The Absolute-Return Rip-Off

The Absolute-Return Rip-Off

By Larry Swedroe

January 30, 2014

How bad are absolute-return funds? Larry Swedroe counts the ways.

Investors would love to be able to achieve positive returns in both bull and bear markets, and that’s the “promise”—or at least the premise—of absolute-return funds. Read more of this post

What an incredibly popular Lunar New Year’s gift – the Three Squirrels – tells us about China’s economy

What an incredibly popular Lunar New Year’s gift tells us about China’s economy

By Heather Timmons and Jennifer Chiu January 31, 2014

What an incredibly popular Lunar New Year’s gift – the Three Squirrels – tells us about China’s economy

This year’s top Lunar New Year gift pack on China’s massive e-commerce website Tmall is a “Three Squirrels” brand nut assortment, which has racked up more than 150,000 sales.  A boxed set of seven packs of pecans and hazelnuts, decorated with a cartoon squirrel riding a horse, it weighs nearly 1,700 grams, or almost four pounds. Read more of this post

Asia may not be able to fund its infrastructure needs without deeper credit culture: S&P

Asia may not be able to fund its infrastructure needs without deeper credit culture: S&P

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Thu, January 30 2014, 4:06 PM

Asian governments in high-growth countries may face difficulties in maintaining growth and funding for all their infrastructure needs, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) said in its recently published report titled “Why Global Investors Aren’t Making Inroads Into Infrastructure Funding In Asia.” Read more of this post

China’s internet vigilantes and the ‘human flesh search engine’; a Chinese official in charge of internet surveillance gave notice that mobs of web users who turn on individuals and make their lives a misery will not be tolerated

28 January 2014 Last updated at 20:07

China’s internet vigilantes and the ‘human flesh search engine’

By Celia HattonBBC News, Beijing

Last month a Chinese official in charge of internet surveillance gave notice that mobs of web users who turn on individuals and make their lives a misery will not be tolerated. In China it happens often and on a massive scale, earning the phenomenon the title of the “human flesh search engine”. Read more of this post

Have EM outflows only just begun?

Have EM outflows only just begun?

Izabella Kaminska

| Jan 31 10:01 | 9 comments | Share

SocGen’s cross-asset research team believes that when it comes to EM outflows they may have only just begun:

As the team notes on Friday, this is especially so given the Fed doesn’t appear to care about the EM sell-off: Read more of this post

Myer merger offer more about fear of future than great opportunity; The $3bn plan rejected by David Jones says much about the state of the department stores, though all may not yet be lost

Myer merger offer more about fear of future than great opportunity

The $3bn plan rejected by David Jones says much about the state of the department stores, though all may not yet be lost

Martin Farrer

theguardian.com, Friday 31 January 2014 08.08 GMT

One Citigroup analyst said Myer’s plan is basically a defensive move and doesn’t offer shareholders a big enough upside. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

If there was ever a sign that the glory days of Myer and David Jones were over, then it came with Thursday night’s merger story. Read more of this post

Retailers Ask: Where Did Teenagers Go? Mainstays in the industry like American Eagle which has dominated teenage closets for years, has been among those hit hard

Retailers Ask: Where Did Teenagers Go?

By ELIZABETH A. HARRISJAN. 31, 2014

Mainstays in the industry like American Eagle which has dominated teenage closets for years, has been among those hit hard. Bryan Thomas for The New York Times

Luring young shoppers into traditional teenage clothing stores has become a tough sell.

When 19-year-old Tsarina Merrin thinks of a typical shopper at some of the national chains, she doesn’t think of herself, her friends or even contemporaries. Read more of this post

Motif, an investment site, tries to help small investors buy collections of stock based on long-term themes or trends

When Buying Stock in Gluttony Is a Good Investment

JAN. 31, 2014

Clay Enos used the website Motif to make several themed investments

By PAUL SULLIVAN

ARTHUR LEVITT JR., the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, acknowledged that he found “The Seven Deadly Sins” irresistible — so much so that he plunked down $5,000 as an initial investment and has since put in more.

Read more of this post

Thais Clash While the Factories Keep Humming

Thais Clash While the Factories Keep Humming

By Bruce Einhorn January 30, 2014

It’s hard to tell which is the real Thailand: Is it the country whose politics are so divisive and violent that an army coup is possible? Or the country that hosts one of the biggest smoothly functioning carmaking hubs in the world? Thailand is both things—and that’s why the foreign and local business community greeted the latest chapter in its long political drama with a shrug. Upset about Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s proposed amnesty bill to allow her billionaire brother, former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, to return from exile in Dubai and avoid prison for a corruption conviction, the anti-Thaksin Yellow Shirts took to the streets in August. Investors have grown accustomed to the contest between the Yellow Shirts and pro-Thaksin Red Shirts, so even as Yingluck’s opponents vowed to bring down her government, the markets stayed calm. Read more of this post

A closer look at a Goldman Sachs deal many in Denmark find rotten

January 31, 2014 2:42 pm

A closer look at a Goldman Sachs deal many in Denmark find rotten

By Richard Milne, Nordic Correspondent

Goldman Sachs has faced plenty of unsavoury claims in recent years – from accusations about its role in the global financial crisis to suggestions it helped the Greek government massage its figures. Now it can be said to have nearly brought down theDanish government. Read more of this post

Slump in real hits value of 3i’s investments in Brazil; The real has fallen in value from R$1.78 to the US dollar in December 2011 to about R$2.42 today

January 30, 2014 12:27 pm

Slump in real hits value of 3i’s investments in Brazil

By Jonathan Wheatley and Emily Cadman

A slump in the Brazilian real has contributed to a more than 20 per cent fall in the value of assets acquired there over the past 25 months by 3i Group, the London-listedprivate equity group, prompting it to abandon plans for a substantial investment fund in the country. Read more of this post

January losses prompt rethink for US equity investors

January 31, 2014 8:11 am

January losses prompt rethink for US equity investors

By Michael Mackenzie in New York

Was the stock market dip just a blip or the start of a correction?

Keep calm and carry on. That’s the message from Wall Street as a rough month for equities draws to a close.

Bears must be wary of drawing too many conclusions from just one month. In spite of the current bone-chilling temperatures and swirling flurries, spring beckons, say the eternal market optimists. Read more of this post

Shell’s capitulation to activist investors will send shivers through Big Oil

Shell’s capitulation to activist investors will send shivers through Big Oil

January 31, 2014 12:58 pmby Nick Butler

The package of announcements from Shell will send a shiver through the oil and gas industry. After years of resisting investor pressure for more immediate gratification, the company which more than any other regards itself as a social institution dedicated to the long term, has blinked. Capex is to be radically reduced. Costs are to be cut with a sharp knife. $15bn of assets are to be sold – enough in themselves to form a medium sized company. And the dividend is to be increased. There is a touch of theatricality in combining a profits warning with a dividend increase but the show satisfied the immediate audience. The shares rose. For the rest of the sector, Shell’s ability to deliver in this way poses a dangerous challenge. Read more of this post

Economic danger lurks in China’s shadow banks; The rescue puts off the immediate threat but raises the stakes

January 31, 2014 5:28 pm

Economic danger lurks in China’s shadow banks

By Simon Rabinovitch

The rescue puts off the immediate threat but raises the stakes, writes Simon Rabinovitch

Of all the economic dangers to flare up over the past week, the most unsettling was at first glance also the most esoteric: thenear default of a high-yield loan product held by a few hundred small-time Chinese investors. Read more of this post

Economic danger lurks in China’s shadow banks

January 31, 2014 5:28 pm

Economic danger lurks in China’s shadow banks

By Simon Rabinovitch

The rescue puts off the immediate threat but raises the stakes, writes Simon Rabinovitch

Of all the economic dangers to flare up over the past week, the most unsettling was at first glance also the most esoteric: thenear default of a high-yield loan product held by a few hundred small-time Chinese investors. Read more of this post

High-priced M&A still in vogue in slowing luxury industry

High-priced M&A still in vogue in slowing luxury industry

7:32am EST

By Astrid Wendlandt

PARIS (Reuters) – A scarcity of sellers, combined with a growing number of cash-rich buyers from Asia and the Middle East, mean high-priced takeover deals are set to remain in fashion for the luxury goods industry, despite slowing sales growth. Read more of this post

Physical commodity assets ‘inconsistent’ with Blackstone model: executive

Physical commodity assets ‘inconsistent’ with Blackstone model: executive

8:54am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Blackstone Group’s (BX.N: Quote,Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) asset-light model may not fit with the potentially risky, capital-intensive business of trading physical commodities, a top executive said on Thursday, in comments that seemed to jar with its interest in the industry. Read more of this post

Two S’pore start-ups head Down Under for listing

Two S’pore start-ups head Down Under for listing

Saturday, Feb 01, 2014

Grace Chng

The Straits Times

SINGAPORE- Two Singapore start-ups have decided to head Down Under to mount public listings there.

Group discount start-up Dealguru Holdings, set up in 2010, merged with two other leading regional e-commerce start-ups to form iBuy, which was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) last month. Read more of this post

Circuit breakers won’t help small investors

Circuit breakers won’t help small investors

Friday, Jan 31, 2014

The Straits Times

SINGAPORE – The Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) new “circuit breakers” come 25 years too late, do not cover shares priced below 50 cents, and delay trading by only five minutes – it is 15 minutes on the New York Stock Exchange (“SGX circuit breakers to kick in next month”; last Thursday). Read more of this post

For companies, a rocky road ahead in emerging markets

For companies, a rocky road ahead in emerging markets

2:04pm EST

By James B. Kelleher and Martinne Geller

CHICAGO/LONDON (Reuters) – International companies are taking steps to mitigate the effects of the turmoil in emerging markets, including hedging foreign currency exposure more aggressively, reducing some investment plans, cutting costs, and raising prices frequently. Read more of this post

European chemicals: A German chemicals giant swaps its scientist boss for a restructuring expert

European chemicals: A German chemicals giant swaps its scientist boss for a restructuring expert

Feb 1st 2014 | BERLIN | From the print edition

IT IS always bitter for a chief executive to see his company’s shares spike when his departure is announced. But that is what happened when Lanxess, a German chemicals producer, said this week that Axel Heitmann would be leaving. He has run the business since it was spun off from Bayer, a pharmaceuticals and chemicals group, in 2004. Its shares did well in the early years, and recovered strongly after the financial crisis, but they have slid in the past year. Lanxess says the decision for Mr Heitmann to go was mutual. Read more of this post

Turkish conglomerates: Too big to fail, but in a good way; Two huge family firms, Koc and Sabanci, should weather Turkey’s crisis

Turkish conglomerates: Too big to fail, but in a good way; Two huge family firms, Koc and Sabanci, should weather Turkey’s crisis

Feb 1st 2014 | ISTANBUL | From the print edition

KOC HOLDING and Sabanci Holding, Turkey’s two oldest and largest business dynasties, are now in their third generation, having survived various political and economic storms down the years. Their interests stretch from banking and retailing to producing electricity, cars and fridges. They and their listed subsidiaries together make up more than a quarter of the market capitalisation of the Istanbul stockmarket. Many of their offshoots are joint ventures with global firms. Standard & Poor’s, a credit-rating agency, gives Koc a higher rating than Turkey itself. Read more of this post

Venezuela and Argentina: The party is over; Latin America’s weakest economies are reaching breaking-point

Venezuela and Argentina: The party is over; Latin America’s weakest economies are reaching breaking-point

Feb 1st 2014 | BUENOS AIRES AND CARACAS | From the print edition

WHEN the euro crisis was at its height it became commonplace for struggling European economies to insist that they were not outliers like Greece. Whatever their woes, they declared, Greece’s were in a class of their own. In Latin America, by contrast, the unwanted title of outlier has two contenders: Argentina and Venezuela. Read more of this post

Ryanair teams up with a virtual unknown in the price-comparison market

Flight comparison websites

Comparative advantage

Jan 30th 2014, 15:04 by M.R.

IF YOU frequently shop for flights online, you will almost certainly be familiar with flight comparison websites like Skyscanner and Kayak. These so-called metasearch engines invite you to key in your desired travel itinerary, before pulling data from other websites—mostly airlines, travel agents and rival search engines—and aggregating the results into a list of available airfares. Read more of this post

Thailand’s political crisis: Both sides in the stand-off must back down, or risk their country’s disintegration

Thailand’s political crisis: Both sides in the stand-off must back down, or risk their country’s disintegration

Feb 1st 2014 | From the print edition

FOR more than three months Bangkok has been the scene of confrontation, as huge protests have shut down the government district and other parts of the capital. A snap general election is due on February 2nd, but the opposition (which would lose) refuses to contest it. The protests’ tub-thumping leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, calls for a temporary suspension of constitutional government so that an unelected “people’s council” can “save” democracy. Protesters have blocked Thais from taking part in early voting at polling stations. Several people, from both sides, have been killed, and the risk of grave violence is rising. The capital and surrounding districts are under a state of emergency. Read more of this post

Shock now clearly trumps transparency in central bank policymaking

Shock now clearly trumps transparency in central bank policymaking

By Sumanta Dey

JANUARY 29, 2014

The days of guided monetary policy, telegraphed by central banks and priced in by markets in advance, are probably coming to an end if recent decisions around the world are any guide. Read more of this post

As Overseas Costs Rise, More U.S. Companies Are ‘Reshoring’

As Overseas Costs Rise, More U.S. Companies Are ‘Reshoring’

by JACKIE NORTHAM

January 27, 2014 9:52 AM

For decades, American companies have been sending their manufacturing work overseas. Extremely low wages in places like China, Vietnam and the Philippines reduced costs and translated into cheaper prices for consumers wanting flat-screen TVs, dishwashers and a range of gadgets. Read more of this post

The future of the $100 billion parking industry

The future of the $100 billion parking industry

BY AASHISH DALAL 
ON JANUARY 30, 2014

The 2014 Consumer Electronics Show featured the auto-industry like no other CES before it. From self-driving vehicles to digital interiors, the promise of a “connected car” is surely getting closer. Largely missing from the announcements, however, was how parking is being improved for drivers. Innovative parking models have been written about for years, but those models have never fully materialized. Read more of this post

Myer offer for David Jones has let the genie out of the bottle

Myer offer for David Jones has let the genie out of the bottle

January 31, 2014 – 1:25PM

Malcolm Maiden

Myer wanted to avoid putting its department store competitor David Jones into a classic takeover ‘‘bear hug’’ when it approached DJs with a merger proposal at the end of October last year. Read more of this post