DUBLIN • Billionaire John Malone is the largest private landowner in the US. Now, he’s expanding his reach to the land of his forefathers. Malone, the 72-year-old chairman of Liberty Global Inc, paid about €8 million (RM31.04 million) for the neo-Gothic Irish Humewood Castle after it captured “my wife’s fancy,” Malone said in an interview this month. “We call it our green banana project because at our age, you don’t buy green bananas,” Malone said. “It’s going to take a number of years to get it restored.” Malone is among a growing number of Americans returning to their Irish roots and scooping up mansions and castles after the worst real-estate crash in western Europe. Overseas buyers accounted for nine of the 10 biggest sales of Irish country mansions last year, with 40% of those from the US, according to Dublin-based estate agency Sherry FitzGerald Group. — Bloomberg

The retail investor is a market segment Phillip Futures Sdn Bhd sees potential to tap into for growth of its derivatives business in Malaysia.

While retail investors are well aware of the Malaysian equity market, the trading of derivatives on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Bhd (BMD), despite growing annually in terms of volumes traded, remains a domain of a small group of traders.

By market demography, retail trading accounted for 20% of all trades of the crude palm oil futures contract and 27% of the Bursa Malaysia KLCI futures contract in 2012 but Phillip Futures believes this market has potential to grow with increased exposure to derivatives and education.

“We are quite positive about the growth of the retail market for derivatives trading. Providing education has always been an integral part of our commitment to clients. We will continue to provide quality investor education and, with more physical presence in Malaysia, we foresee ourselves conducting more seminars for investors in each city. This way, we prepare and grow the pool of savvy investors who will be equipped with necessary knowledge to trade the growing derivatives markets,” CEO of Phillip Futures (Singapore) Teyu Che Chern told The Malaysian Reserve recently in an email reply.

Total volume of contracts traded on BMD in 2012 grew 14% year-on-year (YoY) to 9.6 million contracts and this year the exchange has a target to increase that number to 13 million contracts or 50,000 contracts a day.

Volume of listed contracts traded on Asean based derivative exchanges grew in 2012 (see table) bucking the decline of volumes on global exchanges and that volume expansion is set to sustain into 2013.

Total number of futures and options contracts traded on 84 exchanges worldwide declined 15% to 21.2 billion contracts last year primarily due to a fall in trade in interest rate, equity and currency contracts while commodity category contracts managed to buck the trend.

The decline was due to the sustained contraction of trades in the major interest rate futures and options contract such as the CME Group’s Eurodollar and NYSE Liffe’s Euribor futures and options contracts, which saw double-digit declines in trades.

The number of contracts traded and cleared on regional exchanges such as BMD, Thailand Futures Exchange and Singapore Exchange grew between 4% and 13% in 2012 as economic stability, growth and development of financial markets in the region fuelled interest in derivatives.

First-quarter (1Q) data suggest the story of volume expansion is set to extend in 2013.

Contracts volumes traded on BMD in 1Q rose 14% YoY, while Singapore Exchange reported a 27% increase in total volumes for March alone.

NEW YORK • The 100 wealthiest people on the planet dropped US$17.9 bi l l ion (RM55.85 billion) from their collective net worth this week after the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index fell short of hitting an all-time high. Carlos Slim, the world’s richest person, lost US$5 billion during the week, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Mexican lawmakers announced legislation on March 11 that threatens to rein in the country’s telecommunications monopolies, raising the possibility of a breakup for Slim’s America Movil SAB.

The stock plunged to its lowest price in almost four years.

The 73-year-old is worth US$67.8 billion — US$184 million ahead of Bill Gates. The wealth gap between the billionaires is the closest it’s been since the index debuted in March 2012.

“It looked like we were oh-so-close. We didn’t make it and gave up some ground,” said Walter “Bucky” Hellwig, who helps manage US$17 billion at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.

“It’s a given that we’re going to get a new high on the S&P. The question is: What happens after that?” The S&P 500 climbed on March 14 to within two points of its record closing level of 1,565.15, set in October 2007, closing on March 15 at 1,560.7, up 0.6% for the week. The index has more than doubled from its bottom in 2009, fuelled by corporate earnings that topped estimates and monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average set an all-time high for the eighth day in a row on March 15.

Gates, the 57-year-old Microsoft Corp co-founder, is the world’s second-richest person with US$67.6 billion. Europe’s richest man, Amancio Ortega, the 76-year-old founder of Inditex SA, the world’s largest clothing retailer and owner of the Zara clothing chain, is No 3 on the index with a net worth of US$55.7 billion, US$900 million ahead of Warren Buffett, 82.

Billionaire Carl Icahn was down US$290 million for last week. The 77-year-old is reviewing Dell Inc’s books as he pushes alternatives to a proposed US$24.4 billion leveraged buyout of the personal computer maker that faces mounting resistance from investors.

Icahn has amassed a stake in Dell and urged the company Monday to pay a special dividend of US$9 a share. Dell’s board is seeking bids higher than the US$13.65 a share offer by chief executive officer Michael Dell and Silver Lake Management LLC to take the company private. Icahn is worth US$19.8 billion.

John Paulson, the 57-year old billionaire hedge-fund manager who was considering a move to Puerto Rico, said he won’t set up a permanent residence on the island.

“In light of the media attention surrounding a relocation to Puerto Rico, he has no plans to move to Puerto Rico,” said Paulson & Co, John Paulson’s hedge fund, in a statement released yesterday on March 15.

“While Paulson has considered real estate investments and has vacationed on the island, he has no plans to establish a permanent residence there.”

Bloomberg News reported on March 11 that Paulson, a lifelong New Yorker, had been exploring a move to Puerto Rico, where a new law would eliminate taxes on gains from the money he has invested in his own hedge funds. Paulson has a US$11.2 billion fortune.

LOS ANGELES • Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla Motors Inc said a range test of the Model S electric sedan by the New York Times was “fake” as the reporter didn’t disclose all the details of his drive.

“NYTimes article about Tesla range in cold is fake,” Musk said in a Twitter post yesterday.

“Vehicle logs tell true story that he didn’t actually charge to max & took a long detour.”

The Times on Feb 8 published a story by John M Broder on its website detailing how the Model S he drove failed to meet the electric sedan’s 300-mile (483km) range “under ideal conditions” while driving in temperatures as low as 10°F (-12°C). The Times also published a blog post by Broder about the test-drive on the same day, detailing his plan to use Tesla’s new “supercharger” stations.

Broder followed instructions he was given in “multiple conversations with Tesla personnel,” Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Times, said in an email message.

The story was “completely factual, describing the trip in detail exactly as it occurred,” Murphy said. “Any suggestion that the account was ‘fake’ is, of course, flatly untrue.”

Musk said in a separate Twitter comment that Palo Alto, California-based Tesla’s test cars for media drives have data loggers to record details of such trips.

Musk, who is Tesla’s biggest shareholder, also said a company blog is being prepared “detailing what actually happened” during Broder’s drive.

Broder made three errors in his test drive, including not fully charging the car, driving into Manhattan during rush hour and driving over the speed limit, Musk said in an interview with Emily Chang on Bloomberg Television.

“You can’t do that, whether it’s a gasoline car or an electric car, and expect to achieve the top range,” Musk said in the interview.

“If we have been wronged and facts are on our side, I believe in speaking out,” he said.

“It is not as if I do this all the time — several thousand articles have been written and I have only objected to a few of them.”

The company has a data logging system that allows it to monitor a battery’s state of charge, the vehicle’s position and the driving route, Musk said in the interview with Bloomberg. “We’re going to publish the actual logs in the car, and it’s crystal clear,” he said, referring to Broder’s test drive.

The data logging system “is only turned on with explicit written permission from customers, but after Top Gear (dispute), we always keep it on for media,” Musk said on Twitter yesterday.

Tesla fell the most in almost two months on Monday after the paper’s first-person account about the cold-weather test-drive.

The shares declined 2.1% to US$38.42 (RM119.06) at the close in New York, the biggest one-day drop since Dec 13.

They’ve risen 24% in the past year, compared to a 13% gain for the Russell 1000 Index.

“After digging into the background behind the article, our conclusion is that operator error likely played a primary role, due to improper charging protocol,” Elaine Kwei, an analyst for Jefferies & Co, wrote in a report on Monday. She rates Tesla a ‘Buy’.