After about ten years of changing energy flows from the US as the world’s biggest importer towards China taking the lead, April was the month China it finally happened. According to Chinese customs data the Asian giant reached an historic high of overseas oil purchases of $7.4 million barrels a day. US imports in April… Continue Reading
Emerging from talks in a New York hotel, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani announced revised guidelines for Japanese-US military cooperation, bringing the two countries closer together than ever before as defense partners. The new rules agreed upon call for the… Continue Reading
The excitement on Wall Street is becoming palpable as investors, analysts and observers watch carefully what magic the Chinese on-line giant Alibaba is going to create when it launches its initial public offering. Some are saying the stock-offering will break records as it ventures to expand its already huge role as a global company looking… Continue Reading
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. recently announced an impending investment of $692 million in a Chinese department store operator. The Chinese e-commerce empire is hoping to expand its reach to customers who prefer to shop in-store. The investment in Intime Retail Co. Ltd. will come in two parts. Alibaba will purchase $214 million in shares as… Continue Reading
This Thursday, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. announced a 32% jump in iron-ore monthly shipments. The increase is a result of improved steel demand from China. According to company reports, Fortescue shipped 19.6 million metric tons during the second quarter, up from 14.8 million during the previous year. The average price per ton was $111, while… Continue Reading
Many experts believe China’s economy is headed for a turnaround. Recent analyses of the country’s manufacturing activity show that this may in fact be true. This month saw an increase in the preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, which reached 50.4 compared with a 49.5 reading in October. Fox Business explains that a reading… Continue Reading
Emerging economies and numerous crises have shaken most, if not all of, the world’s economies today. Evaluation of size and growth varies greatly amongst analysts, while GDP is measured with two different approaches- nominal GDP and purchasing power parity or PPP GDP. The latter considers the dollar’s buying capabilities in different countries, thereby providing a… Continue Reading
Despite a twinge of hope from the improved retail sales in the United States in July, global stocks took a tumble as gloomy news from Europe and China offset the faint optimism emanating from the west. Tuesday’s US government figures confirmed an upward surge in spending at stores in July, up 0.8 percent over June’s… Continue Reading
A recent poll of hundreds of economists has revealed that the global economy will continue to struggle throughout 2012, but will begin to see significant growth by 2013. Though many expected 2012 to be a rough year, even experts believed the United States’ resilience would keep the economy above water. Numerous successful emerging markets contributed… Continue Reading
World economies are vying for position and power as they begin a plan to raise additional funds for the International Monetary Fund with the goal of limiting the damage the euro zone debt crisis will cause. Emerging economies hope to gain more say in the Washington-based think-tank/global lender and policy making body as they decide… Continue Reading