European stocks have bounced back slightly (well, leveled, more than anything) on news that China and Italy are in discussions about “significant” purchases of Italian bonds and investments in strategic companies. Greece will probably get that next round of funding, but Europe still needs to approve it. Here are some interesting numbers if Greece does go bang.
Reports coming out of the East and Europe this morning paint a dismal picture for Greece. The Euro had already slipped to a 10 year low against the Yen and a six month low against the dollar in overnight trading. Bloomberg thinks Germany might give up on Greece because a Greek default is probably inevitable.
At the end of last week, parliament confirmed that the embattled public works department had spent approximately R183 million since May 2009, and that R46 million had been dropped on exclusive residences in this year alone. It’s therefore no surprise that the Hawks are struggling to finance their investigations.
A Human Rights Watch report has discovered that at least two wine farms in South Africa are still using the illegal ‘dop system’ as part-payment for farm workers. The practice was prohibited in 1928, and its poisonous legacy is rooted deep in the social fabric of farm-worker communities in the Cape.
European banks tumbled for the third day in a row, led by Lloyds Banking Group and Commerzbank AG, on concerns that firms will struggle to fund themselves and increase earnings as the region’s sovereign debt crisis strangles economic growth. Basically, it’s a case of just about everything taking on for the team.
Sure, why not. Tiny South Pacific island nation Niue will be accepting coins minted with the faces of Star Wars characters as legal tender, because if you’re a tiny South Pacific island nation there’s really only so much you can do to keep things exciting.
Yesterday, 2oceansVibe reported that clothing retailer, Abercrombie and Fitch, had decided it no longer wanted its clothing to be associated with members of The Jersey Shore cast, especially Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino. Coincidentally, the very next day of trading after the announcement, Abercrombie shares shed nearly 10 percent at one stage.
The International Monetary Fund has another scandal to deal with, although this time it’s a financial one. A French court has today ordered an investigation into the new IMF head, Christine Lagarde, and her role in a much-criticised $400 million arbitration deal in favour of a controversial tycoon. It concerns the mishandled sale of sportswear maker, Adidas, in the 1990’s.
Julius Malema has today denied that he is building a R16 million home in the upmarket Johannesburg suburb of Sandown. Rather, he chose to insist, “Instead of being rich, I remain poor but credit worthy.” He declined to give details of his financial interests, saying he was not a public figure, but this may yet backfire on him.
“Italy Too Big to Bail Out as Crisis Enters ‘New Phase’.” That was the headline I read over at Bloomberg earlier. Don’t get me wrong, I know Italy is facing serious problems, but when will they actually get rid of the bungling “bunga bunga” Berlusconi? Today the country has been auctioning an estimated €3 – €5 billion in fixed-rate bonds.
The trouble started when Richard Moore started sending unwelcome gifts and chocolates to Ashley Alford, demanding “sucky-sucky” in return. But Ashley never gave her manager any sucky-sucky. That’s when our boy took things to the next level by sneaking up on Ashley, holding her by her ponytail, and whacking her on the head with his […]
It is important that you watch videos like this, because it will give you ideas for when you win one of the overseas lotteries. Donald Trump has just bought himself a new Boeing 757 Private Jet for $100 Million. So with some of the big overseas lottery jackpots (they go up to $250 Million) you […]
Cisco have just come out with their annual Visual Networking Index, which is a pretty reliable source of internet traffic reporting. Global traffic will quadruple, by 2015, with Asia’s traffic generation overtaking North America. Which is cool, but less cool than the stuff they say about traffic in South Africa, which is after the jump.
It has been confirmed that the Hawks and the South African Revenue Services have raided the home of the controversial Durban tycoon Sbu Mpisane and his wife Shaun on Wednesday morning. You’ll know the guy that I’m speaking about. The dude who’s wife bought him a Maserati GranCabrio for his 40th recently.
We featured pics of Kimbo arriving at LAX Airport the other day and although those sights might have satisfied some of the girls out there, I don’t think it fully gave you what you wanted – which is this – an ultra-zoomed in hi-res pic of the $2million rock in question. Put your sunglasses on […]
Google Wallet and Google Offers launched yesterday, both of which sound supremely cool – PayPal’s grumblings (and lawsuits) about commercial espionage notwithstanding. Google Wallet lets users swipe their phones in lieu of credit cards, even allowing subscription to a new prepaid Google debit card; Google Offers looks to work like a virtual loyalty card.
A report about a month ago attributed that South Africa indeed stared a water crisis directly in the eye. Experts told the inaugural South African Water and Energy Forum in Johannesburg that we even face the possibility of chronic water shortages as early as 2020. Now Eskom-esque tariff hikes loom too.
Most of us have been hounded by debt collectors at some point in our lives, but I doubt anyone has ever had their debt scrapped because of it. Yet a judge in Britain set aside a debt of over R200,000 in an effort to reprimand collectors for “torturing” their customer.
No, we’re not trying to pull any wool over anyone’s eyes here. We know how some of you enjoy a good round of golf from time to time, and what with Pravin Grodhan going hard at the “sinners” again this year, what better way to spite him than buying your very own country club in Florida?
Forbes have released the latest update of the 400 richest people in America, and it read likes a who’s-who of global masonry. Those money-grubbers have a combined worth of $1,37 trillion. Goodness gracious, that must buy a heap of private geography lessons.
I’m not sure if you caught the live financial indicators on the right-hand side of the page, but the Rand is absolutely KILLING it against the US Dollar. At the current rate, I’m renting movies from the US iTunes store at R26 a shot – and some of them haven’t even hit the circuit here in SA. Let me show you how.
Proverbial Wallets from John Kestner on Vimeo.
Paying things with cards is weird for me. I mean obviously the convenience of having a plastic card that gets me stuff is great – I got to take advantage of the Threadless sale, for instance – but without that tangible sense of loss at having to fork over a wad of cash, there is the risk of going overboard is substantial. Folks at MIT have some ideas about that.
There’s a restaurant in Pringle Bay, just an hour from Cape Town, called Hook, Line, and Sinker. When you walk in to this effortlessly cool establishment you are guided to a table hewn from American Poplar that is scrubbed daily with Sunlight liquid and once a week rubbed lovingly with Cobra wax.
The central bank of the United States of America, the Federal Reserve, in response to the recent Great Recession has acted swiftly, decisively and boldly. Its answer to a catastrophe that was caused by irresponsible lending by greedy banks to Ninjas (no income, no job or assets) has been to cut interest rates to the bone and flood the economy with cheap money in the hope it’ll be used to kick start the economy.
So in other words, as I see it, in order to fix a problem caused by cheap money they’ve made money even cheaper. I often do the same thing after a big night in (I don’t go out anymore) and the inevitable skull bursting hangover.
The finance minister Pravin Gordhan is not someone you’d want to take to the U2 concert. He might allow a brief period of foot tapping during one of their 80’s classics, but mostly he’d be working out how much the tour had swelled the country’s coffers and observe the discretionary spending habits of the assembled revellers.
That’s why he’s the head bean counter, and long may that last.
Some might say he is a villain, to others he is a hero. Say what you want about Jordan Belfort – his story is phenomenal. Which is probably why ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ became a bestseller the moment it went to print. He was a multimillionaire at 26 and was in jail at 36. Fill in the gaps with yachts, jets, parties, drugs and high-class hookers. Catch him live on-air this morning! Follow link to tune in.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I sat in a mid-priced family car outside a pub. Having read the AA Guide to Southern England, and finished my bag of crisps and bottle of Coke, I waited patiently for my parents..
Thousands of politically-minded Kiwis have come out in protest to prevent production of the Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit, from moving out of New Zealand. I understand completely – I went through the same thing when my parents made me stop wearing my wizard outfit to school.
If you use the live financial indicators on the right-hand side of 2oceansvibe, you will work out that the total winnings, in Rands, is R1.2 Billion. That’s quite a lot of tin! According to SKY News, “A UK ticket-holder scooped the top prize in Friday night’s draw, making it the country’s largest ever lottery win.” Full story after the jump.
Marmite, Mrs Balls Chutney, Iron Brew, and Tropica. These are the flavours of my childhood, and every now and then, a craving hits, and the inevitable binge ensues. I know, I disgust myself. Happily, I’ve been vindicated by science. Get a child hooked on your product in their formative years, and you’ve got them for life.