Rare Riot Hits Singapore; Fatal Road Accident Angers Foreign Workers; Little India was “like a war zone”: TNP photojournalist

Rare Riot Hits Singapore

Fatal Road Accident Angers Foreign Workers

CHUN HAN WONG and ESTHER FUNG

Updated Dec. 8, 2013 6:22 p.m. ET

SINGAPORE—A crowd of about 400 foreign workers, angered by a fatal road accident, set fire to vehicles and attacked police and emergency services workers late Sunday in Singapore’s ethnic Indian district, injuring at least 18 people in a rare riot in the city-state. Read more of this post

Why Disney keeps buying all your favorite childhood icons

Why Disney keeps buying all your favorite childhood icons

By Jason Lynch 9 hours ago

Luke Skywalker. Princess Leia. Kermit the Frog. Miss Piggy. Spider-Man. The Incredible Hulk. Buzz Lightyear. And now, Indiana Jones. Together, they represent the defining characters and pop culture childhood memories of millions, if not billions. And in the past decade, they’ve all been snapped up by the Walt Disney Company. Read more of this post

Why Canada and the U.S. Should Merge, Eh? It’s past time for the two countries to eliminate their border

Why Canada and the U.S. Should Merge, Eh?

It’s past time for the two countries to eliminate their border

DIANE FRANCIS

Dec. 6, 2013 5:51 p.m. ET

When Americans think about Canada—and that doesn’t happen often—they usually think of us as the nice, predictable guy next door who never plays his stereo too loud. Even Rob Ford, Toronto’s ranting, crack-smoking mayor, has barely dented our squeaky-clean image. Read more of this post

Watchdog warns of chaos in competing derivatives rules

Watchdog warns of chaos in competing derivatives rules

5:57am EST

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) – Failure to thrash out a common supervision of the $640 trillion global financial derivatives industry will split markets and bump up costs for end users, a top regulator said on Monday. Read more of this post

‘Upstairs’ Trading Draws More Big Investors; Big Players Change Tactics in a Fragmented Market

‘Upstairs’ Trading Draws More Big Investors

Big Players Change Tactics in a Fragmented Market

BRADLEY HOPE

Dec. 8, 2013 6:02 p.m. ET

Some of the world’s biggest investors are changing the way they trade in U.S. markets in response to what they say are rising risks for institutions of their size. The strategies include conducting more “upstairs trades,” in which deals are executed among big institutions, bypassing the broader market, as well as other sophisticated order-routing techniques designed to avoid pitfalls that have become increasingly apparent to investment managers. Read more of this post

The west is losing faith in its own future; Living standards are even under pressure in countries that have done relatively well

December 9, 2013 5:13 pm

The west is losing faith in its own future

By Gideon Rachman

Living standards are even under pressure in countries that have done relatively well

What defines the west? American and European politicians like to talk about values and institutions. But for billions of people around the world, the crucial point is simpler and easier to grasp. The west is the part of the world where even ordinary people live comfortably. That is the dream that makes illegal immigrants risk their lives, trying to get into Europe or the US. Read more of this post

The Poor Are Squeezed as Rental Housing Demand Soars

December 9, 2013

The Poor Are Squeezed as Rental Housing Demand Soars

By ANNIE LOWREY

WASHINGTON — Violeta Torres cannot afford her apartment. Ms. Torres, a 54-year-old nanny, pays $828 a month for a rundown one-bedroom that she keeps spotlessly clean, making the rent by letting an acquaintance sleep on a mattress in the living room for about $400 a month. But her one-bedroom happens to be in the booming neighborhood of Columbia Heights, where such an apartment, once renovated, would easily command twice the price. Read more of this post

Sky-High Stocks: A Split Decision?

Dec 6, 2013

Sky-High Stocks: A Split Decision?

JASON ZWEIG

Stock splits have gone Splitsville.

So far this year, only 11 companies in the S&P 500 index have “split” their shares—the fourth-lowest number on record and down from an average of nearly 65 a year in the 1990s, according to Howard Silverblatt, a senior analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. In a stock split, a company increases the number of shares you hold while lowering the price accordingly. A 2-for-1 split, for instance, would turn one share of a $100 stock into two shares worth $50 apiece. Read more of this post

In Bankruptcy, Detroit Curses the Darkness

In Bankruptcy, Detroit Curses the Darkness

Nearly Half City’s 88,000 Lights Are Broken; New Authority Plans to Borrow Funds to Revamp System

MATTHEW DOLAN

Dec. 8, 2013 6:50 p.m. ET

Almost half of the 88,000 streetlights in Detroit are out. And the bankrpt city is desperate to raise funds to repair them. WSJ’s Matthew Dolan reports.

DETROIT—On Harper Avenue, along a busy but dimly lighted commercial strip of shops and corner bars, James Jennings checked one street lamp after another, searching for one he could fix. Read more of this post

Challenging time ahead with no all plain sailing for REITs

Updated: Monday December 9, 2013 MYT 10:07:36 AM

Challenging time ahead with no all plain sailing for REITs

PETALING JAYA: Although local real estate investment trust (REIT) players can breathe a sigh of relief as they have been spared from the rather tough budget measures on the property sector, the coast is not all clear for the 16 REITS just yet. Read more of this post

Borders Raise Hurdles For Baltic High-Speed Rail Link; Snags to Fast-Train Project Underscore Challenges to EU Rail Push to Boost Growth

Borders Raise Hurdles For Baltic High-Speed Rail Link

Snags to Fast-Train Project Underscore Challenges to EU Rail Push to Boost Growth

FRANCES ROBINSON And LIIS KÄNGSEPP

Dec. 8, 2013 7:39 p.m. ET

TALLINN, Estonia—A high-speed rail project linking the three Baltic states embodies the economic hopes the European Union has placed on the fast-train technology. It also exemplifies one of high-speed’s biggest hurdles: national borders. Read more of this post

From Robbers to Vendors, Swedes Brace for Cashless Future

From Robbers to Vendors, Swedes Brace for Cashless Future

By Anna-Karin Lampou on 2:27 pm December 8, 2013.
vendor selling ‘Situation’, a Stockholm paper sold by the homeless to help raise funds, wears a sign reading ‘we take cards’ on Oct. 23, 2013 in Stockholm. (AFP Photo/Anna-Karin Lampou)

Stockholm. Peter, 55 years old and homeless, is standing at a Stockholm supermarket, carrying the two objects that help him make a living: a stack of magazines and a debit card reader. Read more of this post