Cult of dividends a ‘dangerous obsession’

Cult of dividends a ‘dangerous obsession’

March 1, 2014

Vesna Poljak, Simon Evans

Australian companies are redirecting their cash towards dividend-hungry investors instead of stepping up investment to underpin future growth in a shift that has serious implications for the ability of the non-mining sector to shoulder a bigger burden. Read more of this post

India Parliamentary Elections Set to Start April 7; Contest Between Congress Party, BJP Seen as Most Significant in Decades

India Parliamentary Elections Set to Start April 7

Contest Between Congress Party, BJP Seen as Most Significant in Decades

NIHARIKA MANDHANA

March 5, 2014 8:52 a.m. ET

Narendra Modi, the standard-bearer of the BJP, is considered the front-runner to become India’s next prime minister. Associated Press

NEW DELHI—Indian officials said voting will begin next month in one of the most significant elections in decades—a contest between a weakened secular left and a resurgent right with Hindu nationalist roots. Read more of this post

Let’s bring back economic planning in Korea

2014-03-06 16:58

Let’s bring back economic planning

Lee Chang-sup
In the 1980s, Koreans regarded a 7 percent economic growth as a “recession.” Today, however, President Park Geun-hye struggles to achieve even a 4 percent growth. Read more of this post

How India’s Hotel Industry Is Beating The Downturn

How India’s Hotel Industry Is Beating The Downturn

by Prince Mathews Thomas | Mar 6, 2014

The economic slowdown has had little impact on growth in India’s hotel industry. Here’s how players will handle this dichotomy Read more of this post

By delivering improved eyesight at your doorstep, Lenskart.com’s Peyush Bansal believes he is well-placed to capitalise on the growing eyewear industry in India

Lenskart.com Has Set Sights on $10 Bn Market

by Shravan Bhat | Mar 6, 2014

By delivering improved eyesight at your doorstep, Lenskart.com‘s Peyush Bansal believes he is well-placed to capitalise on the growing eyewear industry in India

To test his latest offering Peyush Bansal likes to accompany his sales team on house calls. It was a Sunday house call in the western suburbs of Mumbai. They had gone to conduct an eye test and, hopefully, convince a middle-aged woman to buy a chic pair of glasses. Once successful, they asked her 20-something daughter if she’d like a free eye test; it turned out that the daughter, who had been riveted to a TV serial, had a power of -5, but didn’t have corrective lenses. Bansal persuaded her to buy spectacles too. “Maybe now she’ll know what her favourite actress actually looks like!” he says.   Read more of this post

Indian universities fail to make global top 100 cut

Indian universities fail to make global top 100 cut

LONDON, MAR 6:  

India’s struggle to break into the list of world’s top 100 universities continued as the higher education institutions from the country yet again failed to impress academics across the world. Read more of this post

In Military We Trust? Strongman Nostalgia Runs Strong Among Indonesian Voters

In Military We Trust? Strongman Nostalgia Runs Strong Among Indonesian Voters

By Jakarta Globe on 9:31 am March 6, 2014.
Jakarta. Indonesian voters still prefer a presidential or vice presidential candidate with a military background over a civilian, a recent poll concluded. Read more of this post

China Faces Test With Potential Corporate Bond Default; Government and Banks Have Stepped in to Avoid Past Failures; Investors and economists poised to cheer China bond default

China Faces Test With Potential Corporate Bond Default

Government and Banks Have Stepped in to Avoid Past Failures

LINGLING WEI

March 5, 2014 7:55 a.m. ET

BEIJING—The first potential default in China’s fast-growing corporate bond market offers a test of whether Beijing will allow a long-taboo practice as it seeks to rein in runaway credit: corporate failures. Read more of this post

IBM workers strike in China over terms of Lenovo takeover

March 6, 2014 3:24 am

IBM workers strike in China over terms of Lenovo takeover

By Tom Mitchell and Charles Clover in Beijing

More than 1,000 workers went on strike at an IBM factory in southern China to object to the terms of their transfer to Lenovo as part of its $2.3bn acquisition of the US technology group’s x86 server business. Read more of this post

Driving Through the Data Fog in Asia

Mar 5, 2014

Driving Through the Data Fog

Michael S. Arnold

Economic data are by nature imprecise: Witness how often the initial readings need to be revised, in some cases significantly. Read more of this post

China’s Cofco takes on global trading houses

March 5, 2014 1:33 pm

China’s Cofco takes on global trading houses

By Lucy Hornby in Beijing and Gregory Meyer in New York

Two years ago China’s state-owned grains trader announced a $10bn war chest for foreign mergers and acquisitions. It has now shown the will to act. Read more of this post

Asia’s currency rollercoaster creates winners and losers

March 6, 2014 4:10 am

Asia’s currency rollercoaster creates winners and losers

By Josh Noble in Hong Kong

Central bank policies in the US and Japan have buffeted Asian currencies in the past 12 months, sending the Indian rupee down 15 per cent, the yen lower by 10 per cent, and wiping a fifth off the value of the rupiah. But they have also created some unlikely winners and losers across the region, from Mickey Mouse to pickled cabbage. Read more of this post

Uniqlo’s Parent Presses to Become World’s Top Retailer; Fast Retailing CEO Says It Can Take Over as No. 1 Without Acquisitions

Uniqlo’s Parent Presses to Become World’s Top Retailer

Fast Retailing CEO Says It Can Take Over as No. 1 Without Acquisitions

KATHY CHU, KEN BROWN and MAYUMI NEGISHI

Updated March 5, 2014 11:18 a.m. ET

Tadashi Yanai, chief executive of Fast Retailing Co., poses before hitting a gong during listing ceremony at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Associated Press

Fast Retailing Co. 9983.TO +1.83% , already Asia’s top apparel retailer by revenue, is striving to become the world’s largest in six years, with plans to open as many as 100 stores a year in Greater China and on Wednesday lifting its profile by listing depositary shares in Hong Kong. Read more of this post

India wedding provides clues to wage puzzle

India wedding provides clues to wage puzzle

Mar 5, 2014 7:41pm by James Kynge

By Saurabh Mukherjea, CEO, Institutional Equities, Ambit Capital.

Why has wage inflation, especially at the bottom of the labour pyramid, kept surging ahead even as India has suffered its sharpest economic downturn in the last 15 years? This puzzle has flummoxed most Indian economists. Read more of this post

Unesco May Protect Myanmar Sites

March 6, 2014, 7:04 AM

Unesco May Protect Myanmar Sites

By Shibani Mahtani

Nat Ma Taung national park in Myanmar’s remote east is one of several priority sits up for protection from the United Nations scientific and cultural arm. Read more of this post

India’s dodo dynasties fear extinction at the polls

March 6, 2014 6:01 am

India’s dodo dynasties fear extinction at the polls

By Victor Mallet in New Delhi

Has dynastic politics had its day in the world’s biggest democracy?

That is the tempting conclusion to be drawn from the fact that India’s two most prominent politicians today come from ordinary families with no notable historical involvement in politics or government. Read more of this post

Value in emerging markets is eroding fast; Crisis creates opportunities, but they are becoming tough to identify

March 5, 2014 11:47 am

Value in emerging markets is eroding fast

By John Authers

Crisis creates opportunities, but they are becoming tough to identify

Emerging markets have been through the mill: a sharp sell-off in January that prompted emergency rate rises, followed by a bounce, and now, a renewed bout of geopolitical tension centred on Crimea. Read more of this post

The man responsible for the Church of England’s £6bn endowment has defended plans to increase its investment in hedge funds, arguing that not all of the industry has “devil’s horns”

March 5, 2014 6:50 pm

Blessed be the short sellers, says church

By Miles Johnson and Claer Barrett

The man responsible for the Church of England’s £6bn endowment has defended plans to increase its investment in hedge funds, arguing that not all of the industry has “devil’s horns”.

Andreas Whittam Smith, First Church Estates Commissioner, told the Financial Times that the Church’s own ethical watchdog sanctioned short selling, providing it was done in a responsible way. Read more of this post

Should America Build a Strategic Shoe Reserve? Military Explores Requirement That Sneakers Be U.S.-Made; New Balance of Power

Should America Build a Strategic Shoe Reserve?

Military Explores Requirement That Sneakers Be U.S.-Made; New Balance of Power

JAMES R. HAGERTY and BEN KESLING

March 5, 2014 6:58 p.m. ET

The U.S. military trusts American manufacturers to make missiles, fighter jets and nuclear submarines. But what about safe sneakers? That’s been a harder sell. Ben Kesling has the report on the News Hub. Photo: Rob Hart for The Wall Street Journal. Read more of this post

Rolls-Royce has dramatically cut the number of middlemen it uses to clinch international contracts even as it focuses on growing its global sales, the engine maker revealed in its annual report

March 5, 2014 7:39 pm

Rolls-Royce cuts out middlemen in aftermath of bribery claims

By Carola Hoyos

Rolls-Royce has dramatically cut the number of middlemen it uses to clinch international contracts even as it focuses on growing its global sales, the engine maker revealed in its annual report. Read more of this post

Investors are being pushed further up the risk scale into illiquid assets in search of higher returns, even though interest rates look likely to rise within the next year

March 5, 2014 10:36 am

Illiquid funds offer top returns but high risks

By Emma Dunkley and Adam Palin

Investors are being pushed further up the risk scale into illiquid assets in search of higher returns, even though interest rates look likely to rise within the next year. Read more of this post

Michael Milken: How Housing Policy Hurts the Middle Class; Many buyers decided that the largest-possible house was a better idea than a retirement fund or a child’s education.

Michael Milken: How Housing Policy Hurts the Middle Class

Many buyers decided that the largest-possible house was a better idea than a retirement fund or a child’s education.

MICHAEL MILKEN

March 5, 2014 6:39 p.m. ET

The American dream traditionally meant that anyone could get ahead based on ability and hard work. But over the past few decades, the United States government created incentives through housing programs and the tax code that changed the dream for many Americans. Middle-class families began to think of homes as investments, not just shelter. When the housing market crashed, everyone suffered—homeowners, investors, wage-earners and taxpayers. Read more of this post

The Bank of England became embroiled in the escalating foreign exchange scandal after it suspended a member of staff and launched a new investigation into allegations that its officials condoned or were aware of market manipulation

Last updated: March 5, 2014 9:34 pm

Bank of England suspends employee amid forex probe

By Delphine Strauss, Daniel Schäfer, Sam Fleming, George Parker

The Bank of England became embroiled in the escalating foreign exchange scandal after it suspended a member of staff and launched a new investigation into allegations that its officials condoned or were aware of market manipulation. Read more of this post

At China’s NPC, Proposed Changes Include Bank Deposit Insurance; Policies in Premier Li’s Annual Report Would Inject More Risk Into Financial System

At China’s NPC, Proposed Changes Include Bank Deposit Insurance

Policies in Premier Li’s Annual Report Would Inject More Risk Into Financial System

BOB DAVIS

Updated March 5, 2014 11:12 a.m. ET

BEIJING—China’s leaders promised policies that would inject more risk into a financial system grown used to bailouts and other government support as Beijing sought to push ahead an overhaul agenda without hurting the economy. Read more of this post

Buddhist Monks Join Protests in Thailand

Buddhist Monks Join Protests in Thailand

JAMES HOOKWAY And WILAWAN WATCHARASAKWET

March 5, 2014 7:12 p.m. ET

Thai Buddhist monk and antigovernment protest leader Luang Pu Buddha Issara at a rally in Bangkok on Tuesday. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

BANGKOK— Luang Pu Buddha Issara doesn’t fit the usual picture of a Buddhist monk. Read more of this post

Stockbrokers Fail to Disclose Red Flags; WSJ Analysis Shows More Than 1,600 Stockbrokers Have Bankruptcies or Criminal Charges in Their Past That Weren’t Reported

Stockbrokers Fail to Disclose Red Flags

WSJ Analysis Shows More Than 1,600 Stockbrokers Have Bankruptcies or Criminal Charges in Their Past That Weren’t Reported

JEAN EAGLESHAM and ROB BARRY

March 5, 2014 10:34 p.m. ET

In less than two years, stockbroker Marcos D. Leiva racked up a personal bankruptcy, a tax lien, a court judgment for unpaid debt and a criminal guilty plea relating to a false report to law enforcement. Read more of this post

‘Start-up Nation’ 2.0: Israeli Firms Mature as Solo Acts

‘Start-up Nation’ 2.0: Israeli Firms Mature as Solo Acts

Feb 27, 2014

Israel’s high-tech sector has been said to rival California’s Silicon Valley in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation. Entrepreneurs from Israel set up between 600 and 700 new tech companies every year in a country with a total population of less than eight million. But in the two decades since the Israeli high-tech sector came into its own, it has never produced a company anywhere approaching the size and scale of American heavy hitters such as Google, Apple or Facebook. Indeed, since the tech bubble burst in 2000 — and with it, the market for initial public offerings (IPOs) — few Israeli companies have opted to remain independent. Read more of this post

Online sleuthing by Mt. Gox dispossessed throws up few clues

Online sleuthing by Mt. Gox dispossessed throws up few clues

4:02pm EST

By Jeremy Wagstaff

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Some of those who have lost bitcoins in the collapse of Mt. Gox have turned to internet sleuthing to find out where their money has gone – but they’re unlikely to have much luck. Read more of this post