And 2015's Top Stock Market is...Jamaica!

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 12/29/2015 07:28:00 PM
You aren't smokin' ganja--Jamaica's stock market is tops in the world for 2015. Channeling Steve Harvey announcing Miss Universe 2015 in the post title, I don't believe that I made a mistake in this instance. In the rest of the world, 2015 was a rather forgettable year when investing in nearly anything made you next to no money (or lost you money). Stocks, bonds, cash...it was all a big blah. But wait, there was one exception: while other stock markets worldwide were busy going nowhere (or down), Jamaica's rallied over 80% this year: Amid the middling returns of the world’s best known indexes -- the Dow Jones Industrial...
Read More

Miss Universe and US Hegemony in Beauty Pageants

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 12/25/2015 05:18:00 PM
"Yay, the Americans declared me winner of an 'international' event!" Given my nationality, I suppose I shouldn't complain too much about the outcome of the 2015 Miss Universe pageant. Still, one thing that struck me is that, despite the obviously commercial nature of these pageants--to paraphrase Robert Cox, they wouldn't be held if they didn't make money for someone--American hegemony is all too apparent for what is ostensibly an "international" competition. For a long time, the franchise was owned by real-estate, er, impresario Donald Trump. Then, late this year, it was sold together with the Miss USA property as legal...
Read More

It's Officially Over: WTO Kills Doha Round (2001-Never)

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 12/23/2015 03:53:00 PM
Never again: nobody will be meeting to discuss Doha anymore. During the last WTO meeting, its members decided to discontinue reaffirming the Doha Development Agenda's mandate, effectively killing it off. What's especially notable is that the country which was most adamant in launching it and styling it as a "development agenda" instead of a "round"--the United States--has been wishing to kill it off for quite some time now: The World Trade Organisation is facing the biggest shake-up of its agenda in a generation after its members in effect abandoned the long-stalled Doha round. For the first time since the round was launched...
Read More

More on How Aging Societies Hinder Growth

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 12/22/2015 04:45:00 AM
There's an interesting article on Bloomberg drawing on recent work from HSBC on how aging populations in different countries are likely to be a drag on their growth. Japan is, of course, today's most prominent example of the difficulties encouraging growth against a backdrop of demographic disaster. However, the situation of Japan will hardly be unique over the coming decades as the forces of depopulation replicate themselves all over the world. Worryingly, it is not only developed but also developing countries which will likely experience this phenomenon: From such advanced economies as the U.S. and Japan to developing countries,...
Read More

Like Pakistan's...or Zambia's? China's H-Shares

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 12/15/2015 04:31:00 PM
How the mighty have fallen: a few months ago, Bloomberg noted that Hong Kong-listed stocks were even cheaper than Taliban-infested Pakistan's on a price/earnings ratio basis. As you can see above, that remains true. However, among these HK stocks, there are even worse performers: mainland China shares listed in Hong Kong or H-shares ("Hang Seng China"). Slightly cheaper than Lebanon's but still marginally dearer than those of Laos and strife-torn Zambia (whew!), I guess international buyers aren't too keen on mainland China's prospects circa year-end 2015. At the beginning of the year, the H-shares were flying high. Now...
Read More

China's 'Extraordinary Rendition' of Executives

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 12/13/2015 01:32:00 PM
Detaining executives without due process or explanation: Does the PRC's actions constitute economic terror? Leave it to the Communist Party to find a way to roil Asian markets one way or another. Having (sort of) learned their lesson not to suddenly and drastically devalue their currency as per the events of this past August, they are now devaluing slowly but surely. But, you do have to wonder about its continuing habit of locking up corporate executives without explanation...at an undisclosed location. In honor of the American's "extraordinary rendition" of anyone anywhere in the world without due process for detention...
Read More

Did China Get Its $234B Worth in Stock Intervention?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 12/09/2015 03:20:00 PM
OK, so the title is a bit of a trick question insofar as the intent of official actors in intervening in stock markets was not to make money but to calm investor sentiment. Still, we are in the dark somewhat over how much the Chinese government spent to prop up equities, and if this effort was money-making. BAML recently estimated that the amount poured into PRC stocks was $234 billion. What is more astounding to me though is that it bought nearly every other China-listed stock out there. Such is the reach of the PRC: According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the Chinese government spent at least 1.5 trillion yuan ($234...
Read More

OPEC, From Cartel to Stand-Up Comedy Club

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 12/07/2015 01:30:00 AM
There was a time when OPEC was feared. Nowadays, it's a laughingstock. Oftentimes the most humorous things in life are unintentional. People want to be taken seriously, but their actions seem to belie their...how should I put this...comic tendencies.Today's case in point is the once-mighty Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). At the height of its powers in the early Seventies, it was instrumental in sending oil prices through the roof worldwide as motorists bore the brunt of its will. Let's just say there was more third world solidarity forty-some years ago than there is today. United they stood; nowadays,...
Read More

Brazil's So Broke Olympians Don't Get Air-Conditioning

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 12/05/2015 02:11:00 PM
It must get hot wearing these Olympic outfits when there's no A/C. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Brazil during the tail end of the Lula years was riding high on elevated commodity prices as China fueled a seemingly endless demand for what Brazil was selling...then the party stopped when the PRC's economy slowed down, ending a commodity supercycle in which Brazil was one of the biggest beneficiaries. With the 2014 World Cup and the forthcoming 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazil has essentially been left holding the bag with costly international sporting events it can barely afford as perma-recession has taken hold. As...
Read More