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Last week's stock-market meltdown was a worldwide affair, and was touched off by trader fears of a global "double-dip" recession.
However, the truth is that the odds of a recessionary reprise are high in just a few countries – primarily those that have experienced excessive fiscal and monetary "stimulus," or that have real inflation problems.
The rest of the world is recovering just fine.
To find out which markets to hold - and which ones may fold - please read on...
Technology companies had a blowout first half marked by strong earnings and successful product rollouts. But the second half of 2010 could be even bigger, because a flurry of merger and acquisition activity, corporate IT splurges, and high consumer demand – particularly in emerging markets – have set the stage for a serious haul.
"We're going to have much stronger results in the second half [of 2010] than anyone's expecting," Mark Stahlman, a partner at research firm TMT Strategies, told CNBC.
Business was booming back in 2007, but technology companies froze when businesses and consumers were engulfed by the financial crisis. Global tech spending dropped 4.2% in 2009, but is already bouncing back in 2010.
A New York Post article in May reported that the Department of Justice had launched an investigation into the supposed metals-market manipulation by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM).
The article alleged that JPMorgan, which holds a number of derivatives in precious metals, attempted to lower the price of silver for its own profit. JPMorgan was quick to issue a response, stating there was no criminal or civil investigation into the company's silver trading practices.
But as word spread around the Web, readers' comments poured in with concerns over the news:
by Don Miller
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday (Thursday) that the global economic recovery is losing steam because uncertainty in financial markets is keeping businesses and consumers from investing in future growth.
In a revision to its World Economic Outlook released yesterday in Hong Kong, the IMF said worldwide economic expansion will decline to 4.3% next year from 2010's 4.6% pace. The forecast for 2010 was revised upwards by 0.4 percentage points to reflect faster-than-anticipated growth earlier this year.
However, "downside risks have risen sharply," the IMF warned, referring to European governments' debt problems and volatility in financial markets.
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Some of the largest and most well known British companies could soon find themselves under new, American management.
While the U.S. recovery is losing momentum, the U.K. recovery is nonexistent. Companies across the pond are struggling to stay afloat and the British pound has fallen by about 25% against the dollar in the past two and a half years, leaving British firms vulnerable to American intrusion as takeover targets.
That fact was highlighted earlier this year by Kraft Foods Inc.'s (NYSE: KFT) controversial takeover of British confectioner Cadbury PLC (PINK: CDSCY).
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Oil prices will reach a record $150 a barrel in the next 12 months, sending gasoline prices to $3.80 a gallon. Commercial nuclear power will continue its comeback, but as small, sealed "mini-reactors" that can produce energy for up to 60 years – instead of as the hulking power plants of years gone by.
New global-warming regulations will turn air-pollution credits into financial assets that can trade like stocks or bonds. And a little-known U.S. pipeline and East Coast shipping terminal will transform the formerly fragmented U.S. natural-gas market into a fast-moving global marketplace – with profit opportunities to match .
To help investors profit from these global opportunities, Dr. Kent Moors – a career-energy-sector insider who is an advisor to six of the world's Top 10 oil companies and a consultant to some of the world's largest oil-producing nations – has launched the Energy Advantage advisory service.
KYOTO, Japan – Could 70,000 Japanese housewives tip this Asian giant into a deflationary spiral?
As farfetched as that sounds, it's become a major cause for concern in this nation of 128 million, which has been in an economic funk for two decades. These "real housewives" are part of a user-driven, social-networking site called Mainichi Tokubai, which delivers the best prices on specific grocery-store items to the fingertips of Tokyo-region consumers.
To hear frustrated Japanese policymakers and retail executives tell it, these bargain-minded consumers and their equally frugal social-networking site is almost-single-handedly undercutting the Japan's economy.
"We understand consumers want the best deals," Japan Chain Stores Association executive Shoichi Ogasawara groused to CNN's Kyung Lah. "And we understand that the social-networking site is a natural extension of consumer behavior in the Information Age. But supermarket prices have fallen for 13 years in a row in Japan," and sites such as this are making it difficult to reverse that trend.
Don't make the mistake of believing that something similar couldn't happen here in the U.S. market. Given that Japan's consumer technology tends to be anywhere from 18 months to two years ahead of U.S trends, this could be a preview of what's to come for the badly troubled U.S. economy.
To see how Japan's consumers have taken matters into their own hands, please read on...
The European Union (EU) today (Wednesday) approved one of the toughest worldwide bank pay regulations to date, hoping to rein in risk-taking and prevent another widespread financial crisis. However, in doing so, it increased the likelihood that financial firms would set up shop in other countries with less stringent regulations.
The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly for the restrictions, in a 625-28 approval at the Strasbourg, France meeting.
"The banks have had two years since the 2008 financial crisis to do this and have failed to act, so now we will do the job for them," Arlene McCarthy, a member of the European Parliament and the sponsor of the bill, said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg. "We want banks to focus not on their own pay and perks, but more on lending and support to economic recovery."
by Don Miller
The American consumer bucked strong economic headwinds to help retail sales post the fastest growth in four years, a report is expected to show today (Thursday), boosting optimism that shoppers are overcoming concerns about unemployment and a slumping housing market.
Sales are expected to come in at the upper end of a range between 3-4% for the first five months of the retail fiscal year that began Jan. 31, the biggest gain since 2006, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) said in advance of its June report.
The biggest gain in retail sales since 2006 could be a signal that consumers are weathering last month's drop in consumer confidence and are not as concerned as analysts feared about the economic rebound.
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Every once in a while, it pays to go back to school. Even investors who've been around the block a time or two need a refresher in some time-tested lessons. That especially goes for us editors here at Taipan Publishing Group. We analyze and sift through so much information to get to an investment opportunity […]
