4 Business Turnarounds in India in the Making

4 Business Turnarounds in the Making

by Cuckoo Paul, Samar Srivastava, Prince Mathews Thomas | Jan 4, 2014

1. Mining Moguls
The unexpected winding up of the Shah Commission, which was investigating illegal mining, may have raised environmentalists’ eyebrows, but the Indian mining sector is looking forward to a better year. Mining had stalled for about two years, hurting mining and steel companies like Sesa Goa and JSW Steel. Karnataka has taken steps to open over 90 mines cleared by the Supreme Court. Sesa Goa, owned by billionaire Anil Agarwal, now has the go-ahead for a lapsed mining lease in Goa. The mine has a capacity to produce 2.3 million tonnes of iron ore a year and will help Agarwal get back into business. This is also good news for JSW and smaller sponge iron manufacturers that operate in the state who were forced to cut production because of raw material shortage. Read more of this post

Surging Korean Won vs Yen Prompts Concern; The exchange rate between the two Asian countries is closely watched, as they compete head-to-head around the world to sell everything from smartphones to cars.

Surging Korean Won Prompts Concern

Samsung Declines on Worries Currency’s Strength Will Hurt Profits

ANJANI TRIVEDI

Updated Jan. 3, 2014 7:46 p.m. ET

The South Korean won fell against the dollar and yen after officials there hinted they were ready to intervene to curb the currency’s strength. The remarks from two South Korean finance officials came after the won hit a two-year high against the dollar last week and reached a five-year high against the yen Thursday. Read more of this post

More Than Half of Jakarta’s 106 7-Eleven Stores Lack Permits

More Than Half of Jakarta 7-Eleven Stores Lack Permits: Jakarta Tourism Agency

By Lenny Tristia Tambun on 6:12 pm January 4, 2014.
More than half of Jakarta’s 106 7-Eleven convenience stores have not obtained proper permits, according to the Jakarta Tourism Agency. Sixty of the stores did not have correct documents: 29 did not have permits to operate and 31 lacked permits to sell retail goods in addition to food. Read more of this post

Malaysia’s Central Bank Warns of Bitcoin Risks; Stops Short of Banning the Virtual Currency

Malaysia’s Central Bank Warns of Bitcoin Risks

Stops Short of Banning the Virtual Currency

SHIE-LYNN LIM

Jan. 3, 2014 12:14 p.m. ET

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Joining a number of regulators world-wide, Malaysia’s central bank voiced concern about bitcoin on Friday but stopped short of banning the virtual currency. Read more of this post

Lessons learnt from Corporate Malaysia in 2013

Updated: Saturday January 4, 2014 MYT 7:46:05 AM

Lessons learnt from Corporate Malaysia in 2013

BY ROSHAN THIRAN

And make 2014 a great year by learning from everyone and everything.

THE year 2013 has been an amazing one for me (and many of you too!). As is customary for me, I usually reflect on the year gone by and write out lessons I have learnt.

Here are my top 10 lessons from Corporate Malaysia: Read more of this post

Macau is betting on a new kind of Chinese tourism; The former Portuguese colony is threatened by a crackdown on its controversial ‘junkets’. Now, with new malls and lavish shows, it is hoping to replace high rollers with middle-class families

Macau is betting on a new kind of Chinese tourism

The former Portuguese colony is threatened by a crackdown on its controversial ‘junkets’. Now, with new malls and lavish shows, it is hoping to replace high rollers with middle-class families

Jonathan Kaiman in Macau

The Observer, Sunday 5 January 2014

Walk into a casino in China‘s gambling mecca, Macau, and the first thing that strikes you is the silence. There’s no blaring music, no sharp cries of victory; all you hear is the rustle of clothing, a hushed conversation, the occasional thump on a table – subtle signs of fortunes made and lost. Read more of this post

Fiat’s ‘Italian Job’ Won’t Have a Clean Getaway

Fiat’s ‘Italian Job’ Won’t Have a Clean Getaway

Sergio Marchionne has pulled off the caper of a lifetime. The chief executive officer of Fiat SpA –having already rescued the Italian automaker from the brink and returned it to profitability within two years of taking charge in 2004 — now appears to have saved it again by wrestling control of Chrysler from the United Auto Workers union VEBA trust. But like Michael Caine at the end of “The Italian Job” — I’m talking the 1969 original, in which a gold-bar-laden bus teeters on the edge of a canyon wall — Marchionne may find that his epic score places him in a cliffhanger. Read more of this post

What’s up in Public Bank? Since its last bonus issue of shares about 10 years ago, Public Bank had remained relatively quiet, steadily growing amid an increasingly competitive market, without any new corporate exercise until two days ago

Updated: Saturday January 4, 2014 MYT 11:41:14 AM

What’s up in Public Bank?

BY CECILIA KOK

Since its last bonus issue of shares about 10 years ago, Public Bank Bhd had remained relatively quiet, steadily growing amid an increasingly competitive market, without any new corporate exercise until two days ago. Read more of this post

Waiting Tables at Top-Tier Restaurants Is New Career Path for Foodies; Head waiters can earn $80,000 a year or more including tips, versus $45,000 for a line cook working longer hours

Waiting Tables at Top-Tier Restaurants Is New Career Path for Foodies

Head waiters can earn $80,000 a year or more including tips, versus $45,000 for a line cook working longer hours

ALINA DIZIK

Dec. 31, 2013 3:43 p.m. ET

A legion of cooking school grads just want to work in the front of the house, bringing a touch of glamour to waiting tables, Alina Dizik reports. Photo: Brian Harkin for The Wall Street Journal. It only took eight years and a bachelor’s degree, but Leah Beach has finally stopped hearing her least-favorite question: What do you really plan to do for a living? Read more of this post

U.K. Agency Struggles in Fight Against Insider Trading

U.K. Agency Struggles in Fight Against Insider Trading

Critics Point to Rapid Staff Turnover, Insufficient Financial Expertise; ‘FCA Hasn’t Yet Had a Big Scalp’

DAVID ENRICH and HARRIET AGNEW

Updated Jan. 4, 2014 7:43 p.m. ET

LONDON— Carl Linderum was getting ready for work one morning at his London home when he heard a pounding on his door. He figured the group of men outside were employees of his gas provider, there to badger him over a disputed bill. Read more of this post

Transcript of interview with Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan

January 3, 2014 1:48 pm

Transcript of interview with Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan

Conducted by Martin Wolf, Jonathan Soble and David Pilling in Tokyo, December 12 2013

Speaker key: 
MW Martin Wolf (FT)
JS Jonathan Soble (FT)
DP David Pilling (FT)
HK Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan

MW: I’d like to start off with where you think you’ve got to in terms of the performance of the economy and the performance particularly against the inflation objective you’ve set. I know the Bank of Japan accepted a 2 per cent inflation goal in January of this year, and you set out in April a timetable. So how far do you think you’ve come against the objectives you’ve set yourself? Read more of this post

“Bad ideas take a long time to die”: The Two Latin Americas; A Continental Divide Between One Bloc That Favors State Controls and Another That Embraces Free Markets

The Two Latin Americas

A Continental Divide Between One Bloc That Favors State Controls and Another That Embraces Free Markets

DAVID LUHNOW

Jan. 3, 2014 7:55 p.m. ET

There are two Latin Americas right now. The first is a bloc of countries—including Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela—that faces the Atlantic Ocean, mistrusts globalization and gives the state a large role in the economy. The second—made up of countries that face the Pacific such as Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia—embraces free trade and free markets. Read more of this post

Spain’s largest bank is in trouble

Spain’s largest bank is in trouble

By Stephen Gandel, senior editor January 3, 2014: 11:38 AM ET

Santander has fallen woefully short of its chairman’s growth targets, and it’s not clear things are improving. FORTUNE — In early December, Banco Santander spent $650 million to buy an 8% stake in the Bank of Shanghai. For Santander (SAN), Spain’s largest bank, the deal looks to be another case of wrong place, wrong time. Read more of this post

Solar Power Craze on Wall St. Propels Start-Up

January 3, 2014

Solar Power Craze on Wall St. Propels Start-Up

By DIANE CARDWELL and JULIE CRESWELL

The first inklings of the idea came to Elon Musk and a cousin in an R.V. heading to the Burning Man festival in 2004. Solar energy, they agreed, could be big. But not even Mr. Musk, the billionaire behind the Tesla electric car, could have foreseen the solar power craze that is sweeping Wall Street. He and his cousins Peter and Lyndon Rive are riding a wave of exuberance over the industry and their young business, SolarCity. Read more of this post

Retreating U.S. stimulus poses risk to world recovery; Fed could trim bond-buying more sharply in future: Plosser; Fed’s Plosser at odds with policy approach favored by Yellen

Retreating U.S. stimulus poses risk to world recovery

2:04pm EST

By Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The world economy should finally overcome its hangover from the global financial crisis this year as growth picks up and house prices rise, but reduced U.S. monetary stimulus will pose a challenge. Read more of this post

NAFTA: 20 years of regret for Mexico; Mexico’s growth has been weak since the ‘free trade’ deal was signed, and it missed out on the region’s poverty reduction

NAFTA: 20 years of regret for Mexico

Mexico’s growth has been weak since the ‘free trade’ deal was signed, and it missed out on the region’s poverty reduction

Mark Weisbrot

theguardian.com, Saturday 4 January 2014 13.00 GMT

It was 20 years ago that the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico was implemented. In Washington, the date coincided with an outbreak of the bacteria cryptosporidium in the city’s water supply, with residents having to boil their water before drinking it. The joke in town was, “See what happens, NAFTA takes effect and you can’t drink the water here.” Read more of this post