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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (44548)	11/29/2001 8:42:15 AM
From: Dealer	Respond to of 65232

M A R K E T .. S N A P S H O T -- Shares look to snap 2-day down streak By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 7:43 AM ET Nov 29, 2001 NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Stocks are looking to interrupt a two-day losing streak on Thursday after succumbing to heavy selling pressure late in the day Wednesday. December S&P 500 futures climbed 3.20 points, or 0.3 percent, and were trading about 3.20 points below fair value, according to HL Camp & Co. And Nasdaq futures edged up 9.00 points, or 0.6 percent, while the Dow Jones Indicative Index jumped 23 points, or 0.2 percent, to 9,735. The government bond market gained traction, with the 10-year Treasury note up 10/32 to yield ($TNX) 4.88 percent while the 30-year government bond climbed 13/32 to yield ($TYX) 5.32 percent. A string of economic news will be out on Thursday: weekly jobless claims, October durable goods orders, seen rising 2.1 percent, and October new home sales, expected to come in at 847,000. Check economic calendar and forecasts. In the currency sector, the dollar edged down 0.1 percent to 123.01 yen while the euro rose 0.2 percent to 88.87 cents.

To: stockman_scott who wrote (44548)	11/29/2001 12:40:31 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 65232

U.S. keeps pressure on Kandahar November 29, 2001 Posted: 11:35 a.m. EST (1635 GMT) (CNN) -- U.S. warplanes pounded Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Thursday, as an opposition leader denied that anti-Taliban forces were moving into the city, the Taliban's lone remaining stronghold......................... cnn.com

To: stockman_scott who wrote (44548)	11/29/2001 12:57:34 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Still Bombing After All These Years SEATTLE ? A spate of television programs and movies like Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan have celebrated U.S. veterans ? but not all of them. One veteran celebrating its 50th birthday Thursday may be among the most influential in the latter half of the 20th century. It was 50 years ago ? Nov. 29, 1951 ? that the first prototype of the B-52 bomber emerged from Boeing's south Seattle plant, under cover of night and a huge tarp. The tail fin was folded down to help conceal its radical eight-engine, swept-wing design. That prototype was damaged during testing and never flew, but it was followed by a second prototype on March 15, 1952, and the maiden flight came a month later. In the first photographs released to the press, its landing gear was airbrushed out to hide its configuration. In all, eight models of the B-52 were built over the next decade, a total of 744 planes. About 100 H models, all built in Wichita, Kan., remain in service. The Air Force said it may retain them until 2040. The B-52 has never been used for one of the missions it was initially created for: dropping hydrogen bombs on a Cold War enemy a continent away. But the Air Force has found other reasons to keep it around ? conventional bombing in Vietnam, Iraq and now Afghanistan, photographic reconnaissance and launching missiles. The 390,000-pound plane has a 185-foot wingspan and can carry a crew of five at up to 650 mph. It can fly as high as 50,000 feet or as low as 200. In a fast-changing world of laser-guided missiles and stealth bombers, the plane's longevity is like something out of a much older arsenal, such as the catapult. It has outlasted several other bombers, including the North American B-70 Valkyrie. "It was a design that had a lot of growth potential," said Al Lloyd, a Strategic Air Command historian and former Air Force officer who works for Boeing. "It was designed to carry nuclear weapons, but it grew as the threat changed, as far as what kind of weapons they could put on it and what kind of electronics can be put on it." Brig. Gen. Guy Townsend, who took the B-52 on its first test flight with Tex Johnson 50 years ago, said he never imagined it would be still bombing after all these years. "None of us ever dreamed the airplane would stay in service this long," Townsend, now 81, said Tuesday. "Three generations have flown the B-52. ... By the time it's retired we ought to have two more generations." And he's happy with the job the big bomber is doing now. "We used to have a big, open flight deck," he said. "That's all full of equipment now. It's doing a beautiful job." Others are less excited to see the bomber still in use. It was reviled by the peace movement as an indiscriminate killer and a symbol of the Vietnam War. Since the 1980s, the B-52s have been upgraded with improved electronics, environmental controls, autopilots, radar, and the capability to launch cruise and short-range missiles. Boeing has suggested replacing the eight engines with four more powerful ones ? such as those used on the Boeing 757. Meanwhile, many of the B-52s have been destroyed under the SALT II disarmament treaty. The Associated Press contributed to this report. foxnews.com

To: stockman_scott who wrote (44548)	11/29/2001 3:23:54 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 65232

U.N. to vote on Iraq sanctions UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations is expected to vote soon on a U.S.-Russian compromise that pledges to revise sanctions against Iraq within six months. The Security Council is also expected to extend the existing U.N. oil-for-food programme, which expires on Friday, until then. Under the deal, Russia would approve by June 1 a new list of imported goods that would need approval to make sure no items for military use were included -- a key element of earlier U.S.-British proposals to revise the sanctions. In return, the United States would look again at gaps in a December 1999 resolution that outlines steps towards suspending the 10-year-old sanctions -- providing Iraq allows U.N. weapons inspectors to resume their work. "We need to clarify how to implement it," Russia's U.N. ambassador, Sergei Lavrov told Reuters. Unanimous approval of the resolution is in jeopardy because Tunisia is demanding the Security Council include a provision authorising the return to Iraq of civilian aircraft stranded in Tunisia and Jordan since the 1991 Gulf War. But as a non-permanent member of the council, Tunisia cannot veto the proposal. The United States and Britain have tried three times since June to revise the U.N. oil-for-food programme, which contains sanctions regulations, with the aim of streamlining imports of civilian goods to Iraq, but tightening restrictions on items that can be used for military purposes -- so-called 'smart' sanctions. One purpose is to counteract worldwide criticism that the sanctions have caused civilian suffering -- a notion the United States strongly disputes. Under the oil-for-food programme, Iraq can sell oil and use the proceeds to buy food, medicine and a host of other supplies. But oil revenues must be deposited in a U.N. account out of which suppliers are paid. Iraq shut off oil supplies for a month last June until it was sure Russia would reject an overhaul of the sanctions, which it believes only make them more permanent. Baghdad's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, told Reuters he had no instructions yet on his government's reaction to the resolution and expected a decision once it was adopted. "I strongly urge them to accept," Lavrov said. "The resolution extends the human programme for six months. They need the humanitarian programme." Despite threats from Washington, Iraq has repeatedly refused to allow U.N. weapons inspectors back into the country, insisting sanctions be suspended first. cnn.com