Hong Kong Fever Hitting IPO; Toyota Joins the Cast of ‘Total Recall’; Nokia Escalates 2013 Phone Wars

Hong Kong Fever Hitting IPO (CNBC)

Despite having nine fewer initial public offerings scheduled in the first half of the year, Hong Kong’s initial public offering (IPO) efforts have raised $5 billion more than the first half of 2012, reflecting “fundamentally strong demand,” according to a representative PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). This year alone, PwC expects to see around 90 IPOs — worth approximately $15.5 billion to $19 billion. Should this estimate come to pass, that would make Hong Kong the world’s third-leading market for IPOs and end the city-state’s four-year IPO slump. This rebirth signals the end of a four-year IPO slump for Hong Kong.

Toyota Joins the Cast of ‘Total Recall’ (Reuters)

As reported earlier this week, Honda, Mitsubishi and Ford have all been forced to recall defective automobiles this summer. Today, the three welcome a new cast member, Toyota, to their version of “total recall.”  The Tokyo transportation giant will be recalling almost 200,000 vehicles worldwide due to a “glitch” within the vehicles electronic steering system. This recall includes the popular “Yaris” model sold here in the United States. The car is branded as “Vitz” in Japan.  Even though no accidents have been reported to date due to the malfunctioning system, the steering can seem “heavier” during use.  Unfortunately, investors may also notice a heavier drag on their portfolios, should they hold shares of Toyota.

Nokia Escalates 2013 Phone Wars (Bloomberg)

Nokia Oyj will begin shipping its Nokia 207 and 208 next-gen phones in the third quarter of this year. These “candy-bar shaped” units will sell for just $68 and offer faster 3G connections to the internet. Both models will support social networking applications such as Facebook and Twitter. These new, cheaper, faster units couldn’t come a moment too soon for the world’s second-largest maker of mobile phones or their investors. That’s because Q113 sales slumped 20 percent from the previous year due to increased competition from Google Android units.