02.23.10
Posted in All, hot news, money, news, top tagged All, blogs, life, marketing, political at 1:48 pm by carydalton
Filed at 2:06 a.m. ET
* Forecasts lower beer consumption in many regions in 2010
* Price increases set to be less than in 2009
* 2009 operating profit 2.095 bln euros vs forecast 2.10 bln
(Adds details, background)
BRUSSELS, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Heineken NV , the world’s third-largest brewer, forecast lower beer consumption in many regions, limited price increases and few cost benefits this year after reporting 2009 results broadly in line with expectations.
Heineken, like other brewers, suffered from recession-conscious consumers drinking less beer in 2009 but succeeded in pushing through price increases.
“The global economic environment will continue to lead to lower beer consumption and down-trading in a number of regions in 2010,” Heineken said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Dutch company, whose chief brands are Heineken and Amstel, Europe’s No.1 and No.3 beers, said it was committed to maintaining or increasing prices and would continue to pass on excise duty rises to consumers.
However, it said that price increases would not be as steep this year as they were in 2009.
The likely fall in raw material costs per hectolitre due to a temporary decline in the price of brewing barley would be offset by higher energy costs, rising advertising rates and increased marketing costs.
It would continue to drive through its three-year total cost management plan, which yielded 155 million euros in savings to operating income its first year in 2009 easy fast payday loans.
Heineken said that earnings before interest, tax (EBIT), and one-offs rose by 14 percent on a like-for-like basis to 2.095 billion euros ($2.85 billion) in 2009. The average forecast in a Reuters poll of 14 analysts was 2.10 billion euros.
That came despite a 5.4 percent fall in underlying consolidated beer volumes. A 4.5 percent improvement in pricing and sales mix translated into a 0.2 percent drop in revenue. Cost cutting then explained the profit increase.
World No.2 SABMiller said last month that its underlying beer volumes were flat in the last three months of 2009 as consumer demand in emerging markets offset declines in Europe, North America and South Africa.
Heineken’s pain has been greater than its peers given that some 70 percent of the Dutch brewer’s operating profit comes from the more sluggish European and North American markets.
Heineken bought Scottish & Newcastle with Carlsberg for 7.8 billion pounds ($12.06 billion) in 2008, chiefly getting the British assets.
However, it is set to boost its emerging market presence to 40 percent by buying the beer business of Mexico’s FEMSA. [ID:nLDE60A0DL]
Carlsberg also reports 2009 results on Tuesday. ($1=.7340 euros) ($1=.6469 pounds)
Heineken Sees Difficult 2010
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02.16.10
Posted in All, money, news, shortly, world of money tagged economics, financial, opinion, political, reviews at 10:48 am by carydalton
LONDON (Reuters) – Consolidation is needed in the global oil refining sector, the chief economist of BP Plc (BP.L) said on Monday, indicating more tough decisions ahead for an industry beset by poor margins.
Oil companies including BP and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) have reported billions of dollars of losses from their refining business in the fourth quarter 2009 as the economic crisis hit fuel demand.
"To put it bluntly and shortly, there will have to be some consolidation in the global refining industry," BP's Christof Ruehl said at the IP Week oil and gas industry conference.
Oil refiners faced a double blow in 2009 when world demand for fuel fell because of recession just as a host of new refining projects planned during the boom years came on stream, squeezing margins.
Additions to global oil refining capacity in 2009 were the highest in 30 years, Ruehl estimates.
Shell is looking to divest 15 percent of its global refining. U.S. rival Chevron (CVX.N) plans to close some of its refineries but has yet to say where.
The BP official said so-called simple refineries — without the capacity to convert heavy oil products into lighter fuels such as gasoline — would be most likely to close. Still, it was not simply a matter of closing plants for good.
"This is most likely to be not just about permanent shutdowns — it's about mothballing, running down crude runs, changing configurations," he told reporters.
DISADVANTAGE
Refineries in developed markets will be at a disadvantage compared with those in emerging markets, where governments often subsidies fuel prices, BP's Ruehl said payday loans.
"You would expect the impact on refiners to be worse in countries where there is no protection," he said.
Ruehl said he expected global refining utilization rates to fall in 2010.
Oil demand in developed OECD countries has peaked, according to BP and some other forecasts, while consumption is still expected to rise in emerging economies, such as China, for the foreseeable future.
Ruehl said he expected oil majors to seek acquisitions in China and other parts of Asia.
"These are the growing markets," he said.
An Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) executive attending the conference said the company was always reviewing the profitability of its assets worldwide, but any sale of the Exxon's Fawley refinery in the UK was not on the agenda.
"We continue to look at the economics of our operations around the world," Brad Corson, chairman of Exxon Mobil International, said when asked if the company planned any refinery sales.
"We currently have the largest refinery in the UK, Fawley refinery. We pride ourselves on being one of the most cost-effective refineries in the European region and as such we have no imminent plans in that regard."
(Editing by James Jukwey)
Global oil refining sector needs consolidation: BP
Hot News: China Sees Growth Engine in a Web of Fast Trains
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02.04.10
Posted in .com, All, Free blog Tips, hot news, shortly tagged economics, events, markets, political, politics at 6:12 am by carydalton
GENEVA – In an embarrassment to Switzerland’s government, the country’s top court said Wednesday that at least $4.6 million in Swiss bank accounts previously awarded to charities must be returned to the family of Haiti’s ex-dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier.
The decision was reached on Jan. 12, just hours before the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti, killing at least 150,000 people. The ruling is urelated to the disaster, but the amount of money contested could feed more than a million Haitians for two weeks.
The court’s decision was only published Wednesday, prompting the Swiss government to issue an emergency decree to keep the money frozen in a Swiss bank until a new law can be passed allowing it to be donated to aid groups working in Haiti.
“This is a public relations disaster for Switzerland,” said Mark Pieth, a Swiss professor with a long resume in international corruption cases such as the U.N. oil-for-food scandal.
In the decision, the Federal Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s ruling that the money should have gone to aid groups working in the impoverished nation because the statute of limitations on any crimes committed by the Duvalier clan would have expired in 2001.
Delays are common in Switzerland between court verdicts and their public announcements, but the release of the decision could not have come at a worse time. Beyond depriving Haiti’s relief efforts of additional money, the ruling also strikes a blow at Switzerland’s long-standing efforts to shed its image as an investment haven for the world’s dictators.
“We assume that this money doesn’t belong to the Duvalier family,” said Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, the Swiss justice minister. “We’ve blocked the money again today to prevent that it goes somewhere that it shouldn’t for political reasons. We really hope that this money finally goes back to the country.”
Many Haitians accuse Duvalier and his entourage of robbing millions from public funds before he was ousted in 1986. Duvalier is believed to be living in exile in France and has always denied wrongdoing.
The decision cannot be appealed, but the Swiss Foreign Ministry said it would try to keep the money from being withdrawn while it works on a better national law for dealing with assets of “criminal origin.” It said the amount of money actually totaled $5.7 million, though the reason for the discrepancy was unclear.
The government “wants to avoid the Swiss financial center serving as a haven for illegally acquired assets,” it said in a statement, adding that a new law working retroactively could be ready this month. Widmer-Schlumpf was less optimistic, but said the law could come into effect as early as 2011.
Switzerland has traditionally been a favorite location for potentate money because of its banking secrecy rules. But reforms over the last two decades have made it harder to hide money in Switzerland, and the country has become a world leader in returning cash.
Virtually all of about $730 million in Swiss accounts linked to the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha has been sent back to the African country, while the Philippines recouped hundreds of millions stashed in Swiss banks by late dictator Ferdinand Marcos low cost payday loans.
Problems have nonetheless persisted, particularly linked to the statute of limitations. Last year, the heirs of late Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko recovered about $7.4 million, even though Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey had promised in 2007 to return the cash to the Congolese government.
Swiss officials gave few details about the new law they hoped to create to make it easier for assets belonging to deposed dictators to be repatriated to national governments. The current rules only allow Switzerland to return cash when asked for by a national government that is pursuing its own criminal investigation — a handicap in countries where amnesty laws, corruption or weak legal systems hinder prosecution of past leaders.
Haiti made its first request for the money in 1986, shortly after Duvalier’s ouster.
But it has been frozen ever since because Switzerland would not give it back while the Haitian government wasn’t pursuing Duvalier under its own justice system. As a way out, the Swiss government had proposed giving the money to aid groups working in Haiti.
“At a time when everyone tries to help Haiti, issuing a decision that the money belongs to the dictator’s family because of the statute of limitations is very clumsy,” Pieth said. “You have a head of state with a secret army that tortures people, and at the same time he empties the state treasury. The people cannot defend themselves. It’s robbing from the people, and this aspect has to be addressed by the court.”
The U.N. says about $2 billion has already been donated to various relief efforts in Haiti. But the country’s long-term problems related to infrastructure, endemic poverty and criminality means more will be needed to stabilize the country.
The $4.6 million may represent only a drop in the bucket, but the U.N. food agency could use it to feed 1.25 million Haitians for two weeks, said spokeswoman Emilia Casella.
The Supreme Court said it was unhappy about the ruling but that its hands were legally tied, forcing it to reverse an August decision that said the Duvalier family had essentially acted as a “criminal organization” by diverting public funds through a Liechtenstein foundation to accounts at UBS AG, Switzerland’s largest bank.
UBS declined to comment, but said the bank and its employees have donated $3 million to Haiti.
The Swiss government’s decision to keep the money blocked is based on an article in the Swiss Constitution giving it the power to issue emergency decrees to protect national interests. Officials wouldn’t explain the move further.
__
Associated Press writers Bradley S. Klapper and Frank Jordans contributed to this report.
Haiti, Swiss gov’t losers in Duvalier cash ruling
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01.28.10
Posted in .com, All, money, news, online tagged All, events, marketing, markets, political at 11:00 am by carydalton
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Bank of China said Thursday it may sell additional shares in Hong Kong even as it moves ahead with a 40 billion yuan ($5.9 billion) convertible bond sale, moves designed to ensure it meets capital adequacy ratios.
Asian Shares Mostly Up After Fed Announcement
Asian markets rise after a modest rise on Wall Street, and the Fed’s more upbeat assessment on the economy. Dow Jones Newswires’ Leslie Shaffer reports.
Bank of China said in statement filed with stock market regulators in Hong Kong that the fund raising is designed to help the bank maintain a capital adequacy ratio of at least 11.5% in 2010 and 2011.
The bank was the most aggressive in terms of issuing new loans last year, responding to Beijing’s order to help prop up the economy.
In total, Chinese banks extended 9.6 trillion yuan in 2009, nearly double levels from a year earlier.
Beijing has targeted an additional 7 car loans for people with bad credit.5 trillion yuan in new lending this year, stoking concerns that the institutions will need to raise funds to ensure they stay within regulatory requirements.
Bank of China said in a statement on Thursday that the timing of the Hong Kong equity sales would depend on market conditions, regulatory approvals and other factors.
The bank’s capital adequacy ratio may have slipped to below 11% at the end of December, down from 11.6% at the end of September, according to a report by Dow Jones Newswires Thursday, which cited unidentified analysts.
China Merchants Securities research estimates Bank of China will need to raise about 60 billion yuan in addition to the planed 40 billion yuan convertible bond to maintain an 11.5% capital adequacy ratio, the report said.
Bank of China may issue more HK-listed stock
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01.17.10
Posted in .com, business, economic, online, shortly tagged economics, finance, money, political, politics at 10:48 pm by carydalton
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Some banking analysts are bullish on U.S. regional banks as they expect fourth-quarter results to bring improved earnings per share and capital-ratio visibility, Barron's reported on Sunday.
Credit Suisse analyst Craig Siegenthalter says that while some regional banks will probably miss earnings estimates when results are announced in coming weeks, he believes the rate of change in non-performing assets and earnings charge-offs will move close to zero, Barron's reported.
Loan-loss provisions should peak in the fourth quarter, Siegenthalter said.
"If problem loans don't grow as much as expected and the deceleration is bigger than expected, that will cause a lot of buying of these stocks," Barron's quoted Siegenthalter as saying quick cash advance.
Stocks he rates as "outperform" include Bank of Hawaii Corp (BOH.N), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB.O), First Horizon National Corp (FHN.N) and SunTrust Banks Inc (STI.N), the newspaper said.
David Kovacs, a chief investment officer at Turner Investment Partners, told Barron's his favorites include Regions Financial (RF.N), Huntington Bancshares Inc (HBAN.O), Marshall & Ilsley Corp (MI.N) and Susquehanna Bancshares (SUSQ.O).
(Editing by Leslie Adler)
Outlook better for some regional banks
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01.07.10
Posted in .com, All, Free blog Tips, economic, hot news tagged campaign, life, markets, news, political at 10:30 am by carydalton
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Japan’s newly appointed Finance Minister Naoto Kan sent his nation’s currency significantly lower against its U.S. counterpart Thursday, as he used his inaugural press conference to talk down the yen.
Kan said many Japanese companies are in favor of the dollar trading around 95.00 yen, and that he will work with the Bank of Japan to get the currency to “appropriate” levels. The dollar spiked to 92.63 yen, from 92.15 yen before Kan spoke.
It is unusual for Japanese ministers to make comments on specific foreign-exchange levels.
The currency market trend “has been corrected a lot toward yen weakness since the Dubai shock … but I’m hoping the correction will make a bit more progress, making the yen weaker,” Kan was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday appointed the deputy prime minister — who will also keep that title — to replace Hirohisa Fujii, who stepped down for health-related reasons.
Kan “is a bit of a contrast to Fujii, who had, in our view, adopted a ‘benign neglect’ stance’” through December toward the Japanese yen, said strategists at Barclays Capital.
By contrast, Kan “has been expressing his preference” for a weaker yen, they said payday loan online.
“Thus, the government’s stance to prevent renewed [Japanese yen] strength has become clearer, and we think Kan’s appointment is likely to reduce the upside risk” for the yen, they wrote in a note to clients.
Ironically, Fujii once did the opposite of what Kan did Thursday.
In September, even before he was sworn in as finance minister, Fujii inadvertently sent the yen soaring when he was quoted as telling reporters that a strong yen had some economic benefits and that the recent foreign-exchanges moves weren’t rapid.
Not all analysts believe a weaker-yen stance is a given from now.
“We continue to expect the government to give priority to more pressure on the BOJ for additional easing and to reserve intervention as the last resort,” said Tomoko Fujii, a rates and currency strategist at Bank of America Securities-Merrill Lynch.
“We also think that the BOJ is likely to remain reactive. The BOJ probably intends to ease policy further only after sharp [Japanese yen] appreciation increases risks of deeper deflation,” she said in emailed comments.
Japan’s new finance minister call for weaker yen
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01.02.10
Posted in .com, Free blog Tips, hot news, news, shortly tagged All, economy, money, political, writing at 9:30 am by carydalton
by Yang Lei
NEW YORK, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) — When investors open their books for a new year, without doubt that China will be a hot spot that they can’t afford to miss. And for many who have closely followed the country’s rise from economic slowdown, there are still uncovered opportunities lying in this vastly diversified market.
“We believe that there’s a lot of momentum in the market,” Matt Comyns, CEO of JLM Pacific Epoch, told reporters. Comyns has compiled a list of 60 reasons to be bullish about China, one of which is the great potential in many cities whose names most westerners haven’t even heard of.
“China has more than 100 cities with more than 1,000,000 people in (each),” he said. “The story of the recovery has been in the second and the third-tier cities.”
To explore business opportunities in less known Chinese cities has become more appealing. In late September, 2009, world’s leading mail system provider Pitney Bowes inked a deal with Digital China, in a bid to expand its business to small- and medium-size companies across China.
The Stamford, Connecticut based company entered Chinese market more than a decade ago, but its high-end hardware and software tools and services that support effective customer communications have been only available to large companies in cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
“With the tremendous growth of the Chinese economy, (there are) more and more opportunities for small and medium sized companies to do mailings for both transaction purposes and marketing purposes,” Michael Monahan, CFO of Pitney Bowes told Xinhua.
Digital China appears to be a perfect partner. As China’s largest information technology distribution and service company, Digital China has a presence in six hundred Chinese cities and a network of more than five thousand resellers and system integration partners.
Many U.S. investors have noticed that the Chinese government’s vast efforts on inland/western development have led to GDP gains in inland provinces that have significantly outstripped traditional coastal counterparts.
Comyns gave an example that 13 provincial level regions reported double-digit GDP growth in 2008, with Inner Mongolia region leading with 16.2 percent GDP growth compared to 7 percent for the coastal Shanghai region.
One Chinese company which is rooted in the Inner Mongolia region has made it to the Nasdaq Global Select Market in 2009.
Zishen Wu, CEO of Yongye International, Inc., didn’t impress Wall Street investment bankers when he showed up in old worn shoes covered with dust. But when he told them his company’s patented plant nutrient would boost production by 10 to 30 percent and has been popular among Chinese farmers, he finally went home with the largest investment a Chinese agriculture technology company has obtained in 2008.
Just a year later, Yongye successfully switched from OTC board.
More and more companies like Yongye have attracted U emergency cash loans.S. investors. By December, 2009, Nasdaq has had 32 new listings from China, including 9 initial public offerings (IPOs), Robert McCooey, senior vice president of New Listings and Capital Markets of the NASDAQ OMX Group, told Xinhua.
One highlight of this year’s new listings from China, McCooey pointed out, is the “great geographic diversity.”
“We have companies from all different industries and provinces. We have our first listing from Tianjin; we went from no listing in Henan Province to 4 listings,” McCooey said, “And now we have listings from 11 to 12 different provinces in China.”
McCooey had traveled three times to China since May 2009 and planned to visit more. “There are tens of thousands enterprises in China with global aspirations, and Nasdaq is expecting more of them in the future,” he added.
Global aspirations are not unique to large brands. Overseas investors have become aware of the less known small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in China, which have constituted an essential part of the national GDP as the government establishes policies and funds aimed at promoting innovation and entrepreneurship.
Statistics indicate that over 60 percent of GDP, half of collected taxes, and 70 percent of the import and export value had been contributed by SMEs by the end of 2008.
U.S. capital market more frequently opened arms to these Chinese SMEs. In April 2009, Changyou.com Ltd marked the first IPO on Nasdaq and was the largest Chinese IPO on a U.S. exchange since December 2007.
Less than six months later, another Chinese online video games operator Shanda Games became the third largest IPO in the U.S. market in 2009 with 1 billion U.S. dollars it has raised.
Another area that Chinese companies have submitted great performances in 2009 is the green energy. New York-listed solar companies like Suntech and Yingli Green Energy have far outperformed the big board.
For foreign investors, Chinese government’s policy and measuresto spur the SMEs have been another huge plus.
“China is a green tech leader,” Comyns said, “China is spending30 billion dollars on green technology as part of its current stimulus plan. An example of a new policy recently unveiled is the ‘Golden Sun’ initiative, which aims to achieve solar power generation by 2011.”
In 2009, China decide to launch venture capital foundation for small businesses, to issue first batch of pool bills to help small firms raise funds, and the Nasdaq-style board ChiNext started trading by the end of October.
Looking ahead, China’s growing story will involve more cities with potential and more companies with entrepreneur spirit in a government-backed environment. U.S. investors will set to explore new territories of prosperity as to benefit from the rising economy.
Feature: U.S. investors eye new frontier in Chinese market
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01.01.10
Posted in business, hot news, money, news, shortly tagged All, blogs, political, reviews, world at 3:06 am by carydalton
NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) — The dollar was mixed against major currencies on Thursday in the last trading day of 2009 with thin volume.
U.S. initial claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly declined to 432,000 in the week ending December 26, the lowest level since July 2008, the Labor Department reported. Analysts cautioned that it can be difficult to properly seasonal adjust weekly claims at this time of year due to shifts in the holiday calendar.
A series of important economic reports will be released in the first week of 2010, including construction spending, ISM manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes, motor vehicle sales and the non-farm employment report.
If the reports were as positive as expected, the dollar will continue rising as it decouples from risk sentiment.
For more than a year, there has been a correlation between strong dollar and bad economic news as foreign exchange investors took the dollar as a safety haven currency fast cash without a hassle. The correlation seemed to be fading in the past month amid encouraging U.S. economic data.
In the next week, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes for its latest monetary policy meeting. Investors are closely watching the minutes and a major speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for any clues about policy outlook of the central bank.
The euro bought 1.4321 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.4334 dollars it bought late Wednesday. The pound rose to 1.6169 dollars from 1.6069 dollars.
The dollar fell to 1.0473 Canadian dollars from 1.0554 Canadian dollars, and rose to 93.07 Japanese yen from 92.46 Japanese yen. It fell to 1.0356 Swiss francs from 1.0370 Swiss francs.
Dollar mixed against most major currencies
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12.19.09
Posted in money, news, shortly, top, world of money tagged campaign, finance, marketing, political, work at 1:48 pm by carydalton
When ConocoPhillips bet big on gas with the $36 billion purchase of Burlington Resources in 2005, it was widely expected to cause copycat deals. Instead the deal became a cautionary tale in the oil patch. Investors are clearly concerned about a repeat performance. They’ve wiped almost $20 billion off Exxon Mobil’s market capitalization since the oil giant agreed to buy XTO Energy for $31 billion this week. But they should give Exxon more credit for learning from its rival’s blunders.
Rex Tillerson, Exxon’s chief executive, appears already to have side-stepped Conoco’s pivotal error: timing. Just a day after the Burlington deal was announced, gas prices hit a record $15.78 per thousand cubic feet. Consequently, by the time Conoco pounced, Burlington shares had already gained 90 percent that year, making them the sixth best performer in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index.
Fast forward a few years and natural gas trades at roughly a third of its peak price in 2005. Saddled with debt taken on to buy Burlington, Conoco is now trying to dispose of $10 billion of assets in what appears to be a buyer’s market. The deal ultimately led to more than $30 billion in write-downs for Conoco, by Deutsche Bank’s tally.
Contrast that with Exxon’s swoop on XTO. Even including Exxon’s healthy premium, XTO shares are still more than 30 percent below their June 2008 high. Meanwhile, XTO’s shrewd hedging will shield Exxon from the grim outlook for gas prices at least until 2011, by which time demand may have picked up.
Infelicitous timing isn’t the only factor that sabotaged the Burlington deal. Conoco failed to keep key managers like Randy Limbacher, the highly regarded chief operating officer, and the heads of production in the United States and Canada. Many of them drifted back to independent explorers.
By setting up a separate unconventional gas unit at XTO’s home base in Fort Worth, Tex., Exxon seems determined not to squeeze out talent. In any event, given Exxon’s track record in the industry, it seems odd that investors are not giving its management the benefit of the doubt. At the very least, they can thank Conoco for handing them some valuable lessons in what not to do.
A Lehman Ruling
Lehman Brothers’ creditors are being sorted into haves and have-nots auto loans for bad credit. Fifteen months after the investment bank collapsed, London’s High Court has ruled that cash held on behalf of clients can be returned only if it was properly segregated from Lehman’s own money. Clients whose money should have been separated, but wasn’t, have been left out in the cold.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the firm administering the bankruptcy of Lehman’s British arm, has identified $2.1 billion of cash that was definitely ring-fenced. But former clients and affiliates of Lehman argued that a further $3 billion should have been segregated under the British financial regulator’s rules. That claim has been dismissed. A collection of hedge funds that lost out will appeal. If they fail, they will have to join the queue of unsecured creditors.
Goldman Sachs and the hedge fund firm GLG Partners are among the winners from the ruling. It is not clear whether that was a result of luck or shrewd renegotiation of their agreements with Lehman as it got into trouble. The fact that two of Europe’s most powerful fund managers have ended up on the right side of the judgment suggests the latter.
But even clients whose money was properly segregated may not be repaid in full. PricewaterhouseCoopers has warned of a $1 billion shortfall if German administrators refuse to release funds transferred to Lehman’s German subsidiary shortly before its demise.
The Financial Services Authority, the British regulator, does not emerge well from this episode. It had rules in place that should have protected client money, but they were not properly enforced.
Still, there are encouraging signs that the British authorities have learned from the Lehman events. The government’s new paper on dealing with failing investment banks includes a whole chapter on safeguarding client assets. That may be scant consolation for funds left on the wrong side of the High Court judgment. They have learned their lesson the hard way.
CHRISTOPHER SWANN and NICHOLAS PAISNER
For more independent financial commentary and analysis, visit www.breakingviews.com.
Reuters BreakingViews: Merger Lessons In the Oil Patch
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12.15.09
Posted in economic, money, news, online, top tagged business, campaign, news, political, writing at 7:12 am by carydalton
SYDNEY — How can a company give away millions of products, help poor people, address climate change and turn a profit? A boutique energy company run by the unlikely partnership of an Anglican priest and a handful of business executives thinks it has the key.
The Melbourne company, Cool nrg International, is handing 30 million energy-efficient light bulbs out to poor and middle-income families in Mexico in a bid to capture a previously untapped corner of the carbon offset trading market and to nudge the developing world toward cleaner energy.
Cool nrg is one of a growing number of businesses trying to cash in on the multibillion-dollar market for carbon offsets approved by the United Nations under its Clean Development Mechanism, a program created by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to fight emissions of greenhouse gases. The program allows wealthy countries that have binding greenhouse gas targets to offset their emissions by investing in clean technology in developing countries, which have no targets.
The Mexican venture, called Cuidemos Mexico, or Let’s Take Care of Mexico, is the first C.D.M. project to focus on reducing energy demand by improving efficiency at the household, rather than the industrial, level. It is also the first project to receive “programmatic” status, meaning that it can be introduced at multiple sites without needing U.N. approval each time.
The company’s executive director is Nic Frances, 48, a charismatic former stockbroker turned Anglican priest who has been given a seat at the World Economic Forum in recognition of his success in setting up socially responsible enterprises.
Before moving to Australia in 1998, Mr. Frances ran two large projects in his native Britain that trained unemployed people to restore castoff furniture and electrical appliances that were then sold to low-income households. He also ran a Christian charity in Australia before turning his sights on the environment. At Cool nrg, his partners include executives drawn from Ernst & Young and BP Asia.
Mr. Frances and his backers believe their project will address some of the main criticisms that have been leveled against the C.D.M., which is being reviewed by international negotiators in Copenhagen as they try to develop out a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
The idea is relatively simple: By the end of 2012, the company plans to distribute 30 million compact fluorescent light bulbs to 7.5 million households across Mexico — four bulbs per home. To receive the bulbs, each family must hand over four energy-gobbling incandescent bulbs and a power bill as proof of address. The details are recorded in a database to avoid duplication and to stop profiteers from stockpiling and reselling the bulbs.
For every ton of carbon saved by the lights — a large sample of which will be monitored using wireless devices — Cool nrg receives a U.N.-certified carbon credit that it can sell to a country or company seeking to meet its emissions targets.
Over 10 years, the average life of a compact fluorescent bulb, the company expects to generate about 7.5 million carbon credits. On the European Climate Exchange, credits for greenhouses gases that have already been saved — called certified emissions reductions — trade for about €13, or $19. But many entities, including Cool nrg, have chosen to sell their relatively riskier, not-yet-generated credits at fixed discounts that are not made public.
While Cool nrg makes money selling carbon credits, Mexican families can enjoy lower energy bills, since compact fluorescent bulbs consume as much as 80 percent less electricity than standard incandescents. And the Mexican government — which underwrites electricity costs for low-income families — is expected to reap a double windfall, paying fewer subsidies and deferring the need to build new power plants immediate payday loans online.
Cool nrg gave out the first million light bulbs in the Mexican state of Puebla in November, supported by a loan from the ING Group and a promise from a Dutch utility, Eneco Energie, to purchase all of the 240,000 credits that are expected to be created by the Puebla project in the next 10 years. It also has the right of first refusal for buying any credits generated by the remaining 29 million bulbs.
The lack of certainty around the future of the carbon market after the Kyoto accord expires is keeping the price of carbon credits relatively low, Mr. Frances said. Mexico is covering about 30 percent of the project’s costs — but the proportion could fall if the price of carbon credits rises.
The Puebla pilot is unlikely to turn a profit, “but we did it because we wanted to show, by Copenhagen, that it would work,” Mr. Frances said. “However, at a price of €18 a ton, projects like this suddenly become very profitable — and we don’t have to do the others until the price is right.”
In its submission to the United Nations, Cool nrg estimated that the project would save Mexican families about $165 million a year in electricity bills, while the government would save $200 million a year in subsidies.
“For the Mexican government, which owns the power companies, this is a really cheap way of effectively building a power station,” Mr. Frances said.
But Mr. Frances’s profit vehicle — the Clean Development Mechanism — has plenty of detractors.
Critics say that the mechanism has become distorted, despite its good intentions. The ratio of one credit per ton of greenhouse gases saved has given rapidly industrializing countries with large, emissions-intensive factories — China, in particular — a substantial edge over smaller rivals.
And the high cost of shepherding a project through the labyrinthine U.N. approval process has shut many poorer countries out. In 2006, more than 60 percent of approved projects were in China. India received 12 percent and Brazil, 6 percent. African countries all together received just 3 percent.
Cool nrg chose Mexico in part to show that it was possible to run a successful C.D.M. project outside China, India or Brazil. Also, Mexico’s relatively heavy use of fossil fuels for electricity translated into more carbon credits for every kilowatt hour of power saved, making the project potentially more profitable.
Many environmental groups say the C.D.M. undermines efforts to curb greenhouse gases because it gives rich countries leeway to continue polluting when they buy credits from projects in China and India, where emissions are also rising quickly.
“We’re putting ever more greenhouse gas into the air,” said William Whitesell, the director of policy research at the Center for Clean Air Policy, a private research organization in Washington. The group is one of many advocating that the mechanism be substantially reformed in the post-2012 climate framework.
“The current system is a good start, but it is not making enough progress to achieve global climate goals” like cutting overall emissions, he said. “The major developing countries need to move away from C.D.M. credits that are based on everything relative to business as usual.”
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12.11.09
Posted in Free blog Tips, business, hot news, money, top tagged campaign, economy, news, political, reviews at 7:07 pm by carydalton
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. consumer sentiment improved in early December on signs of stabilization in the labor market and widespread discounts to entice holiday shoppers, a survey released on Friday showed.
The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its preliminary index of sentiment for December rose to 73.4, just a touch below the year's high set in September.
The latest figure was higher than the 67.4 for November. It was also higher than economists' median expectation of a reading of 68.5 according to a Reuters poll.
The survey's gauge of current economic conditions jumped to 79.1 in early December from 68.8 in November. This was the highest since March 2008 when it was 84 low fee payday advance.2.
The barometer on consumer expectations rose to 69.7 from 66.5 in November.
"Confidence improved in early December mainly due to widespread price discounting by merchants attempting to spark holiday sales as well as somewhat more positive expectations for economic growth and employment," Richard Curtin, director of the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, said in a statement.
(Reporting by Richard Leong, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
U.S. consumer mood improves in early December
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12.03.09
Posted in All, Free blog Tips, economic, hot news, online tagged blogs, finance, markets, news, political at 3:23 am by carydalton
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) — The United Nations predicted on Wednesday that the world economy would bounce back next year with a global growth rate of 2.4 percent, but warned of a risk of a double-dip recession if wrong policies are implemented.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Rob Vos, Director of Development Policy and Analysis from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), ahead of the launch next month of the “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2010 (WESP).”
The United Nations report credited massive policy stimuli injected worldwide since late 2008 for the expected rebound. It recommended that the stimuli continue at least until there are clearer signs of a more robust recovery of employment growth and private sector demand.
“This is an important turnaround after the free-fall in world trade, industrial production, asset prices, and global credit availability which threatened to push the global economy into the abyss of a new Great Depression in early 2009,” the report said.
It noted that while an increasing number of countries showed positive growth since the second quarter of 2009 and the recovery momentum continued to build in the third quarter, “because of the steep downturn in the beginning of the year, world gross product is estimated to fall by 2.2 percent for the year (2009).”
The report warned that “the recovery is uneven and conditions for sustained growth remain fragile.” It noted that firms have mainly begun to restock inventories, rather than respond to stronger consumer or investor demand.
The report also cautioned against potential risks from a widening United States deficit and mounting external debt, which could cause a “hard landing of the U.S. dollar and cause a new wave of financial instability.”
“We’re not so much concerned if the dollar weakens further,” Vos told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York immediate payday loans online. “What we’re concerned with is the volatility. That’s bound to upset markets and will make markets more reluctant to supply credit.”
According to the report, economic growth next year will be strongest in developing countries, particularly in China and India, which are expected to grow at 8.8 and 6.5 percent respectively.
This growth should not be interpreted as progress in poverty reduction, however.
While fewer developing countries in 2010 are expected to suffer declining per capita incomes, fewer countries will also achieve the threshold economic growth rate of 3 percent or more, the minimum needed to ensure substantial poverty reduction.
The report will be released in entirety on Jan. 15, 2010. WESP is an annual publication produced by DESA, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the five UN regional commissions.
UN says slow rebound for 2010 but risk of “double-dip recession”
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) — The world economy is expected to slowly rebound in 2010 but not without a risk of a “double-dip recession” if policymakers do not undertake significant “rebalancing acts” warns a pre-release report here Wednesday by the UN economic division, the United Nations said here Wednesday.
The statement was contained in the preview of the annual report, entitled “the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2010 (WESP),”which was released here by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and five UN regional commissions. Full story
Global economy to rise by 2.4% in 2010, but recovery still “fragile”: UN
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11.26.09
Posted in All, economic, hot news, news, online tagged financial, life, personal, political, reviews at 12:30 am by carydalton
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose in light trading volume on Wednesday, supported by data that pointed to stabilization in the labor and housing markets, areas that have fed concerns about a "double dip" recession.
Trading volume was among the lightest of the year one day before the Thanksgiving holiday, with many senior traders absent from trading floors. Even so, the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 edged to fresh 13-month highs.
Natural resource stocks got a lift from the weak dollar, which slumped to a 15-month low against a basket of currencies, partly because the better-than-expected data encouraged investors to look to assets with higher returns.
New claims for jobless benefits fell sharply in the latest week, while sales of new U.S. single-family homes rose in October to their highest level in a year.
Investors have been concerned that the sluggish performance of these areas could push the economy back into recession in a so-called "double dip."
Fred Dickson, market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon, said the drop in weekly jobless claims and stronger home sales set a slightly better economic tone.
"It's a little bit of a Thanksgiving lift on Main Street," he said. "On a different day this week, we probably would have seen a big bounce in the market."
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) gained 30.69 points, or 0.29 percent, to end at 10,464.40. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) rose 4.98 points, or 0.45 percent, to 1,110.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) advanced 6.87 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 2,176.05.
U.S. financial markets will be closed on Thursday to mark Thanksgiving. On Friday, trading resumes, but the U.S. stock market will close early at 1 p.m. (1800 GMT).
Gold stocks were having a big day as the price of gold broke another record above $1,180 an ounce. U.S. gold miner Newmont Mining Corp (NEM.N) rose 2.9 percent to $54.90.
The Arca Gold Bugs index (.HUI), which measures the performance of 15 gold miners with U.S.-listed stock, rose 2.8 percent. The index is up 190 percent since late October 2008.
The Dow Jones industrial metals and mining index ( personal loans.DJUSIM) rose 2.2 percent as rising metal prices boosted miners' stocks.
Shares of energy companies rose as U.S. front-month oil futures climbed $1.94, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $77.96 per barrel. Marathon Oil Corp (MRO.N) added 1.6 percent to $33.53.
On the earnings front, shares of Tiffany & Co (TIF.N) added 4.9 percent to $43.89 after the luxury retailer reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations and raised its full-year profit view.
Deere & Co (DE.N) shares gained 2.7 percent to $53.70. The world's largest maker of tractors and harvesters reported a quarterly net loss on Wednesday on weak equipment sales and a series of one-time charges. But the results excluding special items were better than analysts' estimates.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (.VIX), or the VIX, a favorite barometer of investor sentiment, sank to its lowest level in 15 months, falling as low as 20.05 during the session. The VIX ended on Wednesday at 20.48, up just 0.05 percent.
Yet another government report showed U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in October, while a final reading of consumer sentiment was revised up slightly in November, but was still down from October's reading, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan survey.
The positive economic data offset a report on new orders for U.S. durable goods, or long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods, which unexpectedly fell in October, weighing on stocks in early morning trading.
Volume was anemic on the New York Stock Exchange, where only about 795 million shares changed hands, far below last year's estimated daily average of 1.49 billion.
On the Nasdaq, about 1.41 billion shares traded, well below last year's daily average of 2.28 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about 2 to 1.
But on the Nasdaq, the opposite trend prevailed, with seven stocks falling for every six that rose.
(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Jan Paschal)
Stocks end higher on jobless claims, home sales
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