By: Tom Jennemann

New York 20/04/2011 - Comex gold was steady above $1,500 on Wednesday morning on a weaker dollar and governmental debt worries.

But prices have eased slightly from the morning's high following a flood of positive earnings reports and stronger equity markets.

Gold futures on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange for June delivery were recently trading up $9 at $1,504.10 per ounce in New York and earlier in the session reached an all-time record of $1,506.20.

"The impetus for the run-up early this morning was clearly the softer dollar, which is getting hammered and fell to its lowest level in the past 15 months [against the euro],” a US-based fund manager said. “When the dollar takes a beating like this, metals are going to rally."

The euro rose 1.4 percent to 1.4543 against the dollar this morning largely on increased risk appetite and after a successful bond auction in Spain.

But the yellow metal has edged down marginally from its intraday high since the open of equity markets in New York.

"We've seen some quite positive earning reports from the likes of Intel and Freeport-McMoRan, which had the Dow up by over 175 points," the fund manager said.

“Despite all the dire headlines of late, Wall Street doesn't think the economy is hanging off the cliff,” he added. “Some folks are looking at riskier assets this morning as the stock bulls have returned.”

Standard Bank echoed this sentiment in a note. "Fears that the global economic recovery might be in jeopardy, sparked by Standard & Poor's ratings outlook downgrade of the US, have been dispelled by strong corporate earnings results and a steady improvement in US housing data," analyst Marc Ground wrote.

Existing US home sales rose 3.7 percent in March to an annualised rate of 5.1 million units, slightly ahead of expectations, the National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday morning.

Nevertheless, many investors continue to express concerns about the burgeoning debt crisis in the US and Europe and inflation around the world.

Bolstering this argument was S&P's surprise outlook downgrade of US long-term debt to "negative" to "stable".

"This latest chapter in the saga of sovereign debt concerns highlights gold's benefits as a risk-hedge and currency diversifier. It also presents new challenges for investors who traditionally, in times of uncertainty, steer capital towards US Treasuries," Marcus Grubb, managing director of the Investment at the World Gold Council, said in a statement.

Additionally, the US government does not have a credible plan to cut the deficit, International Monetary Fund chief economist Olivier Blanchard said on Wednesday according to French paper Le Monde.

Comex silver for May delivery also soared on Wednesday - it was recently trading up about one dollar at $44.90 per ounce, which is a 31-year high. The closely watched gold-silver ratio has dropped to 33.5 - a 28-year low.


(Editing by Mark Shaw)

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Đông Nhi nổi tiếng nhờ cộng đồng mạng trước rồi mới chính thức bước vào sân khấu chuyên nghiệp.

Cô sở hữu nhiều ca khúc hit làm mưa, làm gió các bảng xếp hạng như “Khóc”, “Lời thú tội ngọt ngào”, “Bối rối”…

Không chỉ biết đàn, múa, hát… Đông Nhi còn có khả năng sáng tác. Đó là điểm đặc biệt của cô so với các ca sĩ trẻ khác hiện nay.

Tuy được nhiều khán giả trẻ mến mộ, nhưng Đông Nhi không chọn nhạc teen để theo đuổi. Cô chỉ hát một số ca khúc mang hơi hướng teenpop, còn lại đa phần vẫn là những bản tình ca đầy tính tự sự.

Thời gian tới Đông Nhi sẽ “lột xác” với hình ảnh nữ tính để phù hợp với lứa tuổi của mình.

Trong sáng tác cũng vậy, cô sẽ chú ý nhiều hơn về ca từ và giai điệu để ca khúc có chiều sâu, thể hiện rõ nét cá tính của cô hơn.

Không chỉ hát pop, cô còn thử nghiệm dòng R&B và rock alternative. Đó là cách để cô làm mới chính mình.

Hiện Đông Nhi rong ruổi cùng “Thế giới Vpop” đến các tỉnh miền Trung và Tây Nguyên cùng các hot girl Phạm Quỳnh Anh, Hoàng Thùy Linh, Khổng Tú Quỳnh.

Sau khi trở về, cô sẽ tiếp tục hoàn tất CD đầu tay vẫn còn dang dở. Hiện CD đã thu xong phần audio gồm 8 ca khúc, trong đó hầu hết là những sáng tác của chính Đông Nhi.

Cô cho biết, vì album đã “ngâm” quá lâu nên cô sẽ quay thêm vài video clip tặng kèm để “chuộc lỗi” với khán giả.

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PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Joint-Stock Co., which provides drilling services to joint ventures led by Soco International Plc in Vietnam, plans to sell another 25.7 million shares.

Soco International Plc is a UK oil explorer operating in Asia and Africa. The sale may raise about VND2.2 trillion (US$123 million), based on the Ho Chi Minh City-based company’s share price of VND85,000 Friday. The State Securities Commission gave permission to PetroVietnam Drilling to sell the shares to merge with its investment unit, PetroVietnam Drilling Investment Joint-Stock Co., according to a statement on the regulator’s website. PetroVietnam Drilling fell 4 percent on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange Friday. On June 9, it had reached a eight-month high of VND92,000. The provider of oilfield services is the eighth-biggest company on the exchange. The statement didn’t say when the company will sell the new shares. Officials at PetroVietnam Drilling were not available for comment. Source: Bloomberg

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PetroVietnam Finance Co., a unit of Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, will lend coffee company Vinacafe Buon Ma Thuot Co. up to VND750 billion (US$42.2 million) to fund development of a plantation.

Vinacafe would use the money to buy urea and other products from PetroVietnam Fertilizer & Chemical Joint-Stock Co., the country’s biggest-fertilizer producer, the lender said in an e-mailed statement Friday. “We offer Vinacafe an interest rate of 6 percent for this one-year loan as it is part of the government loan subsidy program,” PetroVietnam CEO Tong Quoc Truong said in a phone interview. “This is a very good rate compared with the lowest rate of 10 percent we have offered to others.” Vietnamese lenders gave VND255 trillion ($14.3 billion) in loans to businesses between February 1 and April 23, after the government started a subsidy program to bolster the slowing economy. Source: Bloomberg

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People flock to a protective forest in Bac Lieu to dig up a type of worm believed to be an aphrodisiac for males, destroying a vast area of forest land. Those assigned to protect forests turn a blind eye, or worse still, abet illegal logging.

One report said a 0.2-hectare portion of the Dac Ha forest had been destroyed last December. A month later, a report said trees on another 0.75 hectares of the forest had felled. But a recent inspection by Dac Nong Province forest wardens found the forest had in fact lost a total of 6.3 hectares in those two cases, Lao Dong newspaper reported. The report said further that authorities in Dac Nong Province in the Central Highlands had authorized the Dac Ha forestry enterprise to protect around 11,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land in Dac Nong District. Rumors had spread recently that the enterprise would be closed, prompting a rush to fell trees by people bidding to pick up a land plot in the area that the enterprise was charged with protecting. But wardens and local authorities said such big loss of forest land was “unusual.” Several people hired to work at a section of the forest said they had no idea who had logged the trees at the forest. But one thing they knew for sure was “they [the loggers] must not be ordinary people who will be detained once they enter a protected area.” The Dac Ha forestry enterprise management said though its personnel had staked out deforestation-prone areas, they had failed to catch the loggers. But this defense appears to be weak. Last December, the wardens caught two people felling trees at a section of the protected forest area, but their director, Nguyen Trung Hieu, had instructed them to release the loggers. Hieu then told Dac Nong authorities that he had let the two people go because a provincial official had phoned him and asked for the release. Last week, Do Ngoc Duyen, the Dac Nong provincial forest protection agency chief, said his agency had proposed that the provincial government investigate the matter further to find out if Hieu had abetted the loggers or hushed up their crime. The provincial police have also been asked to investigate the logging as a criminal action, Duyen said. Elsewhere, in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, Vietnam News Agency reported the provincial forest protection agency said Monday that action would be taken against Nong Van An, head of a team tasked with controlling a protective forest area in Vo Nhai District. Since last month, An had hired several locals to fell and burn around 12 hectares of the area in Vo Nhai’s Lien Minh Commune, the Thai Nguyen forest protection agency said. An, deputed to protect the forest since 1997, said he had chopped the trees to implement another afforestation project in the same area which could “deliver higher economic results.” Vo Nhai District forest wardens discovered the illegal logging earlier this month. The district is home to many protective forest areas. Mekong Delta forests in peril Forest reserves in Bac Lieu Province have been destroyed in recent days as people thronged coastal districts to dig up the land for sam dat (Sipunculus nudus), an aquatic worm. Sam dat is popular food at major restaurants in Vietnam as it is touted to be an aphrodisiac for men. Its nutrients, especially amino acids and mineral elements, are yet to be identified. In recent days, many people from Ho Chi Minh City have been visiting Bac Lieu to buy the worm and sell them to restaurants in Vietnam and China. “Every day hundreds of people flock to the forests and dig the land up, killing scores of trees,” said Tran Van Thong, chairman of the Vinh Hau A Commune People’s Committee. A kilogram of sam dat fetches between VND8,000-10,000, which is a considerable income for poor people in the province who can get between five to 10 kilograms a day, local authorities said. Chairman Thong said local authorities have failed to prevent people scouring the area for the worm, saying they did not have enough manpower for the task. A local forest warden also said his staff faced many difficulties in dealing with people who are very poor. Nguyen Van Phuc, head of the Bac Lieu forest protection agency, warned that the practice of digging for the worms would kill off large areas of forests if left unchecked. Source: TN, Agencies

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Vietnam exports products including boxes, shopping bags, pipes, household and office products. The plastic industry did well to achieve high export growth last year despite the recession and is aiming even higher in 2009.

Phan Van Thanh, chairman of the Vietnam Plastic Association, said the industry shipped its products to 55 markets around the world, with the main ones being the US and Japan. Despite the falling global prices and shrinking demand, they achieved an “impressive result,” growing by 25-43 percent in these markets, he said. Total exports were worth US$900 million and the industry is aiming for $1 billion this year. Vietnam’s overall exports last year were nearly $63 billion. Thanh said raw material costs plummeted by up to 70 percent in the last four months of 2008 due to falling crude oil prices. But the industry also suffered some adverse impacts from the global economic slowdown, Thanh said. Businesses had to lay off 10 percent of their workforce, he said, though this is low compared to other sectors such as footwear, textile and garment, and fishery. The industry’s 34 percent export growth was also higher than that of footwear and fishery, he said. The association quoted the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database as saying in a recent report that Vietnamese plastic products enjoy low tariffs in many markets. Vietnam exports products including boxes, shopping bags, pipes, household and office products. Recession to bring opportunities Thanh said businesses are focusing on investment to install new machinery and technologies to strengthen their competitiveness at home and abroad. Economist Tran To Tu said the economic slump could actually provide the industry a good opportunity since many foreign plastic manufacturers could sell off their machinery and technologies. Tu, who consults the industry on export strategy, said the association should set up a technology fund to help members install equipment and adopt new technologies. Reported by Minh Quang

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A view of Dung Quat, the country’s first oil refinery. Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai, who visited it Saturday, called for construction to be expedited so that it is finished in time by next February. With major sections of the Dung Quat oil refinery almost complete, contractors should continue to work quickly to make sure of meeting its February deadline, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said Saturday.

They should encourage workers to work during the Tet holidays, he said during a visit to the country’s first refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai. The refinery management told Hai that work on major tendering packages has almost been wrapped up. Quality inspections have been completed on tendering package 5A to build a breakwater, package 5B (oil products export jetty), and package 7 (administrative and service facilities), managers said. EPC (engineering-procurement-construction) tendering packages 1+4 and 2+3 for procurement and installation of equipment and facilities have seen 98.4 percent of the work completed, they said. Earlier this month the refinery received 80,000 tons of crude oil for a test run. PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil) dispatched the oil from Bach Ho (White tiger) oil field off the Vietnamese coast. The management said 1,046 workers have been trained to work in the refinery, which is set to hire around 1,200 in all when commissioned. Hai urged the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), the monopoly state power supplier, to link the refinery’s power turbines to the national grid. He also instructed the Quang Ngai Province administration to complete site clearance for the Dung Quat Economic Zone. Safety and security first Hai also called on agencies concerned to ensure the site’s security. Many crimes were reported this year in the economic zone, where the refinery is located, including murders, stabbings, thefts of construction materials and drug deals. The zone, 870 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, also houses many other petrochemical and heavy industries. Vietnam is Southeast Asia’s third-largest crude oil producer with output averaging 350,000 barrels per day. But it still imports most of its oil products in the absence of a refinery. Capitalized at US$2.5 billion, Dung Quat will have a capacity to refine 6.5 million tons of crude annually. PetroVietnam is seeking to raise that to 10 million tons. When fully operational, Dung Quat will supply more than 40 percent of the oil needs of Vietnam, which has a population of 86.5 million and more than 20 million motorbikes. Demand is expected to grow 13-15 percent annually. Later Saturday Hai visited Doosan Vina Company and called on the South Korean firm to fulfill its commitments to workers and set up a labor union soon to avert future industrial action like the wildcat strike that hit the firm earlier this month. Two weeks ago around 1,300 workers gathered in front of the company to demand proper treatment and payment of allowances. They agreed to go back to work after the firm, which makes cranes, pressure tanks and filtering devices, promised it would soon set up a labor union, improve the quality of food, guarantee safety, and behave better with employees. Source: TN, Agencies

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Lower food, fuel and housing costs are expected to bring consumer prices in Ho Chi Minh City down this month for a second time this year, the local statistics office said.

Prices in Vietnam’s largest city are expected to fall 0.69 percent from October, when prices fell for the first time this year by 0.24 percent. Food prices fell 8.67 percent from October while the cost of housing, utilities and construction materials dropped 5.66 percent from last month, according to the statistics office. Consumer prices in HCMC and Hanoi serve as an early indication of the national inflation figure, due to be published later this month. The government has an inflation target of below 15 percent next year, versus a forecast 24 percent this year. Food prices account for 42.8 percent of the price basket Vietnam uses to calculate inflation while oil products make up less than 3 percent. Source: Bloomberg

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Người dân Chicago, Mỹ, đổ ra đường ăn mừng ngay trong đêm Obama giành chiến thắng.

Phụ nữ Afghanistan dán chặt mắt vào màn hình ti vi để theo dõi kết quả cuối cùng của cuộc bầu cử Tổng thống Mỹ.

Tại Nhật Bản, người dân thị trấn Obama, đơn vị hành chính trùng tên với tân Tổng thống, ăn mừng.

Người dân thành phố Naples, Italy đeo mặt nạ Obama.

Tại quảng trường Thời Đại, dân chúng New York mừng chiến thắng bằng những cái ôm thật chặt.

Với tấm áp phíc có hình ông Obama, người dân Kenya đổ xuống đường hò reo.

Học sinh tại một trường tiểu học ở Indonesia

Sinh viên đại học Sydney vui mừng trước chiến thắng của Obama.

Khách trong một quán ăn ở Ấn Độ chăm chú theo dõi kết quả cuối cùng.

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