US fourth-quarter earnings season picks up speed in the coming days with some of the major banks reporting. A slew of banks are set to report this week, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley. Earnings for financial companies in the S&P 500 grew 16 percent in the fourth-quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. …

BLUE SKIES AHEAD? Markets have started the year on a reasonably positive note. Linked to this are positive signs from China , the side-stepping of the US fiscal crevasse, with the Japanese government announcing ¥10.3tr in stimulus measures thrown in for good measure. There are casualties from this financial market exuberance and we sympathise with NZ exporters battling the high NZD. …

On the Road is a daily blog kept by Alexander Speirs documenting NZ Inc’s January 2013 research visit to China, Hong Kong and South Korea.  persuasive essays on abortion Well, we’re finally here. Following a long day on the road, Fran and I have safely made it to our hotel in Beijing. If you’ve seen the news in the past …