Investigation of Motive Enhance China Japan Bond Purchase

Tokyo – Japanese Finance Minister said Thursday Yoshihiko Noda, the government is monitoring closely China’s increased purchases of Japanese government debt and will check in Beijing about his motivations.”We are giving careful attention” to the recent increase in purchases related to China against the Japanese government bond (JGB), “Noda said in a session of the parliamentary committee of financial problems, reported Dow Jones Newswires.

“I do not know the true intention” regarding China’s increasing appetite for JGB.But Tokyo plans to “work together closely (with Beijing) and assesses the point,” he said.China, in July, buying Japanese bonds worth 583.1 billion yen (6.9 billion dollars), Japan’s finance ministry said Wednesday, when the Asian giant will continue to increase purchases of Japanese debt.

This figure is higher than the value of securities purchased in June, 456.7 billion yen.The news came after the yen, Wednesday, 15 highest-reaching new year against the dollar. Currency traders said the yen berdenomiasi China’s purchase of property, even by itself too small to boost the yen, it can support the increase in the currency indirectly.

For the first half of this year, China bought debt worth 1.73 trillion yen, almost seven times over a full year’s record of about 253.8 billion yen in 2005.In May alone China investors buy Japanese government bonds net worth 735.2 billion yen.China seeks to diversify its investments out of the big bucks and Europe since the beginning of the financial crisis.Most bonds are purchased by the government of China is estimated to be used to manage foreign currency reserves.

This increase is in conjunction with the re-doubt recovery in the United States and Europe, and indicates China’s store more foreign currency reserves which as a result continues to expand into the Japanese bonds are relatively stable.With approximately 95 percent is held by domestic investors, the risk did not pay the debt of Japan is considered much smaller than the countries hit by the-debt, even though its public debt approaching 200 percent of gross domestic product, the highest among developed countries.

China’s foreign exchange reserves have swelled in recent years, soaring to a record 2.454 trillion dollars at the end of June.These reserves, has become the world’s largest, grew 15.1 percent from a year ago, China’s central bank said in its website.One way Beijing is diversifying its investment through an independent wealth fund China Investment Corp., which handles about 300 billion dollars and has invested heavily in resource companies.(AFP)

London Euro slumped back against the U.S. dollar on Monday

London Euro slumped back against the U.S. dollar on Monday, as investors adjust positions ahead of Federal Reserve meeting, which some believe could announce new measures to boost the sluggish recovery.Dealers said the euro rose in early trading very strongly supported by the German trade figures which show Europe’s economic giant will help drive growth across the region.As the day develops, markets anticipate that the Fed could announce new stimulus steps in a meeting on Tuesday which will be positive for the dollar with the increase in U.S. economic prospects.

However, choppy trade with investors reluctant to make big commitments awaiting the Fed’s statement after the closely watched U.S. jobs report on Friday is much worse than expected.In late trading in London, the euro was at 1.3236 dollars, the highest in the early retreat of around 1.3283 dollars, down from 1.3276 dollars late Friday in New York.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar is stronger at 85.86 yen from 85.48 yen on Friday.Michael Hewson of CMC Markets in London said the attention of everyone there at the Fed.”The results that will dominate this week’s sentiment   What will become of certain records would be a tone of language used in the statement of work, especially after the data is weaker than expected on Friday,” said Hewson.Forex.com said Jane Foley of choppy trade “as the market grappled with the possibility of facing the Federal Reserve.”,”Payrolls Friday may have been disappointing, but the market still was not sure because if the data illustrate a major slowdown in U.S. economic sukup” which will prompt the Fed to take new action, he said.

With interest rates near zero percent, analysts had suggested the Fed could mempertimbangkankebijakan based monetary stimulus, including a new pumping money directly into the system to increase the demand for credit.Earlier, Germany’s second largest exporter in the world after China, said exports in June surged 28.5 percent to 86.5 billion euros (115 billion dollars), the highest level since October 2008.

Meanwhile, imports surged 31.7 percent to reach a new record of 72.4 billion euros, meaning that the German trade partners also work well.”This has increased the possibility of Germany’s economy grew faster in the second quarter from the previous assumptions,” said Commerzbank analyst, Simon Junker.In London trading, the euro changed hands at 1.3236 dollars against 1.3276 dollars on Friday, at 113.65 yen (113.50), 0.8297 British pounds (0.8326) and 1.3851 Swiss francs (1, 3788).Dollar stood at 85.86 yen (85.48) and 1.0466 Swiss francs (1.0378). The pound was at 1.5951 dollars (1.5941).On the London Bullion Market, gold prices slid to 1203 dollars per ounce from 1207.75 dollars per ounce on Friday. (  AFP) –

Federal regulators have got to address the "casino environment" on Wall Street where computerized high-frequency trading can trigger market-shaking turmoil

WASHINGTON Federal regulators have got to address the “casino environment” on Wall Street where computerized high-frequency trading can trigger market-shaking turmoil, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd said Sunday.Dodd, D-Conn., pointed to the new phenomena of computers buying and selling stock in nanoseconds as a possible cause of last Thursday’s meltdown. The market fell nearly 1,000 points within minutes before rebounding.The top Republican on the committee, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, joined Dodd on CBS’ “Face the Nation” to agree that something must be done about a situation in which technology has gotten ahead of the regulators. “You’ve got a high risk in the market place that something could go wrong and once it really goes wrong it could be catastrophic,” Shelby said.

Dodd said his committee will hold hearings on last Thursday’s events. But he said that for now the priority is for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to come up quickly with answers for dealing with high-frequency trading marked by a lack of marketwide circuit breakers to prevent the market from spiraling out of control.

Dodd said he did not see a need for new legislation. The financial overhaul bill now being debated in the Senate does have early warning systems to detect problems such as having circuit breakers at only one exchange, he said.”You shouldn’t have a crisis like this happen before noticing that,” he said.

Dodd noted that the freefall on Wall Street occurred when there was good economic news: a sharp growth in jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector. “So you are getting sort of this casino environment that’s appearing in our markets,” he said. “It does not reflect what’s going on in the real economy.”

Shelby said he had no information on speculation that the meltdown may have been the result of a cyber attack. White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said on “Fox News Sunday” that there was no evidence that a cyber attack was behind the market shake-up.(AP)

The Group of Seven rich countries is concerned about Greece's debt problems

The Group of Seven rich countries is concerned about Greece’s debt problems, a Canadian official said on Friday, and hinted that there may be other countries that will also need help.Canada is this year’s chair of the G7.Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty would not discuss the substance of talks between G7 finance ministers and central bank governors early on Friday, but said his G7 partners were watching developments closely.

“We are concerned. We’re consulting closely with our international partners.”In addition to Canada, the G7 includes Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.Echoing comments from other G7 officials, Flaherty told reporters that the G7 believed countries that are borrowing heavily need to rein in fiscal deficits. But he questioned if they could do that on their own.

“It’s necessary that, first of all, that the countries involved take the steps they need to take and be clear about that, that they’re going to take these steps toward fiscal restraint, fiscal responsibility,” he said.”They will need some help, in all likelihood, in order to manage the issue, as Greece did.”

Leaders of euro zone countries on Friday approved a deal by the European Union and International Monetary fund to provide an aid package to Greece, EU sources said. The aid package of 110 billion euros ($147 billion) is to be released to Greece over three years.The IMF board is to meet on Sunday to discuss its share of the rescue deal.Greece has promised to slash spending in return, measures which have provoked violent protests in Athens.

U.S. President Barack Obama, in remarks at the White House to highlight stronger-than-forecast U.S. April job growth, said he had discussed developments in the Greek debt situation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel by telephone.”We agreed on the importance of a strong policy response by the affected countries and a strong financial response from the international community,” Obama said.

“I made clear that the United States supports these efforts and will continue to cooperate with European authorities and the IMF during this critical period.”

GEITHNER TALKS WITH G7, U.S. REGULATORS

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also participated in the G7 call, but a Treasury spokesman had no immediate comment on the outcome.A U.S. Treasury official earlier had described the call as being “focused on European leaders updating the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors” on Greece’s debt woes.Geithner also held conference calls on Friday morning with the heads of two U.S. market regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and with Federal Reserve officials.

The SEC and CFTC are investigating Thursday’s sudden stock market plunge, which some market sources say may have been caused by an errant trade by a large bank. An Obama administration official said the Treasury Department was closely monitoring the probe.The G7 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. It has lost significance as the world puts more stress on the broader Group of 20 industrialized and emerging economies, but retains a role in issues like the European debt crisis.(Reuters)

AriZona Iced Tea released a statement saying their headquarters is in New York, not Arizona

WOODBURY, N.Y., April 29 The manufacturers of AriZona Iced Tea released a statement saying their headquarters is in New York, not Arizona, to head off boycott talk.Don Vultaggio, founder of the beverage company, released a statement Wednesday asking people not to project their anger about Arizona’s new law — which gives police the right to demand citizenship papers from anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant — onto his company, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

“AriZona Beverages proudly traces its origins back to New York,” Vultaggio said. “In 1992, two hardworking guys from Brooklyn with a dream created AriZona Iced Tea.””Since then … we have remained loyal to our family-run business based in New York. For the last 16 years, our headquarters have remained on Long Island,” he said.

Comedian George Lopez joked on Twitter this week that he “went to buy an AriZona Iced Tea — they asked me for my documentation. So I bought HORCHATA instead!”Company officials replied on Twitter Thursday: “We’re BIG fans! Just wanted to let you know that AriZona is and always has been a NY company and would (heart) to send you some tea!”(UPI)

Crude oil prices climbed to more than $85 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange

NEW YORK, April 29  Crude oil prices climbed to more than $85 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as concern over Greek debt abated Thursday.The International Monetary Fund agreed to increase the size of loans to Greece by $100 billion to $160 billion, The New York Times reported. European markets rebounded.

Concern over Greece going into default has shaken markets for months on fears the euro would decline in value.June delivery crude oil gained $2.35 to $85.57 per barrel. Heating oil prices for June added 0.0347 cents to $2.2889 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline blendstock prices for June added 0.345 cents to $2.3675 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices for June lost 0.356 cents to $3.992 per million British thermal units.At the pump, the national average price for unleaded gasoline was $2.877 per gallon Thursday, up from Tuesday’s $2.869, AAA said.(UPI)

Kuwait Open New Oil Storage Center

Sabriya,Kuwait on Thursday opened a new reception center at Sabriya oil fields as part of efforts to encourage the Gulf states to increase oil production to four million barrels per day in 2020. Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah inaugurated the center’s third largest oil fields near Kuwait’s northern border with Iraq. The facility was built by South Korean SK Engineering and Construction Co.. at a cost of 626.7 million dollars, can handle 165 000 barrels of crude per day and 85 million cubic feet of gas.

“The center is one of the facilities that contribute to the strategic direction in 2020,” said Sami al-Rasheed, chairman of the Kuwait Oil Co.., The state-owned company responsible for production. Reception center to the physical separation of crude oil, natural gas, water and other impurities before pumping clean oil, either for export or for gas and oil refineries to power plants.

President SK Choi Kwang-Chul said the project was completed six months ahead of schedule and went online a month ago. Reception center is already scheduled to be completed in September. Original center, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border with Iraq, have been damaged during the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 by Saddam Hussein’s forces. Sheikh Ahmad said the center and a number of other projects are part of a long-term strategy of OPEC member Kuwait to increase production capacity to four million barrels per day.

“Currently, we are able to produce three million barrels per day,” the minister told reporters after the opening ceremony, but declined to say whether this is sustainable for a long time. Kuwait, OPEC’s fourth largest exporter, said that occupy 10 percent of global crude reserves. It had been pumping about 2.2 million barrels per day. (AFP)

SINGAPORE Oil prices rose above $85 a barrel Monday in Asia

SINGAPORE Oil prices rose above $85 a barrel Monday in Asia after a massive loan offer to Greece by European countries helped weaken the dollar, making crude cheaper for investors holding euros.Benchmark crude for May delivery was up 50 cents to $85.42 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 47 cents to settle at $84.92 on Friday.The finance ministers of the 15 eurozone nations agreed Sunday to offer euro 30 billion ($40 billion) in loans to Greece this year if Athens asks for the money.

The promise – filling in details of a March 25 pledge of joint eurozone-IMF help – was another attempt to calm markets that have been selling off Greek bonds in recent days.The euro rose to $1.3657 on Monday from $1.3322 on Friday while the dollar fell slightly to 93.10 yen.

Oil was down the previous three days on investor concern that slowly recovering U.S. crude demand doesn’t justify further gains. Crude jumped 25 percent to above $87 last week from $69 in early February.”If oil markets continue to take cues from supply and demand – in preference to the dollar, equities or economic data – we cannot paint a picture that includes higher prices,” Cameron Hanover said in a report.

In other Nymex trading in May contracts, heating oil added 1.17 cents to $2.2377 a gallon, and gasoline gained 1.17 cents to $2.3010 a gallon. Natural gas rose 3.0 cents to $4.100 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, Brent crude was up 64 cents at $85.47 on the ICE futures exchange.(AP)

Express mail giant FedEx Corp. is preparing to roll out the first of four new all-electric delivery trucks

Express mail giant FedEx Corp. is preparing to roll out the first of four new all-electric delivery trucks in Los Angeles next month, but Chief Executive Frederick W. Smith said there were still significant barriers to bringing large numbers of zero-emission and low-emission commercial vehicles into service quickly in the U.S.

“We would like to significantly expand the number of vehicles we have in this category,” Smith said. “But the capital costs are 50% higher than regular vehicles. Production hasn’t ramped up enough to bring down the expense. The regulatory requirements are arduous, and there aren’t enough tax credits or incentives.”

On Friday, FedEx’s new truck wrapped up a road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles along historic Route 66, with a final stop at the Santa Monica Pier.The truck, which is slightly smaller and more rounded than the conventional FedEx delivery van, was built in Indiana by Navistar International Corp. and designed by Modec of Coventry, England. FedEx first tested a small number of similar trucks in Europe.”It’s time for the truck manufacturing industry to create its version of the Prius: clean, affordable and widely available for truck fleets,” Smith said as a driver put the new electric truck through its paces on downtown L.A. streets last week.

Smith said that his company’s interest in greatly reducing reliance on fossil fuels dates to 2000, when it teamed with the Environmental Defense Fund to develop a cleaner delivery truck. Three years later, Eaton Corp. and Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. built the FedEx hybrid truck, which was put into service in 2004. FedEx said hybrid trucks improved fuel economy 42%, reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25% and cut particulate pollution 96%.

There were only about 1,200 hybrid trucks on the road in the U.S. in 2009, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. The FedEx fleet includes 319 diesel-electric hybrids among its 27,000 trucks in its Express division; in the Los Angeles region, 70 of the roughly 1,000 delivery trucks are hybrids.Worldwide, FedEx said that it would have 1,869 alternative-fuel vehicles in its inventory by the end of June, but Smith said it wasn’t nearly enough. Using low-emission vehicles, FedEx saved 45 million gallons of fuel, thereby avoiding 452,573 metric tons of CO2 emissions between fiscal years 2005 and 2008, the company said.

In the fiscal third quarter that ended Feb. 28, the company said it spent $694 million on gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.John. E. Formisano, FedEx vice president of global vehicles, said the Navistar electric truck could haul 3,300 pounds and has a range of 100 miles on a single charge.

Two more electric trucks are also going to be tested in Los Angeles, but FedEx hasn’t selected a manufacturer yet.FedEx executives acknowledge that a handful of electric trucks will barely make a dent in the company’s fuel consumption and noxious emissions. But by commissioning and testing such vehicles, FedEx helps move the technology forward, they said.”They have been tested in colder climates,” Formisano said. “We’re going to see how they operate in Los Angeles now.”

Crude oil prices on the New York Stock Exchange is now approaching U.S. $ 84/barrel

Crude oil prices on the New York Stock Exchange is now approaching U.S. $ 84/barrel, even in this time have the highest record in the last 17 months. Significant increase was thanks to the President of the United States (U.S.), Barack Obama, who announced the offshore oil drilling in new areas.

based on the transaction on Wednesday afternoon New York time (Thursday morning GMT), the price of light sweet crude for May rose contract U.S. $ 1.39 to U.S. $ 83.76 per barrel. This is the highest price since October 9, 2008 – which was recorded at U.S. $ 86.59 per barrel.

Among analysts caution that investors reacted positively after Obama announced the licensing of offshore oil drilling at a new location along the Atlantic coast, Gulf of Mexico, and the northern coast of Alaska.

Policies that once lifted the ban on oil drilling along the U.S. coast, except in the Gulf of Mexico. The ban was valid for 20 years. According to Obama, the newly enacted policies that the U.S. is no longer dependent on foreign manufacturers in meeting energy needs.

Meanwhile, before the announcement from Obama, the U.S. Energy Department weekly report revealed crude oil inventories, which this time 2.9 million barrel rise. Similarly, gasoline stockpiles in the U.S., rose 300,000 barrels last week. Surveys of government is greater than expected by economists.