Archive for February, 2007

Global Capital Market Tremble

Published
by
ron
on February 28, 2007
in International Finance
. 0 Comments

Yesterday, stock markets around the world felt sharply amid worries about an economic slowdown in China and the United States.

It started at Shanghai’s stock market which ended 9% lower as the day before. Subsequently it negatively affected European and US stock markets with sharp drops as well. As a scholar this is hard evidence that China is gaining importance not only as manufacturing powerhouse but also in the global capital market. Furthermore, capital continues to fluid around the globe, and economies and capital markets are increasingly interlinked these days. The New York Times published an effective visualisation of yesterday’s happening.

Will the market bounce back today? Upon now the answer seems negative because of remaining “Asian” worries on the American economy.

Another NYTimes photo report on yesterday’s events can be found here

Seoul Skyline

Published
by
ron
on February 27, 2007
in Ranting and Raving
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Seoul Skyline

Here are some worthwhile “Asian” blogs to check out!
East meet Westener ~ Hong Kong
lao ocean girl ~ South Korea
Lost Nomad ~ South Korea
MissIzzy ~ Singapore
Shanghai Diaries ~ China
Tokyo Times ~ Japan

China and its Talent

Published
by
ron
on February 22, 2007
in Emerging Markets
. 0 Comments

China Talent Loss


Lots have been written about China’s booming economy and its way forward. To stay on top of its high growth economic development process China has to undertake steps of improvement in various areas.

Especially if China’s economy is to go on growing and its base is to evolve from manufacturing to services, it will require a huge number of university educated people with an international mindset.

A perfect vehicle would be bringing back Chinese that are educated and residing abroad. However, according research conducted by the Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing about two-thirds of Chinese who have studied abroad since the 1980s have chosen not to go back home. Even more reason for China’s officials to research the rationale why they didn’t return home.

Today BBC news published a report on China’s threat of brain drain. The report gives room to four different stories from Chinese in different generations that have an education in the West in common.

More on the brain drain phenomenon can be found here. At this webpage you can find a scheme on how China is governed nowadays.

India’s Flagships & BRICs

Published
by
ron
on February 13, 2007
in Emerging Markets
. 1 Comment

Tata Motor, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Forge, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Rediff, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Bharti Airtel.

What have all these names in common? They are all multinationals from India and ready to shakeup the global business dominance of the West and Japan in order to become the next global brand. Most of them have a stock listing in both India and the US and starting to compete head on with the established players in the global marketplace. Here is a list of the ten most dynamic companies India has to offer.

My favourite Podcast on Emerging Giants from all BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) can be found here.

The term BRIC was first prominently used in the research paper “Dreaming With BRICs: The Path to 2050″ (2001)(PDF file) published by the world’s largest investment bank, Goldman Sachs. GS has also published a web presentation on BRICs, it higlights GDP growth, income per capita and currency movements in the BRICs economies until 2050.

In 2005 after publishing the paper on the emerging BRIC economies, Goldman Sachs published another report “How Solid are the BRICs?” (PDF file). Herein Goldman Sachs names another eleven economies that may emerge as important players by 2050. They are (in alphabetic order): Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam. Goldman Sachs names them N11 (i.e., the Next Eleven).

Amongst them, Korea and Mexico are particularly important. According to their prognosis, by 2050 Mexico will become the sixth-largest economy and Korea will become richer (in income per capita) than any of the current G7s (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, USA) except the USA.

Largest Private Equity Firms

Published
by
ron
on February 9, 2007
in International Finance
. 0 Comments


Capital continues to flow between all major stock exchanges around the world. According to research conducted by McKinsey, “the world’s financial assets ranging from equity, fixed income, and other instruments now total more than $140 trillion and are on pace to reach $214 trillion by decade’s end.”

Putting in perspective, it accounts now for more than three times the current global GDP. Deeper financial markets promote a more efficient allocation of capital and risk and offer households and businesses more choices for investing savings and raising capital, respectively.

According to current economic trends including the abundance of capital in financial markets, it is most likely that the number of private equity deals will overpass last year’s record year. Today BusinessWeek reports on the fifteen largest Private Equity firms. These firms have assets under management with a value ranging from $17 billion to $49.7 billion.

Subsequently, Red Herring published an interesting article on private equity in the Tech sector “Will private equity change tech? Or will tech change private equity?“, The Economist devotes a story on “The booming buy-out business” and “The real risks of private equity“.

UPDATE @ February 10th: Morgan Stanley’s Journal of Applied Corporate Finance published articles on “Public vs. Private Equity“(PDF) and “Private Equity and Its Import for Public Companies” (PDF).

Private Equity

Published
by
ron
on February 6, 2007
in International Finance
. 0 Comments

Are private-equity firms the new conglomerates? The two look more and more alike. The dozen or so top private-equity firms have taken positions in an extraordinarily diverse range of operating companies, much as big conglomerates have done. Each week brings another batch of multi-billion-dollar deals.

Today, Blackstone Group LP raised its cash offer for Equity Office Properties Trust to $39 billion to thwart rival bidder Vornado Realty Trust a day before shareholders vote on what would be the largest-ever leveraged buyout. (Bloomberg)

So what, exactly, are private equity firms such as Carlyle Group, Blackstone Group, Texas Pacific Group, and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts nowadays? Part buyout shop, part investment bank, part asset-management firm. Colin Blaydon, director of the Centre for Private Equity & Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business says “There are going to be some major financial institutions that emerge from the phenomenal growth [in private equity] of the last years.” For example “Carlyle is very deliberately moving in that direction. It looks a bit like the mid-’80s, when a handful of big, multiline investment-banking firms emerged as the bulge bracket.” (BusinessWeek)

Another trend, the art of private equity is finding and polishing diamonds in the rough. No wonder, then, that more firms are venturing off the beaten path in search of uncut gems. With record sums pouring into the asset class in recent years, more investors and fund managers are turning to the developing world. (Economist)

Visualise the day

Published
by
ron
on February 5, 2007
in Ranting and Raving
. 0 Comments

Day in Photos Washington Post


I like to share my favourite section of the Washington Post, “Day in Photos“. It captures a good mood of all world affairs of a certain day, the photos are stunning, and it’s truly international. It displays happenings from all corners in the world, from the Americas and Europe to the Middle East, Africa and Asia pacific.

AJAX – 010: 4-1!

Published
by
ron
on February 4, 2007
in Ranting and Raving
. 0 Comments

Ajax - 010


At this lovely sunny winter day it was time for the football derby in the Netherlands, AJAX – feyenoord (010) in Amsterdam. For the second time this season and the fourth time in a row AJAX outclassed 010 with 4-1! At this webpage you can find a photo report that truly captures the rivalry between AJAX and 010 fans, and the atmosphere around the match! Well done!

Rising Fashion Brand “Shanghai Tang”?

Published
by
ron
on February 4, 2007
in Emerging Markets
. 0 Comments

Shanghai Tang has learned from its past mistakes–and now it’s gunning to become China’s first great luxury brand. Forget about cheap socks and DVD players. This is the next battlefield for global competition. Continue reading on this webpage (New Window)!

Entrepreneurs get ready!

Published
by
ron
on February 2, 2007
in International Business
. 0 Comments

Trend Watching
Transumers, youniversal branding, twinsumer, generation (c)ash, web 5.0, status skills, infolust, trend unit, trysumers, generation (c)ontent, tryvertising, transumerism, the global brain, spotters network, innovation-overload, etc.

Desperately in need for a good business idea? Lack of inspiration? Check out the latest trend briefing published by trendwatching.com! The January edition presents five big trends/themes for the year ahead and gives answer to all the aforementioned ideas. The five categories are ranging from: status, transparency and consumer power, the online revolution, more adventurous consumption, and a shift from consumption to participation.

Appealing to read and it really gets your juices and entrepreneurial spirit rolling!

Check also Springwise for more entrepreneurial inspiration!

Source: trendwatching.com