Daily highlights (March 30th)

1/ A draft of the G20 summit's communique has been leaked to the German magazine Der Spiegel (meaning The Mirror, as one of the largest European weekly magazines) included proposals of more than $US14 trillion spent in extra fiscal stimulus by governments. Its is supposed to be an act of sabotage by European leaders, especially those of Germany and France, against the G20 summit. Noted that the German government, along with the French, are most resistant to the idea of further economic stimulus. They are also the major activists for prevent the spreading of off shore tax havens, most of which are or were British territories. (read the Tax haven entry)

2/ There are signs in the US raising hope that the economic downturn is getting near to its bottom based on some indicators from  the Commerce Department. First, consumer spending and consumer sentiment rose marginally in February and the US housing market has stabilised from its freefall. Secondly, although I don't really get its idea, it is possible because the number of Americans filling new claims for unemployment benefits has started to fall in March and evidences from past recessions show that it has hit its peak about four week before the economy begin to recovery. But a recovery is not a synonym with positive growth. With the 8.1 per cent unemployment rate and marching higher, the 7-8 per cent annualised GDP fall and nearly 30 percent drop of both business investment and exports, it is hard to believed that the US economy will turn towards positive growth soon. But all the optimists, together with us, are hoping that we're getting close to the turning point.

3/ On the website Viet-studies.info there's a link to a WSJ's article indicated that Chalco, a Chinese based mining firm has experienced a nearly 100% profit plunge in 2008. The editor of Viet-studies left a comment kind of what's the hell that Vietnamese government are gonna cooperate with such an unsuccessful company like this. Although I totally agree that no Chinese mining firm should be allowed to invest in Vietnam due to defence and social responsibily issues, I do not agree with the comment at all. The last year 2008 was a recently worst year of mineral market. Copper was down a touch from $US 9,000/tonne to just above $US 3,000 in the second half of 2008. Lead, nickel and tin were also big losers. Tin stocks at the LME (London Metal Exchange) are now at their highest point for 52 weeks. Supposed that the metal price decreased by three times in last year, Chalco's performance was acceptable and it still is among the survivors.

Update (1/4): I made a big misunderstanding here. A plummet of nearly 100% in net profit of Chinalco is a drop from 10.75 billion yuan in 2007 to 9.2 million yuan in 2008. However, I keep the opinion that the Chinalco's financial performance is not really terrible when the metal prices are falling dramatically.