GLOBAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY !!!

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Why Job Hunters Should 'Settle' for a Less-Than-Dream Job

Karen Burns, On Wednesday 10 November 2010, 23:04 SGT

Job hunters are often told they should never settle for less than what they want. We hear the mantra again and again: Go after your dreams! If you don't absolutely love a job, it's not worth your time. No compromises!

The problem is that in today's economy, any job, even one that's less than ideal, is a scarce commodity. And the dream-job imperative puts a lot of pressure on people who don't yet know what their dream job is. That's why some job seekers are now rejecting that wisdom and singing a different tune: Get a job as soon as possible, and look for the dream job later.

If you find yourself in this predicament, trying to decide whether to accept a less-than-perfect opportunity, here are several reasons why (temporarily) settling can be a good move for your career:

Settling can build confidence. Working at a job you don't particularly love is difficult. But here's the good news: Discovering, in a hands-on, five-days-a-week way, that you are capable of doing difficult tasks--and maybe even doing them well--is a tremendous confidence booster.

Settling keeps your options open. It's important to maintain the distinction between giving up on your dreams and taking a job to pay your bills. Paying bills is important. Debt is one of the biggest dream-killers around. Debt boxes you in, and may even make you less employable. So look at taking a job to pay your bills as another way to work toward your goals.

Settling makes you better at whatever you do. Even a position that seems light years away from your dream job is an opportunity to learn important transferable skills. Look for those opportunities, because those skills will come in handy later. If you're new to the work world, chances are your "how to work" skills like functioning in a team, meeting deadlines, and following through could use polishing.

Settling allows you to be flexible. The problem with the no-compromise approach to careers is that it doesn't take into account shifting priorities, setbacks, time outs, acts of God, and the economy--in other words, the fluid nature of life. When faced with the unexpected, the last thing you need is to struggle with the "thou must not swerve" mantra.

Settling puts you in a position of strength. It's cliche, but true: Finding a job is easier when you have a job. Accepting a "lesser" opportunity while continuing to search for "the one" may be challenge, but it can be smart, too.

Settling is only bad when you allow it to kill your dream. If you look at each job as a stepping stone, as a strategic move designed to enhance your employability, expand your network, fine-tune your skills, and pay your bills, it may just turn out to be the smartest career move you've ever made.

Let's face it: every life path involves a detour or two. Or three. While it's useful to have a road map, we can't predict at the beginning of our journey exactly how we're going to get to where we want to go. All we know for sure is that there will be wrong turns, flat tires, bumpy roads, happy accidents, lucky breaks, and triumphs. Use flexibility and resilience to your advantage. And who knows? Someday, looking back, you may realize that "getting there" was the best part.

Besides, is there really such a thing as a dream job, one that makes you jump out of bed every morning singing tra-la-la? Most of us find that every job is a crazy mixture of what we love, what we like, and a few undesirable tasks that remind us what's really important for our next job hunt.

Karen Burns is the author of the illustrated career advice book The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use, recently released by Running Press. She blogs at www.karenburnsworkinggirl.com.

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UPDATE 1-Asian central banks warn of risks from capital surge

On Wednesday 27 October 2010, 14:05 SGT

By Saeed Azhar

* Asia faces growing risks from inflows - Singapore c.bank

* Says inflation pressures could lead to disorderly reversal

* India - managing volatile fx rates involves a cost

* S.Korea says policy can ease worries over flow impact

SINGAPORE, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Singapore's central bank said on Wednesday that Asia was facing higher risks from a surge of capital inflows, a tide that could reverse in a disorderly fashion if inflationary pressures were not contained.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued the warning in its latest macroeconomic review, echoing concerns expressed by policymakers in many emerging economies over hot money inflows that are pushing up regional currencies, stocks and other assets such as property.

The Bank of Korea's chief said on Wednesday that taxes on foreign bond investors may be re-considered, while India's central bank said managing exchange rates in the face of volatile flows contained a cost.

Many emerging economies are concerned that the rush of speculative inflows in recent months could create potentially destabilising asset bubbles, making policymaking more difficult.

The surge of money into such economies, which is being partially fueled by a weakening U.S. dollar, is also pushing up many regional currencies, denting their export competitiveness and threatening to stifle their economic recoveries.

"An upsurge in inflationary pressures that leads to a disorderly reversal of flows could occur if regional economies are not able to intermediate these flows efficiently," the MAS said.

For a list of recent measures taken by other government around the world to control the impact of hot money inflows.

The World Bank warned last week that capital flows posed a rise to East Asian economies and said authorities needed to be careful not to repeat the mistakes of the Asian financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Analysts agreed.

"If you draw in large amounts of capital there is a risk that hot money could flow out," said Leong Wai Ho at Barclays Capital. "But whether that warrants putting up walls to block hot money coming in, the jury is still out on that."

He said in Singapore's case, the MAS' recent move to allow exchange rate appreciation was relieving some of the pressure from rising flows, while other macroeconomic and prudential policies were tackling asset inflation.

DBS bank said in a research report on Tuesday that Asia's foreign exchange reserves have been growing at a rate of $2.3 billion a day since April 2009, faster than at any time in history.

David Carbon, head of economic and currency research at the bank, said currency appreciation and capital controls would be among the ways Asia could tackle these inflows.

"Will it all end in tears? That seems unlikely," Carbon noted. "If Asia's policymakers have any fault, it is that they are too afraid of revisiting the 1990s."

SINGAPORE CLOSELY WATCHING MARKETS

Singapore's central bank said banks, companies and households are in a healthy position in Asia, but it was closely monitoring credit and asset markets.

MAS also said the risks of another round of financial contagion arising from sovereign defaults and a sharper-than-expected economic downturn in the developed economies had ebbed somewhat.

The MAS -- which tightened monetary policy further this month by widening the trading band for the Singapore dollar -- said inflation in the city-state would remain high until the first half of 2011 before moderating.

Singapore's economy will hit a slow patch in the immediate quarters ahead due to a fragile global economy before recovering in 2011 on strong Asian growth prospects, as well as continued expansion in financial services and tourism, the MAS said.

Despite the impending slowdown, the economy will grow at by 13 percent to 15 percent in 2010, the fastest annual growth ever, and would expand at a more sustainable pace in 2011, it said.

The services sector could account for two-third of gross domestic product in 2011, up from 50 percent this year, fueled by the opening of two casino-complexes.

(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan & Kim Coghill)

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Where is the Job Application Form...???

Barclays to ramp up private banking business; sets up HK centre

Reuters - 53 minutes ago

SINGAPORE, Nov 24 - Barclays Wealth, a unit of Barclays , outlined an ambitious expansion plan to double the number of private bankers in Asia and quadruple its assets under management in the region over the next four years.

Many private banks including regional players such as Standard Chartered and DBS Group are furiously expanding in Asia, with more wealth likely to be generated in the region powered by the economies of China, India and Indonesia.

Singapore is the main base for private banks seeking to gain market share in Asia, but Hong Kong is fast emerging as a second regional centre as banks expand their regional presence.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Barclays Wealth said it had set up a booking centre in Hong Kong -- its second in Asia after Singapore -- as part of a plan to quadruple Asian assets.

"This is an important milestone for us in Hong Kong... Our North Asian clients now have the additional option of having their assets managed in a location closer to them," said Joanna Chu, head of North Asia for Barclays Wealth. She described Greater China as the fastest and most attractive region for the firm.

She said the Hong Kong booking centre will facilitate the introduction of new yuan-denominated products that the UK lender hopes to roll out next year.

Barclay's declined to say how many relationship managers it had in Asia and did not provide details of Asian assets it manages, but sources familiar with the bank said it had more than 100 relationship managers across the region.

On a global basis, Barclays' private banking unit has 153.5 billion pounds in assets under management and about 1,600 client-facing advisers, a Barclays spokesman said.

This month, Swiss private bank Julius Baer , which already had a centre in Singapore, said it had obtained a banking license in Hong Kong.

Private banks are increasingly poaching relationship managers, bankers who take their clients and their money wherever they go, from rivals.

Singapore, and to a lesser extent Hong Kong, are drawing boutique funds, advisory firms and brokerages with their light-touch regulation, even as Switzerland gets tougher on bank secrecy.

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Fears grow of euro-style debt crisis in US states

AFP - Wednesday, December 22

WASHINGTON (AFP) - – No sooner has the last crisis ended, than warnings about the next one begin. In the dying days of the year, with the sub-prime mortgage debacle entering the rear-view mirror, economy-watchers are warning 2011 could see US states and municipalities plunge into a debt crisis of that type that has wrought chaos in Europe.

Although the US economy is slowly getting to its feet after a brutal recession, state and local budgets are still prostrate.

To the west, California faces a budget shortfall of over 25 billion dollars. To the east, New York faces a nine-billion-dollar deficit. The north, south and center of the country are not faring much better.

Only four of the fifty US states are currently keeping their heads above water; Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota and -- thanks to oil revenues -- Alaska, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).

Across the country the shortfall is expected to be at least 130 billion this fiscal year.

The crisis has its roots in the recession, when all important tax revenues fell off a cliff as businesses went to the wall, one in ten American workers needed a job and high spending continued apace.

Now, with the recovery grinding onward and somewhat upward, tax revenues are again rising, but not fast enough to put the books back in order.

Revenues are still 12 percent below pre-recession levels according to the CBPP.

Analysts at the Rockefeller Institute, a think tank, warn "states will face continued, significant budget challenges in fiscal 2011 and beyond."

"The immediate outlook is for revenue collections significantly below pre-recession levels, and growing spending pressures."

Financial soothsayer Meredith Whitney thinks the day of reckoning is at hand, predicting as many as 100 cities could go bust in 2011.

That is, in part, because one important crutch that has prevented financial collapse will be kicked away later this year.

Washington's massive 787 billion dollar stimulus package, which helped states greatly, will continue to fade out in fiscal 2011 and 2012.

The prospects for a further bailout are slim, as leaders in Congress and the White House seek to firm up their deficit cutting creds.

That spells government job cuts, program freezes or increased taxes.

While only the brave or foolish would predict anything but considerable pain ahead, some key players believe a fully-blown debt crisis can be avoided.

The most likely trigger for a crisis would be a major credit rating downgrade that prompts worried lenders to charge states and municipalities more for loans, putting the authorities further in debt.

One ratings agency, Moody's, has already had a negative credit watch for US state governments since February 2008.

But Robert Kurtter, managing director of US state and local government ratings with Moody's told AFP there was little prospect of a widespread default.

"We don't think that there will be any state level defaults," he said. "At the municipal level we saw only three in the last 39 years."

But, "these are very difficult times," he admitted. "We are looking at in 2011 the continued weak revenue... and having to back-fill the loss of federal aid."

"We think the likelihood in the coming years is that... the default level will be higher than it has been in the last 39 years, but it will be way lower than the corporate sector or elsewhere."

Still, Kurtter and others argue that most authorities appear willing to take tough steps to close the gap and avoid default, while political opposition remains much more manageable than on the other side of the Atlantic.

"There is a broad consensus in this country that the government sector has become too large and that public sector compensation has become too high," he said.

But critics worry those spending cuts, if they come, will just slow the economy further, as jobs are lost and taxes increase.

"Spending cuts are problematic during an economic downturn because they reduce overall demand and can make the downturn deeper," warned the CBPP.

"State shortfalls could cost the economy 850,000 jobs next year."

Crisis or no crisis, more austerity is almost certainly on the way for 2011.

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Global economy to slow in 2011: World Bank

AFP - Thursday, January 13

WASHINGTON (AFP) - – The World Bank Wednesday forecast that the global economy will slow in 2011, and warned that rising commodity prices could spur a return to the sky-high inflation of 2008.

The Washington-based development lender estimated the world economy will grow 3.3 percent this year compared with 3.9 percent in 2010, a year of rebound from the 2009 recession.

Emerging and developing countries were expected to expand 6.0 percent, more than double the 2.4 percent annual rate of high-income countries, the bank said in its latest Global Economic Prospects report.

Overall, the pace of growth is too weak to give the recovery solid traction, it said.

"Unfortunately these growth rates are unlikely to be fast enough to eliminate unemployment and slack in the hardest-hit economies and economic sectors."

In addition, "serious tensions and pitfalls persist in the global economy, which in the short run could derail the recovery to differing degrees," it warned.

The World Bank expressed particular concern about rising commodity prices, including food and fuel, driven by loose monetary policies in the developed countries and solid demand in the emerging economies.

"Although real food prices in most developing countries have not increased as much as those measured in US dollars, they have risen sharply in some poor countries," it said.

"And if international prices continue to rise, affordability issues and poverty impacts could intensify."

"We are very concerned about the rise in the food prices... we see some similarities with the situation in 2008, just before the financial crisis," Hans Timmer, the bank's director of development prospects, said at a news conference at the bank's Washington headquarters.

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Steve Jobs surrenders reins as Apple thrives

AFP - Wednesday, January 19

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - – Legendary Apple Inc. chief Steve Jobs stepped aside on a high note as the company he saved from ruin raked in a blockbuster $6-billion profit amid unrelenting demand for iPhones and iPads.

A day after Jobs announced he was taking an indefinite leave of absence for medical reasons, Apple reported its record net profit as revenue soared to an unprecedented $26.74 billion in the quarter ending December 31.

The Cupertino, California-based company said it sold 7.33 million iPad tablet computers and 16.24 million iPhones.

"We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales," Jobs said in a statement accompanying the earnings report.

"We are firing on all cylinders and we've got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon, which customers can't wait to get their hands on."

He chose Monday, a US holiday on which stock markets were closed, to announce that he was turning the Apple helm over to chief operating officer Timothy Cook.

Jobs will keep his chief executive title and participate in "major strategic decisions" at Apple.

Apple shares fell Tuesday as concerns for Jobs health raised questions about the company's future.

Record high quarterly earnings figures and assurances by Cook that the company saw boom times ahead with its coveted gadgets helped the stock recover some ground.

Apple shares rose slightly more than a percent to $344.90 a share in trading that followed the earnings release but remained down in price for the day, after closing at a record high of $348.48 in New York on Friday.

The company is "working around the clock" to increase the supply of its hot-selling iPhones, and has already seen more than 80 percent of major companies begin letting workers use iPad tablet computers for business, Cook said.

Apple revenue soared 67 percent in the Asia Pacific market, with the company taking in $2.6 billion dollars in China in the quarter, he added.

In announcing he was going on medical leave, his third since 2004, the 55-year-old Jobs did not say how long he expected to be away or provide any details about his latest health issues.

Jobs underwent an operation for pancreatic cancer in 2004 and received a liver transplant in early 2009. He has appeared gaunt but relatively healthy at recent Apple public events.

Cook, 50, has filled in for Jobs in the past, with Apple thriving.

He is part of a powerful team of executives stepping in to fill the shoes of Jobs, the charismatic heart and soul of Apple who some believe is irreplaceable.

"At the end of the day, there is more to Apple than Steve," said analyst Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group.

"These are all people who have been trained by Steve, worked closely with Steve and are the embodiment of Apple's core culture."

Analyst Rob Enderle of Silicon Valley's Enderle Group said Jobs's absence will be felt on strategic questions such as "what will Apple do next?"

"The challenge is what comes after the iPad," Enderle said.

"Apple without Steve Jobs didn't have the magic," he said of the previous occasions when Jobs stepped aside for health reasons. "It was lacking this little something."

Product plans are typically mapped out two years in advance, so possible launches of successors to the iPhone and iPad later this year would not change with Jobs absent.

As chief operating officer, Cook has been in charge of end-to-end management of Apple's supply chain, sales, service and support in all countries.

"Cook is the person who makes the trains run on time at Apple," Gartenberg said.

Apple's fortunes have been uniquely linked to Jobs, who returned to the then flagging company in 1997 after a 12-year absence and introduced innovative and wildly successful products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Related article: Steve Jobs - from dropout to Apple visionary

Apple has sold approximately 14.79 million iPads since the tablet computers hit the market in April, according to a tally of figures made public in earnings releases.

"I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011," Jobs said.

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Will History repeats itself ???

IEA says high oil prices pose real economic risk

On Tuesday 18 January 2011, 20:37 SGT

Oil prices near $100 a barrel pose a real risk to the world economy, the IEA warned on Tuesday, as the global economic rebound led to the strongest growth in oil demand for nearly three decades.

"Recent price levels already pose a real economic risk -- something of deep concern to producers and consumers alike," the International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly Oil Market Report.

Oil prices of $100 a barrel represent an 'oil burden' of five percent of gross domestic product on the global economy, the IEA calculated, and said such levels in the past "have clearly been associated with economic problems.

"Ultimately, oil producers, financial investors and consumers (notably import-dependent developing countries) all suffer under such a scenario," said the report.

Optimism about the global economic recovery and interest from bullish investors have pushed crude prices close to $100 a barrel in recent sessions, levels last seen in October 2008.

Harsh winter hitting Europe and parts of North America, as well as growth in China and other developing nations has also boosted prices.

Oil prices rose in early trading in London on Tuesday. At 1100 GMT Brent North Sea crude for March delivery was up 62 cents from Monday's close at $98.05 a barrel. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, was up 12 cents to $91.66.

The IEA, the energy policy and monitoring arm of the 34-member Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, said growth in oil demand in 2010 was at one of the strongest rates in three decades, albeit from a low crisis level.

Oil demand grew by 3.2 percent, an increase of 2.7 million barrels per day (mbd) year-on-year to 87.7 mbd, it said.

Moreover, "such demand strength appears to be more related to a buoyant economic recovery than to the frigid weather conditions that prevailed in most of the northern hemisphere in late 2010."

The IEA said preliminary data showed China's oil demand raced ahead 15.1 percent year-on-year in November, driven in large part by government-mandated closures of coal-fired plants to meet pollution targets that spurred use of small-scale electricity generators run on gasoil.

"Total demand has thus reached new historical highs (10.2 mbd), surpassing for the first time the symbolic 10 mbd threshold," said the IEA.

Given that the pace of economic recovery is widely forecast to slow down in 2011, the IEA forecast growth in oil demand to slow to 1.6 percent for a gain of 1.4 mbd year-on-year to 89.1 mbd.

The OPEC oil cartel, which pumps 40 percent of world crude, revised upwards its 2011 world demand growth estimate on Monday, given the pace of global economic recovery and cold winter weather in the northern hemisphere.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said it was pencilling in world oil demand growth of 1.23 mbd to 87.32 mbd for this year, a 1.43 percent jump compared with 1.37 percent previously forecast.

The IEA said global oil production fell by 0.3 mbd in December, to 88.1 mbd, as non-OPEC supply decreased largely due to weather-related and technical outages. However, global supply is 2.1 mbd higher year-on-year, it added.

It now estimated demand on OPEC countries to average 29.9 mbd, around 0.4 mbd higher than previously, and that the cartel's effective spare capacity has nudged below 5 mbd for the first time in two years.

The IEA said OPEC crude oil supply at 29.58 mbd was running at the highest level since December 2008, when the producer group last agreed to cut output targets.

It estimated OPEC is now producing about 2.3 mbd above its notional 24.845 mbd output target.

The IEA said "the steady increase in prices over the past few months appears to have prompted a number of producers to increase supplies to capture higher revenues and/or to moderate price increases."

It singled out Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Nigeria, Ecuador and Venezuela.

At its last meeting the 12-nation cartel decided to leave production quotas unchanged, with some nations like Iran and Venezuela urging higher prices to above 100 dollars a barrel to offset what they said were rising production costs.

But at the meeting last month in Quito OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia differed, saying between 70 and 80 dollars a barrel was a "fair price."

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Airlines bet oil will correct; stay away from hedging

On Saturday 8 January 2011, 5:31 SGT

By Francis Kan and Seng Li Peng

REUTERS - Top global airlines are staying away from further hedging jet fuel purchases that account for around a third of their costs, betting that a recent surge in oil prices to two-year highs will slow.

Skimping on cover risks a squeeze in earnings for these companies, which typically have razor-thin margins and had just returned to profitability in 2010 after economic turmoil had sapped corporate and consumer demand for air travel.

Two factors are giving airlines pause: they have withstood prices far higher than current levels and the global economy now seems better placed to cope with the surge; and the industry hasn't forgotten Japan Airlines' bankruptcy, triggered by wrong bets on crude prices.

"The risk is if oil prices rise too rapidly beyond a certain level, airlines will be exposed to the price risk and the hedging portfolio will not be effective," said Kelvin Lau, an aviation analyst with Daiwa Institute of Research in Hong Kong .

While there are no available figures on the volume of options being traded, transactions in OTC swaps contracts that are sometimes used by airlines as a betting tool have been falling.

The visible volume of Asian regrade and jet fuel swaps purchased by banks in the last quarter of 2010, when oil prices crossed $90, dipped compared with the same period last year and also versus the three months to July 2008 when prices climbed to a record high of $147 a barrel, Reuters data showed.

"I am not seeing any airline coming out (to hedge) aggressively yet. Many appear quite comfortable with their positions," said Shukor Yusof, aviation analyst with Standard & Poor's Equity Research. "The current oil prices are not too acute for them to rush into the (hedging) market just yet."

OTC SWAPS

Some 2.85 million barrels worth of the two contracts changed hands in the October-December period last year, versus 3.55 million during May-July 2008, when Japan Airlines was disastrously betting that oil prices would keep rising.

"It is not the right time to do hedging now," said a Singapore-based distillates trader. "It is too risky unless you expect prices to keep going up."

Airlines contacted by Reuters supported the view that most are either well covered, or are not in a rush to hedge.

Delta Air Lines Inc, the world's second-biggest airline behind United Continental measured by passengers carried, said on Dec. 15 that its hedge position for 2011 is about 40 percent, and of that, 40 percent is capped in the low-to-mid $80 a barrel range.

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong 's flagship carrier, is hedging 35 percent to 40 percent for the 2010-11 financial year compared with 50 percent a year earlier, while Malaysia Airlines is covering 33 percent in 2011 compared with 60 percent last year.

A slowdown in hedging will reduce the volume of business of banks that sell options and other derivatives to airlines to cover their bets.

Oil prices hit a 26-month high over $92 a barrel on Dec. 31, closing the year up 15 percent. Strong growth from Asia, especially China, and a rebound in demand from recovering economies elsewhere fueled a four-month rally that pushed crude over the $70-$80 range it held for much of the year. Prices touched a peak of more than $145 a barrel in July 2008.

Jet fuel physical prices were nearly $107.00 a barrel on Tuesday, versus 2010's average at $90.27 a barrel and 2008's average at $121.73 a barrel.

LEARNING FROM JAPAN AIRLINES

"Fuel hedging allows airlines to forecast their expenses in the coming 6-12 months. But you can never get it 100% right," said Yusof at Standard & Poor's. "They have been very cautious, and concerned about the potential of losing money when they get it wrong, as seen previously."

Japan Airlines chalked up $441 million in hedging losses, which contributed to a $25 billion bankruptcy earlier in 2010.

The hefty losses, in an environment where most airlines were recovering, suggested the carrier had raised the volume of its hedges when oil was at its peak. This left it over-exposed when prices collapsed.

Apart from hedging, another tool often deployed by airlines to cope with higher jet prices is a surcharge on the fuel they levy on tickets. This levy is often adjusted when prices rise.

Singapore Airlines (SIA), the world's second-biggest carrier by market value, in early December raised its fuel surcharge by $3.00 to $25.00 per sector, its first increase since June 2008 after jet fuel prices went above $95.00 a barrel.

"A fuel surcharge is collected to mitigate the effects of escalating fuel prices," said Nicholas Ionides, vice president of public affairs at SIA.

The airline has also reduced its hedging to about 20 percent, down from 30-40 percent, said Lau at Daiwa Institute of Research.

Thai Airways has also raised its fuel surcharge since late November.

"These actions could help cover the impact of oil prices, so we think our fourth-quarter performance shouldn't be affected by this," said Raj Tanta-Nanta, vice president for investor relations at Thai Airways.

(Additional reporting by Kyle Perterson in CHICAGO, Arada Kultawanich in BANGKOK, Eveline Danubrata and Jasmin Choo in SINGAPORE, Alison Leung in HONG KONG, Fang Yan in BEIJING and Aniruddha Basu in MUMBAI; Editing by Manash Goswami)

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ALAMAK !!!

US bookstore chain BORDERS files for Bankruptcy

AFP - Thursday, February 17

WASHINGTON (AFP) - – Borders, the second-largest US bookstore chain, filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, the latest blow to an industry hard hit by competition from electronic readers and online booksellers.

Borders said it planned to close around 30 percent of its over 640 stores in the United States as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which protects the company from its creditors while it reorganizes.

"Borders Group does not have the capital resources it needs to be a viable competitor and which are essential for it to move forward with its business strategy," Borders president Mike Edwards said in a statement.

"To position Borders to remedy this condition, Borders Group, with the authorization of its board of directors, has filed a petition for reorganization relief under Chapter 11," Edwards said.

Borders, which has a total of 6,100 full-time employees and 11,400 part-time employees, has lost millions of dollars in recent years as the book industry faces online competition and transitions from print to digital products.

The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company reported a net loss of 168.2 million dollars in the first 11 months of its latest fiscal year.

In July, Borders launched an online electronic book store to challenge e-readers from Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and Sony in the fast-growing market for digital books.

But the move was seen as coming too late by many industry analysts.

Edwards said Borders has received $505 million in financing commitments from GE Capital, Restructuring Finance.

"This financing should enable Borders to meet its obligations going forward so that our stores continue to be competitive for customers in terms of goods, services and the shopping experience," he said.

Edwards said the financing would give Borders "the time to reorganize in order to reposition itself to be a successful business for the long term."

"We are confident that, with the protection afforded under Chapter 11 and with the support of employees, publishers, suppliers and creditors, and the reading public, a successful reorganization can be achieved enabling Borders to emerge from the process as a stronger and more vibrant book seller," he said.

Borders is not the only traditional brick-and-mortar bookseller in trouble.

Last year, the money-losing number one US bookstore group, Barnes & Noble, indicated it was in discussions on a sale or other strategic options.

Billy Hulkower, senior technology analyst at the research firm Mintel, said recently that bookstores face a "trilogy of threats" -- online competition, e-books, and public libraries offering free books and digital content.

Mike Shatzkin, head of the consultancy Idea Logical Co. and organizer of the Digital Book World conference held in New York, said in a recent interview with AFP that the industry was going through "disruptive change."

E-book sales have more than doubled in each of the last three years, Shatzkin said, and he expects the market for traditional booksellers to decline from 72 percent of sales to about 25 percent of sales in coming years.

The Association of American Publishers said Wednesday that US publishers' book sales increased 3.6 percent last year over 2009 to $11.67 billion with e-book sales growing 164.4 percent to $441.3 million.

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Letter from BORDERS CEO

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Get ready to pay more $$$ soonzzz !!!

Oil soars past $105 on Libya violence

AFP - Tuesday, February 22

LONDON (AFP) - – Brent oil prices soared above $105 per barrel on Monday, striking a fresh two-year peak as deadly violence in Libya fuelled concerns over spreading unrest in the Middle East and north Africa region.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April surged to $105.15 per barrel, the highest level since late September 2008, before pulling back slightly to $105.02, up $2.50 from Friday's closing level.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for March, known as West Texas Intermediate, jumped to $90.52. It later stood at $90.35, up by a hefty $4.15 from Friday.

Angry Libyan protesters ransacked the state broadcaster and set government buildings ablaze on Monday, as the son of leader Moamer Kadhafi warned the country faces civil war and "rivers of blood".

With gunfire crackling in the streets of Tripoli, and Human Rights Watch putting the death toll at 233 since Thursday, Saif al-Islam Kadhafi vaguely promised reforms as he condemned the revolt as a foreign plot.

Moamer Kadhafi, 68, the longest-serving leader in the Arab world, remained out of sight.

"Brent crude oil hit a new high above $105 a barrel, following news of the strike at a Libyan oil field today, and the fear of oil field disruption looms large," said analyst Rebecca Seabury at UK energy consultancy Inenco.

OPEC member Libya is Africa's fourth largest oil producer after Nigeria, Algeria and Angola, boasting production of 1.8 million barrels per day and estimated reserves of 42 billion barrels. Facts: Libya, Africa's fourth largest oil producer

Libya exports most of its oil to European countries, including Italy, Germany, Spain and France.

"Violence in Libya is the main driver of the price rise," added Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.

"An influential tribal leader has threatened to cease oil shipments to the West within 24 hours if the violence against protesters does not end."

The market had breached $104 last week on escalating tensions in the key oil-supplying Middle East and North Africa area, following the ousting of presidents in Egypt and Tunisia.

Elsewhere on Monday, Bahrain's Sunni Muslim ruling family came under increased pressure to open in-depth negotiations with the Shiite-led opposition as protesters erected more tents on the capital's Pearl Square.

Experts warned that oil prices could rocket to record levels beyond $147 per barrel -- if the unrest spreads to Saudi Arabia

"The market will be most concerned over the protests spilling into Saudi Arabia. So far we have only seen low key, small scale protests there," added Seabury.

"However, as Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter, if the situation escalates this could take oil prices ... higher than the $147 a barrel we saw in 2008."

On Tuesday, the International Energy Forum will meet in Saudi Arabia as the geopolitical tensions and economic recovery drive prices back to levels last seen before the 2008 global financial crisis. The IEF groups the world's top oil producing and consuming nations.

[kueytoc]

World markets tumble, OIL Spikes on Libya unrest

AFP - 2 hours 17 minutes ago

LONDON (AFP) – Global markets dived Tuesday as sentiment was rocked by violent unrest in Libya and soaring oil prices, while the safe-haven US dollar gained ground against rival currencies.

"The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt are continuing to spread across the region. It seems to be Libya's turn now. These developments cause a high degree of uncertainty," said Commerzbank analyst Ulrich Leuchtmann.

Financial markets were also rattled by news of a deadly earthquake in New Zealand and a ratings downgrade for Japan, dealers said.

London's FTSE 100 index of top shares tumbled 1.19 percent to 5,943.21 points in late morning deals, the Paris CAC 40 plunged 1.62 percent to 4,031.28 and Frankfurt's DAX 30 retreated 0.47 percent to 7,286.98 points.

Oil prices surged past $108 as Libyan output was hit by violent protests and concerns grew over spreading unrest in the strategic crude-producing Middle East and North Africa area. Facts: Libya, Africa's fourth largest oil producer

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April spiked to $108.57 per barrel, hitting the highest level since September 4, 2008.

And in foreign exchange trade, the European single currency sank to $1.3559, compared with $1.3678 late on Monday, when US financial markets were closed for the Presidents' Day public holiday.

"A trio of events have battered risky assets during the European session," said research director Kathleen Brooks at trading website Forex.com.

"Firstly, the ongoing people's uprising in Libya and the escalation of violence and casualties is weighing on the oil price; secondly the New Zealand earthquake; and lastly news that Moody's had revised lower its outlook on Japanese sovereign debt to negative from stable."

Libya denounced charges it was massacring protesters as lies Tuesday as Moamer Kadhafi broke cover over the challenge to his four-decade rule after a raft of diplomatic and military defections.

With the Middle East turmoil pushing oil prices ever higher, rulers of the Gulf state of Bahrain were confronted by fresh mass protests and governments made plans to evacuate citizens from hotspots across the Arab world.

Both the UN Security Council and Arab League were to meet to discuss the bloody crackdown by Libyan authorities that prompted the UN's rights chief to warn that crimes against humanity may have been committed.

"The ongoing tensions in the Middle East and North Africa region, in particular in Libya, are pushing the oil price higher and weighing on equity market sentiment," said VTB Capital economist Neil MacKinnon.

Asian stocks also nosedived on Tuesday, with Tokyo down 1.78 percent and Hong Kong losing 2.11 percent, as the political crisis in Libya worsened, with reports of escalating violence against pro-democracy demonstrators.

Tokyo was also hit after ratings agency Moody's said it had lowered its outlook on Japan's sovereign debt to "negative" due to concerns the state would not be able to bring it under control.

The agency said the government's policies may not be strong enough to contain the industrialised world's biggest debt.

Moody's previously held a "stable" outlook on the nation's "Aa2" rating, the third highest on a scale of 19, and analysts said the outlook change would likely lead to a downgrade.

It follows rival agency Standard & Poor's decision to cut Japan's rating for the first time since 2002.

Wellington's stock market meanwhile suffered a sell-off, falling 0.69 percent after a powerful earthquake killed at least 65 people in New Zealand's second city, Christchurch.

The 6.3-magnitude quake buckled roads and rained glass and rubble on streets packed with lunchtime shoppers.

[kueytoc]

Oil Prices hit multi-year Highs amid Libya Unrest

AFP - Thursday, February 24

NEW YORK (AFP) - – Oil sold in New York crossed the symbolic $100 a barrel level Wednesday, hitting prices not seen since 2008, amid fears over supplies from Libya.

As traders panicked that political chaos could spread further in the Middle East, the main US contract reached $100 a barrel for the first time since October 2008.

London's main Brent contract -- which is more sensitive to Middle East unrest thanks to Europe's greater dependence on oil from the region -- surged past $110 a barrel.

With foreign oil workers fleeing Libya and rumors swirling that Moamer Kadhafi may sabotage pipelines, analysts raised the prospect of a bonafide oil crisis.

"If Libya and Algeria were to halt oil production together, prices could peak above US$220," Michael Lo of Nomura told clients in a note.

He warned that the oil cartel OPEC could see its production capacity cut to 2.1 million barrels a day, levels seen during the 1990-91 Gulf War, when prices rose to $147 a barrel.

With US prices up by around $10 in the last two days, consumers can expect to see higher prices at the pump soon.

The recent increases could translate into a 25 cent increase in gasoline prices at the pump, based on averages produced by Moody's.

With much of the global economy still ailing from the financial crisis, many fear such sharply higher oil prices could smother the recovery and send many nations spiraling back into recession.

"A one-penny increase in the price of a gallon of gasoline acts as a sales tax on consumers at the rate of 1.2 billion dollars a year," said David Kotok of Cumberland Advisors, quoting research from Naroff Economic Advisors.

"This is nowhere near over. We are watching a 'sea change' occur among one tenth of the worlds population," he said warning the turmoil could cause a double-dip recession in the United States.

[kueytoc]

Prepare for RAINY DAYS ahead folks !!!

Bernanke warns on Oil Price 'threat'

AFP - Wednesday, March 2

WASHINGTON (AFP) Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday warned a "sustained" rise in oil prices could threaten US growth and spark dangerous price rises, as he eyed turmoil in Libya.

Bernanke told Congress he believed unrest in the oil-rich Middle East would result in "temporary" and "modest" increase in US prices, but acknowledged greater risks remain.

"The most likely outcome is that the recent rise in commodity prices will lead to, at most, a temporary and relatively modest increase in US consumer price inflation."

"That said, sustained rises in the prices of oil and other commodities would represent a threat both to economic growth and to overall price stability."

He added there was a particular risk from unrest pushing up expectations about future price rises.

The threat of higher prices could be enough to spook wary US shoppers, who are only reluctantly opening their wallets after the worst recession in a generation.

Bernanke vowed the central bank would "monitor developments closely" and would respond if necessary, to ensure the economic recovery remains on track.

Amid fighting between the Libyan opposition and forces loyal to leader Moamer Kadhafi, Libya's estimated 1.6 million barrel a day production has slowed to a trickle, sending global oil prices rocketing.

Americans have seen the price of gasoline at the pump rise by an average of 21 cents a gallon in the last week, according to figures from the American Automobile Association.

With much of the global economy still ailing from the financial crisis, many fear sharply higher oil prices could smother the recovery and send many nations spiraling back into recession.

President Barack Obama's top economic adviser, Austan Goolsbee, said prices were not yet at levels that could hurt the economy deeply.

"We continue to monitor the events of the Middle East and the fuel markets, because high fuel costs do have a negative impact on the economy," he said.

"Thus far we are not forecasting... that at these levels they would derail the recovery."

But the price rises bring an extra headache for Benanke.

In a bid to keep the recovery on track, the Federal Reserve is currently pumping $600 billion into the economy.

That has brought criticism that the Fed could be stoking inflation.

Bernanke and his allies insist the Fed has all the tools necessary to unwind their stimulus policies, if and when they need to.

Federal Reserve policy makers, he said, "remain unwaveringly committed to price stability," he said.

[kueytoc]

Get ready to PUNT the Markets !!!

New York Crude Oil shoots back above $100 a barrel

AFP - 16 minutes ago

SINGAPORE (AFP) - New York's benchmark crude oil futures contract shot back above $100 a barrel in Asian trade as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa continued to rattle the markets.

The contract for April delivery, known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), climbed 63 cents to $100.26. The contract reached an all-time high of more than $147 a barrel in 2008.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April was up 70 cents at $116.12.

"Clearly everyone is concerned" about turmoil in the Arab world, said John Vautrain, vice president for Purvin and Gertz international energy consultants in Singapore.

He said investors were worried about unrest sweeping oil producing countries and disrupting supplies.

Oil prices have been soaring after popular uprisings toppled the leader of Tunisia in January, followed by long-time strongman Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in February.

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi is now fighting for his political life as a rebellion against his rule spread, while protests are rocking other parts of the oil-rich region, including Yemen and Oman.

Western powers on Tuesday weighed whether military action was a viable option against Kadhafi as leaders of the revolt grew increasingly fearful of counter-strikes by the Libyan strongman's loyalists.

While there was support in some quarters for at least the imposition of a no-fly zone, senior US officials warned that military action to speed Kadhafi's departure could be complicated and have potentially undesirable consequences.