INTERNATIONAL. RBS Coutts’ global investment strategy team’s inaugural report “Inquiring Minds: Spotlight on China” provides investors with a detailed insight into Coutts’ current strategy in China.
Authored by Ryan Tsai, Senior Investment Strategist for Greater China and Norman Villamin, Coutts’ Head of Investment Strategy for Asia, the report points to slowing growth in China as a result of deteriorating prospects for the global economy and Beijing’s continued reluctance to ease policy in the face of inflationary pressures.
In line with this, Coutts favours renminbi-denominated corporate bonds over equities until the global economic outlook stabilises.
Ryan Tsai states: “Although the long-term picture for China remains positive, we expect further declines in Chinese equities over the next six months, with a US recession looking more probable and no immediate prospect of a U-turn in Chinese monetary policy. With va
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PASADENA — Some of the nation’s largest oil refineries are seeking huge tax refunds that could force school districts and local governments across Texas to give back tens of millions of dollars they were counting on to pay teachers and provide other services.
The owners of the refineries — including San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp. — want the tax breaks in exchange for buying pollution-control equipment. But the cost to public schools would be dear, coming only months after legislators slashed education spending by more than $4 billion.
If the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality grants the refunds, nearly half the money would be taken from schools.
The TCEQ is evaluating 16 refund requests that could add up to more than $135 million in counties where refunds are being sought, according to county tax data and application documents analyzed by the Associated Press.
If the abatements are approved, all Texas schools would be affected. That’s
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BUSINESS leaders are calling for a “full and frank” assessment of the potentially damaging effects of the Scottish Government’s reform of empty property rates relief. Property experts warn that the proposal, announced as part of last week’s Budget, will push a sector which is still in the doldrums following the recession into even graver difficulties.
The policy was one of several Budget “surprises” inflicted upon Scotland’s private sector last week by Finance Minister John Swinney.
Property consultants point out that there are already very few speculative development projects in Scotland as the sector struggles to recover but experts believe the reforms could cause even longer term damage. Read Full Article…
COUNTDOWN Intro 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Computers are such a huge part of our daily lives that it can be easy to forget just how far they have come in a few short decades. Today they go anywhere we go and can be used for millions of purposes, but not too long ago they took up entire rooms and still didn’t have the computing power of a smartphone. Here are some of the computers that changed the way we work and led to the devices we’re familiar with today.
As Hurricane Irene prepared to make uninvited ports-of-call to Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York, President Barack Obama warned Saturday that the United States’ East Coast was in for a “long 72 hours” as he led the U.S. Government’s response from a disaster command center in Washington.
Obama chaired a meeting at the National Response Coordination Center set up at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters in Washington, which is coordinating and marshaling federal and local hurricane-relief efforts.
“This is going to be a tough slog getting through this thing,” Obama said during a video teleconference including senior federal officials and local government agencies in the east coast path of Irene, Agence-France Presse reported Saturday.
Warm feeling: sales in the slow Summer months have given Aga confidence
Aga, the cast iron stove maker, is raving about the prospects for its new Total Control model returning it to the level of sales it enjoyed four years ago.
Launched in May, the 9,600, electric Aga Total Control heats up in just 22 minutes rather than the six hours it takes for a conventional Aga. It is also far more simple to install because it has no flue and is cheaper to run.
Aga chief executive William McGrath said: “As we enter the key Autumn selling season we are attracting a totally new audience with Total Control.
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