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By www.thetrader.se

 

Ft.com 

Japan wants to keep importing crude oil from Iran despite rising pressure from the US to cooperate in strengthening sanctions against the Islamic Republic, reports the WSJ, citing an unnamed official at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/11/827131/japan-wants-to-keep-...

Global regulators may expand the definition of a too-big-to-fail financial firm, signing up domestic lenders, clearing houses and insurers to capital rules designed for the world’s biggest banks, reports Bloomberg. The “framework should be in place for domestically systemically important banks by the end of the year,” Mark Carney, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/11/827021/carney-says-too-big-...

A key email between Philipp Hildebrand, the former chairman of the Swiss National Bank, and his financial adviser was seen by neither the central bank’s governing council nor auditors investigating his financial dealings, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/11/826951/key-hildebrand-email...

Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit has called for banks to be more transparent about how they measure their risk in an FT oped, the newspaper reports. He writes that each bank should be required to explain how it would measure risk in a standard portfolio, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/11/826761/pandit-urges-risk-di...

India’s cabinet has agreed to open up its retail sector to allow 100 per cent foreign ownership of single brand stores in India, in a bid to reassure global investors that the ruling Congress government is committed to pushing through key reforms, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/01/10/826511/india-opens-part-of-...

Wsj.com 

Asian stock markets were mixed on Wednesday, with resources plays rising sharply in Sydney on strong copper imports from China, though exporters in Seoul and Tokyo pulled back as sentiment remained fragile amid continued caution over the euro-zone debt crisis. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.1%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.8% and South Korea's Kospi Composite was 0.2% lower.  Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was flat, China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.4% and India's Sensex gave up 0.1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 25 points in screen trade. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020412420457715348180250140...

Mitt Romney claimed a comfortable victory in New Hampshire's Republican primary election Tuesday, giving him wins in the first two presidential nominating contests after his photo-finish ending in Iowa a week ago. Mr. Romney's convincing victory here, in a state he had long expected to dominate, substantially narrows the prospects of other Republican candidates as the contest moves into larger states, where Mr. Romney's financial and organizational strengths are likely to increase his advantages. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020425750457715278106205248...

Negotiators for banks and governments are working to complete a promised debt restructuring for Greece that will slice in half what the nation owes its private bondholders. But the deal sets up other governments in the euro zone to bear any additional burden if—many analysts say when—Greece needs more help to get out of its deep fiscal rut. The concerns about additional costs have made some European capitals wary of consummating the deal, said people familiar with the talks, and are among the reasons they have dragged on for months. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020343690457715309303935206...

U.K. government bonds were among the top-performing sovereign-debt holdings last year, and some investors are betting on a repeat in 2012. Buyers have been jumping into U.K. government bonds, known in the market as gilts, emboldened by expectations prices will continue to rise. Data released last week showed investors outside the U.K. bought more than £16 billion ($25 billion) worth of gilts in November. That is the biggest monthly inflow since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008 and the second-highest level on record.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020343690457715302343681177...

On a weedy dirt lot here, lender Bankia is pursuing its answer to a banking and property crisis that has left Spain with a glut of around one million vacant homes. Its approach: Build even more.  Bankia and a local developer plan to build a 212-unit housing complex featuring a gym and movie theater on the central Madrid site where a bus station once stood. Construction begins early this year, even though sales of existing properties are practically nonexistent and only 45 of the planned new units have been sold in advance. "The market is at a standstill," said César Cabal, a real-estate broker working with the developers. The drive to keep building in a housing market drowning in empty properties shows the depth of Spain's banking crisis. The country's housing bust saddled banks with not just vacant homes, but also billions of euros worth of undeveloped land.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020425750457715269105451182...

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday pointed to Italy as the euro-zone member that poses the greatest threat to the currency bloc's future, as the lack of a regionwide plan to prevent the sovereign-debt crisis from spreading has coupled with the country's large debt burden and high borrowing costs. Those factors are a major reason Italy's credit rating is likely to be downgraded by the end of January, said David Riley, head of global sovereign ratings at Fitch, speaking at a conference in London. "Italy is the front line of this crisis," Mr. Riley said, adding that the country's elevated government-bond yields have "marked a profound intensification of the crisis."  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020412420457715223316621328...

Marketwatch.com 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in Beijing Wednesday the U.S. is looking for opportunities to expand exports and to strengthen relations with China on a range of economic and strategic issues. "On economic growth, financial stability around the world, on non-proliferation, we have what we view as a very strong relationship (with China)," Geithner said in comments after a meeting with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and Finance Minister Xie Xuren. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/geithner-hope-to-grow-exports-to-china-...

Reuters.com 

The Federal Reserve said on Tuesday it would send about $76.9 billion of its estimated 2011 net income over to the Treasury. That was down from a record $79.3 billion in 2010, and comes primarily from interest payments on securities held in the central bank's massive multi-trillion-dollar portfolio. Each year, the Fed sends its earnings, minus operating costs and other expenses, to the fiscal authority. The Fed estimated its net income for last year at $78.9 billion, down from a record $81.7 billion in 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/11/us-usa-fed-income-idUSTRE8092F...

Organized crime has tightened its grip on the Italian economy during the economic crisis, making the Mafia the country's biggest "bank" and squeezing the life out of thousands of small firms, according to a report on Tuesday. Extortionate lending by criminal groups had become a "national emergency," said the report by anti-crime group SOS Impresa. Organized crime now generated annual turnover of about 140 billion euros ($178.89 billion) and profits of more than 100 billion euros, it added.  "With 65 billion euros in liquidity, the Mafia is Italy's number one bank," said a statement from the group, which was set up in Palermo a decade ago to oppose extortion rackets against small business. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/10/us-italy-mafia-idUSTRE8091YX20...

Bloomberg.com 

India abandoned a rule against foreign single-brand retailers operating stores without a local partner, paving the way for global companies including Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) and Ikea.   The government ratified a Nov. 24 cabinet decision to raise the ownership limit to 100 percent from 51 percent, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said in a statement yesterday. The new rules take effect immediately and require companies to procure at least 30 percent of the products they sell from smaller Indian companies, he said.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-10/india-ratifies-decision-to-allo...

South Korea and Indonesia will probably keep interest rates unchanged this week as a drop in their currencies risks heightening inflationary pressures even as the faltering global economy undermines growth prospects. All 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expect the Bank of Korea to keep the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate unchanged at 3.25 percent on Jan. 13 for a seventh straight month, the longest pause since tightening began in July 2010. Bank Indonesia will keep the reference rate at 6 percent tomorrow, 13 of 18 economists surveyed predict, while the rest see a quarter-percentage-point cut. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-10/south-korea-may-join-indonesia-...

India, which is building the world’s second-tallest skyscraper, is catching up with China in an office building boom that may indicate that an economic slowdown is imminent, according to Barclays Capital Research. India is scheduled to complete 14 new skyscrapers taller than 240 meters (787 feet) over the next five years from the current two, Barclays’s analysts led by Andrew Lawrence said in a report yesterday. China will increase the number of skyscrapers to 141, from the current 75, by 2017, according to the bank’s annual Skyscraper Index report.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-11/india-s-skyscraper-boom-matchin...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner will urge Asia’s two biggest economies to cut Iranian oil imports and seek to narrow differences with China on trade and currency disputes on a visit to Beijing and Tokyo this week. Geithner, who today holds talks with Premier Wen Jiabao, Vice President Xi Jinping and Vice Premier Li Keqiang, arrived in Beijing yesterday and met Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan. In Japan, he is due to meet with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Finance Minister Jun Azumi tomorrow. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-10/geithner-to-seek-china-s-suppor...

Thetrader.se 

Everything is trading in such an orderly way. Slow markets grinding higher on no volume. Nobody really cares about anything, yet. The slow pace of the market action has simply killed vol, and soon we will hear people coming in telling us vol is very expensive at these levels. There is no fear in this market. Have we heard it before? Yes, but is this time different? It is a very delicate market sitting on resistance levels, but trading with no real conviction. It is beginning to feel, people are joining the latest bull run, without really knowing why. The perfect calm, before the storm? VIX and SPX below. http://www.thetrader.se/2012/01/10/market-pushes-higher-as-volatility-is...

Copper is more vulnerable to price spikes than other metals because of a large buildup of short positions by money managers, which could lead to short-covering rallies on a change in market sentiment. Money managers have been betting on falling copper prices for 16 straight weeks, according to the latest data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which showed net short positions in the week to Jan. 6 at 2,007 lots. http://www.cnbc.com/id/45950323

Foxbusiness.com 

Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday signaled more help for the U.S. economy may be necessary despite recent data that suggested the recovery was picking up steam going into 2012. San Francisco Fed President John Williams and Sandra Pianalto, head of the Cleveland Fed, said they expected inflation to dip this year, which could pave the way for more policy accommodation from the already stretched central bank. The pair, each with a vote this year on the Fed's policy-setting committee, did not specifically advocate policy change but they suggested conditions could yet warrant more action. http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/2012/01/10/fed-officials-economic-con...

USAtoday.com 

After losing 2.2 million jobs in the economic downturn, the construction industry is projected to add 113,000 this year, more than doubling last year's pace and placing it among the fastest-growing sectors, according to a 2012 job market forecast by Moody's Analytics. Even a moderate rejuvenation of the troubled sector — thanks largely to a multifamily building boom — helps the economy because of its ripple effects across industries such as furniture, steel and concrete. http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-01-11/employment-outloo...

BBC.co.uk 

Greece is close to agreeing a deal with private sector bondholders on a debt swap that should pave the way for a second bailout package for the country. The EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn told the European Parliament negotiations would soon be finalised.  France and Germany had said private holders of Greek bonds must share in reducing Greece's debt burden.  Greece needs a second EU-IMF rescue to avoid a default on its debts. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16496056

Telegraph.co.uk 

City analysts have criticised the Bank of England's handling of the Britain's banking sector and warned that Bank and Government policies have left major lenders vulnerable if the eurozone debt crisis spreads to the UK.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9006095/...

Marc Bolland, the chief executive of Marks & Spencer, admitted sales of womenswear fell, as the company posted a mixed set of Christmas trading figures. The country's biggest women's clothes retailer failed to catch the imagination of shoppers with its range of party dresses, lingerie and knitwear. However, strong children's clothes and food sales, along with an unexpected increase in cost-cutting, allowed Mr Bolland to say that M&S would hit profit forecasts for this year. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/900574...

Smh.com.au 

Australia had its busiest ever period of online shopping over Christmas 2011. At the top of people’s shopping lists were electronic goods, toys, sporting goods, clothes, and instore vouchers, online payment provider PayPal said. And despite recent complaints by many retailers that Aussie shoppers were hooked on buying goods from overseas websites, most placed their orders with homegrown businesses. While PayPal did not reveal how much money shoppers spent, it said there had been double-digit growth in the number of online transactions over Christmas 2011 compared to 2010. http://www.smh.com.au/business/biggest-ever-online-shopping-spree-201201...

The strong Australian dollar has bitten further into the Australian manufacturing sector with 250 jobs to go from the aluminium smelting industry in New South Wales. Norwegian company Norsk Hydro has decided to close down one-third of its production at the Kurri Kurri smelter, in the Hunter Valley, with the loss of an estimated 150 jobs. Yesterday, Rio Tinto moved to cut 100 jobs at its Tomago smelter, located near Newcastle, although it is maintaining output for the time being. http://www.smh.com.au/business/jobs-cut-as-strong-dollar-burns-nsw-smelt...

A fall in job vacancies in the latter months of 2011 is a warning that the unemployment rate is likely to edge up in the months ahead. That positive side of that warning is an enhanced prospect of interest rate cuts. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported today that the number of vacancies fell by 3.3 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms between August and November.  As a result, the number of vacancies for every 100 unemployed people fell to 28.5 in November, its lowest since May 2010, after peaking at 31.4 in February 2011. http://www.smh.com.au/business/slip-in-vacancies-flags-higher-unemployme...

Theglobeandmail.com 

Straitstimes.com 

United States President Barack Obama intends to create a task force to monitor and tackle possible trade and other commercial violations by China, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.  The 'Enforcement Task Force,' despite its generic name, is specifically meant to target Beijing, the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the matter.  http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Money/Story/STIStory_754200.htm...

Xinhuanet.com 

China's economy will grow 8.3 percent this year, according to a report by the Deutsche Bank. Dragged down by decreasing property investment and exports, the economy will continue to decelerate in the first quarter of 2012, with year-on-year GDP growth dropping to somewhere between 6 and 7 percent, said Ma Jun, an economist with the bank, at a forum held on Monday, at which a report on China's economic outlook was released. However, the economy will pick up the pace in the second quarter and beat last year's year-on-year growth rate in the third quarter, Ma said. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-01/10/c_131352564.htm

Singapore's construction demand is expected to be between 21 billion Singapore dollars (16.3 billion U.S. dollars) and 27 billion Singapore dollars (20.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012, a senior official said on Wednesday. The demand for last year was 32 billion Singapore dollars (24.8 billion U.S. dollars), said Tan Chuan-Jin, minister of state for national development and manpower. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2012-01/11/c_131354401.htm

Brazil's default rates in retailing rose 21.5 percent year-on-year in 2011, registering the country's sharpest rise since 2002, said the consulting company Serasa Experian on Tuesday. Though the country's debts climbed up last year, the average amount of debts fell in some categories, including debts to stores, credit card, financing companies and banks, the consulting company said. The average value of protected securities rose 16 percent to 1,372 reais (762 U.S. dollars) in the past year, while the number for returned checks also rose 8.4 percent to 1,359 reais (755 dollars). http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2012-01/11/c_131354388.htm

Cs.com.cn 

It's a frustrating time for overseas investors in Chinese real estate, especially those looking to turn a quick profit.  One potential investor, a managing director in Hong Kong for a leading US fund, looked into many real estate projects in China last year but did not sign any deals.  Instead, he sold a number of big projects ahead of pre-set investment deadlines. He requested anonymity because of company policy against speaking to the media. But he was clear about his exasperation at not being able to achieve his objectives. http://www.cs.com.cn/english/ei/201201/t20120111_3204761.html

South Korea's jobless rate dropped to 3 percent last month from a year earlier as the number of people employed grew at a fast pace in the service industry, a government report showed Wednesday. The unemployment rate stood at 3 percent in December, down 0.5 percentage points from the same month of last year, according to Statistics Korea. The rate was slightly up 0.1 percentage point from a month before. The number of unemployed, who failed to land work despite job- hunting efforts, reached 754,000 last month, down 99,000 from the previous year. http://www.cs.com.cn/english/ei/201201/t20120111_3204750.html

Mexico's foreign reserves rose by 1.661 billion U.S. dollars last week to a record high of 144.136 billion dollars, the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) announced Tuesday.  The new figure indicated that Mexico had doubled its international reserves in less than 30 months, the central bank said.  The increase was mainly thanks to the bank changing oil dollars for the state-owned energy firm Petroleos Mexicanos. It was also partly due to the valuation of the bank's international assets and operations.  http://www.cs.com.cn/english/ei/201201/t20120111_3204749.html

Thehindu.com 

Moody's has upgraded its credit rating on short-term deposits in foreign currency from speculative to investment grade.  Such an upgrade will help banks to attract foreign currency deposits. The upgrade is in line with the rating revision in three other instruments, which were all placed in a higher category by the rating agency on December 20. According to the India's external debt position, short-term external liabilities for commercial banks have come down from $860 million to $763 million as of end September 2011. This amount was $898 million at the end of March 2011. The numbers highlight the increased withdrawals from foreign currency accounts.  http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/article...

Domestic passenger car sales jumped 8.49 per cent to 1,59,325 units in December 2011 compared with 1,46,856 units in the same month in 2010. According to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) at the 11th Auto Expo here today, motorcycle sales grew 7.27 per cent to 8,07,829 units from 7,53,102 units. Total two-wheeler sales in December 2011 increased 8.52 per cent to 10,91,982 units from 10,06,289 units in the same period of the previous year. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/article2789923.ece?homepag...

Assocham study cites macroeconomic and sectoral conditions for the flight of units India has enjoyed the status of being the most sought-after destination for setting up of units in information technology enabled services (ITeS) and business process outsourcing (BPO) sectors for some time now. But the prominence as the dominant IT/ITeS hub due to demographic dividend, favourable environment and necessary infrastructure is fast fading away as there is a flight of units, small and big, to destinations such as the Philippines if the Eco Pulse Study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) is any indication. http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article2790735.ece

Yonhapnews.co.kr 

The number of South Koreans retiring to farming surged to a new annual high in 2011 thanks to local governments' efforts to attract retiring baby boomers, a report showed Wednesday. According to the report by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the number of households returning to the countryside came to an estimated 6,500 in 2011, up 59.8 percent from 4,067 a year earlier. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2012/01/11/0501000000AEN2012011...

Themoscowtimes.com 

The Central Bank and the Interior Ministry have calculated the total illegal turnover in the financial sector during 2011 to be 5 trillion rubles ($158 billion), about 10 percent of Russia's annual gross domestic product. According to research carried out by the Interior Ministry, there were 56,700 crimes committed between January and November 2011 that had an impact on the financial or credit industries. The figures were confirmed last week by police colonel Oleg Borisov, head of the Interior Ministry department responsible for financial sector economic crime, Interfax reported. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/financial-crime-at-158bln...

Khaleejtimes.com 

The global economy faces a significant slowdown in the first half of 2012 because of the crisis in the West, but Asian and most countries in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America are poised for resilience, Standard Chartered said in its outlook for the current year.  Predicting 2012 as a year of a “two-speed” global economy, the bank said the mounting crisis in the advanced economies is expected to cause the euro area (-1.5 per cent) and the UK (-1.3 per cent) to fall back into recession and US growth (+1.7 per cent) to remain below-trend. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/biz/inside.asp?xfile=/data/business/2012/Jan...

 

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Wed, 01/11/2012 - 08:41 | 2053888 Irish66
Irish66's picture

You got to list these different..I need a magnifying glass

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