The United States and its allies are swiftly tightening an economic cordon around Iran by imposing new strictures that could inflict far more economic pain on the Islamic republic than previous sanctions.

June 16 (Bloomberg) -- The yen traded near the lowest level in more than a week against the euro amid increasing signs the global economy is gathering momentum.

Japan’s currency fell versus all 16 major counterparts before a report today that may show U.S. industrial production expanded in May by the most in four months and after Japanese demand for services rose for the first time in three months. The Australian and New Zealand dollars traded near the strongest levels since mid-May after a global rally in stocks and falling volatility boosted demand for higher-yielding assets.

June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Seth Klarman almost doubled his hedge fund’s assets to $22 billion in the past two years as the industry shrank by sticking with the off-the-beaten-path investments he’s pursued since starting out in 1983.

Unlike John Paulson, who made $15 billion by betting against home mortgages, Klarman didn’t see one big trade that would profit as markets began to collapse. The founder of Baupost Group LLC focused on corporate bonds he calculated would yield solid returns even if the economy got worse.

Watching the swings of the stock market lately has been an exercise in anxiety management.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is viewing its joint venture with United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) as a long-term investment that could even see USA host the ICC Champions Trophy, possibly after 2015. “(2013 is) a real long shot. We talked about that, but ICC regulations require two venues pretty close to each other and at the moment we’ve only got one (in Florida),” NZC chief Justin Vaughan told the New Zealand Herald. “It also needs a number of practice facilities and at the moment there are no other turf wickets in Florida, so it would be a stretch. From the ICC’s perspective, and a commercial perspective, there would be a lot of enthusiasm for it, but it’s probably a bridge too far. ICC events beyond 2015, certainly that is something very much on the horizon.”.....................

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