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Friday May 22, 2015

// May 20th, 2015 // Comments Off on Friday May 22, 2015 // Daily News

The 5 states that draw the most Chinese investment
Michelle Caruso-Cabrera | @MCaruso_Cabrera
CNBC.com

Chinese companies now employ more than 80,000 people in the United States, up from less than 15,000 five years ago and virtually zero back in 2000.
Those numbers are according to a new report from the Rhodium Group, which keeps one of the most complete databases of Chinese foreign direct investment into the United States. The report was commissioned by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, a non-profit that promotes understanding between the U.S. and China.
The top states for Chinese investments are California, Texas and North Carolina, each of which has received more than $5 billion in Chinese investment since 2000. Illinois is fourth with $4 billion, and New York comes in at fifth with $3.8 billion.
When it comes to employment, North Carolina is No. 1, with 15,000 Americans being employed by Chinese companies.
A significant employer in North Carolina is Smithfield Foods, which was bought by a Chinese food company two years ago in a controversial acquisition. Smithfield is headquartered in Virginia, but has production facilities throughout the country.
Read MoreImpatience grows with the ‘Ronald Reagan’ of Asia
The second-largest employer in North Carolina is Lenovo. In 2005, Lenovo acquired IBM’s PC business including its operations in the Research Triangle. It took American investors by surprise at the time, as it was the first major acquisition of an American brand by a Chinese company. It awakened the U.S. investing community to the rise of China, not just as a manufacturing giant, but as a country that wanted to take on a greater global presence.
In California, the Chinese employ more than 8,300 people, mostly in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. The investments are in technology, manufacturing, business service operations and real estate.
Companies including Baidu, Huawei, Alibaba and Complete Genomics have their U.S. offices there, as does real estate company Shenzhen New World Group.
Though Chinese investment in the United States has grown in recent years, it’s still tiny compared with the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, France and Canada.

Today’s Inspiration

Holding on to Hope

by Joyce Meyer – posted May 20, 2015

And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect? My hope and expectation are in You. Psalm 39:7

God’s Word says that He wants us to be blessed (see Deuteronomy 29:9). It states we can and will be blessed in every way when we walk in God’s will. Satan wants to keep people fearful and hopeless. Hopelessness steals our God-given peace and joy.

The enemy tells people they will never have anything, their life will never change, and things will never get better. And when people believe his lies, they remain hopeless and discouraged. We receive what we believe, whether it is positive or negative, so it’s vitally important for us to have faith in God constantly, like Mark 11:22–24 tells us to do.

Refuse to be hopeless and put your trust in God’s Word. Be like Abraham, of whom it is said that although he had no reason to hope, he hoped in faith that God’s promises would come to pass in his life. As he waited, he gave praise and glory to God, and Satan was not able to defeat him with doubt and unbelief (see Romans 4:18–20).

Prayer of Thanks
Father, thank You for the power of hope. I am grateful that no matter what the circumstances around me look like, I can place my hope in You and in Your Word. I am at peace today because You are the source of my hope.

Tuesday May 19, 2015

// May 19th, 2015 // Comments Off on Tuesday May 19, 2015 // Daily News

Goldman Sachs: Market’s going nowhere for a year
Jeff Cox | @JeffCoxCNBCcom
CNBC.com

Now that the S&P 500 has staked yet another record high, the stock market indicator may have nowhere else to go.
Goldman Sachs analysts believe the index may climb a bit higher before its ascent is over at least for the next 12 months. Strategist David Kostin and his team see the index rising to 2,150 in the next couple of months—another 1 percent or so from its mid-day levels Monday—before seesawing around and ultimately settling around 2,100 by year’s end.
The next 12 months hold little prospect for gain, according to the analysis, with the index at just 2,125 in 12 months, which would be basically flat from here.
The forecast comes as Wall Street deals with economic growth considerably slower than expected and a backdrop in which the Federal Reserve will have to weigh its desire to increase interest rates against decidedly weakening fundamentals. Goldman holds to a forecast that the Fed will hike in September, but futures market traders now assign just a 52 percent chance the central bank will tighten even in December, with just a 20 percent for a September move.
In the face of dwindling returns, investors could have little else but dividends to count on. Goldman forecasts that all of the 2 percent gain in total return by the end of the year will come from dividends, which are expected to account for 46 percent of market returns for the next 10 years. By contrast, prices have accounted for 80 percent of total return during the current bull market, which has seen the S&P 500 surge about 220 percent since the March 2009 low.

Today’s Inspiration

Known by Our Fruit

by Joyce Meyer – posted May 19, 2015

[Jesus said] Either make the tree sound (healthy and good), and its fruit sound (healthy and good), or make the tree rotten (diseased and bad), and its fruit rotten (diseased and bad);for the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit. You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the hearing the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:33-34

A woman I’ll call Dorothy knew more about the church and every member and visitor than anyone else did. She was fairly well known as the church gossip. “One thing about her,” a friend said, “she’s not prejudiced; ¬she talks about everyone,” and he laughed. He also added, “She’ll probably get into heaven, but God may have to cut off her tongue first.”

One day as I stood near the front door, I heard Dorothy telling several people about one of the deacons, “But it isn’t up to me to judge him,” she said. The venom poured from her mouth, and she went on to mention several others. Of course, she was critical of each one.

I listened to her and realized something. She was only speaking from what was already inside her heart. That’s obvious, but I grasped something else. Dorothy was so critical of herself, so filled with disgust for herself, how could she speak well of others?

Too often people make promises that they’ll speak better of others and gossip less. They really try, but nothing ever changes. This is because they are trying to change their words without changing their thoughts. That’s a bad solution, because they start at the wrong end. What they need to do is look inward, asking, What is going on inside of me?

“For out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks,” Jesus said. As I considered those words, I felt a deep compassion for Dorothy. She had allowed Satan to fill her mind with critical, harsh thoughts. She didn’t speak much about herself, but I’m sure she was totally critical of herself as well as other people, and when she spoke, the evil words came out of her mouth.

Jesus said that a tree is known by its fruit. The same is true of our lives. Everything begins with a thought. If we allow negative and unkind thoughts to fill our minds, they bear fruit. If we dwell on the bad, we produce bad fruit.

As we observe people, it’s easy to see the fruit of their lives. They show either good fruit or bad. It’s that simple. But the fruit is the result of what’s going on inside. We can learn a lot about a person’s character simply by listening to their conversation. The more loving our words and actions are toward others, the more loving and kind our thoughts will be.

If I believe God truly loves me, and if I enjoy fellowship with Him every day, I’m planting good seeds in my own heart. The more good seeds I plant, the more good fruit I produce. The more I think kind and loving thoughts, the more I see others as kind and loving.

“Out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Kind or judgmental words don’t just come to us they come out of our mouths because we have nurtured them in our minds. The more we open ourselves to the Spirit’s positive and loving thoughts, the more we pray, and the more we read God’s Word, the more good fruit we produce on the inside and that good fruit shows itself by the way we behave toward others.

Dear loving and forgiving God, I ask You to forgive me for all the harsh things I’ve said about other people. Also, please forgive me for allowing harsh thoughts to fill my mind about myself or about others. I know I can’t make myself more loving, but You can. Please, help me focus on healthy, positive thoughts, for I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.