The smartphone revolution is on

Greek debt talks were expected to be finalized before the open of U.S. trade this week…

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Australian shares advanced on Friday as miners pushed the benchmark higher, but other Asia-Pacific stock markets generally struggled at the end of a modestly positive week. Read more.

So further monetary policy will cause us to repress financial calamity….does that mean when the levee breaks we get wiped out ?

Full article

Gary is steadfast in his tune despite the recent uptick in economic data….

OHI, Japan (AP) — International inspectors are visiting a rugged Japanese bay region so thick with reactors it is dubbed “Nuclear Alley,” where residents remain deeply conflicted as Japan moves to restart plants idled after the Fukushima disaster.

The local economy depends heavily on the industry, and the national government hopes that “stress tests” at idled plants — the first of which is being reviewed this week by the International Atomic Energy Agency — will show they are safe enough to switch back on.

But last year’s tsunami crisis in northeastern Japan with meltdowns at three of the Fukushima reactors has fanned opposition to the plants here in western Fukui prefecture, a mountainous region surrounding Wakasa Bay that also relies on fishing and tourism and where the governor has come out strongly against nuclear power.

“We don’t need another Fukushima, and we don’t want to repeat the same mistake here,” said Eiichi Inoue, a 63-year-old retiree in the coastal town of Obama. “I know they added stress tests, but what exactly are they doing?”

“I oppose restarting them,” he said.

Other residents said that economic realities made the plants indispensable, including Chikako Shimamoto, a 38-year-old fitness instructor in Takahama, a town that hosts one of the region’s nuclear plants.

“We all know that we better not restart them,” Shimamoto said. “But we need jobs and we need business in this town.

“Our lives in this town depends on the nuclear power plant and we have no choice,” she said.

On Thursday, an IAEA team visited a plant in the town of Ohi to check whether officials at operator Kansai Electric Power Co. had correctly done the tests at two reactors. The tests are designed to assess whether plants can withstand earthquakes, tsunamis, loss of power or other emergencies, and suggest changes to improve safety.

Their visit, at Japan’s invitation, appeared aimed at reassuring a skeptical public that authorities are taking the necessary precautions before bringing nuclear plants back on line. After the visit, IAEA team leader James Lyons said its assessment would be released at the end of the month but deciding whether to restart the reactors was up to the Japanese goverment.

Some experts are critical of the stress tests, saying they are meaningless because they have no clear criteria, and view the IAEA as biased toward the nuclear industry.

Poor little guys…fraud isn’t their fault, they just don’t know any better…

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Chinese investment abroad is drawing scrutiny as global leaders increasingly look to China to prop up the world economy, even though some remain wary of the country’s dominance.

The head of one of China’s biggest private equity firms said at the World Economic Forum on Thursday that foreign prejudice about Chinese investment is unfair and that Chinese investors are still learning a game that much of the world has been playing for decades.

With China’s “state capitalism” booming and Western economies lagging, business and political leaders also discussed the prospects for democracy worldwide, at an Associated Press debate.

Attention at the invitation-only gathering in the Swiss Alps turned Thursday to China, and how and whether it could help developed economies in Europe and the United States avoid new recession.

Chinese companies and government funds have been using vast reserves of cash to buy up foreign companies and invest in foreign government bonds in recent years. But with billions of dollars in Chinese investments pouring into their countries, some governments have accused China of seeking to exploit the economic weakness of others to grab valuable natural and technological resources at rock bottom prices.

President Barack Obama’s administration also has repeatedly accused China of breaking global trade rules by giving unfair protection to its companies and domestic workers.

“The vast majority of Chinese companies are trying to follow the rules as they understand it,” said John Zhao, CEO of Hony Capital. “But many Chinese companies are still trying to learn the rules.” His company controls PC maker Lenovo, which bought IBM’s computer division in 2005.

Full report

Source

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE: ADP) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup; Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Reiterated Buy with $22 Target at Argus.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) Started as Perform at Williams Capital.
Inergy Midstream, L.P. (NYSE: NRGM) Started as Outperform with $26 target at Credit Suisse.
Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) Maintained Outperform with $56 target price at Credit Suisse.
Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) Raised To Outperform From Market Perform By Leerink Swann
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Raised to Buy at Citigroup; Maintained Outperform and raised target to $125 at Credit Suisse.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Raised to Positive at Susquehanna.
Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ: RYAAY) Cut to Neutral at Nomura.
Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

In Play

On the Wires 

Why is this guy signing like a bird in retirement ?

Take down hedges says Hermitage 

Tough times all around huh ?

At $79 a pop per year, Amazon Prime is a steal. Maybe even a little too good. Full story.

(via Ace of Spades HQ)

Straight-Shooter Jon Stewart: I Can’t Believe Mitt Romney Makes $57,000 Per Day
That’s So Much More Unbelievable Than My Own $41,000 Per Day

Gotta love a TV clown complaining someone else is overpaid and too rich.

“That’ses almost–that’s almost $57,000 a day!” Stewart exclaimed. “Here is the most amazing part: the guy doesn’t even have a job! That is f*cking interest! That is the kind of money that might lead a man to make stupidly extravagant out-of-touch impulse bets!”

Jon Stewart’s annual salary is $15 million per year (and I assume he’s also got interest income on top of that from previous banked salary), which is more than $41,000 per day.

Plus — interest and investment income, which is not reflected in that figure.

But he’s earned it. He was once on Remote Control or something.

$41,095 Per Day

At that level or below, you’re Middle Class.

Above that, you’re just taking too much damn money from The People.

Thanks to George.

Inflation is decreasing, but “damaging deflation risks” are rising…

With love from the the slopes, warm crackling fires, and champagne filled glasses…

What a bloody mess this crisis has turned out to be…

Cheers on that notion!

Attention Davos…please look beyond the immediate problems.