The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

By Michelle Locke / The Associated Press Paris—Just around the corner is a typical Parisian rush-hour scene, with bumper-to-bumper cars honking their way down the Boulevard de Clichy, past garish shop fronts and the blazing red sails of the Moulin Rouge.

Power Mac Center, Apple’s premier partner in the Philippines, takes its customers on a new adventure as it partners with the country’s most prestigious travel-rewards program for the PAL (Philippine Airlines) Mabuhay Miles-Power Mac Center’s “Adventure Awaits.”

With the Philippines having 7,107 islands worth exploring, how can you run out of things to do and places to visit? You can customize your travel itinerary according to what you want to do. It can be a spontaneous food trip—trying out every dish, no matter how weird it may be—or one of the country’s many festivals. It can also …

By Luis Leoncio  Had the Aquino administration not scrimped and spent the annual budgets as stipulated in the General Appropriations Act, the economy could have grown from 8 percent to 10 percent, which was what was required to eliminate poverty in the country, according to noted economist Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas. 

By Jerry Maglunog  Asian conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has identified power and cement as its major growth drivers in the growing Philippine economy. SMC President Ramon S. Ang said SMC is spending $800 million to build two new cement plants in Pangasinan and Quezon.

By Riza Lozada  Big foreign investors continue to bypass the country, despite government claims of improved business perception, as shown by the country’s measly 4.6-percent share in the total foreign direct investments (FDI) that flowed into the economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in the first half of 2015. 

By Lito U. Gagni  Local market players, as well as employees of top snack producer Liwayway Marketing Corp., are opening bank accounts in Hong Kong, preparatory to the projected listing of the company’s shares in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. 

By Luis Leoncio The Lee family of South Korea that controls the Samsung Group, tops the list of Asia’s richest, with a combined wealth of $26.6 billion, Forbes Asia said during the launch of its inaugural ranking of the top 50 Asian business dynasties. 

Pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) sees huge opportunities from record foreign outflows. 

Filipinos lose track of almost half of their average weekly expenses due to what is termed as mystery spending, according to a recent online survey from Visa.