Fracking Spreads Worldwide

Fracking Spreads Worldwide

By Nidaa Bakhsh and Brian Swint November 14, 2013

The hydraulic fracturing of shale in search of oil and gas has hardly started outside the U.S., but that’s changing. A record 400 shale wells may be drilled beyond U.S. borders in 2014, with most of the activity in China and Russia, according to energy consultants Wood Mackenzie. (In contrast, thousands of shale wells will be drilled in the U.S. next year.) The number of rigs used onshore in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region has increased 10 percent over the past year, data compiled by oil services company Baker Hughes (BHI) show. Most of those rigs are meant for shale. “It’s likely there will be a revolution,” says Maria van der Hoeven, executive director at the Paris-based International Energy Agency. “But not everywhere at the same time. And you just can’t copy the U.S. experience.” Read more of this post

American industry and fracking: From sunset to new dawn; Capitalists, not just greens, are now questioning how significant the benefits of shale gas and oil will be for America. The new sceptics are missing the big picture

American industry and fracking: From sunset to new dawn; Capitalists, not just greens, are now questioning how significant the benefits of shale gas and oil will be for America. The new sceptics are missing the big picture

Nov 16th 2013 | NEW YORK |From the print edition

IN A new book, “The Frackers”, Gregory Zuckerman says of the late George Mitchell, a pioneer of the technique of hydraulic fracturing to tap “unconventional” reserves of oil and gas, that “his impact eventually might even approach that of Henry Ford and Alexander Graham Bell.” Yet of late doubters have been making themselves heard too. In October Peter Voser said that one of his biggest regrets as boss of Shell is the $24 billion his firm has invested in North America’s shale beds. This summer, the firm took a big writedown on this investment and slashed its production targets. Also last month BHP Billiton, which spent around $20 billion in 2011 in a bet on shale, said it would auction half of its oil and gas acreage in Texas and New Mexico. Read more of this post

Zara’s Fast-Fashion Edge

Zara’s Fast-Fashion Edge

By Susan Berfield and Manuel Baigorri November 14, 2013

Arteixo is a small town in northwestern Spain near the Atlantic, surrounded by fishing villages. In its center, a glass building sits amid acres of green lawn. It’s the headquarters of Zara, the company that introduced the idea of fast fashion some two decades ago, then developed a highly centralized and often studied—but rarely duplicated—design, manufacturing, and distribution system. The building is officially known as the Cube. Those who work there think of it as the brain. Read more of this post

Fast-Food Chains Inch Toward Healthiness

Fast-Food Chains Inch Toward Healthiness

By Leslie Patton November 14, 2013

Going cold turkey is hard—especially if it means denying yourself a 730-calorie frozen caramel coffee Coolatta or an 840-calorie steak and cheese sandwich. That’s why restaurants are getting Americans off unhealthy food gradually. Amid a national obesity epidemic, chains such as Au Bon Pain and Subway are tweaking their fare by tiny degrees instead of introducing openly lighter menus. They don’t want to frighten customers with terms such as “low-sodium” and “diet.” Read more of this post

Food is replacing iron ore and coal as the boom commodity. The takeover battle for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter has heated up to the point where it is hard to see the bids making economic sense

Dining out on a hot commodity

November 20, 2013

Richard Hemming

Food is replacing iron ore and coal as the boom commodity. The takeover battle for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter has heated up to the point where it is hard to see the bids making economic sense. The four protagonists, or antagonists, depending upon how you see them – the Australian-listed dairy producer Bega Cheese, the Canadian firm Saputo, the dairy co-operative Murray Goulburn, and the Japanese-owned dairy, beer and wine group Kirin – have bid the Victorian dairy producer’s stock up to more than $9 a share. Read more of this post

Despite Defaults, USDA Sweetens the Pot: The government is losing money on its sugar loan program

Despite Defaults, USDA Sweetens the Pot: The government is losing money on its sugar loan program

ALEXANDRA WEXLER

Nov. 18, 2013 7:21 p.m. ET

There is no way to sugarcoat it: The U.S. government is being forced to support sugar companies even though taxpayers are already footing a $280 million bill stemming from loans the companies can’t repay. The loans are part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture program aimed at supporting sugar prices. When sugar prices are high, processors—companies that turn raw beet and cane into sugar—pay the agency back on time and the program costs the government nothing. Read more of this post

John Hussman: Chumps, Champs, and Bamboo

November 18, 2013

Chumps, Champs, and Bamboo 
John P. Hussman, Ph.D.
“The seed of a bamboo tree is planted, fertilized and watered. Nothing happens for the first year. There´s no sign of growth. Not even a hint. The same thing happens – or doesn´t happen – the second year. And then the third year. The tree is carefully watered and fertilized each year, but nothing shows. No growth. No anything. Then the bamboo tree suddenly sprouts and grows thirty feet in three months.”

― Zig Ziglar

This story is more than a quote about persistence – it’s actually a reasonable description of risk-managed investing. Over the years, I’ve observed that numerous simple risk-managed investment strategies have substantially outperformed the market over the complete market cycle – particularly those that accept market risk in proportion to the estimated return/risk profile associated with prevailing conditions at each point in time. What I may not have done sufficiently is to describe the profile of how that outperformance is typically achieved over the market cycle. Read more of this post

2014: A User’s Guide to the Global Economy

2014: A User’s Guide to the Global Economy

By Peter Coy November 14, 2013

On Jan. 1, 2014, Latvia will adopt the euro, and its lats currency will be no more. Farewell to the fulsomely bearded Krišjānis Barons, the collector of folk songs who graces the 100-latu note. Goodbye to images of sailing ships and maidens, oak trees and the Daugava River. The little Baltic nation is shucking a piece of its national heritage because its leaders think that joining Europe’s somewhat troubled common currency zone will lead to more trade, investment, and prosperity. “We are looking to growth,” Finance Minister Andris Vilks told reporters in June. Read more of this post

“Bubble” In Riskiest Credit Exceeds 2008 Peak

“Bubble” In Riskiest Credit Exceeds 2008 Peak

Tyler Durden on 11/18/2013 19:48 -0500

As we warned two months ago, the bubble in credit markets (which if you ask anyone at the Fed, except Jeremy Stein, does not exist) is nowhere more evident than in the explosive growth of so-called cov-lite loans. While total volumes of cov-lite loans are already at record, as the FT reports, we now have 55% of new leveraged loans come in “cov-lite” form, far eclipsing the 29% reached at the height of the leveraged buyout boom just before the financial crisis. LBO multiples have reached record highs and demand for secutizations of these levered loans (CLOs) has surged on the back of the Fed’s repressive push of investors into more-levered firms and more-levered instruments. Read more of this post

Is France the New Italy?

Is France the New Italy?

If U.S. President Barack Obama thinks he’s having a difficult autumn, then maybe he should consider the season French President Francois Hollande is experiencing. Paris in springtime may have been lovely as usual, but fall has been horrible. The French unemployment rate stands at 11 percent. After growing tepidly in the second quarter, the economy shrank again in the third. Standard and Poor’s just downgraded the government’s debt — for the second time in less than two years. Hollande’s Socialist administration faces protests over taxes and burdensome regulation not just from business leaders, as you might expect, but also from farmers, shopkeepers, teachers, truck drivers and soccer players. Read more of this post

A 2014 Cheat Sheet

A 2014 Cheat Sheet

November 14, 2013

We know what you’re thinking. If only all the invaluable information contained in this issue could be distilled to one handy list—a series of tidbits you could use to impress friends, foes, spouses, and maybe a few teenagers. Reader, wish no longer. Read more of this post

50,000 Products but 3M Still Searching for Growth; CEO Thulin Sticks With Long-Term Research; Looks to ‘Fix’ Sluggish Units

50,000 Products but 3M Still Searching for Growth

CEO Thulin Sticks With Long-Term Research; Looks to ‘Fix’ Sluggish Units

JAMES R. HAGERTY 

Nov. 18, 2013 2:39 p.m. ET

ST. PAUL, Minn.— Inge Thulin, 3M Co. MMM +0.22% ‘s chief executive officer, likes to talk about how the company’s research labs are cooking up “disruptive” technologies, such as a new kind of film designed to make colors brighter on cellphone and tablet screens. Yet 3M’s vast product line also includes such prosaic items as sandpaper, masking tape and dog-poop bags. Read more of this post

Hemaraj to Raise Funds Backed by Property Assets: Southeast Asia

Hemaraj to Raise Funds Backed by Property Assets: Southeast Asia

Hemaraj Land & Development Pcl (HEMRAJ), Thailand’s biggest industrial land developer, plans to raise about 4.5 billion baht ($142 million) by selling its first property fund to help finance new projects. The fund will be backed by rental revenue from factories and warehouses, and the proceeds will be used to develop a new industrial park in Rayong province and pay debt, Chief Executive Officer David Nardone said in an interview in Bangkok yesterday. Read more of this post

Blowing the whistle: Thailand’s former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, loses a battle but is winning the war

Blowing the whistle: Thailand’s former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, loses a battle but is winning the war

Nov 16th 2013 |From the print edition

THE truce in the street warfare into which Thai politics descended in 2006-10 is over. To the shrill peeps of ubiquitous whistles, protesters have yet again crowded Bangkok, the capital, brandishing portraits of Bhumibol Adulyadej, Thailand’s long-serving king, revered but frail. What has so far been a peaceful movement earlier this month seemed to threaten the survival of the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, the prime minister. Her tactical retreat has probably saved it. But the political divide looks as unbridgeable as ever, and as dangerous to Thailand’s stability. Read more of this post

ICE to Buy Singapore Mercantile Exchange for $150 Million

ICE to Buy Singapore Mercantile Exchange for $150 Million

IntercontinentalExchange Group Inc. (ICE) agreed to buy Singapore Mercantile Exchange Pte for $150 million to add commodity futures trading in Asia, where China reigns as the biggest user of everything from energy to metals. Atlanta-based ICE will buy the exchange operator and Singapore Mercantile Clearing Corp. from Financial Technologies (FTECH) India Ltd., the Mumbai-based company said today in a statement. Read more of this post

Myanmar is set to wrest control of its Dawei industrial complex from Thai company Italian Thai Development over its failure to attract investors to a strategically located, multi-billion dollar project tipped as a game-changer for regional trade

Myanmar turns to Japan, Thailand to kick-start stalled Dawei

4:56am EST

By Jared Ferrie

YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar is set to wrest control of its Dawei industrial complex from Thai company Italian Thai Development over its failure to attract investors to a strategically located, multi-billion dollar project tipped as a game-changer for regional trade. Read more of this post

KL homeowners facing sharp assessment hikes

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 19, 2013

KL homeowners facing sharp assessment hikes

City Hall plans to raise annual values by up to 300%

PAULINE NG

‘If City Hall wishes to increase the (assessment) for private homes . . . HBA proposes a hike of not more than 10 per cent.’
– Chang Kim Loong, honorary secretary-general, National House Buyers Association

KUALA LUMPUR property owners, an estimated 10-16 per cent of whom are foreigners, are facing sharply higher assessment payments of up to 300 per cent following the latest move by City Hall (DBKL) to boost its coffers. Read more of this post

Malaysian businesses are worried that they will be affected if Johor is to revert its Saturday-Sunday weekend to Friday-Saturday

Weekend change worries Johor traders

Monday, November 18, 2013 – 10:11

The Star/Asia News Network

JOHOR BARU – Businesses are worried that they will be affected if Johor is to revert its Saturday-Sunday weekend to Friday-Saturday. Johor Indian Business Association (Jiba) president P. Sivakumar called for a proper study to be conducted before any change is made. He said investments in the state, especially in Iskandar Malaysia, would lose out. Read more of this post

Why No One Wants to Drive a Truck Anymore

Why No One Wants to Drive a Truck Anymore

By Meghan Walsh November 14, 2013

Add truck driver to the list of jobs Americans don’t want to do anymore. Long weeks on the road away from home and family and stagnant salaries are making it hard to recruit drivers. The average age of a commercial driver in the U.S. is 55, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and retirements in recent years have long-haul carriers worried about filling their spots. Many would-be younger drivers are instead drawn to construction and other jobs that pay more than the average $38,000 a year truckers make. Read more of this post

Warren Buffett Cashes In on Railroad Tank Cars

Warren Buffett Cashes In on Railroad Tank Cars

By Drake Bennett November 14, 2013

Boomtowns on the prairie, young men heading west to find work as roustabouts—there’s an undeniable throwback quality to the American shale oil industry. The 21st century economy was supposed to be driven by Silicon Valley and Wall Street; instead it’s being pumped out of the ground in North Dakota and Texas. That’s creating growth in unlikely places. Read more of this post

Wal-Mart Touts $98 TV in Weakest Holiday Season Since ’09

Wal-Mart Touts $98 TV in Weakest Holiday Season Since ’09

By Cotten Timberlake – Nov 19, 2013

U.S. retailers are discounting earlier than ever as they brace for the weakest holiday shopping season since 2009. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is dangling a 32-inch flat-screen TV for $98, down from $148 last year. Sears Holdings Corp. has waived layaway fees and its Kmart chain is introducing a rent-to-own program. More than a dozen retailers are opening earlier, or for the first time, on Thanksgiving Day. Among the attention-grabbing stunts: a $1 million jackpot for one of the first shoppers to visit Gap Inc. (GPS)’s Old Navy chain on Black Friday. Read more of this post

Waiting for the thaw: Most Britons are unimpressed by a recovery they do not feel

Waiting for the thaw: Most Britons are unimpressed by a recovery they do not feel

Nov 16th 2013 |From the print edition

THE 8m Britons who tuned in to watch “X-Factor”, a talent show, on November 9th were treated to a contest both lavish and cut-throat. And that was just in the ad breaks—on the weekend in which Britain’s biggest retailers unveiled their Christmas advertising campaigns. Read more of this post

Small no longer looks quite so beautiful; The opportunity to enter the rally in smaller companies has passed

November 13, 2013 9:07 am

Small no longer looks quite so beautiful

By John Authers

The opportunity to enter the rally in smaller companies has passed

Size isn’t everything. Indeed, of late, lack of it has been highly profitable. Small-capstocks have readily outperformed larger stocks all year, and have done so since the post-crisis rally began in March 2009. The question now is whether the rally can possibly have more legs. Read more of this post

Singapore and Malaysia market regulators face delicate task

Updated: Monday November 18, 2013 MYT 9:32:05 AM

Market regulators face delicate task

BY GURMEET KAUR

CAPITAL market oversight is no easy task. It is a fine balancing act for regulators: they can’t over-regulate less they be accused of stifling the markets, and neither can they be lax for they may be accused of not safeguarding the interests’ investors. In this context, the recent experiences of the Malaysian and Singaporean regulators are worth a look. Singapore is reeling from the aftermath of the SGX penny stock crash, involving the highly speculated plays of Asiasons Capital Ltd, Blumont Group Ltd and LionGold Corp. Shares in the three companies made huge gains earlier in the year before crashing in a frenzied 40 minutes of trading on Oct 4. Read more of this post

Retail investors may be unprepared for a move into more aggressive strategies by hedge funds

November 17, 2013 9:05 pm

Playing to the cheap seats

By Stephen Foley

Retail investors may be unprepared for a move into more aggressive strategies by hedge funds

There were “booths as far as the eye can see”, says Henry Davis. Chicago’s McCormick Place conference centre bustled with activity in June, as asset managers and boutique investment houses competed for the attention of more than 1,000 financial advisers. These advisers are the gatekeepers to America’s retail investors, so anyone hawking a mutual fund wants to hawk it at Morningstar’s Investment Conference. And that was why Mr Davis was there for the first time. Read more of this post

Oldest Italian Bell Maker Avoids Death Knell by Growing Exports

Oldest Italian Bell Maker Avoids Death Knell by Growing Exports

The process of making bronze bells hasn’t altered much in 1,000 years at the Pontifical Marinelli Foundry. What’s changing is where they chime, as Italy’s oldest family business looks abroad to dodge the economy at home. The company in Agnone, a small town about 220 kilometers (137 miles) southeast of Rome, has increased exports to 20 percent of its revenue, four times the proportion a decade ago. With the Italian economy entering a third year of recession, reliance on sales abroad is only going to get greater, said Pasquale Marinelli, who owns the foundry with his brother. Read more of this post

Oaktree’s Marks Says Bargains Hard to Find After Rally

Oaktree’s Marks Says Bargains Hard to Find After Rally

Oaktree Capital Group LLC (OAK) Chairman Howard Marks said it’s difficult to find bargains because prices of private assets have risen as investors search for yield. “The bargain hunter is having a tough time because the low level of Treasury rates has pushed everyone to riskier assets, which has driven up prices,” Marks said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television with Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle. “I’m not aware of any broad sweet spots today, and I don’t think there should be any.” Read more of this post

New Zealand Stops a Housing Bubble

New Zealand Stops a Housing Bubble

Perhaps the Federal Reserve has something to learn from the central bank of New Zealand about how to manage a mortgage market. Unlike the Fed, which has been sharply criticized for having failed to keep the U.S. housing bubble from expanding, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is sounding the alarm over rising housing prices and imposing limits on mortgages. Read more of this post