U.S. Increases Scrutiny of Employee-Stock-Ownership Plans; Transactions That Cheat Workers Have Drawn Attention to Plans Millions Rely on

U.S. Increases Scrutiny of Employee-Stock-Ownership Plans

Transactions That Cheat Workers Have Drawn Attention to Plans Millions Rely on

RUTH SIMON and SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN

Updated June 22, 2014 8:52 p.m. ET

The federal government is stepping up scrutiny of how U.S. companies are valued for employee-stock-ownership plans, a vital source of retirement savings for millions of workers.

Some owners are selling stakes in their companies to employee-stock-ownership plans at inflated prices, the government says, jeopardizing those savings. Read more of this post

The Surging Stock Market: Too Late to Buy? How to Think About Investing When Prices Are This High

The Surging Stock Market: Too Late to Buy?

How to Think About Investing When Prices Are This High

BRETT ARENDS

June 21, 2014 8:19 p.m. ET

Main Street is starting to stampede. As the stock market surges to new highs, ordinary investors who missed a lot of the rise have been rushing to jump on board. So far this year they’ve poured $58 billion into stocks via mutual funds, according to the Investment Company Institute, the mutual-fund trade organization. That’s the biggest first half for mutual funds since the last big boom, in 2007. Read more of this post

EU Scales Back Ties With Thailand; Bloc Will Put Signing of Political Pact on Hold, Suspend Official Visits After Coup

EU Scales Back Ties With Thailand

Bloc Will Put Signing of Political Pact on Hold, Suspend Official Visits After Coup

LAURENCE NORMAN

June 23, 2014 2:58 p.m. ET

LUXEMBOURG—The European Union will scale back political ties with Thailand following the recent coup, putting on hold the signing of a political pact and suspending official visits, the bloc said Monday.

At a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg, the EU also signaled it will freeze talks on a possible trade deal and said it could announce further penalties if the situation in Thailand deteriorates. Read more of this post

China’s ‘Crazy’ Local Government Bond Sale

Jun 23, 2014

China’s ‘Crazy’ Local Government Bond Sale

China’s bond markets turned a little strange Monday.

In a first for China, local government Guangdong Province sold debt in its own name, and surprised markets when the yields were lower than that sold recently by the central government. That’s unusual as investors would normally demand a higher return from a riskier issuer.

Guangdong Province sold five-year bonds, part of its planned 14.8 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) issuance, at 3.84% and lower than the 3.99% on a sale of bonds by the finance ministry earlier this month that were issued on behalf of local governments. Read more of this post

Rio Tinto’s Massive $6.2 Billion Oyu Tolgoi Mine in Mongolia Hits Another Snag; Operating Company Handed a New Audit Claiming Unpaid Taxes and Penalties

Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi Mine in Mongolia Hits Another Snag

Operating Company Handed a New Audit Claiming Unpaid Taxes and Penalties

ALEXIS FLYNN

June 23, 2014 11:38 a.m. ET

LONDON—One of Rio Tinto RIO.LN +1.61% PLC’s largest projects hit another snag Monday after the company running the $6.2 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia was handed a new audit claiming unpaid taxes and penalties.

Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. TRQ.T -3.18% , the Rio Tinto-owned mining company that owns the rights to Oyu Tolgoi, said it disputed the Mongolian Tax Authority’s claims and that a failure to resolve the issue before the end of the month could jeopardize the mine’s next phase of development. Read more of this post

Abenomics 2.0: Bold Goals, Modest Proposals

Abenomics 2.0: Bold Goals, Modest Proposals

Japan’s Prime Minister Tackles Economic Tradition

JACOB M. SCHLESINGER

Updated June 23, 2014 8:08 a.m. ET

TOKYO—When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe first announced his growth strategy a year ago, the stock market fell sharply in disappointment. Officials hope for a better response to the revised plan to be unveiled Tuesday.

The difference lies in part on more realism from investors, and less hype from a more low-key Mr. Abe. This isn’t about quick gains, but raising long-run prospects. Will it do that? Many proposals were watered down before final announcement. Abe aides say that raises prospects that something will actually get implemented.

“We made political compromises,” Hiroshige Seko, one of Mr. Abe’s top advisers, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview Monday. “We’re emphasizing execution, even if the plan gets a score of 80, instead of 100.” Read more of this post

Investors Prepare for Volatility Ahead of Indonesia Election

Investors Prepare for Volatility Ahead of Indonesia Election

JAKE MAXWELL WATTS

Updated June 23, 2014 7:03 p.m. ET

Investors are turning wary of Indonesian stocks ahead of a presidential election early next month that could make or break one of Asia’s best-performing markets.

Enthusiasm for Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, the reformist frontrunner who had a strong early lead in the polls, has helped push Indonesian stocks up more than 13% this year. But as the race has grown tighter, some fund managers have held their bets or taken them off entirely while preparing for volatility. Read more of this post

Big Investors Missed Stock Rally; Pension Funds, University Endowments Diversified Into Other Investments With Disappointing Performances

Big Investors Missed Stock Rally

Pension Funds, University Endowments Diversified Into Other Investments With Disappointing Performances

GREGORY ZUCKERMAN

June 23, 2014 7:51 p.m. ET

Corporate pension funds and university endowments in the U.S. have missed out on much of the rally for stocks since 2009, following a push to diversify into other investments that have had disappointing performances.

The institutions, ranging from large corporations such as General Motors Co.GM +1.24% to big universities such as Harvard, have been shifting to hedge funds, private equity and venture capital. But while these alternative investments outpaced stocks during 2008’s market meltdown and are seen as potentially less volatile, they have badly lagged behind the S&P 500 since 2009, a period in which U.S. stock indexes have more than doubled. Read more of this post

In Japan, Hundreds of Shareholder Meetings on Same Day; This year, more than one in three companies will hold their meetings on Friday. Experts say the practice underscores Japanese companies’ dismissive attitude toward shareholders

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

In Japan, Hundreds of Shareholder Meetings on Same Day

By HIROKO TABUCHI

JUNE 23, 2014 1:06 PM 1 Comments

Investors who own shares in Japanese corporations might want to clear their calendars next Friday.

At 10 a.m. on June 27, annual shareholders’ meetings kick off at more than 900 major Japanese companies across the country. That’s more than one in three companies traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Read more of this post

Merger Fever Can Be a Menace for Shareholders; Deals often stroke the ego of chief executives. But they can also destroy much value

Merger Fever Can Be a Menace for Shareholders

JUNE 21, 2014

By JEFF SOMMER

Shareholders beware: M.&A. mania is back.

The numbers suggest that chief executives have a bad case of the seven-year itch: After eyeing other companies hungrily for so long, they have begun trying to buy them. Read more of this post

Son of former Philippines leader arrested in graft scandal

Son of former Philippines leader arrested in graft scandal

Monday, June 23, 2014 – 13:58

AFP

MANILA – Philippine police detained Monday the senator son of former president Joseph Estrada, the second high-profile official arrested within days over a massive corruption scandal.

Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, 51, gave himself up to police after the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court said it found probable cause to proceed with the charges and issued an arrest warrant. Read more of this post

The Hidden Cost of Trading Stocks; ‘Best Execution’ and Rebates for Brokers

The Hidden Cost of Trading Stocks

‘Best Execution’ and Rebates for Brokers

By THE EDITORIAL BOARDJUNE 22, 2014

There’s no escaping the conclusion that the stock market is not a level playing field where all investors, large and small, have an equal shot at a fair deal.

A recent groundbreaking study found that undetected insider trading occurs in a stunning one-fourth of public-company deals. Experts have long debatedthe pros and cons of high-frequency trading, another pervasive practice, but there is no doubt that it gives superfast traders the jump on others in trading stocks. And the very idea of trading on a public exchange, where stock prices and trading volumes are visible to all, is being eclipsed byprivate trading of public stocks in off-exchange venues, called dark pools, usually operated by banks. Read more of this post

Beijing’s Overhauls Get Short Shrift; Long-Term Plans to Revamp Economy Take Back Seat to Immediate Needs; Premier Pushes Spending

Beijing’s Overhauls Get Short Shrift

Long-Term Plans to Revamp Economy Take Back Seat to Immediate Needs; Premier Pushes Spending

MARK MAGNIER

June 22, 2014 9:13 p.m. ET

Construction workers labored at the site of a new bridge over the Yellow River in Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan Province, in May. Li An/Xinhua/Zuma Press

BEIJING—Long-term economic overhauls that China’s leadership promised are taking a back seat to short-term needs as Beijing wrestles with a slowing economy and a foot-dragging bureaucracy. Read more of this post