HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015

When the midnight bell rings tonight…
Let it signify new and better things for you,
let it signify a realization of all things you wish for,
Let it signify a year of courage and believes,
Wishing you a very...very...very prosperous New Year

Merry Christmas! 2014

Christmas is a Blessed season of hope, joy, and love that engages the whole world! Let us share our blessings to the less fortunate!

Russia Economic Crisis

Russia hiking their interest rate failed to rescue the free-falling rouble and it may lead to full-blown currency crisis. Russian Central Bank had an emergency midnight meeting and raised their interest rates by 6.5%.

Deputy governor of Russia’s central bank Sergei Shvetsov said “Believe me, the choice that the central bank council made yesterday was a choice between the very bad and the very, very bad.” They don't have a choice but push the economy closer to a deep slump by hiking borrowing costs, they just could not sit back and do nothing as the rouble slump further.

Shvetsov added that, it was just a very bad day.

Their strategy to shock the interest rates up from 10.5% to 17% in one go was a one big flop. The Russian currency ended another turbulent day’s trading below where it started and plumbed new record lows against the US dollar. Russia has been spending the past nine months fighting an economic war against the US and Europe's selfish sanctions. This Tuesday December 16 they clearly lost.

Russia should say what the hell and begin dumping US Debts and US dollars and take everyone with him.

Oil Slips a new Affects European stocks

U.S. crude oil sustained heavy loses as it slip further to under $60 a barrel. Brent crude has recorded its five and a half year low and on its way for sharp weekly loss. Europe stocks are glowing red, while German 10-yr bond yield at record low.

Falling crude oil prices have exposed weakness in U.S. high yield markets and increase volatility across asset classes.

The STOXX Europe 600 Oil & Gas Index went down about 1% in early trading, it pulled down the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index to 1,347.45 points. The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index slide by 0.8% to 3,133.36 points with political concerns over Greece also hurting European stocks.

Global crude prices went down in recent weeks because of enormous oversupply, raising fears that deflation could hit economies around the world.

China data added up to more concerns for investors, with factory growth slowing more than expected last month to its second-worst reading since the global crisis and investment expansion hovering near a 13-year low.

IMF: America Slipped to No. 2

The United States of America is no longer the top economy, the country has slipped to number 2. China has just overtook the US economy to become the largest in the world. This is the first time that it happened since Ulysses S. Grant was president, the US is no longer the leading economic power on earth. This is a major shift in world affairs.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced the latest numbers for the world economy. They use the measurement of national economic output in “real” terms of goods and services, China this year produce $17.6 trillion against $17.4 trillion of the US.

China now is responsible for 16.5% of the global economy when you use the real purchasing-power measure, compared with 16.3% for the U.S. This is a major economic earthquake. In 2013, China overtook the US for the first time in terms of global trade.

This was already reported by economist that China will overtake the US but it came sooner than expected. Chinese Government has recently decided to bring gross domestic product calculations in accordance with international standards this has revealed economic activity that had previously gone uncounted.

The IMF used the well-established and widely used economic measure known as purchasing-power parity (or PPP).

IMF reports

Oil price are Down ahead of Opec meeting

Oil futures drop down to a new 4-year lows overnight as Opec members meet in Vienna this Thursday to decide whether to cut production.

ICE January Brent fell $2.27 to $75.48 a barrel (4-year low), while Nymex West Texas Intermediate was off $1.48 at $72.19. Brent crude is down -1.4% at $76.67. WTI is down -0.8% at $73.08.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said yesterday that he believe that the oil market will stabilize itself eventually.

If they don't cut production, obviously the price of crude oil will continously fall. US rising oil production and Opec supplies surplus occured simultaneously with the low demand for it in China and Europe.

Japan's Economy Contracts Into Recession

Japan's (3rd largest economy in the world) economy shrank for the second consecutive quarter that put them in recession surprised the world. Gross domestic product (GDP) went down at an annualised 1.6% from July to September, compared with forecasts of a 2.1% rise. It followed a revised 7.3% contraction in the second quarter, this is the biggest fall since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be calling a snap election to obtain a mandate to delay sales tax rise to 10%, which is scheduled for 2015.

The economy shrank 0.4% in the third quarter from the quarter previous. The data showed that growth in private consumption, which accounts for about 60% of the economy, was much weaker than expected.

Manufacturing Growth in China Falls in October Unexpectedly

BEIJING, November 1 - China's manufacturing growth fall to a five-month low in October along with a slowing economy and a weak global demand. The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fall to 50.8 in October from September's 51.1, according to a survey from the National Bureau of Statistics that was released on Saturday. They also noted that it is still above the 50-point level that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.

The PMI showed foreign and domestic demand fall to five- and six-month lows, respectively, with overseas orders shrinking slightly on a monthly basis.

China's growth fell to 7.3% in the third quarter, its lowest level since the 2008 and 2009 global financial crisis, as the housing market sagged and domestic demand and investments are down.

Chinese government have said that full-year economic growth may fall short of their 7.5% target, but that it would be acceptable as long as inflation stays low and the economy continues to produce jobs.

The World Bank has said that China's growth could possible go down to about 7% next year, they said that Beijing should found a way to promote competition and efficiency through reforms in their labor and real estate markets along with its state-run financial system.

Spain Jobless Rate Drops Economy Recovers

The unemployment rate of Spain went down to its lowest since the end of 2011, Spain's economy is now the fastest-growing in Europe. The jobless rate is down to 23.7% in 3 months up to September. Previous quarter's jobless rate is at 24.5%. Their economy grew about 0.5%.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy go easy on laws about wage cuts and dismissal from work back in 2012 to encourage the hiring of people from companies. However, unemployment rate is still the 2nd highest in the European Union after Greece.

Analyst Diego Trivino said that “It’ll take the economy about 8 years to recover pre-crisis job levels. Unemployment will remain high and close to 18% for the next five years.”

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News forecast a decline in joblessness to 24.1 percent in the third quarter.

The number of jobs rose 1.59 percent from a year ago in the third quarter, INE data released today show. In seasonally adjusted terms, job creation increased from the previous three months, marking the fourth straight quarterly gain.

AMD US Chip Maker to layoff 7% of employees to increase profits

U.S. chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc which is struggling recently announced on Thursday October 16 that they will be reducing their global workforce by 7% to raise profits.

The company's performance for the last three quarters are below the market expectations. Because of this announcement the shares of AMD went down by around 5% to $2.51.

AMD on their 2014 Third Quarter reports stated that they have a Net income of $17 million which is earnings of $0.02 per share.

The earnings balanced for depreciation costs, which is close to 3 cents per share. In the previous year the organization earned $48 million which is 6 cents for every share.

AMD's revenue went down from 1.46 billion to 1.43 billion last year. Besides, the company is expecting its Q4 revenue to decline by 13%.

World stocks fall after Wall Street plunge

World stocks falls this Friday following the cue from Wall Street after it suffered its worst day of the year. The anemic German trade data didn't help and it added worry that Europe is heading into recession.

Asia: Asian markets fell sharply Friday and oil prices plunged. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index tanked  1.3 percent to 15,286.25 points and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.9% to 23,144.81. China’s Shanghai Composite fell by 0.6% to 2,375.28. Seoul fold by 1.3 percent and Sydney and Singapore also declined.

Europe: Markets across Europe traded lower. Analysts are worried that Europe is heading to recession after Germany, Europe's biggest economy, reported their weakest year-on-year export growth in 5 years. The president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, gave no indication of any further monetary stimulus, suggesting in a speech in Washington that governments need to do more on the fiscal side.

DAX of Germany fell 1 percent to 8,921.50. Britain's FTSE-100 was down by 0.8 percent to 6,431.85 and France's CAC-40 slide by 0.7 percent to 4,111.50.

Wall Street is looking weak and is heading for more declines, with the future for the Dow Jones industrial average down 0.1 percent in pre-market electronic trading and the Standard & Poor's 500 flat. On Thursday, the Dow were down 335 points, or 2%, to 16,659, the blue chip index’s biggest drop since a 354 point slide on June 6, 2013. The Standard & Poors 500 slumped 2% to 1,928. The Nasdaq composite slid 2% to 4,378.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude plunged $1.34 to $84.43 per barrel on concerns slowing global economic growth will reduce demand while production stays high. The contract lost $1.56 on Thursday to $85.77. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost $1.17 to $89.19.

CURRENCY: The dollar rose to 107.95 yen from Thursday's 107.87 yen. The euro fell 1 U.S. cent to $1.26.

Hang Seng Index Went Down Amid Hong Kong protests

The Hang Seng index went down 1.3%, after the 1.9% decline on Monday. The total accumulated loss in September is now to more than 7%. There are fears that the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong spread to China that may disrupt business and trading.

The ongoing political problems in Hong Kong and wariness over the potential extent of monetary policy divergence in the United States and Europe are making markets nervous and trading is cautious as the third quarter nears to a close. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 struggled to have gains and US index futures are flat. Eurozone inflation had fallen to 0.3% in September which is its weakest in five years.

Europe inflation went down to a 5-year low that raised expectations of more stimulus from the European Central Bank ECB as a result the Euro went down and stocks gain.

World stocks Slipped to one-month low Ahead of Fed Meeting

Global stock markets closed mostly lower Tuesday September 16, 2014 as investors played it safe in preparation for the Fed Meeting. U.S. central bank may raise interest rates sooner than previously expected

Germany's DAX fell 0.3 percent to 9,620.59 and France's CAC-40 declined 0.5 percent to 4,404.69. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.2 percent to 6,791.57. Wall Street appeared set for more losses. Standard & Poor's 500 futures were down 0.1 percent and Dow futures fell 0.2 percent.

The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS, which tracks shares in 45 countries, was down 0.2 percent after hitting its lowest level since mid-August earlier in the session. In Europe, the benchmark FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 was down 0.4 percent.

Asian shares also slipped. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS shed 0.7 percent to its lowest since late June, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 snapped a five-session winning streak to close down 0.2 percent.

The euro held steady at $1.2937 EUR=, hemmed in a $1.2859-$1.2980 range after a sell-off sparked by the European Central Bank's interest rate cut early this month faded.

The British pound has turned volatile in recent weeks as opinion polls narrowed ahead of Thursday's independence referendum in Scotland, which could spark a sizeable panic in U.K. markets. On Monday, the pound was 0.2 percent lower at $1.6231.

France Failed to Meet its EU budget deficit target

France announced that they will not make the EU-designated budget deficit target next year, they can only aim for 3% of national output only in 2017.

French finance minister Michel Sapin said on Wednesday the budget deficit would only be reduced to 4.3% of gross domestic product in 2015 after a level of 4.4% this year, the latter also a big overshoot of earlier estimates and the first annual rise in the deficit for four years.

He blamed the slow rate of economic growth and low inflation, saying France demanded that the EU “collectively take into account” an economic situation “unprecedented in recent European history”.

Sapin insisted France was not seeking to change or suspend the rules but wanted the deteriorating outlook for growth and inflation this year and next to be taken into account.

Paris has led calls for a more flexible interpretation of EU budget regulations along with Italy, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected any bending of the rules and said on Wednesday euro zone countries should stick to their commitments.

Abercrombie & Fitch Goes Down

Abercrombie & Fitch is now passé, teens are no longer impress with them and it shows on the market. Last Thursday August 28, 2014 they suffer a sharp drop in the shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., after very weak sales as teenagers shop for other brands.

Abercrombie & Fitch sales fell 5.8% to $890.6 million. Revenues decreased much in a year in stores in the United States.

A Significant number of Americans have no retirement Fund

About 36% of Americans don not have money for retirement as stated by Bankrate.com. 69% of 18-29 year-olds have not saved anything, along with 33% of 30-49 year-olds, 26% of 50-64 year-olds and 14% of people 65 and older.

They also stated that Americans who do save are doing it early. Twice as many 30-49 year-olds started saving in their 20s as opposed to their 30s. But 50-64 year-olds were only slightly more likely to have started saving in their 20s than their 30s, and Americans 65 and older were almost evenly split between starting in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

The survey was done by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI).

Russia Bans Agricultural Products from Western countries in response to sanctions

Russia announced Thursday August 7, 2014 that they will be banning imports of meat, fish, milk (milk products) and fruit and vegetables from the United States, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the ban is an order from president Vladimir Putin in their response to sanctions imposed on Russia by the West over the crisis in Ukraine that was hatched by the US.

This just shows that Russia can fight back. Russia can easily get those agricultural products from other countries in Asia and South America which is cheaper and has higher quality.

Experts said that local producers will find it hard to fill the gap left by the ban, as the nation's agricultural sector has continued to suffer from poor efficiency and shortage of funds.

Russia depends heavily on imported agricultural products, their Food and agricultural imports from the U.S. amounted to $1.3 billion last year, based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and in 2013 the EU's agricultural exports to Russia totaled 11.8 billion euros ($15.8 billion).

Russia sanctions hit Europe stocks Hard

Barack Obama's tougher sanctions on Russia hit Europe stocks Hard as investors are studying the effects of it. Both the U.S. and the European Union agreed to expand sanctions on Russia last Tuesday July 29, 2014 which in my opinion is stupid for the European Union since they will lose a lot. The new sanctions targets Russian energy, defense, and finance sectors.

European Union is now restraining access to financing for state-owned banks in Russia. They will also halt on exporting specific goods and technologies to Russia to make it more difficult to develop oil resources over the longer term.

U.S. Treasury said it will ban American citizens from buying new stocks or bonds from three major Russian financial institutions, that will limit their access to U.S. capital markets. The three banks are Bank of Moscow , Russian Agricultural Bank, and VTB Bank.

What's the end game here? Well, U.S. global domination now they have gas through fracking which has health risks I think they want to take Russia markets too.

Stocks closed in a Gain

Dow Jones    17,086.63    -26.91    (-0.16%)
S&P 500    1,987.01    +3.48    (0.18%)
Nasdaq    4,473.70    +17.68    (0.40%)

Dow close in a loss falling by 26.91 points, or 0.2% to 17,086.63 it was affected by Boeing’s disappointing revenue. S&P 500 closed with a record high 1,987.01 up by  3.48 points. The Nasdaq composite rose 17.68 points, or 0.4% to end at 4,473.70.

Apple’s income met expectations, as did Microsoft’s. Biotechnology stocks, were a bright spot, too; Puma soared 295% on trial results for a breast cancer drug. Biogen Idec rose 11% after raising its full-year profit forecast. Ariad gained 15.3%. Intuitive Surgical rose 18%, the most in five years. The maker of robotics used in surgery posted profit that surpassed forecasts. Cubist didn’t get to go along for the ride, though; it fell 4.8%. Blame weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue and several price-target cuts by analysts.

Facebook rose 4 percent in aftermarket trading to 74.05 after the company reported a profit that more than doubled in the second quarter and topped expectations.

Due to Job Gain Dow Average over 17,000

Because of the surging job gains, economic recovery, and central bank support it boost the Dow Jones Industrial Average over 17,000 for the 1st time Thursday. This is Dow's 1,000-point milestone this year. Job hiring in the U.S. accelerated last month.

It rose from the beginning of trading after reports of U.S. employers hired more employees than investors and economists expected. Trading was not heavy, though, and the market closed early because of 4th of July holiday. More than $200 billion was also added to U.S. equities during the week.

Micron Technology Inc. and Netflix Inc. advanced at least 6.9% as the Russell 2000 (RTY) Index recovered nearly all its losses from a 2-month selloff of Internet and small-cap shares. The Dow Jones Transportation Average (TRAN) rallied 1.5 percent to a record on the strength of global manufacturing.

The Dow were up by 216.42 points (1.3%) to 17,068.26. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed by 1.3% to a record 1,985.44. The Russell 2000 jumped 1.6%, reaching an intraday high on July 1. The MSCI All-Country World Index increased 1.4% over four days to reach an all-time high.

It took the Dow 227 days to cross the 17,000 mark after surpassing 16,000 for the first time on Nov. 18. Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment, Walt Disney Co., the biggest entertainment company, and computer-chip maker Intel Corp. led the advance, rising more than 20%.

The jobs report is the latest piece of data to show the U.S. economy continues to improve steadily. Last Wednesday, the payroll processor ADP said private businesses added 281,000 jobs in June, up from 179,000 in May. Also this week, the Institute for Supply Management said the U.S. manufacturing expanded for the 13th consecutive month.

Stocks record-setting levels

Stocks reached more record setting milestones last week, delivering the third consecutive record-high close for the S&P 500 and a new high for the Dow on Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 16,947.08, a 25.62-point change and a record. For the week, it was up 1 percent.

The S&P 500 also hit a record, closing at 1,962.87. For the week, it was up 1.4 percent. Energy stocks were among the best performers. It was the S&P 500's 22nd record close this year.

The NASDAQ gained 8.71 points to close at 4,368.04. For the week, it was up 1.3 percent.

Despite the records, it was largely a static day for the indexes. The National Association of Realtors is expected to release existing home sales for May, and on Wednesday the Commerce Department will release numbers for first-quarter gross domestic product and May durable goods orders. Nike is expected to report quarterly results after Thursday’s close.

Upbeat China Manufacturing Data lifts World Shares

TOKYO (AP) — Most of the worlds stock markets shares are up on Monday due to China's manufacturing data wich shows that it has increased.

An official survey by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing reported that manufacturing in China has expanded for a third month in May. The factory activity is recorded at its highest level as orders keeps on coming in. The monthly manufacturing index increase 50.8 points in May on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity expanding. Last April it is at 50.4 and was the highest level this year. This means that the economic slowdown in China is stabilizing.

In Europe, Germany's DAX rose 0.2% to 9,960.78 and Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.3% increase to 6,862.77. France's CAC 40 shed 0.2% to 4,512.35.

In US Wall Street, Dow futures increase by 0.1% to 16,722 and S&P 500 futures went up about 0.1% at 1,922.30.

Japan's Nikkei 225 were up 2.1% at 14,935.92 after the yen weakened to about 102 to the dollar.

China shares are Up on reform plans

China and Hong Kong stocks soared Monday thanks to Beijing's promises to go ahead and implement a broad range of capital market reforms and a surging commodities sector. However, other markets are subdued after a record close for the Dow Jones industrial average.

China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 2.1% to 2,052.87 which is its highest close since April 24. China announced late Friday that they will let local governments to issue bonds and will hasten the approval process for initial public stock offerings. The news also lifts the Hong Kong's market with the Hang Seng up 1.8 percent to 22,261.61.

Nickel companies rose sharply after the nickel futures index jumped to its highest since February 2012 on supply concerns. Investors and consumers are buying the metal on prospects of a worsening supply shortfall later in the year.

Other markets were more subdued despite a rebound in U.S. tech stocks which pushed the Dow to a record close on Friday. Tensions between the West and Russia over the future of Ukraine continue to provide a negative backdrop for investment sentiment.

China Will Overtake US economy This Year; India Ahead of Japan

The U.S. may soon lose its status as the world's largest economy much sooner than is expected.

China is on track to pass the United State as the number one economy in the world this year 2014 not 2019 as previously expected. India has pass Japan to grab the third place, based on a new study from the world's experts.

The 2011 International Comparison Program (ICP), which works with the World Bank, evaluate economies using as purchasing power parity (PPP) as basis. It is an estimate of the real living costs. The results

The study shows a new and different results about global economy compared with the last update in 2005. It place China's GDP (gross domestic product) at 87% of the U.S. in 2011 and it said that China and India's economies have more than doubled against that of the U.S.

In the 2005 ICP study, it shows the economy of China at 43% which is less than half the size of the U.S.

Quoting from the report:

"The United States remained the world's largest economy, but it was closely followed by China when measured using PPPs. India was now the world's third largest economy, moving ahead of Japan.

The results indicate that only a small number of economies have the greatest shares of world GDP. However, the shares of large economies such as China and India have more than doubled relative to that of the United States."

China's economy grew yearly at 7.4% in the first quarter of this year, which shows that it is slowing. It was at 7.7% increase in the last quarter of 2013. However, their economic growth continues to outpace that of developed world economies.


Check out the video below:

Weibo (China's Twitter) Underperformed in US IPO

Chinese micro-blogging platform like Twitter underperformed and sells fewer shares than expected. Weibo raised $286 million in its initial public offering in New York. The IPO launch for Weibo, which boast more than 100 million active users, was seen as a litmus test to gauge the demand for Chinese Internet stocks ahead of a well anticipated Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. listing.

They sold 16.8 million shares, which is 3.2 million shares short ot the expected 20 million shares. It was sold at $17 apiece, which was at the bottom of the projected range of $17 to $19.

The offering comes in the middle of broad weakness in the U.S. IPO market and a month-long retreat in stock prices that include both Chinese and U.S. Internet companies like Twitter. Twitter shares have fallen 18% since at the start of March.

Facebook Executives Big Payday

Facebook executives must be all smiles because of their huge pay although it's not as high as it was back in 2012.

Based on a SEC regulatory filing, three of Facebook's top executives earned more than $10 million in salary, bonuses and stock awards in 2013. In 2012, three top executives also earned more than $17 million.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's Chief Operating Officer received $16.1 million in compensation last year, she earned $26.2 million back in 2012 which is a huge drop.

David Ebersman Facebook's Chief financial officer received $10.5 million in 2013 ($17.5 million 2012), while Mike Schroepfer, Facebok's chief engineer got $12.6 million in 2013 ($20.7 million 2012). CEO Mark Zuckerberg accepted a merely $1 salary for 2013, well why bother he has a net worth of $27 billion. 

Facebook's ad revenue is up by 72% last year that includes huge growth in mobile ads. Their overall sales was $7.8 billion on 2013, up from $5.1 billion in 2012. 

Carl Icahn wants Ebay to offer PayPal IPO

Investor Carl Icahn has withdrawn his demand for eBay Inc. (EBAY) to spin off PayPal. Now, he wants 20% of PayPal to be offered to the public. PayPal is the online payment service of eBay.

eBay Inc. disclosed in their 4th quarter fiscal 2013 (4QFY13) earnings that Carl Icahn has a 2.2% stake in the company. He had nominate two individuals to the board of directors and he  has aggressively pushed for a spinoff of PayPal. He said eBay was hindering PayPal's growth, and said that they are damaging its competitiveness against current and potential rivals, that includes Apple and Google Inc.

However, eBay reiterated that the success of both eBay and PayPal depend entirely upon each other’s success, and that they were better off together. The war of words and mudslinging between them is still continuing.

eBay has also reacted strongly to Icahn’s accusations about bad corporate governance and the integrity of the board and has rejected his nominees.

Icahn said that PayPal and eBay should maintain close business ties, while forming independent boards. "EBay's 80% ownership of PayPal, and a commercially advantageous long-term contract between the two companies, would preserve any potential synergies," he said.

eBay replied: "We're glad to see that Mr. Icahn now seems to agree that a full separation of PayPal is not a good idea."

Mt. Gox Hiding $600 Million in Bitcoins Hackers Exposed

Hackers targeted the web accounts of MtGox boss Mark Karpeles. MtGox halted their trading last month and then filed for bankruptcy after they found out that $465m in bitcoins had been stolen through a security bug.

Investors are demanding for more information about the events and why they have lost their bitcoins.

The hackers gained complete control of Mr Karpeles personal blog and Reddit account. They used their access to steal very detailed information about trading activity at MtGox and then share it on the net. It is a 716MB file.

Some of the things that they have exposed are:

•     More than one million trades in Excel spreadsheet
•     Entries from MtGox's business ledger
•     Information about its back-office administration software

The hackers included a message: "It's time that MtGox got the Bitcoin community's wrath instead of Bitcoin community getting Goxed."

Problem with Bitcoin Again; MtGox website Down

Bitcoin has encounter another major problem as Tokyo based MtGox website is shutdown because of reported theft claim that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

As of press time (Feb. 25, 2014), if you visit their website https://www.mtgox.com/ you will only see a blank page. Weeks ago, they suspended cash withdrawals due to a bug that allows fraud. 

Good news for Bitcoin Investors, Bitstamp restores service

Bitstamp the largest exchange service of Bitcoin has reinstated their automated customer withdrawals following a problematic closure of their exchanges for 4 days that have affected the value of Bitcoin. The closure is due to a hacking attacked and malware.

Bitstamp  is based in Slovenia, they have stated:

"after rigorous testing, we have restored fully automated processing for Bitcoin withdrawals."

Bitstamp declared last Friday that they have a software solution to fix the issues, it resulted to a 9.7% rise in Bitcoin's price, the price jumped from $580 early Friday to $670.

World Shares Dip as US slowdown joins emerging-market Gloom

World shares sink to almost a four-month low last Tuesday as signs of a downturn in economy of the United States worsen the jitters caused by a sell-off in emerging markets.

A statistics that shows a weaker U.S. factory activity than they have expected had

A report showing U.S. factory activity was weaker than expected had provoked both the dollar and global equities to slump on Monday. European investors remained anxious on Tuesday after another session of sustained selling in Asia.

Futures prices gained a 0.3% rebound for Wall Street later, but a mid-morning attempt at a stabilization failed in Europe. The benchmark FTSEurofirst index .FTEU3 fell 0.4% and headed for a third day of declines. And Europe looked almost rosy compared with Asia.

Tokyo's Nikkei .N225 dropped by 4% in its worst day since June, cementing its position as the worst performer in developed markets in 2014. MSCI's emerging-market index .MSCIEF plunge 1.4%, accumulating since late October at almost 12%.

Charlie Shrem and Robert Faiella of Bitcoin Accused of Money Laundering

US authorities have arrested both Charlie Shrem and Robert Faiella of Bitcoin and they were charged with money laundering.

Charlie Shrem 24, is the CEO of New York base company BitInstant, while Robert Faiella 52, is a virtual currency trader known as BTCKing. US Authorities alleges that the two conspired to sell over $1 million Bitcoins (£603,000) to users of black market website Silk Road. Silk Road was closed down by FBI last year because they were charged of using the site to buy drugs anonymously.

Charlie Shrem was at JFK International Airport in New York on Sunday morning, and Faiella, was

Shrem, 24, was arrested on Sunday morning at New York's JFK International Airport. Faiella, 52, was seized on Monday in his Florida home.

They were accused of conspiring to commit money laundering, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Shrem is also accused of failing to report Faiella's illegal transactions, violating the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires financial institutions to alert authorities of suspicions of money laundering.

US Attorney for Manhattan Preet Bharara said in a statement: "As alleged, Robert Faiella and Charlie Shrem schemed to sell over $1 million in Bitcoins to criminals bent on trafficking narcotics on the Dark Web drug site, Silk Road.

Asian Stocks Dipped After China GDP Data; Nintendo Shares Tumbles

Asian stocks went down after China’s economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter as gains in factory output and investment spending slowed.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., dropped 2.1% in Hong Kong. Nintendo Co. fell by 6.2% in Tokyo, after the maker of Wii video-game consoles forecast a disappointing full-year loss. Ssangyong Motor Co. is up 1.4% after controlling shareholder Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. announced plans to invest US$939 million in the South Korean carmaker.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.2% to 139.22 as of 8:32 p.m. in Tokyo, with six of the gauge’s 10 industry groups falling. The measure finished last week within 2 points of its closing level for 2013 as investors weighed signs of a stronger global economy against concern about equity valuations.

China’s economy expanded 7.7% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. That compares with 7.8% growth in the previous three months.

Industrial production rose 9.7% in December from a year earlier, data showed, down from a 10% gain in November. Retail sales last month rose 13.6% from a year earlier, slowing from 13.7% in November.

Fixed-asset investment in China excluding rural households increased 19.6% in the January-to-December period from a year earlier, when it expanded 20.6%.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.7%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies traded in Hong Kong slid 1.3%, while the city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.9 %.

New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 0.1%. A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the country’s North Island today, shaking capital city Wellington and sending the nation’s currency lower.

Thailand’s SET Index dropped 0.4%. The risk of the country defaulting on its debt rose to the highest level since August after two explosions rocked a protest site where demonstrators are pushing for the removal of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Japan’s Topix (TPX) index lost 0.3%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index decreased 0.2% and Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.6 %. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.5 % and Taiwan’s Taiex index rose 0.3 %.

India’s S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.7% as the nation’s 10-year sovereign bond yield fell to the lowest level since October after the central bank said it will buy debt this week. The rupee weakened.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell less than 0.1%. The measure slid 0.4 % on Jan. 17 as earnings at companies from General Electric Co. to Intel Corp. disappointed investors. U.S. equity markets are closed for a holiday today.

The Asia-Pacific stocks gauge traded at 13.1 times estimated earnings as of Jan. 17, compared with 15.6 for the S&P 500 and 14.1 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Chinese lenders declined in Hong Kong. ICBC slipped 2.1 % to HK$4.78. China Construction Bank Corp. (939), the nation’s second-largest lender by market value, lost 1.8 % to HK$5.39. Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. dropped 1.7 % to HK$3.39.

Nintendo sank 6.2 % to 13,745 yen at the close in Tokyo, the biggest decline since September, after falling as much as 19 %. The company is under pressure to consider exiting production of video-game machines after reporting disappointing sales of its Wii U console and forecasting a surprise loss, said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.

Glorious Property Holdings Ltd. went down 27 % to HK$1.25, its biggest drop on record, after shareholders rejected Chinese billionaire Zhang Zhirong’s offer to take the property developer private.

Among shares that rose, Ssangyong Motor added 1.4 % to 8,060 won in Seoul. Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian carmaker, is planning to invest 1 trillion won in its South Korean unit to develop new models and hire more workers, South Korean President Park Geun Hye said in India on Jan. 18.

Zhongsheng Group Holdings Ltd., a distributor of Volkswagen AG’s Porsches and Audis and Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz cars in China, surged 8.9 percent to HK$12.54 in Hong Kong after the company said it is raising as much as HK$5.6 billion ($722 million) by issuing shares and selling convertible bonds to Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd.

How to Protect yourself from Target's Security Breach

The Breach on Target may have affected more than 60 million customers and it may include you. Target Corp. said last month that they have a security breach that happened between November 27 and December 15, 2013. According to a report, the criminals stole personal information like names, phone numbers, email, and mailing addresses from Target's customers.

The criminals infiltrated Target's main information hub using a malware and then they were able to access the store point-of-sale systems. Once the malware was in the POS systems, it could collect credit and debit card numbers as the cards that were swiped.

Here's what you need to do to take precaution if believe that your information has been stolen:

- Consumers are not responsible for fraudulent credit card charges, and credit card companies are often able to flag the charges before they go through and shut down your card. But if they failed to flag the charges, the credit card companies will take out the charges that you claim are fraudulent. You will need to get a new credit card.

The problem is debit cards since they don't offer the same protections as credit cards. It will be harder to get your money back because the fraud is on the part of Target, they will be the one responsible for paying your back. 

- There's no way to know if your identity have been stolen, since the criminals also stole email address they may send customers with malware using phishing emails to steal more information. It is important to be extra careful in opening emails and clicking links.

- To protect yourself, you should check and monitor your credit card statements carefully for potentially fraudulent charges. Experts say in cases like this when a huge amount of information is stolen, the thieves often sell it on the black market to the highest bidder. As a result, it could be a while before someone tries to use the information for nefarious purposes.

If you see suspicious charges, report the activity to your credit card companies and call Target at 866-852-8680. You can report cases of identity theft to law enforcement or the Federal Trade Commission.

Consumers can get more information about identity theft on the FTC's website at www.consumer.gov/idtheft, or by calling the FTC, at 877- IDTHEFT (438-4338).