Finance and Markets -

The Chinese government seems to be out of control as its trying quite desperately to hold the economy. And frankly, it was expected. The administration pumped in a considerable amount as a stimulus package, which comprised 14% of the recently reported GDP. The base of the economy was already quite wavering, and if you dump in so much in relatively short term, you witness bubbles, in fact, superbubbles. However, it isn’t only the recent actions that’s disturbing Chinese economy. We will have to turn back and explore the last decade to known the factual reasons. To boost the economy, the Chinese government, around a decade ago, kept the value of its currency extremely low. Hence, the cheap goods produced by China seemed to be even cheaper in the international market. They targeted growth, at any cost. Finding the goods quite inexpensive, the demand for Chinese products in the US market  [...]

Many averages witnessed a substantial rise in volumes traded during the day due to the encouraging and healthy economic data revealed by the government. However, the market also witnessed another round of sale in tech industry, swathing all the companies red. The report said the US economy grew by 5.7% and the Emplyment Cost Index (ECI) grew by 0.5%; better than the experts prediction of 4.7% and 0.4% respectively. Because the data was released an hour before the market opened, all major averages started with a rise. Before the investors could tag it as an opportunity to sell their holdings, the market started tumbling, mostly due to tech stocks. Opening quite higher at $30, Microsoft (MSFT) later saw a plunge of 4.5% and closed at $27.62. The quarter earnings for giant software maker were much better than their anticipation; however, the CFO mentioned quite clearly that the 2010 IT spending  [...]

For Apple (AAPL), last quarter was quite solid. And with the introduction of new iPad this week, the stock seems to be a steadfast yielding source for investors. One cannot deny that businesses all around the world are operated through technology and a diminutive progress affects most of the industries. However, the transformation of personal computer into a tablet is a big revolution. I am quite eager about how this tablet would affect mid-sized, big, new and old companies. I am not referring about the advantages and disadvantages of a product (you will find it abundantly on the web this week). My concern is – will we witness a massive transformation in the way things are done today? Money spent on Marketing Though this device is quite nano, but I am sure it would attract big money. No, I ain’t talking about money through advertising. I am referring to the huge sum spent by companies  [...]

Not all predictions are accurate and we all know this. However, if these forecasts are backed by some accurate figures and realistic logic, it’s wise to consider them and be vigilant. Let’s see what experts have to predict for 2010. We will see S&P reaching 1300 anytime this year $500 billion stimulus fund is yet to be released and Senate trying to put in another $1 trillion. This will predictably cause dollar to be weak. Our government is talking about policies that will strengthen the dollar value, but they seem to be following a dollar-weakening policy. Moreover, there is constant dumping of dollars by China. Housing prices and employment rate to fall The first quarter GDP shows a sharp rise of 4.5%. However, the real estate market is still moribund and no major enlistment has been noticed in the labor market. Most of the companies are focusing on cost-cutting and right-sizing.  [...]

The results of global search statistics have been announced and predictably Google (GOOG) snatched the top position for frequently being used to search websites across the world. Surging from 55.6 billion searches in Dec 2008 to 87.8 billion in Dec 2009, it rose over 58%. Google, as usual, was the top ranker and it wasn’t a difficult guess. Yahoo (YHOO) searches totaled 9.4 billion, whereas Baidu (BIDU) had 8.5 billion. So, Google is far ahead in the competition. In December 2009, over two-third of the total searches (131 billion) were contributed by Google. However, if we gauge the leap in number of searches, Microsoft (MSFT) emerged to be the winner. With 2.4 billion searches in Dec 2008, it rose around 70% to reach the figure of 4.1 billion in Dec 2009. This surge can be mainly due to the introduction of its new search engine, Bing, which seems to holding grip quite rapidly. Another  [...]

If Tuesday was considered to be Brown Rally, can we tag today as “Obama Sell Off?” It is possible that Mr. President is bothered about boosting his approval ranking after a harsh reproach from the electorate. However, today he has dropped a bomb, if not an atomic one, on the banks. He peacefully declared his new measures to border the risk taken by US banks. However, the Wall Street was very far from being peaceful. Most stocks hammered immediately after he unveiled his new bank plan, which was almost a surprise to Wall Street. It seems that President Obama smacked US banks directly between the eyes. DJIA lost 213 points, almost 2%, and concluded at 10390. This is its worst plunge since October 30, 2009. S&P 500 lost 22 points to end at 1116 losing 1.9% and Nasdaq Comp dropped 26 points or 1.8% to 2266. Crude prices dropped, Treasurys surged, while dollar saw no change. The  [...]

Though graphs today are screening gradual increase in U.S. deficit, there isn’t any serious concern among the treasury holders. The debt will not be defaulted. According to Moody’s, U.S. still holds the AAA ranking in the credit rating list. However, this definitely doesn’t mean that the world economy is perking up. Few countries around the world are constantly being hit by economic crises and debt deposition. Markit, a financial data analysis company, provides daily price of credit-default swaps. These are nothing but contracts between two parties that serves as an insurance against debts accumulated by government and major companies. Whenever, the price of a government credit-default swap surges very high, it indicates that the economic stability is risky and can be soon bankrupt. However, we cannot depend completely on the credit default swap cost because the healthiness of  [...]

Though the population in America thinks recession is on the verge of termination, it will take years to heal the scars blemished by the downturn. The reverberations are and will be seen throughout the decade because there seems to be a paradigm shift among consumers. People who have gone through lay off and downgrading are settling permanently at lower levels. Though many will improve their lifestyle with increased payment, habits will take time to transform. The modified consumer behavior is evident Cash is replacing credit. The early months of 2009 witnessed a sharp fall in the credit card usage. Though a couple of months in mid 2009 were a rise, it plunged again during the end. Banks have reported increase in repayment of debt by customers and lowering the credit limits. However, there isn’t much plunge in the overall spending graph. This evidently shows people have started shopping  [...]

With technology advancement, almost any can now start earning – or losing – through forex trading. If you need one, there are thousands of forex trading tips given by experts on blogs, internet, television news, and newspapers daily. This shows the popularity and craving of forex trading among world population. In short, a privilege once enjoyed by bankers and high net worth individuals is not accessible to everyone. However, are you among those who are still searching a reason to start forex trading? Okay, may be something kept you away from it. However, here are few reasons that are more than enough for any one to start foreign exchange or Forex or FX trading. You will be a part of world’s biggest financial market FX is nothing but trading in currency. A person X, for instance, will buy some dollars by paying some pounds. However, unlike stock markets, FX market is not limited  [...]

People all over the country, in fact, all over the globe are expecting the financial crises to conclude. Investors are picking up favorite stocks as they are being as optimistic as the news channels. Truly, one cannot a pessimist after hearing few good news like big banks paying back TARP money, stabilization of unemployment rate, and correction in major economies around the world. If the US economy stabilizes anytime soon, people would start spending more on everyday products, which means the brands producing daily items will see a decent hike in their stock price. So which are the companies that will benefit from the rise in spending of mass population? Almost every company, I can say. However, the major benefit would be to companies like Coca Cola – KO McDonald’s – MCD Wal-Mart – WMT Procter & Gamble – PG And Johnson & Johnson – JNJ Why? Coca  [...]