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歐洲一遊

美国前財長 Lawrence Summers 於4月29日在 Finanical Times  發表文章指出歐洲在過往未能对政下藥, 引至歐元區病情被未有任何好轉. Summers  更進一步指出,歐洲的問題並非債務大, 而是經济出現負增長的問題.繼續以 Austerity 的方向走下去, 將会是錯误的.

Lawrence Summers 發表文章後15日,  歐元區变天, 首當其沖的歐元現報1.28855,与上星期高位1.3063 相差178点.歐元的回落,進－步引証歐元區的矛盾深不見底.究竟 Austerity 是否应繼績,还是轉变方向行 Growth Pact?  希臘於歐元區的去留?  西班牙挽救銀行大行动的影響? 不論怎樣, 短期的歐元仍然受壓. 預計有待今晩 (5月14日) 才開始的 Euro Finance Ministers Meetings  結束後 与 法国和德国於星期二 (5月15日) 出來解畫後, 才能完全的回穏. 預計這星期的 EURO 1.27600  - 1.29500

意大利和法國本周拍債. 拍債前夕, 西班牙10年息囗卻升至6.03%. 作为決策者, 推低大市, 引錢入債, 從而壓低息囗, 不足为奇. 息囗成为後市－個重要指標. 歐洲消息變幻莫測, 暫避德国的 DAX 和法国的 CAC 为上策. 对於希臘, 市場繼續議論紛紛. 希臘進退兩難, 形成国会分裂局面, New Democracy  坐擁19% 票數, Pasok 則坐擁13 % 票數. 隨着失业率的加大, 人民反窩倒向, 投票给支持洗錢的 Syriza, 令 Syriza 坐擁16% 票數. 国会分裂, 令希臘6月中再大選的機会加大       

不明朗因素持續, 只敢摸石過河, 不敢作大膽假切, 亦不应大手入市, 看淡今晩的德法股市, 中線看淡歐元.  

Paul 

歐洲一遊

歐洲形勢再進入膠着狀态, 由法国總統選舉引起的風波, 令昨天亞洲全線股市下跌. 唯法国卻升1.65%. 德国也跟隨, 最後升0.12%. 隨Nicolas Sarkozy 落選後, Francois Hollande 將執政. 与Sarkozy 的政綱相反, Hollande 的參選政鋼 推行冼錢, 打壓有錢的資本家, 打壓謀取暴利的銀行, 以爭取中下階層的票數. 不談Hollande 的政策能否成功執行, 從數據看, 法国的確有空間再擴大Government Spending, 從而擴大Government Budget去壓低偏高的失业率. 不論怎樣, 短期看, Hollande 的當選应为法国經濟带來一個新景象.

但对於整個歐洲, Hollande的當選卻引起歐元區更多的矛盾. 由Austerity 突變成加大, 加速Government Spending, 的確, 短時間内, 市場難以適应, 加上未知德国意慾如何, 会否支持, 跟隨法国的做法, Euro 的去向, 絶对有待Hollande 下星期訪問完德国才能重上升軌. 短期, 未來四日内, 建議再沽Euro. 1.30500 沽, 1.32000止

 

歐元區成員, 當然不得不提希臘, 西班牙, 意大利, 和葡萄牙.

眼看着高失业率, 但由於過百 % 的Debt to GDP, 加上息口己升至歷史新高, 加大政府開支無期, 希臘, 意大利, 和葡萄牙實朿手無策. 雖然西班牙只有68.50% Debt to GDP, 唯息口己升至5.73%, 都只可坐以待斃.

如果法国和德国在未來由Austerity变成加速Government Spending, 如果美国的評级機構能行個方便, 如果刺激法国和德国本土經濟, 重而伸展至其它歐元區成員, 或許, 歐洲可在不久後, 跳出這個膠着狀态. 唯变數太多, 太亂. 决乏細節下, 試問又怎能麻木的叫好去追買法国和德国的股票?

Paul

The Scream

The Scream sold for a record $120 Million U.S. at auction on Wednesday at Sotheby's, far exceeding pre-sales estimates of about $ 80 million U.S.

via [ City TV ]

金馬倫伙Google巨頭 謀小行星採礦

謀小行星採礦

- a pretty interesting article from HK Yahoo news of 明報
- mining in the ocean floor, deep sea mining, has been a major research in mining industry. Australia, a mining country, could be the leading country to do so. Other countries like Korea/Japan/South Africa are trying to follow. More than 70% of the earth is beneath the ocean. It could be a major break through for these projects to succeed. Despite the technology exists, lots of environmental issues are raised against them. 
- thus, people now have shifted their focus to the outer space with even better potential out there. However, i believe outer space mining would even raise more issues, especially in politics. Which country has the right to mine it? Technology should not be a problem. It will always come down to political and environmental problems.
- Despite political and environmental concerns, deep ocean and outer space mining could be a big hit in the future.

thanks
Lawrence
 

Falling Gold?

Gold falls on worries over Europe, China
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold fell Monday on worrying political developments in the euro zone and data from China showing continued contraction for the country’s manufacturing sector. 
-fell $13.80, or 0.8%, to $1,629.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The metal settled marginally higher Friday at $1,642.80 an ounce but ended the week down 1%. 

worsened situation? 

Thanks

Lawrence

Fiat money from the Museum of Shanghai

Apple Store in Shanghai

Sinopec signs up to hot springs deal back in 2010

BEIJING - Sinopec Star Petroleum Co has signed an agreement with Iceland's Geysir Green Energy (GGE) for the exploration and development of geothermal resources in northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, in a move to make further use of clean energy in the country.

According to the agreement, Enex China, the Chinese operation of GGE, and Sinopec Star will assist local authorities in initiating and compiling a geothermal survey in Aershan.

The parties agreed to cooperate on geothermal development and utilization in the city with an emphasis on building up indoor heating systems, greenhouse agriculture and geothermal electricity generation.

The Inner Mongolia project would be the third such investment in China for GGE.

Premier Wen Jiabao urged the two countries to expand cooperation in the sector of geothermal energy development in September during a meeting with Iceland President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson at the Summer Davos Forum in Tianjin.

Geysir Green Energy, one of the largest geothermal energy companies in Iceland, signed a five-year agreement with China's Sinopec Star in June to develop geothermal energy resources in northern China.

The five-year agreement includes developments in Shaanxi province, Hebei province, Beijing municipality, Tianjin municipality, as well as regions in northeastern China. It's estimated that the projects will cover 30 to 40 million square meters (sq m) eventually.

Geysir has already worked on two Chinese geothermal projects in Shaanxi and Hebei provinces through its subsidiary Enex.

Under the agreement signed in June, the two projects - in the cities of Xianyang and Baoding - will be expanded beyond their current capacity of 140 megawatt-hours. They are operated under a joint venture between Enex and Sinopec Star.

"The timeline would be to build up 20 million sq m of heating coverage in the next three years and further expand to 30 to 40 million sq m in the next five years," Jiang Zhu, managing director of Geysir in China, said earlier.

Sinopec's geothermal capacity can provide heating for 2.6 million sq m of housing in Xianyang, Shaanxi province, and Baoding, Hebei province, which translates into a reduction of 300,000 tons in carbon dioxide emissions, said Zan Qi, general manager of Sinopec Star.

Its current capacity can be expanded to 10 million sq m by 2015, according to the company head.

Sinopec, China's leading oil refiner, started commercial development of geothermal resources this year as part of its strategy of low-carbon economic growth through a joint venture - Shaanxi Green Energy Geothermal Development - between Sinopec Star and Enex.

According to the Ministry of Land and Resources, there are more than 1,000 geothermal energy fields around the country, and nearly a quarter of them have been developed. The country's utilization of geothermal energy ranks top in the world.

Geothermal energy could help cut carbon dioxide emissions by 25 million tons a year, according to the ministry.

via [ China Daily ] 

Facebook Acquired Instagram

I'm excited to share the news that we've agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.

For years, we've focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we'll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram's strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That's why we're committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram's experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook's strong engineering team and infrastructure.

This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

We're looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we're going to be able to build together.

via Mark Zuckerberg Facebook

Tumble Wednesday

Forbes: Gold Socked, Stocks Rocked By Fed's Reluctance For QE3
-Gold dropped significantly 2 days in a row at 11 weeks low, getting closer to $1600/oz price that leads to price drop in most mining companies stocks.
-Drop in Technology and Financial sectors as well.

CBC: Loonie, TSX slump as commodities fall
-Copper and Oil prices drop as well.

Reuters: Yahoo to lay off 2,000 employees

Mining Stocks Approaching Most Oversold Level Since Start of Bull Market

-looks like people are getting into the panic mode and start selling again, especially for mining stocks.






-A chart showing some readings in comparison of the performance of mining stocks (XAU) versus the broader stock market (S&P 500); it resembles what happened in 2008.

- here comes the opportunity?

Thanks
Lawrence

What is Drop Box?

The Libra Full Moon

The Libra Full Moon on April 6 is the first of five SuperMoons in 2012.


A SuperMoon occurs when the Moon is at both perigee—orbiting point closest to Earth and syzygy— in line with the Sun and the Earth. This greatly intensifies the gravitational pull on the tides, tectonic plates and human life. For instance, humans are made of sixty percent water. This gives the Moon tremendous influence over our body, emotions and consciousness.

How will the market react to this event? I wonder.

via UBC Campus Security

Thanks 

Paul

Shifting to more Natural Gas from Oil?

Encana looks for partners Moves comes as natural gas price hits new 10-year low
from CBC article.
oil/gas companies are shifting from more oil focused into gas focused as:
1. "...the price of natural gas dipped to a new 10-year low..."
2. "The low price for dry gas has led companies to concentrate on producing more of what are called gas liquids, such as butane or pentane, which are used as fuels or solvents and which are more profitable."
3.  believe to have a long term potential in future
4. continuing rise of gas price due to political issues between middle east and rest of the world

A representative from Shell in a Money Trade Conference told me that they are shifting into more natural gas focused this year as well. Also, they are setting a higher expectation this year as their new CEO is their former CFO.

Thanks
Lawrence

Graphs Comparison.

6 Months

3 Months

1 Month

1 Month Loser: Hong Kong / Winner: US

3 Months Loser: UK / Winner: Germany 

6 Months Loser: UK / Winner: Germany

The strangest thing is that the UK Pound (GBP) closes at a high level of 1.60331 in the same time being the loser in the stock market in terms of 3 months and 6 months graphs. The market explains this phenomenon to be the Olympic Effect. 

US, the winner in the graph of one month, reflects the strength in the US stock market. The market explains that " Apple " has contributed a lot of effort into the US stock market with improving Economic data. 

Thanks

Paul

Chairman Ben Bernanke Lecture Series Part 3

Lecture Notes:

Thanks
Paul

Quote of the Day

" Inflation is a thief in the night and if we don’t act promptly and decisively we will always be behind.”

AIG and AIA

Another stock that could be active on Tuesday is American International Group(AIG) after CEO Robert Benmosche said in an appearance on CNBC that he expects taxpayers to realize a profit of $5 billion to $10 billion on their bailout investment in the insurance giant.

The shares jumped nearly 3% on Monday to close at $29.06 amid the broad market rally, and it's gained roughly 22% year-to-date. Deutsche Bank lifted its price target on AIG to $40 from $35 on Monday, saying it expects the company to ramp up repurchase activity.

"We believe that AIG is likely to buy back far more of its own shares than the market price would indicate and we believe those share buybacks happen at a pace that is far faster than currently anticipated," said the firm, which has a buy rating on the stock. "We believe $15-20 billion (or even more) worth of buybacks over the next twelve months is achievable as the Treasury and AIG sell off the remaining non-core assets. We believe BVPS book value per share growth in excess of 30% is possible if shares continue to hover around their current price."

Thats y there should be strong flow in 1299.hk today. 

Thanks

Paul

What are they indicating?

- HSBC Preliminary PMI for Mar remaining below 50

- Surprisingly large trade deficit in Feb

- Slowing growth of CPI in Feb ( 3.2% YoY v.s. 4.5% YoY in Jan)

- Reference exchange rate set by PBOC reached record high of 6.2891 RMB/USD on Friday

- GDP growth target cut to 7.5% announced earlier this month

- 2nd RRR cut in Feb since the tightening ended last year





Pete

Jim Rogers: China Slowdown Means Opportunity

“I certainly expect the world to have more of a slowdown in the next year or two, and that will be an opportunity for all of us,” he said.

While Rogers said he was long commodities, he also had a safety valve.

“Right now I’m short emerging market stocks as a potential hedge,” he said.

Rogers also remained long gold and silver.

At $1,600, gold would be a buy, he said, adding that he would increase his position even more at $1,500 per ounce.

“If it got down to $1,200 or $1,300 I hope I’m smart enough to buy a lot more,” he said, noting that it was not a prediction.

“Gold is going to go much higher — and silver — over the next decade,” he said.

via [ CNBC ]

A Gift To My Children. By Jim Rogers

A Good Book To Read By Jim Rogers

Thanks
Paul

LECTURE 2: THE FEDERAL RESERVE AFTER WORLD WAR II

Lecture  Notes: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/files/bernanke-lecture-two-20120322.pdf

Thanks
Paul

4G美夢中移動發得太早 / The Truth of 0941.HK

中移動（ 941）公佈業績前夕，多家投行忽然將中移動未來的 4G發展，當係寶，吹捧一番。此時把中移動的 4G，形容為動人的高增長故事，是過早發美夢，太有童話色彩。

市場份額收縮，增長緩慢，中移動近年面對的挑戰，與它的技術制式有莫大關係。要了解 4G何時可以出台，又是否能夠幫助中移動扭轉劣勢，免不了牽涉一些較為沉悶的技術細節。

首先，是內地 4G發牌未有耐。工信部部長苗圲上周在出席兩會會議期間，接受央視採訪時表示，中國正在進行的 4G規模試驗，已取得進展，但是距離正式商用還需要經過大規模試驗和試商用過程，發放 4G牌照或許還需要兩到三年時間。

起碼要等兩至三年

不是一年半載，是兩至三年。根據工信部過去不斷延遲放行 3G的歷史，恐怕兩至三年的時間表，也會有遲冇早。中移動即將全面進入 4G時代，真係發夢冇咁早。

中移動心急進入 4G時代，是要擺脫目前在 3G市場的下風。工信部 09年破天荒將三種不同制式的 3G牌，分配予中移動、中電信（ 728）及聯通（ 762），使到中國的流動通訊業罕有地同時存在三種制式。因為財政實力鶴立雞群，而被指派肩負起推動國產標準任務的中移動，硬啃了的國產 3G制式，不但未成熟，而且自閉，外國手機廠商的支援又遲又少，中移動客戶可選擇的 3G機種，遠遜聯通和中電信。

以最具指標作用的 iPhone為例，至今都沒有配合中移動推出國產 3G制式機款的打算，使到中移動在 3G業務的競爭上，大為落後。
中移動近幾年積極向各界力銷的 4G制式 TD-LTE，技術上是第三代流動網路的進階版。 LTE分為兩種， FDD-LTE源於歐式、美式 3G，另一種 TD-LTE則是中移動現時國產 3G制式的伸延版。兩者各有優劣， TD的優點是在同一條頻譜可以容納更多數據， FDD較適合手機網絡，語音方面做得比較好，亦相對穩定。

頻譜未定　蘋果唔會賣賬

中移動幾年來努力推動 TD-LTE成為國際標準，就是要抹去自己一家公司獨撐國產 3G制式的劣勢。不過儘管日本、波蘭、中東等地陸續有採納 TD-LTE制式的營運商，但 FDD的發展仍然大為超前， 2012年底前，全球可以提供 4G的營運商，絕大部份都是 FDD，包括美國兩大龍頭 AT&T及 Verizon。

另外，全球不少電訊商，包括香港的營運商在內，即使打算以 FDD及 TD雙軌並行，但業界分析， TD-LTE可能只是飾演大配角，專門給平板及手提電腦等疏導額外的數據流量。
中移動發展 4G所遭遇的另一個難題，是內地頻譜資源之爭。國際通用的幾段頻譜，中移動都未必可以短時間內到手，手機商未必願意特別照顧中移動。

國際幾個常用的 4G頻譜，在內地早已各有山頭。例如 2.3GHz是軍用雷達使用的波段，為免干擾，中移動只能夠在室內使用。至於 700MHZ現時屬於廣電總局，要出讓予中移動，並非易事。工信部官員亦深知問題所在，曾經幾次公開講過要重新劃分頻譜，但部委與部委的深層次矛盾，並不是一朝一夕可以解決。結果，中移動就只餘下 2.6Hz這條高頻的頻譜，以及現有的 3G頻譜，有機會轉為商用 4G頻譜。

以為在 4G時代，可以重新跟隨國際主流制式之一，手機款式問題得以解決，但頻譜問題，隨時令中移動繼續承受單打獨鬥之痛，蘋果等手機大廠，仍然會以國際的 4G波段為頻譜標準。最近美銀美林的報告便估計，蘋果盛傳於 9月推出的 iPhone 5，就算有 4G，亦未必關照到中移動，事關中移動 4G到底落戶哪條頻率，仍是懸念，而中移動建網亦需時，蘋果不會輕易將 iPhone供應給網絡未完善的電訊商。
目前，歐美盛行的 4G頻譜都與中移動有落差，蘋果無理由會為一個客，增加整體額外成本。何況，「顧全大局」一向不是蘋果的作風（最新推出的 iPad的 4G制式，也只先照顧美加的電訊商）。只要看看手執六億客戶的中移動，與蘋果談判推出 3G國產制式 iPhone，仍然沒有結果，就知道蘋果的一貫立場，所以我認為美銀美林的估計的確合情合理。

3G客被搶　盈利添壓

外界又曾憧憬，美國高通（ Qualcomm）將於今年第二季推出的萬能芯片，即是支援所有 3G及 4G制式的芯片，會改變國產制式被孤立的局面。但美銀美林引述行業消息指出， TD部份測試仍然需時，看來中移動要寄望高通的科技可以解困，還要等一段時間。

我預見，中移動未來兩年在吹噓 4G的同時，將不斷被同業搶去 3G新客， 2G減價競爭越來越激烈，亦會開始反映在業績上。中移動的市盈率雖然只有 12倍，在未來兩年，核心盈利甚至有倒退的可能。中移動未來兩至三年面對的挑戰，也許還是被低估了。
外界對中移動 4G的寄望，似乎來得太早了。事實跟幻想，往往有段距離。

via [ Apple Daily ]

LECTURE 1: ORIGINS AND MISSION OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE

Lecture Notes: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/files/bernanke-lecture-one-20120320.pdf

Thanks Paul

Ben Bernanke Back To School

In March 2012, Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will deliver a four-part lecture series about the Federal Reserve and the financial crisis that emerged in 2007. The series begins with a lecture on the origins and missions of central banks, followed by a lecture that will discuss the role and actions of the Federal Reserve in the period after World War II. In the final two lectures, the Chairman will review some of the causes of, and policy responses to, the recent financial crisis, focusing specifically on the actions of the Federal Reserve.

Lecture 1: Origins and Mission of the Federal Reserve

Watch live on March 20, 2012 12:45 p.m. ET

Lecture 2: The Federal Reserve after World War II

Watch live on March 22, 2012 12:45 p.m. ET

Lecture 3: The Financial Crisis and the Great Recession

Watch live on March 27, 2012 12:45 p.m. ET

Lecture 4: The Aftermath of the Crisis

Watch live on March 29, 2012 12:45 p.m. ET

Live video of each lecture will be available to the public at http://www.ustream.tv/federalreserve . 

Transcripts and video recordings will be made available following each lecture. 

Thanks

Paul

Why Apple Will Hit $1,650 by the End of 2015?

Why Apple Will Hit $1,650 by the End of 2015

-few days ago, a posted video suggested Apple will hit $700 mark. Now, people are talking about 3 years down the road.
-the article has its points, in an ideal scenario?  i can foreseen Apple is going to diversify its technology slowly and get into iTv and iAd and iPay... but hummm... too optimistic? 
-interesting to read some of the comments people wrote:
 >"What is extraordinary is that with this huge growth potential analysts consensus forecasts are for Apple’s earnings growth to slow dramatically, to o% in 2015. This was Zacks’ consensus EPS growth forecasts on 27 Feb 2012:
Sep. 2012: 54.7%
Sep 2013: 11.7%
Sep 2014: 7.5%
Sep 2015 0%
Current Apple share price is based on these ridiculously conservative forecasts, which just goes to show why Apple’s shares are such good value"
>Apple could do a stock split. 
>"this BULL market is artificial, have you seen the volume, most of the volume is in $AAPL"

Thanks
Lawrence Tsang

The most controversial questions posed to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at his lecture to George Washington University students today focused on one topic: gold.
While acknowledging the long history of the gold standard and its importance in the development of central banking, Ben Bernanke made crystal clear that we're never going back to the gold standard.
He explained that the argument supporting the gold standard has two parts: 1) the "desire to maintain the value of the dollar"—implying a "desire to have very low price stability, and 2) an aversion to allowing "the central bank to respond with monetary policy to booms and busts," explaining that "the advocates of the gold standard don't want to give the central bank that power."
But regardless of the impetus for these arguments, he explains, a return to the gold standard now "would not be practical for monetary reasons or policy reasons":
Bernanke pointed out various reasons that there's simply "not enough gold" to sustain today's global economy. First, extracting gold from the ground is a costly and uncertain endeavor. There is a limited amount of gold in the world, and it just doesn't make sense in the modern world for central or commercial banks store large amounts of gold in vaults. The size of the gold supply and inconvenience of the metal renders it too impractical to keep up with the pace of global commerce.
Second, while advocates of the gold standard are right that prices remain stable in the long-term, "on a year to year basis, that's not true." Limited supplies of gold—or changes to the supply of gold—cause prices of goods to be volatile in the short-term, regardless of long-term price stability.
In a rebuttal to the second part of that argument, Bernanke explained, "the commitment to the gold standard is that no matter how bad [the economy gets] we're going to stick to the gold standard."
He pointed to a substantial tome of economic research finding that the gold standard aggravated the Great Depression, saying "the gold standard was one of the main reasons the Great Depression was so bad and so long." The inability of the Federal Reserve to control monetary policy—open up credit, address unemployment, and drive business demand—left it with much less power to avert or mitigate the decade-long crisis. Bernanke added that countries not tied to the gold standard also had a much easier time getting out of the Depression. In the modern world, he said, "we've seen that problem with various kinds of fixed exchange rates."
Ultimately, he concluded that the gold standard hasn't really worked since the end of WWI. "Economic historians argue that after World War I the labor movements became much stronger," so we consequently saw, "much more attention to employment and business cycles." That prevents our economies from suffering exaggerated boom and bust cycles, and allowed the Fed to mitigate the effects of the recent financial crisis.
Sorry, Ron Paul. We think Bernanke just destroyed your position.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/ben-bernanke-explains-why-well-never-see-another-gold-standard-2012-3#ixzz1pkqlDsFF

China fear hits miners.

CANADA STOCKS-TSX down as China fear hits miners, Viterra slips
-a slight slow down in China with a decline in expected growth in 2012
-therefore, less demand in commodities? copper/gold/oil and gas/potash seem to be the major ones to sustain a developing country. 
-few major commodities companies stocks dropped.

Thanks
Lawrence

Apple May Climb Above $700 as IPad Sales Begin, Analysts Say

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-14/apple-may-climb-above-700-as-new-ipad-sales-begin-analysts-say.html

Pete

Wen's last press conference

• "We will step-up exchange rate reforms," he promised, adding that recent activity in Hong Kong currency derivatives markets signaled the value of the yuan "is possibly near an equilibrium level".

• "Economic development has also produced unfair distribution, a lack of trust, graft and other problems," Wen said. "I'm deeply aware that solving these problems needs the advance of political system reform, as well as economic system reform, and especially reform of the leadership system of the party and state." 

• Many analysts said it seemed unlikely that any major reforms would be delivered ahead of a leadership handover, which is scheduled to begin towards the end of this year when Hu and Wen retire from their posts in the Communist Party.

• Wen said home prices, which have started to decline after soaring 10-fold in the last decade, remained "far from returning to reasonable levels".

• Softer property prices have stopped local authorities from selling land to raise money needed to service debts. Economists believe that some 20 to 30 percent of those loans may to turn sour, which could cripple the banking system. But Wen said the debt risks were manageable.

Read more :

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/14/us-china-npc-wen-idUSBRE82D07320120314

Pete