Latest News Clipping 2011.09.01

Tripoli Divided as Rebels Jostle to Fill Power Vacuum

    August 30, 2011

TRIPOLI, Libya — Fighters from the western mountain city of Zintan control the airport. The fighters from Misurata guard the central bank, the port and the prime minister’s office, where their graffiti has relabeled the historic plaza “Misurata Square.” Berbers from the mountain town Yafran took charge of the city’s central square, where they spray-painted “Yafran Revolutionaries.”

A week after rebels broke into Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s former stronghold, much of its territory remains divided into fiefs, each controlled by quasi-independent brigades representing different geographic areas of the country. And the spray paint they use to mark their territory tells the story of a looming leadership crisis in the capital, Tripoli.

The top civilian officials of the Libyan rebels’ Transitional National Council — now styling itself as a provisional government to be based in the capital — are yet to arrive, citing personal safety concerns even as they pronounce the city fully secure.

2.  Aging Baby Boomers May Curb U.S. Expansion

Aug. 30, 2011

This is not your mother’s recovery.

Women and baby boomers entering the American workforce after 1950 helped to supercharge expansions in 1975 and 1983 by filling an increasing number of jobs and purchasing more goods and services. Now as the share of women with jobs falls and older Americans age into retirement, the shrinking -- or, at best, slowly growing -- workforce will weaken economic activity for the next two decades.

The demographic changes may be the biggest and least- appreciated reason why the two-year recovery has slowed, because the rate of growth for labor and capital is “the most important determinant” of economic expansion, said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist for Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis.

More retirees mean slower household formation, reduced consumer spending and downward pressure on equity prices as retirement cuts people’s purchasing power, according to John Lonski, chief economist at Moody’s Capital Markets Group in New York, and Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

3.  Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi to Unload LCD Units to Japan Government-Backed Fund

Aug 31, 2011

Sony Corp. (6758), Toshiba Corp. (6502) and Hitachi Ltd. (6501) agreed to divest their liquid-crystal display businesses to a government-backed fund amid mounting competition from South Korean and Taiwanese producers.

The companies will spin off and merge the units to create Japan Display K.K. next year, the three Tokyo-based electronics makers said today. The government-backed Innovation Network Corp. of Japan will own 70 percent of the venture after a 200 billion yen ($2.6 billion) investment, while Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi will split the remaining 30 percent, they said.

The deal may create the world’s biggest maker of LCDs for mobile phones and cameras as Japanese companies struggle to compete against Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan’s Chimei Innolux Corp. (3481) in the larger market for television displays. Sony and Hitachi are unprofitable in LCDs, while Toshiba ended losses at its display division last fiscal year.

4.  Japan's new leader: A snowball's chance?

      CNN    Aug. 30, 2011

(CNN) -- In his acceptance as elected leader of the ruling Democratic Party, Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda likened his nation's political plight as a snowball falling fast downhill.

"Running Japan's government is like pushing a giant snowball up a snowy, slippery hill," he said. "In times like this, we can't say, 'I don't like this person,' or 'I don't like that person.' The snowball will slide down."

A snowball doesn't stand much chance in Japan these days. As travelers who step off at Narita International Airport immediately notice, things are toasty in Tokyo. The loss of power supply in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster has the government asking businesses to cut electrical consumption by 15% and set temperatures inside public buildings like the Narita terminal at a balmy 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degree Fahrenheit).

Beyond the heat of power problems and rebuilding from the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the 54-year old takes leadership of a nation that

has been economically stuck in a decades-long malaise -- saddled with a huge public debt that's being dragged down by the world's fastest aging population and exacerbated by a strong yen, which is hurting profits of Japan's export powerhouses like Toyota and Sony.

5.  ExxonMobil clinches Arctic oil deal with Rosneft

Under the deal, Exxon and Rosneft will invest $3.2bn (£1.9bn) in developing the Arctic Kara Sea

30 August 2011

ExxonMobil's joint venture with Rosneft has dashed any hopes that BP had of reviving its deal with Rosneft that was blocked in May.

Exxon, the world's largest company, and Rosneft signed a deal to develop oil and gas reserves in the Russian Arctic, opening up one of the last unconquered drilling frontiers.

The deal, signed in the presence of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, dashes any hopes that BP had of reviving its own deal with Rosneft that was blocked in May by its billionaire partners in an existing Russian venture.

Exxon boss Rex Tillerson and Russia's top energy official deputy prime minister Igor Sechin were with Putin at the signing ceremony in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Calling the deal a "truly strategic partnership" and hailing Exxon's experience in exploiting Arctic reserves in Canada, Putin said: "New horizons are opening up. One of the world's leading companies, ExxonMobil, is starting to work on Russia's strategic shelf and deepwater continental shelf," Putin said.