China's Growth

The latest figures show that China's Gross Domestic Product rose 10.7%.Apartment sales in Beijing support this data,with people signing up to reserve unbuilt units.China's 580 billion dollar stimulus program is judged to have been the most effective in the world,with the spending concentrated on advanced infrastructure.China is on track to overtake Japan as the world's second-largest economy,behind the United States.Nonetheless,Chinese earnings are only a fraction of the West's.More than 150 million Chinese earn a dollar a day.
The International Monetary Fund has just raised its global growth forecast for 2010 by 0.8% to 3.9%.The U.S. is projected to grow 2.7%.The IMF says that the global financial system remains fragile.Fiscal policies need to remain supportive.

Microsoft Sticks With China

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said it's clear the company is gonna operate in China.China ought to be a source of growth.Intellectual property protection is very bad there,however;it is abysmal.It's got to change.China has laws on the book,but it's important that they be enforced.If we're gonna create jobs in the U.S.,we're gonna have to export our ideas to China.
Cyber attacks won't be stopping Microsoft.Cyber attacks and occasional vulnerabilities are a fact of life,Mr.Ballmer observed.Microsoft has a whole group of people that respond to them in real time.
Microsoft sees business conditions as still being relatively flat.Fifty percent of capital expenditure goes into IT.There's been a little bit of a rebound in the consumer front.There are glimmers of hope in B2B,but it's still tough,the Microsoft executive noted.

NASDAQ's Upward Trend Line

Robert Greifeld,CEO of NASDAQ/OMX,a global exchange company,says they certainly feel the trend line for initial public offerings will continue upward for 2010.On a relative basis,he thinks the feeling is better than it was in January 2009.We know a number of tech companies are filing for IPOs,Mr. Greifeld revealed,and we feel good about that.NASDAQ has a strong appeal for the younger firms,many of them Asian.We will be part of a virtuous cycle in 2010,Robert Greifeld believes.One unifying theme:the businesses we are in are highly scalable.They have incremental revenue with very little incremental cost.
I cannot speak for Dubai,Mr.Greifeld cautioned,but in conversations they have expressed their support for what we're doing.Equities trading volumes on NASDAQ Dubai rose by 30% in 2009 to 3.10 billion shares,from 2.39 billion shares for 2008.Equities derivatives have also traded on the exchange since November 2008.Dubai Gold Securities,which are Shariah-compliant,were listed in March of 2009.

Fighting For His Navy

Very few British troops remain in Iraq.About 100 Royal Marines and sailors are still training the Iraqi navy to protect oil facilities.The Iraqi navy is starting from a low baseline,says Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope,KCB,OBE,First Sea Lord,commander of the Royal Navy.Sir Mark,57,attired in desert fatigues and a black beret,was assessing this training mission in country recently.
At the same time,Sir Mark is fighting to preserve the Royal Navy.Budget hawks in the British government have it in their sights.Sir Mark argues that,if you're going to have aircraft carriers and submarines,you need support vessels to sustain them as well.That's what a first rate navy is all about,in his view,and he wants Britain to have a first rate navy,the admiral insisted.It's a sentiment British shipyards will be echoing enthusiastically,along with other contractors in the defence industry.