Maniolas

A man holds a smartphone, looking at an electric board displaying stock prices at a brokerage house in Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province. Chinatopix via AP NEW YORK  — Another slump in the Chinese stock market spread across the globe Thursday, causing steep declines in U.S. and European shares, and dragging the Standard & Poor’s 500 index into the red for 2015. Keeping score: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 297 points, or 1.7 percent, to 17,052 as of 2:45 p.m. Eastern time. The S&P 500 index lost 36 points, or 1.7 percent, to 2,043 and the Nasdaq composite fell 120 points, or 2.4 percent, to 4,899. The S&P 500 is now down 0.8 percent for 2015. The Dow is off 4 percent while the Nasdaq, fueled partly by strong gains in Google and other tech stocks, is up 3.4 percent. China concerns: Worries over China, the world’s second-largest economy, were again the catalyst for Thursday’s losses. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 3.4 percent on heavy selling of energy and property companies. Chinese shares have had a wild ride this week and that has raised uncertainty about Beijing’s ability to stabilize the market and its surprising devaluation of its currency, the renminbi, last week. China’s devaluation has caused other countries to in turn devalue their own currencies, notably the oil rich country of Kazakhstan and the Southeast Asian manufacturing center of Vietnam. “The emerging markets really got slammed overnight and that quickly spread to the rest of the world,” Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Amid demand for real estate, a tightening supply of land in the metro is pushing developers to explore other locations known as “new wave cities,” property consultancy services firm CBRE Philippines said. Fringes of Metro Manila such as Sta.Rosa, Clark, Cebu, Iloilo and Davao are becoming potential growth areas where various mixed-use projects are being created, the firm said. According to CBRE, among the factors that help influence the rise of different developments include convenience, accessibility, cost competitiveness, availability of labor and government support. “Actualizing the potential of new wave cities through strategic utilization of resources in these areas can increase the chances of these areas as the next home of local and foreign companies,” CBRE chairman and chief executive Rick Santos said. On top of these emerging cities is Clark in Pampanga which is strategically located in Northern Luzon and is being underscored by CBRE as a vital new wave city and a potential business process outsourcing (BPO) hub. “CBRE underscores Clark’s potential as a BPO hub because of its accessibility through air, land, and sea, available developable land, government incentives, and a skilled English-speaking labor pool,” Santos added. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 BPO revenues grew 18 percent in 2014 and is seen to overtake remittances from overseas, Filipino workers while top BPO companies, including Accenture and Convergys, are already expanding into the provinces. Total BPO office occupancy rate for the five business districts (Makati, Fort Bonifacio, Alabang, Quezon City and Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) has officially opened its 17th Franchise Excellence Awards (FEA) search, the winners in which both homegrown and international will be conferred recognitions and awards during the Franchise Excellence Awards (FEA) at the Marriott Grand Ballroom on Sept. 23. PFA president Franklin Go said, “the FEA winners have become benchmarks of success in the country’s franchise sector and have inspired many in the industry to strive for excellence, a key to becoming, globally competitive.” Two of the coveted awards are Global Filipino Franchise Award (President’s Award), which recognizes Philippine franchise companies that have become benchmarks in overseas expansion; and the Outstanding Filipino Franchise Award, which is for Filipino franchise brands that have become benchmarks in national market penetration through excellent franchise operations and good corporate governance. Hopefuls may also bag the International Master Franchise Award, which recognizes international franchises operating in the country that have become benchmarks in franchise operations, particularly in sustained sales growth, expansion and employment generation; the Most Promising Filipino Franchise Award, for MSME Filipino franchises that have the potential to become major players in the industry; and the Best Overall Marketing Campaign Award, which recognizes franchise companies with a successful and effective marketing program that contributed significantly to its growth and to the advancement of the franchising sector. There will also be awards for franchisees who have epitomized success and growth in franchise operations. FEA nominees are judged based on a carefully crafted set of criteria, which include the Read More …

The horrendous traffic that motorists and commuters experienced last Friday was one of the worst, with everything on a standstill for almost half the day with the roads resembling giant parking lots, the congestion aggravated by trucks and other delivery vehicles plying the streets of the metropolis. Malacañang’s appeal for more patience has lost its appeal with people complaining that nothing has really been done in the last five years of the administration. It was simply pathetic that Mar Roxas – the anointed Liberal Party standard bearer – characterized traffic as a sign of “economic prosperity,” earning the ire of people who see traffic as a clear sign that Metro Manila is dying with the congestion choking the life out of the city. Nobody knows who has been delaying the rollout of key infrastructure projects that contribute to the everyday “Calvary” that people have to go through every single day. The perception is that the administration is now trying to “fast-track” everything just so it can be said that they “started” something – without carefully evaluating the viability of the projects. Take for instance the P171 billion Philippine National Railways improvement project, in particular the South line of the North-South Railway Project.  A government think-tank had previously proposed that cargo be diverted to the Batangas Port to ease the congestion in Metro Manila, along with a suggestion for ICTSI to revive the PNR rail freight operations at its depot in Calamba, Laguna during off-peak hours. Just recently, the DOTC and Read More …

People cross a street in front of an electronic stock indicator of a securities firm, showing Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225, center, which gained 84.13 points or 0.4 percent and closed at 20,808.69, in Tokyo, Monday, Aug. 10, 2015. Asian stock markets were lackluster Monday as weak data added to jitters about China’s economy and the monthly U.S. jobs report reinforced expectations for a Fed interest rate hike. AP/Ken Aragaki TOKYO — Japan’s economy contracted at a 1.6 percent annual pace in the April-June quarter, as bad weather and slowing demand in China posed further setbacks for the “Abenomics” growth strategy. The gloomy preliminary growth data reported Monday was in line with expectations, and raises the likelihood the central bank may opt for fresh stimulus measures in coming months, Masamichi Adachi of JPMorgan said in a research note. Slower-than-expected consumer demand, exports and corporate investment have stunted growth after the economy expanded at a relatively robust annual pace of 3.9 percent in January-March. The contraction in April-June represented a 0.4 percent decrease from the previous quarter. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has championed a strategy of massive monetary easing that is pumping trillions of yen (hundreds of billions of dollars) into the economy. But stagnant wage growth and corporate investment have so far slowed progress toward a strong, sustained cycle of growth.