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1-3 Minute Gist

Direct From the Editor / On Topics Vital to the Nation

How China's import cuts importing 8.5 million barrels a day down from 12.5 million and it's large oil reserve will keep oil prices low

07/15/2026

Not covered in the media for Hormuz is the combined response of US, China, India, Japan and the European Union to find alternatives to Hormuz making it less or not relevant to oil prices and oil supplies

07/10/2026

The Constructive Aspects of the situation in July 2026 from the Hormuz Crisis not covered in the Media

06/27/2026

Browse Articles or use Lyrarc's US patented "Groups" and "Links" for new insights. A Lyrarc Group of Articles on a topic gives insights into particular angles shown in the Group Title. A Lyrarc Link shows more specific insights for 2 articles.

All Topics Articles

LyrArc brings in selected articles from many of the world's top publications.

Articles are selected by experts and you can see the gist of the important articles.

Credit Remains Scarce in Hurdle to Recovery

  
Wall Street Journal - 02.27.2010 Original article ›
Jon Hilsenrath, Jon, Hilsenrath
LyrArc Article Gist
Financial conditions- as measured by the quantity of money available and the availability of credit- tightened in the fourth quarter of 2009. Issuance of asset backed securities went down from $51 billon in the third quarter to $29 billion in the fourth quarter, and commercial paper outstanding declined to $1.1 trillion in January 2010 from $1.3 trillion in September 2009. A ""financial conditions index" produced by Columbia, NYU, Princeton and Deutsche bank, Goldman Sachs, shows the conditions tightening, revealing a financial sector that remains weak and impaired even with very low rates by the Fed.
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A wholesale invasion

8 Groups   
Economist - 05.20.2010 Original article ›
Economist.Com
LyrArc Article Gist
Big retail supermarket style stores are taking off in urban areas of India. Indian and western companies Tata and Tesco, Godrej, Reliance, Bharti and Wal-Mart, are setting up these stores. A government backed study by ICRIER shows that even though the arrival of the big stores results in a drop in sales of 23% in the 1st year, thereafter sales recover and in 5 years these smaller stores are back to where they started. And gradually the protests like those seen in 2007 are fading from these smaller stores.
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Original article 3 minutes, gist 1 minute

Abbott Labs Spices Up Its Drug Portfolio

7 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 05.22.2010 Original article ›
Harsh Joshi, Harsh, Joshi
LyrArc Article Gist
Analysts say Abbott has paid a steep price for India's Piramal Health Care. Abbott is buying the Indian drug company for $3.72 billion, which is 48% above Piramal's market cap. Going by Piramal sales of $500 million a year , this is 7 times expected sales. Daiichi Sankyo paid 4 times sales for Ranbaxy in 2008. Analysts say this will give Abbott a 7% market share in India's branded generics market. Yet this market is highly fragmented with the top 20 makers having 60% of the market and many small companies.
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India Expands Its Global Role in Drug Production

2 Groups   
New York Times - 07.06.2010 Original article ›
Heather Timmons, Heather, Timmons
LyrArc Article Gist
The Indian pharmaceutical industry is expected to grow by 13% to $24 billion in 2010. R&D is a special focus, as new drugs can be developed at much lower cost in India. Mr. Piramal, for instance, kept the R&D operation of Piramal when he sold the rest of the company to Abbott Labs of the USA. The Piramal lab in Mumbai has 300 researchers and scientists, and Mr Piramal says he can develop new drugs at a tenth of the $1.5- $2 billon cost it takes for this in the USA and Europe.
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Housing Market Stumbles

2 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 07.21.2010 Original article ›
Nick Timiraos, Nick, Timiraos, Robbie Whelan, Robbie, Whelan
LyrArc Article Gist
Housing market looks weak in Juy 2010 with the U.S. Census Bureau reporting single family housing starts falling in June by 0.7%. Permits for single family starts fell 3% in June 2010. A Wall Street Journal quarterly survey shows rising inventories in 28 metropolitan areas. Inventory was up at the end of June 33% from a year before in San Diego, and 19% in Los Angeles. Compared to 2008 when the banking crisis caused problems, now it is the general economic conditions that are acting as a drag on the housing market.
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In South America, a Mine of Riches and an Economic Sinkhole

5 Groups   
New York Times - 09.11.2010 Original article ›
Alexei Barrionuevo, Alexei, Barrionuevo
LyrArc Article Gist
Chile and the dilemma of copper exports taking up 57.8% of exports in 2009, from 54.4% in 2005, making 15.5% of GDP. With the surge in China's growth Latin America remains as tied to commodities exports as it has been for decades, facing boom and bust cycles and not able to diversify into value added and industrial products. A regional economic commission says in a report, that Latin American and Caribean exports were over 50% in raw materials in 1980 and declined to 27% in 1999, and back up to 39% in 2009.
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Indonesia to Pare Foreign Investors' Mining Stakes

1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 03.08.2012 Original article ›
Eric Bellman, Eric, Bellman, Deden Sudrajat, Deden, Sudrajat
LyrArc Article Gist
A presidential decree made in Feb. 2011 requires foreign companies to cut stakes in mining companies to less than 50%. Previously upto 80% ownership was allowed in mining companies by foreign companies. The regulations show that foreign investors with 100% of ownership of mines are required to reduce their stakes by 20% within 6 years, 30% by 7th year, 37% by 8th year, 44% by 9th year, 51% by 10th year, selling to domestic investors. The idea is to maintain a share in domestic ownership of assets. Mining contributes 12% of Indonesia's GDP.
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Questions as Banks Increase Dividends

1 Links 3 Groups   
New York Times - 03.14.2012 Original article ›
J. B. Silver Greenberg, J., B., Silver Greenberg
LyrArc Article Gist
Prof. Admati, of Stanford, says that with the March 2012 stress tests the Fed has prematurely announced the banks are healthy. Prof. Cole of DePaul University, questions some of the assumptions used by the Fed as too optimistic even though it used a 13% unemployment rate and decline in stock and real estate values by 21%. He says the loss of $56 billon on home equity lines of credit and second lien mortgages, 13% of the portfolio, is highly underestimated. He says the legal liabilities of banks are also underestimated.
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Bloomberg Takes On Smoking Overseas

1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 03.22.2012 Original article ›
Betsy Mckay, Betsy, Mckay
LyrArc Article Gist
Bloomberg Philanthropies has committed $600 million to fight tobacco use worldwide between 2007-2016. Tactics used in New York City reduced the city's smoking rate from 22% in 2002 to 14% in 2011. These tactics will now be used in countries around the world from China to other developing countries. Already an effort has been funded in Turkey including putting a new smoke-free law in place in 2008. According to Tobacco Atlas cigarettes contributed to 6 million deaths in 2011, 80% in the developing world, with high use in China, Indonesia and India.
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Foreign Investment Jumps in Indonesia

1 Links 7 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 04.23.2012 Original article ›
Eric Bellman, Eric, Bellman, I Made Sentana, I, Made, Sentana
LyrArc Article Gist
Foreign direct investment in Indonesia surged 30% to 51.5 trillion rupiah ($5.6 billion) for the first quarter of 2012. Indonesia's Investment Board says the mining sector gained $1.1 billion of FDI, telecom $800 million and plantations $500 millon. Singapore invested $1.2 billion, Japan $600 million, and S. Korea $500 million. Meanwhile S&P retained the BB+ credit rating for Indonesia because of concern about the government's decision not to raise subsidized fuel prices by 33% to cut a fuel subsidy bill of $15 billion, and other "policy slippages."
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Boardroom Cuts Won't Cure AstraZeneca

5 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 04.26.2012 Original article ›
Hester Plumridge, Hester, Plumridge
LyrArc Article Gist
With no clear strategy to pursue vaccines or generics like its competitors, and no promising new drugs in the pipeline, Astra Zeneca faces an uncertain future. Acquisitions are costly with a high premium in 2012. Nestle paid about 20 times earnings before interest, depreciation and taxes for Pfizer's baby food nutrition business. Astra Zeneca's first quarter earnings in 2012 declined by 44%. Government price reductions and competition from generics led to first quarter 2012 sales decline by 11%. New management takes over in June from the current CEO.
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Lessons From Chernobyl for Japan

1 Groups   
New York Times - 03.19.2011 Original article ›
Ellen Barry, Ellen, Barry
LyrArc Article Gist
Chernobyl nuclear disaster area in Ukraine as it is today. Cesium's half-life is 30 years and strontium's half-life is 29 years. Scientific estimates show that it takes about 10-13 half-lives, or about 300 years, for the radioactive effects to disappear and for life to return to the area. The contaminated area around the Chernobyl reactor is about 15,000 square miles or about the size of Switzerland. This place gives some idea of what can be expected for the area around the Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan. A reporter visits this area.
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Stepping on the Gas Needn't Crash Detroit

4 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 03.23.2011 Original article ›
Liam Denning, Liam, Denning
LyrArc Article Gist
Better balance sheets, higher resale values, the trend away from subprime financing, and a lineup of vehicles that give better mileage (even with trucks acounting for 50% of sales) with the shift to lighter crossover vehicles, will help Detroit automakers face higher gas prices. These factors should help prevent a replay of the very serious problems of 2008, when gas prices exceeded $4.00 a gallon and the U.S. faced a financial crisis. At that time in 2008 vehicle sales declined by 18% and truck sales were down by 25%, according to Credit Suisse.
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Electrolux to Buy GE Appliances Business for $3.3 Billion

7 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 09.09.2014 Original article ›
Jens Hansegard, Jens, Hansegard, James Hagerty, James, Hagerty
LyrArc Article Gist
Electrolux acquires GE's appliance business for $3.3 billion in 2014. This follows competitor Whirlpool's acquisition of a majority stake in Italian company Indesit for $1 billion in 2014. The deal would raise Electrolux market share in the U.S. to 37% from about 20%. The CEO of Electrolux, Keith McLoughlin, says this enables Electrolux to use GE's capacity for washing machine production in the U.S. to avoid import duties of about 33% for imports from Mexico. He says GE's posiiton as the top maker for home builders in the U.S. is a major plus.
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How the Web Drags on Some Retailers

4 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 12.02.2014 Original article ›
Suzanne Kapner, Suzanne, Kapner
LyrArc Article Gist
Kohls online retail sales show margins of 4% compared to 10% for in-store sales. Wal-Mart is losing money on online sales as it invests in technology and infrastructure for Web operations. Best Buy's margins are thin on online sales. Shipping and handling, higher returns, and lower prices lead to lower margins on online retail sales. The lower costs from not having to maintain an actual store network with real estate and labor costs is offset by these costs which can run as high as 25%, according to industry analysts.
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Health-Care Stocks Avoid Market Malaise

1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 01.07.2015 Original article ›
Daniel Strumpf, Daniel, Strumpf
LyrArc Article Gist
The defensive nature of invesments in healthcare sector with increasing uncertainty in the 4th quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015. The S&P 500 Healthcare Index trades at 17.3 times earnings for the next 12 months, up from 16.7 at the beginning of 2014, according to FactSet. By comparison the S&P 500 trades at 16 times earnings. A major factor pushing earnings is the development of new drugs for cancer, and other diseases. FDA approved 41 new drugs in 2014, up from 27 in 2013, and 39 in 2012.
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Ukraine’s Hryvnia Plunges After Rate Rise

1 Links 3 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 02.07.2015 Original article ›
Nick Shchetko And Alexander Kolyandr, Nick, Shchetko, And, Alexander, Kolyandr
LyrArc Article Gist
Ukraine's central bank says its foreign currency and gold reserves dropped to $6.4 billion in Jan. 2015. The conflict in the east with the flareup in Fe.b 2015 is taking its toll on the Ukrainian economy. The central bank raised interest rates and moved to a freely floating exchange rate in Feb 2015. The currency hryvnia lost half of its value in 2014. Ukraine's currency lost one fifth of its value on Feb. 5, 2015. FactSet figures show the decline was down to 25 hryvnia to the U.S. dollar.
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Greek Financing Talks Break Down Amid Deep Divisions Over Bailout

6 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 02.17.2015 Original article ›
Gabriele Steinhauser, Gabriele, Steinhauser
LyrArc Article Gist
Breakdown of negotiations between Greece and EU finance ministers led by Dijisselbloem of the Netherlands on February 16, 2015. Dijisselbloem says the best way forward is for Greece to take a 6 month extension of the current program, because more time is needed to work out the details. Finance minister Varoufakis of Greece says Greece should not have to make cuts that are clearly recessionary. The bailout ends on Feb. 28. Without an agreement reached Greece loses access to 7.2 billion in funds from the EU, needed to make repayments due in March.
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Pirelli’s Chinese Buyer May Not Deliver More to Investors

2 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 03.27.2015 Original article ›
Helen Thomas, Helen, Thomas
LyrArc Article Gist
ChemChina's acquisition of Pirelli's tire business focusses on the more valuable tire consumer unit, Pirelli's technology for premium tires, and increasing growth in Asian markets. The acquisition involves a complex transaction which includes Rosneft of Russia, which owns a major share in Chemfin that has 28% of Pirelli stock. Institutional holders control 47% of the stock, with other holdings by Mediobanca, the Benetton family and retail investors. For Pirelli this is the first step in a journey with a major Chinese investor and a focus on the Chinese consumer market.
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Nigeria’s New Broom

  
Wall Street Journal - 04.02.2015 Original article ›
Wsj Editorial, Wsj, Editorial
LyrArc Article Gist
This WSJ editorial on Muhammadu Buhari, the newly elected president of Nigeria, welcomes the peaceful transition to a new government in Nigeria. This comes at a time when Nigeria faces a crisis, with the Boko Haram insurgency in the north east and the decline in oil revenues, compounding the worsening economic troubles from corruption and failure to build infrastructure. It also reminds readers about Buhari's role as military dictator for 20 months in the 1980's, and the need for a peaceful transition in four years if he fails to deliver on promises.
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Andrew Lack Returns to NBC News Amid Turmoil

12 Groups   
New York Times - 06.09.2015 Original article ›
John Koblin, John, Koblin
LyrArc Article Gist
NBC News division brings back Andrew Lack 20 years later to run the division. Lack had success at NBC News during the days of Tom Brokaw at the news division. He faces a different situation now with the rise of digital media, the decline in ratings of MSNBC, and other problems including the Brian Williams episode. Lack worked at Sony Music, Bloomberg, and Voice of America, but was never at home the way he was at NBC News. At Bloomberg his goal of increasing viewership was never realized, and Bloomberg remains a small television channel.
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The Wall Street Journal

7 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 06.30.2015 Original article ›
Things To Know About The Supreme Court's Decision On Epa Mercury Rules, Things, To, Know, About, The, Supreme, Court's, Decision, On, Epa, Mercury, Rules
LyrArc Article Gist
The Supreme Court ruling on EPA mercury regulations gives smaller plants with coal fired plants more leeway in installing scrubbers. Large companies have already committed to installing scrubbers for coal fired plants. Regulations are only one reason for the shift to natural gas from coal. Lower prices of natural gas and increasing supplies are a major reason. The U.S. will reduce dependence on coal for energy from 39% to 36% in 2015, with natural gas increasing from 27% to 31%, and renewable solar wind energy making up about 13%, according to EIA.
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Hottest Housing Markets Hit Headwinds

2 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 11.23.2013 Original article ›
Nick Timiraos, Nick, Timiraos
LyrArc Article Gist
A WSJ survey of U.S. housing market prices and inventory in November 2013. Price gains moderated in the 3rd quarter of 2013. Gains were 1% in Orange County, 2% in San Diego, and 3% in San Francisco in the 3rd quarter 2013. Gains were over 20% in the 12 month period ending in September 2013 for San Francisco, Phoenix, San Diego, and Orange County, according to Zillow Inc, real estate website. Increase in interest rates on mortgages and rising prices have reduced the affordability of homes for new buyers.
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Time for Fannie, Freddie?

1 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 07.08.2008 Original article ›
Peter Eavis, Peter, Eavis, David Reilly, David, Reilly
LyrArc Article Gist
Questions are raised after a 16% drop in Faniie's share price and 18% drop in Freddie's share price whether the common equity in both will have any value left once the housing crisis has taken its toll. If capital raining by Fannie and Freddie do not get done at the right size which could be upto $46 billion of capital for Fannie and $26 billion for Freddie according to a Lehman Brothers report then the government may be forced to do something like takeover Fannie and Freddie leaving shareholders with pennies.
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U.S. Stocks Look Pricey, But Bargains Beckon Overseas

7 Groups   
Wall Street Journal - 02.01.2013 Original article ›
Joe Light, Joe, Light
LyrArc Article Gist
P/E ratios for stocks in the U.S., Europe and the emerging market countries in 2013. A large gap between the U.S. and Europe for longer term returns, 22 for the U.S. compared to 10 for southern European countries such as Spain, Italy and Ireland. This uses the cyclically adjusted returns based on the Shiller P/E which takes average ten year earnings adjusted for inflation. Using earnings expectations for the next year the U.S. P/E is 13.5 compared to 12.7 for developed markets including Germany and the UK.
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