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Taiwanese banks suffer losses from bad loans. CENS reported that owing to bad loans, all of Taiwan's newer private banks, except Bank SinoPac, have suffered operating losses in the first 11 months of this year. Taishin International Bank suffered a loss of TWD 9.164bn. Jih Sun International Bank has suffered a loss of TWD12.315bn with a negative earning per share of TWD 6.97 (USD 0.21), as a result of writing off TWD 9.87bn in bad loans.

Sonatrach allotted offshore oil block. Sonatrach International Petroleum Exploration & Production BVI (SIPEX), in partnership with the Norwegian Statoil Group, has been allotted an oil block in deepwater block 9 in the Mediterranean, off Egypt . The block covers an area of 8,368 sq kms and is located to the west of the Nile Delta. The block has water depths of about 1,000-3,000 metres. SIPEX is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonatrach.

The reasons behind the initiation of an FX position are almost as diverse as the participants in the market itself. Some believe that technical analysis is the only true way to trade FX; others believe that yield alone drives rates. Over the years, I’ve come across other beliefs. One dealer used to take cable positions on the basis of which way a crane he could see out of the window was pointing. We had a period when we traded on whether the tide was in or out. It should come as no surprise to hear of a company that bases its trading decisions on what it says is contained in the Bible.

Sofia commodity exchange starts greenhouse gas trade next year. The local commodity exchange is preparing to launch greenhouse gas trade as of the beginning of next year in line with the EU schemes for implementation of the Kyoto protocol. The ministry of environment will maintain a national register of CO 2 quotas that will support the gas trade. The country’s overall ceiling of CO 2 is set at 125mn tonnes until end-2007 and a big part of it is allocated to the transport sector. As far as current emissions are well below this level, the government could also offer for sale gas quotas or accumulate them as a reserve for the next reference period of quota distributions from 2008 to 2012. Following the line EU directive, local authorities have also distributed quotas for around 50mn tonnes of CO 2 to around 150 firms and some of them could be offered for sale next year. Over the new reference period, Bulgaria will have the obligation to cut greenhouse emissions 8% below the level from the base year 1988 set under the Kyoto protocol. Due to the rapid decline of the heavy industry from the communist era as well as ongoing shifts to environment friendly technologies, harmful emissions will be much below the set target and the government will be able to sale significant amounts of non-utilised CO 2 quotas, which are traded slightly below EUR 10 per tonne at present but the price has reached EUR 30 a few months ago. The local commodity exchange will separately consider options for launching trade with CO 2 futures in medium terms.

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The reasons behind the initiation of an FX position are almost as diverse as the participants in the market itself. Some believe that technical analysis is the only true way to trade FX; others believe that yield alone drives rates. Over the years, I’ve come across other beliefs. One dealer used to take cable positions on the basis of which way a crane he could see out of the window was pointing. We had a period when we traded on whether the tide was in or out. It should come as no surprise to hear of a company that bases its trading decisions on what it says is contained in the Bible.

Bonsian Hemofarm to operate part of German Stada production. Germany’s pharmaceuticals producer Stada will transfer part of its production in its majority controlled subsidiary Bosnian drug company Hemofarm, ONASA reported. According to Stada CEO Harmut Retzlaff, Hemofarm facilities will be used mainly for Stada’s antibiotics production, adding that the move came in response to the German legislation change under which higher contributions and taxes will be paid as of 2007. RS PM Milorad Dodik stated that the entity government would provide all the necessary conditions to facilitate the process. Hemofarm president Miodrag Babic said that EUR 3mn (KM 5.9mn) worth of investments are planned in the operation of the new product lines. By the end of August or the beginning of September some 30 new workers will be hired, while the antibiotics production is expected to be launched in 2008, when additional 60-70 new employees will be hired.

Six PSE members to be market makers for ECM issue. The Prague Stock Exchange (PSE) has closed contracts with six companies, members of the PSE, which will become market makers of property developer ECM Real Estate Investments issue. These are brokerages Atlantik financni trhy, FIO, burzovni spolecnost, Patria Finance bank and WOOD & Company Financial Services, as well as domestic banks Ceska Sporitelna and HVB Bank Czech Republic. We note that trading with ECM shares on the PSE main market will begin today, Dec 7 and the share issue can be traded in both SPAD and automatic trades. The price at which the shares will be traded is expected to be defined today. The initial public offering (IPO) was made at EUR 55 (CZK 1,540) per share, but investors expect much lower price. The share issue trading will continue in standard regime as of Dec 11. The IPO is aimed at raising capital for the company’s future real estate projects in the Czech Republic and Russia .

The reasons behind the initiation of an FX position are almost as diverse as the participants in the market itself. Some believe that technical analysis is the only true way to trade FX; others believe that yield alone drives rates. Over the years, I’ve come across other beliefs. One dealer used to take cable positions on the basis of which way a crane he could see out of the window was pointing. We had a period when we traded on whether the tide was in or out. It should come as no surprise to hear of a company that bases its trading decisions on what it says is contained in the Bible.

Lebanon’s Banque Audi reportedly bidding for Saudi Arabia’s Hollandi Bank. Lebanese daily The Daily Star reported that Banque Audi is apparently bidding for ABN AMRO's stake in Saudi Arabia ’s Hollandi Bank. Apart from Banque Audi, the other contenders for Hollandi Bank include National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) and Standard Chartered, etc. The Daily Star reported that that the deal size for the bank is estimated at USD 1.8bn. Banque Audi refused to confirm the news reports. However, the adviser of the chairman of Banque Audim Freddi Baz confirmed that the bank continues to look at expanding its operations in the region. Banque Audi already has operations in Egypt , Jordan and Syria .

I emailed a friend who is a successful banker: “London is damp and grey. I am denuded of gossip. Send sustenance swiftly.” His response was immediate:

EC: Hungary does not meet any of Maastricht criteria. Hungary does not meet any of the Maastricht criteria for joining the euro-zone, the regular biennial Convergence Report of the EC concluded. We note that among the 9 assessed countries Hungary is the only one with such result (the country is the only one which does not meet the long-term interest rate criterion). While the EC conclusion brings little surprise as far as the specific criteria are concerned, we note that the Report stressed that Hungary continues to have some legal incompatibilities in the convergence process. More specifically the EC said that the amendments on the Act of the National Bank of Hungary , which were approved at end-2004, did not fully remove the problematic areas pointed out in the 2004 report. Furthermore, there is incompatibility in respect to the prohibition of monetary financing. Overall the commission concluded that there should not be change in Hungary ’s status as a “member state with derogation”