September 24, 2007
Most Read Stories (24-Sep-2007 9:08:39)
Here are the top five most read stories on the Bloomberg in the last day with selected excerpts (and my comments, if any, in italics).
As of 24-Sep-2007 at 9:08:39 (Beijing time):
- Fed Will Lower Rates Again Before January Trading History Shows
- Goldman Sees `Bottom’ as Besieged Wall Street Can’t Yet Concur
- BNP, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Pounded by Forecast, Proving Prescient
- Forget Dog Years — We Are Living `China Years’
- Suddenly a Good Bear Is Hard to Find as Stocks Rise on Fed Ease
“… traders have pushed the yield on Treasury two-year notes to almost three quarters of a point below the designated 4.75 percent funds rate … Two-year yields were more than half a percentage point lower than the fed funds target from May to December 1989, from August to November 1998 and from October 2000 to April 2001. The Fed lowered rates during and after each period.”
“‘There are going to be opportunities in the mortgage business,’ CFO David Viniar said, and ‘there are certainly going to be opportunities to buy distressed assets.’”
“Paris-based BNP Paribas SA is predicting [the British pound] will tumble 23 percent to $1.547 next year.”
A guess no doubt made by their chief strategist after about dozen glasses of wine at Tour d’Argent.
“According to Green’s calculations, one American year is equivalent to one quarter of a Chinese year, or 2.8 months. One British year equals 3.1 Chinese months. In other words, an American or a Brit will experience as much change in China in the space of three months as he or she would at home. Life in China is roughly four times faster.”
Yes, and this is why Beijing is one of the most fascinating places to live right now.
“China, India and Russia together will account for half of global growth this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.”
September 24th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
So that means Beijing ren spend inordinate amounts of their lives sitting it traffic. in 2001 it was faster to get from bai shi qiao to fu xing men by walking down xi zhi men wai to the subway then taking a taxi straight through. can’t imagine it now.
best of luck.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
大光：I think the west side is a cake walk compared with the CBD area. I’m lucky enough to be able to catch a 残摩 from Shuangjing to the subway at Guomao giving me a 30 minute, always in motion, door-to-door commute to Dongdan. I used to walk home from the subway, but the pollution, traffic noise, crowds, and construction noise/dirt/mayhem make it necessary to cough up (pun intended) five kuai for a quick 残摩 ride home.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
haha I know some people are adverse to motorbikes, but I bought a scooter 3 months ago, it is so so convenient. Beats a car hands down for getting around CBD area, plus you save so much money on taxis (under 20kuai a tank lasts 100kms). Police can’t catch you cos there is already too much going on on the roads and you can be pretty nimble and sneaky :), plus they seem generally disinterested in foreigners on bikes.
A car is way too much of a headache in Beijing and its only going to get worse.
September 24th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Nik: I notice a lot of young foreigners driving plate-less scooters around downtown and wish the cops would crack down on you guys. ;-)
(I think it costs over 10,000 kuai to get a legit “A” motorcycle plate, no?)
September 25th, 2007 at 12:40 am
I drive a Vespa in Malaysia (Borneo) and its legal, but I have noticed that I get ignored by the cops, while locals are not always so lucky. But, the locals do drive insane and I don’t. Still, I think I get some kind of break because I’m a foreigner.
September 25th, 2007 at 12:51 am
Thats not fair.
September 25th, 2007 at 8:25 am
Yeah 10000kuai plus a license is another 1k I think! Why would you spend 2500 on a scooter and then 4 times as much on plates? I would rather gamble the 2500. Of course I would never do this in my own country :) Sorry China
September 25th, 2007 at 11:55 am
[…] (Previously #2) […]
September 25th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
@TraderD: I had no idea you were (mal)Asia-based.
@Nik: To be legal, I guess… a very alien concept in China. You’ve adapted well. ;-)
September 26th, 2007 at 12:26 am
I go back and forth. My wife is Malaysian Chinese, and we have a house in the U.S. and Malaysia. I would say I’m not based anywhere, but I guess that is a personal problem. :)