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Baghdad attacks kill 16 as Iraq presses Anbar assault

Iraqi SWAT troopers take part in an intensive security deployment on the outskirts the city of Ramadi, 100 km (62 miles) west of Baghdad, January 30, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer BAGHDAD: A series of attacks in and around Baghdad, including a spate of car bombs, killed 16 people Monday as Iraqi forces pressed an assault against militant-held areas of Anbar province. The latest bloodshed comes amid a surge in violence that left more than 1,000 people dead last month, the worst such figure in nearly six years, as security forces grapple with near-daily attacks and protracted battles with anti-government fighters. Foreign leaders […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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At markets, Chavez successor falls short

“This is so depressing,” said Maria Plaza, 30, a lawyer, an hour and a half into her wait. “Pathetic.” Depressing, in an otherwise bright, modern supermarket that sells $100 bottles of Spanish wine, Jack Daniel’s whiskey and organic rice puffs. Pathetic, in a country with the world’s largest petroleum reserves and oil prices at nearly $95 a barrel, yet unable to supply basic goods because of its crumbling local currency and a shortage of U.S. dollars. “Soon we’ll be using newspaper, just like they do in Cuba!” said an elderly man nearby, inching forward in line. “Yeah! Like Cuba!” others shouted. The fate of Venezuela’s revolution, it seems, will be decided at the supermarket. Nearly a year after Chávez’s death of complications from cancer at age 58, his hand­picked successor, Nicolás Maduro, is struggling to contain food shortages, spiraling inflation and rampant crime. The arrival of basic staples such […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China breaks world record for car sales in 2013

Car sales surged in the U.S. last year, as the automotive industry came roaring back from the dark days of the recession. But the 15.6 million vehicles sold in America last year still lags behind China, which in 2013 reportedly became the first country to sell more than 20 million. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers says those 2013 sales figures are a 14 percent increase over 2012’s data. And a new report from IHS Automotive expects passenger vehicle sales in the People’s Republic to rise further in 2014, as global and domestic automakers vie for the lucrative national market. According to IHS, sedans saw the largest growth by volume in China last year, reaching 7.3 million units and accounting for nearly 47 percent of the nation’s passenger vehicle […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Currency crisis at Chinese banks 'could trigger global meltdown’

Figures published by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in October showed foreign currency loans booked in China, as well as cross-border borrowing by Chinese companies, had reached $880bn (£535bn) as of March 2013, from $270bn in 2009. Analysts say this figure is now likely to exceed $1 trillion and is continuing to grow, raising the prospect of the potentially dangerous vulnerability of the Chinese financial system to a rising dollar. “It is very hard to work out the exposures of individual banks to the Chinese financial system, but it seems to us there are some very large numbers on some of the bank’s balance sheets,” said the analyst. “Without a doubt, that has been on the rise [foreign currency borrowing] and was really starting to grow fast in the latter half of last year and it’s only going to continue. For the time being, it is only a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Currency crisis at Chinese banks ‘could trigger global meltdown’

Figures published by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in October showed foreign currency loans booked in China, as well as cross-border borrowing by Chinese companies, had reached $880bn (£535bn) as of March 2013, from $270bn in 2009. Analysts say this figure is now likely to exceed $1 trillion and is continuing to grow, raising the prospect of the potentially dangerous vulnerability of the Chinese financial system to a rising dollar. “It is very hard to work out the exposures of individual banks to the Chinese financial system, but it seems to us there are some very large numbers on some of the bank’s balance sheets,” said the analyst. “Without a doubt, that has been on the rise [foreign currency borrowing] and was really starting to grow fast in the latter half of last year and it’s only going to continue. For the time being, it is only a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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World stocks fall as China manufacturing slows

Global stocks were mostly lower Monday as signs of weakness in another China manufacturing survey added to lingering jitters about developing economies. In early European trading, major benchmarks were lackluster. Britain’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.2 percent to 6,522.24 but France’s CAC-40 was down 0.1 percent to 4,163.23. Germany’s DAX fell 0.1 percent to 9,293.72. Futures augured modest gains on Wall Street, with Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures both up 0.1 percent. The Nikkei 225, the barometer for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed down 2 percent at 14,619.13 as the yen has reversed some of its weakness against the dollar in recent days, which is a negative for exporting stocks. Also negative for sentiment was an official Chinese manufacturing survey that showed factory output grew at a slower rate in January compared with December. The survey released on the weekend followed a HSBC […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China's non-manufacturing PMI drops in January

The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s non-manufacturing sector slipped for a third straight month in January due to a slowdown in the real estate sector, new data showed. The index dropped to 53.4 percent last month, the lowest since February 2012, from 54.6 percent in December, according to official figures released on Monday. The index tracks non-manufacturing sectors including construction, software, aviation, railway transport and real estate. A PMI reading above 50 percent indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 percent reflects contraction. The monthly indicator is released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP). CFLP Vice Chairman Cai Jin attributed the drop mainly to a slowdown in the real estate sector in the past two months. The price index for real estate dropped to below 50 percent from December to January, while that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s non-manufacturing PMI drops in January

The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s non-manufacturing sector slipped for a third straight month in January due to a slowdown in the real estate sector, new data showed. The index dropped to 53.4 percent last month, the lowest since February 2012, from 54.6 percent in December, according to official figures released on Monday. The index tracks non-manufacturing sectors including construction, software, aviation, railway transport and real estate. A PMI reading above 50 percent indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 percent reflects contraction. The monthly indicator is released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP). CFLP Vice Chairman Cai Jin attributed the drop mainly to a slowdown in the real estate sector in the past two months. The price index for real estate dropped to below 50 percent from December to January, while that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple