European debt weighs on markets

November saw the debt crisis in Europe come back into the spotlight. Portugal had its credit rating downgraded to junk status as public outrage over austerity measures erupted in a major strike. Spain was forced to pay the highest borrowing costs since 1997 at a sale of 10-year bonds. A disappointing bond auction in Germany raised the alarm that the debt crisis was starting to affect even the region’s powerhouse, as Europe’s most creditworthy nation found no buyers for almost half of the €6-billion of bonds on offer. But optimism was restored in the last week of the month by the promise of joint action by six of the world’s largest central banks.

Stock markets fall, then recover

After a volatile month, global stocks ended November just about where they had started. A rally in the final week triggered by renewed optimism in a European debt solution recouped losses from earlier in the month.

China growth slows, inflation falls

Chinese industrial output grew at its weakest pace in a year and inflation fell sharply, raising expectations Beijing may take steps to stimulate economic growth. China’s annual inflation rate fell to 5.5% in October from September’s 6.1% − the biggest drop since February 2009.

Canada’s GDP bounces back after second-quarter contraction

Third-quarter GDP grew faster than expected, at a 3.5% pace, thanks to strong oil prices. Canada’s top 100 research-focused companies spent $1-billion less in 2010 than the year before, representing the fifth year R&D spending has declined. Canadian manufacturing sales rose twice as fast as expected in September to the highest level since October 2008. Venture capital investments in Canadian start-ups jumped 51% in the third quarter, with $365-million raised, more than seven times the year-earlier quarter.

Dell warns of hard drive shortage; HP writes down losses

Dell quarterly revenue was flat, and the world’s No. 3 personal computer manufacturer warned that full-year revenue could be hurt by an industry-wide shortage of hard drives, a key component in computers, due to flooding in an industrial area of Thailand. HP announced a sharp drop in quarterly profit after writing off losses related to shutting down its mobile-software business.

China and Africa, the future of mobile phones

In the third quarter, China overtook the U.S. to become the world’s largest smartphone market by volume. Africa is the fastest-growing mobile phone market in the world, with the number of subscribers growing 20% per year and projected to reach 735-million by the end of 2012.

E-book war heats up

Google launched its e-book platform in Canada, providing more competition for Amazon and Kobo. Amazon is taking a loss on each US$199 Kindle Fire it sells, according to a research firm that pegs the cost at US$201.70. The loss sounds small until you consider the Fire is projected to sell between 3- and 5-million units this year. Amazon stock fell on the news.

Groupon sheds billions of shareholder wealth in first month

Groupon’s IPO valued the company at over US$13-billion, despite never having shown a profit. Shares closed up 31% on November 4, the first day of trading. By the end of the month, it shed one-third of its market value, wiping out nearly US$6-billion in shareholder wealth.

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