Archive | Economy

After brief presidential campaign, celebrity businessman planning to visit Israel to consider investment in real estate, tourism

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump, a known supporter of Israel, met with Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov over the weekend. During the meeting the Israeli minister advised Trump to visit Israel in order to consider the possibility of investing in tourism and local real estate.

Trump is considered as one of the biggest real estate entrepreneurs in the US, with properties not only in the US but around the world. Recently, Trump became more politically involved, although his attempt to win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination was a very short one.
Foreign Investments
‘Israel is one of safest choices for investors’ / News agencies
Bloomberg’s ‘Riskless Return Ranking’ says Israeli market ‘produced better risk-adjusted returns than all other developed stock markets in the past decade’
Full Story

“Your visit will signal the world that Israel is a safe place for tourists,” Misezhnikov said to Trump. The minister stressed that an investment in Israel is a smart financial decision and not only a statement of political support.

Trump responded positively to the offer, and requested Executive Vice President at the Trump Organization Michael Cohen to set preparations for the visit as soon s possible.

Source: Ynetnews.com

Israel, under threat of war from its neighbors since being founded in 1948, produced better risk- adjusted returns than all other developed stock markets in the past decade as the technology-driven economy attracted global investors.

The BLOOMBERG RISKLESS RETURN RANKING shows the Tel Aviv TA-25 Index (TA-25) returned 7.6 percent in the 10 years ended yesterday, after adjusting for volatility, the highest among 24 developed-nation benchmark indexes. Israel beat Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HSI), the next-best market with a risk-adjusted gain of 6.7 percent, and Norway, which had the highest total return.

Israel outperformed as it fought a monthlong battle against Hezbollah in 2006, was involved in a similar conflict with Hamas two years later and is now threatened by Iran’s nuclear program. International investors including Warren Buffett bought local companies and the economy, steered by Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, grew more than twice as fast as the U.S. last year. Israel’s stocks may extend gains as Apple Inc. (AAPL) and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)acquire the country’s technology startups.

“Israel is an exciting place to invest,” Michael Steinhardt, the former hedge fund manager who produced returns averaging 24 percent a year over almost three decades until he retired in 1995, said in a telephone interview from Fisher Island, Florida. “The country is surrounded by enemies, it’s always on the edge of extinction, but it expands and prospers.”

Beating Norway

The Israeli gauge returned 161 percent including dividends over the last decade, the third-best performance among developed markets after Norway’s OBX Index and the Hang Seng.

“This is a great achievement,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to the article in the Knesset today.

While Oslo’s index produced the highest return, its volatility was 35 percent greater than that of the TA-25. Statoil ASA (STL), the world’s seventh-largest oil exporter, comprises more than 25 percent of the gauge, making the market susceptible to changes in oil prices. Only one developed-market benchmark gauge, Denmark’s OMX Copenhagen 20 index, gives a bigger weight to a single company.

The TA-25’s biggest members are Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. (LUMI) and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA), each with an 11 percent share. The biggest weighting in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX), the U.S. benchmark, is Apple Inc. with 3.8 percent.

Fischer’s Role

The risk-adjusted return, which isn’t annualized, is calculated by dividing total return by volatility, or the degree of daily price-swing variation, giving a measure of income per unit of risk. A higher volatility means the price of an asset can swing dramatically in a short period of time, increasing the potential for unexpected losses compared with a security whose price moves at a steady rate.

Bank of Israel’s Fischer, a former thesis adviser to Ben S. Bernanke, helped steer the economy back to growth after the worst global recession since World War II. Fischer, who is serving his second term as governor, began buying foreign currency in 2008 after the shekel reached a 12-year high. That more than doubled the central bank’s reserves in an effort to help exports, which are equal to 40 percent of gross domestic product.

Israel’s economy probably expanded 4.8 percent in 2011, compared with 1.8 percent growth in the U.S., according to the International Monetary Fund. That follows five years of average annual growth of 4.2 percent, boosted by foreign investment in local companies.

Outpacing G-10

Private consumption expanded at the fastest pace in at least five years in 2010, climbing 10.2 percent, according to Central Bureau of Statistics data. The growth attracted Hennes & Mauritz AB (HMB), Europe’s second-largest clothing retailer, which has opened eight local stores since March 2010.

The country’s gross domestic product will grow 3.2 percent in 2012, according to Finance Ministry projections. That’s almost three times the 1.2 percent average for the Group of 10 countries and faster than the 2.2 percent expansion in Norway, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Israeli stocks benefited in the past from investor interest in emerging markets, and may underperform when the global economy slows, said Michael Shaoul, chairman of New York-based Marketfield Asset Management, which manages $1.3 billion.

“The TA-25 was a big beneficiary of EM-related flows over the last decade,” said Shaoul, whose Marketfield Fund beat 97 percent of its peers in 2011. “It doesn’t matter how MSCI categorizes Israel, it still trades with the emerging-market complex.”

Market Upgrade

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) gained 189 percent in the 10 years through 2011, not including dividends, about 10 times the MSCI World Index of developed countries’ gain, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Israel was added to MSCI Inc.’s developed market index in May 2010.

After that change, investors pulled a net $795 million from Tel Aviv shares by the end of the year, while in 2009 they added $1.7 billion. All investors tracking the MSCI index had to rebalance their portfolios as Israel was removed from the emerging-markets gauges.

This year, the TA-25 had its best start of a year since 1997, with a 3.1 percent rally in January. The measure gained 0.5 percent today. IBM said on Jan. 31 that it’s acquiring Worklight Inc., the closely held provider of a mobile application platform for smartphones and tablets whose research and development is based in Shefayim, Israel, as the world’s biggest computer-services provider looks to enhance its mobile- service offerings.

IBM, Apple

The announcement came less than three weeks after Apple, the world’s biggest smartphone vendor, acquired Anobit Technologies Ltd., an Israeli company that makes flash-memory drive parts for the iPhone and iPad. Apple paid about $390 million, according to two Anobit shareholders, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Buffett, 81, who in 2006 bought Israeli tool manufacturer Iscar Metalworking Cos. for $4 billion, and Steinhardt, 71, credited the success of the country’s companies to technological innovation. For a small nation, Israel has contributed a disproportionately high number of Nasdaq companies, Steinhardt said.

Steinhardt opened New York-based Steinhardt Management Co. in 1967 and is now chairman of WisdomTree Investments Inc., a New York-based asset-management firm that offers exchange-traded funds. Buffett, through four decades of takeovers and stock picks, builtBerkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/B) from a failing textile mill into a $195 billion provider of insurance, energy and consumer goods, and accumulated the world’s third-biggest personal fortune.

‘Looking for Brains’

“If you go to the Middle East and you’re looking for oil, skip” Israel, Buffett said in 2010. “If you’re going looking for brains, just stop at Israel. You don’t have to go anyplace else.”

Israel’s stock market outperformed even as the country was under constant threats of violence. The Hezbollah movement, a Shiite Muslim political party that is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the U.S., fired rockets into the country’s north in the July-August 2006 Second Lebanon War. Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, a three-week offensive against the Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza strip, in December 2008.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel should be wiped off the map. Israeli leaders have been warning publicly that time is running out to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons at a time when the country faces security threats as the so-called Arab Spring creates turmoil in its Middle Eastern neighbors.

‘Military Action’

“It will take a lot more than a simple military action to keep the stock exchange from working,” Gilad Alper, an analyst at Excellence Nessuah Investment House Ltd. in Tel Aviv, said by telephone. “The last full-scale war that we had here that involved huge parts of the economy was in 1973. Since then, everything has been relatively small.”

Israeli companies have benefited from diverse geographic revenue. Teva, the world’s largest maker of generic drugs, and Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL), the harvester of chemicals from theDead Sea, comprise more than 20 percent of the TA-25 and get less than 6 percent of their revenue from Israel. Exports make up about 40 percent of Israel’s economy and the country’s high- technology industry accounts for 47 percent of manufactured overseas shipments, according to the central bureau of statistics.

‘Attractive’ Dividends

“There are a lot of Israeli companies with a global footprint, and many are global leaders,” Steven Schoenfeld, the founder of New York-based BlueStar Global Investors LLC, a financial information and research company, said by telephone.

Israeli companies also returned more money to investors than those in other developed markets. The dividend yield of the TA-25 Index is 3.53 percent, compared with a 2.66 percent average for companies on the MSCI World Index of developed markets. It’s boosted by companies such as Cellcom Israel Ltd. (CEL) and Hot Telecommunication System, with 14 percent and 12 percent yields, respectively.

“The dividend yield of companies on the TA-25 Index is very attractive,” said Jacob de Tusch-Lec, a London-based money manager at Artemis Investment Management LLP in London, which oversees $17 billion.

‘Safe Model’

Standard & Poor’s raised Israel’s credit rating for the first time in four years in September, lifting the country to A+, in line with Chile and Slovakia. S&P cited local economic growth for the upgrade as well as expected production of natural gas by the middle of the decade that will further increase the economy’s efficiency and strengthen its fiscal and external positions.

“Israel has very well-capitalized banks and an economy that is well-balanced with the high degree of high tech,” in addition to “one of the best central bankers in the world,” Artemis’s de Tusch-Lec said. “This is not an economy that was built on cheap leverage,” he said. “This is a safe business model.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Tal Barak Harif in New York at tbarak@bloomberg.net

Source: Bloomberg

Prestigious lingerie retailer to open two stores at James Richardson’s Ben Gurion Airport compound

Victoria Secrets is coming to Israel: The famous Lingerie, clothes and perfume brand will be sold in Israel through duty free enterprise, James Richardson. The first two stores will be significantly smaller than the American model of large stores.

Negotiations for the brand’s franchise have completed and negotiations between franchising enterprise and the Israel Airport Authority have begun. The planned stores will span 100-120 square meters, and will be located inside and outside the airport’s duty free compound.

According to estimates, about 300 of the 2,000 items the brand line’s carries will be featured in the stores, especially those featured in its beauty line: Beauty products such as perfumes, soaps and lotions are becoming an important share of the chain’s sales in recent years, due to low prices and prestigious branding.

The Israeli stores will also offer a variety of accessories including bags, belts and jewelry; as well as selected underwear items that do not require fitting, such as panties, baby-dolls and pajamas. The stores aim to cater to impulse-shoppers and as such will not have changing rooms.

The Victoria’s Secrets brand has over 1000 stores in the US, mostly in shopping malls, and over 100 independent stores that feature its beauty products.

For years Voctoria’s Secrets refused offers to globalize the brand. Even the Canadian store was opened under a different name. Many Israeli business corporations tried to convince the pro Israel CEO, Leslie Wexler, to import the brand to Israel including the Sakal family, the Gindi family and Rami Shavit.

Source: Ynetnews.com

A Big Apple tech upstart is hoping cycling great Lance Armstrong still has some giddyap left in the tank.

The seven-time Tour de France winner has snapped up a stake in Mobli, a socialnetworking startup, and will use his fame and legendary drive to help the company gain traction in the competitive field of mobile apps, The Post has learned.

The precise amount of the investment could not be learned, but Mobli (www.mobli.com ) is expected to announce the deal as soon as today.

Armstrong is the second bold-faced name to purchase a stake in Mobli — and continues a growing trend among tech startups to try and copy a blueprint well executed by other tech companies, like Twitter, of using celebrity power to attract consumer traffic.

Moshiko Hogeg, the tech firm’s founder, became interested in hooking up with Armstrong because the sports star was among the first to gain 1 million Twitter followers, proving his social media power. Armstrong is expected to start posting content to the Mobli site as soon as today.

Last year, Leonardo DiCaprio bought a stake in Mobli, a social-networking firm that features photos and video on the go, as part of a $4 million round of fundraising. Hogeg said the DiCaprio investment could grow by tenfold after the next round of financing is complete later this quarter.

Hogeg has shunned major venture capital dollars at super-valuations in favor of smaller doses of cash from the celebrity world. He said there is interest from big Silicon Valley firms to invest — and that six such offers were entertained in the Armstrong round of investing.

“It doesn’t mean we won’t go with one VC in the end,” he said. “Right now we just can’t justify it, and so far we are getting along great with investors whose added value is not in the tech world.”

Hogeg would not disclose the amount that Armstrong invested but said it was minimal and not as much as DiCaprio’s contribution.

The fast money is a sign of the social-media situation Mobli finds itself in, a world in which Facebook is planning to turn public with about $5 billion in revenue but approaching $100 billion in value.

Mobli is pre-revenue, a term startups use while they focus on perfecting the product and growing usage but before they make any money.

The firm’s base is less than a million early adopters, while Facebook has more than 800 million.

Foursquare, perhaps New York City’s hottest socialmedia company, reached 10 million members in its first three years, enough to catapult it toward just under $1 billion valuation.

Mobli will lean on DiCaprio, as well, to develop content for the site, the type of content that Google covets for YouTube, which is spending about $100 million for celebrities to create their own channels along with other initiatives to spur original content creation.

Read more: 

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/lance_lot_com_i2GQrHxNKrhK2V90Ui4wUO#ixzz1kzsA5sV0

IVC reports Israeli or Israel-affiliated companies raised $2.14 billion from foreign, Israeli investors – highest amount since dot-com crash

In 2011, 546 Israeli or Israel-affiliated high-tech companies raised a total of $2.14 billion from Israeli and foreign VC investors, according to a report by the Israel Capital Venture Research Center (IVC) and KMPG.

This is the highest amount raised in the past 11 years since the dot-com crash last decade.

The figure reflects an increase of nearly 70% as measured against the $1.26 billion raised by 391 companies in 2010, and a 91% increase as compare with the $1.12 billion raised in 2009.

IVC and Money Tree released different figures due to the fact that IVC includes a larger number of companies in its calculations, including companies that are indirectly connected to Israel such as those founded by Israelis or Israeli activity in Silicon Valley.

According to IVC, the average investment per company was $3.92 million in 2011; $3.23 billion in 2010; and $2.51 in 2009.

A total of 124 Israeli high-tech companies raised $569 million from Israeli and foreign VC investors on the fourth quarter of 2011, constituting a 9% raise as compared with $522 million raised by 137 companies in the previous quarter and a 65% leap from the $344 million raised by 100 companies in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The average amount per round per company was $4.59 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, as compared with $3.81 in the previous quarter and $3.44 million in the same quarter the year before.

Foreigners are coming

In the fourth quarter of the previous year, 77 companies raised more than $1 million each. Five of the companies raised over $20 million, 13 companies raised $10-20 million each, and 17 companies raised between $5 million and $10 million each.

In 2011, the amount raised by Israeli companies in financing rounds for foreign investors alone was $785 million or 37% – the highest in the past decade. For comparison’s sake, in 2010 only $269 million were raised from foreign investors (21% of the investments) and in 2009 – $ 205 million (18%).

In the fourth quarter of 2011, foreign investments amounted to $218 million – an 8% decline from the $236 million in the previous quarter, which had the highest amount of foreign investments in the past decade.

Source: Ynetnews.com

We are delighted to inform you that we have inaugurated the first TOUS store in Tel Aviv, Israel. The store, located in the popular Azrieli Mall, is our flagship in Israel.

We are planning to celebrate an official inauguration in the store in the coming months with a very special event and we will share all the details with you then.

The new store follows along the lines of the new TOUS store concept, in which the product takes on all the protagonism and all the customers’ needs are graciously attended to in a pleasant and comfortable setting. We are thrilled with our new store and we look forward to your visit!

Source: http://blog.tous.com/

Aid App Art Award Canada Cancer Coexistence Competition Concert Economy Education Environment Europe Fashion Festival Film Food Funny Gay Green Hollywood India Innovation Innovation Israel Jerusalem Jewish LGBTQ London2012 Music Nightlife Obama Olympics Party Peace Photography Research Science Sports Tel Aviv Toronto Tourism Travel TV Video

WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck requires Flash Player 9 or better.