Uncle Sam Adopts Fannie and Freddie - Barrons.com

Uncle Sam Adopts Fannie and Freddie - Barrons.com: "Even so, the descent down the slippery slope of socialization of the financial system is gathering speed.

'Capitalism without failure is like religion without sin,' Allan Meltzer, the distinguished economic theorist and historian once wrote.

Yet, like it or not, we don't want to deal with such harsh verities, either in religion or the marketplace. Traditional churches are losing out to TV evangelists who promise material rewards now rather than later.

For the markets, pushing the limits with ever greater risk brings enormous rewards -- until the bust comes. Nobody has to give back bull-market bonuses when the bear arrives, so why worry about the downside?

It's too late to worry about high-minded concepts of moral hazard. The price of these bailouts will be borne by the taxpayers. And the financial markets will be subject to greater supervision and regulation, reversing the tide toward deregulation.

Ideologues of the right and the left can argue whether this is a good thing. Investors should just deal with it."

The end of the great global economic boom - Jul. 14, 2008

The end of the great global economic boom - Jul. 14, 2008: "But double-digit growth is also creating double-digit inflation. Americans whine about $4 gasoline and $5 Cheerios, but elsewhere in the world the reaction is much more serious. Truckers in South Korea, France, and Spain have blocked highways to protest high fuel prices, and angry Egyptians barricaded roads after a cut in flour subsidies. In India inflation rose to above 8% in May from below 4% last August. Chinese inflation was 7.7% in May, up from 1% in early 2006.

It's worse in the smaller markets: Inflation now exceeds 30% in Ukraine and Venezuela and 25% in Vietnam. This translates into some pretty jaw-dropping price increases: Rents are up 82% in Dubai in 12 months, and rice prices in India have nearly tripled since January. Such rapid inflation can stifle growing economies, and many analysts think the great global boom eventually will flame out - or at least dramatically slow.

And let's not forget that many of the countries experiencing strong growth today depend on exports to the U.S. to keep their economies humming; a slowdown in U.S. spending surely will have ripple effects in places like India, China, Vietnam, and Mexico.

The problem is how to fix it. Most experts believe that to break the back of double-digit inflation, central bankers have"

Moneycontrol India :: News :: Oil to stay at $110-120/bbl this yr: Merrill Lynch :: :: FII View :: Mark Mathew ,Merriyll Lynch

Moneycontrol India :: News :: Oil to stay at $110-120/bbl this yr: Merrill Lynch :: :: FII View :: Mark Mathew ,Merriyll Lynch: "Yes, it would be one of the least preferred markets in Asia if the oil prices stay high. We did an Oil Sensitivity Analysis two weeks ago using seven variables to measure the impact of high oil price on economies and stock markets across Asia and I am afraid that India did not square very well."

Drought hurts vital Australian wheat - CNN.com

Drought hurts vital Australian wheat - CNN.com: "One of Australia's worst droughts on record is hurting wheat farming just as the world needs it most. Australia is usually the world's third or fourth-largest exporter of wheat. But exports dropped 46 percent from 2005 to 2006 then fell 24 percent last year.

Most of its exports go to the Middle East and Southeast Asia to make bread and cereals, but the fall in supply has led to a spike in prices. A ton of Australian wheat now costs $367, compared with $258 in early 2007, an increase poor countries can ill afford.

'When they pay high prices, they pass on an increase to their poorest people, who can no longer afford it,' says Kunhamboo Kannan, director of agriculture, environment and natural resources at the Asian Development Bank. 'Just look at Egypt.' Riots over rising bread prices and shortages have led to at least 10 deaths in Egypt this year."

The "I" Is Being Incinerated

Beware of Crumbling BRICs - Seeking Alpha: "The 'I' Is Being Incinerated

The 'I' in BRIC, India has been one of the emerging world's most popular markets in the last few years. But now the country faces a big reversal of its recent fortune.

For starters, the Indian stock market, bond market, and currency are all getting incinerated as inflation soars, and investors lose confidence in the economy.

Wholesale price inflation is running at 11% in India - the highest level in 13 years and climbing. The Reserve Bank of India responded by raising interest rates, but it may be too little too late.

Investors are scared that a combination of accelerating inflation and more rate hikes could derail India's record 8.8% annual growth.

Overseas investors are pulling money out of India at a record pace now. Investors sold a net US$6.2 billion worth of Indian shares so far this year, sending its benchmark stock index plunging 30% in value.

Bond prices and India's currency, the rupee, have also come under intense selling pressure. The rupee, which had been one of the world's strongest currencies, retreated 8% in value this year. That's its worst performance since 1993."

China and India's Growth Just Currency Related Illusions? - Seeking Alpha

China and India's Growth Just Currency Related Illusions? - Seeking Alpha: "Let’s explore an interesting development: the different inflation experiences of emerging countries and developed countries. In case you haven’t noticed, inflation in emerging countries is higher, demand-pull in nature, and advanced to the stage of a wage-price spiral; in developed countries, it is lower, cost-push in nature, and not advanced to a wage-price spiral.

Does this have any significance? One ramification could possibly be the unwinding of the secular growth stories of the emerging countries and a return to economic supremacy of the developed countries. It could also mean the stock markets of the developed countries will be more rewarding places over the next decade or so compared to the stock markets of emerging countries.

The cost-push inflation of developed countries is easier to resolve, I believe. It should ebb as long as central bankers refrain from overly stimulative monetary policy -- thereby letting the deflationary forces of the stagflation slow the economy to a non-inflationary path. And this is the course of action that the central banks appear to be following (e.g. a rate hike by the European Central Bank, little increase in the narrowly defined U.S. money supply in 2008, etc).

Demand-pull inflation and wage-price spirals tend to be more stubborn."

Saudi Oil: A Crude Awakening on Supply?

Saudi Oil: A Crude Awakening on Supply?: "However, it appears that for at least the next five years, and possibly longer, the Saudis are likely to produce less crude than promised, according to fresh data on the kingdom's oil fields obtained July 9 by BusinessWeek. Saudi officials have said they would increase production capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day next year, from the current 10 million barrels a day, and could even ramp up to as much as 15 million barrels a day if the market demanded it. As proof to a skeptical audience, the normally highly secretive Saudis were a bit more more open, escorting journalists on a visit to their new Al Khurais field (BusinessWeek.com, 6/23/08), east of Riyadh, and disclosing some field data.



Oil companies want in
But the detailed document, obtained from a person with access to Saudi oil officials, suggests that Saudi Aramco will be limited to sustained production of just 12 million barrels a day in 2010, and will be able to maintain that volume only for short, temporary periods such as emergencies. Then it will scale back to a sustainable production level of about 10.4 million barrels a day, according to the data. BusinessWeek obtained a field-by-field breakdown of estimated Saudi oil production from 2009 through 2013. It was provided by an oil industry executive who said he had confirmed"

Chess-Boxing Hits it Big - TIME

I can't believe they have combined boxing w/ chess

Chess-Boxing Hits it Big - TIME: "The matches work like this: competitors alternate between three-minute rounds of boxing and four-minute rounds of speed chess with one-minute breaks in between to get the gloves off and hunker down at the chess table. The winner is determined by knockout, checkmate, or referee decision."

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac: The $5 trillion mess - Jul. 11, 2008

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac: The $5 trillion mess - Jul. 11, 2008: "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are struggling with an investor loss of confidence so great that, while they're unlikely to go under, they could conceivably see their ability to function impaired. That would wreak yet more havoc on an already wrecked housing market - making loans tougher to come by and possibly pushing hundreds of billions of dollars in cost onto U.S. taxpayers."

The Fannie and Freddie doomsday scenario - Jul. 9, 2008

The Fannie and Freddie doomsday scenario - Jul. 9, 2008: "Here's a scary, and relevant, question to ponder as the housing market continues to slide: What would it take for the government to step in and help Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and how would a rescue affect you, the taxpayer?"

High energy prices seriously threaten Asia's economic prospects - Barclays - Forbes.com

High energy prices seriously threaten Asia's economic prospects - Barclays - Forbes.com: "The continued surge in oil prices will start eroding the external payments position of Asian countries, with South Korea and India deemed as particularly vulnerable, and strongly undermines the growth potential of the region, a Barclays official said on Monday.
'Energy prices are driving a lot of what's going on,' he said.
If oil prices were to pull back below $100 a barrel, then 'all will feel like a bad dream,' Barclays (nyse: BCS - news - people ) Capital head of emerging markets research Peter Redward told reporters at a briefing.
Barclays has a bearish outlook on Asia, with an 'underweight' rating on all its asset classes, from equities to fixed-income and currencies.
With oil prices above $100 a barrel, the only countries in Asia that will likely post trade deficits are Korea and India and this will exert pressure on the won and the rupee, said Redward.
The U.S. dollar-won may hit 1,200 this year and the dollar-rupee may hit 46, he said."

India's Economy Hits the Wall

India's Economy Hits the Wall: "The big hope for a return to the course of reform in India, businessmen hope, will be a new government in New Delhi next year. The gravest danger is that India's messy coalition politics will bring into power another indecisive alliance that will keep the country in policy limbo for another five years. If so, says S&P's Gokarn, it's a meltdown scenario: growth slipping below 6.5%, accelerating the chances of India reverting to its 1991 status when it was plunged into a balance-of-payments crisis."

Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis | Environment | The Guardian

Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis | Environment | The Guardian: "Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.
The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.
The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil.
Senior development sources believe the report, completed in April, has not been published to avoid embarrassing President George Bush.
'It would put the World Bank in a political hot-spot with the White House,' said one yesterday."

Suminter's Sameer Mehra is Welcomed as Endeavor India's First High-Impact Entrepreneur

Suminter's Sameer Mehra is Welcomed as Endeavor India's First High-Impact Entrepreneur: "Endeavor India (www.endeavorindia.org), a non-profit organization supporting “high-impact” entrepreneurs, selected its first high-impact entrepreneur Sameer Mehra, CEO of Suminter India Organics, to join Endeavor’s global network at an International Selection Panel held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Suminter (www.suminterindiaorganics.com) converts small-scale farms to organic standards, and then buys the produce at a premium for export to the global market. Certified by Fair Trade, Suminter currently works with over 4,000 Indian farmers, whose farms are certified by global agencies like SKAL to meet US and European organic standards.

“Entrepreneurs like Sameer represent the high-impact potential necessary to jumpstart economic growth in developing markets worldwide and transform their cultures” said Endeavor Co-founder & CEO Linda Rottenberg. “Sameer bridges the gap between small-scale farmers and would-be consumers to bring healthy and socially-responsible goods to market.”

Endeavor identifies and supports innovative emerging-market entrepreneurs with high-impact potential to help grow their enterprises, create high-value jobs and become role models. The International Selection Panel is the culmination of a rigorous multi-step search and selection process where top business leaders interview and"