World stock markets fall as U.S. ills spread

By David J. Lynch, USA TODAY
No place to run. No place to hide.

As the sun moved west Monday, it shone on one market bloodbath after another. First Tokyo, then Hong Kong and Bombay. Later, Moscow, Frankfurt, Paris and London joined the casualty list. Market indexes in every important capital ran red.

"It's a scary time in markets worldwide. This is turning into a crisis of confidence around the world," said Eswar Prasad, former chief of the International Monetary Fund's financial studies division.

If the rest of the world once hoped it might decouple from the sputtering U.S. economic engine, those hopes have been shredded. Monday's comprehensive market rout was both a verdict of "not good enough" on the United States $700 billion financial rescue plan and a stark expression of the investor fear that is spreading without regard to borders.

"This is global, and this is the downside of globalization," said Stephen Wood, senior portfolio strategist with Russell Investments.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2008-10-06-world-markets-us-link_N.htm

Ex-Chief of A.I.G. May Sell Some Shares, Filing Says

Maurice R. Greenberg, the former chief executive of the American International Group insurance company, may “materially decrease” his holdings in the company, whose shares have declined more than 90 percent this year, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.

Mr. Greenberg plans to sell shares “for liquidity,” according to the filing, which did not say how much stock might be sold.

Mr. Greenberg and companies he runs owned about 11 percent of A.I.G. before it averted collapse last week by agreeing to a federal takeover.

Mr. Greenberg, 83, known as Hank, was among the investors who met Monday to discuss raising money to reduce federal involvement with the insurer. A.I.G. said the next day that it had signed a deal for an $85 billion credit line, reducing the options left for shareholders.

A.I.G., which is based in New York, dropped 29 cents, or 8.8 percent, to close at $3.02 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

“If I see my biggest advocate, and the guy with the most access out of shareholders, is essentially throwing in the towel, that’s not a good sign,” said Robert Bolton, managing director for trading at Mendon Capital Advisors.

“People are reading the smoke signals, and if he’s willing to take three bucks, maybe we should take three bucks” a share.

Mr. Greenberg still supports efforts to reduce the government dilution of A.I.G. stakeholders, said his lawyer, David Boies.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/business/26aig.html?ref=business

China is setting up a state investment agency to more actively manage its forex reserves

February trade figures released not long ago may upset China, as the surging trade surplus, reaching $23.76 billion in February, not only frustrates China's efforts in curbing it, but also expands the country's already huge foreign exchange (forex) reserve.

China has become the world's largest holder of of forex reserve, which had reached $1.066 trillion by the end of 2006, and is still swelling by about $20 billion monthly mainly fueled by the trade surplus.

"The proper use of such a huge amount of foreign exchange reserve has become a new problem to us," said Premier Wen Jiabao at a press conference on March 16 to close the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC).

During this year's NPC, several top financial officials acknowledged that a new state investment agency would soon come into being to manage a portion of the $1.066 billion in forex reserve.

At the press conference, Premier Wen reconfirmed that "China is preparing for the establishment of a foreign exchange investment company, which will not be affiliated to any government department or institution. The company, which will be subject to supervision, is aimed at operating the investment in line with state laws to preserve and increase the value of foreign exchange reserve."

With such hefty reserves, China's decision on setting up a company to pursue higher investment return on a part of the reserves calls worldwide close attention.

A brand-new agency

This state investment company should be born soon, but the government hasn't yet shed light on the timetable of its birth, its structure, the proportion of the reserves under its management, and in what and where it should invest.

During the NPC session, Finance Minister Jin Renqing said the State Council had decided to divide the country's forex reserves into two parts----"normal" reserves and money to be used for investment seeking "more profits."

Economists estimate that 20-25 percent of the reserves may be managed by the company.

Jin also mentioned that the agency will draw on international experience, such as Temasek Holdings owned by the Singaporean Government. Temasek has made strategic investments in a number of local and foreign companies in the telecommunications, property, financial services and pharmaceutical industries.

According to a report of Shanghai Securities News, authoritative sources said the new investment agency would issue yuan-denominated bonds worth $200 billion to $250 billion. Money to be raised will be firstly used as strategic investment for energy enterprises like China National Offshore Oil Corp.

Zhong Wei, Director of Finance Research Center of Beijing Normal University, also suggested China's new agency invest in the overseas market, but not solely in financial assets. In Zhong's view, as reserves in the State Administration of Foreign Exchange are mainly invested in financial assets, the new investment company should invest in non-financial assets. Thus, the impact on the international financial market won't be as great as some believe.

Making a Profit in the Currency Trading Market

The most important consideration in making money in the currency trading market is learning enough about the trends that you know when to buy and sell. The market is based upon buying currency when it is at the lowest price and selling when it is at the highest price, and to do that, you need to know what those fluctuations in the market are. This is especially important for new traders, but seasoned traders must continue to follow the trends in the markets in which they are trading in order to continue making a profit.

Do people actually make a living as a currency trader? Yes indeed, they do. You have to remember, however, that it takes a lot of training and practice to reach the point where you are a full-time trader. You must make the commitment to do a great deal of reading and follow the trends more precisely than you would if you were just looking to make a little bit of extra cash with a few trades during the week or month.

Making a business out of currency trading is not difficult, but it does take a substantial amount of research and dedication. The trader must know what the trends her in all the markets of his interest, and he must continually keep track of those trends. Most full-time traders invest in charting software that gives them results in real time, including the exchange rate on various currencies throughout the world. The career if financially rewarding as long as you are willing to spend at least as much time on it as you would if you were going to work in an office or other place of business daily. Dedicating oneself to mastering the trends in currency exchange rates is the key to successful currency trading ventures—without being able to spot patterns or the rise and fall of currency prices accurately, you could find yourself losing out on many money making opportunities.

Source: http://articles.directorym.com/Currency_Trading_Washington-r448-Washington.html#64145

Today's Top Declining Stocks

Symbol Stock Name Price Change Volume
JLIEBDEM Joe Lieberman Rejoins the Democratic Party W$0.29 W$0.00 (0.00%) 0 Trade
DEMPRES Democrat Elected President in 2008 W$0.30 W$0.00 (0.00%) 0 Trade
P2BAOB08 Barack Obama 2008 Democratic Nominee W$99.67 W$0.00 (0.00%) 0 Trade
22AMEND 22nd Amendment Repealed or Amended by Jan 08 W$32.08 W$0.00 (0.00%) 0 Trade
VPOFFICE VP Dick Cheney in Office on Jan. 1 2008 W$2.41 W$0.00 (0.00%) 0 Trade
GOPPRES Republican Elected President in 2008 W$51.25 W$0.00 (0.00%) 0 Trade
IRNKUSTK US Bilateral Talks with North Korea before 2008 W$0.21 W$0.00 (0.00%) 0 Trade
P3JOMC08 John McCain Elected President in 2008 W$97.21 W$0.00 (0.00%) 0 Trade
P1CORI08 Condoleezza Rice Announces 08 Campaign W$0.24 W$0.00 (0.00%) 0 Trade
P1ALGO08 Al Gore Announces 08 Campaign W$0.29 W$0.00 (0.00%) 0 Trade

New York Stock Exchange Today Launches NYSE Realtime Stock Prices

NEW YORK, June 24, 2008 – The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), a subsidiary of NYSE Euronext (NYX), today will introduce NYSE Realtime Stock Prices, a new data product that enables Internet and media organizations to buy real-time, last-trade market data from the NYSE and provide it broadly and free of charge to the public. Google and CNBC are the first organizations to make the product available to the public, effective today.

“NYSE Realtime Stock Prices will provide investors with free, immediate and easily accessible information, without requiring them to complete any administrative forms or contracts. We are excited to partner with Google and CNBC, two great names in the information space, to offer this useful data to the public,” said Ronald Jordan, Executive Vice President, Market Data.

"Providing real-time market data on Google Finance is an important step towards helping investors make more informed and timely investment decisions," said Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. "Access to real-time financial information has traditionally been limited to investors with brokerage accounts and other users via subscription fees. We are pleased to be making this information freely available to all of our users on Google Finance, Google.com and other Google search properties."

"This service will enable any CNBC viewer or user the ability to make better investing decisions, no matter what platform they use or where they are in the world," said Scott Drake, Vice President, CNBC Digital.

The NYSE first proposed the idea for NYSE Realtime Stock Prices in January 2007, with an innovative approach: information providers disseminating the data do not have to count and report the number of users to the Exchange, nor contract with each user. Instead, the providers purchase the data from the NYSE for a flat monthly fee. The Securities and Exchange Commission last week approved NYSE Realtime Stock Prices for a four-month pilot period.

source: http://www.nyse.com/press/1214302996534.html