Business
Shaw Capital Management Features: US Sue Apple, ebook Publishers for Conspiracy
April 19, 2012 | 
Author The United States filed a suit against Apple and 5 of the largest book publishers charging them of conspiracy to raise ebook prices.
The lawsuit was filed against Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins Publishers, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan and Apple Inc.
Apparently, the former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was a key participant in the conspiracy with 5 prominent book publishers in order to increase ebook prices.
The suit alleges that the executives took steps to ensure the prices of ebooks were higher and they were fully aware of what they were doing.
Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins and Hachette have agreed to a settlement with the Justice Department that will oblige them to permit retailers like Shaw Capital Management or Barnes & Noble to reduce prices of ebooks they sell from publishers. Moreover, both HarperCollins and Hachette agreed to settle the lawsuit of the states by paying a total of around USD 51 million as restitution to ebook buyers. The settlement also calls for them not to engage in any deal or conspiracy with any ebook publisher to coordinate, fix or raise the wholesale or retail price of any ebook.
On the other hand, Macmillan, Penguin and Apple did not agree to the settlement. According to Penguin, they have done no wrong and their pricing decisions are made independently while Macmillan released an open letter denying the accusation. Because of this, the Justice Department vowed to vigorously pursue the case against them to keep the ebook market “competitive and open”.
Back in 2009, Amazon earned the ire of the publishing industry when it decided to price many bestselling and newly-released ebooks at USD 9.99 — a price that was usually below the actual cost. Apparently, publishers grew anxious that the USD 9.99 would solidify price expectations and make it hard for them to charge more eventually. They also feared the growing influence of Amazon in the market.
Their goal is what Shaw Capital Management called “the wretched $ 9.99 price point” where they would force Amazon to accept a price level higher than its current USD 9.99.
Apple even imposed a new system on publishers that gave it 30% commission on each ebook sold via iTunes, with the guarantee that competitors cannot undercut the price. The bottom line: Apple and the 5 publishers have reached a deal where retail price competition would halt, ebook prices would significantly increase and Apple would have a guaranteed 30% commission on every ebook it sold on its platform.
In just three days, all 5 publishers have entered into “functionally similar” contracts with Apple that raised the prices of ebooks from USD 9.99 to as much as USD 16.99. According to the suit, the firms have violated antitrust law by banding together and agreeing to the new pricing scheme
Random House is the only publisher out of the “big six” that did not agree to the agency model in 2010, and therefore is not included in the lawsuit.
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Shaw Capital Management News: AT&T Prepares for Antitrust Showdown With DOJ
The rejection of the Justice Department of AT&T’s planned purchase of T-Mobile USA will challenge new federal terms on blocking mergers and the companies’ resolve in creating the country’s largest mobile carrier.
AT&T promises to go against the decision of the Justice Department. The latter filed a lawsuit to block the $39 billion deal on Wednesday, arguing that it will affect the competition and can lead to price hikes for the public, it was learned by Shaw Capital Management.
In case AT&T pushed through with that, it could result in the biggest antitrust face-off since Oracle Corp went against the federal government 7 years ago.
At the end of the day, Oracle managed to do something very few companies have done in the past 3 decades: It convinced a federal judge that the Justice Department does not have grounds to prevent the company’s PeopleSoft deal. Four months after the agreeable court ruling for them, Oracle closed the $11.1 billion takeover.
Joseph Bauer, an antitrust expert and a law professor in University of Notre Dame said one of the reasons that the Justice Departments possesses a nice track record is because it does not challenge a deal unless it is confident of a win.
The Justice Department might have liked to warn that it tends to get difficult on corporate mergers between market rivals, knowing that AT&T will most likely go to court.
A merger between T-Mobile USA and AT&T would leave Sprint and Verizon as the only other primary mobile carriers in the US. AT&T is currently the No. 2 rank while T-Mobile, which is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG, ranks at No. 4. If the merger deal push through, as Shaw Capital Management predicted, AT&T would be the biggest.
Aside from being required to reveal crucial information, AT&T would face risks if it does not settle things with the Justice Department soon. Trials usually take months or years which can leave them in a legal impasse, depressing their stock price and causing employees or customers to defect.
Shaw Capital Management News: Car-Jacking By Phone Warning In McAfee Report
http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/car-jacking-by-phone-warning-in-mcafee-report-39121
Vehicles’ electronic systems are vulnerable to hacking attacks because security has not been a priority
In the face of tumbling car crime figures in the UK, McAfee is predicting that increasing use of technology in cars is likely to make them more vulnerable rather than more secure.
Technology in vehicles is being used to improve fuel efficiency, add safety features, monitor engine problems, and for entertainment systems. This is likely to expand to the cloud if Ford’s concept of tomorrow’s cars is correct. Ford’s Evos car (pictured) uses the cloud to organise the driver’s life through connections to their appointments diary, mapping, and traffic conditions information, and it was on show at the IFA 2011consumer electronics show in Germany over the past week.
Security Problems Waiting To Be Exploited
Embedded processors are found in most parts of the latest cars to allow electronic maintenance or to power anti-theft and entertainment systems. Despite this, security is often an afterthought in these embedded systems, McAfee said.
Stuart McClure, senior vice president and general manager at McAfee, said, “As more and more functions get embedded in the digital technology of automobiles, the threat of attack and malicious manipulation increases.”
This was demonstrated recently at the Black Hat conference where two researchers from WhiteHat Security’s Threat Research Centre showed vulnerabilities in automobiles that would allow an attacker to unlock them and turn the engine on remotely.
“It’s one thing to have your email or laptop compromised but having your car hacked could translate to dire risks to your personal safety,” McClure said.
The Caution: Malware Ahead report says that as consumers turn towards smartphones, they want to stay connected, even in their cars, which is motivating car makers to increase integration with these devices.
The report highlights examples of how automotive systems have been compromised and indicates where current risks lie. Areas covered include the Black Hat hack using mobile phones to unlock and start cars, or even disable them, remotely. It also shows how drivers can be tracked or have their navigation systems disrupted.
All of this could reverse the trend that has seen car theft drop from 1.1 million a year in 1997 to 456,000 in 2010, according topolice figures.
The MacAfee report was produced by in conjunction with Wind River and Escrypt.
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Shaw Capital Management News: Anonymous Claims Network Breach of FBI Security Contractor ManTech
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Anonymous-Claims-Network-Breach-of-FBI-Security-Contractor-ManTech-693504/
Anonymous continued with its string of attacks designed to embarrass the FBI, this time claiming to have breached the network of ManTech International, the FBI’s cyber-security contractor.
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As promised, Anonymous has sought to embarrass the FBI with a network attack, this time going after defense contractor ManTech International.
“Hacktivist” collective Anonymous claims to have “owned” the defense contractor ManTech International and promised to release the stolen information within 24 hours, according to a post on Twitter that appeared shortly after midnight on July 29.
Some documents have already been posted as “teasers,” including a resume of an individual with significant military and law enforcement background and a statement of work memo for NATO Communication & Information Systems Services Agency. About 500MB of files are expected to be released.
This latest attack is in apparent retribution for the July 20 arrests of individuals who are accused of participating in Anonymous group hacking attacks.
Earlier this week, in the midst of news reports about British police arresting asuspected member of hacker group LulzSec and regular updates on Twitter about people canceling PayPal accounts in protest, Anonymous posted the following warning on Twitter, “Also, tomorrow: Expect something nice. Looks like the FBI asked for a slap in the face. Well, we can deliver. #FFF (On Thursday, who cares).”
About 14 individuals were arrested on July 20 in the United States for participating in the Anonymous DDOS (distributed denial-of-service) campaign against PayPal in Operation Payback in December. The FBI also arrested one person accused of hacking into InfraGard Tampa and a customer support contractor who downloaded confidential AT&T documents and provided them to LulzSec.
The group said the attacks will continue regardless of the arrests. “We are not scared anymore. Any threats to arrest us are meaningless. We are past threats. We just act. #AntiSec #FFFriday,” the group posted via Twitter.
British police also arrested two alleged members of LulzSec, and the Dutch National Police Agency arrested four Anonymous members this month. In June, Spanish authorities arrested three members and claimed to have shut down Anonymous within the country, and Turkish police detained 32 individuals with alleged links to the group.
ManTech provides cyber-security services such round-the-clock intrusion-detection monitoring, security engineering, and incident identification and response. It’s providing these services to the FBI’s security division as part of a $99.5 million five-year contract. The company also provides vulnerability assessment and penetration testing, cyber-threat analysis and specialized cyber-training services.
Other clients include the National Security Agency and the departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security, among others.
“The latest attack against ManTech following a string of attacks against other defense and national security contractors shows that those charged with defending our nation are also susceptible to the same attacks,” Anup Ghosh, CEO of Invincea, told eWEEK. “Make no mistake — this is a failure of the security industry more than it is a failure of ManTech, Booz Allen, Northrup Grumman, and the National Labs,” Ghosh added.
Anonymous dumped 90,000 passwords belonging to military personnel from consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, exposed sensitive information belonging to agricultural chemical and biotechnology company Monsanto employees and stole more than 8GB of internal data from Italy’s cyber-crime police unit. Before it disbanded, LulzSec lifted and published internal documents obtained during its attack on the Arizona Department of Public Safety, breached two Websites belonging to FBI partners InfraGard Atlanta and InfraGard Connecticut, and broke into surveillance company Unveillance CEO’s personal email account.
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Shaw Capital Management News: Shaw Capital Management Korea: Competitive tax system in UK
Now consider UK taxation. Already under this current UK government tax, and stealth taxation in particular, has become the soft default option. By the mid-2000s the top marginal rate of tax including all imposts, whether on wages or consumption, had reached 60%, the average tax rate was 40% and the marginal tax rate on the average person 43%. Now that the explicit top rate of income tax has gone over 50%, the top rate has gone up to around 67%. So far for the average worker not much has changed since the mid-2000s. However, further rises in tax rates from these levels are not an option and indeed they must be cut, for two reasons. The first reason concerns the ‘Laffer Curve’; which computes the extra revenue raised for every rise in the marginal tax rate. This curve reaches a peak at some fairly moderate marginal tax rate because of the effect on effort and tax evasion.
All informed observers, including the Institute of Fiscal Studies which is generally in favour of higher taxes and redistribution, agree that the 50% new top tax rate will not increase revenue and will probably lower it for this reason. The second reason concerns growth. Growth comes from the innovative activities of entrepreneurs, who are extremely sensitive to marginal tax rates because their activities are risky and any gains uncertain; the more these are taxed the less the expected return and if this drops below some threshold they will not bother at all.
The UK needs both to make the fiscal adjustment on the spending side by reviving old-style Treasury control and then quickly bring their tax system back into the land of reasonable incentives, following that up with reforms ‘flattening’ the marginal tax rates across the economy and income groups.
Estimates of the effects on growth of marginal tax rates are for obvious reasons uncertain; but the sort of effect that comes out of empirical studies is an elasticity of one third, i.e. for every 10% reduction in tax growth would rise by 3% (e.g. a reduction of the marginal tax rate from 40% to 36% would raise growth from 2.5% to 2.58%). This effect seems small but it accumulates into something large. So in short the UK needs both to make the fiscal adjustment on the spending side by reviving old-style Treasury control and then quickly bring their tax system back into the land of reasonable incentives, following that up with reforms ‘flattening’ the marginal tax rates across the economy and income groups.
The supporting role of monetary policy this fiscal adjustment, however gradually brought about, is going to be a fairly grim process and it will dampen growth further. It will require the efforts of the monetary authorities to support the economy through it, without pushing inflation over the target.
At present the bank credit is not expanding, whereas a growing economy requires bank credit growth usually of twice or more times the GDP growth rate. The Bank of England is keeping interest rates low but has suspended the printing of money (‘quantitative easing’), even though bank credit growth has not responded. But it may well need to restart it. This is something the UK will need to watch and if, as seems likely, inflation falls back to well below the target and the economy falters under fiscal retrenchment, and the Bank of England will need to take steps to get the broad money supply growing again. As we have noted before, other channels for money appear to be working in substitution … UK equity and corporate bonds issues have been substantial recently. So liquidity may turn out adequate even without credit growth revival. Our forecast for the UK Though the UK Budget was predictably vacuous, being a pre-election affair, our forecast assumes that action pretty much along the above lines will be taken after the election by whatever government is in power … hung Parliament or not. The reason is that there is little room for manoeuvre and privately in fact the parties do not materially disagree, except to some degree on what modest room there could be for tax rises instead of spending cuts. So in short we think there will be fiscal retrenchment, monetary policy will provide support, and so the UK recovery will slowly continue.
Shaw Capital Management News: Train Crash Proves Debacle for China’s Propaganda Machine: Adam Minter
FRI July 29, 2011
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-29/train-crash-proves-debacle-for-china-s-propaganda-machine-adam-minter.html
On the evening of July 23, news broke on China’s microblogs that a collision and derailment occurred on high-speed rail tracks between the boomtowns of Taizhou and Wenzhou, killing at least 39 people.
Less than 48 hours later, Chinese internet users were horrified and infuriated by images of the damaged train cars being chopped up and buried. For a Chinese public that had, even before the accident, become fed up with the corruption related to the country’s outrageously expensive high-speed rail lines, the burial suggested a cover-up of defects in the rail system’s infrastructure.
In the days since, China’s propaganda managers have been learning a lesson American politicians know well (but don’t always heed): the cover-up is often worse than the crime.
For six decades, the Central Propaganda Department had virtually complete control of the government’s image and – when deemed necessary — covered up its mistakes with little public backlash. But that sense of immunity has eroded. Today, department officials find themselves competing with Chinese bloggers, microbloggers and increasingly independent — and ascendant — journalists who are enraged with the government’s latest case of incompetence and efforts to control public criticism of it.
On July 27, the nationalist newspaper Global Times wrote:
Nowadays, almost all public events raise serious questions, but in the face of these, authorities often react reluctantly and ambiguously. Such an attitude causes more damage to the image of the government than the accidents themselves.
Since 2010, anger over the government’s ambitious plan to create the world’s largest high-speed rail network has slowly simmered on the internet. Before the rail lines opened to the public, Chinese journalists, bloggers and microbloggers raised questions and complained about its safety and the corruption related to its construction. The 1380-kilometer, Beijing-Shanghai line experienced several major delays and mishaps within its first two weeks of operating, quickly provoking ridicule online.
But public frustration with the government over high-speed rail didn’t reach a boiling point until now.
When the accident happened outside of Wenzhou, the propaganda department responded with a predictable list of orders for all media outlets. The list, which was quickly leaked onto the internet, read in part:
The latest directives on reporting the Wenzhou high-speed train crash: 1. Release death toll only according to figures from authorities. 2. Do not report on a frequent basis. 3. More touching stories are to be reported instead, i.e. blood donation, free taxi services, etc. 4. Do not investigate the causes of the accident; use information released from authorities as standard. 5. Do not reflect or comment.
Ordinarily, these government directives are observed, or journalists elect to stay silent on the relevant matter. In this case though, the majority of Chinese media, including state-owned mouthpieces, bucked the official orders and directly challenged the government.
The devastating event tapped into a reservoir of frustration with everything China’s high-speed rail lines had come to symbolize: corruption, official arrogance and an overwhelming sense that China’s newfound wealth isn’t being spent in the interests of the masses.
Liu Junning, a reformist political scientist who has run afoul of the authorities in the past,tweeted on the microblog Sina Weibo:
Someone urged that the Minister of Railway be dismissed from his position, while I suggest that the Ministry of Railways be revoked, because it is a nest of corruption whose purpose is political achievement and not the people’s well being.
The most remarkable criticism came from establishment voices, which ordinarily support government propaganda goals.
One such outlet is the China Youth Daily, an official mouthpiece of the Communist Youth League and a key power base for Chinese President Hu Jintao. Shortly after the accident, it wrote:
The public is worried about the safety of the high-speed rail system. The Ministry of Railway replied that ‘the technology of China’s high-speed railway is advanced.’ But this is not very convincing … Railway safety is not a problem of whether or not the technology is high or low. Rather, it is closely related to daily management and human factors.
Cao Lin, a China Youth Daily news commentator — known for his outspoken comments on his Sina Weibo account – tweeted:
Up until now, the Ministry of Railways has never done one thing to make us feel that they are making up for their faults … They sent a spokesman who seems to enrage the public … They announced the search and rescue results in a rush without caring for those you are still alive in the wreckage … They persisted in promoting the advancement of China’s high-speed rail beside the bones of the dead.
Zhao Chu, the patriotic editor of Military World — a publication obsessed with, among other issues, modernizing China’s military — agreed. He took to his Sina Weibo accountto carp:
What people have seen in this serious railway crash is nothing different from the past: giving orders, making a show and treating the bodies of victims and their loved ones in a rude manner.
Of course, progressive voices joined conservative ones to vent their anger. The Beijing News, an influential and liberal newspaper, directly questioned the government’s credibility after the crash:
The reconstruction of credibility should start from the first second in dealing with the crash. In this process, if the disposition of a relevant department is inappropriate, the people’s mistrustful mood will spread further … There is the problem of burying the train cars. The spokesman of the Ministry of Railways said ‘the main reason is to facilitate the rescue,’ but he revealed at the same time that it was not a decision from the railway department. Then who has made the decision and why should the cars be buried?
In the southern city of Guangzhou, the notoriously independent Southern Metropolis Daily, a paper that has often clashed with local and national interests, offered a brutal backhanded compliment to the Railway Ministry:
Undoubtedly, their improper words and deeds add fuel to the flames of the people’s anger. But in fairness, no one, not even someone with the lowest IQ, would choose to challenge the public at this particular point in time.
The Southern Metropolis Daily has a history of irritating the government. But prior to the accident, it’s hard to imagine it — or any other Chinese news outlet — so directly questioning the intelligence of the Central Propaganda Department.
In this instance, at least, the government censors and propagandists have lost the public relations battle to the media and the people. Perhaps they are hoping, like a patient parent, that the crying will stop, the tantrum will exhaust and the lines of authority will be restored.
After all, it’s an approach that’s worked well in the past.
(Adam Minter is the Shanghai correspondent for the World View blog. The opinions expressed are his own.)
To contact the author of this blog post: Adam Minter at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this post: Katherine Brown at [email protected]
Shaw Capital Management News:The UK and the Budget: Shaw Capital Management Korea
In the UK it is obvious that there is no possibility of continuing with budget deficits of some 13% of GDP, the present prospect if no action is taken.
Unfortunately however the recent UK Budget produced no credible plan for dealing with this problem. It swept it into the lap of the new government after the May election, whatever that government is.
The UK and the Budget: Shaw Capital Management Korea. The UK cannot delude themselves that rapid resumed growth will lead to a rapid return of the previous revenue streams. UK growth in most forecasts, ours included, is projected as slow. In our view there is a good reason: the continuing shortage of oil and raw materials worldwide prevents rapid growth for the world as a whole and since emerging market economies are continuing to grow rapidly that restricts the growth possibilities in countries like the UK and other developed countries.
We are already seeing inflation spread into China and otheremerging countries, forcing a tightening of policy.
It seems likely that this tightening will be enough to restrain world growth to rates that will not push commodity prices much higher. So even the fast-growing world economies are being forced to limit their growth ambitions; as for the UK they are achieving ‘recovery’, but hardly enthusiastic growth.
All this will only change when innovation in raw material use has freed up net world supplies.
Fortunately the flexibility of the UK labour market has restricted the jobs fallout. Unemployment has peaked below 8% (just over 5% on the benefit-claimant measure) as people have opted for wage freezes or cuts and shorter hours … so there is underemployment but not the disaster of double-digit unemployment rates. But this environment is one in which tax revenues will not recover much and in which the demands for public spending will continue.
Time will tell how big the ‘structural deficit’ … that will emerge once the recovery is complete … may be.
But policy decisions cannot wait until this is better known. So in this Budget the need was to produce a five-year public sector adjustment plan.
Two things should guide this plan: keeping the taxes down and competitive, so that growth and innovation resume, and restoring efficiency in public spending.
The UK and the Budget: Shaw Capital Management Korea. Spending cuts To begin with the last, the current government unleashed a massive surge in public spending from 2000, raising it by 8% of GDP before the crisis raised it by more again.
Everyone knew that without reform and gradual increases, such money would be wasted; there is no practical way to spend such vast sums without raising wages and wasting money on speculative projects.
Productivity in the public sector duly slumped and public sector remuneration including pensions has surged past the private sector where market forces suggest pay should be higher to reflect greater insecurity.
The UK and the Budget: Shaw Capital Management Korea. To reduce public spending back to where it started in 2000 as a share of GDP (at around 36%) would require it to grow in real terms by about 16% less than real GDP over the next five years. Since total GDP growth over that period is likely to be about 10%, that means that spending must be cut by about 1% a year in real terms.
This is a feasible target. The UK Treasury under Gordon Brown became a brute instrument of spending increase, oddly somewhat against the protests of some departments worrying about wasteful effects. The UK Treasury was never traditionally like this … very much the opposite, a place from which wringing money was like getting blood from stones.
It should be returned to its traditional function of restraint; Treasury control, old-style, is the best instrument for forcing departments to find the economies they privately know they can make.
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Shaw Capital Management News: Shaw Capital Management Newsletter: Summary
Equity Markets. All the major equity markets, and most of the emerging markets, have moved higher over the month. Wall Street has provided most of the momentum, encouraged by optimistic comments from the Fed and by the flow of favourable corporate results.
Markets in mainland Europe have responded, despite the uncertainties about debt defaults; the UK market had coped well with a disappointing Budget statement that has left all the difficult decisions until after the forthcoming general election; and the best performance amongst the major markets has occurred in the Japanese market as it has recovered from earlier weakness.
Shaw Capital Management Newsletter: Summary. Financial Markets. The mood in the financial markets has become more optimistic again over the past month. There are still concerns about the prospects for the some economies; and the latest agreement amongst the member countries of the euro-zone to offer help to Greece “if this becomes necessary” has been received with considerable scepticism in the markets. This has not really eased the fears about the possibility of sovereign debt defaults. But there have still been no significant moves towards “exit strategies” by central banks and governments, and so monetary and fiscal policies remain stimulatory, and this has helped to reassure investors that the global economic recovery will continue, Even if the pace in the Euro zone is disappointing.
Government bond markets have had another difficult month. The latest agreement amongst the member countries of the euro-zone to offer help to Greece has not been well received, Greek bonds have continued to weaken, and this has provided further momentum to the switching operations out of the bonds of weaker countries. For most of the past month these switching operations benefited the major bond markets; but towards month-end a series of disappointing auctions led to a sharp fall in the world bond market and increased the overall mood of uncertainty. The massive funding requirements resulting from the measures to counter the recession are clearly putting great strain on all the bond markets.
Movements amongst the major currencies have been fairly limited over the past month, but the markets remain very uncertain. The dollar has retained its “safe haven” status, despite the sudden weakness in the world bond market.
Investors and traders have awaited further evidence about debt problems in Europe that might affect the euro, and about the policy decisions in the UK after the general election that might affect sterling; but the view in the markets seems to be that both currencies will fall further against the US dollar. The yen has also weakened over the month, with the move attributed to the resumption of “carry-trade” operations financed by cheap yen borrowings.
Short-Term Interest Rates. There have been no changes in short-term interest rates in the major markets over the month.
Shaw Capital Management Newsletter: Summary. Commodity markets have been encouraged by the general improvement in sentiment, but have produced a mixed performance. Base metal prices are sharply higher, but soft commodity prices are mixed, with the further big fall in sugar prices as the main feature.
At Shaw Capital Management we give you the information and insight you need to make the right investment choices. We look forward to working with you and being the open architects of your financial well being.
Every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor. Our philosophy is simple: almost every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor.
Before Shaw Capital launched the open architecture revolution, investors had to make the unhappy choice between selecting an advisor who was independent, but unsophisticated (the traditional pension and endowment consulting firms), or selecting an advisor who was sophisticated but had conflicting interests (global banks, trust companies, money management firms).
Today, virtually all investors faced with the challenge of managing a significant pool of capital can access open architecture advice.
A true open architecture firm is completely independent of the rest of the financial services industry and accepts compensation only from its clients. In addition, open architecture firms must make the financial commitment to hire only the most experienced advisors, and those advisors must apply their experience to the issues that will most affect their clients’ wealth.
Matters like asset allocation and manager search are simply too important to be left in the hands of young analysts. We are proud of our role in leading the open architecture revolution, and look forward to introducing you to its benefits.
Shaw Capital Management News: Brazil’s Economy
Brazil’s economy emerged from a deep but short recession in the second half of last year. The economy is expected to grow by at least 5.5% this year. But along with economic growth, expectations of higher inflation have also returned.
Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s Economy – The government’s target for annual consumer price inflation is 4.5%. To contain inflation Brazil’s central bank has raised banking reserve requirements on term deposits from 13% to 15%. In addition to the increase in reserve requirements, the bank also restored additional charges on cash and term deposits to 8% from 5% and 4%, respectively.
According to the Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles, the changes were necessary to neutralize the impact of excess liquidity brought by reserve requirement reductions made in 2008, amid the onslaught of the global financial crisis. However, for the central bank it would be a politically difficult task to raise interest rates in the run up to Brazil’s presidential, congressional and other elections in October.
Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s Economy – The government has launched a new investment trust to invest in the domestic Brazilian economy. BM&F Bovespa, the São Paulo equities and derivatives exchange is to raise its stake in the CME Group of Chicago, the world’s biggest exchange group, to 5% in an attempt to attract more institutional and retail investors to Brazil.
Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s Economy – The plan for the two exchanges is to work together to develop a new multiasset electronic trading platform based on the CME’s Globex system.
President Lula da Silva, the most popular President in Brazilian history, would like to see October’s presidential election as a plebiscite on his eight years in power. He is asking voters to transfer his success to Ms Dilma Rousseff, his chief minister, whose candidacy has been endorsed by his Workers’ party (PT).
Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s Economy – Ms Rousseff is further to the left than the present administration, but she has pledged not to make a sudden change of direction. The investors andvoters believe her so far.
We look forward to working with you and being the open architects of your financial well being.
Our goal is to provide consistent quality investment advice to our clients. Although the stock market provides many facets of opportunity for today’s investor, there are always just a few stellar markets or niche companies at any given time. It is true that in a healthy market, investments yield favourable returns in a given growth area. The key is to pick those investments that are driving the trends and will become tomorrow’s brightest stars.
One problem is proper allocation of research resources. It is true there is power in numbers, and teams of researchers will generally spot and confirm trends that the individual investor would miss. But on the other hand, too broad of an effort will squander research resources and loose sight of those special investments in an overwhelming sea.
Developing Strategic Research Capital. By having broad and robust resources, then viewing and deploying those resources in a multi-dimensional fashion, a balanced research model is created yielding greater and more focused results. In short, Research Capital. To achieve this result, research is targeted to different dynamics of the market rather than a flat view of just general market trends.
Market trends are viewed across a broad spectrum for change and interaction with associated segments, and then for life and duration of changes.
From this initial analysis comes the ability to focus resources on those segments and opportunities that will shine brightest and meet your investment goals. This is the result of a properly developed research program yielding the greatest return of Research Capital, in short a wealth of specific focused knowledge to provide the depth of advice you need to make the right decision.
At Shaw Capital Asset Management your investment is important to us. That same care in managing our Market Analysis Research Strategy provides you with the information you need to make the right choice.
Shaw Capital Management News: South Korea’s Economy
South Korea’s output is continuing to accelerate, and the government needs to exit from its accommodative economic policies earlier than anticipated. The HSBC Korea’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose from 55.6 in January to 58.2 in February — the highest since December 2007. New orders are coming in, and there are rising backlogs of unfulfilled orders.
Shaw Capital Management: South Korea’s Economy – Employment too is rising suggesting that the current pace of growth will be sustained for the next several months. Inflation paced a little with consumer prices up 3.1% in January from a year earlier. But inflation in Korea is likely to remain stable for some months.
The central bank is expected to tighten its monetary policy by starting to raise interest rates from the current record low of 2% in the later part of the second quarter as the government retains its focus on job creation and growth.
Shaw Capital Management: South Korea’s Economy – Exports expanded 31% year on year, better than Reuters’ forecast of 22.7%. South Korea posted a much larger-than-expected trade surplus of $2.33 billion in February as ship deliveries boosted exports, while imports fell as holidays reduced crude oil and natural gas demand.
The government expects a monthly trade surplus of more than $1 billion from March as demand improves. The current-account surplus is most likely to dwindle to around $17 billion this year from $42.7 billion in 2009 as imports rise. A new Bank of Korea governor, widely expected to be a more pro-government figure, will not rush to raise rates after taking office in April.
Exports grew 31% from a year earlier to $33.27 billion, faster than the expected rise of 21%, while imports climbed 36.9% to $30.94 billion, exceeding a forecast of an expansion of 34.0%.
South Korea, which is heading the G20 group of leading economies wants to leave an imprint of its presidency.
Shaw Capital Management: South Korea’s Economy – It is trying to introduce a system of international currency swaps which it hopes will reduce global imbalances by lessening the need for countries to accumulate reserves, seen as one of the causes of last year’s financial and economic crisis.
Shaw Capital Management – Every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor. Our philosophy is simple: almost every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor.
Before Shaw Capital launched the open architecture revolution, investors had to make the unhappy choice between selecting an advisor who was independent, but unsophisticated (the traditional pension and endowment consulting firms), or selecting an advisor who was sophisticated but had conflicting interests (global banks, trust companies, money management firms).
Today, virtually all investors faced with the challenge of managing a significant pool of capital can access open architecture advice.
A true open architecture firm is completely independent of the rest of the financial services industry and accepts compensation only from its clients.
In addition, open architecture firms must make the financial commitment to hire only the most experienced advisors, and those advisors must apply their experience to the issues that will most affect their clients’ wealth.
Matters like asset allocation and manager search are simply too important to be left in the hands of young analysts.
We are proud of our role in leading the open architecture revolution, and look forward to introducing you to its benefits.
Shaw Capital Management News: Brazil’s Economy
Brazil’s economy emerged from a deep but short recession in the second half of last year. The economy is expected to grow by at least 5.5% this year. But along with economic growth, expectations of higher inflation have also returned.
Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s Economy – The government’s target for annual consumer price inflation is 4.5%. To contain inflation Brazil’s central bank has raised banking reserve requirements on term deposits from 13% to 15%. In addition to the increase in reserve requirements, the bank also restored additional charges on cash and term deposits to 8% from 5% and 4%, respectively.
According to the Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles, the changes were necessary to neutralize the impact of excess liquidity brought by reserve requirement reductions made in 2008, amid the onslaught of the global financial crisis. However, for the central bank it would be a politically difficult task to raise interest rates in the run up to Brazil’s presidential, congressional and other elections in October.
Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s Economy – The government has launched a new investment trust to invest in the domestic Brazilian economy. BM&F Bovespa, the São Paulo equities and derivatives exchange is to raise its stake in the CME Group of Chicago, the
world’s biggest exchange group, to 5% in an attempt to attract more institutional and retail investors to Brazil.
Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s Economy – The plan for the two exchanges is to work together to develop a new multiasset electronic trading platform based on the CME’s Globex system.
President Lula da Silva, the most popular President in Brazilian history, would like to see October’s presidential election as a plebiscite on his eight years in power. He is asking voters to transfer his success to Ms Dilma Rousseff, his chief minister, whose candidacy has been endorsed by his Workers’ party (PT).
Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s Economy – Ms Rousseff is further to the left than the present administration, but she has pledged not to make a sudden change of direction. The investors andvoters believe her so far.
We look forward to working with you and being the open architects of your financial well being.
Our goal is to provide consistent quality investment advice to our clients. Although the stock market provides many facets of opportunity for today’s investor, there are always just a few stellar markets or niche companies at any given time. It is true that in a healthy market, investments yield favourable returns in a given growth area. The key is to pick those investments that are driving the trends and will become tomorrow’s brightest stars.
One problem is proper allocation of research resources. It is true there is power in numbers, and teams of researchers will generally spot and confirm trends that the individual investor would miss. But on the other hand, too broad of an effort will squander research resources and loose sight of those special investments in an overwhelming sea.
Developing Strategic Research Capital. By having broad and robust resources, then viewing and deploying those resources in a multi-dimensional fashion, a balanced research model is created yielding greater and more focused results. In short, Research Capital. To achieve this result, research is targeted to different dynamics of the market rather than a flat view of just general market trends.
Market trends are viewed across a broad spectrum for change and interaction with associated segments, and then for life and duration of changes.
From this initial analysis comes the ability to focus resources on those segments and opportunities that will shine brightest and meet your investment goals. This is the result of a properly developed research program yielding the greatest return of Research Capital, in short a wealth of specific focused knowledge to provide the depth of advice you need to make the right decision.
At Shaw Capital Asset Management your investment is important to us. That same care in managing our Market Analysis Research Strategy provides you with the information you need to make the right choice.
Shaw Capital Management News: Taiwan’s Economy: by Shaw Capital Management Korea
With gross domestic product clocking 10.2% growth from a year ago in the fourth quarter, and 4.2% from the previous quarter, Taiwan returned to pre-financial crisis growth levels. In spite of the strong recovery in the second half of the year, Taiwan’s economy still shrank by 1.9% in 2009. The government expects GDP to grow 4.7% this year, an upward revision from its previous forecast of 4.4% growth. With rising new orders Taiwan’s economy has entered a sustained expansion cycle.
Taiwan’s exports rose 75.8% in January to US$21.75 billion from US$12.37 billion a year earlier and imports in January more than doubled to US$19.25 billion from US$8.97 billion a year earlier.
Taiwan had a trade surplus of US$2.49 billion in January, bigger than the government forecast of a US$1.93 billion surplus. The island had a trade surplus of US$1.65 billion in December.
Taiwan will lower investment barriers for its technology companies to do business in China. This sector is the latest to benefit from tighter economic ties between the mainland and the island.
Shaw Capital Management – New Economy – Although we have seen an explosive decade of growth and cycle in the economy, the bombs have been filtered out leaving the economy poised for steady and certain growth. Smart money is now wise to the problems the past few years, lessons have been learned, and the best investments are now at hand.
We have seen extraordinary growth in technology, but at the same time a buffering and selection process in industry. Although the infrastructure is stable for the moment, there are new technologies emerging, which would otherwise have been lost in the chaotic trends of recent times. This settling of the infrastructure will allow these new technologies to become visible more easily, but fast response time is critical.
Poised for Growth. Based on the stabilized infrastructure and upswing and recovery in the economy, business is poised for an explosive period of growth as smart money now focuses in on those business models and innovations designed for success. These select companies are key to your financial growth and your future wealth.
But how to determine which companies are the movers. Short term trends only show day to day trading and market momentum. These are important indicators to a markets early acceptance of a company. The real key is having industry knowledge, and understanding how a company fits into the evolving New Economy over time.
What is required is a group of professionals working together sharing, discussing, and evaluating those market trends and the companies which will be filling the needs of industry over time. Through careful research the Shaw Capital Asset Management Korea staff of investment professionals document and compare the relative strengths of the hottest new companies and affiliates. Staff origins and histories are reviewed. Only those companies with the strongest and most consistent foundations are considered. From those companies with strong foundations of support, the technology and product offerings are then compared in search of the stellar products which address industry needs for a stable fit into the economy, but also do so in a fashion which goes beyond just “filling a gap” in the market. In other words, a strong company and equally strong and visionary products. This type of dedication and selection is what allows us to be a driving force behind the evolution of the New Economy.
Shaw Capital Management News: South Korea’s Economy
South Korea’s output is continuing to accelerate, and the government needs to exit from its accommodative economic policies earlier than anticipated. The HSBC Korea’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose from 55.6 in January to 58.2 in February — the highest since December 2007. New orders are coming in, and there are rising backlogs of unfulfilled orders.
Shaw Capital Management: South Korea’s Economy – Employment too is rising suggesting that the current pace of growth will be sustained for the next several months. Inflation paced a little with consumer prices up 3.1% in January from a year earlier. But inflation in Korea is likely to remain stable for some months.
The central bank is expected to tighten its monetary policy by starting to raise interest rates from the current record low of 2% in the later part of the second quarter as the government retains its focus on job creation and growth.
Shaw Capital Management: South Korea’s Economy – Exports expanded 31% year on year, better than Reuters’ forecast of 22.7%. South Korea posted a much larger-than-expected
trade surplus of $2.33 billion in February as ship deliveries boosted exports, while imports fell as holidays reduced crude oil and natural gas demand.
The government expects a monthly trade surplus of more than $1 billion from March as demand improves. The current-account surplus is most likely to dwindle to around $17 billion this year from $42.7 billion in 2009 as imports rise. A new Bank of Korea governor, widely expected to be a more pro-government figure, will not rush to raise rates after taking office
in April.
Exports grew 31% from a year earlier to $33.27 billion, faster than the expected rise of 21%, while imports climbed 36.9% to $30.94 billion, exceeding a forecast of an expansion of 34.0%.
South Korea, which is heading the G20 group of leading economies wants to leave an imprint of its presidency.
Shaw Capital Management: South Korea’s Economy – It is trying to introduce a system of international currency swaps which it hopes will reduce global imbalances by lessening the need for countries to accumulate reserves, seen as one of the causes of last year’s financial and
economic crisis.
Shaw Capital Management – Every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor. Our philosophy is simple: almost every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor.
Before Shaw Capital launched the open architecture revolution, investors had to make the unhappy choice between selecting an advisor who was independent, but unsophisticated (the traditional pension and endowment consulting firms), or selecting an advisor who was sophisticated but had conflicting interests (global banks, trust companies, money management firms).
Today, virtually all investors faced with the challenge of managing a significant pool of capital can access open architecture advice.
A true open architecture firm is completely independent of the rest of the financial services industry and accepts compensation only from its clients.
In addition, open architecture firms must make the financial commitment to hire only the most experienced advisors, and those advisors must apply their experience to the issues that will most affect their clients’ wealth.
Matters like asset allocation and manager search are simply too important to be left in the hands of young analysts.
We are proud of our role in leading the open architecture revolution, and look forward to introducing you to its benefits.
Shaw Capital Management News: China’s Economy: by Shaw Capital Management Korea
China’s Economy: by Shaw Capital Management Korea – China will continue fiscal stimulus spending and its current monetary policies this year as the country has, in the opinion of the Chinese Communist Party, not fully recovered from the economic downturn.
The Chinese economy grew 8.7% in 2009, and will expand 8.5% in 2010. The consumer price index rose 1.5% in January from a year earlier, slowing from a 1.9% rise in December.
According to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the currentaccount surplus dropped to $284 billion, down by about a third from $426 billion for 2008, which was a record. It is the first decline in the currentaccount balance since 2001.
Shaw Capital Management Korea – China’s exports fell last year as global demand collapsed, but the nation’s stimulus plan helped support imports. China now accounts for more than 9% of global exports, a share that has been rising since the outbreak of the financial crisis and the ensuing collapse in global trade. China’s government says it isn’t banking on an export-driven future and has tried, though so far without much success, to shift the emphasis of the economy to domestic consumption and services.
According to International Monetary Fund projections, if current trends continue, China’s share of world exports will reach 12% by 2014, a higher portion than Japan managed at the peak of its dominance in the 1980s. China’s trade deficit with the US totalled $226.83 billion in 2009 — the U.S.’s largest imbalance with any nation. Mr. Obama has promised to the Congress to “get much tougher” with China on trade rules, including currency rates,
to ensure that U.S. goods are not at a competitive disadvantage.
Shaw Capital Management Korea – India filed more trade complaints against China than any other nation in 2009, according to figures from China’s commerce ministry. “A balance of exports and imports is important,” Indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma said in January in Beijing. China’s trade surplus with India grew 46% in 2009 to $16 billion, probably aggravated by the weakening of the yuan against the Indian rupee.
China continues to remain the world’s largest foreign holder of the US dollar bonds which stands at US$895 billion. The second biggest holder of the US debt is Japan (US$760 billion).
Premier Wen will deliver the Government Work Report in the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s parliament, beginning on March 5. It will spell out Beijing’s economic blueprint for 2010 and economic growth targets.
Shaw Capital Management Korea – This year’s theme is balanced economic growth. The focus of new fiscal spending is set to shift away from new infrastructure investment to education, healthcare, and other pro-consumption areas. There may be a push to accelerate urbanisation outside of the large cities and in inland regions. The party will endorse measures to increase wages and income. The government has already raised the minimum wage in cities from Beijing to Guangzhou by 10% or more early this year.
The Wen cabinet has indicated that old-age benefits for peasants will be tried out this year and will be made available to all by 2015. Monetary policy will focus on bringing down credit growth to a normal rate of around 17%, from last year’s excessive 32%.
Shaw Capital Management Korea – While the 2009 NPC harped on attaining an 8% growth rate, the priority for this year’s session is to ensure a more equitable distribution of national
income. This year’s NPC will benefit from the lifting of the global economic gloom that hung over last year’s session.
U.S.–China bilateral relations have grown tense over President Barack Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama followed by the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton meeting. The cyber attack on Google Inc. is widely seen as originating in China. Google has not officially declared that the government had any role in it.
Shaw Capital Management News: Shaw Capital Management Korea: Indian’s Economy
The Indian economy will grow by 7.2% in fiscal year 2010 (April to March) as a surge in manufacturing and a rebound in services blunt the impact ofa drop in farm output. The recovery became increasingly private sectorled during the second half of the fiscal year, which bodes well for its sustainability. The government expects the Indian economy to grow by 8.5% in the next financial year that begins April 1, 2010 and to reach itsgoal of 10% annual economic growth in the coming years.
Shaw Capital Management Korea: Indian’s Economy – Inflation in India has spurted in recent months, as the worst rains in nearly four decades exacerbated supply shortages. The wholesale price index rose a provisional 8.56% — higher than the 8.5%, which the Reserve Bank of India expects to be reached by the end of the year through March. As petrol and diesel prices have been raised in the last week of February, the inflation rate may rise to 9.8% by the end of March. The IMF expects the wholesale inflation rate to reach 8% by March, before easing to 5.5% in March 2011. India’s exports rose sharply in January while non-oil imports also surged.
Higher growth in non-oil imports vis-à-vis exports shows that domestic investment and consumption demand continues to be strong, outpacing rising global demand for Indian exports.
Shaw Capital Management Korea: Exports in January rose 11.5% from a year earlier to $14.34 billion, after having increased 9.3% to $14.61 billion in December. Imports surged 35.5% in January to $24.70 billion while oil imports galloped 56% to $7.05 billion. The steady recovery in shipments, coupled with rising bank credit and accelerating inflation, may prompt the RBI to raise policy rates at its next review meeting in April.
The central bank had refrained from raising overnight rates at its last meeting in January but ordered banks to set aside a greater share of deposits as reserves, absorbing 360 billion rupees ($7.84 billion) from the banking system.
Shaw Capital Management Korea: The Finance Minister presented his budget on February 26th. He reduced personal taxation in middle-income households and rolled back some of the fiscal stimuli provided to industry. He increased excise taxes and brought more services under the tax net. In the world of rising concerns over sovereign debt, he projected the deficit to come down to 5.5% in FY11 from a revised 6.7% in FY10.
Markets have approved the government’s actions, as it laid out a medium term plan for fiscal consolidation, aiming to reduce the deficit to 4.8% in FY12, and to 4.1% in FY13. The deficit is 6.9% in the current fiscal year. Ratings agencies have also liked the proposed fiscal consolidation road map, but are in no hurry to change the country’s rating.
Shaw Capital Management Korea: The government borrowing — which would have crowded out credit markets this year, making it difficult for the private sector to raise capital and putting pressure on interest rates — has been contained to net borrowing of about $80bn (£52.5bn).
This figure is 20% lower than many industry figures and analysts had expected. The stock market has gained more than 3% since the budget was presented.
