Biden prepares to head to Vietnam after high-stakes summit in India - NBC News

When President Biden arrives in Hanoi,Vietnam is expected to upgrade its relations with the US to the strategic dialogue level.

Biden lands in India for G20 summit

Martyred Orthodox Queen's Relics to Come Home - Republic of Georgia

Georgia and India have reached an agreement on the return of Queen St.Ketevan of Kakheti's relics to Georgia.The relics will be loaned to Georgia for a period of six months,during which the Georgian people will have several opportunities to venerate them.The Georgian Orthodox Queen of Kakheti in Eastern Georgia died on 13 September,1624 in Persia at the behest of the Muslim Savafid Empire's regent Shah Abbas,who,coveting her family's throne,had her taken hostage and then publicly tortured to death when she refused to convert to Islam.*
Catholic Augustinian friars witnessed the barbaric act and managed to spirit some of her relics off from Istfahan to their complex at Monte Santo in Old Goa,Western India for safekeeping.They were excavated from a stone sarcophagus,after more than a decade of work,by the Archeological Survey of India in 2004 and subsequently identified by DNA analysis in 2013.*
This will be a major event in Georgia,a former Soviet Republic in the Caucasus Mountains,and there will be international conferences there about the saint and her times.She is seen as one who stood up for the Orthodox faith and culture of Georgia.

India's Internet Prominence Increases

With its 277 million users,India has surged past the US to become the world's second biggest Internet user market behind China.Global Internet usage expanded 9% this year to reach 42% of the world's population,or 3 billion users,said Mary Meeker,partner at Kleiner Perkins,at the Code Conference in Rancho Mirage,California.
As developed markets become well-penetrated,it becomes more difficult to locate new Internet users and the emerging markets become more critical for growth of the medium.

From Europe to India:Defense Secretary Nominee Speaks Out

Dr.Ashton B. Carter,60,won unanimous approval from the Senate Armed Services Committee to be the new Secretary of Defense with a 25-0 bipartisan vote.The nomination now goes to the full Senate for final approval-really a formality at this point.The graduate of Oxford University served as Deputy Secretary of Defense from 2011-2013.Before that,he held two other high level Pentagon posts,including Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and chief weapons buyer.*
At his confirmation hearing last week,Dr.Carter laid out his views on a number of issues such as European security,India-US ties and Iran's nuclear program.I think that our strength in Europe is our alliance with NATO,he said.Another strength is of course our military strength.I understand we are adding forces in rotation as a deterrence to Russian adventurism.*
India,in my view,is destined to be a strategic partner of the US.I'm for hastening that.In the military and technical cooperation area,I think there's a great deal we can do with India.*
If Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons,that would be very grave because:
1.They might use them.
2.Their having them might influence others to acquire them.
They have the ambition to wipe Israel off the map.They have a long history of acting in a disruptive way.*
As to Russia,the little green men are part of the big Putin lie.The common sense is,he's violated Ukrainian sovereignty.It is,I am told, quite clear that Russia is in clear violation of the INF treaty by developing a new ground-launched nuclear missile.I think there are defensive and deterrent and counterforce steps we can take if they want to play that game.They need to be reminded it's a two-way street,Dr.Carter told the Senate Armed Forces Committee.*
Chuck Hagel is staying on as Defense Secretary until Dr.Carter's confirmation is completed.
Update:Dr.Carter was confirmed by the full Senate with a 95-3 vote on 12 February.

The Health of Markets:The View From Barclays

The US equity market is the market that we probably worry about most,said Jim McCormick,Barclays' Global Head of Asset Allocation.Valuations are starting to get stretched.Inflation is starting to be a problem.The truth is,inflation in the U.S. is picking up and is a trend likely to be sustained.If we are going to get a correction,the US equities are the most likely place.*
The message we have on emerging markets is,the macro picture is improving.Risk premia are higher than thery were a year ago.The asset calss we prefer is equities.We like Asia ex-Japan,Poland,India.The Indian budget is going to be very important.We're positive on India across the board.*
We've been increasingly bullish on commodities this year.Oil is attractive on all levels.If you look at the bottoms up on oil,it's been looking up for a long time,Mr.McCormick observed.

Monday Newsline:Asian Shares Lower;Indian Election;MH-370 Progress

Asian markets were mostly lower Monday on the disappointing US jobs report Friday,which fell short of analysts' growth projections.The Nikkei cratered 1.69%,while the HSI fell 0.74 and the ASX slipped 0.17.US stock futures were also lower.The Shanghai Composite defied the trend,rising 0.74%.
Wheat prices are up on widespread dryness in breadbasket areas from Ukraine to the United States.*
The world's largest democracy has begun its elections today as India goes to the polls.The nationalist BJP party is the frontrunner over the incumbent Congress Party.The BJP is led by Narendra Modi,Chief Minister of Gujarat state.Some label him as a fascist guilty of human rights violations,and he was denied entry to the US in 2005.He is popular in corporate circles as Gujarat state has done well.*
The search for flight MH-370 entered a new,more promising phase Monday as searchers zeroed in on the Australian Defence Ministry vessel Ocean Shield's detection of two extended audio events near the bottom of the Indian Ocean.The great depth of the pinging episodes consistent with the plane's flight recorders,one of which lasted for two hours twenty minutes and the other for thirteen minutes at some 4500 meters/2.8 miles,suggest why this search has been the most challenging in aviation history.
The pings were picked up by the US Navy's pinger locator device that the Ocean Shield was towing at depth over the new area off Western Australia's northern coast.The searchers need a third pinging event so they can triangulate the location and send the Blue Fin 21 submersible down to take still photos of the possible wreckage.It's a process that could require days to complete,retired Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston,the search coordinator,told reporters in a Perth press conference.He said we are very close to where we need to be.Clearly this is a most promising lead.In the search so far,it is probably the best information that we have had.*
In sport,Australian golfer Matt Jones won the Shell Houston Open,securing a place for himself in The Masters tournament this weekend in Augusta,Georgia.It was Jones' first PGA victory.American Matt Kuchar came in second,and Sergio Garcia of Spain took third.
Meanwhile,American Lexi Thommpson made the traditional leap into Poppy's Pond at Mission Hills Golf Club in Rancho Mirage,California as the winner of the Kraft Nabisco Open,the year's first major on the LPGA circuit.It was the fourth LPGA win for Thompson,19,who is known for her long drives.

Global Investing Survey 2013

The banks' balance sheets in terms of deleveraging are pretty convincing,according to George Greg,head of international investing at William Blair and Company.The banks move to adjust their strategy where they can make themselves strong-in the human resources area.The capital and cost questions are being addressed.
In the long run,we're gonna have to ask what is the normalised ROE here in relation to industrials.
As for Japan,overwhelmingly on the mind of investors is what the Bank of Japan will do next,the effectiveness of monetary policy going forward.We favour the major financials;global industrials;and consumer stocks with a lot of vibrancy in the small cap end.
In Europe,we like industrial capital goods;global luxury and consumer brands;and cars.Spain has already made great strides in productivity and unit labour costs,and will be more competitive going forward.
There are still plenty of good opportunities in the US,though it is more expensive than Europe.
Portugal's GDP contracted for the ninth straight quarter on declining exports,and the Euro Area GDP fell the most since 2009 in Q4 2012.
British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in India with the largest business delegation ever,representing 100 companies,including BAE Systems;HSBC;and Rolls Royce.He called India the partner of choice.
William Blair International Growth N Fund(WBIGX),William Blair International Equity Class I Fund(WIEIX)

Author Lays Out China's Best Case Scenario

Commodities exhibit a one decade up,two decades down cycle,notes Ruchir Sharma,Managing Director,Portfolio Manager and Head of Global Emerging Markets Equity Team at Morgan Stanley Investment Funds.China is the 100 pound gorilla in the commodity marketplace.
A China slowdown is a principal part of the commodity slowdown thesis.The best case for China is 6-7% growth.It's quite a shock for those who are used to 7-8% growth.It's a very natural slowdown.At a per capita income of 6,000 dollars a year,all developing economies slow down.
China is systematically deploying its wealth,but their debt to GDP is close to 200%.The reason for their slowdown is,the number of people entering the labor force and moving to cities is slowing down.It's demographics.It's like Japan in the 1970s.
We are now in a post-China world.Look to the Philippines,Indonesia and Thailand.For the first time,the Philippines now have a stable political leadership intent on increasing the country's wealth,Mr.Sharma pointed out.
Ruchir Sharma,CFA,is the author of the book "Breakout Nations."A Newsweek columnist and contributor to The Wall Street Journal,he has a BA in Commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi.
Morgan Stanley(MS)

Managing Director:Asia's New Rising Star

We expect the third and fourth quarter to look a lot better in China,said Nigel Chalk,PhD,Managing Director and Head of Emerging Asia Research at Barclays.In the end,they're gonna do more investment,more credit.Data show things are not as bad as people think.
India has much less room for maneuver.It's unclear how they're gonna turn around growth.We like the Philippines.They have a good fiscal and monetary policy side.On a lot of fronts,they seem to be the rising star.
Dr.Chalk was a longtime IMF official,most recently serving as Mission Chief to China.He received his Economics doctorate from UCLA and a MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Barclays was named "Best Global Investment Bank" for 2011 by Euromoney magazine.
Hugh Young of Aberdeen Asset Management adds that Singapore has strong banks.Go with the strongest banks.Worry about the balance sheets,not the earnings power.
Barclays PLC(BCS)

Testing His Mettle:Deutsche Bank's New Asian Star

If ever there were a time for clarity of thought in European banking,it is today.We are nowhere near a run on the banks,according to Anshu Jain,incoming Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank.The real issue in Europe is about sovereign debt,starting with Greece.We've got capital-lots more;liquidity-lots more;it's gonna be harder under the new regulations.We're really happy with our U.S. franchise.I'm confident we'll hit all capital targets.It's way too early to do a post-mortem on the JP Morgan trading problem.It's very important that we restore the credibility that has been lost.I don't think there are any easy answers.We did let a lot of people down,and now we have to make up for that.At this point,it's organic capital accretion at Deutsche Bank.We are reasonably constructive on many asset classes,but our main concern is our clients,not acquiring assets.Getting it right in our home market and continuing to grow in the emerging markets and the U.S.,in that order,are our priorities at Deutsche Bank,the native of Jaipur,India made clear.Mr.Jain and Juergen Fritschen assume the reins of leadership at Deutsche Bank from Josef Ackermann on Thursday at the annual shareholders' meeting in Frankfurt.At 49,Mr.Jain is one of the most prominent business leaders of Indian origin,having received an economics degree at Dehli University,and an MBA at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.He was head of global corporate and investment banking at Deutsche Bank prior to his new appointment,with considerable success.He will certainly need every talent he has in the difficult climate that prevails in European finance at the present time.Deutsche Bank(DB)

Dell Computers:Serving the World;Managing Transformation

Dell's earnings per share and cash flow were up because we changed our business to be an end-to-end solutions provider,says Michael Dell,founder and CEO of the multinational Dell Computers.We're growing our R&D expenditure along with cash flow.
Our growth is both organic and inorganic.You'll continue to see us active in both.We acquired 18 businesses the last three years.We gained share across the board.We're number one in servers in the U.S.,China and India.Our margins grew 370 basis points in the past year.Our job is to do it again this year.
With all these mobile devices,the amount of data is doubling every 18 months.We're building data centers of the future that take in all the data and feed all those devices.There's lots of opportunity in the ecosystem that Dell participates in.There's a lot of demand for a Dell/Windows tablet.We'll be there right on the very first day that Windows 8 is available,Mr.Dell promised.
Dell has a presence on six continents,with facilities from Canada to Qatar and beyond.In the U.S.,the company has launched a national command center with the Red Cross.It's a social media command center for humanitarian purposes,to redirect resources,people and tools through social media.We're really proud to be putting this in place,Michael Dell added.
Dell Computers,Inc.(DELL)

Newsletter Editor Favors Uranium

Mark Skousen,PhD,editor of the Forecasts and Strategies newsletter,has deep concerns about the economy.He believes the U.S. is obviously doing something wrong.We need to unburden business.These are burdens keeping the Great Recession with us.Higher interest rates would get us out of this.
Dr.Skousen,a noted economist and author of the textbook Economic Logic,as well as The Making of Modern Economics,continues his longstanding investment advisory work.He likes the Canadian uranium miner Cameco.This is a great recovery story.Uranium prices fell sharply,but are now stabilising and starting to go back up.China and India plan to expand their nuclear energy assets,and Cameco stands to gain from this,in Dr.Skousen's opinion.
He also favors Spain's Telefonica.Over 70% of this company's business is outside of Spain and Europe,and it pays a 9% dividend.
As for another of his picks,Rare Earth Elements,Mark Skousen says we're gonna take our profits.It's too volatile for a long term holding beyond six months.He will personally keep holding the stock as a speculator,however.
Mark Skousen,who has a doctorate in economics from George Washington University, served in the Central Intelligence Agency from 1972-75 and is also a scholar in Benjamin Franklin studies.
Cameco(CCJ)or TSX:CCO,Rare Earth Elements(REE),Telefonica(TEF)

What Drives Molycorp Minerals

Molycorp Minerals describes itself as the Western Hemisphere's only producer of rare earth oxides.The price of rare earth metals has appreciated markedly recently,and CEO Mark A. Smith says this is largely driven by an increased volume of sales at a time of tight supply and demand.
We really are not seeing any slowdown in China and India.We are right on schedule with our new mine.It is to be fully producing by the end of 2012.
Every person we talk to continues to indicate that China will continue to lower its export quota of rare earth metals.The number of opportunities in this business are more than I've seen in my 24 years in this business,Mr.Smith noted.
China supplies 97% of the world supply of these essential materials,but has been cutting back on exports for some time now.Rare earth metals are used in high tech applications such as fiber optics,lasers and hard disc drives,as well as hybrid vehicles,green energy,national security and water treatment applications.
Molycorp Minerals is headquartered in Greenwood Village,Colorado.
Molycorp Minerals(MCP)

Private Equity:A Blackstone View

Europe has been slow,in the estimation of Stephen Schwarzman,CEO of The Blackstone Group,L.P.,but we're starting to see Europeans now liquidating things in a way that wasn't previously the case.What we're seeing is sort of spotty growth in Europe.Overall this year,growth should be about 1.5%.
Europe for us used to be very high-priced.We look at Europe in a position of healing now.The consensus of finance ministers is slow growth,strengthening of the rescue fund,and life will go on.
China prices have gotten very high.There's no shortage of money in China,and there's a lot of optimism.In India,there isn't so much money around.They are actively looking for money,so there are a lot of opportunities we like,such as coal-fired electric plants,Mr.Schwarzman indicated.
What we're seeing in every area of our business is,there's always an unusual opportunity where it isn't very difficult to make a decent return,the financier said last weekend at the World Economic Forum in Davos,Switzerland.Blackstone is gonna be a whole lot more active this year.
The Blackstone Group,L.P.(BX)

SAP's View of the Asia-Pac

Business software titan SAP has a Q4 pipeline that looks strong in the Asia-Pacific region.They're seeing continued strength across Asia right now.
SAP thinks it has every reason to be confident in the future.Business is strong across Asia.India and China are seen as being their two favored children.It's a rising tide right now,and it's going to lift SAP up.
The Oracle v. SAP trial is a storm in a teacup.It's more noise from their bitter rival than anything else,in the opinion of Steve Watts,President of SAP Asia-Pacific-Japan.
Oracle is suing SAP for copyright infringement,fraud,breach of contract and intentional interference.SAP has admitted to a mistake by a subsidiary,and offered to pay Oracle 40 million dollars,but Oracle rejects that amount as insufficient.

NYSE/Euronext Sells Indian Stake

NYSE/Euronext has sold its 5% stake in the National Stock Exchange of India to Temasek,a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund,for 150 to 180 million dollars.The stake is part of a growing trend of foreign investment in robustly-growing India.India's central bank said the economy will grow at least 8% in the current fiscal year,which began April 1.
The National Stock Exchange has 1470 listed companies,with a combined market capitalization of about 1.3 trillion dollars as of March 1.NYSE/Euronext had purchased the stake in NSE in January 2007.At the same time,Goldman Sachs had purchased its own 5% of the Indian exchange.
Wisdom Tree Investments offers an India exchange traded fund,EPI,which includes 126 profitable companies,according to the firm.It is a fundamentally weighted fund,meaning allocation to the holdings is determined by their success.

WTO Director Sees Progress

Pascal Lami,Director of the World Trade Organization,noted progress at the G8 summit in Italy last week:1.solid impetus,solid commitment to push back protectionist tendencies;2.commitment to finish the Doha round of negotiations;3.commitment to keep pushing on open trade,which is what developing nations need.As compared to last year,the U.S. and India have expressed the political will together.There remains a bit of compromising to be done,but their commitment to Doha 2010 is something new,Mr.Lami observed.
The G20 group of developed and key developing nations are to meet in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania in September.The G8 summit may be considered to have been preparation for what many believe to be the more significant meeting.

India's New Spending

The government of India will be adding new fiscal stimulus,increasing the deficit to 6.8% of Gross Domestic Product.Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said total spending will go up by 36% to 10.3 trillion rupees,or 214 billion dollars.Infrastructure spending will rise to 9% of GDP by 2014.The tax code will be simplified;credit provided to struggling exporters;and defense spending increased.Stocks fell on the news,with the Sensex index dropping 5.8% as investors doubted the wisdom of inflating the national debt.In the U.S.,some economists are calling for a second stimulus package,while France and Germany are worried about further deficit spending.

Asian Assets Sought

A number of banks have expressed interest in Asian assets of Royal Bank of Scotland Group.Among those interested are Standard Chartered,HSBC Holdings and Australia&New Zealand Banking Group,or ANZ.RBS is divesting commercial and retail units in eight Asian locales,such as Hong Kong,China and India.RBS has been in talks with the prospective buyers.ANZ has gone as far as to sell shares in order to raise capital to fund such purchases,among other purposes.In better times,the RBS assets might well go for a less attractive price than today.