Newswheel Dec 15,2010
Ukraine To Open Chernobyl Area To Tourists
Pickens writes "The Washington Post reports that Ukraine plans to open up the sealed zone around the Chernobyl reactor to visitors who wish to learn more about the tragedy that occurred nearly a quarter of a century ago. Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Yulia Yershova says experts are developing travel routes that will be both medically safe and informative.
'There are things to see there if one follows the official route and doesn't stray away from the group,' says Yershova. Though it is a very sad story.' The ministry also says it hopes to finish building a new safer shell for the exploded reactor by 2015 that will cover the original iron-and-concrete structure hastily built over the reactor that has been leaking radiation, cracking and threatening to collapse. About 2,500 employees maintain the remains of the now-closed nuclear plant, working in shifts to minimize their exposure to radiation and several hundred evacuees have returned to their villages in the area despite a government ban."
An alternative to overcrowded places from Slashdot
Global boom in commodities capex
Global spending on mining will surpass pre-crisis levels next year, according to an emerging industry consensus, highlighting rising confidence in an economic recovery led by China and other fast-growing markets,reports the FT. The boom in capital expenditures, which extends to the oil, natural gas and agribusinesses, comes amid sharply rising prices for commodities such as copper, iron ore, crude oil, sugar and wheat. The investment surge also raises the likelihood of short-term bottlenecks in the already stretched supply of equipment and services, and project delays as costs rise. Global mining expenditure is set to hit a record $115bn-$120bn next year, above the peak of $110bn set in 2008, according to a survey of senior industry executives and consultants.
FT Alphaville by Cardiff Garcia
OIL IN CONTANGO OR BACKWARDATION?
Interesting to note that we saw these sorts of artifacts in July – August 2008 before we saw the brunt of the oil and equity market sell off…
DEUTSCHE BANK: PREPARE FOR S&P 1550 IN 2011
Binky Chadha, Deutsche Bank’s Chief US Equity Strategist is trying to outdo his very bullish calls from 2010. Chadha was correctly bullish at the beginning of 2010 calling for S&P 1325. That made him the most bullish analyst on Wall Street at the time. Chadha is trying to outdo himself this year. He is calling for a raging bull market of 25% in 2011 with the S&P ending the year at 1550 (via CNBC):
The counterargument to Chadha’s bullish arguments, comes (ironically) from his own bank’s fixed income unit (via Zero Hedge):
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2010 was a story of expecting low rates, for a long time. We think 2011 will be divided into two halves. The first half represents a test of the low for long view. Is the economy gaining
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sufficient traction that rates can begin some kind of steady normalization? The second half will be the answer. We think that answer is a resounding no – low for long will come back into vogue. The market will re rally and once again disappoint the economy optimists.
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It is not that the economy isn’t getting better – it is. Instead it is that there are so many headwinds to work through, that recovery is not consistent with premature monetary tightening by either the Fed or the markets. Fiscal stimulus buys time in 2011 but little else. Ironically the stronger growth looks, the more likely fiscal tightening will come into play sooner keeping the recovery on a backfoot.
THE PRAGMATIC CAPITALIST
Summers decided to leave public service with a long speech recapitulating a lot of the economic themes of his tenure at the NEC. There are notable parts to the speech; I'm particularly astonished that Summers thinks the government needs “to make it easier to patent a new idea or innovation”, for instance, in a world where patent-trolling is rife and where Nathan Myhrvold can rack up a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of more than 30,000 patents in a very short space of time, any one of which could stifle genuinely valuable innovation for years. from Felixsalmon.com
Business Roundtable Releases Fourth Quarter 2010 CEO Economic Outlook Survey
The CEOs of America’s leading companies plan increases in employment, sales and capital expenditures over the next six months – according to the results of Business Roundtable’s fourth quarter 2010 CEO Economic Outlook Survey.
An intriguing if slightly scary article appeared on Mineweb last week, summarizing a number of earlier interviews and comments by gold market commentators and investment gurus concerning the degree to which gold on deposit in bank vaults actually exists. Or, as the article explains, doesn’t. Confusing? Yes, well, the situation is more than a little […] Source: MetalMiner