Asian Stocks Tumble Again as Jitters Strike Markets
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Markets in Tokyo, Sydney, Hong Kong record losses as investors react to disappointing profit reports from several major corporations
Asian stock markets have taken another tumble as fears of a global recession again rattled investors. Japan's benchmark Nikkei share index closed down 2.5 percent and Australian shares also finished a troubled day lower. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.A businessman walks past a stock indicator in Tokyo, 23 Oct 2008After recent gains, share markets across Asia succumbed to a wave of fear - a sign the global financial crisis is far from over.Japan's Nikkei closed down two 2.5 percent on Thursday, although it was down by as much as 7 percent early in the session because of fears that weak exports could push the country into recession.Australian stocks closed lower for the second consecutive day, with the ASX index falling by over 4 percent. The market was dragged down by big losses in the resources sector as fears resurfaced of a global economic slowdown.In a further sign of troubled economic times, Australia's ANZ Bank delivered its first full-year profit decline in 11 years. The bank's chief executive, Mike Smith, expressed frustration over the panic that has spread among the world's share markets. "I still don't really understand the blind following of the ASX to the Dow Jones. You know, I really do not get that," Smith said. "US corporates [corporations] have got a very different earnings outlook and very different economy from Australian corporates and the outlook in Australia and I think there should be more of a disconnect[ion] between those markets." In the United States Wednesday, share markets fell sharply, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 5.5 percent.South Korea's main index was hit hardest. It lost more than 7 percent, led by shares of Samsung Electronics and steel producer POSCO. There was gloomy news, too, from Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, fell 3.6 percent.Global investor sentiment has been hit by warnings from both the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Bank of England governor Mervyn King that the U.K. is likely to enter its first recession in 16 years.The White House will hold a global summit to address the economic crisis next month.
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Asian, European Leaders to Discuss Financial Crisis, Environment
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Europe wants support from China, other Asian giants on crisis, as well as on climate change and sustainable development
Asian and European leaders are arriving in Beijing to discuss ways to deal with the global financial crisis. Europe wants support from China and other Asian giants on the crisis, as well as on climate change and sustainable development. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.Europe wants support from China and other Asian giants on the crisis, as well as on climate change and sustainable developmentLeaders from more than 40 Asian and European countries will hold two days of talks in the Chinese capital.The seventh Asia-Europe Meeting, known as ASEM, begins Friday and will focus on shoring up global confidence in the face of a world economic slowdown.European leaders want to see more support from fast-growing China and India.The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, told journalists no country is immune to the crisis. He says the international financial system needs sweeping reforms and that for them to work, Asia needed to be "on board." "We are living in unprecedented times and we need unprecedented levels of global coordination. It is very simple. We swim together or we sink together," he said.During the past few months, governments around the world have moved to shore up banks, make cash available to lenders and to stabilize markets. The credit crisis, sparked originally by the collapse of bad loans in the United States property market, has resulted in several large international banks being forced to close or merge. Barroso says the financial crisis is not the only cause of the global economic slowdown. He says major imbalances and problems with monetary policies were other causes. "If you look, for instance, at the level of reserves some countries have and the level of consumption, or internal demand, compared with other major players. That is one of the reasons why I really believe that China has a word to say and that is, by the way, in the interest of China, to be an active participant in this new financial order that will be created," Barroso said.China has nearly $2 trillion in foreign currency reserves and has been under pressure to allow its own currency to appreciate. Other governments also hope Beijing can stimulate domestic consumption, to reduce the damage from slowing demand in Europe, Japan and the United States.Chinese leaders say they are paying close attention to the global crisis and are considering what measures are needed to maintain stability.The meeting of Asian and European leaders is an opportunity to discuss common concerns, and will not produce binding agreements.During the meeting, leaders will also discuss climate change. Europe wants advanced developing countries like China to make more substantial commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Barroso says he hopes the world does not make the same mistake with climate change as they did with the financial crisis. He says when they see a serious problem coming nations should not postpone the solutions.
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Credit Rating Executives Acknowledge Failures
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Congressman Henry Waxman accuses firms of being too focused on profits, at the expense of investor security
U.S. lawmakers have accused major credit rating agencies of serious failures in how they assessed mortgage-backed securities and other investments. Executives of major firms, and former employees testified at a congressional hearing, the latest to examine factors contributing to the U.S. financial system collapse. VOA's Dan Robinson reports.
Bond rating companies assign grades to a range of investments, including mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the current financial mess.
The role of such firms in financial markets has increased sharply in recent years, along with their profits.
Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (File)House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman, Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman, accuses the firms of colossal failures asserting they became focused more on profits at the expense of investor security. "Million of investors rely on them for independent, objective assessments. The rating agencies broke this bond of trust and federal regulators ignored the warning signs and did nothing to protect the public. The result is that our entire financial system is now at risk," he said.
Criticisms by former employees of two large firms, Standard & Poor's and Moody's, and recommendations for change are resonating on Capitol Hill.
Jerome Fons, a former Moody's managing director of credit policy, says the firms badly missed the impact of falling house prices and declining standards linked to sub-prime mortgages, and he described the atmosphere he says prevailed at Moody's. "In my view, the focus of Moody's shifted from protecting investors to marketing ratings. The company began to emphasize customer service and commissioned detailed surveys of client attitudes. I believe the first evidence of this shift manifested itself in flawed ratings on large telecommunications firms during that industry's crisis in 2001." he said.
Calling reforms undertaken so far by rating firms inadequate, Fons urges what he calls sweeping management changes, firing of those associated with issuing faulty ratings, and more transparency and simplicity.
"We were all relatively well-educated and intelligent people and if you couldn't explain it to us, we were real curious how this [mortgage-based] product was enjoying such tremendous success. /// OPT /// And unfortunately anecdotally we were told it was enjoying a lot success because they were selling these bonds in Europe and Asia, and not in the U.S, particularly the lower rated pieces," said Frank Raiter, who was involved in rating mortgage-backed securities with Standard & Poor's until 2005.
Sean Egan, Managing Director of the Egan-Jones credit ranging agency, asserts that major credit agencies knowingly issued grossly inflated and possibly fraudulent ratings. "Issuers paid huge amounts to these rating companies for not just significant rating fees, but in many cases very significant consulting fees for advising the issuers on how to structure the bonds to achieve maximum AAA ratings. This egregious conflict of interest may be the single greatest cause of the present global economic crisis," he said.
Current executives blame the deterioration of the U.S. housing market mainly on a loosening of under-writing standards for sub-prime mortgages.
One after another acknowledged having observed negative trends, but added that they failed to appreciate the size of the problem.
Raymond McDaniel of Moody's, and Steven Joynt of Fitch Ratings:
MCDANIEL: We did not, however, anticipate the magnitude and speed of deterioration in mortgage quality or the suddenness of the transition to restrictive lending [the impact on the credit markets].
JOYNT: We did not foresee the magnitude or the velocity of the decline in the U.S. housing market, nor the dramatic shift in borrowed behavior brought on by the changing practices in the market, nor did we appreciate the extent of shoddy mortgage origination practices and fraud in the 2005 and 2007 period."
Along with Deven Sharma of Standard & Poor's, all expressed regret at the impact inaccurate ratings have had on American's investments.
With two weeks to go before the U.S. presidential and election on November 4th, the financial and credit system collapse remains a dominant issue for Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, and has lawmakers seeking re-election worried.
At Wednesday's hearing, Democrat Stephen Lynch and Republican Christopher Shays voiced their disgust:
"LYNCH: I have a lot of people in my district who feel that they have been de-defrauded and they're mad as hell and they think that in light of what has happened to them, someone ought to go to jail, and the more I hear in these hearings I am inclined to agree.
SHAYS: When the referee is being paid by the players, no one should be surprised when the game spins out of control."
House Republicans called Wednesday for a bipartisan commission to supplement investigations by Democratic-controlled committees and the Justice Department. "The financial crisis continues, and it cannot wait until the next Congress [for us] to begin action," said California Republican Darrell Issa.
Republicans plan to formally introduce legislation for such a commission when lawmakers return for more legislative work on the economy following the presidential election, although it is unclear what traction the proposal will have with majority Democrats.
Republicans also want a special counsel appointed to investigate what they call fraud and mismanagement at two large mortgage firms [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] the federal government took control of before the financial market collapse.
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Experts Search For Answers to US Stock Market Volatility
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Anxiety, uncertainty are some reasons behind market shifts, analysts say
Nearly three weeks ago the U.S. Congress approved an historic $700 billion bailout of America's economy. But creditors and investors still remain uncertain about the future. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fluctuated hundreds of points within a single day, as nervous investors wait to see what happens next. VOA's Robert Raffaele talked to some economic experts about the market's volatility, and what is needed to restore stability. Trader looks over financial data in a booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, 15 Oct 2008 For weeks, stock brokers, traders and investors have been reeling from one emotion to the the next as the world's stock markets rose and fell to historic levels sank 777 points, its biggest single-day point decline ever.Then on October 13, the Dow rebounded with a 936-point gain. Since then the Dow has continued its erratic pattern.Barry Wood, Voice of America's economics correspondent, says the collapse of several giant American investment firms, including Bear Stearns, triggered the panic which then caused a rapid drop in the value of U.S. stocks.
"You've had a series of declines that were just precipitous," Wood explained. "People don't know if stocks, which came down 45 percent from the peak of a just a year ago, if they've come down to the bottom or if there's still more distance down. " Wood says anxiety is what led to market instability.
"So uncertainty, fear, all of that has contributed to volatility. People also need cash, and if they need cash, they sell stocks if they have them - that all contributes to the volatility," he said. Bill Barker is a senior analyst with the Motley Fool, an investment advisory news service in Alexandria, Virginia.
Both he and Wood say nervousness about the details of the U.S. government's bailout plan also triggered sell-offs."When the bailout first came into being as a three-page idea, [a] document, it was talking about the government buying out the bad loans from the banks," Barker said. "When it was voted in a week - week-and-a-half later - it was a several hundred page document which included one paragraph about the government injecting money into banks. The form changed so fast. That's one of the reasons the market liked it one day and didn't like it another day." Barker says investors want to see the American financial system stabilized, so that banks feel more comfortable about offering credit.
"The credit markets are thawing, but they are not flowing the way we would like them to," Barker said. "Once that is the case and both companies and individuals have access to the kind of money that they want to borrow and [that] they're used to, things will be better. What we need more than anything is stability, a period of a few weeks where there's no great event of another bank, or savings institution, or company, facing difficulty." Bill Barker says many investors would be wise to follow the conservative approach of Warren Buffett. The American billionaire-investor has been advising others to stay calm. He is buying good quality stocks that are now priced lower than their actual value.It is a pattern that has been successful for him," Barker noted. "During the first half of 2008, Buffett was ranked by Forbes magazine as the richest man in the world with an estimated net worth of more than $62 billion.
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Obama to Leave Campaign Trail Thursday to Visit Ill Grandmother
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Democratic presidential candidate holds rally in midwestern city of Indianapolis before heading to Hawaii; Republican rival John McCain holds set of rallies in Florida
Barack Obama addresses supporters during rally in Richmond, Virginia, 22 Oct 2008U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is taking a break from campaigning to fly to Hawaii later Thursday to visit his ailing grandmother.Obama will hold a rally in the midwestern city/state of Indianapolis, Indiana, before heading to the Pacific state to see 85-year-old Madelyn Dunham. The Illinois senator's campaign announced earlier this week that Dunham's health had worsened in recent days, prompting Obama's decision to see her. Media reports say Madelyn Dunham has suffered a broken hip.Obama is leaving the campaign trail holding a substantial lead in most voter surveys over Republican candidate John McCain, including in a handful of critical states with large votes in the Electoral College. Analysts attribute Obama's strong lead to a perception that he is better able to handle the troubled economy than the Arizona senator. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, right, cheers as Republican presidential candidate John McCain addresses rally in Uniontown, Ohio, 22 Oct 2008McCain will hold a set of "Joe the Plumber" rallies in the southeastern state of Florida Thursday, where surveys show the two men are in a tight race. The rallies are named after the Ohio man who challenged Obama about his tax policies during a campaign stop. McCain has invoked the man's challenge ever since their last televised debate to criticize the Democrat's tax plans as socialism. Obama will return to the mainland Saturday for a campaign rally in the western state of Nevada.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Bloomberg.
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Indian Fireworks Blast Kills 25
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Accidental explosion in small, illegal fireworks factory, also injured at least 17
In India, police say at least 25 people including 12 children have been killed in an accidental explosion in a small, illegal fireworks factory. Officials say at least 17 people were injured in the explosion. The tragedy occurred less than a week before the country's main Hindu festival. As Anjana Pasricha reports, thousands of poor children are employed in small establishments throughout the country despite a ban. Television frame grab from AAJTAK TV shows onlookers at site of illegal fireworks factory which exploded in Deeg, some 160 km south of New Delhi, 22 Oct 2008Police say a huge explosion early Thursday tore down a house where fireworks were being illegally manufactured in the town of Deeg in western Rajasthan state. Many of the victims were young boys and girls employed by the workshop. Police and volunteers helped sift through the rubble to pull out those killed and rescue those injured in the explosion. Police say an accidental fire may have caused the blast. The tragedy occurred less than a week before the main Hindu festival, Diwali. Setting off firecrackers at night is an intrinsic part of the celebration, and hundreds of small,illegal manufacturing establishments come up at this time of the year to meet the huge demand in the market. Many of these factories employ young boys and girls despite a law banning the employment of children.Child rights activists say the latest tragedy highlights the lax implementation of these laws. An activist with Bachpan Bachao Andolan or Save Childhood Campaign, Bhuwan Ribhun, says there is neither political nor administrative will to clamp down on the use of child labor. "Law is nothing but a piece of paper until and unless it is enforced, whether it is a fireworks factory, whether it is domestic child labor, whether it is any other form ofchild labor," said Ribhun. "The administration is not equipped with the knowledge, with the training, as well as the necessary political will behind the administration to say it must be considered as a crime." Estimates of the number of children working in India vary widely. The government says that there are about 10 million boys and girls under the age of 14 working in thecountry. Child rights activists say the number is 60 million. Children from poor homes are pushed to work by parents to supplement a meager income. Employers hire children to save wages. They work in homes, factories, shopsor in fields across the country.
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Suspected US Missile Strike Kills 5 in Pakistan
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Security officials, witnesses say missiles struck religious school in North Waziristan village near Afghan border - stronghold of al-Qaida and Taliban militants
Pakistani officials say a suspected U.S. drone (pilotless aircraft)
has fired missiles into a tribal region in the country's northwest,
killing at least five people.Security officials and witnesses
say the missiles struck a religious school Thursday in a North
Waziristan village near the Afghan border, a stronghold of al-Qaida and
Taliban militants. There was no immediate confirmation of the strike from U.S. officials.Pakistani tribesmen look at damaged house after suspected U.S. missiles strike in village in north Waziristan, 04 Oct 2008Suspected
U.S. drone aircraft have launched about 12 missile strikes against
targets in North and South Waziristan in the past two months.
Pakistani leaders have denounced the attacks, calling them a violation
of Pakistan's sovereignty.Pakistan's parliament Wednesday
called for an urgent review of the nation's security strategy, with an
emphasis on dialogue aimed at reducing violence.In a rare joint
session held behind closed doors, both houses of parliament late
Wednesday passed a resolution calling for dialogue with all parties
willing to abide by the rule of law. That language is seen as an
indirect reference to Taliban militants.The resolution also
called for "an independent foreign policy," a clause that points to
some lawmakers' discomfort with the level of influence that Washington
has on Islamabad's approach to fighting terrorism. The
Pakistani government is under pressure from Afghanistan and the United
States to take on militants based along the Afghan border. Some
Pakistani lawmakers, including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, have
vocally advocated dialogue with the militants to end the unrest and
help stabilize the country.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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Researchers Identify Defective Genes Responsible for Lung Cancer
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Culprit genes responsible for other cancer types, study finds
Scientists say they have identified more than two dozen genes that are frequently mutated in people with the most common form of lung cancer. The researchers say the findings open the possibility of developing individualized therapies to fight the disease. VOA's Jessica Berman reports.Genetics researchers at three U.S. institutions have identified 26 genes that are frequently mutated in people with the most common form of lung cancer, adenocarcinoma. Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer worldwide, accounting for one million deaths each year. About 90 percent of those stricken with the disease are smokers and former smokers, and about 10 percent non-smokers. Only 15 percent of people diagnosed with the deadly disease are alive five years later. In a study published this week in the journal Nature, the researchers describe using the latest genetic sequencing technology to sort through 625 genes taken from the tumors of 188 lung cancer patients. The investigators then compared the tumor changes to the DNA in healthy tissue from the same patients. In a teleconference with reporters, senior study author Matthew Meyerson of the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston said the cancer genes, known as somatic cell mutations, are not inherited and occur nowhere else in the body.He said, "Somatic mutations are important because the mutated genes can be targets for anti-cancer therapy. The reason is that the cancer gene is now different from the normal gene and so some drugs can now specifically kill cells with the mutated cancer gene."Investigators examined which faulty genes activate the cascade of biological events that lead to the development of adenocarcinoma. Senior-co-author Richard Wilson of Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, Missouri said the development could, in time, lead to targeted therapies for lung-cancer patients.
"We should be able to develop much more effective chemo [chemotherapy] drugs, including drugs that also provide for a much more improved quality of life for the patients," he said.The researchers found that some adenocarcinoma genes have been implicated in a number of other cancers, including lymphoma, leukemia and colon cancer.Investigators said it is possible that some drugs that show promise against one type of tumor might work against adenocarcinoma.The work is part of the Tumor Sequencing Project, funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, to assemble a genome-wide catalog of all mutations involved in the lung disease.
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Peace Corps to Resume Development Projects in Liberia
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First American volunteers in 18 years leave Sunday to train teachers and coordinate health projects in rural and local communities
After an 18-year hiatus, United States Peace Corps
volunteers will be returning to Liberia.
On Sunday, 12 educational specialists will fly to Liberia's capital
Monrovia. They will be sworn in during
a formal ceremony on Monday attended by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who
had personally asked US President George W. Bush to reinstate the time-honored
program, which was launched during the administration of President John F.
Kennedy. More than 44-hundred American
volunteers served in Liberia between 1962 and 1990, when operations were
curtailed due to Liberia's civil war.
Peace Corps director Ron Tschetter says that President Sirleaf has requested educational specialists to
focus on training teachers and reviving Liberia's libraries, higher education,
parent-teacher channels of communication, and stepped up health care.
"President
Sirleaf asked for us to bring some education skills sets to be able to train
and prepare Liberians to be teachers.
So we're doing this via a program we call the Peace Corps Response
Program. And that program takes return
Peace Corps volunteers, who have said 'we're willing to go again, howbeit we'd
rather go for a shorter period of time than the full two years.' And so we went
to our database and returned volunteers who have raised their hands with a
willingness to serve and look for skill sets in the area of education and the
ability to train teachers," he said.
The
experienced American advisers, who range in age from 25 to 68, intend to serve
in Liberia during the current academic school year, which ends in June, 2009. Director Tschetter says a second team of 22
education specialists will be in place for Liberia's 2009-2010 academic year.
"Right
now, the plans for that group will be very similar to the group that's going
over Sunday, which will be an eight or a nine-month tour. And then hopefully, we'll begin soon after
that to progress to a full-fledged two-year program and be looking for
volunteers in the various programs that the country might request," notes
Tschetter, who recalls that beginning in the 1960's, American Peace Corps
advisers ran development projects that helped Liberians achieve progress in
their homes, farms, business entrepreneurships, public works, and technological
pursuits.
"At
its peak, we had 400 volunteers in the country. And they were working in about five different areas of
specialization: education, health, agriculture, community development, and
small enterprise work as well. Some of
these programs may enter the scene as we progress with our work in Liberia over
the next three or four years," he said.
With
a new period of stable government under the leadership of President Sirleaf,
who was elected three years ago, relations between Washington and Monrovia have
focused on helping Liberia improve its infrastructure and overcome a very large
foreign debt burden. President Bush
visited Monrovia in February and has warmly welcomed President Sirleaf on
several visits to Washington since she took office.
During a White House meeting
yesterday, the visiting Liberian leader exchanged views with President Bush on US support for Liberia's development agenda. Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter says that
although he also met Wednesday with President Sirleaf, the timing of his
announcement of a resumption of Peace Corps activities in her country was not
planned in advance to coincide with her current visit.
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Phillies Win World Series Game 1
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National League champion Philadelphia beat Tampa Bay Rays in 3-2 in best of seven series
Major League Baseball's World Series opened Wednesday night in Florida, between the host Tampa Bay Rays - the American League champions - and the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies. VOA Sports Editor Parke Brewer was at Game One of the best-of-seven series and reports on Philadelphia's 3-2 victory.Philadelphia Phillies' Brad Lidge, right, is congratulated by Carlos Ruiz after defeating Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of World Series in St. Petersburg, 22 Oct 2008In a game that did not end until shortly after midnight Wednesday, it was Philadelphia's bullpen star Brad Lidge who pitched the ninth inning to get the save in a tightly played contest.In the previous two rounds of the playoffs, Lidge saved five of the Phillies' seven wins.The game got off to a bad start for the host Tampa Bay Rays, playing in their first ever World Series. In the first inning, after a one-out walk (to Jayson Werth), Phillies' second baseman Chase Utley blasted a two-run home run over the right field wall. "Obviously it feels pretty good," Utley said. "Our goal today was to try to score some runs early and try to take the crowd out of it, because they are intense. They are loud. And, I thought we did a good job of that, and I think Cole did a wonderful job again."Utley is referring to Phillies' starting and winning pitcher Cole Hamels, who threw seven innings, allowing only five hits and the two Tampa runs. He now has four wins, without a loss, in this post-season."You know, with being able to score runs early, you know it helps out my game a little bit; makes it easier just because it, I guess, lessens the pressure and puts me at a point where I can't really do much else, but just allow myself to go out there and keep pitching," Hamels said. "And, you know these guys [my teammates] will keep scoring runs."But, in this game, the Phillies only got one run after the first inning and it was enough. It came in the fourth and was driven in by Carl Ruiz on a ground out, to make the score 3-0.Tampa left fielder Carl Crawford cut the deficit to 3-1 with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Rays added one more in the fifth, thanks to a run-batted-in double by Tampa's Japanese second baseman Akimori Iwamura. That made it 3-2, and that's the way it ended. Tampa will also host Game Two in the best-of-seven series Thursday night (8:30 p.m. ET) and will hope to get a win before the World Series switches to Philadelphia for Game Three, Saturday.
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