Month: November 2013

Selfies at funerals puts last nail in society’s coffin

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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No moment in life is either too serious or too trivial to pass without someone providing a rapid, vapid response through social media.

“Love my hair today. Hate why I’m dressed up #funeral”, reads the caption of a self-portrait snapped by a young woman dressed in black. Another photo of a blonde pouting in her pink bedroom with a “Keep Calm and Rock On” sign is titled, simply, “depressing funeral selfie.”

(Read more: This app makes your selfies look … complete)

Yes, that is depressing; we don’t even know how to be depressed anymore. There is tedium in every social medium to the point where even death becomes boring.

A collection of strangely un-sad Instagrams, Tweets, and Facebook posts have been gathered together at a Tumblr blog (naturally) called, “Selfies at Funerals.”

“Killin the selfie game at pop’s funeral,” tweets a joyful young man mocking a piece of statuary. Pop’s gotta be proud. So proud he may rise up from the dead and slap you. (I hope so!)

Harsh? Katy Waldman at Slate.com says I should all calm down a little.

“Is it somehow more tasteful, even nobler, to keep grief private? If that’s the case, the problem with Internet mourning far predates the Internet: People have been putting their sadness on display—wearing black, holding ceremonies—since the ancient Greeks first hired mourners to tear out their hair at funerals. Social media may make it easier to launch a stream of frown-y faces into the ether, but Mark Zuckerberg didn’t invent the impulse to reach out when you’re hurting.”

(Read more: Who’s viewing from your Instagram, and profiting?)

True, if you’re hurting or if you’re sad. But if you’re just amazed at how much you’re rockin’ the outfit while Cousin Jamie is laid out in a coffin, well, that’s not grief; it’s a symptom of our collective cultural death wish, a bad case of Kardashianitis.

Believe me, I’m as guilty as anyone. I’ve posted selfies looking my absolute worst all done up in foil under a hair dryer at the salon. I tweeted a photo of all the functions available on a public toilet in Japan (though, technically, you don’t see me in the photo, but you get the picture, if you know what I mean). I, like so many others, need to step away from the “send” and “share” buttons. But even I wouldn’t snap a self-portrait inside a funeral home with Grandma visible in her open casket behind me. Someone else did that.

An article from New Zealand teaches us there are five places where you should not take selfies, including holocaust memorials, especially when smiling and giving a thumbs up.

One other suggestion: don’t take a selfie dressed up as a robber before you go out and (allegedly) commit robbery, like these two teenage girls did.

(Read more: Instagram, other sites go down)

So what’s next? What annoyingly self-absorbed Everest is left to climb? “Colonoscopy selfies,” joked @jakejakeny.

Too late.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Many Americans see China as dominant economic power

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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More than one quarter of Americans currently perceive China as the world`s dominant economic power, according to a new survey, a reflection of the changing global order.

While the majority, or 59 percent, of Americans see the United States as the world`s dominant economic power, only 43 percent of those polled believe it will retain its title by the end of the decade, according to a poll by GfK North America with TheStreet.

By contrast, 36 percent believe China will claim the position by 2020.

“Despite the slow economic recovery of the five years since the financial crisis, most people in the United States still regard the nation as the world`s dominant economic power,” said Joe Deaux, economics analyst at TheStreet.

“However, confidence that the US will retain that status five to seven years out wavers. Though respondents still see the US in the future as the outright economic leader, favor for China substantially narrows the gap,” he said.

(Read more: Data show China passing US as biggest oil importer)

While China`s economic strength is on the rise, the size of the mainland economy at USD 8.23 trillion is just over half that of the US at USD 15.68 trillion, according to 2012 gross domestic product data.

However, China is seen overtaking the US as the world`s largest economy by 2030, according to the National Intelligence Council, an analytical arm of the US government`s Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

(Read more: US Intelligence: Asia`s Global Power Rising by 2030)

Aside from the world`s two leading economies, 3.4 percent of respondents believe India could become the biggest economic power by 2020.

Even fewer saw potential for Russia, the euro zone and South America to emerge as a dominant economic force, at 2.2 percent, 1.9 percent at 1.6 percent, respectively.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

This emerging giant’s growth may slow to 2009 levels

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Growth in one-time Asian tiger Indonesia may have slowed to 2009 levels in the third quarter, but economists aren`t pushing the panic button just yet.

Economists expect Indonesia`s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.6 percent in the third quarter, according to a Reuters survey. That would be the slowest since the fourth quarter of 2009, according to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), when the world was still mired in the global financial crisis. The data are due on November 6.

(Read more: Is Indonesia about to regain its Asian tiger stripes?)

“High-frequency indicators suggest production slowed over the third quarter, while import demand and loan growth have also cooled,” Moody`s Analytics said in a note.

Over the past few months, Indonesia has been buffeted by market volatility, spurred in part by concerns that the US Federal Reserve`s plans to begin tapering its asset purchases would make it difficult for the country to finance its current account deficit – 4.4 percent of GDP as of the second quarter.

In the June to September period, Indonesia`s central bank hiked rates by 150 basis points to 7.25 percent as the country`s markets and currency were hard-hit by fund outflows. The rupiah weakened sharply, with the US dollar currently buying around 11,360 rupiah, compared with around 9,700 in May.

(Read more: Tourists flock to Indonesia, lured by a cheaper rupiah)

“This is choking domestic demand and will likely stifle growth over the coming quarters,” Moody`s Analytics said; it expects growth of just 5.1 percent for the quarter.

But economists aren`t running up the white flag.

“It is the lowest growth rate since 2009. However the economy is still expected to grow well over 5 percent,” said Frederic Neumann, an economist at HSBC. “It`s fairly positive given the headwinds.”

(Read more: Indonesia Finance Minister `comfortable` with rupiah level)

Neumann said he is still concerned about Indonesia`s widening trade deficit and slowing of commodity exports, “but by and large consumer spending remains robust.” He also expects the elections in July to give consumer spending its traditional fillip, especially in the provinces.

“Next year should be a relatively robust year,” he said, expecting the fourth quarter will likely mark the bottom for slowing growth.

But he added, without “far-reaching” structural reforms, economic growth isn`t likely to accelerate much.

Edward Lee, an economist at Standard Chartered, expects the third quarter will mark the bottom for the pace of growth; he forecasts 5.7 percent growth for the quarter.

For the full year, Bank Indonesia expects economic growth of 5.5-5.9 percent, while the World Bank expects 5.6 percent growth.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Vanguard overtakes Pimco with world’s largest mutual fund

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Pimco’s flagship bond product has lost its status as the world’s largest mutual fund, Morningstar data has shown.

The USD 248 billion Pimco Total Return fund was overtaken by the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund, a product which tracks the entire US equity market, in October, according to the funds data provider.

The Vanguard fund had USD 288 billion of assets at the end of October.

(Read More: Wealthy didn’t ‘build that,’ they ‘rode it,’ says Gross)

The Pimco Total Return fund, which is run by renowned bond manager Bill Gross, saw its sixth consecutive month of outflows in October, as investors withdrew USD 4.4 billion of net assets, bringing total outflows to USD 33.2 billion year-to-date.

The Pimco product has lagged the sector of late, returning 0.9 percent in October, compared to a 1 percent average return by US intermediate term bond funds – those with maturity levels of 10 to 15 years – Morningstar data showed. The Pimco fund has lost 1.29 percent over the past year, compared to an average 0.71 percent loss.

Investors’ healthy appetite for stocks, which has seen the S&P 500 power 24 percent higher this year, has dampened demand for fixed income investments in general.

(Read More: Carl Icahn fires back at Bill Gross on Twitter)

Concern over the end of the US Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program, which is expected to eventually lead to higher interest rates, has made bond products less attractive to investors.

(Read More: Gross: The stock market and asset prices are ‘bubbly’)

“At a macro level, this reflects the rotation away from bonds,” said Rob Aspin, head of equity strategy at wealth management group for Standard Chartered bank.

“The bond market is in a thirty-year cycle, and its bull market started in 1980 so we should be close to the bottom now. We expect yields [on Treasurys] to continue rising over the longer term and expect the US 10-year [yield] to hit around 3 percent over 6 months and approximately 3.5 percent 12 months out,” he added.

Morningstar data also showed that global appetite for fixed income has waned over the past year.

Year-to-date, fixed income funds have attracted roughly USD 150 billion worth of net flows (the amount of inflows minus redemptions), while their equity counterparts have attracted around USD 219 billion on a global scale.

Pimco were not immediately available for comment.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Sky may not be falling on Hong Kong property

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Analysts claim that the sky is falling on Hong Kong’s property segment, with predictions prices could decline as much as 30 percent by the end of 2015, may just be playing the fabled Chicken Little, frightened by an acorn.

“We are not expecting a boom-bust scenario,” Morgan Stanley said in a note.

“Strong end-user demand backed by low unemployment rates, increasing numbers of new marriages and babies continue to support the mass-market projects,” the bank said. “(The) recent discount model on luxury projects is also working well,” it said, noting inventory is clearing at discounted prices and generating decent margins for developers.

(Read more: 30% correction coming for Hong Kong housing: Barclays)

To be sure, Morgan Stanley expects Hong Kong’s residential property prices to fall around 10 percent in 2014 in anticipation of higher real interest rates and rising supply, but it believes a recurrence of the property-price crashes in the 1997 Asian financial crisis or the 2008 global financial crisis is unlikely amid minimal levels of speculation and the absence of an external shock.

(Read more: Hong Kong luxury home buyers queue amid talk of last hurrah)

“In 1997, property speculation was rampant with the ratio of mortgage payment to median household income peaking at 140 percent in the second quarter of 1997, compared to 55 percent now. The 2008 scenario is also atypical given the prevalence of external shock – the global financial crisis – at the time,” it said.

Recent sales in the primary market might support a less-than-catastrophic view for the segment.

“Some of the recent new launches have received a satisfactory response, with most units sold on the first day,” said Jonas Kan, an analyst at Daiwa, in a note.

Paul Louie, MD, Head of Property Sector, Asia Ex-Japan Equity Research at Barclays expect a synchronized downturn, with office prices falling by 20 percent.

“Market demand has not been as bad as many assumed it would be,” he said. “Developers are not embarking on a vicious price war or giving away their margins for cash.”

Indeed, Kan said the rebates developers are offering are mitigating the government’s sector-cooling measures and helping to shed light on actual underlying demand, adding that in the local market, improving investment demand tends to speed up the pace of the pickup for end-user demand.

He expects a period of consolidation for the residential sector after “being on the up” for around 10 years, forecasting a 10-15 percent price decline in 2014.

(Read more: Where’s the next property bubble building)

BNP Paribas also noted strong sales of high-end projects in prime locations, with 100 percent take-up of the units launched over the weekend; on November 2-3, 247 units sold in the primary market, up 19.3 percent from the previous weekend.

“Attractive pricing has attracted strong demand from buyers. We expect developers to accelerate high-end launches,” it said in a note.

Doomsayers, however, are sticking by their guns.

“That first round of price cutting has been effective and we’ve been able to draw some demand, but as we continue to see more and more of these price cuts come through, we’ll see demand start to pull back,” Paul Louie, an analyst at Barclays, told CNBC. “Buyers will return to the sidelines. They’ll wait for the better deals.”

He also noted household incomes in Hong Kong are stalling, while property purchase prices are running around 13.3 times income, higher than in 1996-1997.

“In order to maintain that unaffordability, the hope value that people’s income can catch up over time is very important. But as income begins to stall, that unaffordability is going to become very real for a lot of people,” he said.

Louie has forecast an at least 30 percent drop in home prices by the end of 2015, with knock-on effects to send office property prices down 20 percent and stall retail properties with zero growth.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Australia keeps rates unchanged at record low

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Australia’s central bank on Tuesday kept benchmark interest rates unchanged at a record low of 2.5 percent, as expected.

Also Read: Asian markets take glancing blow from Fed

In a statement, the Reserve Bank of Australia said its monetary policy was appropriate, adding that the Australian currency remained “uncomfortably high.”

The Aussie dollar fell a quarter of a US cent after the statement.

“The clear message is that they are a bit nervous about thestrong Australian dollar. They’ve been trying to talk it down but what’s been missing is aclear easing statement in the statement in itself. We usually haveto wait for the minutes before the easing bias comes out,” said Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy & Chief Economist at AMP Capital Investors.

“They’re trying to step up the pace of jawboning but by the same token, they don’t want to have to cut interest rates again so it’s a fine line between a booming housing sector and getting the rest of the economy stronger. And to do the latter, you need to get the Aussie down.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Will China’s plenum dazzle or disappoint?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Expectations are high for far-reaching economic reforms at a key policy meeting of China`s leaders this weekend. But so is the scope for disappointment, analysts say.

(Read more: What`s important in Asia this week)

China`s president Xi Jinping has promised a comprehensive reform plan at a four-day plenum of the Communist Party that begins on Saturday, according to local media reports.

The meeting is significant because it will be the first real opportunity for Xi to outline his economic agenda one year after a once-in-a-decade leadership change in the world`s second biggest economy took place.

Add to that the historic significance of the plenum – it has marked a turning point for major policy shifts in the past such as in 1978 when Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping unveiled reforms that led to the opening up of the economy and paved the way for three decades of rapid economic development.

“I think the plenum could be far-reaching and I think it could be profound. But note that there is a three-to-five year time horizon attached to the bulk of these reforms,” said John Woods, head of fixed income and senior portfolio manager at Citi Investment Management.

Analysts say a report released last week by China`s Development Research Centre (DRC), a think-tank linked to the State Council – the equivalent of China`s cabinet – provides some idea of the reforms that could be outlined at the plenum.

(Read more: Tiananmen crash may set dangerous precedent: Analysts)

The DRC recommended creating a national social security system and making changes to state-owned enterprises. It also recommended an equal valuation of urban and rural land, saying that the current structure had distorted prices.

According to Credit Suisse the changes proposed by the DRC report could “potentially be revolutionary.”

Unprecedented change?

Expectations for sweeping change were also lifted last week when Yu Zhengsheng, China`s fourth-ranked politician, promised “unprecedented” reforms at the plenum.

“We believe the reform framework proposal revealed by the Development Research Centre should be viewed as the foundation of Xi`s framework of reforms,” Robert Prior-Wandesforde, director for non-Japan Asia economics at Credit Suisse, said in a note.

“We have high hopes that Xi will deliver an ambitious reform guideline. To go from reform architecture to detailed policy design and execution, the ball will need to be moved to the bureaucrats` court. The success of the ambitious reform package would depend on details and execution, in our view,” he added.

China`s economy has experienced double-digit growth rates over the past three decades, but in recent years policymakers have shown a tolerance of slower growth as the economy transitions away from investment and exports to one that is driven by consumer spending.

The government has a full-year growth target of 7.5 percent and a growth rate in line with that target would mark the slowest pace since the late 1990s.

Analysts say that to encourage the move towards a consumption-driven economy, China needs to shift more of its 1.4 billion population into cities and provide a social safety net that boosts consumers` confidence to spend.

According to some analysts, China`s leaders could shy away from some areas where they are likely to face strong opposition such as reforming the state-owned enterprises.

Strategists say China urgently needs to address corruption and inefficiency at state-run businesses.

“Measures related to social stability, for instance a social security system and land reform will go through. But other measures such as reform of the state-owned enterprises and increasing competition could be slower,” Stephen Sheung, head of investment strategy at SHK Private, a wealth management firm, told CNBC.

“They will probably maintain a pilot-scheme approach to reform and that could disappoint investors,” he added.

(Read more: Shanghai`s free-trade zone: What`s the hype about?)

In September, China launched a free-trade zone in Shanghai to test economic reforms.

Analysts at Nomura added that on the subject of state-owned enterprises, the plenum could reiterate the need for efficiency or just ignore the issue.

“We expect the meeting to result in the release of a far-reaching reform plan on structural issues, but its effectiveness is uncertain as that depends on implementation,” they said.

– By CNBC.com`s Dhara Ranasinghe; Follow her on Twitter @DharaCNBC

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Could QE spur deflation, not inflation?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Since quantitative easing`s launch, economists have fretted it might spur runaway inflation, but now at least one economist is questioning whether central banks` asset purchases might lead to deflation instead.

“Unproductive investment is by nature ultimately deflationary. This is a point also worth recalling when investing in paper assets fuelled by QE liquidity and not underpinned by sustainable economic growth,” Michala Marcussen, global head of economics at Societe Generale, said in a note.

“In theory, a permanent increase in money supply results in a proportional increase in all money prices,” Marcussen said. But she added that the inflation impact of central banks` asset buying may only be temporary as the assets will later either be sold to private investors or redeemed.

(Read more: Fed could up QE to $1 trillion a month: Marc Faber)

One unintended consequence of developed markets` QE has been significant capital inflows to emerging economies, and in China, the liquidity combined with the domestic government`s policies to spur fixed asset investments, she noted.

“This led initially to a welcome demand boost for commodities and a wide variety of capex goods. Today, however, the result is that China suffers significant excess capacity and poor capital returns, not to mention a shaky shadow banking system,” she said.

“Excess capacity is deflationary and the means to deal with it is to shut it down. Indeed, we expect China for now to exert deflationary pressure on the global economy.”

(Read more: QE Infinity? No end in sight for money printing)

In other emerging markets, such as Brazil and India, QE affected the demand side, via consumer credit channels, she noted. While local currency appreciation initially masked the inflationary effects, talk earlier this year that the US Federal Reserve may begin tapering its asset purchases caused local currencies to depreciate even as growth momentum slowed, she noted.

“We do not expect to see these inflationary forces exported. As households struggle to deleverage balance sheets, the end result, however, could prove deflationary,” she said.

(Read more: It`s `too tender a moment` to cut QE, says Fed hawk Fisher)

To be sure, other economists aren`t convinced.

While data on Thursday showed euro zone inflation fell to a four-year low of 0.7 percent on year in October, it may not offer much support for the view QE is damping inflation.

“They have a lot of the key economies going through austerity measures, so the lower inflation outcome may not be solely due to a lot of QE,” noted Alvin Liew, senior economist at UOB in Singapore.

Since peripheral European economies using the euro can`t allow their currency to depreciate to match weak economic conditions, domestic prices there must fall to match low growth expectations, noted Leif Eskesen, an economist at HSBC.

It`s also not clear the assets purchases are “unproductive.”

Central banks are also targeting mortgages, noted Eskesen. “It`s helping to keep interest rates low. It`s helping to keep the yield curve flat,” he said. “It encourages, to some extent, more lending and risk taking,” helping to support the demand side, he said, adding QE may have helped avert deflation.

“I severely doubt inflation expectations would have been higher in the absence of QE,” added Robert Prior-Wandesforde, an economist at Credit Suisse. But he noted a better question would be whether QE is having any real impact on economic activity. “It`s not at all clear it`s boosting investment at all, let alone unproductive investment,” Prior-Wandesforde said. He noted banks are lending cautiously, making the chances of lending to unproductive enterprises consequently smaller.

But he added, the QE-driven liquidity is pumping up asset prices that could suffer when the liquidity is withdrawn. “Bubble turning to bust has a reasonable probability and the bust could ultimately lead to deflation, but that`s a second- or third-round effect and one that is unlikely,” he said.

– By CNBC`s Leslie Shaffer. Follow her on Twitter: @LeslieShaffer1

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Fan-tache-stic: Why business loves Movember

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Scary sightings are usually preserved for the last day of October, yet in London’s Square Mile — and across the world — an even more chilling sight will greet people at the end of November: a sea of men in unkempt mustaches.

For nearly a decade, “Movember” has seen men grow a mustache for 30 days to raise awareness and money for men’s health, namely prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men’s mental health.

In 2004, in its first fundraising year in Australia, 450 participants raised 43,000 Australian dollars (USD 40,900). In 2012, 21 countries participated, with 1.1 million people raising £92 million (USD 147.5 million).

It has been a phenomenal rise for a fundraising model that initially started as a joke among friends in Melbourne in 2003.

Also read: America’s most mustache-friendly cities

“They were in a bar and kind of musing on what was currently in fashion when they were served by a girl wearing a Ramones t-shirt, tight jeans and Vans,” Jon Sim, the corporate community manager at Movember told CNBC.

“They said, ‘How come everyone’s wearing that now? We’ve been wearing it for years!’ So they started to muse on what would never come back into fashion, started laughing about cricketing heroes with mustaches, and dared each other to grow one.”

It was only when they later saw how many men were dying from prostate cancer that they decided for the following year they would grow their mustaches for charity.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, prostate cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer death in men worldwide and was estimated to be responsible for almost 258,000 deaths in 2008. In the U.K. in 2010, 10,700 men died from prostate cancer, roughly 29 every day, according to Cancer Research UK.

Movember’s connection between the male-only art of growing a tache and men’s health charities has been successful in putting the fun into fundraising, especially when men would rather not run a marathon to raise money for a good cause.

Also read: Why the wealthy don’t give more to charity

“Absolutely,” Sim said. “It’s a lazy man’s charity: get online, grow your “mo” and have some fun with your mates.”

People in The City of London, the heart of the U.K’s financial services sector, have been particularly enamoured with the event, no doubt pleased to raise money without having to take time away from their desks.

Movember’s official birth year, 2004, was also the year in which Facebook first came online, and Sim argues that this has been crucial to expanding awareness.

“I think it’s grown in parallel with social media,” he said. “I might be wrong with the phraseology when talking about charity, but I think there has been a gap in the market for a men’s health charity to tap into men’s health in the same way that the Pink Ribbon movement did for female cancer.”

Corporates and celebrities

Celebrities and companies have jumped on the Movember bandwagon.
Byron Burger, an upmarket hamburger chain in the U.K., produces a Mo’ Shroom burger every November to support the cause and contributed over £120,000 (USD 192,000). TOMS shoes and Gilette are also Movember partners.

The Formula 1 driver Mark Webber and an assortment of US football players are set to take part this year, with Homeland actor Damian Lewis being one of a number of celebrities to take part in former years.

This year in the US, Nick Offerman, who plays Ron Swanson in NBC’s Parks and Recreation, has teamed up once more with Movember to produce a video for the campaign, “Great Moments in Mustache History.” In 2011, 209,342 people participated in Movember in the US, raising nearly USD 21 million.

Some have been critical of the growth of Movember, arguing that either growing a mustache is far too lazy a way of raising money for charity, or that the spectacle has meant most men participate just for the fun, without any awareness of the charities involved.

“It’s a way of engaging blokes; it’s a way of creating some fun,” Sim responded, arguing that Movember has provided key sums to cancer research.

“We’re currently funding ground-breaking research into prostate cancer and doing more practical projects with Prostate UK and Cancer UK, anything from community hubs where people can get psycho-sexual counselling to employing dedicated prostate cancer nurses.”

Also read: Rich, forget charity, start businesses: McNealy

Some people definitely do fall into Movember without an awareness of what it is about, but that can quickly change.

Nick Dart, who works at Deutsche Bank, told CNBC that he had grown a mustache last year just for a bit of fun and did not raise any money. “Now, I’m taking it seriously because it’s a really important cause, and I think it’s quite fun to take it really seriously and go head-strong into it,” he said.

Dart’s colleague, Richard Fox, concurred. “A couple of guys in my team are doing it this year so they kind of roped me in,” he said. “Originally we started out doing it as a bit of fun, and then we read into and realized it’s raising money for a good cause.”

This year, a large number of financial firms will once again get involved in Movember. Last year, roughly £300,000 (USD 481,000) was raised through the Square Mile financial challenge that pitted firms against one another in a race to raise the most cash. Accountancy and law firms have also enthusiastically been involved with Movember. So what’s the allure?

“I think particularly in the City, people like a dress-down Friday, and this is just almost like a dress-up month where people can let loose a little bit” Sim proffered. “I think it taps into a bit of an innate eccentricity in Brits, particularly in guys who are dressed up in suits in the City. It’s a chance to cut loose a little bit.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Big banks are looking to dump commodities units

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Facing lingering questions about the oversight and profitability of their businesses, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase have taken steps to sell their commodity divisions, say people familiar with the matter.

The firms are holding discussions with a range of offshore buyers who wouldn’t be subject to relatively stringent US banking rules.

Morgan Stanley held detailed discussions with China International United Petroleum & Chemicals—otherwise known as Unipec—as recently as September about a possible purchase of its commodities-trading division, according to people with knowledge of the talks.

The division includes a large derivatives-trading team, an energy infrastructure unit, and a large stake in an oil-tanker company. Those talks appear to have hit a wall, sources said, but discussions about other potential plans are ongoing.

JPMorgan, meanwhile, is in discussions with a number of suitors to sell its own physical-commodities business, which includes everything from a metal-storage business to gas and power supply agreements, said people with knowledge of the process.

The bank has distributed a term sheet that reportedly valued its holdings at a combined USD 3.3 billion, and multiple confidentiality agreements have been signed with possible buyers, the source said. Those holdings include a number of unregulated, offshore private money managers, as well as the Brazilian bank BTG Pactual, sources said.

A dual challenge of regulatory investigations and potential rule changes are making owning physical commodities less practical for US banks.

JPMorgan, for instance, is now under criminal investigation for the alleged manipulation of power prices in two regional markets, people with knowledge of the probes have said. The bank paid the Federal Energy Regulation Commission USD 410 million to settle the charges in late July.

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At the same time, Goldman Sachs has come under fire for its handling of a metal warehouse network it owns in Detroit, where waits for aluminum shipments have swelled to more than a year, pushing up delivery fees. (Goldman denies manipulating markets and has said that its warehouses are not immediately for sale.)

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is reviewing US banks’ rights to own physical commodities amid complaints that a legislative loophole gives Goldman and Morgan Stanley an unfair advantage.

Among other possibilities, the Fed is considering imposing a surcharge on bank commodities holdings linked to the amount of capital they require or risk they take, but no formal decisions have been made, said one person familiar with the matter.

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Banks have been awaiting a Senate Banking Committee hearing at which the Fed was expected to provide further guidance, but the planned hearing has been delayed this fall.

Market deterioration has also complicated matters. Since hitting its all-time high in July 2008, the benchmark Goldman Sachs Commodities index has dropped 57 percent, creating losses in some physical arenas and driving many of the banks’ key institutional investors out of the asset class.

The problem has been keenly felt at Morgan Stanley, where commodity-unit revenue has sunk to its current levels of close to USD 1 billion from more than USD 3 billion when the GSCI was peaking, say people familiar with the matter.

Last year, Morgan officials held talks with the Qatar Investment Authority about taking a minority stake in the commodities business, people familiar with the talks have said. But the negotiations bogged down over issues of both price and the magnitude of Qatar’s investment, say these people, and by the time Morgan was open to selling a majority stake in the business, its hand had been weakened by sagging revenues and key trader departures.

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More recently, the bank held purchase talks with Unipec, the oil-trading division of the state-controlled China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, about purchasing the commodities business, say these people.

But those talks, which seemed productive as recently as September, appear to have hit a wall, for reasons that weren’t immediately clear, the sources said.

Representatives of Unipec did not respond to a request for comment.
JPMorgan’ s commodities team, which had hoped to have the basic contours of a deal in place by the end of the year, is holding talks with a variety of private investors as well as BTG, say the people familiar with the matter. A spokeswoman for the Brazilian bank declined to comment.

Ironically, any deal to sell the physical-commodities business to a foreign investor could result in the resale of some of those assets to one of JPMorgan’s competitors.

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A private money manager like a sovereign-wealth fund might lack the interest and the expertise to manage a 10-year oil delivery contract with a major driller, for example—a reality that has prompted some private investors to approach Goldman Sachs about taking on some of those credit agreements in the wake of a JPMorgan deal.

“Some of our clients are looking at their portfolio and some of our clients can potentially ask us for help on looking at some of the long-dated derivatives,” Goldman president Gary Cohn said in a recent Bloomberg TV interview. “We’re more than happy to help facilitate our clients, but we’re not going to buy the business directly from JPMorgan.”

A JPMorgan spokesman declined to comment.

-By CNBC’s Kate Kelly.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow