Word: banking
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...pools of wealth, controlled by governments in countries that have been getting fat off high oil prices and a booming global economy, are viewed suspiciously by those who fear foreign powers might use them to gain competitive advantages or push political agendas. But now, thanks in part to the bank deals, some fears have been allayed; companies in need of capital are courting investments from oil- and gas-rich states such as Abu Dhabi and Russia as well as from rising economies like China, which recently formed a $200 billion SWF to help the government invest its burgeoning foreign exchange...
...other words, up to 12.4% of a conservative Swiss bank was sold to foreign entities. Weeks before, shaky Citi, also in need of capital to repair its subprime-holed balance sheet, was handed a lifeline by a similarly unlikely rescuer. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a $625 billion sovereign wealth fund (SWF) run by the tiny Persian Gulf emirate, announced it was forking over $7.6 billion for a 4.9% stake in Citi. Though Citi still faces difficulties, the cash infusion helped stabilize its plunging stock price and signaled to rattled markets that money was available to help subprime victims...
...appears to have prompted CIC to rein in its ambitions. Instead of making splashy investments in the U.S. and Europe, the fund is now looking closer to home. It recently bought into Central Huijin Investment Co., a government agency with stakes in several of China's biggest state-run banks and brokerages, and will reportedly plunk an additional $66 billion into the Agricultural Bank of China. To the extent that CIC looks for investments abroad, its chairman, Lou Jiwei, said in a late-November speech, it will stick to index funds--equities linked to the performance of entire markets...
...worldwide boom in commodities had even more to do with it. If you graph the value of the Canadian dollar with the prices of oil, natural gas, certain metals and grain, "it's pretty hard to tell which is which, down to every little squiggle," says TD Bank Financial Group chief economist Don Drummond. It's no coincidence the loonie was at its strongest against the U.S. dollar when oil prices first shot toward $100 per bbl. That same week, the loonie posted record values for the year against every other major currency as well. One Canadian dollar was buying...
...same goods. On Nov. 7, the day the loonie reached $1.10 U.S., the currency's value swerved and swung over a three-cent range in a single day - a difference that for the Blue Jays, at least, means most of the annual salary for slugger Alex Rios. "Volatile," Bank of Canada governor-to-be Mark Carney calls the dollar fluctuations. No kidding...