India's Central Bank Chief Warns on Market Risks - In a panel discussion hosted by the Wall Street Journal in Davos, Switzerland, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said central-bank policies are creating market distortions. Published Jan 29, 2016, WSJ.com.
See also:
Central Banks Intensify Campaign for Negative Rates - Bloomberg Business: "... negative interest rates ... the Bank of Japan on Friday joined a growing club taking the once-anathema step of pushing some borrowing costs beneath zero ... about a quarter of the world economy now in negative-rate territory, the policy reflects pressure to do even more to ignite inflation at the risk of hurting banks. The lack of fallout so far sets the stage for the European Central Bank to cut rates even more and may fan speculation the Federal Reserve will follow if the U.S. slumps ..."
Joe Scarborough: Cruz and Rubio "had their worst nights" of all the debates.
Fox News averaged "a record-smashing 25 million viewers" last August during the first GOP debate of the season where Trump clashed with moderator Megyn Kelly at that time (source);
Thursday night? The Fox News - Google GOP Debate had only 12.5 million viewers between 9 and 11 p.m. Eastern, according to Nielsen (source).
Above: 2016 Search Trends in US--4 Republican candidates shown--view full report in Google Trends
Note: In this year of the IANA Transition,Domain Mondo will be monitoring U.S. elections, particularly the 2016 US Presidential Election. This is the second post in a series that began with the #DemDebate on January 17, 2016. In addition, Domain Mondo now has, and will maintain, an Election2016 page with Twitter feeds and links.
Above: Google tax deal heralds global showdown | FT Comment - Published Jan 28, 2016
Google tax: David Cameron defends £130m UK tax deal - BBC NewsGoogle agreed to pay £130m of tax dating back to 2005 to HMRC, which said it was the "full tax due in law". But European MPs have described it as a "very bad deal" and Labour said it amounted to a 3% tax rate.
International Perspectives of the State of Governance on the Internet (56 mins) with Larry Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, United States Department of Commerce, NTIA; and Bertrand de la Chapelle, Director, Internet & Jurisdiction Project.
MODERATOR: Cheryl Miller, Director, International Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Verizon.
High Noon for the IANA Transition (63 mins) PANEL: Steve Crocker, Chair of the ICANN Board of Directors; Alissa Cooper, Distinguished Engineer, Cisco; Steve DelBianco, Executive Director, NetChoice; David Redl, Counsel, U.S House Committee on Energy and Commerce; Greg Shatan, Partner, Abelman Frayne & Schwab; Chris Wilson, Vice President, Government Affairs, 21st Century Fox. MODERATOR: Laura DeNardis American University
The Collapse of the EU Safe Harbor: Assessing the Damage and Exploring Solutions (59 mins) INTRODUCTION: Justin Antonipallai, Counselor to the Secretary with Delegated Duties of Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, U.S. Department of Commerce; PANEL: Andrea Glorioso, Counselor, Delegation of the European Union to the U.S.; Bijan Madhani, Public Policy & Regulatory Counsel, Computer & Communications Industry Association; Meg Jones, Assistant Professor, Georgetown University; MODERATOR: Kelly A. DeMarchis, Counsel, Venable LLP.
See also: Europe’s Top Digital-Privacy Watchdog Zeros In on U.S. Tech Giants - The New York Times: ".... A number of digital-rights advocates, including Mr. Schrems, are also preparing new privacy cases if a data-transfer deal is not reached by Feb. 1. That will most likely cause more problems for American tech giants, pushing Ms. Falque-Pierrotin and her European counterparts to consider new investigations — and, eventually, fines. But her position on protecting personal data continues to appear unwavering. “Does the U.S. provide sufficient privacy guarantees?” she said. “Until now, the answer is no.”"
Fourth Quarter 2015
Net sales increased 22% to $35.7 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $29.3 billion in fourth quarter 2014. Excluding the $1.2 billion unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 26% compared with fourth quarter 2014. Operating income increased 88% to $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with operating income of $591 million in fourth quarter 2014. Net income was $482 million in the fourth quarter, or $1.00 per diluted share, compared with net income of $214 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, in fourth quarter 2014. Full Year 2015
Net sales increased 20% to $107.0 billion, compared with $89.0 billion in 2014. Excluding the $5.2 billion unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year, net sales increased 26% compared with 2014. Operating income was $2.2 billion, compared with operating income of $178 million in 2014. Net income was $596 million, or $1.25 per diluted share, compared with net loss of $241 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, in 2014. “Twenty years ago, I was driving the packages to the post office myself and hoping we might one day afford a forklift. This year, we pass $100 billion in annual sales and serve 300 million customers,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “And still, measured by the dynamism we see everywhere in the marketplace and by the ever-expanding opportunities we see to invent on behalf of customers, it feels every bit like Day 1.”
"Financial Guidance - The following forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com’s expectations as of January 28, 2016, and are subject to substantial uncertainty. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and customer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce, and the various factors detailed below. First Quarter 2016 Guidance Net sales are expected to be between $26.5 billion and $29.0 billion, or to grow between 17% and 28% compared with first quarter 2015. Operating income is expected to be between $100 million and $700 million, compared with $255 million in first quarter 2015. This guidance includes approximately $600 million for stock-based compensation and other operating expense (income), net. It assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions, investments, restructurings, or legal settlements are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates."
Principal domain name: amazon.com
Q4 2015 Amazon.com Inc Earnings Conference Call
Thursday, January 28, 2016 5:00 p.m. ET
Webcast Presentation Click here for webcast
The event will be webcast live, and the audio and associated slides will be available for at least three months thereafter at www.amazon.com/ir (Amazon Investor Relations).
"Alibaba Group's mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. The company is the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world in terms of gross merchandise volume. Founded in 1999, the company provides the fundamental technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help businesses leverage the power of the Internet to establish an online presence and conduct commerce with hundreds of millions of consumers and other businesses.
*Alibaba Group's major businesses include:
Taobao Marketplace (www.taobao.com), China's largest online shopping destination
Tmall.com (www.tmall.com), China's largest third-party platform for brands and retailers
Juhuasuan (www.juhuasuan.com), China's most popular online group buying marketplace
Alitrip (www.alitrip.com), a leading online travel service platform
AliExpress (www.aliexpress.com), a global online marketplace for consumers to buy directly from China
Alibaba.com (www.alibaba.com), China's largest global online wholesale platform for small businesses
1688.com (www.1688.com), a leading online wholesale marketplace in China
AliCloud (www.alicloud.com), a provider of cloud computing services to businesses and entrepreneurs
(*source: Alibaba Groupalibabagroup.com)
Facebook Tops Estimates as Mobile Fuels Sales Growth -- David Kirkpatrick, Techonomy's chief executive officer, and Bloomberg's Cory Johnson take a look at Facebook's fourth-quarter sales growth with Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal, Alix Steel and Scarlet Fu on "What'd You Miss?" Published Jan 27, 2016 UPDATE: Facebook Inc stock (NASDAQ:FB) rises after earnings report:
NASDAQ: FB - Jan 28 9:43 AM EST 107.14USD12.69 (13.44%)
Full Year 2015 Business Highlights
Revenue - Revenue for the full year 2015 was $17.93 billion, an increase of 44% year-over-year.
Income from operations - Income from operations for the full year 2015 was $6.23 billion.
Net income - Net income for the full year 2015 was $3.69 billion.
Free cash flow - Free cash flow for the full year 2015 was $6.08 billion.
Daily active users (DAUs) - DAUs were 1.04 billion on average for December 2015, an increase of 17% year-over-year.
Mobile DAUs - Mobile DAUs were 934 million on average for December 2015, an increase of 25% year-over-year.
Monthly active users (MAUs) - MAUs were 1.59 billion as of December 31, 2015, an increase of 14% year-over-year.
Mobile MAUs - Mobile MAUs were 1.44 billion as of December 31, 2015, an increase of 21% year-over-year.
Fourth Quarter 2015 Other Financial Highlights
Mobile advertising revenue - Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 80% of advertising revenue for the fourth quarter of 2015, up from 69% of advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Capital expenditures - Capital expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2015 were $692 million.
Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities - Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $18.43 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015.
Free cash flow - Free cash flow for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $2.14 billion
Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) fourth quarter and full year 2015 financial results will be released after market close on Wednesday, January 27, 2016. Facebook will host a conference call to discuss its results at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET the same day. The live webcast of the call can be accessed at the Facebook Investor Relations website at investor.fb.com, along with the company's earnings press release, financial tables and slide presentation.
Following the call, a replay will be available at the same website. A telephonic replay will be available for one week following the conference call at 404.537.3406 or 855.859.2056, Conference ID: 16251646. Disclosure Information Facebook uses the investor.fb.com website and Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/zuck) as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.
About Facebook Founded in 2004, Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what's going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them. (source: Facebook Investor Relations)
Martin Wolf on China capital controls | FT World - FT chief economics commentator Martin Wolf on whether China should tighten its capital controls to stem huge outflows of money, and the challenges posed by market turmoil and its slowing economy. Published on Jan 26, 2016
Published on Apr 8, 2015 - Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator, talks to the FT's Michael Skapinker about China’s economic slowdown and whether there is still reason to be optimistic about its prospects.
Above: ICANN 2015 Presentation on "DNS Abuse Handling"
From the ICANN Announcement-- ICANN is currently engaged in data collection on DNS (Domain Name System) abuse and mitigation efforts implemented as part of the New gTLD Program. Members of the community and general public are invited to join ICANN on 28 January 2016 in an open discussion on the topic. This work will help inform the efforts of the review team examining the effects of the Program on Competition, Consumer Choice, and Consumer Trust, which will assess the safeguards in the Program as part of its work.
Discussion Details & How to Attend--
ICANN will hold two discussions to enable participation in all regions: Discussion 1: Jan 28, 2016 at 02:00-03:30 UTCtime converter (9-10:30pm EST Jan 27)
Discussion 2: Jan 28, 2016 at 16:00--17:30 UTCtime converter (11am-12:30pm EST Jan 28)
Register to attend the discussion and ICANN will send you an email with participation information OR unable to attend, but want to contribute? Give ICANN the OK to send you a questionnaire so you can tell ICANN about your experiences. Visit: http://survey.clicktools.com/app/survey/go.jsp?iv=25apb9wqx72s8
The goals of the discussion are to help formulate a definition of DNS abuse, brainstorm methods for measuring abuse, and gather qualitative, experiential input on whether safeguards to mitigate DNS abuse in new gTLDs have been effective. The discussion will be structured around 4 central topics, which participants are encouraged to consider prior to joining:
Topic 1: Which activities do you consider to be DNS abuse? If you could put forth a globally accepted definition of DNS abuse, what would it be? This definition should be broad enough to cover various malicious uses of the DNS. Topic 2: What are the most effective methods to measure the prevalence of abusive activities in the DNS?
Topic 3: As part of the New gTLD Program, ICANN introduced safeguards [PDF, 128 KB] to mitigate potential DNS abuse in new gTLDs (listed below). How can we measure the effectiveness of these safeguards?
Vetting registry operators
Requirement for DNSSEC deployment
Requirement for Thick WHOIS records
Prohibition of "wild carding"
Removal of orphan glue records
Centralization of Zone file access
Abuse contact and documented anti-abuse policy requirements for registries and registrars
Availability of expedited registry security request process
High-security zone verification
Topic 4: What has been your experience, personally or on behalf of an organization, with these safeguards? Please tell us: Which were and/or were not effective? How so and why do you believe they were or were not effective? Are there safeguards that should have been included but were not? Any remaining time will be open for questions and related discussion.
Further Information: DNS Abuse Review | ICANN New gTLDs ICANN's New gTLD Program has enabled hundreds of new top-level domains to enter into the Internet's root zone since the first delegation occurred in October 2013. Comprehensive reviews of the program have begun and will cover a variety of topics including competition, consumer trust and choice (CCT), security and stability, rights protection and other areas. Along with commissioning third-party analyses,ICANN is capturing stakeholder experiences regarding operation of the New gTLD Program and its effects on the domain name industry. Lessons learned as a result of these efforts will help shape future rounds of the program.
Apple Stock Chart (NASDAQ:AAPL) (source: google.com)
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) FY 16 First Quarter Results
Apple’s conference call to discuss first fiscal quarter results is scheduled for
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET. Listen to the audio webcast - *Live streaming uses Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) technology. HLS requires an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with Safari on iOS 7.0 or later, a Mac with Safari 6.0.5 or later on OS X v10.8.5 or later, or a PC with Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.
UPDATE: Apple Forecasts First Sales Drop Since 2003 on iPhone Slowdown - Bloomberg Business
Apple beats on earnings, misses revenue and iPhone units; Q2 sales guidance below consensus: "The company also reported that it sold 74.8 million iPhones in the quarter, missing expectations of about 75.46 million, according to StreetAccount."--Quarterly earnings of $3.28 per share on $75.9 billion in revenue--Analysts had expected Apple to report earnings of about $3.23 a share on $76.54 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters
How to TransferWise - A quick guide showing you how to beat hidden bank fees with TransferWise. Published Apr 20, 2015
FinTech is experiencing tremendous growth | TransferWise Blog: "As reported by Business Insider, FinTech startups enabling services like peer to peer money transfer and lending services are on the rise. The first shows the amount of funding FinTech startups have received over the past 5 years. Investments in Q2 2010 made up less than $1 billion, in Q1 2015 they’ve risen to nearly $3 billion..."
TransferWise - Wikipedia: "TransferWise is an Estonian developed and UK-based peer-to-peer money transfer service launched in January 2011 by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus with headquarters in London and offices in Tallinn and New York. More than £3 billion has been transferred through TransferWise. TransferWise supports more than 300 currency routes across the world."
TransferWise Wants To Take Over The World | TechCrunch: "This year, TransferWise also raised $58 million from Andreessen Horowitz and existing investors. And Hinrikus thinks his company is in a great position right now when it comes to competition from other startups. “I think it’s a very highly defensible business. It’s very hard to build a brand online,” he said. “I challenge you to find another financial startup that has a 5 percent market share. Making sure that we move tens of millions every day is hard as well. I’m actually feeling pretty good.”"
Martin Wolf on Davos economic outlook | FT Comment - Global growth, stock market volatility dominated discussion - Despite January being one of the most turbulent months on record for markets, delegates at the World Economic Forum are optimistic about the global economy. The FT's Martin Wolf explains why. Published Jan 24, 2016
Davos 2016 – all about tech | FT Comment - Technology companies had a huge presence at this year’s World Economic Forum. FT European technology correspondent Murad Ahmed explains how tech companies were greeted and how the industry was featured at debates in Davos. Published Jan 23, 2016
What did FT writers make of this year's meeting? 'Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution' was the theme of this year's World Economic Forum in Davos. As the meeting came to an end, FT writers provided their verdict on the key issues and highlights. Published Jan 24, 2016
• UPDATE: How ICANN Lost Its IANA Trademarks and IANA dot ORG Domain Name -- Questions: Will IETF or IETF Trust, or subsidiary, eventually run IANA, and assess each TLD an annual fee plus transactional fee per change to the Root Zone file? Could ICANN be abolished?
Apple $AAPL Jan 26 5pm ET
Facebook $FB Jan 27 5pm ET
Alibaba Group $BABA Jan 28 Pre Market
Amazon $AMZN Jan 28 5pm
And see Starbucks' (SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz on Q1 2016 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha: "... I think we said three years ago publicly that we began to envision that there would be a seismic change in consumer behavior and that seismic change was due in large part to eCommerce and smartphoneshopping. I think today in the headlines you've seen just in the last three weeks store closures of almost 50 Macy's stores, 150 Walmart stores. You've got to ask yourself what's going to happen to the future of many of those malls that are anchored by those big-box retailers..."
Known as a “key creator of modern venture capital,” Janeway helped to created BEA Systems, which connected software applications to databases across much of the Internet. The initial cash investment of $54 million became a payout of $6.5 billion within six years. His work operates at the intersection of technology, finance, and economics. Janeway funded the Cambridge Endowment for Research in Finance in 2001 and funded the annual Princeton-Cambridge Finance Seminars in 2004.
The Secret to Successful Mobile Games, According to Atari's Ex-CEO - Nolan Bushnell, *NeoEdge Networks chairman and former Atari chief executive officer, discussed the funding environment for tech startups and the secret to successful mobile games with Bloomberg's Betty Liu on "Bloomberg Markets," November 6, 2015.
*NeoEdge Networks | CrunchBase: "Acquired by Double Fusion (which is now closed) on December 14, 2011; Total Equity Funding $10M in 3 Rounds from 4 Investors; Headquarters: Toronto ... NeoEdge Networks is a tech and in-game ad company that enables casual game publishers and developers to deliver TV-like commercials."
The Transformation of Finance, Davos 2016 WEF Video: What trends and uncertainties are shaping the future of financial services? Transformations to be addressed:
Digitization and new business models
Regulatory requirements and new client needs
Data privacy and systemic connectedness
Speakers:
Dan Schulman - President and CEO of PayPal and Chairman of Symantec
Gillian R. Tett - author and journalist at the Financial Times
John Cryan - businessman and co-chief executive of Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt am Main
James P. Gorman - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley
Tom de Swaan - Chairman, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Zurich Insurance Group AG
Christine Lagarde - Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
The parallels between the financial industry and the domain name industry are interesting--take note particularly (begins @37:00) the public role of banks and financial institutions as regulated utilities, with duties to act as extensions of law enforcement, required to collect and analyze data, report "suspicious" patterns and transactions, even closing customer accounts, etc.--if you want an insight into the future of the domain name industry and internet governance, watch this video.
Notes: What is the future of finance? What are the trends and uncertainties that are disrupting financial services, and how should we react? Panel member Christine Lagarde addressed this topic on the WEF website, Agenda. The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) looked ahead to what 2016 might hold for the global economy. She wrote:
“One reason that the global economy is so sluggish is that, seven years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, financial stability is not yet assured. Financial-sector weaknesses linger in many countries – and financial risks are growing in emerging markets.”
“Putting all of this together, global growth in 2016 will be disappointing and uneven. The global economy’s medium-term growth prospects have weakened as well, because potential growth is being held back by low productivity, aging populations, and the legacies of the global financial crisis. High debt, low investment, and weak banks continue to burden some advanced economies, especially in Europe; and many emerging economies continue to face adjustments after their post-crisis credit and investment boom.
“This outlook is heavily affected by some major economic transitions that are creating global spillovers and spillbacks, particularly China’s transition to a new growth model and the normalization of US monetary policy. Both shifts are necessary and healthy. They are good for China, good for the US, and good for the world. The challenge is to manage them as efficiently and as smoothly as possible.”
“Our lives are being shaken to their very core by technological change, with the Fourth Industrial Revolution transforming economies as never before. The unprecedented speed of change, as well as the breadth and the depth of many radical changes unleashed by new digital, robotic and 3D technologies, is having major impacts on what we produce and do, how and where we do it and indeed how we earn a living. And while the transformation will proceed differently in advanced and developing parts of the world, no country or market will be spared from the tidal wave of change.”
It’s an interesting time for finance, says moderator Gillian R Tett. In 2007, bankers were on top of the world, holding their heads up high. Then, the crash, and since then many of the panels here in Davos have been dominated by what went wrong and what could be done to make things safer. Now, the discussions are forward looking, with less focus on regulation and more attention on fintech and the changes – both positive and negative – that are happening in the world of finance. The biggest challenge, argues Tett, isn’t a crisis in regulation, but the new players. Although regulation has moved out of the spotlight, there is still work to be done in this area, argues Christine Lagarde. There are issues between the US and Europe around over-the-counter derivatives and clearing systems which are not progressing at the speed at which they should. These areas need more regulation, says the IMF head. Basic retail banking is changing, Lagarde goes on to say. It’s being disrupted by innovations and there are people now who have never been – never had to – go into a bank. But this is merely another way of doing business. Virtual currencies and blockchains, on the other hand, can cause deeper disruptions. They may be relatively small (the current value of virtual currencies is around $7 billion), and may be nothing to worry about. They could also turn out to be beneficial – in reducing costs, providing better value and reaching the unbanked. But they could also a great instrument for crime. There is the potential for financing terrorism and the illicit economy, and they could disrupt monetary policy. The IMF has today released a report on this topic: Virtual Currencies and Beyond.
Will cash exist in the future?
The consensus is that, in 10 years, cash will no longer exist. Why? Because it’s inefficient, unnecessary and plays a key role in the illicit economy. Tom de Swaan believes that insurance will be the most affected of all the finance industries. Life at the top of a financial group was not, is not and will not be easy, because it is disruptive. “You have to find alliances with disruptors,” he says. “I haven’t met one who wants the insurance liability on their balance sheet.”
Dan Schulman, who heads perhaps one of the biggest disruptors in the industy – PayPal – says the biggest impediment to future success, is past success. “A lot of big companies extrapolate from what was and don’t imagine what could be. And this is a big danger.” His five key trends:
Money is definitely digitizing, cheques are disappearing. But let’s not forget that 85% of global transactions are still made with cash.
Mobile is exploding across the world. Soon everyone will have a smartphone and hold the power of a bank branch in one hand. This allows the industry to think about consumer transactions in an entirely different way, and it brings in billions of people.
The amount of data is exploding, and it’s not going to stop. Algorithms are the weapons of the digital company, and the ammunition is data. The better the quality of this data, the more value it is to the consumer. Security and privacy are genuine concerns, but data is going to change value propositions.
Industry lines are blurring, and product lines are blurring. Take digital payments – which involve tech companies, mobile carriers, handset manufacturers and merchants.
Security – something Schulman thinks about every day. There is so much data, and authentication is therefore very challenging.
Are regulators ready for this transformation?Tom de Swaan argues that regulators first need to define, what are they going to regulate? Privacy? The movement of data? The financial world is still rebuilding trust with consumers, and doing this while convincing them we need their data to create new products is a huge challenge. The regulatory environment also needs to be globally applicable.
Schulman: What are we trying to regulate, he asks? Let’s not look back at what happened, but what is likely to happen in the future. He thinks it’s likely a major hack could happen, but innovation needs to be responsible and we need to be able to try new things without worrying about over-regulation.
Lagarde supports Schulman’s idea of a “sandbox” to try new ideas, as this would help us to deal with trust and limit any damage to consumers. She doesn’t entirely agree, however, with John Cryan’s suggestion that regulation is made by policy-makers, rather than the regulators themselves. Governments do participate, she says, but the decisions are still being made by the likes of the Financial Stability Board and the Basel Committee, and then channelled into the regulatory system. For bad or for good, the profession still has a lot to do with how supervision is defined. Gorman believes that cyber-security issues need to be addressed. At the heart of the banking system, he says, is trust. When this goes, people want their money back, but the banks don’t have this money, they’ve given it to someone else, and this is what caused the 2008 crisis.
What about the future of blockchains? Cryan does not see this sector growing too quickly in the next 4-5 years. Banks are better prepared to manage cash flow of debt and are able to gain insights regarding the credit worthiness of debtors better than someone who can’t access this knowledge.
"Turmoil returned to financial markets as oil plunged past $27 a barrel, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank as much as 565 points and global equities approached a bear market that is fueling a rush into haven assets." - U.S. Stocks Sink With Markets Around the World - Bloomberg
UPDATES: 2016 World Economic Forum LIVE UPDATE Jan 21 Davos 2016 - "Where Is the Chinese Economy Heading" (video) Speakers: Jiang Jianqing, Francine Lacqua, Ray Dalio, Zhang Xin, Christine Lagarde, Fang Xinghai, Gary D. Cohn (go to link for Video Replay) Shanghai Composite Close Jan 21: 2,880.48 Price decrease -96.21 (-3.23%) ... George Soros Says He Expects Hard Landing for China Economy - Bloomberg Business: "Billionaire investor George Soros said China’s economy is heading for a hard landing and will contribute to global deflation. "A hard landing is practically unavoidable," Soros said on Bloomberg Television from Davos. "I’m not expecting it, I’m observing it. China can manage it. It has resources and greater latitude in policies, with $3 trillion in reserves."..." How Much Will Markets Fall? Top Investors See No Bottom Yet - Bloomberg Business: ""I expect a protracted decline in the S&P 500," Jeffrey Gundlach, co-founder of DoubleLine Capital, said in an e-mailed response to questions. "Investors should sell the bounce-back rally which could come at any time.""
What China's Mess Means for the World and US - It's been an ugly start to the year for China, with Chinese stocks in Hong Kong falling to global financial crisis lows. To make things worse, Chinese officials seem befuddled about how to respond to the financial turmoil. Bloomberg Businessweek's Peter Coy takes a look at how China's mess affects the world, and explains why the U.S. economy is still relatively insulated. Published Jan 20, 2016
IMF Global Forecast 'Largely Nonsensical': Paul Donovan - Paul Donovan, global economist at UBS, discusses the IMF's global growth forecast and explains why China's economic slowdown is set to continue for the next five years. He speaks on "Bloomberg Surveillance." Published Jan 19, 2016
UPDATE Jan 21, 2016: Davos 2016 - Where Is the Chinese Economy Heading
With a new Five-Year Plan being presented in 2016, how can the world’s second-largest economy shift gears without stalling its growth engine? This session was developed in partnership with Bloomberg Television. Speakers: Jiang Jianqing, Francine Lacqua, Ray Dalio, Zhang Xin, Christine Lagarde, Fang Xinghai, Gary D. Cohn --Topics: Global Economy
World Economic Forum on Livestream.: "World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas."
Above left: ICANN Board Chairman Dr. Stephen Crocker; above right: Fadi Chehade, ICANN President & CEO
(photos source: IcannphotosCC BY-SA 2.0)
After a prolonged silence following the negative reactions to the ICANN CEO's Wuzhen shenanigans, a Monday blog post on the ICANN website by ICANN Board Chairman Steve Crocker indicates how ICANN has been dealing with, and will continue to deal with, the current ICANN CEO, until he leaves, as agreed, on March 12, 2016.
"Our search for the next CEO is proceeding ... though I cannot say much more now"
The title of the post and opening paragraphs disclose that the ICANN Board's priority and focus is selection of the next CEO of ICANN, not the antics of the person who currently holds that title.
"[T]he ICANN organization continues its energetic pace of work"
Rather than be distracted by the embarrassing and inappropriate conduct of the ICANN CEO at Wuzhen, it will continue to be "business as usual"for ICANN staff and the ICANN organization.
"Fadi Chehadé our President and CEO who will be with us until March 12, 2016"
Fadi Chehade will not be fired (termination of the ICANN CEO at this critical juncture in the IANA transition could raise red flags indicative of the true depth of ICANN's flaws and dysfunctions), but make no mistake, Fadi Chehade will not be ICANN President and CEO after March 12, 2016.
"Fadi has a full run up to his final day and his last meeting, ICANN55 in Marrakech ... last week Fadi was in Washington D.C. and New York meeting with media, think tanks, stakeholders and the NTIA to discuss the IANA Stewardship Transition. Fadi will be continuing the engagement and briefings on the transition leading our delegations to the World Economic Forum in Davos this week and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February"
The ICANN Board will keep Fadi very busy, on a tight leash, and out of the ICANN offices in Los Angeles as much as possible, through March 12, accompanied at all times while outside the U.S., by 'our delegations' (i.e.,'adult supervision').
"Fadi has informed the Board of his future plans once he leaves ICANN and that there may be one or two additional announcements with respect to part-time advisory roles in the global Internet governance space in the coming weeks"
Fadi has agreed to keep the ICANN Board fully informed and apprised of his future plans--there will not be any more surprise announcements by Fadi via his ICANN President Twitter account like he made in Wuzhen.
"[W]e are also along with the whole community very focused on all aspects of the IANA Stewardship Transition ... I look forward to updating you again in the coming weeks on our CEO succession" (emphasis added)
12.69 (13.44%)
