“We aren’t Greece,” Krugman screamed, tweeted and blogged last week.
“You aren’t Greece but you will be if you don’t move fast enough and when you do become Greece, you will make the whole world Greece,” a tweet back to him.
The trillion dollar European plan for saving the euro failed to “shock and awe” and the trio of Greece, Spain and Portugal saw euro plunging to 1.22 while oil hurtled towards $70 at an unbelievable speed last week. What the scene will be if dollar attained parity with euro and oil touched 50? A euro buys in Europe less than what a dollar buys in the US and perhaps euro-dollar parity would turn out to be nirvana for eurozone like it did in the aftermath of the dotcom bust. Impact on Asia may not be as intense as is expected since domestic consumption is growing.
The volcano in Iceland erupted yet again, bringing aviation in Europe to a near standstill yet again. May be it would stop only when rich boys UK and Denmark stop bullying the tiny nation for recovering a debt the people of Iceland do not owe.
The consumer in the developed world has to cut consumption. Should oil plunge to 50 or below, all economic data and GDP figures will go haywire, making data dressing a difficult task. Economics of solar and wind energy would change dramatically and the developed world would find it even more difficult to compete with Asian manufacturers.
The trillion dollar plunge in NYSE market cap on May 6 rattled Washington last week, leading to Washington summoning St operators to unravel the mystery that some attributed to extraterrestrials and N Korea too. Paranoia made way for some pragmatism by week end and the US moved closer to comprehending the meaning of unfettered financial innovation. Senate voted to leash the credit card industry and prosecutors probing big boys of the St (Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Deutsche, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Credit Agricole and Credit Suisse) accelerated investigations.
However, as on date, the St is busy with swaps, CDOs and leveraged loans as if Lehman happened in 1929, not 2008. Nevertheless, the strain of managing the world’s largest economy has started showing on Obama and Geithner, both of whom have aged a decade in less than two years.
As the tech sector moves to make the consumer move from laptops to smaller devices, wars in smartphones market have started becoming smarter. Google says its Android software had displaced iPhone as the second largest smartphone software, prompting Apple to contest the claim. HTC, Apple and Nokia are engaged in patent wars, each accusing the other two of infringement. Looks like it is Apple’s profitability, not volumes, that has made rivals sit up; Nokia has changed management twice in seven months as its revenue dipped 19% last year and profit plunged 76%.
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart seems to be in for further growth in sales of mobile-phone services as consumer appetite for pre-paid (contract-free) SIM cards is growing. P&G is realizing the awesome power online communities have vested in the consumer as moms across US have ganged up against Dry Max diapers.
Mobile and cloud computing are the hot areas with Microsoft claiming 500 mn users and Google 25 mn. SAP has bought accounting software firm Sybase for $5.8 bn and one reason is it wants its solutions to be accessible from mobile devices. Microsoft has updated its Office software yet again but whether it has made some sensible change this time would be clear only by 2011. Global online adspend is now over 15% of total.
In last ten years 227 companies fell off the Global Fortune 500 list. Farmers in China bought over 20 mn household appliances in Jan-Apr as subsidies continue to be doled out in rural areas. The new British PM called the change of guard a historic and seismic shift but few expect any radical change in policies.
China is tripling subway rail system under a $146 bn plan. Malaysia has raised interest rates for the second time this year. After US, debate on healthcare has started intensifying in Germany. In 12 months to 31 March 2010 US saw 1.53 mn bankruptcy filings and the country is losing $60 bn in taxes because of transfer pricing by its MNCs.
The worst seems to be over for Toyota as its sales in US have recovered despite recall of 8 mn vehicles. In year to March 2010 its sales fell less than 100,000 units in US. Volkswagen says it will have to pay money to get rid of its Spanish unit Seat that had operating losses of 340 mn euros last year; its Bentley unit is also losing money. SABMiller has patented an easy-to-open beer can that converts into a drinking cup when the top has been removed.
Michelle Obama wants to eradicate the 15% childhood obesity in one generation and hubby is backing her. Research says British bureaucrats working 10-11 hours suffer more heart problems than those putting in only 7 hrs and 55% of Russians believe bribes have to be paid for most public services; Russia is ranked 146th on the corruption perception index. The private prisons industry in US has probably crossed the billion dollar mark as it continues to have 0.756% of population in jails and private prisons offer lower escape and mortality rates.
Driving schools in Japan are offering lessons in driving BMWs with massage and manicures thrown in. Chinese households are offering foreign visitors free stay in exchange for lessons in English. Whistleblowers in US received $2.39 bn in awards between 1987 and 2009 for providing information on companies making false claims for their products, the latest being a $45 mn award shared by two who said AstraZeneca was marketing a schizophrenia drug by making false claims. Abu Dhabi now has a vending machine selling gold and Google says its cars photographing streets around the world have inadvertently collected personal data of individuals tapping open WiFi networks.
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Showing posts with label wal-mart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wal-mart. Show all posts
The entire world seemed to be itching for a second global crisis last week as financial pundits said now that the US is on stronger terra firma, euro and Europe must go bust. Greece may sail through but there are Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy to contend with. The problem is that while consumers on both sides of the Atlantic are painfully trying to balance income and expenditure by cutting spending on such essentials as food, clothing and shelter, governments insist that champagne must keep flowing.
Fears of the euro collapsing may be exaggerated but popular sentiment in major EU countries like Germany seems to be in favor of putting Europe’s integration on the backburner. A German professor has even threatened to sue the govt if it decides to bail out Greece! Considering Germany’s foreign minister has publicly opposed the growing use of English, The question is whether it is only EU or the eurozone that is heading for disintegration, or is the process of globalization itself in jeopardy.
The scene is confusing. Goldman Sachs is being accused of having helped Greece hide the magnitude of its deficits. Citi says 24 eurozone banks (two third of the industry) will need to raise nearly a trillion dollars over the next three years. Analysts (and Greece) say a weaker euro is actually helping Germany boost its exports. WSJ says Spain, with 19% unemployment and an economy far bigger than Greece, will be the real problem.
Per WTO, world trade contracted by about 12% in 2009, though part of it must have been due to lower oil prices.
RBS has reported losses of $5.5 bn for 2009 while Lloyds, with a loans to deposit ratio of 169%, suffered bad loans of $37 bn last year. Some reports of some financial turbulence in Turkey came in last week.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae lost $26 bn and 60 bn, respectively, last year, and say a large wave of foreclosures is yet to come. One report says US sales of alcohol rose last year because of high unemployment but industry revenue remained flat because people bought cheaper drinks. Japan’s public debt is expected to rise to over 225% of GDP in 2010.
Asia is apparently fine, and determined to achieve what US-EU achieved last decade – greater financial innovation, lower savings and higher consumer spending. China’s household deposits, however, rose 19.3% to $3.9 tn last year also. Australia and China have resumed their free trade talks, perhaps because Australia has finally recognized that China is going to remain the biggest buyer of its natural resources.
US is considering auction of airwaves currently held by TV stations, to help overcome the spectrum crunch and meet demand for mobile Internet services.
Toyota chairman admitted before the US Congress that growth had taken priority over safety at his company. Three Japanese auto parts firms are being investigated by US anti-trust authorities.
Oil field services industry is getting consolidated in a big way; Schlumberger is to buy Smith International for $11.34 bn in stock while Baker Hughes is close to completing its $6 bn takeover of BJ Services.
Wal-Mart says it will expand organically, as well as through acquisitions in LatAm and may become more aggressive in China and India also, Macy’s same-store sales grew marginally last quarter, and Kmart former CEO has been fined $10 mn for misleading investors in 2002, when the company filed for bankruptcy. Coke is buying its bottler in North America for $15 bn to exploit synergy; Pepsi had done that last year.
Apple sold the 10 billionth song on iTunes last week. It says it will retain its growing cash hoard ($25 bn last year) and has banned pictures of bikini clad women on iPhones. China has made it compulsory for individuals to verify identities before setting up personal websites. India’s Bharti Airtel has arranged loans of $9 bn for buying African assets of Zain. While Google executives in Italy have been convicted for violation of privacy laws and probably face prison, its executives in China are being aggressively poached by MNCs like Microsoft and Chinese IT companies alike.
China’s Tengzhong has pulled out of race for Hummer unit and GM has started exploring alternate buyers, while BYD expects to match Toyota and GM in vehicle output in about 15 years.
Allianz has started investing aggressively in areas such as parking meters operators and wind energy, Blackstone has announced plans to invest $732 mn in Shanghai, GE is to sell its stake in Garanti Bank of Turkey, estimated to be worth $3.3 bn, and TCW (L.A. investment company) saw investors pulling out $25 bn after it fired its star bond fund manager.
Five top US airlines say they are open to consolidation by mergers and acquisitions, while Airbus is trying to salvage its A400M military plane project stalled because of disagreements among buyers. Lufthansa’s striking pilots were publicly offered jobs of chauffeurs by a car rental last week.
Bayer sales slipped last year to a little over $40 bn. MGM studio, bought for $5 bn by PE Partners in 2005 is up for sale again but offers haven’t exceeded $2 bn so far. Businesses owned by Berkshire of Warren Buffett shed 24,000 jobs in 2009.
US plans to fence its 2,000 miles border are coming to nought because of malfunctioning of radar sensors and other technical glitches. The US Air Force is, however, training more pilots for operating unmanned aircraft (drones) than fighter jets; drones in Afghanistan are operated from bases in the US.
Britain has apologized for having shipped 150,000 poor children abroad between 1920 and 1960 under its child migrant programme. Following Korean Air, All Nippon too has decided to have separate toilets for women passengers. A single rough diamond (507 carat) was sold for $35 mn last week.
You have attended classes for learning golf, music, language and dance. Now look for lessons in managing personal financial risk.
xxxxx
Fears of the euro collapsing may be exaggerated but popular sentiment in major EU countries like Germany seems to be in favor of putting Europe’s integration on the backburner. A German professor has even threatened to sue the govt if it decides to bail out Greece! Considering Germany’s foreign minister has publicly opposed the growing use of English, The question is whether it is only EU or the eurozone that is heading for disintegration, or is the process of globalization itself in jeopardy.
The scene is confusing. Goldman Sachs is being accused of having helped Greece hide the magnitude of its deficits. Citi says 24 eurozone banks (two third of the industry) will need to raise nearly a trillion dollars over the next three years. Analysts (and Greece) say a weaker euro is actually helping Germany boost its exports. WSJ says Spain, with 19% unemployment and an economy far bigger than Greece, will be the real problem.
Per WTO, world trade contracted by about 12% in 2009, though part of it must have been due to lower oil prices.
RBS has reported losses of $5.5 bn for 2009 while Lloyds, with a loans to deposit ratio of 169%, suffered bad loans of $37 bn last year. Some reports of some financial turbulence in Turkey came in last week.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae lost $26 bn and 60 bn, respectively, last year, and say a large wave of foreclosures is yet to come. One report says US sales of alcohol rose last year because of high unemployment but industry revenue remained flat because people bought cheaper drinks. Japan’s public debt is expected to rise to over 225% of GDP in 2010.
Asia is apparently fine, and determined to achieve what US-EU achieved last decade – greater financial innovation, lower savings and higher consumer spending. China’s household deposits, however, rose 19.3% to $3.9 tn last year also. Australia and China have resumed their free trade talks, perhaps because Australia has finally recognized that China is going to remain the biggest buyer of its natural resources.
US is considering auction of airwaves currently held by TV stations, to help overcome the spectrum crunch and meet demand for mobile Internet services.
Toyota chairman admitted before the US Congress that growth had taken priority over safety at his company. Three Japanese auto parts firms are being investigated by US anti-trust authorities.
Oil field services industry is getting consolidated in a big way; Schlumberger is to buy Smith International for $11.34 bn in stock while Baker Hughes is close to completing its $6 bn takeover of BJ Services.
Wal-Mart says it will expand organically, as well as through acquisitions in LatAm and may become more aggressive in China and India also, Macy’s same-store sales grew marginally last quarter, and Kmart former CEO has been fined $10 mn for misleading investors in 2002, when the company filed for bankruptcy. Coke is buying its bottler in North America for $15 bn to exploit synergy; Pepsi had done that last year.
Apple sold the 10 billionth song on iTunes last week. It says it will retain its growing cash hoard ($25 bn last year) and has banned pictures of bikini clad women on iPhones. China has made it compulsory for individuals to verify identities before setting up personal websites. India’s Bharti Airtel has arranged loans of $9 bn for buying African assets of Zain. While Google executives in Italy have been convicted for violation of privacy laws and probably face prison, its executives in China are being aggressively poached by MNCs like Microsoft and Chinese IT companies alike.
China’s Tengzhong has pulled out of race for Hummer unit and GM has started exploring alternate buyers, while BYD expects to match Toyota and GM in vehicle output in about 15 years.
Allianz has started investing aggressively in areas such as parking meters operators and wind energy, Blackstone has announced plans to invest $732 mn in Shanghai, GE is to sell its stake in Garanti Bank of Turkey, estimated to be worth $3.3 bn, and TCW (L.A. investment company) saw investors pulling out $25 bn after it fired its star bond fund manager.
Five top US airlines say they are open to consolidation by mergers and acquisitions, while Airbus is trying to salvage its A400M military plane project stalled because of disagreements among buyers. Lufthansa’s striking pilots were publicly offered jobs of chauffeurs by a car rental last week.
Bayer sales slipped last year to a little over $40 bn. MGM studio, bought for $5 bn by PE Partners in 2005 is up for sale again but offers haven’t exceeded $2 bn so far. Businesses owned by Berkshire of Warren Buffett shed 24,000 jobs in 2009.
US plans to fence its 2,000 miles border are coming to nought because of malfunctioning of radar sensors and other technical glitches. The US Air Force is, however, training more pilots for operating unmanned aircraft (drones) than fighter jets; drones in Afghanistan are operated from bases in the US.
Britain has apologized for having shipped 150,000 poor children abroad between 1920 and 1960 under its child migrant programme. Following Korean Air, All Nippon too has decided to have separate toilets for women passengers. A single rough diamond (507 carat) was sold for $35 mn last week.
You have attended classes for learning golf, music, language and dance. Now look for lessons in managing personal financial risk.
xxxxx
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