Beijing targets economic growth with $500bn rail expansion www.rt.com

The Chinese government plans to spend half a trillion dollars over the next three years on developing the country’s high-speed rail network. The move is part of a five-year plan aimed at shoring up China’s economic growth.

Gold powers miners to send the FTSE 100 to a new high www.bbc.com

Precious metals miners sent the FTSE 100 index of leading shares to a fresh high on Thursday, powered by a rise in gold prices.
In a continuation of December's Santa rally, blue chip stocks rose by 14.18 points to close at a record 7,120.26.
Randgold Resources and Fresnillo led the FTSE 100 climbers for a second day, each rising by more than 4%.
Stocks were lifted by gold prices which grew 1.5% to $1,158.1 an ounce.
Investors boosted gold as the yield on 10-year US bonds fell while the dollar fell to a 15-day low against the yen. Sterling rose against the dollar at $1.2250.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at London Capital Group, said: "The dollar fall was mostly due to renewed doubts about the US recovery after pending home sales dropped in November."
Recent data revealed that US pending home sales fell by 2.5% in November, compared to economists' expectations of a 0.5% rise.
Ashtead Group was the day's biggest faller in London, down 2.3%.
Industrial equipment hire company Ashtead is traditionally a strong performer in December, according to the Harriman Stock Market Almanac, and over the month its share price is still up by 4%.
Smiths Group, another industrial stock, was also one of the biggest fallers, losing 1.67%.

Chinese coal industry sees earnings explode in 2016 www.mining.com

China recently reported rising coal industry earnings. The Chinese National Bureau of statistics mentioned a growth of “157 percent in the first 11 months of 2016”, while industries such as oil and gas drilling along with power supply saw profits decline in the subsequent period.

This continued use of coal mirrors the rise in coal-fired power plants under construction or completed by China and India, African nations, and many European countries (Germany and Britain are shockingly big users of coal) as well. According to the International Energy Agency(IEA), global coal demand growth is slowing, but at least growing until at least 2020, the equivalent of an increase of 3.8 million-barrels-oil per day. There are reasons why coal will continue to rise in use.

According to the International Energy Agency(IEA), global coal demand growth is slowing, but at least growing until at least 2020, the equivalent of an increase of 3.8 million-barrels-oil per day.
Earnings were so strong in China that factory inflation spiked to a five-year high because of coal, which allowed their manufacturers: “to cut debt, invest more, and delay efforts to reduce excess capacity.” Coal in China and elsewhere continues to make investors and governments money. Yet China has promised to stop increasing emissions by 2030, and attempt to get one-fifth of required electricity from renewables while continuing to rely on coal and other fossil fuels for the remainder of their growing energy needs.

Chinese, Indian, African and European nations will continue to use coal for a simple reason – it is inexpensive – compared to renewables, nuclear, or even natural gas. Very dirty, but very cheap, and that’s what is driving the Chinese and others to use so much coal.
Moreover, economics will drive the debate while mechanisms that were agreed on in the Paris Climate Agreement (PCA) prove to be expensive, hard to quantify, and difficult to pay for in the near and distant future. Leaders in Poland, Australia, South Korea and Japan now believe that new coal plants in the works can meet tough climate regulations through efficiency and new technology.

But a new study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WFF) and Ecofys doesn’t agree with that assessment. Russell Gold, the lead energy reporter for the Wall Street Journal, makes the case in his book: The Boom; that if environmental groups would place natural gas on equal footing with renewables, a possible lowering of coal use and emissions is doable.

On the continuation that the PCA is being ignored, the World Energy Outlook 2016 from the IEA: “projects in its ‘New Policies Scenario’ that over the next 35 years, the amount of electricity the Chinese produce from coal will increase by 4.3 percent.” But an interesting twist adds to the intrigue and opportunity for investment possibilities to exist.

China, Japan, and South Korea are leading the way in “adopting the latest super-critical and ultra-super-critical low-emission-coal technology.” This process operates at higher temperatures, pressures and increases coal’s electricity capacity by 30 percent which: “enables new technology power stations to generate more electricity while emitting less CO2, particulates, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.” Ironically China will have a coal-based economy while being one of the largest users and investors in the world of renewable energy.

What about the U.S. and its use of coal and advocating for a cleaner future without coal? America is already a much cleaner and more efficient user of energy and this is where many nations of the world take issue. The United States has four times the economic output per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions compared to India and five-and-a-half time compared China. Incredibly large discrepancies, and for coal not to make an impact, both China and India along with most of Asia and Africa would need substantial reductions in emissions to come from them, not the U.S.

Practically speaking, it is hard to imagine these countries along with Eastern European nations to opt for emission reductions, instead of lower electric bills. Long-term economic analysis dictates that mitigation will come from financial feasibility in growing economies, and not doing away with coal. Oren Cass of the Manhattan Institute noted the PCA, “resulted in nothing more than a pledge and review process,” and not real emission cuts through verification, certification and severe punishment for non-compliance.

Coal isn’t going anywhere, least of all in China. And the geopolitical situation in China has Premier Xi only gaining more strength, and not giving up power when his current term expires. This means Premier Xi will continue ramping up coal use and looking for cleaner, more efficient coal technology for the ever-growing and ever-changing Chinese economy.

One can only hope the Chinese and others follow the U.S. model and opt for natural gas over coal to produce results that only the Americans have found in how to truly reduce carbon emissions. Coal may be inexpensive and abundant, but only natural gas provides what the Kyoto Protocol wanted and the PCA believes it will achieve moving forward. While not popular, coal could still see some great returns in the near term. The Chinese, Indians, most of Asia, Africa, and even some Europeans seem to agree.

Japan, China agree to press ahead on RCEP talks www.nhk.or.jp

Officials of the Japanese and Chinese governments have agreed to move forward with talks on another economic partnership as the prospects for the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations are unclear.

Apple tops 2016 World's 500 Most Influential Brands, 36 Chinese firms on the list www.chinadaily.com

Apple tops this year's World Brand Lab's annual list of the World's 500 Most Influential Brands for 2016.

These big economies suffered self-inflicted wounds in 2016 www.cnn.com

Three of the world's top 10 economies are ending the year in worse shape than they started. And they've only got themselves to blame.
Two referendums and an unparalleled currency experiment have left them facing a very uncertain 2017.
Here they are, and here's what happened:
The United Kingdom

The first jolt of the year came on June 23, when the people of the U.K. voted to leave the European Union.
The "Brexit" referendum had an immediate impact on global markets, sending shares crashing. They soon recovered, but the biggest loser was Britain's currency.
The pound crashed to its lowest level in over 30 years against the dollar. It has steadied since but has still lost 18% of its value, pushing up the price of everyday goods. Inflation will accelerate next year.
But more damaging is the uncertainty the British economy faces in breaking up with its biggest trading partner, and the threat that companies may move operations out of the country.
The U.K. was enjoying one of the fastest rates of growth in the G7. But the economy could slump to its slowest pace of expansion in seven years in 2017.

India
What happens when a country that lives on cash abruptly decides to ban the vast majority of its banknotes?
India was forced to find out on Nov. 8, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that 500 rupee and 1,000 rupee notes would no longer be legal. They would be replaced with new 500 and 2,000 rupee notes.
The shock move caused chaos for millions of people who struggled to get their hands on the new money. Businesses have suffered from the cash crunch, and India's high-flying economy is suffering as a result.
India's 7.3% growth rate, the envy of every major economy, is expected to slow dramatically. The Reserve Bank of India has already cut its growth forecast for the current fiscal year by 0.5%; analysts say the damage could be much more severe than that.
The government says the rupee ban was aimed at combating tax evasion and counterfeit currency, and will benefit the India in the long run. But political opponents question whether the pain is a price worth paying.
Italy
On Dec. 4, Italians voted overwhelmingly against constitutional reforms proposed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The reforms were aimed at ending political gridlock and reviving Italy's stagnant economy.
Renzi resigned the next day. The ensuing political and economic uncertainty has already claimed one casualty -- nervous investors refused to provide the world's oldest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMDPF), with the $5 billion it urgently needed to stay afloat.
The Italian government has been forced to step in with a bailout, drawn from a $21 billion rescue fund that will add to the country's huge debt mountain of $2.34 trillion.

Italy's banks are just one lingering headache. The threat of early elections has receded but not gone away. If they happen, populist parties of left and right could ride a wave of public discontent with Europe.
One of them -- the Five-Star Movement, founded by comedian Beppe Grillo -- could make a Brexit-style referendum on the euro a cornerstone of its campaign.
Analysts say the odds of such a referendum happening are slim, but the political risks for Europe are rising.

Corporate income tax of certain sectors to be 1 percent www.gogo.mn

China energy consumption rises slightly www.xinhuanet.com

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's energy consumption is expected to reach 4.36 billion tonnes of coal equivalent in 2016, up 1.4 percent year on year, an official said.

Toshiba shares fall 20% on deal warning www.bbc.com

Toshiba shares fell 20% on Wednesday after the firm warned that its US nuclear business may be worth less than previously thought.
The slump was large enough for trading in stocks of the Japanese industrial giant to be automatically halted.
Shares had already fallen 12% on Tuesday, after reports of the likely write-down began circulating.
Toshiba said the possible heavy one-off loss was linked to a deal done by a US subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric.
Westinghouse bought the nuclear construction and services business from Chicago Bridge & Iron in 2015. But there is now a dispute over the costs of the deal and the value of the assets it took on.
Toshiba President Satoshi Tsunakawa apologised for "causing concern".
Slimming down
The news is a blow for the firm's corporate reputation, which is still struggling to recover after it emerged profits had been overstated for years - prompting the chief executive to resign.
Since then, Toshiba has been trying to slim down the business, including selling its medical devices operations to Canon.
But while the share price slump is a blow for investors, 2016 has still been a pretty good year for the firm's stocks - which had gained more than 77% before this week's falls.

South Korea pension fund head arrested in scandal probe www.bbc.com

South Korea's pension fund head has been arrested in a probe into alleged corruption involving electronic firm Samsung and the country's president.
Special prosecutors said they raided National Pension Service (NPS) chairman Moon Hyung-pyo's home on Monday, before arresting him on Wednesday.
The NPS is the world's third-largest pension scheme.
It comes amid President Park Geun-hye's impeachment over the scandal involving her longstanding mentor Choi Soon-sil.
In the latest arrest, investigators are looking into NPS's support of an $8bn (£6.5bn) merger between two Samsung Group affiliates and whether Mr Moon used his influence as health minister at the time, to pressure it to back the deal.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare runs the pension service, which manages 545 trillion won ($451bn; £367bn) and was a major shareholder in Cheil Industries Inc and Samsung C&T Corp when they merged.
The NPS has denied previous reports that Mr Moon pressured the organisation to back the deal, and Mr Moon told reporters on Tuesday that he would cooperate with the investigation.