| Police raid ''rogue'' trader's flat
Jan. 26 - Officers search Jerome Kerviel's Paris apartment, the ''rogue'' trader believed to be behind a dealing scandal at French bank Societe Generale. Societe Generale has still not named the dealer who lost 7.18 billion dollars in fraudulent trades but Kerviel's name surfaced within hours of the announcement on Thursday (January 24) and has been confirmed by banking sources. Police have established that Kerviel is in Paris and available for questioning. The French capital's chief prosecutor said he will be questioned as soon as documents provided by Societe Generale have been analysed. Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri reports. .
Gold hits new high in $A price
The gold price in Australian dollars has hit an all-time high, closing the week at over $A940 per ounce, after the price in US dollars rose on Friday night and the "Aussie" eased. Mining consultants Surbiton Associates Pty Ltd said on Sunday the spot price for gold closed at $US823.75 and the Australian dollar at 87.39 US cents - equivalent to an Australian spot gold price of $A942.61 per ounce and well above the daily high of $A933.20 on May 12, 2006. "This record price may have gone higher, but the Australian dollar strengthened late on Friday, which tended to dampen the upward movement in Aussie dollar terms," Surbiton director Dr Sandra Close said. "At current exchange rates, a half-cent change in the Australian dollar moves the Australian gold price by about $A5 an ounce." Dr Close said that unlike the Australian-dollar gold price, the US-dollar gold price was yet to break its all-time high.
Pak Lah: Don’t be racial
SIBU: Malaysians must not harbour racial prejudice in their hearts, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The Prime Minister said there should not be any confrontation among the races as it would jeopardise peace and stability. I want Malaysia to be a peaceful country. We must maintain the good reputation of our country, he added when opening the RM7mil-SMK St Elizabeth Mill Hill Franciscan Centennial Hall at Jalan Oya yesterday. Abdullah said Malaysians should respect and help each other to live in harmony and urged teachers to instil in their students love for the country and goodwill to one another. .
US futures decline on Amazon, Merrill
US stock futures fell today as Merrill Lynch reported its first quarterly net loss in nearly six years and as earnings by Amazon disappointed some investors. The world's largest brokerage reported write-downs of $7.9 billion from leveraged loans from corporate takeovers and bad bets on mortgage securities. It had a net loss of $2.3 billion. Merrill's shares fell 1.1 per cent to $66.40 before the open. "I don't think the Merrill's number going to do too much even, though it's a significantly larger write-off," Owen Fitzpatrick, head of US Equity Group at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, in New York, said."This is a sector that has been reporting some pretty poor numbers, so this isn't too big of a surprise." S&P 500 futures were down 8.10 points and below fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.
Venezuela Threatens to Cut US Oil
The U.S. buys 65% of his countries high sulfer crude. The U.S. also supplies over 1/3 of the food consumed in Venezuela as well as the great majority of consumer goods (Cars, refrigerators, electronics, ect). As much as he might rail against the U.S., he knows that his country depends on 4/5 of its revenues from Oil sales, and must import food to feed his citizens. Hopefully it can be resolved without all the theatrics on both sides. .
Lackluster Reports Leave Stocks Mixed
Not all economic findings that arrived Friday portended further weakness but, over all, investors seemed unimpressed. The nation's central bank said that industrial output showed a modest increase last month, as expected, largely because of strength from utilities. But investors remain worried that consumers who are uneasy will be reluctant to open their wallets _ an alarming prospect as consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity. Comments from Bernanke on Thursday outlined the concerns. The Fed chief issued a sobering but not entirely unexpected prediction that economic growth in much of 2008 is likely to be "sluggish" before gathering strength later in the year. He told the Senate Banking Committee that further losses were likely at banks from soured mortgages.
|
