News: 2014-01-28

Emerging Markets

The Center of the Universe » Blog Archive » EM currencies look more stable vs yen

BBC News – Argentina imposes $2,000 limit on purchase of US dollars

BBC News – India raises interest rates rise to stem inflation

Another Surprise From India’s Central Bank, But Probably the Last – Real Time Economics – WSJ

Brazil’s external liabilities: should we be worried? | beyondbrics

Turkey Stems Emerging-Markets Slide – WSJ.com

 

Internet/Technology

Why Capital New York’s $6,000 paywall will probably work : Columbia Journalism Review

Vox and Ezra Klein: testing the limits of the digital-news expansion : Columbia Journalism Review

Samsung sets new smartphone sales record in fourth quarter, widens lead over Apple: report | Reuters

Tech companies win right to disclose number of NSA requests — Tech News and Analysis

Google Is Making A Land Grab For The Internet Of Things | TechCrunch

Google’s DeepMind acquisition might be about search, not robots | The Verge

The New Hotel Key: Your Smartphone – WSJ.com

Our Addiction to Phone Subsidies Keeps the Wireless Industry Broken

Facebook Ad Clicks Set Record in Q4 2013, But Concerns Linger

 

NSA

NSA and GCHQ target ‘leaky’ phone apps like Angry Birds to scoop user data | World news | The Guardian

Spy Agencies Tap Data Streaming From Phone Apps – NYTimes.com

An Open Letter from US Researchers in Cryptography and Information Security

Some of the biggest names in cryptography condemn NSA spying in open letter

 

Apple

Apple’s 51M iPhones, 26M iPads And 4.8M Macs In Q1 2014 Set A Record, But Growth Slows | TechCrunch

Apple’s Mixed Q1 2014 With $57.6B Revenue, $13.1B Profit And $14.50 EPS | TechCrunch

Apple Q1 2014: iPod sales decreased by more than half since last year | 9to5Mac

Apple Says International Took 64% Of Revenues In Q1, Led By Growth In China And Japan | TechCrunch

Apple’s China revenue hit over $8.4B in Q1, up 29% from 2013

80% of Apple Mobile Devices Now Run iOS 7

Apple Pushes Deeper Into Mobile Payments – WSJ.com

 

Europe

Wanted: French-speaking plumbers for tax exiles – Telegraph

BBC News – French unemployment at record high

BBC News – RBS faces £8bn in full year losses

UK economy grows 0.7pc in fourth quarter – Telegraph

Will the UK be the first to tighten? | Gavyn Davies

Santander Appoints Former FDIC Chief Sheila Bair to Board – WSJ.com

ekathimerini.com | Greek households lose 2.6 bln in disposable income in Q3 of 2013

Greece faces new black hole in finances amid rising tensions with creditors | World news | The Guardian

German business confidence rises to highest level since July 2011 – FT.com

Ireland must ‘play hardball’ to get deal on bank bailouts – Independent.ie

“Irish negotiators have been told to “play hardball” by threatening to veto any European banking deal that does not include recouping the cost of our bank bailouts from the eurozone rescue fund. The risk of short-term unpopularity was worth it for the long-term economic gains of winning back €30bn to €60bn for taxpayers, Citi’s chief economist Willem Buiter (pictured) said.”

Euro Jobless Record Not Whole Story as Italians Give Up – Bloomberg

European banks have 84 billion euro capital shortfall, OECD estimates: report | Reuters

These estimates are very low.

 

China

China’s debt-fuelled boom is in danger of turning to bust – FT.com

“Recent studies have isolated the most reliable signal of a looming financial crisis and it is the “credit gap”, or the increase in private sector credit as a proportion of economic output over the most recent five-year period. In China, that gap has risen since 2008 by a stunning 71 percentage points, taking total debt to about 230 per cent of gross domestic product. A credit boom of this scale is not likely to end well. Looking back over the past 50 years and focusing on the most extreme credit booms – the top 0.5 per cent – turns up 33 cases, with a minimum credit gap of 42 percentage points. Of these nations, 22 suffered a credit crisis in the subsequent five years and all suffered an economic slowdown. On average, the annual economic growth rate fell from 5.2 per cent to 1.8 per cent. Not one country got away without facing either a crisis or a major economic slowdown. Thailand, Malaysia, Chile, Zimbabwe and Latvia have had a gap higher than 60 points. All those binges ended in a severe credit crisis.”

China Tennis Star Li Na Begrudgingly Accepts Check From Hubei Government – China Real Time Report – WSJ

 

Markets

Russia Backs Bitcoin Curbs as Central Bank Snubs Sberbank Plan – Bloomberg

Two Executives of Bitcoin Businesses Are Arrested – NYTimes.com

Natural Gas Futures Tumble From Four-Year High on Milder Weather – Bloomberg

Au Contrarian: Stocks

 

North America

U.S. New Home Sales Fall in December – WSJ.com

Tom Perkins hits back at Kleiner Perkins – The Term Sheet: Fortune’s deals blogTerm Sheet

Thrill of Obama Home Visits Fades for Americans Cited at Events – Bloomberg

Arizona GOP Censures McCain for ‘Liberal’ Record | TIME.com

Greg Whiteley, Netflix’s Mitt Director, on His Unprecedented Access | TIME.com

Home Prices in 20 Cities – NYTimes.com

Fed in focus after emerging market mauling | Reuters

BoJ’s easing may not compensate for Federal Reserve’s taper – FT.com

““If low yields continue, it will have an impact on us”, says Mitsugi Sumiya, Axa Life’s chief financial officer, noting that many other Japanese insurers are already under water, paying out more on policies than they earn from the assets underlying them. “We are looking to take more credit risk in the US and Europe.””

Why are US corporate profits so high? Because wages are so low | MacroScope

 

Economics

It pays to consider the nature of money – FT.com

“Money is merely the token that records the credit transaction. “A priceless gem or a worthless bit of paper may equally be a token of debt, so long as the receiver knows what it stands for.””

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