China

Two athletic icons whose posters have graced many a bedroom wall recently became more permanent fixtures on opposite ends of the world.

Huawei Technologies Co. of China is looking to become one of the world’s top smartphone makers. The company announced plans to potentially acquire Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and launched its new smartphone, the Ascend P6, on Tuesday. NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW! Huawei is currently the number two supplier of wireless network equipment in the world, but has been faced with allegations that it has close ties with the Chinese government and so represents a national security risk. Recently Huawei was called out by Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH) in an attempt by the satellite TV provider to thwart a deal between Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:S) and SoftBank. Dish claimed that a deal between SoftBank and Sprint would compromise national security since SoftBank uses Huawei equipment in its networks. In response SoftBank promised not to use any Huawei equipment in the U.S. should the acquisition of Sprint go through. Huawei hasn’t made any major acquisitions in the past, but is looking to capitalize on its recent growth in the handset market. Huawei is currently the number-four selling smartphone vendor, behind Samsung, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and LG Electronics. In the past the company has focused on selling low-end feature phones, but is looking to change that with the launch of the ultra-thin Ascend P6. The new smartphone runs on Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android platform and the company has said it expects the device to “work miracles.” Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei’s consumer business group, made some optimistic predictions for the company’s growth before the launch of the Ascend P6 in London. In addition to suggesting a possible acquisition of Nokia, Yu said the company was growing so fast that manufacturing was only being slowed down by a shortage of component supplies. “Twenty years ago, we were nothing but now we have the best quality [phones] and our customers say we are the best,” he said. “We want to shorten the gap with competitors. We want to lead.” The company has been investing in the newest technology to create slimmer, faster smartphones and is also looking into cutting-edge wearable devices. NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW! For now Huawei is not well known among consumers, but if the Ascend P6 performs well and the company can overcome security concerns from the U.S. and the U.K., it could grow to become a major competitor in the smartphone market. Don’t Miss: Are Google, Apple, and Samsung Focused on the Wrong Goals? Read the original article from Wall St. Cheat Sheet

Spiking SHIBOR, an interest rate used among banks, has been showing signs of liquidity stress in China. We previously explained that the spike in SHIBOR, or the Shanghai interbank offered rate, could be attributed to demand for cash ahead of the Dragon boat festival which took place last week, decline in Forex inflows, tax-related liquidity demanded, and a crackdown on illegal bond trading. UBS's Tao Wang writes that this was also because the central bank decided not to "backstop banks’ every demand for liquidity." From Wang: "Banks have perhaps misjudged the PBC’s policy direction earlier. With the economic data disappointing and inflation low, many in the market had expected the PBC to keep liquidity flowing or ease monetary condition further. However, with the central government apparently more tolerant for slower growth and concerned about financial risks, the PBC seemed to be keen to keep a “prudent” policy stance."…The PBC has made it clear in the past 10 days that overly-rapid credit expansion would not be accommodated and banks may have to scale down their credit growth plans and manage their own liquidity more prudently. Moreover, regulators are reportedly preparing steps to clean up interbank activities – some banks have used interbank transactions with banks and non- bank financial institutions aggressively to fund their lending or offload their loans – which could cause some unwind of such activities and lead to additional liquidity tightness." A central bank backed newspaper, cited by MNI News, also said the central bank isn't willing to step in. From MNI News: "The central-bank-backed newspaper cited several unidentified sources as saying that the PBOC is refusing to step in and bring relief to the market, and specifically those banks that have bypassed regulatory caps on lending and fallen into difficulty as liquidity conditions tighten. "'These banks are highly reliant on interbank borrowing to adjust their positions. They can manage their operations when capital inflows are high and regulators haven't tightened policy against non-bank financing... but when liquidity tightens because of sharply declining inflows, their liquidity becomes very tight,' it said." Remember, it's more than just spiking SHIBOR rates that has people worried. China Everbright Bank reportedly defaulted on 6 billion yuan of an interbank loan from Industrial Bank Co. earlier this month. China Everbright has since said that its relationship with Industrial Bank is fine. China also had a failed debt auction on Friday, all of which raises concerns about Chinese liquidity. And banks that are pressuring the central bank for a reserve-requirement ratio cut are likely to be disappointed. Here's a chart from Morgan Stanley that shows the recent surge in SHIBOR: SEE ALSO: In 5 Charts You'll Understand Why Brazil Is Ready To Erupt Join the conversation about this story »

It has rained overnight. Further north form us at Fort MacMurray they have had floods we are again on tornado watch and experienced a heavy thunderstorm at lunchtime. Gail is off to a meeting in the afternoon and evening so we are heading for the local Chinese restaurant this town of 800 inhabitants has everything

One of Huawei's top execs thinks acquiring Nokia could help the Chinese company raise its profile in smartphones. "We are considering these sorts of acquisitions; maybe the combination has some synergies but depends on the willingness of Nokia. We are open-minded," Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer unit, told the Financial Times’s Daniel Thomas. A Huawei spokesperson declined further comment, saying only that "Huawei has no plans to acquire Nokia." We've reached out to Nokia and will update if the company responds. But to be clear, it sounds like Yu was just speculating and wasn't talking about a specific deal that's in the works. Huawei is the world's biggest selling of telecom equipment but has a much smaller mobile business. It was the world's fourth-largest smartphone vendor in Q1 with 4.6% market share, according to IDC. But Huawei's mobile business is on the rise: Its smartphone shipments grew 94% compared to last year's quarter, compared to 60.7% for number one Samsung, IDC said. Only LG, whose shipments grew 110% during the quarter, is growing faster. Huawei has been selling inexpensive phones in China for years. The company launched its Ascend P6 smartphone at a glitzy launch event Tuesday in London, billing it as "the world's slimmest." Here's a promo video for the Ascend P6: SEE ALSO: Adobe May Be Rethinking Cloud Apps Pricing Options After Customer Backlash Join the conversation about this story »

At the end of 1Q 2013, Yongye International Inc. (YONG) has $3.64/share of cash + $2.25/share of incoming cash from accounts receivable + $2.78/share of inventory on its balance sheet. With little debt, the company has a book value of $8.66/share. Sales are growing at 25% per year (and potentially more). Current P/E is 3.1 and forward P/E is 2.5. Currently trading at around $5.00/share, the market dynamics imply significant upside in the near term with reasonably limited downside risk.   2012A 2013E 2014E 2015E Diluted EPS (GAAP) 1.62 2.03 2.53 3.16 P/E 3.09 2.47 1.98 1.58 Yongye sells relatively high-end fulvic acid agricultural nutrient in China. To a certain extent Yongye's multi-level distribution model is similar to that of Herbalife (HLF), and in China this business model is more widely accepted and less disputed. Yongye's growth is still in its early stage and its growth rate has been above 80%

Although Google Drive has spread far and wide, its localization hasn't always kept pace. The service just took a few needed strides forward, however, with the addition of 18 new languages. Asia gets the most recognition with support for Hong Kong Chinese, Khmer, Lao, Malaysian, Nepali, Persian, Sinhalese and Urdu. Not that Google is neglecting other corners of the world, mind you: Africa is well-covered with the additions of Afrikaans, Amharic, Swahili and Zulu, while Europeans get some TLC through support for Basque, Estonian, Galician and Icelandic. French Canadians and Spanish-speaking Latin Americans get localizations, too. Google Drive still isn't tuned for every language on Earth, but those with cloud storage in Cape Town or Kuala Lumpur should feel at home. Filed under: Storage, Internet, Google Comments Source: Google Drive Blog

Yeah, sure, today's revised state revenue and caseload forecasts bring feuding Republican and Democratic lawmakers $321 million closer to cutting a deal on a new state budget before the current one expires at the end of the month. But this slightly rosier revenue outlook—equivalent to about one percent of the $32 billion two-year budget—isn't the only reason we'll likely avoid a devastating government shutdown. The buzz among some Olympia lobbyists is that a contingent of the senate's so-called "Majority Coalition Caucus" (you know, Republicans) have an international junket booked (I'm hearing China or Russia), scheduled to leave on or before July 1. It's a perk of the office that these lawmakers would be loath to give up, and so there would be extra pressure to strike a deal before scheduled departure. I've attempted to confirm, but those who would know have yet to get back to me. But either way, yeah, after five-plus months of bullshit, expect a budget deal relatively soon. [ Comment on this story ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Wine war fears already slowing French exports to China: Asian buyers discuss with a French wine producer durin...

by Miao Liu, Jianhua Wang, Bin Jiang, Dongling Sun, Lei Wu, Shanshan Yang, Yiyan Wang, Xiaoying Li, Yao He Objective The information on the changes of prevalence of MetS in China is limited. Our objective was to assess a 10-year’s change of the prevalence of MetS in a Chinese elderly population between 2001 and 2010. Methods We conducted two cross-sectional surveys in a representative sample of elderly population aged 60 to 95 years in Beijing in 2001 and 2010 respectively. MetS was defined according to the 2009 harmonizing definition. Results A total of 2,334 participants (943 male, 1,391 female) in 2001 and 2,102 participants (848 male, 1,254 female) in 2010 completed the survey. The prevalence of MetS was 50.4% (95%CI: 48.4%–52.4%) in 2001 and 58.1% (95%CI: 56.0%–60.2%) in 2010. The absolute change of prevalence of MetS was 7.7% over the 10-year’s period (p Conclusion The prevalence of MetS is high and increasing rapidly in this Chinese elderly population. Participants with Mets and its individual components are at significantly elevated ORs for CVD. Urgent public health actions are needed to control MetS and its components, especially for dislipidemia.