Zhang Jindong, the chairman of Suning, has told local media that the company plans to open four to five retail stores in Hong Kong in the second half of 2009 and this is one year earlier than its previous plan. Zhang said Suning had completed the relevant formalities in Hong Kong and currently is implementing site [...]

Gold was dead flat from Hong Kong to mid-morning in New York on Tuesday, after which it staged a modest rally to finish at $907.90/oz., up $10.60. Overnight, gold is pushing higher.

Platinum traded very tightly, never straying much from the $1040-1050 range, and ending at $1051/oz., up $10. Overnight, platinum is little changed.

Silver mirrored gold for the second straight day, taking off higher from the same flat mid-morning point and pushing into positive territory to close at $12.77/oz., up 20 cents. Overnight, silver is trending higher. (Click here for charts)

The precious metals had been doing a good bit of backing the first two days of the week, and yesterday turned around to do some filling.

The usual suspects played little part in providing a sense of direction, with both the dollar and oil falling and equities rallying for a second day. But there is probably more than a

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From Bloomberg two days ago:

..."There's no hope for export demand to recover any time soon," said Wang Qian, a Hong Kong-based economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. "How fast imports recover depends on how soon the government's stimulus package kicks in and creates real demand in major industries."

Figure 1: Log Chinese exports (blue) and imports (red), and 12 month moving averages (dark blue, dark red). In millions USD, not seasonally averaged. US NBER defined recession dates shaded gray. Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, updated with newspaper reports, NBER, author's calculations.

Regarding imports, Willem Thorbecke has pointed out to me that the deviations from trend have been most pronounced for imports for processing, and processed exports. Ordinary imports and exports have been less affected -- at least through 2008.

Figure 2: Source: Personal communication from Willem Thorbecke; paper presented ...

Gold declined slowly but steadily from $920 in Hong Kong to $890 at the end Comex trading on Tuesday, and got but a slight lift on the Globex to finish at $897.30/oz., down $24.70. Overnight, gold has edged higher.

Platinum held up until New York opened, dropped off from there to the noon hour, then rallied back late in the day to end at $1041/oz., down $18. Overnight, platinum is trending higher.

Silver recapitulated gold’s chart, falling from above $12.90 in Hong Kong to below $12.50 as the Comex shuttered, then rallying a bit to close at $12.57/oz., down 37 cents. Overnight, silver has moved higher. (Click here for charts)

The precious metals took one to the chin again yesterday, with no sharp moves but just a steady price erosion.

While a dollar that slipped against the euro might have been supportive, retreating crude played against the metals, and an irrationally

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The prognosis for Asia’s financial sector in 2009 is relatively better compared to other emerging economies and also compared to the region’s own experience in 1997-98. Even so, further GDP contractions and asset market corrections are likely as the external environment continues to deteriorate and domestic demand falters.

Asian economies do have fewer mismatches in external debt, lower imbalances in the government, corporate and banking sector balance sheets than their counterparts in emerging Europe, and as a whole used less leverage. Fortunately, ample foreign exchange reserves held by most countries in the region - even before the introduction of Fed swap lines and the IMF’s short-term liquidity facility - fully cover short-term debt and minimize the threat of a financial crisis. Intra-Asia swap agreements are helping provide liquidity to Asian

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Gold was in positive territory into the first hour of New York trading on Monday, but then fell off a cliff, dropping almost $30 through the rest of the Comex, before rallying on the Globex to finish at $921.50/oz., down $16.90. Overnight, gold has dropped off.

Platinum peaked in Hong Kong, then dropped steadily until mid-morning, before it turned around and clawed back by about $20 to end at $1059/oz., down $11. Overnight, platinum has slipped lower.

Silver climbed from Hong Kong to mid-morning, peaking near $13.40, but then it too completely hit the skids, falling sharply by about 60 cents before a late mini-rally took it back to close at $12.94/oz., down 39 cents. Overnight, silver is trending lower. (Click here for charts)

The precious metals failed to get any kind of boost as the new week began, and were unable to build on the gains of late last

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American Oriental Bioengineering, Inc, (NYSE:AOB) announced today that its fourth quarter 2008 revenues were up a whopping 68% to $96.3 million. Net income for the same period was up 43% to $21.7 million. The good news reflects the continued demand for the company’s pharmaceutical and nutritional products in the Chinese marketplace.

American Oriental, based in China, is engaged in the development and production of plant based products, both pharmaceutical and nutritional. The products are produced from the leaves and roots of various plants. In the case of PBPs (Plant Based Pharmaceuticals), they are used to treat illnesses or associated symptoms and are available in China by prescription and over-the-counter. PBNs (Plant Based Nutraceuticals) are also produced from plant leaves and roots, but are used as preventatives and for general health, and are all sold over-the-counter.

Tony Liu, company Chairman and CEO, commented on the company’s success, in spite of the overall

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Gold traded slightly above $910 throughout Hong Kong and London then was off to the races mid-morning in New York gaining $26.50 from the previous day’s close to finish at $932.40/oz. Overnight, gold is sharply higher.

Platinum jumped up as soon as trading opened in the Far East then had a slight upward trend the rest of the day, ending at $1062.00/oz., up $16.00. Overnight, platinum has moved higher.

Silver followed a similar path to gold yesterday, shooting upward around 10 a.m. in New York to close at $13.24/oz., up 33 cents. Overnight, silver is way up. (Click here for charts)

Gold came roaring back yesterday, eating up three of the past eight days of losses.

Here’s what The Hightower Report had to say about the bounce-back in gold: “Clearly the gold market was back onto the flight to quality track and given the amount of uncertainty toward a number of bellwether

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As in the US, non-US bank stocks continue on a downward trend this year due to the financial problems that began in the US subprime mortgage market and spread globally to engulf many major financial institutions in most countries. The median year-to-date stock price decline for non-US banks in the Zacks universe is 27.1%, compared to a loss of 21.1% for the S&P 500. This includes median price declines for non-US banks in the Zacks universe of 47.6% in Europe, 29.7% in Asia, and 14.6% in Latin America.

In response to the global financial crisis, governments have taken dramatic action to forestall the possibility of global meltdown. These rescue efforts include: Australia - guarantee of all bank deposits for three years and will guarantee all wholesale funding to Australian banks for five years Brazil - reduction in reserve requirements for smaller banks, injection of R$160 billion into the

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As in the US, non-US bank stocks continue on a downward trend this year due to the financial problems that began in the US subprime mortgage market and spread globally to engulf many major financial institutions in most countries. The median year-to-date stock price decline for non-US banks in the Zacks universe is 27.1%, compared to a loss of 21.1% for the S&P 500. This includes median price declines for non-US banks in the Zacks universe of 47.6% in Europe, 29.7% in Asia, and 14.6% in Latin America.

In response to the global financial crisis, governments have taken dramatic action to forestall the possibility of global meltdown. These rescue efforts include:

Australia - guarantee of all bank deposits for three years and will guarantee all wholesale funding to Australian banks for five years Brazil - reduction in reserve requirements for smaller banks, injection of R$160 billion into the banking ...