Economy News / Actuality / Noticias - Economía - Actualidad

Stock Exchanges: increasingly fewer participants, more and more uncertainties and paralysed central banks… the return to the lowest levels of 2009 is taking shape.  

As we have highlighted in recent GEAB issues volumes and the number of participants are in freefall on major Western stock exchanges. At the same time, the world recession (as anticipated by our team already several months ago, this spring economies everywhere are slowing down or falling back into recession) calling into question the stock exchange bet of a recovery in 2012, particularly in the United States; whilst the risks of inflation associated with the Western banks and many European countries solvency problems steadily weaken confidence each day of a lasting rise in financial markets. This situation is reinforced by the increasingly perceptible impotence of the major central banks.  LEAP/E2020 - Excerpt GEAB N°65 (May 2012)

Pending home sales index declines in April. 

An index of pending home sales fell in April for the first time in four months, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. The index dropped 5.5% to 95.5 from a downwardly revised 101.1 in March. March's pending home sales index was initially reported to be 101.4. Yet pending sales are still 14.4% higher compared to one year earlier, NAR noted... Market Watch

 

The importance of the housing market in our economy necessitates that medium term developments be predicted to adjust strategies and investments, or to mitigate the consequences of its sharp changes. However, many articles drawing completely conflicting conclusions obscure our view. This book sheds light on the question in anticipating, on a solid foundation the changes in residential property prices during the next decade. To this end, the phenomena involved are explained and the underlying trends and resulting findings analyzed, especially from economic, social and demographic factors.  Anticipolis Publishings

  

China-Japan currency deal ushers in a new era

 Direct trading of yuan and yen will boost ties between China and Japan. China and Japan will start direct trading of their currencies on Friday in a move to boost trade ties between Asia's two biggest economies. This will be the first time that China has allowed a major currency, apart from the US dollar, to trade directly with the yuan...  China Daily

 France moves to cap executive pay at state firms

 France's new government will flesh out plans to cap the pay of top executives at state-controlled companies by mid-June, laying down a marker in a Europe-wide debate fuelled by waves of austerity and rising unemployment. Elected this month promising to curb the privileges enjoyed by France's wealthy and powerful, Socialist President Francois Hollande pledged during campaigning to limit senior executives' salaries to a maximum of 20 times that of their lowest-paid employee. Reuters

RBS shareholders will never recover money they lost

Sir Philip Hampton said investors who owned RBS shares before its £45.5bn bailout in October 2008 were likely to be dead before the bank's value recovered to anything close to its pre-crisis level. "I don't think shareholders wealth is likely to be restored any time in my lifetime or some lifetimes beyond," said Sir Philip, who was brought in as the bank's chairman in January 2009.  The Telegraph

Changing Lanes

The economy is indeed slowing down, but there is no reason to panic as long as the government steers the country toward reforms. Is China's economy moving out of the fast lane? Growth indicators have mostly fallen below market expectations, and organizations have been quick to lower their growth forecasts. Caixin

Immobilier : la tendance à la baisse des prix se confirme

Les prix des logements anciens en France ont augmenté légèrement (+1,3%) sur un an au premier trimestre, tirés par la hausse continue en Ile-de-France (+5,4%) alors qu'une décrue s'amorce en province (-0,5%), selon l'indice Notaires-Insee publié jeudi 31 mai. Toutefois, une baisse moyenne de 0,7% est enregistrée par rapport au quatrième trimestre 2011, avec un repli plus fort pour les maisons (-1,0%) que pour les appartements (-0,3%), selon ce même indice. Challenges

United Nations experts express concern over recent events in Quebec  

Two United Nations independent experts on the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, and of opinion and expression today voiced concern over demonstrations in Quebec on 24 May, reportedly involving serious acts of violence and detention of up to 700 protesters... UNOG

(Re)mettre les langues au cœur des systèmes éducatifs !

Remettre la langue au cœur du système éducatif pourrait passer, si l’on se réfère à l’esprit du temps, pour un retour au passé. Il est vrai que l’apprentissage de la langue maternelle (ou de scolarisation) a été l’alpha et l’oméga de l’enseignement primaire depuis son origine. L’est-il encore ? C’est une question. Mais mettre "les" langues, au pluriel, au cœur des systèmes éducatifs, c’est une révolution. APLV / OEP

Japan posts anemic factory output growth in April  

Japan on Thursday posted anemic factory output growth of 0.2% in April, slower than expected and raising concerns about a recovery for the world’s third-largest economy. The economy, trade and industry ministry put a positive gloss on its latest figures, saying output “continues to show an upward movement”, while the government and Bank of Japan have both maintained in recent months that growth is on a positive track. Japan Today

Auto Jobs: Sign of the Times

It should not come as a surprise with unemployment over 8% that good paying jobs in manufacturing are harder than ever to land. At the Hyundai plant in Montgomery, Alabama more than 20,000 people have applied for one of the 877 job openings. The surge of people applying may seem unusual, but it's not. Take a look... CNBC

India - Q4 GDP: Derailed economy has economists worried about FY13

India’s economic growth grew at its weakest pace, slipping to 5.3% for the fourth quarter of FY12. This is the lowest in nearly nine years due to poor performance of the manufacturing and farm sectors. Samiran Chakrabarty, head-research, Standard Chartered Bank sees bond yields likely heading lower from current levels. The 10-year bond yields fell 3 basis points to 8.49% as concerns over global risk aversion lured investors towards safe-haven government debt.  Money Control

Russia - Central Bank Ramps Up Defense of Battered Ruble

 Russia’s Central Bank quintupled its intervention on the domestic foreign exchange market to 530 million rubles ($16 million) on Tuesday to prop up the ruble, battered in the past few days over negative external developments, the regulator’s data suggested on Wednesday... RIA Novosti

Warning: America’s new Age of Austerity starts now

Warning, tighten your belts, America’s new Age of Austerity is already here, today. There I said it. I admit it. And you better too. Prepare now. Could be like the 1930s depression austerity. You’ve seen the warnings all across the major newspapers about a global slowdown. But why no warnings of austerity dead ahead? Why? America’s still deep in denial. We prefer happy talk to the truth. No, nobody will get honest about austerity till after the elections. Then it’ll hit hard. Market Watch