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☆ Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of Alibaba, disappeared from public view in 2020. He's been living in Tokyo for the past 6 months, new reports say.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Alibaba group founder Jack Ma is now living in Tokyo, the FT reported. The once high-profile Ma angered the Chinese authorities in 2020 and has since vanished from public view. His words angered the Chinese authorities, prompting intense regulatory scrutiny on his businesses, and a wider crackdown on tech firms the country. This weighed on Chinese tech and property firms, sending the net worth of the country's richest plunging. He still sits on the board of the Jack Ma Foundation, which he founded.

☆ How Student-Loan Debt, or Not Having It, Shapes Lives
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Joe Pinsker | Photographs James Stukenberg For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Without student loans, millions of Americans couldn’t afford the degrees that might smooth the road to prosperity. Yet, having student loans can also make it tougher to get far along that journey. People who leave school without loans can have an easier time buying a home, saving for retirement or starting a business, compared with those who have student debt. One aim of President Biden’s student-debt relief plan, currently stalled by legal challenges, is to help borrowers shed debt and progress toward those goals, though critics argue the program is unfair to those who sacrificed to pay for college or pay down their debt.

☆ China’s Economy Faces Challenges Despite Latest Moves to Stimulate Growth
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Stella Yifan Xie | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG—China’s recent steps to adjust Covid-19 controls and revive activity in the beaten-down property market stirred hopes that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is putting fresh emphasis on measures to support the economy, potentially leading to a strong rebound in growth next year. But economists warn the moves so far haven’t amounted to a broad shift in Mr. Xi’s policies, and the messaging out of the recent Communist Party Congress only reinforced that the Chinese leader planned to stick to his goals of achieving economic self-sufficiency and “common prosperity”—even at the cost of lower growth rates.

☆ Jim Cramer: Our allies — and enemies — hold the keys to unlocking this market
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

What is confounding us has more to do with the actions of our allies and — just call it as we see it — our enemies. It's incredible how irrational it has all gone and how isolated China really turns out to be. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.

☆ Spain, EU propose to keep Gibraltar land border open, Spain says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Spain and the European Commision have sent Britain a proposal to keep the Gibraltar land border open as part of a definitive solution settling the post-Brexit status of the enclave, the Spanish foreign ministry said on Friday. Spain, Britain and the European Union agreed on Dec. 31, 2020, hours before Britain's full exit from the bloc, that Gibraltar would remain part of EU agreements such as the Schengen Area and Spain would police the port and the airport, pending a definitive solution. "This requires Spain to take control, on behalf of the Schengen area, of Gibraltar's external borders and, to this end, to be able to exercise certain functions and powers necessary to protect the integrity and security of the Schengen area," it added. About 15,000 people commute daily from Spain to Gibraltar, which has a population of about 32,000. Spain has agreed to put aside the issue of its sovereignty claim over Gibraltar to focus on the opportunity to keep the border open, the Foreign Minister said.

☆ China's Xi, in message to North Korea's Kim, says willing to work together for regional, global stability -KCNA
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that China would be willing to work together with North Korea for regional and global peace, stability and prosperity, North Korea's state media KCNA reported on Saturday, citing Xi's letter to Kim. KCNA did not mention North Korea's recent missile launches that have heightened tensions around the Korean peninsula following joint military drills between South Korea and the United States. Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ New Zealand increases funding for Vanuatu wharves
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta speaks during a session of the UN Human Rights Councill in Geneva, Switzerland February 28, 2022. New Zealand's Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said in a statement on Wednesday that building climate-resilient wharves and establishing reliable and regular shipping services would help the prosperity and wellbeing of the people of Vanuatu. The project is part of the Vanuatu Inter-Island Shipping Support Project, which has among a number of projects, has completed two wharves. New Zealand, alongside the government of Vanuatu and the Asian Development Bank, has been a co-financier of the project since 2012. Foreign investment in wharves in Vanuatu came into the spotlight in 2018 following media reports China wanted to establish a military base in Vanuatu after funding a wharf big enough to handle large warships.

☆ El Salvador govt seeks Congress approval to issue bitcoin-backed bonds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN SALVADOR, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The government of El Salvador, the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, is seeking congressional approval to issue investment bonds in the cryptocurrency. El Salvador's government-controlled legislature announced late on Tuesday it had received a bill dubbed the "Digital Assets Issuance Law," aimed at regulating the offering of such bonds to local and foreign investors. The proposal comes a year after President Nayib Bukele announced he would launch so-called "volcano bonds" to raise $1 billion to finance his "Bitcoin City" project, which included building a town on the Salvadoran coast funded by bitcoin-backed bonds. Bukele later revealed the bonds were named after El Salvador's 170 volcanoes, which would provide geothermal energy to support bitcoin mining projects. Reporting by Gerardo Arbaiza; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ One of Twitter's best-known comedy accounts, Dril, says Elon Musk's Twitter is going to be a 'beautiful thing'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Popular comedy Twitter account Dril told WaPo that the platform will be "a beautiful thing" under Elon Musk. Musk is a "classic comedic showman," Dril, one of the site's best-loved comedy accounts, told the Washington Post. Speaking to the Washington Post in a phone interview, Dril compared Twitter to Musk's invention of the Hyperloop. Dril said Musk's Twitter takeover has been entertaining calling him a "classic comedic showman," to the Post. When asked whether he'd make the switch from Twitter to other platforms like Mastodon, TikTok or Substack, Dril told the Post that he isn't keen.

China’s technology sector has taken a pounding since watchdogs cancelled Ant’s $37 billion stock market debut at the last minute in 2020. The Hang Seng Tech index (.HSTECH), which includes social media giant Tencent (0700.HK) and JD, has fallen another 38% this year. China's powerful market regulator proposed amendments on Tuesday to a law on unfair competition. The e-commerce giant intends, in addition, to allocate at least 10 billion yuan to offer employees interest-free loans to buy a house. The benefits include plans to allocate 10 billion yuan ($1.40 billion) to a fund to assist employees of JD and recently acquired courier firm Deppon Logistics with buying homes.

☆ One of China's biggest retailers is cutting executive pay to create a fund to help lower-level employees buy homes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The e-commerce titan will allocate $1.4 billion to help rank-and-file employees buy homes. The move comes amid China's "common prosperity" campaign to reduce economic inequality in the country. The billionaire's philanthropy is part of China's "common prosperity" campaign to close the income gap and bolster social equality in the country. He brought up the slogan "common prosperity" multiple times in his opening speech, Insider reported. ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming donated 500 million yuan, or $77.3 million, in June of 2021 to Fangmei Education Development Fund, named after Zhang's grandmothers in his hometown of southeastern Longyan city.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's mom once wrote an essay about fixing problems rather than assigning blame when 'something goes terribly wrong'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's mother, a Stanford law professor, once wrote an article titled "Beyond Blame." Barbara Fried asked what would happen if the focus was on fixing problems and not assigning blame. Her son Sam Bankman-Fried co-founded FTX, which last week filed for bankruptcy. She has written pieces for the Boston Review, a quarterly political and literary magazine, arguing that attributing "personal blame" in times of crisis had "ruined criminal justice and economic policy," suggesting it was "time to move past blame." "The next time something goes terribly wrong, suppose that instead of immediately asking who is to blame, we were to ask: How can we fix this problem?"

☆ Japan sees core inflation at highest in 40 years as Asia-Pacific stocks rise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Keeping inflation under control is the best way to ensure a strong economy for everyone, Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson said Thursday. "Low inflation is key to achieving a long and sustained expansion — an economy that works for all," the central bank official said during an event in Minneapolis. "Pursuing our dual mandate is the best way for the Federal Reserve to promote widely shared prosperity." Jefferson did not provide any direct comments on where he sees policy heading as the Fed looks to achieve both full employment and stable prices. His comments from following a flurry of speeches from his colleagues, who universally say the Fed will need to raise interest rates more to bring down inflation still running around its highest levels since the early 1980s.

☆ Five countries, other than China, most dependent on the South China Sea
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Sean M. Holt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Territorially, there are seven claimants to the South China Sea: China, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Analysts name the top five countries, other than China, that are most dependent on the South China Sea. Aerial view of fishing boats setting sail to South China Sea for fishing on August 16, 2022 in Yangjiang, Guangdong Province of China. "Although they claim more than half of the South China Sea, China has pushed claimant states such as Vietnam out of traditional fishing waters and more into the South China Sea, causing excessive overfishing." South KoreaSouth Korea is "intentionally quiet about the South China Sea" as it wants to "maintain favor with China," Graham said, citing Seoul's primary focus on the North Korean issue.

☆ Fed's Jefferson says low inflation key to U.S. prosperity
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Low inflation is key to achieving a long and sustained expansion -- an economy that works for all," Fed Governor Philip Jefferson said in remarks prepared for delivery to a research conference on opportunity and inclusive growth at the Minneapolis Fed. Less-advantaged groups, like Blacks and Hispanics, "tend to see the greatest gains later in an expansion, meaning that they benefit the most from sustained periods of growth," Jefferson said. "Monetary policy cannot address the specific reasons that low-income households suffer the most from high inflation," Jefferson told the conference. But, he added, "pursuing our dual mandate is the best way for the Federal Reserve to promote widely shared prosperity," referring to the Fed's two congressionally mandated goals of price stability and full employment. Reporting by Ann Saphir; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Japan’s Leader Seeks Steady China Ties in First Meeting With Xi Jinping
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Alastair Gale | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sought to steady ties with Beijing in his first meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping , reflecting the importance to Japan of economic links with China and Tokyo’s worries of being drawn into a conflict over nearby Taiwan. “Both countries are great powers with important responsibilities for the peace and prosperity of the international community. It is important that both sides accelerate their efforts to build constructive and stable Japan-China relations,” Mr. Kishida said at the start of a meeting with Mr. Xi in Bangkok that lasted around 45 minutes. The meeting took place ahead of a summit of leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group in Thailand, following a Group of 20 meeting in Indonesia.

☆ I've been a licensed psychotherapist in Silicon Valley for the past decade, and I've never witnessed such an atmosphere of panic and insecurity amid the massive tech layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Since the Twitter and Meta layoffs, she and her team are speaking to hundreds of patients a week. For many across Silicon Valley, that all contributed to an environment of professional safety and security. Over time, I too, became convinced that Silicon Valley was untouchable. Since Twitter announced mass layoffs in early November, shockwaves have been rippling through Silicon Valley. There's a general sobering across Silicon Valley that will extend into the new year.

☆ Future Florida homebuyers face increasing costs and greater exposure to natural disasters, which could devastate residents and the state's booming real estate market
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Data from Freddie Mac shows an increasing share of people are relocating to areas more prone to natural disasters. This is especially the case in Florida, a pandemic housing hotspot that has experienced severe flooding and storms. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest on the culture & business of sustainability — delivered weekly to your inbox. Flordians are the most at risk to natural disastersIndeed, certain US housing markets — particularly cities in Florida — are more vulnerable to natural disasters than others. The organization anticipates that by April 2027, Florida's population will average 294,756 net new residents per year, averaging 808 each day.

BEIJING/HONG KONG, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A slew of recent supportive measures will bring China's cash-strapped property developers much needed relief, but a full recovery of the sector will be hobbled by increasingly elusive buyers, say bankers, developers and analysts. "These policies will have little lasting effect and the property prices will not go up significantly," said Jack Yang, an engineer in Beijing, noting "future income" had become a key concern for homebuyers. Despite the recent liquidity-boosting measures, some bankers say developers continue to face credit risks given the uncertain outlook. According to UBS, Chinese banks have roughly 88 trillion yuan ($12.43 trillion) worth of exposure to the property sector. It estimates the property sector downturn will cost the banking system up to 1.4-1.5 trillion yuan in the next few years, mainly from potential losses in banks' unsecured property development loans, bonds, and non-standard assets.

☆ Global investors are bullish again on China as Beijing switches to damage control
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A key index of Chinese stocks in New York jumped 15% during the same period. Some investment banks even upgraded their China growth forecasts following the policy changes. They want to correct the market’s perception of China’s economic outlook, as President Xi Jinping interacts with global leaders at G20,” it said. “I don’t think the long-term appetite for China and Hong Kong shares will return so quickly. The Nasdaq Golden China Index, a popular index tracking Chinese companies in New York, has plunged more than 33% so far in 2022.

☆ Deglobalization is not an option for any one of us, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Su-Lin Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty ImagesGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong have taken a united stance on continuing to work with China, but also remain committed to diversification. Scholz said Germany is keen to deepen economic ties with Asia-Pacific, not just China, in line with the pursuit of trade diversification. Olaf Scholz German chancellor"Often these are nothing but protectionism in disguise," Scholz said. Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty ImagesSingapore's Wong said the U.S. and China both have broad interests across Asia and must find a way to coexist, compete and cooperate peacefully. Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images"And within ASEAN, no country wants to be in a position to have the two sides between China or the U.S.

Also: Put your money in a high-yield savings account — you can earn around 3% interest right now. We just experienced the longest bull market in economic history, with the stock market increasing in value for 11 years straight. Consolidate your debt into fixed interest rate loansIf any of your debt has variable interest rates, consider moving that debt into a loan that has a fixed interest rate so your interest rate won't change. For instance, if you have credit card debt, chances are the interest rates have gone up. When you move your money into high-yield savings, consider also increasing your savings amount by 10%.

☆ Factbox: Top takeaways from the Biden-Xi meeting in Bali
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Xi too was explicit about Taiwan, calling it the "first red line" that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations. The White House said Biden and Xi agreed to "deepen constructive efforts" to address issues such as climate change, health and food security. But according to the White House statement, Biden and Xi "underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine". Biden told reporters after the meeting there was no need for concerns about a new Cold War between the United States and China. At the same time, Biden warned Xi that such actions by North Korea would result in bolstered U.S. and allied military capabilities in Northeast Asia.

☆ UAE official calls for 'unambivalent' US security commitment
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Nov 14 (Reuters) - A senior United Arab Emirates official called on Monday for "codified and unambivalent" commitments from the United States to its security, adding it had no interest in "choosing sides". Both have voiced concerns about the Washington's commitment to the region and chafed at restrictions on arms sales from the United States, their main security guarantor. "Our primary strategic security relationship remains unequivocally with the United States," Gargash said. The UAE would continue avoiding dependence on "just one or two countries" for its economic prosperity and security by maintaining balanced and diversified relations, he said. "The UAE has no interest in choosing sides between great powers," Gargash added, stressing the need for measured approaches during a "turbulent" time in global politics.

☆ Biden will seek to establish red lines in high stakes meeting with China’s Xi
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Peter Nicholas | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Carol-Lee-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Even so, the White House is downplaying any hope of a major breakthrough when Biden sits down with Xi in person. “I don’t think personal diplomacy will help that much,” said Victor Cha, a former director for Asian affairs in George W. Bush’s White House. The Biden administration sees Xi as the leader of a bullying nation with visions of global dominance. “We recognize that with each launch, [the North Koreans] learn something,” the senior Biden administration official said. But like Biden, Xi will also arrive at the meeting having fortified his position at home.

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