Some Fed Members Still Think 2015 Rate Increase Is Best

At its September meeting,the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee declined to raise interest rates and left a sense of uncertainty over investors.Just after the meeting,three Fed members advocated raising rates this year.
I argued against the decision,St.Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said.Holding rates steady yet again seems to have created rather than reduced global macroeconomic uncertainty.*
San Francisco FRB President John Williams and Richmond FRB President Jeffrey Lacker also called for a near term rate hike.*
If 2015 is the year the Fed will raise rates,it will have to be in December,since there is no press conference scheduled for the October meeting,suggested Tony Nash,chief economist and managing partner at Complete Intelligence,who focuses on Asia.
In the US,you have a lot of people checking out of the work force between 30-55 years of age,those peak earning years,which limits the consumer.We do see opportunities in the emerging markets short term;in the longer term,debt issues are more troubling.
If we see a very small rate rise and a very slow pace,the emerging markets will suffer,but the magnitude of the suffering will be very shallow.Among the emerging markets,India has a very weak portfolio of ministers.Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to have to change it up,if he wants to improve the economy.*
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM)

Monday Newsline:Change in India,Thailand;Adam Scott Wins

India's Nifty Fifty Index was up Monday on optimism over the swearing in of new Prime Minister Narendra Modi,63,who is seen as business-friendly.On Tuesday,Mr.Modi will have bilateral meetings with foreign leaders who are attending the ceremony,most notably with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,whose presence at the event is unprecedented.Relations between the neighbouring countries have traditionally been tense.*
The MSCI Asia-Pacific index rose 0.29% in early Monday trading.US markets are closed for Memorial Day,which is considered the first of the summer holidays.Shanghai copper gained on declining stockpiles of the metal.*
Thailand's military coup received the approval of King Bhumibol.The army will name an interim premier today.At least hundreds of protestors demonstrated against the regime in the streets of Bangkok.*
In sport,Australia's Adam Scott won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at The Colonial in Fort Worth,Texas.The World Number One shot a nine under par 66 and beat American Jason Dufner in a playoff.He is the first person to win the Texas grand slam-all four PGA tournaments played in Texas.Scott is playing in The Memorial Tournament in Dublin,Ohio this week.
At the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix,AMG Petronas Mercedes continued its sweep of the series as teammates Nico Rosberg of Germany and Great Britain's Lewis Hamilton took first and second,respectively.Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo of Australia won the third spot in the royal box,while his teammate,the reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel,retired with mechanical problems.

Business Briefing Asia

There's a bit more value in Apple than in Facebook,in our view,said Khiem Do,Head of Asian Equities and Chairman of the Multi-Asset Group at Baring Asset Management.I think it's more sensible now.*
Investors have to realise that 5-6% is quite a good growth rate for China.That's what we predict long term for China.I think that money is too tight in China.*
In India,extrapolating what leading prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi did for business in a province to the whole country is a delusion.The SENSEX index is overvalued,Mr.Khiem noted.*
Malaysia's Bank Rakyat will acquire its own satellite,likely in 2016.The satellite will solve the bank's problem of the huge amount of communication cost.The bank is spending up to 43.5 million dollars a year to support communication across the island chain of Indonesia.*
The tech startup firm Nix Play offered a demonstration of its Wifi Cloud Digital Photo Frame on Bloomberg TV.Sydney correspondent Dan Petrie successfully sent a selfie from his cell phone in Australia to Hong Kong.Nix Play has sold over 10,000 of these real time cloud frames.On a day to day basis,it is said to save 66% in costs to be on the cloud.*

Japan's Recovery Slows;Congress Party Setback

We have enacted industrial competitiveness,said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.We have decided to reduce the corporate tax by 2.4%.There is no end to Abenomics.*
At the same time,in April 2014 Japan's consumer tax will rise from 5% to 8%.*
Japan's GDP growth was just 1.1% annualised in Q3,revised down from 1.9%.The two main factors were flat business spending and a smaller contribution from inventories,according to the Cabinet Office.*
The wealth effect that Japan expected is not coming through in either Main Street or real property prices,said Andrew Economos,strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management.You need productivity gains and sales.The sales tax basically squelches consumption.They are basically on the right track,but they need to stop making wrong decisions,Mr.Economos observed.*
India's Nifty Fifty index was up in early Monday trading on the opposition BJP's winning elections in four states,as well as becoming the single largest party in Delhi and humiliating the ruling Congress Party.Congress' Vice President Rahul Gandhi,heir of the Gandhi political dynasty,is seen by some as an example of failed leadership and low confidence even as the BJP's leader,Chief Minister of Gujarat state Narendra Modi scored a big win in the elections.National elections will occur within five months.
We will introspect seriously and take all necessary actions to rectify our mistakes and the way we function,said Congress' President Sonia Gandhi,who is Rahul's mother.*
Through these elections,the people have delivered a message,Rahul Gandhi said.That message has been taken by me and our party,not just with our minds,but in our hearts.The Congress party has the ability to transform itself,to stand up to the expectations of this country,and the Congress Party is going to do that,the presumptive prime ministerial candidate promised.*
The MSCI Asia Pacific index rose 0.71% Monday morning on a strong US jobs report and Chinese data.*
In golf,Thailand's Pornanung Phatlum won the Ladies European Tour's Omega Dubai Ladies Masters on Sunday in the UAE.It was her second career victory on the LET.American Stacy Lewis was second,and Spain's Carlota Ciganda third.