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Welcome to Armageddon Online - Your source for disaster news and end of the world scenarios |
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Economy
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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July 02, 2009 |
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Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, suggesting that the economy's road to recovery will be bumpy. The Labor Department report, released Thursday, showed that even as the recession flashes signs of easing, companies likely will want to keep a lid on costs and be wary of hiring until they feel certain the economy is on solid ground. June's payroll reductions were deeper than the 363,000 that economists expected. However, the rise in the unemployment rate from 9.4 percent in May wasn't as sharp as the expected 9.6 percent. Still, many economists predict the jobless rate will hit 10 percent this year, and keep rising into next year, before falling back. All told, 14.7 million people were unemployed in June. |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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March 08, 2009 |
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In a bleaker assessment than those of most private forecasters, the World Bank predicted Sunday that the global economy would shrink in 2009 for the first time since World War II. The bank did not provide a specific estimate, but bank officials said its economists would be publishing one in the next several weeks. Until now, even extremely pessimistic forecasters have predicted that the global economy would eke out a tiny expansion but had warned that even a growth rate of 5 percent in China would be a disastrous slowdown, given the enormous pressure there to create jobs for the country's rural population. The World Bank also warned that global trade would contract for the first time since 1982, and that the decline would be the biggest since the 1930s. |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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March 06, 2009 |
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Jobless rate jumps to 8.1 percent in Feb., highest since late 1983; employers cut 651,000 jobs The U.S. unemployment rate bolted to 8.1 percent in February, the highest since late 1983, as cost-cutting employers slashed 651,000 jobs amid a deepening recession. Both figures were worse than analysts expected and the Labor Department's report shows America's workers being clobbered by a wave of layoffs unlikely to ease in the coming months. -=> DEBATE THIS TOPIC ON OUR FORUMS! |
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Last Updated ( March 06, 2009 )
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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February 04, 2009 |
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It's the great taboo of environmentalism: the size and growth of the human population. It has a profound impact on all life on Earth, yet for decades it has been conspicuously absent from public debate. Most natural scientists agree our growing numbers and our unchecked impact on the natural environment move us inexorably toward global calamities of unthinkable severity. They agree the need to address population has become desperate. Yet many environmentalists avoid the subject, a few objecting strongly to any focus on our numbers. Some activists insist acting to influence population growth infringes on human rights; they maintain that it is best to leave the problem alone. |
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Last Updated ( February 04, 2009 )
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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January 26, 2009 |
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The sheer depth of the global recession was brought into sharp focus today with more than 67,000 job losses announced across Britain, Europe and the US. Household names from electronics retailer Philips, construction equipment maker Caterpillar and upper class retailer Fortnum & Mason are slashing jobs in one of the worst days for workers in recent memory. Thousands of the job losses are due to hit in Britain with steel giant Corus axing 2,500 British workers as it cuts its global force by 3,500. The scale of the challenge world leaders as they grapple with the worst economic downturn since the second world war was underlined as Gordon Brown today issued a stark warning that the global economy will be undermined unless countries work together to tackle the financial crisis. |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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December 22, 2008 |
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Evidence of global downturn deepened on Friday as oil prices plunged again, Japan slashed interest rates to near zero to stave off recession and a top banking association warned the world economy plunged again, will contract in 2009. The price of New York oil dropped to below 34 dollars a barrel -- the lowest level since 2004 -- as weak global demand overshadowed a record cut in output that was announced this week by the OPEC cartel of major oil producers. "The global recession continues to sap demand... Even after OPEC cut production by more then two million barrels, oil prices have fallen below the 40 dollar per barrel level," said BetOnMarkets analyst David Evans. |
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Last Updated ( December 22, 2008 )
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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November 23, 2008 |
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The IMF's chief economist has warned that the global financial crisis is set to worsen and that the situation will not improve until 2010, a report said Saturday. Olivier Blanchard also warned that the institution does not have the funds to solve every economic problem. "The worst is yet to come," Blanchard said in an interview with the Finanz und Wirtschaft newspaper, adding that "a lot of time is needed before the situation becomes normal." |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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September 15, 2008 |
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Asian and European stock markets were down sharply Monday amid growing alarm over the world's financial system after a seismic shake-up on Wall Street, with Lehman Brothers saying it would file bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch being sold to Bank of America. Source : Yahoo News |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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August 30, 2008 |
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Britain is facing "arguably the worst" economic downturn in 60 years which will be "more profound and long-lasting" than people had expected, Alistair Darling, the chancellor, tells the Guardian today. In the government's gravest assessment of the economy, which follows a warning from a Bank of England policymaker that 2 million people could be out of work by Christmas, Darling admits he had no idea how serious the credit crunch would become. Source : Guardian UK |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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August 10, 2008 |
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China is set to overtake the US next year as the world’s largest producer of manufactured goods, four years earlier than expected, as a result of the rapidly weakening US economy. The great leap is revealed in forecasts for the Financial Times by Global Insight, a US economics consultancy. According to the estimates, next year China will account for 17 per cent of manufacturing value-added output of $11,783bn and the US will make 16 per cent. Source : FT.com |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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May 06, 2008 |
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Oil futures blasted to a new record over $122 a barrel Tuesday, gaining momentum as investors bought on a forecast of much higher prices and on any news hinting at supply shortages. Retail gas prices edged lower, but appear poised to rise to new records of their own in coming weeks. A new Goldman Sachs prediction that oil prices could rise to $150 to $200 within two years seemed to motivate much of Tuesday's buying, although a falling dollar and increasing concerns about declining crude production in Mexico and Russia contributed, analysts say. Light, sweet crude for June delivery jumped to a new record of $122.47 a barrel before retreating slightly to trade up $1.29 at $122.26 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Oil prices have nearly doubled from about $62 a barrel a year ago, which Goldman sees as a sign that the world is in the midst of a "super spike" in oil prices. Analyst Arjun Murti said in a research note released Monday that prices would ultimately force demand to fall sharply. Source : Yahoo Biz |
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Last Updated ( May 06, 2008 )
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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April 07, 2008 |
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Gas prices rose further into record territory Monday, pulled higher by resurgent oil futures and a growing belief that gasoline supplies are falling as the summer driving season approaches. Oil futures, meanwhile, jumped by more than $2 a barrel as traders bet the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates. Comments from OPEC suggesting the cartel plans no production increases also boosted oil prices. At the pump, the national average price of a gallon of gas jumped 3.6 cents over the weekend to a record $3.339, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That's 58 cents higher than a year ago. In New York Mercantile Exchange trading, May gasoline futures rose 2.68 cents to settle at $2.7835 a gallon. See Also : Iran to OPEC: Stop Oil Sales in Dollars Source : Yahoo Business |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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April 04, 2008 |
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Lloyd's of London warned yesterday that an absence last year of natural disasters or man-made accidents was putting pressure on firms to reduce premiums in 2008. The world's oldest and biggest insurance market said that though the lack of major disasters had allowed firms to push up profits 5% in 2007, underwriting margins were being squeezed. Almost half of the 320-year-old market's business was conducted in the US last year. It is a major insurer of the Florida seaboard and oil rigs in the gulf of Mexico. In 2005, a series of natural disasters culminated in Hurricane Katrina clattering into New Orleans. The clean-up bill pushed Lloyd's into a £103m loss. However, two years of relatively few claims for environmental damage have increased competition in the sector. "On the back of a good performance in 2007 we need to sound a note of caution for 2008 because of softening market conditions and because of the financial turmoil we have seen," said Richard Ward, chief executive of Lloyd's. Source : Guardian UK |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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March 15, 2008 |
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The dollar has plummeted against all major currencies on dire US retail sales and fears that the Federal Reserve may need to slash interest rates further to stop the downward spiral in the credit markets. The greenback broke below 100 yen in a day of wild trading, setting off alarm bells at Japan's Keidanren industry lobby. It touched a record $1.5620 against the euro and came within a whisker of parity with the Swiss franc for the first time in history. The plunge came amid an investor flight into commodities, seen as a way of insulating wealth from the dollar's decline. In the US, crude oil reached a record $111 a barrel despite rising inventories. Source : Telegraph UK |
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Last Updated ( March 15, 2008 )
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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March 13, 2008 |
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Wall Street joined the global equity market sell-off this afternoon while the FTSE 100 ended the day down 1.5% as fears over a weak dollar, credit market turmoil and impending recession continue to rattle nerves. Markets in Asia, Europe and the US have all been sold off over the last 24 hours. The dollar is also coming under significant pressure, not helped by more bad news from the US economy today, this time on high street spending. Meanwhile oil and gold have shot up to record highs on the back of the weakening US currency. The dollar fell below 100 yen for the first time in 12 years today and hit a new record low against the euro amid fears in currency markets that the US financial system is vulnerable to the recession spreading from the crisis-hit housing sector. Source : Guardian UK |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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March 10, 2008 |
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Gasoline prices were poised Monday to set a new record at the pump, having surged to within half a cent of their record high of $3.227 a gallon. Oil prices, meanwhile, surged above $108 to a new inflation-adjusted record and their fifth new high in the last six sessions on an upbeat report on wholesale inventories. The national average price of a gallon of gas rose 0.7 cent overnight to $3.222 a gallon, 69 cents higher than one year ago, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Last May, prices peaked at $3.227 as surging demand and a string of refinery outages raised concerns about supplies. That record will likely be left in the dust soon as gas prices accelerate toward levels that could approach $4 a gallon, though most analysts believe prices will peak below that psychologically significant mark. In its last forecast, released last month, the Energy Department said prices will likely peak around $3.40 a gallon this spring; a new forecast is due Tuesday. Retail gas prices are following crude oil, jumped 24 percent in a month on its way to setting new inflation-adjusted records four times last week. On Monday, crude prices surged to yet another record after the Commerce Department said wholesale sales jumped by 2.7 percent in January, their biggest increase in four years, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Source : Yahoo News |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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March 04, 2008 |
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Crude oil may rise to $120 a barrel within six months due to the dollar weakness and global political tensions, the chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. said. ``I think a trading range between $80 and $120 a barrel this year is about right,'' Peter Barker-Homek, the head of the United Arab Emirates state-controlled company, which is also known as Taqa, said in an interview in Dubai today. ``But with the softness of the dollar, and the occasional interruptions that you have because of politics, I think we could see $120 oil.'' Source : Bloomberg.com |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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February 08, 2008 |
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The Year of the Rat threatens to see a build-up of international tensions, natural and air disasters, and a more turbulent stock market, soothsayers and analysts say. As the Year of the Pig ends tonight, followers of Chinese superstition will be scurrying to consult fortune-tellers, astrologers and feng shui geomancers to guide their year ahead. Chinese fortunes are based on a belief that events are dictated by the different balances in the elements that make up the earth -- gold, wood, water, fire and earth. Feng shui master Raymond Lo says this year will see the earth element sitting atop water, suggesting an outward solidity built on sliding foundations. "The earth on top is Yang earth which symbolises a mountain, and mountain gives a sense of stability and firmness. But such floating earth in the ocean is weak in foundation and the stability appears to be fragile," Lo said. Source : Yahoo News |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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January 30, 2008 |
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The Commerce Department's report on the gross domestic product, released Wednesday, showed an economy that had deteriorated considerably during the October-to-December quarter as worsening problems in the housing market and harder-to-get credit made individuals and businesses more cautious in their spending. Fears of a recession have grown, even as inflation remained elevated. For all of 2007, the economy grew by just 2.2 percent, the weakest performance in five years, when the country was struggling to recover from the 2001 recession. The housing collapse dealt the economy its biggest blow last year. Builders slashed spending on housing projects by 16.9 percent on an annualized basis, the most in 25 years. The report came as the Democratic-run Congress and the Bush administration continue to work on a program of tax rebates and business incentives aimed at stimulating the economy. Source : Yahoo News |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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January 10, 2008 |
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The feared recession in the US economy has already arrived, according to a report from Merrill Lynch. It said that Friday's employment report, which sent shares tumbling worldwide, confirmed that the US is in the first month of a recession. Its view is controversial, with banks such as Lehman Brothers disagreeing. But a reserve member of the committee that sets US rates warned that it could do little about the below-trend growth expected in the next six months. "I am concerned that developments on the inflation front will make the Fed's policy decisions more difficult in 2008," Charles Plosser, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said. He was referring to the problems faced by the US Federal Reserve, which might want to cut interest rates to avoid a recession, but is worried about inflationary factors such as $100-a-barrel oil. Source : BBC News |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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December 17, 2007 |
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After a record-smashing year with oil peaking at $99 a barrel in 2007, a triple-digit world of crude oil awaits in the coming year, energy experts say. Trading below $51 a barrel less than 12 months ago, crude prices hit their first in a fusillade of all-time highs in July and never looked back. While some blame the frothy crude market on speculation rather than the simple rules of supply and demand, the only force that managed to slow prices down at all this year was fear of an economic slowdown, as oil fell below $90 a barrel just weeks after hitting a record. |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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November 26, 2007 |
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A financial crisis will likely send the U.S. dollar into a free fall of as much as 90 percent and gold soaring to $2,000 an ounce, a trends researcher said.
"We are going to see economic times the likes of which no living person has seen," Trends Research Institute Director Gerald Celente said, forecasting a "Panic of 2008."
"The bigger they are, the harder they'll fall," he said in an interview with New York's Hudson Valley Business Journal. Source : United Press International |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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November 23, 2007 |
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The U.S. dollar dropped below the 108 yen level early Friday in New York for the first time since June 2005, reflecting the expanding credit crisis. At 8:30 a.m., the dollar was quoted at 107.90-108.00 yen, compared with its 5 p.m. Thursday quotes of 109.11-14 yen in Tokyo. In Asian trading on Friday, the U.S. currency tumbled to as low as 107.55 yen. Then it rallied to the upper 107 yen level in later London trading. U.S. financial markets were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday while Japanese markets were closed Friday for a national holiday. At 8:30 a.m. in New York, the euro traded at $1.4800-4810 and 159.80- 90 yen against $1.4813-4816 and 161.66-70 yen in Tokyo. In earlier Asian trading on Friday, the single European currency reached $1.4968, the highest level since its introduction in 1999. Source : Breitbart / AP |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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November 12, 2007 |
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After what Los Angeles money manager Arnold Silver called "a brutal three days," the question is: What now for the market? A Wall Street superstar this year who runs Balestra Capital Partners, Jim Melcher, says he's "worried about a recession. Not a normal one, but a very bad one. The worst since the 1930s. I expect we'll see clear signs of it in six months with a dramatic slowdown in the gross domestic product." Source : NY Sun |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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November 10, 2007 |
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Iran, Russia and Venezuela Feel the Benefits - High oil prices are fueling one of the biggest transfers of wealth in history. Oil consumers are paying $4 billion to $5 billion more for crude oil every day than they did just five years ago, pumping more than $2 trillion into the coffers of oil companies and oil-producing nations this year alone. The consequences are evident in minds and mortar: anger at Chinese motor-fuel pumps and inflated confidence in the Kremlin; new weapons in Chad and new petrochemical plants in Saudi Arabia; no-driving campaigns in South Korea and bigger sales for Toyota hybrid cars; a fiscal burden in Senegal and a bonanza in Brazil. In Burma, recent demonstrations were triggered by a government decision to raise fuel prices. Source : Washington Post |
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Economy
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Written by Administrator
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November 10, 2007 |
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The dollar sank to a new low against the euro on Friday but recovered some ground against the British pound even as Wall Street ended a turbulent week down sharply. The euro rose to a record high of $1.4752 in European trading before falling back to $1.4673 in the late afternoon, above the $1.4667 it bought Thursday. Its previous trading high was $1.4730 on Wednesday. The dollar is down nearly 12 percent against the euro since the start of the year. The dollar gained on the euro after the European Union, blaming oil prices and market turmoil, cut its economic forecasts for the next two years, with growth now expected to slow to 2.4 percent in 2008 and 2009. Britain's pound went as high as $2.1161 before falling to $2.0909, below the $2.1087 it bought Thursday. The dollar weakened against many of the European currencies and the yen on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said economic growth would slow noticeably in the United States in the coming months while rising oil costs would increase inflation pressures. The dollar also has been suffering from speculation that the Fed, which has cut its benchmark rate twice, may keep doing so even as its European counterparts hold their rates steady or raise them. Source : Yahoo Financial |
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