Franklin Templeton CEO: Surprised if Fed Doesn't Raise Rates by 25 Bps - Bloomberg Television

Singapore Group Buys Rio Airport;Webber Closes Out F1 Career

Changi Airport Group Singapore Pte Ltd and Odebrecht SA have bid 8.3 billion reals for Rio's Galeao Airport.The airport will host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics.About 600,000 visitors are expected for the World Cup alone,and auctioning the airport was a part of President Dilma Rouseff's plan for infrastructure improvement for Rio de Janeiro prior to the huge upcoming events.
If they can follow this up with three successful highway auctions,it could be really helpful in turning the boat of sentiment away from negative to more positive,said analyst Jefferson Finch of the Eurasia Group.
The Brazilian state management company Infraero will retain a 49% satke in the airport.The Latin American aviation market presents many growth opportunities,said the Singaporean acquirer Changi.We must focus immediatley on the expansion of the Galeao Airport.*
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's Liberal/National Party coalition has fallen out of favour already,a new poll suggests.Only 11 weeks old,the coalition trails the Labour opposition 48%-52%.People are critical of the government's immigration and environmental policies,as well as Australian intelligence's alleged phone tapping of Indonesian leaders.*
In motor sport,Germany's Sebastian Vettel won the Brazilian Grand Prix at Sao Paolo Sunday,with his Red Bull Racing teammate Australian Mark Webber finishing his career with a second place showing,and Spaniard Fernando Alonso taking third for Ferrari.Webber,37,has retired from Formula One after compiling a record of 9 wins out of 215 races.Vettel,26,won his fourth straight World Driving Championship,while Alonso was second,and Webber third in the overall standings.
It was a very good finish,Webber said,a good fight with those I've fought with the last few years.It's been a great journey,one that I'm proud of.On to Porsche-I'm looking forward to it.*
Webber will race Le Mans sports cars for Porsche next season.He has already been fitted for his new seat and been released from his contract with Red Bull Racing.

Asia This Day:Australian Miner Looking Bright

Newcrest Mining reported solid Q2 earnings.The Australian gold miner realised a profit of 1.18 billion dollars American,or 1.12 billion Australian,for an increase of 23% on the year.The success was based on higher gold prices.It also raised its output target for 2013.Two new projects are nearing completion in New South Wales and Papua New Guinea.
Japan announced disappointing GDP growth for Q2.It grew 1.4%,versus an estimate of 2.3.The Euro debt crisis;a higher yen value;a sharp fall in private consumption because of less government spending post-tsunami/nuclear disaster;and the end of subsidies for fuel-efficient cars are being blamed for the weak growth.Hong Kong and Singapore have cut their growth forecasts in the bargain as the global slowdown reaches Asia.
Australia's BlueScope Steel is selling 50% of its coated steel business in the US and  Southeast Asia to Japan's Nippon Steel.BlueScope,Australia's largest steelmaker,will get 440 million dollars in the transaction,while Nippon will gain greater access to US and Southeast Asian building markets.The total value of the joint venture is 1.36 billion dollars American,or about 1.29 billion Australian.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index was virtually flat in early Monday trading,down just 0.02%.
Newcrest Mining Ltd.(ASX:NCM),BlueScope Steel Ltd. (ASX:BSL)

Asian Markets Open For Business-issue 3

Asian markets opened lower this morning,Monday.China has set 7.5% for its growth target as the European debt crisis continues.It's the lowest target in eight years.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.88 % on the news.
The CNOOC Chairman sees the Chinese energy titan's 2012 oil and gas output being the same as in 2011.
Rising oil prices are being considered the principal threat to the global pocketbook today.It would be hard to have any further increses without damage to the world economy.For example,Airline profits are expected to drop 50% because of them.Singapore Air is already seeing weakness in forward bookings.
Oil futures rose on news of an Enbridge Inc. oil pipeline fire in Illinois.Enbridge says it will try to work around the mishap.The pipeline carries oil from Canada to the U.S. Meantime,China intends to increase retail sales by 14% in 2012.It will also keep pursuing its low birth rate policy,President Wen Jiabao said.
India's Nifty Fifty Index fell 0.80% this morning.The local election results in Utar Pradesh come out tomorrow,and there is fear of a possible change in government.
Enbridge Inc.(ENB)

Asia This Day:Firm Support for U.S. Treasuries

Asian markets fell Monday morning from 1-3% in reaction to the downgrade of U.S. credit.Singapore dropped 3.36%,and Hong Kong lost 2.95%.Nonetheless,Asian investors stood by U.S. bonds.Following an emergency meeting,South Korean officials reaffirmed their support for U.S. Treasury bonds.
Taiwan said the downgrade would have no direct or immediate impact.Hong Kong was sticking to its previous policies.Japan said it had not lost trust in Treasuries.Russia said U.S. Treasuries were reliable and it would not be reviewing its investment policy.
UBS said 70% of its clients indicated they would hold onto their U.S. bonds;30% would even increase their holdings.
Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said Australia faces the challenges from a position of strength.Prime Minister Julia Gillard reassured the nation that Australia could handle the current instability.After all,Australia was the only developed country that did not go into recession during the 2008 financial crisis.
France questioned Standard&Poor's judgement in imposing the downgrade.All the same,U.S. stock futures were down precipitously Sunday evening,warning of a volatile Monday session ahead.
Singapore saw mostly cloudy conditions Monday morning.It was 86F,with winds S at 5 mph.The humidity was 70%.
Australian Adam Scott won the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio on Sunday.It was the 31-year old's eighth career victory on the PGA Tour.

Asia This Day

Asian markets were largely negative Monday morning,down slightly on concerns about a global manufacturing slowdown and forthcoming U.S. economic data,as well as local factors.
Only Singapore's Straits Times Index was up,gaining 0.24% because the government plans to build more government housing in light of considerable demand.
Honda Motors will halt stock buybacks in order to save cash,suffering from the recent earthquake and tsunami effects.
Hong Kong saw a pleasant morning at 82F under partly cloudy skies.Winds were E at 14mph,and the humidity was 58%.
Honda Motors(HMC)

Asia This Day

News from Japan dominated the opening hours of the first business day of this week.In M&A news,Toshiba is said to be close to acquiring Swiss smart meter firm Landis+Gyr.Landis+Gyr has outfitted tens of thousands of Danish homes with their energy management technology.
Japan's machinery orders were up 2.9% for the month of April and 6.8% on the year.This may be because Japanese companies are getting set to resume full operations following March 11th's earthquake and tsunami.
The Japanese government is asking banks to forgive Tokyo Electric Power's debt.Tepco,owner of the damaged nuclear plants,is critical to the Tokyo area and the national economy.
Mizuho Financial forecasts an 11% profit increase this year.
Elsewhere in Asia,Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew has resigned from the nation's cabinet after five decades,saying it was time for someone younger to take the reins.
In early Asia trading,Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 82.66,while the Korean Kospi declined 14.26 and the Australian ASX 200 dropped 64.70.
It was 82F in Hong Kong under mostly cloudy skies.The day had begun with fog and rain.
iShares Japan MSCI Index Fund(EWJ)

Asia This Day:Japan Quake Business Effects-plus an update

Japan is bracing for rolling power blackouts today.Several nuclear plants are offline-one of them permanently,crimping the country's electricity supply.Japan needs 40 million kilowatts,but has been reduced to 10 million.In consequence,there will be 3-hour blackouts for each district.The central business district in Tokyo,where government offices are located,will not be affected.
There is also a shortage of fresh food,water,candles,batteries and rice.Relief supplies are beginning to make their way northward,but many areas have yet to see any.
Cooling efforts continue at four nuclear reactors.U.S. officials said that contamination is not expected to reach America's shores,even though 180,000 Japanese have been evacuated from the reactor zones.Singapore is testing all food imports from Japan for radiation.The imports are predicted to become more expensive as their supply dwindles.
The Japanese stock market reopened Monday,with the Nikkei 225 index down 4.46 at lunchtime.The more broadly based Topix index fell 5.85,while the yen rose 0.45 against the U.S. dollar.Construction stocks were up as high as 62%.
Citigroup said Japanese industrial production would fall 1-2% because of the quake,but will ultimately benefit as reconstruction gets fully underway.Societe Generale feels that the quake will lower bond yields,but the Japanese economy will recover.
The Bank of Japan moved its scheduled meeting up an hour.It is injecting trillions of yen into the system to ensure liquidity.
Update:Nils Diaz,former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,says the Japan nuclear accident is relatively low level.He ranked it as a 2 or 3 out of seven.The Japanese workers have it well in hand,carefully releasing small amounts of radiation.It isn't an uncontrolled event such as Ukraine's Chernobyl accident was in the 1980s.As well,the Japanese reactors are more advanced in design and are recovering from a natural disaster,not human error as occurred at Chernobyl or Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.
Toyota and Nissan have shut production down for the moment.Toyota's stoppage will mean a cut of 40,000 vehicles.On the other hand,Toshiba is restarting a chip factory,though Sony has shuttered facilities.
iShares Japan Index Fund(EWJ)

American Education and Singapore

Many believe the American education system is lagging much of the rest of the world,including Singapore.Singapore is a country built on the concept of human capital,says Michael Milken,head of the Milken Institute think tank.Singapore's three economic pillars are 1.immigration;2.education;and 3.health care.Singapore's gross domestic product is 8-10 times that of Jamaica,which has an economy based on tourism and natural resources.
Singapore spends 10-15% of its GDP on education.
The educational standards in the rest of the world as well are higher than in the U.S.,where teachers tend to come from the bottom of their college classes.
In response to this,the Milken Institute is incentivizing American teachers with awards.There have been 2500 awards so far.It's an Academy Awards for teachers.
In addition,the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching,which was spun off from the Milken Family Foundation,has set up a teacher advancement system.This includes Master Teacher and Mentor Teacher programs.
Michael Milken is a financier best known for helping establish the concept of a high yield bond market.

Federal Reserve United

By a rare unanimous vote,the Federal Reserve has cut its key interest rate by o.5, to 1.0%.It can cut the rate all the way to zero if it chooses to.In its statement,the central bank noted that industrial output has weakened,but inflation is expected to moderate to levels of price stability.While recent actions have helped,downside risks to growth remain.Slow foreign economies will hurt U.S. export prospects.Recently,the Fed has expanded its balance sheet-unlike in the Great Depression,when the Fed contracted it.Today,the Fed has over 700 billion dollars in its account.And it has extended swap lines to 14 countries.A swap line provides U.S. dollars in exchange for foreign currencies,in order to increase confidence.Swap lines of 30 billion dollars each have been granted to Brazil,Mexico,South Korea and Singapore.

Shop Talk

I advertised in Singapore this week.A special greeting to you in one of the great financial centers of the world.Sunday is Google's tenth anniversary.Happy anniversary to one of the Web's most essential firms.It has given me a lot of assistance,and I appreciate that.

Central Banks Seek Growth

Central banks are cutting interest rates in hopes of sparking flagging economic growth.The Bank of Canada was first last week,cutting its overnight rate a quarter of a point,from 4.5 to 4.25.As late as July,the BOC was worried about inflation.Now it is concerned about deflation and the prospect of a failing economy.The Bank of England followed suit.It cut its key rate to 5.5 from 5.75.Growth has begun to slow,though the upward risks to inflation still remain.Credit tightening poses a risk to the Gross National Product.Slowing demand growth will ease pressure on capacity.The European Central Bank left rates unchanged.That may amount to a concession,since the ECB has been a hawk on inflation,and might prefer to raise rates.Today at 2:15 PM Eastern,the Federal Reserve will issue its decision on interest rates.It is expected to cut as well.Bill Gross of PIMCO would like to see the Fed cut all the way down to 3%.To restart the near-recessionary economy,we will need that.The Fed needs to reduce steadily and significantly.There has been a breakdown of the modern banking system.The tangled web of subprime loans has created a shadow banking system.The banking system must be shored up.Home prices may fall another 10% over several years.The banking system exhibits a freezing up of liquidity and a reluctance to make loans to the vital part of the economy.The Fed must use all means to provide liquidity.Troubled Swiss bank UBS has written down another 10 billion of subprime securities,following an initial write-down of 3 billion.To cover this,it has sold a stake in itself to the government of Singapore and a secret Middle Eastern investor.Shares of UBS rose on the news.Longterm investors are building positions in such financial stocks,which are trading at a big discount,although they could well drop further before recovery.Similar holdings are HSBC(HBC) and Citigroup(C).