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)
[SAN FRANCISCO] Facebook said on Wednesday its profit in the third quarter jumped 11 per cent to US$891 million as advertising revenues soared.
The world's biggest social network also said the number of monthly active users hit 1.55 billion, up 14 per cent from a year earlier.
Revenues leapt 41 per cent from a year ago to US$4.5 billion. The vast majority was from advertising, and mobile accounted for 78 per cent of ad revenues in the quarter, compared with 66 per cent a year earlier.
"We had a good quarter and got a lot done," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and chief executive.
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"We're focused on innovating and investing for the long term to serve our community and connect the entire world." The stronger-than-expected earnings report sparked a gain of 2.3 per cent in Facebook shares in after-hours trade.
Analysts say Facebook has become an online advertising juggernaut as it seeks to leverage its huge base to expand into other applications such as Instagram and WhatsApp, and delve into virtual reality projects through its acquisition of Oculus.
According to the research firm eMarketer, Facebook accounted for eight per cent of worldwide digital ad revenues in 2014 and is expected to reach 9.6 per cent by the end of this year.
Google is expected to remain the market leader with 30.4 per cent share this year, down from 32 per cent last year, eMarketer estimates.
In mobile, Facebook's share of digital ad revenues this year is expected to be around 17.4 per cent in a market worth some US$72 billion.
Maersk Line, the world's number one container shipping firm, said Wednesday it would cut 4,000 jobs by the end of 2017 and defer vessel investments to buoy up its dominant position in a falling market.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
[COPENHAGEN] Maersk Line, the world's number one container shipping firm, said Wednesday it would cut 4,000 jobs by the end of 2017 and defer vessel investments to buoy up its dominant position in a falling market.
The maritime division of Danish conglomerate AP Moeller-Maersk has been battling price and demand falls and is cutting capacity and has warned that a fall in activity will hit annual results due for publication Friday.
Late last month, petroleum division Maersk Oil announced it would slash its workforce by between 10 and 12 per cent in the face of low oil prices.
"We are in the process of transforming Maersk Line, to make the organisation simpler and leaner. We want to improve the online experience of clients and at the same time work as efficiently as possible," said chief executive Soren Skou in a statement.
Maersk Line is to slash administrative costs by US$250 million over two years.
With the downturn in the market Maersk Line is also cutting back its fleet expansion, dropping plans to purchase six giant vessels on which it had placed an option.
[NEW YORK] US crude stocks rose last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell and imports dropped to the lowest in almost a quarter of a century, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 2.8 million barrels in the last week, in line with analysts' expectations.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 212,000 barrels, EIA said.
Refinery crude runs rose by 21,000 barrels per day, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates rose by 1.1 percentage points.
Gasoline stocks fell by 3.3 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1-million-barrel drop.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.3 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.8-million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
US crude imports fell last week by 89,000 barrels per day, to the lowest since 1991.
US September trade deficit smallest in seven months
[WASHINGTON] The US trade deficit narrowed sharply in September to its lowest level in seven months as exports rebounded, a tentative sign that the worst of the drag from a stronger dollar may be over.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday the trade gap fell 15 per cent to US$40.8 billion, the smallest deficit since February. Lower crude oil prices also helped to curb the import bill.
The drop in the trade deficit reversed the widening seen in August, though the prior month's figure was revised slightly down to US$48 billion from the previously reported US$48.3 billion.
Economists had forecast the trade gap shrinking to US$41.1 billion. When adjusted for inflation, the deficit fell to US$57.2 billion in September from US$63.0 billion in the prior month.
Trade had a neutral impact on gross domestic product for the third quarter, which expanded at a 1.5 per cent annual rate. The sharp step-down in growth from the second quarter's brisk 3.9 per cent rate mainly reflected a slow pace of inventory accumulation and ongoing spending cuts by energy firms.
The dollar has gained 16.8 per cent against the currencies of the United States' main trading partners since June 2014, undercutting export growth. Lackluster global demand also has put a damper on exports.
Exports in September rose 1.6 per cent to US$187.9 billion, with exports of services hitting a record high. There were increases in exports of capital goods and automobiles. Exports of industrial supplies and materials, however, were the lowest since October 2010.
Exports to Canada, the European Union and China rose in September. Exports to Japan, however, fell 13.8 per cent to their lowest level since April 2010.
Imports fell 1.8 per cent to US$228.7 billion, the lowest level since February. They had received a boost in August from Apple's new iPhone model.
Imports of industrial supplies and materials fell to the lowest level since August 2009. Petroleum imports were the lowest since May 2004, reflecting increased domestic energy production and lower oil prices.
The price of petroleum averaged US$42.72 per barrel in September, down from US$49.33 in August and US$92.52 in September 2014.
Imports from China hit a record high in September, leaving the politically sensitive US-China trade deficit at an all-time high of US$36.3 billion. That was up 3.8 per cent from August.
US economy doing well; December rate hike possible: Yellen
[WASHINGTON] Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday that US economic activity remains solid and that the Fed could decide to increase interest rates at its December meeting.
"At this point, I see the US economy as performing well," she told a congressional panel, reiterating that the Fed's policy statement last week "indicates that December would be a live possibility" for the first increase in the federal funds rate in more than nine years.
US: Stocks open higher after surge in Chinese shares
PHOTO: REUTERS
[NEW YORK] US stocks opened higher Wednesday, continuing to benefit from upward momentum following a jump in the Chinese stock market.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,944.84, up 26.69 points(0.15 per cent).
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 2.96 (0.14 per cent) to 2,112.75, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 12.91 (0.25 per cent) to 5,158.04.
US stocks have risen the last two sessions, adding to a strong October rally. Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said there is talk the market is overbought, but it is "running headlong" into claims of a late-year surge "and one last mad dash perhaps before the Fed lifts the target rate for the fed funds rate."
China consumers to spend more in Nov 11 'Singles Day' shopping spree: Nielsen
Most online consumers in China will spend more during the Nov. 11 "Singles' Day" shopping promotion this year than they did last year, according to the results of a survey by consultancy Nielsen Holdings made available to Reuters on Wednesday.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
[SHANGHAI] Most online consumers in China will spend more during the Nov. 11 "Singles' Day" shopping promotion this year than they did last year, according to the results of a survey by consultancy Nielsen Holdings made available to Reuters on Wednesday.
In a survey of more than 1,000 internet users in China this month, 56 per cent said that they would spend more on Singles Day this year compared to 2014. A third said they were likely to spend about the same on the biggest single day for shopping in China, and 6 per cent planned to spend less, Nielsen said.
The survey, conducted from Oct 16 to 21, found the average expected spend amongst all respondents in 2015 was 1,761 yuan (S$387.51), Nielsen said, showing an increase of 321 yuan, or 22 per cent, compared with 2014.
This year's trend on a day also dubbed "Double 11" after its date will be watched closely for clues about private consumption as the world's second-biggest economy heads for its slowest growth in more than 20 years. Official data shows retail sales grew more than 10 per cent in September from a year earlier, but other indicators, such as auto sales, have shown big drops.
"It's not a huge surprise that consumers are planning to spend more during this year's Double 11," Yan Xuan, president of Nielsen Greater China, said in a statement. "Income levels and internet penetration continue to rise throughout China, so this is a natural progression." The online sales event has ballooned since it was launched by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd in 2009, and many retailers, including Alibaba rivals like JD.com Inc, stage sales promotions of their own.
Last year, Alibaba reported a record US$9.3 billion in sales on its platforms during the event.
The thousands of vendors featured on Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping sites hope to boost sales and gain customers. But some retailers have said that hefty discounting can undercut the benefits of increased transactions, and watchdogs monitor the event for potential infractions.
Alibaba was fined 800,000 yuan in April by the price bureau in eastern Zhejiang province for violations by third-party sellers during promotions on its e-commerce platforms, including Singles Day.
Musk's SpaceX finds crowd for US$3.5b NASA cargo flights
[CHICAGO] Less than a decade after its first rocket launch, Elon Musk's SpaceX finds itself in an unfamiliar position.
The upstart venture is the incumbent vying to win the bulk of a US$3.5 billion UD contract renewal while facing rivals that include Boeing Co, whose spaceflight roots date to the 1950s. At stake: a seven-year agreement to haul supplies and experiments to the International Space Station.
SpaceX is pushing the only made-in-the-USA entry in a four-way derby with Boeing, Orbital ATK Inc. and Sierra Nevada Corp, each of which relies to some extent on rockets with Russian engines. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will award the work as soon as Thursday as it juggles support for commercial missions while Congress clamors to end US dependence on the imported motors.
"This bodes well for SpaceX because they're the only company I can see that's completely independent of Russia," said Marco Caceres, director for space studies at consultant Teal Group.
Launch Competitor NASA split the initial US$3.6 billion cargo-flight contract between SpaceX and Orbital in 2008, two years after Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp sent its first rocket aloft. The win helped establish SpaceX as a competitor to United Launch Alliance, the Boeing-Lockheed Martin Corp. rocket venture whose work includes military missions.
SpaceX and Orbital each have a setback on their commercial- cargo records. An October 2014 explosion just after liftoff destroyed an Orbital Antares rocket laden with space station cargo. In June, a SpaceX Falcon 9 blew up en route to the orbiting lab.
The station's reliance on Russian and Japanese spacecraft for supplies highlights the "immediate and urgent need for appropriate oversight and corrective action," Republican Senators Cory Gardner of Colorado and David Vitter of Louisiana said in a Sept 1 letter urging the Government Accountability Office to review NASA's contracted launch services and capsules.
Increased political scrutiny may provide an incentive to NASA to add more contractors, said Nick Taborek, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. Doing so would provide "back-up options if things go wrong," he said by phone. "It's a way to avoid protests that can cause schedules to go late." Cargo Capsules Boeing's entrant is a reusable cargo version of the Starliner capsule being developed for manned NASA orbital missions later this decade. It would be carried by an Atlas V rocket. "NASA can take advantage of all the work and taxpayer dollars spent for the Commercial Crew program and re-use it for cargo," Boeing spokeswoman Kelly Kaplan said by e-mail.
Sierra Nevada proposes a freighter variant of its Dream Chaser, a reusable orbiter that looks like a miniature cousin of the space shuttle and is designed to land on airport runways. It would ride atop an Atlas V or a rocket from Europe's Arianespace SA. SpaceX and Sierra Nevada declined to discuss their cargo proposals, and Orbital didn't respond to requests for comment. NASA had no comment this week about details of the next commercial-resupply contract.
Caceres, the space consultant, isn't convinced that adding more contractors will solve NASA's reliability qualms because the Atlas V is powered by Russian-made RD-180 engines - a focal point of congressional debate over import limits.
"I don't know that three companies is better than two, if two out of the three are reliant on the same vehicle," Mr Caceres said. Like Boeing and Sierra Nevada, Orbital also depends on Russian engines. It used them in the Antares rocket that blew up, plans to deploy a different Russian model on a new Antares, and will put its Cygnus capsule on an Atlas V next month to resume space-station flights.
The initial supply contract proved a boon for SpaceX, which was founded in 2002 by Musk - a PayPal Inc co-founder - a year before he created his signature automaker, Tesla Motors Inc. SpaceX has completed six missions under the NASA award to Orbital's two, and also plans to restart commercial flights in December.
Gauging the full effect of NASA's privatization of cargo trips may take years, because follow-on offerings like space tourism aren't quite ready yet, said Micah Walter-Range, director of research and analysis with the Space Foundation.
"It has been good to keep a lot of that money in the country rather than sending it off to Russia," Mr Walter-Range said. Without NASA's resupply program, "that is what we would be doing."
IMF postpones decision on yuan's inclusion in SDR basket: report
The International Monetary Fund has postponed its decision on whether to include the yuan in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket until Nov 30, the China Business News reported on Wednesday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[BEIJING] The International Monetary Fund has postponed its decision on whether to include the yuan in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket until Nov 30, the China Business News reported on Wednesday.
The IMF was originally planning to make a decision on Nov 4, it said.
Eurozone business growth remained tepid in October: PMI
Eurozone business growth remained tepid last month, with the European Central Bank's massive stimulus programme having little apparent impact on economic activity or price pressures, a survey showed on Wednesday.
PHOTO: AFP
[LONDON] Eurozone business growth remained tepid last month, with the European Central Bank's massive stimulus programme having little apparent impact on economic activity or price pressures, a survey showed on Wednesday.
Compiler Markit said the surveys pointed to quarterly economic growth of around 0.4 percent, in line with the forecast in a Reuters poll published in October.
Markit's final October Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) came in at 53.9, weaker than an earlier estimate of 54.0 but above September's four-month low of 53.6. The index has been above the 50 mark denoting expansion since July 2013. "The final PMI data confirm the steady but still somewhat lacklustre economic growth recorded in the euro area at the start of the fourth quarter," said Chris Williamson, Markit's chief economist.
The ECB has injected 60 billion euros a month of new money through its bond-buying programme since March to support growth and inflation in the 19-country currency area and has hinted it may beef up the programme at its next meeting in December.
Worryingly for ECB policymakers, who target an inflation rate of just below 2 per cent, the survey showed firms returned to price cutting last month. The composite output price index fell to 49.6 from September's 50.0.
Prices in the eurozone were flat year-on-year in October, an official first estimate showed on Friday, maintaining pressure on the ECB to further loosen monetary policy.
Economists polled by Reuters last week said it was highly likely the ECB will ease again in December, increasing or extending its stimulus programme and further cutting the deposit rate, already in negative territory.
A PMI for the dominant service industry also rose, reaching 54.1 compared to September's seven-month low of 53.7. That was however lower than a flash estimate of 54.2.
In one bright spot, suggesting firms were expecting a pick up in activity they did increase headcount last month at a faster rate than in September. The employment index rose to 52.3 from 51.2.
Detailed PMI data are only available under licence from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a licence.
Taiwan official says nothing rushed, opaque about Xi-Ma meeting
[TAIPEI] There was nothing rushed or opaque about the government push for a historic meeting between Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a senior Taiwan government official said on Wednesday.
Andrew Hsia, head of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's ministry in charge of China policy, made the remarks at a briefing, adding that the idea of the meeting was broached by the chief of China's Taiwan Affairs Office and that it underscored both sides' dedication to maintaining peace.
The unexpected meeting will be the first between leaders of the two sides since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949.
ASEAN's lack of consensus shows concern over South China Sea: US
[KUALA LUMPUR] The inability of a forum of Southeast Asian defence ministers to agree on a joint statement at the end of a forum on Wednesday reflects their concern about China's activity in the South China Sea, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said.
"It was clearly an issue of discussion and an issue of concern by countries in the meeting, because everybody raised it," Carter told a news conference.
The Association of South East Asian Nations held its defence ministers meet this week, joined by other countries including the United States China, Japan and Australia.
