China’s exports hit record high August 10, 2011 CHINESE exports set record highs for July, official data revealed yesterday. Exports rose 20.4 per cent in July from a year ago, surpassing economists’ median forecasts of a 17.4 per cent rise. The figures may offset concerns that debt problems abroad will hamper the world’s second largest economy, with exports to the US and Europe [...]
The rising renminbi August 10, 2011 IN 2003, the People’s Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority came to an agreement to allow Hong Kong banks to conduct business in renminbi. Since then, the offshore renminbi market has expanded rapidly but has created a complex currency situation: one country with two systems, three currencies and four yield curves (see [...]
The end of an era for Cloud Cuckoo land economics August 7, 2011 IT came as a shock but not as a surprise. America’s downgrade is another psychologically important moment in the decline of the West: the US and much of Europe, once uncontested superpowers, are now the world’s weakest economic link. The post-Bretton Woods era is coming to an end. Asia and the emerging nations are on [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 4, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES E-PETITIONS SITE CRASHES ON LAUNCH A new e-petitions website allowing members of the public to put forward motions for debate by MPs has crashed under the weight of 1,000 visitors a minute trying to register proposals on issues such as the return of capital punishment and leaving the European Union. ICBC TO BUY [...]
Evolution’s turn in the bid spotlight August 3, 2011 Evolution chief executive Alex Snow, a former rugby player for Harlequins, is said to have been looking less than enthusiastic about things recently. Like others in the small cap market in the City he has been bemoaning a lack of corporate finance activity, including a dearth of share offerings (the IPO of Nat Rothschild’s Vallares, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 3, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES HEFNER SON-IN-LAW SETTLES CASE The son-in-law of Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy Enterprises, has been sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly trading shares based on secret information he learnt from his wife, the magazine publisher’s long-time chief executive. William Marovitz, who is married to Hefner’s daughter Christie, agreed to [...]
GKN beats profit foreacast August 3, 2011 Industrials group GKN beat first-half profit forecasts, driven by new products and strength in emerging markets in its automotive business, and tipped its aerspace division to improve in the coming years. GKN, which produces auto components as well as airframes for planemakers Airbus and Boeing reported a 14 per cent rise in pretax profit to [...]
BMW drives ahead on China’s craving for luxury as Toyota sales hit by quake August 2, 2011 BMW yesterday tore through market expectations for second-quarter profits as more wealthy Chinese drove away with its revamped 5 Series saloon car. The company reported an 83 per cent jump in quarterly operating profit at its luxury car business, underpinned by surging sales of the 5 series and a 4.8 percentage point widening in its [...]
Strewth – Aussie dollar strength set to continue August 2, 2011 ESCAPING EUROZONE CONTAGION Despite the turmoil in the European Club-Med economies, where five year CDS rates and 10-year bond yields are on an upward trajectory, Australian credit markets have remained largely unaffected, and local bond issuance is solid. As James Hughes, senior market analyst for Alpari, points out, Australia has a strong balance sheet, comparatively [...]
Relief over debt deal is short-lived August 1, 2011 It didn’t take long for the relief caused by Sunday evening’s US debt plan to dissipate. First, there’s the dawning realisation that the plan itself, passed by the House late last night, is unlikely to help the US avoid some sort of debt downgrade. Nor is it likely to repair the wounds caused by weeks [...]