Sergey Golubev / Profile

EUR/JPY hits 5-year high on hawkish ECB comments (source - investing.com)

The euro strengthened to five-year highs against the yen not on Friday after European Central Bank Governing Council member Jens Weidmann warned against keeping interest rates low.

In U.S. trading on Friday, EUR/JPY was up 0.77% at 144.62, up from a low of 143.44 and off a high of 145.69.

The pair sought to test support at 142.10, Monday's low, and resistance at 146.84, the high from Oct. 3, 2008.

European Central Bank Governing Council member Jens Weidmann said earlier that keeping interest rates low may endanger political reforms.

According to Germany’s Bild newspaper, Weidmann said low inflation shouldn’t be used to justify loose monetary policy.

"We must take care to raise interest rates again in a timely manner should inflation pressures build," he reportedly said, and his comments sent the euro posting strong gains against most major currencies, the yen especially.

Meanwhile in Japan, hit-or-miss data weakened the yen against the single currency.

Emotional control is strength.
Productive thoughts is mastery.
Inner peace is power.
All the three brings peace and prosperity to the world.

eBay Expressed Renewed Interest In China (source - Forbes)

eBay pulled out of China in 2006 due to tough local competition, but recently expressed that it has not given up on the market. The company mentioned that there is a huge accumulation of wealth in the country and Chinese consumers are going to be an important part of the global economy in the future. Therefore, it is imperative for eBay, or any other online retailer, to establish a presence in the regional market.

eBay can add 10% to its value if it is able to increase its gross merchandise volume by another $50 billion over our current expectations. We currently forecast this figure for eBay to increase from $75 billion in 2012 to $130 billion over the next six to seven years. This may be achievable given the strong e-commerce growth in China, provided that the company is able to compete effectively against local online retailers. This incremental gross merchandise volume will imply another 70 million active users over our current forecast assuming that the average spend per user will not be meaningfully different. In reality, the figure is likely to be lower for Chinese consumers which indicates that eBay will need many more users in the country. It must be noted that the 10% upside estimate is just from the marketplaces business. The actual upside could be much more as eBay will also promote PayPal, which is equally important business segment for the company.

China Industrial Profits Rise 13.2%

Industrial profits in China were up 13.2 percent on year in the period of January to November, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday - coming in at 5.33 trillion yuan.

That's down from the 13.7 percent annual increase in the year through October.

For November, total industrial profits gained 9.7 percent to 707.48 billion yuan - down from the 15.1 percent yearly gain in October.

Financial Planning In Your 50s (source - forbes)

Turning 50 is a milestone for many reasons: Children are grown and the big debts, such as saving for college and the mortgage, make less of a dent. Financial planning in this decade is tricky, however, and hugely important.

1. Make a clean break with your children
2. Avoid major new debt
3. Consider long-term care insurance
4. Save your maximums, including “catch ups”
5. Invest for the decades to come

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