WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. wholesale prices fell in April, reflecting a big decline in gas and energy costs. But outside that drop, inflation was tame.
The Labor Department says the producer price index, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer, dropped 0.2 percent in April. It was the first decline since December and the biggest drop since October.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, the so-called core index rose 0.2 percent.
For the 12 months that ended in April, wholesale prices have risen just 1.9 percent, the smallest 12-month change since October 2009.
Modest wholesale inflation reduces pressure on manufacturers and retailers to raise prices. That helps keep consumer prices stable.
Gas prices spiked earlier this year. But they have dropped 5 percent since peaking last month.
Qatar goes on European shopping spree - Daily Telegraph
Meanwhile, in Doha, another QH executive, Hussain Al Abdulla declares: "Anything at the right price I'm willing to buy."
Such remarks provide a rare insight into the activities of the usually secretive fund, which competes against larger, more experienced sovereign wealth funds and is on the hunt for top tier brands or strategic assets that have a development angle for Qatar.
Bankers, however, say that Qatar's scatter-gun approach of late has been hard to understand.
Building stakes in Total and Shell - amid rumours it's also sizing up Italy's Eni - hardly squares with attempts to diversify its assets away from oil and gas. It also built a stake in Lagardere, the publishing house behind Paris Match and Elle, while its sister fund has built a stake in Germany's Siemens.
But according to sources close to QH, "it is not necessarily correct to label the investment institution as 'opportunistic'. From time-to-time opportunities arise to invest in high quality businesses, both listed and unlisted, in a meaningful way. Sometimes, the prevailing macroeconomic environment creates a large number of such opportunities".
QH's stake in Xstrata, which is valued at around £2.4bn, has spooked other shareholders who worry the stake building has tipped the balance Glencore's way as it tries to win over enough of the Swiss miner's shareholders to back a proposed $90bn merger. But a sources said: "QH is generally supportive of management and not agitating for change."
Mr Al-Sayed has also stressed the firm's ambitions in the commodities sector, saying the recent lack of investment across the sector points to looming shortages and a price spike from 2016. QH has also been looking at direct investments into mines as well as building its Xstrata stake.
But across all of Qatar's investments there is usually more than one angle. This can be put down to "relationship investing", strategic thinking or sometimes just desperation to put money to work. One example is the 5.98pc stake in Credit Suisse, which is matched by ownership of the bank's HQ, and the decision to use them as advisers.
The staging of the 2022 FIFA World Cup has accelerated Qatari investments into football, whether through funds like QH or directly from the royal purse. "Wherever they put money, there will be more coming, from a different source - but with a single mindset behind it all," said one City source.
Where you see the direct pay back for the wider population of the country is in investments like Porsche and Volkswagen, which has led to science parks being built in Doha with intellectual property coming from both the car manufacturers.
But Qatar's opulence is relatively new. By an accident of geography, this one-time impoverished British protectorate - for a long time most closely associated with pearl fishing - has transformed into a monied principality with more hold on Europe than the old Venetian trading empire.
It now finds itself sitting on 26 trillion cubic metres of gas – the world's third largest reserve. As a result, its per capita income has soared to $83,000 - second only to the banking enclave of Liechtenstein.
Its ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who trained at Sandhurst and sent his son to Dorset's Sherborne public school, took the throne from his father in a peaceful coup when the latter was holidaying in Switzerland. Since then, the Sheikh has been super-sizing the emir's global political and economic influence - as well as the nation's sporting prowess.
This has included becoming a pivotal military ally to the US and the region's ground breaking Al Jazeera media network which helped shine light and galvanise the Arab Spring.
But Qatar has deduced that it will only raise its profile if it flexes its financial muscles in Europe, where rival investors are having such a torrid time.
Shopping at chain stores for basics - Stuff
CATHERINE WOULFE Which is your favourite of the big chain clothing stores? I guess my most important criteria is value for money - by which I mean cost-per-wear - but it's also important that the clothes fit real women not mannequins, that you don't have to sift through piles of leopard-print jeggings to find something decent, and that the staff are polite and competent. I would love to hear your thoughts, because at the moment it seems like all my clothes are falling apart, all at once.
I'm talking basics. Tops for wearing under dresses. Black pants for work. A black cardigan which is made of wool, not cotton or acrylic, and which has lovely long sleeves, because who wants cold wrists?
Yes, there are alternatives to these stores. I buy lots of stuff from designer sales (especially Workshop and Misty Lang) and I trawl Tattie's and other recycle places. But sometimes a girl just needs a plain grey long-sleeved T-shirt. And sometimes she only has $30.
Supre, for me, is out. Their clothes make me feel old and fat and I'm 29 and a size 10. Their music also drives me nuts. There's simply too much stuff in their stores, and most of it looks like it would fall apart or fade after the first wash.
I own three dresses from Max, all bought on sale for $60ish down from over $100. They've lasted really well - like, four or five years - but at the moment there's nothing in store that I would wear. Pitched a little bit older than me, I think.
Glassons? I loved it when I was 14. I loved the bright singlet tops and those black bootleg pants. I still pop in now and then but can't remember the last time I actually bought something there - there's always just one thing I'd change about each garment, and everything costs about $10 more than the same thing elsewhere. The staff are nice. But I couldn't believe it the other day when I asked a girl whether they sold cords, and she didn't know what I was talking about. Corduroy. You know. Like soft jeans. Kind of like velvet with lines in it. Cords.
"Um, we do have these velvet leggings?"
There are stacks of things I want from Country Road. Cords, for one. It's generally good quality, especially the knitwear - I have a long, wear-every-day cardy that's in its fourth winter now. But it's expensive, unless it's on sale, and the sales are so insanely busy I'm not sure they're worth it. I do really like the bright green they're using this season though...
Witchery does amazing sales, and I've bought a few tops and pants there over the years. Their shoes (when on sale) are great, too. But I've had a few of their garments get bobbly really quickly, even with careful handwashing. It's made me wary.
Cotton On is off and on. Cheap. Not too annoying to shop there. Lots of good basics. I own heaps of their clothes, and have been surprised at how well they've lasted - in winter, I wear two of their $15 long-sleeved tops every second day, pretty much, and they've done three years now. This year I've bought trackpants for $35 (which were great, until the waistband started unravelling) and jeans, for $40 and $50. One of the legs on the $40 pair twists, so the seam goes down the front of my calf. And the fly ripped out of the $50 pair the first time I wore them. So now I'm not so sure...
OK, this is getting too long - which stores did I miss? Where do you usually shop and why? Is there anywhere you just avoid?
- © Fairfax NZ News
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