How the coronavirus may impact China's economic growth

This CNBC video is interesting. CNBC's Eunice Yoon reports on how the coronavirus outbreak is expected to take a serious toll on China's economy. 2020 China GDP estimates are now decreased. The economy growth will be decreased.

Why the Bank of Canada is suddenly concerned about economic growth

This Financial Post video is interesting. The Canadian Government has taken a concerning attitude towards  business investment. It is winding down the economy while ramping up immigration. The video explains what is the strategy here. The economy certainly needs to be as globally competitive as possible. Telecom, banking, airlines and everything else needs to be running well. Cautious consumers will spend less money. It's important to think about how many jobs can be created. The Canadian Prime Minister is thinking hard about how to improve the Canadian economy. Unemployment should be at a reasonable level. Canadians should not get into too much debt.

What is the Bank of Canada prime rate today? 3.95%

The prime rate in Canada is currently 3.95%. The prime rate is also known as the prime lending rate. It is the annual interest rate Canada's major banks and financial institutions use to set interest rates for variable loans and lines of credit, including variable-rate mortgages.

There is a Canada Prime Rate Forecast 2020. As of January 22, 2020, economists' median average forecasts for prime rate are: 3.70% by year-end 2020. 3.83% by year-end 2021.

Sea foam covers streets of Spanish coastal town

Most people have never seen such things before. This is just unbelievable. The foam covers big streets. High waves and flooding cause sea foam to cover the streets of Tossa De Mar, a seaside town in Spain. It’s a rare weird phenomenon not seen for years in the holiday resort near Girona in Catalonia. It is quite amazing to watch this video.

Sorry State Of Indian Economy: Can Nirmala Sitharaman Fix The Faltering Economy?

This In Depth video is interesting. The sorry state of the Indian economy needs to be fixed. All eyes are on finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her budget. She could be able to fix the faltering economy.

Germany posted weakest economic growth in 6 years

Germany actually posted a 0.6% increase in GDP for 2019, marking its slowest growth since 2013. This Youtube video is interesting with CNBC's Annette Weisbach providing analysis of the news.

Germany GDP 2019: $3,846,591 million.

The GDP figure in 2019 was $3,846,591 million. The absolute value of GDP in Germany rose $104,749 million with respect to 2018. The GDP per capita of Germany in 2019 was $46,334, $1,328 higher than in 2018, it was $47,662.

Gross Domestic Product of Germany grew 0.6% in 2019 compared to last year.

Germany, with a budget surplus of 1.7% of GDP in the first nine months of last year, refuses the coordinated, or unified, fiscal policy. But Germany has no moral qualms about using the customs union to live off its European trade partners with a surplus of 137.4 billion euro, accounting for 2-thirds of its total net exports during the January-November period of last year.

Australia is facing further economic uncertainty

Australia has a lot of important issues to deal with. The country faces economic uncertainty. This video from Nine News Australia is interesting.

There are a lot of discussions surrounding the economic impact of the bushfires. Some experts claim that they will stimulate the economy as towns rebuild. However, the Rural Fire Service warns that costs may be more than expected.

There are some uncontrolled bushfires that are threatening lives and homes in different cities in Australia. Heatwaves are hitting large swathes of Australia’s eastern and southern coasts.

Powell: Phase 1 China deal potentially positive for USA economy

This video from Youtube is fascinating. Jerome Powell is an interesting important USA person. He is the 16th Chair of the Federal Reserve. He is serving in that office since February 2018. Jerome Hayden "Jay" Powell was born on February 4, 1953.

He was nominated to the Fed Chair position by President Donald Trump, and confirmed by the United States Senate.

Powell has faced some criticism, but he explains his thoughtful thinking.

The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of financial panics led to the desire for central control of the monetary system in order to alleviate financial crises.

Biggest companies in world right now - market values

These are the largest companies in the world by market value in 2019 (in billion U.S. dollars):

961.3 Apple

Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California. It designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services.

946.5 Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company. Headquarters are in Redmond, Washington. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.

916.1 Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc., is an American multinational technology company based in Seattle. It focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.

863.2 Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mountain View, California.

516.4 Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

512.0 Facebook

Facebook, Inc. is an American social media and technology company based in Menlo Park, California.

480.8 Alibaba

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a massive Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology.

472.1 Tencent Holdings

Tencent Holdings Ltd. is a Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company founded in 1998, whose subsidiaries specialise in various Internet-related services and products, entertainment, artificial intelligence and technology both in China and globally.

368.5 JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City.

366.2 Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that certainly develops medical devices, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods.

351.9 Visa

Visa Inc. is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Foster City, California, USA. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards.

343.4 ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas.

305.1 ICBC

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited is a Chinese multinational banking company. It is the largest bank in China, and the largest bank in the world by total assets, deposits, loans, number of customers and number of employees.

296.1 Walmart

Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of useful hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.

287.3 Bank of America

The Bank of America Corporation is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

281.3 Nestlé

Nestlé S.A. is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. Amazingly, it is the largest food company in the world.

272.4 Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Suwon, South Korea.

265.3 Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

264.9 Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell PLC, commonly known as Shell, is a large British-Dutch oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom.

263.1 Intel

Intel Corporation is a large American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, in the Silicon Valley.

248.3 Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in San Jose, California. It is in the center of Silicon Valley. Cisco develops, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software, telecommunications equipment and other high-technology services and products.

247.1 Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a huge American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in the Mastercard International Global Headquarters in Purchase, New York, USA.

239.7 Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and an important corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

238.1 Walt Disney

The Walt Disney Company is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California.

233.3 AT&T

AT&T Inc. is a huge American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas.

228.3 Chevron

Chevron Corporation is a huge American multinational energy corporation. It is one of the successor companies of Standard Oil. It is headquartered in San Ramon, California, and active in more than 180 countries.

226.8 Home Depot

The Home Depot, Inc. is the largest home improvement retailer in the USA. It supplies tools, construction products, and services. The company is headquartered at the Atlanta Store Support Center in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia.

225.0 China Construction Bank

China Construction Bank Corporation is one of the "big 4" banks in the People's Republic of China. The huge bank has approximately 13,629 domestic branches.

224.3 Nike

Nike, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that does the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services.

222.4 Taiwan Semiconductor

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited, is the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry. The headquarters and main operations located in the Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

A semiconductor is a substance, usually a solid chemical element or compound, that can conduct electricity under some conditions but not others, making it a good medium for the control of electrical current. Common semiconductor compounds include gallium arsenide, indium antimonide, and the oxides of most metals.

222.0 Roche Holding

F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG is a big Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under 2 divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has bearer shares listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The company headquarters are located in Basel.

220.2 Ping An Insurance Group

Ping An Insurance is also known as Ping An of China. The full name is Ping An Insurance Company of China, Ltd. It is a Chinese holding conglomerate whose subsidiaries mainly deal with insurance, banking, and financial services. The company was founded in 1988 and has its headquarters in Shenzhen.

218.6 Pfizer

Pfizer Inc. is a big American multinational pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in New York City. It is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

214.7 Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company is a massive American multinational financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It has central offices throughout the USA. It is the world's 4th-largest bank by market capitalization and the 4th largest bank in the USA by total assets.

214.5 Boeing

The Boeing Company is commonly known as Boeing. It is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support services. Boeing sees the new 777X as the hope.

212.8 UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is a massive American for-profit managed health care company based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. It amazingly offers health care products and insurance services. Impressively, it is the largest healthcare company in the world by revenue.

203.0 Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is also known as Coke. It is a tasty carbonated soft drink manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company. It was originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century.

A temperance bar (also known as an alcohol-free bar, sober bar, or dry bar) is a type of bar that does not serve alcoholic beverages.

198.7 PetroChina

PetroChina Company Limited is a big Chinese oil and gas company. It is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. The company is currently Asia's largest oil and gas producer. It was China's second biggest oil producer in 2006.

197.6 China Mobile

China Mobile is a huge mobile telecommunication company. China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., a massive Chinese state-owned company.

More interesting world news links:

Here is an interesting list of links to news from all over the world. The news is sorted based on different geographical locations:

MacroBusiness Links 29 January 2020 - macrobusiness.com.au

The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine. It ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along with privately held companies for which revenues are publicly available.

Global 500 - Fortune - fortune.com

Here's a news article that thinks differently about the rankings of top world companies.

Walmart is world's biggest company, according to a new list - qz.com

Here's a place where you can read Canadian news and write your comments. Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its 10 provinces and 3 territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's 2nd-largest country by total area.

Canada Forums Discussions - canadaforums.ca

Komatsu Ltd Stock has had its ups and downs over 5 years

Komatsu Limited is a large manufacturing company. Komatsu Ltd. is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures construction, mining, forestry and military equipment. The company also manufactures industrial equipment like press machines, lasers and thermoelectric generators. The company headquarters are in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The stock of the company is (TYO:6301). The CEO is Tetsuji Ohashi (From 2013). The website of the company is home.komatsu/en.

In the past 5 years, the stock price has seen its high point of 4,438 JPY on Jan. 12, 2018.

The company has interesting products and services.

Construction, Mining and Utility Equipment:

Construction and Mining Equipment: Electric Rope Shovels, Continuous Miners, Hydraulic excavator, Wheel loaders, Bulldozers, Motor graders, Dump trucks, Mini excavators, Utility Equipment (excluding mini excavators), Other Various Mining Equipment, Other Various Specific Equipment, Parts and Attachments.

Forklift trucks: Electric forklifts and Internal combustion forklifts.

Forest Machines: Harvester, Forwarder, Feller Buncher and other Forestry-specific machines based on construction equipment.

Recycling Equipment: Mobile crusher/recycler [GARA-PAGOS], Mobile soil recycler [RETERA] and Mobile wood tub grinder/recycler [REFORE].

Tunneling machines: Shield machines, Small-diameter pipe jacking machines ("ironmole") and Tunnel boring machines.

Others: Diesel engines, Hydraulic equipment/Axle and Casting products.

Industrial Machinery and Others:

Metal Forging and Stamping Presses: Large presses, Small and medium-sized presses, Press Brake, Laser cutting machines and Plasma cutting machines.

Machine Tools: Transfer machines, Machining centers, Grinders, Crankshaft millers and Battery production unit.

Excimer lasers: Light sources for leading-edge semiconductor lithography tools that require high resolution.

Thermoelectric modules and Temperature-control equipment for semiconductor manufacturing: Thermoelectric modules, Temperature-control equipment for semiconductor manufacturing.

Transport: Offers warehousing and packing services, in addition to the transport of construction equipment and other goods.

Defense-related equipment: Manufactures armored vehicles and ammunition for the Ministry of Defense, Japan.

Here are the Komatsu Subsidiaries:

Komatsu Mining

Komatsu Forest AB

Komatsu NTC Ltd.

Komatsu Industries Corp.

Komatsu Construction Equipment Sales and Service Japan Ltd.

Modular Mining Systems

Komatsu UK

Komatsu Manufacturing Rus, LLC

Komatsu Financial Limited Partnership

MineWare Pty Ltd

Komatsu India Pvt. Ltd.

PT Komatsu Indonesia Tbk

Komatsu Europe International N.V.

Komatsu Marketing Support Australia Pty Ltd

Komatsu Finance America, Inc.

Komatsu Australia Corporate Finance Pty., Ltd.

Komatsu Cummins Engine Co. Ltd.

Komatsu Logistics Corp.

Komatsu Manufacturing Myanmar., LTD

Gigaphoton Inc

Komatsu Industries Europe Gmbh

Komatsu Australia Holdings Pty Limited

Komatsu Silicon America, Inc.

Komatsu Forest, LLC

Komatsu Mexicana S.A. de C.V.

Lehnhoff Hartstahl GmbH and Co. KG

Komatsu Shantui Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.

Cummins Komatsu Engine Company

Komatsu France S.A.S.

Pt Komatsu Marketing and Support Indonesia

Komatsu Holding South America Ltda

Komatsu Australia Pty Ltd

Komatsu Engineering Corp.

Komatsu Financial Europe SA/NV

Komatsu (Changzhou) Foundry Corporation

Komatsu Forklift Asia Pte. Ltd

PT Komatsu Undercarriage Indonesia

Komatsu (China) Ltd.

Komatsu Asia & Pacific Pte. Ltd.

Komatsu Castex Ltd.

Komatsu (Changzhou) Construction Machinery Corporation

Komatsu Latin-America Corp.

Bangkok Komatsu Co., Ltd.

Komatsu Capital Europe S.A.

Komatsu Undercarriage China Corp.

Komatsu Used Equipment Corp.

Komatsu Hanomag GmbH

Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd

Komatsu Diesel Co, Ltd

Komatsu Maquinarias Mexico S.A. de C.V.

Caterpillar Inc. Stock growth was good over 5 years

Caterpillar Inc. is a company that deals with construction machinery and equipment. Caterpillar Inc. is a successful American Fortune 100 corporation which designs, develops, engineers, manufactures, markets and sells machinery, engines, financial products and insurance to customers via a large worldwide dealer network. Amazingly, this massive company is the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer. The stock of the company is: CAT (NYSE). The company is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, United States. The CEO is Jim Umpleby (From Jan. 1, 2017). The company website is caterpillar.com.

Caterpillar Inc. has an interesting philanthropic company. The Caterpillar Foundation donated $250,000 to Australia to help fight the bushfires. The $250,000 donation was made to the Australian Red Cross to aid in relief efforts as the country continues to battle intense bushfires. The large scale of these harmful fires is unprecedented. The fires destroyed lives, destroyed homes and devastated millions of acres of land. The relief donations can be quickly put to work in needed areas. The Caterpillar Foundation also helps to reduce poverty.

Caterpillar Inc. Stock growth was good over 5 years. In the all time graph, you can see the stock growth has been very good after 1980s and 1990s.

Caterpillar Inc. brands are interesting. The company has a portfolio of about 20 brands offering machines, engines, components, services and solutions for industries and customers around the world.

The Caterpillar Inc. Brands include:

CAT
CAT FINANCIAL
CAT REMAN
CAT RENTAL STORE
CAT LIFT TRUCKS
ANCHOR
ASIATRAK
FG WILSON
HINDUSTAN
HYPAC
KEMPER
MAK
MWM
M2M
OLYMPIAN
PERKINS
PROGRESS RAIL
SEM
SOLAR TURBINES
TURNER POWERTRAIN SYSTEMS
YELLOWMARK

The image above is a Caterpillar D11 - it is a large bulldozer, manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. in East Peoria, Illinois. The machine is mainly used in the mining industry. It can be used for push-loading scrapers, and ripping rock overburden. The engine model is: CAT C32 ACERT.

The image above is a Caterpillar Ten.

The image above is a Caterpillar 12G.

The image above is a Caterpillar 613C.

The image above is a Caterpillar 594.

The image above is a Caterpillar D3k2.

The image above is a Caterpillar R2.

The image above is a Caterpillar 301D.

The image above is a Caterpillar 306CR.

The image above is a Caterpillar 320EL.

The image above is a Caterpillar 349E.

The image above is a Caterpillar 330CL UHD.

The image above is a Caterpillar 6015B.

The image above is a Caterpillar 416.

The image above is a Caterpillar 725C.

The image above is a Caterpillar 769.

The image above is a Caterpillar CB14.

The image above is a Caterpillar CT660.

The image above is a Caterpillar 8000.

The image above is a Caterpillar MD6240.

Here are the Caterpillar Inc. Subsidiaries:

Perkins Engines
Progress Rail Services
Caterpillar Energy Solutions
Bucyrus-Erie
Caterpillar Japan
Solar Turbines
F.G. Wilson (Engineering)
Electro-Motive Diesel
Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America
Caterpillar Global Mining Europe GmbH
Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co KG
Germanischer Lloyd
Caterpillar Financial Services Corp.
Shandong SEM Machinery Co Ltd
Intelligent Switchgear Organization
Caterpillar Logistics Services Inc.
Turbomach SA
Energyst B.V.
Caterpillar S.A.R.L.
Caterpillar France SAS.
Caterpillar India Private Ltd
Anchor Coupling Inc.
Carter Machinery Company, Incorporated
VirtualSite Solutions LLC
Caterpillar Paving Products Inc
Caterpillar Trimble Control Technologies LLC
Caterpillar Brasil Ltda
Caterpillar Marine Power UK Ltd
Caterpillar Credito, S.A. de C.V., Sociedad Financiera de Objecto Multiple, E. N.R.
Caterpillar Insurance Company
Cat Redistribution Services Corporation
Caterpillar Asia Pte. Ltd.
Ironmart LLC
Caterpillar Thailand
Caterpillar Xuzhou Ltd
Caterpillar Americas C.V.

Japan's Economy struggles with Debt, Deflation and Depopulation

This Youtube video is interesting about Japan's Economy battling Debt, Deflation and Depopulation. Japan is quite rich in terms of its highly developed economy. The country is positioned as 3rd in terms of nominal GDP.

In 2013, the Japanese public debt exceeded one quadrillion yen (US$10.46 trillion), which is more than twice the country's annual gross domestic product. By 2015, the figure rose to US$11.06 trillion.

Japan has suffered 15 years of grinding deflation since a so-called asset-inflated bubble burst in the late 1990s. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, mandated by Abe to put an end to deflation, has pledged to achieve the bank's 2% inflation target through aggressive monetary easing.

Japan’s population is decreasing since it hit a peak in 2008. The shrinking population is having a big impact.

China stocks decrease as coronavirus (冠狀病毒) outbreak scares investors

The Chinese stock market decreased to a record low this week. The deadly coronavirus outbreak scared investors.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed down about 2.8 percent at 2,976.53 Thursday.

Unfortunately, the virus (coronavirus) (冠狀病毒) death toll grew before the Chinese New Year.

That marked the index’s worst end to a lunar year in its history.

Trading volumes in mainland China were 20% higher than average Thursday as foreign traders sold off a record $1.7 billion in shares.

Stock markets in other parts of the world are certainly hopeful after the World Health Organization said the coronavirus was not yet a global health emergency.

Shanghai Disneyland can actually host up to 100,000 people. The place will close starting Saturday because of the virus. Certain other places will also be closed, such as some movie theaters.

Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds that include diarrhea in cows and pigs, and upper respiratory disease in chickens. In humans, the virus causes respiratory infections, which are often mild, but in rare cases are potentially lethal.

Year of the Rat is 2020. This is the Year of the Rat according to Chinese zodiac. This is a Year of Metal Rat, starting from the 2020 Chinese New Year on Jan. 25 and lasting to 2021 Lunar New Year's Eve on Feb. 11. Rat is the first in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac.