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Markets Shrug Off S&P Downgrades, Focus On Greece

January 17, 2012 by ·

European markets responded calmly to Standard & Poor’s decision to cut the credit ratings of a number of euro countries as France managed to tap bond market investors Monday despite the loss of its cherished triple-A rating.

The downgrades, which were based on concerns over Europe’s ability to handle its two-year debt crisis and the lack of economic growth, had been anticipated for weeks so the market impact was muted, especially since the U.S. is on holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Europe is set to remain the focus of attention all week as a number of bond auctions are due and Greece tries to clinch a debt deal with its private creditors. Last October, Greece’s partners in the eurozone sanctioned a deal whereby Greece’s creditors agree to take a cut in the value of their Greek bond holdings to help lighten the country’s debt burden. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Investments, Stock Market ·

Arab Stocks Lacklustre On Global Woes, Ahead Of Muslim Holiday

August 27, 2011 by ·

Major Arab stock markets extended losses this week as investors remained wary of steps being taken to shore up the ailing world economy and evade a double-dip recession, financial analysts said Friday.

They also pointed out that the weak performance of regional stock exchanges preceded a long holiday in the Middle East marking the Eid al-Fitr feast which heralds the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, due to come to a close either on Monday or Tuesday.

‘I believe Arab markets, particularly in the oil-rich Gulf area, will continue to monitor what measures being taken to give a hand to the US and European economies,’ Nizar Taher, chief of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, told German Press Agency dpa. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Investments, Stock Market ·

Oz Firm To Invest $116m In Tanzania Coal

August 26, 2011 by ·

Australia’s Intra Energy Corporation (IEC) plans to invest $236 million in Tanzania’s first privately funded coal mine and a coal-fired power plant to reduce nation’s reliance on hydro power, its chairman told Reuters on Wednesday.

IEC Executive Chairman Graeme Robertson said mining was expected to begin in the coming week, with the first consignment of coal expected in September.

The mine was projected to expand its output to 500,000 tonnes a year by 2013 – with a long-term maximum output capacity of 5 million tonnes a year, he said.

IEC’s local unit in east Africa’s second largest economy, Tancoal Energy, had already spent $23 million on exploration and initial development costs of the Mbalawala mine, in the south-west of Tanzania, Robertson said. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coal Mining, Industry, Investments ·

Corporate Profits Soar, So Why Are Hiring And Wages Stagnant?

July 22, 2011 by ·

Strong second-quarter earnings from McDonald’s, General Electric and Caterpillar on Friday are just the latest proof that booming profits have allowed Corporate America to leave the Great Recession far behind.

But millions of ordinary Americans are stranded in a labor market that looks like it’s still in recession. Unemployment is stuck at 9.2 percent, two years into what economists call a recovery. Job growth has been slow and wages stagnant.

“I’ve never seen labor markets this weak in 35 years of research,” says Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy, Investments ·

Euro Crisis Spreads – And Italy Could Be Next

July 18, 2011 by ·

For the first time, one of the core eurozone countries is in danger, which takes this drama to a new level. Richard Northedge reports

Whether you are on a Greek island, the Spanish coast, the Algarve or even driving through France, you will see the effects that bailing out over-borrowed governments is having; buildings half-built, people out of work, rising prices and the odd riot. But for the best, and perhaps most dangerous view of Europe’s future, the place to be is in Italy.

Here the crisis is deepening, and unless the contagion is halted, economists warn the single currency could crumble. “The dominos are falling one after another,” says Jacques Cailloux, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland. Spain risks following Portugal, Ireland and Greece, whose government debts have been downgraded to junk level, he warns. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Banking & Finance, Industry, Investments ·

Global Investments In Green Energy Up Nearly A Third To $211 Billion

July 10, 2011 by ·

China, developing countries are now biggest investors in large-scale renewables while Germany surges ahead on rooftop solar

Wind farms in China and small-scale solar panels on rooftops in Europe were largely responsible for last year’s 32% rise in green energy investments worldwide according to the latest annual report on renewable energy investment trends issued by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

Last year, investors pumped a record $211 billion into renewables — about one-third more than the $160 billion invested in 2009, and a 540% rise since 2004.

For the first time, developing economies overtook developed ones in terms of “financial new investment”–spending on utility-scale renewable energy projects and provision of equity capital for renewable energy companies. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Investments, Solar Power ·

Risks And Hurdles In Malaysia’s Aspiration To Be A High-Income Economy

November 14, 2010 by ·

A slower global economy could hamper Malaysia’s external trade performance, and that will ultimately bite into the country’s other economic activities.

THIS certainly serves as a wake-up call for us: Bloomberg over the week reported that by the end of this year, Singapore would probably have overtaken Malaysia as South-East Asia’s third-largest economy, after Indonesia and Thailand.

The report cited official estimates that Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) would grow at its fastest pace this year at 15%, hence generating a value of US$210bil; while Malaysia’s 2010 GDP would grow 7% to US$205bil. Nevertheless, we will only know for sure in February next year, when the actual data is released. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economy, Investments ·