Yesterday…
US jobless claims came in higher than expected and housing data disappointed as well, raining on the American recovery 2013 parade and adding to the uncertainty over the future of the Fed‘s asset purchasing program. read New York Times
At the same time, those with disposable income seem to be working on a new housing bubble of sorts. read Bloomberg
Japan reported its economy grew in the first quarter of the year, leading to a 3.5% annualized growth leap and supporting Shinzo Abe’s approach since his inauguration in September. Most of the growth is attributed to private consumption. read Bloomberg
Meanwhile, Japanese companies prefer to look for opportunities elsewhere, for example the US, where a handful of corporates bought into the US shale gas market for several billion dollar. read Financial Times
Following the Bloomberg user data debacle, Citigroup has banned its fixed income traders from participating in Bloomberg chat groups to shield the banks from any security breaches. read Financial Times
This morning…
Lloyds Banking Group might just be short of fully returning into private sector hands, as the bank’s shares rose higher than the government’s cut-off point for a sale of 61.2 pence per share. Over the past weeks, David Cameron had reiterated that bailed out and partly nationalized institution shouldn’t stay government owned for longer than needed. read Reuters
Word got out that Qatar spent up to $3bn on supporting the Syrian opposition since 2011, the same year in which Libya’s rebels also received support, fueling rivalry over political influence between Arab countries. read Financial Times
Other than that, there is not much going on, time to get on the below.
Weekend reading…
- Bangladesh, globalization and the price of your t-shirts, read New York Times
- from pork bellies to ruling the world – a brief history of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, read Economist
- gold bulls vs bears, read Alphaville
- Super Abe and the fight for a prosperous Japan, read Economist leader
- on the uselessness of asset management, read Harvard Business Review
Have a good one.
