Morning Bamboo Insight: 26 Aug 2014

August 26, 2014 Leave a comment

Morning Bamboo Insight: 26 Aug 2014

Macro

  1. Deepening rivalries test German luxury car dominance

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/24/us-autos-premiums-idUSKBN0GO05G20140824

  1. Companies sitting on a mountain of cash – US$7 trillion

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/08/25/Companies-sitting-on-a-mountain-of-cash-Corporates-worldwide-have-amassed-US7-trillion/

  1. Is Buying a Franchise Riskier Than Ever? Critics Say It’s Harder to Know What You’re Getting Into-and Easier to Fail Once You’re In

http://online.wsj.com/articles/is-buying-a-franchise-riskier-than-ever-1408912041?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_smallbusiness

  1. Ice bucket challenge may change nonprofit world; ALS charity drive chalks up quick $53.3 million, gives groups new avenue for donors

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/08/23/business/ice-bucket-challenge-may-change-nonprofit-world/#.U_qZ2_mSxqU

  1. A “Black Monday” descended on the virtual currency market on Aug. 18 as virtual currencies crashed at major marketplaces worldwide

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140825000020&cid=1203

Asia Pacific

  1. (Auto/Japan) – Coming apart: regulators’ sweep threatens auto parts business model

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/24/autos-antitrust-parts-idUSL4N0QR1HU20140824

  1. (Isia/Msia) – Indonesian president-elect seeks new investments from Malaysia

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/08/25/Indonesian-president-elect-seeks-new-investments/

  1. (HK) – Decision Time for Hong Kong; As Beijing refuses to grant democracy, the city’s mood is volatile

http://online.wsj.com/articles/decision-time-for-hong-kong-1408896112

  1. (Isia) – Jokowi’s ‘Man of the People’ Approach Cramped by Presidential Guards

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/jokowis-man-people-approach-cramped-presidential-guards/

  1. (Isia/India) – India’s Presence in Indonesia Continues to Stand Out; Cultural Crossroad: Against the backdrop of Modi and Jokowi rising to power, ethnic Indians reflect on life in Indonesia

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/indias-presence-indonesia-continues-stand/

  1. (Isia) – Uchida Switches Gears on Honda’s Target Market; “Indonesia is a very different market, compared to India or China. Here, passenger cars account for 80% of the market, so we need to implement a special strategy as well”

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/uchida-switches-gears-hondas-target-market/

  1. (Japan) – Japan’s universities can’t win; in view of the disparity in professors’ pay between Jap and American uni, elevating Jap unis’ global rankings simply by bringing in outstanding “foreign talent” is a castle in the sky

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/08/24/commentary/japan-commentary/japans-universities-cant-win/#.U_qZ9_mSxqU

  1. (Korea) – Breaking the deadlock; Korea’s corrupt and incompetent political and administrative systems were behind the sinking of the Sewol ferry

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2014/08/202_163468.html

  1. (Korea) – South Korean central bank faces difficulty in keeping independence amid political pressure

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2014-08/24/c_133580439.htm

  1. The Tax Office is cracking down on the black economy, targeting businesses that are not declaring cash revenues, from restaurants through to home cleaners, in a bid to bring billions of dollars back into the tax net

http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/ato-cracking-down-on-cash-economy-20140825-1082c9.html

  1. (China) – Hunan gov’t debt so high people use IOUs as currency

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140825000019&cid=1203

  1. (China) – China’s milk industry sounds alarm as import bombs fly

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140825000012&cid=1202

  1. (China) – Foxconn, BAIC Motor to launch electric car rental service

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?cid=1206&MainCatID=12&id=20140825000016

  1. (Korea) – Korean firms with over 200% debt-to-equity ratio to face mandatory outside auditors

http://news.mk.co.kr/english/newsRead.php?sc=30800016&cm=Finance&year=2014&no=1128570&selFlag=sc&relatedcode=&wonNo=&sID=308

  1. (HK/China) – Building blocks of mass discontent in HK; Mainland money reminds locals that they have never been in control

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/d5b0320a-2951-11e4-baec-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3BOAD4xv4

Life

  1. How to Get Girls Into Engineering? Let Them Build Toys; Two Women Launch a Startup Aimed at Giving Girls New Options (and Maybe New Futures)

http://online.wsj.com/articles/how-to-get-girls-into-engineering-let-them-build-their-own-toys-1408912053?mod=Tech_newsreel_4

  1. How an Entrepreneur’s Passion Can Destroy a Startup; Strong Feelings Can Lead Founders to Make Bad Choices at the Worst Times. Here’s What to Watch For

http://online.wsj.com/articles/how-an-entrepreneur-s-passion-can-destroy-a-startup-1408912044?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_smallbusiness

  1. At 91, Marvel creator Stan Lee continues to expand his Universe

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/19/us-film-stanlee-idUSKBN0GJ0SL20140819

  1. 20 Essential Life Lessons For Happiness And Success

http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/08/18/20-essential-life-lessons-for-happiness-and-success/print/

  1. Who Made Those Bluejeans? In 1853, during the heart of the gold rush, a Bavarian émigré named Levi Strauss arrived in San Francisco from New York, looking to expand his family’s East Coast dry-goods

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/magazine/who-made-those-bluejeans.html?ref=economy

  1. Book Review of The Outsiders; Decentralized organizations release entrepreneurial energy and keep both costs and “rancor” down.

http://www.cleareyesinvesting.com/2014/08/book-review-of-outsiders.html

  1. Peculiar Habits of Incredibly Successful People

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/08/22/peculiar-habits-of-incredibly-successful-people.aspx

  1. 6 Things The Most Organized People Do Every Day

http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/most-organized-people/

TMT

  1. (China/Tech) – China targets own operating system to take on likes of Microsoft, Google

http://news.asiaone.com/print/news/asia/china-targets-own-operating-system-take-likes-microsoft-google

  1. (China/Tech) – Robot Wars: Why China Is Outmanned in Electronics Automation; Pegatron, Foxconn Contend With Short Product Life of Making Phones and Other Low-Margin Items

http://online.wsj.com/articles/robot-wars-why-china-is-outmanned-in-electronics-automation-1408902804

  1. (China/Tech) – How Your Laptop Is Made in China

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/08/24/how-your-laptop-is-made-in-china/

  1. (China/Tech) – China Says Qualcomm Is Willing to Resolve Dispute; Qualcomm Is Target of Antimonopoly Probe by Chinese Regulators

http://online.wsj.com/articles/china-says-qualcomm-is-willing-to-resolve-dispute-1408705724

  1. It’s Time to Take Artificial Intelligence Seriously; No Longer an Academic Curiosity, It Now Has Measurable Impact on Our Lives

http://online.wsj.com/articles/its-time-to-take-artificial-intelligence-seriously-1408922644

  1. Outgoing SEC CIO Finalizes Big Data Platform

http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2014/08/22/outgoing-sec-cio-finalizes-big-data-platform/

  1. Bearing Down on Data Upstarts; Box, Dropbox and Hightail Pivot to New Business Models

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/25/technology/box-dropbox-and-hightail-pivot-to-new-business-models.html?ref=business&_r=0

  1. Its Edge Intact, Vice Is Chasing Hard News; Vice is deadly serious about doing real news that people, even young people, will actually watch

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/25/business/media/its-edge-intact-vice-is-chasing-hard-news-.html?ref=business

  1. Klarna, an Online Payment System Popular in Europe, Eyes Global Expansion

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/25/technology/klarna-an-online-payment-system-popular-in-europe-eyes-global-expansion.html?ref=business

  1. Patent trolls as the new rentier class

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2014/08/20/1938042/patent-trolls-as-the-new-rentier-class/

Consumer

  1. McDonald’s Faces ‘Millennial’ Challenge; Customers in Their 20s and 30s Are Defecting to Fast-Casual Restaurants Like Chipotle, Five Guys

http://online.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-faces-millennial-challenge-1408928743?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304414104580094022609496714.html

  1. Burger King is in talks to buy Canada’s Tim Horton’s, in order to create an $18 billion company with an artificially low tax bill.

http://fortune.com/2014/08/24/burger-king-in-talks-for-a-whopper-of-a-deal/

  1. Dollar stores in battle to double down on the poor

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/24/us-familydollar-offer-poverty-analysis-idUSKBN0GO0E020140824

Healthcare

  1. Health Care: Sound Of Innovation

http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarlgaard/2014/08/20/health-care-sound-of-innovation/

Investing Process

  1. Berkshire Sees Green With Geico: The Geico gecko has helped to sell millions of policies for the Berkshire Hathaway-owned auto insurer and made it one of the conglomerate’s most consistent profit drivers

http://online.wsj.com/articles/berkshire-sees-green-with-geico-1408916799

Energy

  1. (China/Energy) – Drivers Won’t Get China Oil Market’s Engine Racing; Petroleum Use Is Starting to Reflect a Fundamental Change

http://online.wsj.com/articles/heard-on-the-street-drivers-wont-get-china-oil-markets-engine-racing-1408903494

Filed under Daily Insight

About bambooinnovator
Kee Koon Boon (“KB”) is the co-founder and director of HERO Investment Management which provides specialized fund management and investment advisory services to the ARCHEA Asia HERO Innovators Fund (www.heroinnovator.com), the only Asian SMID-cap tech-focused fund in the industry. KB is an internationally featured investor rooted in the principles of value investing for over a decade as a fund manager and analyst in the Asian capital markets who started his career at a boutique hedge fund in Singapore where he was with the firm since 2002 and was also part of the core investment committee in significantly outperforming the index in the 10-year-plus-old flagship Asian fund. He was also the portfolio manager for Asia-Pacific equities at Korea’s largest mutual fund company. Prior to setting up the H.E.R.O. Innovators Fund, KB was the Chief Investment Officer & CEO of a Singapore Registered Fund Management Company (RFMC) where he is responsible for listed Asian equity investments. KB had taught accounting at the Singapore Management University (SMU) as a faculty member and also pioneered the 15-week course on Accounting Fraud in Asia as an official module at SMU. KB remains grateful and honored to be invited by Singapore’s financial regulator Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to present to their top management team about implementing a world’s first fact-based forward-looking fraud detection framework to bring about benefits for the capital markets in Singapore and for the public and investment community. KB also served the community in sharing his insights in writing articles about value investing and corporate governance in the media that include Business Times, Straits Times, Jakarta Post, Manual of Ideas, Investopedia, TedXWallStreet. He had also presented in top investment, banking and finance conferences in America, Italy, Sydney, Cape Town, HK, China. He has trained CEOs, entrepreneurs, CFOs, management executives in business strategy & business model innovation in Singapore, HK and China.

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