While overall consumer spending continues to fluctuate this year between marginal growth and zero growth, luxury spending is experiencing a rebound. Often considered a harbinger for consumer spending in general, global luxury goods sales rose 15% in the first quarter of 2010 alone, compared with a year ago. And many individual luxury companies have reported
The International Energy Agency estimates that China has just surpassed the United States in overall energy consumption. What opportunities does this present for investors? Robust growth in China’s energy consumption Consumption of energy in China has doubled over the past decade, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the country has just surpassed the
Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis’s pending bid to acquire majority ownership of Alcon, an eye care products maker, in a deal valued at about $40 billion, stood out against a backdrop of only 3% mergers-and-acquisitions growth across industry sectors globally for the first half of 2010. While we aren’t likely to see many more large-scale mergers,
China’s GDP soared 11.9% in the first quarter of 2010. And that growth is likely to continue to have a significant impact on certain commodities that China must import. How does China’s growth affect natural resources? China imports a significant share of the world’s commodities. China ranks third in the world in thermal coal reserves.