BRIC

China Attempts Stimulus

China cuts reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 0.5% China will lower banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 0.5 percentage points starting 18 May, the country’s central bank announced Saturday. The cut, the 2nd of its kind this year, will lower the RRR for the country’s large financial institutions to 20% and the medium- and small-sized [...]

South Africa Outlook Downgraded

South Africa’s economy is feared to be plagued by new challenges in the coming months. The manufacturing output slid unexpectedly by 4.3% in March, and factory production fell by 2.7% year on year, marking the 1st decline in 8 months, the South African newspaper the Business Day reported on Friday, citing Statistics South Africa (Statistics [...]

China Winning Iron Ore War

RIO, BHP, FSUGY Aussie billionaire, Gina Rinehart’s A$9-B Roy Hill project has signed up to sell some of its iron ore on China’s 1st electronic trading platform, despite the operation being more than 2 yrs away from producing the steel making commodity, the Australian reported Friday. A spokesman for Roy Hill Holdings, which is 70% [...]

China Economic Update Gold, RMB

China’s Gold output + 10% in Q-1 China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced Friday that the country’s Gold output in Q-1 of Y 2012 reached 80.8 tons, + 10% Y-Y. In March alone, Gold output hit 29.8 tons, compared to 26.2 tons in the same period last year, a statement on the ministry’s [...]

Bank of China (HKG:3988) Move in on Chicago

US approves Bank of China’s (HK:3988), (PK:BACHY) Chicago branch The Bank of China, China’s 3rd largest bank, announced Thursday that the US Federal Reserve approved it to set up a branch in Chicago. A statement on the bank’s website said that, after the establishment of the branch, its business will expand to Central and Western [...]

Putin Jails Opposition

President Vladimir Putin promised to project Russia’s might on the world stage in a rallying speech on Wednesday to troops and war veterans celebrating victory over Nazi Germany at a military parade with weapons in Red Square. Two days after starting his six-year term, Mr. Putin, flanked by military Chiefs and his defense and prime [...]

Asia Trading Preview Gold, Silver, Copper and Crude Oil

US Gold futures prices finished US pit trade lower, but well off of the session lows. Prices tapped a new 17-wk low on Wednesday. The market had another raw commodity Bearish risk-off trading day Wednesday as the EU debt issues are in focus again. New technical selling also hit Gold and Silver this week. Jun [...]

Russian Jet Vanishes Near Jakarta

A Russian Superjet 100 is missing near Jakarta with up to 50 people on board. Crisis Staff reported that there were 50 people on board, including eight Russians, two Italians, one French and one American citizens and 38 citizens of Indonesia. Indonesian authorities suggested the airplane may have been hijacked or crashed into a mountain [...]

The 2nd World Smart Grid Conference India

Join in India’s Journey to Smart Grid! The 2nd World Smart Grid Conference India Week Follow the success of World Smart Grid Conference India Week 2011 organized in Mumbai, the organizing committee of World Smart Grid Conference is pleased to announce the 2nd annual event will be held in New Delhi in Sep 12 to [...]

China bets on Nucler Free Japan

After suffering losses last year due to US anti-subsidy and anti-dumping investigations, Chinese solar panel manufacturers may be seeing a light near the end of the tunnel: a nuclear-free Japan. Even before Japan announced Sunday that it shut down the country’s last working nuclear power plant, Chinese photovoltaic companies began tapping the Japanese market in [...]

Investor Services

Private Equity Takes a Hit in Q1 2012

Most private-equity and hedge funds typically take 20 percent of investment gains as carried interest, on top of 2 percent of assets as a management fee to …