Deere, 3M See $76 Billion Pension Burden Easing on Fed

Deere, 3M See $76 Billion Pension Burden Easing on Fed

3M Co. (MMM) and Deere & Co. (DE) are among U.S. employers seeing pension costs drop from a $76 billion peak, freeing up cash to spend or return to investors, as the Federal Reserve’s pullback on bond buying boosts interest rates. Read more of this post

Commodity-trading pioneer Peter Matthews has co-founded a new firm with a unique way to pare risk and maximize gains in ETF portfolios

SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2014

A Star Trader’s New Approach to ETF Diversification

By MIKE HOGAN  | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

Commodity-trading pioneer Peter Matthews has co-founded a new firm with a unique way to pare risk and maximize gains in ETF portfolios.

Sure, diversification is an important aspect of creating a successful long-term portfolio. But that doesn’t mean investors have to watch stoically as assets lose value at certain times, according to the founders of an interesting new Web-based money manager, PJMint. Read more of this post

Buyback Bonbons: After spending loads of cash to boost share prices through repurchases, U.S. companies now must focus on fostering growth. Trouble ahead for consumer-discretionary stocks?

SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2014

Buyback Bonbons

By KOPIN TAN | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

After spending loads of cash to boost share prices through repurchases, U.S. companies now must focus on fostering growth. Trouble ahead for consumer-discretionary stocks?

Confetti wasn’t the only thing to rain down from the skies as 2013 came to a close. Cash—gobs of it!—came fluttering right into our outstretched hands. Really, it did!

Of course, you had to be at the right place at the right time. And by that I mean you had to be a shareholder, preferably of large U.S. companies, which have been fervently buying back shares and practically shoveling cash back to their shareholders. In the fourth quarter, S&P 500 companies may have bought back nearly $138 billion worth of stock, says Howard Silverblatt, Standard & Poor’s senior analyst. If that estimate proves correct as companies file their quarterly disclosures, it’ll be the biggest quarter for buybacks since 2007 and a 40% jump from the level a year ago. Read more of this post

AQR’s Cliff Asness Blasts Those Who Call It “A Stock Picker’s Market”

Cliff Asness Blasts Those Who Call It “A Stock Picker’s Market”

Tyler Durden on 01/03/2014 21:45 -0500

Cliff Asness would politely request people stop saying “It’s a stock picker’s market.” While pairwise correlations have dropped to post-crisis lows, they remain elevated to ‘normal’ levels but, as Asness rages, perhaps asset managers who rely on this ‘weak’ phrase should more honestly note “I think they mean, “We will have to pick stocks now because the market isn’t making us money the easy way.” Read more of this post

A Different Dimension: Dimensional Fund Advisors eschews stock-picking completely, and yet manages to beat the market consistently

SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2014

A Different Dimension

By BEVERLY GOODMAN | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

Dimensional Fund Advisors eschews stock-picking completely, and yet manages to beat the market consistently.

It was 7:30 on a sunny October morning in Austin, Texas, and class was about to start. Most students were finishing their coffee and chatting about how they were looking forward to hearing professor Eugene Fama, the University of Chicago economist who a week earlier had won the Nobel Prize. The program, however, wasn’t your typical grad-school seminar. It was orchestrated by Dimensional Fund Advisors, the $332 billion mutual-fund firm whose investment strategy is based on Fama’s early and ongoing research; and the students were the financial advisors who sell its funds. Read more of this post

2014 outlook: Market melt-up; US stocks may be overpriced and profit margins at a high but even bears say the rally has room to run

January 2, 2014 6:01 pm

2014 outlook: Market melt-up

By John Authers

US stocks may be overpriced and profit margins at a high but even bears say the rally has room to run

American stocks look very expensive. Are they in a bubble? The S&P 500 has gained almost two-thirds since September 2011, a period in which its companies’ earnings have risen just 18 per cent. It is easy to see why many fear the bull market has gone too far. Read more of this post

Diabetes in Latin America: Unskinny genes; New research suggests a genetic susceptibility to the disease

Diabetes in Latin America: Unskinny genes; New research suggests a genetic susceptibility to the disease

Jan 4th 2014 | From the print edition

IF STRAINING waistlines were still a sign of prosperity, Mexicans would be rich. These days, girth is more likely to signal sickness. Diabetes is a particular scourge. The type-2 (or late-onset) variety, which is linked to obesity, is thought to afflict 11m Mexicans. It kills 73,000 of them a year, seven times as many as organised crime. Read more of this post

New rules to protect small China investors

New rules to protect small China investors

Friday, Jan 03, 2014

Esther Teo

The Straits Times

Mr Feng Jianjun has been dabbling in the Chinese stock market for more than 10 years and has been racking up losses. He blames this not on his bad luck or poor judgment but on the inadequate protection given to retail investors like him. Read more of this post

China’s Urban Nightmare: Gridlock

China’s Urban Nightmare: Gridlock

COLUM MURPHY

Jan. 2, 2014 8:23 p.m. ET

WUHAN, China—To understand true gridlock—and a huge challenge for China’s leaders as they try to move residents from the countryside into cities—take a look at Wuhan. Read more of this post

China’s Runaway Train Is Running Out of Track

China’s Runaway Train Is Running Out of Track

A financial drama is unfolding in China as the new year begins. Last week, for the second time in six months, interest rates in the critical interbank lending market spiked above 10 percent, prompting fears of a liquidity crisis that would trigger mass defaults and cripple the world’s second-largest economy.  Read more of this post

China to Let Local Governments Offer New Bonds to Help Repay Debt; Statement Suggests Regulators Are Backing Off From Vows to Hold Local Debt in Check

China to Let Local Governments Offer New Bonds to Help Repay Debt

Statement Suggests Regulators Are Backing Off From Vows to Hold Local Debt in Check

Updated Jan. 2, 2014 12:08 p.m. ET

BEIJING—China’s state planning agency says it will give local governments more leeway to issue bonds in order to repay maturing debt. Companies set up by local governments, often called local government financing vehicles, can issue new bonds to help repay maturing debt on time and ensure that work continues smoothly on existing infrastructure projects, the National Development and Reform Commission said. Read more of this post

Animal Antibiotics: FDA Rules Criticized as Weak as McDonald’s

Animal Antibiotics: FDA Rules Criticized as Weak as McDonald’s

By Ben Elgin and Andrew Martin January 02, 2014

A delegation of public-health advocates filed into the suburban Chicago headquarters of McDonald’s (MCD) last January to deliver a tough message: A decade after the fast-food giant’s groundbreaking promise to reduce medically important antibiotics fed to the animals it buys, the policy had glaring loopholes and was having a questionable impact. Read more of this post

How India’s economic history makes it a hotbed for steroids

How India’s economic history makes it a hotbed for steroids

By Tim Fernholz @timfernholz an hour ago

India has the highest number of athletes suspended after testing positive for steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs since 2009, followed by Russia, the New York Times reports. Read more of this post

India Appeals to Companies to Fund Water Pipes, Toilets

India Appeals to Companies to Fund Water Pipes, Toilets

India, where about 37 million people are made ill by water-borne diseases each year, some fatally, is courting corporate aid to finance and build water pipelines and toilets to help improve rural health conditions. Read more of this post

India Leader Singh to Step Down After Vote as Gandhi Rises

India Leader Singh to Step Down After Vote as Gandhi Rises

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signaled younger party leader Rahul Gandhi should replace him while saying he’ll step aside after elections due by May, ending a decade in power with Asia’s third-biggest economy in a slump. Read more of this post

India’s $960 Million Drinking Water Project Gets World Bank Aid

India’s $960 Million Drinking Water Project Gets World Bank Aid

The World Bank is helping offset almost half of the costs of a $960 million drinking-water project to bring piped supplies to rural residents of four low-income states in India, the government said today. Women and children will benefit in particular from the project in the states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh “as they currently bear most of the burden of securing daily water supplies,” India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs said in a statement. The 12th five-year plan for rural water supplies envisions raising piped water coverage to 50 percent of India’s non-urban population with 30 percent of the rural residents having household tap connections. The national and state governments will supply almost all of the remaining project costs. The government of India will repay the $500 million extended as credit by the World Bank over a 25-year period, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Randall Hackley in London at rhackley@bloomberg.net

Booming Japan Isn’t a Good Buy in 2014

Booming Japan Isn’t a Good Buy in 2014

Two numbers colored Shinzo Abe’s 2013 and offer hints about Japan’s prospects this year: 57 and 49.

The first is how much in percentage terms the Nikkei 225 Stock Average surged in 2013. The prime minister even dropped by the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Monday to celebrate, declaring: “Next year will go well. With this thought, I want to do my best. Next year too, Abenomics is a buy.” Read more of this post

Debt-ridden state companies are moving to hike prices as part of a government-led debt restructuring program, drawing harsh criticism that they are passing the burden onto the public

2014-01-03 17:41

State firms pass burden to public

By Na Jeong-ju
Debt-ridden state companies are moving to hike prices as part of a government-led debt restructuring program, drawing harsh criticism that they are passing the burden onto the public. Read more of this post

South Korea’s Realignment to Consumer-Led Growth

South Korea’s Realignment to Consumer-Led Growth

After the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, South Korean leaders realized the country’s heavy dependence on exports made it vulnerable to international shocks. To spur domestic spending, the government granted tax breaks to credit-card users. Read more of this post

Thai economy at risk as political rivals vow mass rallies

Thai economy at risk as political rivals vow mass rallies

5:43am EST

By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat and Martin Petty

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s finance minister expressed concern about a weak currency and damage to the economy on Friday as supporters and opponents of the government prepared for big rallies this month that risk pushing the divided country to the brink of chaos. Read more of this post

Aberdeen Buys Thai Stocks in Biggest First-Day Rout on Valuation

Aberdeen Buys Thailand’s Stocks Amid Worst First-Day Drop

The worst start to a year for Thai stocks since at least 1988 spurred Aberdeen Asset Management Plc to buy after valuations fell to the lowest levels in 18 months. The benchmark SET Index tumbled 5.2 percent yesterday amid concern that prolonged political unrest will curb economic growth. That left the measure valued at 10.8 times earnings estimates for the next 12 months, the cheapest since June 2012, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The gauge’s 14-day relative strength index sank to 19.91, below the 30 threshold that some traders use as a signal to buy. The last time it fell this low, in October 2008, the SET rallied 20 percent in two weeks. Read more of this post

Investment in S’pore equities may not yield favourable returns: DBS

Investment in S’pore equities may not yield favourable returns: DBS

POSTED: 03 Jan 2014 18:47
Investing in Singapore equities this year may not yield returns as favourable as investing in US, Europe and Japan stock markets. This is according to DBS Bank, which is neutral on Singapore equities in 2014.  Read more of this post

Myanmar’s economy: Reality check; Optimism about business prospects on the final frontier may be overblown

Myanmar’s economy: Reality check; Optimism about business prospects on the final frontier may be overblown

Jan 4th 2014 | YANGON | From the print edition

THE most recent edition of the World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” report is a sobering read for Myanmar. It has been almost three years since President Thein Sein came to power and launched his much-trumpeted reform programme. As part of the effort to reconnect Myanmar to the global economy, the country was included in the report for the first time in 2013. Yet the results show that it is still among the very worst countries in the world to do business. Read more of this post

Young’s Passes Fuller’s as Hip Pubs Lure London Beer Fans; The Young and Fuller families, London’s oldest brewing clans, have competed for almost two centuries to quench the thirst of the capital’s ale drinkers

Young’s Passes Fuller’s as Hip Pubs Lure London Beer Fans

The Young and Fuller families, London’s oldest brewing clans, have competed for almost two centuries to quench the thirst of the capital’s ale drinkers. The shares of each company have outpaced the FTSE All-Share Index almost equally over 20 years. Now it’s Young & Co.’s Brewery Plc (YNGA) that’s breaking away, with the stock gain in 2013 almost double that of Fuller Smith & Turner Plc. (FSTA) The reason: Young’s stopped making beer and is managing more pubs. Read more of this post

Turkish politics: No longer a shining example; Turkey’s government disappoints because of allegations of sleaze and its increasingly authoritarian rule

Turkish politics: No longer a shining example; Turkey’s government disappoints because of allegations of sleaze and its increasingly authoritarian rule

Jan 4th 2014 | ISTANBUL | From the print edition

GOVERNMENTS fall in Turkey either because they are massively corrupt or because generals boot them out (or both). In 2002, fed up with the greed and ineptitude of the country’s secular parties, voters chose Recep Tayyip Erdogan as prime minister as they propelled his mildly Islamist Justice and Development (AK) Party into government. A decade on, AK, which means “white” or “pure” in Turkish, has proven not to be so exceptional after all and finds itself mired in one of the biggest graft scandals in recent history. Read more of this post

Turkey’s Silver Imports Surge to Most Since 1999 as Prices Slide

Turkey’s Silver Imports Surge to Most Since 1999 as Prices Slide

Turkey’s silver imports climbed in December to the highest since at least 1999 and inbound shipments of gold rose to the most since July as the metals capped their biggest annual decline in more than three decades. Read more of this post

The law of small(er) numbers: Pay at investment banks is starting to fall, but not because politicians have capped it

The law of small(er) numbers: Pay at investment banks is starting to fall, but not because politicians have capped it

Jan 4th 2014 | From the print edition

“NAUGHTY or nice” is not a discussion investment bankers have with Santa before Christmas but one they have with their bosses early in the new year. The haggling usually opens with the boss saying what a tough year it has been and the bankers, often experienced traders and dealmakers, talking about how valuable they are. This year’s negotiations will be unusually tense. At stake will not simply be pay, an issue complicated by the introduction on January 1st of a bonus cap in Europe, but also jobs. Read more of this post

Ghana could consolidate its position as a regional star, if the government takes some courageous decisions soon

Ghana could consolidate its position as a regional star, if the government takes some courageous decisions soon

Dec 21st 2013 | ACCRA | From the print edition

CHRISTMAS hampers must not be dished out this year by government departments at taxpayers’ expense. That was the nub of a suitably puritanical edict issued recently by the office of President John Mahama. Belt-tightening is—or at least should be—the order of the day. Read more of this post

Terrorism in Russia: Will there be more? Russians feel vulnerable after two bombings in Volgograd

Terrorism in Russia: Will there be more? Russians feel vulnerable after two bombings in Volgograd

Jan 4th 2014 | From the print edition

IT WAS always a question of when rather than if. Russia has been bracing itself for an attack since July, when Doku Umarov, the self-proclaimed emir of the northern Caucasus and a Chechen terrorist leader, pledged to disrupt the Sochi winter Olympics and lifted a moratorium on civilian targets in Russia that he had imposed in the wake of anti-government protests in December 2011. Yet, the audacity and the deadly choreography of the twin suicide bombings in the southern city of Volgograd on December 29th and 30th stunned the country. Read more of this post