What's Important in the Financial World (1/2/2101) Exxon Venezula Deal, EU PMI Low

The PMI of the eurozone contracted in December. Official numbers from research firm Markit showed a figure of 46.9 for the final month of the year. A number of 50 marks the line between expansion and contraction, so the 46.9 cannot be taken as anything other than bad news. Eurozone manufacturing is in poor enough shape that it almost assures a recession has taken hold in many of the nations there. That, in turn, means that GDP growth that is supposed to be married with austerity budgets to shrink deficits cannot occur, at least not next year.

Global Auto Sales

The fastest growing major car manufacturer in the world, Hyundai, said its expansion will slow considerably next year. It expects a 6% improvement in unit sales to seven million. That is a significant drop from the double-digit increases of the past two years. What the South Korean maker of the Hyundai and Kia brands did not say is what the precise cause for the forecast is. One explanation is that global car sales will slow in 2012. The other one, which is just as plausible, is that companies including Volkswagen, Toyota (NYSE: TM) and General Motors (NYSE: GM) have started to increase their sales more rapidly than last year. These three companies continue to race for the privilege of claiming to be the largest car manufacturer in the world. Toyota will benefit from a return to full production as its plants, hobbled by the March earthquake and Thailand floods, will be 100% back on line.

A Little for Exxon

An international arbitration body has awarded Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) $980 million for assets that were seized by the government of Venezuela in 2007. The world’s biggest oil company had ask for $10 billion. The head of the South American nation, Hugo Chavez, said the amount was proof that Exxon had taken advantage of his country’s natural resource base. The Exxon operations were large enough that the award seems low. It certainly will eliminate incentives for large multinationals to do business in Venezuela.

Verizon Kills Fee

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) killed a plan to charge customers a $2 fee for telephone or online bill payments. The telecom firm said it needed the money to offset costs it incurred for the activity. The decision to post the $2 fee was greeted with a huge public uproar. Verizon must have done the math and figured that it would lose more customers than the fee would yield it.

Douglas A. McIntyre