:00:15. > :00:22.Will the year of the monkey also be the year of the bear? We will find
:00:23. > :00:27.out why the stock markets have had such a rough start. And the circus
:00:28. > :00:35.is in town, but it's having a tough time making money.
:00:36. > :00:44.Welcome to Asia Business Report. I'm Ali Moore. It has been a tumultuous
:00:45. > :00:48.week for the region's stock markets, with big falls, especially in Japan
:00:49. > :00:53.and Hong Kong. If we look at how Asia is faring this morning, the
:00:54. > :00:59.Hang Seng has just opened and it is down just over 1%. The Nikkei down
:01:00. > :01:08.4%. Of course it fell 7% earlier in the week. The All Ords in Australia
:01:09. > :01:15.down .7%. Overnight in the US shares fell. The Dow Jones ended the day at
:01:16. > :01:19.the lowest level in two years. Hong -- I asked if the turmoil would
:01:20. > :01:23.continue. We are still going through the holiday period in Asia and
:01:24. > :01:26.markets don't like uncertainty. There are couple of overlays and
:01:27. > :01:31.that the central bank's policy decisions. The street is digesting
:01:32. > :01:36.the impact of those on the markets. We are specifically talking about a
:01:37. > :01:43.move to deposit rate in Japan. Europe is there as well and the
:01:44. > :01:46.uncertainty that brings. What are central bank telling investors that
:01:47. > :01:52.they don't already know? One of the major tools of the central bank is
:01:53. > :01:58.actually the communication tool to influence sentiment. The fact that
:01:59. > :02:03.the governor came out and said they would move to a negative deposit
:02:04. > :02:08.rate suggests that maybe it is an extreme measure and how many bullets
:02:09. > :02:10.are left in the policy bank? Indeed. In other business news, the
:02:11. > :02:15.International Monetary Fund has nominated Christine Lagarde for a
:02:16. > :02:21.second term as the agency's managing director. She is the first woman to
:02:22. > :02:25.lead the IMF. She took the helm as it 11th director in 2011. Shares of
:02:26. > :02:28.Twitter hit an all-time low overnight after the company said
:02:29. > :02:33.user growth stalled for the first time since it went public in 2013.
:02:34. > :02:40.It has fallen more than 50% since the chief executive returned in
:02:41. > :02:46.July. America's biggest insurer AIG lost more money than expected in the
:02:47. > :02:49.last three months of 2015. It suffered from weak underwriting and
:02:50. > :02:57.lower returns on investments in a turbulent market. It is also facing
:02:58. > :03:00.pressure from activists to split the three smaller different companies.
:03:01. > :03:05.The Indonesian government is hailing it as the biggest reform in a
:03:06. > :03:08.decade. The president has announced changes aimed at opening the
:03:09. > :03:13.country's economy to international investors. 29 sectors have been
:03:14. > :03:18.removed from what is called a negative investment list, which sets
:03:19. > :03:26.out which parts of the economy are partially or fully closed to foreign
:03:27. > :03:31.investors. This report from Jakarta. It is certainly a bang, but whether
:03:32. > :03:35.it is a big RAM or not we don't know. It goes in the right
:03:36. > :03:39.direction. -- big bang. Foreign investors have for years called for
:03:40. > :03:43.the easing of this negative investment list. It is a list that
:03:44. > :03:48.really begins the investment discussion with the word no,
:03:49. > :03:53.negative, which is not a good thing. The fact that some good sectors in
:03:54. > :04:00.the economy created parts of e-commerce, some of the tourism
:04:01. > :04:04.sectors, some pharmaceuticals, are opening up, that's a good sign but
:04:05. > :04:08.there is a way to go. Will the devil be in the detail? In recent years
:04:09. > :04:12.investors are more used to seeing sectors closed, not open. So it will
:04:13. > :04:18.take a while to get confidence that it is OK to jump in? Yes, of course.
:04:19. > :04:24.The devil is in the detail. What we got yesterday was a summary. It is a
:04:25. > :04:28.good start, but what we are looking for are the details. How open will
:04:29. > :04:33.the bureaucracy be to investment? How easy will it be to come in? Will
:04:34. > :04:37.there be other sectors to follow? A lot of the big sectors are still
:04:38. > :04:41.closed, like oil and gas and mining. Now the US is the leading
:04:42. > :04:46.destination for Asian students studying abroad. Out of roughly 1
:04:47. > :04:51.million overseas students who come to the US, more than half are from
:04:52. > :04:57.Asia. Any students choose to study business. Especially from Vietnam,
:04:58. > :05:00.Indonesia and China. At some in America are questioning the value of
:05:01. > :05:12.a Masters of business administration, or MBA.
:05:13. > :05:15.Columbia Business School. A Masters of business administration at this
:05:16. > :05:21.university will set you back $130,000. A figure that doesn't even
:05:22. > :05:27.include expenses like books and cost of living. So is it worth it?
:05:28. > :05:32.Michael, the associated dean at the school, thinks so. When we look at
:05:33. > :05:35.the success and track record of the school year after year in terms of
:05:36. > :05:40.people going into jobs and opportunities that they find
:05:41. > :05:43.incredibly fulfilling and make the not just the money but really to use
:05:44. > :05:50.this as a launching pad for their career, to me it's a no-brainer.
:05:51. > :05:52.Many MBA students are lured by the prospect of a handsome paycheque
:05:53. > :05:59.soon after graduating. Last year the median starting salary for recent
:06:00. > :06:02.MBA graduates were said to be $100,000. But critics say getting an
:06:03. > :06:07.MBA is unnecessary and that many business school curriculum is our
:06:08. > :06:11.frankly outdated. The value of a graduate business degree also
:06:12. > :06:16.depends on where the degree is from on a ranking system. And then there
:06:17. > :06:26.another question. Can leadership even be taught in a classroom? Meet
:06:27. > :06:31.entrepreneur and MBA student can. He hopes his degree will give him and
:06:32. > :06:34.the company he co-founded a leg up. -- Ken but he also believes doing is
:06:35. > :06:40.sometimes more important than timing class. I've been through the
:06:41. > :06:45.trenches. Having started from absolutely nothing, creating
:06:46. > :06:49.something and hopefully growing the business further have to have that
:06:50. > :06:53.mentality straightaway. An MBA would give you that necessarily. It will
:06:54. > :07:02.give you tools but it won't make you and on the -- and often are. Ken
:07:03. > :07:06.still wants to finish his MBA eventually. But if not he won't be
:07:07. > :07:14.the first company leader to put his business before his education.
:07:15. > :07:18.For many Indians, a highlight of the year used to be when the circus came
:07:19. > :07:23.to town, but the clowns, animals and spectacular shows. -- with it. Now
:07:24. > :07:25.the industry is struggling, so what has gone wrong? This report from
:07:26. > :07:41.Mumbai. The circus is in town, but even as
:07:42. > :07:44.the clowns try to editing the audience these are difficult times
:07:45. > :07:50.for the organisers to be happy. And that's because of all these empty
:07:51. > :07:57.seats. It makes staying in business precarious. This circus, which has
:07:58. > :08:05.been in the business for five decades, says the survival is a real
:08:06. > :08:08.effort. TRANSLATION: Earlier, people used to queue at the counter one day
:08:09. > :08:13.before the show to book their tickets. The demand was so high. Now
:08:14. > :08:17.people prefer going to shopping walls and movie theatres rather than
:08:18. > :08:21.coming to the circus. -- shopping centres. A decade ago circuses like
:08:22. > :08:26.this were so popular that they would travel across the country, from big
:08:27. > :08:31.cities to small towns, attracting huge crowds. Now the audience is
:08:32. > :08:36.less than half what they used to be. That forces organisers to cut
:08:37. > :08:41.back on the number of shows and venues to stay financially viable.
:08:42. > :08:45.Have the one reason for the drop in crowds is the changing nature of
:08:46. > :08:55.circus acts. The use of live animals like elephants, tigers and bears has
:08:56. > :08:59.been banned. So, today, birds, dogs and horses are the only creatures
:09:00. > :09:04.you will find in the circus ring and they don't seem to have the same
:09:05. > :09:10.appeal. To try to make shows more exciting, circus companies are
:09:11. > :09:14.hiring foreign performers. Things most Indian audiences haven't seen
:09:15. > :09:20.before. But that's making it even harder for Indian artists like this
:09:21. > :09:23.and he is getting disillusioned. TRANSLATION: I earned $90 a month
:09:24. > :09:28.and it is really difficult to on that. My salary hasn't increased in
:09:29. > :09:32.the past couple of years and I have a family to support back home. When
:09:33. > :09:37.I started out 15 years ago there were more opportunities. Now it is
:09:38. > :09:41.very difficult to find a new job, as there aren't too many circuses
:09:42. > :09:47.around. The way things are going I might have to quit the industry in a
:09:48. > :09:51.few years. Circus owners say they aren't prepared to throw away the
:09:52. > :09:54.tradition just yet but Indian circuses will have to bring in the
:09:55. > :09:58.changes to stay relevant in a new era of entertainment.
:09:59. > :10:06.Let's have a look at the markets. You can see now the boards are up.
:10:07. > :10:11.The Hang Seng is down 1.4%. The Nikkei down 4.3%. The All Ords in
:10:12. > :10:16.Australia not doing quite so badly, but still down .7%. Oil was a big
:10:17. > :10:20.driver of the markets overnight because there were big falls in both
:10:21. > :10:26.crude and Brent. There has been a bit of recovery, possibly on the
:10:27. > :10:29.back of a report that OPEC may cut production. Certainly a bit of a
:10:30. > :10:31.bounce this morning. That's it for this edition of Asia Business
:10:32. > :10:32.Report. Thanks for