Tesla: value components; It is not quite right to say that the US carmaker is now bigger than Fiat

December 27, 2013 11:59 am

Tesla: value components

It is not quite right to say that the US carmaker is now bigger than Fiat

Tesla had an amazing ride in 2013 – its shares rose more than 300 per cent. But has Elon Musk’s electric carmaker really become a larger company than Italian automakerFiat as many headlines have asserted? Its market capitalisation of $17bn, compared with Fiat’s of less than $10bn, indicates so. But investors should recognise that equity value gives an incomplete picture of a company’s worth. It does not account for all the claims on a company’s assets and profits that would collectively give the correct indication of the business’s size. Read more of this post

Slovenian beer turns sour as state fire sale looms

Slovenian beer turns sour as state fire sale looms

Thu, Dec 26 2013

By Zoran Radosavljevic

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) – A decade ago, with Slovenia cruising towards membership of the European Union, a local brewery called Union caught the eye of Belgian beer giant Interbrew. Read more of this post

Retirement: Extended life cycles; As countries raise their pension ages, more people are rethinking their working lives

December 27, 2013 7:43 pm

Retirement: Extended life cycles

By Emma Jacobs and Norma Cohen

As countries raise their pension ages, more people are rethinking their working lives

Lifting, carrying, digging. That is how Derek Wardlaw characterises his work as a road-digger in Dunfermline in the Scottish lowlands. The job, he muses, is not getting any easier. “It’s physically taxing and gets harder as you get older,” says the 51-year-old. “The physical wear-and-tear on your body, the injuries, they take their toll.” Read more of this post

Pimco Turns Wildcatter as OGX Creditor Losses Reach 99%

Pimco Turns Wildcatter as OGX Creditor Losses Reach 99%

Pacific Investment Management Co. (OGXP3) and BlackRock Inc. (BLK) are set to take over Eike Batista’s failed oil ambitions as creditors accept losses as deep as 99 percent on $5.8 billion of debt in return for ownership stakes. Read more of this post

Moguls Rent South Dakota Addresses to Dodge Taxes Forever

Moguls Rent South Dakota Addresses to Dodge Taxes Forever

Among the nation’s billionaires, one of the most sought-after pieces of real estate right now is a quiet storefront in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A branch of Chicago’s Pritzker family rents space here, down the hall from the Minnesota clan that controls the Radisson hotel chain, and other rooms held by Miami and Hong Kong money. Read more of this post

March of state companies resets global trading patterns

March of state companies resets global trading patterns

10:47am EST

By Jonathan Leff and Dmitry Zhdannikov

LONDON (Reuters) – As U.S. and European banks drop out of commodity trading, Russian, Chinese and Gulf state firms are filling the gap in an attempt to exert greater control over the pricing of the raw materials on which their economies so heavily depend. Read more of this post

Latin America’s Rout Seen Extending Into Next Year: Currencies

Latin America’s Rout Seen Extending Into Next Year: Currencies

Foreign investors are betting the worst rout in Latin American currencies since 2008 will extend into next year as commodity export prices slump and rising U.S. bond yields lure money out of the region. Read more of this post

Global Shrimp Crisis Is Hitting Menus Everywhere

Global Shrimp Crisis Is Hitting Menus Everywhere

ALEXANDRA BARKER, MARKETPLACE.ORG
DEC. 27, 2013, 5:54 PM 2,756

In October, Jamie’s Italian, a British restaurant chain owned by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, pulled shrimp linguine from its menu. In the U.S., Red Lobster scrimped too: Its all-you-can-eat “Endless Shrimp” special lasted just six weeks this year instead of three months. Read more of this post

Foreigners Unload Turkey Bonds as Probe Tarnishes Erdogan Growth

Foreigners Unload Turkey Bonds as Probe Tarnishes Erdogan Growth

Foreigners are dumping Turkish bonds at the fastest pace in two years, deepening a selloff that’s putting a blot on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s image as the architect of the country’s economic turnaround. Read more of this post

Turkey Lira Plunges to Record as Stocks Drop on Political Crisis

Turkey Lira Plunges to Record as Stocks Drop on Political Crisis

The lira plummeted to a record and Turkish stocks slumped the most in the world as a showdown between the government and judicial powers triggered uncertainty over the country’s political stability. Read more of this post

Brazilians to Pay More to Shop Abroad as ATM Tax Surges 1,600%

Brazilians to Pay More to Shop Abroad as ATM Tax Surges 1,600%

Brazil will boost levies on withdrawals abroad to restrain a widening current account deficit and prevent a six-percentage point gap in tax levels from reducing the use of credit cards. The measure takes effect tomorrow and raises the so-called IOF tax on some operations, including the use of debit cards abroad, to the 6.38 percent rate already charged on credit cards, the Finance Ministry said in a statement today. Boosting the rate from the current 0.38 percent also will increase revenue by an estimated 552 million reais ($236 million) a year, according to the statement. “This measure prevents one payment method from being undermined by others because of the tax structure,” the ministry said on its website. Brazilians have increased annual spending abroad by almost tenfold in the past decade to more than $23 billion in November, according to central bank data. The government raised the tax on credit cards in March 2011 as consumer spending outside the country helped widen a current account gap that surpassed $80 billion this year for the first time on record. The real gained 0.7 percent to 2.3383 per dollar today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Randall Woods in Santiago at rwoods13@bloomberg.net

Bond-Yield Rise Means Borrowers Will Pay More; U.S. Treasury Bond Yield Climbs Past 3% for the First Time in More Than Two Years

Bond-Yield Rise Means Borrowers Will Pay More

U.S. Treasury Bond Yield Climbs Past 3% for the First Time in More Than Two Years

MIN ZENG and MIKE CHERNEY

Updated Dec. 27, 2013 7:10 p.m. ET

Growing confidence in the economy pushed a widely followed U.S. Treasury bond yield above 3% on Friday for the first time in more than two years. The benchmark 10-year note’s yield rose to 3.004%, pushing the price down 4/32 from Thursday’s close. While the yield already had more than doubled since sinking to a record low in July 2012, many analysts saw the 3% mark as a test of investors’ faith in the economic rebound’s staying power. Read more of this post

Aussie Bank Asks “Will Bitcoin Replace The Dollar?”

Aussie Bank Asks “Will Bitcoin Replace The Dollar?”

Tyler Durden on 12/27/2013 19:59 -0500

Bitcoin is rapidly becoming part of the everyday lexicon. Following David Woo’s investigation, National Australia Bank’s Emma Lawson looks at its creation, use, and quality as “currency,” and find that Bitcoin meets most, but not all the conditions required to be a currency. Lawson concludes Bitcoin may not be the most efficient monetary system, given the costs to create, and that the supply set-up can be seen as both an advantage (hyperinflation is not possible) but also a disadvantage (there are conditions which may create deflation). But, if enough people believe in it, and use it, it may be here to stay as a payment system. Simply put, its success (or failure) will depend on establishing trust and adoption. Via National Australia Bank’s Emma Lawson, Read more of this post

Audi Plans $30.3 Billion in Investments to Challenge BMW

Audi Plans $30.3 Billion in Investments to Challenge BMW

Volkswagen AG (VOW)’s Audi division, the world’s second-biggest maker of luxury cars, plans to spend 22 billion euros ($30.3 billion) through 2018, pushing models such as electric autos to gain the top spot in the premium segment. Read more of this post

An emergency federal program that acts as a lifeline for 1.3 million jobless workers will end on Saturday, drastically curtailing government support for the long-term unemployed and setting the stage for a major political fight

December 27, 2013

Benefits Ending for One Million Unemployed

By ANNIE LOWREY

WASHINGTON — An emergency federal program that acts as a lifeline for 1.3 million jobless workers will end on Saturday, drastically curtailing government support for the long-term unemployed and setting the stage for a major political fight in the new year. Read more of this post

Amid Record Rally, Stock Picker Keeps Focus on the Basics; Sam Eisenstadt, a Pioneer at Value Line, Remains Bullish

Amid Record Rally, Stock Picker Keeps Focus on the Basics

Sam Eisenstadt, a Pioneer at Value Line, Remains Bullish

MARK HULBERT

Dec. 27, 2013 3:29 p.m. ET

Sam Eisenstadt, who devised Value Line’s much-admired stock-selection system, at home with his wife, Edith. Adrienne Grunwald for The Wall Street Journal

Few people listen to Sam Eisenstadt anymore. And that is a shame, since—even at 91—he still has a lot to say. Until he was fired four years ago, he had for more than two decades been head of research at Value Line, VALU +2.63% the research firm founded in 1931 that pioneered individual stock analysis. Mr. Eisenstadt remains a close student of the markets, often emailing institutional investors and journalists to report the latest results of his research. (Value Line didn’t respond to requests for comment.) Read more of this post

Academics Who Defend Wall St. Reap Reward

December 27, 2013

Academics Who Defend Wall St. Reap Reward

By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI

Signs of the energy business are inescapable in and around Houston — the pipelines, refineries and tankers that crowd the harbor, and the gleaming office towers where oil companies and energy traders have transformed the skyline. And in a squat glass building on the University of Houston campus, a measure of the industry’s pre-eminence can also be found in the person of Craig Pirrong, a professor of finance, who sits at the nexus of commerce and academia. Read more of this post

From Abe to Zhou: The Inaugural Naked Awards

From Abe to Zhou: The Inaugural Naked Awards

By William Pesek on 12:20 pm December 26, 2013.
It’s only when the tide goes out, as Warren Buffett famously said, that you learn who’s been swimming naked. Well, 2013 has been a banner year for skinny-dipping among Asian leaders, central banks and business people. In Japan and South Korea, talk of epochal change from two newish leaders was shown to be empty. China’s supposedly peaceful rise was laid bare by aggressive actions. Hopes that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would rediscover his reformist roots proved barren. Supposedly omnipotent Dear Leader Kim Jong-un executed his uncle and No. 2 for allegedly brewing a coup. Australia’s new leader found his approval ratings to be bottomless. As the year draws to a close, all too many would-be emperors in Asia were revealed to have all too few clothes. The most shameless top our first Naked Awards: Read more of this post

Argentina’s socioeconomic statistics: Still lying after all these years; Official figures paint a rosy picture. So why are Argentines rioting?

Argentina’s socioeconomic statistics: Still lying after all these years; Official figures paint a rosy picture. So why are Argentines rioting?

Dec 21st 2013 | BUENOS AIRES | From the print edition

FOR years the IMF turned a blind eye as Argentina doctored its inflation index and plumped up its numbers for economic growth. Then last February the fund steeled itself and censured the country, warning it to improve its statistics by September or face potential suspension or expulsion. This threat was unprecedented in the fund’s history. Yet it seems it was a largely empty one. On December 9th the IMF board met to review Argentina’s progress on a new inflation index. It declared that, although the country had not adopted the measures the fund wanted, it “recognised” the government’s “ongoing work” and deferred further action until March. Read more of this post

Defenceless? Austerity is hollowing out Europe’s armies

Defenceless? Austerity is hollowing out Europe’s armies

Dec 21st 2013 | From the print edition

HOW quickly the need to cut deficits is reducing the European Union’s military ambitions. When EU leaders held a summit to discuss defence five years ago there was heady talk of being able to deploy 60,000 troops within 60 days. Today the objective is to get overstretched troops home from Afghanistan as budgets are cut. The EU is meant to have two “battle groups” of 1,500 men apiece ready to deploy at short notice, but it can barely muster one—and none has ever been used. Read more of this post

Here’s why Canada’s big banks keep on winning; There are was a lot of talk at the start of the year about the Great White Short, as some hedge funds bet against the Canadian banks. That didn’t work out so well

Here’s why Canada’s big banks keep on winning

John Shmuel | December 27, 2013 | Last Updated: Dec 27 2:53 PM ET
Better luck next year to those who shorted Canadian banks.

There are was a lot of talk at the start of the year about the Great White Short, as some hedge funds bet against the Canadian banks on the expectation that a slowing Canadian economy would hit financials hard. Read more of this post

India Is Becoming A High-Cost Economy

India Is Becoming A High-Cost Economy

RAJESH KUMAR SINGH AND ADITI SHAH, REUTERS
DEC. 26, 2013, 6:31 PM 1,128 3

A waiter carries plates of food for customers at the Britannia and Co. restaurant in Mumbai. The aroma of frying onions from the Britannia and Co. restaurant might not penetrate the office of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan a block away, but like the eatery’s customers, he can’t escape the soaring price of the pungent vegetable. Read more of this post

Mad about museums: China is building thousands of new museums, but how will it fill them?

Mad about museums: China is building thousands of new museums, but how will it fill them?

Dec 21st 2013 | From the print edition

THE RED BRICK CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM can be found beyond Beijing’s fifth ring road, in an area so recently urbanised it is still called Hegezhuang Village. The street up to it is wide and dusty. Opposite, two dogs lie panting outside the Orchard restaurant where workmen have put down their trowels and are sipping tea in the midday heat. Despite the unpromising setting, the museum looks as if it had been lowered into place that very morning. The brickwork is shiny, the yellow lettering bright. Inside the air-conditioning hums throughout the seven exhibition spaces and all the lights are on. Yet, except for a handful of works in one small corner near the entrance, the museum has absolutely nothing on display. It is like walking into an empty Olympic swimming pool. Read more of this post

I’m a celebrity… Get me out of Chinese government promotions

I’m a celebrity… Get me out of Chinese government promotions

5:40am EST

BEIJING (Reuters) – China warned its local governments on Thursday against holding lavish dinners, fireworks displays and hiring celebrities to attract investment. Six new Commerce Ministry guidelines on investment promotion, part of a broader government campaign against extravagance and waste, also ban reserving luxury hotels, giving expensive gifts and hosting artistic performances.

Read more of this post

Chinese Students Major in Luxury Cars; Chinese students in the U.S. bought about $15.5 billion in new and used cars in the 22 months ended in October

Chinese Students Major in Luxury Cars

By Tim Higgins December 19, 2013

Chinese students at the University of Iowa began coming into Carousel Motors in Iowa City about three years ago to get theirMercedes (DAI:GR) and Audi (NSU:GR) luxury cars serviced. Finally, general manager Pat Lind started asking if they’d ever considered his dealership when they made their original purchase. No, the students told him. Back in China, they’d been told to buy their wheels in Chicago before heading to college. Read more of this post

China To Abolish Hukou System

China To Abolish Hukou System

12-25 13:58 Caijing

Push to urbanize smaller cities as economic drivers.

By: Dezan Shira & Associates

The Chinese Government has announced plans to abolish the hukou system – the form of “internal passport” that restricts the movement of Chinese nationals within the country. The move will trigger a mass push towards urbanization and provide migrant workers with a full range of social services in cities away from their hometown. The decision does away with decades of discrimination amongst China’s massive army of travelling workers. Read more of this post

Royal Dutch Shell’s 23.1% stake in Australian oil and gas group Woodside Petroleum is seen as more likely to be split up and/or sold to institutional shareholders than to go in one piece to a strategic buyer

Updated: Friday December 27, 2013 MYT 9:11:08 AM

Woodside stake may be split if Shell sells out

LONDON: Royal Dutch Shell’s 23.1% stake in Australian oil and gas group Woodside Petroleum is seen as more likely to be split up and/or sold to institutional shareholders than to go in one piece to a strategic buyer, bankers said. The holding, worth about US$6.4bil and left over from Shell’s abortive attempt to acquire Woodside in 2001, has long been viewed as non-core to Shell. Read more of this post

UPS’s Holiday Shipping Master: They Call Him Mr. Peak

UPS’s Holiday Shipping Master: They Call Him Mr. Peak

By Devin Leonard December 19, 2013

Scott Abell is fretting about free-range turkeys. It’s Nov. 20, and United Parcel Service(UPS) will soon pick up 11,000 of them from a ranch in Northern California and ship them overnight to customers of Williams-Sonoma (WSM) in time for Thanksgiving. Abell, a 31-year veteran of UPS, is known inside the organization as Mr. Peak. He plans next-day, two-day, and three-day shipments during the holidays, UPS’s busiest time of the year. He starts drafting his plan in January and spends the rest of the year refining it. The turkeys are his first big test of the 2013 peak season, which starts in five days. Read more of this post

UPS Shipping Delays Show Perils of Stores Overpromising

UPS Shipping Delays Show Perils of Stores Overpromising

The failure of United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) and FedEx Corp. (FDX) to deliver packages in time for Christmas has exposed the perils of retailers promising to get last-minute gifts to customers. Read more of this post