As oil firmed up to 80 and the dollar stayed put at 1.35-1.36 a euro, Dow and S&P 500 had to perk up. Nothing else needs to happen in such a wonderful week.

The Greeks are beginning to realize the need for tightening purse strings. Germans and the Dutch want to throw Greece out of the euro but the problem is that if Greece goes, euro goes. Nope. No calamity in the pipeline there, though Europe just may enforce some severe controls on the financial industry. But one shouldn’t underestimate those who resent having been forced to play in only one currency instead of 16 for 11 long years and face the prospect of further shrinkage as Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic and even Iceland are contemplating joining the euro.

Boy, can you imagine how larger world trade in currencies would have been, had euro not replaced 16 currencies? A bomb exploded just outside JP Morgan offices in Athens last week. China’s holdings of US Treasuries fell $45 bn in the last five months.

The technology scene is stirring perceptibly as few expect service providers to keep pace with demand for networks infrastructure, and everybody is jostling to get into applications. Google is in the eye of the storm because of its virtual monopoly in virtual advertising; even service providers have started ganging up against Google. Its virtual software store has stirred a hornet’s nest, forcing Microsoft to offer a free Web version of its Office 2010. Cloud-computing services, still foreign to most individuals, clocked revenue of $56 bn last year. Nobody knows how much investment is needed in infrastructure and what the real potential of the industry is.

Packaged food firms in developing world need to watch out. Most global brands, including Kraft, ConAgra, General Mills and Kellogg, are looking at the developing world for growth and they are all flush with funds. Well, retail sales in China jumped over 15% last year and are sure to exceed USD 2 tn in 2010.

Shell is on a divestment spree; may sell assets worth $10 bn, including oilfields and gas stations in North Sea and Africa, besides some operations in Sweden. Gazprom is selling more LNG in Europe because North American demand is sluggish. Striking workers of Total’s six refineries in France started shutting operations last week, because of the policy of shifting refining operations to Middle East. Many say globalization is not even half-way through.

Toyota’s latest problem is related to steering wheels of Corollas and credibility of test reports of Exponent Inc, trusted by NASA until yesterday, is being questioned. Has Toyota really slipped, or is the US livid because it overtook GM and Ford? Meanwhile, India’s Tata Motors has appointed a former GM executive as its CEO.

Oshkosh Corp has received go ahead for a $3 billion medium truck contract from the US army, Volkswagen has guaranteed the jobs of its employees in Germany until 2014 under a new agreement with unions and Daimler pulled out of loss in Q3 but slipped back in Q4 because of lower sales of heavy trucks.

Barclays profit doubled to $18 bn in 2009, one half of which was gain from sale of its asset management arm, Simon Property, the largest owner of shopping malls in US, has offered about $10 bn for General Growth, the second largest, and JP Morgan is to buy non-US assets of a JV of RBS and Sempra Energy, which would enable Sempra to make its US operations independent of RBS. Singapore’s GIC may buy the 13 hotels chain that Morgan Stanley bought from All Nippon in 2007. Berkshire Hathaway is altering its portfolio significantly; it lowered its stakes in ConocoPhillips, J&J and P&G and increased stakes in Wells Fargo and Wal-Mart last quarter.

Yara (Norway) is to buy Terra for $4 bn, which would make it the largest mineral fertilizer producer in the world, AstraZeneca has bought rights to next-generation arthritis drug R788 from Rigel for over $1.2 bn, Wal-Mart same-store sales fell 1.6% last quarter though overall revenue rose to $112 bn, and Sara Lee has put its European shoecare and insecticides businesses up for sale. Playboy says it is looking for growth in LatAm, China and India.

Mexican suppliers of heroin catering to US markets are altering their business model by focusing on white caucasian customers, against orders placed on phone. The system is being fragmented into smaller entities and disintermediation has cut prices by as much as 50% in some cases; the name of the game is to cut prices to boost demand. A poverty relief organisation in Berlin is maintaining a $150,000 Maserati for its CEO, Deutsche Bahn has decided to reduce use of English words, and a restaurant in Taipei is pulling crowds by having sword wielding warrior-like waitresses with whom diners can have their photos taken. In Arizona, motorists continue to damage traffic cameras that monitor speeding. Some French traders have been convicted for shipping counterfeit wine brands to US. A New York rabbi has been arrested for blackmailing a hedge fund, threatening to expose insider trading by the fund, though ransom was to be used for funding schools.

Uncertainties are far from over. Global FDI plunged 39% to a trillion in 2009, contours of impending changes in financial regulation are still unclear, full impact of unemployment is yet to be felt, individuals are still unable to determine the right parking places for their savings, an impending crash in commercial real estate continues to be the buzz in markets, and believe it or not, private management of social security funds is actually being pushed.

Somebody asked last week why is RMB rate a non-issue. The answer is: Could China have prevented the slide in its exports by making RMB 7.8 a dollar? If no, why would its surplus decline if it is 5.8 a dollar? Q.E.D.

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