How to Sell Garbage Disposals in China; Emerson’s InSinkErator Rejiggered to Munch Kitchen Favorites Like Eel, Bullfrog Skin and Duck Heads

How to Sell Garbage Disposals in China

Emerson’s InSinkErator Rejiggered to Munch Kitchen Favorites Like Eel, Bullfrog Skin and Duck Heads

JAMES R. HAGERTY

March 26, 2014 7:31 p.m. ET

RACINE, Wis.—About half of all U.S. homes have garbage disposals gurgling under kitchen sinks to grind up food waste. The rest of the world generally doesn’t share Americans’ enthusiasm for this gadget. Read more of this post

First Rule of Mergers: To Fight Is to Lose; Shareholders Challenged 94% of U.S. Public-Company Deals Last Year

First Rule of Mergers: To Fight Is to Lose

Shareholders Challenged 94% of U.S. Public-Company Deals Last Year

LIZ HOFFMAN

March 26, 2014 12:06 p.m. ET

Corporate mergers are often fraught with uncertainty over whether the deal will succeed, culture clashes between the two companies and the fate of executives. Read more of this post

Citi’s Stress-Test Mess

Citi’s Stress-Test Mess

JOHN CARNEY And DAVID REILLY

March 26, 2014 6:02 p.m. ET

Citigroup C -0.28% is doing a good impression of the Keystone Kops. Read more of this post

Winner in India Elections Will Face Battle to Restore Economic Growth

Winner in India Elections Will Face Battle to Restore Economic Growth

Investors Betting on Change Pushed Country’s Stocks to Record Highs

SHEFALI ANAND And DEBIPRASAD NAYAK

March 26, 2014 11:10 a.m. ET

MUMBAI—Investors betting on a change of government in India pushed the country’s stocks to record highs Wednesday. But whoever takes the reins after the elections that start next month faces an uphill battle to restore growth in Asia’s third largest economy. Read more of this post

China’s Economy Under Mounting Stress

China’s Economy Under Mounting Stress

WAYNE ARNOLD

March 26, 2014 12:16 p.m. ET

HONG KONG—Bad news is piling up for China’s economy, raising fears Beijing’s financial power may not be sufficient this time around to keep the economic engine ticking over and stave off market instability. Read more of this post

OSIM’s Brookstone, Specialty Retailer, Preparing For Bankruptcy Filing

Brookstone, Specialty Retailer, Preparing For Bankruptcy Filing

EMILY GLAZER

March 26, 2014 11:00 p.m. ET

Brookstone Inc., which sells consumer gadgets ranging from travel electronics to massage chairs, is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection as early as Sunday, with a plan in place to be bought by another specialty retailer, people familiar with the matter said. Read more of this post

The Anatomy Of Panic: How A Rumor Mutated Into A Three-Day Chinese Bank Run

The Anatomy Of Panic: How A Rumor Mutated Into A Three-Day Chinese Bank Run

Tyler Durden on 03/26/2014 11:57 -0400

Yesterday we showed the end result of what happens in a China, in which bankruptcy and default are suddenly all too real outcomes for the country’s hundreds of millions of depositors, when the risk of losing all of one’s money held in an insolvent bank becomes a tangible possibility in “What A Bank Run In China Looks Like: Hundreds Rush To Banks Following Solvency Rumors.” Today, we look in detail at all the discrete elements that culminated with hundreds of Chinese residents lining up in front of a bank in Yancheng and rushing to withdraw their money only to find their money not available (at least until the regional government was forced to step in with a bail out to avoid an even greater panic).Why is this a useful exercise? Because since we will certainly see many more example of it in the near future, it pays to be prepared. Or least it certainly prevents one from losing all of their money… Read more of this post

Debt crisis nears tipping point: “Creditors have their foot on the throat of the global economy”

WEDNESDAY, MAR 19, 2014 08:33 PM MPST

Debt crisis nears tipping point: “Creditors have their foot on the throat of the global economy”

An entire generation of students is sinking under the weight of debt, while banks and schools make off like bandit

HANNAH GOLD, ALTERNET

This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

Back in September, the U.S. Department Education announced its two-year and three-year federal student loan default rates. The rates were 10 percent and 14.7 percent respectively, both record highs. At the time the report was released, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called these numbers “troubling.” Read more of this post

Citi Tumbles Below $5/Share On A Split-Adjusted Basis After Failing Another Fed Stress Test

Citi Tumbles Below $5/Share On A Split-Adjusted Basis After Failing Another Fed Stress Test

Tyler Durden on 03/26/2014 16:17 -0400

Another year, another failure by Citigroup to i) pass the Fed’s stress test and ii) be able to stop investing cash in such idiotic fundamental concepts as CapEx, and instead reward activist shareholders with increased dividends and buybacks. As the WSJ reports, Citigroup “failed to get Federal Reserve approval to reward investors with dividends and stock buybacks, a significant blow to Chief Executive Michael Corbat’s effort to bolster the bank’s reputation following a 2008 government rescue.” Hardly surprising for a bank which effectively was wiped out in the crisis and which only survived thanks to the Fed-backed crammed-up, spinoff of billions of toxic assets into a bank bank, however certainly surprising for a bank that is supposed to be “fixed” five years into a “recovery.” What’s worse, the stock is now trading below the infamous $5 level on a pre-split adjustment level – the same split that was supposed to at least optically, give the impression that things at Citi are ok. Turns out optics is only half the answer. Read more of this post

China’s Credit Pipeline Slams Shut: Companies Scramble For The Last Drops Of Liquidity

China’s Credit Pipeline Slams Shut: Companies Scramble For The Last Drops Of Liquidity

Tyler Durden on 03/26/2014 21:26 -0400

One of our favorite charts summarizing perfectly the Chinese credit bubble, better than any other, is the following which compares bank asset (i.e., loan) creation in China vs the US.

Read more of this post

Can China Turn Garbage Into Gold? Why did Beijing Capital pay almost $1 billion for New Zealand’s largest waste-management company?

Can China Turn Garbage Into Gold?

March 17, 2014

Gordon Orr

Chairman, Asia at McKinsey & Company

Beijing Capital, one of the largest diversified conglomerates owned by the Beijing city government, bought New Zealand’s largest waste management company this month for almost US$1 billion. This follows on Hong Kong-based Cheung Kong buying New Zealand’s second largest waste management company for US$400 million. Read more of this post

Mind the Non-GAAP: Nontraditional financial metrics can shed valuable light on a company’s operations – or obscure its true condition

March 26, 2014

CFO Magazine

Mind the Non-GAAP

Nontraditional financial metrics can shed valuable light on a company’s operations – or obscure its true condition.

Marielle Segarra

Normalized adjusted EBITDA less capex. Adjusted consolidated segment operating income. Adjusted EBITDA (as adjusted). Even enthusiasts of non-GAAP metrics have to admit that such measures often sound just a wee bit ridiculous. Read more of this post