By www.CentralBankNews.info Georgia’s central bank cut its rate by another 25 basis points to 3.75 percent, the central bank’s fifth rate cut this year, as inflation is forecast to remain below the bank’s target level in the medium term.
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) said prices continued to decline in July due to a seasonal decrease in fruit and vegetable prices, along with the impact of a base effect, and inflation is first forecast to approach the bank’s target range in the second half of 2014.
Georgia’s consumer prices dropped by 0.2 percent in July, consolidating the deflationary trend in the last 18 months. The central bank targets inflation of 6 percent.
The central bank started its easing cycle in July 2011 and has cut rates by 425 basis points since then. This year it has cut rates by 150 basis points.
Preliminary estimates suggest that Georgia’s economy expanded by 1.8 percent in the second quarter and the bank said economic activity is projected to “somewhat improve in the second half of the year, due to, inter alia, expected fiscal activity, thus reducing deflationary pressures.”
In the first quarter, Georgia’s Gross Domestic Product expanded by an annual 2.4 percent, down from 2.8 percent in the previous quarter and 7.5 percent in the third quarter of 2012.
Botswana cuts rate for 3rd time this year to boost growth
By www.CentralBankNews.info
Botswana’s central bank cut its Bank Rate by another 50 basis points to 8.00 percent, its third rate cut this year, saying below-trend economic activity and high unemployment “provides scope for monetary stimulus to spur stronger output growth.”
The Bank of Botswana, which has cut rates by 150 basis points this year, said weak domestic demand and benign external inflationary pressures contribute to the positive outlook for inflation in the medium term but this positive outlook could be negatively affected by large increases in administered prices and government levies along with higher international food prices.
“It is anticipated that non-mining GDP will remain below potential in the medium term and will not be inflationary,” the central bank said.
In the first quarter, Botswana’s Gross Domestic Product contracted by 2.2 percent from the fourth quarter for annual growth of 3.2 percent, down from 4.1 percent. Botswana’s non-mining GDP expanded while the mining sector shrunk.
Botswana’s inflation rate fell to 5.8 percent in June from 6.1 percent in May, within the central bank’s target range of 3-6 percent.
Central Bank News Link List – Aug 14, 2013: BOE dissent and robust jobs data fuel interest rate doubts
By www.CentralBankNews.info Here’s today’s Central Bank News’ link list, click through if you missed the previous link list. The list comprises news about central banks that is not covered by Central Bank News. The list is updated during the day with the latest developments so readers don’t miss any important news.
- Bank of England dissent and robust jobs data fuel interest rate doubts (Reuters)
- Venezuela’s Maduro names Tovar as central bank chief (Reuters)
- Fed’s Lockhart: QE taper possible at any of three three meetings (Reuters)
- Serb central bank mulls rate cut after paring growth outlook (Bloomberg)
- IMF sounds warning on emerging markets corporate debt (Business Day)
- Yellen beats Summers as most likely Fed chair in economists poll (Bloomberg)
- RBI should regulate both banks, non-banks: Subbarao (Business Standard)
- Peru’s central bank head expects LatAm to withstand end of US stimulus (bnamericas)
- Yellen, Fischer among participants at Jackson Hole this year (Bloomberg)
- Jackson Hole agenda leaked (WSJ)
- The Federal Reserve’s next hundred years (WSJ)
- www.CentralBankNews.info
Google Tells Court You Cannot Expect Privacy When Sending Messages to Gmail
Google Tells Court You Cannot Expect Privacy When Sending Messages to Gmail; People Who Care About Privacy Should Not Use Service, Consumer Watchdog Says (via PR Newswire)SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In a stunning admission contained in a brief filed recently in federal court, lawyers for Google said people should not expect privacy when they send messages to a Gmail account. Consumer…
Solar Survivor Up 400%… and Still on Fire
Recent estimates show that datacenters worldwide inhale a total of 30 billion watts annually, the equivalent of 30 nuclear power plants.
No surprise, Greenpeace and vocal environmentalists have (and are) reacting with gasps loud enough to shake up entire industries, and make grown CEOs cry.
As a result, the so-called “dirty companies” have poured billions upon billions of dollars into making their data centers squeaky clean.
But there’s still plenty of scrubbing to do.
Pike Research estimates that more than $45 billion will be spent on energy-efficient datacenter technology by 2016. Indeed, companies are flocking to all corners of alternative energy, including hog waste.
Today, though, I want to talk specifically about solar, and how the most recent efforts of Apple (AAPL) and Verizon (VZ) bode very well for one company in particular, despite what anyone else says.
At the Core of Apple’s Solar Needs
A month ago, Apple announced plans to build (yet another) solar panel farm next to a datacenter in Reno, Nevada.
In addition to providing power to Apple’s datacenter, the 137-acre solar array – called Ft. Churchill – will generate approximately 43.5 million kilowatt hours of clean energy for Sierra Pacific’s power grid.
Apple’s North Carolina datacenter, the largest of its kind in the nation, is powered by two solar farms that generate 42 million kilowatt hours of clean, renewable energy annually for the 100-acre, 20-megawatt (MW) facility.
Finally, Apple has been very hush-hush about two other 338,000-square-foot datacenters in the works in Prineville, Oregon (down the road from Facebook’s (FB)). Like the others, it’s expected to be powered by clean energy, including solar.
And the company that Apple chose for these projects is San Jose-based SunPower (SPWR). And Apple isn’t the only company that’s turning to SunPower…
Hooking Up With Verizon, Too
Verizon also signed a multi-year agreement with SunPower for its $100-million solar and fuel cell energy project that will help power 19 of its facilities in seven states across the country.
The rooftop- and ground-mounted solar photovoltaic systems – as well as solar parking canopies – will be installed at Verizon facilities in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Arizona and North Carolina. The project encompasses corporate offices, call centers, datacenters and central offices.
When the project is completed, Verizon hopes to generate more than 70 million kilowatt hours of its own green energy annually, while eliminating more than 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. That’s enough to offset the annual carbon emissions from more than one million gallons of gas. (Verizon’s goal is to cut carbon emissions in half by 2020.)
SunPower… Up 400% and Climbing
I counted 77 solar companies listed on Greentechmedia.com that were either acquired, went bankrupt, or simply closed down since 2009.
So the solar market is definitely shrinking. But the industry growth has been phenomenal…
Over the past three months, solar companies have outperformed the S&P 500 – 85% to 5%.
Granted, SunPower sold off nearly 14% after the company released its second-quarter earnings. Revenue came up $4 million shy of the expected $580 million, and investors weren’t happy with the lack of guidance for 2014.
However, all the other numbers were rock solid. SPWR reported a GAAP gross margin of 18.7% and earnings per share of $0.15, both well ahead of the company’s own estimates. Plus, SunPower made a profit of $0.45 per share, crushing Wall Street’s estimate of $0.11.
All of this came after the stock had already shot up 400% the previous six months, from $6.30 a share to $23.76. And there’s still plenty of wiggle room in the short and long term, as current projections have the stock hitting as high as $80.
Keep an eye on any news concerning approval of a recently disclosed $370-million, 162-MW project in Chile. A positive development here could send shares blasting higher in short order.
Ahead of the tape,
Karen Canella
The post Solar Survivor Up 400%… and Still on Fire appeared first on | Wall Street Daily.
Article By WallStreetDaily.com
Original Article: Solar Survivor Up 400%… and Still on Fire
Global Monetary Policy Rates – July: Average policy rate steady for 3rd month in row as 4 banks raise rates
Global monetary policy in July was characterized by tightening by several major emerging market central banks as they responded to a fall in their currencies and a likely build up in inflationary pressures following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s plan to reduce asset purchases later this year.
The rise in policy rates by Indonesia, Brazil Zambia and Bulgaria and other tightening measures by Turkey and India is unlikely to signal an immediate reversal of this year’s trend toward lower policy rates as global economic growth is still weak and inflation low, allowing for further rate cuts.
However, it is clear that this year’s trend toward lower rates is slowing as global economic prospects look to be improving. Europe, the global economy’s Achilles heel in recent years, appears to be turning the corner, the U.S. economy is continuing its slow but steady expansion, Japan may finally be putting two decades of stagnation behind it and China’s slowdown may be bottoming out.
For the third month in a row the Global Monetary Policy Rate (GMPR) – the average policy rate of the 90 central banks followed by Central Bank News – was steady at 5.65 percent in July, the same as in June and May.
This compares with a GMPR of 5.77 percent in April, 5.85 percent in January and a 2012 average policy rate of 6.2 percent.
The initial effect of the outflow of capital from major emerging markets, which followed a reassessment of global risks, was to take rate cuts off the agenda for several emerging market central banks, especially those like India and Turkey that are struggling with current account deficits and weakening economic growth.
Brazil, Indonesia and Zambia were already heading down the path of tightening so currency depreciation just added fuel to the fire. Brazil had already raised rates in April and May, Indonesia was expected to tighten due to inflationary pressures from a long-awaiting government move to scrap fuel subsidies, and Zambia had already raised rates in June to contain inflation.
The four rate increases in July by Indonesia, Brazil, Zambia and Bulgaria totaled 126 basis points. This compares with rate cuts of 190 basis points by six central banks, the lowest number of monthly rate cuts so far this year.
In total, global policy rates were cut by a net 64 basis points in July, sharply below cuts of 476 points in June or 749 points in April, the highest in any month this year. The central banks that cut rates in July included Hungary, Poland, Albania, Latvia, Tajikistan and Romania.
Other signs pointing to a coming trend reversal came from New Zealand’s central bank which surprisingly adopted a tightening bias, putting it on course to become the first developed market central bank to raise rates since early 2011.
GLOBAL MONETARY POLICY RATES (GMPR)
(Changes in July 2013 and year-to-date, in basis points)
| COUNTRY | MSCI | JULY | YTD |
| RATE CUTS: | |||
| BELARUS | -650 | ||
| SIERRA LEONE | -500 | ||
| MONGOLIA | -275 | ||
| KENYA | FM | -250 | |
| VIETNAM | FM | -200 | |
| HUNGARY | EM | -25 | -175 |
| POLAND | EM | -25 | -175 |
| GEORGIA | -125 | ||
| BOTSWANA | -100 | ||
| COLOMBIA | EM | -100 | |
| MOLDOVA | -100 | ||
| TURKEY | EM | -100 | |
| UGANDA | -100 | ||
| INDIA | EM | -75 | |
| ALBANIA | -25 | -50 | |
| ISRAEL | DM | -50 | |
| JAMAICA | -50 | ||
| LATVIA | -50 | -50 | |
| MEXICO | EM | -50 | |
| MOZAMBIQUE | -50 | ||
| PAKISTAN | FM | -50 | |
| RWANDA | -50 | ||
| SRI LANKA | FM | -50 | |
| UKRAINE | FM | -50 | |
| TAJIKISTAN | -40 | -40 | |
| ANGOLA | -25 | ||
| AUSTRALIA | DM | -25 | |
| AZERBAIJAN | -25 | ||
| EURO AREA | DM | -25 | |
| MACEDONIA | -25 | ||
| MAURITIUS | FM | -25 | |
| ROMANIA | FM | -25 | -25 |
| SERBIA | FM | -25 | |
| SOUTH KOREA | EM | -25 | |
| THAILAND | EM | -25 | |
| WEST AFRICAN STATES | -25 | ||
| BULGARIA | FM | 1 | -1 |
| SUM: | 190 | -3741 | |
| RATE INCREASES: | |||
| TUNISIA | FM | 25 | |
| EGYPT | EM | 50 | |
| ZAMBIA | 25 | 50 | |
| INDONESIA | EM | 50 | 75 |
| GHANA | 100 | ||
| BRAZIL | EM | 50 | 125 |
| GAMBIA | 600 | ||
| SUM: | 126 | 1025 | |
| NET CHANGE: | -64 | -2716 |
Now it’s not even close – Elon Musk is more important to society than Steve Jobs ever was
Now it’s not even close – Elon Musk is more important to society than Steve Jobs ever was (via Pando Daily)By Hamish McKenzie On August 12, 2013At South By Southwest in March, Google[x]’s “Captain of Moonshots” told an audience that Elon Musk is a “national treasure.” Musk’s brilliance doesn’t come from being the world’s smartest man, said…
Oil concerns turn back to Fed tapering
Oil concerns turn back to Fed tapering (via Futures Magazine)Overnight it seems that oil (NYMEX:CLU13) is now worried more about the prospects of the Fed tapering than all other global geopolitical and storm worries. Strong data out of Europe is offsetting concerns over a crackdown by the Egyptian military on…
Chile holds but again warns it may cut in coming months
By www.CentralBankNews.info Chile’s central bank held its policy rate steady at 5.0 percent, as expected, but again warned that it may cut rates in coming months if the economy continues to slow down.
The Central Bank of Chile, which last cut its rate in January 2012, said global economic activity in the second quarter was generally lower than expected and surveys show that domestic consumption, which remains dynamic, is expected to ease and investment to moderate.
“The consolidation of the trends outlines in the last Monetary Policy Report could call for adjustments to the monetary policy interest rate in the coming months,” the central bank said, repeating its statement from July.
Chile’s economy has been slowing in recent months as exports weaken while domestic demand remains resilient and in June the central bank cut its 2013 growth forecast to 4-5 percent and its inflation forecast to 2.6 percent.
But the central bank is still taking its time to evaluate the depth of the current slowdown, noting that international financial conditions had improved during the last month and the prices of metals, including copper, had picked up in recent weeks while food prices have dropped and the U.S. dollar has depreciated.
Chile, the world’s largest copper exporter, has been hit by lower demand from China and the central bank said growth expectations for emerging economies had declined further though “some recent indictors for China point to a stabilization of its rate of expansion.”
In the first quarter, Chile’s Gross Domestic Product expanded by 0.5 percent from the fourth quarter, the lowest quarterly rate in seven quarters, for annual growth of 4.1 percent, down from 5.7 percent in the previous quarter.
“The board reiterates its commitment to conduct monetary policy with flexibility, so that projected inflation stands at 3% over the policy horizon,” the central bank said.
Chile’s inflation rate rose to 2.2 percent, the highest rate in nine months, but still within the central bank’s tolerance range and the central bank said inflation expectations are near the target. The central bank has a one percentage point tolerance range around its 3 percent inflation target.
The central bank’s monthly poll of 65 analysts, released on Monday, showed that analysts expected the rate to remain steady this month but then decline to 4.75 percent in September and 4.5 percent by the end of the year. Inflation is forecast to end the year at 2.5 percent.
Cyprus recession deepens after bailout
Cyprus recession deepens after bailout (via AFP)Cyprus’s struggling economy went deeper into recession in the second quarter, contracting 5.4 percent from a year earlier, according to an official flash estimate on Wednesday. That compared with a 4.8 percent year-on-year drop in Gross Domestic Product…
