HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014

Goodbye to the year 2013

Let us leave the Memories of the Past behind

We now Welcome The Brand New Year of 2014

Let us all Look Forward

To a year Full Of Promises and Love.

Dollar Gains vs Yen in Asia

The US dollar soar against Yen to a 5-year high in trading in Asia Thursday because of a strong Japanese share prices. US dollar climb to 104.85 yen in early trade, its highest since October 2008, before settling at 104.71 yen.

On Wednesday, it was 104.39 Yen. Trading in New York is close for Christmas holiday. The Euro stands at $1.3679 and 143.27 yen against $1.3668 and 142.71 yen on Wednesday in Tokyo.

Strong Japanese stock prices were a major market-moving factor. The benchmark Nikkei index ended at a six-year high of 16,174.44, up 1.03 per cent.

Many stock markets globally have been rising as more signs of a US economic recovery emerge.

In other news, China will aim for 7.5% growth in 2014 as exports recover. Their growth will rely on a steady recovery of China's exports next year, they benefited on the stronger demand from developed economies, the commerce ministry said.

Merry Christmas!

May this day bring you health and success. May you and your family experience God’s loving embrace. Merry Christmas to all!

As Fed Deflates Gold Plunges Below $1,200

Prices of Gold an ounce dropped below $1,200 which is a 5 month low at the time that the Federal Reserve pare down the economic stimulus that reduced that reduce the demand for haven assets.  

The stimulus propped up the prices of gold to 70% from December 2008 to June 2011 as the Fed expanded its balance sheet through debt purchases that fueled expectations of accelerated inflation and a weaker dollar.

Bullion for immediate delivery is down by 1% to $1,205.98 an ounce by 10:31 a.m. in London after dropping as much as 1.5% to $1,199.63 an ounce, the lowest since June 28. Prices tumbled into a bear market in April and are heading for the first annual drop in 13 years, as investors lost faith in gold. Prices plunged as much as 38% since reaching a record $1,921.15 an ounce in September 2011.

Gold exchange-traded products lost $72.44 billion in value since the start of the year and mining companies wrote down at least $26 billion after investor appetite waned.

US stocks Falls

On Thursday US stocks closed lower after a good retail sales report that raised speculation that the US Federal Reserve could soon lessen its stimulus program.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 104.10 points (0.66 %) to 15,739.43.

The broad-based S&P 500 declined 6.72 (0.38 %) to 1,775.50, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 5.41 (0.14 percent) at 3,998.40

Thursday marked the third straight day of losses after strong gains throughout the year.

The retail sales data follows better economic reports on growth and unemployment. These reports have led to speculation the Federal Government might lessen its $85 billion a month bond-buying program at its policy meeting that wraps up Wednesday.

Hotel chain Hilton Worldwide made a successful return to the stock market, gaining 7.5 percent to $21.50 on its first day of trading following its IPO price of $20.

Social networking company Twitter go up by 5.7% after it unveiled a new form of online advertising through its MoPub platform.

Facebook rise 5.0% after the S&P 500 announced the company would be added to the prestigious index after the close of trade Friday.

Technology company Oracle fell 2.8% after RBC Capital slashed its rating to "sector perform" from "outperform," citing tough competition from other cloud computing vendors and spending concerns in China. Morgan Stanley also downgraded Oracle due to uncertain growth prospects.

Women's sports attire chain Lululemon Athletica dived 11.7% after issuing a disappointing profit forecast for the fourth quarter. Lululemon projected profits of 78-80 cents per share, below the 84 cents seen by analysts.

General Motors fell 0.3% after announcing it was selling its remaining stakes in Ally Financial and French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.88 percent from 2.84 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year increased to 3.90% from 3.88%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

Euro Performs, while China Outpace others

The Euro are gaining on both the yen and U.S. dollar on Wednesday, while Shanghai stocks shake off geopolitical concerns to outdo others in the region.

European stocks were poised for a subdued start with financial spreadbetters expecting flat to small gains for Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE, Germany's DAX .GDAXI and France's CAC 40 .FCHI.

The single currency touched a four-year peak against the yen and a one-month high on the dollar as speculators wrestled with major chart resistance at 138.00 yen and $1.3600. A break here would likely open the way to further gains for euro bulls.

While most share markets were subdued after a flat finish on Wall Street, China's CSI300 .CSI300 of leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares stood out with a 0.9 percent gain.

Investors there seemed unperturbed by the step up in tensions over Beijing's demands that airlines inform them when flying over disputed islands in the East China Sea, a move the White House termed "unnecessarily inflammatory."

The United States responded on Tuesday by flying two unarmed B-52 bombers over the region, while ANA and Japan Airlines (9201.T) stopped sending Chinese authorities their flight plans for routes that pass through the zone.

Regulators See Value in Bitcoin Digital Currency

Financial regulators, law enforcement, and even the chairman of the Federal Reserve show support for digital currencies at a Senate hearing.

Bitcoin is a crypto-currency that is designed to be use on the Internet. It has gained support at a U.S. Senate hearing on Monday including law enforcement, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and financial regulators.

The value of the currency skyrocketed after the senate hearing.

Interested observers might have expected yesterday’s hearing on the potential risks, threats, and promises of virtual currencies to presage a regulatory crackdown: the hearing came just a month after the bust of Silk Road, a notorious online market that accepted bitcoins for guns, drugs, and other illicit goods. Though the hearing was nominally about digital currencies in general, the focus was really on Bitcoin, a currency that uses cryptographic techniques to allow money transfers directly between peers, rather than through a central authority like a bank or PayPal.

Investors welcome Twitter

Investors welcome Twitter to the New York Stock Exchange, and U.S. stock futures traded with moderate losses.

Twitter is a micro-blogging service, they will begin trading Thursday under the TWTR symbol. The company priced its shares at $26 each on Wednesday, which means it will raise around $2.1 billion from the IPO amid strong demand.

Dow Jones industrial average index futures, Standard & Poor's 500 index futures and Nasdaq index futures were all down by more or less 0.1%.

Majority of Asian stock markets are weak on Thursday, with a cautious mood prevailing ahead of key U.S. data that will provide further clues on when the Federal Reserve will cut monetary stimulus. The Nikkei 225 index fell 0.8% in Japan.

The major European benchmarks were trading mostly flat. Germany's DAX 30 index was down 0.1% and the FTSE 100 index fell by a similar amount in the United Kingdom.

World Bank: Singapore is the Best Place to Run a Business, HK second

Singapore is the world’s best place to run a business according to the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. Hong Kong is on second place despite problems on their real estate regulations.

The rankings done yearly score 189 economies on 10 indicators, focusing on the conditions faced by small or medium-sized businesses.

New Zealand is third, United States bagged the fourth place, while Denmark is fifth. The top five retained their positions from a year ago. The mainland China rose to 96th from an adjusted ranking of 99th.
Chad is the worst place to do business, claiming the position which Central African Republic holds last year.

Ease of Doing Business Rank:

1. Singapore
2. Hong Kong SAR, China  
3. New Zealand           
4. United States  
5. Denmark         
6. Malaysia         
7. Korea, Rep.    
8. Georgia           
9. Norway
10. United Kingdom        
11. Australia         
12. Finland
13. Iceland
14. Sweden
15. Ireland 
16. Taiwan, China  
17. Lithuania         
18. Thailand         
19. Canada           
20. Mauritius        
21. Germany         
22. Estonia
23. United Arab Emirates          
24. Latvia  
25. Macedonia, FYR
26. Saudi Arabia 
27. Japan  
28. Netherlands    
29. Switzerland      
30. Austria
31. Portugal          
32. Rwanda         
33. Slovenia         
34. Chile   
35. Israel   
36. Belgium           
37. Armenia         
38. France 
39. Cyprus
40. Puerto Rico (U.S.)  
41. South Africa  
42. Peru    
43. Colombia
44. Montenegro

45. Poland
46. Bahrain
47. Oman  
48. Qatar  
49. Slovak Republic         
50. Kazakhstan     
51. Tunisia 
52. Spain   
53. Mexico
54. Hungary         
55. Panama           
56. Botswana        
57. Tonga  
58. Bulgaria         
59. Brunei Darussalam    
60. Luxembourg  
61. Samoa 
62. Fiji      
63. Belarus
64. St. Lucia
65. Italy
66. Trinidad and Tobago           
67. Ghana 
68. Kyrgyz Republic         
69. Turkey
70. Azerbaijan       
71. Antigua and Barbuda         
72. Greece
73. Romania         
74. Vanuatu
75. Czech Republic         
76. Mongolia
77. Dominica        
78. Moldova
79. Guatemala       
80. Seychelles       
81. San Marino
82. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
83. Zambia
84. Bahamas, The
85. Sri Lanka  
86. Kosovo
87. Morocco       
88. Uruguay         
89. Croatia
90. Albania
91. Barbados
92. Russian Federation
93. Serbia
94. Jamaica           
95. Maldives        
96. China  
97. Solomon Islands 
98. Namibia         
99. Vietnam        
100. Palau     
101. St. Kitts and Nevis  
102. Costa Rica    
103. Malta      
104. Kuwait   
105. Nepal     
106. Belize     
107. Grenada 
108. Philippines
109. Paraguay           
110. Pakistan
111. Lebanon
112. Ukraine  
113. Papua New Guinea 
114. Marshall Islands 
115. Guyana  
116. Brazil     
117. Dominican Republic         
118. El Salvador        
119. Jordan  
120. Indonesia
121. Cape Verde  
122. Kiribati   
123. Swaziland         
124. Nicaragua         
125. Ethiopia 
126. Argentina           
127. Honduras           
128. Egypt, Arab Rep.
129. Kenya
130. Bangladesh        
131. Bosnia and Herzegovina
132. Uganda  
133. Yemen, Rep.    
134. India
135. Ecuador 
136. Lesotho 
137. Cambodia         
138. West Bank and Gaza
139. Mozambique      
140. Burundi  
141. Bhutan   
142. Sierra Leone  
143. Tajikistan         
144. Liberia   
145. Tanzania
146. Uzbekistan        
147. Nigeria   
148. Madagascar      
149. Sudan    
150. Gambia, The
151. Iraq      
152. Iran, Islamic Rep.
153. Algeria   
154. Burkina Faso    
155. Mali        
156. Micronesia, Fed. Sts.     
157. Togo     
158. Comoros
159. Lao PDR    
160. Djibouti  
161. Suriname           
162. Bolivia   
163. Gabon    
164. Afghanistan        
165. Syrian Arab Republic         
166. Equatorial Guinea 
167. Côte d'Ivoire
168. Cameroon         
169. São Tomé and Príncipe         
170. Zimbabwe         
171. Malawi   
172. Timor-Leste   
173. Mauritania         
174. Benin     
175. Guinea   
176. Niger      
177. Haiti       
178. Senegal  
179. Angola   
180. Guinea-Bissau 
181. Venezuela, RB
182. Myanmar
183. Congo, Dem. Rep.
184. Eritrea   
185. Congo, Rep.    
186. South Sudan  
187. Libya     
188. Central African Republic         
189. Chad      

US Dollar Slightly Up

(Reuters) - The dollar recovered a little from an eight-month low and shares began cautiously on Tuesday as investors anticipate the delayed U.S. jobs data. The US dollar has been battered lately by a budget fight in Washington that put the country close to a default and by the Fed opposed cutting its stimulus in September.

By 0800 GMT the US dollar was holding up 0.1% at $1.3674 against the euro, off an 8-month low of $1.3704 marked on Friday, and gained by similar margin against the yen, at 98.31 yen, adding to Monday's 0.4 percent bounce.

Rates rise at weekly US Treasury auction

WASHINGTON  — Short-term Treasury bills interest rates shoot up to it's highest levels since late August in Monday's auction.

$35 billion in three-month bills were auctioned by the Treasury Department at a discount rate of 0.035%. Last week the discount rate was 0.010%. While the 30 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.060% which has risen from 0.040% last week.

The discount rates indicates that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,999.12 while a six-month bill sold for $9,996,97. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.035 percent for the three-month bills and 0.061 percent for the six-month bills.

The Federal Reserve also said on Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills was up to 0.11 percent last week from 0.10 percent the previous week.

Source AP

Oil falls under $102 after a Partial US Government shutdown

Prices of Oil fall below $102 per barrel on Wednesday after a budget impasse in Washington that resulted to a partial US Government shutdown. It also resulted to 800,000 Federal Workers being furloughed.

The benchmark oil for November delivery fell 44 cents to $101.60 per barrel. The contract fell 29 cents to close at $102.04 a barrel in New York.

It is also expected to weaken the demand for oil in the U.S. as the shutdown curbs economic growth and keep 800,000 federal workers from driving to work.

"Oil prices are very much linked with U.S. consumption," said Andrew Sullivan, sales trader at Kim Eng Securities in Hong Kong. "With 800,000 workers not being paid, short-term demand is likely to be curtailed."

BlackBerry reports large second quarter loss

Stumbling smartphone company BlackBerry reported a major net second quarter loss Friday and said it is burning cash at a higher rate as it moves to execute a deal that could take the company private.

Revenue for the quarter ended Aug. 31 was at $1.6 billion, with a net loss of $965 million, or $1.84 a share. That compares with revenue of $2.9 billion and a loss of $229 million, or 44 cents a share, for the same quarter last year.

Adjusted net loss from continuing operations was $248 million, or 47 cents per share. The per-share loss was on the low side of the 47 cent-to-51-cent range that BlackBerry warned of last week, when it announced preliminary results and plans to lay off 4,500 employees. Wall Street analysts had expected a loss of 49 cents a share.

Most of the financial results tracked last week's announcement. But BlackBerry disclosed that its operations consumed roughly $136 million in cash. That compares with $630 million in cash flow from operations in the previous quarter that ended June 1.

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said that he is "very disappointed" with the company's latest earnings report, which was released before financial markets opened Friday. BlackBerry shares were up 10 cents at $8.05 in premarket trading.

The Forbes Top 100 Richest People in America

Rank	Name	Net Worth	Age	Residence	Source
1	Bill Gates	$72 B	57	Medina, Washington	Microsoft
2	Warren Buffett	$58.5 B	83	Omaha, Nebraska	Berkshire Hathaway
3	Larry Ellison	$41 B	69	Woodside, California	Oracle
4	Charles Koch	$36 B	77	Wichita, Kansas	diversified
4	David Koch	$36 B	73	New York, New York	diversified
6	Christy Walton & family	$35.4 B	58	Jackson, Wyoming	Wal-Mart
7	Jim Walton	$33.8 B	65	Bentonville, Arkansas	Wal-Mart
8	Alice Walton	$33.5 B	63	Fort Worth, Texas	Wal-Mart
9	S. Robson Walton	$33.3 B	69	Bentonville, Arkansas	Wal-Mart
10	Michael Bloomberg	$31 B	71	New York, New York	Bloomberg LP
11	Sheldon Adelson	$28.5 B	80	Las Vegas, Nevada	casinos
12	Jeff Bezos	$27.2 B	49	Seattle, Washington	Amazon.com
13	Larry Page	$24.9 B	40	Palo Alto, California	Google
14	Sergey Brin	$24.4 B	40	Los Altos, California	Google
15	Forrest Mars, Jr.	$20.5 B	82	Big Horn, Wyoming	candy
15	Jacqueline Mars	$20.5 B	73	The Plains, Virginia	candy
15	John Mars	$20.5 B	77	Jackson, Wyoming	candy
18	Carl Icahn	$20.3 B	77	New York, New York	Investments
19	George Soros	$20 B	83	Katonah, New York	hedge funds
20	Mark Zuckerberg	$19 B	29	Palo Alto, California	Facebook
21	Steve Ballmer	$18 B	57	Hunts Point, Washington	Microsoft
22	Len Blavatnik	$17.8 B	56	London	diversified
23	Abigail Johnson	$17.2 B	51	Milton, Massachusetts	money management
24	Phil Knight	$16.3 B	75	Hillsboro, Oregon	Nike
25	Michael Dell	$15.9 B	48	Austin, Texas	Dell
26	Paul Allen	$15.8 B	60	Mercer Island, Washington	Microsoft, investments
27	Donald Bren	$14 B	81	Newport Beach, California	real estate
27	Ronald Perelman	$14 B	70	New York, New York	leveraged buyouts
29	Anne Cox Chambers	$13.5 B	93	Atlanta, Georgia	media
30	Rupert Murdoch & family	$13.4 B	82	New York, New York	media
31	Ray Dalio	$12.9 B	64	Greenwich, Connecticut	hedge funds
32	Charles Ergen	$12.5 B	60	Denver, Colorado	Dish Network
33	Harold Hamm	$12.4 B	67	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	oil & gas
34	James Simons	$12 B	75	East Setauket, New York	hedge funds
35	Laurene Powell Jobs & family	$11.7 B	49	Palo Alto, California	Apple, Disney
36	John Paulson	$11.4 B	57	New York, New York	hedge funds
36	Jack Taylor & family	$11.4 B	91	St. Louis, Missouri	Enterprise Rent-A-Car
38	Philip Anschutz	$10.3 B	73	Denver, Colorado	investments
39	Richard Kinder	$10.2 B	68	Houston, Texas	pipelines
40	George Kaiser	$10 B	71	Tulsa, Oklahoma	oil & gas, banking
40	Harold Simmons	$10 B	82	Dallas, Texas	investments
42	Andrew Beal	$9.8 B	60	Dallas, Texas	banks, real estate
43	Steve Cohen	$9.4 B	57	Greenwich, Connecticut	hedge funds
44	Edward Johnson, III.	$9.3 B	83	Boston, Massachusetts	Investments
45	Patrick Soon-Shiong	$9 B	61	Los Angeles, California	pharmaceuticals
46	Samuel Newhouse, Jr.	$8.9 B	85	New York, New York	Media
47	Charles Butt & family	$8.5 B	75	San Antonio, Texas	supermarkets
47	Pierre Omidyar	$8.5 B	46	Honolulu, Hawaii	Ebay
49	Elaine Marshall & family	$8.3 B	71	Dallas, Texas	diversified
49	Hank & Doug Meijer	$8.3 B	-	Grand Rapids, Michigan	supermarkets
49	Eric Schmidt	$8.3 B	58	Atherton, California	Google
52	Donald Newhouse	$8.2 B	83	Somerset County, New Jersey	Media
53	David Tepper	$7.9 B	56	Livingston, New Jersey	hedge funds
54	Ralph Lauren	$7.7 B	73	New York, New York	Ralph Lauren
54	Stephen Schwarzman	$7.7 B	66	New York, New York	private equity
56	Leonard Lauder	$7.6 B	80	New York, New York	Estee Lauder
57	John Menard, Jr.	$7.5 B	73	Eau Claire, Wisconsin	retail
58	James Goodnight	$7.2 B	70	Cary, North Carolina	software
59	Eli Broad	$6.9 B	80	Los Angeles, California	investments
60	Richard DeVos	$6.8 B	87	Holland, Michigan	Amway
61	Jim Kennedy	$6.7 B	65	Atlanta, Georgia	media
61	John Malone	$6.7 B	72	Elizabeth, Colorado	cable television
61	Elon Musk	$6.7 B	42	Los Angeles, California	Tesla Motors
61	Blair Parry-Okeden	$6.7 B	62	Scone	media
65	David Duffield	$6.4 B	72	Blackhawk, California	business software
65	Herbert Kohler, Jr. & family	$6.4 B	74	Kohler, Wisconsin	plumbing fixtures
65	Thomas Peterffy	$6.4 B	68	Greenwich, Connecticut	discount brokerage
68	S. Truett Cathy	$6 B	92	Hampton, Georgia	Chick-fil-A
68	David Geffen	$6 B	70	Malibu, California	movies, music
70	Micky Arison	$5.9 B	64	Bal Harbour, Florida	Carnival Cruises
71	Sumner Redstone	$5.8 B	90	Beverly Hills, California	Media
71	Dennis Washington	$5.8 B	79	Missoula, Montana	construction, mining
73	Leslie Wexner	$5.7 B	76	New Albany, Ohio	retail
74	Ray Lee Hunt	$5.6 B	70	Dallas, Texas	oil, real estate
74	Charles Johnson	$5.6 B	80	Hillsborough, California	money management
74	Richard LeFrak & family	$5.6 B	68	New York, New York	real estate
77	Dannine Avara	$5.5 B	49	Houston, Texas	pipelines
77	Scott Duncan	$5.5 B	30	Houston, Texas	pipelines
77	Milane Frantz	$5.5 B	44	Houston, Texas	pipelines
77	Jeffery Hildebrand	$5.5 B	54	Houston, Texas	Oil
77	Rupert Johnson, Jr.	$5.5 B	72	Burlingame, California	money management
77	Ira Rennert	$5.5 B	79	New York, New York	investments
77	Randa Williams	$5.5 B	52	Houston, Texas	pipelines
84	Stanley Kroenke	$5.3 B	66	Columbia, Missouri	sports, real estate
85	Leon Black	$5.2 B	62	New York, New York	private equity
85	Gayle Cook	$5.2 B	79	Bloomington, Indiana	medical devices
85	Dustin Moskovitz	$5.2 B	29	San Francisco, California	Facebook
88	Patrick McGovern	$5.1 B	76	Hollis, New Hampshire	media
88	Charles Schwab	$5.1 B	76	Atherton, California	discount brokerage
90	Jin Sook & Do Won Chang	$5 B	58	Beverly Hills, California	Fashion retail
90	Thomas Frist, Jr. & family	$5 B	75	Nashville, Tennessee	health care
90	David Green	$5 B	71	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	retail
93	Robert Rowling	$4.9 B	59	Dallas, Texas	investments
94	Stephen Ross	$4.8 B	73	New York, New York	real estate
95	Bruce Kovner	$4.7 B	68	New York, New York	hedge funds
95	Henry Kravis	$4.7 B	69	New York, New York	private equity
95	Ann Walton Kroenke	$4.7 B	64	Columbia, Missouri	Wal-Mart
98	Gordon Moore	$4.6 B	84	Woodside, California	Intel
98	Daniel Ziff	$4.6 B	41	New York, New York	investments
98	Dirk Ziff	$4.6 B	49	North Palm Beach, Florida	investments

98	Robert Ziff	$4.6 B	47	New York, New York	investments
102	Malcolm Glazer & family	$4.5 B	85	Palm Beach, Florida	sports teams,

Full List: http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/list/#page:1_sort:0_direction:asc_search:_filter:All%20industries_filter:All%20states_filter:All%20categories