Ft.com
The US Federal Reserve has set the stage for three more years of ultra-loose monetary policy in the world’s largest economy, prompting an immediate fall in bond yields, the FT reports. The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee predicted low interest rates until late 2014 and set a formal inflation objective of 2 per cent,http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/26/852121/fed-sets-path-for-th...
In a forthright opening speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Angela Merkel said that Europe could only recover the confidence of global markets if the weaker European economies boosted their growth and competitiveness with structural reforms,http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/26/851971/merkel-questions-cal...
Iran has threatened to pre-empt a European embargo on its oil by halting its exports to the region immediately, a move that could hit economically weak southern European countries, the FT reports. The European Union this week approved a ban on crude oil imports from Iran from July 1,http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/25/851931/iran-threatens-to-ac...
Friday the 13th may be an unlucky omen for Portugal. On that day, almost two weeks ago, Standard & Poor’s became the last rating agency to downgrade Lisbon to junk, marking the moment for many investors when default looked inevitable for Portugal as well as Greece,http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/25/851911/portuguese-bonds-hit...
Thetrader.se
Mr Granville, 89, one of the greatest Technical Analyst is predicting Dow to fall 4 000 points in 2012. He has been around for decades, but on the other hand, that was before we had HFT. Whatever your outlook, video worth watching. Volume precedes prices… http://www.thetrader.se/2012/01/25/dow-to-drop-4-000-points-in-2012-it-d...
If we look beyond the latest Santa Rally and Apple’s blow out numbers. Interest rates are at zero, profit margins at high levels, and the World must have returns in order to meet the pay outs for pension liabilities. What could be the problem? Ice Cap Management explains some of the basics;http://www.thetrader.se/2012/01/25/great-expectations/
The Financial Services Authority was so concerned about the UK operations of Dresdner Kleinwort at the height of the banking crisis in 2008 that they were placed on a watchlist for vulnerable companies, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/26/852341/fsa-put-dresdner-on-...
HSBC is under investigation by a US Senate panel in a money-laundering inquiry, Reuters says, citing people familiar with the situation and a company securities filing. The inquiry being conducted by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations could yield a report and congressional hearing later this spring,http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/26/852301/senate-panel-reporte...
Dublin has taken advantage of growing investor confidence in Ireland by returning to the international bond market for the first time since September 2010 to swap €3.52bn in government bonds, the FT http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/26/852201/ireland-returns-to-i...
US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, the last remaining member of the Obama administration’s original economic team, said he doesn’t expect the president to ask him to stay in office if re-elected. “He’s not going to ask me to stay on, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/26/852221/geithner-says-obama-...
The first commemoration of Egypt’s revolution became a massive politicised protest against the power of the armed forces that continue to lord it over the country’s institutions. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians of all walks of life and varied political strains marched into central Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicentre of last year’s 18-day revolt, demanding an immediate end to military rule and shouting slogans against the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a25e6446-473e-11e1-b847-00144feabdc0.html...
Venezuela’s sovereign bonds have rallied strongly in recent weeks on speculation that the oil-rich country’s government could change due to President Hugo Chávez’ cancer and elections due later this year. The price of Venezuela’s $4.2bn government bond maturing in 2031 has climbed to 86.5 cents on the dollar. Apart from the odd surge in the volatile bond’s price, this is the highest on record, and up from a low of 71.2 cents on the dollar in late September.http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6903269c-477e-11e1-9a92-00144feabdc0.html...
Wsj.com
Most Asian shares edged higher Thursday, with some automakers rising in Seoul and Tokyo after the Federal Reserve Wednesday committed to maintain its accommodative monetary policy stance for a longer period, lifting investors’ confidence in the U.S. economic recovery. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was flat, South Korea’s Kospi Composite rose 0.5% and New Zealand’s NZX-50 added 0.1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down three points in screen trade. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020371850457718376356296519...
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said Greece’s public-sector creditors may have to take a hit on their loans if private lenders can’t agree on a restructuring plan that goes far enough to make the country’s debt sustainable. “The bigger the private effort, the smaller the participation of public creditors will need to be,” Ms. Lagarde said. “If the level demanded of private investors isn’t reached, then public creditors will have to step in too.”http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020380650457718239220663578...
U.S. money-market funds held less debt from banks in the euro zone at the end of 2011 than at any point since at least 2006, according to a Fitch Ratings survey. These funds, among the most conservative and largest lenders, now hold $64 billion, or 10% of their total assets—$644 billion at the end of December—in euro-zone bank debt. This is down from $230 billion, or 30%, of the $755http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020380650457718385277919255...
The U.K. appears at risk of recession after official data showed the economy shrank in the fourth quarter of 2011—complicating the government’s goal of tackling the budget deficit and reinforcing expectations of new stimulus moves by the Bank of England. In its preliminary estimate, the Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product contracted 0.2% between October and December after growing by 0.6% in the third quarter.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020380650457718232326926463...
Bank of America Corp. plans to give investment bankers more of their year-end bonuses in stock, in Wall Street’s latest wallet-squeezing response to a wrenching year. Ever since the financial crisis, big banks around the globe have taken to paying workers in part with deferred stock that can be sold only over time, in a bid to rein in risk-taking. But the Charlotte, N.C., lender has come up with a new twist: It intends to pay a portion of cash bonuses, if they are large enough, with stock.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020462420457718332282414267...
Marketwatch.com
South Korea said Thursday its economy grew 0.4% in the fourth quarter, missing estimates and falling well below the central bank’s forecast. Compared to a year earlier, gross domestic product grew 3.4%. Surveys by Dow Jones Newswires and Reuters had tipped quarter-on-quarter rises of 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively, after 0.8% growth in the third quarter. The Bank of Korea had late last year projected a 1% rise for fourth-quarter GDP. The central bank, which released the data, said that the key export sector saw a 1.5% drop, “driven, for example, by communication devices.” South Korea’s benchmark Kospi stock index rose nonetheless, adding 0.2% in early trade, while the Korean won also firmed slightly on the foreign-exchange market.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/south-korean-gdp-rises-04-missing-forec...
Crude-oil futures rose further Thursday on a weakened U.S. dollar and Federal Reserve voting members’ expectations for lower rates until 2014, but struggled around the $100-a-barrel level during Asian trading hours. Crude for March delivery climbed 57 cents, or 0.6%, to $99.97, on top of the 45 cent increase during a regular New York Mercantile Exchange session Wednesday. The front-month contract rose as high as $100.05, but failed to stay above the psychologically-important three-figure level. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/crude-rises-more-but-struggles-around-1...
Gold futures rose further above the $1,700-an-ounce level in electronic trading Thursday, as a weakened U.S. dollar and the Federal Reserve’s projection of low interest rates until 2014 enhanced the precious metal’s allure. Gold February futures , which rose $35.60 to end just above $1,700 an ounce on the Comex division of New York Mercantile Exchange overnight, added another $12.20, or 0.7%, to $1,712.30 an ounce during Asian trading hourshttp://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-tops-1715ounce-on-fed-pledge-weak-...
Reuters.com
Signed contracts for the sale of existing U.S. homes retreated from a 1-1/2-year high in December and demand for home loans fell last week, pointing to a moderation in home sales after recent hefty gains. But the reports on Wednesday did not change perceptions that a nascent recovery is under way in the housing market, which continues to be challenged by an oversupply of properties. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/25/us-usa-economy-idUSTRE7BM0AB20...
Global growth is slowing rapidly and the possibility of ample economic slack means risks of “damaging deflation” are rising in some G20 member economies, the International Monetary Fund said in a paper published on Wednesday. “Should growth turn out lower than expected, there is a risk that very large output gaps would lead to deflation in some countries, with damaging consequences where debt burdens remain high,” the IMF said in a document presented at a G20 meeting in Mexico last week. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/25/us-imf-inflation-idUSTRE80O1I7...
Bloomberg.com
Newt Gingrich, unexpectedly, has become a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination. He won the South Carolina primary and is now the front-runner in some pollsnationally. He has been debating well, shaking off criticism of his personal life and doing his best to bolster his reputation as an ideas man. Regrettably, on economics, where the country could use some fresh thinking, his ideas are a mixture of the alarming, the implausible and the banal.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-26/gingrichonomics-added-up-equals...
Cnbc.com
Billionaire investor George Soros on Wednesday minced no words on the financial troubles faced by the Europe Union, as he addressed the future of the currency block before an audience in Davos. Soros said that Europe is mired in a “spiral of decline” that reinforces itself, adding that, as things stand, “Weaker members of the euro zone are being left as Third World countries that borrowed in foreign currencies.” http://www.cnbc.com/id/46128877
Europe needs “massive monetary easing” to get out of its debt crisis, otherwise Greece will likely abandon the euro in a year and a half, famous economist Nouriel Roubini told CNBC on Wednesday. Private creditors who lent Greece money, such as banks and investment funds, are meeting in Paris after talks on a debt swap that would change shorter maturity Greek bonds for longer maturity ones to give the country more chances to reduce its debt were inconclusive last week and earlier this week. http://www.cnbc.com/id/46127687
Foxbusiness.com
A spokesman for the International Monetary Fund denied the organization is pressing the European Central Bank to accept a write-down on the Greek bonds it holds. “To ensure debt sustainability for Greece, it is essential that a new program be supported by a combination of private sector involvement and official sector support that will bring debt to 120% of GDP by 2020,” the spokesman said in a statement. “The Fund has no view on the relative contribution of private sector involvement and official sector support in achieving this target. In line with this view, the IMF has not asked the ECB to play any specific role.”http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2012/01/25/imf-says-hasnt-asked-ecb-t...
Washingtonpost.com
President Barack Obama challenged manufacturers in his State of the Union address to “ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country.” Their answer may be: less than you think, Mr. President. Rising wages in China and new tax incentives at home won’t be enough to reverse the long-term erosion in U.S. manufacturing employment, even as some U.S. companies return production to shuttered Rust Belt plants. “We’re no longer going to be the manufacturing country that we once were,” said John Russo, co-director of the Center for Working Class Studies at Youngstown State University.http://washpost.bloomberg.com/story?docId=1376-LYDMJK1A74E901-7CK5TOLHEL...
BBC.co.uk
Telegraph.co.uk
Independent.co.uk
Guardian.co.uk
Smh.com.au
Favourable inflation figures and growing confidence that the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates have sparked a rise in the sharemarket, with investors piling into bank stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Index ended the day up 47 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 4271.3 – the highest in six weeks – after figures showed inflation was unchanged over the last three months of 2011. Market economists said the data cleared the way for the Reserve Bank to cut rates when it met next week.http://www.smh.com.au/business/two-rate-cuts-look-oddson-20120125-1qhr1....
RENTERS struggling to find a home in Perth should move to Melbourne. The southern capital’s rental vacancy rate has risen to 4.4 per cent, the result of a surge in apartment building and slowing population growth. Western Australia’s mining boom has kept renters on their toes, with only 1 per cent of rental homes vacant, December figures from SQM Research show. A vacancy rate of 3 per cent usually signals a ”balanced” market. Rental accommodation remains tight in popular inner-city suburbs such as Fitzroy and Abbotsford. Melbourne’s high vacancy rate is likely to put downward pressure on rents, particularly in places such as St Kilda Road and Southbank, where apartments and vacancies are peaking. http://www.smh.com.au/business/melbourne-full-of-empty-homes-20120125-1q...
Straitstimes.com
The global economic slowdown will affect Asia this year but the region will remain the economic powerhouse of the world, led by China, India and Indonesia, the head of the Asian Development Bank said. Mr Haruhiko Kuroda said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday the bank expects Asian economies – excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand – to grow by around 7 per cent this year, down from about 7.5 per cent in 2011 and 9 per cent in 2010. http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Money/Story/STIStory_759570.htm...
Xinhuanet.com
The bilateral trade between China and Singapore rose by 6.4 percent year on year to 101.4 billion Singapore dollars (80.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2011, a senior official has said. Minister of State for Trade and Development Lee Yi Shyan said that the bilateral exchanges have been vibrant and that he saw chances of cooperation between Chinese and Singapore enterprises not just in China, local daily Lianhe Zaobao reported on Thursday. The bilateral growth could actually be higher in U.S. dollar terms, as the Singapore dollar strengthened against the U.S. dollar over the past year.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-01/26/c_131377360.htm
Ports in China’s southwestern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region surpassed their counterparts in neighboring Guangdong province to boast the country’s largest throughput of coal imports in 2011. The customs authority in the regional capital of Nanning said in a release on Tuesday that ports in Guangxi recorded a total throughput of over 27 million tonnes of coal in 2011, up 61.3 percent over the previous year and accounting for 15 percent of China’s total.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-01/24/c_131375556.htm
The Philippine government has admitted that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2011 was less than expected but at the same time it expressed confidence that the economy would grow faster this year. According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the country’s main economic planning body, GDP was estimated to have grown only between 3.6 and 4 percent in 2011. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2012-01/26/c_131377366.htm
Thehindu.com
Seeking to enhance the level of economic co-operation and extend a “friendly helping hand” to its neighbour, India on Wednesday offered to export petrol, diesel and other petroleum products to Pakistan. Should there be an agreement, India could even build a pipeline to carry these products.http://www.thehindu.com/business/article2832036.ece
Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Wednesday said that India and Thailand would work to double the bilateral trade to around $14 billion by 2014. Both countries also decided to forge maritime partnership to develop seaport at Dawei, a strategic location on the South-Western coast of Myanmarand, and work for developing port infrastructure in Chennai.http://www.thehindu.com/business/article2832039.ece
Economictimes.com
Global banks led by Citigroup, HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays are slashing jobs in their Indian operations at the fastest pace since the 2008 credit crisis amid dwindling deal flows and parent companies’ shrinking balance sheets to boost capital. Citigroup on Tuesday cut 100 jobs and HSBCwill soon show the door to scores of its staff here as part of its 30,000 reductions internationally. French bank BNP Paribas eliminated more than a dozen in recent months and Royal Bank of Scotland has put its equities and mergers advisory business on sale that may lead to layoffs.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/global-ba...
The government’s fiscal headache is getting worse by the day, with the Centre staring at a Rs 1.5-lakh crore hole in its books, nearly three times the level it had anticipated just three months ago.
Finance ministry officials say direct tax receipts, which have remained sluggish, may prove to be a sore point. Estimates show that the government may miss the direct tax receipts target set for the year, and there could be a shortfall of Rs 30,000 crore on this account.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/government-star...
The government will not release weekly inflation number anymore, after the numbers were criticised for providing a mislead-ing picture of inflation. The government currently releases weekly inflation data on primary articles, which includes food articles, and fuel and power. The headline inflation data is released once a month. The union cabinet on Tuesday decided to stop the weekly releases. “The data will now come on a monthly basis,” said public information officer Neelam Kapur. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/government-not-t...
Themoscowtimes.com
Russian industrial production slowed faster than expected in December 2011 and recorded the lowest figure since 2009, according to State Statistics Service data. Output in December grew 2.5 percent compared with the same month in the previous year. In November, the figure was 3.9 percent. Total year-on-year output growth from factories, mines and utilities in 2011 was 4.7 percent, a drop from 8.2 percent in 2010, the service said Tuesday. Troika Dialog analysts put the disappointing December figure, which dipped below a Bloomberg expectation survey result of 3.4 percent, down to warmer than average temperatures and fewer working days than the previous year. The 0.2 percent point fall in the December unemployment rate to 6.3 percent, they said, supported this thesis of sustainable economic growth. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/industrial-output-growth-...
Khaleejtimes.com
The World Bank said on Wednesday that it was making $27 billion available for countries in central and eastern Europe and Central Asia impacted hard by the eurozone crisis. The bank said the euro area’s ongoing debt crisis was hitting the former Soviet bloc countries hard by cutting trade, finance and worker remittances crucial to their growth. It said that due to their close links with the eurozone, the countries of central and south-eastern Europe face an economic slowdown this year. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/biz/inside.asp?xfile=/data/business/2012/Jan...