By Jerry Maglunog Many stock markets in the world are booming. This is a sign that many companies are offering publicly their shares. Wherever you look at Nasdaq, London Stock Exchange and Paris Bourse, the trend is an upswing.

The world’s leading information technology (IT) vendors recently gathered in Manila to present solutions to Philippine companies wanting to adopt the latest trends in big data and analytics.

Vista Land’s subsidiary VLL International Inc. successfully priced last June 11 a $300 million offering of senior unsecured notes due 2022 with a nominal rate of 7.375 percent, the first 7-year tenor Notes issued by the Company under its $1-billion debut medium term note programme.

Property giant Megaworld, the country’s leading developer of integrated urban townships, is optimistic that its rental income will grow to P9 billion this year as it continues to aggressively expand its leasing portfolio driven by office, commercial centers and hotels. Megaworld’s rental income reached P2.7 billion in 2010. In 2011, this soared to P3.8 billion, a remarkable 41-percent year-on-year growth. …

By Jerry Maglunog United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) may be one of the top unibanks in the country, but the government is having a hard time selling it because of its political baggage. When the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.(PDIC) announced last year that the government is selling its 72.2-percent stake in the bank, four unibanks immediately sent their intention to buy the …

A further rise in government spending for April 2015 is seen to perk up the economy for the rest of the year, an economist at investment bank ING said. ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said they “believe that the trend of accelerated spending would continue.”

Luxembourg—Haven’t we been here before? The last time Greece was facing a hard deadline to secure a deal with its bailout creditors, in February, it agreed to one only when it feared a worst-case scenario—a run on the country’s banks.

New York—The burger chain that put “supersize” into the American vernacular is slimming down: For the first time in more than 40 years, and perhaps ever, McDonald’s says its number of restaurants in the US is shrinking.

Tokyo—From the slopes of Mount Fuji to the temple streets of Kyoto, tourists are cramming Japan’s prime sightseeing spots, puzzling their way through Tokyo subways, and splashing out cash on cosmetics, sushi and high-tech toilet seats.

Washington—United States President Barack Obama’s trade agenda appears to be back on track after an extraordinary bipartisan rescue operation mounted in the week since it was derailed in the House of Representatives by rebellious Democrats backed by organized labor.