Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Canada's 4 Billion Auto Bailout
A historic $4 billion lifeline to rescue General Motors and Chrysler in Canada is likely just the first instalment of public loans to the sputtering automakers, concedes Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "I will not fool you. There is obviously money at risk here and there may be, well, more money as we go forward," Harper said yesterday as he joined Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty in revealing terms of the huge aid package at a Toronto hotel.
Bush Approves Auto Bailout
$17.4-billion Buys Time For Detroit
Restructure fast or go bust. That was the blunt message U.S. President George W. Bush delivered to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC Friday as he grudgingly approved $17.4-billion (U.S.) in emergency bridge loans for the cash-starved car makers. Even with the infusion, many experts said one or both of the companies may still be forced into bankruptcy protection after March 31, 2009, when Washington can call the loans. And analysts said Chrysler, the smallest of the Detroit Three, may not survive as an independent car maker.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Complex Obesity
Obesity 'Set Before Age Of Five'
Compared to children in the 1980s, today's youngsters are fatter and most of their excess weight gain happens before school age, they will say. This suggests initiatives to prevent childhood obesity should be started before school, suggest the authors. The EarlyBird Diabetes study of 233 children from birth to puberty is being published in the journal Pediatrics. One in four children aged four to five in England are overweight, latest figures show.
Seven new gene variants discovered by scientists suggest strongly that obesity is largely a mind problem. The findings suggest the brain plays the dominant role in controlling appetite, and that obesity cannot easily be blamed on metabolic flaws. Two international studies, published in Nature Genetics, examined samples from thousands of people for the tiniest genetic changes.
Many of the seven key variants seem to be active in the brain.
Many of the seven key variants seem to be active in the brain.
Biggest Oil Cut In OPEC History
Some bullish investors still regard the oil-futures market, showing sharply higher forward prices, as a stairway to heaven. To OPEC, though, which reduced its output quota by 2.2 million barrels a day Wednesday, it is a mountain to climb. The forward curve for Nymex crude prices currently slopes upward -- known as a "contango" -- and is extraordinarily steep. At $50.64 a barrel, the May 2009 contract commands more than a $10 premium to the "front month," or January contract. That spread has widened by about $7 in the past month. Farther out, futures rise above $70 from late 2012.
International Monetary Standard
More Stable Currency Needed
More than 200 members of the Fordham community converged upon the Flom Auditorium on Oct. 14 to hear John Forbes Nash Jr., Ph.D., winner of the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, talk about solutions to the downturn in the national and global economy.Nash told the audience that such financial crises would be less likely to occur if there was some international monetary standard, such as the gold standard or competition among worldwide currencies, to curb inflation and prevent the rise of mortgage abuses. He expressed some skepticism about a government bailout as a solution.
The Falling Dollar
Dollar Trades Near 13-Year Low
The dollar traded near a 13-year low versus the yen and at the weakest level against the euro since September as the Federal Reserve’s near-zero interest rate policy reduces the appeal of holding U.S. assets.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
$30 Oil?
OPEC, the producer of 42 percent of the world’s oil, may make the biggest supply cut in a decade to halt the plunge in crude prices as demand drops for the first time since 1983. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will probably lower output targets by at least 2 million barrels a day, or 7.3 percent, when its members meet Dec. 17, according to 18 of 33 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. While Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah said last month that his country needs oil priced at $75 a barrel to spur development, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts crude may slide to $30 from $46.28 today.
Wealthy Elite Investments Wiped Out
The alleged $50 billion fraud by former Nasdaq Chairman Bernard Madoff has rippled deep into Boston's wealthy elite, forcing a charitable foundation to close and triggering losses by prominent philanthropists. The Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, which financed trips for Jewish youth to Israel, said the money that supported its programs was invested with Madoff, a 70-year-old Wall Street trader arrested on Thursday.
100,000+ Job Cuts
December Layoffs Exceed 100k
The second week of December was another brutal one for jobs, as Bank of America and at least 20 other companies announced more massive cuts. "The recent news does not bode well," said Rich Yamarone, director of economic research at Argus Research. "This is the reason it's going to be the longest recession we've had in post World War II history."
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Job Cuts Continue
Alcatel-Lucent Plans More Job Cuts
Alcatel-Lucent said Friday it will eliminate 1,000 more white-collar jobs as part of its new chief's plan to return the company to profitability, but shares slumped as investors were hoping for a bolder shift in business strategy. The Paris-based maker of networking equipment for telecommunications operators also intends to cut half of the 10,000 contractors it employs in measures aimed at saving $991 million by the fourth quarter of 2009.
BofA to Cut 35,000 Jobs
Bank of America Corp., battling the slowed economy, expects to eliminate about 35,000 positions over the next three years as it absorbs New York securities firm Merrill Lynch & Co.
The reductions, representing about 10% to 11% of the companies' combined work force, will hit "all lines and staff units" in both companies, reflecting both redundancies created by the Merrill acquisition as well as the "current recessionary environment," Bank of America said.
Yahoo Layoffs Today May Not Be the Last
Yahoo began laying off 1,500 workers on Wednesday as part of a plan, announced in October, to slash expenses by $400 million a year. The cost cutting, however, may have to go deeper in the coming year.
Rio Tinto With 14,000 job Cuts
Rio Tinto, the Anglo-Australian mining giant, said yesterday that it would cut 14,000 jobs in an attempt to reduce its $39 billion (£26.2 billion) debt mountain.
Sony Plans 16,000 Job Cuts
Sony is to cut more than 16,000 permanent and part-time jobs from its worldwide electronics division and will raise prices for its products in the face of dwindling consumer spending.
Sara Lee Expects 700 Job Cuts
Sara Lee Corp. announced plans Thursday to outsource some additional back-office operations in an effort intended to save up to $250 million a year as the company continues its turnaround effort.
Pfizer Slashes 700 Jobs
Pfizer is restructuring its operations in France, and you know what that means: streamlining, a.k.a. layoffs. The company said 700 jobs will be cut in the reorganization, with the layoffs focused on its French HQ in Paris and its sales force. Its union, however, claims that the cuts actually will amount to 892: from current employment of 1,771 to 879. "It is much higher than what we thought," a union delegate told Agence France Presse.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Job Losses Continue
Nearly 17,500 Additional Job Cuts
Nearly 17,500 job cuts were announced on Monday is likely to lower investor confidence as the markets are expected to retain the gains from last week on positive sentiment. Ford Motor Co's Volvo Cars is expected to hand out pink slips to as many as 3,401 full-time jobs, which is 14 percent of the division's total workforce. These positions will include 2,721 workers in Sweden, with 2,367 blue-collar employees and 680 outside the country.... Dow Chemical Co. reported Monday that it plans to slash as many as 5,000 full-time jobs, which represent 11 percent of the company's total workforce...In a separate report, 3M Co., a manufacturing conglomerate, reported that in the current quarter it has slashed almost nearly 1,800 positions across the company, mainly in the developed economies of the U.S., Western Europe and Japan. This will generate $170 million in 2009...
Anheuser-Busch InBev Announces
Monday announced that, as part of its previously announced plans to effectively integrate Anheuser-Busch Inc., the U.S. business unit today communicated plans to cut approximately 1,400 U.S. salaried positions in its beer-related divisions, affecting about 6 percent of the company's total U.S. workforce.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Israel To Strike Iran Alone
IDF Preparing Options For Iran Strike
The IDF is drawing up options for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities that do not include coordination with the United States, The Jerusalem Post has learned. While its preference is to coordinate with the US, defense officials have said Israel is preparing a wide range of options for such an operation. "It is always better to coordinate," one top Defense Ministry official explained last week. "But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination." Israeli officials have said it would be difficult, but not impossible, to launch a strike against Iran without receiving codes from the US Air Force, which controls Iraqi airspace. Israel also asked for the codes in 1991 during the First Gulf War, but the US refused.
Record Number Of Americans Using Food Stamps
Record Number Using Food Stamps
Food stamps, the main U.S. antihunger program which helps the needy buy food, set a record in September as more than 31.5 million Americans used the program -- up 17 percent from a year ago, according to government data. The number of people using food stamps in September surpassed the previous peak of 29.85 million seen in November 2005 when victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma received emergency benefits, said Jean Daniel of the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service...One in 10 Americans were participating in the food stamp program as of September, said Dottie Rosenbaum, analyst with Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank.
Canadian Bankruptcies Up 21 per Cent
Canadian Bankruptcies Up 21 per Cent
Bankruptcies in Canada numbered 9,468 in October, up 7.2 per cent from September and 21.1 per cent from October 2007, with the pain concentrated among individuals. The office of the federal Superintendent of Bankruptcy reported Thursday that 8,972 consumers filed for bankruptcy in October, up 7.5 per cent from October and 22.8 per cent from a year earlier. Business bankruptcies totalled 496 for the month, up 1.4 per cent from the previous month but down 3.3 per cent from the year-ago corporate toll. Compared with a year earlier, the month's total bankruptcies were up 50.9 per cent in Alberta, 37.4 per cent in British Columbia, 36.5 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador, 21.6 per cent in Ontario, 17.4 per cent in Nova Scotia, 15.3 per cent in Saskatchewan and 13.6 per cent in Quebec.
20% Of Borrowers “Under Water"
U.S. Must Step Up Foreclosure Efforts
Foreclosures may begin on 2.25 million homes this year, more than double the pace before the financial crisis, he said. Estimates show as many as 20 percent of borrowers may now be “under water,” where their mortgage is bigger than the price of their home, Bernanke said. “Despite good-faith efforts by both the private and public sectors, the foreclosure rate remains too high, with adverse consequences for both those directly involved and for the broader economy,” Bernanke said.
Massive Job Cuts
Jobless-Benefit Highest Since 1982
More Americans are collecting jobless benefits than at any time in the last 26 years as companies rush to cut costs in a sinking economy. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls rose to 4.09 million in the week ended Nov. 22, the most since December 1982, the Labor Department said today in Washington. A separate report showed orders at U.S. factories tumbled in October by the most in eight years as demand collapsed at home and abroad.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Peter Schiff
"The brutal truth that no one in Washington dares acknowledge is that our systemic economic problems can only be solved by a reduction in consumer borrowing and an increase in savings. We must repair our national balance sheet and a painful recession is the only path to achieve this"
Canada Housing Sales Decrease, Values Increase?
The number of homes sold in 2008 in Canada is expected to total 440,000, a 15 per cent decrease from the previous year, ReMax said in its sales forecast Wednesday. The report also reported housing values will rise in the following regions: Regina (39 per cent) Saskatoon (24 per cent) Winnipeg (22 per cent)St. John's (21 per cent) Saint John (19.5 per cent) Sudbury (14 per cent) Montreal (12 per cent). Housing values are expected to ring in at around $300,000, a three per cent decline from 2007, the forecast said. Sales in 2009 are anticipated to mirror 2008 levels, with average prices dropping to $293,000.
Low Oil Prices,Massive Inflation In Iran
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has acknowledged publicly for the first time that tumbling oil prices are hurting Iran's fragile economy, a sensitive subject for the leader critics have accused of mismanaging the country's finances, state media reported Wednesday. Oil prices have plunged more than 60 percent since the summer as a faltering global economy reduces demand. Ahmadinejad said that will force the government of the world's fourth largest oil exporter to make painful spending cuts, official news agency IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.... Many economists believe cutting fuel subsidies will take Iran's inflation over 50 percent from the current 30 percent.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Washington's $5 Trillion Tab
Fighting the financial crisis has put the U.S. on the hook for some $5 trillion a report says. So far.For all the fury over Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion emergency economic relief fund, it seems downright puny when compared to the running total of the government's response to the credit crisis. According to CreditSights, a research firm in New York and London, the U.S. government has put itself on the hook for some $5 trillion, so far, in an attempt to arrest a collapse of the financial system.
Lost Auto Jobs Pegged At 15,000
Lost Auto Jobs Pegged At 15,000
Auto makers in Canada stand to lose more than $3.1-billion this year and next and will vaporize about 15,000 jobs during the same period, the Conference Board of Canada says. The main culprit is the massive slump in the U.S. market, which has already led to production cuts at assembly plants in Canada this year and will cause auto makers to throttle back output next year as well. “Canadian auto manufacturers remain caught in a maelstrom of cyclical and structural industry changes, not limited to softening U.S. vehicle demand, cross-border wage gaps and increasingly stringent fuel emissions standards,” the Ottawa-based organization said Tuesday in its autumn outlook for the sector.
Iran 'Fires Second Space Rocket'
Iran 'Fires Second Space Rocket'
Iran says it has launched its second space rocket, the Kavosh 2, in a successful follow-up to the first launch in February. State media said that two more tests would be needed before an Iranian-built satellite could be launched into orbit. Iran denies that its long-range ballistic technology is linked to its atomic programme. It is already under international pressure to give up its nuclear work, which it says is purely civilian.
54 More Banks To 'Problem List'
54 More Banks To 'Problem List'
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday the list of banks it considers to be in trouble shot up nearly 50 percent to 171 during the third quarter—yet another sign of escalating problems among the institutions controlling Americans' deposits. The 171 banks on the FDIC's "problem list" encompass only about 2 percent of the nearly 8,500 FDIC-insured institutions. Still, the increase from 117 in the second quarter is sharp, and the current tally is the highest since late 1995. "We've had profound problems in our financial markets that are taking a rising toll on the real economy," said FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair in a statement, adding that Tuesday's report "reflects these challenges."
Violent Protests In Iceland
Icelanders Demand PM Resign
Thousands of Icelanders demonstrated in Reykjavik on Saturday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Geir Haarde and Central Bank Governor David Oddsson for failing to stop a financial meltdown in the country. It was the latest in a series of protests in the capital since the financial meltdown that crippled the island's economy. Hordur Torfason, a well-known troubadour in Iceland and the main organiser of the protests, said the protests would continue until the government stepped down. "They don't have our trust and they are no longer legitimate," Torfason said as the crowds gathered in the drizzle before the Althing, the Icelandic parliament. A separate group of 200-300 people gathered in front of the city's main police station demanding the release of a young protester being held there, Icelandic media reported.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
CIA and Hollywood
Everyone who watches films knows about Hollywood's fascination with spies. From Hitchcock's postwar espionage thrillers, through cold war tales such as Torn Curtain, into the paranoid 1970s when the CIA came to be seen as an agency out of control in films such as Three Days of the Condor, and right to the present, with the Bourne trilogy and Ridley Scott's forthcoming Body of Lies, film-makers have always wanted to get in bed with spies. What's less widely known is how much the spies have wanted to get in bed with the film-makers. In fact, the story of the CIA's involvement in Hollywood is a tale of deception and subversion that would seem improbable if it were put on screen.
Why Veins Could Replace Fingerprints
Why Veins Could Replace Fingerprints
Forget fingerprinting. Companies in Europe have begun to roll out an advanced biometric system from Japan that identifies people from the unique patterns of veins inside their fingers. Finger vein authentication, introduced widely by Japanese banks in the last two years, is claimed to be the fastest and most secure biometric method. Developed by Hitachi, it verifies a person's identity based on the lattice work of minute blood vessels under the skin. Easydentic Group, a European leader in the biometric industry based in France, has announced that it will be using Hitachi's finger vein security in a range of door access systems for the UK and European markets. In Japan, thousands of cash machines are operated by finger vein technology. Hitachi announced today that it will introduce 20,000 finger vein authentication systems at shops and kiosks belonging to two Japanese companies, which will use the devices to protect the privacy of customer information by requiring storeworkers to authenticate themselves before accessing the customer database.
Big Three Take Private Jets To Beg For Money
Big Three CEOs Flew Private Jets
The CEOs of the big three automakers flew to the nation's capital yesterday in private luxurious jets to make their case to Washington that the auto industry is running out of cash and needs $25 billion in taxpayer money to avoid bankruptcy. he CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler may have told Congress that they will likely go out of business without a bailout yet that has not stopped them from traveling in style, not even First Class is good enough. All three CEOs - Rick Wagoner of GM, Alan Mulally of Ford, and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler - exercised their perks Tuesday by flying in corporate jets to DC. Wagoner flew in GM's $36 million luxury aircraft to tell members of Congress that the company is burning through cash, asking for $10-12 billion for GM alone.
Citigroup Cutting 50,000+ Jobs
Citigroup Set To Cut
Citigroup will slash a staggering 53,000 jobs - the second-largest cut ever by a US company - because of punishing losses and a reeling economy, the financial giant announced yesterday. The massive job cuts, which will shrink New York-based Citigroup's workforce by about 15 percent, comes just two months after the banking behemoth finished trimming 23,000 positions. About half of the new cuts will come through layoffs and attrition. The other half will come from the sale of units.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Citi Will Halt Some Foreclosures
Citi Will Halt Some Foreclosures
A total of 765,558 U.S. properties got a default notice, were warned of a pending auction or were foreclosed on in the third quarter, the most since records began in January 2005, according to Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac, which sells default data. ``Citi is focusing particularly on borrowers in areas that are likely to face extreme economic distress,'' the release said. Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell in July at the fastest pace on record, and sales of previously owned homes in August were 32 percent below the peak of September 2005. Citigroup plans to reach out to loan holders working with the bank, who live in their homes, and have ``sufficient income for affordable mortgage payments,'' the statement said. The bank will extend a moratorium on foreclosures to those who meet these criteria.
Obama's Afghan War Plans
Staff Sergeant Brendan Kearns went through urban combat training six months ago with the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division, preparing for a planned return to Iraq. In January, his brigade is heading to Afghanistan instead. While Iraq has long dominated headlines, Afghanistan will demand more immediate attention, as President-elect Barack Obama becomes the first commander-in-chief since Richard M. Nixon in 1969 to take charge during wartime. Intensifying violence is ramping up U.S. involvement, costing money and lives when America faces a record budget deficit and the public is weary of war. Backing off may allow al-Qaeda and the Taliban to return to power. ``The most pressing problem for the next president will be the Afghan-Pakistan conundrum,'' says retired Lieutenant Colonel John Nagl, lead author of the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual
China's Stimulus Package
China's massive effort to shore up its domestic economy may also do the world a favor. ``Very few countries are going to match this stimulus -- it's huge,'' said Nicholas Lardy, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. ``It's a very strong step and puts them in a commanding position in setting an example to other economies.'' The $586 billion stimulus package, announced on Nov. 9, pushed the price of copper and silver higher yesterday and sent stocks soaring from Hong Kong to Frankfurt. The reaction was a sign of global dependence on the $3.3 trillion Chinese economy, which accounted for about a quarter of world growth last year and consumed 41 percent of coal production. The global financial crisis and resulting collapse in demand has led to a contraction in Chinese manufacturing and a slump in exports. In addition to propping up domestic industries, the measures may give the world a cushion as the U.S., European and Japanese economies shrink.
2 Trillion Of Loans To Unknown
The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn't require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return. ``The collateral is not being adequately disclosed, and that's a big problem,'' said Dan Fuss, vice chairman of Boston- based Loomis Sayles & Co., where he co-manages $17 billion in bonds. ``In a liquid market, this wouldn't matter, but we're not. The market is very nervous and very thin.
AIG Bailout Doubled
AIG Gets Expanded Bailout
American International Group Inc. got a $150 billion government rescue package, almost doubling the initial bailout of less than two months ago as the insurer burns through cash at a record rate. AIG will get lower interest rates and $40 billion of new capital from the government to help ease the impact of four straight quarterly deficits, including a $24.5 billion third- quarter loss posted today by the New York-based company.
Brown: Its Time To Build A Global Society
The financial crisis has given world leaders a unique opportunity to create a truly global society, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday. Brown, who has spearheaded calls for the reform of international financial institutions, said that Britain, the United States and Europe are key to forging a new world order."The alliance between Britain and the U.S. -- and more broadly between Europe and the U.S. -- can and must provide leadership, not in order to make the rules ourselves, but to lead the global effort to build a stronger and more just international order," Brown said in a speech in London.
GM Rated Worthless
GM Plunges as Deutsche
General Motors Corp. plummeted to its lowest level in 59 years after a Deutsche Bank AG analyst downgraded the shares, saying they may be worthless in a year. Even if GM succeeds in averting a bankruptcy, we believe that the company's future path is likely to be bankruptcy- like,'' Deutsche Bank's Rod Lache wrote today in a note. The New York analyst recommended selling the shares and cut his 12-month price target to zero. He previously advised holding the stock.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Credit Card Crisis Next?
Dealing With The Next Crisis
The mortgage meltdown is by no means over, but now consumers need to brace for another economic crisis--credit cards. According to the consumer Web site Credit.com, at the end of last year, U.S. consumers owed more than $961 billion in credit card debt. Although not as large as the $11 trillion mortgage market, that's still a lot of lost cash and lenders are starting to feel the consequences of the huge lines of credit they have been allowing. American's have been borrowing more money than they can pay back, and credit card companies have been there to support the habit every step of the way.
Bankruptcies Up, Housing Down In Canada
There were 8,836 bankruptcies in Canada in September, almost 1,400 more than in August and almost 2,000 more than in September 2007. The superintendent of bankruptcy reports that's an 18.7 per cent rise from August and 28.4 per cent increase from a year ago. The number of bankruptcies over 12 months through September was 91,434, up 6.4 per cent from 85,969 in the 12-month period through September 2007. There were 8,347 consumer bankruptcies in September, up from 6,977, or 19.6 per cent from August, and nearly 2,000 more than in September 2007.
Home sales in the Greater Toronto Area fell 35 per cent this October compared with sales a year earlier, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board. Prices fell 10 per cent over the same period, leading the industry to acknowledge the existence of a deep slump in the market.
Pelosi Aims for Second Stimulus
Pelosi Aims for Second Stimulus
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called for a two-part economic stimulus package that would include up to $100 billion in aid by the end of the year, followed early next year by some form of permanent tax cut, according to a published report. Pelosi (D., Calif) told The Wall Street Journal that she hoped to get a "two month jump" on the aid by passing something during the lame duck session of Congress that begins this month. Democrats, however, would take a "longer view" once the party and president-elect Barack Obama take over in January, she said. The speaker said she preferred a payroll tax cut over a rebate, like the first round of stimulus, or capital gains tax cuts favored by Republicans.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Iran Aids Militias From Iraq
Documents Say Iran Aids Militias From Iraq
They wake before dawn, with time to exercise, eat and pray before the day’s first class in firing Kalashnikov rifles. Over the next eight hours, they practice using bazookas or laying roadside bombs, with a break for lunch and mandatory religious instruction. There is free time in the evening to watch television or play Ping-Pong. Lights out at 11 p.m. Such is a typical day at a dusty military base outside Tehran, where for the past several years members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force and Lebanese Hezbollah operatives have trained Iraqi Shiites to launch attacks against American forces in Iraq, according to accounts given to American interrogators by captured Iraqi fighters.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Iceland Consumers Flooding Supermarkets
Icelandic Shoppers Splurge...
After a four-year spending spree, Icelanders are flooding the supermarkets one last time, stocking up on food as the collapse of the banking system threatens to cut the island off from imports. ``We have had crazy days for a week now,'' said Johannes Smari Oluffsson, manager of the Bonus discount grocery store in Reykjavik's main shopping center. ``Sales have doubled.'' Bonus, a nationwide chain, has stock at its warehouse for about two weeks. After that, the shelves will start emptying unless it can get access to foreign currency, the 22-year-old manager said, standing in a walk-in fridge filled with meat products, among the few goods on sale produced locally.
GM to Shut Wisconsin, Michigan Plants
GM to Shut Wisconsin, Michigan Plants
General Motors Corp. says it will close its metal stamping plant near Grand Rapids, Mich., by the end of 2009, costing about 1,340 hourly jobs. Workers at the factory in the suburb of Wyoming, Mich. were notified Monday afternoon of the planned shutdown. The move comes as GM tries to cut costs in the middle of a U.S. sales slump and global financial crisis that has led to a big slump in vehicle sales. The automaker announced earlier Monday that it would end sport utility vehicle production at its Janesville, Wis., factory in December, which is earlier than previously announced. The plant will close in mid-2009.
Royal Bank of Scotland Under State Control
Royal Bank of Scotland Under State Control
The Chancellor will move to take control of the Royal Bank of Scotland today by injecting £20 billion of taxpayers’ money. The Government is also expected to take over HBOS in the most dramatic extension of state ownership in the British economy since the war. The bank’s rescue takeover by Lloyds TSB appeared to be on the brink of collapse last night. As governments around the world scramble to prevent the collapse of the global financial system, Alistair Darling will unveil plans for a £40 billion “recapitalisation” of the banking sector.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Bush Signs Bailout Bill
U.S. President George W. Bush has signed into law an unprecedented $700 billion US plan aimed at easing the financial sector's credit crisis. He added his signature shortly after the legislation was passed, 263-171, by the House of Representatives on Friday. "We have acted boldly to help prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country," Bush said after the vote. He warned that the U.S. economy, however, "continues to face serious challenges."His sentiments were echoed by House members as they prepared to cast their vote Friday afternoon. "Let's not kid ourselves: We're in the midst of the recession," said House minority leader John A. Boehner. "It's going to be a rough ride, but it will be a whole lot rougher ride" without the rescue plan. The vote capped two weeks of upheaval in Congress, punctuated by daily warnings that the United States would be forced to confront its gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression if federal politicians failed to act.
Lift-off For China
Lift-off For China Space Mission
China has launched its third manned space mission - which is to feature the country's first spacewalk. The Shenzhou VII capsule soared into orbit atop a Long-March II-F rocket from the Jiuquan spaceport in Gansu province in the northwest of China. The 70-hour flight will include a spacewalk undertaken by 42-year-old fighter pilot Zhai Zhigang. Mr Zhai is joined on the mission by two other "yuhangyuan" (astronauts) - Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng.The rocket lit up the darkness as it blasted off from Jiuquan at 2110 Beijing Time (1310 GMT). China's president Hu Jintao met the three astronauts before the lift-off, wishing them success on the nation's riskiest space mission yet.
Worst Job Loss In 5 Years
Payrolls Sink 159,000The U.S. economy lost 159,000 jobs in September, the worst since March 2003, the Labor Department reported Friday. The economy has now lost 760,000 jobs this year, further evidence that the economy was in a recession even before the financial market crisis of the past few weeks."Whatever the government might or might not do to try to bail out the financial system, a consumer-led recession is upon us, and it promises to be a serious one," wrote Josh Shapiro, economist for MFR Inc. The unemployment rate was steady at 6.1% as expected, with 9.5 million Americans looking for work, the government said. An alternative measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers rose from 10.7% to 11%, the highest since April 1994
Auto Sales Plunge
Major automakers reported plunging U.S. sales for September -- led by a 34 percent slide at Ford Motor Co -- as an escalating credit crisis hit the slumping industry and raised new doubts about when the world's largest auto market would stabilize. The 26-percent drop in industry-wide auto sales was sharper than expected and coincided with a crisis on Wall Street that automakers said rocked consumer confidence and made it harder for remaining shoppers to finance vehicles. Sales were down 24 percent at Honda Motor Co, 32 percent at Toyota Motor Corp and 37 percent at Nissan Motor Co. Chrysler LLC sales were down 33 percent
House Clears $25bn For Carmakers
House Clears $25bn For Carmakers
The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a $25bn package of low-cost loans to help hard-pressed carmakers and their suppliers finance plant modernisation at a time of restricted access to public capital markets. The automotive loans are separate from the proposed $700bn bail-out for the banking sector, which is still being debated in Congress. The House approved the measure 370-58, setting the stage for Senate approval within days.
Venezuela To Build Nuclear Technology
Venezuela To Build Nuclear Technology
President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Russia will help Venezuela develop nuclear energy — a move likely to raise U.S. concerns over increasingly close cooperation between Caracas and Moscow. Chavez said he accepted an offer from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for assistance in building a nuclear reactor. "Russia is ready to support Venezuela in the development of nuclear energy with peaceful purposes and we already have a commission working on it," Chavez said. "We are interested in developing nuclear energy.
Iran To Launch Satellite
Iran To Launch Satellite
Iran plans to launch a satellite into space soon using an Iranian-made rocket, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said. Iran has in the past launched satellites using rockets built by other nations, but this was the first announcement of such a launch with an all-Iranian made rocket. Ahmadinejad said the rocket will have 16 engines and will take a satellite some 430 miles into space, according to a state television report Thursday.
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