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)
Opec sees more demand for its crude in 2016 as cheap oil hits rivals
Opec forecast on Monday that demand for its oil in 2016 would be much higher than previously thought as its strategy of letting prices fall hits US shale oil and other rival supplies, reducing a global surplus.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
[LONDON] Opec forecast on Monday that demand for its oil in 2016 would be much higher than previously thought as its strategy of letting prices fall hits US shale oil and other rival supplies, reducing a global surplus.
In a monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) forecast the world would need 30.82 million barrels per day (bpd) from the group next year, up 510,000 bpd from the previous prediction.
Supply outside Opec is expected to decline by 130,000 bpd in 2016, the report said, as output falls in the United States, the former Soviet Union, Africa, the Middle East and much of Europe. Last month, Opec predicted growth of 160,000 bpd. "This should reduce the excess supply in the market and lead to higher demand for Opec crude," Opec said in the report,"resulting in more balanced oil market fundamentals".
The higher call on Opec comes despite weaker global demand growth overall. Opec trimmed its estimate of 2016 world oil demand growth by 40,000 bpd to 1.25 million bpd, citing slower growth in China.
Crude prices could fall to production cost levels if glut worsens: Goldman
Goldman Sachs on Monday said crude oil prices could fall to production cost levels if the current supply glut stretches beyond available logistical and storage capacity.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[LONDON] Goldman Sachs on Monday said crude oil prices could fall to production cost levels if the current supply glut stretches beyond available logistical and storage capacity.
"Fundamentals remain weak and we view the market to be strongly oversupplied," the bank said in a note, reiterating its three-, six- and 12-month WTI price forecasts of $42, $40 and $45 per barrel, respectively.
Goldman also kept its three-, six- and 12-month Brent price forecasts at $47, $45 and $49 per barrel, respectively.
The bank forecast oil demand growth at 1.62 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2015, and 1.28 million bpd next year.
A recent rally in oil prices would probably reverse as it had little fundamental support, the bank said last week, reiterating its expectation that prices will likely remain"lower for longer".
The bank said its "broad, bearish view" remains unchanged in terms of the overall commodities complex.
Senior politicians unite against beleaguered Malaysia PM
Influential former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad and some key ruling party members demanded Monday that embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak answer a barrage of corruption allegations.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[KUALA LUMPUR] Influential former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad and some key ruling party members demanded Monday that embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak answer a barrage of corruption allegations.
On the same day, a whistle-blower and his lawyer detained for their efforts to expose graft allegations against Mr Najib were charged with attempting to "sabotage" the country's banking sector.
Critics want Mr Najib to explain massive sums allegedly missing from state-owned development company 1MDB which he launched, as well as the revelation in July that nearly US$700 million in mysterious transfers had been made to his personal bank accounts.
"Unless somebody speaks up, the government will get away with doing all kinds of wrong things," Mr Mahathir told a press conference, according to The Star newspaper.
"So they may take action against me or any one of us but somebody has to take the risk to voice our disquiet, anger and feeling that the government is not looking after the interests of this country."
Joining Mr Mahathir, Malaysia's leader from 1981-2003, at the press conference were several heavyweights from the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which has held power since 1957, including party deputy president and the country's former deputy premier, Muhyiddin Yassin.
Mr Muhyiddin who has repeatedly called for Mr Najib to shed light on the corruption allegations, was stripped of his deputy premier title by Mr Najib in July.
Both Mr Najib and 1MDB vehemently deny any wrongdoing.
Tensions have been simmering in UMNO ranks since allegations of corruption surrounding Mr Najib and 1MDB surfaced in July, Ibrahim Suffian, head of the Merdeka Center polling firm, told AFP.
"This is a confluence of different strands of dissent within UMNO coming together," he said.
"A line has now been clearly drawn in the sand - them on one side and Mr Najib on the other - and the first salvo has been fired."
Last week Malaysia's nine state sultans, in a rare statement, said failure to investigate the allegations against Mr Najib had created a "crisis of confidence". They called for a probe to be revived.
Inquiries have stalled after Mr Najib fired his attorney-general in July and after police raided the anti-corruption agency offices in August.
Malaysia's central bank said it had formally recommended criminal proceedings be launched against 1MDB in August but the recommendation has since been dismissed by a Najib-appointed attorney general.
Mr Mahathir and others at the press conference also condemned the detention of the whistle-blower and his lawyer.
Khairuddin Abu Hassan, a former UMNO member, was arrested in September after launching an international campaign to expose the allegations.
His lawyer Matthias Chang was arrested last week for suspected involvement in the campaign.
Facing the possibility of 15 years in jail if found guilty, they were charged on Monday with attempting to "sabotage Malaysia's banking and financial services sector", The Star and the New Straits Times reported.
Regulators in the United States and elsewhere are now reportedly looking into the affair, with authorities in Switzerland and Singapore saying they had frozen some accounts as they probe possible money-laundering and other crimes.
Mr Najib's allies say the money deposited into his accounts was "political donations" from Middle Eastern sources, but have refused to provide details.
China's biggest car rental company enters the used-car business
A man takes a look at second-hand BMW cars at a dealer shop in Beijing, China, Sept 11, 2015. Car Inc will begin selling used cars next month to retail buyers as China's biggest rental company seeks new avenues for growth.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[BEIJING] Car Inc will begin selling used cars next month to retail buyers as China's biggest rental company seeks new avenues for growth.
The company will start with sales in eight cities and expand to about 100 smaller municipalities next year by acquiring existing dealerships, Chairman Lu Zhengyao said in an interview in Beijing Friday. It will initially sell cars that are part of its rental fleet and subsequently offer pre-owned vehicles from other providers as well as new cars, he said.
"Demand for used cars will mainly come from the smaller cities in China where the business is still fragmented. It's like we are expanding into some uncultivated land," said Mr Lu. "We will make the best use of our rental cars as well as take advantage of our lower purchase costs." Car, founded in 2007, will target lower-income consumers in smaller cities rather than big cities where buyers prefer newer vehicles. Sales of pre-owned passenger vehicles in the country will climb sixfold from 2013 to 36 million units by 2023, according to estimates by the China Automobile Dealers Association.
The company will sell used cars that have run less than 100,000 kilometers and have been in use for less than three years, said Mr Lu. The vehicles will come with a two- year quality warranty, he said. Car also plans to start selling new vehicles leveraging its bargaining power with automakers, said Lu.
Car-Booking Services Car, which started an Internet car-booking service in January, is targeting customers who spend at least 60 yuan (US$9.40) a trip. The company's vehicles on average run 300,000 trips each day, said Mr Lu. More than 70 per cent of the customers of such chauffeur-driven cars are iPhone users, he said, citing analysis of downloads of its apps.
The company set up a lab in Silicon Valley in April and employs about 80 people, Mr Lu said. Car's ride-hailing offering will focus on high-end customers and not on car pooling and low- end services.
China's transport ministry said on Saturday it's drafting rules for online car-hailing services to protect passenger safety by banning the use of private cars, according to a statement on its website. Car said its services are in line with the government guidance.
Norwegian Cruise Line to start service from China in 2017
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd said it will introduce a ship in China in 2017 to tap the fastest growing market for cruises.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
[SHANGHAI] Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd said it will introduce a ship in China in 2017 to tap the fastest growing market for cruises.
China has been the focus of investment for cruise operators including Carnival Corp , which said in January it was in talks with a state-owned agency to develop a cruise line for China.
Carnival also shifted its chief operating officer to Shanghai last year to lead the company's initiatives in China.
The Chinese market for cruise travel could nearly double to US$11.5 billion in sales by 2018, compared with $6.8 billion in 2013, according to research firm Euromonitor.
The new ship from Norwegian Cruise Line could accommodate 4,200 guests, the company said on Monday.
Norwegian Cruise Line also said it opened offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
India's Infosys posts 9.8% profits rise but cuts forecast
[BANGALORE] Indian software giant Infosys on Monday reported a 9.8 per cent rise in quarterly net profit, beating expectations, on the back of a weak rupee and robust demand from the United States.
The country's second largest IT services exporter said its profit for July to September increased to 33.98 billion rupees (S$734.1 million) from 30.96 billion rupees a year earlier.
The earnings topped a Bloomberg survey of 14 analysts which forecast a profit of 32.8 billion rupees.
"We had strong all-round growth... driven by recent initiatives around service differentiation, improvement in client mining and higher focus on winning large deals," chief operating officer U.B. Pravin Rao said in a statement.
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India has become a back office to the world as companies have subcontracted work to firms such as Infosys, taking advantage of the country's skilled English-speaking workforce.
The Bangalore-based company is listed in Mumbai and New York and was once seen as the bellwether of India's flagship outsourcing industry and the country's equivalent to Microsoft.
But it is now engaged in a tough battle for market share with rivals TCS and Wipro.
Infosys said it added 82 clients during the three-month period.
Total revenue grew 17.2 per cent year-on-year to 156.35 billion rupees from 133.42 billion rupees a year earlier.
However, the company said it it was pessimistic about the outlook for the global economy, lowering its dollar earnings forecast for the current financial year from 7.2-9.2 per cent to 6.4-8.4 per cent.
Infosys shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange fell around two per cent on the news as it also announced that its chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal was stepping down.
Dell Inc will buy data storage company EMC Corp in a deal valued at about US$67 billion, the largest on record in the technology sector.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[NEW YORK] Dell Inc will buy data storage company EMC Corp in a deal valued at about US$67 billion, the largest on record in the technology sector.
The offer is US$33.15 per share in cash and special stock, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday.
EMC shares were up 3.9 per cent at US$29.08 in premarket trading.
The deal will help the world's No.3 PC maker tap into the faster-growing and lucrative market for managing and storing data for businesses amid waning demand for personal computers globally.
Dell said it would pay US$24.05 per share in cash and the rest in a special stock that tracks the value of a portion of EMC's economic interest in VMware Inc, the virtualization software company majority-owned by EMC.
"The combination of Dell and EMC creates an enterprise solutions powerhouse," said Michael Dell, who will lead the combined company as chairman and chief executive.
EMC is also planning to seek out other suitors, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.
EMC's board has approved the merger agreement and intends to recommend that the company's stockholders approve the deal.
The deal will be financed through a combination of new equity from Michael Dell, MSD Partners, Silver Lake and Singapore state-owned investor Temasek Holdings as well as the issuance of the tracking stock, new debt and cash on hand.
VMware will remain an independent, publicly traded company. VMware shares were unchanged at US$78.65.
