| Stocks Decline; Techs Take Focus
Stocks declined Monday as the insurance and financial sectors led blue chips lower and techs benefited from a slew of deal news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, coming off its worst week in nearly five years, retreated after Dow Jones announced a shake-up in the blue-chip index. The S&P 500 index and tech-heavy Nasdaq also fell. .
Happy Tech Year 2007!
There will be two versions of the PS3 (the abbreviated name the console is commonly spoken of), one which will be a USD$699 version with a 60GB hard disk and a USD$499 PS3 that packs a 20GB hard disk drive. Which one to choose? Obviously the more expensive PS3 is the one to have, since it has wireless LAN and extra flash card readers. They both work great as Blu-ray disc players though. Offering hi-definition movie and gaming experience right out of the box! Your girlfriend will like the homely new you.
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Flat-out weird: Sergio doubles up on putters in first-round victory
For the headshrinkers, the psychological merits of such a decision can be bandied about, of course. On the positive front, if he putts poorly, he has a fallback plan. But mentally, failing to commit to a putter might subconsciously undermine the whole endeavor. "I'm sure it's a deal where he has something he can go to if he's having a problem," said Vijay Singh, who often has switched between belly and short putters, but never in the same round. "I'm sure it's a confidence thing." The Fijian also added that even when his putting was at its worst, he never considered such a drastic plan. "I did make a decision early on and I went with it for pretty much the whole round," Garcia said. "But then I started not feeling quite as comfortable. I hit a couple not very good putts.
Death by Car Bomb in Damascus
Wow. A tough and iron-fisted Generalissimo of the totalitarian Left left the world stage yesterday . . . but enough about Hillary Clinton. Sorry, couldn't resist an obvious Castro/HRC joke. Back in Wisconsin, though, Hillary's problem is as serious as Fidel's. This Wisconsin loss means that Obama's surging momentum will grow even more powerful. New polls showing Obama closing in Hillary's Texas redoubt provide more evidence. The race tilted decisively toward Obama after his wins last week in Maryland, DC, and Virginia. With this Wisconsin iceberg now slamming into the Clinton campaign, I'm reminded of the scene in Cameron's Titanic where the ship's designer rushes to the bridge, unrolls the construction plans, and informs the Captain that despite the small shudder of the impact and the normal feeling on the bridge, the great ship is doomed.
Words from the Wise for the Week That Was (Jan 14 - 20, 2008)
On Friday President Bush broadly outlined a plan for roughly $150 billion's worth of tax breaks, rebates and unemployment benefits to boost the slowing economy and help stave off a recession. This announcement, however, could not prevent stocks from sliding further, especially as concerns mounted that the downgrading of bond insurers dealing in credit default swaps could trigger another wave of huge debt write-downs. "I hope I'm wrong, but I'm thinking that a large economic storm is building, and it's aiming to hit hard in the weeks and months ahead," said Richard Russell, 83-year old author of the Dow Theory Letters. Before highlighting some thought-provoking news items and quotes from market commentators, let's briefly review the financial markets' movements on the basis of economic statistics and a performance chart.
Australian stock exchanges loses $100bn amid panic selling
THE Australian market ended the day down 7 per cent, losing about $100 billion and facing its biggest losses since 9/11, amid concerns of a global recession. 0The 7 per cent slump was the 12th consecutive day of falls, as bourses across the Asia Pacific region slumped on fears of a US recession. "This has been a crash and it might take a year to get back to where it was last week,'' Michael Birch, who helps manage the equivalent of $140 million at Wallace Funds Management in Sydney, told Bloomberg News. "It might be the second half of the year before people have the confidence to weigh back in.'' Brokers said panic selling was the order of the day, but they still expect the market to stabilise in the near term. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 7.05 per cent or 393 points to 5186.8 - its biggest one-day decline since 1997.
Down $77b and falling
Australian shares plunged a massive 6 per cent this afternoon as panic selling set in among investors over an expected slowdown in global growth.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Share Index had shed more than 6 per cent, down 335.4 points to 5245 points - its lowest since November 2006 - placing the market on course for a record 12th day of declines.
The plunge equated to a $77 billion loss of market value. The latest plunge means the sharemarket has now lost more than 23 per cent of its value since hitting a record high in November and is now officially in a bear market.
The broader All Ordinaries Index was down 294.4 points, or 5.23 per cent, to 5336.5 before noon.
Asian bourses were also softer, with Japan's benchmark Nikkei Share Average Index down 4.8 per cent and the boarder TOPIX index down 4.6 per cent.
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