Bamboo Innovator Daily Insight: 13 Mar (Fri) – Avoiding Decision Paralysis in the Face of Uncertainty

Life

• Avoiding Decision Paralysis in the Face of Uncertainty: HBR
• Thinking beyond the checklist; “If we were to mock Singapore, we would say it is a nation of bankers and real-estate developers. What we would like to become is a nation of entrepreneurs.”: BT
• Britain: a nation of makers, techies and job creators: Telegraph
• At 85, Vanguard’s John Bogle still fighting hard for index investing; Elder statesman doesn’t mince words when discussing active management and worries about ETFs: IN
• Does Berkshire’s Culture Ensure Its Future?: Strategy&
• Why the business card is thriving in the electronic age: Economist
• Horizontal gene transfer: Genetically modified people; Human beings’ ancestors have routinely stolen genes from other species: Economist
• Workers of the gig economy, unite! Champion of freelancers says a collective identity is key: FT
• Debunking myths in sheep land: Meet the innovators of New Zealand: e27
• Apple’s Tim Cook ‘offered his liver to dying Steve Jobs’; Apple founder Steve Jobs angrily rejected Tim Cook’s offer of a transplant despite fears he would die: Telegraph
• 15 Body Language Blunders Successful People Never Make: Forbes
• Could tiny fish be the answer to China’s food safety woes? This Hong Kong start-up thinks so; Vitargent uses fish embryos to test for contaminants and toxins in consumer products: SCMP
• An Unlikely Driver of Evolution: Arsenic: NYT
• From the Gates Foundation, Direct Investment, Not Just Grants: NYT
• ‘Catch Me If You Can’ Con Man Says Technology Aids Fraud: Bloomberg

Books

• The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere: Amazon

Investing Process

• Open Letter to SGX/MAS: Reply to CFO of SGX-Listed China Environment (CENV SP) on report “Potential Accounting Tunneling Fraud at China Environment?” – Address the accounting and governance concerns in an SGX/MAS announcement: AsianExtractor
• Noble Group Nobbled: A big Asian commodity-trader is attacked by an anonymous online critic: Economist
• Noble’s concession gives clout to maverick researchers: Reuters

Greater China

• Open Letter to SGX/MAS: Reply to CFO of SGX-Listed China Environment (CENV SP) on report “Potential Accounting Tunneling Fraud at China Environment?” – Address the accounting and governance concerns in an SGX/MAS announcement: AsianExtractor
• Local-government debt in China: Swapping spree; The finance ministry moves to ease local governments’ money troubles: Economist
• Financials Flash Warning Seen Before 2008 Mainland Slump: Bloomberg
• Macau Boom-Bust Comes Full Circle Under Xi as $111 Billion Lost: Bloomberg
• U.S. Founding Father Invoked as China Debates $4 Trillion Debt Pile; Although the government wants to avoid moral hazard of a bailout: Bloomberg
• China’s Silicon Valley Sparking 49 Technology Startups a Day: Bloomberg
• As China Sneezes, is Asia Catching a Cold? Bloomberg
• Made in China? Asia’s dominance in manufacturing will endure. That will make development harder for others: Economist
• China’s Alibaba drives into ‘Internet car’ industry: ChinaPost
• Rongsheng Boss: Problems Linked to Blind Expansion, Gov’t Policies; Founder Zhang Zhirong blames debt problems on fact his company had too much on its plate when industry changed and a U-turn by officials: Caixin
• Steelmaker Powerless as Iron Mines Sink Abroad: Caixin
• China SOE’s restructuring leaves state ownership intact: FT
• The contradiction at the heart of China’s new growth target; Rising debt levels threaten both financial and economic stability: FT
• Princeling loses appeal over HK$43m ‘payment’ from Henderson Land Development for services related to a central government investigation of the Hong Kong-listed firm for violating Beijing’s foreign-exchange regulations. SCMP
• Loan or bond, China’s banks still locked into local governments: SCMP
• Warnings, Delays. Can Macau News Get Any Worse?: Barrons
• Changes Afoot in Chinese Stock Market; Researchers say market, often seen as highly risky for outsiders, is functioning better: WSJ
• At China Meeting, Karaoke Goes Quiet as Austerity Takes Over: WSJ
• Are Chinese Tech Startups Overvalued? Companies, such as Dianping and Didi Dache, are raising cash at record pace from investors afraid of missing out: WSJ

India

• Mumbai’s Beef Ban Sat for 20 Years Before Vegetarian Modi Acted: Bloomberg

Japan & Korea

• Prosecutors raid POSCO E&C over alleged slush funds accumulated by exaggerating the amount the South Korean company needed to pay local subcontractors in Vietnam: KT
• Foreigners Grab Japan Stocks as Topix Beats U.S. in Dollars: Bloomberg
• In rare sign of dissent, investor calls for change at South Korea’s Hyundai Motor: Reuters
• Japanese Banks to Ease Tourists’ ATM Frustrations; Three Biggest Banks Will Accept Foreign Cards at More ATMs: WSJ
• South Korea’s tallest skyscraper rises in cloud of fear: Reuters
• Japan’s Cautionary Tale for South Korea: Bloomberg

ASEAN

• Open Letter to SGX/MAS: Reply to CFO of SGX-Listed China Environment (CENV SP) on report “Potential Accounting Tunneling Fraud at China Environment?” – Address the accounting and governance concerns in an SGX/MAS announcement: AsianExtractor
• The Threat From Within Indonesia’s New Presidency; Voters were encouraged by Joko Widodo’s campaign of reform, but it looks like even he can’t escape Indonesia’s usual elite politics. WSJ
• Trouble at home: Political instability returns to South-East Asia: Economist
• Minister: 1MDB debt level not sustainable: Star
• Personal loans’ long tenure will keep M’sian indebtedness high: BT
• 1MDB saga extends to Swiss bank in S’pore: BT
• Homeowners hit as Sibor rises to highest in seven years: TODAY

Macro

• Are Currency Wars Looming in Asia?: WSJ
• Calpers Projects 8% Decline in Fees to Wall Street Next Year as it liquidates its hedge-fund program: Bloomberg
• The shipping industry: Low rates on the high seas; A slump in shipping rates reflects the chronic optimism of shipowners: Economist
• How to fire up America: The rise of Latinos is a huge opportunity. The United States must not squander it: Economist
• An ultra-low interest rate show that could run and run; Instead of Japanification, we should probably now switch to a new term: Europification: FT
• Why the business of risk is booming; The US is unlikely to possess the capacity to shape 21st-century geopolitical order: FT
• Investors in an unregulated oil scheme have alleged negligence in a lawsuit that they hope will establish the principle that “introducers” who informally endorse investments can be held responsible.: FT
• Fraudulent mortgage applications on the rise; the tightening of lending criteria was a factor driving the fabrication of home loan details. FT
• Asia Rushes to Lower Rates, but Maybe Not Fast Enough: NYT
• WisdomTree Soars With Dollar as Hedged ETFs Lead Inflows: Bloomberg
• Fed ‘Stress Tests’ Still Pose Puzzle to Banks; Goldman, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley scaled back plans by at least $11 billion: WSJ
• It’s Back: Your Guide to the $18 Trillion Debt Ceiling; Bigger than U.S. GDP, the debt limit returns with plenty at stake: Bloomberg
• A Split Over Protecting Investors; The Labor Department is moving ahead of the SEC on broker rules; The financial industry is resisting attempts to require brokers to put clients’ interests ahead of their own.: Bloomberg

TMT

• Wearable technology: The wear, why and how; For smartwatches and other wearable devices to become mainstream products will take more than just time: Economist
• Data and technology are starting to up-end the insurance business: Economist
• Data-driven underwriting contains great promise and grave perils: Economist
• Apple Pegged To Bring Force Touch Pressure-Sensitive Input To Next iPhones: Techcrunch
• Understanding Alibaba’s Snapchat Obsession: Techcrunch
• Asia’s box office for movies is now bigger than America’s: Quartz
• Op-ed: The death of Gigaom and the changing face of journalism: e27
• The history of the iPod shows exactly why the Apple Watch will be huge despite what critics think: BI
• From the cricket pitch to politics, the big data bandwagon rolls on: FT
• Dotcom history is not yet repeating itself, but it is starting to rhyme: FT
• How Cloud Companies Are Killing Checks; Cloud companies are finally pushing U.S. businesses beyond paper billing and payments; The $10 billion market for digital corporate payment processing is getting more competitive as the money rolls: Bloomberg
• Why Asia’s Tech Giants Are Investing in U.S. Startups; Investments by Alibaba, Rakuten show willingness to spend big in U.S. for access to hottest technologies: WSJ
• In smartwatch war, Swatch goes for cheap, quick and China: Reuters
•  ‘Frozen 2’ Is In The Works; ‘Frozen’ Is Disney’s Triumphant Reaffirmation Of Its Cultural Legacy: Forbes

Healthcare

• Actavis and the art of billion-dollar drug dealing; Brent Saunders generated $25 billion in value for investors by flipping drug companies rather than discovering new drugs. Is this the future of the pharmaceutical business?: Forbes

Energy & Commodities

• Time for tough action to tackle logjam at LME: SCMP
• Handful of supertankers holding oil as contango play fades: Reuters

Consumer & Others

• Electrolux Has New Stab at Smart Home After Dot-Com Bust: Bloomberg
• Aldi and Lidl: Tomorrow, not quite the world; The German discounters’ successful business model only stretches so far: Economist
• Supermarkets must expect permanently lower profits – and their customers are to blame: Telegraph
• Indian Motorcycles Adding Screens To Bikes. Really.: Forbes
• Once Unique, LeapFrog Has Rivals in the Educational Toy Market: NYT
• KFC faces pressure after McDonald’s says no antibiotics in chicken: Reuters
• Why Electrolux wants to connect your appliances: TheAge