Playbook For 2014

We're looking at the Fed being accomodative for the forseeable future,said Stephen Wood,chief market strategist at Russell Investments.We think there is gonna be a glacial improvement in the labour market;2014 is gonna be an OK year.
Investors need to look to a diversified portfolio and Europe.Look to equities with the market where it is right now.Security selection,stock picking,active management are gonna be very important.
They need to go over this market with a fine-toothed comb.It's getting more challenging,but there are still opportunities out there,Dr.Wood observed.*
They fought 3M,the best American innovator,and they lost,said CNBC analyst Jim Cramer.Blackberry isn't as bad as people think.Look at Sprint.Management turned it around.Sprint needed a lot of money.Someone gave them a fortune-Softbank-and they're staying competitive.
Clorox is supposed to be an 85 in this situation.It is 92.80.The playbook says you should sell Clorox,but they're not going down.We're in a hope springs eternal market.This is Klaus Kleinfeldt's year at Alcoa.
As CDs roll over,what are people going to do?People have to drop their cynicism and drop their polemics.It's a good market,the successful investor Jim Cramer noted.*
Clorox(CLX),Sprint(S),Blackberry(BBRY),3M(MMM),Alcoa(AA)

Voices and Visions:Russia and the Sochi Olympics;Fed Tapering

Russia's Deputy Economy Minister Sergei Belyakov has been commenting on the effect of the Sochi Winter Olympics on his nation.Speaking on Bloomeberg TV,he said the main question is,what does it mean for us?We had to create new conditions for life in the whole country.We have a lot of new facilities.It was very important for us.We're speaking about new living standards.The Olympics and the World Championships-all these events are not Putin's project;they are a project to create new ideas,new technology.
Visit Russia and see what's the reality here,the difference between perception and reality,Mr.Belyakov urged.Can Russia afford the 15 billion dollar fund for Ukraine?Please don't be worried.Everything's OK.Our economic situation is not very good.That's why the business environment here is the highest priority of the Russian government.It's not as bad as people think;but we want to make it much better than it is now.We have not only goals;but we have achievements.*
Mr.Belyakov declined to comment on how the Federal Reserve's decision to begin tapering its asset purchases in support of the US economy would effect the emerging markets.Simon Goodfellow,CEO of Harlyn Research,said there will be a spike in volatility.At some stage,that has to go up,and when it does,markets will sell off.Somewhere along the line,investors will have to react.Bond market investors will cause a spike in equity volatility.There was an initial positive response to the Fed holding off on hiking interest rates.Just understand that that will reverse sharply sometime in 2014,Mr.Goodfellow cautioned.*
Tapering doesn't mean tightening,outgoing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said in his last press briefing.The Fed will keep tightening until unemployment drops below 6.5%.
The process will be deliberate and data-dependent.Asset purchases will not be on a pre-set course,Mr.Bernanke explained.*
Janet Yellen will succeed Mr.Bernanke in January.

Study: Pregnancy Risks Increase At Age 30 « CBS New York

Study: Pregnancy Risks Increase At Age 30 « CBS New York

Thailand's Phatlum Takes Omega Dubai Title

The Omega Dubai Ladies Masters,the final event of the 2013 Ladies European Tour,was played over the weekend at the Emirates Golf Club.Thailand's Pornanung Phatlum,24,took the championship trophy,with American Stacy Lewis second and Spain's Carlota Ciganda third.Phatlum shot an outstanding 15 under par 66 in the fourth round to cap off her second career victory on the LET.She won 75,000 euros,or 102,770 dollars,placing her 23rd on the 2013 money list with 660,210 dollars for the season.Phatlum had also won the 2012 Women's Indian Open.
In the second round,South Africa's Connie Chen made a hole in one at the fifteenth to win a Mercedes Benz E-400 convertible.She finished 39th out of 64 for the tournament.
Besides Mercedes and Omega,sponsors of the 7th annual edition included Dubai Aluminium;CNN;Drydocks World/Maritime World;Emirates NBD;and Gulf News.The tournament was under the patronage of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein,Wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.Played against the backdrop of the soaring Dubai skyline,it was founded in 2006.Annika Sorenstam was the first champion and repeated in 2007.

Tournament Information-Omega Dubai Ladies Masters

Tournament Information

Patriarch John X Speaks on the Abducted Nuns of Maaloula, Syria

Patriarch John X Speaks on the Abducted Nuns of Maaloula, Syria

Paul Simon: Call me Al, concert zimbabwe / South Africa

Voices and Trends in International Business-December 2013

Snack food vendor Mondalez International is being crushed by PepsiCo and its Frito Lay division all over the world,CNBC analyst Jim Cramer pointed out.
A German government agency has cleared Tesla's Model S of being a fire trap.There is no fire issue.They are not bound by the four walls of the earnings per share convention.
Exxon Mobil had a great quarter.It's got Warren Buffet's imprimatur.
BP's been a very strong stock,and I think it can go much higher,Cramer said.*
Ford Motor Company November sales rose 7.2%,versus an Edmunds estimate 0f 3.0%.*
3M was downgraded from hold to sell by JP Morgan.*
IBM provided near real time raw data on the beginning of the Christmas shopping saeson.The growth rate was down by 21%.The size of the shopping cart got smaller.People just weren't buying as much,although more of them were shopping.Mobile sales accounted for 17% of the total,and the iOS platform handled 60-70% of the business versus Android.*
It's expensive to open brick and mortar stores in China,said Shaun Rein,managing director at strategic market consultant CMR China.Ecommerce is more popular there than in the US.Ecommerce will grow 50% a year in China for the next five years.Online merchant Alibaba is a very innovative company.
US companies need to get Chinese managers and get them to react quickly to the Chinese marketplace.A third of purchases are returned in China,and 20% of all sales are from gifting-including gifts for corrupt officials,although there is a crackdown on that.
Mr.Rein is author of the book "The End of Cheap China:Economic and Cultural Trends that Will Disrupt the World."*
PepsiCo(PEP),Tesla Motors(TSLA),Ford Motor Company(F),Exxon Mobil(XOM),International Business Machines(IBM),3M(MMM),Mondalez International(MDLZ),Alibaba.com Ltd(ALBCF)