Chipotle set out to challenge fast food trends and be better than the competition–in the end, they launched a new industry. Here’s how they rose to the top of the fast-food chain

HOW CHIPOTLE CHANGED AMERICAN FAST FOOD FOREVER

CHIPOTLE SET OUT TO CHALLENGE FAST FOOD TRENDS AND BE BETTER THAN THE COMPETITION–IN THE END, THEY LAUNCHED A NEW INDUSTRY. HERE’S HOW THEY ROSE TO THE TOP OF THE FAST-FOOD CHAIN.

BY DENISE LEE YOHN

In 1991, Steve Ells couldn’t afford to eat regularly at the legendary Stars restaurant where he was working as a $12-an-hour line cook. Instead, he was more frequently found gorging himself on giant burritos at a taquería in San Francisco’s Mission District called Zona Rosa. It was there, over a carnitas burrito, that Ells had the insight that would change his life–and American fast food–forever. Read more of this post

Hedge Funds’ Big Bet on Fannie and Freddie May End Up Worthless

Hedge Funds’ Big Bet on Fannie and Freddie May End Up Worthless

By Jody Shenn March 13, 2014

Almost six years after bad home loans crippled the economy, Perry Capital and other big hedge funds are battling the government over the future of mortgage companies Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC), which needed taxpayer bailouts to survive. If the investors prevail in the courts or in Congress, they could enjoy one of the biggest paydays in history. And Todd Westhus, who spearheaded Perry Capital’s purchase of Fannie and Freddie preferred shares when they were trading for pennies in 2010, could join the ranks of hedge fund legends George Soros and John Paulson. The bet on the once-battered stocks is “the biggest distressed trade in history,” says David Ford, co-founder of hedge fund Latigo Partners, which owns shares in Fannie and Freddie. Read more of this post

Li Ka-shing steps back from ports business

March 14, 2014 6:46 am

Li Ka-shing steps back from ports business

By Paul J Davies in Hong Kong

Two of Hong Kong’s biggest tycoons have taken diverging approaches in adjusting their portfolios, as Cheng Yu Tung’s sprawling New World Development group said it would reacquire its Chinese arm while Li Ka-shing took a step away from his ports business. Read more of this post

Europe’s coco bonds risk turning into coco pops

March 13, 2014 6:00 am

Europe’s coco bonds risk turning into coco pops

By Ralph Atkins

Danger of safety valves turning into poor deal for investors

Beware financial innovation – this was an important lesson of the global financial crisis. Regulators and investors have become wise to “financial market engineering” – the dreaming up by bankers of new ways of apparently spreading risks. Read more of this post

Former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri has ended months of speculation by selecting the country’s most popular politician, Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, as her party’s candidate for July’s transformative presidential election

March 14, 2014 9:06 am

Widodo to contest Indonesian presidency

By Ben Bland in Jakarta

Former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri has ended months of speculation by selecting the country’s most popular politician, Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, as her party’s candidate for July’s transformative presidential election. Read more of this post

Samsung to Investors: In Turmoil, We’ll Keep the Money, co-CEO Kwon said the company needed to keep its powder dry to invest more in R&D, as well as marketing, as new tech trends emerge

Mar 14, 2014

Samsung to Investors: In Turmoil, We’ll Keep the Money

JONATHAN CHENG

Samsung Electronics005930.SE -1.16% co-CEO Kwon Oh-hyun wants to return more of the company’s $50 billion cash pile to investors.

But he says he can’t. Read more of this post

The Wrong Way to Liberalize China’s Rates; More market distortions will come if Beijing doesn’t first tackle other problems

The Wrong Way to Liberalize China’s Rates

More market distortions will come if Beijing doesn’t first tackle other problems.

YUKON HUANG

March 13, 2014 12:14 p.m. ET

Recent statements from Beijing make clear that leaders intend to push forward with financial-market reform by liberalizing interest rates and allowing easier cross-border capital flows as China internationalizes its currency. Many observers are cheering because this is exactly what foreigners and not a few local economists have urged Beijing to do for years now. But it isn’t clear that these policies are right for China at this time, and the wrong reform steps now could further distort financial markets that are already badly distorted. Read more of this post

Oil Stays Thick in China Downturn

Oil Stays Thick in China Downturn

ABHEEK BHATTACHARYABy

March 14, 2014 1:57 a.m. ET

As China’s slowdown becomes clearer, the ground is shaking beneath commodities bulls’ feet. Yet there is one corner of the commodities markets that can relax somewhat easier—oil. Read more of this post

Latest Bitcoin Craze? Actual Bank Vaults; Startup Xapo Raises $20 Million to Store Digital Currency Underground

Latest Bitcoin Craze? Actual Bank Vaults

Startup Xapo Raises $20 Million to Store Digital Currency Underground

EVELYN M. RUSLI

Updated March 13, 2014 4:01 p.m. ET

Bitcoin was supposed to be a frictionless digital currency that required no banks or intermediaries. Read more of this post

China Suspends Two Forms of Smartphone Payments; Central Bank Halts Use of QR Codes and Virtual Credit Cards

China Suspends Two Forms of Smartphone Payments

Central Bank Halts Use of QR Codes and Virtual Credit Cards

PAUL MOZUR

Updated March 14, 2014 1:27 a.m. ET

BEIJING—China’s central bank is temporarily suspending the use of two forms of smartphone payments in a setback for China’s two largest Internet companies as they try to gain a larger share of the online finance market. Read more of this post

Chinese Authorities Halt Virtual Credit Card Payments; Tencent, Yahoo Crashing

Chinese Authorities Halt Virtual Credit Card Payments; Tencent, Yahoo Crashing

Tyler Durden on 03/13/2014 23:11 -0400

The PBOC issued a statement today, according to 21st Century Business Herald, that halts virtual credit card products and “face-to-face” payment services such as QR code payment: Read more of this post

China’s central bank halts Tencent, Alibaba mobile payment process

China’s central bank halts Tencent, Alibaba mobile payment process

1:16am EDT

By Hongmei Zhao and Heng Xie

HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s central bank demanded on Friday that payments made by scanning a bar code with mobile devices be halted, hitting the payment arms of Internet companies Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding, amid concerns over the security of their verification procedures. Read more of this post

Panasonic to pay China expats extra for smog

Panasonic to pay China expats extra for smog

Friday, March 14, 2014 – 10:42

AFP

TOKYO – Japanese electronics giant Panasonic said Thursday it would give employees sent to China a wage premium to account for the country’s hazardous air pollution, in a possible first for an international company. Read more of this post

SBY Shares His Thoughts on Upcoming Elections

SBY Shares His Thoughts on Upcoming Elections

By Shoeb K. Zainuddin on 08:45 am Mar 12, 2014

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, second from left, accompanied by Vice President Boediono, second from right, and a press conference regarding the replacement of Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, left, with Muhammad Luthfi, right, in Jakarta on February 12, 2014. (Rugapres Photo/Abror Rizki) Read more of this post

In Public Housing in Indonesia, the Rot of Corruption

In Public Housing, the Rot of Corruption

By Jakarta Globe on 10:10 pm Mar 12, 2014

The Public Housing Ministry has come under the public glare as officials in East Nusa Tenggara investigate the possible embezzlement of funds allocated for the construction of houses for low-income residents in nine districts there. Read more of this post

Fitch Warns of ‘Bubble-Like Symptoms’ for Indonesia

Fitch Warns of ‘Bubble-Like Symptoms’ for Indonesia

By Vanesha Manuturi on 08:53 pm Mar 13, 2014

Jakarta. Fitch Ratings warned investors to remain cautious on Indonesia’s growth this year on the back of “bubble-like symptoms.” Read more of this post

Singapore to regulate virtual currencies; The move will make the city-state only the second country in the world to bring in such rules, following the United States

Singapore to regulate virtual currencies

Thursday, Mar 13, 2014

Reuters

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s central bank said on Thursday it plans to regulate virtual currencies to address potential money laundering or terrorism finance risks they might pose. Read more of this post

Haze hits ‘hazardous’ levels in Port Klang

Haze hits ‘hazardous’ levels in Port Klang

KUALA LUMPUR — The haze has breached hazardous levels in Malaysia with Port Klang and Banting at 6am this morning (March 14), with Air Pollutant Index (API) readings rising to 350 and 318, respectively. Read more of this post

Which European Countries Will Suffer The Most If Russia Turns Off The Gas

Which European Countries Will Suffer The Most If Russia Turns Off The Gas

Tyler Durden on 03/13/2014 16:32 -0400

With the Sunday Crimean referendum seemingly unstoppable now, its outcome certain, it is set to unleash a chain of events that is not entirely predictable but is at best, ominous, as it will involve the launch of trade, economic and financial sanctions against Russia (despiteChina’s stern disapproval), which will lead to a “symmetric” response in kind by Moscow. And in a worst case escalation scenario, should game theory completely collapse and everyone starts defecting from a cooperative equilibrium state, the first thing to go will be European gas exports from Russia, anywhere from one day to indefinitely. So which European countries are most exposed to the whims of Gazprom? Thefollowing map from the WSJ, shows just how reliant on Russian gas exports most European countries are. Read more of this post

Revenue Accounting Could Hit Loans, Bonuses; The prevalence of estimates in the new revenue recognition standard could cause sudden spikes or drastic dives in reported revenue and earnings

March 13, 2014

CFO.com | US

Revenue Accounting Could Hit Loans, Bonuses

The prevalence of estimates in the new revenue recognition standard could cause sudden spikes or drastic dives in reported revenue and earnings. Read more of this post

The Implementation of Industrial Parks: Some Lessons Learned in India

The Implementation of Industrial Parks: Some Lessons Learned in India

Yannick Saleman 

World Bank – Competitive Industries Global Practice

Luke Jordan 

World Bank – Competitive Industries Global Practice
March 1, 2014
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6799

Abstract: 
Industrial parks are as popular as they are controversial, in India and globally. At their best they align infrastructure provision and agglomeration economies to jolt industrial growth. More often, they generate negative spill-overs, provide handouts, sit empty, or simply do not get built. This paper disaggregates how parks are built and how they fail. Read more of this post

Global shippers must tighten belt, China’s Cosco chairman says

Updated: Thursday March 13, 2014 MYT 5:03:04 PM

Global shippers must tighten belt, China’s Cosco chairman says

BEIJING: Global shipping firms must prepare for another tough year as the glut in global capacity will continue to weigh on profits and margins, the chairman of China’s biggest shipping group, China Ocean Shipping Group Co (Cosco) said. Read more of this post

China’s premier warned that future defaults on bonds and other financial products were “unavoidable”

Last updated: March 13, 2014 2:04 pm

Fresh corporate default tests China’s resolve

By Lucy Hornby and Jamil Anderlini in Beijing

China’s premier warned on Thursday that future defaults on bonds and other financial products were “unavoidable” as the failure of a steel mill in the north of the country to pay off loans risks triggering a cascade of bad debt. Read more of this post

Why is it so expensive to build a bridge in America? The answer: Our greedy and undemocratic political culture

Why is it so expensive to build a bridge in America?

The answer: Our greedy and undemocratic political culture

By Ryan Cooper | March 10, 2014

It’s become commonplace to note that U.S. infrastructure costs are very high. What is less appreciated is the staggering scale of the difference between American infrastructure costs and those of other nations. Like our health care, U.S. infrastructure isn’t just a tad higher than the next most expensive country — we pay something like twice as much as our closest peer (usually the U.K., which is itself a very expensive place). And when you compare America to, say, Spain, we’re talking order-of-magnitude differences. Read more of this post

How Finance Gutted Manufacturing

How Finance Gutted Manufacturing

Since the 1980s, financial market pressures have driven companies to hive off activities that sustained manufacturing

Monday, March 10, 2014

In May 2013 shareholders voted to break up the Timken Company—a $5 billion Ohio manufacturer of tapered bearings, power transmissions, gears, and specialty steel—into two separate businesses. Their goal was to raise stock prices. The company, which makes complex and difficult products that cannot be easily outsourced, employs 20,000 people in the United States, China, and Romania. Ward “Tim” Timken, Jr., the Timken chairman whose family founded the business more than a hundred years ago, and James Griffith, Timken’s CEO, opposed the move. Read more of this post

As Stock Picking Comes Back In, ETF Use Goes Out

Mar 13, 2014

As Stock Picking Comes Back In, ETF Use Goes Out

DAN STRUMPF

Here’s the latest evidence that stock picking is back: Investors are buying and selling fewer exchange-traded funds.

As big macroeconomic headlines recede, ETFs are falling out of favor. ETF volumes have dipped this year to about 16.5% of total equity volumes, down from 16.7% in 2013, according to analysts at Credit SuisseCSGN.VX -1.59% Trading Strategy. The data suggest that investors are increasingly favoring trades in individual stocks. Read more of this post

Celltrion plunges on delayed sales recognition

Celltrion plunges on delayed sales recognition

2014.03.12 16:58:48

Shares of Celltrion plunged Wednesday after its announce of poor earnings.
The company’s stock price declined 8.30 percent to close at 43,100 won, led by foreign investors.
The biosimilar maker said its 2013 operating profit reached 99.8 billion won ($93.26 million), down 48.9 percent from a year ago. Sales fell 35.4 percent to 226.2 billion won and net profit sank 41.3 percent to 102.5 billion won.  Read more of this post

Looming IKEA’s entry into S. Korea reshapes furniture market

Looming IKEA’s entry into S. Korea reshapes furniture market

2014.03.13 17:47:47

Global furniture behemoth IKEA will be entering South Korea eight months later. IKEA is preparing to make foray into the Korean market by offering up to 50 percent lower prices based on flat-pack, do-it-yourself (DIY) furniture, a set of separated pieces of furniture for easier mobility, and independent production and distribution network.  Read more of this post

Chaebol fear ISS proposals ahead of yearly AGMs; ISS is releasing reports opposing reappointments of many of their directors

Chaebol fear ISS proposals ahead of yearly AGMs

Morgan Stanley unit wields influence over foreign investors

BY KIM HYUN-YE [ssh@joongang.co.kr]

Mar 14,2014

Tension is growing at local companies ahead of their shareholders’ meetings as the U.S.-based International Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) is releasing reports opposing reappointments of many of their directors.  Read more of this post