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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 20:21 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	*Spain Just Raised $5.2 Billion At A Successful Bond Auction* MADRID (AP) — Spain has successfully raised euro4 billion ($5.2 billion) at a bond auction, with investor appetite strong despite persistent jitters over the country's economy and the Greek debt crisis. The Treasury sold euro2.3 billion in three-year bonds at an average interest rate of 3.3 percent, up from 2.9 percent at a comparable auction on Feb 2. It also sold euro733 million in another 3-year bond with a different coupon rate, and about euro1.1 billion in bonds maturing in 2019. There were no comparable interest rates for these. Demand was 2.2, 4.6 and 3.2 times larger than supply. The auction came as the government confirmed Spain's economy shrank in the fourth quarter and Parliament prepared to pass a bill designed to strengthen the Spanish banking sector.
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 20:18 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	*China Could Soon Overtake India As The Biggest Gold Market In The World* Mamta Badkar HONG KONG (AP) — China is poised to overtake India to become the world's biggest gold market this year as rising incomes fuel demand for the precious metal and a weak rupee diminishes Indian purchases, an industry group said Thursday. The amount of gold bought in China rose 20 percent in 2011 over the year before to 770 metric tons, the World Gold Council said in its annual report. That put China behind only first-place India, where 933 metric tons were bought. Worldwide, the amount of gold purchased rose 0.4 percent to 4,0671 metric tons worth $205.5 billion. The council said it's " likely that China will emerge" as the world's largest gold market for the first time in 2012. Rising incomes in China, which is the world's No. 2 economy, have resulted in a surge in demand for gold jewelry and other luxury goods. China became the world's largest market for gold jewelry in the second half of 2011 as demand rose in every quarter, the report said. Gold bars, coins and other gold-backed products are also popular because of a lack of other investment options in China. The long-term rise in the price of gold has also made it a popular hedge against inflation — gold hit a record nominal high of $1,891.90 an ounce in August, though prices have fallen since then. Gold futures for April delivery ended trading in New York on Wednesday at $1,728.10 an ounce. Central banks, many in developing economies, also boosted gold sales as they sought to diversify their growing piles of foreign currency reserves. They bought 439.7 metric tons of gold last year, up from 77 metric tons the year before and the highest amount since 1964, the report said. The poor performance of China's stock and property markets — the other two main choices for Chinese with money to invest — is boosting the popularity of gold as an investment, said Albert Cheng, a managing director at the London-based World Gold Council. The Shanghai Composite Index is down 20 percent over the past year while house prices are starting to fall after authorities put in place curbs to cool an overheated market. Strong Chinese demand for gold also helped sales leap 33.5 percent last year in Hong Kong, a popular destination for wealthy mainland shoppers because of lower taxes in the semiautonomous Chinese territory. Demand for gold jewelry in India, meanwhile, fell in the second half of 2011 because of the weakening rupee, which made gold more expensive. Indians also grappled with high inflation last year that ate away their purchasing power, so they bought smaller amounts of gold, Cheng said.
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 19:58 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	*Without A Marshall Plan For Greece, There’s No Hope* Wikipedia One of a number of posters created by the Economic Cooperation Administration to sell the Marshall Plan in Europe. Back in the hot days of July 2011, European leaders demanded austerity from Greece, but also agreed on a Greek haircut, or PSI to create some relief. In addition, they were warming up for a “Marshall plan” for Greece. Perhaps the leaders were excited towards their August vacations. The phrase “Marshall plan” has disappeared with the winter. Without some kind of hope for growth, the Greek recession will continue to deepen, and this will continue weighing on the euro. The original “Marshall Plan” was for Germany, now the master of the EU. The US and its allies learned the lesson of post WWI that led to the horrors of WWII and tried a different approach of recovering Germany. This was also part of the Cold War effort. The success was huge, and Germany became a strong and prosperous democracy. It’s very hard to compare the cases, yet Greece is certainly in economic ruins. The Hellenic Republic closed 2011 by losing 7% of its economy. This is certainly not the first year of “negative growth”. This is an outright depression. Everybody Shares the Blame Greece has itself to blame for cheating its way into the euro zone, easy pension schemes and high corruption. The EU certainly shares the blame for mishandling the current crisis. Also Germany and France, the core of the EU, violated the Maastricht treaty, and have higher than required debt levels. Together with an undervalued currency for these two countries, this enabled stronger growth in the years prior to the financial crisis. Two sides to the equation Greece has a super high debt-to-GDP ratio. It’s debt is larger than its economic output for a long time. The current program projects a return to a ratio of 120% in 2020. As there are two sides to blame for the debt crisis, there are two sides to the debt-to-GDP ratio. There’s no doubt that the EU is tackling the debt side. Job cuts, wage cuts and other means trim spending. Privatization and higher tax try to increase income. But some of these steps are counterproductive and just curb growth. Without growth, there is less tax revenue, and then new austerity measures are required. This is a bottomless hole. There are some steps that are supposed to encourage future growth: reforms in labor markets for example. This is certainly not enough, and not only because of slow Greek implementation. A Marshall Plan for Greece means investment in the debt struck country. Investments can create jobs, increase consumption, increase tax revenue and increase hope – a virtuous cycle instead of a vicious one. Greeks are seeing only pain and no gain. EU investment in Greece can also change their hostile and understandable attitude towards the EU, and especially Germany. Showing Greece the Door In recent weeks, there’s a growing feeling that the EU doesn’t want Greece in the euro-zone anymore. This can be seen in The demand to fix the small hole of 325 million euros. The demand that leaders pre commit to their actions after the elections. The idea to impose a commissioner on Greece. The idea of using an escrow account for the bailout, The idea of approving only a bridge loan now and more funds later and the list goes on. The most important part missing is a recovery plan for Greece: a Marshall Plan. Germany and France might feel confident now. The indirect QE by the ECB managed to stabilize banks and also lower the bond yields of “too big to fail” countries such as Spain and Italy. The shock absorbers are in place. The high level of uncertainty is weighing heavily on the euro. But even if Greece is kicked out and all the banks stay on their feet, the lack of any growth plans will continue wrecking havoc. Portugal will probably need a second bailout program. The EU considers a fine for Spain for not meeting requirements. Letting Greece go in order to deter other countries to comply might work and trigger full compliance, yet the this may be a Pyrrhic victory – the growth through austerity paradigm had little success so far. More austerity without growth will just open more bottomless pits and put pressure on the euro. A weaker euro certainly helped German growth. Perhaps they want to keep it low.
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 19:55 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	*History Shows That Default Is The Best Option For Greece* The Greek crisis has been solved…again. Let’s see…that’s probably about 24 “solutions” during the last 24 months. But since these solutions never seem to solve anything, Europe’s central bankers, technocrats and politicians get to huddle together every few weeks and solve the crisis over and over again. It’s kind of like Disneyland for euro-meddlers. They get to keep going on their favorite ride over and over again. Sure, they have to wait in line for a while each time, but the ride is so worth it! Lots of meddling, lots of intervening, lots of “tough negotiations,” lots of prescribing what’s best for others, while spending lots of money that belongs to someone else. If that’s not an “E-Ticket,” what is? The newest Greek solution — approved Monday by the fully employed politicians in the Greek Parliament — will hack 150,000 workers from the government payroll, while also slashing the minimum wage in the private sector by a whopping 22%! Thus, after days of “tense negotiations,” the ECB and the Greek leadership finally hammered out a deal to save the troubled nation from default. The folks on Wall Street were riotously happy the Greeks were merely rioting…and it is not difficult to see why. The newest austerity deal is not a rescue plan it is a captivity plan. It provides the same kind of “rescue” that a circus provides an elephant: Dance on a stool under the Big Top twice a day and we won’t forget to toss some hay into your cage. To change metaphors, the newest austerity plan is an imprisonment pan: It straps leg-irons onto a nation that is already shackled to a monstrous debt load and a deeply depressed economy. The country’s GDP is tumbling faster than Icarus into the Aegean Sea. “Anyone who thinks austerity is a way to fix a debt crisis should consider how this ‘medicine’ has worked on the Greek patient,” observes Chris Hunter, our colleague over at the Bonner Family Office. “Athens adopted strict budget targets in May 2010 in return for a €110 billion rescue. Last year the Greek economy shrank by 6% and the country’s budget deficit is still close to 10% of GDP. Meanwhile, unemployment has risen to a depression-level 18%. And over half of young Greeks are out of work. Hence the riots against austerity — against more-of-what-has-failed-miserably-several-times-already. And these are real rioters — not like those touchy-feely, iPad-toting Occupy Wall Street folks — with real grievances. Their main gripe: Why should I pay someone else’s debts? Why should I suffer because a prior generation spent much more than it earned, while also awarding itself retirement benefits the country cannot afford? Good questions. And yet, the solution to Greece’s fiscal squeeze may not be as elusive as the euro-meddlers and rescue-package architects make it seem. In lieu of extreme austerity measures, bond-restructuring deals and tranches of billion-dollar bailouts, the answer may simply be one little word: Default. It’s so simple the Greeks could do it all by themselves, without any help at all from the ECB, the Federal Reserve or any of their friends in Germany. Even so, most financial pundits use words like “unthinkable” or “disastrous” to describe the prospect of a Greek default. But history testifies to the contrary. Default is actually quite “thinkable” and rarely as disastrous as the “solution” the Greeks are now receiving. As the nearby chart shows, default is hardly a foreign concept on the European continent. Greece, itself, has defaulted or restructured its debt five different times since the country declared its independence in 1821. Over those 193 years, the country has spent about half of its time in default or restructuring. And yet, Greece still managed to scrape together enough cash along the way to build a few train lines, repair a few roads and host the 2004 Olympic Games. So why change tactics now? Why not let an insolvent debtor default and invite capitalism to do its work? That’s the process an Austro-Hungarian economist by the name of Joseph Schumpeter used to call “creative destruction”…and it has worked pretty well over the years, believe it or not. When nations let failing ventures fail, viable ventures usually rise up to take their place. Over the long term, this process nurtures economic growth. Remember, not every venture fails, only the failing ones. The Europeans have forgotten the ideas that their favorite son, Schumpeter, promoted. But then, so have we Americans. And so have most of the other Developed Nations of the world — the so-called Welfare States. Consider the divergent fates of two countries that came face-to-face with a financial crisis in 1990. One of these countries is still merely muddling along…20 years later! The other country is flourishing. That’s because one of these countries, Japan, responded to its crisis by coddling its crippled corporations and by throwing monumental sums of taxpayer dollars at failing financial institutions. The other country, Brazil, responded to its crisis with relatively savage measures. It defaulted on its debts, devalued its currency (more than once) and did not stand in the way of corporate failure. Brazil’s responses were far from perfect, but they were much less imperfect than were Japan’s. The origins and structures of their respective crises were very different from one another. But those differences were not as significant as their differing responses. Japan has spent 20 years coddling its insolvent banks and corporations. Brazil has spent 20 years moving in the opposite direction…more or less. Brazil tolerated a dose of creative destruction. Japan did not. It still doesn’t. Brazil’s central planners abandoned much of their central planning, not because the planners wanted to, but because they lacked the resources to do otherwise. Japan, on the other hand, possessed the national wealth and resources to continue rescuing and meddling. Too bad for Japan. Its economy has muddled along for two decades, while its stock market has produced a loss of 2% per year across that entire 20-year timeframe. By contrast, the Brazilian economy and stock market have both boomed during the last two decades, despite some very serious bumps along the way. Brazil’s resurgence is typical of countries that allow some measure of creative destruction to operate within their borders. Economies are able to endure a crisis and then resume growing, as long as governments are willing to “rip off the Band-Aid” rather than dosing themselves with morphine. During the last 20 years, many countries have defaulted and/or devalued, then resumed growing rapidly. Russia, Chile, and Indonesia are a few prominent examples. More recently, Iceland’s default and devaluation provides a textbook example of “default therapy”… or what Nobel laureate, Paul Krugman, termed “bankrupting yourself to recovery.” In late 2008, Iceland’s economy hit an iceberg. Although the country never reneged on any sovereign debt, its banks defaulted on $85 billion of foreign debt — more than double the $40 billion Russia defaulted on in 1998. Not surprisingly, the Icelandic krona collapsed and the economy plunged into a deep recession. Icelanders suffered an 18 percent slump in their disposable incomes and unemployment approached 10 percent, compared with one percent before the crisis. But the country’s pain and suffering did not last very long. The krona’s 80 percent slump against the euro and the US dollar sent the trade deficit into surplus within months. Today, the Icelandic economy is growing once again and the country is already able to borrow money again from the international capital markets. “Iceland didn’t have the ability to save the banks,” Finance Minister, Steingrimur Sigfusson, explained recently, when discussing Iceland’s decision to let its banks default. “This wasn’t our free choice.” Hmmm…Sounds like a recurring theme… Just maybe, a country with “no choice” is better off than a country with access to hundred-billion-dollar “rescue plans.” Just maybe, defaulting is less disastrous than borrowing money to defer a default. Certainly, the divergent paths of the Icelandic and Greek economies testify to the generative powers of “default therapy.” Iceland’s GDP is on the upswing already, while Greece’s GDP is sliding ever lower. Reflecting these trends, the Icelandic stock market is up 60% over the last three years, while the Greek stock market is down 60%. Apparently, economies function best when failure actually fails — clearing the way for new successes. So just maybe, default is a better course of action for Greece than indentured servitude to the ECB. A couple of Icelandic tourists told us exactly that in Zermatt, Switzerland last fall when we were conducting our Farewell Euro Tour. A few European politicians are beginning to express a similar point of view. The Dutch representative of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes, suggested that one man overboard would not sink the ship. “It’s always said,” Kroes remarked, “that if you let one country get out, or ask it to get out, then the whole structure collapses. But that’s simply not true.” Godfrey Bloom, a British Member of the European Parliament from the UK Independence Party, applauded Kroes’ remark. “Finally reality is beginning to dawn in Brussels and across Europe,” said Bloom. “One of the most senior European Commissioners has announced that ‘it is simply not true’ that if Greece were to leave the euro there would be disaster across the European financial system. This is what we in the UKIP have been saying for months, years even. “The best way to help Greece, and by extension ourselves,” Bloom continued, “is if we give them a helping hand down and out from the eurozone, rather than spending billions of pounds of taxpayer’s money building a golden prison. Our Government has been playing along to the doomster dialogue in order to justify its throwing money at the lost cause… No more British money should be spent making a bad situation worse.” Amen…and no more European money either…or American money…or Swiss money…or Japanese money. Greece will never agree to stay put inside its “Golden prison.” It will break out eventually…but probably not before the wardens at the ECB and IMF waste another hundred billion dollars reinforcing the prison’s locks and walls. This latest Greek bailout will fail just as decisively as all the bailouts that have preceded it. Regards, Eric J. Fry for The Daily Reckoning Default Therapy originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning, published by Agora Financial provides over 400,000 global readers economic news, market analysis, and contrarian investment ideas.
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 19:54 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	*John Paulson Says Greece May Soon Default And The Shock Might Be Worse Than The Lehman Bankruptcy* Hedge fund titan John Paulson is predicting that Greece may default by the end of next month causing the euro to break up, according to Bloomberg News. The billionaire hedge fund manager, who famously bet against the subprime mortgage market, thinks things will get really ugly if it does. From Bloomberg News: " We believe a Greek payment default could be a greater shock to the system than Lehman's failure, immediately causing global economies to contract and markets to decline,” the hedge fund said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News. The euro is " structurally flawed and will likely eventually unravel," it said.
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 19:46 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	SE Asia Stocks-All down, Singapore falls from 6-month high * Singapore down 1.1 percent, off 6-month high * Commodity-related stocks lead losses, Noble down 4.3 pct * Thailand, Indonesia down 0.6 percent By Vikram Subhedar Feb 16 (Reuters) - Singapore stocks retreated from a six-month high on Thursday while Indonesia slipped into negative territory for the month as Southeast Asia followed larger regional markets lower amid doubts about a further bailout for Greece. Broad-based profit-taking was seen across most markets, particularly in resources and materials stocks that have been significant outperformers this year. Singapore-listed commodities trading house Noble Group fell 4.3 percent after it hit a three-month high the previous session. Noble and oil-rig builder Keppel Corp, which fell 2.7 percent, were the biggest drags on Singapore's Straits Times Index which closed down 1.1 percent, the worst-performing benchmark in Southeast Asia. Asian markets were weak after euro zone ministers failed to resolve issues surrounding a second aid package for Greece and delayed a decision on the matter until next Monday at the earliest. Indonesian stocks fell 0.6 percent while Thailand's SETI also dropped 0.6 percent, with heavyweighted banks the biggest drags in Bangkok. Thai stocks have benefitted this year from investors switching out of other markets, particularly Indonesia, but some analysts worry that a short-term pullback may be in order. " Driven by foreign inflows, the SET index is only about 20 points below its recent peak in August last year, which was then the highest since July 1996," said Kasem Prunratanamala, analyst at CIMB Research. The Thai market's price-to-earnings multiple has gone up from 10.5 times to 11.5 times over the past couple of months, said Prunratanamala, who recommends investors lock in profits here and buy back when the benchmark dips below 1,000 again. Indonesia maintained its underperformance this year with Thursday's drop bringing its year-to-date returns to just 2.8 percent. By contrast, the MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index is up 12.2 percent. Auto assembler Astra International, which surged more than 35 percent last year, fell 2 percent and deeper into negative territory on the year. Broker Credit Suisse maintained its " underperform" rating on the stock earlier this week largely on valuations. Consumption-related large caps such as Unilever Indonesia and Gudang Garam fell over 2 percent. Elsewhere in the region, Malaysia's stock market, considered the most defensive in the region due to low foreign ownership and reliance on domestic consumption, fell 0.7 percent. The Philippines fell 0.1 percent. For Asian Companies click For Asia-Pacific News click For South East Asia Hot Stock reports, click SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS Change on day Market Current Prev Close Pct Move Singapore 2977.20 3011.68 -1.14 Kuala Lumpur 1550.49 1561.30 -0.69 Bangkok 1120.25 1126.48 -0.55 Jakarta 3927.61 3953.05 -0.64 Manila 4766.57 4772.47 -0.12 Ho Chi Minh 396.51 397.41 -0.23 Change on year Market Current End prev yr Pct Move Singapore 2977.20 2646.35 +12.50 Kuala Lumpur 1550.49 1530.73 +1.29 Bangkok 1120.25 1025.32 +9.26 Jakarta 3927.61 3821.99 +2.76 Manila 4766.47 4371.96 +9.03 Ho Chi Minh 396.51 351.55 +12.79 (Editing by Nick Macfie)
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 19:42 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	*Talk, but little action, to break U.S. grip on World Bank job* (Reuters) - Emerging markets talked up their desire to break Washington's hold on the top World Bank job on Thursday after Robert Zoellick announced he would step down, yet they showed little inclination to band together to force change. Much like in 2011, when Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, officials from countries such as Brazil and the Philippines said it was time to break the decades-old pattern of putting an American in charge of the World Bank and a European atop the IMF. " It is not so much the identity of Mr. Zoellick's replacement that concerns us but rather the process in which his successor is selected," said Philippines Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima. " We are confident that given the increasing importance of emerging markets in the global economy, outdated practices of the past will be revisited," he said. However, there was not much evidence that emerging markets could field a candidate and build a coalition large enough to challenge the United States. Zoellick will leave his post in June, when his term ends. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday that Washington would put forward a candidate " in the coming weeks" and called for an open process to fill the job. An emerging market official told Reuters there was an effort to pull together a campaign behind a non-U.S. candidate, but there was little enthusiasm because most countries were preoccupied with domestic issues, including impending leadership changes and battling the global downturn. The official declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. Indeed, the two people most often mentioned are both American: former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The State Department said Clinton would not be taking the job. If an emerging market rival does materialise, it may be someone from the same short list of names circulating last year after Strauss-Kahn's resignation. South Africa's Trevor Manuel and Mexico's Agustin Carstens were among those mentioned. Carstens, who heads up Mexico's central bank, ruled himself out on Wednesday. He launched an unsuccessful bid against Christine Lagarde in 2011 for the top IMF role. " I have no plans to launch a campaign for that (World Bank) job," Carstens said. WHO HAS THE POWER? Unlike last year, when Strauss-Kahn abruptly resigned amid charges -- later dropped -- that he had assaulted a hotel maid, Zoellick's departure was widely expected. That should have given emerging markets ample opportunity to plan for a rival bid to lead the lending institution. The trouble is, forging consensus from such a disparate collection of countries is notoriously difficult. Groupings such as the BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- have struggled to find much common ground on global development issues, making it hard for them to rally around a single candidate. BRICS leaders are scheduled to meet in New Delhi in late March, and could conceivably put forward a candidate then. But if the United States has already presented its nominee by then, it may put any BRICS-backed candidate at a disadvantage. The World Bank has taken steps to enhance emerging markets' power and influence, commensurate with their growing economic clout -- a move that helps blunt criticism that it is too dominated by Western powers. It endorsed a plan in 2010 that gave more voting power to developing countries, vaulting China to the No. 3 spot behind the United States and Japan. Its chief economist is from China, and two of the three managing directors are from emerging markets -- Indonesia and Egypt. One of those managing directors is former Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who could be another potential emerging markets candidate. Under voting reforms approved in 2010, developing countries will hold 47.2 percent of World Bank voting power, a 3.1 percentage point increase from the previous tally. But the five BRICS countries currently hold just 11.3 percent of the voting power, World Bank data shows, not enough to stand up to the United States' 16 percent. China, by far the largest of the BRICS, had little to say on the succession question. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said only that the next World Bank president should be chosen " based on the principles of openness, competitiveness and merit." That was similar to what China said during the IMF nominating process last year. The Bretton Woods Project, an IMF and World Bank watchdog, sent a letter to World Bank governors arguing that the next president should have to secure votes from a majority of member countries, not just a majority of the total votes, which skews the balance of power toward large advanced economies. " As the Bank only operates in developing countries, and has most impact in low-income countries, any candidate that was not supported by these countries would seriously lack legitimacy," it wrote in the letter, dated February 15. (Emily Kaiser reported from Singapore Additional reporting by Karen Lema in Manila, Lesley Wroughton in Washington, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Alonso Soto in Brasilia, and Krista Hughes in Mexico City.)
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 18:30 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	*Investors slash Sing dlr bets, halve Asia FX holdings* * SGD positions down by more than 80 pct * Halve bets on INR, TWD, IDR, MYR, PHP, KRW * Investors still bullish on Asia FX By Jongwoo Cheon SINGAPORE, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Investors slashed bets on the Singapore dollar by more than 80 percent while cutting positions in most emerging Asian currencies during the last two weeks, a Reuters poll indicated on Thursday. Investors more than halved bets on the Indian rupee, the Taiwan dollar, the Malaysian ringgit, the Philippine peso and the Indonesian rupiah, according to the survey of 11 currency analysts, conducted on Wednesday and Thursday. They also reduced positions in the South Korean won to almost a half. In the previous poll, published on Feb. 2, investors were more bullish on emerging Asian currencies, adding bets on the rupee and the won to their largest in more than 15 months. But the new poll showed that currency players reduced positions in the regional units as they were seen excessively bought and concerns over the euro zone's debt crisis grew again. Several EU sources said on Wednesday the euro zone is examining ways of holding back parts or even all of the bailout fund programme until after elections expected in Greece in April while still ensuring it avoids a disorderly default. Investors have doubts over implementation of unpopular Greek austerity measures, given intense public resistance. The Reuters survey focused on what analysts believe are the current market positions in nine Asian emerging market currencies: Chinese yuan, won, Singapore dollar, rupiah, Taiwan dollar, rupee, Philippine peso, ringgit and Thai baht. The poll started covering the baht from Thursday. The poll uses estimates of net long or short positions on a scale of minus 3 to plus 3. A score of plus 3 indicates the market is significantly long on dollars. The figures included positions held through non-deliverable forwards (NDFs). The findings of the survey are as follows (positions in U.S. dollar versus each currency): DATE CNY KRW SGD IDR TWD INR MYR PHP THB 16-Feb -0.98 -0.74 -0.27 -0.35 -0.39 -0.71 -0.61 -0.52 -0.44 2-Feb -1.00 -1.45 -1.56 -0.86 -0.95 -1.50 -1.59 -1.07 N/A 19-Jan -1.18 -1.18 -0.93 -0.43 -0.91 -1.41 -1.09 -0.79 N/A 5-Jan -0.92 0.02 -0.42 0.23 -0.17 1.10 -0.60 0.02 N/A 23-Dec -0.65 0.06 0.05 0.45 0.32 1.18 0.15 -0.20 N/A 8-Dec -0.45 -0.18 0.15 0.20 0.40 0.95 0.03 -0.15 N/A 23-Nov -0.80 0.73 0.66 0.11 0.55 1.91 0.68 -0.18 N/A (Editing by Richard Borsuk) For the new Reuters scrolling global forex service please click Double click on brackets for following items: Asian currencies Asian currencies in Asia Malaysian ringgit Indonesian rupiah Singapore dollar Thai baht Taiwan dollar Hong Kong dollar Philippine peso Korean won SPEED GUIDES Exotic currencies Non-G7 currencies RELATED NEWS AND OTHER TOPICS All Singapore news All Malaysian news Thailand Indonesia Hong Kong Taiwan Philippines Korea All emerging markets All foreign exchange news Foreign exchange technical analysis [FRX& INSI]
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 18:29 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	*Ghana Cedi seen weakening against the dollar* A man holds Ghana's cedi notes in Accra ACCRA (Reuters) - The Ghana cedi may weaken further against the dollar this week after losing ground last week on firm corporate and offshore demand for the greenback, traders said. Jacob Brobbey of Barclays Bank quoted the cedi as trading at 1.7100/25 in the early afternoon, up from the day's open of 1.7085/10. " GHS went down 1.39 percent versus the U.S. dollar week-on-week to close offered at 1.7095 amid firm demand from local corporates and offshore investors," he said. Brobbey said he expected the cedi to continue to lose ground against the dollar in the week but he expected Central Bank interventions " to keep rates at sub-1.7000" . Biggles Amponsah of Access Bank quoted the cedi trading between 1.6900 and 1.7100. " We expect the current demand for greenbacks to remain firm through the week. The Central bank is likely to support but at what level we cannot say," Amponsah said.
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 18:26 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	*2012 TOP INVESTING IDEA ? ????* *INVEST USA AND ASIA EXCLUDE* *EUROPE AND JAPAN MARKET*
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 18:24 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	Oldest Swiss private bank is newest U.S. target *ANG MIOS HA HA HA* * Swiss Wegelin accused of enabling U.S. tax evaders * First a sale, then an indictment * Spotlight on Hummler, defender of bank secrecy By Martin de Sa'Pinto and Lynnley Browning ST. GALLEN, Switzerland, Feb 16 (Reuters) - On the morning of Jan. 27, employees at the St. Gallen headquarters of Wegelin, Switzerland's oldest private bank, were told to expect an important announcement from Konrad Hummler, Wegelin's leading partner. Other Wegelin branches across Switzerland, also alerted, tuned in to the company-wide address system. Speaking in Swiss-German, Hummler announced the bank had sold most of its assets to another Swiss bank. According to a person familiar with the matter, Hummler called it a last-ditch effort to preserve employees' jobs amid withdrawals of assets by investors who were increasingly worried about a growing problem: a U.S. federal investigation into Wegelin's sale of tax-evasion services to wealthy Americans. The dark-suited bankers and conservatively dressed office clerks, said the person, were in shock and tears. The news for Wegelin, its headquarters nestled in the town of St. Gallen next to the Appenzell Alps near the German-Austrian borders, would only get worse. Six days later the U.S. Justice Department, acting on plans it had been making for weeks, indicted the 270-year-old bank on charges of enabling wealthy Americans to evade taxes on at least $1.2 billion from 2002 through last year. U.S. criminal laws apply to foreign banks that do business in the United States, even if the banks, like Wegelin, have no U.S. branches. The charges made Wegelin the first overseas bank in history to be indicted by U.S. authorities and marked a milestone in a burgeoning American crackdown on Swiss bank secrecy and efforts to force banks to turn over client names. The sale and the subsequent indictment effectively brought an end to the storied bank. The Wegelin indictment also turned a spotlight on Hummler, an outspoken defender of the Alpine tradition of bank secrecy and an admirer of the Portuguese philosopher Fernando Pessoa's concept of the banker as an anarchist. In an interview three years ago with Suddeutsche Zeitung, Germany's largest newspaper, Hummler called the concept " a charming mind game." In a 2009 column in Neue Zurcher Zeitung, a Swiss newspaper on whose board Hummler sits, he wrote that he was " influenced by '68" - a reference to his time in Paris during the street riots of 1968 - and that he had " found a philosophical father" in Friedrich Hayek, the economist-philosopher who defended free markets and capitalism. Last week, representatives of Wegelin failed to show up in a U.S. court in New York to respond to the indictment. The bank said in a statement and legal papers that it had not been served with a criminal summons - a legal paper that often follows an indictment. The court declared the bank a fugitive, raising questions over how a trial requiring the presence of Hummler and other Wegelin executives might take place. While Hummler was not named in the indictment against the bank, the document referred to unidentified Wegelin executives as " co-conspirators." After the hearing, Wegelin said in a statement that " the circumstances create a clear dilemma for Wegelin & Co: If it were to adhere to current U.S. legal practice aimed at Swiss banks, it would have to breach Swiss law." Swiss law protects client confidentiality under a tradition dating to the Middle Ages Switzerland does not consider tax evasion a crime for its own citizens and residents. Joerg Denzler, a Wegelin spokesman, declined to comment for this story or to make Hummler available, citing the bank's legal situation. Richard Strassberg, a U.S. lawyer for the bank at Goodwin Procter in New York, also declined to comment. Far from New York, the indictment drew silence from the Swiss government thorny questions over the fate of Switzerland's crown-jewel industry, private banking and concerns about frayed relations between Washington and Bern, two historic allies. At the center is the figure of Hummler, who cannot travel to the United States without being arrested and so could not attend the potential trial of the bank he ran for two decades. Hummler, 58, grew up in St. Gallen, playing violin as a child, studying law at the University of Zurich and completing a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Rochester in New York. He joined UBS AG, the Swiss bank giant, and became a personal adviser to then-board C hairman Robert Holzbach, but by 1991 had left the bank to become a partner at Wegelin. He has a Dutch wife, Elizabeth, and four daughters, is a reserve colonel in the Swiss Army and still plays a 200-year-old violin. Bach, he wrote in his 2009 column, " is an excellent antidote to my impatience and restlessness. " LATEST U.S. MOVE The indictment of Wegelin was the latest move by the U.S. Justice Department to clamp down on Swiss banks for their role in helping wealthy Americans dodge taxes. In 2009, in the only settlement to date, UBS paid $780 million and admitted to criminal wrongdoing to resolve U.S. criminal charges with the Justice Department that it sold tax evasion services to wealthy Americans. German, British and Italian tax authorities also launched investigations into how Swiss banks might be abetting tax cheats. The U.S. Justice Department has since expanded its criminal investigation to 11 Swiss banks, including Wegelin, Credit Suisse and Basler Kantonalbank, and Swiss officials are seeking a settlement for the entire Swiss banking industry - more than 300 banks. A balding man with a short mustache, Hummler sat in the inner circle of Swiss private banking and finance: he was chairman of the Swiss Private Bankers Association, a trade group, for three years through mid-2011 he was part of the council that supervises the Swiss National Bank for seven years until resigning last April. Under Hummler's oversight, which began after he joined Wegelin in 1991, the bank grew rapidly, managing some $1.2 billion in undeclared U.S. assets as of 2010 from only $240 million in 2005. The bank opened several new branches across Switzerland, established an online private bank and expanded to around 700 employees from a few dozen. Swiss private bankers put Hummler's undisclosed personal wealth at at least millions of Swiss francs. Hummler courted press attention. In recent years, Hummler became particularly outspoken, telling Der Spiegel in 2009 that German tax evasion " is a legitimate defense by citizens trying to partially escape the current grasp of the administrators of a disastrous social welfare state and its fiscal policies." His bi-monthly investment commentaries, which Wegelin made available on iTunes, had 100,000 readers and urged recipients to uphold Swiss bank confidentiality and stand up to the United States. But in more recent weeks, Hummler's public voice grew silent - a sign of his worries, according to some people familiar with the matter. Justice officials were annoyed by Hummler's writing a " Farewell, America" letter to Wegelin clients after the UBS settlement in 2009, according to people familiar with the matter. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. In the letter, which was posted on Wegelin's website, he scolded the United States for " breathtaking moral duplicity in maintaining enormous offshore tax havens in Delaware, Florida and others of its states" and urged clients to sell any U.S. securities they owned given heightened Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of tax dodgers. Hummler's letter was taken as an invitation for tax evaders to take their funds to Wegelin while UBS and other banks swept their accounts clear of tax offenders, several Swiss private bankers said. Hummler's error, rival Swiss bankers say, was in thinking Wegelin was safe from a U.S. indictment just because the bank didn't run any U.S.-based branches. Soon after the UBS investigation hit
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x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	Iran tensions could eclipse Pakistan summit on regional security By Chris Allbritton and Serena Chaudhry ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai sought support from Pakistan in advancing the reconciliation process in Afghanistan ahead of a trilateral summit on regional security on Thursday involving Iran's president. But the meeting in Islamabad between Karzai, the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be overshadowed by Tehran's mounting tensions with the West. Iran has been accused in the past of providing low-level backing to Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency and diplomats and analysts have suggested Tehran could ratchet up this support if it wanted to put serious pressure on U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Karzai met with Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and the army and intelligence chiefs and discussed efforts to seek reconciliation with the Taliban to end the war, now in its eleventh year. Pakistan is seen as crucial to efforts to reach a peaceful settlement to the war in Afghanistan because of its historical ties to the Afghan Taliban and other insurgent groups. " The Afghan president termed Pakistan's support as critical to the success of Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process and the reconciliation in the country," Gilani's office said in a statement after his talks with Karzai. As part of his bid to push reconciliation, Karzai is expected to meet Pakistani opposition politicians and religious leaders, Afghan officials said. They include Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, head of a Pakistani seminary said to have been attended by senior Afghan Taliban leaders. He is known as " the father of the Taliban." FOCUS ON IRAN But the world is currently focused on Iran's standoff with the West. Tehran on Wednesday proclaimed advances in nuclear know-how, including new centrifuges able to enrich uranium much faster, a move that may heighten its confrontation with the West over suspicions it is seeking the means to make atomic bombs. Iran's resolve to pursue a nuclear programme showed no sign of wavering despite Western sanctions inflicting increasing damage on its oil-based economy. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday Iran's announcement of new nuclear achievements was exaggerated and meant to fend off action against the Islamic republic. " They are describing a situation that is better and more advanced than the one they are in, in order to create a feeling among all the players that the point of no return is already behind them, which is not true," Barak told Israel Radio. Tension between Iran and the West over Iran's nuclear work has mounted since November, when the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran appeared to have worked on designing a nuclear weapon. Widely believed to be the Middle East's only atomic power, Israel has said a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to its existence. Both Washington and Israel have not ruled out military action to stop Tehran developing atomic bombs. Israel accused Iran and its Lebanese militant ally Hezbollah of being behind twin bomb attacks that targeted Israeli embassy staff in India and Georgia on Monday. Tehran has denied involvement in the attacks. Thai investigators said on Wednesday they believe they have found a link between the New Delhi bombing and the one in Bangkok on Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Rebecca Conway Writing by Michael Georgy Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	Hong Kong shares end down 0.4 pct, China plays drag Center of Hong Kong HONG KONG, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares retreated from a six-month high on Thursday, with investors taking profit among Chinese financial and resources stocks as the benchmark indexes remained above a technical level cleared on Wednesday. The Hang Seng Index closed down 0.41 percent at 21,277.28. The China Enterprises Index of top Chinese listings in Hong Kong ended down 0.93 percent at 11,577.36. The Shanghai Composite Index finished down 0.42 percent at 2,356.86, barely above its 100-day moving average currently at about 2,353 in A-share turnover that neared the high for the year despite declining slightly from Wednesday. HIGHLIGHTS: * The Hang Seng and China Enterprises indexes both remained above their respective 250-day moving averages. On Wednesday, the former finished above this technical level for the first time since July last year. Turnover in Hong Kong on Thursday declined about 31 percent from Wednesday. * Chinese banks were broadly weaker after a mainland news outlet reported on Thursday that China's top four state banks had extended 30 billion yuan ($4.76 billion) in new local currency loans in the first 12 days of February, citing an unidentified authoritative source. This sparked some concern that full monthly figures could come below expectations. China Construction Bank Corp slipped 1.1 percent, while Bank of China Ltd declined 1.5 percent. * The Chinese central bank released its monetary policy implementation report for the fourth quarter of 2011, which suggested policy easing would be gradual since inflation remained a focus, even with growth slowing.. It also set an M2 growth target for 2012 of 14 percent, which JP Morgan analysts said would imply three to four 50 basis point cuts in bank reserve requirements through the year. (Reporting by Clement Tan Editing by Chris Lewis)
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x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	Greek bailout hold-up leaves FTSE vulnerable City of London skyline including Tower 42 Gherkin,Willis Building, Stock Exchange Tower and Lloyd`s of London and Canary Wharf at the background * FTSE 100 down 0.6 percent * Kingfisher retreats after fourth-quarter update * BAE Systems drops, sees weak sales as cuts bite By Tricia Wright LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares fell on Thursday as a further hold-up in a second bailout package for debt-laden Greece fuelled risk aversion, leaving the index poised to breach the bottom of its recent trading range. Compounding investor anxiety, Moody's warned on Thursday that it may cut the credit ratings of a group of top financial institutions. Banks, strong gainers in the previous session, suffered sharp falls as investors rotated out of the sector, whose share price moves are closely allied to the vagaries of the euro zone debt crisis. The FTSE 100 leader board was peppered with defensive stocks, with drugmaker Shire and utilities Severn Trent and National Grid up 0.2-0.3 percent. In further evidence that nervousness was growing, the FTSE 100 volatility index jumped almost 8 percent to a four-week high. The UK benchmark index was down 36.69 points, or 0.6 percent, at 5,855.47 by 0944 GMT, having closed 0.1 percent lower on Wednesday. Technical analysts said that a close below 5,839, the bottom end of a tight trading range seen since Feb. 3, could be a bearish sign. James Hyerczyk, analyst at Autochartist, pointed out that the higher-high, lower-close formation seen on Wednesday was the second such chart pattern seen this week, and should be interpreted as a serious clue that sellers are beginning to take control of the market. Among companies reporting results, BAE Systems was a faller, off 2.6 percent, after the defence contractor forecast flat sales in 2012 and reported a 7 percent fall in full-year profit, hit by continued cuts to military spending by the United States and Britain. Reed Elsevier, however, which expects more revenue and profit growth in 2012, advanced 1 percent, the top blue chip riser. Kingfisher shed 1.5 percent, having closed at its highest level in near eight months in the previous session, as investors banked profits. Europe's biggest home improvements retailer said it would meet forecasts for a 20 percent rise in year profit. In spite of uncertainty over the outlook for Greece, investment trust Witan's Andrew Bell remains fully invested, saying if the news continues to support the 'muddling through' option, equities look quite cheap, especially relative to deposits or government bonds. The dividend yield on FTSE 100 stocks is 4 percent, according Thomson Reuters data. " The risk of miscalculation remains (e.g. Greece), but global monetary policy is much looser than when the wobbles of 2010-11 occurred, so the line of least resistance is for equities to rise," said Bell, chief executive of the 1.1 billion pound trust. Citigroup, in a note, concurred with this view, seeing more upside in global equities even after a 20 percent rally from October lows, with its year-end target implying a further 11 percent gain.
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x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	Analysis - Thinking backwards, Merkel hits her stride German Chancellor Merkel presents two Euros votive medal " Bavaria" at Chancellery in Berlin By Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel has come under fire in Europe for failing to provide leadership in the euro zone crisis, but at home she is now riding a tidal wave of popularity that would make her fellow leaders envious. Merkel always thinks backwards from the next election, a close adviser once said, adjusting policy carefully -- sometimes years in advance -- to put herself in the strongest possible position for eventual victory. For much of 2011 this approach seemed to backfire horribly. The leader of Europe's most powerful economy appeared out of her comfort zone as the euro zone debt crisis deepened and she was sharply criticised at home and abroad for failing to provide clear leadership. Her abrupt decision last spring to ditch support for nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster in Japan was dismissed by many Germans as a cynical ploy to win votes in a regional election her party ended up losing badly. As the year came to an end, Merkel looked damaged. Her coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), was in meltdown and her hand-picked choice for the German presidency embroiled in scandal. But less than two months into 2012, the chancellor suddenly has hit her stride and her political positioning of last year is looking more prescient by the day. The closely-watched " Politbarometer" poll for public television station ZDF showed last week that 77 percent of Germans believe she is doing a good job. The 57-year old pastor's daughter from East Germany is once again the most popular politician in Germany, well ahead of her possible challenger in the next federal vote, Social Democrat (SPD) Peer Steinbrueck. Crucially, her strong personal ratings are pulling up those of her party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), whose support has shot up to its highest since August 2009, just before the euro zone crisis began in earnest and Merkel won her second term. Against the odds, Merkel seems to be turning the implosion of the FDP, which has seen its support tumble from 15 to 3 percent nationwide over the past two years, into a positive. Nearly half of the liberal party's backers have migrated to her conservatives, according to some estimates. By shifting on nuclear power and pushing the introduction of a minimum wage - steps that were highly controversial within her own party last year - Merkel has given herself new coalition options for 2013, when Germans go to the polls again. With their main campaign themes co-opted by Merkel, the opposition SPD and Greens are struggling for ways to differentiate themselves and watching nervously as their own poll ratings, which were strong for much of last year, erode. " The almost panicky retreat from nuclear power after Fukushima now looks like a masterly strategic move," said Josef Joffe, editor-publisher of German weekly Die Zeit. " She has stolen a bit of thunder from the Greens, and is now blessed with a plethora of potential partners - the FDP if it recovers, the SPD and the Greens." EURO, NUCLEAR RISK The nuclear about-face is not without risks for Merkel. The SPD and Greens have grown louder in criticising her government's failure to map out a strategy for filling the gap arising from the shutdown of nuclear plants that generate close to a fourth of the country's electricity needs. Government subsidies for renewable energy are being reined in, meaning higher-polluting gas and coal will be needed to cover the shortfall, tarnishing the " Climate Chancellor " image Merkel cultivated in her first term by sealing deals to curb climate change within the G8 and EU. The euro zone crisis could also come back to haunt her. Greece is a tinderbox with the potential to explode at any moment, setting off a chain reaction in the single currency bloc that many may blame on Merkel. Europe's largest economy has remained largely immune to the crisis so far. Unemployment is at its lowest since reunification in 1990 and GDP growth has topped 3 percent two years running. But the situation is fragile. Germany suffered a mild contraction in the last quarter of 2011, and more turbulence in the currency bloc or unexpected weakness in trading partners like the United States or China, could hit the economy and faith in the chancellor. For now however, Merkel's strategy of holding back aid until countries commit to tough austerity and resisting calls for " big bazooka" steps like jointly issued euro zone bonds favoured by the SPD, is seen by many Germans as the right course. Talk of a full-blown euro zone breakup has eased and so has criticism of Merkel's cautious " step-by-step" approach. The ZDF poll showed 69 percent of Germans approve of her handling of the crisis. Last August a survey for ARD, the other public broadcaster, showed three in four Germans had little or no faith in her crisis management. At the time, many Germans thought she had gone too far in supporting peripheral euro zone states like Greece, while others felt she had not done enough. " Not too long ago the SPD and Greens were questioning why we were not offering aid quicker. They said the quicker the better," said Hermann Groehe, a senior figure in Merkel's CDU. " In the meantime, the EU is now united in the view that Greece must implement its reform promises before we have solidarity. The fact that this is now a common EU position is a victory for German policy and that of the conservatives." RUNNING THE SHOW There has been very little hand-wringing in Berlin over the backlash against Germany's economic dominance in Europe. Protesters in Greece, which suffered atrocities at the hands of the Nazis during World War Two, have taken to carrying effigies of Merkel wearing swastikas. Instead, the dominant German feeling has been admiration that Merkel is now running the show in Europe. Since December alone, 10 European leaders have passed through the German capital to be politely lectured to by " Angie" on the future shape of the euro zone. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who publicly criticised Merkel in his early years in office for thinking instead of acting, has now enlisted her to help salvage his own campaign for re-election. Should he lose, as the polls suggest, Merkel's influence in Europe only seems likely to grow further. Since the euro crisis began, she has seen leaders in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Ireland and Finland fall. " There is no one else out there," said Jackson Janes, director of the American Institute of Contemporary German Studies in Washington. " If you look around Europe you can't find anyone else in a position of real leadership. A lot of things would flow to her if she won a third term." NO VISIONARY Merkel would rank behind only Helmut Kohl and Konrad Adenauer as the longest-serving post-war chancellors if she wins next year. But victory would not vault her to the same historical heights as the leader who built up West Germany out of the ashes of World War Two, or the man who brought about German reunification and the introduction of the euro. Manfred Guellner, head of the Forsa polling institute, describes Merkel as the " Kuemmerkanzlerin," a leader who looks after things but doesn't take them forward. " Merkel is no visionary, she has done nothing spectacular so far," he said. Janes believes the chancellor could change that if she can deliver on what until now have been rather vague pledges about the need to move towards a form of " political union" in Europe. People close to Merkel say she is already thinking intensively about the long-term evolution of the bloc. Already this year, she has staged two brain-storming sessions -- the first with the leaders of Austria, Portugal and Sweden, the second with those from Denmark, Estonia and the Netherlands -- at a secluded state-owned palace north of Berlin, to sketch EU's future over a 10-year horizon. These small meetings, advisers say, allow for the kind of open discussion that has become impossible in a bloc that now counts 27 members. In a discussion with students in a Berlin museum this month, Merkel gave a glimpse of her thinking. She spoke of a much stronger European Parliament that would act as a second chamber of government alongside the European Council of EU leaders. Increasingly, she said, national competencies will have to be transferred to Brussels. " If she can pull out a third term, then consolidating this vision of a federal Europe is what would give her the footprint she currently lacks," Janes said.
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x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	E.U. undeterred by Iran threat on oil cut - trade chief Flames come out of chimneys at a Repsol oil refinery in Cartagena eastern Spain HONG KONG (Reuters) - The European Union trade commissioner brushed off on Thursday the potential impact of any Iranian suspension of oil supplies saying such a threat would not sway Europe from its opposition to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran's English language Press TV had said Iran had halted oil deliveries to France, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Netherlands and Spain -- its biggest EU customers -- in retaliation for an EU ban on Iranian crude due to take effect in July. But Iran's Oil Ministry denied the state media report. The European Union's trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht, said Europe would adapt to the impact of any Iranian action and Europe remained committed to halting Iran's nuclear weapons programme. " If they were to cut it off earlier, we would accommodate quicker, that's what we'd do," he told a group of business people and journalists in Hong Kong after a trip to Beijing. He said the European Union was determined to press Iran to rein in its nuclear ambitions, just as it proclaimed advances in nuclear know-how, including new centrifuges able to enrich uranium much faster. " Nobody really wants Iran to have nuclear weapons ... We shouldn't change our line because it's a threat by Iran, that's not the way it works." Iran has long refused to negotiate curbs on its nuclear programme, saying it is intended purely for civilian uses, including producing electricity for booming domestic demand. Iran is the world's No. 5 oil exporter, with 2.6 million barrels going abroad daily, about a fifth of it to EU countries. Western countries are increasing their sanctions to block Iran's oil exports and central bank financing of trade, and Tehran has resorted to barter to import staples including rice, cooking oil and tea, commodities traders say. The Obama administration is putting pressure on the European Union and SWIFT, the global organisation that facilitates most of the world's cross-border payments, to expel Iranian banks from its network, a new step in the push to deprive Iran of funds, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
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x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	Fighters, radar, marine patrols top Asia's military wish-list RMAF Smokey Bandits aerobatic display team, in their MiG-29N 'Fulcrum' fighter aircraft, performs a cross during an aerial display at the Singapore Airshow By Raju Gopalakrishnan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore hosted military brass from across Asia this week at the region's biggest arms and aerospace bazaar, almost 70 years to the day since it fell to Japanese forces sweeping across Southeast Asia during World War Two. Japan has since become allied with most other Asian nations. It is now China which is the behemoth others are eyeing with unease. And bigger defence budgets, means sales of fighters, weapons and other tools of death and destruction are higher than ever before. At the Singapore Airshow, salesmen in business suits escorted visitors in the sweltering heat to mock-ups of the world's most advanced jet fighters, helicopters and transport aircraft parked on a tarmac. Nearby, inside a vast air-conditioned hangar, state-of-the-art radar and surveillance equipment were exhibited and deals for missile systems were being inked. Interest is shifting away from ground weapons like tanks and guns, analysts said, to jet fighters, maritime patrol aircraft, radar and in some cases submarines. Asia's mostly littoral nations are less concerned now with old neighbourhood rivalries, focusing more on the need for force projection across seas, analysts said. For many, a resurgent China is the main threat. " Other than India-Pakistan and the Korean peninsula, the contested spaces in Asia are maritime spaces, particularly the South China Sea," said Andrew Davies, a programme director at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. " The vulnerabilities that countries feel are often maritime as well because of the dependence on energy supplies being shipped in by sea. China's aggressive pursuit of claims to islands in the South China Sea is causing much concern in the region. Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei also have claims and the row is seen as the biggest security threat in Asia. According to IHS Jane's DS Forecasts, East Asia's spending on military aircraft will soar to $24.3 billion (15.5 billion pounds) in 2015 from $15.9 billion (10.1 billion pounds) this year. Expenditure on ground forces and traditional land weapons will grow only to $13.1 billion from $11.2 billion. Expenditure on navies will be mostly flat at $12 billion, although spending on submarines will jump to $3.1 billion from $2.5 billion. The forecast includes China, Japan, the Koreas and the Southeast Asian nations. Within three years, China's defence expenditure would exceed the combined spending of all other major countries in Asia, according to IHS Jane's. While all major Asian nations are forecast to increase spending on defence, China's military budget will double to $238.20 billion by 2015 from $119.80 billion last year, growing about 18.75 percent per annum. That pales in comparison to the proposed base U.S. defence budget of $525.40 billion for 2013, but the United States is cutting back, and the latest figure is about $5.1 billion less than approved in 2012. NOT AN ARMS RACE Analysts, however, say the surge in military expenditure is not an arms race, because most countries are spending less on defence as a proportion of GDP. But economic growth is strong across much of the region, and the dollar expenditure on defence is definitely on the up. That is good news for Western arms manufacturers, among the world's biggest companies, who are reeling from shrinking defence budgets and the economic slowdown in the West. " It is our biggest market right now," said Tim Carey, a vice-president at Raytheon Corp, one of the biggest U.S. defence contractors, said of the Asia-Pacific. Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's biggest supplier, and Boeing's defence division each expect the Asia-Pacific to contribute about 40 percent of international revenues. Between them, the two companies wholly or partly manufacture everything from aircraft, ships, submarines and weapons systems to radar, frigates, satellites and space equipment. Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the F-35, the world's most advanced fighter jet, and Boeing, the maker of the F/A-18 Super Hornet, are among those hoping to cash in on the region's demand for military aircraft. South Korea is likely to award a contract for up to 60 fighters by mid-year while Malaysia is also looking to buy up to 24 aircraft. India, which announced earlier this month that France's Dassault Aviation was the preferred bidder for 126 fighters, could be in the market for additional planes, especially a variant that can be used on the aircraft carriers it is planning. " Everybody is going to upgrade their air forces," said Richard Kirkland, a vice-president at Lockheed Martin. " (What countries require is) an increased ability to say I want to know what is going on in the sea-lanes. And so manned and unmanned reconnaissance platforms and probably a growing awareness that undersea threats can pose a problem for stability and commerce. " Information awareness, the ability to communicate that, what is going on the oceans and what is going on undersea, that is the trend." Lockheed also sees Asia as the place to sell its Aegis naval combat systems, sensors and satellite equipment. Boeing is looking to hawk its AH-6 helicopter gunships and P8 series of maritime patrol aircraft. " The maritime environment in the Pacific has everybody's attention," said Jeff Kohler, a vice-president at Boeing Defence. " There are several countries that have asked the U.S. Navy and Boeing for demonstrations of the P8. Given the expanse of ocean and ranges, it's an ideal platform to have." Carey, the Raytheon executive, said he expected orders for 100 new maritime patrol aircraft in the region within the next three to five years, compared to about 1,000 in operation worldwide currently. " To see a 10 percent replacement in the short-term is very significant," he said. " In this region, maritime surveillance is being actively looked at by almost every government." IMAGE ISSUES It's not just threat perceptions that are driving weapons purchases. As Asian nations become more prosperous, they have more money to spend on defence, and internal security threats begin to dwindle, analysts say. Their vision of themselves begins to change, and then, so do their arms purchases. " As they start looking outwards and they have more money, all of a sudden things like high performance aircraft and naval platforms start to become attractive for them," said Davies at the Australian Institute. " Even in the absence of a regularly identified security threat, they will probably be doing that anyway because that's what countries do. It's part of being seen to be a successful country to have a sophisticated military, I think it's a perception that is what successful countries do. In Asia, other than China, India is seen as the country to watch in defence purchases as it plans to spend $100 billion on weapons over the next decade. That is of immediate concern to old enemy Pakistan, but also a factor for other countries in the region. What excites arms manufacturers is that India faces a varied landscape of defence needs -- insurgencies, a tense border with Pakistan, high-altitude skirmishes in the Himalayas, a need for air defence and its intention to have a blue-water navy to rival China. " There is almost certainly an element of competition there," said Davies. " China and India are not fans of one another but there's also that both countries are going from short-range land-based militaries to more strategic forces. " India and China both have global naval aspirations, nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers." India, which plans to put three aircraft carriers into operation by 2017, took delivery of its first of six planned nuclear submarines earlier this year. China has more than 60 submarines and commissioned its first carrier last year. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore have submarines, and Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are eyeing purchases. CYBER China is also seen as a threat in cyber-warfare, participants at the airshow said. Indeed, cyber-security is seen as a big growth area for defence contractors and in the region Japan particularly is seen as spending considerable amounts on the sector. " Information security, protection of data, is at the forefront of every company, and every nation, and we are actively involved in helping governments particularly set up systems to protect their information technology," said Kirkland at Lockheed Martin. " The interesting thing about protection of cyber-information is that there are no boundaries," he added. " If you look at the top five or six major things that Lockheed is thinking about, information technology and the protection of that is significant." Ultimately, countries looking to at least militarily match China in the region will have to rely on the United States and its huge Pacific command. " The name of the game for the U.S. is the ability to project force," Kirkland said. " The name of the game for some of our allies is the ability to share in a joint operation to maintain stability and their economic security zone. It's the marriage of the capabilities between the nations that will then keep the peace." That has implications for military equipment, he said. " The key is the ability to integrate what you have and what I have so that we can operate together." (Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 18:04 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	BP hopes to drill new South China Sea gas block this year February 15, 2012 BEIJING, Feb 15 – Oil giant BP Plc plans to start drilling at the 43/11 deepwater block in the South China Sea this year, after receiving approval recently from the Chinese government, a company executive said today. “When we start depends on many factors, such as whether the drilling rig is ready. We hope to start drilling there by the end of the year,” BP China President Chen Liming said. BP received approval from the commerce ministry last week to explore and develop natural gas resources at deepwater block 43/11, together with China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. During the exploration phase, BP will have a 40.82 per cent working interest, Anadarko 50 per cent and CNOOC 9.18 per cent. During development and production, CNOOC will be operator with a 55.5 per cent interest, BP with 20 per cent and Anadarko will have 24.5 per cent, according to BP China. BP and CNOOC signed a cooperation agreement for deepwater exploration of block 43/11 in January last year, during Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Britain. BP’s other upstream assets in China include the under-producing gas field Yacheng 13-1 in the South China Sea, and deepwater block 42/05, in which BP purchased an interest in September 2010, according to the company’s website
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krisluke Supreme	16-Feb-2012 18:02 krisluke About Contact Quote this Post!
x 0 x 0 Alert Admin	Singapore budget to focus on infrastructure, poor February 16, 2012 SINGAPORE, Feb 16 — Singapore is expected to use its February 17 budget to help its citizens cope with rising costs through grants and one-time payments, but businesses are set to face new measures making it harder to hire cheap foreign workers. The budget for the fiscal year beginning April 2012 is also expected to include increased spending on the city-state’s infrastructure as it struggles to cope with a sharp increase in population over the past five years. Singapore, a major Asian hub for banks and multinationals, is facing pressure from citizens to tighten immigration and cap the number of foreigners, who now make up a third of the island’s 5.2 million people. Last year, Singapore-based companies employed another 79,800 foreigners — mainly from countries such as China and the Philippines — more than double the 36,600 increase in local employment, according to Singapore’s Manpower Ministry. Many Singaporeans blame the influx for overcrowding on roads and trains as well as competition for jobs that has kept real wages for lower-skilled workers stagnant during the past decade. “Recent budgets have thus sprung more negative surprises on companies, with stricter foreign worker policies, including stricter quotas and increases in foreign worker levies,” said Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Chua Hak Bin. “Greater attention on Singaporeans and lower-income households means that fiscal surpluses have been largely shared with individuals, and less so with companies, compared to the past,” he added. Singapore enjoys huge surpluses so Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is under no pressure to rein in spending. Chua said Singapore will likely report an overall budget surplus of around S$4 billion (RM9.6 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2011 — or about 1.2 per cent of GDP — far higher than the government’s initial estimate of about S$100 million. Citigroup’s Kit Wei Zheng said Singapore’s overall fiscal surplus would be as high as S$26 billion if the government included as revenue proceeds from land sales as well as interest and dividend income from its investments. In Singapore, income from government land sales is booked directly into reserves and not reflected as revenue in the annual budgets. Citi estimates Singapore collected nearly S$10 billion in land sales in the 10 months to January 2012. Singapore’s economy contracted by 4.9 per cent in October-December on a quarter-on-quarter, seasonally adjusted and annualised basis and Tharman has warned growth will likely be weak in the next two years. Inflation remains elevated at above five per cent, however, which means authorities will have to tread carefully to avoid stoking spending. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has promised his government will improve the train and bus network and build more apartments to house young Singaporeans. The government, together with subway operator SMRT, recently said it is investing about S$600 million to upgrade its signal system and add trains. Authorities are also spending about S$750 million over the next five years to bolster flood defences. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, Singapore’s No 2 lender, said the government will, as in previous years, supplement the salaries of low-income workers and put more money into retirement accounts. OCBC said businesses could get rental rebates from government landlords and larger tax breaks and subsidies on training and other moves to boost productivity, which rose by an average of just 1 per cent per annum in the decade to 2010. Singapore suffers from low productivity growth, compared with other developed countries, due in part to past policies that made it easy for firms to recruit cheap workers from abroad rather than invest in training or automation. Productivity in the retail sector is just one-third that of the United States, according to Singapore government data. “We expect the budget to continue pushing for this restructuring, with few signs that the government will back away from the direction of reducing foreign worker dependency and easing labour market tightness,” Merrill’s Chua said
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BP hopes to drill new South China Sea gas block this year

Singapore budget to focus on infrastructure, poor