Bamboo Innovator

US carmakers grapple with CNG vehicle demand

December 29, 2013 3:33 pm

US carmakers grapple with CNG vehicle demand

By Robert Wright in New York

US carmakers are struggling to reconcile customers’ growing interest in running vehicles on newly abundant natural gas with the logistical challenges of supplying the technology for the still-niche market, according to senior automotive executives. Read more of this post

Speculators ‘Throwing Money’ at Natural Gas on Icy Blast: Energy

Speculators ‘Throwing Money’ at Natural Gas on Icy Blast: Energy

Hedge funds got more bullish on natural gas as a blast of cold air swept across the U.S., pushing prices to the highest level in more than two years. Money managers increased net-long positions, or bets on rising prices, by 33 percent in the week ended Dec. 17, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Bullish wagers advanced for a fourth week and to a six-month high. Read more of this post

Hong Kong in quest for youth as ageing population looms

Hong Kong in quest for youth as ageing population looms

Sunday, December 29, 2013 – 14:14

Aaron Tam

AFP

HONG KONG – Schools replaced by care homes and a once-vibrant economy dulled by one of Asia’s oldest populations: experts fear this is the Hong Kong of the not-too-distant future. Read more of this post

Some shops and ATMs in Hong Kong started to refuse HK$1,000 (US$130) banknotes after police found several counterfeit notes and arrested suspects

HK shops refusing HK$1,000 notes during holiday scare

Staff Reporter

2013-12-30

Some shops and ATMs in Hong Kong started to refuse HK$1,000 (US$130) banknotes after police found several counterfeit notes and arrested suspects, reports the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post. Read more of this post

‘Common man’ leader talks of revolution in India

‘Common man’ leader talks of revolution

Sunday, December 29, 2013 – 10:42

Devidutta Tripathy and John Chalmers

Reuters

DELHI – There was no motorcade, and none of the traditional trappings of power: the leader of India’s upstart “common man party” arrived on a crowded metro train on Saturday to be sworn in as chief minister of Delhi, India’s capital. Read more of this post

Indian Bank Risk Rises on Sour Loans as Profitability Declines

Indian Bank Risk Rises on Sour Loans as Profitability Declines

The risk to India’s banking industry rose in the six months through September as bad loans surged and profitability slumped, the central bank said. The average gross bad-loan ratio may increase to 4.6 percent of total lending by September 2014 in a “baseline scenario,” the Reserve Bank of India said in a financial stability report posted on its website today. The ratio advanced to 4.2 percent as of Sept. 30 from 3.4 percent in March, the report showed. Read more of this post

The Men Who Would be King in 2014; The chemistry and momentum is clearly with a charismatic Modi but will he have the numbers to become India’s next prime minister?

The Men Who Would be King in 2014

by Rajdeep Sardesai | Dec 27, 2013

The chemistry and momentum is clearly with a charismatic Modi but will he have the numbers to become India’s next prime minister? For almost three decades, Sharad Pawar has been India’s prime minister-in-waiting. A few years ago, when journalists asked him if he had finally given up on his prime ministerial ambitions, the Maharashtra leader candidly admitted that with a party of less than 10 MPs, his chances for the top job were virtually nil. But then, he cheekily added, “If Deve Gowda can do it, I guess anyone can aspire to be prime minister!” Read more of this post

Saving Indonesia’s fisheries: Plenty more fish in the sea? The government tries to preserve a fecund part of the coral triangle

Saving Indonesia’s fisheries: Plenty more fish in the sea? The government tries to preserve a fecund part of the coral triangle

Dec 21st 2013 | ALILA TIMUR, ALOR ISLANDS | From the print edition

HE LEARNED to fish the turquoise-coloured seas of the Alor archipelago in eastern Indonesia from his father. But it is not a vocation Samsul Osman wants for his own four children. He says that these days traditional fishermen like himself must paddle their outrigger canoes far out to sea for a catch of skipjack tuna that sells for about 60,000 rupiah (about $5). Sometimes his family goes hungry. The other fishermen sitting cross-legged on the white sand at Alila Timur, where traders come to buy tuna to sell at the markets of Kalabahi, the islands’ sleepy capital, nod their heads. Fish stocks are dwindling. Read more of this post

Japan’s Sony has decided not to sell its lithium ion battery unit, in a gamble that it can turn the business around with a weak yen and growing demand for smartphone batteries

Updated: Monday December 30, 2013 MYT 10:12:28 AM

Sony to give up on sale of its battery unit

TOKYO: Japan’s Sony Corp has decided not to sell its lithium ion battery unit, media reported, in a gamble that it can turn the business around with a weak yen and growing demand for smartphone batteries. Read more of this post

Korean firms are taking steps to help children and grandchildren of their current chiefs or founders take over the businesses in the future.

2013-12-29 17:08

Power transfer taking shape at firms

By Choi Kyong-ae
The sons of Samsung Group and Hyundai Motor Group owners have been in the spotlight as heirs apparent in Korea’s business circles. Now the offspring of major food company leaders want to share the spotlight.   Read more of this post

Ssangyong revs up for fresh growth drive; Four years ago, as South Korean carmaker Ssangyong Motor teetered on the brink of insolvency, a court asked Lee Yoo-il – a former top executive at rival Hyundai – to take charge

December 30, 2013 5:18 am

Ssangyong revs up for fresh growth drive

By Simon Mundy in Seoul

Four years ago, as South Korean carmaker Ssangyong Motor  teetered on the brink of insolvency, a court asked Lee Yoo-il – a former top executive at rival Hyundai – to take charge. Mr Lee spent 10 days agonising over whether to take on the role of joint administrator at the jeep and SUV maker, which had suffered falling sales of its increasingly outdated models. Read more of this post

The South Korean currency appreciated against the yen by breaching the psychologically important level of 1,000 won for the first time in five years

2013-12-30 15:09

S. Korea’s currency breaches 1,000 won level per yen in five years

The South Korean currency appreciated against the yen by breaching the psychologically important level of 1,000 won for the first time in five years on Monday.
The local currency was trading at 1,001.81 per 100 yen as of 2:10 p.m., up 0.19 won from Friday’s close. Read more of this post

The cost of setting up Food Opera is around 15-20 percent higher than that of an ordinary Food Republic, which has emerged as largest food court chain in HK

Taste of glory
Imogene Wong
Monday, December 30, 2013

Foodie Jenson Ong Shin-hock turned his passion into a life-long career. Now the pioneering businessman is tasting success in the food atrium business well beyond his Singapore base. Read more of this post

Singapore’s Developers Move From Best to Worst: Southeast Asia

Singapore’s Developers Move From Best to Worst: Southeast Asia

Singapore’s developers posted the worst performance on the benchmark Straits Times Index (FSSTI) this year after recording the biggest gains in 2012 as property curbs drove home sales lower and slowed price gains. Read more of this post

When Fortress S’pore lost its aura

When Fortress S’pore lost its aura

Monday, December 30, 2013 – 08:52

Chua Mui Hoong

The Straits Times

If there is one word to sum up Singapore’s experience this year, it would be Vulnerability. 2013 is the year the People’s Action Party lost whatever it might have retained of the lustre of invincibility. Read more of this post

A year of maturation for S’pore

A year of maturation for S’pore

This year has been an eventful year of maturation for Singapore. The first half of the year began with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) losing its second consecutive by-election in 12 months.

BY DEVADAS KRISHNADAS –

5 HOURS 15 MIN AGO

This year has been an eventful year of maturation for Singapore. The first half of the year began with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) losing its second consecutive by-election in 12 months. Read more of this post

New Zealand’s cows come home in its own commodities boom

New Zealand’s cows come home in its own commodities boom

December 30, 2013 – 2:34PM

Michael Pascoe

It’s bad enough losing the rugby, but in 2014 Australians will have to suffer Kiwis getting uppity about their economy as well. While our economic growth is stuck around 2.5 per cent, there’s talk New Zealand could be doing double that by the middle of the year. Read more of this post

Rising cost a challenge to Malaysian property developers

Updated: Monday December 30, 2013 MYT 12:43:51 PM

Rising cost a challenge to developers

BY EUGENE MAHALINGAM

PETALING JAYA: Guocoland (M) Bhd sees the rising cost of development a growing challenge that is facing many developers within the local property sector. “The external market factors and Bank Negara’s stringent lending guidelines aside, the biggest factor will be the current rising cost of development,” said managing director Tan Lee Koon. Read more of this post

Turkey’s Economic Vulnerability Exposed as Graft Divides

Turkey’s Economic Vulnerability Exposed as Graft Divides

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan enters the last week of 2013 reeling from a corruption probe that has splintered his party and highlighted economic vulnerabilities as investors unload the nation’s risk. Read more of this post

Turkey Biggest Loser in World Stocks as Erdogan Crisis Persists

Turkey Biggest Loser in World Stocks as Erdogan Crisis Persists

The mounting power struggle between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the judiciary is turning the stock market into the world’s worst performer and driving the currency to unprecedented lows. Read more of this post

Stocks $3.7 Trillion Year Beats Bonds Most Ever as Funds Revive

Stocks $3.7 Trillion Year Beats Bonds Most Ever as Funds Revive

Five years after the equity bull market started, U.S. investors returned to stocks in 2013, just in time for the best relative returns versus bonds on record. Exchange-traded and mutual funds investing in shares took in about $162 billion, the most since 2000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and the Investment Company Institute. At the same time, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) climbed 29 percent, beating government debt by 32 percentage points, the widest spread since at least 1978, according to data compiled by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Bloomberg. Read more of this post