Chinese shares climb as mainland factory activity picked up in December

Von

January 3, 2017

Chinese mainland markets finished up 1 percent on Tuesday, following a survey showing a pickup in China’s factory activities for December.
The Shanghai composite finished up 32.64 points, or 1.05 percent, at 3,136.28, while the Shenzhen composite added 16.84 points, or 0.85 percent, to 1,985.95. In 2016, the benchmark Shanghai index had tumbled 12.3 percent, registering its worst year since 2011.
China’s Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Managers‘ index (PMI) rose to 51.9, compared with 50.9 in November and beating forecasts for 50.7, on the back of increased demand. A reading above 50 represents expansion in a sector, whereas a reading below 50 represents contraction.
The private manufacturing survey results came after figures at the weekend showed China’s official PMI fell to 51.4 in December, slightly weaker than expectations.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 0.71 percent in late afternoon trade, while gaming shares fell following a decline in Macau gambling revenues. The Hong Kong benchmark had struggled to finish in positive territory for 2016, ending the year up just 0.39 percent.
Macau government data showed on Sunday that gambling revenue fell 3.3 percent in 2016, which was in line with Reuters‘ poll of analysts‘ forecasts for a decline of around 3-4 percent. One bright spot in the data was that December revenue jumped 8 percent from the previous year.
Shares of Wynn Macau were down 0.32 percent, Sands China fell 0.74 percent and MGM China dropped 5.72 percent.
Meanwhile, Australia’s ASX 200 added 1.19 percent, or 67.4 points, to close at 5,733.2, supported by broad gains across all sub-indexes. The benchmark is currently at a 16-month high, after ending 2016 up 6.99 percent, its best annual performance since 2013.
Shares of ANZ were up 1.71 percent at A$30.94 each, after the Australian lender announced it had reached a deal to sell a 20 percent stake in Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank to China COSCO Shipping and Shanghai Sino-Poland Enterprise Management Development.
In South Korea, the Kospi gained 17.81 points, or 0.88 percent, to 2,043.97, likely due to the weaker Korean won, as it benefits exporters when overseas profits are repatriated.
South Korean automakers Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors were both higher, up 2 percent at 153,000 won per share and 3.16 percent at 40,750 won per share respectively.
On Monday, both automakers announced a higher combined sales target in 2017 of 8.25 million vehicles globally, compared with its 2016 goal of 8.13 million vehicles, which the two automakers missed.
„Hyundai and Kia’s December shipments were weak as expected, mainly due to the high base in 2015 driven by the end of the purchase tax cut. Considering the high base, we believe [both automakers‘] domestic sales were resilient,“ said Angela Hong, research analyst at Nomura, in a note on Monday.
Moreover, the annual growth targets set for both automakers will be hard to achieve. For Hyundai, South Korean and other emerging markets remain stagnant, while for Kia, there is still some uncertainty about whether Kia’s Mexican production will be able to be exported into the U. S., Hong said.
New Zealand, Japan and Thailand markets were shut for public holidays.
In currency markets, the dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, was up 0.43 percent at 102.65 as of 3:11 pm HK/SIN, after falling for the past three sessions.
Against the dollar, the yen weakened to 117.66, compared with 116 levels seen last week, while the Australian dollar climbed to $0.7219 from levels below $0.7170 in the previous session. The dollar/won traded at 1,203.89.
The People’s Bank of China set the daily yuan midpoint at 6.9498 against the dollar, its first fixing after China changed the way the currency basket would be calculated to set the yuan midpoint. The yuan was trading at 6.9552 against the dollar as of 3:15 p.m. HK/SIN.
Over the weekend, Chinese regulators also announced new measures to curb capital outflows, which have been a growing problem since Donald Trump’s surprise election win spurred sharp dollar strength.
The new rules state that Chinese banks and other financial institutions will have to report all domestic and overseas cash transactions valued at more than 50,000 yuan, compared with 20,000 yuan previously. Banks will also have to report any overseas transfers by individuals of more than $10,000.
The government said these checks on transactions are targeted at cracking down on money laundering, terrorism financing and fake outbound investment transactions, and not normal, legitimate business activities, Reuters reported.
During Asian trade, U. S. crude rose 0.54 percent to $54.01 per barrel , while global benchmark Brent was up 0.55 percent at $57.13.
„There is limited upside at least in the first half of 2017, and a lot of it just hinges on what OPEC does and whether it will comply with the agreement it made late last year,“ Azlin Ahmad, crude oil editor of Argus Media, told CNBC.
Ahmad added that Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries production cuts will only be evident toward the end of January, which might mean volatile trading for the next few weeks.
Stateside, markets were shut for New Year holidays on Monday, but the Dow Jones industrial average last closed at 19,762.6, while the S&P 500 finished at 2,238.83 and the Nasdaq ended at 5,383.12.
— Antonio José Vielma contributed to this report

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The Chinese burger designed by Asia's 'best female chef'

Von

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January 3, 2017

The humble steamed bun is taking Hong Kong’s culinary scene by storm – and scooping up awards along the way.
May Chow, the owner of restaurant Little Bao, has just been voted Asia’s best female chef by a panel of over 300 experts.
The 32-year-old’s restaurant serves what she calls Chinese burgers: steamed white buns filled with braised pork belly, fried chicken or fish.
And there are even burgers for dessert, in the form of fried buns sandwiched with ice cream.
Winning the award is no mean feat, considering Asia’s competitive food scene, but the restaurant might not have started at all if Ms Chow hadn’t sneaked behind her parents‘ back.
She developed a love of cooking from watching her mother cook in Canada – where a typical meal involved serving more than 20 people in the extended family.
„Growing up I told my parents I wanted to be a chef,“ Ms Chow tells the BBC.
„But back then, cooking was considered low-class work, and my parents felt it would be a waste of my education. “
As a result, Ms Chow studied hotel management at university in the US instead, but says her love for cooking kept calling out to her. By her third year at university, she was ready to take the plunge.
„I didn’t tell my parents, but I started interning with restaurants. “
That paved her way to becoming a full-time chef at high-end restaurants in Hong Kong.
Her ambition didn’t stop at being a chef, either. She says: „The first day I started working at a restaurant, I decided that I wanted to open my own restaurant. “
Just a few years later, and after road-testing her dishes at local food markets, Ms Chow opened Little Bao.
Bao means bun in Chinese, and Ms Chow says she drew on her own identity, as a Chinese person who had grown up in North America, when designing her signature dish.
„If you define me, my food is exactly me,“ she says. „Am I really Chinese? Why do I sound so American? “
„That bao is me – Chinese but understands American culture – putting [the two sides] together in an honest way. “
She says she is happiest with the authenticity of her buns when her mother and grandmother enjoy them.
Their approval „comes from 30 years of eating bao – you have to stand up to that quality check“.
The dish has also proved a hit with Hong Kong diners and she has just opened a Bangkok branch of Little Bao, as well as a beer bar, Second Draught.
But there were plenty of challenges in the move to becoming a business owner, including the high rents and high build-out costs in Hong Kong.
„It’s almost been like taking a real-life business masters degree,“ she says. „I’ve grown a lot over the past three years. At first you get emotional, now you just look at things and try to fix problems. “
What does she think of being named Asia’s best female chef 2017?
It was „stressful“, and she jokes that her first reaction, when she learnt of the award, was: „Oh, I don’t want it. “
There is some pressure that comes with the title, because „there really are not that many female chefs [and] local chefs in that field to be talked about“.
She’s aware that some will find it strange there is an award specifically for female chefs, but also appreciates how the award has given her a platform to raise awareness about the industry.
She’s vocal about what she thinks needs to change to encourage more women, and local Hong Kongers, to join the trade.
Being a chef „is a very labour intensive job. The environment is hot, sticky, typically not a favourable environment. “
„Do we really need to work 70 hours a week? Are women allowed to have babies when they’re [working] in the kitchen? It’s so intense – it’s not like a desk job. There are things that need to be improved. “
There isn’t always „the freedom to dream“ in Hong Kong’s competitive education system, she adds.
In the past, vocational jobs were seen as jobs for people who couldn’t be doctors or lawyers, so there was „no recognition“ for jobs in the food and beverage industry.
Still, she argues that the internet, Michelin guides and growing awareness about fine dining has helped, while local chefs are increasingly learning from restaurants abroad.
On a more personal level, she credits her mother with part of her determination to do well in a male-centric field.
„Stereotypical Shanghai women are fierce and loud,“ she says with a grin.
Her mother’s influence, she adds, „let me be bold. I never grew up thinking I had to limit myself“.

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Scary timelapse shows Beijing, China consumed by smog in minutes

Von

admin

January 3, 2017

A view of downtown Shanghai shows severe pollution. (Peter Parks, AFP)
Cape Town – A condensed 13-second timelapse clip taken over a mere 20-minute period, shows smog rolling into Beijing and gives us glimpse of the pollution problem in China’s capital city.
Chas Pope, a British engineering consultant currently working in Beijing, shot the video and posted it to social media, where it has since gone viral – and for good reason. „Bank of AQI400+ smog rolling into Beijing just now – within 20 minutes,“ Pope wrote on Twitter on New Year’s Day.
An air-quality index released by China’s municipal environmental protection bureau, which measures potentially hazardous particles in the air, hit 482 just after New Year on Sunday, almost touching the 500 mark where the scale tops out, and far beyond the point deemed hazardous to health, according to the South China Morning Post .
HAVE YOU READ: WOW! 17 New Year fireworks celebrations around the world
The publication labelled the smog pollution as being ‚off the charts‘ and said that more than a dozen other cities including Tianjin and others in neighbouring Hebei and Shandong provinces also saw smog return to dangerous levels.
The clouds of smog have forced flights to be cancelled and roads to be closed and have effectively left some people trapped in their homes. Elsewhere in the northern hempishere, flights were also cancelled due to heavy fog.
Take a look Chas Pope’s timelapse of Beijing here:
The US embassy in Beijing also issued its own warning of air pollution in the capital, labeling it as „hazardous“.
„Everyone should avoid all physical activity outdoors,“ a warning accompanying the reading warns. „People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should remain indoors and keep activity levels low. “
What to read next on Traveller24 :
– #FindYourEscape: 2017 in public holidays
– #Throwback to the best – and worst – of 2016
– WOW! 17 New Year fireworks celebrations around the world

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Poliquin goes against Republicans on ethics vote

Von

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January 3, 2017

Maine’s 2nd Congressional District Congressman Bruce Poliquin said Tuesday he is bucking his own party by opposing a proposal by House Republicans to gut the Office of Government Ethics.
The independent body was created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison. House Republicans voted Monday to make several changes to the non-partisan ethics body, so it would fall under the control of the House Ethics Committee, which is run by lawmakers. It would be known as the Office of Congressional Complaint Review, and the rule change would require that “any matter that may involve a violation of criminal law must be referred to the Committee on Ethics for potential referral to law enforcement agencies after an affirmative vote by the members.”
The ethics change prompted an outcry from Democrats and government watchdog groups and is part of a rules package that the full House will vote on today.
In a statement Tuesday, Poliquin, a Republican who was recently reelected to a second term, said “the American People have spoken overwhelmingly in the last election in sending us here to fix the real problems facing our Nation” and “this is not their priority.”
“While there should be important reforms made to the Office of Congressional Ethics that both Republicans and Democrats agree on, such as ensuring due process, I opposed this proposal,” Poliquin said in the statement. “I believe it’s important that these kinds of changes to the ethics office be made in a bipartisan effort and after robust debate and discussion from both parties.”
This story will be updated.
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Send questions/comments to the editors.

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Trump knocks House GOP for focusing on weakening independent ethics office, but calls system 'unfair' to them

Von

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January 3, 2017

Donald Trump said Tuesday that House Republicans should focus on more important policy than their controversial effort to weaken an independent ethics office.
But in his tweeted statement, Trump held back any serious criticism of their action, calling the ethics watchdog „unfair“ to lawmakers.
In a closed-door meeting Monday, a day before the start of the 115th Congress, the House GOP adopted a rules package amendment to put the Office of Congressional Ethics under the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee. The surprise move effectively gives the lawmakers themselves oversight over investigations into misconduct by lawmakers and staff. It will also prevent more information from being released to the public.
The plan sparked immediate outrage, with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi calling ethics „the first casualty of the new Republican Congress. “ Some Democrats tied Trump to the move and said that it showed his campaign pledges to rid Washington of corruption were already getting abandoned.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, who introduced the amendment, argued that it would increase due process protection for House members. The GOP will vote on the package later Tuesday.
Trump’s statement also pits him against GOP lawmakers on only the first day of a new Congress.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who helped to craft the Office of Congressional Ethics while a congressman, slammed Trump for calling it „unfair“ to lawmakers.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, who initially opposed the amendment, defended it on Tuesday. He argued in a statement that „this House will hold its members to the highest ethical standards and the office will continue to operate independently to provide public accountability to Congress. “
„The Office will continue to be governed by a bipartisan independent outside board with ultimate decision-making authority. The Office is still expected to take in complaints of wrongdoing from the public,“ Ryan said. „It will still investigate them thoroughly and independently. And the outside board will still decide whether or not evidence exists to warrant a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee. “
Top Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway also defended the House GOP’s action in a CNBC interview Tuesday, claiming that Americans should not get „the impression, somehow, that ethics is gone now. „

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4 ways in which ‘the swamp’ is doing just fine in the Trump era

Von

admin

January 3, 2017

A month ago on „Saturday Night Live,“ Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump character assured that he would „do what I promised to do my whole campaign, and I am going to build that swamp. “
„Don’t you mean drain the swamp and build the wall? “ adviser Kellyanne Conway responded. Trump shot back: „No, that’s too many things. Just smush them together. “
Trump’s promise to „drain the swamp“ has long hung over his transition effort — and almost always for the wrong reasons. Every time a potential conflict of interest or insider Cabinet pick crops up, there’s that pithy catchphrase looming as a contrast to what Trump is actually doing as president-elect. Newt Gingrich even said Trump’s team had exiled the slogan. (Trump has denied that ; on Tuesday, he tweeted out the slogan’s hashtag.)
Someone incorrectly stated that the phrase „DRAIN THE SWAMP“ was no longer being used by me. Actually, we will always be trying to DTS.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016
But it’s not just Trump who is now arguably „building the swamp. “ On Monday night, at the 11th hour before the new Congress is sworn in, the House Republican conference voted to do something that runs pretty clearly counter to any efforts to drain their own swamp: severely undercutting the powers of an independent ethics committee set up in the aftermath of the congressional scandals of last decade.
Given this building narrative, we thought it worth recapping the ways in which the swamp is being replenished right now — or at the very least is hardly being drained.
1. The Office of Congressional Ethics
With their vote behind closed doors Monday night, House Republicans voted to do a few things :
House Republicans took this vote over the reported objections of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Supporters, including chief sponsor Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), insist it doesn’t handicap the committee’s work. But given the above, it’s hard to argue the committee didn’t lose a huge amount of power and independence. The ethics process in Congress has earned a reputation for intransigence — often because of partisanship and a desire to not rock the boat — and now members will again exercise effective veto power over their own colleagues‘ ethics investigations.
Trump seemed to sympathize with the likes of Goodlatte on Tuesday, calling the office „unfair“ but questioning whether its reform should have been a priority:
With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
……..may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
2. Trump’s personal finances
We still don’t know exactly what Trump will do with his personal finances as president, because he has delayed a news conference on the subject. (It’s now set for Jan. 11 .)
What we do know is that his vast business empire and foreign interests pose an unprecedented number of potential conflicts of interest for a president. And Trump doesn’t sound like he’ll go nearly as far as ethics watchdogs would like. He’s repeatedly downplayed the issue, suggesting that the media are making a big deal out of nothing.
That sounds a lot like a guy who is about to disappoint those hoping he’ll put up real walls between him and his business. And they have reason to worry; Trump has thus far indicated that he’ll put his adult children in charge of his business interests — his lawyer has labeled this a „blind trust,“ but it doesn’t meet the definition — and he has continued to involve his kids in his transition effort.
Trump apparently isn’t divesting his foreign assets, either, unfurling a whole other list of potential conflicts as he deals with world leaders and foreign countries. And for the latest installment in how Trump’s business could intersect with his presidency, here’s what CNN reported Tuesday morning :
Donald Trump gave a lengthy description of his electoral victory, and lavished praise upon a Dubai business partner, during a ten-minute speech to 800 paying guests at his Florida estate Saturday night.
At points throughout his address, Trump name-checked prominent attendees, including „Hussain and the whole family,“ an apparent reference to his billionaire business partner in Dubai, Hussain Sajwani .
3. Trump’s Cabinet
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly used Goldman Sachs as a foil — both for his top primary opponent, Ted Cruz, and for Hillary Clinton.
As of today, though, Trump has named former Goldman Sachs partner Steve Mnuchin as his treasury secretary and Goldman Sachs president and COO Gary Cohn to lead his National Economic Council. His top adviser, Stephen Bannon, also worked at Goldman early in his career. And as our Philip Bump notes , Trump’s picks for transportation secretary, education secretary, commerce secretary, deputy commerce secretary and army secretary have all worked in finance.
Oh, and he’s also assembling the richest administration in modern history , featuring six billionaires — a figure that includes Trump but doesn’t include wealthy ExxonMobil CEO and secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson. And he’s also installed a number of elected officials to top posts, including Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) to lead the CIA and Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Can wealthy people, those who come from the world of finance and politicians drain the swamp? Anything is possible. But Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail suggested he was skeptical such reform would come from Goldman Sachs or Wall Street or Congress. And for a guy who ran as a populist, his Cabinet sure looks like a collection of elites.
4. The lobbyist loophole
Shortly after Trump’s election, his transition effort put forth a plan to crack down on the influence of lobbying in his administration.
The transition team said it would ban administration officials from serving as lobbyists for five years after leaving and said state and federal lobbyists would not be allowed to serve. But some looking to serve have simply deregistered as lobbyists, meaning they technically aren’t lobbyists anymore but were just a short while ago.
The five-year ban is particularly stringent, it should be noted, and some lobbyists chose to leave the transition effort rather than deregister. But it’s still not clear what the mechanism is for preventing former administration officials from lobbying for five years. Plus, these officials can often serve as advisers to those who do lobbying in ways that don’t technically involve lobbying.

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Swarm of 250 small earthquakes strike California-Mexico border

Von

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January 3, 2017

More than 250 small earthquakes along the Southern California-Mexico border on New Year’s Eve have left some residents worried and scientists intrigued.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the swarm of earthquakes struck the end of the Brawley Seismic Zone, which is described as an active region where tectonic plates are moving and the Earth’s crust is getting stretched out. The specific region connects the San Andreas and Imperial faults.
The Imperial fault has caused two major earthquakes, including a magnitude 6.5 tremblor that injured 91 in 1979 after it hit El Centro. The same town was also hit by a magnitude 7.1 quake that killed nine in 1940 and was felt as far away as Los Angeles.
Caltech seismologist Egill Hauksson told the Times that he was monitoring the swarm because there was a chance a magnitude 5 earthquake could’ve been triggered. The largest quake to hit the region was a magnitude 3.9 rumble that directly struck Brawley.
Hauksson said by Sunday night the possibility of a larger earthquake subsided.
The Brawley Seismic Zone stretches so far north that it could trigger a major event on the San Andreas fault, which could have disastrous effects in Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.
Click for more from the Los Angeles Times.

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You think your flight was bad? This guy was locked in the cargo hold for 90 minutes

Von

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January 3, 2017

A baggage handler was apparently locked in the cargo hold of an outbound Charlotte Douglas International flight Sunday and survived the ordeal as the plane reached altitudes of up to 27,000 feet, where outside temperatures can sink to minus 30 to 34 degrees.
Many questions remain about the incident.
United Airlines is still investigating what led to the baggage handler being in a cargo hold for nearly 90 minutes during the flight. The man was found after the aircraft landed at Washington Dulles International Airport, multiple media outlets reported.
The airline said in a statement that United Express flight No. 6060 was operated by Mesa Airlines, and it landed safely at Dulles on Sunday at about 4:16 p.m. Sunday. Once the plane was at the gate, an employee of the airline’s ground handling vendor was found in the cargo area, the airline said.
According to the Washington Post , United spokeswoman could not say Monday whether the plane’s cargo hold was temperature controlled or pressurized.
The plane was an Embraer 175 regional jet with 92 seats, online airline booking records indicate.
Radio communications traffic about the flight suggested the baggage loader was accidentally locked in the cargo area at the Charlotte airport, reported Observer news partner WBTV. The man reportedly refused to be checked out by medics.
Airport officials initially treated the discovery as a security breach, as it worked to identify the employee.
Media outlets have identified the employee as Reginald Gaskin.
Gaskin, 45, told the Washington Post, “I thank God. He was with me.” Gaskin told the Post that on advice of his attorney, he would not discuss what happened.
Gaskin is an employee of G2 Secure Staff, a United vendor based in Texas that supplies baggage handling services, airline officials told the Washington Post.
United officials could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
At 27,000 feet, for comparison, that would be the equivalent of nearing the top of Mount Everest, which reaches 29,000 feet.

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Search resumes for plane carrying 6 that vanished in Ohio

Von

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January 3, 2017

Cleveland officials say the search for a plane carrying six people that disappeared last week over Lake Erie has resumed.
Tuesday marks the third straight day that conditions have allowed recovery teams to search the lake for a Columbus-bound Cessna 525 Citation that vanished from radar shortly after takeoff Thursday night from Burke Lakefront Airport.
Cleveland heads the recovery effort with help from other agencies. The city said Monday that many of the 120 pieces of debris found so far are consistent with the type of aircraft that vanished. Only a bag found near a private harbor east of Cleveland has been confirmed as coming from the plane.
A business executive was piloting the plane carrying his wife, two teenage sons and two neighbors, including a University of Wisconsin-Madison student.

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House GOP votes to gut ethics committee Contact WND

Von

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January 3, 2017

(AP) House Republicans on Monday voted to eviscerate the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent body created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison.
The ethics change, which prompted an outcry from Democrats and government watchdog groups, is part of a rules package that the full House will vote on Tuesday. The package also includes a means for Republican leaders to punish lawmakers if there is a repeat of the Democratic sit-in last summer over gun control.
Under the ethics change pushed by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the non-partisan Office of Congressional Ethics would fall under the control of the House Ethics Committee, which is run by lawmakers. It would be known as the Office of Congressional Complaint Review, and the rule change would require that “any matter that may involve a violation of criminal law must be referred to the Committee on Ethics for potential referral to law enforcement agencies after an affirmative vote by the members,” according to Goodlatte’s office.