| Case-Shiller: Moderation?
Could the bottom be in sight? The latest results from the S&P/Case-Shiller index show the pace of price declines in the Boston area continued to slow in November, even as the national market accelerated its downward plunge. To be clear, we're not talking about a recovery. The price index dropped 3 percent in the Boston area compared to November 2006. It is the 20th consecutive month in which prices declined compared to the same month the previous year. The Boston index has now dropped 8.2 percent from its peak in September 2005. But here's the flip side: Look at the percentage declines for each month in 2007, through November, compared to the same month the previous year. The first number is for the Boston market, the second is an aggregate of 20 metropolitan areas.
Video screen gives Snellville Police faster warrants
The new technology will give Snellville an edge as the county makes advances in its criminal justice computer systems, said Gwinnett County Court's Chief Magistrate George F. Hutchinson III. "The county is moving in the direction of creating a criminal justice information system," Hutchinson said. "Having Snellville on the cutting edge of that places it in a good position." Snellville is the first city in Gwinnett to implement the system. The Gwinnett County police department subsequently installed the system, Whitehead said. The upgrade didn't cost the citizens of Snellville one dime. About $5,500 in confiscated funds from illegal drug sales covered the bill for the new software. "The good news for the people of Snellville is the drug dealers paid for it," Whitehead said.
Sensex slips in early trade
At 10:05 am, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex was down 216 points or 1.19 per cent at 17,859.92
Bharti Airtel (down 2.53%), BHEL (2.48%), ICICI Bank (2.2%), HDFC (2.08%) and NTPC (1.91%) were the biggest index losers. Bajaj Auto (up 1.61%), Satyam Computer (1.61%), Infosys Technologies (1.17%), Wipro (1.02%) and Tata Consultancy Services (0.47%) were the major gainers. The National Stock Exchange's Nifty was down 61 points or 1.15 per cent at 5220.25.
“We had a gap up opening Tuesday, but lost around 1 per cent from the day's high. The discount in the Nifty February futures also widened to 20 points from 4 points. We will see profit booking coming at these levels, but Nifty might find support at 5150 levels," UTI Securities said in a note.
The brokerage recommends buying HCL Tech, Mphasis, Sasken, and Tech Mahindra expecting them to outperform the market in the near term.
The Ex Ante Factor: Bizarro World
The week of January 21-25, 2008 will go down in the history books of financial markets and potentially society at large. We witnessed the largest financial debacle in history where SocGen lost $7b in index futures pushing stock markets to the brink of collapse (are we trying to one-up each other's debacles?), we received an historic 75bps inter-meeting ease from the Federal Reserve (to fix a bad trade in Europe?), the US government agreed to pass a stimulus package to head off a recession (borrowing $150 billion to save a multi-trillion $ credit bubble?) and to top it off 10YR treasury yields traded down to 3.30% just 30bps from the 2003 lows while the inflation sensitive gold contract traded at an all time high above $920/oz (is this bizarro world?). With all the debate regarding whether or not the US will enter a recession we took a look at the conflicting messages coming from the commodity and bond markets to see if we could come up with a conclusion and trading strategy.
Thais hold key to rice shortages
If there is such a thing as the world's rice-bowl, it lies in the steamy, flat land surrounding the lower reaches of the mighty Chao Phraya river, which ends its journey to the sea in Thailand's capital, Bangkok. About 150km (93 miles) north of Bangkok is the province of Suphan Buri, home to Thailand's most productive rice paddies. And Thailand has for many years been the world's largest exporter of rice. Enriched by the alluvial soil washed down by the river, this land can produce up to four harvests a year. In one sweeping vista you can watch barefoot farmers scattering seeds into the grey-brown mud, see fields of vibrant-green young shoots, and watch other farmers harvesting the mellow gold rice that has already ripened. It is backbreaking work, and an unpredictable living.
Stay diversified in retirement if nest egg not needed immediately
A 60-year-old California reader recently asked if she should purchase staggered-maturity Treasury or inflation-protected bonds for her portfolio, which is now invested mostly in index and retirement-target-date mutual funds.
Although she's retired, she indicated she has sufficient other income for the next 15 to 20 years and won't need to touch her investment portfolio until then.
.
Scots do not want to end the Union, merely modify it
IT'S time. Time for a change. Time to move on. This is the last column from this writer which will appear in this position in this paper. A new and extremely challenging role on the business desk awaits.Sadly, it means no time for the glorious self-indulgence of expressing a weekly opinion on the affairs of the nation.The world of politics is a continuously fascinating one. There is always something new. Political parties take power and always, in the end, lose it. Politicians' fortunes ebb and flow. Plots and conspiracies abound. Policies evolve and change.Over time, the decisions made by our elected representatives really do "make a difference", a phrase politicians use frequently, to the lives of the poor, long-suffering voters whose interests they are supposed to represent. Politics matters.And having spent many years at both Westminster and Holyrood as a reporter – and worked, albeit for only a year, on the "dark side" as a special adviser to former First Minister Henry McLeish – politics had become like a drug.
Horse thought to be stabbed caused own death
Horse thought to be stabbed caused own death Fell over and impaled itself on piece of concrete Cops rule out any suspicious circumstances A HORSE initially believed to have been stabbed by a cruel attacker did not die in suspicious circumstances. The distraught owners called police after discovering their pet, a former race horse named Speak Well, with an apparent stab wound to the stomach in a paddock at Appin, in Sydney's southwestern outskirts at about 10pm (AEDT) yesterday. "There are some other cuts on the horse but the single stab wound would appear to be the cause of death,'' Superintendent Bryan Doyle said earlier. "We are hoping that a post mortem due to be conducted this afternoon will give us a better idea as to how the horse died.'' Now it appears the horse fell over and bizarrely impaled itself on a piece of concrete.
Asian Stocks Hit; Goldman Warns Of US Recession
Asian shares fell on Thursday on worries about global growth after Goldman Sachs forecast a U.S. recession this year, while bond prices hit a two-year high and the dollar gained against sterling. But financial bookmakers forecast a strong start for European stocks, with Paris' blue-chip CAC-40 seen up between 46 to 54 points and Britain's FTSE 100 expected to add 37 to 41 points after late gains on Wall Street on Wednesday. Oil prices edged up in Asia after falling during the U.S. day on the Goldman Sachs report of a looming U.S. recession that could crimp demand in the world's largest energy consumer. The dollar held near a nine-month high against sterling on expectations of a rate cut by the Bank of England later in the day amid growing concerns about the global economic outlook.
|
