General Motors pushes further East with $1bn factory expansion November 28, 2012 GENERAL MOTORS and its Chinese joint-venture partners yesterday announced plans to build a $1bn (£620m) auto assembly plant in the city of Chongqing in a bid to remain the leader in the world’s largest auto market. GM, SAIC Motor and Wuling Motors said they will begin construction of the plant early next year, pending government [...]
Canada says it is still examining options on potential CNOOC bid November 28, 2012 THE Canadian government is still mulling its options as deadlines near on two proposed foreign takeovers of domestic energy companies, but an official offered no clues on when or how Ottawa would announce the hotly debated decisions. Andrew MacDougall, spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, did not comment on a report that the federal government [...]
E-currencies reach a major milestone November 28, 2012 FOR SOME, Bitcoin is an unregulated rogue currency for pornographers and drug dealers. For others, it is a victory for economic freedom, and a way of protecting business transactions from what they see as the inherent volatility of the banking system. But despite its contentiousness, the controversial e-currency is in rude health. Yesterday it reached [...]
The overheated Aussie needs to be cooled quick November 27, 2012 THE Australian dollar (Aussie) has been riding a tsunami wave over the last few years. Since lows at the end of 2008, the currency has rocketed by nearly 75 per cent against the US dollar. But as Asian economies realign, its rise looks set to end, bringing downward pressure on the currency. COMMODITIES SUPER CYCLE [...]
Technology and human ingenuity will rescue the economy November 22, 2012 IF you think we have it bad in today’s stagnant, mismanaged, low-growth Western economies, think of our ancestors. Their fate was truly hopeless. Global GDP per person grew by 0.04 per cent a year between the years 1000 and 1820, a note from Capital Economics reminds us – in other words, incomes and quality of [...]
Strong commodities and SAB Miller drive FTSE to a three-week high November 22, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index reached a three-week high yesterday after gaining for a fourth straight session, driven by strength in commodity stocks after a return to growth in China’s manufacturing sector. The FTSE 100 index closed up 39 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 5,791.03, extending its gains for the week so far to almost [...]
Xstrata investors back Glencore megamerger November 20, 2012 THE £56bn soap opera between commodity giants Xstrata and Glencore finally came to a head yesterday as Xstrata investors approved the mining mega-merger. In a meeting lasting just over two hours, investors green-lit the merger – whose twists and turns have entertained the market since Glencore first approached Xstrata in February – and paved the [...]
Japan’s election is likely to bring weakness in yen November 20, 2012 WHEN a stagnant economy meets a turbulent political environment, expect volatility. Traders spying an opportunity might want to cast their eyes to the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan. Over the last two decades, yen bears have been brutally battered as the currency has soared. Since 2007, dollar-yen has fallen by over 60 per cent. [...]
HSBC in talks to sell $9bn China insurance stake November 19, 2012 HSBC yesterday revealed it was in talks to sell its 16 per cent stake in China’s second largest insurer Ping An in a move that would bolster the bank’s capital balance sheet. The firm said in a joint statement to the London and Hong Kong stock market it was in “discussions” with buyers over a [...]
Cable says trade with emerging markets is not a zero sum game November 19, 2012 FAST GROWTH in developing countries represents an opportunity as well as a challenge, claimed Dr. Vince Cable yesterday. “Global growth is undeniably good news,” he told the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference. “We should welcome the fact that vast swathes of humanity…are now clawing their way out of poverty – they will expand the [...]