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Stock Market Malaysia - The Bursa Malaysia Berhad is an important member of the global stock markets, with a history stretching back almost 80 years. Instituted in 1930, the private Singapore Stockbrokers' Association was the first sanctioned securities trading organization in Malaysia. This association of stock market Malaysia was renamed the Malayan Stockbrokers' Association in 1937, but did not yet publicly trade shares.

In 1960, public trading of shares was inaugurated with the public Malaysian market, called the Malayan Stock Exchange. The Malayan Stock Exchange was the predecessor of the modern Malayan securities market. The Malayan Stock Exchange was renamed the Stock Exchange of Malaysia in 1964.

The stock market Malaysia operations continued as the Stock Exchange of Malaysia and Singapore (SEMS) after Singapore seceded from Malaysia in 1965. The exchange split into the Stock Exchange of Singapore, and the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Board in 1973, following the separation of the Malayan and Singapore currencies. In 1976, the Kuala Lumpur StockExchange was incorporated to take over operations of the KLSEB. The KLSEB was renamed the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in 1994.

Under direction of the Demutualization Act, in 2004 the klse stock market was converted from a not-for-profit organization limited by the guarantee of its membership, to an entity limited by its shares, called the Bursa Malaysia Berhad. At this time, the stock market Malaysia exchanges had a market capitalization of US $189 billion. With conversion, the securities exchange part of the business was transferred to a wholly-owned subsidiary, Bursa Securities. In 2005, Bursa Malaysia was listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.

The main index, called the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) passed the 1,000 milestone in 2006, and in June 2007 held a market capitalization of US $307 billion. The market operations are divided into a Securities Exchange, a Derivatives Exchange, and an Offshore Exchange.

Larger companies are listed on the Bursa Malaysia Securities Main Board, medium sized companies on the Second Board, and high growth and technology companies on the MESDAQ market. There is also a separate board for offshore companies. Futures and options contracts are traded on the Derivatives Exchange, operated by Bursa Derivatives. These capital markets are regulated by various acts of parliament. The network of holding companies also develops and distributes comprehensive market information products and services.

There are plenty of markets that you can trade in. For many, trading a small bit of your portfolio overseas can help lower your exposure to what happens on the North American exchanges.

Investing can be confusing, but we can help with more information on otc online newsletter and where can I purchase penny stocks.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_W_Smith

Stock market investment in Malaysia and Singapore
Effective stock market investment in Malaysia

The moon, long an object to curiosity and worship, has inspired many tales in ancient China. While on board a boat, Tang Dynasty poet Li Po was believed to have tried to embrace the reflection of the moon while he was drunk. He fell overboard and drowned. In days of yore, people regarded a round shape as family reunion; thus the appearance of a full moon was regarded as an auspicious time for family members to get together. At no other time of the year is the moon brightest and fullest on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. In 2009, that auspicious day falls on October 3, 2009, which is also known as the Mid-autumn Festival. Lantern processions and the eating of mooncakes are highlights of the celebrations.

In Malaysia, which has a Chinese population, the Mooncake Festival is also celebrated on a moderately grand scale with prayers and reunion dinners. Altars are set up in the open air under the moonlight, and offerings of pomegranates, pomelos, steamed sponge cake, water-calthrops, mini yams and mooncakes are laid. The moon is worshipped, and there is feasting, moon gazing and, in modern families, partying and drinking. Children carry lanterns and sometimes competitions are held. According to older generations, on this day, the taboo of not pointing to the moon should be observed, lest a moon fairy will cut off one's ears!
In Kuala Lumpur, the Thean Hou Kung Temple on Jalan Syed Putra holds a grand celebration annually, while similar merry-making is held in Penang in either the Chinese Assembly Hall or the Kek Lok See Temple. Organisers of such celebrations are the Chinese guilds, associations and temple trustees.

Weeks before the festival, mooncakes and lanterns are put up for sale. In the Chinese districts of many cities, especially Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown, Malacca and Ipoh, red boxes packed with mooncakes are piled high on the sales counters of restaurants, and lanterns in the shapes of animals, flowers, butterflies and cartoon characters dangle in clusters from toy stores and incense shops. In keeping with the times, some of the lanterns are operated by battery though those lighted by candles are still popular. Mooncakes are bought not only for prayer and consumption but to be given to friends and relatives.

Shaped like the surface of a mooncakes come in several traditional varieties. They can be filled with black-bean paste, brownish lotus-paste, yellow-bean paste and lotus-seed mixed with sweetened paste. Usually, a preserved duck-egg yoke is added to the stuffing. These mooncakes are of the Cantonese version, and in addition, there are also less popular Hokkien-style mooncakes that come in a long cylindrical roll and Teochew mooncakes filled with yam. In Malaysia, halal mooncakes are also available. To cater to the increasing sophisticated taste buds of Malaysians, innovations in mooncakes include ice-cream mooncakes, pandanus moncakes, green tea mooncakes and durian mooncakes.

The origins of the Mooncake Festival have been lost in the mists of time but there are two legends associated with it. The first concerns its role in the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 960-1280) that was established by the Mongols in ancient China. Under the oppressive rule of the Mongols, gatherings of a group of people were forbidden, and it was decreed that each household be allowed to own only one kitchen cleaver, which was chained to a chopping block. It was impossible to organise any uprisings. Liu Fu Tong, a rebel leader of Anhui province, requested permission from the District Officer to distribute cakes to bless the longevity of the Mongolian emperor. The District Officer agreed, and Liu made thousands of round cakes which he called mooncakes. Each cake contained a piece of paper outlining the plan of an attack. He told the recipients to eat the mooncakes on the 15th day of he 8th lunar moon. On that fateful day, when the people cut the mooncakes, they were able to coordinate a rebellion on a local scale. Another rebel leader, Chu Hung Wu, capitalised on the chaos to overthrow the Mongol emperor, and established the Ming Dynasty in AD 1368).

Another legend concerns Chang Er, who was a daughter of a poor farming family. When she was 18, Hou Yi, a skilled archer from a neighbouring village saw her attending to the fowls in her parents' farm, and was captivated by her beauty. Over the next few days, he deliberately rode passed the farm again and managed to introduced himself. She accepted his friendship, and soon they became lovers. During the period of their courtship, a phenomenon happened. The ten suns of the earth that took turns to bring warmth and light appeared together. Rivers dried up and the land became barren, causing starvation and massive destruction.

Hou Yi climbed up to the highest mountain he could find and launched his mighty arrows. One by one, nine of the suns were shot down. The people rejoiced and made Hou Yi their King. He married Chang Er, and they lived happily for several years. However, Hou Yi changed into a despot, and tried to seek immortality. He employed sorcerers to create an elixir of life for him. One prominent sorcerer told him he needed children to be sacrificed as part of the process of creating the elixir. Hou Yi ordered his troops to snatch children from their families, and the elixir table was almost completed.

One evening, Chang Er sneaked in the sorcerer's chamber that was housed in a tall tower in the palace. She rummaged everywhere and found the tablet. At that moment, the sorcerer burst in and Chang Er quickly swallowed the tablet. The sorcerer raised the alarm and in rushed Hou Yi who tried to force his wife to return the pill. It was too late. She had swallowed it, and in her bid to escape from Hou Yi, she was forced to jump from a window. However, she did not fall down but floated up to the moon, where she lives alone. Another version says that as punishment for stealing the elixir of life, Chang Er was turned into a three-legged toad. Her pet rabbit became her companion, and is always pounding the elixir of immortality in a large mortar. Today, it it believed that people celebrate the Mooncake Festival to remember Chang Er.
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