Avian flu nears Seoul for first time

Avian flu nears Seoul for first time

‘The virus is known to be not infectious within species [other than birds].’

Mar 15,2014

Avian influenza continues to pose a considerable threat to Korea.
The AI virus in the carcass of a wild goose found this week on Cheonggye Mountain in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, was confirmed yesterday to be a highly pathogenic strain, putting the capital city in its range for the first time. Read more of this post

Work Like a German: Germany emerged from recession with lower unemployment. We could learn from that

Work Like a German

By GLENN HUTCHINSMARCH 14, 2014

SOME of our workplace programs, like Unemployment Insurance and Disability Insurance, parts of which date from the 1930s, desperately need updating. The original designers did not envisage such large numbers of people unemployed for long periods of time or living on disability benefits. If we could convert these programs into ladders of upward mobility, they would disproportionately benefit the disadvantaged, as well as strengthen the economy. We need to focus on enabling workers to stay in work — rather than having to compensate them after they have lost their jobs. Read more of this post

At The Zee Group, Son Punit Has Taken the Baton From Subhash Chandra

At The Zee Group, Son Punit Has Taken the Baton From Subhash Chandra

by Deepak Ajwani | Mar 14, 2014

Following in Subhash Chandra’s enterprising footsteps will not be easy, but Punit Goenka seems to have learned enough from his father to lead Zee TV in the right direction Read more of this post

What Makes Marwaris Thrive in Finance; A strong head for numbers and an instinct for trading have helped the Marwaris thrive in the financial industry

What Makes Marwaris Thrive in Finance

by Cuckoo Paul | Mar 15, 2014

A strong head for numbers and an instinct for trading have helped the Marwaris thrive in the financial industry, says Vimal Bhandari

Vimal Bhandari, CEO and managing director of Indostar Capital Finance, a wholesale credit institution, has been a part of the Indian financial industry for over a quarter-century. Bhandari has headed the financial services business of IL&FS Ltd for close to 17 years; he was, later, country head of Dutch life insurance and pension company AEGON NV in India. Read more of this post

In Joko Widodo Candidacy, A ‘Historic Decision’

In Joko Widodo Candidacy, A ‘Historic Decision’

By Jakarta Globe on 10:45 am Mar 15, 2014

Jakarta. The country’s main opposition party has tagged Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo as its presidential candidate for the July 9 election, in a surprise announcement on Friday that brings an end to months of speculation over whether party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri would seek another stab at the presidency. Read more of this post

Tesla’s Elon Musk: State ban on direct sales of EVs to buyers is ‘twisted’

Tesla’s Elon Musk: State ban on direct sales of EVs is ‘twisted’

March 14, 2014: 6:06 PM ET

Facing New Jersey regulation that bars the company from selling electric cars directly to buyers, Tesla turns to showrooming and blog brawling.

By Kirsten Korosec

FORTUNE — Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk accused New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday of cutting a “backroom deal” with the state’s auto dealer lobby to push through a rule change that effectively bars the electric car company from selling vehicles directly to consumers. Read more of this post

Why Skepticism Pays; Here’s what ETF experts say investors should do to keep up with the explosion in new offerings

SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2014

Why Skepticism Pays

By BRENDAN CONWAY | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

Here’s what ETF experts say investors should do to keep up with the explosion in new offerings.

Innovation is terrific. It has brought us jazz, the moon landing, drug-coated stents, and the iPhone. It has also brought us more than 150 new exchange-traded products last year and nearly 50 so far this year. Read more of this post

How to Profit From the Next Wave of Corporate Spending; These four companies should shine as corporate spending shifts from repurchases to reinvestment

SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2014

How to Profit From the Next Wave of Corporate Spending

By JACK HOUGH | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

These four companies should shine as corporate spending shifts from repurchases to reinvestment.

Warren Buffett foreshadowed a new investment trend in his annual letter to investors, released at the start of this month. He boasted that Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries had capital expenditures of $11 billion last year, roughly double their depreciation charges. In other words, they’re upgrading plants and equipment twice as fast as they’re using them up. Meanwhile, Berkshire spent zero to buy back its shares, because the shares didn’t sink below Buffett’s cutoff of 120% of book value. Read more of this post

Jeremy Grantham: Learning to Live With a Stock Bubble

SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2014

Jeremy Grantham: Learning to Live With a Stock Bubble

By LAWRENCE C. STRAUSS | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

Famed strategist Jeremy Grantham views the market as 65% overvalued, but still sees some pockets of attractive investments.

For Jeremy Grantham, founder and strategist at GMO, a Boston-based money manager that oversees about $120 billion, it hasn’t been easy watching equity markets rack up huge gains. As of Dec. 31, GMO was forecasting an annual real return of minus 1.7% for large-cap U.S. stocks over the next seven years. Grantham and his colleagues don’t see much hope for bonds, either. Still, Grantham, 75, says the current stock boom has a much different feel than the tech bubble of 1999 and 2000. Back then, “there were clients who not only wanted to fire us, but who didn’t want to ever see us again,” he recalls. Read more of this post

Wanted in Indonesia – Technocrats

Wanted — Technocrats

By Karim Raslan on 06:20 pm Mar 12, 2014

On Jan. 31, Gita Wirjawan, who was Indonesia’s minister of trade, surprised everyone by resigning from his Cabinet post in order to concentrate on his nascent political career. Read more of this post

Japan’s Sumitomo Acquires 40% of Indonesia’s BTPN; The bank is known for serving retired civil servants, but has been expanding into Indonesia’s small businesses market

Japan’s Sumitomo Acquires 40% of BTPN

By Francezka Nangoy on 11:30 pm Mar 14, 2014

Jakarta. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, one of Japan’s largest banking groups, has concluded its 40 percent stake acquisition in Indonesia’s Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional. Read more of this post

Buffett faces challenge on dividend; Proposal to start Berkshire payouts on agenda at AGM

March 14, 2014 7:40 pm

Buffett faces challenge on Berkshire dividend

By Stephen Foley in New York

A mild mannered accountant from Cincinnati, Ohio, is taking on Warren Buffett in a showdown over whether the veteran investor’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, should finally start paying a dividend. Read more of this post

Dr Copper catches a dose of Chinese flu; Fears China copper inventory will flood market behind price falls

Last updated: March 14, 2014 7:52 pm

Dr Copper catches a dose of Chinese flu

By Neil Hume, Commodities Editor

Fears China copper inventory will flood market behind price falls

“Dr Copper” is poorly. And the prognosis isn’t clear. Read more of this post

The US Federal Reserve has unrealised losses of $53.2bn on its securities portfolio, laying bare the potential long-run price of quantitative easing

March 14, 2014 5:36 pm

US Federal Reserve’s unrealised losses rise to $53.2bn

By Robin Harding in Washington

The US Federal Reserve has unrealised losses of $53.2bn on its securities portfolio, laying bare the potential long-run price of quantitative easing. Read more of this post

Russian companies withdraw billions from west, say Moscow bankers

Last updated: March 14, 2014 7:57 pm

Russian companies withdraw billions from west, say Moscow bankers

By Patrick Jenkins and Daniel Schäfer in London and Courtney Weaver and Jack Farchy in Moscow

Russian companies are pulling billions out of western banks, fearful that any US sanctions over the Crimean crisis could lead to an asset freeze, according to bankers in Moscow. Read more of this post

New York ousts London as top financial centre amid concerns about Britain’s future in the EU, scandals in the City and a growing regulatory burden

Last updated: March 15, 2014 12:00 am

New York ousts London as top financial centre

By James Pickford, London and Southeast Correspondent

London has lost the top slot in a barometer of global financial centres amid concerns about Britain’s future in the EU, scandals in the City and a growing regulatory burden. Read more of this post

Haunted by the Bull That Got Away; The pain of missing out on the tripling of the U.S. stock market since March 2009 has become almost unbearable for many investors who have been watching from the sidelines

Mar 14, 2014

THE INTELLIGENT INVESTOR

Haunted by the Bull That Got Away

JASON ZWEIG

It might have been.

Those aren’t only the saddest words for lovers, as the poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, but also for investors. Read more of this post

Expert Was Needed to Disable Malaysia Airlines Jet Systems

Expert Was Needed to Disable Malaysia Airlines Jet Systems

Detailed Knowledge Would Be Required

JON OSTROWER

Updated March 14, 2014 11:42 p.m. ET

If multiple communication systems aboard Malaysia Airlines 3786.KU +2.13% Flight 370 were manually disabled, as investigators increasingly suspect happened, it would have required detailed knowledge of the long-range Boeing Co. BA +1.00% 777’s inner workings. Read more of this post

See family still holds court in Kian Joo Can

Updated: Saturday March 15, 2014 MYT 12:04:21 PM

See family still holds court in Kian Joo

BY M SHANMUGAM

HAVING a competing bid for their company is the kind the stuff shareholders dream of. In this respect, shareholders of Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd have nothing much to complain about. Read more of this post

Recent sharp gain in Olam shares fuels concerns over possible insider trading

Recent sharp gain in Olam shares fuels concerns over possible insider trading

Temasek Holdings’ buyout offer yesterday came after Olam’s share price had accelerated dramatically in recent weeks against the backdrop of a flat market, leading some investors to cry foul and call on regulators to investigate possible insider trading in violation of securities laws. Read more of this post

Prem Watsa’s 9 Observations Why There Is A “Monstrous Real Estate Bubble In China Which Could Burst Anytime”

Prem Watsa’s 9 Observations Why There Is A “Monstrous Real Estate Bubble In China Which Could Burst Anytime”

Tyler Durden on 03/09/2014 18:12 -0400

Excerpted from Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings investor letter,

There is a monstrous real estate and construction bubble in China, which could burst anytime. It almost did in 2011 but China increased its credit growth significantly since then. Read more of this post

Mind your wallet: why the underworld loves bitcoin

Mind your wallet: why the underworld loves bitcoin

1:51am EDT

By Jeremy Wagstaff

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Criminals may already have made off with up to $500 million worth of bitcoins since the virtual currency launched in 2009 – and you can double that if it turns out they emptied Mt. Gox. Read more of this post

Odey: US turnaround will spark EM recession

Odey: US turnaround will spark EM recession

by Danielle Levy on Mar 06, 2014 at 15:01

Renowned hedge fund manager Crispin Odey has warned that a US turnaround this year could spark a recession in emerging markets. Read more of this post

A tiny Hong Kong store measuring just 12 square metres (130 square feet) has sold for more than €16.5m, as prices reach astronomical levels in a city ranked the most expensive for retailers in the world

Tiny Hong Kong store sells for €16.5m record

Friday 14 March 2014 14.51

A tiny Hong Kong store measuring just 12 square metres (130 square feet) has sold for more than €16.5m, as prices reach astronomical levels in a city ranked the most expensive for retailers in the world. Read more of this post

Australian companies are focusing too much on efficiency and too little on growth: departing REA Group CEO Greg Ellis

Australian companies are focusing too much on efficiency and too little on growth: departing REA Group CEO Greg Ellis

Published 14 March 2014 12:17

Jake Mitchell

Outgoing REA Group chief executive Greg Ellis says Australian businesses are hurting the economy by spending too much of their capital on improving existing operations rather than investing in new growth opportunities. Read more of this post

It is the nature of governance that determines whether people deploy their talents and energy in pursuit of innovation, production, and job creation, or in rent seeking and lobbying for political protection

KEMAL DERVIŞ

Kemal Derviş, former Minister of Economic Affairs of Turkey and former Administrator for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is Vice President of the Brookings Institution.

MAR 13, 2014

Good Governance and Economic Performance

BERLIN – The debate about emerging countries’ growth prospects is now in full swing. Pessimists stress the feared reversal of private capital flows, owing to the US Federal Reserve’s tapering of its purchases of long-term assets, as well as the difficulties of so-called second- and third-generation structural reforms and the limits to “catch up” growth outside of manufacturing. Optimists argue that the potential for rapid growth remains immense, owing to better macroeconomic fundamentals and the promise of best-practice technology spreading throughout the emerging world. Read more of this post

How Steve Jobs Got the iPhone Into Japan

How Steve Jobs Got the iPhone Into Japan

By Mark Milian – Mar 12, 2014

The iPhone, it’s safe to say, is big in Japan. Toward the end of last year, three out of every four smartphones sold in Japan were iPhones, according to market researcher Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. Tim Cook said during Apple’s most recent earnings call that its phone sales in the country shot up 40 percent after it signed a deal with NTT Docomo. Read more of this post

Missing plane may cool Malaysia tourism, airline bookings

Missing plane may cool Malaysia tourism, airline bookings

4:04am EDT

By Brian Leonal and Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah

SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Loss-making Malaysian Airline System risks losing out on lucrative corporate business from travelers outside the country in the wake of the disappearance of a China-bound flight carrying 239 people, travel agents warned. Read more of this post