Skip to main content

Monday - Global view

Let's start off this week's updates with a look at some of the more important news on the global scene. Here are a few of the big items we noticed over the weekend. These stories will have continuing importance as we head into the week and the months ahead.

1. China puts together new leadership team. FT highlights the changes with an interactive chart of the Politburo members.

2. Sovereign funds warning. People are increasingly worried over the impact that these national investment funds might have on world markets in the future.

3. Burma seizes top democracy activist. The military government is looking to stamp out the opposition.

4. Thai King hospitalized. Stability of the country is called in to question ahead of December elections.

5. Yuan, Rupee rise at record pace in fight on inflation. China and India are now trying to strengthen their currencies in an attempt to reduce the cost of importing much needed commodities. Will this signal a meaningful pause in the "competitive devaluations" scenario?

6. Oil rises to record high on increased Iraq-Turkey tensions. Well done, everyone.

7. Global share returns over 5 year period. The Big Picture looks at a recent NY Times article which shows U.S. share index returns were #79 out of 83 major global share markets.

8. Biggest companies by market cap - China and US dominate. Bespoke Investment Group lists the world's largest publicly held corporations. PetroChina is now bigger than GE, in terms of market capitalization.

That should give you all something to chew on. We'll see you soon, lots more stuff to share as the week progresses. Till then, have a good one.

Popular posts from this blog

Nasdaq credit rating junked.

S&P cut Nasdaq's credit rating to junk status citing debt burdens and its questionable strategy to buy a controlling interest in the London Stock Exchange. Financial Times reported that the exchange's counterparty credit & bank loan rating were lowered fromm BBB- (lowest investment grade rating) to BB+. The change will increase Nasdaq's borrowing costs should it wish to pursue aquisition targets. For an earlier look at the exchange consolidation trend that brought about Nasdaq's push for a stake in the LSE, please see "Exchange fever" .

Clean Money - John Rubino: Book review

Clean Money by John Rubino 274 pages. Hoboken, New Jersey John Wiley & Sons. 2009. 1st Edition. The bouyant stock market environment of the past several years is gone, and the financial wreckage of 2008 is still sharp in our minds as a new year starts to unfold. Given the recent across-the-board-declines in global stock markets (and most asset classes) that have left many investors shell-shocked, you might wonder if there is any good reason to consider the merits of a hot new investment theme, such as clean energy. However, we shouldn't be too hasty to write off all future stock investments. After all, the market declines of 2008 may continue into 2009, but they may also leave interesting investment opportunities in their wake. Which brings us to the subject of this review. John Rubino, author and editor of GreenStockInvesting.com , recently released a new book on renewable energy and clean-tech investing entitled, Clean Money: Picking Winners in the Green Tech Boom . In Clean ...

Seth Klarman: Margin of Safety (pdf)

Welcome, readers! Signup for free email updates at the Finance Trends Newsletter . Update: PDF links removed due to DMCA notice. Please see our extensive Klarman book notes below. New visitors, please check the Finance Trends home page for all new posts. Here's something for anyone who has been trying to get a look at Seth Klarman's now famous, and out of print, 1991 investment book, Margin of Safety .  My knowledge of value investing is pretty much limited to what I've read in Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor (the book which originally popularized the investment concept of a "Margin of Safety"), so check out the wisdom from Seth Klarman and other investing greats in our related posts below. You can also go straight to Ronald Redfield's Margin of Safety book notes .    Related posts: 1. Seth Klarman interviews and Margin of Safety notes     2. Seth Klarman: Lessons from 2008 3. Investing Lessons from Sir John Templeton 4. ...