_Economy and Finance

Press Releases | Sep 27, 2010 Helaba presents a study on the Frankfurt office market: Commercial real estate financing in Germany emerging from the crisis In advance of the ExpoReal in Munich, Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thueringen has presented its study “Frankfurt office market: Quality counts”. In focus are the prospects for the office market in Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main economic region. Johann Berger, Vice Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors and responsible for real estate, also took the opportunity to comment on the outlook for commercial real estate financing in Germany. Whilst he sees no danger of an imminent credit crunch, at the same time risks for the supply of loans cannot be ruled out: https://www.helaba.com/en/Presse/PresseInformationen/2010/20100927-Immobilienstudie.html

Hedge Funds Updated: Sept. 17, 2010 Hedge funds have become a force in the financial markets, controlling trillions of dollars of assets. Even the largest of hedge funds are little known by the public, but what happens at hedge funds matters to just about every American.

Europe's High-Yield Bond Markets: Poised For Record-Breaking Issuance In 2010 Sep 16, 2010 | 00:06:02 min In this CreditMatters TV segment, Taron Wade, Standard & Poor's senior research analyst in Corporate Ratings, discusses our outlook for record-breaking issuance in Europe's high-yield bond markets for 2010. Other topics include what to expect in the fourth quarter, sector trends, and credit quality performance in Europe.

Global Finance ranks the 50 Biggest Banks Top 10 see $3.2 trillion drop in assets NEW YORK, September 13, 2010 — Global Finance reveals its annual ranking of the World’s 50 Biggest Banks, as measured by total assets. The list will be published in the October issue of Global Finance Magazine. The world’s biggest banks are beginning, once again, to enjoy calmer times. But while the people running the banks may be heaving a huge sigh of relief, some serious damage has been done. All but a handful of the banks at the top of the Global Finance World’s Biggest Banks list have seen their assets fall over the past year. The top 10 banks have seen $3.2 trillion hacked off their combined balance sheet, giving an idea of the severity of the carnage at the top of the table. It appears the spoils are accruing to the upstarts, though, as the total assets of the top 50 as a whole barely budged at $61.8 trillion.

Interim forecast September 2010 Interim forecast full document The Commission published its latest interim economic forecast on 13 September 2010. The underlying message of this update of GDP and inflation variables is that the EU economy, while still fragile, is recovering at a faster pace than previously envisaged. The updated projections include France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. The seven countries concerned represent 79% of EU and almost 83% of euro area GDP. Improved prospects for the EU economy Based on an update of the outlook for the seven largest Member States, GDP is now expected to expand by 0.5% in the EU and euro area in the third quarter and by 0.4% and 0.3% respectively in the fourth. This represents a slight upward revision compared to the the spring forecast, mainly on account of spill-over of the momentum from the second quarter. Growth forecast for the EU economy revised up For 2010 as a whole, GDP growth is no...

Moody's:Aug Global Spec Grade Default Rate 5.0% V 12.3% Yr Ago | iMarketNews.com WASHINGTON (MNI) - Moody's said Wednesday that the default rate for global speculative-grade debt fell to 5.0% in August vs. 12.3% a year ago, while it was 5.1% in the U.S. and down to 4.: The trailing 12-month global speculative-grade default rate fell from 5.5% in July to 5.0% in August, said Moody's Investors Service in its latest default report. A year ago, the global speculative-grade default rate stood at 12.3%. The ratings agency's default rate forecasting model now predicts that the global speculative-grade default rate will fall to 2.7% by the end of this year and then edge lower to 2.0% a year from now. ... iMarketNews.com Moody's:Aug Global Spec Grade Default Rate 5.0% V 12.3% Yr Ago Bloomberg Default Rate Will Fall to 2% Next Year, Moody’s Says

How Light Emitting Diodes Work Inside this Article Introduction to How Light Emitting Diodes Work What is a Diode? How Can a Diode Produce Light? LED Advantages Lots More Information See all Solid State Electronics articles Light emitting diodes, commonly called LEDs, are real unsung heroes in the electronics world. They do dozens of different jobs and are found in all kinds of devices. Among other things, they form the numbers on digital clocks, transmit information from remote controls, light up watches and tell you when your appliances are turned on. Collected together, they can form images on a jumbo television screen or illuminate a traffic light. [more...]