Sarawak abuzz over Chief Minster Taib’s future; Counters linked to Taib see selling pressure on news he may step down

Sarawak abuzz over Chief Minster’s future

Thursday, February 6, 2014 – 11:05

Dennis Wong and Goh Pei Pei

New Straits Times

KUCHING – For many Sarawakians, there is nothing new in the latest speculation of Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud calling it quits soon.

To them, it is just a rumour that has been circulating over the past four years.

The only difference this time was that the rumour was given a degree of credence with the tenure of Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng due to expire at the end of the month. Read more of this post

Stock-Market Tail Wags Economic Dog

Stock-Market Tail Wags Economic Dog

JUSTIN LAHART

Feb. 5, 2014 4:18 p.m. ET

The sudden, sharp drop in stocks is nothing to worry about. Yet.

It has been a perilous time for markets. Trouble in emerging markets, a spate of softeconomic reports and the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep paring back bond purchases have set nerves on edge. In the past two weeks, the S&P 500 has fallen about 5%. Not since late 2012 has it fallen so far in so short a time. Read more of this post

PCAOB’s Auditor Rotation Project is Essentially Dead

February 5, 2014, 5:45 PM ET

PCAOB’s Auditor Rotation Project is Essentially Dead

EMILY CHASAN

Senior Editor

The U.S. government’s auditor watchdog finally said Thursday it is no longer pursuing a project to impose auditor term limits on public companies, nearly three years after proposing the idea.

“We don’t have an active project or work going on within the board to move forward on a term limit for auditors,” said James Doty, chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, adding “We nevertheless will continue to think about what impacts independence. There may be a change of focus here.” Read more of this post

No Signboard Seafood founder didn’t even know how to cook

No Signboard Seafood founder didn’t even know how to cook

SINGAPORE – She was an uneducated housewife living in a kampung at Tai Seng in Upper Paya Lebar.

When she got married, she did not know how to cook.

But she decided to teach herself so she could become a hawker in the kampung with her husband selling dishes like bak kut teh. Read more of this post

India: Narendra Modi’s market model; Critics of Gujarat’s chief minister question whether he could replicate state-level success across the country

February 5, 2014 8:16 pm

India: Narendra Modi’s market model

By Victor Mallet

Critics of Gujarat’s chief minister question whether he could replicate state-level success across the country

To see the vast industrial complexes on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat is to understand why big business thinks Narendra Modi could – and should – beIndia’s saviour. Read more of this post

Remaking the industrial economy; A regenerative economic model-the circular economy-is starting to help companies create more value while reducing their dependence on scarce resources

Remaking the industrial economy

A regenerative economic model—the circular economy—is starting to help companies create more value while reducing their dependence on scarce resources.

February 2014 | byHanh Nguyen, Martin Stuchtey, and Markus Zils

Visualize, for a moment, the industrial economy as a massive system of conveyor belts—one that directs materials and energy from resource-rich countries to manufacturing powerhouses, such as China, and then spirits the resulting products onward to the United States, Europe, and other destinations, where they are used, discarded, and replaced. While this image is an exaggeration, it does capture the essence of the linear, one-way production model that has dominated global manufacturing since the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Read more of this post

An “Austrian” Bill Gross Warns: “The Days Of Getting Rich Quickly Are Over… Getting Rich Slowly May Be As Well”

An “Austrian” Bill Gross Warns: “The Days Of Getting Rich Quickly Are Over… Getting Rich Slowly May Be As Well”

Tyler Durden on 02/05/2014 13:03 -0500

If readers ignore the rest from the latest monthly insight from Bill Gross of PIMCO, they should at least read the following insight which we agree with wholeheartedly: “our PIMCO word of the month is to be “careful.” Bull markets are either caused by or accompanied by credit expansion. With credit growth slowing due in part to lower government deficits, and QE now tapering which will slow velocity, the U.S. and other similarly credit-based economies may find that future growth is not as robust as the IMF and other model-driven forecasters might assume. Read more of this post

S’poreans remain second-biggest gamblers in the world

S’poreans remain second-biggest gamblers in the world

SINGAPORE — Singaporeans are still the second-biggest gamblers in the world, but the latest statistics from a British gambling consultancy indicate that losses incurred per adult resident here have fallen from three years ago.

BY NEO CHAI CHIN –

06 FEBRUARY

SINGAPORE — Singaporeans are still the second-biggest gamblers in the world, but the latest statistics from a British gambling consultancy indicate that losses incurred per adult resident here have fallen from three years ago. Read more of this post

3D Systems profit warning rekindles 3D printer bubble fears

3D Systems profit warning rekindles 3D printer bubble fears

3:08pm EST

(Reuters) – 3D Systems Corp slashed its profit estimate for 2013, reviving fears of a bubble in the 3D printing industry and sending its shares down as much as 28 percent.

Shares of other 3D printer makers also fell sharply after the profit warning from the largest listed 3D printer maker, which along with rival voxeljet AG has been the target of short-seller Citron Research. Read more of this post

From Adelaide to Champagne: behind the push to take R.M. Williams global

From Adelaide to Champagne: behind the push to take R.M. Williams global

Published 05 February 2014 10:40, Updated 05 February 2014 11:06

Simon Evans

A dusty R.M. Williams boot and a gleaming glass of Moet champagne might seem like opposites, yet the two will be unlikely bedfellows in a new private equity strategy to take the Australian icon global. Read more of this post

China’s liquor capital drowning in overproduction

China’s liquor capital drowning in overproduction

Staff Reporter 

2014-02-04

China’s “capital of liquor” is facing its coldest winter as a considerable number of small and medium producers of Chinese liquor or baijiu are being forced to close shop, reports the Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily. Read more of this post

How Chinese entrepreneurs have flourished in Dubai

How Chinese entrepreneurs have flourished in Dubai

Staff Reporter 

2014-02-05

The last two decades have seen the rise of Dubai as a global metropolis and many Chinese businesspeople have scrambled to get a piece of the pie, the Beijing-based Economic Observer reports. Read more of this post