Neuer cautious over Ballon d"Or prospects

Germany’s World Cup winning goalkeeper Manuel Neuer on Friday played down his prospects of securing the World Player of the Year award over holder Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

“I’m certainly not favourite,” the Bayern Munich star told German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung.

“The other two are international ‘marques’, they’ve clearly got an advantage.”

If Neuer does receive the Ballon d’Or he will be the first of his countrymen to do so since Lothar Matthaus in 1990 and only the second goalkeeper after Lev Yashin, of the then Soviet Union, in 1963.

For Germany coach Joachim Loew, the 28-year-old would be a worthy recipient.

“Manuel deserves this reward, he’s taken the game to a new dimension,” Loew told domestic news agency SID, subsidiary to AFP.

Neuer, Ronaldo, who has claimed the FIFA honour twice, and Messi, a four-time winner, are the three finalists for the 2014 Ballon d’Or with the winner announced on January 12.

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Neuer cautious over Ballon d"Or prospects

Jamaica"s prospects shine brighter, says JP Morgan

BY KEITH COLLISTER

Friday, October 10, 2014    

IN its October Emerging Markets Outlook and Strategy dated last Friday, on the eve of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) annual global summit in Washington, leading US investment bank JP Morgan stated that Jamaica‘s “Prospects shine brighter”.

The bank’s reasons include the lifting of Jamaica‘s outlook to positive from stable by rating agency Standard and Poor’s, better tourism numbers from Europe and Canada, and healthy gains

in remittances.

The rating improvement, JP Morgan said, reflects improved external liquidity, a return to positive GDP growth, and success in meeting the fiscal targets, with “the elevated deficit being virtually eliminated”.

JP Morgan noted the trade deficit narrowed by 6.5 per cent to US$1.78 billion in January to May from US$1.91 billion a year earlier. Despite a 13.9 per cent plunge in exports to US$616 million, this was more than offset by an 8.5 per cent decline in imports to US$2.4 billion.

The investment bank said it expects the trade deficit to fall to US$4.4 billion for the full year 2014 compared to US$4.66 billion in 2013.

It also noted that stopover tourist arrivals rose 2.4 per cent to 1.3 million in January to July from 1.27 million a year earlier, primarily due to surges in visitors from Europe and Canada, much better than last year when the numbers had only “inched up”, as JP Morgan put it, by 1.1 per cent to 2.01 million.

Now, the bank has forecast stopover arrivals to climb 2.7 per cent to 2.06 million in calendar year 2014.

Remittances climbed 3.8 per cent to US $887 million in January to May from US$854 million one year earlier, compared with a 1.1 per cent rise to US$2.07 billion in 2013. The bank now expects remittances to grow four per cent in 2014 to US$2.15 billion, or roughly 15 per cent of GDP, driven by the key US source market.

Noting the surge in net international reserves in July to US$2.18 billion following the Eurobond issue, despite upcoming debt repayments such as the Eurobond due in October, JP Morgan still forecast net international reserves to improve by US$452 million to US$1.5 billion by the end of 2014, from US$1.05 billion in 2013.

In short, JP Morgan’s more positive outlook reflects the improvement in international confidence in Jamaica due to the bank’s recognition of our improved US dollar flows, including a reduction in the trade deficit, better performance in tourism, and more significant growth in remittances.

While not mentioned in its note, there has also been an apparent recovery in foreign direct investment from recent lows, particularly in tourism, and international players would also undoubtedly have taken note of the recent stability of the Jamaican dollar.

Indeed, at the latest Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) press briefing, co -chair Richard Byles suggested that tourism performance in the traditionally weak September appeared robust, adding that, very unusually, the exchange rate had appreciated slightly in a month when it is normally seasonally weak.

Answering his own question as to why this was the case, Byles suggested that the exchange rate no longer looked like a “one-way bet”, and he believed a lot of people had recently got out of US dollars, deflating what had become an exchange rate “bubble”, as people were now confident that the Bank of Jamaica “has the ability to defend the [Jamaican] dollar”.

However, he cautioned that the improvement in local sentiment was “not so

much” about the overall

IMF programme, where confidence remained very spotty.

The improvement in remittance flows was also seen in the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) Business and Consumer confidence indices released Wednesday, where despite a three-point reduction in consumer confidence, largely on the back of distress at the reduction in expected job prospects and less favourable expected changes in income, consumers counterintuitively reported a better quality of life, according to JCC pollster Don Anderson.

Some of this appears to reflect an improvement in the size and frequency of remittances, which continues to “cushion” consumers. This view is supported by the record numbers of Jamaicans reporting that they spend all their remittances, especially on utility costs, according to the JCC report.

The rise in remittances for Jamaica projected by JP Morgan is in line with regional and global trends, as a recently released World Bank report says remittances to the region are expected to reach US$64 billion, an increase of five per cent this year, compared to one per cent last year, with a further rise to US$67 billion in 2015.

The JCC report also reported a clear divergence between confidence in the tourist areas, which appeared to be improving, and Kingston, which was declining, no doubt reflecting the growth of the tourist industry.

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Jamaica"s prospects shine brighter, says JP Morgan

Mayberry bullish on economic prospects

Gary Peart, CEO OF Mayberry Investments, is expecting the company’s performance to improve as the Jamaican economy continues to pick up.

Mr. Peart, pointing to the first quarter performance in which Mayberry recorded a profit of $74 million, told RJR News that this is forecast to continue.

“There are certain growth platforms that we’ve put in place, for example corporate bond offerings. For the last couple months we’ve placed over a billion dollars in corporate bonds, and we see the future that we (can) generate revenues from that aspect,” he explained.

Mr Peart added that other aspects of driving revenues and profit for the company will include its focus on fixed income trading and advisory services.

According to him though, those services take longer to be realised.

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Mayberry bullish on economic prospects

So far, so good - Mouthwatering prospects in men’s 100m

MOSCOW, Russia — Usain Bolt made his first appearance in Moscow a memorable one yesterday as he cruised into today’s semi-finals of the men’s 100m on the opening day of the 14th IAAF World Championships at the Luzhniki Stadium.

The Jamaican sprinting superstar stayed calm after Cayman Islands’ Kemar Hyman false-started, to win the seventh and final heat in 10.07 seconds, and lead the Jamaican quartet into the semi-finals. Also through are Kemar Bailey-Cole, who won the first heat in 10.02; Nesta Carter, who also won his heat (#2) in 10.11 seconds, while Nickel Ashmeade was second in 10.12 seconds behind American Michael Rodgers, who posted the fastest time of 9.98 seconds in heat six, just ahead of compatriot Justin Gatlin, who won heat three in 9.99 seconds.Meanwhile, all three female 400m runners also advanced easily, while long jumper Francine Simpson had three no jumps and failed to advance, ending her championship sadly on day one.The 400m women all eased through their first-round assignments led by cancer survivor Novlene Williams-Mills, as well as Stephanie McPherson and Patricia Hall.“It feels good to just come out and compete,” said Williams-Mills, who wore a pink bracelet and pink laces in her running spikes in honour of breast cancer survivors.In her first race in over a month since failing to complete a race in Lausanne on July 4, Williams-Mills said it was good to be back on the track, adding that a knee injury that has been bothering her was only a slight concern.Central American and Caribbean Senior Championships gold medallist Simpson had a forgettable first day, failing to make a legal mark in the qualifying of the women’s long jump.But all eyes on the opening salvo of the Moscow games were on Briton Mo Farah, who continued his impressive track form by claiming a hard-fought victory in the world 10,000m, and the sprint phenomenon Bolt, who strolled to his victory, teasing the Moscow faithful who expect greater things come today and onward.The track icon and world record holder of both the 100m and the 200m, who is within touching distance of equalling American sprint legend Carl Lewis’ record of eight world gold medals, clocked his pedestrian time in a heat which featured neither American rival Tyson Gay nor his compatriot Asafa Powell after both tested positive for banned substances.The Jamaican saw teammate Yohan Blake claim victory in Daegu after his shock false start in the final, the one blip on his impressive CV that includes Olympic gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay events in Beijing and London, and five world titles, as well as the 100m and 200m world records.Bolt will be joined in today’s semi-finals by American rivals Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic champion, London bronze medallist and double world champion in 2005, and Mike Rodgers, who have both served doping bans.The duo were the only sprinters to clock sub-10 seconds times to serve notice that Bolt will not have it all his own way.“I am happy with my run,” said Bolt. “I took it easy as it was the first round. I just wanted to get my reaction and start right.“The false start in my heat didn’t affect me. I made that mistake in Daegu and now I’m staying focused,” Bolt said afterwards.Farah, who is attempting to replicate the double 5,000-10,000m gold he claimed at last year’s London Olympics, had a slow race pace, American training partner Galen Rupp and his own definitive race-end kick to thank for his victory.There was an all-too-familiar finish to the 25-lap race when Ethiopia’s defending world champion Ibrahim Jeilan tried to edge past Farah on the final bend.Two years ago in the Daegu Worlds, Farah wilted into second behind the sprint-clever Ethiopian, but a season dedicated to honing his speed this time paid dividends.With Jeilan and his three teammates plus a strong Kenyan line-up, Farah said he and Rupp, who both train in Oregon, Portland, with Alberto Salazar, had tried “to work together and to cover every move”.Jeilan took silver and Kenyan Paul Tanui, bronze, with Rupp just missing out on the podium in fourth.The second gold on offer on the opening day of competition went to Tanui’s teammate Edna Kiplagat, who became the first woman to retain the world marathon title.The 33-year-old, who could only finish 20th in the London Olympics last year, timed 2:25.44 to take gold ahead of long-time leader Valeria Straneo of Italy (2:25.58), while Japan’s Kayoko Fukushi took bronze (2:27.45).“I’m delighted I was able to defend my title successfully. I got confident I was going to win at the 40km mark when I upped my pace,” Kiplagat said.Olympic champion Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia never featured on her return to competition after being knocked over by a wheelchair competitor during this year’s London Marathon.In the decathlon, Olympic champion Ashton Eaton of the United States started well, clocking a leading 10.35sec in the 100m, a third-best 7.73m in the long jump, and 14.39m in the shot put.But the world record holder and silver medallist in Daegu dropped to fourth after a best in the high jump of 1.93m. Teammate Gunnar Nixon’s 2.14m saw him soar into the lead, followed by German Michael Schrader.Eaton duly retook the overnight lead with a 46.02sec in the 400m, leaving him on 4,502 points, just nine ahead of Nixon, and Schrader a further 66 points adrift.Reigning double world champion Trey Hardee, in fifth after three events, failed to register a height in the high jump for a disappointing end to his campaign.Today’s second day of action features the 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin and the 1,500m.Meanwhile, two-time Olympic Games 100m gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce leads two other Jamaican women, Kerron Stewart and Schillonie Calvert, in the first round of the 100m at 2:55 am today.Also, London Olympic Games bronze medallist Hansle Parchment and Andrew Riley are expected to face the starter in the men’s 110m hurdles heats, as Jamaica’s third entrant, Dwight Thomas, has withdrawn with an injury.The men’s 400m heats will also be on track with Javere Bell, Javon Francis and Omar Johnson down to compete.MOSCOW, Russia — Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt (left) cruises to victory to win his heat of the men’s 100 metres at the 14th IAAF World Championships at the Luzhniki Stadium here yesterday. (PHOTOS: GARFIELD ROBINSON)MOSCOW, Russia — Jamaica’s Francine Simpson in action in the women’s long jump.MOSCOW, Russia — Britian’s Mo Farah celebrates after winning the 10,000-metre gold.MOSCOW, Russia — Jamaica’s Nesta Carter (centre) wins his heat of the men’s 100m.(L-R) MOSCOW, Russia — Kemar Bailey- Cole after winning his heat of the men’s 100m. MOSCOW, Russia — Jamaica’s Stephanie McPherson in action in the women’s 400m heats.MOSCOW, Russia — Usain Bolt breaks into his trademark smile after winning his heat of the men’s 100 metres at the 14th IAAF World Championships inside the Luzhniki Stadium here yesterday. (PHOTO: GARFIELD ROBINSON)

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So far, so good - Mouthwatering prospects in men’s 100m