Latest news with #hedge
Independent Singapore
5 hours ago
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Should you park more savings in ringgit? What weekly JB visitors need to know about hedging, FX rates, and Malaysian bank accounts
MALAYSIA: For Singaporeans who head to Johor Bahru every weekend to shop, dine, or stay overnight, the question of whether to 'hedge' against a rising ringgit is becoming a common personal finance dilemma. On Facebook, one frequent traveller to JB shared that he keeps RM10,000 (S$3,000) in cash as a hedge. 'I usually buy when the rate is 3.35, which is more favourable than 3.25 now. I go to JB to stay at a hotel once a week. Should I increase my hedge to RM20,000 or RM30,000? Should I open a ringgit account in a Malaysian bank to earn 3% interest if available?' he asked. The post has sparked lively debate online, touching on everything from the feasibility of opening a Malaysian bank account as a foreigner to whether ringgit deposits actually make sense in the long run. Why hedge in ringgit? For those who spend regularly across the Causeway, holding a stash of ringgit can act as a buffer against short-term fluctuations. If the currency strengthens from 3.35 to 3.25 against the Singapore dollar, those who stocked up earlier effectively lock in cheaper hotel stays, meals, and shopping. Some commuters liken it to 'prepaying' for future consumption, much like buying travel vouchers. The difference, however, is that the ringgit's track record is one of long-term depreciation, making such hedges inherently speculative. See also Ipoh - The Perfect Weekend Escape from Singapore Treat ringgit as spending money, not an investment Many online reactions stressed that the ringgit should be viewed as a convenience for spending, not a long-term hedge. 'It depends if you are going to spend it in M'sia. The ringgit generally depreciates against a basket of currencies. The interest rates are deceptively high — that still isn't enough to prop up the ringgit. I have money in both countries, but my M'sian deposits are only for spending in Malaysia, not investments (including hedging). The rest are in SGD and USD. Meanwhile, my M'sian friends invest in SGD instead,' one netizen said. The remark reflects a widely shared sentiment: even Malaysians often look outward to the Singapore dollar as a safer store of value. For Singaporeans, that reinforces the idea that holding large ringgit balances is more about easing weekend expenses than actually building wealth. Banking hurdles for foreigners Others pointed out that opening a bank account in Malaysia is not as straightforward as it sounds. 'Not as easy to open a Malaysian bank account if you're a foreigner post the 1mdb saga. Couple of conditions to satisfy from having a job to serving a housing loan. Best to check with the banks. I wouldn't go through the hassle to hedge,' a Facebook commenter said. See also It's June! Best time to hit the beach in Johor Bahru! The analysis here is sobering: the perceived 3% interest rate that might entice Singaporeans is largely out of reach unless one has the right residency or employment status. The banking restrictions act as a natural barrier, which means hedging strategies that rely on Malaysian deposits are impractical for the average JB weekender. The risk of holding too much cash A few users also warned against hoarding physical notes. 'Hope you're not buying via physical notes, I have a stack of ringgit from 80s that local money changer that refuse to take in. I have to go to Maybank in Malaysia to exchange…. This will never happen to SG currency… So I never think to hedge such [an] unstable currency unless you have huge business dealings using their currency,' one netizen shared. Their story highlights a hidden risk: Currency redesigns and policy changes can make old notes less liquid. For Singaporeans used to the Singapore dollar's stability, the idea of notes becoming unexchangeable at money changers can be bothersome. It highlights the reality that large ringgit stashes aren't just vulnerable to exchange rates, but also to the currency's weaker credibility over time. So, should you hedge in ringgit? For Singaporeans who cross into JB weekly, keeping a good sum of ringgit can provide convenience and certainty. It smooths out the volatility of daily exchange rates and saves the hassle of multiple trips to the money changer, but the consensus from online reactions is clear: treat ringgit holdings as a way to pre-pay for your future consumption, not as an investment. Those who try to turn this into a profit-making strategy may be overlooking two realities: that the ringgit has historically lost ground against the Singapore dollar and that Malaysia's tighter banking rules make it difficult for foreigners to truly benefit from higher interest rates. Add to this the risk of holding too much physical cash, and the idea of 'hedging' starts to look less like a smart investment play and more like a lifestyle convenience. Ultimately, the safer long-term bet is still to keep savings in stronger currencies such as the Singapore dollar or US dollar, while using the ringgit simply as a practical tool for weekends across the Causeway. Read also: Ringgit edges higher as US dollar weakens, buoyed by steady domestic demand
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Aussie council defends spending $100,000 to move a hedge four metres
An Australian council has defended its decision to spend $100,000 to relocate a hedge by only a few metres to fulfil major work on its sporting oval. Whitehorse City Council announced it will be renovating Box Hill City Oval in Melbourne's east in September, and work will involve introducing new turf, synthetic cricket nets, a new pavilion, an asphalt pathway and improved drainage. The council hopes the new facilities will boost local engagement in sport. As part of the $3.7 million work, however, some locals have questioned why $100,000 will be spent to simply move the hedge a few paces. Despite raising some eyebrows among locals, the council told Yahoo News it was a necessary measure. "The estimated cost for this work includes relocation and replanting of the established hedge, as well as associated works to reconfigure an adjacent carpark pavement and kerb," Mayor Andrew Davenport told Yahoo. "This cost will be offset by reducing the planned works to bolster the hedge in other locations, reducing the planned tree planting in the adjacent car park area and reducing the scope of works in areas that do not impact the core ground and cricket net renewal works." According to local publication The Eastern Melburnian, which highlighted the hefty hedge cost, the council said the pushing back of the bush was necessary to reduce the impact of too much shade on the grass in the cricket nets. 😲 Aussies urged to dig up common invasive plant that's 'very difficult to remove' 🏡 Council divided over trees blocking 'million-dollar views' after residents complain 🌱 Council defends decision to rip out 57 new plants on rural roadside Tall hedges create shade that could inflict 'injury' to players Initially, councillors had proposed removing the hedges and replanting with something else to limit the amount of shade impacting the cricket field's turf. However Councillor Blair Barker suggested keeping the hedges and simply moving them further back to reduce the shade, and this is the plan the council ultimately settled on. "The existing nets are shaded by a nearby hedge, resulting in wet areas and uneven turf growth, which create significant injury risks," Mayo Davenport said. "Council resolved that this section of hedge is important to the amenity of the site and to relocate this portion of the hedge as part of the project." The 20 Photinia hedges will also be pruned to ensure they only stand at 2.4 metres. Aussies react to $100k hedge move Reactions to the new sporting facilities have been positive, but the same can't be said about the price of the hedge relocation. On July 28, six residents met with councillors to object to the hedge removal as it's the "only one of its kind in the municipality". Meanwhile, online residents raged that such a significant amount of ratepayers' money was being put towards the hedges. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
The Guardian
02-08-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Tim Dowling: the old dog snorted with delight – and then she was gone
In the days before my father-in-law's funeral, my wife and I drive to his cottage in the country with the dogs. Our schedule – shredded and hastily reassembled around events – has a window just big enough to go down there, check on things, do the front hedge, weed a bit. It seems important, even if it probably isn't. Shortly after we arrive a visitor remarks on the decline of the old dog. 'Really?' my wife says. 'I guess we don't notice.' Since we were last here the old dog – now nearly 16 – has certainly become more wobbly, more incontinent and more prone to falling asleep suddenly, in strange places. But her decline hasn't been steady. She's also prone to brief episodes where she leaps and capers like a young dog, episodes that are themselves a little alarming. 'Is she having fun?' I say, as the dog runs in circles round our feet. 'Does this look like fun?' Anyway, she likes it down here. She's been coming since she was a puppy, and she knows her way round. It is possibly more familiar to her than our house, which we've only lived in for eight years. The stone floor is remarkably resilient when it comes to chronic incontinence. And the weather is amazing. In the morning my wife goes out to pick up a few things. I sit at the table in front of my laptop, trying to make a start on a eulogy. The new dog is on the sofa. The old dog is asleep on the floor alongside its bed, as if she tipped over on the way to it, and decided that close was close enough. It occurs to me that this time last year I was at work on my own father's eulogy. This affirms my superstition that death has a season, and that season, for me, is summer. My mother died in June; I remember the sound of lawnmowers when I called my wife to tell her. Later that day, under a warm afternoon sun, I am trying to extract bindweed from a raised bed. It's a pleasingly thankless task, requiring little thought and carrying no risk of completion. My wife is pegging out some laundry by the back door. A few feet away from her, the old dog is having one of her rare episodes of sprightliness, tearing through the tall grass in excited figures of eight, and snorting with delight. My wife turns her back for a few minutes, and when she turns around, the old dog is gone. She comes and finds me to ask if I've seen her. I haven't. The old dog doesn't wander as a rule, and is most likely inside, fast asleep in some new and unlikely spot. Except she isn't. Once we've checked all the obvious places, we decide to split up. We search in silence, because you can't call a deaf dog. I take the track leading away from the house, secretly because I figure it's the path most likely to lead toward a positive outcome. If the dog has headed this way, I'm sure to find her safe. But I get quite a long way up the track without finding anything at all. From up there I can just hear my wife's voice calling my name. As faint as it is, I can tell she has bad news. In the end the new dog found the old dog, burrowing deep into brambles and weeds towards the bed of a trickling, nearly dry stream, where she lay dead. She was not 30ft from where my wife last saw her. We looked, it turns out, in all the wrong places. 'Oh dear,' my wife says, kneeling on the grass. 'I feel so guilty.' 'Me too,' I say. My wife rings our sons to break the news, and they take it hard. When the old dog was the new dog, the youngest one was only 10 years old. He was given the honour of picking a name. He took my advice, and called her Nellie. Later I text them all to tell them to check on the tortoise, because as far as I'm concerned death's season still has some way to run. In the following days more than one person will offer up the hopeful notion that animals sometimes take themselves off to die. I'm not sure how likely I find this, or how comforting. Other friends suggest that it's better all round for a dog to expire somewhere it's been happy, in full pursuit of being a dog, rather than on the cold floor of a veterinarian's office. I've sat on the floor holding a dog, tears running off my nose into its fur, while a vet administered that final injection. And now I've fought through brambles to pull a dead dog out of a stream. And personally, I would struggle to register a preference.
Bloomberg
01-08-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Goldman Urges Caution as Global Credit Spreads Hit 2007 Lows
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. credit strategists are urging clients to hedge risks as yield premiums on global corporate notes tightened to their lowest since 2007 this week. Recent trade deals between the US and its trading partners have provided clarity on the tariff front and 'investors are willing to look through near-term growth softness as long as recession risks remain contained,' Goldman strategists led by Lotfi Karoui wrote in a note dated July 31. They warned, however, against complacency.
News.com.au
28-07-2025
- News.com.au
Huge update on 5 year neighbour dispute over untrimmed hedge
A UK couple has won a bitter neighbour dispute over an untrimmed hedge after five years of furious feuding. Keith Smith, 71, and his wife Julie, 68, were locked in a feud with their neighbours in Prestonfield, Edinburgh, over the height of a hedge, The Sun reports. The Smiths claimed the untrimmed cypress trees, belonging to David Hunter and Niena Hunter Mistry, made their lives a misery. The row of trees sparked a five-year battle between the two couples. The neighbour war grew so bitter that it involved the Edinburgh City Council, the Scottish Government and even the police. The Smiths claim the trees cast a shadow across their garden, forcing the pensioners to live out their retirement in darkness. Demanding the trees be chopped down, the Smiths turned to the local authority but were left frustrated when they were refused. The couple paid a massive £350 ($A712) fee for a High Hedge Notice application which was denied after a visit from a city council officer. Appealing the decision, the Smiths won and managed to successfully have the trees trimmed back to 8.5ft in 2023. After the bush was trimmed the Smiths claim that gaps where the tree once stood were suddenly replaced by gardening tools, including ladders, pipes and concrete. The pair went on to claim the trim was inadequate and called for the council to come back, which they did and agreed that the remaining trees should be further cut back. Mr Hunter left a single tree standing untrimmed however which he claimed was not part of the 'boundary hedge' and therefore not subject to the High Hedge Notice. The Smiths then insisted the remaining tree be cut back too with the dispute turning ugly again. The couple, who have lived in their home for 44 years, continued their brutal battle to have the foliage lopped back. Things got so bad that in June of last year the police were called to the quiet suburb where they issued 'two men' with 'recorded police warnings'. Mr Smith previously claimed to Edinburgh Live his neighbours' behaviour had been 'atrocious' and branded the couple's actions 'absolutely appalling'. The hedge owners refused to chop down their bush and claimed they felt harassed and intimidated by the Smiths. The Smiths previously said: 'We, the Smiths, have suffered hugely financially, emotionally and physically by this process and sincerely hope, this will now lead to resolution.' An appeal launched by Mr Hunter in a bid to save his tree was rejected and the last remaining part of the hedge will now have to be cut back to 8.5ft. Mr Hunter insisted the remaining tree was not part of the hedge and begged that it be allowed to stand. He said in a document seen by the Mail Online: 'The individual tree identified in the varied notice cannot reasonably be said to be part of the boundary hedge. 'It appears as a separate individual tree and has never been trimmed. 'We would be very grateful if you would take all our points and concerns into account and request that you quash the revised high hedge notice.' Despite his pleas Mr Hunter was ordered to cut back the remaining piece of his hedge to 8.5ft in line with the previous High Hedge Notice. The Smiths were delighted after a government official stated the tree did in fact cast a shadow over a 'significant' portion of their garden. The official also stated the previous High Hedge Notice applied to the whole hedge, including the remaining tree. Despite the best efforts of Mr Hunter the government official ruled the hedge damaged the Smith's enjoyment of their home. The government ruled the remaining part of the hedge is now subject to the High Hedge Notice and should be trimmed to 8.5ft.
