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

Greenberg: Buffett Tells Investors to Get Real About EBITDA

Greenberg: Buffett Tells Investors to Get Real About EBITDA

By: Herb Greenberg | 03/02/14 – 12:47 PM EST

SAN DIEGO (TheStreet) — The best part about Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) CEO Warren Buffett’s annual investor letters is that they always provide some kind of reality check. Read more of this post

Chinese “1%” Threaten Lawsuit Against Canada For Shutting Visa-For-Cash Scheme

Chinese “1%” Threaten Lawsuit Against Canada For Shutting Visa-For-Cash Scheme

Tyler Durden on 03/05/2014 12:34 -0500

When Canadian authorities scrapped their ‘investor visa’ scheme a month ago, we warned that the nation was removing a critical pillar of support for its real-estate bubble market. However, with an estimated 45,000 Chinese millionaires still in the queue, the wealthy hoping to get their cash out of China are not happy. As The South China Morning Post reports, a group of wealthy mainlanders has criticized the Canadian government for scrapping its investor visa scheme and are threatening legal action if the decision is not overturned – arguing “we had set aside a lot of money to meet the investment requirements and over the years passed up on many opportunities… A refund of our application fees will not make up for all the preparation put in.” Read more of this post

Japan to regulate Bitcoin trades, impose taxes

March 5, 2014 2:00 am JST

Japan to regulate Bitcoin trades, impose taxes

TOKYO — The Japanese government will set rules for trading bitcoins, defining the virtual tender not as a currency but as a commodity akin to gold. Read more of this post

Morningstar: Our Ultimate Stock-Pickers’ Top 10 Buys and Sells

Our Ultimate Stock-Pickers’ Top 10 Buys and Sells

By The Morningstar Ultimate Stock-Pickers Team | 03-04-14 | 06:00 AM | Email Article

By Greggory Warren, CFA | Senior Stock Analyst

After posting a steady gain of more than 10% during the fourth quarter, the S&P 500 TR Index (which finished up the year up just over 31%) has been slightly more volatile since the start of 2014. Concerns about growth and currency stability in emerging and developing markets led the index to decline more than 3% in January, only to rebound more than 4% in February, allowing the S&P 500 to close out the month at another record high. Given the near-term uncertainty created by the situation in the Ukraine, as well as the gradual realization that the Fed is serious about further reducing what has been a major stimulus for higher stock prices in the past few years as it pulls back on its bond-buying program as the U.S. economy improves, we expect to see more volatility as the year progresses. Read more of this post

Buffett’s Berkshire Beatdown

Buffett’s Berkshire Beatdown

Posted MAR 4 2014 by WESLEY R. GRAY, PH.D. in TURNKEY BRAINWAVE, UNCATEGORIZED

Wesley R. Gray, PhD, has been sharing knowledge via his blogs since 2007. Dr. Gray and his team have created over a thousand posts and have thousands of readers from all around the globe. We continue to pursue our mission to democratize quant and help you unlock alpha. Wes is currently the Executive Managing Member of Empiritrage.  Read more of this post