26/03/2012 World Business Report


26/03/2012

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Now for the latest financial news, it is time the World Business

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Hello and welcome. Here are the headlines: Fuel prices hit a record

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highs in the UK as global oil prices continued to rise.

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Controversial new plans to give small business an alternative to

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the banks for funding. The world's second largest bank puts the

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spotlight on bad loans as it reports its earnings.

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Average fuel prices hit a record high in the UK last week. Across

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the Atlantic President Obama is facing mounting criticism over

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sharp rises in the cost of gasoline. The main reason for higher prices

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at the pump is the rising cost of crude oil on the global markets.

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Analysts say the number of countries warding crude oil is

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contributing. China is thought to be adding half a million barrels a

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day to its stockpiles. The train comes as tensions with around seems

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to be easing. A US aircraft carrier patrols in a

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continuing show of strength. The aim is to counteract the Iranian

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threat to stop vital oil supplies being delivered through these

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waters. With such a display of military hardware, the prospects

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for any kind of display are stopped. Why do oil prices continued to go

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skywards? As petrol prices soar, the answer seems to be that

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countries around the world are hoarding oil. Emerging countries

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like South Africa, India and Thailand are busy stockpiling. So

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too is China, the world's second biggest consumer of oil. China may

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be stockpiling some of its own domestic production. It may be

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storing half a million barrels a day. It all adds to pressure on

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prices. The Chinese believe that this is a major strategic on

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ability that they have to field. They are concerned about at the

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supply shock. Stockpiling is once again going to increase the premium

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for oil. Last week Britain and the US confirmed they are still in

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talks to release some of their stockpiles to try and drive prices

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down. With continuing demand from Asia, many analysts think any

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effect on prices will be extremely short lived.

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Staying with fuel. Here in the UK, the Government is taking action to

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prevent potential shortages at the pump. It has announced his training

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soldiers to replace your tankard drivers who are threatening to go

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on strike. -- fuel tankers. The Government is reported to be on

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the verge of selling of the Royal Mail. The battle and parcel

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delivery business could raise more than $6 billion. Any sale would

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rely on the relaxing of prizes and the marked increase in efficiency.

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Royal Mail products come solely from its post office network.

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Ireland's premier is due to meet his Chinese counterpart in Beijing.

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Figures released last week show island's economy slipping back into

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Ireland's government hopes to recover much needed investors from

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the world's second-biggest economy. Fiat is to close two of its plants

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this week due to a month of strikes by its drivers. It will lay off

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drivers temporarily. Of close another facility later this week. -

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- it will close. The drivers are protesting acres government

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measures which have raised the or prices. There are claims that some

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staff had been subjected to intimidation.

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Small firms around there are finding it tough to raise money to

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grow their business. One report out today suggests banks will cut back

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lending by $1 trillion this year and that makes alternative sources

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of funding all the more important. In the US President Obama is set to

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sign a new law. The Act would allow private firms to raise money from

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large numbers of shareholders or crowd saucing.

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This man has worked for some big names. From IBM to gold and sax. He

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now hopes his small business will be a big name in consumer

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electronics. He says that could happen if the US government allows

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start-ups to tap lots of small investors. By letting everyone in

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the public sector make them eligible to contribute to ideas

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that they believe in, you are opening up things to a wider pool

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of talent. Currently, companies in the US with more than 500 investors

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are forced to go public and open their books up to US regulators.

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But this new legislation will change that. It will allow small

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businesses and start-ups to have many more investors and for them to

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cut back on red paper. Given that small businesses create many new

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jobs in America and that credit is still hard to get these days, it is

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perhaps no surprise that President Obama's administration is backing

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the Bill. Critics say the law could be disastrous. It loosens investor

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protection as they had been around for decades. It is a bad day for

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the retail investor. They are going to get silly tape -- solicitations

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online from companies. It is a peach tree dish of fraud. As I say,

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the only jobs that are going to benefit from this are fraudsters,

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Scholes, Wall Street analysts. What's more, and those regulations

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were at the heart of America's recent financial crisis. With

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widespread support from lawmakers, small businesses will probably soon

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be able to use crowd funding for There are more signs of a slowdown

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in China. The world's second largest bank has reported a sharp

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rise in bad loans. What is going on with his bank? It has posted a 25%

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growth in its net profit in 2011, but it is warning that bad loans

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are rising. It is the world's second largest bank by market

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capitalisation. Its profits did pretty well. It was up $27 billion

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in the year to 31st December. A big concern for it and other banks in

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China are these possible rises in loan defaults. The bank said it is

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-- its non-performing loans rose by It is driven by the increased risks

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by investments and the housing bubble. These are some of the

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challenges that have been cited by the bank. All this would go to

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explain why its shares are actually falling today. Tell us about Qantas

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and China Eastern of launching a new Hong Kong-based budget airline.

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The airline will be called Jetstar Hong Kong. It will be the first

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low-cost airline based in Hong Kong. Jetstar already runs a budget

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airline services in other parts of Asia. It is all part of a strategy

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by Qantas to revive its international business after it

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said it would close some international routes and cut almost

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500 jobs. The new airline will start operation in 2013. It is

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going to have a fleet of around three Airbus A three 20s, which it

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plans to increase to 18 by 2015. The two companies would be equal

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partners in the joint venture, which would have capital. China

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Eastern Airlines is China's second largest airline in terms of

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passengers. Let's show you the markets and how

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they started the trading week. A bit of a mixed picture emerging.

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