The News Bin

Monday, November 10, 2008

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.

Economic Impact Of Obama

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

Personal Bankruptcies Up

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.

As Prices Tumble...

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

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.