Does ‘Gravity’ Kowtow to Chinese Ticket Buyers?

Does ‘Gravity’ Kowtow to Chinese Ticket Buyers?

‘Gravity,’ the new space-thriller starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, lives up, IMHO, to its, um, stellar reviews. It’s gripping. It’s beautiful. It takes pains to get some of the science right. In short, it’s the kind of movie that Hollywood needs more of to pack people into theaters and keep them paying $5 for 50 cents worth of popcorn. And especially Chinese viewers, who comprise an increasingly important segment of Hollywood’s audience. (China is the second biggest movie market after the U.S.) In fact, for all the brilliance of ‘Gravity,’ am I the only one who thinks some all-too-scrutable kowtowing went on when Alfonso Cuaron and his son were writing the script? Read more of this post

In China, Golf Has a New Hazard: Killer Smog

In China, Golf Has a New Hazard: Killer Smog

This weekend, the Ladies Professional Golf Association demonstrated its willingness to sacrifice player safety for its own long-term financial health.

The occasion was the conclusion of the Reignwood LPGA Classic — the LPGA’s first tournament in China. The importance of this event for the association’s desired future in China’s rapidly expanding golf market cannot be underestimated. At the top of the leader board going into Sunday’s final round was Guangzhou-born Shanshan Feng. As the LPGA website announced, “This week is all about …. Shanshan Feng.” Read more of this post

Caviar Off the Menu for Indian Officials as Junk Rating Looms

Caviar Off the Menu for Indian Officials as Junk Rating Looms

For Arvind Mayaram, India’s push to avoid having its credit rating cut to junk means he’ll have to forgo caviar and a two-meter-long flat bed in first class on his flight from New Delhi to Washington D.C. this week. He’ll fly business class instead to the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings, saving taxpayers at least $3,000. The change is part of moves to narrow a budget deficit that reached almost 75 percent of the 5.4 trillion-rupee ($88 billion) target in the first five months of the fiscal year, imperiling efforts to limit the widest shortfall in major emerging nations. Read more of this post

Carmakers flock to new southeast Asian growth frontier

Last updated: October 6, 2013 5:06 pm

Carmakers flock to new southeast Asian growth frontier

By Ben Bland in Jakarta and Henry Foy in London

Until recently, the top choice for first-time car buyers in Indonesia was a Toyota Avanza or Daihatsu Xenia, the family and pothole-friendly seven-seat people carriers that dominate the nation’s traffic-clogged streets. But when Okko Agus Suwarso decided to buy his daughter a car, he opted for a five-seat Daihatsu Ayla, one of a new range of “low-cost, green cars” that global manufacturers are hoping will turbocharge growth in a thriving market at the forefront of an automotive boom in southeast Asia.

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The education of China’s oil company

The education of China’s oil company

8:15pm EDT

By Charlie Zhu and Bill Powell

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Yang Hua was a rising star at Chinese oil giant CNOOC Ltd back in 2005. Then, the 44-year-old chief financial officer participated in one of corporate China’s biggest belly flops ever. Yang helped CNOOC, the publicly listed arm of state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp, craft an $18.5 billion bid for Unocal Corp of Los Angeles. It turned into a debacle. Political opposition exploded in Washington, where the company had done little preparation. At home in Beijing, some board members revolted after being blindsided by the bid, and some of China’s leaders were said to be queasy. CNOOC stood down and Unocal was sold to a rival, Chevron Corp. Read more of this post

Banks take on Bloomberg with Markit; Messaging push challenges US group’s grip on communications

October 7, 2013 12:02 am

Eight investment banks embrace Markit viral messaging revolution

By Philip Stafford

Eight of the world’s largest investment banks will Monday launch their most ambitious assault on Bloomberg’s grip on daily communications in financial markets with the start of free viral messaging service. Markit, the UK data provider, will operate an industry-wide central directory switchboard to connect the messaging systems of Thomson Reuters, Goldman Sachs,Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley,Bank of America Merrill Lynch and interdealer broker GFI Group. Read more of this post

Peter Voser says he regrets Shell’s huge $24 billion bet on US shale

October 6, 2013 3:23 pm

Peter Voser says he regrets Shell’s huge bet on US shale

By Guy Chazan

Peter Voser said the failure of Royal Dutch Shell’s huge bet on US shale was a big regret of his time as chief executive of the company. Speaking to the Financial Times three months before he is due to step down, Mr Voser also described the technical setbacks Shell has suffered in its exploration campaign off the coast of Alaska as one of his greatest disappointments in the job. Shell has invested at least $24bn in so-called unconventional oil and gas in North America. But it is a bet that has yet to pay off. Its North American upstream business has struggled to turn a profit and in August Shell announced a strategic review of its US shale portfolio after taking a $2.1bn impairment. “Unconventionals did not exactly play out as planned,” Mr Voser said.

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Arctic shipping routes will take at least 10 to 20 years to provide commercial opportunities, according to the chief executive of the world’s biggest container line

October 6, 2013 1:18 pm

Arctic shipping routes still a long-term proposition, says Maersk

By Richard Milne in Copenhagen

Arctic shipping routes will take at least 10 to 20 years to provide commercial opportunities, according to the chief executive of the world’s biggest container line. Nils Andersen, head of Denmark’s AP Møller-Maersk, poured cold water over suggestions that the Northern Sea Route over the top of Russia could provide a viable alternative to the Suez Canal for Asia-Europe trade.

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For “zombie” Fukushima operator, fresh financing masks long-term woes

For “zombie” Fukushima operator, fresh financing masks long-term woes

6:29pm EDT

By Mari Saito

TOKYO (Reuters) – Its stock price has nearly trebled this year, its near-term debt trades at par, banks have extended credit, and an enterprise value of $83 billion – a rough guide to how much it could cost to buy – makes it Asia’s biggest listed electricity utility. Yet Tokyo Electric Power (9501.T: Quote, Profile,Research, Stock Buzz), or Tepco, has lost $27 billion since the 2011 disaster at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and faces massive liabilities as it decommissions the facility, compensates tens of thousands of residents forced to evacuate, and pays for decontamination of an area nearly the size of Connecticut. Read more of this post

Wal-Mart says retail plans with India’s Bharti ‘not tenable’

Wal-Mart says retail plans with India’s Bharti ‘not tenable’

2:06am EDT

By Randy Fabi

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) retail plans with India partner Bharti Enterprises are “not tenable” and both sides are looking for the best way to move forward, an executive with the U.S. retailer told Reuters. Wal-Mart was expected to make a decision on its Indian retail plans later this month and Bharti will accordingly decide if those plans match its overall retail ambitions. Read more of this post

Wal-Mart is Considering Acquisitions in China; The retailer, which has 398 stores in China, is No. 2 in market share here, behind Sun Art; Wal-Mart’s low-price business model isn’t catching on with Chinese consumers, many of whom prefer to shop for bargains online and in mom-and-pop stores

October 5, 2013, 7:11 a.m. ET

Wal-Mart Looks to Gain Ground in Asia

U.S. Retailer is Considering Acquisitions in China

LAURIE BURKITT

BEIJING—Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s WMT -0.49% top executive for Asia said the company has revamped its practices and legal compliance in the region and is considering acquisitions in China, as the retailer faces headwinds in a cornerstone of its global expansion plans. Wal-Mart’s sourcing practices in Bangladesh have been under a microscope after safety problems emerged at some factories there. The company also faces a stagnant economy in Japan, government restrictions and scrutiny in India and slowing traffic and stronger rivals in China. In other regions—such as Brazil, where Wal-Mart has about 570 stores—the company has expanded more rapidly. Read more of this post

Thailand Has No Easy Options to Pay for Rice Subsidy; “It’s not clear where the new fund of 270 billion baht is coming from”

October 7, 2013, 7:22 AM

Thailand Has No Easy Options to Pay for Rice Subsidy

WARANGKANA CHOMCHUEN

BANGKOK – Thailand has decided to continue its costly rice program, but critics are questioning how the government will find the money to pay for it. The controversial program turned three years old this past week, when the government announced it would maintain an earlier agreed-upon subsidy rate for the grain harvested in the wet season, and a slightly lower rate in the off season. It also limited the maximum value of rice each farming household can sell in order to curb the ballooning subsidy expense. Read more of this post

Shadow Loans Sound New Alarm; Regulators Cite Growing Role of Individual Investors

October 6, 2013, 7:46 p.m. ET

Shadow Loans Sound New Alarm

Regulators Cite Growing Role of Individual Investors

IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN

Debt-laden companies are on track to borrow a record $1 trillion this year in the nonbank “shadow lending” system, and regulators are sounding alarms about one of its fast-growing funders: individual investors. The burgeoning role of individuals in lending is highlighted as a top concern in a report released last week by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as part of a continuing effort to overhaul shadow bankers—the web of largely unregulated financial firms unable to borrow in an emergency from the central bank and without traditional depositors that are insured. Read more of this post

Passive funds losing cost edge

October 4, 2013 6:27 pm

Passive funds losing cost edge

By Elaine Moore

Passive funds that allow investors to track the performance of worldwide stock markets are starting to lose their competitive edge on prices as providers of actively managed funds cut their fees. In spite of ultra-low annual fees offered by the largest providers of passive funds such as Vanguard, Legal & General Investments and HSBC, research by Morningstar has found that on average, retail equity index funds have a total expense ratio of 0.73 per cent. Read more of this post

Japan Tobacco to Expand in Smokeless Products Via M&A, Tie-Ups as consumers demand alternatives and regulations tighten worldwide; “There are many ways to enjoy tobacco, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be cigarettes”

Japan Tobacco to Expand in Smokeless Products Via M&A, Tie-Ups

Japan Tobacco Inc. (2914) plans to expand its range of smokeless tobacco products and is looking at tie-ups or acquisitions as consumers demand alternatives and regulations tighten worldwide. “There are many ways to enjoy tobacco, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be cigarettes,” Akira Saeki, an executive deputy president who heads the tobacco business, said in an interview in Tokyo. “Cigarettes’ appeal may be diminishing” as more people are bothered by smoke, he said. Read more of this post

S’pore ‘has much to learn from Swiss branding’

S’pore ‘has much to learn from Swiss branding’

Monday, Oct 07, 2013

Mok Fei Fei

The Straits Times

The widely acknowledged quality of Swiss cheese, clocks and chemicals holds valuable lessons for Singapore, according to the Second Minister for Trade and Industry on Friday. Mr S. Iswaran said Singapore must learn from the branding of excellence built over decades and even centuries by Swiss firms. The same mindset of nurturing specialised capabilities – Singapore has such excellence in water technology, aviation services and the offshore and marine sector – for the long haul will allow the country to bolster the prestige of its own brand. Switzerland’s competitive research and development (R&D) ecosystem and its highly skilled workforce also hold important learning points for Singapore, he noted. Its private sector is responsible for almost three-quarters of Switzerland’s gross domestic R&D spending, or about 2.2 per cent of its gross domestic product. Read more of this post

Aluminum Costs Seen Dropping as LME Unclogs Depots; The rise in physical premiums contrasts with slumping futures

Aluminum Costs Seen Dropping as LME Unclogs Depots: Commodities

The London Metal Exchange’s plan to ease congestion at warehouses storing near-record amounts of aluminum will accelerate deliveries and reduce premiums paid for supply, at a time when prices are already near a four-year low. Waiting times lengthened to a year or more in some locations, driving premiums added to the LME price to a record. Delays at depots spurred at least 16 lawsuits filed in U.S. courts as well as scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators. The surcharges, which rose almost 15-fold since 2008, are now retreating as traders anticipate the changes, which are scheduled to be reviewed by the LME’s board this month. Read more of this post

Navigating the pensions maze

October 4, 2013 6:26 pm

Navigating the pensions maze

By Josephine Cumbo

Less than a generation ago, millions of workers began saving for their retirement in company pensions which, as long as their employer stayed afloat, caused them very few headaches. Aside from the sacrifice of the monthly pension deduction, their employer largely took care of building up the pension and then paying an income for their former employees when they finally retired. That income was usually based on their salary at retirement, and the length of their service. But very few of today’s workers outside the public sector are afforded the comfort of these “golden era” pensions. More common nowadays is a company pension which lays the responsibility for investing contributions, and turning them into an income, squarely on the shoulders of the employee. Employees bear all the risk, even though they have no control over the pension scheme they save into, with this choice entirely up to the employer. Read more of this post

Wall Street digs in for a debt default; Traders are talking about the prospects of “dirty prices” and other default oddities

Wall Street digs in for a debt default

By Stephen Gandel, senior editor October 4, 2013: 9:49 AM ET

Traders are talking about the prospects of “dirty prices” and other default oddities.

FORTUNE — On Thursday, the Treasury Department released a report anticipating what would happen if we have a debt ceiling default. One prediction: a financial crisis that could “echo the events of 2008 or even worse.” It’s hard to see exactly how that could happen. If Treasury bonds were to plummet after a debt default, that could cause other bonds to drop in value as well, creating big losses for the banks — and perhaps putting them in jeopardy. But banks have been anticipating a jump in rates for a while. Many banks have already shown investors what would happen if rates suddenly rose three percentage points, which is a big jump. It’s not pretty, but no bank appeared to be in jeopardy. Read more of this post