Modi’s silence on foot soldiers who act in his name is disturbing

Modi’s silence on foot soldiers who act in his name is disturbing

Sagarika Ghose
March 11, 2014

First Published: 23:40 IST(11/3/2014)
Last Updated: 12:25 IST(12/3/2014)

General elections! Yet rendered somewhat joyless by the creeping authoritarianism which seems to have taken hold across the political spectrum. Students who cheered Pakistan at a cricket match were charged with sedition. Journalists have been threatened with physical attack on social media for expressing contrarian political views. On the day polls were announced political parties engaged in street battles. A politician visiting the state that prides itself on stable governance had his car windows broken. Read more of this post

Why an extra $26 a month may decide fate of Abenomics

March 12, 2014 6:28 am

Why an extra $26 a month may decide fate of Abenomics

By Jonathan Soble in Tokyo

Will they or won’t they? Observers of Japan’s economy have been asking that soap-opera-fan question for months. Will Japanese companies, basking in record profits thanks to a weak yen, pass the wealth on to their employees by increasing their pay? Read more of this post

Indonesian middle class spending offsets falling commodity prices

March 12, 2014 5:23 am

Indonesian middle class spending offsets falling commodity prices

By Ben Bland in Balikpapan

Balikpapan on the island of Kalimantan should by rights be feeling the chill winds of China’s economic slowdown. As Indonesia’s coal capital it has – like other major commodity producing nations from Australia to Brazil – seen prices of key exports tumble over the last couple of years. Read more of this post

Here’s how China can extend its soft power; The country should train thousands of teachers to turn Mandarin into a world language

March 12, 2014 3:13 pm

Here’s how China can extend its soft power

By Michael Skapinker

The country should train thousands of teachers to turn Mandarin into a world language Read more of this post

Many active managers cannot justify fees; Study finds ‘closet indexing’ is rife in US active funds

March 12, 2014 10:39 am

Many active managers cannot justify fees

By John Authers

Study finds ‘closet indexing’ is rife in US active funds

How active is your fund manager, and what chance do they really have of beating the market? Read more of this post

The care conundrum – how to pay for your old age

March 7, 2014 6:36 pm

The care conundrum – how to pay for your old age

By Norma Cohen, Demography Correspondent

Longer lives are perhaps the greatest achievement of the past 50 years. Lives that, on average, see men and women carried more than two decades past what has long been the benchmark age of retirement have opened up new avenues for pleasure and personal fulfilment that were once unimaginable. Read more of this post

MSCI hopes to include Chinese A-shares in its flagship emerging markets index as early as next year, the latest sign of the increasing openness of mainland markets to global investors

March 12, 2014 11:58 am

MSCI eyes listing of China A-shares next year

By Josh Noble in Hong Kong

MSCI hopes to include Chinese A-shares in its flagship emerging markets index as early as next year, the latest sign of the increasing openness of mainland markets to global investors. Read more of this post

Mark Weinberger, head of Ernst & Young, faces challenges including an SEC judge’s decision to suspend China-based arms of EY and its peers from auditing U.S.-traded companies

Accounting CEO Looks Beyond China Roadblock

RACHEL FEINTZEIG and MICHAEL RAPOPORT

Updated March 12, 2014 12:32 a.m. ET

Mark Weinberger, CEO of EY, on officially starting the top job a year and a half after he was announced.

The global umbrella organization for Ernst & Young has a fresh name—EY—a fresh chief executive and fresh controversies to deal with. Read more of this post

China Slowdown Is Rocking Raw Materials

China Slowdown Is Rocking Raw Materials

TATYANA SHUMSKY , SHEN HONG and RHIANNON HOYLE

March 11, 2014 7:20 p.m. ET

The economic slowdown in China is hammering prices of some raw materials, driving down industrial commodities from copper to iron ore and coal. Read more of this post

New Zealand Tribe’s Bet Transforms Its Fortunes: Rather than distribute a big settlement with the New Zealand government among its people, the Ngāi Tahu invested the money in everything from real estate and stocks to tourist attractions.

New Zealand Tribe’s Bet Transforms Its Fortunes

The Ngāi Tahu See Their Investments Pay Off

LUCY CRAYMER

March 11, 2014 7:45 p.m. ET

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand—For generations, the Ngāi Tahu of New Zealand resembled many other indigenous peoples around the world: impoverished, virtually landless and experiencing a steady erosion of its language and culture. Read more of this post

“Magic” Collateral: A Frank Look At The Sheer Credit Horror About To Be Unleashed In China

“Magic” Collateral: A Frank Look At The Sheer Credit Horror About To Be Unleashed In China

Tyler Durden on 03/11/2014 12:54 -0400

While the world is terrified about what China – where corporate bond defaults are now permitted – may be about to unleash on the world, most are all too happy to remain in a state of delightful ignorance. We decided to take a peek behind the scenes. Read more of this post

Shining Group (鄉林集團) will open its first hotel under its luxury Lalu (涵碧樓) brand in China in June, the opening salvo in an ambitious plan to build 30 Lalu hotels in China over the next 10 years

America’s Most Overvalued Companies Are…

America’s Most Overvalued Companies Are…

Tyler Durden on 03/10/2014 19:45 -0400

Over the weekend we reported that even Goldman has now highlighted what has been clear to most, but certainly not the Fed, for quite some time: stocks are in such an epic bubble, with many of the key valuation metrics notably EV/sales, off the charts and at all time highs, that even Goldman’s own clients are asking “When does the party end?” Never one, however, to tell clients to sell and hold to cash (just think of the lost flow trading commissions, not to mention the potential prop trading losses from frontrunning said flow), Goldman Sachs was kind enough to point out that while buying into undervalued stocks at this record high market junction may be a safe bet, the alternative, going long the most overvalued stocks usually ends in tears. Read more of this post

Could London suffer a Tokyo-style house price crash?

Could London suffer a Tokyo-style house price crash?

One fund manager bets that central London house prices will keep rising at ‘a trend rate of 9pc per year’ – but why would they?

By Richard Dyson

10:25AM GMT 09 Mar 2014

A new investment fund aims to capture, for private investors, the apparently inexorable rise in price of London’s “prime” properties. “Prime” refers to the stucco-fronted streets clustered around Hyde Park, in the world famous and (for now) ultra-desirable districts of Knightsbridge, Mayfair, South Kensington and Belgravia. Read more of this post

A New Weapon in Corporate Patent Wars; Patent Trial and Appeal Board Can Upend PTO Decisions, but Some Say It Goes Too Far

A New Weapon in Corporate Patent Wars

Patent Trial and Appeal Board Can Upend PTO Decisions, but Some Say It Goes Too Far

ASHBY JONES

March 10, 2014 7:25 p.m. ET

Companies have found a controversial new weapon in their battle against intellectual property lawsuits.

Liberty Mutual recently turned to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to invalidate patents held by Progressive Casualty, some of which Progressive says relate to the idea behind its Snapshot product. Progressive Read more of this post

Dangers Lurk in China’s Must-Do Bank Reforms

Dangers Lurk in China’s Must-Do Bank Reforms

ALEX FRANGOSBy 

March 11, 2014 7:16 a.m. ET

China is pushing through with reforms to its financial system. Whether it survives them unscathed is another matter.

Central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan said Tuesday that China expects to fully liberalize state-directed deposit interest rates in “one or two years.” He said deposit insurance for the banking system, seen as a prerequisite for letting interest rates float, and promised for ages, would come within a year. Read more of this post

Chinese Bets on Rusty Mounds of Ore

Chinese Bets on Rusty Mounds of Ore

ABHEEK BHATTACHARYA

March 11, 2014 10:24 a.m. ET

Trust China to complicate even the straightforward trade in iron ore. The sharp 8% fall in prices this week may have something to do with how the world’s second-biggest economy is suddenly using the metal as an alternative means of financing. Read more of this post

Korea-born fashion brands are making a foray into overseas markets in search of a breakthrough amid the sluggish domestic fashion market

2014-03-10 19:09

Fashion brands look overseas

By Park Ji-won
Korea-born fashion brands are making a foray into overseas markets in search of a breakthrough amid the sluggish domestic fashion market. Read more of this post

Defaulting in China is like. well, I dunno, but it must be embarrassing

Defaulting in China is like… well, I dunno, but it must be embarrassing

David Keohane | Mar 11 09:13 | 1 comment | Share

I mean take Chaori 11 again, China’s first onshore bond default.

Far from being China’s Bear Stearns it might simply be a sign that China has arched its eyebrow at the solar industry (and other private, vulnerable industries that lack political clout) and decided to stroll away… with its arm still draped around the shoulder of privileged enterprise. Read more of this post

A NYT Op-Ed On How Terrible London Is Has Prompted A Major Backlash

A NYT Op-Ed On How Terrible London Is Has Prompted A Major Backlash

MAMTA BADKAR MARKETS  MAR. 11, 2014, 2:27 AM

Last Friday, Ben Judah wrote  a scathing indictment of London as a town now thriving on “Russian oligarchs and Qatari princes,” and that Britain’s youth are now “oligarchs’ valets.” Read more of this post

The decision by Jardines to jettison premium listings for its group companies in London is, on the face of it, a snub to regulators anxious to restore the City’s reputation for corporate governance

March 10, 2014 7:47 pm

Jardines sidesteps, others will not follow

By Sam Fleming and Jennifer Hughes

The decision by Jardines to jettison premium listings for its group companies in London is, on the face of it, a snub to regulators anxious to restore the City’s reputation for corporate governance. Read more of this post

Explosive growth pushes Alibaba online fund up global rankings; Number of investors in Yu’e Bao exceeds total in China equities

March 10, 2014 12:40 pm

Explosive growth pushes Alibaba online fund up global rankings

By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing

A Chinese internet money market fund that launched just nine months ago has more investors than the country’s equity markets in a sign of how quickly Beijing’s reforms are reshaping the financial services industry. Read more of this post

A year from now, the Audit Commission will be abolished. With it will go an important principle of public life: the genuinely independent appointment of auditors to local authorities, and to a range of other public bodies

March 10, 2014 6:10 pm

Killing off the Audit Commission is bad for the taxpayer

By Nicholas Timmins

Sometimes it is better to reshape an agency than to light the gunpowder, says Nicholas Timmins Read more of this post

Private equity: Apollo’s charge to the top; A deep understanding of debt has helped the firm become the industry’s most powerful player

March 10, 2014 6:58 pm

Private equity: Apollo’s charge to the top

By Henny Sender

A deep understanding of debt has helped the firm become the industry’s most powerful player

Late last year Apollo Global Management sold its last chunk of LyondellBasell, the chemical company that many had given up for dead years earlier. With that final sale, Apollo’s profits from its buyout of the company reached $10bn, sealing what was probably the greatest private equity deal of all time. Read more of this post

Hyundai Motor: Cruising or Skidding? Hyundai Motor is representative of the flaws of the nation’s family-controlled companies: a hierarchical structure over-dependent on charismatic personal leadership

March 11, 2014, 12:00 PM

Hyundai Motor: Cruising or Skidding?

By In-Soo Nam

For some Korea watchers, Hyundai Motor is representative of the flaws of the nation’s family-controlled companies: a hierarchical structure over-dependent on charismatic personal leadership. Read more of this post

Global furniture giant IKEA is finally coming to South Korea

March 11, 2014, 2:00 PM

IKEA Hits South Korea, Finally

JAEYEON WOO

Global furniture giant IKEA is finally coming to South Korea.

On Wednesday, the Swedish company will open a showroom, “Hej HOME!,” which will run until the end of this month in a posh neighborhood in southern Seoul as part of its preparation for the opening of its first store in Korea later this year. Read more of this post

Pollution: Causing Lung Cancer in China?

Mar 10, 2014

Pollution: Causing Lung Cancer in China?

Can air pollution cause lung cancer?

That’s the question many in China are asking as they snap up face masks to avoid breathing hazardous particles in the country’s often pewter-colored, polluted skies. Read more of this post

U.S. public pensions need more than investment windfall

U.S. public pensions need more than investment windfall

1:05am EDT

By Tim Reid and Lisa Lambert

(Reuters) – Double-digit annual returns for most U.S. public pension systems over the past two years have done little to shrink the yawning deficits facing many of them after a decade of inadequate funding, according to analysts and recent data. Read more of this post