Global liquidity swell to spill into 2014

 "World markets seem awash with cash again and it looks like spilling into 2014".

"Even though the U.S. Federal Reserve has kept its $85 billion-a-month of bond buying constant throughout, fevered speculation surrounding its easy money spigot has by itself dictated the massive ebb and flow of liquidity seen this year.

The rethink of Fed intentions after September 18 - when the central bank declined to cut back its asset purchases as expected - has raised all financial boats in one big wave.

Since the Fed demurred six weeks ago, the S&P500 index of top Wall St stocks has jumped 3.5 percent. So too have 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds. High-yield corporate "junk" bonds are also up more than 3 percent, as are gold and the euro. Even indices of the most esoteric and speculative 'frontier markets' have added more than 3 percent.

The global surge has been remarkable as an evaporation of this year's U.S. dollar's gains has removed huge pressure from emerging market currencies and, in turn, eased the strain on some $7.2 trillion of emerging central bank reserves. And given these reserves are largely banked in western bonds, a virtuous circle of liquidity appears to have formed.

And by pumping up the euro and Japanese yen, the retreating dollar has upped chances of further easing - quantitative or otherwise - by the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank.

The global liquidity pool - one seeded by central banks and supercharged by the markets themselves - seems to expand anew.

With the Fed speaking softly again, one-month U.S. Treasury bond volatility indices .MERMOVE have fallen to their lowest since May - half of June's peaks.

JPMorgan estimates its measure of "excess liquidity" in the global system is still surging into record territory, with global M2 aggregates up by $3 trillion, or 4.6 percent, so far this year, far outstripping a 2 percent global inflation rate.

Two thirds of that M2 expansion came from emerging markets, where domestic loan growth shows few signs of being fazed by the mid-year financial market turbulence.

Using these "excess liquidity" gauges as a guide to asset prices and assessing their power over time, the report concludes that remains a powerful upsurge".

"The current episode of excess liquidity, which began in May 2012, appears to have been the most extreme ever in terms of magnitude," it concluded.

Source: Reuters

Biggest surge on nonperforming loans for Top Chinese Banks in Q3

Nonperforming loans at Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (601398), China Construction Bank Corp. (939), Agricultural Bank (1288) of China Ltd. and Bank of China Ltd. (3988) rose 3.5 percent in the three months to Sept. 30 from June to a combined 329.4 billion yuan ($54 billion), according to data compiled by Bloomberg News based on third-quarter results. Profit rose to 209 billion yuan…The nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio, excluding central government and financial debt, widened to 207 percent at the end of the third quarter from 190 percent a year earlier as credit growth continued to outpace productivity gains, Mike Werner, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said this month.

Source: Sinocism China News

Snowden Leaks and the end of American Internet Exceptionalism?

 If, say, the Chinese had behaved like this toward the Internet and toward social platforms used around the world, there would be barely contained fury in the West. Little wonder that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was not impressed by President Obama’s repeated assurances that “there is no spying on Americans.” That was, he pointed out, of little comfort to American entrepreneurs trying to build global businesses. //one China point in a long and important essay by The Guardian’s Editor. The era of American Internet Exceptionalism may be coming rapidly to an end, with Snowden’s exposures an accelerant to a process that was already underway with the rise of China’s Internet, its 600m+ netizens and a world increasingly receptive to its approach to online information management.

The New York Review of Books
The Snowden Leaks and the Public
By Alan Rusbridger

China Clean Air Policy will take a long time

The Chinese government is working on the problem and recently announced new limits on pollutants along with a promise of increased monitoring. Public awareness has spiked, a necessary step toward ending the crisis. But the overriding message from other nations is a discouraging one: Serious change can take decades, especially when pollution is a byproduct of economic growth.

Source: Sinocism

Rewards of Consistency and Capital Discipline Are Enduring for Exxon Investors

  According to an article published today on the Wall Street Journal,"over the past five years, the energy giant's share price has lagged 46 percentage points behind a leading exchange-traded fund used to gain exposure to the oil-and-gas sector—quite a bit, considering Exxon is its largest holding. Thursday's third-quarter results aren't likely to help much if income from refining and marketing continues to sag".
"During the second quarter, those so-called downstream earnings collapsed to $396 million, from $6.64 billion a year earlier. Tepid results earlier this week from Valero Energy Corp., a pure-play on that sector, don't bode well. Analysts have cut their expectations for Exxon's third-quarter earnings by about 8% in just the past month, to $1.82 a share. It earned $2.09 a year earlier.

Exxon's problem is growth or, rather, lack thereof. Management is targeting volume increases of just 2% to 3% a year in its exploration-and-production, output. This has lagged behind expectations in recent years.

There's a silver lining, though: Through booms and busts, Exxon has used cash that might have gone to juicing output to reward shareholders. The sums are impressive: some $327 billion in payouts since oil prices bottomed in 1999—about two-thirds through share buybacks and the remainder from dividends. That's enough to buy rival BP PLC twice and have plenty of change left over.

What do investors get for such consistency? Recent subpar share-price performance aside, Exxon earns superior economic returns of the sort valued by long-term shareholders.

Its average return on invested capital over the past five years is 25.3%—well ahead that of its closest rival, Chevron Corp.  That is about double the returns earned by Europe's four big oil companies, Total SA,  BP, Royal Dutch Schell PLC and ENI SpA. In other words, Exxon has reinvested fewer dollars but earned far more on them".

"The rewards of consistency and capital discipline across those cycles are hard to recognize up close".

StarChase tech lets police shoot fugitive cars with GPS tags

Police car chases are extremely dangerous, not only for the officers involved, but also for any innocent passers-by whom the feeing car crashes into. The StarChase system, however, is designed to make those chases safer. Instead of pursuing fugitive vehicles, police can just shoot them with GPS tags.

At the heart of the system is a compressed-air cannon and a laser sighting system, installed in the front grille of a police car. Using a simple console-mounted control panel, officers can activate that cannon to shoot an adhesive GPS "tag" at the back of the other vehicle. Each unit, not including the tags, costs approximately US$5,000.

Once the fugitive vehicle has been tagged, its whereabouts can be tracked by a central dispatcher, who can coordinate the movements of other cruisers to head it off. The pursuing officer can drop back to a discrete distance, hopefully causing the fugitive driver to slow down, as they're no longer trying to outrun the police car.

The StarChase system is currently being tried out by police forces in Iowa and Florida.

Source: Gizmag

Huawei and AC Milan sign a Sponsorship Agreement

China's biggest information and communication technology (ICT) firm Huawei and AC Milan on Wednesday signed a sponsorship agreement that named Huawei Premium Sponsor and Mobile Partner of AC Milan.

Huawei and AC Milan representatives said at a press conference held inside the football club headquarters in Milan that with the signing of the agreement, Huawei became the official Mobile Partner of the AC Milan team and, in recognition of the technological excellence of its products, supplier of communications solutions for the football club.

The sponsorship was aimed at creating synergy between the two brands and included the use of AC Milan's logo and player images for Huawei's communication and promotion activities, they said.

"It is a great honor for AC Milan to be chosen by a global giant like Huawei to implement its development and market strategies," Adriano Galliani, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of AC Milan, highlighted.

George Zhao, CEO of Huawei Italy, said that after the great success of 2011 Super Cup sponsorship in Beijing, Huawei was " excited to continue the partnership with AC Milan, a recognized football leader that perfectly matches the goal of building Huawei 's leadership within the consumer market."

"AC Milan's popularity in China opens up great opportunities for collaboration in the near future," he added.

After starting as telecommunication technologies and equipment supplier, Huawei has gradually moved into the consumer world with a wide range of mobile devices and connectivity products.

"This sponsorship is a great opportunity to bring our brand and our products to a wider consumer audience, not only in the Italian and European markets but also on a global level," Daniele De Grandis, Executive Director of Huawei Device Italy, noted.

Source: Xinhua

Japan working to attract Arab students

Japanese universities taking part in an education fair in the United Arab Emirates are calling on young people to study in Japan.

About 160 universities and educational institutes from around the world are participating in the event, which opened on Tuesday the capital city of Abu Dhabi.

The University of Tokyo, Waseda University and 13 other Japanese schools are joining the fair for the first time.

Competition is intensifying among the world's universities to attract promising foreign students.

Source: NewsOnJapan

BOJ likely to maintain outlook for 2% inflation in FY 2015

The Bank of Japan is likely to retain its price projection of around 2 percent inflation in fiscal 2015 at its policy meeting Thursday, while maintaining its ultraeasy monetary policy to beat deflation, sources close to the matter said.

At the central bank's one-day policy meeting, the nine-member Policy Board is expected to discuss whether to raise the BOJ's economic growth projection for the next fiscal year starting April, given expectations that public investment will increase under the government's stimulus measures announced earlier this month.In its semiannual outlook report for the next three years to be released after the meeting, the BOJ is expected to largely maintain its view released in April and revised in July that core consumer prices, excluding fresh food, will rise 1.9 percent in fiscal 2015 excluding the impact of the planned sales tax in April.

Source: NewsOnJapan

U.S. Energy Secretary maps out China collaboration

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said in Beijing on Wednesday that the United States and China can collaborate on renewable technology for green growth and that water-based technology can be a new focus area for partnership.

Moniz, who is making a three-day visit to China, had meetings with Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli a speech at the prestigious Tsinghua University.

The meetings reinforced the view that China and the United States are both committed to a clean energy future, a commitment that will play a central role in U.S.-China collaboration at the government level and in the commercial sector, Moniz said at a press briefing at the U.S. Embassy.

There is a mindset that renewable technologies are always five to 10 years in the future. However, they have gained market share and it is time for a clean technology revolution, he said, naming water-based clean technologies, such as tidal, wave and hydro power systems as a potential new form of collaboration in the context of extended U.S.-China energy research.

During Moniz's visit, construction on a nuclear security center jointly financed by China and the United States began in Beijing on Tuesday. The center, located in the Changyang science and technology park in the southwestern outskirts of Beijing, will be equipped with environmental labs, response force exercise facilities, test sites for physical protection, and buildings for technology displays and training, experiments and scientific research.

Moniz also talked up the growing role of shale gas in clean energy. "Shale gas production continues to increase robustly. It has gone from nothing to approximately 40 percent of our national gas supply in just a five-year period, and we have again become the largest natural gas producer," he told the press briefing.

Both the United States and China have "strong interest" in shale gas development cooperation. Moniz pointed out that the United States not only has favorable geology, but also by far the most mature natural gas infrastructure, in terms of pipelines, market structures, trading hubs and future contracts.

Asked if the United States will export gas to China, Moniz said the country itself doesn't determine the destinations. "Those are purely commercial interests. So whether it's Japan, India, China or Europe, the entities in those countries negotiate contracts with those to whom we give the licenses."

Source: Xinhua

China Construction Bank opens branch office in Luxembourg

China Construction Bank (CCB), one of the country's four largest state-owned banks, on Tuesday inaugurated its first branch office in Luxembourg and the CCB (Europe) Corporation.

CCB board chairman Wang Hongzhang said the CCB was attracted by Luxembourg's good location, its good financial environment, the effective government, the prudent supervision and an open attitude towards the Chinese banking sector.

He noted that the speed with which the CCB acquired authorization from the Luxembourg government was the fastest since the beginning of the internationalization of CCB businesses.

The CCB will provide corporate finance and capital market services for companies that wish to accelerate their international businesses and European transnational companies that have trade relations with the CCB in China.

According to Wang, Luxembourg would be a platform for CCB to expand its businesses across Europe, particularly regarding loans and credits, international settlements and offshore services of the Chinese currency renminbi (RMB).

Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden, for his part, stressed that the CCB Luxembourg was a symbol of trust and cooperation between Luxembourg and China in political, diplomatic and economic fields.

He also voiced support from the Luxembourg government for future development of the RMB offshore services in Luxembourg.

Previously, two major Chinese banks, namely the Bank of China (BOC) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), have already opened offices in Luxembourg.

At present, the CCB has 17 branches or subsidiaries in 15 countries and regions, with assets totaling 120 billion U.S. dollars.

Source: Xinhua

China urges end of U.S. embargo on Cuba

China on Wednesday urged the United States to end its long-running economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution urging for it to be terminated.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily press briefing, "China has always attached great importance to relations with Cuba, and supported the just demand of Cuba."

The best way to settle differences and disputes is through talks on an equal footing, said Hua. "China hopes that the country concerned will act according to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the relevant General Assembly resolutions and terminate its embargo against Cuba as soon as possible," the spokeswoman said.

The resolution was approved on Tuesday by the 193-nation assembly with 188 votes for, two against and three abstentions.

This is the 22nd year in a row that the UN General Assembly has adopted such a resolution by an overwhelming majority to condemn the U.S. embargo on Cuba.

The U.S. imposed the blockade against Cuba in 1962 when both countries severed diplomatic ties.

Source: Voice Of China

Japan: Finance Ministry upgrades economic assessment

Japan's Finance Ministry has upgraded its assessment of the country's economy for a third consecutive quarter.

It says personal spending is continuing to improve.

The leaders of the ministry's 11 bureaus met on Wednesday to report on regional economic trends for the July-September quarter.

Many reported that personal spending had increased, particularly for items such as air conditioners and refrigerators.

They also reported increased production of electronic components, as well as iron and steel, as auto exports remained steady.

Source: NewsOnJapan

Xi urges better housing security

 Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the need to accelerate the country's housing security and supply to guarantee people's basic residential needs.

Presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Tuesday, Xi said that pushing the construction of the housing supply system is a solid project that benefits all people.

"China will exert every effort to increase housing supply while pursuing affordable, environmentally friendly and safe living standards in accordance with the country's practical situation," he said.

According to the country's 12th five-year plan, China will increase its quantity of affordable housing so that it covers 20 percent of all residential areas by 2015 through construction of 36 million affordable housing units, including renovation of run-down neighborhoods.

Xi said the government will first ensure the quality and safety of these buildings and strive to accomplish the goal while speeding up the construction of public rental and low-rent housing as well as the renovation of run-down neighborhoods.

Source: Xinhua

Japan's industrial output rose 1.5% in September MoM

Japan's industrial output rose in September, marking the first increase in 2 months. The jump was due to higher production for transport equipment and electrical parts.

The Industry Ministry said output rose 1.5 percent from the previous month.Auto production increased. Demand for electronic parts was also strong. These are generally for smart phones and tablets.

Source: NewsOnJapan

McCartney tickets prompt Japan scalping debate

McCartney's three Tokyo Dome concerts, slated for the middle of November, sold out almost immediately after going on sale in September.

The highest face price for a ticket is 16,500 yen ($169), but tickets on the Yahoo auction site are going for as high as 400,000 yen ($4,100).

What's especially unnerving to some is that these high prices have not been arrived at through the usual bidding process.

The seller is simply setting a very high price and people are paying it.

This realization has led to calls for regulation of ticket prices on auction sites. Rockin' On, the magazine that sponsors and puts on Rock In Japan, the country's biggest summer music festival, says that net auctions have become a problem, since the festival sells out fairly quickly and the audience is typically young, meaning they don't have the money to pay the kind of prices online scalpers demand.

Source:  NewsOnJapan

China's Response to Japan's Claim over Disputed Islands

China has strongly criticised Japan for its repeated attempts to break the status quo on the Diaoyu Islands. Chinese Navy drills in the western Pacific, south of Japan's Okinawa islands, have been incorrectly interpreted in Japan as demonstrating Chinese expansion of activities on the open seas.

In response, Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force has said it is considering the use of unmanned helicopters to step up its surveillance around the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

Tensions between the two Asian giants continue.

China has criticized Japan’s latest string of provocative statements over the security situation in the region, in particular the Diaoyu Islands.

"Japan’s unilateral move on the Diaoyu Islands has been illegal and invalid from the beginning. It is no one but Japan itself that is breaking the status quo on the Diaoyu Islands. China opposes such a move and calls on Japan to show sincerity and take real actions to safeguard regional peace and stability." Said Hua Chuanying, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman.

China’s criticism came a day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe while addressing troops at a military parade on Sunday, said Tokyo would not "tolerate the use of force to change the region’s status quo". Abe also called for increasing surveillance and intelligence activities.

"The reality today is that Japan’s security situation is increasingly critical over threats to our country’s sovereignty." Abe said.

Relations between China and Japan have been strained in recent years.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday, Abe said Japan should take the lead in guarding against what he said might be an attempt by China to use force to attain its diplomatic goals.

Earlier, Abe had even approved a defense plan to intercept and shoot down foreign unmanned aircraft that ignore warnings to leave Japanese airspace.

On Saturday, China’s Defense Ministry responded to the plan saying that if any drones were shot down, it would be a severe provocation and an "act of war". The ministry further said that China would take resolute measures to strike back in that case.

Source: Xinhua

Japan claim China's behaviour over disputed islands,Sliding toward Conflict?

Beijing's behaviour in its row with Tokyo over disputed islands is jeopardising peace, Japan's defence minister said on Tuesday, days after China warned a reported plan to shoot down its drones would constitute "an act of war".

Itsunori Onodera's comments are likely to further heighten fears that the two countries could be sliding towards conflict over the outcrops in the East China Sea.

"I believe the intrusions by China in the territorial waters around the Senkaku islands fall in the 'grey zone' (between) peacetime and an emergency situation," Onodera told reporters in Tokyo. The two sides have been at loggerheads over the island chain, claimed by China as the Diaoyus, since Tokyo bought three of them from their private Japanese owner in September 2012.

But the comments from Onodera following those from China's defence ministry at the weekend, appear to have taken the verbal fisticuffs to a new level.

On Monday, China's coastguard sent four vessels into the waters around the islands, where they stayed for two hours, shadowed by their Japanese counterparts.

Source: NewsOnJapan

China's talk of reform leaves investors cool toward state giants

"For all the grand talk of far-reaching reforms when China's leadership meets early next month, foreign investors have refused to become carried away, with most choosing to shun the country's mammoth state-owned enterprises (SOEs)".

"The new leadership has been in place for a year, and investors are keen to see its strategy to keep the world's second largest economy growing, as it enters a more mature phase of slower expansion.

But investors harbour doubts over how far China's leaders will go to shake up SOEs in desperate need of reform.

"They have been long on talk and short on execution," said Dilip Shahani, HSBC's Hong Kong-based head of global research.

"They have highlighted industries where there are excesses, but such consolidation requires takeovers, liquidations and these are difficult to achieve in China."

Some, like those in the oil and gas sector, are considered prime candidates for an overhaul because they are simply too big. Others may be spared drastic action.

But investors are reluctant to take positions until Beijing's intentions become clearer.

SOEs dominate market capitalization in almost every sector, and global investment managers cannot duck taking a view on them altogether. For the past two years that view has been overwhelmingly bearish.

There are some early signs of a divergence, however. While investors remain cool to Chinese SOE debt, some appear to be warming up to opportunities in equities.

Large bond supplies from SOEs and prospects of the U.S. Federal Reserve withdrawing its multi-year campaign of quantitative easing are deterring buyers of Chinese corporate debt.

Bond issues by China's SOEs have notched a record, with more than $25 billion issued since the start of the year, accounting for a fifth of total new issues in Asia, excluding Japan, according to Thomson Reuters data.

But in terms of equity values, China's SOEs are starting to become attractive even though its state-owned banks, which dominate this space, have been riven by concerns over bad debts, shadow banking and growth in wealth management products.

Investors have begun taking notice of a big valuation gap - in some cases at multi-year highs - between SOEs and private companies, such as those in the technology and gaming sectors.

The gap between the price-to-earnings ratio for a basket of the biggest private companies in Hong Kong/China and for the SOE-heavy MSCI China index is at its highest in more than five years.

The top three most underweight stocks in global fund managers' Asia-focused portfolios are China's state-owned firms - ChinaConstruction Bank , ICBC  and China Mobile , according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch".

Source: Reuters

U.S. says German export dependence hurts global economy

 

The United States reprimanded Germany on Wednesday, saying its exporting prowess was hampering economic stability in Europe and hurting the global economy.

The Obama administration has long called for countries with trade surpluses, such as Germany and China, to do more to spur domestic demand.

But in a semiannual report to Congress on international economic policies, the criticism of Germany stood out for its stark language and prominent placement.

"Germany's anaemic pace of domestic demand growth and dependence on exports have hampered" efforts to make the euro zone economy more stable, the Treasury said in the report.

"The net result has been a deflationary bias for the euro area, as well as for the world economy."

For years, the semi-annual report has been an occasion for the U.S. government to publicly criticize China's foreign exchange practices, but this time Germany appeared to eclipse the Asian nation in terms of prominence.

The Treasury noted, for example, that Germany's net exports of goods, services and capital exceeded those of China in 2012. The policy recommendations for Germany also topped the list of actions Washington feels are necessary to make the global economy more stable.

Economists say stronger domestic demand in Germany would suck in more goods from countries on the southern rim of the euro zone, which continue to suffer from an economic crisis.

As has been customary for over a decade, the Treasury stopped short of formally labelling China a currency manipulator.

Source: Reuters

China's anti-pollution drive risks running out of gas

A chronic shortage of natural gas is hurting China's plan to move away from burning coal to heat homes and offices, raising the prospect of more choking air pollution this winter and beyond.

The problem is worst in northern China, where air pollution mainly caused by decades of reliance on coal has lowered life expectancy by an estimated 5.5 years compared to the south, Chinese and international researchers said in July.

The frigid northeastern city of Harbin, home to 11 million people, virtually ground to a halt last week when airborne contaminants were around 50 times the level recommended by the World Health Organization. Beijing had its own emergency in January when air pollution was 45 times the level.

"I suspect we will have severe incidents of air pollution in Beijing again this winter," said Alvin Lin,China Climate and Energy Policy Director for the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defense Council.

China sees natural gas as the way to cleaner air. Authorities have said Beijing's urban core should use only gas for heating. But domestic output cannot keep up with demand.

The government has said it would raise natural gas use to 230 billion cubic meters by 2015, more than double the 2010 rate, but disappointing domestic production growth coupled with insufficient pipeline and storage capacity has left it increasingly reliant on imports and prone to shortages.

Importers also risk losses because the government keeps the price of gas low to curb inflation and ease the impact on consumers, although recent incremental price hikes have helped.

Despite China's rush to gas, coal still supplies the bulk of the country's total electricity needs.

Under a new plan announced last month to tackle air pollution, China would cut consumption of the fossil fuel to below 65 percent of primary energy use by 2017, down from 66.8 percent last year.

The plan also aims to raise the share of non-fossil fuel energy to 13 percent by 2017, up from 11.4 percent in 2012.

PetroChina Chairman Zhou Jiping said earlier this year it would take at least four to five years to build up new natural gas supply capacity, which would still not be enough to meet demand.

"For the whole country to move to natural gas in the way that you kind of see in the U.S., ... it's going to be a few decades," said Lin of the NRDC.

CCB said to be close to buy BicBanco

China Construction is trying to capitalize on the growing presence of Chinese companies in Brazil, and acquiring a bank is the easiest way for the Beijing-based lender to obtain a license there, the person said. State companies including China National Petroleum Corp. and Cnooc Ltd. won a concession to develop Brazil’s biggest oil discovery in the Libra oilfield auction on Oct. 21, partnering with Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA.

Source: Sinocism China news

iPad Air, a Major Improvement on a Successful Product

 On Friday Apple,  plans to start selling its fifth-generation full-size model, called the iPad Air, and this one significantly extends the iPad's advantages, at the same $499 base price of its predecessor.  Apple has slashed the iPad's weight by 28%, made it 20% thinner and 9% narrower, while increasing its speed and retaining the brilliant, 9.7-inch Retina display.

The new iPad weighs just 1 pound, down from 1.4 pounds for the previous top-of-the-line model, the iPad 4, which is being discontinued.

And it has done all this while maintaining the iPad's industry-leading battery life. In my tests, the iPad Air far exceeded Apple's claim of 10 hours of battery life. For over 12 hours, it played high-definition videos, nonstop, with the screen at 75% brightness, with Wi-Fi on and emails pouring in. That's the best battery life I've ever recorded for any tablet.

I've been testing the iPad Air for about a week and found it a pleasure to use. This new iPad isn't a radical rethinking of what a tablet can be, but it's a major improvement on a successful product. It is the best tablet I've ever reviewed.

That isn't just because of its slimmer, lighter design, but because Apple boasts 475,000 apps optimized for tablet use—far more than any other tablet platform. (The iPad also can run all of the million or so apps available for the iPhone.) By contrast, the vast majority of apps available for rival Android tablets are just stretched versions of phone apps.

The battery performance of the iPad Air simply blew me away. In my tough tablet battery test, where I disable automatic screen dimming and other power-saving features, and combine video playback from the device's memory with leaving Wi-Fi on and email working at normal settings, the iPad has almost always met its claims and beat competitors by a wide margin, clocking a battery life of 12 hours and 13 minutes, which exceeded Apple's claim by more than 20%. The company says its A7 chip, combined with the fact it controls its own operating system, gives the new iPad the ability to tailor under-the-hood processes so unneeded drains on the battery can be minimized.

Bottom line: If you can afford it, the new iPad Air is the tablet I recommend, hands down.

By Walt S. Mossberg Wall Street Journal

China: Spike in divorces linked to tax loophole

Beijing’s divorce rate has increased by more than 40 percent in the first three quarters of this year from the same period last year. Experts said that might be because couples are seeking to avoid a property tax imposed earlier this year…In March, the nation introduced a nationwide 20 percent individual income tax levied on capital gains by home sellers. Previously, only a 1 percent individual income tax was levied on the sale price. The tax hike increased the cost of existing second-hand home transactions and affected speculative purchases in the property market. However, the regulations allow couples with two properties who divorce and put one house in a former spouse’s name to sell their residential property tax-free under certain conditions. They are then able to remarry.

As Data Floods In, Massive Open Online Courses Evolve. MIT Technology Review

In 2012, education startups attracted millions of students—and a surge of interest from universities and the media—by offering massive open online courses, or MOOCs. Now some core features of these wildly popular courses are being dissected, enabling the course providers to do some learning of their own. As these companies analyze user data and experiment with different features, they are exploring how to customize students’ learning experiences, and they are amassing a stock of pedagogical tricks to help more students finish their courses.Andrew Ng, a cofounder of MOOC provider Coursera and an associate professor at Stanford University and other major figures from the MOOC world have long foreseen that MOOCs would provide a wealth of data about how students actually learn. However, until recently these small companies have been too preoccupied with scaling up their infrastructure in order to meet exploding demand.
Since MOOCs first appeared, bite-sized videos have provided the bulk of the teaching, accompanied by online assessments and exercises to help cement the content in students’ minds. However, both Coursera’s data and Udacity’s reveal a large subset of students who prefer to skip videos and fast-forward as much as possible. “We’ve been starting to restructure our courses to have much less video, and to rerecord some videos,” says Sebastian Thrun, a Stanford robotics professor, a vice president at Google, and cofounder and CEO of Udacity. “Our popular courses are really changing a lot based on our data.”
Much of the performance research is motivated by a desire to increase course completion rates, which hover around 10 percent, according to most MOOC providers and figures from academics who have taught using the courses.a methodology common at Internet companies
It’s unclear whether the laundry lists of refinements that result from A/B testing will add up to a grand theory of learning and teaching that challenges tradition. Ng says he doesn’t think a grand theory is needed for MOOCs to succeed. “I read Piaget and Montessori, and they both seem compelling, but educators generally have no way to choose what really works,” he says. “Today, education is an anecdotal science, but I think we can turn education into a data-driven science, where you do what you know works.”

Source: MIT Technology Review

Euro Economic Sentiment Picks Up

Eurozone confidence data showed improvement across the board in October with the single exception of sentiment in the services sector, according to data published on Wednesday by the European Commission. 

The economic sentiment indicator increased by 0.9 points to 97.8, beating the consensus estimate for a rise to 97.3. However, the European Commission did warn that despite the continuation of the upward trend that began in May, "the magnitude and sectoral scope of the improvement in confidence has moderated compared to recent months". 

The Commission noted the marked increase in industry confidence from a revised -6.6 to -4.8. Analysts had only expected a slight improvement to -6.5 from the original reading of -6.7.

The consumer confidence indicator improved slightly to a reading of -14.5, from the prior -14.9 and came in line with consensus estimates, although their unemployment expectations "worsened somewhat". 

The business climate indicator also registered a marked improvement beating consensus estimates of a rise to -0.15, from the prior -0.19, as it settled at -0.01. 

On the downside, services confidence registered a decrease that surprised the consensus forecast of -2.8, unexpectedly falling to -3.7 from the prior -3.2. The Commission noted that this was the result of "worsened assessments of the past business situation and demand expectations". 

Source: LiveCharts

Asia: Nikkei strikes one week high.Hang Seng surges

Stocks in Tokyo and Hong Kong registered strong gains on Wednesday as investors bet that the US Federal Reserve will keep its easy money policy on hold for at least a few more months.

It is widely expected that the US central bank will maintain its bond-buying programme after a slewth of sluggish data and concern that the recent government shutdown has damaged the US economic recovery.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 176 points at 14,502 in Tokyo, the highest level in a week as the weaker yen encouraged interest in exporters. 

The broader Topix added 11 points to 1,204 in strong trading volumes while the Hang Seng rallied 457 points or 2% to 23,304, boosted by Chinese banks.

In earnings news, Japanese car giant Honda moved into focus as it reported third quarter profit that came in below estimates as sales to South east Asia slow. Itsshares rose 1.3%. Toyota was up 1.6%.

Elsewhere, heavyweight SoftBank climbed 2% after a press report said it would likely post a record 70% increase in first half operating profit.

Meanwhile, Toshiba upped its full year operating profit guidance following an increase in memory-chip prices.

In Hong Kong Bank of China rallied 2.2% ahead of its third quarter earnings report. Bank of Communications also added 2.9% before its earnings. 

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China reported a 7.6% increase in third-quarter net profit, below estimates.

LiveCharts

German jobless rate stays near record low in October

Data published on Wednesday showed that the unemployment rate in Germany remained steady in October after hitting a one-year high the previous month. 

Specifically, the jobless rate remained unchanged at 6.9% as expected by the consensus. 

The number of unemployed for the same month did rise by 2,000 workers, after a revised increase of 24,000 in September. Analysts had expected no change. 

The motor of the Eurozone economy has been leading growth in the region with unemployment far below the 12% average or levels above 25% in peripheral countries such as Spain or Greece.

Source: LiveCharts

U.S. Truck Fleets Are Accelerating a Shift to Natural Gas

   According to a report published today on the Wall Street Journal,home-improvement retailer Lowe's wants its delivery company to shift all of its several hundred trucks to natural gas by 2017. P&G already has 7% of its trucks on gas and could reach as much as 20% within two years. UPS says it plans to buy 1,000 natural gas trucks by the end of next year.Fedex Corp.  plans to shift 30% of its long-distance trucks to natural gas over the next decade.

The nation's supply of relatively cheap natural gas is helping spur this shift. So are new natural gas engines that can power heavy-duty trucks that weigh up to 80,000 pounds. The first, a 12-liter Cummins Westport Inc. natural gas engine went on sale in July. Next year, Volvo AB  the Swedish heavy truck maker, will introduce a natural gas engine for its trucks.

Long-distance trucking companies,like Con-Way,Schneider Nationa INC and Swift Transportation Corp. are testing compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas powered trucks as they awaiting more powerful engines and a nationwide fueling and repair infrastructure. 

About 5% of all heavy duty trucks sold next year will run on natural gas, up from around 1% this year, according to industry projections. Barriers to wider use are coming down, driven by the relatively low cost of compressed natural gas, or CNG, which sells for about $1.50 less a gallon than its equivalent in diesel fuel, which averaged about $3.87 a gallon this week.

The average heavy truck consumes as much fuel as 40 sedans in a year. Such vehicles make up just 1% of the U.S. vehicle fleet, but consume 20% of the fuel, according to Jim Arthurs, the president of Cummins Westport joint venture.

"Within five years, 30% of our fleet could be natural gas," said Ike Brown, president of logistics and trucking company, NFI Intermodal, which provides deliveries to Lowe's in Texas and has some 2,200-trucks in its fleet.

"It's cleaner than the average truck running today," said Steve Palmer, vice president of transportation for the Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe's. "It's a long-term play that could save a lot of money." The retailer plans to have 100% of its fleet on natural gas by 2017. "And I do believe the 12-liter engine was the inflection point," Mr. Palmer said.

The cost of the natural gas trucks is still an issue. CNG trucks cost between $40,000 and $50,000 more than a diesel truck, which costs about $120,000, primarily because of the large carbon-fiber fuel tanks required to store CNG or liquefied natural gas. In large fleets, that premium could add millions of dollars to equipment cost.

Still, trucking companies see longer term benefits.

Mr. Arthurs, the president Cummins Westport, thinks the price of the trucks could come down quickly. There are only a handful of fuel tank makers, but they are expanding capacity and recently St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M got into the business, adding a major manufacturer to the supply chain.

Internal combustion and diesel engines can be converted to natural gas relatively easily. 

"It has a very strong value proposition for us," said Mr. Peters, whose fleet at Ryder leases out or operates about 50,000 heavy trucks. 

Spain Exits Recession With Tepid THIRD QUARTER GROWTH

Spain's economy managed to register growth in the third quarter, according to preliminary data published by the country's National Statistics Institute (INE) on Wednesday.

For the first time since 2011, Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) registered quarterly growth, of 0.1% in this instance. This is the first growth in nine quarters and comes after the 0.1% contraction registered in the second quarter. 

Year-on-year, the pace of contraction in GDP slowed to 1.2%, from the prior 1.6%. 

INE noted that this was the "result of the negative impact of domestic demand which was compensated by the positive impact of external demand". 

Spain is scheduled to report the full details on third quarter GDP on November 28th.

Livecharts

Invesco: Shocking resignation of its Fund Manager Neil Woodward

The shocking resignation of Invesco Perpetual's superstar fund manager Neil Woodford, who manages almost 30bn pounds spread out over five funds, has had repercussions across the industry. 

Two listed vehicles in particular, Perpetual's US parent Invesco and FTSE 250-listed Edinburgh Investment Trust, have seen their shares slide after Woodford announced he was leaving in April to set up his own business focused on longer-term investing.

"My decision to leave is a personal one based on my views about where I see long-term opportunities in the fund management industry," he explained. 

"My intention is to establish a new fund management business serving institutional and retail clients as soon as possible after April 29th 2014," he said, adding that he would elaborate once he had left Invesco.

Woodford manages Invesco Perpetual 's High Income fund and Income funds, the UK equity components of the Monthly Income Plus fund and the Invesco Perpetual Distribution fund, together with St James's Place fund mandates and the Edinburgh investment trust.

In charge of the trust since 2008, Woodford has delivered a share price return of 143% and net asset value growth of 108.5% over the last five years.

The board said it will "carefully" review options with Invesco and its proposed individual replacement, but the discount looks likely to endure for a while, especially with Investec suggesting that as investment houses whip Edinburgh off their buy lists, it will "remove some of the natural buyers from the market".

Source: LiveCharts

ADP Report: U.S. private sector adds 130,000 jobs in October

U.S. private-sector employers added 130,000 jobs in October, lower than economists' expectations for the month, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 150,000 jobs. September's private payrolls gains were revised down to 145,000 from the previously reported 166,000.

The report is jointly developed withMoody*s Analytics.

The data comes against the backdrop of a federal government shutdown in the first half of the month, as congressional Republicans sought to undermine President Barack Obama's signature health care law as a condition of funding the government.

Analysts fret that the impasse in Congress dragged on the economy. Standard & Poor's estimated that the showdown shaved $24 billion off the world's largest economy.

Source: Reuters