A Brave New World for Bond Investors; After a three-decade bull market in bonds, investors like BlackRock’s Rick Rieder are using a variety of techniques to make money when rates start to rise

A Brave New World for Bond Investors

28 APR 2014 – JULIE SEGAL

It’s easy to get William Eigen III riled. Just ask him how fixed-income managers are rethinking their approach to investing now that a 30-plus-year bull market in bonds is not only coming to a close but will likely go down in economic history as a freak occurrence. Eigen, a longtime bond manager who is part owner of an auto service shop and restores American muscle cars like Camaros and Challengers, says most of his peers are stubbornly sticking with what’s worked for three decades. He believes that managers instead need to start using a mix of traditional and hedge fund techniques to make sure investors continue to get what they’ve always expected from fixed income: capital preservation, diversification and income. Read more of this post

The head of the stockbroking firm founded by Australia’s highest-profile insider trader – the late Rene Rivkin – has warned the current $7 million trading scandal is just the tip of the iceberg

Trading ‘tip of iceberg’

May 13, 2014

Patrick Durkin and Ben Butler

The head of the stockbroking firm founded by Australia’s highest-profile insider trader – the late Rene Rivkin – has warned the current $7 million trading scandal is just the tip of the iceberg. Read more of this post

Top banking jobs are turning into hot seats; Top banking jobs are turning into hot seats

May 12, 2014 5:03 pm

Top banking jobs are turning into hot seats

By Martin Arnold

High levels of litigation risk is making it hard to fill top posts

Pity the poor headhunters. Finding people to lead some of the world’s biggest banks is harder than most people think. Read more of this post

‘We do not need 80% of active management’

May 11, 2014 7:22 am

‘We do not need 80% of active management’

By Michael Johnson

Recently, robust, independent and damning evidence emerged that skewers any justification that active fund management of listed assets is worth the candle. For dispassionate observers, it has been long overdue, but the source was unexpected: the UK’s Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Read more of this post

Overvaluing the ‘Undervalued’ View of the Yuan; The Chinese currency has no real ‘equilibrium value,’ even if Treasury wishes it did

Overvaluing the ‘Undervalued’ View of the Yuan

The Chinese currency has no real ‘equilibrium value,’ even if Treasury wishes it did.

MARK A. DEWEAVER

May 11, 2014 5:38 p.m. ET

Since Jan. 1 the yuan has fallen 2.9% against the dollar, reversing the Chinese currency’s 2.9% appreciation in 2013. Such a dip would be a small fluctuation for a freely traded currency, but it’s a big drop in China. The yuan hasn’t fallen so much or for so long since July 2005, when Beijing introduced what it calls “a managed floating exchange rate based on market supply and demand with reference to a basket of currencies.” Read more of this post

Chinese tycoon Liu Han testified in court that he owed a chunk of his fortune to deal-making with government officials more than a decade ago, shedding light on a corruption probe that has roiled the highest echelons of power in China.

Tycoon Liu Han Testifies on Past State-Brokered Deals in Sichuan Province

Transcript Offers Rare Look at How Investments Were Allegedly Structured

JAMES T. AREDDY

May 8, 2014 12:24 p.m. ET

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What’s in a Name? The Art of Addressing Chinese Officials

May 12, 2014

What’s in a Name? The Art of Addressing Chinese Officials

By Yiyi Lu

Long gone are the good old days when everyone simply called one another “comrade,” and no other titles were necessary. Read more of this post

Why Banks at Wal-Mart Are Among America’s Top Fee Collectors; Branches Woo Customers Other Banks Spurned; Racking Up Overdrafts

Why Banks at Wal-Mart Are Among America’s Top Fee Collectors

Branches Woo Customers Other Banks Spurned; Racking Up Overdrafts

MARK MAREMONT and TOM MCGINTY

May 11, 2014 10:38 p.m. ET

Banks that operate inside Wal-Marts reap among the highest fees from customers of any banks in the nation, according to a WSJ analysis. Mark Maremont reports. Photo: Getty.

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There Are More Billionaires In Moscow Than In New York, But London Has The Most

There Are More Billionaires In Moscow Than In New York, But London Has The Most

Tyler Durden on 05/11/2014 16:41 -0400

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As China e-commerce basks in Alibaba IPO glow, aging warehouses lure investors

As China e-commerce basks in Alibaba IPO glow, aging warehouses lure investors

Sun, May 11 2014

By Stephen Aldred and Clare Jim

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s plans for a giant initial public offering in New York highlight vast potential for e-commerce in China – and the weak link the logistics industry must fix if explosive growth projections are to be reached. Read more of this post

Life in China: Embrace the Mystery; Former New Yorker China Correspondent Evan Osnos Reflects on His Years There

Life in China: Embrace the Mystery

Former New Yorker China Correspondent Evan Osnos Reflects on His Years There

TE-PING CHEN

May 8, 2014 1:57 a.m. ET

Former China correspondent Evan Osnos is sure of one thing: The degree of confidence a person has about forecasting the future of the Middle Kingdom usually varies in inverse proportion to the amount of time spent there. Read more of this post

Trouble at the Top: Chinese officialdom is in turmoil

Trouble at the Top: Chinese officialdom is in turmoil.

Abram N. Shulsky and Gary Schmitt

May 19, 2014, Vol. 19, No. 34

In little over a year, close to 60 Chinese officials have died of unnatural causes, with most being suicides. The strong suspicion is that this epidemic of mysterious deaths among China’s elite is likely tied to the anticorruption campaign being led by Chinese president and party general secretary Xi Jinping. Read more of this post

China should straighten out its wealth managers, says central bank

China should straighten out its wealth managers, says central bank

Sat, May 10 2014

BEIJING (Reuters) – China should reorganize its wealth management industry as it is unduly raising funding costs and encouraging savers to behave like gamblers by chasing after lucrative short-term returns, a deputy governor of China’s central bank said on Saturday. Read more of this post

As China e-commerce basks in Alibaba IPO glow, ageing warehouses lure global investors

As China e-commerce basks in Alibaba IPO glow, ageing warehouses lure global investors

Sun, May 11 2014

By Stephen Aldred and Clare Jim

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s plans for a giant initial public offering in New York highlight vast potential for e-commerce in China – and the weak link the logistics industry must fix if explosive growth projections are to be reached. Read more of this post

Macau Casino Companies Decline on Card-Swipe Crackdown

Macau Casino Companies Decline on Card-Swipe Crackdown

By Vinicy Chan – May 8, 2014

Wynn Macau Ltd. (1928) fell the most in more than two years in Hong Kong trading, leading declines among operators of China’s only legal casinos, amid concern that a crackdown on illegal money transfers will pare demand. Read more of this post

China audits State Grid as corruption crackdown seen widening

China audits State Grid as corruption crackdown seen widening

Fri, May 9 2014

By Benjamin Kang Lim and Megha Rajagopalan

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is auditing the State Grid Corp of China, the utility said in the wake of a magazine report that one of the most senior executives in the world’s largest utility was under investigation. Read more of this post

Five-Star Hotels, Flashy Clothes: China’s Cadres Confess Their Sins

May 12, 2014

Five-Star Hotels, Flashy Clothes: China’s Cadres Confess Their Sins

When President Xi Jinping toured a poverty-stricken county in central China’s Henan province last week, locals were eager to impress him not only with their handmade local noodles, but also by their willingness to offer Mao-era self-criticisms. Read more of this post

Rule of law key issue at meeting of Communist Party leaders

Rule of law key issue at meeting of Communist Party leaders

Monday, 12 May, 2014, 3:50am

Central Committee plenum also likely to be held earlier than usual as Xi Jinping rallies party elite behind graft inquiry into ex-security chief Read more of this post

Gloom deepens for China property developers

Gloom deepens for China property developers

May 9, 2014 11:44amby James Kynge

The torrent of bad news for Chinese property developers shows no sign of letting up.

Unsold floor space continued to surge in April. Two small developers are reported to be slipping into financial distress. The total net profits of 117 domestically-listed developers posted a 27 per cent decline in the first quarter to Rmb9.65bn. The bearishness of investment bank analysts, meanwhile, is plumbing new depths. Read more of this post

Can Stand-Up Comedy Succeed in China? Some of the country’s top comics are experimenting with a new brand of edgy, boundary-testing humor

Can Stand-Up Comedy Succeed in China?

Some of the country’s top comics are experimenting with a new brand of edgy, boundary-testing humor.

ROBERT FOYLE HUNWICKMAY 6 2014, 4:01 PM ET

Comedian Mark Rowswell, a.k.a. Dashan, performs at a Chinese university. Joe Wong in his weekly CCTV comedy show, Is It True?  Read more of this post

China’s $50 Billion Asia Bank Snubs Japan, India

China’s $50 Billion Asia Bank Snubs Japan, India

By Bloomberg News – May 12, 2014

On the first evening of the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting in the capital of Kazakhstan this month, delegates from 16 countries skipped the scheduled Romeo and Juliet ballet for dinner at the Great Wall restaurant to talk about forming a totally different lender. Read more of this post

Unemployment ‘tidal wave’ feared in next two years in Australia

Unemployment ‘tidal wave’ feared in next two years

May 9, 2014

Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

Some analysts say the better-than-expected jobs data does not paint an accurate picture of the labour market. Photo: Louise Kennerley Read more of this post

Cheap buses lure travelers from rails, sky with new frills

Cheap buses lure travelers from rails, sky with new frills

Sun, May 11 2014

By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Forget the grimy terminals and uncomfortable buses of the past. Discount U.S. carriers are luring a new generation of riders from young tourists to business travelers with amenities such as free Internet and leather seats. Read more of this post

Xi Says China Must Adapt to ‘New Normal’ of Slower Growth

Xi Says China Must Adapt to ‘New Normal’ of Slower Growth

By Bloomberg News – May 11, 2014

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the nation needs to adapt to a “new normal” in the pace of economic growth and remain “cool-minded” amid a slowdown that analysts forecast will lead to the weakest expansion since 1990. Read more of this post

Maple, resting on laurels: Canada has not learned every crisis lesson

Maple, resting on laurels: Canada has not learned every crisis lesson

May 3rd 2014 | Ottawa | From the print edition

CANADA weathered the financial crisis well. No bank needed to be rescued: the World Economic Forum anointed Canada’s banking system the soundest in the world. Mark Carney was exported to the Bank of England in large part because of his work at the Bank of Canada. Stephen Harper, the prime minister, took to describing Jim Flaherty, who died on April 10th just weeks after leaving the cabinet, as “the best finance minister on the planet”.

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The Communist Party: The gatekeepers; A string of arrests sparks debate about the role of leaders’ all-powerful assistants

The Communist Party: The gatekeepers; A string of arrests sparks debate about the role of leaders’ all-powerful assistants

May 10th 2014 | BEIJING | From the print edition

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China’s provincial economies: Unhappy convergence; Poorer provinces are suffering most as the economy slows

Provincial economies: Unhappy convergence; Poorer provinces are suffering most as the economy slows

May 10th 2014 | HONG KONG | From the print edition

CHINA’S economy is slowing: GDP grew by 7.4% in the first three months of this year, compared with 7.7% in the final quarter of 2013. Just one of 31 provinces hit its growth target. The pain is being felt most keenly in the underdeveloped if resource-rich west and south-west of the country; Yunnan saw the biggest drop in growth of any province.

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Italian banks: Neither borrowers nor lenders; Weak banks are squeezing the life out of the Italian economy

Italian banks: Neither borrowers nor lenders;  Weak banks are squeezing the life out of the Italian economy

May 10th 2014 | MILAN | From the print edition

“I’M SCARED to ask the banks for help,” says Alessandro Amati, the boss of Axel Elettronica, an Italian electronics firm. “It doesn’t seem they want to help concretely, just words.” The complaint is a common one among Italian businesses about a banking system that, on paper at least, ought to be one of Europe’s soundest. Total bank assets in Italy stand at a relatively modest 2.6 times GDP, compared with 3.2 times in the whole of the euro area. Italian banks generally shunned the sorts of toxic financial instruments that brought down banks in America and Germany. And the country has not experienced a housing bust on a par with that in Ireland or Spain.

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