UNITED STATES
Consumer spending flat
Consumer spending barely rose and inflation was tame in July, offering a cautionary note on the economy as the Federal Reserve weighs cutting back its massive bond-buying program. Spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity, could struggle to regain momentum as other data on Friday showed consumer sentiment fell this month. The reports added to a number of signs that have suggested a loss of steam in the economy early in the third quarter. The Department of Commerce said consumer spending ticked up 0.1 percent, restrained by weak outlays on utilities and automobiles. Adjusted for inflation, spending was flat.
GREECE
Union calls for strike
The nation’s main public sector trade union, Adedy, launched a call on Friday for a two-day strike this month in protest against job lay-offs included in an economic overhaul demanded by the country’s creditors. Adedy, in a statement, criticized the government’s “submission” to proposals from the EU and IMF that would “destroy the public sector and the welfare state.” The strike action was called for Sept. 18 and Sept. 19. Greece has agreed to put 12,500 civil servants on a redeployment scheme by the end of this month, as part of a general restructuring of its public sector, in return for the next installment of its EU-IMF rescue loans. Workers have to accept new posts or spend eight months on reduced salaries as alternative posts are found, with the risk of losing their jobs altogether. The government redeployed 4,000 civil servants at the end of July, mostly teaching staff.
FINANCE
GE to spin off lending
General Electric Co (GE) plans to spin off the US consumer lending business of its finance arm with an initial public offering (IPO) of stock that could come early next year, according to the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper also said on Friday that the Fairfield, Connecticut, conglomerate is considering smaller spinoffs or asset sales, but it has started preliminary work on the IPO. The paper cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter. The consumer finance business provides store credit cards to about 55 million people for retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. It accounts for US$50 billion of GE Capital’s US$274 billion in outstanding loans, according to the report.
FRANCE
Reforms bore fruit: Hollande
President Francois Hollande indicated he was more optimistic over the nation’s economic outlook next year, though he stopped short of committing his government to a new target. Hollande told the daily Le Monde that a series of reforms conducted since he took office 15 months ago were producing positive effects on the economy and would keep building momentum. The government’s growth forecast for next year is currently 1.2 percent, but Les Echos newspaper has reported that it has been working with an unpublished estimate about 0.8 percent as it drafts its budget for next year. Hollande is fighting to kickstart growth through tax credits for companies while battling to bring down record joblessness, but his efforts are being complicated by EU-imposed belt-tightening aimed at shrinking the public deficit.
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
RSS