International Investing

Its only Tuesday, but I’m comfortable declaring this to be the chart of the week. From Forbes:

Christopher Cagan of First American Real Estate Solutions calculated what fraction of homeowners who closed mortgages in the first nine months of 2005 were sitting, as of February, on zero or negative equity: 29%. He also calculated that a [...]

Great analysis on ICBC and Chinas banking industry:
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is expected to raise nearly $22 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) — the largest in history — after shares are made available to retail investors Oct. 27. The ICBC offering is the latest in a [...]

Amusing article in todays Bloomberg:
Nostalgia has led eastern Europeans to embrace the products they shunned in the 1990s, when the collapse of the Iron Curtain opened borders to goods from the West. From Traubi in Hungary to Inka coffee substitute in Poland and Jar dish soap in the Czech Republic, brands created to replace capitalist [...]

An article in the New York Times today highlights the opportunity available:
It has Asia’s second-fastest-growing economy, with 8.4 percent growth last year, trailing only China’s, and the pace of exports to the United States is rising faster than even China’s.

But US corporate handouts could take some of the momentum out of the Vietnam economy:
But with [...]

Bloomberg speculates that the booming economy has hidden the cracks in society and may be preventing citizens for pushing for a real end to fighting.
After being at each other’s throats for half a century, Sri Lanka’s two main political parties joined forces this week to bring peace to the war-torn island. It may be too [...]

Thailand’s debt was placed on a possible downgrade watch following the recent coup. Due to the stability since then it has been removed from consideration:
International rating agency Fitch Ratings on Monday removed Thailand from its “Rating Watch Negative” list following the September 19 military coup and affirmed the country’s BBB+ status for long-term foreign currency [...]

Pricing was completed today:
In the face of wild demand, the Chinese bank set its initial public offering price at the top end of the expected range on Friday, a deal that will bring it up to $22 billion, which would set a new world record for an IPO.
…
Trading will begin next Friday in Hong Kong [...]

LA Times article on the sharp increase in foreclosure notices:
Foreclosures also can weaken housing values further as lenders put the foreclosed homes on the market, often at reduced prices in hopes of a quick sale.
A firesale next door, that’s going to make the comps look awful.
Just Wednesday morning, Zhang dealt with a Lancaster resident who [...]

With Zinc prices at record levels the metal in a penny is worth more than the denomination
Zinc passed the $1.80 mark today, that means the current “penny” has a melt value of $0.0101867. All the coins in your penny jar are worth more than their denomination (except for steel cents made during WW2).

One thing [...]

The ZEW survey of economic sentiment dropped to a 13 year low today in anticipation of higher taxes in Germany.

Despite that, the German economy remains strong:
The German economy is growing at its fastest rate since 2000 and companies have begun to re-hire after five years of downsizing.
The German government will on Friday add just [...]