World economy talk

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Japan govt wants to increase sales tax to reduce its debt (which is around 230% of gdp -- highest in the world)

BBC News - Japan considers raising sales tax

Japan's government is considering raising the rate of sales tax to help bolster the nation's finances.

The rate currently stands at 5% and under government plans that could double to 10% by 2015.

But there are concerns the move could damage Japan's economic recovery.

you don't raise taxes while you're trying to revive an economy

raising taxes takes money away from the private sector --- at a time when you want the private sector to spend more money --- it's bad timing

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know how boring it is?

Morning trading canceled in Hong Kong for typhoon, other markets tread water

It's all quiet on the eastern front as a typhoon cancels morning trading in Hong Kong and stocks across the region hover around the flatline.The Nikkei is clinging to a 0.3% gain while South Korean and Australian shares are essentially unchanged.

The Shanghai Composite is up 0.6%.

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billionaire Carl Icahn is pumping up AAPL stock

https://twitter.com/Carl_C_Icahn/sta...50206993399808

We currently have a large position in APPLE. We believe the company to be extremely undervalued. Spoke to Tim Cook today. More to come.

https://twitter.com/Carl_C_Icahn/sta...51130776285184

Had a nice conversation with Tim Cook today. Discussed my opinion that a larger buyback should be done now. We plan to speak again shortly.

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[Ry_Tower]

Eurozone's longest-ever recession comes to an end | World, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com

Seems like it's not only Germany that did well in the 2nd quarter.

[jhnkvn]

Eurozone's longest-ever recession comes to an end | World, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com

Seems like it's not only Germany that did well in the 2nd quarter.

Poor Italy and Spain.. that's still a large contraction and not to mention you're battling massive unemployment. With banks reeling in the credit lines to control non-performing loans, it'll be hard to jumpstart the economy.

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US 10 yr yield


volatility index

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posted this 5 days ago

US equities look toppy

ran out of reasons to go higher

so naturally you sell

S&P 500 -24.07 -1.43%
DJIA -225.47 -1.47%
Nasdaq -62.83 -1.71%

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[Monseratto]

Just another titan that were left by the times... Remember RCA, Magnavox...

BlackBerry’s Epic Blunders: Mistakes Behind the Crash of a Titan
By Dan Berman | Hot Stock Minute – 11 hours ago..


BlackBerry has been all but buried by its competition. Once a company that paved the way for the smartphone industry, it now appears left behind in the technological dust. Just this week, BlackBerry--which recently changed its name from Research in Motion--revealed it is considering "strategic alternatives." That opens the door for selling itself, either as a whole or perhaps in pieces. So, how did an innovation giant turn into a dinosaur? Hot Stock Minute host Lauren Lyster and Yahoo! Finance Senior Columnist discuss BlackBerry's biggest blunders in the video above. The mistakes include the three items below.

1.) Resisted Shift to Touchscreen Devices: The company ignored the sweeping migration away from "qwerty" keyboards. "BlackBerry sort of held off," explains Santoli. He says the company thought it had a lock on corporate accounts, and figured that would be enough to keep the business churning. BlackBerry stock was just shy of $67 a share when the iPhone was introduced on June 29th, 2007. It has currently been trading under $11. Santoli says that by the time BlackBerry realized its missteps, "they did not move fast enough to have a competitive product." BlackBerry's revenue has cratered as innovation has faltered. BlackBerry's revenue for fiscal year 2012 was $11 billion, down 45% since 2010.

2.) Failed on the App Frontier: Apple and Android devices makers invited app designers to build programs for their handsets. Not so with BlackBerry. "They wanted to kind of own the whole process," explains Santoli. That has wound up costing the company dearly. A major complaint about BlackBerry devices in a lack of apps. Meanwhile, Apple's app store has become a cash cow. Last year revenues topped $9-billion. By 2016 the site could generate $22-billion annually.

3.) Took Customer Loyalty for Granted: "People wanted the better product, not just one that said BlackBerry on it," explains Santoli. He says the company erred in believing it had an unbreakable stronghold on corporate email-- one which theoretically assured the BlackBerry would remain the default device of choice. In 2008 BlackBerry owned 45% of the US smartphone market. Research firm Gartner says BlackBerry currently has only a 2.7% share down from 5.2% one year ago. Android phones are far and away the leader with a 79% share and Apple is in second with 14.2%. Blackberry was able to hold on to customers for a time even after the iPhone and Android phones debuted, but since 2011 things have fallen off a cliff. At its peak, in 2011, Blackberry shipped more than 52 million phones. In 2012, that dropped by almost 20 million units to 33 million units. Meanwhile, Apple shipped more than 135 million iPhones and Samsung and other manufacturers sold more than 452 million Android units.

BlackBerry stock has not performed all that badly in 2013 considering the prospects for the company. Shares are down 7% since the start of the year. However, they are a tiny fraction of their all-time high above $140 back in 2008. At that time the company had a stock market value above $80-billion. Today when you add up all the shares, they're worth less than $6-billion.

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wtf

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China A shares skyrocketted

blamed on Everbright Securities employee error

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haha

SHCOMP intraday



thanks to Everbright Securities

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SSE confirms Everbright Securities problems - Xinhua | English.news.cn

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) said Friday afternoon that the investment strategy department of Everbright Securities Company, Ltd. had encountered a problem in its arbitrage system while operating with its own funds during the morning trade at the bourse.

The statement, posted on SSE's microblog at Weibo.com, was issued after a surprising surge during the morning session, led by the financial sector and oil giants.

Trading of Everbright shares was suspended on Friday afternoon.

SSE said in another statement that all Friday trading will go into the normal settlement and entrustment process.

There is speculation that Everbright may have applied to cancel all morning trading.

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US 10 yr yield

[jhnkvn]

US 10 yr yield

Hmmmm.... time to end the era of QE?

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Treasury Yields Rise Most in Week Since July on Tapering Concern - Bloomberg

Treasury 10-year yields rose the most in a week since the beginning of July as investors bet the Federal Reserve may reduce its debt-purchase program next month as the economic recovery strengthens.

U.S. 10-year note yields rose six basis points, or 0.06 percentage point, to 2.83 percent as of 5 p.m. in New York, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader data. The price of the 2.5 percent note maturing in August 2023 fell 16/32, or $5 per $1,000 face value, to 97 5/32.

The yield touched 2.86 percent, the highest since July 2011. It has increased 25 basis points this week, the most since the period ended July 5.

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so much for emerging markets

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later

minutes from the July FOMC meeting

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FOMC Minutes Show Broad Support for Tapering Timeline - Bloomberg

Federal Reserve policy makers were “broadly comfortable” with Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s plan to start reducing bond buying later this year if the economy improves, with a few saying tapering might be needed soon, minutes of their last meeting show.

“Almost all committee members agreed that a change in the purchase program was not yet appropriate,” and a few said “it might soon be time to slow somewhat the pace of purchases as outlined in that plan,” according to the record of the Federal Open Market Committee’s July 30-31 gathering released today in Washington.

“A few members emphasized the importance of being patient and evaluating additional information on the economy before deciding on any changes to the pace of asset purchases,” the minutes show. “Almost all participants confirmed that they were broadly comfortable” with the committee moderating “the pace of its securities purchases later this year.”