In Japan, labor crunch pushes businesses to reform

In Japan, labor crunch pushes businesses to reform

TOKYO – Don Quijote and Uniqlo, two of Japan’s best-known mass-market retailers, aren’t waiting for the government’s new growth policies due later this month before implementing their own labor reforms.

JUNE 5

TOKYO – Don Quijote and Uniqlo, two of Japan’s best-known mass-market retailers, aren’t waiting for the government’s new growth policies due later this month before implementing their own labor reforms.

While many labor-intensive businesses face a shortage of low-wage workers as Japan’s economy perks up, discount chain Don Quijote Holdings is drawing five times more job seekers since it bucked tradition and eased application requirements. Read more of this post

Jokowi’s presidential campaign budget 4 times Prabowo’s

Jokowi’s presidential campaign budget 4 times Prabowo’s

JAKARTA — The month-long campaign for the Indonesian presidential election on July 9 started yesterday, with frontrunner Mr Joko Widodo leading Mr Prabowo Subianto not only in opinion polls, but also in the campaign budget.

BY HERA DIANI –

JUNE 5

JAKARTA — The month-long campaign for the Indonesian presidential election on July 9 started yesterday, with frontrunner Mr Joko Widodo leading Mr Prabowo Subianto not only in opinion polls, but also in the campaign budget. Read more of this post

Economic growth in the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan, Shanxi province, has crashed to zero from 12 percent in one year on coal bust

China City Crash-Lands to Zero Growth on Coal Bust

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Gupta Becomes Billionaire as Havells Climbs to Record

Gupta Becomes Billionaire as Havells Climbs to Record

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What it Means for Prem Watsa’s Acquisition of Thomas Cook India

What it Means for Prem Watsa’s Acquisition of Thomas Cook India

by Ankur ShahJune 04, 2014, 1:00 pm

June 4, 2012

On May 21, 2012 Prem Watsa, who is also known as the ‘Warren Buffett of Canada’ bought a 76.81% stake in Thomas Cook India for INR 50 per share. Admittedly he got a good deal by purchasing the shares at an 18% discount to the closing price on the last trading day before the deal was announced. Although pure value investors don’t try to time the market, I do think it was a brave decision to purchase a travel company during the onset of a renewed global recession. Furthermore, India’s 5.3% 1st quarter GDP print, the lowest in the past nine years, makes me even more cautious about the current fragile state of the market. Regardless, a true value investor is buying when others are selling. I just think that there is a lot more selling to come. But I digress. Getting back to the point, there is still an opportunity for you make money from this deal even though it’s already been announced through merger arbitrage. Read more of this post

Charles De Vaulx Finding Value In China

Charles De Vaulx Finding Value In China

by VW StaffJune 03, 2014, 3:47 pm

Charles de Vaulx’s semi-annual IVA Funds letter to the shareholders from the portfolio managers.

Dear Shareholder,

Over the period under review, October 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014, your Funds continued to deliver strong absolute returns, in excess of inflation and nominal GDP growth. Importantly, this result was achieved with less than 55% invested in equities, on average, and a large cash position throughout the period that resulted in good principal protection in times of market weakness, particularly in January of this year. Read more of this post

Fed may shun global risk rules banks spent billions to meet

Fed may shun global risk rules banks spent billions to meet

11:56am EDT

By David Henry and Emily Stephenson

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve may scrap elements of international measures aimed at assessing bank health in favor of imposing its own rules, frustrating bankers who have spent billions of dollars retooling their books to meet global standards.

Fed officials are concerned that parts of a key tool that regulators have developed to measure banks’ riskiness—known as “Basel III capital rules” — are flawed and can be gamed by the companies. Read more of this post

“Without Indonesia, it (AEC) would be a half-baked grouping,” CIMB’s Nazir said. Indonesian delay in embracing AEC surprises CIMB chief

Published: Wednesday June 11, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Wednesday June 11, 2014 MYT 6:57:21 AM

Indonesian delay in embracing AEC surprises CIMB chief

BY M. SHANMUGAM

“Without Indonesia, it (AEC) would be a half-baked grouping,” Nazir (pic) said.

KUALA LUMPUR: A leading banker has expressed surprise on the delay by Indonesia, which is the economic powerhouse in the region, on embracing the concept of Asean Economic Community (AEC) that among others entails the opening up of the capital markets of the countries in the region. Read more of this post

Taipei’s cost of living ranks 26th in Asia, 89th globally; Hong Kong ranked eighth in Asia and 29th globally, overtaking Singapore’s ranking of ninth place in Asia and 31st place globally

Taipei’s cost of living ranks 26th in Asia, 89th globally

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 – 10:07

The China Post/Asia News Network

TAIPEI – Taipei’s cost of living ranked 26th in Asia and 89th globally, according to a report released by ECA International, a company that specializes in researching living conditions around the globe.

Taipei’s ranking dipped one place in the Asian region and dropped 11 places globally. While the cost of living in Taipei only dipped slightly compared with other Asian countries, fluctuations in exchange rate resulted in a larger drop on a global perspective. Read more of this post

Jane Mendillo, head of Harvard University’s $33 billion endowment, is leaving after a six-year tenure that started with the financial crisis and more recently saw investment performance that lagged behind some peers

Harvard Management Head Mendillo to Step Down

Search for Mendillo’s Replacement is Under Way

ROB COPELAND

Updated June 10, 2014 8:57 p.m. ET

Jane Mendillo, head of Harvard University’s $33 billion endowment, is leaving after a six-year tenure that started with the financial crisis and more recently saw investment performance that lagged behind some peers. Read more of this post

Some Traders Looking to Move Metal Out of China’s Port of Qingdao; Sources Say Metal Owners Are Inquiring About Moving Metal to Korea or Taiwan

Some Traders Looking to Move Metal Out of China’s Port of Qingdao

Sources Say Metal Owners Are Inquiring About Moving Metal to Korea or Taiwan

TATYANA SHUMSKY

June 10, 2014 7:14 p.m. ET

Metal warehouse operators in South Korea and Taiwan are receiving inquiries about moving metal held in the Chinese port of Qingdao to their facilities in the wake of an investigation into irregularities at the port, according to people at three warehouse companies. Read more of this post

Volatility Traders Have More to Fear than Fear Itself

Volatility Traders Have More to Fear than Fear Itself

SPENCER JAKAB

June 10, 2014 4:45 p.m. ET

The latest big worry to hit markets is an unusual one: calm. With stock prices high and various gauges of risk low, investors appear to have thrown caution to the wind.

That isn’t entirely true, though. Exchange-traded notes that profit handsomely from market-shaking events have boomed since the financial crisis. But they have two big shortcomings: They may not work as designed in another financial crisis since their value depends on the bank backing them. And due to the way the products work, anyone holding these for the long term will inevitably see their value erode.

Futures contracts linked to market volatility were pioneered by the Chicago Board Options Exchange CBOE -2.20% in 2004, offering a way for professional investors to hedge the risk of stock-market swings. The more accessible notes that opened bets on the CBOE’s Volatility Index, or VIX, only began after the 2008 crisis. Read more of this post

Modi Turns to the Supply Side; The Indian leader’s plan to boost growth and contain inflation

Modi Turns to the Supply Side

The Indian leader’s plan to boost growth and contain inflation.

Updated June 10, 2014 6:25 p.m. ET

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee presented the new government’s policy address Monday on behalf of incoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as prescribed by the British tradition for opening parliament. While the occasion favors pomp over substance, the speech confirmed that India may be at a historic turning point: Mr. Modi is suggesting that he wants to lead nothing less than a supply-side revolution. Read more of this post

MSCI Removes Korea, Taiwan From Developed-Market Consideration

MSCI Removes Korea, Taiwan From Developed-Market Consideration

Both Countries Are Two of Biggest in Emerging-Markets Index

NICOLE HONG and GREGOR STUART HUNTER

Updated June 10, 2014 6:32 p.m. ET

For now, you can keep counting South Korea and Taiwan as emerging markets.

Financial index provider MSCI Inc. MSCI -0.27% said late Tuesday that it will remove the nations from consideration for inclusion in its developed-market index. The two countries are currently the second- and third-largest components in MSCI’s Emerging Markets Index behind China, making up 27% of the index. Investors closely scrutinize the indexing decisions because they can trigger some funds to buy or sell assets. Read more of this post

How Come Brazil Isn’t Excited Yet? From Rio to São Paulo, the Country Is Surprisingly Subdued on the Eve of the World Cup

How Come Brazil Isn’t Excited Yet?

From Rio to São Paulo, the Country Is Surprisingly Subdued on the Eve of the World Cup

ROGERIO JELMAYER, LUCIANA MAGALHAES and LORETTA CHAO

June 10, 2014 7:28 p.m. ET

Most of the national soccer teams have arrived. Gaggles of journalists from Russia to Japan prowl the cities. Brazilian workers are hastily putting the finishing touches on the stadiums. But just two days before the World Cup opens here on Thursday, one crucial thing was missing: atmosphere. Read more of this post

Giant Japanese Fund Set to Invest More in Stocks, Foreign Bonds

Giant Japanese Fund Set to Invest More in Stocks, Foreign Bonds

World’s Largest Pension Fund Likely to Announce Increase in Autumn; Move Could Send Billions Into New Markets

ELEANOR WARNOCK

Updated June 10, 2014 6:54 p.m. ET

TOKYO—Japan’s $1.26 trillion public pension fund will likely announce a boost to stock and foreign-bond investments in early autumn, the head of its investment committee said Tuesday, potentially sending tens of billions of dollars into new markets. Read more of this post

LBOs Face Their Day of Reckoning; With the Energy Future Holdings bankruptcy, leveraged buyouts now represent 31 percent of all bond and institutional loan defaults since 2007

June 4, 2014

CFO.com | US

LBOs Face Their Day of Reckoning

With the Energy Future Holdings bankruptcy, leveraged buyouts now represent 31 percent of all bond and institutional loan defaults since 2007.

Vincent Ryan

Is the hangover from the leveraged buyout boom that took place prior to the financial crisis finally here? The bankruptcy filing of Energy Future Holdings has not only raised high-yield default rates for U.S. companies; it also means there have now been 10 LBO-related company defaults in 2014, one shy of the total for 2013. Read more of this post

Singapore Joins China With Dangerous Debt Level, GMT Says

Singapore Joins China With Dangerous Debt Level, GMT Says

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Samsung IPOs to finance Lee’s succession plans

Samsung IPOs to finance Lee’s succession plans

Wednesday, Jun 04, 2014

Park Hyong-ki and Kim Young-won

The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

The planned initial public offerings of Samsung Everland and Samsung SDS will allow Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee’s three children to secure capital worth some 5 trillion won ($4.9 billion) to inherit wealth and ownership of Lee’s business empire. Read more of this post