Adversity likes company, so there is probably some comfort for the world’s major economies to know that China is not immune from the global slowdown. But before smug smiles settle on faces in Tokyo, New York and London, the slowdown in Chinese economic output in Q3 was to a level of 9.1%. The pace of Chinese expansion has cooled by 0.4% from the previous quarter’s reading of 9.5%, but the performance is almost an order of magnitude better than most of China’s rivals.

The slowdown has been attributed to attempts to rein-in inflation which is running substantially above the target figure of 4%. The core inflation figure was 6.1% for September, but food inflation was more than twice this at 13.4%. Although China has become the economic powerhouse of the global economy, there are still major inequalities between the new Chinese entrepreneurs and the rank and file comrades of the communist state. Such

Read more…

Gold prices have broken the $1,300 an ounce ceiling for the first time (24 Sep 2010), although only briefly. Trading platform investors saw London prices for Gold reach $1,300.07 before falling back below that threshold. The latest rise has been spurred by caution over the global economy, as well as weakness in the US dollar, which fell 1% against the euro. The gold price has increased five-fold in the last 10 years, up from a low of $258 in 2000.

One man who lost his bet on gold is former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who sold 400 tonnes of the UK’s gold reserve as chancellor between 1999 and 2002, just before prices began a ten-year price rise. The World Gold Council’s last report on the gold market predicted that continuing strong demand from jewellery buyers in the two fast-developing markets of India and China would help to keep the price high.

Read more…

MF Global disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday that its board had resigned. The bankrupt firms directors stepped down on Monday, the same day that Louis J. Freeh took over as MF Globals Chapter 11 trustee. The departing directors are David P. Bolger, David Gelber, Eileen S. Fusco, Martin J.G. Glynn, Edward L. Goldberg, David I. Schamis, and Robert S. Sloan.

Are you tired of seeing European politicians meddle with the value of your share portfolio on a daily basis? Their bickering is unleashing waves of optimism and pessimism around the world.

You’ve heard all about Europe’s economic problems for a while now. What of solutions? Here is our attempt to sum them up for you: This round hole won’t fit into its square peg. In other words, they’ve got it wrong and backwards.

Now on to the details.

But maybe an autocracy is just what the Italians need… after Berlusconi…

That’s how an optimist could interpret it anyway.

Economic Problems Will Catch Up With Politics

What’s remarkable about the political shenanigans in Europe is that the stock markets buy it. Literally and figuratively. That’s why the stock markets have resembled a seesaw lately. Up on good political news. Down on the bad.

Read more…

Business credit report is a very necessary tool in running a good business. A free credit report can reveal payments made within a meticulous time and income. They can bring to light the late payments, what are the beneficial and unbeneficial income sources and many other several important aspects of a business. Therefore, getting business credit reports becomes completely necessary. At the present time, roughly all businesses are getting their free credit report online, since it put asides both effort and time. Free credit report is very much compulsory if you are starting a business. There are various websites that present business credit reports for free. For instance one of the website is http://www.creditreportshq.com. After filling up all the details like address, name and social security number, an individual can easily find out his credit. Read more…

Though the small business may be the economic lifeblood, banks do not seem to treat it that way. New businesses are finding it nearly impossible to get loans bank offered. Even existing small businesses are having difficulties. Despite Project Merlin from the government, some say banks are not lending enough, which is strangling small business growth.

When they cannot get approved for loans from a bank, some small businesses in the UK are turning to alternative sources for financing. Retail bonds are proving popular with both investors and small businesses. The business issues bonds to investors, providing a better return on lending than bank savings rates.

Personal asset lending, which requires the business to place assets like art or jewelry as security, is also very attractive.

Many banks and companies offer invoice factoring in additional to traditional loans. The business receives a percentage of an invoice due and pays the full amount to the lender upon invoice settlement.

Read more…