Filipinos are losing patience with the slow relief effort and increasingly angry with President Benigno Aquino, a popular figure who has until now navigated multiple crises during his three years in office

Aquino faces growing anger

MANILA — Six days after devastating Typhoon Haiyan swept through the midsection of the impoverished island nation, Filipinos are losing patience with the slow relief effort and increasingly angry with President Benigno Aquino, a popular figure who has until now navigated multiple crises during his three years in office.

BY –

4 HOURS 32 MIN AGO

MANILA — Six days after devastating Typhoon Haiyan swept through the midsection of the impoverished island nation, Filipinos are losing patience with the slow relief effort and increasingly angry with President Benigno Aquino, a popular figure who has until now navigated multiple crises during his three years in office. Read more of this post

Crédit Lyonnais: Sting in the tail; More bad news from a 20-year-old bank bail-out; Crédit Lyonnais is not the only bad bank with poison in its long tail.

Crédit Lyonnais: Sting in the tail; More bad news from a 20-year-old bank bail-out; Crédit Lyonnais is not the only bad bank with poison in its long tail.

Nov 16th 2013 | PARIS |From the print edition

COUNTRIES struggling to return their bailed-out banks to normal (Britain and RBS spring to mind) will take little cheer from France this week. On November 13th the cabinet authorised borrowing €4.5 billion ($6.1 billion) next month to pay off the last of the debt incurred in rescuing Crédit Lyonnais two decades ago. The bank will have cost French taxpayers almost €15 billion in all. Read more of this post

Federal Student Loans Surpass $1 Trillion; Delinquency Rate Soars To All Time High

Federal Student Loans Surpass $1 Trillion; Delinquency Rate Soars To All Time High

Tyler Durden on 11/14/2013 13:27 -0500

There is a reason why US consumer revolving (credit card) credit growth is getting lower and lower and lower and at last check posted a mere 0.2% annual increase. That reason is that as the NY Fed disclosed moments ago, federal student loans officially crossed the $1 trillion level for the first time ever. Notably: the quarterly student loan balance has increased every quarter without fail for the past 10 years! And just to prove that while credit card balances are plunging due to more stringent bank repayment requirements, this is more than offset by borrowers shifting to student loans, where the delinquency rate on student loans is soaring and has just hit an all time high of 11.83%, an increase of almost 1% compared to last quarter. Even according to just the government lax definition of delinquency, a whopping $120 billion in student loans will be discharged. Thank you Uncle Sam for your epically lax lending standards in a world in which it is increasingly becoming probably that up to all of the loans will end up in deliquency.

Europe’s Health Cuts Leave Mentally Ill Struggling

Europe’s Health Cuts Leave Mentally Ill Struggling

Alfonso Rodriguez, a 30-year-old Spaniard struggling with mental-health problems for a decade, was able to live independently until last month. Following cutbacks in community support, his condition deteriorated and he was forced into an overcrowded, understaffed hospital ward with peeling paint and ancient furniture in his hometown of Alicante. He can’t even satisfy his desire for a cigarette. Read more of this post

Denmark Feeds World’s Biggest Home Debt Load as Caps Spurned

Denmark Feeds World’s Biggest Home Debt Load as Caps Spurned

Denmark’s government has no plans to curtail private lending and is instead working on measures to help the world’s most indebted households maintain access to cheap credit. While authorities in neighboring Norway and Sweden are probing ways to limit borrowing, Denmark says indebtedness is no threat because households can tap pensions and home equity if they get into trouble. Danes owe their creditors 310 percent of disposable incomes, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates. That’s almost double the level in Sweden, where the central bank has suggested imposing a 200 percent cap on debt to safeguard financial stability. Read more of this post

Corporate default risk models are broken

November 14, 2013 8:39 am

Corporate default risk models are broken

By Vivianne Rodrigues and Tracy Alloway in New York

Half a decade of loose monetary policy in the US has produced a curious reaction in the analytical frameworks that attempt to forecast the rate at which the country’s companies will default – the models have gone mild. Even as leverage and signs of credit deterioration build up in the system, most of the models used by investors to forecast the probability of companies not paying back their debt have yet to predict a rise in corporate defaults. Other models, analysts say, have been forecasting a spike in defaults that never materialises. Read more of this post

Captive reinsurance: Life in the shadows; American life-insurers are less robust than they seem

Captive reinsurance: Life in the shadows; American life-insurers are less robust than they seem

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

THE word reinsurance has a reassuring ring, conjuring up an image of layer upon layer of precaution. And that, roughly, is the intention of the product, allowing insurers to insure themselves. By assuming a share of the liabilities of many different insurance firms, reinsurance firms make it possible for mammoth claims following a storm or earthquake to be paid without bringing down the insurers that issued most of the policies in the affected area. A new form of reinsurance proliferating in America, however, does more or less the opposite. Read more of this post

Conglomerates Bounce Back; Borrowing clout gives large companies an edge in a financial crisis

Posted: November 14, 2013

Matt Palmquist is a freelance business journalist based in Oakland, Calif.

Conglomerates Bounce Back

Bottom Line: The Great Recession had a positive effect on the stock prices of conglomerates around the world, especially in regions with well-developed capital markets and strong investor safeguards. 

Conglomerates lost much of their luster decades ago. Indeed, skeptical investors often factor in a “conglomerate discount” by valuing diversified companies at less than the sum of their parts. But the Great Recession has restored some of their shine. Read more of this post

The Year of the Lego

November 11, 2013

The Year of the Lego

Posted by Ted Trautman

Earlier this year, Lego overtook Hasbro to become the world’s second-largest toymaker, after Mattel. It was more than just one company outperforming another—it was Lego’s one brand generating more revenue than Hasbro’s sixty-eight brands, which include G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Mr. Potato Head. While Hasbro and Mattel have grown by creating and acquiring a diverse array of toys, Lego has adopted the opposite strategy: focus on the one, iconic product, but get more kids to play with it. There is little room left for Lego to grow in the United States, where it already controls eighty-five per cent of the construction-toy sector, besting imitators like Mattel’s Mega Bloks and has-beens such as Lincoln Logs and Erector sets. Lego’s revenue of nearly two billion dollars in the first half of 2013—compared with $1.43 billion for Hasbro—was boosted in large part by its growth of seventy per cent in China. That country, where parents are increasingly seeking out educational toys, has become the world’s second-largest toy market. The Asia-Pacific region will likely overtake North America as the largest regional toy market sometime next year. Read more of this post

Bitcoins being used in the Shanghai property market

Bitcoins being used in the Shanghai property market

Staff Reporter

2013-11-14

Three buildings on a 700,000 square-meter plot of land in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China look just like any of the other buildings in the city. What makes them different, however, is that space in these buildings can be purchased using bitcoins, a digital currency that is circulated on the internet and functions without the intermediation of a central authority. Read more of this post

China owns 7% of the arable land in the world, but it uses 35% of the total amount of chemical fertilizer and pesticide used in the world

China using 35% of the world’s chemical fertilizer

Staff Reporter

2013-11-14

The excessive use of chemical fertilizer needs to be curtailed to improve China’s soil quality, said Mao Yushi, a Chinese economist, at a conference on ecology and agriculture held in Beijing on Nov. 9. “Our country has the highest concentration of chemical fertilizer use, which has a seriously damaging effect on the soil,” said Mao in a Beijing Times report. Statistics presented during the conference show that the number of patients with chronic diseases in China has been growing annually by 3 million. Some experts regard food safety problem to be the main cause. Read more of this post

China’s logistics companies leaking customer data; One express sheet could be sold for 0.3 to 0.5 yuan (US$0.06-$0.16). A box containing 1,000 sheets could get 300 to 500 yuan (US$50-$80)

China’s logistics companies leaking customer data

Staff Reporter

2013-11-14

Single’s Day, which fell on Nov. 11, was a major shopping holiday for China’s e-commerce marketplaces and consumers, marking a peak season for express deliveries. Before the day arrived, Shanghai-based YTO Express, a major logistics company, had to apologize to its clients for privacy breaches leading to leaked personal data general chaos, according to the Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald. Read more of this post

Swatch leaves luxury watchmakers in a quandary

Swatch leaves luxury watchmakers in a quandary

November 13, 2013: 8:18 AM ET

A court ruling in Switzerland is shaking up the centuries-old, multi-billion dollar watch industry.

By Lynnley Browning

FORTUNE — Inside a white chalet in the tiny village of Magglingen, tucked into the Jura mountains in the northwest corner of Switzerland, skilled artisans create luxury watches like the Dentelle et Diamants et Roses, an 18-carat gold confection with 101 pink and white diamonds that fetches up to $89,100. But the establisseurs, or assemblers, at Delance SA, one of dozens of tiny firms in this cradle of Swiss mechanical watchmaking, are not feeling Delance’s motto of “audacious, erotic, feminine, and powerful” these days. Read more of this post

Korea FSS reports financial CEOs’ pay; Average compensation for top 28 executives a cool $1.9 million a year

FSS reports financial CEOs’ pay

Average compensation for top 28 executives a cool $1.9 million a year

LEE EUN-JOO [angie@joongang.co.kr]

Nov 14,2013

While much attention has been given to exactly how much the heads of financial institutions are paid, a study by the country’s financial regulator shows that average annual compensation for the highest-paid 28 executives is 2.1 billion won ($1.96 million). According to the Financial Supervisory Service yesterday, chief executives at 65 financial institutions – financial holding companies, banks, investment companies and insurance companies – received an average of 850 million won in compensation last year, including regular bonuses, while financial group chiefs earned the most. Bank presidents received 1.8 billion won in compensation annually, while the heads of investment firms got 1.6 billion won and chiefs of insurance companies received 2 billion won. Read more of this post

Not so happy birthday: Abenomics ages, challenges remain

Not so happy birthday: Abenomics ages, challenges remain

9:15pm EST

By Stanley White and Tetsushi Kajimoto

TOKYO (Reuters) – A year after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took financial markets by storm with promises to revive the moribund Japanese economy, data showed growth slowed sharply and that his “Abenomics” policy mix is yet to secure a durable recovery. Growth in the world’s third-biggest economy decelerated in the third quarter after leading the Group of Seven industrial powers in the first half of the year, as capital spending, personal consumption and exports moderated. Read more of this post

To farmers, WCB dairy deal is not just about the money

To farmers, WCB dairy deal is not just about the money

PUBLISHED: 12 HOURS 38 MINUTES AGO | UPDATE: 5 HOURS 13 MINUTES AGO

Murray Goulburn’s sweetened $9-a-share bid for Warrnambool Cheese & Butter may be far higher than any other offer in the three-way fight for the Victorian dairy company. But in this remarkable $505 million takeover ­battle it is not just about the money. Many farmers who spoke to The Australian Financial Reviewsaid they would consider a lower bid – even from a foreign predator – if they believed it would better serve the state’s dairy industry. Read more of this post

Mahathir: Malaysia has potential in aircraft manufacturing

Updated: Thursday November 14, 2013 MYT 7:33:06 AM

Mahathir: Malaysia has potential in aircraft manufacturing

By LOSHANA K SHAGAR

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has the potential to expand into the aircraft manufacturing industry by producing the parts and components at a low cost, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. “Now that we have a national automotive industry, we can expand into aircraft; not by making our own but by producing parts, which we can do at a cheaper rate than Europe,” he said at the 4th Kuala Lumpur International Automotive Conference here yesterday. Read more of this post

Malaysia has highest level of English proficiency in Asia, overtaking Singapore who fell behind to 12th position

06 November 2013| last updated at 05:00PM

Malaysia has highest level of English proficiency in Asia

By A. Azim Idris

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia has the highest English language proficiency level in the entire Asian region, according to a latest research by Swiss-based international education company EF Education First (EF).

The nation also climbed two notches higher to 11^th place from 13th position last year in the EF English Proficiency Index which saw over 60 countries being surveyed. The results revealed that Malaysia, which was placed in the ‘High Proficiency’ category, had overtaken Singapore who fell behind to 12^th position in the world ranking. Malaysia scored 58.99 points in the survey while neighbouring Singapore received a 58.92 score. Read more of this post

How to copy a hedge fund billionaire’s investment plan

How to copy a hedge fund billionaire’s investment plan

By Tim Fernholz @timfernholz 7 hours ago

I realized the pop culture phenomenon that is the activist investor had taken a new turn when a friend showed me an iPhone app at a party. iBillionaire lets you track the investments of “billionaire investors” whose names you know (Carl Icahn, David Loeb, David Tepper and David Einhorn among them) and compare them to your own feeble portfolio. Read more of this post

China Billionaire Zhang Shiping Beats State Firms as Summit Encourages Markets

China Billionaire Beats State Firms as Summit Encourages Markets

China’s leaders sent a mixed message at a summit in Beijing this week: vowing to boost the role of markets while endorsing the state’s dominance of the economy. The tale of two aluminum companies shows why the nation needs to resolve that paradox. On a Martian landscape in China’s east, yellow bulldozers shovel truckloads of red dirt from a four-story-high mountain to be smelted into molten metal by China Hongqiao Group, the country’s largest private aluminum maker. Read more of this post

Korean Shipping Lines Face Cash Crunch After Expansion

Korean Shipping Lines Face Cash Crunch After Expansion

South Korea’s three biggest shipping companies face a cash crunch as 3 trillion won ($2.8 billion) of bonds are due for repayment in the next two years amid mounting losses from a global slump in rates to carry cargo. Hanjin Shipping Co. (117930), Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. (011200) and STX Pan Ocean Co. (028670) are all forecast to post losses in 2013 for a third consecutive year, further denting the combined 1.5 trillion won of cash and near cash items they had as of the end of June. The companies need to repay 1.4 trillion won of bonds next year and 1.6 trillion won the year after. Read more of this post

Will Shanghai Luxury Rides Rival U.S.? Car Makers Bet Buyers Want Same in China as in U.S.

Will Shanghai Luxury Rides Rival U.S.?

Car Makers Bet Buyers Want Same in China as in U.S.

JOSEPH B. WHITE

Nov. 13, 2013 12:05 a.m. ET

When it comes to luxury cars, consumers in Chicago have more in common with Shanghai than Stuttgart. That is the bet that Ford Motor Co. F +2.27% is placing with a new Lincoln luxury model. And many of its rivals in the premium car business are making the same call. Lincoln, best known for cushy, plus-size vehicles, is expected to unveil on Wednesday a new small sport-utility vehicle called the MKC. It will go on sale starting next year in largely identical versions for in the U.S. and China. It won’t be sold in Europe. Read more of this post

Crocs Considers Ways to Go Private; Crocs has struggled amid shifting fashion tastes and tried to expand into in high-heels and boots. Crocs

Crocs Considers Ways to Go Private

Sales, Stock Price Remain Soft at Maker of Colorful Plastic Clogs

Crocs has struggled amid shifting fashion tastes and tried to expand into in high-heels and boots.

DANA MATTIOLI And MIKE SPECTOR

Nov. 13, 2013 12:14 p.m. ET

Crocs Inc. CROX +9.76% is trying a leveraged buyout on for size. The footwear maker, famous for its colorful plastic clogs, is considering going private, said people familiar with the matter. The company’s board has invited a small group of private-equity firms to present their ideas for a buyout, according to one of the people. The talks may go nowhere, this person cautioned. Read more of this post

In Amazon and Walmart’s Battle for Dominance, Who Loses Out?

In Amazon and Walmart’s Battle for Dominance, Who Loses Out?

Nov 13, 2013 Strategic Management North America

In the retail realm, it’s a clash of the titans: Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, versus Amazon, the online giant that aspires to be “the everything store.” Both are slashing prices and increasing free, same-day and other enticing delivery-and-return services in pursuit of market domination. Amazon’s online savvy and forbearance of profit-taking are well known. Walmart, with its vast bricks-and-mortar network, is finally getting serious about e-commerce. Read more of this post

Gucci’s Owner Kering Sees Very Significant Profit Drop on La Redoute, Puma

Kering Sees Very Significant Profit Drop on La Redoute, Puma

Kering SA (KER), the owner of Gucci, said it expects net income this year to drop “very significantly” because of costs related to its planned sale of mail-order unit La Redoute and one-time charges related to its Puma brand. Any “solution” for La Redoute “will have a significant impact on the net result from discontinued operations,” the Paris-based company also said in a statement today after the close of trading. Puma, the sporting-goods brand in which Kering is controlling shareholder, last week said it would book one-time charges of about 130 million euros ($175 million) this quarter. Read more of this post

Everyone has a price: Retailers are starting to charge different people different prices. The more you shop, the less you pay

Everyone has a price

November 11, 2013

Michael Baker

Retailers are starting to charge different people different prices. The more you shop, the less you pay. Charging different customers a different price for the same product is not exactly a new idea. The airlines have been doing it for ages, so have the hotel chains. They are simply exploiting the fact that different kinds of people have a different level of willingness to pay. Read more of this post

Asean can tussle with emerging economic giants

Asean can tussle with emerging economic giants

Thursday, Nov 14, 2013

Anita Gabriel

The Straits Times

If asean comes together as a single economic bloc by 2015, it would become a serious contender for investor dollars, compared with emerging economic giants China and India, said a leading economist yesterday. Mr Leif Eskesen of HSBC noted that, as a single entity, the 10-nation ASEAN bloc is home to about 600 million people and ranks as the eighth-largest economy in the world with a combined gross domestic product of around US$2 trillion (S$2.5 trillion). Read more of this post

Japan Passes First of Reforms to Reshape Power Industry

Japan Passes First of Reforms to Reshape Power Industry

Japan’s lawmakers approved a first step to weakening the monopolies of regional power utilities by setting up an independent body to coordinate supply and demand across the nation’s electricity grids. Legislation passed today by the upper house calls for the creation of the body by 2015, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The step is a first move to reforming the power industry of the world’s third-largest economy after the March 2011 nuclear disaster. Read more of this post

Teva to Pay Israel $565 Million in ‘Trapped Profits’ Tax Accord; joins fertilizer maker Israel Chemicals in releasing profits accumulated since 2005 under a law designed to encourage investments

Teva to Pay Israel $565 Million in ‘Trapped Profits’ Tax Accord

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) agreed to pay Israel 2 billion shekels ($565 million) in taxes, joining fertilizer maker Israel Chemicals Ltd. in releasing profits accumulated since 2005 under a law designed to encourage investments. Teva, Israel’s largest publicly-traded company, said the amount would be paid within the framework of the amendment 69 to the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, according to a Business Wire statement. That includes another 336 million shekels paid in May, it said. In addition, Teva will pay about 840 million shekels for taxes during the years 2005 to 2011, it said. Read more of this post