FT.com
The Swiss National Bank’s decision to set a SFr1.20 floor versus the euro has sparked a flurry of strategic adjustments by investors and added to the volatility that has been roiling markets of late,http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/09/06/670711/snb-move-on-franc-sparks-more-volatility/
Banks, exchanges and trade repositories should be forced to disclose more timely and comprehensive data because increased transparency would help investors to price risk and discourage contagion panic,http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/09/07/671016/fpc-member-calls-for-more-disclosure/
Google’s offices in Seoul have been raided by South Korean regulators, the FT reports, citing two people familiar with the situation. Google itself refused to confirm the Korea Fair Trade Commission had visited its offices. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/09/07/670956/regulators-raid-google%e2%80%99s-seoul-offices/
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has issued subpoenas in recent weeks into the way Goldman Sachs marketed some CDOs before the financial crisis, the WSJ says, citing people familiar with the matter. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/09/07/670926/subpoenas-issued-on-goldman-cdo-sales/
The Institute of International Finance, which represents the biggest financial groups, claims in a study that higher bank capital rules will drive up the cost of credit, hampering global growth and wiping out 7.5m jobs. The FT reports the IIF, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/09/07/670896/banks-say-capital-rules-will-cost-7-5m-jobs/
Twenty high-profile economists have written to the FT arguing that George Osborne should drop the 50p top rate of income tax “at the earliest opportunity” to boost growth. The economists say the move is essential to create an internationally competitive tax regime that will allow Britain to enjoy long-term sustainable economic growth. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/09/07/670886/economists-argue-50p-rate-should-be-dropped/
China may be famous as the workshop of the world, but one Hong Kong lingerie maker has found Thailand a more alluring destination, as companies increasingly shift production to countries with lower wages, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/09/06/670736/china-wage-rises-bring-shift-in-production/
The former leader of an Indian political party was jailed on Tuesday after a Delhi court refused him bail in an investigation into the parliamentary negotiations surrounding the landmark US-Indian civil nuclear deal, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/09/06/670726/indian-mp-faces-cash-for-votes-charges/
Russia has pumped the first gas into a new pipeline running under the Baltic Sea to Germany, which will tighten Moscow’s grip on the continent’s lucrative gas markets. The opening of the $10bn Nord Stream pipeline gives Russia its first direct export link to western markets, bypassing Ukraine and other central European countries. Ukraine is locked in the latest of a series of gas-price disputes with Russia’s Gazprom, raising concerns over possible supply disruptions to western Europe similar to those experienced in 2006 and 2009. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/58c466ae-d8a9-11e0-9089-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1X96Le14n
The yield on benchmark US Treasury 10-year notes approached the lowest level for six decades as bond traders grew increasingly confident that slumping equities and the eurozone debt crisis would compel the Federal Reserve to enact a new programme of bond purchases later this month. The yield on 10-year notes touched 1.91 per cent on Tuesday, just above the low of 1.9 per cent set in 1950 according to Barclays’ Equity Gilt study. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/cf82b418-d89e-11e0-9089-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1X96Le14n
Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right government caved in to pressure from bond markets and European partners late on Tuesday by announcing a last-minute U-turn to strengthen Italy’s proposed austerity package . After more than three weeks of flip-flopping, the prime minister’s office announced that the highest value added tax band would be increased to 21 per cent from 20 per cent; that a 3 per cent wealth tax would be imposed on top earners, and that introduction of a later retirement age for women would be brought forward. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5e378136-d898-11e0-9089-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1X96Le14n
WSJ.com
Asian shares rose Wednesday as beaten-down stocks attracted buyers, while exporters led Tokyo’s rebound on expectations Japan might follow Switzerland’s bold move Tuesday to weaken its robust currency. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.4%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.9%, South Korea’s Kospi Composite added 2.5% and New Zealand’s NZX-50 rose 0.6%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 33 points in screen trade. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904900904576555481166343502.html?mod=WSJASIA_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews
Australia’s commodity-rich economy was stronger than expected in the second quarter, shrugging off the impact of natural disasters earlier this year that disrupted coal and agricultural production in one of the country’s largest regions, latest official data shows. Gross domestic product, or GDP, rose 1.2% in the second quarter from the previous three-month period and 1.4% from a year earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. Economists expected GDP to rise 1.0% on a quarterly basis and 0.7% from a year earlier. The bureau revised the decline in first quarter GDP to 0.9% from 1.2% when it originally issued http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904900904576555453120932950.html?mod=WSJASIA_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is fighting to quell a rebellion within her ruling coalition that could potentially destabilize her government, after 25 lawmakers from her center-right camp indicated they might not support legislation to strengthen Europe’s bailout fund. Mock votes among lawmakers in Ms. Merkel’s coalition late Monday showed she will have to fight to keep her governing majority together in a crucial ballot on Sept. 29, when Germany’s parliament will vote on proposals to make the main euro-zone bailout fund bigger and more flexible.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904537404576554743982419756.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
The Bank of Japan decided Wednesday to refrain from taking additional easing steps despite the strong yen, repeating its stance to keep its virtually zero rate policy in place until price stability is in sight. The bank’s policy board voted unanimously at the end of a two-day meeting to leave its policy rate–the http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904900904576555562367273264.html?mod=WSJASIA_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews
Standard & Poor’s Corp. officials held private meetings with large bond investors weeks before the firm’s historic U.S. debt downgrade, leaving some believing the chance of a credit-rating cut was higher than they previously thought. Though S&P had put the U.S. on “credit watch” in mid-July, some investors were skeptical that S&P would actually strip the U.S. of its triple-A rating, maintained since 1941. S&P said in a news release on July 14 that “there is at least a one-in-two likelihood that we could lower” the U.S. ratings within 90 days. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903648204576554642014670986.html?mod=WSJEurope_hpp_LEFTTopStories
In his corner office of the Swiss National Bank, Philipp Hildebrand has hung a message that belies the turmoil that has bedeviled his tenure as president of the central bank: Keep Calm and Carry On. The popular British World War II-era motto could serve as encouragement for the banker, who finds himself in the spotlight again after the SNB boldly set a limit Tuesday on a further rise in the Swiss franc. In doing so, Mr. Hildebrand, the youngest chief yet of Switzerland’s central bank, has drawn a line in the sand for currency speculators, just 15 months after he capitulated on a previous attempt to weaken the franc. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903648204576554650127753450.html?mod=WSJEurope_hpp_LEFTTopStories
The recent slew of bad economic news has raised expectations in financial markets that the Federal Reserve will take new actions to spur growth and hiring. For Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke this poses two challenges: Figure out what to do and forge a consensus in a divided policy-making committee. One option that has gained favor in some corners of the Fed: Lower long-term interest rates by shifting the composition of the Fed’s holdings of government securities so the average maturity is longer. This could be done by selling some shorter-term securities and reinvesting the money in longer-term ones.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903895904576546611494528714.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews
Signs are increasing that German Chancellor Angela Merkel may have to risk her political career to make sure that Germany delivers on its commitment to expanding the euro zone’s bailout capacity. Two mock votes among the center-right parties of the federal government late Monday suggested that she can scarcely rely on their support alone to guarantee the passage of a vote that would increase the lending capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility and allow it to take on the role of lender of last resort from the European Central Bank.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904900904576554010850620874.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_MIDDLETopNews
Spain’s central bank kicked off the sale of Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo a day after the bailed-out lender disclosed huge losses and triggered new fears about the health of the country’s ailing savings banks. The Bank of Spain’s adviser in the sale, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is distributing sales documents to potential bidders, asking them to present nonbinding offers by the end of the month, according to people familiar with the situation. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904900904576554740742806186.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
Marketwatch.com
The U.S. service sector expanded at a slightly faster pace in August, but growth was spotty and prices paid for raw materials shot up, according to a survey of senior executives. The Institute for Supply Management on Tuesday said its service index rose to 53.3% in August from 52.7% in July. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected the index to fall to 51.0%. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-service-sector-expands-faster-in-august-ism-2011-09-06
China could lower banks’ reserve requirements for some or all banks following tightened liquidity after the central bank widened the reserve requirement ratio base to include margin deposits, the China Securities Journal wrote in a front-page commentary Wednesday, citing analysts. Recently, the People’s Bank of China has become more cautious in its measures to tighten liquidity as it issued smaller bond issuances and didn’t hike interest rates further, the paper said. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-set-to-cut-bank-reserve-requirements-report-2011-09-06
Reuters.com
Spot gold rebounded as much as 0.8 percent on Wednesday after its slide off the previous session’s record high, as the metal recovered its appeal to investors scurrying for safety from the euro zone’s debt crisis. Spot gold tumbled as much as $60 from Tuesday’s record of $1,920.30, but rebounded half a percent to trade at $1,873.99 an ounce by 0329 GMT. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/07/markets-precious-idUSL3E7K703G20110907
President Barack Obama, facing waning confidence among Americans in his economic stewardship, plans to lay out a $300 billion job-creation package on Thursday, CNN reported, citing Democratic sources. The proposed new spending, to be announced by Obama in a nationally televised speech to Congress, would be offset by budget cuts, the report said, signaling that the Democratic president hopes to mollify the concerns of Republican fiscal hawks resistant to his jobs ideas. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/07/us-obama-jobs-idUSTRE78176520110907
The pursuit of austerity measures and deficit cuts is pushing the world economy toward disaster in a misguided attempt to please global financial markets, the annual report of the United Nations economic thinktank UNCTAD said on Tuesday. The report, entitled “Post-crisis policy challenges in the world economy,” savaged U.S. and European economic policies and called for wage increases, stricterregulation of financial markets, including a return to a system of managed exchange rates, and a conscious break with market-led thinking. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/06/us-economy-un-report-idUSTRE7852Y120110906
Bloomberg.com
Australia’s central bank Governor Glenn Stevens signaled he’s prepared to extend a pause in interest rates as global market turmoil threatens an economy that grew last quarter at the fastest pace in four years. Second-quarter gross domestic product advanced 1.2 percent from the previous three months, when it fell a revised 0.9 percent, a Bureau of Statistics report released today in Sydney showed. Stevens, speaking earlier in Perth, said households watching Europe’s debt crisis may hunker down and weaken demand compared with the central bank’s forecasts last month. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-07/australia-s-economy-grows-more-than-estimated-spurring-gains-in-currency.html
Europe’s failure to end a deepening debt crisis and a faltering U.S. recovery are escalating the danger of a growth slowdown in Asia, putting pressure on central banks meeting this week to refrain from interest-rate increases. Central banks in South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines will probably all keep their benchmark rates unchanged tomorrow, according to four Bloomberg News surveys of economists. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Bank Negara Malaysia will also refrain from increasing banks’ reserve requirements after raising the ratios earlier this year, according to separate surveys.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-06/asia-dragged-down-by-europe-s-crisis-forced-to-hold-rates-as-prices-climb.html
Inter Ikea Centre Group, the developer of the world’s largest home-furnishings retailer, is boosting the size of three malls it’s building in China and plans a fourth in Shanghai on “huge demand” for shop leases. Ikea Group’s mall developer plans to spend as much as 4 billion yuan ($626 million) on the Shanghai shopping center, which may open as early as 2016, managing director John Tegner said in an interview yesterday. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-06/inter-ikea-may-spend-626-million-on-shanghai-mall-to-meet-china-demand.html
CNBC.com
Don’t expect a big boost in hiring from the retail sector during the holiday season, according to the results of a survey released Tuesday. Although the vast majority of retailers — some 68 percent — plan on keeping holiday hiring at roughly the same level as last year, a quarter expect to trim hiring plans for seasonal workers, according to an annual hiring survey conducted by the Hay Group, a global management consultancy. http://www.cnbc.com/id/44410418
While a recent report showed that U.S. financial companies have nearly $200 billion in net exposure to Greece, Ireland, and Portugal, the amount is “manageable relative to their capital,” according to a July 14 letter Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke wrote to members of Congress. Bernanke warned, however, that “a sovereign credit event in the region could affect a broad range of markets and financial institutions,” including those outside of Europe. http://www.cnbc.com/id/44411981
A government desire to break up the nation’s largest banks and discourage lending is going to force the US into a recession, analyst Dick Bove said. Speaking just days after the Federal Housing Finance Agency sued 17 banks over mortgage-related practices during the collapse of the subprime lending industry, Bove told CNBC that Washington is acting without concern over what effect its actions against banks are having. http://www.cnbc.com/id/44407125
NYTimes.com
“This crisis has the potential to be a lot worse than Lehman Brothers,” said George Soros, the hedge fund investor, citing the lack of an authoritative pan-European body to handle a banking crisis of this severity. “That is why the problem is so serious. You need a crisis to create the political will for Europe to create such an authority, but there is still no understanding as to what the authority will do.” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/business/global/in-euro-zone-banking-fear-feeds-on-itself.html?_r=1&ref=global
Foxbusiness.com
A top Federal Reserve official who opposed the U.S. central bank’s move last month to ease monetary policy signaled Tuesday he may balk again if fellow policymakers opt for still more stimulus this month. “The data in August did not justify the additional accommodation provided at that meeting,” Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Narayana Kocherlakota said in remarks prepared for delivery at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. “It is unlikely that the data in September will warrant adding still more accommodation.” http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/09/06/top-fed-official-additional-fed-easing-likely-unwarranted/#ixzz1XEz6oB00
USAtoday.com
Time is short for some buyers and owners of more expensive homes to get the best terms on mortgage loans. Starting Oct. 1, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will cut the size of loans they buy from lenders. That will force many future borrowers into more expensive and harder-to-get jumbo loans. The Freddie and Fannie limits, which are generally $417,000 for single-family homes nationwide, were raised in 2008 in some high-cost housing markets to stimulate the economy. In many areas, the limits rose to $729,750 and next month they’ll fall to $625,500. Limits will drop more sharply in some areas and less in others.http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/story/2011-09-06/Coming-loan-changes-could-squeeze-high-priced-home-markets/50286952/1
Telegraph.co.uk
Chancellor George Osborne: UK ‘ahead of the curve’ in reducing deficit. George Osborne launched a spirited defence of the Government’s austerity plans on Tuesday night, insisting they were Britain’s only chance of sustainable recovery despite a worsening short-term outlook. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8745443/Chancellor-George-Osborne-UK-ahead-of-the-curve-in-reducing-deficit.html
German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has vowed to halt rescue payments to Greece unless the country complies totally with the EU-IMF demands, brushing aside warnings that a Greek collapse would set off a disastrous chain reaction and a global banking crisis. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8745695/German-austerity-drive-risks-Euro-slump.html
The London-based business of Goldman Sachs cut its tax bill for the first half of the year by just over a third after the US investment bank was a hit by a fall in profits. In its accounts for the first six months of 2011, Goldman Sachs International recognised a tax credit of $156m (£96m), largely as a result of a $153m paper rebate on UK corporation tax.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/8745469/Goldman-Sachs-UK-tax-bill-falls-34pc-after-drop-in-profits.html
There was modest relief for British households last month as the rate of rise in shop prices slowed to 2.7pc from 2.8pc in July, significantly lower than the official measure of inflation, which is 4.4pc. The BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index showed that the downward shift was the result of slowing food inflation, as the cost of some global commodities, including wheat, came down from their highs earlier in the year. Lower commodity prices, as well as good harvests of fresh fruit and vegetables, kept food prices down, with food inflation slowing to 5pc in August from 5.2pc in July.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8744871/Shop-price-inflation-slows-in-August.html
Independent.co.uk
The economy may be weakening but British companies are spending the most on foreign deals since the start of the financial crisis. UK companies spent £30bn overseas in the first half of 2011, while foreign companies laid out only £14bn on UK businesses, according to the Office for National Statistics. The second quarter was weaker than the first, with UK acquisitions overseas halving to £10bn, but each of the first two quarters beat every quarter since the start of 2008. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/british-companies-overseas-deals-surge-2350298.html
Guardian.co.uk
Greece or Portugal would lose up to 50% of their national income if they quit the euro, according to research by analysts at Swiss investment bank UBS. A eurozone country with a more robust economy, such as France or the Netherlands, would see 20% to 25% of national income disappear if they went back to operating their own currency. For Greece the loss would be $165bn (£100bn) from its $330bn annual gross domestic product, while France would suffer a loss of $660bn from its $2.65 trillion annual GDP. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/sep/06/quitting-euro-greece-portugal-ubs
Smh.com.au
Brent crude rose above $US113 a barrel for the second consecutive day on expectations of lower US crude stockpiles after a storm disrupted production in the Gulf of Mexico. Front-month Brent gained 47 cents to $US113.36 a barrel, after settling up $US2.81 on Tuesday. US crude was trading at $US86.44 a barrel, up 42 cents. http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/brent-crude-rises-on-forecasts-of-lower-us-stockpiles-20110907-1jwdt.html#ixzz1XF1bAk7P
Construction activity has fallen to its lowest level in almost two and a half years, largely due to a lack of new work and tender opportunities, a report shows. The Australian Industry Group-Housing Industry Association’s performance of construction index (PCI) fell four index point to 32.1 points in August. It was the construction industry’s 15th consecutive monthly fall. Readings below 50 indicate a contraction in activity. http://www.smh.com.au/business/construction-activity-falls-sharply-20110907-1jwle.html#ixzz1XF1OOv00
While an economic catastrophe in China or a second credit crunch could spark massive falls in Australian home values, it’s more likely that prices will continue their orderly decline into next year as wary buyers stay out of a falling market, says a new report. Louis Christopher, managing director of SQM Research, predicts that by June 2012 home prices in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth will be as much as 15 per cent below their 2010 peaks, assuming no rate change from the Reserve Bank. Sydney’s outlook is more positive. http://www.smh.com.au/business/house-prices-to-slide-further-in-2012-report-20110907-1jwns.html#ixzz1XF1U8GOa
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero insists Spain will not require an international bailout, and will “survive tensions” that are sweeping the markets. “Spain, of course, will finance itself,” he told a news conference in Ankara with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that was carried on Spanish television. We will survive these tensions. They are not good for our economy, but we will survive them. http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/pm-denies-spain-on-verge-on-bailout-20110907-1jwh7.html#ixzz1XF1flmHF
Xinhuanet.com
Throughput at China’s main ports is expected to grow at a robust rate of 10 percent year-on-year in the third quarter due to a low comparison base in 2010, the China Securities Journal quoted a shipping industry expert as saying on Wednesday. However, shipping expert Chen Yi was not as upbeat about this year’s fourth quarter throughput. “Restricted by government policies and economic circumstances, throughput may grow at a slower pace in the fourth quarter,” Chen said. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2011-09/07/c_131110902.htm
China’s economy is likely to grow at a rate of less than 9 percent next year, due to the faltering economic recovery of the largest developed countries, China Daily reported Wednesday. If the global demand fails to improve next year, China’s economic growth may fall below 9 percent, the newspaper quoted Huang Guobo, chief economist at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, as saying. If so, it would be the first time this has happened since 2001, the newspaper said. The deteriorating sovereign debt crisis in some large economies reduced worldwide market confidence, which will challenge China’s economy in the future, Huang said at a forum in Beijing. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2011-09/07/c_131108676.htm
Brazil’s benchmark IPCA inflation rate rose to 7.23 percent year-on-year during the past 12 months, the highest since 2005, the country’s official statistics agency IBGE reported Tuesday. The rate far surpassed the country’s target of 4.5 percent and was above the 6.5-percent government ceiling. During the first eight months of this year, the IPCA rate reached 4.42 percent, from 3.14 percent in the same period last year. According to the report, the high IPCA rate was mainly due to the rise in food prices, which accounted for almost half of the inflation. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2011-09/07/c_131109952.htm
Cs.com.cn
China’s outbound direct investment (ODI) surged 21.7 percent year-on-year to 68.81 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, growing for the ninth straight year and recording an average annual growth rate of 49.9 percent, according to a government report issued yesterday. Non-financial ODI climbed 25.9 percent to 60.18 billion U.S. dollars last year, while the country’s overseas investment in financial sectors rose to 8.63 billion U.S. dollars, according to a report jointly released by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.http://www.cs.com.cn/english/ei/201109/t20110907_3047327.html
Thehindu.com
In the midst of an anticipated global slowdown to 3 per cent in 2011, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has highlighted India as a shining star, projecting an economic growth of 8.1 per cent — the fastest rate of expansion in the world after China. In its ‘Trade and Development Report 2011′ released here on Tuesday by economist and JNU professor Jayati Ghosh, UNCTAD stated that despite the slowdown in developed countries, the Indian economy is set to grow by 8.1 per cent in 2011 as against to 8.6 per cent in 2010. Surpassing India during the year would be the East Asian giant China with a growth rate of 9.4 per, slightly lower than the 10.3 per cent posted in 2010. http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/article2430147.ece
There is need to bring down the Cash Reserve Ratio and Statutory Liquidity Ratio in a calibrated manner so that banks will have more money to lend as credit, said Dr D. Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India. CRR is the portion of deposits that banks have to keep as cash with the RBI and is currently at six per cent. SLR is the percentage of deposits that banks have to invest in Government securities and is currently at 24 per cent. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/article2429421.ece?homepage=true
Economictimes.com
The Indian economy continued on an impressive upward trend, recording 8.6 per cent GDP growth in the year 2010 to March 2011, despite the country’s “turbulent politics” marked by “swirls of scandals”, a top UK-based think tank said on Tuesday. “Undisturbed by turbulent politics, the economy continued to do well, recording 8.6 per cent GDP growth in the year to March 2011, up from 8.0 per cent and 6.8 per cent in the previous two years,” the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said in its Strategic Survey 2011 – The Annual Review of World Affairs.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/9887794.cms
Underlining the importance of economic cooperation between the United States and India, the White House has said a healthy bilateral relationship will mean more jobs in both countries. “I think that the importance of our bilateral relations with India, our economic cooperation with India, cannot be overstated, for the sake of our economy and for India’s economy,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters here Tuesday. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/india-us-ties-create-jobs-for-both-countries-white-house/articleshow/9893752.cms
Yonhapnews.co.kr
South Korea’s economy is faced with accelerating inflation and rising external uncertainties, a state-run think tank said Wednesday. “The Korean economy, amid growing external uncertainties and rising inflation, grew at a weak pace particularly in the mining and production and investment,” the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in its monthly report on economic conditions. The assessment is in line with the government’s view on the latest economic situation. On Tuesday, the finance ministry said that the nation’s economy is confronted with rising inflation and uncertainties stemming from worries over a global slowdown. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/09/07/54/0502000000AEN20110907005800320F.HTML
Themoscowtimes.com
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has sought to allay fears that the increasingly tense discourse on gas trade between Moscow and Kiev will lead to yet another breakdown in supplies across Europe. Ukraine will honor the existing contract to buy what it describes as overly expensive Russian gas until the countries sign a new deal, he said in comments that became widely known Monday. “I want to say firmly and absolutely unequivocally to everyone that no one will ever see any kind of war, including a gas war with our strategic partner, with Russia,” he said in a television interview late Sunday. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/kiev-tells-eu-not-to-worry-about-lack-of-gas-this-winter/443262.html#ixzz1XF58CtcS
Fin24.com
Business confidence dropped to its lowest level in a year in the third quarter of 2011, according to an index by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) released on Tuesday. “Although business confidence is currently at its lowest level in over a year, the number is almost double that registered at the worst point of the recession in 2009,” RMB/BER saidhttp://www.fin24.com/Economy/Business-confidence-sinks-20110906
Khaleejtimes.com
US auto giant Ford has started construction on a $1 billion manufacturing and engineering complex in India as it bets on the country to help drive global growth, a company statement said Tuesday. The new manufacturing facilities in Sanand in the western state of Gujarat will create 5,000 jobs, and will be able initially to produce 240,000 vehicles and 270,000 engines a year, Ford said. The first vehicles and engines are due to come off the line in 2014. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/biz/inside.asp?xfile=/data/marketing/2011/September/marketing_September6.xml§ion=marketing
Thetrader.se
Top points from UBS report earlier today. With SNB intervening, markets all over the place, politicians talking their books, many investors are becoming rather confused. UBS tries explaining a possible Euro break up and the ultimate horror, a civil war. Although this overly bearish report marked a short term bottom in the market, they have some good points to remember; The Euro should not exist (like this) Under the current structure and with the current membership, the Euro does not work. Either the current structure will have to change, or the current membership will have to change.http://www.thetrader.se/2011/09/06/war-what-is-it-good-for/
Let’s start a run through of central banks balance sheets. First up is Bank of Japan, with relatively “good” assets. Below a summary of Bank of Japan’s Balance Sheet. By Greshams Law.http://www.thetrader.se/2011/09/06/central-banks-balance-sheet-japan-first-up/
Today we apply the same methodology that we previously used to study the rise and fall of confidence in the American economy to the UK. The chart below is the historical plot of the ratio of the UK public debt (in pounds sterling) to the value of the UK Central Bank gold holdings (similarly in pounds). A low ratio generally suggests economic soundness, and the ratio tends to increase with increased debt load. The ratio can fall due to increased holdings of gold, but for the UK and the US since WWII, the ratio falls due to a rising price of gold. http://www.thetrader.se/2011/09/06/inflationary-deflation-can-helicopter-ben-really-print-faster-than-the-market-can-destroy/
