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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: energyplay who wrote (25085)	11/12/2007 12:16:47 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 219931

Rejig industry that puts cars on the road to make war materiel -given the technological stage then- was very easy. Roosevelt's technocrats vs. old school military in charge of production? I would have stopped in 1938 with the Austrian Anschluss. Because Roosevelt's technocrats were much more able to make industry lethal...

To: energyplay who wrote (25085)	11/12/2007 2:16:42 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 219931

Miners enjoy Rio carnival while banks suffer While the miners were setting all-time highs, the UK banking stocks fell to new lows amid continuing worries that they could be sitting on large sub-prime-related losses. Recent research notes produced by Citigroup and Sanford Bernstein have suggested that Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland could be facing big write-downs. With these banks seemingly unwilling to update the market outside of their normal reporting calendar, investors have been left in the dark. Elmat: in Brazil carnival for banks and miners. Miners enjoy Rio carnival while banks suffer By Ben Bland Last Updated: 11:51pm GMT 09/11/2007 In a tale of two markets, BHP Billiton's eye-watering bid for rival mining giant Rio Tinto partially lifted the gloom in London, while financial and property stocks remained down in the dumps. Although the FTSE 100 closed just 3.2 lower at 6381.9, it received a 70-point boost from the mining stocks. Rio Tinto led the way, surging by a staggering 946p - or 22pc - to a record high of £52.96 on news that it had rebuffed BHP's 3-for-1 all-share offer. advertAnglo American jumped 474p to £36.45, Xstrata leapt by 348p to £35.73 and Vedanta Resources improved 129p to £22.05. BHP was the biggest blue-chip faller, down 100p to £16.56. The FTSE 250 ended 102.5 weaker at 11032. Despite some grumbles from traders who were unable to close all their positions last night, the London Stock Exchange insisted that its data feeds were now back to normal after the previous session's gremlins. When the market closed in London, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 54 weaker at 13246 as Wall Street remained concerned about the escalating sub-prime fallout. While the miners were setting all-time highs, the UK banking stocks fell to new lows amid continuing worries that they could be sitting on large sub-prime-related losses. Recent research notes produced by Citigroup and Sanford Bernstein have suggested that Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland could be facing big write-downs. With these banks seemingly unwilling to update the market outside of their normal reporting calendar, investors have been left in the dark. Antony Broadbent of Sanford Bernstein explained: "In the absence of hard information from the UK banks, which report only half-yearly, we are left attempting to piece together various, disparate clues as to what is really going on." RBS closed 23 worse at a four-year low of 415p, while Barclays slipped 27½ to a three-year low of 486p. Other banking shares continued to suffer, with Lloyds TSB shedding 18½ to 483½p, HSBC losing 23 to 852p and Northern Rock falling for the sixth consecutive session, down 3 to 150p. Paragon, the mortgage lender with a similar funding model to Northern Rock, fell 14 to 214p. Fund manager Invesco, which is shifting its primary listing to the US, slid 33½ to 650½p despite producing a decent set of third-quarter results. Traders said that some European investors are not allowed to invest in US stocks so this update represented a good selling opportunity for them. Other financial stocks were sold off with the insurance sector among those out of favour. Aviva fell 25½ to 697p, Friends Provident eased 6.8 to 160.2p and Standard Life dipped 6½ to 253¾. Shares exposed to the housing market were also in the red after hopes of a surprise interest rate cut by the Bank of England failed to materialise. Among the property companies, Land Securities lost 38p to £14.90, British Land shed 28 to 958p and mid-cap Mapeley tumbled 242p to £16.20 after writing down some of its real estate portfolio. In the housebuilding sector, TaylorWimpey fell 7½ to 211p and Persimmon shed 27½ to 885½p. With fears about the US economy persisting, investors continued to flee Wolseley, the building material supplier that has a large exposure to the US housing and construction markets. The shares slid 21 to a new four-year low of 732p. Oil and gas producer BG Group jumped 88 to a record high of 989p after making the biggest ever oil find in Brazil, alongside local partner Petrobras. The Brazilian state oil company estimated that the Tupi field had recoverable reserves of between 5bn and 8bn barrels of oil and natural gas. But analysts warned that the market reaction was "over the top" given that the development of the field, which is in deep water off the Brazilian coast, would be expensive. The pub sector was in demand after reassuringly unspectacular annual results from Punch Taverns and renewed speculation concerning Mitchells & Butlers. Dealers said there were rumours that property investor Robert Tchenguiz, who owns 19pc of Mitchells & Butlers, was trying to pressure the board to spin off its real estate portfolio into a separate company. Mr Tchenguiz had been working on a property joint venture with Mitchells & Butlers but the credit crunch put paid to their plans. Another story doing the rounds was that Irish horseracing tycoons JP McManus and John Magnier were adding to their 3.4pc stake in the company. Mitchells & Butlers rose 20 to 630p, Punch put on 25½ to 928½p and Enterprise Inns added 7 to 575p. Close Brothers, the merchant bank, soared 156½ to 916½p after rejecting a £1.4bn, 950p-a-share takeover proposal from Cenkos Securities and Landsbanki. Invensys, the engineering group that has been the subject of recent bid speculation, slipped 39 to 281p as half-year profits were hit by the weak dollar. Dry cleaner Johnson Service Group slid 19¼ to 78½p after warning that it expects to breach its banking covenants and was in talks to restructure its debt. South African miner Central Randgold leapt 21 to 146p after picking a fortuitous day to float in London, with the sector buoyed by M&A talk.

To: energyplay who wrote (25085)	11/12/2007 7:57:18 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 219931

"expanding trade relationships is good for Nebraska and altogether good for America," Looks like Lula expanding the geography of trade! This is very good news! Just weeks after President George W. Bush delivered an address calling on the world to isolate Cuba, officials from Minnesota, Alabama and Ohio — and more than 100 American businesses — were working the giant Havana International Fair, trying to secure part of the $1.6 billion the Cuban government spends each year to import sugar, wheat, livestock, poultry and beans, among other staples. ELMAT: Jesus! Wait a moment! Isn't that the country Chavez is doling out oil money? The money is ending up in the US pockets! The Yankee ingenuity is alive and well. Perhaps one I will see those guys here in Tehran doing business. iht.com For U.S. exporters in Cuba, business trumps politics By James C. Mckinley Jr. Published: November 12, 2007 HAVANA: A trade fair in Communist Cuba is perhaps the last place you would expect to find a Republican governor from the American heartland. Yet last week, Governor Dave Heineman of Nebraska was here to sign a deal to export $11 million worth of his state's wheat to the island. Asked the obvious question about whether longstanding American trade sanctions should be lifted, Governor Heineman ducked and weaved like a professional boxer. "Well, I try not to get into that, because that's up to the president and the Congress, but I will say expanding trade relationships is good for Nebraska and altogether good for America," he said. Just weeks after President George W. Bush delivered an address calling on the world to isolate Cuba, officials from Minnesota, Alabama and Ohio — and more than 100 American businesses — were working the giant Havana International Fair, trying to secure part of the $1.6 billion the Cuban government spends each year to import sugar, wheat, livestock, poultry and beans, among other staples. Those business interests clash with the Bush administration's anti-Castro policies, as well as the need of both Democrats and Republicans to court Cuban exiles in Florida, a crucial voting bloc. So while some trade with Cuba is allowed, it is fraught with restrictions. A 1992 law, for instance, denies ships access to American ports for six months after they have docked in Cuba, making shipping tricky, to say the least. Several Americans here said they were frustrated that the sanctions have proved more a source of irritation for those who want to do business with Cuba than a crippling blow to Fidel Castro.