Britain Says No More Indian Aid

Britain announced it'll be stopping financial aid to India by the year 2015, as British domestic opposition has grown in light of economic struggles at home, while India continues to grow rapidly.

British International Development Secretary Justine Greening said this, "It's time to recognise India's changing place in the world."

Savings by the cut off date will amount to about GBP 200 million. At that time Britain will no longer make any financial commitments to India.

When taking into account the fact that India has offered a credit line of $5 billion to Africa, it does make one wonder why Britain continues to put aid into the country, especially when its contribution is so small.

This is of course a political decision, one that British officials should have made once the economy started to come under stress several years ago. But since there were some existing promises and obligations, the country did have to work through them before shutting aid off completely.

Interestingly, India is now the third-largest investor in Britain, confirming the fact that economic aid to them from the British is the product of a day long gone.

Boeing (BA) Sees Indian Plane Traffic Market with Highest Passenger Growth

Boeing (NYSE:BA) said it sees India being the fastest growing market for airline passenger traffic growth over the next two decades, as measured by percentages, outgrowing even China in that regard.

Including all of South Asia, which entails India, Boeing estimates growth to be at an 8.4 percent annual clip. China is expected to grow at a rate of 7 percent during the next 20 years.

As for the number of aircraft expected to be acquired by India, Boeing sees them needing about 1,450 new planes to serve the growing market by 2031. That could generate $175 billion in sales.

Even though time frames are difficult to project into, as the Indian air traffic market has shown over the last year, where it dropped by 1.1 percent in July from 2011, in general these numbers should hold pretty well, although it's certainly possible a couple of years could be slashed or added as to when the planes will be acquired.

Other questions have also arisen over the competitiveness and management of Indian airlines, as strong competition has resulted in prices being slashed, which has led to low margins. Also a factor is the rising cost of jet fuel and the outrageous taxes imposed by the government of India.

India's other major problem is its anti-business stance which makes it extremely difficult for companies to successfully do business with the country.

Boeing has yet to deliver the first of its 27 Dreamliners ordered by Air India, which is owned by the government, as an ongoing dispute over compensation Boeing should pay from production delays which resulted in the delivery schedule being altered weighs on the deal.

Also of note is makers of planes have been battling fiercely for market share, which has resulted in them cutting prices up to 50 percent for some plane models in order to win business.

Airbus recently won a major $7 billion deal from Philippine Airlines Inc, leaving Boeing with nothing to show for intense lobbying by the United States on behalf of the company.

Watch for BRICs to Bottom Out

The BRICs are in a unique position at this time, as the economies of the countries are looking for bottoms whereby to build back up from.

While it's definitely not time to buy as of this writing, as a provable uptrend hasn't been engaged yet, it's important to have your investment money in the sector ready, as it appears there are attempts at a bottom forming, and you want to get in close to when that happens.

It's not good to try to find the absolute bottom, but it is good to watch and wait to see that it has sustainably bounced off their bottom and are on an upward trend.

The BRICs are wildly out of favor at this time, and justifiably so. But there is always lag time from the time an uptrend begins and traders catch on, and that's when you want to invest in the sector. If you get in too early you risk a lot of time, while if you get in too late you're always trying to chase the numbers and you'll have to pay a premium for whatever companies or funds in the sector you're looking to invest in.

The best strategy is to wait until the uptrend is ensured, but before most investors catch on.

There is no doubt about the BRICs' growth in the future, with India probably being the weakest of the bunch because of draconian regulations and laws, but overall, this group of countries are where the majority of future economic growth will be, and those getting in at the right time again will reap significant financial rewards.

Other than specific funds, it's best to look at quality blue chips companies based in China, India, Brazil and Russia, as they still have a lot of room to grow, and are almost ensured of lasting for a long time into the future.