Hedge funds focusing on Asian investments experienced heavy losses in the second quarter,
but that did not seem to deter investors from giving them more money.
So what’s going on?
Asian-focused hedge funds lost $2.4 billion in the second quarter as stock indexes in the region fell sharply, Hedge Fund Research reports.
Yet it appears that changes in China’s monetary policy during the quarter attracted some investors
In a country where Fiats line the streets, Italians have long clung to a revealing proverb: as Fiat goes, so goes Italy.
Fiat’s efforts to make its workers more productive at a plant just north of Naples are testing that maxim as never before,
and may signal whether Italians are willing to embrace the kind of change needed for Italy
to skirt financial ruin and be more competitive with the countries of Northern Europe and the rest of the world.
The Internal Revenue Service has announced that it would overhaul a unit devoted to scrutinizing large corporations and wealthy individuals,
a shift that would bolster the agency’s growing focus on international tax evasion.
The I.R.S. said that it would centralize operations at the core unit, which will now be known as the large business and international division,
The battle to curb public deficits has forced EU member states to cut back on investments, and in particular on infrastructure projects.
The Spanish government has announced it would reduce the rate it pays for photovoltaic electricity by 45%,
a decision that will pose serious difficulties for the 600 solar operators in the country.
Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin banned all exports of grain after millions of acres of Russian wheat withered in a severe drought,
driving up prices around the world and pushing them to their highest level in two years in the United States.
The move was the latest of several abrupt interventions in the Russian economy by Mr. Putin,
who called the ban necessary to curb rising food prices in the country.
For those who wonder why, all of a sudden, the Federal Reserve is starting to talk about deflation, as we have been for MONTHS 😉 ,
look no further than the financial disaster the American pop concert scene confronts this VERY hot summer.
It has been a summer of hard sells and empty seats.
Despite sellouts for Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and some other hot acts,
With the recent announcement of a post-unification “record” for German economic growth this past quarter – on which we will have more next week – and the equally bad news from Spain and Greece –
we thought it appropriate to consider some of the revelations contained in the 2009 regional yearbook of Eurostat, the EU’s official statistical agency.
Overall, the yearbook indicates the danger of a two-speed recovery across the 16-member euro zone
Telefónica, the Spanish telecommunications company, has won full control of Vivo, the mobile phone venture it had with Portugal Telecom in Brazil,
after raising its bid for a third time, to 7.5 billion euros, thereby overcoming opposition from the Portuguese government.
The deal, worth about $9.8 billion, was announced Wednesday by the Spanish stock market regulator.
The agreement is expected to end a lengthy tussle between two European telecommunications operators
Non-Americans may wonder why we keep bringing up this whole debate over “net neutrality” –
simply, whether there will be “ONE INTERNET FOR ALL,” or SEVERAL / PAYMENT-RELATED Internet/s –
but it is serious business for everyone the world over, so please try to bear with us,
because – wherever in the world you live – if you use the Internet, which, obviously, if you are reading this, you DO 😉 –
In the storm unleashed over the implications for net neutrality of the Google / Verizon “plan”,
According to the proposal, Internet service providers would not be able to block producers of online content or offer them a paid “fast lane.”
