Man named Sam Sung no longer works at Apple

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

You may not have known that they were together, but Apple and Sam Sung have parted ways.

CNBC has learned that Sam Sung, a one-time specialist at an Apple store in Vancouver, hasn’t worked at the giant tech company for months.

It was just a year ago when Sam Sung—or at least his business card—became a viral sensation when a visitor to an Apple store in Canada noticed the interesting name of the specialist assisting a family member.

This week, this CNBC writer called the number on Sung’s business card to confirm Sung’s departure. We reached Apple’s Pacific Centre, saying we were from CNBC and speaking with an employee who gave his name as John. It played like a scene from Abbott and Costello.

“Hi, I’d like to speak to Sam.”

“Sam who?”

“Sam Sung.”

“Oh. Sam Sung no longer works at Apple.”

“Where did Sam Sung go?”

“He decided to move on. He may have wanted to do something else.”

Sung was said to be very friendly to Huffington Post reporter Andree Lau before Thanksgiving 2012 when she visited the store to confirm his identity. “He said he was aware of the Internet interest but couldn’t say much because of Apple’s strict media policy,” Lau wrote.

Apple declined to comment to CNBC on the status of the man who bears the name of its biggest rival.
At first, Sung did not respond to a message on LinkedIn. Once this story went live, though, we found our way to him.

“Want to know where [Sam Sung] went?” tweeted Victoria Welsby, a Vancouver-based headhunter and recruiter. “We stole him. He is at Holloway Schulz.”

Holloway Shulz is a corporate recruiting firm.

Welsby put us in touch with Sung who said he would prefer not to comment for the time being out of respect for his current (and former) employer.

Proud of the accomplishment, Welsby offered the story this headline: “Sam Sung ends relationship with Apple to join top recruitment firm.”

This got us thinking: What would be the best worst possible names for an Apple employee?

Here’s our running list:

• Sam Sung

• Ann Droid (via Jack Baker)

• Mike Rosoft (via @jaslusher)

• Eric Son (via @donohuechris)

• Wendy Sfone (Windows Phone, heavy accent)

• Galaxie Esfore (via @AllDaveAllDay)

(Read more: Samsung Takes on Apple With New Galaxy S4)

Drop your submissions in the comment section and we’ll add the best worst names to the list.

—By CNBC’s Eli Langer. Follow him on Twitter at @EliLanger. CNBC’s Ryan Ruggiero contributed to this story.

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

Buffett’s 2014 action plan

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Buffett will still be running Berkshire Hathaway one year from now.

This has been my best prediction for the past two years and I see no reason not to go for a three-peat, although each year there’s a greater chance it will be proved wrong. Even though he will turn 84 in August, Buffett is showing no signs of slowing down and still says “I truly do feel like tap-dancing to work every day.”

More predictions: Email’s long-awaited makeover in 2014

He has, however, been giving portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler more money to work with, acknowledging they outperformed the S&P by “double-digit margins” in 2012, leaving Buffett “in the dust.” While Ted and Todd will continue to get more responsibilities in 2014, I expect Buffett will remain in charge as long as he’s physically and mentally able to do so.

Berkshire Hathaway will ‘bag’ General Mills

I’ve been encouraged to make bold predictions, so here’s this year’s. Berkshire Hathaway will follow up its USD 12 billion H.J. Heinz deal with an even bigger food acquisition. At a market value of USD 32 billion General Mills definitely qualifies as the elusive “elephant” Buffett has been trying to bag the past few years with all the cash Berkshire has accumulated. It’s not flashy (Buffett doesn’t like flash) and it has very well-known brands, (Buffett likes brands) including Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Yoplait and Häagen-Dazs. (Buffett really likes ice cream.)

More predictions: 2014: Energy prices hit a 4-year low

Free cash flow, a metric Buffett also likes, has risen to $2.3 billion as of May, 2013, according to FactSet.

It’s important to remember that almost every prediction anyone has made about what Buffett will buy next has turned out to be wrong, and I would be surprised if this one doesn’t wind up in that trash heap. But if a deal for General Mills actually happens, I will be bragging for years.

More predictions: The road ahead: Luxury rules

Buffett’s voice will be heard

Now, an even bolder prediction. Buffett’s musical career will explode when he wins “The Voice” with his rendition of “My Way,” accompanying himself on ukulele. His “Today” Orange Room gig was just a launching point. You can take this prediction to the Billboard bank.

A look back at 2013

I give myself an overall grade of B for my 2013 Predictions (with points off for a low degree of difficulty).

—By Alex Crippen, senior coordinating producer, CNBC.com. Follow him on Twitter@alexcrippen

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

Get ready: Here comes the REAL economy

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Will the real economy please stand up?

Something very interesting will begin to happen in 2014; the real economy will start to surface as the Federal Reserve removes part or its entire stimulus program. That begs the question, what does the real economy look like?

Long-term economic cycles are based on a simple premise: The economy is all about people and the way they spend and invest their money. As economists and businessmen we must also accept that distortions to longer term natural economic cycles will exist from time to time; the USD 4 trillion capital infusion can be deemed to have influenced misrepresentations to natural conditions, but in the end, when the distortions that have occurred since 1900 abate, the economy reverts back to its natural cycle every time.

Because longer-term cycles are all about people, and once temporary offsets abate economies revert back to their natural condition, it is hugely important for us all to understand what the natural state of our economy is, which in turn would shed light on what might happen shortly after stimulus is removed.

Read more: Skyrocketing rents hit ‘crisis’ levels

My research on the “Investment Rate” is a demographic study comparing lifetime investment and spending patterns derived from societal norms and compared to economic cycles since 1900. What I’ve found is that spending does little more than create chaos-like boundaries around longer-term economic cycles, and it is the lifelong natural investment cycles that we experience throughout our lives that govern long-term economic cycles instead.

Unless society changes significantly, people today will continue to live their lives similarly to the way our parents did, and our children will do the same, all technological changes aside. That means we will grow up, go to school, buy a house, raise a family, send our children to college, retire, and by that time our children will start the cycle all over again. This is a societal normality, and the findings of the Investment Rate are predicated on these societal norms, but simple skews to the model can also be made to evaluate societies that do not function as ours does.

Read more: Cashin warns: This could spark ‘outright selling’

Using our societal norms, and with focus on the US economy, the backdated findings of the Investment Rate match up almost exactly with every major economic cycle in US history, which helps to prove that demographic analysis is really all that matters to long-term economic cycles.

However, we must define what long-term cycles are, and in this case, the average up-period lasts 26 years, and the average down period lasts 11. Thus far, there have only been three major up-cycles in US history, and only two complete down cycles:

    Up Period: 1900-1928
    Down Period: 1928-1938 (Great Depression)
    Up Period: 1938-1969
    Down Period: 1969-1981 (Stagflation)
    Up Period: 1981-2007
    Down Period: 2007-(still going)

The good news for investors is that the trend is up over time and that means even major setbacks will eventually be overcome, although it may take quite a while. For example, anyone who bought at the peak of the Great Depression’s stock-market cycle was underwater by 75 percent, and it took 26 years to get whole, but yes, your money would be worth significantly more today if you just held on even from that peak. When financial advisors and brokerage firms tell you to stay invested at all times, even at the peaks of stock-market bubbles, it bugs me, but they are not wrong; the market will head higher over time — eventually. The question is: Do you have the time to wait, and is waiting the best choice?

A differentiation must also be made between buy-and-hold investors and proactive investors, because as much as I know about the real underlying economy and the almost certain reversion to the natural growth rates that exist, I also know that a multimonth market cycle could come before a reversion and without even causing a blip on the decade-long durational cycles. So, I advise proactive strategies that can work both ways, while managing risk, given the longer-term down cycle the economy is in today.

Read more: ‘It’s time to taper,’ says Fed’s Fisher

Eventually this down cycle will come to an end, but before it does, the natural state of our economy, which looks very similar to both the Great Depression and stagflation (when inflation is high but the economic growth rate has slowed), will show its ugly head again. The next time it does may also be the buying opportunity of a lifetime (imagine buying at the bottom of the stock market’s cycle during the Great Depression instead), but money must also be available in order to do that. Tip: Raise cash and become proactive.

The Fed is slated to remove its temporary offset to the natural economic cycle and when it does, the weakness will cause growth cycles to come down. That will likely result in margin-debt contraction, multiple contraction, and asset-price reduction.

Clearly the Fed has not yet begun to do this, but when it removes the needle, a short while afterwards the true economy will stand up.

— By Thomas H. Kee, Jr.
Thomas H. Kee, Jr. is president and CEO of Stock Traders Daily and founder of The Investment Rate. Follow him on Twitter @marketcycles.

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

EU leaders inch closer to banking union deal

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

There were mixed messages coming from Brussels on Tuesday, as European finance ministers attempted to hammer out a deal on how to wind down failing banks, in an effort to protect the region from another economic crisis.

The proposed pan-European banking union is set to dominate talks at a meeting of the European Union’s (EU) 28 finance ministers, known as the Ecofin, in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday.

But details of the plan have proved controversial, with countries such as Germany – the euro zone’s biggest economy and therefore the largest contributor to rescue efforts – opposed to a system which would see failing banks tap a euro zone rescue fund. This part of the union, known as the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM), would give a single authority the power to wind down struggling euro zone banks.

(Read more: Germany blamed for banking reform delays)

European Central Bank (ECB) board member Joerg Asmussen said he does not expect a deal on the SRM on Tuesday¸ despite a year-end deadline looming.

“I would expect that on the single resolution mechanism we will manage to narrow down the differences today,” he told CNBC.

“It will be very likely a long evening but I do not expect that we will reach a final agreement already today.”

Banking union is designed to take the burden of rescuing shaky banks off the shoulders of debt-laden countries – one of the main causes of the euro zone’s financial crisis – by moving supervision of the financial sector to a European level.

Under the proposed system, major depositors in failing banks would be the first to be tapped in an effort to stump up the lender, in a Cyprus-style “bail-in” process.

Then, if more cash was needed, national rescue funds generated by individual countries would be used. Only if that fails would a common euro zone fund be called upon. The ECB is due to start overseeing this process – in what is known as the “Single Supervisory Mechanism” – in the autumn of 2014.

But Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy, said there were potential issues, even with the bail-in process.
“While the shift to a bail-in regime for vulnerable banks is necessary – and should have happened a long time ago – it’s very unclear whether markets are ready for this, particularly when it comes to vulnerable Spanish and Italian banks,” he told CNBC.

Compromising results?

Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg said that all the ingredients were present for an agreement on banking union, but warned of the dangers of a “weak compromise.”

(Read more: ECB’s Draghi: New bank stress tests ‘just the beginning’)

“The most important thing for us is to see an end to fragmentation and a strong recovery. So a broad-based solution that is inducing confidence in the banking system is what we are aiming for,” he told CNBC.

“But there is a great risk that we will once again fail to reach the necessary conclusions and therefore we will continue to see a very weak recovery in the euro zone, where the banking sector in some of the countries will remain very weak.”

Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING, also said the “optimal solution” was unlikely.

“The messages coming out from the meeting are still hard to digest. How I read it now is that we will get a second-best solution,” he told CNBC.
Spiro agreed, adding: “You can bet your bottom dollar that whatever deal emerges is going to be a classic EU fudge that conspicuously falls short of the mutualization of risks, thereby undercutting the whole rationale behind a proper banking union.”

(Read more: Trichet: Banking union needed ‘as soon as possible’)

Agreement on both a euro zone resolution authority and rescue fund was unlikely, according to Brzeski, who said that ministers were instead likely to agree upon a mixture of national and euro zone responsibilities.
“Instead of a clear sweep which transfers national responsibility away to a euro zone level, it will be a gradual process in which national governments still have the final say,” he said.

Another Ecofin meeting early next week is likely, according to Brzeski, where the final details of a banking union will be decided.

—By CNBC’s Katrina Bishop. Follow her on Twitter
@KatrinaBishop and Google

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

China 2014 growth target: To cut or not to cut?

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Chinese government on Tuesday began its annual Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC), where policymakers will set out the 2014 economic and reform agenda, including the closely-watched gross domestic product (GDP) target.

Whether the government maintains its 7.5 percent growth target or cuts it to 7 percent at the closed-door meeting will be a close call, economists say.

“Momentum in policy circles one month ago was biased toward 7 percent…However, momentum seems to have shifted toward 7.5 percent recently,” Zhiwei Zhang, chief China economist at Nomura wrote in a note on Tuesday.

Read more: Forget a slowdown, China’s economy set to accelerate

 In a recent report, government think tank China Academy of Social Science predicted growth could hit 7.8 percent in 2014, and, according to Nomura, such a forecast implies a 7.5 percent target.

The GDP target is viewed as a key signal on how serious the leadership is about carrying out reform, as well as an indicator of how fiscal and monetary policy may fare in the coming year.

Read more: China November consumer price index up 3% on year

“If the government cuts the target to 7 percent, we would expect monetary policy tightening to persist and the government to tolerate pains in the short term in exchange for more sustainable growth, which we view as a positive policy stance for the long term,” Zhang said.

“If the target is kept at 7.5 percent, the government would have to loosen monetary policy if growth slows in the first-half below 7.5 percent. They may build more infrastructure projects, which would boost growth in the short term but would likely push up inflation and heighten hard-landing risks in the future,” he added.

While local news sources may report the target after the meeting, the official announcement will be in March 2014, during the National People’s Congress.

 Beijing had maintained an economic growth target of 8 percent for eight years before cutting it in 2012 to 7.5 percent.

Read more: China’s economic reforms: What you need to know

The Chinese government has a solid track record for meeting, or even beating its target. In 2012, for instance, the economy grew 7.8 percent, well above the 7.5 percent target.

“In many countries – the growth target has a band above and below it. In China’s case, the target is more like a floor,” said Louis Kuijs, chief China economist at RBS, who also expects the growth target will be set at 7.5 percent.

“In the recent months, we have had clarity from highest levels in China that they definitely we want to see reforms and improve the quality of growth, but at the same time they need a good rate of growth and healthy climate in which they can undertake the reforms,” he said.

Last month, for example, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said growth of 7.2 percent is needed to maintain adequate employment, suggesting a tendency towards maintaining the current target instead of lowering it.

—By CNBC’s Ansuya Harjani; Follow her on Twitter:@Ansuya_H

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

Time for bond market to put down bets on Fed taper

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

It’s time for bond traders to place their bets on whether the Fed is ready to begin tapering its bond buying program.

The auction of USD 21 billion in reopened 10-year Treasury notes at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday could provide an indication of where market expectations line up on the Fed’s timing.

Read more: Fed taper already baked into market, Bogle says

Since Friday’s better-than-expected jobs report, the chances for a tapering in December have increased in the eyes of traders, though many Fed watchers still see March as more likely and January as a possibility.

CNBC’s Steve Liesman Tuesday reported that a December announcement looks increasingly more likely. He pointed out that several of the Fed’s own tests for reducing the $85 billion -a-month quantitative easing program look to have been met, ahead of next week’s meeting. Those criteria include confidence in the outlook, an easing of fiscal drag, and what the Fed sees as more appropriate interest rates.

“The tricky part really becomes tomorrow’s auction more so than the 30-year. I think it is really a test of the market’s view on tapering in December, or not,” said George Goncalves, head of Treasury strategy at Nomura Americas. The Treasury auctions USD13 billion of 30-year bonds on Thursday.

“Unless something happens in overnight markets that is weird. If anything, it could be a text book auction,” Goncalves said, adding that the 10-year yield could rise one or two basis points. Goncalves said he does not expect the Fed to begin to taper until March. Longer duration bonds are more sensitive to the end of quantitative easing, and the Fed has been emphasizing that it will not be moving short-term rates anytime soon.

Read more: US bonds gain after strong jobs report

Stock traders are also likely to be watching the auction, with little else on the calendar Wednesday. There are earnings from Costco and Joy Global before the opening bell. Men’s Wearhouse reports after the close, as does Vera Bradley.

Congress could also be in focus after lawmakers late on Tuesday said they had reached a budget agreement that could avoid another shutdown of the U.S. government.

“I definitely think if we see decent demand tomorrow, it’s going to be an indication that the markets are not expecting a tapering this quickly,” Goncalves said, referring to Wednesday’s auction. He said foreign central banks have been buyers recently, with their Treasury holdings rising to more than USD 3 trillion last week for the first time. He said if foreign buyers show up in big numbers at the auction, they are either acclimated to higher yields or they do not expect the Fed to move next week.

“If (the 10-year) were to rally back down to 2.65/2.60 [percent], then tapering is off for December,” he said.

Read more: Is this a secret indicator for bonds?

Gabe Mann, Treasury strategist at RBS, said some of Tuesday’s move lower in yields had to do with short-covering. “At least from a technical picture, there’s some headwinds the auction will have to clear. But the macro backdrop suggests, I would assume that the auction is going to come in line with recent averages,” he said. “I would be surprised if this auction came with a big tail…I think demand will be pretty decent.”

The 10-year ended Tuesday with a yield of 2.79 percent, well off the 2.86 percent reached Friday after November’s jobs report showed 203,000 nonfarm payrolls. Mann noted that the 10-year auction went at a 2.75 percent yield last month. “We’re now 5 basis points cheaper than that. It’s not that much of a concession in the grand scheme of things,” he said.

Goncalves said he expects Treasurys to rally into the end of the year. “If (investors) are of that view, then tomorrow’s one of the best chances to get in. It’s a big liquidity event,” he said.

Read more: Fed’s Evans: Open-minded to Dec taper, but prefers waiting

Stocks floundered Tuesday, with the S&P 500 down 5 at 1802, and the Dow off 52 at 15,973.

—By CNBC’s Patti Domm. Follow here on Twitter@pattidomm

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

Blink and you’ll miss it! The mini-taper

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

As expectations for a December taper ramp up, one analyst told CNBC the Federal Reserve is set to implement a ‘mini-taper’ designed to get the ball rolling before its chairman steps down.

“I think what we’ll see is a mini-taper… I would expect about USD 5 billion a month starting in December, not exactly the USD 10 or USD 15 or USD 20 billion dollars a month that people had feared. So they are going to kind of split the baby,” Scott Nations, chief investment officer and president of Chicago-based NationsShares, told CNBC Asia’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday.

Read more: Get ready, here it comes: A December taper

Nations said one of the drivers for a December taper is the fact that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will want to start it before his term expires at the end of January.

“I’ve been talking about a fourth quarter taper for a long, long time. I think we are still going to see that, but it’s only because Bernanke wants to begin the taper on his watch. And if he’s going to start the taper, then he’s going to have to pick up the pace, because his term ends pretty quickly,” he added.

Taper talk has been in focus ever since Bernanke in May raised the prospect of scaling back US monetary stimulus, prompting a vicious sell-off across most asset classes. Since then, industry watchers have attempted to guess the timing of when the Fed would taper its USD 85-billion-a-month asset-purchase program, and many wrongly pinpointed September.

Read more: Waiting for taper start? You may have missed it

Now, opinion is divided between those who expect tapering to happen next year, and those who still think it will happen at next week’s Federal Reserve meeting fueled by more positive economic data out of the US in recent weeks.

Furthermore, news that US politicians have agreed a long-awaited budget framework has also boosted expectations of a December taper.

Nations said he was firmly in the December taper camp, and said he doubts that equity investors would react in the same way to how they did back in May.

“We saw a good jobs number on Friday, a good gross domestic product report before that, and the market did not sell off on one of these ‘good news is bad news’ situations. So I think people are more nuanced and they should be,” he added.

Read more: Vanguard founder Jack Bogle says taper is baked into market

Data released Friday showed that the US economy added 203,000 jobs in November, above expectations for the addition of 180,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate dropped to a five-year low of 7.0 percent.

Nations said bond investors should not be so relaxed, however.

“In the equity world, I’m not entirely certain that the tapering is going to cause tremendous problems like it likely will in the US long-term bond market,” he said. “I don’t know how you go into the US long-term bond market as a buyer knowing that the biggest buyer in the world is about ready to exit that market.”

However, he added that once yields on 10-year Treasurys spike over 3.5 percent, equity investors should start to get worried again.

Read more: December Fed taper won’t bother investors: JPM’s Lee

“I think it [the yield] will be over 3 percent very quickly and I think over 3.5 percent is when equity investors need to start looking with what I describe as jaundiced eye,” he said, adding that he expected yields to reach 3.5 percent by the US summer.

Yields on 10-year Treasurys traded at around 2.8 percent in early trade in Asia on Wednesday.

— By CNBC’s Katie Holliday: Follow her on Twitter @hollidaykatie

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

London’s real estate bubble fears overblown?

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Concerns of a real estate bubble in London are overblown, according to experts, who argue that recent price rises are ‘entirely understandable’ given the city’s supply and demand dynamics.

It comes amid growing anxiety about the rising cost of real estate in London – which is rapidly outpacing the property market elsewhere in the country – as foreign buyers drive demand.

But Tim Murphy, CEO and founder of property investor IP Global – which has invested around £400m (USD 655 million) in the London property market over the last three years – dismissed the concerns.

Read more: Is Hong Kong’s real estate market taper proof?

“People worry about the London property market – for my money completely unnecessary, when you look at the low supply levels and the amount of money here,” he told CNBC.

Prices in London have risen by around 10 percent over the last year, according to Nationwide’s House Price Index, to an average of over £331,000. By contrast, prices in the U.K. as a whole are up by just 4.3 percent at around £170,900.

London needs 50,000 new homes a year to fulfill demand, according to Savills real estate agency, with the city’s population expected to grow by 1 million by 2021.

Murphy’s comments come after Knight Frank’s Global House Price Index revealed that Dubai, China and Hong Kong are the fastest growing property markets in the world. Prices were up 28.5 percent, 21.6 percent and 16.1 percent respectively over the last 12 months, according to the figures published Friday.

Whereas the UK – with house prices rises of just 4.3 percent over the period – ranked 25th on the index of 55 countries.

The price hikes in London have been supported in part by a lack of supply and seemingly unstoppable demand from foreign buyers, who are continuing to snap up available property. Purchases by foreign buyers accounted for 49 percent of central London property buys over the year to June 2013, according to estate agency Knight Frank, with 28 percent of these buyers not resident in the U.K.

Murphy said he expected this trend to continue: “I think the Asians and others from around the world will continue to come here. (Prices have) doubled every 10 years since the Second World War. It’s very stable, borrowing is very strong.”

Read more: A UK tax to send ‘shivers down the spine’

“It’s still relatively tax efficient… There’s a lot of money coming into the system by foreigners buying it,” he added.

Two-tier London

Liam Bailey, Knight Frank’s global head of residential research, also played down concerns of a bubble, and was quick to point out differences between the “prime central London” (which includes the much-sought-after Mayfair, Belgravia and Kensington postcodes) and Greater London markets.

Prices in central London rose by just 6.9 percent in the year to November – the slowest growth rate in almost four years– according to Bailey. Instead, a pick-up in the Greater London market was behind the headline London price rise figure.

“We’re not concerned about a bubble in either market,” Bailey told CNBC. “The central London market recovered very strongly, but we’re now seeing price growth slow down and bubble conditions aren’t present.”

And Greater London price rises were “entirely understandable” in terms of supply and demand.

“Supply is still not close to peak levels, whereas demand is very strong. Plus, rates are low and mortgages are relatively affordable,” Bailey said.

But despite this reported slowdown in prime Central London property, a five-bedroom apartment in the One Hyde Park complex in London sold for close to £27 million this weekend.

Read more: Where’s the next property bubble building?

IP Global’s Murphy said the apartment was overpriced, but David Adams, managing director of John Taylor luxury real estate agents which sold the property, disagreed.

He said the sale price was appropriate for the apartment in what he described as “arguably London’s most prestigious address.”

“I think it (the sale price) was the value of the property. Two buyers were competing for the apartment, which was the only park-side property on the market,” he told CNBC.

Bubbles brewing elsewhere?

But Adams admitted that he did have concerns about a property bubble in London – albeit not yet.

“There is a risk of a housing bubble in London because government policy is creating a situation where demand is massively exceeding supply,” he said.

“We’re not there yet, but looking ahead, the current rate of growth is just not sustainable.”

Murphy, however, stressed that there were other regions where property bubbles were more of a concern.

“If you look at what they’re trying to do in Singapore, Hong Kong, even China – they’re much more nervous about property markets,” he added.

—By CNBC’s Katrina Bishop. Follow her on Twitter @KatrinaBishop

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

Is this currency the ‘best on the planet?’

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

China’s tightly-controlled yuan traded at a record high against the US dollar on Tuesday and unprecedented demand has made it stand out as one of the world’s most attractive currencies, analysts told CNBC.

Following strong trade data published over the weekend, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has been aggressively fixing the yuan’s daily mid-point at its highest levels since the 2005 currency revaluation.

On Tuesday, the yuan was fixed at 6.1114 to the dollar and rose to a fresh record high of 6.0703. The central bank controls yuan trading by limiting its movement to 1 percent on either side of a daily-fixed mid-point.

“To my mind this [the yuan] is out on its own as the best currency on the planet,” Stuart Oakley, managing director of Asian currency trading at Nomura, told CNBC Asia’s Squawk Box on Tuesday.

Read more: Yuan now second most used currency in trade finance

Aside from more positive data out of the economy and signs that reform plans are gaining traction, Oakley told CNBC that another more important driver underlies yuan strength.

“The real issue for the yuan doesn’t so much lie in the data actually. It lies in the unprecedented structural demand from sovereigns, corporates and from retail investors around the world, because relative to any other currency, it’s out on its own,” he added.

 China saw its largest trade surplus in more than four years in November, thanks to an acceleration of exports and slowing imports. The positive data has boosted long-running hopes that the Chinese central bank might feel more comfortable relaxing its grip on the yuan, a move that many analysts say could pave the way for strong gains.

Nomura’s Oakley said the PBOC’s latest move suggests that action is imminent: “I think the band will be widened imminently it could be this week or in a month,” he said.

However, even if there is no immediate action Oakley said traders would still benefit from being short US dollars and long the yuan.

“You’re still making money whether they widen the band or not as it’s all about the flows,” he added.

The yuan has been one of Asia’s strongest performing currencies this year, up around 2.53 percent against the dollar year to date. In contrast, the Japanese yen is down 20 percent against the dollar, while the Indian rupee is down 11.17 percent.

Read more: Singapore and Hong Kong exchanges team up on yuan

And last week the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) reported that the yuan had overtaken the euro to become the second most used currency in international trade finance worldwide, after the dollar.

Other analysts also told CNBC they were bullish on the yuan, citing a number of positive macro-economic tailwinds set to give the currency a boost.

“It’s an important part of their rebalancing,” said Jonathan Webb, head of FX strategy at Jefferies Bache, referring to China’s rebalancing of its economy from an investment led- to a consumption one.

“The third plenum was very important. We saw some huge reforms, people were quite surprised at how radical it was, and part of that adjustment is going to be a stronger yuan. It’s one of our key recommendations for next year,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ray Attrill, co-head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank, also said recent moves by the bank to set the mid-point lower were significant.

“We’ve seen two days of single-big-figure moves. That looks to me to be somewhat significant. It does say that the authorities… are still intent on allowing the currency to appreciate. I think that ties very much in with the hints that we are going to see band widening at a more market determined exchange rate,” he said.

Read more: Yuan moves one step closer to global currency status

However, not everyone is convinced that the yuan will rally once the central bank opens it up to market forces.

Lombard Street Research published a note last month that argued China’s reform plan would knock the yuan off its appreciation path over the next 12-18 months.

Allowing capital to flow more freely into and out of China, they said, could prompt domestic investors to diversify through purchasing foreign assets, putting downward pressure on the yuan.

— By CNBC’s Katie Holliday: Follow her on Twitter @hollidaykatie

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

Guess what? DC could deliver a merry Christmas

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Guess what? DC could deliver a merry Christmas

 A very odd thing seems like it may happen this week.

If talks continue to progress, Congress seems fairly likely to make a deal on the 2014 budget before adjourning for the year that both lifts some of the sequester burden and takes the fear of another shutdown off the table for another 12 months.

It seems hard to believe given all the nation has suffered at the hands of Washington in the last three years. But there is a decent chance that the economy, which is clearly picking up a little speed, may get a year’s reprieve from anymore self-inflicted Beltway wounds.

Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray and House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan are reportedly close to a deal that would fund the government for the next year at slightly above USD 1 trillion, a number above the USD 967 billion called for in the 2011 Budget Control Act.

The negotiators, who could move their deal before the full House and Senate this week, would offset any deficit increase by raising government fees on airline tickets and perhaps trims to federal worker benefits and military pensions, among other possibilities.

The emerging deal is not a slam dunk with either party.

Read more: DC squabbling could still wreck the economy in 2014

Democrats are concerned about the benefit cuts and the fact that the agreement seems unlikely to further extend emergency unemployment benefits. Many also say it does not do enough to mitigate the 2014 sequester cuts. Republicans, especially conservatives in the House, are wary of adding any spending beyond the level agreed to in 2011, even if it’s offset without raising taxes.

 Still, if the agreement manages to bypass the official budget conference committee, as seems likely, it’s difficult to see it getting blocked. It would almost surely pass the Senate, where Democrats would need just five Republicans, not an especially heavy lift. In the House, most Democrats would probably join Republicans in passing the budget bill.

Staunch tea party conservatives and liberal Democrats would be able to cast safe votes in opposition to the deal without fear of actually killing it, in the time-honored “vote no, hope yes” Washington tradition.

Passage of the measure by Friday would likely present a very merry Christmas to investors who could breathe somewhat easier in 2014 without threat of a fresh crisis.

Read more: Washington is standing in the way of US recovery

The budget deal, if it materializes, would follow another month of strong job creation that saw the jobless rate hit a five-year low with the size of the labor force increasing, indicating that Americans are growing more hopeful about their job prospects.

The jobs report had almost uniformly positive news, including increases in hours worked and wages, suggesting once again that employers will have to keep adding jobs rather than squeezing more out of their existing work force.

The fourth quarter GDP numbers are likely to be well below the revised third-quarter growth of 3.6 percent given the impact from the October shutdown. And the inventory build that showed up in the third quarter will fade. But according to many Wall Street economists, the weaker fourth quarter will just be a blip that gives way to 3 percent growth or better next year and into 2015.

 But don’t count Washington out just yet as a possible drag on 2014. The emerging budget deal does nothing to address the debt ceiling, which will have to be raised sometime in the spring. Treasury says the government will hit the borrowing limit—currently suspended until Feb. 7—by the end of March.

Read more: Wall Street frets as Volcker Rule nears vote

The Congressional Budget Office says Treasury might be able to use extraordinary measures to avoid default through May or early June. But whatever the exact date, the limit will have to be raised and it’s not likely to be an easy vote, especially for the House GOP majority.

Here the timing becomes especially critical. If Congress can delay long enough to get many conservative members past their primaries, where they could face intense pressure to oppose any debt limit increase, then raising the borrowing limit with mostly Democratic votes would become much easier.

And then members of Congress could go back to bickering about things that would not blow up the global economy.

—By Ben White. White is POLITICO’s chief economic correspondent and a CNBC contributor. He also authors the daily tip sheet POLITICO Morning Money [politico.com/morningmoney]. Follow him onTwitter@morningmoneyben

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