[Editor’s Note: When it comes to global investing, longtime market guru Martin Hutchinson is one of the very best – because he knows the markets firsthand. After years of advising government finance ministers, crafting deals with global investment banks, and analyzing the world’s financial markets, Hutchinson has used his creative insights to create a trading service for savvy investors.

The Permanent Wealth Investorassembles high-yeilding dividend stocks, profit plays on gold and specially designated “Alpha Bull Dog” stocks into high-income/high-return portfolios for subscribers. Hutchinson’s strategy is tailor-made for periods of market uncertainty, during which investors all too often go completely to cash – only to miss some of the biggest market returns in history when market sentiment turns positive. But it can work in virtually every market environment.

To find out about this strategy – or Hutchinson’s new service, …

[Editor's Note: When it comes to global investing, longtime market guru Martin Hutchinson is one of the very best - because he knows the markets firsthand. After years of advising government finance ministers, crafting deals with global investment banks, and analyzing the world's financial markets, Hutchinson has used his creative insights to create a trading service for savvy investors.

The Permanent Wealth Investorassembles high-yeilding dividend stocks, profit plays on gold and specially designated “Alpha Bull Dog” stocks into high-income/high-return portfolios for subscribers. Hutchinson’s strategy is tailor-made for periods of market uncertainty, during which investors all too often go completely to cash – only to miss some of the biggest market returns in history when market sentiment turns positive. But it can work in virtually every market environment.

To find out about this strategy – or Hutchinson’s new service, …

Helix Wind Corp. is a global renewable energy firm. The company is engaged in the design, manufacturing and sale of small wind vertical axis turbines designed to generate 300W, 1kW, 2.0kW, 4.0kW, and 50kW of clean, renewable electricity.

Helix Wind recently announced that it has established a joint venture with Atoll Financial Group to develop products and financing mechanisms for individuals, small businesses and commercial users. The company’s distributors will also be offered short-term and trade finance to help in the distribution of Helix Wind’s small wind turbines.

The benefit for individuals and small businesses is a smaller cash outlay and the ability to match expenditure with their electric bill savings. For commercial users, the financing will create cash flow. Importantly, Helix Wind distributors will be able to purchase and carry inventory. This will greatly minimize turnaround time for customers and help the company’s distributors manage cash flows.

The arrangement with Atoll Financial

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Perhaps there is no industry more sensitive to global economic activity than the international shipping industry. The financial crisis became a category 5 hurricane last September and blew the entire global shipping industry off course. All sectors of the shipping industry were affected – from oil tankers to dry bulk shippers to container ships.

The sudden drying-up of credit, including trade finance, and collapsing trade volumes have changed the industry’s concerns completely. Only a year or so ago the concern in the shipping industry was whether the infrastructure of many countries, especially port facilities, was expanding rapidly enough to handle break-neck growth in shipping traffic volumes.

As shipping rates have plunged, the concern now is whether the bottom in the shipping industry has been reached or whether there is further to go on the downside. The good news is that “green shoots” are appearing – again ships are waiting in lines at

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By RGE Monitor

Many commentators are suggesting that the recent data from the manufacturing, housing market, labor markets suggest that the “green shoots” of an economic recovery are blossoming. While there do seem to be some signs of improvement, i.e. that the pace of contraction has slowed, the most recent data may still suggest that the global economic contraction is still in full swing with a very severe, a deep and protracted U-shaped recession.

Although the outlook for global manufacturing and service sectors is still consistent with a significant fall in global GDP, the pace of contraction began to slow towards the end of Q1, even in Europe and Japan which have lagged the US and China. Globally, surveys suggest that the manufacturing outlook has improved from the freefall of the end of Q4 2008 and early 2009.

Some emerging

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By RGE Monitor

Today we present some of the main conclusions of the recently released update to the RGE 2009 Global Economic Outlook.

The global economy is in the middle of a synchronized contraction that will push global growth into negative territory in 2009 for the first time in decades. This will be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the worst global economic downturn in decades. Global trade volumes face their sharpest contractions of the postwar era - trade is expected to contract 12% in 2009 due to the severe and prolonged global demand slump, excess capacity across supply chains and the continued crunch in trade finance.

Many analysts and commentators are pointing out that the second derivative of economic activity is turning positive (i.e. economies are still contracting but a slower rather than accelerated rate) and

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From the gloomster Nouriel Roubini on Apr 23, 2009: "Today we present some of the main conclusions of the recently released update to the RGE 2009 Global Economic Outlook: The global economy is in the middle of a synchronized contraction that will push global growth into negative territory in 2009 for the first time in decades. This will be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the worst global economic downturn in decades. Global trade volumes face their sharpest contractions of the postwar era – trade is expected to contract 12% in 2009 due to the severe and prolonged global demand slump, excess capacity across supply chains and the continued crunch in trade finance." Mr Roubini, please have a seat. The data simply does not support your old, tired, gloomy claims. 1. US. ...

Top Stories     

Businesses worry U.S. money to bring rules, regulations Companies in the U.S. are concerned that the government’s push for improved accountability and transparency in stimulus spending will bring with it additional rules and regulations, a study by auditing and consulting firm Deloitte found. Of the executives responding, 58% said they do not think it is possible to make a link between stimulus spending improved transparency. Reuters (20 Apr.)

Watchdog: Chrysler rejected loan to dodge executive-pay rules: The U.S. Treasury’s special inspector general for the bailout of Chrysler and General Motors said Chrysler Financial, which loans to Chrysler dealers and car buyers, turned down a $750 million federal loan to avoid limits on executive pay. Chrysler Financial said in a ...

In a previous post, I went over the first half of the G-20 statementwith my impressions of what it means.  Here is the second half.

Strengthening our global financial institutions

17. Emerging markets and developing countries, which have been the engine of recent world growth, are also now facing challenges which are adding to the current downturn in the global economy. It is imperative for global confidence and economic recovery that capital continues to flow to them. This will require a substantial strengthening of the international financial institutions, particularly the IMF. We have therefore agreed today to make available an additional $850 billion of resources through the global financial institutions to support growth in emerging market and developing countries by helping to finance counter-cyclical spending, bank recapitalization, infrastructure, trade finance, balance of payments support, debt rollover, and social support. To this end:

It is in the interest of the developed countries

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The following is the text of the Statement from the Group of 20 summit.  I will translate and interpret it point by point.

1. We, the Leaders of the Group of Twenty, met in London on 2 April 2009.

2. We face the greatest challenge to the world economy in modern times; a crisis which has deepened since we last met, which affects the lives of women, men, and children in every country, and which all countries must join together to resolve. A global crisis requires a global solution.

Things stink all over due to this mess, and it has gotten worse lately.

3. We start from the belief that prosperity is indivisible; that growth, to be sustained, has to be shared; and that our global plan for recovery must have at its heart the needs and jobs of hard-working families, not just in developed countries but in emerging markets and the poorest countries

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