We need to find a fairer way of providing Goods and Services to the rest of the people on Earth.Cryptocurrencies and/or Gold Standard of money....maybe the answer to fight hyperinflation caused by too much printing of paper/fiat currencies by Governments and Central Banks all over the World. (https://nomorefiatmoneyplease.blogspot.com)
German private sector growth points to moderate Q3 expansion: PMI
[BERLIN] Germany's private sector expanded in September, a survey showed on Monday, and while the rate of growth was slower than a month before, it still suggested Europe's largest economy was on track for solid growth in the third quarter.
Markit's final composite Purchasing Managers' Index, which tracks activity in the manufacturing and services sectors that together account for more than two-thirds of the German economy, dropped to 54.1 in September from 55.0 in the previous month.
That was the 29th consecutive month that the composite index was above the 50 mark separating expansion from contraction, but the reading was slightly below a flash estimate of 54.3. "The results from the services PMI come on the back of positive manufacturing numbers, suggesting that the upturn in Germany's private sector remains broad-based," Markit economist Oliver Kolodseike said, adding that the PMI data pointed to moderate growth in the July-September period.
The index for the services sector also fell slightly to 54.1 from 54.9 the previous month but it remained above the long-run series average and new orders in the sector rose at their strongest rate in a year.
Some service providers said increased activity was a result of the need to build accommodation for an influx of refugees and asylum seekers expected to hit 800,000 by the end of the year.
Service firms were slightly less upbeat about their future prospects than in August but they remained optimistic overall. "Germany's service sector ended the third quarter on a solid footing. Output continued to rise at a robust rate as service providers benefitted from increased demand," Mr Kolodseike said.
The higher inflows of new work led to service providers hiring new staff at the strongest rate since the end of 2011.
Detailed PMI data are only available under licence from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a licence.
Eurozone business activity slows in September: data
[BRUSSELS] Eurozone economic activity slowed more than first thought in September, a key business survey showed on Monday, adding to concerns over the outlook.
Data monitoring company Markit said its revised September Purchasing Managers Index fell to 53.6 points, compared with a first reading of 53.9 points.
The PMI, a closely watched indicator, stood at 54.3 points in August, well above the 50-point boom-or-bust line and holding near the best performance in four years.
Analysts had welcomed the original September figures as showing the 19-nation eurozone economy continued on track for a modest recovery.
But they also expressed concern at the slowdown, warning that the European Central Bank might have to boost its already massive, one trillion euros stimulus programme, if the slide continued.
The data emerged as eurozone finance ministers were set to meet Monday for the first time since Greek voters re-elected leftist premier Alexis Tsipras, who now faces the task of implementing Athens's cash-for-reforms bailout deal.
Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said the latest figures suggested the eurozone economy would grow 0.4 per cent in the third quarter, the same as in the three months to June.
"However, the failure of the economy to pick up speed over the summer will be a disappointment to the ECB, especially with job creation sliding to an eight-month low," Williamson said.
"The weakening of the pace of expansion in September raises the risk of growth fading further in the fourth quarter which would in turn boost the likelihood of the ECB opening the... taps further," he said.
Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said the latest figures "suggest that the risks to the growth outlook are currently more to the downside." If the situation gets worse, then the ECB will have to step in and do more although for the moment the central bank appears to be in "wait and see" mode, Archer said.
In the meantime, the economy "should be able to achieve ongoing modest, if unspectacular growth over the coming months," he said, citing the positive impact of lower oil and commodity prices on consumers.
Most EU countries to ban cultivation of 8 GMOs using new rules
More than half of the European Union's 28 nations plan to prohibit the cultivation of a group of genetically modified crops awaiting EU regulatory approval, marking the first use by individual governments of a new right to go their own way on the planting of biotech foods.
PHOTO: AFP
[BRUSSELS] More than half of the European Union's 28 nations plan to prohibit the cultivation of a group of genetically modified crops awaiting EU regulatory approval, marking the first use by individual governments of a new right to go their own way on the planting of biotech foods.
Nineteen EU countries have demanded that all or part of their territory be shielded from eight pending applications to grow gene-altered crops in the bloc, according to the European Commission. One application is a request for renewed authorization to cultivate Monsanto Co's MON810 corn variety, which was approved in 1998 and is the only biotech food grown commercially in the EU.
The nations invoked an opt-out enshrined in new EU legislation on the growing of biotech foods, known as gene-modified organisms, or GMOs. The 2015 law, which resulted from a political divide in Europe over the safety of biotech foods, lets any EU government demand that the "geographical scope" of an application for authorization to plant GMOs in the bloc "be adjusted" to exclude all or part of the territory of that member state.
"As the number of requests from member states shows, national governments are now using this legislation to have a greater say on cultivation on their respective territories," the commission, the EU's executive arm in Brussels, said in a statement on Sunday.
The countries that have exercised this option for the eight pending applications are: Austria, Belgium (on behalf of the Wallonia region), Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and the U.K. (on behalf of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), according to the commission.
The bloc's governments also have a second opt-out option under the law. A separate provision gives any EU government the right to "adopt measures restricting or prohibiting the cultivation in all or part of its territory of a GMO, or group of GMOs defined by crop or trait, once authorized" by the bloc.
JPMorgan says 'waves of protectionism' will cap China steel
Steel exports from China will probably peak in 2015 as the doubling of shipments over the past two years spurred a wave of protectionism around the world, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[BEIJING] Steel exports from China will probably peak in 2015 as the doubling of shipments over the past two years spurred a wave of protectionism around the world, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Net exports from the top producer will plateau at about 90 million metric tons a year, with gross shipments seen at about 105 million tons, JPMorgan said in a report.
China's shipments of steel ballooned to a record this year as mills confronting shrinking domestic demand and slowing economic growth are seeking increased overseas sales, driving down global prices and spurring trade tensions from the US to India and Africa. Steel demand in China will shrink 4 percent this year and 2 per cent in 2016, JPMorgan said.
"Booming steel exports have helped steel production hold up relatively better than steel demand, but we believe exports have reached a peak," analysts including Daniel Kang wrote in the report dated Oct 4. "With Chinese exports doubling in the last two years, waves of protectionism measures have been triggered globally."
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Net shipments from China may total 86 million tons this year, 87 million in 2016 and 83 million the year after that, according to the bank. The 2020 figure was put at 90 million and was unchanged through to 2035, it said.
Steel shipments from China have risen to extraordinary levels, according to Credit Suisse Group AG, which compared the volume of exports to total output from Japan, the world's second-largest producer. In the first eight months of this year, cargoes from China surged 26.5 per cent to 71.9 million tons, customs data show.
Mills outside China are pushing back. ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd, a unit of the world's biggest steelmaker, has asked the government to extend tariffs on imports. The European Union steel industry is seeking data to file a complaint to the European Commission alleging that Chinese exporters are selling hot-rolled coil in the EU below-cost, a practice known as dumping.
China may try to rein in steel exports by adjusting taxes to achieve a situation that benefits both the country and its trading partners, Wang Liqun, vice chairman at the China Iron & Steel Association, told reporters in Qingdao last month. Still, shipments will surpass 100 million tons this year as overseas sales remain strong, Mr Wang said.
Chinese mills are making more steel than the economy needs as they are benefiting from supplies of cheap iron ore, Lourenco Goncalves, chief executive officer of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc, said in August. Iron ore delivered to Qingdao dropped 5.2 per cent to US$53.14 a dry ton on Friday, and is 25 per cent lower this year.
Short sellers take on top Hong Kong property stock of 2015
[HONG KONG] Evergrande Real Estate Group, the best- performing major property stock traded in Hong Kong this year, is also the most-shorted and lowest-rated among peers.
Some reasons: The developer controlled by billionaire Chairman Hui Ka Yan has bought back shares to help boost prices and has been piling on debt, leading analysts and some investors to bet that increases won't be sustainable. The shares, which defied a slumping market to increase in July and slip only 0.6 per cent amid a rout in August, led declines among property developers in September.
Chinese developers have been taking on debt to expand as the government turned to areas such as property investment to shore up slowing economic growth. As the share market began its decline in mid-June, developers such as Evergrande and China Vanke Co moved to give their shares a boost via buybacks. Evergrande's shares jumped 11 per cent in July as the developer embarked on a buyback spree, and was the only stock in the BI China Real Estate Owners and Developers Valuation Peers Index to increase that month.
"The cash flow position will become quite tight if the company keeps buying back shares or maintaining its dividend payout," Toni Ho, an analyst at RHB OSK Securities Hong Kong Ltd, said. "Evergrande has been more aggressive compared to its peers in terms of taking on more debt." Evergrande's shares fell 1.3 per cent to HK$4.73 (S$0.87) at the close of trading in Hong Kong and was the worst-performing member in the BI China Real Estate Owners and Developers Valuation Peers Index.
Evergrande's secretary, Jimmy Fong, didn't answer two e- mails seeking comment, and three phone calls to his office went unanswered. In August, Fong had said there was nothing new in a report by an independent research firm that highlighted the firm's indebtedness, adding that though the company's leverage had gone up, it was due to its expansion.
Evergrande's shares fell 14 per cent in September, the worst performer among its peers. Still, the company's shares are up about 51 per cent this year, the top performer and one of four stocks to gain in the 16-member BI China Real Estate Owners & Developers Index, which tracks the nation's biggest developers with shares traded in Hong Kong.
Ho said the stock has been supported by the buybacks and because of the developer's strong branding on the mainland, where sales were helped by lowering of interest rates and easing of property curbs. In August, the company reported a 33 per cent increase in net income and 23 per cent increase in sales for the six months ended June from a year earlier. Evergrande spent HK$5.47 billion buying back 1.15 billion shares in July. The company, which has amassed one of the highest debt loads among China's developers, is planning to sell as much as 20 billion yuan (S$4.5 billion) of bonds in the onshore market this month, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The developer's net debt-to-equity leverage rose to a record high of 121.8 percent at the end of June from 102.6 at the end of last year. That compares with the average net leverage of 83.2 per cent for Hong Kong-listed developers with a market capitalization of more than US$1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. If considering its perpetual notes as debt, the company's net leverage was 291.8 per cent at the end of June.
Standard & Poor's, in May, downgraded the developer's rating because its leverage had increased and was likely to stay high.
Short interest surged to about 29 per cent of free float after the repurchased shares were canceled, according to data compiled by Markit Ltd., with the billionaire chairman's stake in the company rising to 70 per cent. Hong Kong-listed companies typically need to have at least 25 per cent of their stock available for the public.
The stock may be getting shorted on concerns about liquidity and cash flow, according to Domingo Chen, Hong Kong- based chief operating officer of Quantum China Asset Management. It will take time for Evergrande to alleviate investor concerns about the company's balance sheet, he added.
"We think Evergrande's share price is not driven by fundamentals," JPMorgan Chase & Co analysts led by Ryan Li wrote in a Sept 2 research report. The low stock liquidity and share buyback program "will make the share price very volatile, but with limited downside in the near term."
THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Monday said financial institutions have a role to play in supporting efforts to promote sustainable development, and that progress is being made on a few fronts.
"MAS has been in discussion with the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) on how our banks can help to promote lending practices that support sustainable development. We are pleased that ABS will soon be issuing guidelines on responsible financing," a spokeswoman said.
She added the Singapore Exchange (SGX) has been working with listed companies to enhance disclosure on the environmental and social aspects of their businesses. The MAS supports SGX's plans to mandate sustainability reporting on a "comply or explain" basis. Implementation is targeted for financial year 2017, after completing the ongoing public consultation exercise.
"MAS will support the development of guidance for investors, specifically institutional investors, in engaging with their investee companies, on issues relating to sustainability, social and environmental considerations," she said.
