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Consumers across the globe will feel the effect of higher food prices caused by the worst U.S. drought since the 1950s. The United States is the world’s largest exporter of corn and wheat, and is the third largest exporter of soymeal. Accordingly, corn prices have risen 26 percent this year, while wheat prices have increased 36 [...]
Listen to our Exclusive Podcast Here>> Tom Keene is an editor-at-large at Bloomberg News and host of “Bloomberg Surveillance,” Bloomberg’s morning program where the day’s conversation on economics, finance and investment begins. Keene can be heard on “Bloomberg Surveillance” starting at 6 AM/ET across Bloomberg Television, Radio, Bloomberg.com and Bloomberg’s devices for mobile and tablets. [...]
Rapidly decelerating global inflation will likely lead to more extensive easing by the world’s central banks as policy makers appear to be adhering to a de facto global inflation target-range of between 2 percent and 4 percent. Another round of easing in the U.S. may end the burgeoning easing cycle, leading to another risk rally [...]
Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, spoke to Scott Johnson about Operation Twist, privatization in emerging markets and the path of Chinese stimulus. Q: Should the Fed have done more than extend Operation Twist? A: No, I think they’re just feeling their way. You must remember that Bernanke has never really taken [...]
Japan’s corporations — like their U.S. counterparts — are hoarding large amounts of cash. This may be masking underlying weakness in demand for Japanese government bonds from their biggest buyers — the country’s citizens. Once the Japanese and global economies start to recover and companies reduce their cash holdings, the country could find itself mired in [...]
Bank deposits are flooding into Singapore, an indication of the city-state’s rising status as a safe haven for global, especially European, investors. Foreign currency deposits held in Singapore banks increased by 43 percent year-onyear in March compared with singledigit growth only eight months before and a slight contraction one year earlier, according to Monetary Authority [...]
The rapid slowdown in China may place policy makers between a rock and a hard place as they try to engineer a soft landing without derailing long-term growth. An asymmetrical cut to lending rates that leaves deposit rates unchanged may be their best option. Read more here>>
Net Foreign Institutional Equity Purchases Fall in Asia as Investors Flee Risky Assets The sum of net foreign institutional equity purchases across six countries in Asia (India, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam) dropped in the past week by $2.9 billion, bringing the total year-to-date net purchase down to $20.5 billion. Taiwan and South [...]
Overview • Bloomberg Brief FX Scorecard favors the Indonesian rupiah against the Thai baht this week. • The IDR’s +927bp implied yield differential suggests offshore investors are extremely short IDR, and weekly technical signals indicate selling momentum is fading. • The THB faces headwinds from Q1 GDP data, technicals and quantitative indicators this week. • Long IDR-THB [...]
The Bottom Line collects a week’s worth of economy-related corporate anecdotes from Bloomberg stories. Last week, Cathay Pacific slowed growth plans and predicted “disappointing” first-half earnings, while Credit Suisse said it plans to boost capital at its Chinese JV and apply for a stock trading permit in the country. Read more here>>
