Eagle Eye Opener: China Loses Appeal as Manufacturer; Rio Tinto Takes Big Loss; Blackrock’s ETF Deposits Soar

China Losing Ground as Global Go-to Manufacturer (YahooFinance)

For the first time since the world’s financial crisis in 2008, foreign direct investment in China dropped. The 3.7 percent reduction in 2012 to $111.72 billion suggests the world has begun to look elsewhere in Southeast Asia and Latin America for inexpensive means of production. For investors, this situation could spell the breakout of another emerging nation’s market or the beginning of a softer Chinese production scene.

Rio Tinto Loses $14 Billion and 2 Executives (AP)

Commodity Giant Rio Tinto PLC reported that it would take a $14 billion write-down in February — driven mainly by the company’s acquisition of a Mozambique coal company and losses in its aluminum business. And two of the company leaders responsible for those decisions will be written off along with the lost billions. CEO Tom Albanese and Doug Ritchie will be separating from the company “by mutual consent” — but not until July to help with the management transition. Rio Tinto investors may want to consider “transitioning” their funds out of the company.

BlackRock’s ETF Deposits Boom 42 Percent in Q4 (Bloomberg)

ETF investors cheered the world’s largest money manager this morning, as BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) announced the company’s exchange traded fund deposits rose 42 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. These results, along with the company’s 25 percent gain in overall net revenue (to $690 million) offer abundant proof that CEO Laurence D. Fink’s upper-management reorganization and product-redistribution efforts were on target last August. The company also disclosed assets under management rose 3.2 percent to $3.79 trillion in the last quarter of 2014. And with the BLK share price rising 10 percent in the last month, this year is showing early signs of promise.