EMERGING MARKETS

Japan's Olympus Corp will unveil new endoscopes on Wednesday, its first major product launch since an accounting fraud erupted last year and threatened the 92-year-old firm's survival.

Japan's Olympus Corp will unveil new endoscopes on Wednesday, its first major product launch since an accounting fraud erupted last year and threatened the 92-year-old firm's survival.

The release of Chilean Q4 GDP data on Monday confirms that the economic slowdown in late 2011 was not as marked as many had initially feared according to Capital Economics.

An IMF team has arrived in Cairo Monday for talks, on a $3.2 billion loan facility for Egypt. This can be a crucial meeting especially as collapse in investor confidence since last year’s revolution has left Egypt on the brink of a balance of payments crisis according to Capital Economics.

Colombia was one of the best performing emerging markets last year, growing by around 6 percent, and it should continue to do well over the coming years. However there are three reasons to think that the current pace of growth is unsustainable according to Capital Economics.

According to market figures released by research firm IDC, China is bound to overtake the U.S. in smartphone shipments by the end of 2012, becoming the leading market. IDC’s latest Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker forecast that China’s smartphone market will climb from 18.2 percent in 2011 to 20.7 percent in 2012, while U.S.’ market would drop from 21.3 to 20.6 percent over the same timeframe.

The International Monetary Fund is highly unlikely to approve Ukraine's request to restructure $3 billion of loan repayments due this year, but the fact that the government is even considering such a move demonstrates the extent to which it is running out of options, according to Capital Economics.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc will hold its annual board meeting in India later this month.

The numerous benefits of high oil prices for the Russian economy have concealed the bigger picture that over the past decade they have also served as a hindrance to much-needed political and economic reform, and hence, faster growth according to a report by Capital Economics.

U.S. stocks finished Tuesday with the worst one-day decline so far in 2012 as a sell-off spread from Europe driven by fear of a disorderly default in Greece and a slowdown in global economic growth.

China Investment Corp., China's sovereign wealth fund, received $30 billion from the Chinese government late last year, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Vladimir Putin triumphed in Russia's presidential election on Sunday and, tears rolling down his cheeks, called his victory a turning point that had prevented the country falling into the hands of enemies.

The surge in oil prices is unlikely to have a major impact on inflation in emerging Europe but the impact on growth could be more significant according to the report.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), the world's biggest heavy machinery maker, will pay about $447 million to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to gain sole control of their joint venture, Caterpillar Japan Ltd.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NSYE: TM) announced Wednesday it will increase the output of its Thai engine-building subsidiary Siam Toyota Manufacturing Co. in 2014, in an effort to meet growing demand in Asia.

Seventy-five years ago, Mopar began as a name for an antifreeze product. That antifreeze brand has grown into the global automobile parts and service arm of Chrysler Group LLC, and its latest announcement further expands its global footprint.

HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank, said paying rising wages in Brazil, China and other emerging market is the price of avoiding the slowdown being felt by most of its rivals as it posted the largest 2011 profit by a western bank.

Procter & Gamble, the consumer products maker, said on Thursday it would eliminate 5,700 jobs over the next year and a half as the company unveiled a plan to cut $10 billion in costs over the next four years.

Geely Holdings Group Co. said Wednesday it will assemble cars for sale this year in Egypt and North Africa, a move that signals a shift to emerging markets as China's economy slows and auto makers face mounting competition in Western markets.

President Barack Obama has made a proposal to lower the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent in an attempt to ensure that companies will be paying less in taxes for the U.S. to remain competitive globally. The proposal could intensify the tax-reform debate with the Presidential election approaching.

The upside potential for Facebook (and social media networks) in India is enormous.