Xi Whiz and Obama on Climate Change

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What does the deal mean more energy in the US?  The end of coal which is so dirty. Gas will be used more frequently.  Fracking will have to be used and regulated. And the US will build more nuclear power plants.  They are clean.

Between January and June 2014, China installed 3.3GW of solar capacity. It also provided $23.5 billion in financing for solar ventures in 2013, more than all of Europe put together. Beijing has declared the use of coal will be banned in the city by 2020. These are hardly the actions of a country that sees the use of clean energy as a low priority. Many observers even say that protests emanating from air, soil and water pollution are one of the most direct threats to the supremacy of the CPC. Therefore, turning to renewable energy and cutting emissions might be a good way for the junta to stay in power.

How seriously China takes its commitment to clean power remains to be seen.  Their first priority is growth.

China and US Climate Change Deal

 

 

Can Tel Aviv Lure Israeli Companies Home for IPOs

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Yossi Beinart, CEO of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, wants to have more Isrraeli tech IPOs come to the eexchange.  At a recent meeting of Israeli biotech, IT and medical device developers he wore a suit to distinguish himself. He told the crowrd if they ever wanted an IPO to remember the guy in the suit.

Trading volumbe on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has declined 40 per cent in the past four years and IPOs went from 17 in 2010 to 4 this year.

While Israel has more startups per capita than any other country except the US, Entrepreneurs can make more money on a US IPO, but there are many small Israei companies that are too small and get gobbled up by Google  and Intel instead of going public.  Beinart wants to change this.  In the next few months he expects the Knesset to pass legislation that will make it easier for companies to list on the Israeli Exchange.  Israel StartUps Do IPOs at Home?

Is the US Going to Waive Hello to Credit Suisse?

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The Labor Department announced it would hold a public hearing in January to review whether Credit Suisse should be granted a waiver to continue overseeing many pension funds and individual retirement accounts. The agency gave the bank a temporary exemption to continue doing such work while the review continued to “avert possible disruptions in retirement plan investments.”

The Labor Department also announced that it had proposed a waiver for Credit Suisse, but that no decisions would be finalized until after the public has had its say at the Jan. 15 hearing.

After intense scrutiny from some lawmakers, Credit Suisse pleased guilty in May to helping U.S. citizens evade taxes, making it the largest bank in the last two decades to do so.

Credit Suisse on Waivers

Eike Batista Plans to Get Out of Jail Lustful

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Eike Batista, the Brazilian oil tycoon due to go on trial next week over insider … attempting to stage a comeback by investing in a South Korean pharmaceutical … Mr Batista’s EBX group signed a joint venture with the Seoul-based company … If impotence medication and dog cloning prove to be successful …

Mr Batista’s EBX group signed a joint venture with the Seoul-based company C. L. Pharm this year in a ‘development agreement’ worth $12m, according to the South Korean group’s website.

Investors around the world are still reeling from the collapse of Mr Batista’s oil and mining empire last year and the bankruptcy of its prized oil company OGX in October, which triggered Latin America’s largest-ever corporate default.

If found guilty, Mr Batista could be the first person in the Latin American country to go to jail for capital markets crimes. Mr Batista has denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Batista began negotiating with C. L. Pharm when he travelled to South Korea in April this year and has paid $1m just for the rights to set up a factory in his home country, according to a book due to be released on Friday about the tycoon titled ‘All or Nothing’ by Brazilian journalist Malu Gaspar.

Mr Batista is also said to have held business meetings with Hwang Woo-suk, a South Korean scientist who is looking to make his own comeback by setting up a dog cloning laboratory in Brazil, according to the book. After making the world’s first cloned dog Snuppy in 2005, Mr Woo-suk was accused of faking research on human stem cell cloning. Mr Woo-suk could not be reached for comment.

This week, EBX said Mr Batista also signed an agreement with Swiss property investor Acron to resume the joint development of Rio’s landmark Gloria Hotel.

Mr Batista had initially hoped to set up an infrastructure fund after the collapse of his commodities empire last year, according to Ms Gaspar’s publication. However, after reportedly receiving little interest from investors, especially in New York, he turned his focus to healthcare and technology opportunities in Asia.

If impotence medication and dog cloning prove to be successful businesses for Mr Batista, it would be the third time the entrepreneur has managed to reinvent himself.

Get Out of Jail Lustful

Petrobras Implicated in Money Laundering

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Brazil’s state-run oil firm, Petrobras delayed releasing its earnings results amid a police investigation into corruption that has already ensnared a former senior executive.

Police arrested 18 people suspected of involvement in a money laundering and bribery scheme centered on Petrobras. They raided Brazilian construction and engineering companies and seized potentially incriminating documents.

Investors are concerned the postponed publication of audited results for the third quarter puts the world’s most indebted oil company at risk of a technical default on tens of billions of dollars in bonds.

Analysts warned that the investigation and postponed earnings statement could result in the company being stripped of its investment grade by ratings agencies and prompt it to write down fixed assets.

Petrobras shares opened over an hour and a half after the rest of the Bovespa index with the chief executive of the bourse, Edemir Pinto, saying at an event in Sao Paulo the delay was to ensure time for the market to digest the news.

A note from Credit Suisse Securities said Petrobras may be barred from accessing bond markets in the United States. The note estimated Petrobras might need to borrow as much as $20 billion from bond investors to finance projects next year.

The price on Petrobras’ global bond due in 2024 tumbled to 100.75 cents on the dollar early on Friday, compared with 104.5 cents the prior session, amid concerns of a default.

Authorities deployed 300 police officers and 60 tax fraud agents in five states and the capital district. The probe, known as “Operation Car Wash,” was first launched in March as police investigated the alleged money laundering scheme.

The continuing fallout of the scandal has put pressure on leftist President Dilma Rousseff, who won a narrow re-election last month.

A former Petrobras executive previously jailed in the case has said in a plea bargain deal that kickbacks from contracts were funneled to Rousseff’s Worker’s Party and its allies in Congress.

At a news conference, the police said seven companies that had contracts worth billions of dollars with Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, were being searched.

Odebrecht, a large private Brazilian construction firm, said in a statement its offices in Rio de Janeiro had been searched.

Money Laundering

 

 

When Is it Too Old to Work and Serve

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Yet again, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was forced to defend her decision to remain in leadership following the disappointing midterm elections, a position she says she would not have to uphold if it weren’t for being a woman.

Speaking at her weekly press conference on Thursday, Pelosi schooled reporters with the following:

“What I said to the most recent person who asked ‘Well you’ve lost now three times. Why don’t you step aside?’ And I said, “What was the day that any of you said to Mitch McConnell, when they lost the Senate three times in a row, lost making progress in taking back the Senate three times in a row, ‘Aren’t you getting a little old, Mitch? Shouldn’t you step aside?’ Have you ever asked him that question?”

This is far from the first time Pelosi, who at the age of 74 is just two years older than McConnell, has been the target of sexist inquiries from the media. In 2012, Pelosi was asked the very same question about stepping down to make room for younger leadership, to which Pelosi slammed as “offensive.”

Pelosi’s defense today comes in the the midst of similar jabs aimed at Hillary Clinton, after Rand Paul (R-Ky.) suggested in a Politico interview Clinton may be too old to run for president.

Pelosi may not be the birghtest kid on the block, but she is a talented politician who grew up among politicians.  She may have called out the press on this question not only tojustify her decision to stay on, but to defend future attacks against the presumed Democrat Presidentail nominee. In the US, seventy-five is the new 60 anyway.

Pelosi

Did Starbucks Get State Aid From the Netherlands?

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Beggar Thy Neighbor issues continue to plague the EU Commission.   The Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker’s record on taxation as prrime minister fored him to break stride and face the press.

The Commission will be publishing its reasoning on why the tax deal between the NEtherlands and Starbucks constitutues state aid.  Meanwhile finance commissioners meet on the budget and the work program for 2015 is being designed.

Beggar Thy neighbor 1

Namibia’s Development Challenged, But May be Newly Oiled

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Leaders of Namibia tout development every time a shopping mall opens in the country.  SHops in the centers are South African owned. Profits go back to South Africa.

Namibians are only hired for the most menial jobs, so the mall are not helping employ people.  A local editorial suggests Namibians find a better way to define development and develop.  Shell Oil has returned to explore offshore oil proects.

Shell Oil in Namibia

Diamonds are Botswana’s Best Friend

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In 1967 when Botswana became independent, a South Africa geologist discovered kimberlite in the country.  Kimberite is a volcanic rock that hosts diamonds.  Sure enough, Bostwana had the world’s larges supply.

In devleoping the business, Botswana has had a transparent government and turned great wealth into social gains.

In twenty to third years, the supply of diamonds will end, and Botswana is preparing for the future.  They have become a financial services hub for Africa.  And they have figured out how to keep diamonds central.  They have employees already trained in the businesses that surround diamonds:  cutting, setting, poishing and sales.

DeBeers is moving all their sales operations from London to Gabarone.  Major diamond sales take place every five weeks or so.  High end businesss people come from all over the world, and service businesses flourish.

Like Norway which is taking steps to prepare for the end of oil, Botswana is preparing for a time when diamonds can no longer be mined.

Sorting Diamonds

Will Gas Prices Continue to Fall?

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Willl gas prices continue to fall? In the US, the price of crude oil makes up 67 percent of the price of gass. Oil prices have been sliding to the lowest prices in years, This is because oil production in the US is booming, Saudi Arabia is unwilling to cut back production, and demand in Asia has dropped.

ALso, during the summer, ‘summer blend gas’ is sold. It is fifteen to twenty cents more expensive than the winter blend now on sale  Summer blend is used to reduce smog when the weather is warm.

Weather has an impact, both on the amount of gas purchased and also on refineries, many of which are in hurricane areas in the US>  Taxes also vary state to state in the US, so you can pay more at the pump in a state that charges a higher tax.

But the bottom line is crude and US production is soaring, which drives prices down.

Gas Prices Falling