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Making High-Speed Trains Work in the U.S. High-speed rail could work in the U.S., but planners need to follow some simple rules

Making High-Speed Trains Work in the U.S.

High-speed rail could work in the U.S., but planners need to follow some simple rules

TOM ZOELLNER

Jan. 31, 2014 9:40 p.m. ET

High-speed trains have always been a tough sell in the U.S. The technology is as old as Sputnik, but Congress and the states chose to keep the focus on interstate highways in the late 20th century. American critics still complain that bullet trains are too expensive, too underutilized and potentially unsafe. Read more of this post

‘Frontier Markets’ Rope In Investors; Off-the-Beaten-Path Arenas Attract Fund Managers Hoping to Ride Their Years of Rapid Growth

‘Frontier Markets’ Rope In Investors

Off-the-Beaten-Path Arenas Attract Fund Managers Hoping to Ride Their Years of Rapid Growth

DAN KEELER

Updated Jan. 31, 2014 8:35 p.m. ET

Some investors are finding refuge from the recent emerging-markets turbulence in an unexpected place: even less-developed economies.

These “frontier markets” are luring money managers who are willing to delve into smaller markets with more difficult trading conditions in order to gain exposure to robust economic growth.

Because they are off the beaten path, frontier markets haven’t been swept up in the selloff that has pummeled emerging markets. Countries such as Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh didn’t see much of the cash that poured into emerging markets after the financial crisis, when low-interest-rate policies in richer economies sent investors in search of better returns in the developing world.

Instead, frontier markets have seen a steady trickle of investment from fund managers hoping to ride years of rapid growth. As a result, these economies have come through relatively unscathed even as investors pull out of larger emerging markets such as Turkey and South Africa.

The MSCI Frontier Market Index is up 1.3% so far this year, compared with a 6.6% decline in the MSCI Emerging Market Index. Last year, frontier markets rose 16%, while emerging markets fell 12%.

Funds that buy frontier stocks in January drew in $244 million through Jan. 29, the most since October, according to EPFR Global. Over the same period, investors yanked $11.6 billion from emerging-market funds. Read more of this post

Investors Look Toward Safer Options as Ground Shifts

Investors Look Toward Safer Options as Ground Shifts

TOM LAURICELLA , KATIE MARTIN and TOMMY STUBBINGTON

Updated Jan. 29, 2014 10:37 p.m. ET

Just one month into 2014, investors from Illinois to Istanbul are finding the tide going out fast for stocks and other riskier investments. Read more of this post

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