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01 November 2006

Good, Green Karma

Nz_sustain_1 From the annals of good, green karma:

The Grove Mill winery in Marlborough, NZ has taken environmental commitment to a new level with CarboNZero® certification. The winery has released the world’s first CarboNZero® wines, which are also among the world’s first carbon-neutral consumer products.

Grove Mill has challenged itself to address its impact on climate change from carbon dioxide emissions as a result of the growing, winemaking and shipping of its wines.

Actually, this is more than just good karma, it is an example to other wineries, and other producers of consumer products, that being green makes good business sense.  Put this way: the next time I'm in the market for New Zealand wine, I'll be hunting for Grove Mill (imported by Palm Bay Imports).

More on CarboNZero here.

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raivo pommer-eesti-www.google.ee

raivo pommer-eesti-www.google.ee
[email protected]

Schwedische Börse profitiert von kompetitiver Abwertung und billiger kroner


Kaum ist der „großartige“ G-20-Gipfel vorbei, so fallen an den internationalen Finanzmärkten die Tarnkappen. Nachdem die makroökonomischen Ungleichgewichte und Währungen offensichtlich bei den Diskussionen kaum eine Rollen spielten, kehren die Anleger im Rahmen des in den vergangenen Tagen aufgekommenen Wirtschaftsoptimismus zu altbewährten Strategien zurück.

Sie lassen am Devisenmarkt mit den Yen und dem Schweizer Franken die üblichen Verdächtigen abwerten. Denn erstens haben diese Staaten ihre Zinsen schon immer tief gehalten. Zudem machen sie inzwischen mit „unkonventionellen geldpolitischen Maßnahmen“ deutlich, dass sie unbedingt schwache Währungen haben wollen, um den kompetitiven Status ihrer Exportbereiche zu wahren oder gar im Vergleich mit konkurrierenden Staaten zu verbessern.

Schweden macht vor, wie das gehen kann. Der reale effektive Wechselkurs des Landes läuft schon seit Jahren im Trend nach unten. Und in den vergangenen Wochen haben sie auf die globale Wirtschaftsschwäche, die sich im kleinen, stark am Export orientierten Land deutlich bemerkbar macht, mit massiven Zinssenkungen reagiert. Die schwedische Zentralbank hat den Leitzins mit massiven Schritten von 4,75 Prozent noch im Oktober des vergangenen Jahres auf zuletzt ein Prozent gesenkt. Genau das ließ die schwedische Krone gegen den Dollar um 30 und gegen den Euro um bis zu 20 Prozent abwerten

raivo pommer-www.google.ee

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
[email protected]

Deflation hits Ireland


Ireland's consumer prices fell 2.6 per cent in March from a year ago, the sharpest rate of deflation since 1933, when the world was struggling through the Great Depression, official figures showed yesterday.

The March rate accelerated from an annual deflation rate of 1.7 per cent in February, the Central Statistics Office said. The report said there was no change in prices from February to March, which are now at August 2007 levels.

Ireland's deflation began in January and reflects the country's sudden fall into a deep recession.

The country last suffered from deflation in 1960.

Although lower prices can help spending and exports, deflation can be damaging for an economy if prices enter a downward spiral - consumers hold off buying items on expectations they will become cheaper, pushing retailers to cut prices to encourage spending, and so on.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, when announcing an emergency budget on Wednesday to trim 3.25 billion ($7.32 billion) from Ireland's ballooning deficit, said the Government expected deflation to average 4 per cent in 2009.

raivo pommer-www.google.ee

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
[email protected]

Deflation hits Ireland


Ireland's consumer prices fell 2.6 per cent in March from a year ago, the sharpest rate of deflation since 1933, when the world was struggling through the Great Depression, official figures showed yesterday.

The March rate accelerated from an annual deflation rate of 1.7 per cent in February, the Central Statistics Office said. The report said there was no change in prices from February to March, which are now at August 2007 levels.

Ireland's deflation began in January and reflects the country's sudden fall into a deep recession.

The country last suffered from deflation in 1960.

Although lower prices can help spending and exports, deflation can be damaging for an economy if prices enter a downward spiral - consumers hold off buying items on expectations they will become cheaper, pushing retailers to cut prices to encourage spending, and so on.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, when announcing an emergency budget on Wednesday to trim 3.25 billion ($7.32 billion) from Ireland's ballooning deficit, said the Government expected deflation to average 4 per cent in 2009.

von raivo pommer-www.google.ee

1948


The contraction followed a 1.6 per cent slump in the last three months of 2008 - the first time two successive quarters have contracted more than 1 per cent since records began in 1948.

Today's estimated fall in quarter-on-quarter output is the largest decrease since 1979, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

The news came as official figures also showed that car and commercial vehicle (CV) production fell sharply again last month (see below).

The dire figures come after Chancellor Alistair Darling indicated a 1.6 per cent slump in the quarter by saying the contraction would be similar to the previous period in his Budget speech.

He also predicted the economy would shrink by 3.5 per cent this year - more than double his previous forecast.

Today's figures come amid savage declines in output for many key sectors of the economy.

Much of the contraction was driven by an acceleration in decline for the service sector, which fell 1.2 per cent from a drop of 0.8 per cent the previous quarter.

Services, which account for 75 per cent of the UK's economy, were pushed lower by a significant drop in business services, according to the ONS.

Business services, including accounting and legal services, slumped 1.8 per cent, the largest fall since records began in 1983.

Total production - including manufacturing, mining and electricity, gas and water supply - declined by 5.5 per cent, the biggest fall since 1974.

amer ban.

raivo pommer-www.google.ee

[email protected]


BANK REFORMS-DOLLAR UND EURO REFORMS

The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) managing director has said the US and Western Europe need to act more quickly to sort out their banking systems.

Speaking in Washington before a series of high-level financial meetings, Dominique Strauss-Kahn said there had been progress but it had been too slow.

Mr Strauss-Kahn said cleaning up the mess in the financial systems of the rich world was the most important task.

But more action was needed to sort out problems with bad loans, he said.

He accepts that there has been progress. But he says it is not enough.

"In many countries the architecture of a coherent financial programme is now more or less in place. What is lagging, and where time has been lost, is in the implementation," he said.

His call was directed mainly at the United States and Western European countries.

Sorting out the banks was essential he said, if there is to be an economic recovery.

"All the experience we have of past banking crises, and we have a lot of experience with those banking crises in this institution, is that you never recover before you have completed the cleaning up of the balance sheet of the financial sector," he said.

Mr Strauss-Kahn will have an opportunity to press finance ministers on that over the next few days at a series of meetings in Washington.

In one area, he said was pleased with progress.

The stimulus from governments in tax cuts and extra spending for this year, Mr Strauss-Kahn said, is in line with what the IMF called for, though he suggested more might be needed in 2010.

raivo pommer

x

amer ban.

raivo pommer-www.google.ee

[email protected]


BANK REFORMS-DOLLAR UND EURO REFORMS

The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) managing director has said the US and Western Europe need to act more quickly to sort out their banking systems.

Speaking in Washington before a series of high-level financial meetings, Dominique Strauss-Kahn said there had been progress but it had been too slow.

Mr Strauss-Kahn said cleaning up the mess in the financial systems of the rich world was the most important task.

But more action was needed to sort out problems with bad loans, he said.

He accepts that there has been progress. But he says it is not enough.

"In many countries the architecture of a coherent financial programme is now more or less in place. What is lagging, and where time has been lost, is in the implementation," he said.

His call was directed mainly at the United States and Western European countries.

Sorting out the banks was essential he said, if there is to be an economic recovery.

"All the experience we have of past banking crises, and we have a lot of experience with those banking crises in this institution, is that you never recover before you have completed the cleaning up of the balance sheet of the financial sector," he said.

Mr Strauss-Kahn will have an opportunity to press finance ministers on that over the next few days at a series of meetings in Washington.

In one area, he said was pleased with progress.

The stimulus from governments in tax cuts and extra spending for this year, Mr Strauss-Kahn said, is in line with what the IMF called for, though he suggested more might be needed in 2010.

raivo pommer.

raivo pommer-www.google.ee

[email protected]


BANK REFORMS-DOLLAR UND EURO REFORMS

The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) managing director has said the US and Western Europe need to act more quickly to sort out their banking systems.

Speaking in Washington before a series of high-level financial meetings, Dominique Strauss-Kahn said there had been progress but it had been too slow.

Mr Strauss-Kahn said cleaning up the mess in the financial systems of the rich world was the most important task.

But more action was needed to sort out problems with bad loans, he said.

He accepts that there has been progress. But he says it is not enough.

"In many countries the architecture of a coherent financial programme is now more or less in place. What is lagging, and where time has been lost, is in the implementation," he said.

His call was directed mainly at the United States and Western European countries.

Sorting out the banks was essential he said, if there is to be an economic recovery.

"All the experience we have of past banking crises, and we have a lot of experience with those banking crises in this institution, is that you never recover before you have completed the cleaning up of the balance sheet of the financial sector," he said.

Mr Strauss-Kahn will have an opportunity to press finance ministers on that over the next few days at a series of meetings in Washington.

In one area, he said was pleased with progress.

The stimulus from governments in tax cuts and extra spending for this year, Mr Strauss-Kahn said, is in line with what the IMF called for, though he suggested more might be needed in 2010.

raivo pommer-www.google.ee

raivo pommer-www.google.ee

[email protected]


BRITISH CHRISE


Equally, it may be true that British GDP will be lower than the government forecasts by the middle of the next decade - credit crunches are much harder to slip away from than the government forecasts. But after the stimulus the economy has received, there should be some growth, broadly corresponding to the shape the Treasury predicts.

The real issue is the evaporation of our economic and political pretensions. The Treasury has been forced to recognise that 5% of Britain's GDP has disappeared forever. Too many industries were dependent upon the crazy world of ever-rising house prices and easy credit; now gone for ever. This means that the path to sustainable public finances is going to be astonishingly painful. We can live with national debt doubling, but it cannot double again.

The numbers are terrifying. Budget deficits, even for Keynesian apostles of deficit finance like me, cannot stay at 12% of GDP, or £175bn, for very long, however justifiable in recession. The problem is that so much economic capacity has permanently disappeared, along with those parts of the economy that used to deliver rich tax revenues; the post-recession economy will only reduce the deficit by a quarter. The rest has got to be found by tax increases or reductions in planned spending.

raivo pommer-www.google.ee.

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
[email protected]


CHINA GOLD

Die Volksrepublik China hat ihre Goldreserven seit dem Jahr 2003 von 600 auf 1.054 Tonnen aufgestockt. Das teilte der Leiter der Verwaltung der Währungsreserven, Hu Xiaolian, der chinesischen Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua mit.

Peking hatte in den vergangenen Jahren keine präzisen Angaben über seine Goldreserven gemacht. Marktkenner vermuteten allerdings schon länger, dass Peking seine Reserven ausbauen würde. Der Goldpreis legte am Freitag in Reaktion auf die Meldung aus China leicht zu. Kurz nach Eröffnung des New Yorker Handels kostete die Unze dort 908 Dollar. Der HUI-Index (Amex Gold Bugs Index) führender Goldminenwerte verbesserte sich zu Handelsbeginn um 3 Prozent auf 299 Punkte. Ende März hatte der Index noch 342 Punkte erreicht.

Leichte Diversifizierung der riesigen Währungsreserven

Wie Hu Xiaolian sagte, erfolgte der Reservenaufbau überwiegend durch Käufe von in China selbst gefördertem Gold. China gehört seit Jahren zu den wichtigsten Förderländern der Welt. Mit ihren Reserven von 1.054 Tonnen übertrifft die Volksrepublik die Schweiz, die Reserven von 1.040 Tonnen ausweist. Innerhalb der chinesischen Währungsreserven von rund 2.000 Milliarden Dollar spielt Gold aber nach wie vor nur eine bescheidene Rolle: Der Marktwert der Goldreserven beträgt lediglich gut 30 Milliarden Dollar.

raivo pommer-www.google.ee

JAPAN SOFTBANK

Softbank, now with about 20.6 million subscribers, controls about 19.2 percent of the nation's market, up 1.1 percentage points from the previous fiscal year. But average sales per user declined for voice calls, while they were up for data transmission.

Losses on investments from the market downturn dragged on its earnings, according to Softbank, which bought British cellular giant Vodafone Group PLC's struggling Japanese operations in 2006.

A major one-time loss related to payments for bonds for its mobile unit as well as a write-off for its optical fiber Internet services, also hurt results, it said.

One business area that performed better than last year was its Internet-related "cultural" businesses such as advertising, Internet shopping and auctions, Softbank said.

Softbank also introduced attractive mobile content such as video of comedy acts popular in Japan called "S-1 Battle," and easy-to-use applications called "mobile widget."

For the fiscal year ending March 31, Softbank's profit dropped 60.3 percent to 43.2 billion yen, on 2.67 trillion yen in sales, down 3.7 percent on year.

Softbank did not give a net profit forecast, but expects operating profit for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, to rise 17 percent from the fiscal year just ended to 420 billion yen.

raivo pommer-www.google.ee

The long awaited 2009 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) that lists business projects qualified for tax incentives from the government remains unsigned nearly after a quarter has passed into the year earning howls of frustration from the business sector which is currently reeling from a global recession.

The Board of Investments (BoI) expected Malacañang’s approval of the yearly list by the end of last month but petitions from various sectors for changes in the list that Malacañang ordered to be heard delayed its signing, Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila said.

Favila said the BoI had to conduct new hearings for the late petitions despite the BoI completing all public hearings along with involved government agencies on the list as early as February this year.

“The IPP has been completed and the President has to sign it,” Favila said.

Favila, however, declined to explain what specific areas of the draft IPP were changed during the Malacañang-initiated hearings.

Favila was also asked if the President will sign the IPP before she leaves for Egypt today but he quipped “I do not ask the President for commitment.”

Initially, the BoI said the 2009 IPP focuses on the granting of incentives to all domestic micro, small and medium enterprises that would include the smallest type of projects such as sari-sari stores and three-wheel vehicles operators.

The scheme is part of plans drafted by the BoI along with other government agencies in line with a directive from the Arroyo administration to safeguard jobs and attract investments while the country suffers from the effects of the global financial slowdown.

BoI managing head and Trade Undersecretary Elmer Hernandez earlier said the new IPP may include new types of incentives that are still in the process of discussions by the IPP inter-agency committee.

raivo pommer-www.google.ee

EU: Deutschland wieder Defizitsünder
Europa in der Rezession

Deutschland wird in der Wirtschaftskrise wieder zum Defizitsünder. Entgegen früherer Prognosen bricht Berlin schon im laufenden Jahr mit einer Neuverschuldung von 3,9 Prozent den Euro-Stabilitätspakt, wie die EU-Kommission am Montag in Brüssel vorhersagte.

Im kommenden Jahr drohen 5,9 Prozent Defizit vom Bruttoinlandsprodukt. Europa steckt mitten in der tiefsten Rezession seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Das Heer der Arbeitslosen wächst. Ein leichter Hoffnungsschimmer zeichnet sich für 2010 ab.

Bundesfinanzminister Peer Steinbrück sagte in Brüssel zum europäischen Arbeitsmarkt: «Das macht mir Sorge.» Es sei kein Trost, dass die Lage in Deutschland wegen der Reformen der vergangenen Jahre besser aussehe. Laut Kommission werden 2009 und 2010 insgesamt 8,5 Millionen Jobs in der EU verschwinden. Die Arbeitslosenquote soll im kommenden Jahr im Eurogebiet auf 11,5 Prozent steigen nach 9,9 Prozent im laufenden Jahr. Deutschland schneidet mit 10,4 Prozent (2010) und 8,6 Prozent (2009) etwas besser ab.

raivo pommer-www.google.ee

Hohe Gewinne der Investmentbanken

Investmentbanken wie die Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs und J.P. Morgan erzielen wegen ihrer Nähe zu den Kapitalmärkten schneller wieder hohe Gewinne. Während sie der Absturz der Märkte nach Lehman besonders hart traf, profitieren sie nun von dem Aufschwung an den Börsen und dem Kapitalbedarf der Firmen und Staaten. Sie nutzen die Erträge, um einen Teil der auch bei ihnen noch immer hohen Altlasten abzubauen, ohne das Kapital anzufressen.


Häuser wie Commerzbank, Postbank sowie die Immobilien- und Landesbanken haben diesen Puffer nicht. Hinzu kommt, dass all diese Institute, deren Brot- und Buttergeschäft die Kreditvergabe ist, in der Rezession mit neuen, hohen Ausfällen rechnen müssen. Sie brauchen dann frisches Kapital oder eine Bad Bank, die ihnen wenigstens ihre Altlasten abnimmt.

Ausgestanden ist die Krise aber auch für die Investmentbanken nicht: Wenn der unverhoffte Börsenfrühling endet, wird man sehen, dass auch die Kapitalmarktkönige unter dem Rouge noch ganz schön blass aussehen.

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