IMF Says World at Risk of 'Economic Derailment’

Global Economy Faces Rising Risk of Economic Derailment - IMF

The International Monetary Fund – IMF has advised that the global economy tends to face a rising risk of economic derailment. David Lipton, Deputy Director has called for urgent steps to increase global demand. He had mentioned in his speech to the National Association for Business Economics in Washingtonrecently, that they are clearly at a delicate juncture. He warned that the IMF’s latest reading of the global economy indicates once again a weakening baseline.

His comments have come up after weaker than expected trade figures from China portrayed that the exports had plunged by a quarter from a year ago, in February. With the second largest economy of the world often stated as `the engine of global growth’, weaker global demand for its goods seems to be read as an indicator of the general global economic climate. IMF have already mentioned that it would be likely to downgrade the present forecast of 3.4% for global growth when it tend to release in April, the economic predictions. International lender had warned last month, that the world economy seemed to be highly susceptible and had called for new efforts to spur growth.

Downside Risks Clearly Pronounced

Ahead of last month’s Shanghai G20 meeting, in a report, the IMF had mentioned that the group need to plan a co-ordinated stimulus programme since the world growth had reduced and could be derailed by market turbulence, the oil price crash as well as geopolitical conflicts. In his speech in Washington, Mr Lipton had stated that the burden to lift growth falls more squarely on advanced economics which tend to have fiscal room to move.

He added that the `downside risks are clearly much more pronounced than earlier and the case for more forceful and concerted policy action has become more compelling. Moreover risks seemed to have increased further with volatile financial markets and low commodity prices creating fresh concern about the health of the global economy’. A swing of weak economic data had lately been added to these apprehensions and the US ratings agency Moody’s had downgraded its outlook for China from `stable’ to `negative’.

Time to Support Economic Activity

The rising unemployment is also another worry as Beijing tends to slowly shift its economy from over dependence on manufacturing and industry to more services and consumer spending. The economy of China seems to be growing at the slowest rate in 25 years which has resulted in considerable uncertainty in the financial markets all over the world leading to sharp falls in commodity prices.

Lipton has commented that `together with bank repair wherever needed and with adequate targeting on infrastructure, this approach could create jobs and probably reduce public debt-to-GDP ratios in the medium term by motivating nominal GDP as well as support credit and financial stability. On strengthening the global outlook, this coordinated action could hurry healing in the banking sector and prevent continent liabilities for the government which appear in case of inaction.

 Moreover it would also have considerable positive spill-overs to susceptible emerging economics comprising of commodity exporters which would be unable to participate in the fiscal expansion, directly. He added that at the recent G20 meetings in China, he thinks that `there was broad recognition of these risks and priorities and now is the time to support economic activity and put the global economy on a sounder footing’.

40 Banks Test Bitcoin Tech for Trading Bonds

Consortium of 40 Banks Test Using Blockchain

A consortium of 40 main banks comprising of Goldman Sachs and Barclays tested a way to trade fixed income assets by using the blockchain, which is a technology that tends to strengthens bitcoin in an attempt to emphasize how serious the biggest lenders in the world are regarding the technology.

R3 CEV, the financial technology firm that had brought the banks together last year to work on blockchain applications had made the announcement recently.Blockchain tends to work like a large decentralized ledger for the digital currency bitcoin, records each transaction and stores the information on a global network which cannot be tampered. But most of the experts agree that the technology does not seem close to mass adoption and is in the trial stage.

The technology could be applied to wide selection of uses and especially for financial firms; the most interesting parts would involve the clearing of trades. Experts state that the blockchain would enable a huge number of transaction settlements in a matter of minute or even in seconds together with it being very secure since each transaction tends to be recorded and is unable to be tampered. Presently some trades tend to take day in the settling process.

Smart Contract – Computer Code

Supporting this is the idea of `smart contracts, a computer code which would only perform when the terms of a contract are fulfilled. For instance, a trade may be carried out once the money from the buyer is received,all of which would be done automatically and there would not be any dispute since the same has been recorded in the blockchain.

A number of distributed ledger companies had worked with the banks for this test namely Chain, Eris Industries, Ethereum, IBM and Intel. The institutions had done an assessment of each smart contraction solution to trade fixed income of the company.

David Rutter, R3 CEO and a former executive at London based electronic brokerage ICAP had stated in a statement that `this development tends to support the belief of R3 that close collaboration among global financial institutions and technology providers will create significant momentum behind the adoption of distributed ledger solutions across the industry. R3’s website mentioned that its mission is `building and empowering the next generation of global financial services technology’.

Blockchain – Probable Disruptive Force in Finance

These technologies represent a new frontier of innovation and would dramatically improve the way the financial services industry operates, in the same way as the advent of electronic trading decades ago delivered huge advancement in efficiency, transparency, scalability and security’.Banks do not seem to be the only ones interested in technology. Nasdaq used the blockchain, last month to enable international resident of Estonia to vote in shareholder meeting while they were abroad and tested the blockchain for trading shares.

Bitcoin could have risen to more than 35% this year, though it is the fundamental technology behind the crypto currency which is moving the world’s main banks. Blockchain has been indicated as a probable disruptive force in finance by main institutions which tend to claim bitcoin as just the opening act in something bigger.

How Robots will Kill the 'Gig Economy

Gig Economy – Cease to Exist in 20 Years

According to new report from venture backed start-up Thumbtack, an online marketplace which tends to help skilled workers locate customers, the so-called gig economy would cease to exist in 20 years. The study has forecast that logistic companies from start-ups like Uber right to tech giants like Amazon would be replacing drivers as well as delivery workers with autonomous vehicles and drones.

The study discovered that extremely skilled workers like lawyers and accountants would no longer be assured of jobs at big firms - will be the new gig economy workers. Jon Lieber, chief economist at Thumbtack and Lucas Puente, an economic analyst at the firm had mentioned in a report that `the gig economy known will not last.

 In the past few years, analysts and reports have obsessively focused on transportation technology platforms such as Uber and Lyft and delivery technology platforms like Instacart and the workers required for these on-demand services. The fine focus on low-skilled `gigs’ tends to miss a larger story. The rather commoditized, interchangeable services seem to supplement income, not generating middle class lifestyles. Besides, these jobs are probably going to be automated over a period of time and performed by self-driving cars and drones'.

Autonomous Driving Technology – Reduce Death/Transportation Affordable

Uber had been frank with regards to its plans in replacing drivers with robots over a period of time. An Uber spokesperson informed CNBC that `autonomous driving technology has the ability to drastically reduce deaths in cars, making transportation even more affordable. That it is an exciting future and one Uber plans to be part of, but that transition for technical, regulatory as well as adoption reasons, at scale, would take some time. The spokesperson stated that `in the meanwhile, the focus is providing flexible work opportunities for many people in the world as possible’.

According to Oxford academics Car Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne, around half of U.S. jobs seem to be at high risk of computerization over the next 20 years. Their discoveries had been published in 2013 and are unchanged, but there are some limitations like resistance from stakeholders and relative wage levels which would determine if a job is in fact automated, according to Osborne.

Estimates on how many jobs robots will ultimately displace would vary widely. Forrester analyst J.P. Gownder mentioned in a report that `forecast of 16% of jobs would disappear owing to automation technologies between now and 2025.

Supervised by `Robo-Boss’ by 2018

However that jobs equivalent to 9% of present day’s jobs would be created. Physical robots need repair and maintenance professional, one of the several job categories which would grow around in a much automated world’. From the global point of view, over 3 million workers would be supervised by a `robo-boss’ toward 2018, as predicted late last year by research and advisory firm Gartner.

Osborne has stated that jobs which are least likely to be automated initially are those which need a high level of creativity or emotional intelligence. For instance, school teacher jobs seem to be comparatively safe due to the elevated level of social intelligence needed to teach as well as mentor children.

 The Oxford study found positions which seem mostly susceptible to automation comprise of telemarketers, watch repairer, tax preparers, insurance underwriters, cargo and freight agents and others. In each category, some jobs would be automated very soon. Osborne states that `this gig economy is being pursued via digital platform and is actually getting individuals to automate themselves out of a job by delivering data back to the platform which could be utilised in providing an automated substitute.

Asian Shares Slip, Though China Ekes Out Gain

Shares of China Eked Gains

Shares of China have eked out gains though most of the Asian markets have reviewed some of their latest rally, with traders assimilating weaker than expected trade data from the mainland. A market analyst at IG, Angus Nicholson had informed sources that plenty of the latest rally in stocks had been driven by major reversal or short covering in financials, materials as well as energy. However, he mentioned that momentum decreasing in the other sectors have now been falling in these sectors also.

The trade data of China that was released at about 10.30 a.m. SIN/HK time was also not positive for sentiments with the February exports dropping to 25.4% in terms of U.S. dollar, while imports fell by 13.8%, with the drops wider than anticipations. Since 2009, the decline in exports had been the largest on year drop according to Reuters.

 The Chinese markets ended higher with the Shanghai composite ending up 2.57, or 0.1% at 2,899.91 with the Shenzhen composite up 8.89 points or 0.51% at 1,750.56. Nicholson had noted that the foreign exchange reserves data of China, released overnight would probably have totally reassured markets around the prospect for further Yuan devaluation.

Official Data Released – Marked Fourth Straight Month of Decline

An official data released recently after the market close, portrayed foreign currency reserves on the mainland dropped to $3.2 trillion towards the end of February, declining from $3.23 trillion the earlier month, thus marking the fourth straight month of decline. However, the pace of outflows slackened substantially and the February figure was in line with analysts’ potentials portrayed in Reuter’s poll.Among other markets, benchmark of Japan, Nikkei 225 closed down 128.17 points or 0.76 percent at 16,783.15 extending Monday’s drop of 0.6%.

Reuters had reported revised government data, before the market opened, showing Japan’s economy had shrank at an annualized 1.1% in the final quarter of 2015 which was revised up from a initial reading of 1.4% contraction. Through the Korean Strait, the Kospi had closed down 11.75% or 0.60% at 1,946.12 while in Hong Kong; the Hang Seng index had closed down 148.14 points of 0.73% to 20,011.58.

Main Miners – Australia, Given up on Early Gains

The main miners in Australia had given up on early gains with Rio Tinto closing at 2.60% BHP Billiton less by 1.83% with iron ore producer Fortescue dropping 9.42% after surging almost 24% on Monday. Fortescue had announced before the market open that it had been in talks with Vale in order to work together to blend iron ore to meet up the demands of its consumers.

 According to the announcement there was a possibility of seeing the Brazilian miner take a 5-15% minority stake in Australian miner. On the other hand, Gold miners saw an uptick with the shares of Newscrest closing at 1.30% while Alacer Gold added 0.72%. HK/SIN time spot gold traded high at $1,269.57 for an ounce though below the Friday peak of $1,279.60, which was the highest since February 3, 2015 as of 3.13 p.m. U.S. gold for April delivery had gained overnight by 0.5% to $1,269.90 an ounce.

Suzuki Motor, Japanese automaker had closed at 3.76% after a report in the Nikkei stating that the company would issue 200 billion yen in zero-coupon convertible bonds, using most of the profits in spreading its setup in India.

Bitcoin Could Help Cut Power Bills

Accenture a multinational service and consultancy firm has created a smartplug which tends to leverages blockchain technology in seeking the lowest tariff possible thus saving money by reducing the electricity costs whenever it is possible. Research recommends that the technology behind the Bitcoin virtual currency could be helpful in reducing electricity bills.

A blockchain based smart plug has been created by technologist at Accenture which tends to adjust power consumption every minute. The blockchain is the automated ledger which tends to underpins Bitcoin, tracking where the coins are spent and swapped. The plug shops for various power suppliers and would sign up for a low-priced tariff it comes across one.

Accenture has mentioned that the smart plug can help people on low incomes who may pay directly for power. According to Emmanuel Viale, head of the Accenture team at the firm’s French research lab which tends to work on the plug, has commented that the smart plug tends to adapt the basic Bitcoin blockchain technology in making it more active.

 Rather than just resolving and confirming the records of transaction, Accenture work helps in changing the blockchain in permitting it to negotiate deals on behalf of its owner. Mr Viale has mentioned that `it is about how one puts more business behaviour or logic in the blockchain and that this essentially embeds a `smart contract’ in the digital ledger.

Searches for Energy Price When Demand is High/Low 

The smart plug model tends to work with the other gadgets in the house which monitors the power use. It tends to search for energy prices when the demand is high or low and then utilises the modified blockchain in order to switch suppliers if it finds a cheaper source.

Mr Viale had said that so far the Accenture system was just a proof of concept though it could help several people on lower incomes who seem to pay for their power through a meter. With the capability of shifting suppliers, it could save this group with over £660m in the UK annually,recommend Accenture research. Blockchain-based system which tends to act on behalf of its owner could also be useful as the Internet of Things becomes more universal according to Mr Viale.

He adds that handling of several various gadgets could be complicated without a much centralised system. A mobile services expert at analyst firm CCS Insight, Martin Garner stated that blockchains were beginning to crop up in various areas inclusive in share trading, fishing rights databases as well as land registry claims. He said that they had two main attractions for the Internet of Things.

Substantial Ventures in Exploring/Investing in Blockchain 

He further added that they avoid dependence on any particular supplier or ecosystem. Some users seem to have concerns regarding the possible dominance of key internet players developing for instance, the Google-of-Things or the Amazon-of-Things.

The second attraction is a means of enabling autonomous trading between things like the appliances in your home being set up to re-order supplies from a pre-approved list of suppliers. As the leading independent services firm in the world, Accenture has made substantial ventures in exploring as well as investing in blockchain or distributed ledger technology recently.

Moreover, the company also became one of the investors in blockchain-startup, Digital Asset in January. A new partnership following its investment with Digital Asset would also see blockchain solution together with ideas offered and organized to the global client base of the consulting firm. Accenture has been servicing 42 of the top 50 financial institutions worldwide, thus making its blockchain attempt, a substantial one to the Bitcoin technology.

Pensions still the most effective savings option, says IFS

Pension – The Most Tax-Efficient Kind of Savings

Pensions still tends to be the most tax-efficient kind of savings, inspite of the tax changes, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies – IFS. It seems to be the big winners since they are subject to various tax advantages. The pension contributions are taken out of untaxed income resulting in paying into a pension that actually lowers the income tax bill.

Moreover, the returns on your investments are not taxed though one tends to pay tax on withdrawals. Besides this one tends to take 25% of the pension as a lump sum without having to pay a penny in tax. According to IFS, `pension saving is in effect subsidised’.

 The IFS had made a comparison of saving in a pension with buying a house, putting funds in an Individual Saving Account –Isa, or investing in buy-to-let property. The foremost motive is that under the auto enrolment programme, employers tend to match employee contributions resulting in workers getting 60% increase to their pension, according to IFS. According to the report, since the employers seldom make equivalent offers matching employees’ contribution, for instance in an Isa or a house, it tends to make savings in a pension more attractive comparative to other assets.

Personal Savings Allowance – PSA

The research took into accountthe new Personal Savings Allowance – PSA as well as the changes to dividend taxation which will be effective in April and probable changes to pension taxation. The government had earlier mentioned that any such changes would motivate people in saving. When the PSA tends to become effective, basic rate taxpayer would not pay tax on the first £1,000 of their saving income while higher rate taxpayers would be getting an allowance of £500.

IFS have mentioned that due to this, the 16m people would stop paying any interest on their income savings and 95% of the people would no longer have their savings taxed. But the report has stated that the change would weaken the incentive for several people in saving in an Isa.

It stated that for most of the people, the ordinary bank account would in effect be tax-free just the same way as cash Isas and there would be little incentive in saving in a cash Isa. Moreover, the PSA would also mean an end to tax deduction at source on the saving accounts that would be of certain help to pensioners.

The research also observed that people desiring to invest in property would make a much better tax-efficient choice by investing in their own home instead of becoming buy-to-let landlords. The report further states that `investment in owner occupied housing is significantly more tax-advantaged than the investment in property to-let, prior to recently announced changed to the treatment of mortgage interest for landlords.

There have been plenty of talks regarding further changes to pension that would be announced in the next month’s Budget. The present thinking seems to be that the government would be setting a flat rate of around 30% and this would essentially represent a further increase to pension saving for basic rate taxpayers who tend to currently enjoy tax relief of 20% on their contribution.

 However, it will dip the appeal of pensions to higher rate as well as additional rate taxpayers who tend to enjoy tax relief of 40% and 45% presently.

The current thinking seems to be that the government will set a flat rate of somewhere around 30%. This will actually represent a further boost to pension saving for basic rate taxpayers, who currently enjoy tax relief of 20% on their contributions, but will dent the appeal of pensions to higher rate and additional rate taxpayers who enjoy tax relief of 40% and 45% at the moment.

China Replaces Securities Regulator Xiao Gang

Xiao Gang Replaced by Liu Shivu – China Securities Regulatory Commission

China has removed the head of its securities regulator after a stormy period in the country’s stock market, by appointing a top state banking executive in his place since leaders tend to move in restoring confidence in the economy. The announcement on the official Xinhua news agency recently trails a string of assurances from senior leaders succeeding the Lunar New Year holiday which China would be supporting in slowing economy as well as steadying its shaky currency.

According to media report, Xiao Gang has been replaced by Liu Shivu as the chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission – CSRC as it tried to tackle main volatility in its stock markets. Mr Xiao had been in charge when China’s market had crashed in mid-2015 at one point and the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges had lost around 40% of their value. Mr Xiao who had become the CSRC chair in March 2013 had faced criticism for mishandling the crisis. Under his supervision, the new circuit breaker mechanism of China which was designed to limit any market sell-off had been organized twice in January in reaction to the stock market drop though was then scrapped totally after it had cause additional panic.

Departure of Xiao – Not a Surprise

Zhang Kaihua, fund manager of Nanjing-based hedge fund Huyang Investment stated that the departure of Xiao was not a surprise after the recent stock disaster and this is a role which is vulnerable to public criticism since most of the Chinese retail investors are intended to lose money in such markets. Xiao and the CSRC had come under fire as Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets of China had collapsed to about 40% within a few months last summer.

It was a further blow when a stock index circuit breaker that had been introduced in January to limit stock market losses had to be deactivated after four days of use since it was responsible for worsening a sharp selloff. The online media had labelled Xiao as `Mr Circuit Breaker’. According to Reuter’s reports, Xiao 57 had offered to resign after the `circuit breaker’ failure.A Shanghai-based analyst at Capital Securities Corp, Zheng Chunming had informed Bloomberg News that someone had to shoulder the responsibility after the suspension of the circuit breaker system.

Liu – Experience in Financial Sector

Mr Liu 54, had been the vice governor of China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, prior to becoming the chairman of the Agricultural Bankof China, which was the country’s third largest lender in 2012. On Weibo, the Chinese micro-blogging site, commentators recently played on Mr Liu’s name speculating if his tenure would bring about a `bull market’ of leave a `dead fish’ behind. Zhang stated that `Liu had a lot of experience in financial sector though there would be some policy uncertainty in the short term since it would take at least six months for the earlier banker to get used to his new role.

The managing director, sales trading at Haitong International Securities Group in Hong Kong, Andrew Sullivan said that removing Xiao had been mainly expected but by bring in the AgBank chairman; they are really not bringing anybody with a fresh market perspective but a political insider. Liu had spent major part of his career at the People’s Bank of China escalating to deputy governor, holding the post from 2006 till he left in late 2014 to head the AgBank.

Bitwalking Dollars - Digital Currency Pays People to Walk

Digital Crypto-Currency Generated by Human Movement

Digital crypto-currency generated by human movement has been launched and the bitwalking dollars would be earned by walking which would be different from other digital currencies like Bitcoins that are mined by computers. A phone application tends to count and verify the user’s steps with walkers earning around 1 BW$ for about 10,000 steps. Originally user would be given the opportunity of spending what they earn in an online store or trade them for cash.

Nissan Bahar and Franky Imbesi, the founders of the project have drawn over $10m of initial funding from mostly Japanese investors in helping to launch the currency as well as in creating the bank that tend to verify steps and the transfers.

Murata, the Japanese electronics giant is working on a wearable wristband which would be providing a substitute of carrying a smartphone and show how many BW$, the wearer seems to earn. Shoe manufacturers are also ready to accept the currency where a UK high street bank is in talks in partnering with the project at one of the biggest music festivals in UK, next year. The founders tend to have a track record of disruptive technology which could support developing nations as much richer ones.

Bitwalking Scheme Help in Transforming Lives

Last year, Keepod, a $7 USB stick which tends to act like a computer had been launched in Nairobi, Kenya. The purpose of Bitwalking is to take the benefit of the trend for fitness trackers by providing an extra incentive in keeping fit.

The global scheme intends to partner with sportswear brands, health services, environmental groups, health insurance firms as well as possibly advertisers who may be offered exclusive visions in the targeting audiences. In the near future, employers could be invited in taking part in a scheme which would be offered to their employees in encouraging them to stay fitter with the currency they tend to earn converted and then paid along with their salaries.

The average person in developed nations would be earning about 15 BW$ per month, though it is anticipated that in poorer countries, where the people would have to walk further for work or school or just to collect water, the Bitwalking scheme could help in transforming lives.

Education on How to Use Money in Additional Opportunities

The power Bitwalking could make in the developing countries is not lost on the founders and is one of the main reasons for creating the currency. In Malawi, one of the African nations, tojoin at the time of the launch, the average rural wage was just US$1.5 per day.

Karen Chinkwita, business advisor runs Jubilee Enterprises providing business guidance to young people in Lilongwe and has commented that there could be a temptation for some to walk rather than work. Most of them would prefer to earn more money and would do both. With some education one can teach them how to use that money in creating additional opportunities.

 Carl Meyer, Bitwalking manager for Malawi, has established the first two Bitwalking hubs in Ligonwe and Mthuntama wherein local people would be trained on how to trade the BW$ online for US$ or the local currency, Malawi Kwacha. Bitwalking has not formally released the procedure utilised in verifying steps but states that it uses the handsets’ GPS position and the Wi-Fi connection for the purpose of calculating distance travelled. The phone reports the type of movement and speed as measured by the accelerometer.

Tax and Encryption Rows Cast Shadow on UK Tech Boom

Tax/Encryption Commotion between Tech Giants/Government

Digital minister Ed Vaizey MP has stated that tax and encryption commotions between tech giants and government need not dominate the growing tech industry of UK. Vaizey had debated that critics in tech had not appreciated the intention of the bill, on the same day when critics on the Joint Select Committee had reported that the extension of digital surveillance powers of the government had to be fundamentally reconsidered.

He had informed WIRED that he `wanted it to be in partnership between the government and tech and often there is a binary approach. If one talks about the security services requirements, in a digital age, to be safe, you will be riding roughshod over protected principles in tech’. UK tech is a central part of the economy informed Vaizey emphasising that the latest Tech Nation survey which showed in digital was faster by 32% when compared to the rest of the economy.

Tech giants including Apple and Google said that the Investigatory Power Bill seemed to outlaw end-to-end encryption utilised by messaging services inclusive ofWhatApp and iMessage. Other critics have informed that the bill is `sloppily’ written and comprises of areas of considered vagueness

Digital Industries – Annual UK Turnover of £161 Billion

In response, Vaizey had repeated the assertion of the government that the Prime Minister David Cameron had not wanted to ban’ encryption but maintain powers over its use as well as the companies which tend to employ it. Vaizey had mentioned that they had the same debate on adult content and saw nothing wrong, viewingit as the role of a politician.

He would not let kids to read hard-core pornography when it is printed and that they need to do something to ensure that they don’t stumble across this on the web and should work together. He feels that they have made progress on that and hopes to have the same debate with regards to security. As the debates tend to carry on, the industry continues to grow. As per the annual Tech Nation report, formed by the government-funded Tech City UK industry group, together with the revolution charity Nest and GrowthIntel, digital industries tend to have an annual UK turnover of £161 billion

Digital Jobs Created in Unexpected Areas

Tech seems to be growing across the UK, not just in London; with the turnover growth for instance higher in Southampton than London as per Tech Nation. The details of the report as in 2015 had highlighted continued issues beyond the South East on England with infrastructure, access to funding as well as availability of expertise.

Chief executive of Nesta, Geoff Mulgan had mentioned in a report that it showed a number of digital jobs created in unexpected areas. He had also mentioned that the government had to do more in supporting the growth of tech in health, new industries like the Internet of Things as well as the ability of the UK in the development, retaining high value companies to work on artificial intelligence and machine learning.

He further added that `for all those though there is a challenge over the question of whether government is really using its policy power, purchasing power sufficiently, policy plays a big role in FinTech’ He is of the belief that several people in government would acknowledge that there is not the same equivalent alignment yet.

Buybacks Could Be the Stock Market Savior This Year

Dividend Issuance/Share Buybacks – Post-Financial Crisis

Companies may have to fend for themselves considering the gradually bleak in stock market returns. In 2016, retail investors have been bailing on stocks and pulling money from the domestic equity funds each week due to which the S&P 500 was down by 8% year till date before the market plunge on Monday.

This was a bad indication for a market that historically takes its full year hint from how it transpired earlier and companies seemed to be willing to step into the emptiness. Dividend issuance together with share buybacks were the major tailwind for the post-financial crisis bull market that would turn 7 years old in a month had it had managed to hang on through the present volatility.

Short historical valuations accompanied with cheap money had given rise to pushing companies to return trillions to the investors. Due to the blackout period over for buyback declarations, Wall Street is hoping for big things. Chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman Sach, David Kostin, had mentioned in a note his team had sent to client recently, that early indication are that 2016 buybacks are `on pace to be one of the fastest starts on record’.

Companies Expressed Continued Commitment to Buybacks

So far the total announcement was $63 billion scarcely a month into the year, with Kostin considering that it is just the beginning. He comments that companies have usually expressed a continued commitment to buybacks, aware that the market weakness could be a reason for increase instead of narrowing their purchases.

 In 2015, buybacks had amounted to $724 billion, a year which had ranked second only to 2007 in total volume as per market data research firm TrimTabs. The year set a second record for several corporate money, utilised for buybacks as well cash takeovers at $1.41 trillion.A comparison with 2007 would not essentially promise well for the market taking into consideration that was the year wherein the house-led bull market started to crash.

However, the conditions of the market were different, where optimism was running high and equity allocations almost at 70% in 2007. Investors were cautious of the stock market with Goldman’s indicator putting sentiment at 2 on a scale of 1 to 100. Kostin had informed that it indicates a likely market rise of 4% in the following month depending on corporate buyers filling the void left by retail investors.

Management Optimism Important to Market

He further added that management optimism was important to the market since corporates tend to represent the main source of demand for U.S. equities beyond the present environment and the increase in buyback activity after 4Q earning season usually matches with the out performance of large stocks of buyback.

Classifying single companies, he said tend to poise for significant buybacks comprising of Gilead Sciences that specified $12 billion and 3M with $10 billion. Besides this, GE is composed for a hugs cash deployment for an unspecified mix of buybacks as well as dividends.

On the other hand Apple, Microsoft and Qualcomm too have substantial cash on hand to give on buybacks. Though the flow in buybacks has matched the sharp run-up in stock prices, investing money especially towards companies which tend to use their cash in that way has faced mixed success.

After the sell off, stocks may actually be cheap

Sell Off Wall Street - A Silver Lining

Wall Street is finally breathing a sigh of relief after the S&P 500 Index managed to hold on to its first weekly gain of the year. One prominent market watchers had commented that inspite of signs of strength; stocks are still in store for a thundering reset. The ruthless sell off Wall Street had faced during the last few weeks could have a silver lining.

 According to FactSet, the S&P 500 Index is presently trading at around 15 times the earnings; analysts tend to expect constituents companies to post over the next year. This reading is known as `forward P/E on the popular measure of valuation which is compared to a 15 year average forward P/E ratio of 15.7. The conclusion collected from historical comparison is based on the timeframe taken into account.

 It is worth observing, in this case that the current valuation level tends to represent the premium to the average of 14.3 observed over the past five and ten years periods. Since the firm in the meantime is probably using various earnings estimates, IQ of S&P Capital current forward valuation number is 15.7 though they also observed that was under the 15 year average.

Broad Market Trading in Abyss

David Stockman who was the former OMB Director under President Ronal Reagan, is of the opinion that the broad market has been trading in the abyss after breaking beyond 1,870 in 2014, since then with a meagre one percent return. He had commented that they had been there for 700 days and had something like 35 attempts at rallies where all have failed for the `four no’s’. For him the four no’s comprise of a combination of no escape velocity, no earnings growth, no dry powder from the central bank and no reflation.Accompanied together, it leads him to the belief that the U.S. economy seems to be on the point of a full blown recession.

He further adds that they are getting to a point where the chickens are coming home to roost and there is no help from the central banks and that is why these rallies seem to get weaker as well as shorter. He is of the belief that the overflow of easy money from central banks all across the world has shaped a credit crisis which is so severe that it could probable take years to come out of what it has created.

High Powered Money – Enormous Expansion of Credit

Market watchers have pointed out a stunning $21 trillion collective balance sheet built up all around the globe, up from 2.1 trillion only 20 years back. He has said that this is high powered money which has resulted in an enormous expansion of credit as well as financial valuation bubble.

Stockman has observed that the speedy increase of credit has caused debt all over the world of over $225 trillion and has mentioned that they `are at peak debt’. Stockman, at this point considers that the hands of the Fed could be tied up after being on zero interest rates for almost a decade. There is nowhere to go but negative and it is time to get out of the market completely.

The S&P 500 has been progressively in correction territory in 2016and the large-cap index closed the week at around 11% from its 52 week high. However Stockman is of the opinion that it could plunge another 30% from its present trading which takes it back to levels not envisaged since 2012.

3 Investments You Must Make For Your Restaurant

When you own a restaurant, your focus is on product quality and customer service. That means that you are sure to keep essential equipment and materials around that help you to serve your customers better. Instead of hoping that things go smoothly from day to day, you should invest in a few little business tools that will allow you to maintain your level of service, and protect your business at the same time.

Liability Insurance

Responsible business owners have liability insurance to protect their businesses in case something were to happen. But when you run a customer service business like a restaurant, you can never anticipate what may happen on a daily basis. While it is financially smart to get the basic liability insurance you need to satisfy legal requirements, you should consider getting extra liability insurance for the sake of your business and your customers. Additional liability insurance will give you peace of mind when the weather creates slip and fall hazards on your sidewalks, or when a promotion you try goes bad and people get hurt.

Critical Spare Parts

Most restaurants keep spare parts scattered here and there throughout the building, just in case something goes wrong. But what would you do if your main oven went down and you did not have the part you needed to bring it back up to speed again? You could go to a parts website and get to the section that says "click here for overnight service," but you are still losing out on an entire day's worth of business.

To keep your restaurant going, you need to do a critical spare parts assessment and then keep at least one of those spare parts on hand at all times. This requires an extra financial investment on your part, but the payoff comes when having these parts available prevents you from losing thousands of dollars in business in just one night.

Power Generators

While it is unrealistic to expect to be able to power a whole night's worth of business on a single generator, it is possible to serve the customers you have to maintain your high level of service. When the power goes out, most people expect a restaurant to shut down and send customers home. But when your restaurant can finish serving meals that have been ordered before shutting down due to a power outage, then that enhances the restaurant's reputation.

Part of offering excellent service is being prepared for just about anything. When you invest in necessary services and equipment for your restaurant, then you will enhance your reputation as a reliable and top-notch business.

Amnesty International report links batteries used in phones to child labour in Congo

Child Labour in Mines – Extract Material for Lithium-ion Batteries

Children as young as seven are being exploited by crooked mining companies in order to extract material utilised in making lithium-ion batteries which power the smartphones and tablets, according to Amnesty International and Afrewatch. The report found that around 40,000 children worked in mines all over the Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC in 2014 for 12 hours and were paid between one and two US dollar per day.

Authors mentioned that the major electronic companies of the world like Apple, Samsung and Sony have failed to stop this. Their report, state that `this is what we die for: Human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo power the global trade in cobalt. The agencies inform they were able to connect the sale of the material utilised in the making of the batteries, cobalt, to mines, which used child labour.

Mark Dummett, Amnesty International business and human rights researcher had commented that `the beautiful shop displays and marketing of state of the art technologies are obvious to the children carrying bags of rock and miners in narrow man-made tunnels with a risk of permanent lung damage.

No Safety Gears Provided

Millions of people appreciate the benefit of new technologies but seldom tend to ask how they are made. It is high time that the big brands take some kind of responsibility for the mining of raw materials which makes their profitable products.

Over half of the cobalt of the world is from the Democratic Republic of Congo with about 20% of which is extracted utilising a practice called artisanal mining wherein the workers seem to use their bare hands or basic tools like chisels in order to mine materials. No safety gears like hats, protective clothing or masks have been provided for them.

On examining the investor documents of Huayon Cobalt, the group found that after the companies had processed the material, it was sold to three battery component manufacturers, namely Ningbo Shanshan and Tianjin Bamo from China and L&F Materials from South Korea.The manufacturers in turn sold the material to battery makers that tend to supply technology and car companies

Several Accidents Go Unrecorded

Sixteen multinationals had been contacted by Amnesty International which was listed as direct or indirect customers of battery manufacturers mentioned in the report which sourced processed ore from Huayon Cobalt.

They included Ahong, Apple, BYD, Daimler, Dell, HP, Huawei, Inventec, together with Lenovo, LG, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, Vodafone Volkswagen and ZTE. Mr Dumment had informed news.com.au that other than the use of child labour and the awful conditions put up by the workers, he found it shocking that the big multinationals who have combined global profits of about $125 billion had failed to have systems wherein they could trace cobalt.

Dummet mentioned that when Amnesty had contacted the companies, they were told that they had their policies in place regarding human rights abuses and use of child labour. However when pressed further regarding the cobalt they were unable to provide specifications According to the report, around 80 artisanal miners had died in southern DRC during September 2014 and December 2015. But the true figure is not known since several accidents tend to go unrecorded with the bodies left buried in the rubble.

Mr Dummet had stated that both organisations are coordinating with the multinational to investigate where their cobalt was extracted from and to be more transparent regarding their suppliers.

What markets are really worried about

Dull Start for Global Stock Market

It has been a dull start for the global stock market this year and the first week has been described as the worst start ever, for Wall Street. During the first week of 2016, Frankfurt and Tokyo had dropped by double digit percentages while in New York the drop was 9% and in London 8%. However, China was the eye of the storm where the key index in Shanghai had lost 19% of its value during the same period.

The prices of commodity had also stumbled where crude oil prices for the first time in almost 12 years, had slipped to below $30 per barrel. Share prices, at times had followed oil downwards which is likely for shares of the companies in oil business. However, for the others it tends to reduce costs leaving consumers with more to spend on their products.

There seems to be a slowdown in emerging growth of the economies and China is an exceptional example though certainly not the only one. The instability had begun in the Chinese market, spreading all around the world.The Chinese stock market in itself does not seem to be the ultimate international issue.

Currency under Pressure

Though it is a serious issue for Chinese investors who had purchased shares while the prices were high, they have lost a good amount of money. However there are few of them to have a possible impact on consumer spending in China.

 There are also few foreign investors in Chinese market withthe possibility of serious losses inflicted beyond the country as direct significance. Besides the stock market, the currency, Yuan has also been under pressure and has lost its ground this year though not on the stock market scale. In the first week, the onshore, official rate dropped down by almost 2%. Some had indicated that there could be a possibility of the decline in the Yuan revolving into a full blown loss of confidence.

The financial market pressures on China are in portion at least an indication of the extensive and much discussed economic slowdown. Since the Chinese economy seemed to lose some space there has been some uncertainty on how well the authorities would handle the process. China would certainly need to slow to an added sustainable pace, but would the path tend to be a rocky one with an abrupt slowdown?

Significant But Catastrophic Slowdown in Growth

The official figures so far indicate a significant though not catastrophic slowdown in growth. According to official figures published, after three decades of 10% average growth, China seemed to slow down to 6.9% last year.The new assessment of the economic outlook of IMF tends to predict a further easing of the pace to about 6.3% this year and in 2017 around 6.0%. It records that China has experienced a faster than presumed slowdown in exports and imports, partially reflecting weaker investments as well as manufacturing activity. The apprehensions regarding economic outlook are not only over China. The new forecast of IMF, downgrades the outlook for the emerging as well as the developing countries and the ones which tend to stand out are Brazil and Russia. This is partly regarding the low prices of oil together with the other commodities as well as the political issues, external for Russia and domestic for Brazil. Besides, this there is also a substantial downgrade in the forecast for South Africa.

IMF Cuts Global Growth Forecast As China Growth Slows

IMF Cuts Forecast of Global Growth

Recently the International Monetary Fund – IMF had cut its forecasts of global growth for the third time in less than a year, as the new figures from Beijing indicated that the Chinese economy in 2015, had been at its slowest rate in a quarter of a century. The IMF, to support its forecasts had cited a sharp slowdown in China trade and weak product prices which were hammering Brazil together with the other emerging markets.

 The Fund had forecast that the world economy would tend to grow at 3.4% towards 2016and 3.6% in 2017; both the years would be down by 0.2% point from the earlier estimates made last October. It has stated that policymakers need to consider means of bolstering short-term demand.

The updated forecast of the World Economic Outlook came as global financial markets were shaken by worries over the slowdown of China as confirmed by official Chinese data on Tuesday together with the plunging oil prices. IMF had maintained its earlier China growth forecasts of 6.3% in 2016 and 6.0% in 2017 representing sharp slowdowns from 2015.

Concern over Beijing’s Hold on Economic Policy

According to China’s report, growth for 2015 had hit 6.9% after a year wherein the world’s second biggest economy had suffered huge capital outflows, a slip in the currency as well as summer stock market crash. There was a rise in shares in Europeand Asia and the dollar gained after the China data had been released, while investors expected greater effort by Beijing to spur growth.

 There was concern over Beijing’s hold on economic policy which had shot to the top of global investors’ risk list for the year 2016 after drop in its stock markets as well as the Yuan fuelled worries that the economy would be quickly weakening.

The Fund also mentioned that a steeper slowing of demand in China seemed to be a risk to the global growth. The weaker than expected Chines imports as well as exports had been weighing heavily on the other emerging markets as well as commodity exporters.

Major Risk Aversion/Currency Depreciation/Dollar Appreciation

Maurice Obstfeld, IMF economic counsellor had mentioned in a videotaped statement that `they do not see a big change in the fundamentals in China compared to what is was seen six months ago though the markets are certainly very spooked by small events there that they find it hard to interpret’ He further added that the global financial markets seems to be overreacting to the oil prices drop as well as the risk of a sharp downturn in China and it was critical that China is clear about its overall economic strategy inclusive of its currency.

At a news conference Obstfeld had stated that `it is not a stretch to suggest that markets may be responding very strongly to rather small bits of evidence in an environment of volatility and risk aversion. The oil price puts strains on oil exporters, but there is a silver lining for consumers worldwide, so it is not an unmitigated negative’.

The IMF report states that continued market upheaval would also tend to help in dragging growth lower if it heads to major risk aversion and currency depreciation in the emerging markets. Besides this, other risk would comprise of further dollar appreciation and acceleration of geopolitical tensions.

RBS Cries 'Sell Everything' As Deflationary Crisis Nears

RBS Warns Clients – Brace for Cataclysmic Year/Global Deflationary Crisis

According to RBS, clients are advised to brace for a cataclysmic year as well as a global deflationary crisis, cautioning that main stock markets would fall by a 5th as well as oil would plunge to $16 per barrel. It was informed by the bank’s credit team that the markets tend to be blinking stress alerts similar to the stormy months prior to the Lehman crisis in 2008. In a client note it had stated to `sell everything except high quality bonds. This is about return of capital, not return on capital.

In a crowded hall, exit doors are small’. Bank’s research chief for European economics and rates, Andrew Roberts commented that the global trade as well as loans have been contracting nasty cocktail for corporate balance sheets and equity earnings which are mainly threatening,considering that global debt ratios have touched record highs.

He further added that `China has set off a main correction and the same is going to snowball. Equities as well as credit have become quite dangerous and we have hardly begun to retrace the `Goldlocks love-in’ of the last two years’. Mr Roberts is hopeful that the Wall Street and European stock would fall by 10 to 20% with a deeper slide for the FTSE 100 taking into account its high weighting of energy and commodities companies.

London Vulnerable to Negative Stock

He has commented saying that `London is vulnerable to a negative stock. All the peoplewho are `long’, oil and mining companies are under the impression that the dividends are safe, will discover that they are not safe at all. The oil prices of Brent will tend to continue to slide after breaking through an important technical level at $34.40, as claimed by RBS, with a `bear flag’ and `Fibonacci’ indication focusing to a floor of $16, which was a level seen last after the East Asia crisis in 1999. The bank has stated that a paralysed OPEC appears unable to respond to a deepening slowdown in Asia with swing region now for global oil demand. RBS predicts that yields on 10-year German Bunds would drop to an all-time low of 0.16% in an effort to safety and would break zero while deflationary powers tend to tighten their grip. The policy rate of European Central Bank would fall to -0.7%.

China – Epicentre of Global Stress

RBS had first delivered its grim warnings in November for the global economy though events had moved much quicker than dreaded. It had estimated that in the fourth quarter, the US economy had slowed to a growth rate of 0.5% and had accused the US Federal Reserve of `playing with fire’, by increasing rates. It stated that there has already been severe financial tightening in the US due to the rising dollar’.

 When the ISM manufacturing index appears to be below the boom-bust line of 50, it seems unusual for the Fed to tighten. Moreover, it is also more shocking to do so after nominal growth of GDP had fallen to 3% and since 2014 been trending down. RBS has informed that China is the epicentre of global stress where the debt driven expansion had reached saturation and the country is now facing a surge in capital flight and is in need of a dramatically lower currency. This next leg of the rolling global drama, according to them is to play out wild and frantically

World Stocks Drop But Europe Shrugs off Oil Slide, China Money Market Surge

World Stocks Dropped – Fall in Oil Prices/Rush in Chinese Yuan Deposit Rate

World stocks, on Tuesday fell for the fifth straight day anchoring near its lowest level in over two years making investors upset due to the fall in oil prices as well as a rush in offshore Chinese Yuan deposit rates. However, the European stocks recovered from initial weakness due to a rally in the retail segment. Strong seasonal updates had been posted by British companies in particular, lifting the FTSEuroFirst 300 up from three month low.

According to analyst, the People’s Bank of China had earlier compelled overnight, deposit rates in Hong Kong to 66.8% in order to overcome the heavy downward pressure on the Yuan, which was a severe measure essential in cooling the Chinese market volatility Deflation cautious investors in Asia avoided equities and pushed the value of the safe-haven Japanese yen, as oil slipped closer to dropping below $30 a barrel for the first time in 12 years.

Chief market analyst at Avatrade in London, Naeem Aslam informed that `investors in Europe are shrugging off some of the anguish around the Chinese market sell-off and showing some resilience today despite the up and down swings in Asia.

Slowdown in Global Economy/Volatile Chinese Markets

The FTSEuroFirst 300 was up 0.6% at 1,342 points, at 0900 GMT, only its second rise this year while Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.5%, Germany’s DAX was up 1.1% and France’s CAC 40 rose by 0.8%. The shares in Morrison’s rushed 12%, while Debenhams climbed 15% and Tesco rose 5%. The broadest gauge of world stocks of MSCI was however down 0.2% and had not risen since Dec 29. MCSI’s broadest index of the shares of Asia-Pacific outside Japan was 0.4% lesser just cautious of its lowest level in 4 years.

 Since the beginning of 2016, it is down more than 9%. Japan’s Nikkei had closed at 2.7 lower at its lowest level in about a year while U.S. futures aimed to a fall of about 0.3% at the open on Wall Street. With the investors still recovering from last year’s drop in global community prices together with sharp sell-off in Chinese markets, 2016 seems to have brought more pain for investments portfolios by way of developing slowdown in the global economy together with volatile Chinese markets. Beijing by setting another firm fix for its currency has eliminated the gap between offshore and onshore Yuan exchange rates.

China Continues to Inspire Degree of Stability

This was intended to encourage state banks in buying up Yuan in Hong Kong, driving up the overnight deposit rate fixing to 66.8%. According to Mitul Kotecha, currency strategist at Barclays in Singapore, `China continues to inspire a degree of stability after the sharp volatility at the start of the month by announcing stable to firmer fixings.

 Tighter liquidity had contributed to a squeeze on long USD/CNH positions and would mean investors tend to be guarded of shorting CNH in the near term’. Weakness in the commodity market from the start of the year had showed no indication of easing though as Brent and U.S. crude futures had fallen around 2% to new 12-year lows and both played with a break below $30 a barrel.

Money market futures are beginning to price out this year, the opportunity of multiple hikes in rates by the Federal Reserve, with just around 50% chance of a second hike price. Futures had been fully pricing in two rate increases at the beginning of the year.

China Stocks Recover, Asian Markets Breathe Sigh of Relief

Shares Recover in Asia- Chines Yuan Stable for 3rd Day

Trading seemed to remain uneven on the mainland stock market though shares recovered in Asia recently as the Chinese Yuan become stable for the third straight day. The Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +0.17% increased 0.4% to 3028.04 though traded up and down as around 1% from its earlier close.

The main stock market of China dropped 5.3% last week amidst fear that the authorities of China seemed to be unable to stem the latest chaos in the financial markets as well as s slowdown in the larger economy. In another place, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -O.14% dropped 0.1%, South Korea’s Kospi SEU, -0.21% was flat while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, -0.84% rose 0.2%.

Where the markets seemed to be closed for national holiday on Monday in Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average NIK, -2.71% tracked Monday’s regional losses dropping 2%. The Chinese Yuan sustained to steady on Tuesday but the central bank directed the slightly weaker currency. Previously, the Chinese authorities had fixed the Yuan at 6.5628 per U.S. dollar when compared with 6.5626,on Monday.

Offshore Currency Hits Strongest Level

China’s onshore Yuan that could trade 2% below or above the fix, had traded last at 6.5733 per dollar, weaker than 6.5695 at Monday’s close and the currency had reached a five year low of 6.5956 last week. Offshore currency had hit its strongest level from the beginning of the year on Tuesday and had trade last at 6.5705.

The offshore Yuan, which tends to trade freely, on late Monday, strengthened by around 1.5% to 6.5827 to one U.S. dollar when compared to the earlier close, which helps to contract the gap between the onshore and offshore Yuan to its tightest in two months. Traders are of the opinion that the offshore Yuan is strengthening since state-owned Chinese banks tend to buy the currency, which is an intervention by central bank of China.

This had limited the supply of the offshore Yuan, thereby tightening the liquidity and sending the rate at which the Hong Kong banks tend to lend Yuan to each other overnight, to a record high of 66.815%, on Tuesday. The rate soared to 13.4% on Monday from 4% on Friday.

According to Tommy Ong, head of Wealth Management Solutions at DBS in Hong Kong commented that `a lot of channels bringing money from onshore to offshore market has been blocked which also tends to contribute to the shortage of Yuan in Hong Kong.

Beijing Continues to Affect Global Market Mood

The regions’ stock gains Tuesday, tends to offer some absolution after the chaos of the earlier week caused by a faster than anticipated depreciation of the Yuan, when the currency had fallen 1.5%. The stock regulators also seemed to come in last week in order to calm the trading stating that they would do away with a circuit breaker which tends to aggravate selling and extend a ban on big shareholders from selling the shares.

However, China shares are presently roughly just 3% above their summer low on August 27 after a 3 month retreat wiped trillions of U.S. dollars from the marketplace, sparking a global selloff. Traders as well as analysts state that they are uneasy since Chinese authorities oppose with the prospect of increasing the capital outflows from the world’s second largest economy.

Market analyst at Brokerage IG, Bernard Aw,in a morning note had written that `for now, it may seem like the tweaks that Beijing makes will continue to affect global market mood.

Replacement Compressor Parts

You do not want to mess around trying to find a place to buy air compressor parts when you need them. Ideally, you want to already have a place to buy them in mind so you can quickly get the parts you need. Unfortunately, finding a store that sells quality air compressor parts is not as easy as you might think. There are definitely many stores that sell this type of parts. However, it would be making a huge understatement to say that they tend to vary greatly in the quality of parts they sell. What makes a good air compressor parts store? Here are a few things you should be looking for.

1. Do they carry obscure parts?

You may have an older air compressor that has not been sold for many years. If this is the case, you might find it very difficult to find the parts you need when you need to make a repair. This is why it would be a big help if you could find a store that caters to people like you who own older pieces of equipment. This will allow you to avoid spending endless hours online trying to find a specific part for an air compressor that is 30 years old. It would make your life much easier to be able to drive to your local store and buy it.

2. Competitiveness

How much does the store charge for their parts? Are their prices somewhat close to the other air compressor part stores in your area? Finding a store with a large inventory is all well and good. However, this will not matter very much if they charge an arm and a leg for the parts they sell. The trick is the find a store that has the parts you want and sells them for competitive prices. It is often hard to find a combination of these two things. You can find a nice selection of Joy air compressor parts for sale online.

3. A knowledgeable staff

You might go to an air compressor parts store having no idea what type of parts you need. After all, not every person is an expert when it comes to this sort of thing. In these cases, it is very important that the employees at the store are knowledgeable. They need to be able to guide the customer and recommend the specific part that is needed.

How to Create a Scalable Payments System

Creating Effective Fintech Payment System

Generating an effective fintech payment system is much more than removing the credit cards while indulging in transaction. There are several companies, in fintech which tends to build scalable payment methods and as per EY; the largest market in UK fintech is payments which is around £8bn a year.

However payment could be difficult and in order to make money, a new payment source is essential to scale rapidly for economics to function. A proposition is essential which could be considerably convincing for consumer as well as the merchant together with various other players in the value chain. Payment tends to work and though it is not impeccable by any means, all the same it tends to work.

Firstly, one needs to add value to a payment method in order to make an effective business. It was observed that just doing payments seems great though not good enough. Given the option of paying at a restaurant with the phone through contactless, rather than the credit card, the difference would not be big, and one will still need to go through the process of asking for the check and view it. Instead of paying with credit card, one would be paying with their phone and the incentive of using the phone is not strong.

No Need of Paper Vouchers/Loyalty Program

In one intends creating a compelling payment experience, like trying to comprehend the full process, one needs to understand where the discomfort points lies for the customer. For instance the technology has been integrated into restaurant apps enabling consumers in making payments for the total bill amount or split the bill with others through Apple Pay, PayPal or a registered card on a MyCheck account, without the need of waiting for the staff.

Moreover, it also permits sophisticated incentives together with loyalty programs that are designed to personalize the dining experience for the customers. When a customer tends to sit in a restaurant, they would want to check the menu and they can do that through the app of the restaurants which is powered by MyCheck and when he intends to redeem his coupons or offers or even participate with loyalty program, they could do the same through the app.

There is no need of paper vouchers or loyalty cards and the accumulation together with redemption seems to be automatic.

MyCheck Platform is Integrated

And when you want to pay, you don’t need to ask for the check since the MyCheck platform is integrated and one can pay as well as split the bill by utilising the smartphone.When it comes to monetizing an app it is based on what the app intends to achieve. Several of the payment apps have not been generating revenue and the merchant is paying them.

The amazing thing with regards to MyCheck is that they are in partners with chains that they are working with and the partners’ success becomes their success. It is not too difficult in persuading customers in using the app for the first time. The big challenge is on how one makes them loyal, how you tend to drive repeated visits and at the same time provide an improved customer experience.

According to their data, it has been observed that when a user tends to use the app more than twice, they get hooked to it. They need to be convinced to use them twice and then they tend to get used to the experience and appear to like it.

Get Your Disabled Crane Back on Track

When you deal with overhead cranes, you're talking big equipment for big jobs. Your machines have to hold up under extreme conditions and they're taking on heavy loads with every job. Wear and tear is unavoidable. When you face a breakdown in the middle of an important job, it can have major repercussions. Any delays affect your crew, your client, and the long list of jobs that are waiting for you down the line. Time is money. The more you waste waiting to get your overhead crane fixed, the more you lose. If you can't live up to expectations, it can damage your reputation. You need to get your overhead cranes up and running as soon as possible to keep everything on an even keel.

Be Proactive

The best way to avoid costly delays is to be proactive. Be prepared for common issues by stocking up on extra parts. Have a go-to source like www.ProservAnchor.com that you can count on when you are in a jam. When problems crop up, don't hesitate to get online or call customer service to fill your order as quickly as possible. If you're fortunate, you'll catch minor problems before they become major hassles. Have a back-up crane that can be put to work while another machine is getting repairs. Don't let a delay derail your entire job.

Don't Forget Routine Maintenance

Your overhead cranes need attention just like your everyday vehicles. You need to inspect all of your machines regularly to look for any signs of damage. Take good care of your equipment and replace parts on a regular basis before you run into trouble. Have a good repair person on staff or someone you can call in a moment's notice.

Consider Refurbishing Your Equipment

If your overhead cranes are older, your business could benefit by modernizing your machines. You can enhance your equipment and make it more effective. Overhead cranes have to be tough enough to perform. Regular upgrades are good alternative when you don't want to invest in a new machine. You can make the most of what you have by making mechanical, structural, or electrical improvements. If you don't know how to make improvements, take your overhead crane to the experts to give it an overhaul, ensuring that you will be able to meet your deadlines when push comes to shove.

Some Common Mistakes People Make When Planning for Retirement

Focus on Dreams of Retirement 

Retirement could be some several years ahead but how you handle your finances would determine how efficiently you could manage your post-retirement life. Focusing on dreams of retirement could be the initial step, where planning and working towards your dream goals could eventually lead you there. Often there seems to be some errors which can be avoid in reaching your goal.

Refraining from creating a retirement road map

A retirement road map needs to be done in order to know what the person may want to do, how much is needed to save and how one would intend achieving their goals. The best way to map the retirement plan is to envisage what the retired years ahead would look like, which will provide an idea on how to be prepared for the same.

No knowledge on how much is needed at the time of retirement 

An individual at the age of 55 has plans of retiring at 60 and has saved around 50 lakhs for his retirement. But in order to maintain his present lifestyle for the future, he needs to have a saving of at least Rs 3 crores. Having just five years to retire with shortage of Rs 2.5 crores, he may face difficulties in the future.

Not investing early 

Mr A and Mr B had followed a disciplined process of investing and both had invested Rs 10,000 each year. But Mr B had started investing at the age of 25 and had stopped at the age of 35 while Mr A had started investing at the age of 35 and had continued till the age of 65. When both of them retired at 65, Mr B would have as much as 2.5 times the amount as Mr A inspite of him investing for only 10 years in comparison to Mr A who had invested for 30 years. This is known as the power of compounding. The effect of compounding is appreciated when adequate time is given for the money to grow. The sooner one starts saving, the earlier you can retire.

Not including the possibilities like health care expenses in retirement plan 

Medical expenses during retirement are the most common possibility which is needed to be taken in consideration. A single medical bill could drain out the savings in one go. One should ensure that some emergency funds are assigned to handle the health care expenses in old age. Post retirement, ensure on the factors of the costs of medical insurance and health care expenses and plan for retirement corpus.

Avoiding in making intelligent investment decisions 

Mr A had invested in a bank FD which offered a 9% return and though it seemed to match inflation rate, he did not check into account the impact of taxes on his returns. Being in the 30% tax bracket, his net return fell a bit over 6% less than the inflation rate. Investments can be done in company shares or equity mutual funds which would give the inflation a beating return in the long term that will help in hastening up the retirement corpus growth as well as get started with lower monthly savings. While planning for retirement, it is essential to apprehend where one would want to be, to know what one needs to do to reach their goal.

Why Banks Are Ditching ‘.com’ for Bank

`Bank’ Domain – Consumer Protection

With over 4,000 registrations in the U.S for web address, European banks have been making haste in acquiring the more secured domain name `bank; where more than 500 European financial organizations have signed to take advantage of this special domain. According to the chief executive of domain name seller, CentralNic, the reason is `consumer protection.

Ben Crawford informed CNBC that the reason for the `bank’ domain is basically that the millions of dollars which are lost annually are through online fraud’. Several banks together with the popular establishments in recent yearshave seen breaks in their network inclusive of JPMorgan in 2014 when the bank had revealed that some 76 million household together with seven million small businesses had their data conceded by cyber-attack.

Besides this, a report of 2014 by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies projected that the cybercrime costs the global economy over $400 billion each year. The domain name `bank’ is only made available to banks and hence it gives consumers the security of knowing that if they tend to get to a website which ends with `bank’, it is not a bogus website, it is not deceptive and it can be trusted.

`CentralNic – Support Financial Institutions

In order to avail one of these domain names, it is said that banks are paying about $1,500 which is higher than the standard consumer name of domain. The role of CentralNic in the procedure is to render support to financial institutions in order to go through the compliancy issues, in obtaining the new domain name while `bank’ seems to be operated by fTLD Registry Services.

Moreover, CentralNic also seems to have some contribution in the launch of Google’s Alphabet website `abc.xyz’ Entrepreneur. The owner of `xyz’ is Daniel Negari though CentralNic is the exclusive wholesaler for `xyz’ which helps in powering the domain’s registry. Registrations on `xyz’, according to Reuters had increased intensely since the announcement from Google with Crawford adding the `xyz’ being the only contender to the future `.com’.Customers are being compelled to seek alternative options of banking due to bank fees and low interest rates. But will going `bank-free’, provide the answer to these problems?

`Credit Union/Money Market Mutual Funds

To know if the world could do without a bank, it is essential to determine how the changes have taken place in banking and if those changes are friendly or not to the consumers. Co-owner of Money Crashers, Andrew Schrage states that several people seem to be ditching their banks.

 He further commented that over 5.6 million Americans have closed their accounts with the big banks and among those consumers; around 214,000 had opened new accounts with a credit union. With the increase in bank fees, low interest rates accompanied with poor customer service at several of the large banking institution, people seem to be unhappy.

Schrage informs that two of the best alternatives to bank in keeping your funds in place where it could gain a return are credit unions as well as money market mutual funds. The interest rate, for instance, offered on credit union accounts are usually on the higher side than those offered by most banks, and the fees seems much lower.

Money market mutual funds also seem to be a good alternative which is an investment in short term certificates of deposit or securities. These could be in the form of Treasury bills, government bonds or corporate bonds.

Oil Sinks to Biggest Weekly Decline of 2015 after IEA Warning

Oil Dropped to Major Weekly Decline – IEA Emphasised Excess Level of Global Crude

Oil dropped to its major weekly decline of the year after International Energy Agency report emphasised the level of the global crude excess. The energy monitor - IEA, informed that low prices are taking a toll on supply. However, producers have not scrambled back to make dent in the stockpiles. For six straight sessions, oil had fallen, in registering its massive weekly percentage decline of 2015. The latest oil’s selloff that hadreduced prices by around a third since the beginning of the year has started rattling stock and debt market again.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 270 points recently and the Junk bonds which were also whirling from a fund’s closure had also collapsed. January delivery of U.S. oil futures had fallen by $1.14 to $35.62 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Brent, while the global benchmark had fallen by $1.80 per barrel, to $37.93 on ICE Futures Europe. Both had lost around 11% for the week, placing them down a third for the year as well as at their lowest settlement since the financial predicament.

IEA Monthly Report – World Oil-Demand Growth – To Be Relaxed

In February 2009, U.S. oil had last settled this low and Brent in December 2008 and the last time U.S. crude, had posted a six-session losing streak was in March. For Brent it was in mid-2014. In recent weeks, currency managers had abruptly moved against crude, constantly adding to bets on the falling prices. Recently the data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, indicated only 80,474 additional bets on the rising prices than the falling prices, which is said to be the smallest margin in more than five years.

The IEA, in its monthly report had indicated that the world oil-demand growth would relax to 1.2 million barrel each day towards 2016 after flowing to 1.8 million barrels per day this year since support from sharply falling oil prices had started to disappear. Unrelenting strong OPEC production together with extra Iranian oil hitting the market in the next year would increase global inventories by around 300 million barrels.

Oil Would Rebound to $65

IEA has commented that `as inventories tend to increase towards 2016, there would be a lot of oil weighing on the market’. Prices of several oil company shares had revealed the notion that oil would rebound to $65 per barrel according to managing director at investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co; Matt Portillo.

The prices together with the oil futures curve are presently below $60 per barrel all through 2024, and indication that a recovery seems very remote. Mr Portillo has informed that `it’s the slow meltdown which is being seen in the market presently’. Besides this, there also seems to be broad concerns regarding growth, particularly in emerging markets which in the earlier years had directed demand growth in raw materials.

Central bank of China had recently indicated its intention of changing the way it tends to manage the value of Yuan by loosening its peg to the dollar which could be a bad indication for oil demand in the second largest oil consumer in the world, according to senior research analyst at ClearBridge Investment, Dimitry Dayen, which manages the assets of $103.9 billion. He had commented that `if they tend to devalue their currency which is a bit of what is prevailing presently; the commodity will become more expensive locally and could drive the demand lower’.