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Twitter IPO A Dud? Yes, Says Survey of Financial Advisors (But You’ll Own It “Whether You Want It Or Not”)
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Twitter IPO A Dud? Yes, Says Survey of Financial Advisors (But You’ll Own It “Whether You Want It Or Not”)
Brokers, financial advisors, and wealth managers are a recalcitrant bunch, suddenly, after having gotten their manicured fingers burned on a few super-hyped IPOs, and now they just refuse to get exuberant about the Twitter IPO. At least that’s what they indicated in a survey. But individual investors, well, that’s another story.
Is the Giant Siberian Oilfield to be Developed by Russia and China Radioactive?
by Oilprice.com • • Comments Off on Is the Giant Siberian Oilfield to be Developed by Russia and China Radioactive?
By Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com: The deal between Rosneft and China National Petroleum Corp to jointly develop a giant oilfield in Siberia may be tainted. I’m not talking about corruption or illegal activities, but rather the potential that the oil and gas in the field may be contaminated with radioactive materials from nuclear explosions.
Portrait of a Kleptocrat
by Don Quijones • • Comments Off on Portrait of a Kleptocrat
American Boondoggle Meets Chinese Methods
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on American Boondoggle Meets Chinese Methods
BYD, the name of a Chinese electric vehicle and solar panel maker, stands for “Build Your Dream.” Maybe that’s what they’re trying to do in China. But here, they’re building a nightmare: broken promises, falsehoods, design flaws… all lushly funded by American taxpayers. And they paid Chinese workers in California $1.50 per hour to do it.
Rule #1 in Argentina: Do NOT Talk About The “Blue Dollar”
by Bianca Fernet • • Comments Off on Rule #1 in Argentina: Do NOT Talk About The “Blue Dollar”
By Bianca Fernet, Argentina, The Bubble: The black/blue/unofficial ARS/USD rate hit 10/1 again. The Federal Police, the Prefecture, the Border Patrol, and representatives of the Central Bank are stomping around downtown, shutting down currency exchanges and being as obvious as possible. And now a gag order on the exchange rate!
China’s Back-Door Natural Gas Supply
by Contributor • • Comments Off on China’s Back-Door Natural Gas Supply
Last Hope For Holiday Shopping Frenzy: The Few Who Can Splurge
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Last Hope For Holiday Shopping Frenzy: The Few Who Can Splurge
Consumer spending hasn’t exactly been hot. With one big exception: auto sales. At 20% of total retail sales, they’ve been phenomenal and propped up overall retail sales. But in September, there was a downdraft. The calendar got blamed. And in October, there was the government shutdown and debt-ceiling debacle. And now all bets are off.
Hiding Inflation: People Get Bigger, Airline Seats Get Narrower
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Hiding Inflation: People Get Bigger, Airline Seats Get Narrower
Selling airline tickets to our increasingly pauperized consumers is an art. And hiding price increases is an even greater art. While there are people who don’t worry about the price as they luxuriate in first class, others aren’t so lucky. For them, the industry has a special treat: squeezing their hips.
What Will It Take To Blow Up The Entire Japanese Banking System? (Not Much, According To The Bank of Japan)
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on What Will It Take To Blow Up The Entire Japanese Banking System? (Not Much, According To The Bank of Japan)
Buried in the Bank of Japan’s Financial System Report is a gorgeous whitewash doozie: if interest rates rise by 1 percentage point, it would cause ¥8 trillion ($82 billion) in losses across the banking system. Banks would be able to digest it. The system is safe. But then the report tallied up the losses of a 3 percentage point rise.