World Economy Growing Unevenly, O.E.C.D. Says

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PARIS — The world economy will continue slowly expanding for the rest of the year, despite signs of relative weakness in China and other emerging markets, and an uneven recovery in Europe, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday. The United States, Britain and Japan are growing “at encouraging rates,” while the euro zone emerged from six straight quarters of contraction in the April-June period, the organization said in a new forecast. Recent indicators from the major advanced economies, including increased business confidence and stronger industrial production, suggest the trend will “continue at the improved rate seen in the second quarter.” The United States economy will probably grow at a 2.5 percent annualized rate in the third quarter and 2.7 percent in the fourth, the report said. The country’s economy grew at a 2.5 percent rate in the second quarter. Read more...

Manufacturing in U.S. Expands at a Faster Pace Than Forecast

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Manufacturing is poised to make a bigger contribution to the U.S. expansion after a factory barometer unexpectedly climbed in August to the highest level in more than two years.

The Institute for Supply Management’s index rose to 55.7, the strongest since June 2011, from 55.4 a month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona-based group’s report showed today. Readings above 50 indicate growth. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was 54.
Enlarge image U.S. ISM Manufacturing Index Rose to 55.7 in August From 55.4

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg Econmics Editor Michael McKee reports that U.S. manufacturing expanded more than expected in August to 55.7, the fastest pace since June 2011. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Market Makers."

American producers are leading a global manufacturing recovery that stretches from China to Europe as their economies improve. Resilient U.S. demand for motor vehicles is prompting companies such as Ford Motor Co. (F) to expand, while further strides in construction are bolstering orders for building materials, appliances and furniture.  Read more...

Business term of the day - Term for September 3, 2013: «Concern (Business)»

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Source: Wikipedia
A concern (German: Konzern, Cyrillic: Концерн) is a type of business group common in Europe, particularly in Germany. It results from the merger of several legally independent companies into a single economic entity under unified management. These associated companies are called "Group" companies.

A Group consists of a parent company and one or more subsidiaries. One particular form of the way a Group is organized is the Holding Organisation.

Outside of professionals, the term Group, also mistakenly within the meaning of large companies – regardless of its corporate structure – is understood.

The Group concept is one of anti-trust relevance: the so-called Group privilege, the privilege of the consolidated Group companies involved, means that in itself, prohibition included practices did not violate German or European Commission (EC) anti-trust law. On the other hand, the group concept in Banking Act in the formation of borrower unit and particularly of the large credit limits of paramount importance.

How Singapore Billionaire Peter Lim Makes Money From Thin Air

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Not a single brick has been laid and the ground has yet to be broken on Singapore billionaire Peter Lim’s real estate venture in Malaysia’s Iskandar project. But it has already added around $95  million to his net worth on the basis of 29.9% shareholding of his investment vehicle Rowsley. Shares of the company are up around 370% since the real estate venture was announced.

Lim is converting Rowsley into a real estate player through a reverse takeover (RTO). It will acquire a 9.23- hectare vacant tract of land in Malaysia’s Iskandar region, just across the causeway from Singapore, by issuing 2.4 billion Rowsley shares at a price of $0.12 each, valuing it at about $280 million. It will also acquire Singapore’s largest design firm, RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, by issuing another 1.25 billion shares at $0.12 each. Together, the two deals are valued at $428 million. Read more...

How Smart Investors Make Money From European Stocks

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For investors prepared to think beyond the often-scary economic headlines that come out of Europe on a regular basis, there is a lot of money to be made in the continent’s company stocks.

For those prepared to think beyond the scary economic headlines, Europe offers some great opportunities in stocks

Many Americans might be surprised to learn that amid the meltdown in Europe last year, stock markets overall on the continent actually made positive returns of about 20 per cent, according to research firm Morningstar MORN -0.48%.

That’s because Europe has many world-class companies, with world-class managers, who get on with the business of making money for shareholders unhindered by the incompetence of Europe’s politicians and the inertia of its institutions. Read more...

How Steve Jobs and Apple turned technology into a religion

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Decades after Apple's founding, we've grown used to referring to lovers of the company's products as a "cult." The devotion of customers to Apple products has long been the envy of competitors for its fanatical fervor.

It turns out that the religious intensity with which people follow the company is not entirely by accident. In a new book, "Appletopia," author Brett Robinson examines the way that Steve Jobs drew on religious metaphors and iconography to elevate his products specifically, and technology more generally, into a kind of religion.
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Childcare can help drive the economy

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Nick Clegg talks to two-year-old Alice at the Mace Montessori nursery in London, as he announces the extension of the government's free childcare to two-year-olds scheme. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

I'm writing this piece on childcare while entertaining my new baby and toddler – Nick Clegg's rehashed announcement on childcare funding for two-year-olds isn't nearly as entertaining as colouring in or playing peek-a-boo but it has made me think that it's time for us to stop playing with our toys and make the economic case for universal childcare. It is welcome news that 40% of disadvantaged two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare provision from next September. However this is just a drop in the ocean as to what parents need given the losses they've seen under this government.

Families face a triple whammy childcare crisis of the government's own making with prices rising faster than inflation, places plummeting due to the slashing of supply-side funding and cuts to financial help with childcare costs through working tax credit. The government's latest tax-free childcare announcement will help the richest the most and, according to the Resolution Foundation, could see the income of poorer families cut. Read more...