Friday, September 19, 2008
Anti-Palin Protest In Alaska
Anti-Palin ProtestOrganizers estimated that 1500 people showed up at the "AK Women Reject Palin Non-Partisan Rally" on Saturday September 13, 2008 on 36th Avenue in front of the ZJ Loussac Library. A number of Governor Sarah Palin supporters attended.
Greenspan: This Is The Worst I Have Ever Seen
Greenspan: This Is The Worst I Have Ever Seen
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan offered a woeful outlook of America's economic situation on Sunday, saying the crisis with the country's financial institutions was as dire as he had ever seen in his long career, and predicting that one or more of those institutions would likely collapse in the near future. "Oh, by far," Greenspan said, when asked if the situation was the worst he had seen in his career. "There's no question that this is in the process of outstripping anything I've seen and it still is not resolved and still has a way to go and, indeed, it will continue to be a corrosive force until the price of homes in the United States stabilizes. That will induce a series of events around the globe which will stabilize the system."
U.S. Arms Sales Jump
U.S. Arms Sales Jump
The Bush administration is pushing through a broad array of foreign weapons deals as it seeks to rearm Iraq and Afghanistan, contain North Korea and Iran, and solidify ties with onetime Russian allies.From tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to missiles, remotely piloted aircraft and even warships, the Department of Defense has agreed so far this fiscal year to sell or transfer more than $32 billion in weapons and other military equipment to foreign governments, compared with $12 billion in 2005. The trend, which started in 2006, is most pronounced in the Middle East, but it reaches into northern Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and even Canada, through dozens of deals that senior Bush administration officials say they are confident will both tighten military alliances and combat terrorism.
Russia Halts Trading
Russia Halts Trading...Russian shares suffered their steepest one-day fall in more than a decade on Tuesday, losing up to 20 per cent, as a sharp slide in oil prices and difficult money market conditions triggered a rush to sell. The heads of the Russian central bank, the finance ministry and the financial market regulator met on Tuesday night for an emergency discussion on ways to halt the crisis.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Merrill Lynch Sold
In one of the most dramatic days in Wall Street's history, Merrill Lynch agreed to sell itself to Bank of America for roughly $50 billion to avert a deepening financial crisis, while another prominent securities firm, Lehman Brothers, hurtled toward liquidation after it failed to find a buyer, people briefed on the deals said. The humbling moves, which reshape the landscape of American finance, mark the latest chapter in a tumultuous year in which once-proud financial institutions have been brought to their knees as a result of tens of billions of dollars in losses because of bad mortgage finance and real estate investments.
World Wants Obama
World Wants Obama As President
US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may be struggling to nudge ahead of his Republican rival in polls at home, but people across the world want him in the White House, a BBC poll said. All 22 countries covered in the poll would prefer to see Senator Obama elected US president ahead of Republican John McCain. In 17 of the 22 nations, people expect relations between the US and the rest of the world to improve if Senator Obama wins. More than 22,000 people were questioned by pollster GlobeScan in countries ranging from Australia to India and across Africa, Europe and South America. The margin in favour of Senator Obama ranged from 9 per cent in India to 82 per cent in Kenya, while an average of 49 per cent across the 22 countries preferred Senator Obama compared with 12 per cent preferring Senator McCain. Some four in 10 did not take a view.
Petraeus: No Victory In Iraq
The outgoing commander of US troops in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, has said that he will never declare victory there. In a BBC interview, Gen Petraeus said that recent security gains were "not irreversible" and that the US still faced a "long struggle". When asked if US troops could withdraw from Iraqi cities by the middle of next year, he said that would be "doable". In his next job leading the US Central Command, Gen Petraeus will also oversee operations in Afghanistan.
UN: Eat Less Meat
UN Says Eat Less Meat To Curb Global Warming
People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help tackle climate change, the world's leading authority on global warming has told The Observer Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which last year earned a joint share of the Nobel Peace Prize, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further. His comments are the most controversial advice yet provided by the panel on how individuals can help tackle global warning.
Home-Loan Delinquencies Rise
U.S., R.I. Home-Loan Delinquencies Rise
The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate rose for the sixth consecutive calendar quarter in the April to June period, according to the latest figures from credit data giant TransUnion LLC. The average delinquency rate nationwide – the percent of mortgage borrowers who had fallen behind on payments by 60 days or more – rose to 3.53 percent in the second quarter, TransUnion found. That represented an increase of more than 9 percent from the first quarter’s 3.23 percent and about 51 percent from the second quarter of 2007.
Fannie And Freddie Taken Over
US Takes Over Key Mortgage Firms
US President George Bush says mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have been taken over because they posed "an unacceptable risk" to the economy. The two companies account for nearly half of the outstanding mortgages in the US, and have lost billions of dollars during the US housing crash. The most recent figures show about 9% of US mortgage holders were behind on their payments or faced repossession. The federal takeover is one of the largest bail-outs in US history. It was announced on Sunday by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. "Putting these companies on sound financial footing, and reforming their business practices, is critical to the health of our financial system," President Bush said.
Who's Next?
Lehman Brothers Fights For Survival
The law of the financial jungle has all but accounted for one of Wall Street's biggest beasts, the investment bank Lehman Brothers. Its chief executive Dick Fuld has been desperately looking for a buyer over the weekend, write Louise Armitstead and James Quinn in New York
Washington Mutual Inc was downgraded to below investment-grade status by Moody's Investors Service, after the largest U.S. savings and loan projected a $4.5 billion third-quarter increase in reserves for bad loans but said it has more than enough capital.
Friday, September 5, 2008
US Unemployment Rate Hits 5-year High
US Unemployment Rate Hits 5-year High
The US unemployment rate rose to a five year high in August as the embattled American economy lost more than jobs than expected and as the government sharply revised losses from past months. The number of non-farm jobs lost last month was 84,000, the eighth consecutive month of losses and somewhat higher than the 75,000 expected by a consensus economists forecasts. At the same time, the US Labour Department said it was revising its estimates of how many people lost their jobs in July up to 60,000 from 51,000 as well as its June figures, up from 51,000 to 100,000.
Criminal Charges Against Bush Administration
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden said earlier this week that he and running mate Barack Obama could pursue criminal charges against the Bush administration if they are elected in November. Biden's comments, first reported by ABC news, attracted little notice on a day dominated by the drama surrounding his Republican counterpart, Alaska governor Sarah Palin. But his statements represent the Democrats' strongest vow so far this year to investigate alleged misdeeds committed during the Bush years. When asked during a campaign event in Deerfield Beach, Florida, whether he would "pursue the violations that have been made against our Constitution by the present administration", Biden answered in the affirmative. "We will not be stopped from pursuing any criminal offence that's occurred," he continued, going on to praise congressional committees for the deliberate pace of their inquiries into alleged Bush administration misdeeds.
Foreclosures, Delinquencies Rising
U.S. Mortgage Foreclosures, Delinquencies
Foreclosures accelerated to the fastest pace in almost three decades during the second quarter as interest rates increased and home values fell, prompting more Americans to walk away from homes they couldn't refinance or sell. New foreclosures increased to 1.19 percent, rising above 1 percent for the first time in the survey's 29 years, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a report today. The total inventory of homes in foreclosure reached 2.75 percent, almost tripling since the five-year housing boom ended in 2005. The share of loans with one or more payments overdue rose to a seasonally adjusted 6.41 percent of all mortgages, an all-time high, from 6.35 percent in the first quarter.
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