Not taking a steep haircut has been hampering a resolution; talks continue…

Have you not had enough time ?

“Russia vowed to block any United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to relinquish power.

Such demands “will simply never get approval,” Alexander Lukashevich, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said by telephone from Moscow today. “This should be a matter for dialogue between the Syrians themselves and shouldn’t be imposed through a resolution.”

Arab and Western nations are seeking to pass a UN resolution supporting the Arab League’s call for Assad to step down and facilitate a peaceful transfer of power. Russia, as a permanent Security Council member, can veto any resolution.”

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Reports say that Tibetan protesters stormed a police station with knives and petrol bombs and as a result the police opened fired upon them. This is the second day of deadly clashes.

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South Korea grew the smallest amount in two years as q4 exports sank on Europe’s non consumption…growth still remains at 3.4%

If you’ve come to Davos for answers, panels are not the place to start. An hour into the “TIME Davos Debate on Capitalism” there were, by my count, just two or three concrete proposals for creating jobs.

The panel included Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan; Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein; Ben Verwaayen, the CEO of Alcatel-Lucent; Raghuram Rajan, a renowned economist; and Sharran Burrows, the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.

The focus of the panel wasn’t quite “Is 20th century capitalism failing 21st century society?” Instead, it was most certainly about non-specific change at the margins. Rajan called for better worker training, Burrows wants corporations to invest a portion of their income into job creation and a VC audience member bemoaned the U.S. immigration policy and a lack of skilled workers. Despite a few exchanges between Burrows and Alcaltel’s Verwaayen, there was almost nothing in the way of real debate.

Take the “too big to fail” banks, for example. When asked about the issue, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan claimed that his bank simply needed to be massive to serve an increasingly global economy:

Read the rest here.

(via NY POST)

CANBERRA, Australia — A senior Australian lawmaker was at the center of an embarrassing plagiarism gaffe Wednesday after he delivered a speech with lines taken straight out of the Michael Douglas movie “The American President.”

Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese’s stirring address to journalists at the National Press Club in Canberra was uncannily similar to a speech Douglas made in his role as US President in the romantic comedy.

“In Australia, we have serious challenges to solve, and we need serious people to solve them,” Labor Party lawmaker Albanese said Wednesday.

In the movie, Douglas’ character, Andrew Shepherd, tells a news conference at the White House, “We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious men to solve them.”

Albanese’s speech went on to attack the leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott.

“Unfortunately, Tony Abbott is not the least bit interested in fixing any of them. He’s only interested in two things — making Australians afraid of it and telling them who’s to blame for it.”

The rest of Douglas’ address in 1995 movie was, “And whatever your particular problem is, friend, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who’s to blame for it.”

The similarity between the two speeches was spotted by Liberal Party federal director Brian Loughnane, who put a video of Albanese’s speech along with the scene from the movie on YouTube.

“I was going through the torture of watching [Albanese] at the Press Club, when suddenly I thought to myself — I’ve heard all this before,” Loughnane told Australian political website The Punch.

Read more: http://trade.cc/acsi

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

Cheers on that notion!

Attention Davos…please look beyond the immediate problems.

Nothing new for Roubini, but along with Soros and other commentators people are getting a unsettling feeling  at Davos…

The data failed to rally the DAX

Core inflation in Australia is running at 3%

This is Thailand’s second rate cut since the flooding occurred.

Unsavory Greek debt restructuring mars bullish hopes in Europe.

Story and video

Engineers inspecting Airbus A380 aircraft for further wings cracks have found similar flaws on at least one aircraft, industry sources said on Tuesday.

European safety authorities ordered urgent inspections on just under a third of the superjumbo fleet last week after two types of cracks were discovered on the same type of bracket inside the wings of the world’s largest jetliner.

Airlines have until Friday to complete a first phase of checks, after which Airbus or safety regulators are expected to give an update on any new findings.

Airbus, which insists the superjumbo is safe to fly, declined to comment on any interim results while airlines carry out checks under the timetable established by regulators.

But a spokesman said recent events showed the industry’s process of continuous evaluation, designed to catch and repair any faults before they become a hazard, was working smoothly.
Read more: http://trade.cc/acfrixzz1kOqDcOIt

Japan is expected to report their first ever trade deficit…well a first in a very long time. Analyst expect this new trend to be long lasting; especially if the Yen remains strong.

Full article

Let’s hope so

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