Having rung up over US$25bn in debts, and four state bailouts in the past decade, Japan Airlines – Asia’s largest airline – has finally filed for bankruptcy protection. The beleaguered company made the filing yesterday, and although the government has pledged to keep the carrier in the air, almost 16,000 jobs will be slashed in… [Read more]
Most people are well aware that the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries are big recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI). But they are also big sources of FDI. In 2009, for the first time, emerging market outbound mergers and acquisitions (M&A) flows outpaced inbound M&A flows, reaching US$131.8bn, according to Dealogic. Most of these… [Read more]
Risk watchdog had been bullish towards the agricultural complex for some time, but last week’s barrage of data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proved a bit of a game changer. Specifically, while still optimistic on the outlook for soft commodities such as coffee, cocoa and sugar, me and my colleagues here at… [Read more]
The Zimbabwean Industrial Index could be one to watch over the next few months after returning about 50% in 2009. If we look at a chart of the performance last year, it is quite plain to see that the index was a bit of slave to politics. Each time there was a positive development the… [Read more]
One of the things I’ve been wracking my brain with this week is the political outlook for the US in the 2010s. Measuring change is difficult, because everyone has a different perception of the status quo and the past. Some people think 2010 is radically different from 2000; others less so. Nonetheless, it is still… [Read more]
This week the People’s Bank of China tried to send a clear signal that it is starting to tighten monetary conditions as the economic recovery takes hold. Stuart Allsopp, BMI China analyst, explains the significance of the bank’s move to raise its 3-month bill financing rate and reserve requirement ratios for the monetary policy outlook… [Read more]
China’s decision to tighten monetary policy on January 12 and weak corporate earnings reports out of the US have put a damper on bullish equity sentiment in Europe. That said, I still think upside momentum can carry further on a tactical basis. Two markets I particularly like are the Russian RTS and Polish WIG20. With… [Read more]
