Bloomberg (October 10)
“Sony, Sharp and Panasonic now have a combined market capitalization of about $29 billion, compared with Sony’s peak valuation of about $120 billion in 1999. Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s market capitalization is $596 billion and Samsung’s is $175 billion.” Japan’s electronics makers seem to be following in the footsteps of Detroit’s automakers. They haven’t kept up with changing markets and are being left behind with higher costs and shrinking market share. “Having the most-advanced technology—once a key strength of Japanese manufacturers—matters less as consumers increasingly pay attention to content, apps and user-friendliness rather than hardware specifications.”
Economist (October 9)
As the U.S. presidential election heats up, the media is awash in party-related statistics. The Economist reports that since 1929, “America’s stockmarket has gained more under Democratic than Republican presidents” with Democratic administrations presiding over a 460% increase in nominal share prices versus 100% for Republican administrations. In terms of cumulative returns, the results are even starker. The Democrats scored 300% versus the Republican’s 0%.
Tags: Democrat, Election, Presidents, Republican, Share prices, U.S.
USA Today (October 9)
“California lawmakers are hoping to start a new trend: states managing retirement funds on behalf of private-sector workers.” Gov. Jerry Brown has already signed a law creating a fund to which employers would pay about 3% of each worker’s salary. While this might sound appealing, this is not a good solution. “Getting states into the business of running another kind of retirement fund, when they have done such a poor job with their existing ones, is a bad idea.”
Tags: Brown, California, Private-sector, Retirement funds
Financial Times (October 8)
“The Federal Reserve’s new round of quantitative easing may stall the dollar’s long term appreciation but it will not reverse it.” The dollar is being driven higher by four fundamentals: 1). The growing U.S. economy 2). The safe-haven status of U.S. bond markets 3). The shale gas revolution reducing U.S. dependence on imported energy 4). The determination of other central bankers not to let their national currencies appreciate. QE3 merely “presents headwinds to the dollar’s favourable fundamentals.”
Tags: Central bankers, Dollar, Economy, Fed, QE3, Safe haven, Shale gas, U.S.
Time (October 8)
“The Arab Spring has indeed been bumpy…. The days when the U.S. could manage events in the region through a network of local autocrats are over.” Looking ahead, one very real possibility is “regional chaos and, ultimately, a redrawing of the national borders that were imagined by Europeans at the end of World War I.”
“The Arab Spring has indeed been bumpy…. The days when the U.S. could manage events in the region through a network of local autocrats are over.” Looking ahead, one very real possibility is “regional chaos and, ultimately, a redrawing of the national borders that were imagined by Europeans at the end of World War I.”
Tags: Arab spring, Autocrats, Borders, Chaos, Europeans, Middle East, U.S.
The Economist (October 6)
“For investors around the world, the recovery seems assured. The MSCI global share index has risen almost 10% since July. The credit for this largely goes to central bankers.” This is not, however, a time for overconfidence. “As long as politicians in the world’s big three economies continue to dither, another global recession is possible.”
Tags: Central bankers, Economy, Investors, MSCI, Politicians, Recession, Recovery
Los Angeles Times (October 4)
“The United States experienced the warmest July in its history, with more than 3,000 heat records broken across the country.” Globally, it was 36th year in a row that temperatures in July have exceeded the average of the 20th century. There’s one good thing about all the heat. “The increasingly powerful evidence of a long-term warming trend is making climate-change denial more difficult to defend.”
Tags: Climate change, Denial, Global warming, Summer, Temperatures, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (October 3)
When the dust from all the debt crises settles, the “sure losers” are the young. “Virtually any political ‘solution’ on offer to the euro crisis or U.S. debt will essentially force people age zero to 35—jobs or no jobs—to spend their lifetimes paying off the rolled-over debt that bails out the politicians and guarantees benefit flows to the older half of the population, which will escape to worry-free graves before the crisis returns.”
New York Times (October 3)
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a case with implications for overseas companies. “The issue is whether American courts can hear cases brought by noncitizens against multinational corporations that do business in the United States for committing extreme human rights abuses abroad — and, if so, under what rules.” The Times believes that in general these cases should be allowed.The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a case with implications for overseas companies. “The issue is whether American courts can hear cases brought by noncitizens against multinational corporations that do business in the United States for committing extreme human rights abuses abroad — and, if so, under what rules.” The Times believes that in general these cases should be allowed.
Wall Street Journal (October 2)
Reform of money market funds seemed to grind to a halt last month when a draft rule was blocked by the Securities Exchange Commission. Now Commissioner Gallagher is indicating that “he favors giving investors accurate prices in real time.” That would provide Chairman Mary Schapiro with the votes she need. Rather than fight this reform, “the industry would be wise to work with Mr. Gallagher and Ms. Schapiro on a floating net-asset-value before it suffers a worse fate.”
Reform of money market funds seemed to grind to a halt last month when a draft rule was blocked by the Securities Exchange Commission. Now Commissioner Gallagher is indicating that “he favors giving investors accurate prices in real time.” That would provide Chairman Mary Schapiro with the votes she need. Rather than fight this reform, “the industry would be wise to work with Mr. Gallagher and Ms. Schapiro on a floating net-asset-value before it suffers a worse fate.”
