Bamboo Innovator

New American Economy Leaves Behind World Consumer of Last Resort; The rising American economy isn’t lifting all boats — and may even sink some

New American Economy Leaves Behind World Consumer of Last Resort

The rising American economy isn’t lifting all boats — and may even sink some.

As the U.S. looks set to accelerate, economists from Bank of America Corp. to Morgan Stanley predict it will provide less oomph abroad than it once did, partly because of changes wrought by the financial crisis and recession. The new-look America is focused on greater demand and production at home and taps more of its own energy, paring the need to buy overseas in a trend reflected by the smallest current-account deficit since 1999. Read more of this post

China’s doctors not part of society’s elite; “When I see so many patients each day how can I smile at them? They still want me to smile at them”.

October 6, 2013 8:04 am

China’s doctors not part of society’s elite

By Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai

©Getty

Roy Wang did not want to be a doctor but his grades were too low for engineering – so his southern China university transferred him to a course for weaker students: medicine. In most western countries, medicine is a profession that guarantees prestige, high salaries – and the approval of parents who love to brag about “my child the doctor”. But in China, the reverse is increasingly true: doctors are ill-paid, overworked and maligned or even attacked by patients – while many parents would prefer that they became bankers instead. Even Chinese doctors overwhelmingly prefer their children not to follow them into the profession: according to a 2011 survey by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, 78 per cent of respondents said they hoped their child would not don a white coat. Many of China’s less prestigious medical schools find it hard to recruit students to train as doctors and others find that students with lower scores on the national university entrance exam, or gaokao, will use the lower requirements of some medical schools to gain entry to university, only to transfer later to faculties with higher earning potential. Read more of this post

Does ‘Gravity’ Kowtow to Chinese Ticket Buyers?

Does ‘Gravity’ Kowtow to Chinese Ticket Buyers?

‘Gravity,’ the new space-thriller starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, lives up, IMHO, to its, um, stellar reviews. It’s gripping. It’s beautiful. It takes pains to get some of the science right. In short, it’s the kind of movie that Hollywood needs more of to pack people into theaters and keep them paying $5 for 50 cents worth of popcorn. And especially Chinese viewers, who comprise an increasingly important segment of Hollywood’s audience. (China is the second biggest movie market after the U.S.) In fact, for all the brilliance of ‘Gravity,’ am I the only one who thinks some all-too-scrutable kowtowing went on when Alfonso Cuaron and his son were writing the script? Read more of this post

In China, Golf Has a New Hazard: Killer Smog

In China, Golf Has a New Hazard: Killer Smog

This weekend, the Ladies Professional Golf Association demonstrated its willingness to sacrifice player safety for its own long-term financial health.

The occasion was the conclusion of the Reignwood LPGA Classic — the LPGA’s first tournament in China. The importance of this event for the association’s desired future in China’s rapidly expanding golf market cannot be underestimated. At the top of the leader board going into Sunday’s final round was Guangzhou-born Shanshan Feng. As the LPGA website announced, “This week is all about …. Shanshan Feng.” Read more of this post

Caviar Off the Menu for Indian Officials as Junk Rating Looms

Caviar Off the Menu for Indian Officials as Junk Rating Looms

For Arvind Mayaram, India’s push to avoid having its credit rating cut to junk means he’ll have to forgo caviar and a two-meter-long flat bed in first class on his flight from New Delhi to Washington D.C. this week. He’ll fly business class instead to the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings, saving taxpayers at least $3,000. The change is part of moves to narrow a budget deficit that reached almost 75 percent of the 5.4 trillion-rupee ($88 billion) target in the first five months of the fiscal year, imperiling efforts to limit the widest shortfall in major emerging nations. Read more of this post

Carmakers flock to new southeast Asian growth frontier

Last updated: October 6, 2013 5:06 pm

Carmakers flock to new southeast Asian growth frontier

By Ben Bland in Jakarta and Henry Foy in London

Until recently, the top choice for first-time car buyers in Indonesia was a Toyota Avanza or Daihatsu Xenia, the family and pothole-friendly seven-seat people carriers that dominate the nation’s traffic-clogged streets. But when Okko Agus Suwarso decided to buy his daughter a car, he opted for a five-seat Daihatsu Ayla, one of a new range of “low-cost, green cars” that global manufacturers are hoping will turbocharge growth in a thriving market at the forefront of an automotive boom in southeast Asia.

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The education of China’s oil company

The education of China’s oil company

8:15pm EDT

By Charlie Zhu and Bill Powell

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Yang Hua was a rising star at Chinese oil giant CNOOC Ltd back in 2005. Then, the 44-year-old chief financial officer participated in one of corporate China’s biggest belly flops ever. Yang helped CNOOC, the publicly listed arm of state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp, craft an $18.5 billion bid for Unocal Corp of Los Angeles. It turned into a debacle. Political opposition exploded in Washington, where the company had done little preparation. At home in Beijing, some board members revolted after being blindsided by the bid, and some of China’s leaders were said to be queasy. CNOOC stood down and Unocal was sold to a rival, Chevron Corp. Read more of this post

Banks take on Bloomberg with Markit; Messaging push challenges US group’s grip on communications

October 7, 2013 12:02 am

Eight investment banks embrace Markit viral messaging revolution

By Philip Stafford

Eight of the world’s largest investment banks will Monday launch their most ambitious assault on Bloomberg’s grip on daily communications in financial markets with the start of free viral messaging service. Markit, the UK data provider, will operate an industry-wide central directory switchboard to connect the messaging systems of Thomson Reuters, Goldman Sachs,Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley,Bank of America Merrill Lynch and interdealer broker GFI Group. Read more of this post

Peter Voser says he regrets Shell’s huge $24 billion bet on US shale

October 6, 2013 3:23 pm

Peter Voser says he regrets Shell’s huge bet on US shale

By Guy Chazan

Peter Voser said the failure of Royal Dutch Shell’s huge bet on US shale was a big regret of his time as chief executive of the company. Speaking to the Financial Times three months before he is due to step down, Mr Voser also described the technical setbacks Shell has suffered in its exploration campaign off the coast of Alaska as one of his greatest disappointments in the job. Shell has invested at least $24bn in so-called unconventional oil and gas in North America. But it is a bet that has yet to pay off. Its North American upstream business has struggled to turn a profit and in August Shell announced a strategic review of its US shale portfolio after taking a $2.1bn impairment. “Unconventionals did not exactly play out as planned,” Mr Voser said.

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Arctic shipping routes will take at least 10 to 20 years to provide commercial opportunities, according to the chief executive of the world’s biggest container line

October 6, 2013 1:18 pm

Arctic shipping routes still a long-term proposition, says Maersk

By Richard Milne in Copenhagen

Arctic shipping routes will take at least 10 to 20 years to provide commercial opportunities, according to the chief executive of the world’s biggest container line. Nils Andersen, head of Denmark’s AP Møller-Maersk, poured cold water over suggestions that the Northern Sea Route over the top of Russia could provide a viable alternative to the Suez Canal for Asia-Europe trade.

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For “zombie” Fukushima operator, fresh financing masks long-term woes

For “zombie” Fukushima operator, fresh financing masks long-term woes

6:29pm EDT

By Mari Saito

TOKYO (Reuters) – Its stock price has nearly trebled this year, its near-term debt trades at par, banks have extended credit, and an enterprise value of $83 billion – a rough guide to how much it could cost to buy – makes it Asia’s biggest listed electricity utility. Yet Tokyo Electric Power (9501.T: Quote, Profile,Research, Stock Buzz), or Tepco, has lost $27 billion since the 2011 disaster at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and faces massive liabilities as it decommissions the facility, compensates tens of thousands of residents forced to evacuate, and pays for decontamination of an area nearly the size of Connecticut. Read more of this post

Wal-Mart says retail plans with India’s Bharti ‘not tenable’

Wal-Mart says retail plans with India’s Bharti ‘not tenable’

2:06am EDT

By Randy Fabi

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) retail plans with India partner Bharti Enterprises are “not tenable” and both sides are looking for the best way to move forward, an executive with the U.S. retailer told Reuters. Wal-Mart was expected to make a decision on its Indian retail plans later this month and Bharti will accordingly decide if those plans match its overall retail ambitions. Read more of this post

Wal-Mart is Considering Acquisitions in China; The retailer, which has 398 stores in China, is No. 2 in market share here, behind Sun Art; Wal-Mart’s low-price business model isn’t catching on with Chinese consumers, many of whom prefer to shop for bargains online and in mom-and-pop stores

October 5, 2013, 7:11 a.m. ET

Wal-Mart Looks to Gain Ground in Asia

U.S. Retailer is Considering Acquisitions in China

LAURIE BURKITT

BEIJING—Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s WMT -0.49% top executive for Asia said the company has revamped its practices and legal compliance in the region and is considering acquisitions in China, as the retailer faces headwinds in a cornerstone of its global expansion plans. Wal-Mart’s sourcing practices in Bangladesh have been under a microscope after safety problems emerged at some factories there. The company also faces a stagnant economy in Japan, government restrictions and scrutiny in India and slowing traffic and stronger rivals in China. In other regions—such as Brazil, where Wal-Mart has about 570 stores—the company has expanded more rapidly. Read more of this post

Thailand Has No Easy Options to Pay for Rice Subsidy; “It’s not clear where the new fund of 270 billion baht is coming from”

October 7, 2013, 7:22 AM

Thailand Has No Easy Options to Pay for Rice Subsidy

WARANGKANA CHOMCHUEN

BANGKOK – Thailand has decided to continue its costly rice program, but critics are questioning how the government will find the money to pay for it. The controversial program turned three years old this past week, when the government announced it would maintain an earlier agreed-upon subsidy rate for the grain harvested in the wet season, and a slightly lower rate in the off season. It also limited the maximum value of rice each farming household can sell in order to curb the ballooning subsidy expense. Read more of this post

Shadow Loans Sound New Alarm; Regulators Cite Growing Role of Individual Investors

October 6, 2013, 7:46 p.m. ET

Shadow Loans Sound New Alarm

Regulators Cite Growing Role of Individual Investors

IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN

Debt-laden companies are on track to borrow a record $1 trillion this year in the nonbank “shadow lending” system, and regulators are sounding alarms about one of its fast-growing funders: individual investors. The burgeoning role of individuals in lending is highlighted as a top concern in a report released last week by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as part of a continuing effort to overhaul shadow bankers—the web of largely unregulated financial firms unable to borrow in an emergency from the central bank and without traditional depositors that are insured. Read more of this post

Passive funds losing cost edge

October 4, 2013 6:27 pm

Passive funds losing cost edge

By Elaine Moore

Passive funds that allow investors to track the performance of worldwide stock markets are starting to lose their competitive edge on prices as providers of actively managed funds cut their fees. In spite of ultra-low annual fees offered by the largest providers of passive funds such as Vanguard, Legal & General Investments and HSBC, research by Morningstar has found that on average, retail equity index funds have a total expense ratio of 0.73 per cent. Read more of this post

Japan Tobacco to Expand in Smokeless Products Via M&A, Tie-Ups as consumers demand alternatives and regulations tighten worldwide; “There are many ways to enjoy tobacco, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be cigarettes”

Japan Tobacco to Expand in Smokeless Products Via M&A, Tie-Ups

Japan Tobacco Inc. (2914) plans to expand its range of smokeless tobacco products and is looking at tie-ups or acquisitions as consumers demand alternatives and regulations tighten worldwide. “There are many ways to enjoy tobacco, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be cigarettes,” Akira Saeki, an executive deputy president who heads the tobacco business, said in an interview in Tokyo. “Cigarettes’ appeal may be diminishing” as more people are bothered by smoke, he said. Read more of this post