.
The PN and their friendly media will not do anything to weaken Alfred Sant’s position in the first part of this legislature. Only when he is firmly embedded in his place and with little time left for a possible change of leadership will all the criticism about the 2003 leadership election make it to the headlines to ensure maximum damage for Labour for the then forthcoming election process.
Alfred Sant has become an easy and predictable target for the PN and they manage his media image with clever style. This leaves true Labourites like me mouth wide open gasping for some political oxygen as Labour media gets elated by fine speeches in parliament rather than devising real winning strategies for next election.
Out Of Control
The structural fiscal deficit for the first 5 months of 2003 has reached an astronomical figure of Lm105 million being Lm37 million more than deficit at the same point last year and more than double that of the year 2001.
The deficit is simply spinning out of control confirming how pressing was the need for change and how bad Labour has presented itself for the last election, if in spite of all these problems, the electorate again chose those that are mismanaging so grossly.
The deficit for the entire 2003 is budgeted for Lm75 million. Even if we manage to cash in the Lm22 million in grants as projected, no mean task in itself given the bureaucracy of managing funds under the Italian and the EU financial protocols, this will be just a match for the Lm21 million extraordinary revenue registered in later months of last year from the privatisation proceeds of MIA.
So given that last year we finished with a budget deficit of Lm88 million and at this point we are already Lm37 million out on last year, if we assume we keep to budget from this point onwards with grant moneys and all, the deficit for the whole of this year will shoot up to Lm125 million which is where we were in 1996.
Who knows what schemes are being devised to replay last year’s sleight of hand to make privatisation revenues look right ordinary revenue?
It would be one joke too many.
Portfolio
Performance
Strategy 1 No Risk Lm1002.282
Strategy 2 Medium Risk 997.700 (after Lm40 charges)
Strategy 3 High Risk Lm 980.100 (after Lm20 charges)
Strategy 4 High Risk For Curr 1001.590 (after Lm40charges)
All quotes are net of withholding tax on profit or interest where applicable, and use latest available price quotes and rates on Saturday 28thJune.
This week was dominated by the Fed decision to shave its Fed Funds overnight right one quarter to 1%, the lowest since 1958. Yet the market expected a half percentage point cut. It could not decide whether to be happy that the Fed felt that the economy did not need a half point push or sad that the economy still needed rate cuts to attempt a revival and wondered what would happen when the Fed runs out possibilities for further interest rate cuts.
Consequently equities and bonds dipped while the market reflects and awaits signals about 2nd quarter corporate profitability which will start pouring in the next few days. In this uncertainty, cash is the king.
No changes were made to the portfolio.
Half Way MarkThe end of June is the half way mark of a year that started with a lot of promise and turned into a nightmare for people like me who genuinely believed that
Events that happened after the election dismayed me more than the result of the election itself. Whoever loves Labour more than himself must be utterly unhappy that we have not only thrown away an election that should have been clearly won, but even more so that we are prejudicing our chances for the next one too.
They Have Media
Strategy
And the post-election events have been a strong re-confirmation of the strength of the PN’s media strategy.
For anyone who thinks with his mind not just his heart, the PN must be truly pleased with themselves not only that they won the elections but also that Dr Alfred Sant was reconfirmed Leader of the MLP. Nothing gives them a better chance to look fresh at the next elections when they can present a new leader whilst Labour would present a leader who would be at his fourth asking having lost roundly the last two elections and with a record that he could not manage the first he won when still an unknown quantity.
And the post-election events have been a strong re-confirmation of the strength of the PN’s media strategy.
For anyone who thinks with his mind not just his heart, the PN must be truly pleased with themselves not only that they won the elections but also that Dr Alfred Sant was reconfirmed Leader of the MLP. Nothing gives them a better chance to look fresh at the next elections when they can present a new leader whilst Labour would present a leader who would be at his fourth asking having lost roundly the last two elections and with a record that he could not manage the first he won when still an unknown quantity.
Yet the PN media and their friends in the English language press see no news value in them. Compare this to the great hype and ensuing damage about the stories of a few summers back related to speculation of corrupt practices in the 1992 leadership election. The conclusion is clear.
The PN and their friendly media will not do anything to weaken Alfred Sant’s position in the first part of this legislature. Only when he is firmly embedded in his place and with little time left for a possible change of leadership will all the criticism about the 2003 leadership election make it to the headlines to ensure maximum damage for Labour for the then forthcoming election process.
Alfred Sant has become an easy and predictable target for the PN and they manage his media image with clever style. This leaves true Labourites like me mouth wide open gasping for some political oxygen as Labour media gets elated by fine speeches in parliament rather than devising real winning strategies for next election.
The structural fiscal deficit for the first 5 months of 2003 has reached an astronomical figure of Lm105 million being Lm37 million more than deficit at the same point last year and more than double that of the year 2001.
The deficit is simply spinning out of control confirming how pressing was the need for change and how bad Labour has presented itself for the last election, if in spite of all these problems, the electorate again chose those that are mismanaging so grossly.
The deficit for the entire 2003 is budgeted for Lm75 million. Even if we manage to cash in the Lm22 million in grants as projected, no mean task in itself given the bureaucracy of managing funds under the Italian and the EU financial protocols, this will be just a match for the Lm21 million extraordinary revenue registered in later months of last year from the privatisation proceeds of MIA.
So given that last year we finished with a budget deficit of Lm88 million and at this point we are already Lm37 million out on last year, if we assume we keep to budget from this point onwards with grant moneys and all, the deficit for the whole of this year will shoot up to Lm125 million which is where we were in 1996.
Who knows what schemes are being devised to replay last year’s sleight of hand to make privatisation revenues look right ordinary revenue?
It would be one joke too many.
Strategy 1 No Risk Lm1002.282
Strategy 2 Medium Risk 997.700 (after Lm40 charges)
Strategy 3 High Risk Lm 980.100 (after Lm20 charges)
Strategy 4 High Risk For Curr 1001.590 (after Lm40charges)
All quotes are net of withholding tax on profit or interest where applicable, and use latest available price quotes and rates on Saturday 28thJune.
This week was dominated by the Fed decision to shave its Fed Funds overnight right one quarter to 1%, the lowest since 1958. Yet the market expected a half percentage point cut. It could not decide whether to be happy that the Fed felt that the economy did not need a half point push or sad that the economy still needed rate cuts to attempt a revival and wondered what would happen when the Fed runs out possibilities for further interest rate cuts.
Consequently equities and bonds dipped while the market reflects and awaits signals about 2nd quarter corporate profitability which will start pouring in the next few days. In this uncertainty, cash is the king.
No changes were made to the portfolio.
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