ChanPark Report: Stock markets are on an upswing as European officials are making progress towards addressing the region’s long-running debt crisis.

Singapore -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/02/2011 -- Indications that European officials are making progress toward tighter fiscal integration and other steps to address the region's long-running debt crisis has triggered a rebound in risk appetite, lifting global equities and sinking the U.S. dollar. Euro zone finance ministers are set to agree on details of leveraging their EFSF bailout fund so it can help Italy or Spain should they need aid, and are likely to approve the next tranche of emergency loans for Greece and Ireland. Documents obtained Sunday showed the detailed guidelines for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) were ready for approval by the ministers, opening the way for new operations and multiplying the fund's effective size.

The documents spell out rules for EFSF intervention on the primary and secondary bond markets, for extending precautionary credit lines to governments, leveraging its firepower and its investment and funding strategies. The moves come as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that the debt crisis was the "key risk to the world economy." Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan called for "decisive action," including a large rise in the capacity of the EFSF and greater support from the European Central Bank.

Investors have become too pessimistic to maintain the negative sentiment without bad news. Even perennially optimistic investment bank analysts began discussing armageddon scenarios. Asian stock markets, the first major bourses to trade following the weekend news from Europe, also rallied on hopes that the euro zone is making progress on containing its long-running crisis. If the Euro fails, bank lending would freeze, stock markets would likely crash and Europe's economies would crater. Nations in the eurozone could see their economic output fall temporarily by as much as 50 percent, according to UBS forecasters. The financial and economic pain would spread west and east as the U.S. and Asia get ensnared in the credit freeze and their exports to Europe collapse. The EFSF guidelines will clear the way for the 440 billion euro facility to attract cash from private and public investors to its co-investment funds in coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the financial contagion seems almost impossible to check as it spreads from one country to the next. Greece is in dire trouble, then suddenly the markets have doubts about Italy, then even Germany is having trouble borrowing at the low interest rates to which it has become accustomed. Over one 24-hour period last week, the credit ratings for Hungary, Portugal and Belgium were all downgraded.

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While Google has made gains on display advertising market share over the past 3 years, Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL have been losing out and have joined together to collectively sell display ads.

Singapore -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/22/2011 -- Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp and AOL Inc. have joined hands to sell online advertising space, in a bid to compete with growing influence of internet search titan Google. The partnership would allow each of the three companies to sell each other's unsold premium advertising inventory, dubbed as display ads, by early next year in order to achieve the benefits of scale and efficiency. Display units are big splashy units that appear on Web pages and attract marketers interested in branding their products or services. Typically, these ads command higher rates. Even as they share some resources, the three companies vowed to retain their independence and compete against each other with separate sales teams. For that reason, they said they don't expect U.S. antitrust regulators to object to the nonexclusive partnership before they begin selling ads together in January. By tapping into each other's technology, Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL are betting they can save money and sell more advertising. The partnership will cover a category of advertising that doesn't typically appear in the prime slots on websites.

Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL believe that space will be in higher demand if they can succeed at creating a more efficient, transparent market that helps connect advertisers with the Web audiences best suited for their marketing campaigns.

Google's share of the display advertising market has increased to 9 % this year from 2 % in 2008. During that same period, Yahoo saw its share decline to 13 % from 18 %, Microsoft has 5 % and AOL has a 4% stake. AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo are forecast to lose their share of online display advertising, with Facebook expected to surpass Yahoo for the first time this year. Both Facebook and Google Inc. are expected to increase their share of online display advertising in the United States in 2011 by 9.3 percent and 16.3 percent respectively, according to estimates from research firm eMarketer. Microsoft may eventually benefit from Facebook's success. It bought a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook for $240 million in 2007, and by some estimates, Facebook is now worth three to five times more than it was when Microsoft made its investment. Microsoft's online division has piled up operating losses of $7 billion since June 2008, having fallen behind in Internet advertising. Revenue at both Yahoo and AOL is steadily falling. Yahoo has been struggling so much that its board is mulling whether to sell all or part of the company.

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Singapore -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/18/2011 -- China has reported an unexpected drop in manufacturing activity raising fresh concerns about the impact of a global slowdown on its economy.

China is heavily reliant on exports to drive its economy - the second largest in the world - and the downturn in key US and European markets is already hurting manufacturers who employ millions of workers. The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) - based on a survey of 820 manufacturers - dropped to 50.4 in October from 51.2 in September, lower than any of 16 economist estimates in a Bloomberg News survey that had a median forecast of 51.8. A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding, while a reading below 50 suggests a contraction. Shares in China rose last week on speculation that more easing is possible after the government offered tax breaks for smaller companies that have been hardest hit by lending curbs and slowing growth.

An index of export orders contracted for the second time in three months as Europe's failure to resolve its debt crisis dims the outlook for shipments to China's biggest market. The drop suggests cost pressures on companies are decreasing, although it may also signal destocking is increasing because of expectations prices will fall. China's economic growth has been powered by the success of its manufacturing and export sector. However, fears of a slowdown in the US and Europe, two of the biggest markets for Chinese exports, have raised concerns on whether the sector can sustain its growth. Manufacturers are feeling additional pressure from Beijing's tightening monetary policy as it tries to bring down inflation as prices sit near three-year highs above six percent. As well as raising interest rates five times since October last year, leaders have also ramped up the amount of money banks must hold in reserve, effectively restricting the amount they can lend, in turn weighing on economic growth.

A privately compiled version of the PMI, published by HSBC, printed at 51.0, rising from a mildly contractionary 49.9 reading in September.

HSBC said manufacturing activity in Taiwan contracted further in October to 43.7 from 44.5 in September, while South Korea saw a slight improvement with its reading increasing to 48 in October from 47.5 in the previous month. Despite the similar results from the two PMI surveys, comments accompanying the data painted somewhat different pictures. Some economists said that the official PMI result's worse-than-expected showing was likely due to fewer working days in October. Even if Chinese economic growth slows from last quarter's 9.1% to an average 8% growth next year, as some economists predict, it would still mark a healthy expansion for the country.

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