Jack Ma, founder and CEO, of Alibaba, the Chinese stock sensation, is turning his focus on Hollywood. Hoping to acquire high-quality online content for Alibaba, Ma will meet in the coming week with with executives of Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Company, Viacom, Time Warner, Warner Brothers, Sony, and Twenty-First Century Fox to discuss the right of distributing U.S. movies and TV shows to Alibaba users.
After making $25 billion from its initial public offering, launched in September, Alibaba is looking for content to sell to its ever-expanding base of costumers. Alex Wang, an analyst for IResearch, an Internet consulting group, says: “Entertainment and film is a very important part of Alibaba’s ecosystem… The film industry is a really lucrative business, which will become an important growth driver for Alibaba.”
Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Chinese
At a Question and Answer session at Tsinghua University in Beijing, last week, Mark Zuckerberg talked for a full half hour in Mandarin Chinese. Analysts say that the gesture by Zuckerberg was a fantastic public relations move for the vast potential market of Facebook users in China. As China reported an annual economic growth rate of 7.3% in the third quarter, learning Chinese may prove to be a worthwhile asset for Zuckerberg after all.
Check out the clip below:
European Banks Face the Ultimate Test
The European Banking Authority (EBA) recently conducted the ultimate stress test on 123 banks operating within the European Union. Analyzing data which measured the financial health of the banks at the end of 2013, the study concluded that twenty-four of the banks tested failed the stress test, and reflected poor financial conditions.
The European Banking Authority has allotted the banks nine months to raise the necessary capital. The Euro has already been affected by the news, reaching a low of 136.74291 against the Japanese Yen earlier today. Analysts predict that Central Banks across the world will reallocate foreign exchange reserves away from the Euro. Meanwhile, traders are bullish on the Yen as Japanese monetary policy announcements reflect the strengthening currency of the country. Domestic stimulus measures are expected to be enacted soon by Japanese authorities which has aroused great confidence in the Yen.
