World shares head for worst month ever

ONDON (Reuters) – Shares in Asia and Europe fell on Friday, heading for their worst month ever, while the low-yielding yen surged as Japan's interest rate cut failed to erase concerns about the deteriorating global economic outlook.

The Bank of Japan joined a global easing cycle by trimming interest rates by 20 basis points to 0.3 percent, but disappointed many who had expected a bigger quarter point cut.

The move followed the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates to 1 percent -- its lowest level since June 2004 -- to stave off a prolonged recession. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan also lowered the cost of borrowing this week, with the euro zone, Australia and Britain seen following suit next week.

However, investors feared a round of rate cuts was not enough to stem the flow of worsening corporate earnings and bolster consumer consumption in major economies which might be already in recession.

In response, oil and commodities fell sharply.

"Volatility is the watchword today," said Adam Cole, global head of currency strategy at RBS Capital Markets. "The usual risk aversion plays will also come into play given losses in Asian shares." MSCI world equity index (.MIWD00000PUS) fell 0.9 percent. The index has fallen 21 percent this month, on track for its worst monthly performance in the index's 20-year history.

Asian stocks (.MIAPJ0000PUS) ticked down on the day and European stocks (.FTEU3) were down 0.7 percent. Both indexes also headed for their worst month ever.

U.S. crude oil fell 3 percent to $63.96 a barrel, falling all the way from its record high around $147 set only in July. Gold fell to $724.10 an ounce.

Emerging stocks (.MSCIEF) rose 0.4 percent. The December bund futures fell 30 ticks.

YEN, DOLLAR SURGE

The yen surged 1.7 percent to 96.98 per dollar even as the BOJ cut interest rates.

Risk-averse investors were chasing the low-yielding Japanese currency across the board, sending the yen up nearly four percent to 122.69 per euro.

The dollar (.DXY) rose 1.3 percent against a basket of major currencies.

"The gradual shift in market attention from credit issues to real economic concerns suggests that market stability and releveraging will be some months away," Calyon said in a note to clients.

"The economic news is set to worsen, implying only a very gradual easing in risk aversion in the months ahead and potentially negative feedback to credit markets. Against this background the dollar is set to remain firm."source

Chacha answer to bishops' call for change

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang insisted Wednesday on Charter change as the answer to Catholic bishops' call Tuesday for change in the system of government.

Press secretary and presidential spokesman Jesus Dureza said the Palace was "heartened" that even bishops now "realize" the need for systemic change that can be brought by Cha-Cha.

"We are also heartened even bishops realize kailangan may systemic change tayo, now, hindi bukas (We are heartened that even bishops realize the need for systemic change now, not tomorrow). Some changes in the system will have to be done. Ang pangulo (The president) was a very strong proponent of changes in the charter when she campaigned even for the presidency," he said in an interview on dwIZ radio.

He also said the changes in the 1987 Constitution should not only be economic but also be political.

Several groups had opposed Malacañang's moves to amend the Charter due to fears it may manipulate political changes to keep President Arroyo in power beyond 2010.

Under the present Constitution, the president will get only one six-year term and is not eligible to seek another term.

"May mga provision sa Constitution natin kailangan palitan natin, hindi economic provisions kailangan yung mga changes yan sa political system natin (There are provisions in the Constitution that we have to change, not just economic provisions. We also have to make changes in our political system)," Dureza said.

He also chided some Catholic bishops critical of the government for opposing Palace moves to amend the Constitution. "Hindi tayo umuusad eh (That's why we're not progressing)," he said. - GMANews.TV

Dow ends up almost 900, but no one is exhaling

Wall Street's best day in two weeks — and one of its best ever — was a joyless rally. Even a manic, final-hour stampede of buying that sent the Dow Jones industrials soaring almost 900 points did nothing to dispel the feeling that the market could turn on investors in an instant.

But the extraordinary, lurching volatility that has gripped Wall Street since the financial meltdown began in mid-September meant there were no guarantees the rally would hold, not even for a few days.

Investors are expecting a cut in interest rates when the Federal Reserve announces its decision Wednesday. But they're also staring into an economic abyss, bracing for a recession of a depth no one knows for sure.

Any other day like this — the Dow and the Standard and Poor's 500 both rose almost 11 percent — might have ended with boisterous cheers and paper tossed into the air. On Tuesday, 4 p.m. came with meager applause.

"I don't think it will be a sustained move," said Matt King, chief investment officer at Bell Investment Advisors.

The Dow finished 889 points higher to close at 9,065. On Oct. 13, the Dow rose 936 points, its best ever; no other single-day rally has come close in terms of points to what happened Tuesday.

Analysts ventured a number of explanations for the sudden rally — including coming interest rate cuts, bargain hunting, a market desperate to find a bottom and the expectation that banks, at the urging of the White House, will quit hoarding money and start making loans.

"There is nothing fundamental that came out today or yesterday that would take it up or down. We're all groping for something meaningful to talk about," said Bob Andres, chief investment strategist at Portfolio Management Consultants. "The market is exhausted from going down."

The mood on Main Street is decidedly more pessimistic, and new data Tuesday showed Americans are more depressed than market analysts had expected.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index plunged to the lowest level in its 41-year history in the wake of this month's financial meltdown, the sharp drop in home prices and increasing job losses.

The index fell to 38, down from a September reading of about 61 — the third-steepest monthly decline since the board started the measure in 1967. Analysts, way off the mark, had expected 52.

"It's the worst consumer environment since the 1981-1982 recession," said Adam York, an economist at Wachovia Corp. Americans believe "there's a very dire situation in the U.S. economy right now, and they're not far from being right," he added.

Financial market turmoil and falling housing prices have wiped out trillions of dollars of household wealth in recent months. The S&P 500 had fallen 27 percent in October, and 40 percent for the year, before Tuesday's jump.

In addition, companies cut 760,000 jobs in the first nine months this year, sending the unemployment rate to 6.1 percent last month. Many economists expect layoffs to continue and the unemployment rate to rise to 8 percent or higher in 2009.

After the last recession, in 2001, the unemployment rate rose as high as 6.3 percent in June 2003.

On Tuesday, Whirlpool Corp. said it will cut 5,000 jobs. That's on top of other recent layoffs of thousands of workers by Xerox Corp., drugmaker Merck & Co. Inc. and financial services firm National City Corp.

"The collapse in confidence is directly tied to perceptions about economic conditions and that is likely to mean that households will keep their wallets closed," said Joel Naroff, an economist with Naroff Economic Advisors.

If they do, it'll happen at a bad time. The holiday season is just weeks away, and it's expected to be anemic.

"I don't know how long this is going to last," said Johnny Hunt, 50, a carpenter in Deltona, Fla., who says he is cutting back on a lot of things. "So I got to save money. You've got to hold onto what you do have."

S&P said in a report earlier this week that holiday retail sales would probably fall 2 percent to $250 billion this year, "the most difficult holiday season in memory for U.S. retailers."

Holiday sales have increased an average of 4.4 percent a year in the past decade, the report said.

Meanwhile, the housing slump, which set off the mortgage crisis that has consumed Wall Street for more than a year, shows no sign of abating. A closely watched index of home prices fell Tuesday by its steepest ever annual rate in August.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index dropped a record 16.6 percent from August last year, the largest drop since its inception in 2000.

In addition, the Census Bureau reported that 2.8 percent of U.S. homes — excluding rental properties — were vacant and for sale in the third quarter, unchanged from the second quarter. That works out to 2.22 million properties, the second-highest quarterly number in records going back to 1956.

The first quarter clocked in at a 2.9 percent vacancy rate. In a normal market, it's about 1.7 percent, said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight. That means there's more than 800,000 excess vacant homes on the market.

Exacerbating the pricing environment is a rash of foreclosures, especially in once-hot markets like California, Las Vegas, Florida and Phoenix. Home prices are falling fastest there, according to Case-Shiller — dropping as much as 30 percent in August.

To move foreclosed properties off their books, lenders are sharply discounting prices, which is weighing down median prices.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department will provide its first estimate of the economy's third quarter performance, and many economists think the economy shrank. Economic contraction for the third and fourth quarters consecutively would meet the classic definition of recession.

___

Associated Press writers Tim Paradis in New York and Jeannine Aversa in Washington contributed to this report.

RP shares fall to lowest in more than 4 years

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine share prices took a heavy beating on Monday, with the main index plunging to its lowest in more than four years as investors fled emerging markets on global recession fears, analysts said.

The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index declined 239.66 points or 12.27 percent to 1,713.83 while the all-share index dropped 122.79 points to 1,138.07.

Data from the PSE showed that Monday’s close was the lowest since September 20, 2004 as the 12.2683-percent decline was the biggest one day percentage drop and also the biggest one-day point drop after February 28, 2007 when the local bourse lost 263.84 points.

All the stock market’s sub-indices lost at least 8 percent each, led by the services sector which shed 13.246 percent, followed by the holding firms, 10.6896 percent; and financials, 10.5206 percent.

Of the 141 traded issues for the day, 123 declined, while five advanced and 13 stocks were unchanged.

Volume traded reached P1.102 billion valued at about P1.6 billion.

Monday’s sharp decline forced the PSE to impose a 15-minute trading suspension between 11:23 a.m. and 11:38 a.m. as the market saw shares falling by more than 10 percent.

For the first time in its 81-year existence, the stock exchange regulator was prompted to halt trading and impose the “circuit breaker" rule in a bid to calm the frantic sell-off in the bourse, Francis Ed. Lim, PSE president and chief executive officer, said.

Peter Raymond Lee, IGC analyst, said investors were dumping emerging markets in favor of “raising cash."

"Asian markets led the decline today mostly on fears that the recession is spreading on emerging markets. We may be one of the smallest markets, but we are still vulnerable," he said.

source

Investors dump stocks since cash remains king

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine share prices on Friday dropped anew as investors chose to liquidate their assets and flee to more stable investments, analysts said.

The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index 42.43 points or 2.1258 percent to 1,953.49 while the all-share index slipped 23.30 points or 1.8144 percent to 1,260.86.

Losers dominated gainers 92 to 23 while 24 stocks were unchanged.

Volume traded reached about 847.4 million valued at about P1.951 billion.

Jet Lazaro, Abacus Capital trader, said foreign funds continued to dump local stocks in favor of raising cash.

Asian markets led by Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were also on a steep slide, losing by triple digits each.

“It’s the same story everywhere. Fund managers are forced to liquidate their assets and get out of emerging markets. There's no let-up," he said.

Friday’s decline was the fourth straight session that the local bourse suffered losses.

Lazaro also noted that issues were selling at their prices some three years ago.

“We’re back to levels three years ago. Some are even selling at their pre -1997 Asian financial crisis," Lazaro said.

He added that following the 1997 crisis, the local bourse had bottomed out only in 2002.

"The qualitative difference of that crisis with this one is that our listed companies are liquid and even our economy is doing much better. Back then local companies had a lot of foreign debts, magnifying the impact of the Asian crisis," he said.

Lazaro added that for next week the local bourse's support levels will come in between 1,909 and 1,805.

Except for four issues, all in the 20 most traded stocks for the day declined.

Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. dipped P30 or 1.373 percent to P2,155.

Ayala Corp., one of the country's largest business groups, slumped P8 or 3.4043 percent to P227.

Geothermal power producer PNOC-Energy Development Corp. tumbled P0.15 or 4.8387 percent to P2.95.

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. dove P0.10 or 1.6949 percent to P5.80.

Globe Telecom Inc., the country's second-largest telecommunications company, shed P10 or 1.1494 percent at P860. - GMANews.TV

RP stock market loses P253B in just a single trading session

MANILA, Philippines - The historic plunge of the Philippine stock market on Monday prompted the bourse’s market capitalization to lose P252.6 billion in value in just a single trading day.

Monday’s steep fall pushed total losses to P1.76 trillion since the start of the month, data from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) indicated.

As of Monday’s trading close, market capitalization was about 27 percent lower than the end of September’s, a difference of about P6.51 trillion.

“As it is, our market is already one of the smaller markets in the world and with the drop today, our value has further diminished," Claire Quiray, Accord Capital Equities analyst, said.

She also noted that the local bourse was the second worst performer in the region for Monday, following Hong Kong’s 12.7-percent plunge.

The PSE’s main index has shed 239.66 points or 12.27 percent at 1,713, a four-year and one month low. Besides being the biggest one-day percentage drop in the stock exchange’s history, it was also the biggest one-day point drop after February 28, 2007 when the local bourse lost 263.84 points.

In a separate telephone interview, Francis Lim, PSE president and chief executive officer, said the market capitalization losses were a “necessary result" of the PSE’s huge decline on Monday.

“It is the peso equivalent of the stock market’s decline today. But we hope that with what the foreign governments are doing, the decrease in the stock market index will slow down. The local market has been tracking global markets," he said.

Lim also called on the government to expedite reforms to develop the capital markets in the Philippines to provide some cushion against global volatility.

Next: Bourse official seeks permanent exemptions for stock market transactions

source

PSE temporarily halts trading as stocks suffer heavy losses

MANILA, Philippines - For the first time in the 81-year existence of stock trading in the country, the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday has temporarily halted the session in a bid to calm the frantic sell-off in local shares, which sent the main index falling by more than a tenth of its value.

In a telephone interview Francis Ed. Lim, PSE president and chief executive officer, told GMANews.TV that the PSE has imposed the 15-minute circuit breaker rule from 11:23 a.m. to 11:38 a.m. as the bourse's bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index plunged 220.70 points or 11.3 percent.

"It's a sad day for us but this is not surprising. We're suffering as much as the rest of the world and this is not caused by internal matters," he said.

Lim added that the PSE resumed trading a few minutes before 12 noon.

"We want to remain market-oriented," he said.

The PSE announced late last month that the circuit breaker rule is aimed at giving more time to investors to “digest the impact of a sudden and unusual market drop and to help restore normalcy to the stock market".

The trading halt will be implemented only once in a trading day and will not be resorted to if the drop occurs 30 minutes or less prior to the market close.

Trading at the PSE opens at 9:00 a.m. and closes at 12:10 noon.

Lim earlier said circuit breakers are utilized by some exchanges to prevent investor panic.

"The problem with panic selling is that investors are selling out of pure emotion rather than based on fundamentals. Almost every market crash is a result of panic selling," Lim had said.

The PSE said that other exchanges which have already adopted a similar rule include the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Composite, and Asian bourses such as Malaysia and Thailand, and developed stock markets in South Korea and Taiwan.

On Friday the Dow Jones industrial average fell 312.30, or 3.59 percent, to 8,378.95. However, stock index futures indicated a moderately higher open, with Dow futures climbing 34, or 0.41 percent, to 8,295. Standard & Poor's 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures were also higher.

Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Holdings, noted that investors' sentiment was "really bad"

"This is a marathon, looking for a cure. No one can't stop this fall," he said.

Del Castillo added that for the rest of the week, until investors are convinced that the global economy is on its way to recovery, local stocks will be "on a roller-coaster ride with a downward bias." Source

PSE temporarily halts trading as stocks suffer heavy losses

MANILA, Philippines - For the first time in the 81-year existence of stock trading in the country, the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday has temporarily halted the session in a bid to calm the frantic sell-off in local shares, which sent the main index falling by more than a tenth of its value.

In a telephone interview Francis Ed. Lim, PSE president and chief executive officer, told GMANews.TV that the PSE has imposed the 15-minute circuit breaker rule from 11:23 a.m. to 11:38 a.m. as the bourse's bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index plunged 220.70 points or 11.3 percent.

"It's a sad day for us but this is not surprising. We're suffering as much as the rest of the world and this is not caused by internal matters," he said.

Lim added that the PSE resumed trading a few minutes before 12 noon.

"We want to remain market-oriented," he said.

The PSE announced late last month that the circuit breaker rule is aimed at giving more time to investors to “digest the impact of a sudden and unusual market drop and to help restore normalcy to the stock market".

The trading halt will be implemented only once in a trading day and will not be resorted to if the drop occurs 30 minutes or less prior to the market close.

Trading at the PSE opens at 9:00 a.m. and closes at 12:10 noon.

Lim earlier said circuit breakers are utilized by some exchanges to prevent investor panic.

"The problem with panic selling is that investors are selling out of pure emotion rather than based on fundamentals. Almost every market crash is a result of panic selling," Lim had said.

The PSE said that other exchanges which have already adopted a similar rule include the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Composite, and Asian bourses such as Malaysia and Thailand, and developed stock markets in South Korea and Taiwan.

On Friday the Dow Jones industrial average fell 312.30, or 3.59 percent, to 8,378.95. However, stock index futures indicated a moderately higher open, with Dow futures climbing 34, or 0.41 percent, to 8,295. Standard & Poor's 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures were also higher.

Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Holdings, noted that investors' sentiment was "really bad"

"This is a marathon, looking for a cure. No one can't stop this fall," he said.

Del Castillo added that for the rest of the week, until investors are convinced that the global economy is on its way to recovery, local stocks will be "on a roller-coaster ride with a downward bias." Source

Uses for $700-B bailout money ever shifting

Uses for $700-B bailout money ever

WASHINGTON - First, the $700 billion rescue for the US economy was about buying devalued mortgage-backed securities from tottering banks to unclog frozen credit markets.

Then it was about using $250 billion of it to buy stakes in banks. The idea was that banks would use the money to start making loans again.

But reports surfaced that bankers might instead use the money to buy other banks, pay dividends, give employees a raise and executives a bonus, or just sit on it. Insurance companies now want a piece; maybe automakers, too, even though Congress has approved $25 billion in low-interest loans for them.

Three weeks after becoming law, and with the first dollar of the $700 billion yet to go out, officials are just beginning to talk about helping a few strapped homeowners avoid losing their homes in foreclosures.

As the crisis worsens, the government's reaction keeps changing. Lawmakers in both parties are starting to gripe that the bailout is turning out to be far different from what the Bush administration sold to Congress.

In buying equity stakes in banks, the Treasury has "deviated significantly from its original course," says Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. "We need to examine closely the reason for this change," said Shelby, who opposed the bailout.

The centerpiece of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is the "troubled asset relief program," or TARP for short. Critics note that tarps are used to cover things up. The money was to be devoted to buying "toxic" mortgage-backed securities whose value has fallen in lockstep with home prices.

But once European governments said they were going into the banking business, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson followed suit and diverted $250 billion to buy stock in healthy banks to spur lending.

Bank executives hinted they might instead use it for acquisitions. Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, said this development was "beyond troubling."

Sure enough, a day after Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, made the comment, the government confirmed that PNC Financial Services Group Inc. was approved to receive $7.7 billion in return for company stock. At the same time, PNC said it was acquiring National City Corp. for $5.58 billion.

"Although there will be some consolidation, that's not the driver behind this program," Paulson recently told PBS television talk show host Charlie Rose. "The driver is to have our healthy banks be well-capitalized so that they can play the role they need to play for our country right now."

Other planned uses of the bailout money have lawmakers protesting, although it is only fair to note there is nothing in the law that they just wrote to prevent those uses.

Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, questioned allowing banks that accept bailout bucks to continue paying dividends on their common stock.

"There are far better uses of taxpayer dollars than continuing dividend payments to shareholders," he said.

Schumer, whose constituents include Wall Street bankers, said he also fears that they might stuff the money "under the proverbial mattress" rather than make loans.

Neel Kashkari, head of the Treasury's financial stability program, told Dodd's committee this past week that there are few strings attached to the capital-infusion program because too many rules would discourage financial institutions from participating.

As the bank plan has become a priority, the effort to buy troubled assets has receded from the headlines. Potential conflicts of interest pose all kinds of problems in finding qualified companies to manage that program.

"Firms with the relevant financial expertise may also hold assets that become eligible for sale into the TARP or represent clients who hold troubled assets," Kashkari said.

The challenge was made plain when the Treasury hired the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. as "custodian" of the troubled assets purchase program. The bank will conduct "reverse auctions" to buy the toxic securities on behalf of the Treasury Department. The lower the price they set, the better chance sellers have of getting rid of the devalued securities.

On the same day it hired Mellon, the Treasury also picked the company to receive a $3 billion investment as part of the capital-infusion program. The same bank hired to help manage part of the economic rescue plan became a beneficiary of it.

With the Nov. 4 election nearing, lawmakers decided it was important to remind the government officials running the bailout program about parts of the law aimed at helping distressed homeowners by offering federal guarantees to mortgages renegotiated down to lower monthly payments.

"The key to our nation's economic recovery is the recovery of the housing market," Dodd said. "And the key to recovery of the housing market is reducing foreclosures."

Sheila Bair, who heads the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., responded that her agency is working "closely and creatively" with Treasury officials to "realize the potential benefits of this authority." - AP

Jun Lozada to Joc-Joc: Tell truth, leave a lasting legacy

MANILA, Philippines - Barely two days before he is to supposedly board a flight that will take him home, former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante was advised to bare all on the P728-million fertilizer scam once he returns home.

The advice came Friday from Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., who earlier this year decided to spill the beans on another anomaly - the $329.48-million ZTE broadband deal mess.

"As a father, I am asking you to please think about your children, please consider the legacy you are going to leave to them. Are you going to forever leave them as pariahs branded as children of a thief - or as children of someone who did wrong and yet chose to serve his country in the end, rather than to be a captive forever of the dark forces he used to serve?" Lozada said in an open letter posted on the blog site of the Black and White Movement.

The advice came the same day that law professor Harry Roque Jr. said that he expects Bolante to take a Northwest Airlines flight home on Sunday, and may arrive in Manila at 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Bolante has been tagged as the engineer of a P728-million fertilizer scam where funds for liquid fertilizer were allegedly funneled to the campaign kitty of then administration presidential bet Gloria Arroyo.

In his open letter, Lozada also appealed to Bolante as a fellow Rotarian to take the four-way test as part of his discernment process.

"Is it the Truth? Is it fair to everyone concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendship? Will it be beneficial to everyone concerned? You have been a good Rotarian for many good years of your life. Will you now turn your back on these ideals in the biggest test of your Rotarian values?" Lozada said.

On the other hand, he urged Bolante not to be afraid of the consequences.

"It is my faith in this God that allowed me to face all the fears that I am confronted with when I decided to tell the truth that I know about the NBN-ZTE scam. May you find the faith to lead you to the Light of God's love that no darkness can ever defeat, not even a President of the Republic of the Philippines," he said.

But Lozada advised Bolante to prepare his family for whatever decision he will make.

He said one of his regrets in coming out on the ZTE mess was that he did not prepare his family enough for the consequences.

"I am sharing these insights with you, because if there is one thing that I did regret in telling the truth about how this Arroyo administration has been stealing from the very people it is supposed to serve, it is that I was not able to prepare my wife and my children well enough against the backlash of this government's wrath against me for telling the people about their crimes,"Lozada said.

"You still have time to discern your next move, whether or not you are going to tell the people the truth about the fertilizer scam or bring the secret to your grave, just like Romy Neri," he added. - GMANews.TV

Jun Lozada to Joc-Joc: Tell truth, leave a lasting legacy

MANILA, Philippines - Barely two days before he is to supposedly board a flight that will take him home, former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante was advised to bare all on the P728-million fertilizer scam once he returns home.

The advice came Friday from Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., who earlier this year decided to spill the beans on another anomaly - the $329.48-million ZTE broadband deal mess.

"As a father, I am asking you to please think about your children, please consider the legacy you are going to leave to them. Are you going to forever leave them as pariahs branded as children of a thief - or as children of someone who did wrong and yet chose to serve his country in the end, rather than to be a captive forever of the dark forces he used to serve?" Lozada said in an open letter posted on the blog site of the Black and White Movement.

The advice came the same day that law professor Harry Roque Jr. said that he expects Bolante to take a Northwest Airlines flight home on Sunday, and may arrive in Manila at 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Bolante has been tagged as the engineer of a P728-million fertilizer scam where funds for liquid fertilizer were allegedly funneled to the campaign kitty of then administration presidential bet Gloria Arroyo.

In his open letter, Lozada also appealed to Bolante as a fellow Rotarian to take the four-way test as part of his discernment process.

"Is it the Truth? Is it fair to everyone concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendship? Will it be beneficial to everyone concerned? You have been a good Rotarian for many good years of your life. Will you now turn your back on these ideals in the biggest test of your Rotarian values?" Lozada said.

On the other hand, he urged Bolante not to be afraid of the consequences.

"It is my faith in this God that allowed me to face all the fears that I am confronted with when I decided to tell the truth that I know about the NBN-ZTE scam. May you find the faith to lead you to the Light of God's love that no darkness can ever defeat, not even a President of the Republic of the Philippines," he said.

But Lozada advised Bolante to prepare his family for whatever decision he will make.

He said one of his regrets in coming out on the ZTE mess was that he did not prepare his family enough for the consequences.

"I am sharing these insights with you, because if there is one thing that I did regret in telling the truth about how this Arroyo administration has been stealing from the very people it is supposed to serve, it is that I was not able to prepare my wife and my children well enough against the backlash of this government's wrath against me for telling the people about their crimes,"Lozada said.

"You still have time to discern your next move, whether or not you are going to tell the people the truth about the fertilizer scam or bring the secret to your grave, just like Romy Neri," he added. - GMANews.TV

Greenspan denies blame for crisis, admits 'flaw

WASHINGTON – Badgered by lawmakers, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan denied the nation's economic crisis was his fault on Thursday but conceded the meltdown had revealed a flaw in a lifetime of economic thinking and left him in a "state of shocked disbelief."

Greenspan, who stepped down in 2006, called the banking and housing chaos a "once-in-a-century credit tsunami" that led to a breakdown in how the free market system functions. And he warned that things would get worse before they get better, with rising unemployment and no stabilization in housing prices for "many months."

Gloomy economic reports backed him up. New jobless claims soared to just under 500,000 for last week, and Goldman Sachs, Chrysler and Xerox all said they were cutting thousands more workers. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials bounced erratically all day before finishing up 172 points — after a two-day drop of nearly 750.

The financial crisis even prompted the Republican Greenspan, a staunch believer in free markets, to propose that government consider tougher regulations, including requiring financial firms that package mortgages into securities to keep a portion as a check on quality.

He said other regulatory changes should be considered, too, in such areas as fraud.

Also looking for solutions, another banking regulator told Congress the government was working on a loan-guarantee plan that could help many homeowners escape foreclosure as part of the $700 billion bailout legislation. That plan is being discussed by the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, who is pushing the idea.

Greenspan's interrogation by the House Oversight Committee was a far cry from his 18 1/2 years as Fed chairman, when he presided over the longest economic boom in the country's history. He was viewed as a free-market icon on Wall Street and held in respect bordering on awe by most members of Congress.

Not now. At an often contentious four-hour hearing, Greenspan, former Treasury Secretary John Snow and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox were repeatedly accused by Democrats on the committee of pursuing an anti-regulation agenda that set the stage for the biggest financial crisis in 70 years.

"The list of regulatory mistakes and misjudgments is long," panel chairman Henry Waxman declared.

Greenspan, 82, acknowledged under questioning that he had made a "mistake" in believing that banks, operating in their own self-interest, would do what was necessary to protect their shareholders and institutions. Greenspan called that "a flaw in the model ... that defines how the world works."

He acknowledged that he had also been wrong in rejecting fears that the five-year housing boom was turning into an unsustainable speculative bubble that could harm the economy when it burst. Greenspan maintained during that period that home prices were unlikely to post a significant decline nationally because housing was a local market.

He said Thursday that he held to that belief because until the current housing slump there had never been such a significant decline in prices nationwide. He said the current financial crisis had "turned out to be much broader than anything that I could have imagined."

Greenspan's much-anticipated appearance before the House panel came as the Senate Banking Committee held its own hearing on what the government is doing now to get out of the mess.

Assistant Treasury Secretary Neel Kashkari, who is overseeing the $700 billion financial rescue effort that passed Congress on Oct. 3, said the administration was not only working to get federal purchases of bank stock started quickly but also the program to mop up troubled mortgage-related assets. He also said the government was working to make sure that directives in the legislation to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure were being addressed.

Kashkari said the plan could include setting standards that banks should follow for reworking mortgages to make them more affordable. He said the administration was considering a recommendation to provide government loan guarantees to cover the reworked mortgages to make the program more attractive to banks.

"We are passionate about doing everything we can to avoid preventable foreclosures," Kashkari told the committee.

The FDIC's Bair told the same Senate panel that the government needs to do more to help tens of thousands of people avoid foreclosure.

She said the FDIC was working "closely and creatively" with the Treasury Department to come up with a plan.

Greenspan was asked to defend a variety of actions he took as Federal Reserve chairman — resisting recommendations to use the Fed's powers to crack down on subprime mortgages, for one. And opposing efforts to impose regulations on derivatives, the complex financial instrumentscredit default swaps, which have also figured prominently in the current crisis. that include

He said that outside of credit default swaps, the bulk of financial derivatives had not caused major problems. He said the boom in subprime lending occurred because of the huge demand for investment opportunities in a global economy, and he blamed the crash on a failure by investors to properly assess the risks from such mortgages, which went to borrowers with weak credit.

As for firms that package mortgages into securities, he said, "As much as I would prefer it otherwise, in this financial environment I see no choice but to require that all securitizers retain a meaningful part of the securities they issue."

On the billions of dollars of losses suffered by financial institutions because of their investments in subprime mortgages, Greenspan said he had been shocked by the failure of banking officials to protect their shareholders from their bad loan decisions.

"A critical pillar to market competition and free markets did break down," Greenspan said. "I still do not fully understand why it happened."

SEC Chairman Cox told the House panel that "somewhere in this terrible mess, laws were broken." And Snow said that lawmakers should have responded more quickly to his pleas for stronger regulation for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were taken over by the government last month.

In the meantime, Kashkari, the Treasury official overseeing the bailout program, said there has been much progress, resulting in "numerous signs of improvement in our markets and in the confidence in our financial institutions." Still, he cautioned, "the markets remain fragile."source

Stocks tumble on worries about earnings forecasts

NEW YORK – Wall Street tumbled again Wednesday as investors worried that the global economy is poised to weaken even as parts of the credit market slowly show signs of recovery. The major indexes fell more than 4 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which finished off its lows with a loss of 514 points.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was the worst performer among the major indexes with a 6.1 percent slide that left it at its lowest level since April 2003.

Corporate profit forecasts, a jump in the dollar and falling commodity prices signaled investors are fearful that an economic slowdown will sweep the globe even if lending begins to approach more normal levels as credit markets ease.

The dollar hit multiyear highs against several other major currencies, weighing on commodity prices. That hurt materials and energy companies, while the fall in oil gave a boost to airlines. Technology shares fared better than the broader market following quarterly reports from Apple Inc. and Yahoo Inc.

While reduced strains in global credit markets have eased some investors' nervousness about the economy, market anxiety remains as hundreds of companies this week report third-quarter results and issue somewhat murky forecasts that are stirring unease about the economic bumps that may lay ahead.

Wachovia Corp., which is being bought by Wells Fargo & Co., reported that it swung to a huge loss in the third quarter while the drugmaker Merck & Co. said its quarterly profit fell 28 percent and that it would cut more than 10 percent of its work force.

John Thornton, co-portfolio manager at Stephens Investment Management Group LLC in Houston, said investors' fear has shifted from the immediate concerns about tightness in credit and the resulting difficulty in borrowing to the broader economy as companies come out with their quarterly numbers.

"Even if it weren't for the credit crisis we'd probably be looking toward a pretty tough recession anyway," he said. "The third-quarter earnings are kind of uninspiring but third quarter hasn't been the real concern of people. I think the concern is the depth and duration of the downturn and the effect it's going to have on earnings."

The Dow fell 514.45, or 5.69 percent, to 8,519.21, after being down as much as 698 points in the final half hour of trading. Still, the Dow finished above its Oct. 10 closing low of 8,451. The Dow fell 232 points Tuesday after jumping 413 points Monday.

Broader stock indicators also fell Wednesday. The S&P 500 lost 58.27, or 6.10 percent, to 896.78, its lowest close since it finished at 892.01 on April 21, 2003. The decline leaves the index 42.7 percent below its record close of 1,565.15 in October last year.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 80.93, or 4.77 percent, to 1,615.75.

Lighter trading volume and the Dow's snapback — a rebound in the final 20 minutes that left the blue chips 183 points above the session's low — indicated that the trading was more orderly than it had been two weeks ago when waves of selling pounded the major indexes.

"I'm not as concerned about a pullback in the market when you have light volume," said Dave Hinnenkamp, chief executive KDV Wealth Management in Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, credit markets showed improvement after virtually freezing up in the past month. Bank-to-bank lending rates fell sharply from Tuesday to Wednesday, indicating that credit is becoming easier to obtain. The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, on three-month loans in dollars fell to 3.54 percent from 3.83 percent, dropping for an eighth straight day.

Demand for Treasury bills, regarded as the safest assets around, grew slightly compared to the previous day as economic worries led investors to shun risky assets in favor of government bonds.

The three-month Treasury bill yielded 1.01 percent, down from 1.07 percent late Tuesday. The levels are a notable improvement from the 0.20 percent seen last Wednesday, when investors were willing to trade the slimmest of returns for a safe place to keep their money.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which also moves opposite its price, fell to 3.60 percent from 3.74 percent late Tuesday.

"We're making slow progress and confidence is returning but we're still not there yet," said Christopher Cordaro, chief investment officer at RegentAtlantic Capital LLC in Chatham, N.J.

He said the latest batch of quarterly results, which cover results through Sept. 30, don't reflect the full brunt of the credit freeze-up felt this month and the nervousness among some consumers following the stock market's swoon.

While he expects corporate results will continue to worsen, he also said the markets remain "in panic mode" and investors are perhaps being overly dour in their assessment of how the economy will perform in the next few years.

"When you look at the fundamentals of equities around the world, stocks are selling for very cheap prices," he said. "Behaviorally people project today's current bad news much further out into the future than they should."

Worries about the global economy helped the dollar. The greenback rose against currencies like the British pound and the euro as investors worried about sluggishness in overseas economies. The strong dollar helped drive down the price of oil, as did a government report that U.S. fuel supplies rose last week. Light, sweet crude fell $5.43 to $66.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling as low as $66.20.

Gold fell sharply as the dollar rose. Gold for December delivery fell $32.80 to settle at $735.20 an ounce on the Nymex, after dipping to a 13-month low of $735.20 during the session. Silver and copper also fell.

While the drop in oil and other commodities can be a welcome sign for consumers and many businesses it can also indicate that investors think economic activity is poised to shrink.

Still, Hinnenkamp said the extra money in drivers' wallets compared with when oil was at its high of $147.27 on July 11 could help prop up the economy. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

But materials companies fell as commodity prices tumbled. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. fell $1.63, or 13.4 percent, to $10.52, making it the steepest decliner among the 30 stocks that make up the Dow industrials. Miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. fell $5.82, or 17.8 percent, to $26.92.

Energy issues fell as oil slid to its lowest level in 16 months. Exxon Mobil Corp. fell $6.93, or 9.7 percent, to $64.57, while Chevron Corp. fell $5.06, or 7.6 percent, to $61.74.

The decline in oil helped airlines. JetBlue Airways Corp. rose 2 cents, or 0.40 percent, to $5.01, and United Airlines parent UAL Corp. rose 85 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $14.65.

In corporate news, AT&T Inc. said its third-quarter earnings rose 5.5 percent but missed analyst expectations in part because of strong sales of Apple's iPhone, which the carrier subsidizes. The stock fell $1.95, or 7.6 percent, to $23.78.

Wachovia fell 38 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $5.71 after reporting its results. Merck slid $1.96, or 6.5 percent, to $28.01.

Some tech names advanced. Apple rose after the company reported a 26 percent increase in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. The stock rose $5.38, or 5.9 percent, to $98.87. Yahoo reported a 64 percent drop in third-quarter profits but said it would cut at least 1,500 jobs, cost-cutting that appeared to please investors. The shares rose 32 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $12.39.

Thornton said the latest corporate forecasts are difficult to rely on because companies are grappling with many of the same unknowns that investors are struggling with, primarily the extent of weakness in the economy.

"These markets are making it difficult to gauge how much to read into management comments because clearly they're dealing with unprecedented change in fundamentals. It's hard to take their word on their outlook," he said.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 6.06 billion shares compared with 5.09 billion traded Tuesday. The levels are lower than earlier in the month when volatility swept volume above the 10 billion mark.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 28.68, or 5.40 percent, to 501.97.

Markets overseas fell sharply. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 6.79 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 4.46 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 4.46 percent, and France's CAC-40 lost 5.10 percent. source

Thai court sentences Thaksin to jail in graft case

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had violated a conflict-of-interest law while in office and sentenced him to two years in prison.

The nine judges ruled by five to four that Thaksin, who has been at the heart of Thailand's political crisis over the past three years and now lives in exile in Britain, had got involved in his wife's purchase of land from a central bank fund.

"The defendant is guilty of violating the anti-corruption law, and the punishment is two years in prison," a judge said, reading out the verdict.

Thaksin, speaking to Reuters by telephone, said the case was politically motivated. He has said before that he could not expect a fair trial from Thai courts. "I have been informed of the result. I had long anticipated that it would turn out this way," he said.

He denied British media reports he was seeking asylum in Britain. A Thai prosecutor said he would urge Britain to extradite Thaksin now that the court had sentenced him to prison.

The ruling is the first on a spate of corruption charges against Thaksin and his political associates prepared by graft investigators appointed after a military coup in 2006.

It will do little to lower the political temperature in Thailand, where Thaksin still commands wide support outside the capital, and will be seen as a further blow to the government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who is his brother-in-law.

An elected government came to power this year but the main party in the coalition, the People Power Party, is seen by opponents as a mere proxy for Thaksin.

The extra-parliamentary People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has been waging a street campaign since May to force the government out and has occupied the prime minister's official compound since August.

Two people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes between PAD supporters and the police on October 7.

NO CLASH

The court area was plastered with signs warning Thaksin supporters and opponents they would be in contempt of court if they caused any disturbance.

About 300 government supporters were seen around the court, which was guarded by 100 uniformed police officers, a third of the number the police had earlier planned to deploy.

The PAD opted not to go ahead with a plan to march to the court. "We are staying where we are. We don't want to create any trouble," PAD spokesman Parnthep Pourpongpan told Reuters.

The political crisis dates back to 2005 when the PAD launched street protests against Thaksin, alleging corruption and abuse of power. It has meandered through a coup to elections and back to protests and shows no sign of resolution.

The army removed Thaksin from power because of allegations of rampant corruption during his five years in power. Nearly $2 billion of his family's assets have been frozen in Thai bank accounts. source

Customize Your Google News

Personalize Your Page Now

Go to Google.com and just above the search box you'll see the text link titled ‘News'. Click this to get a standard news format featuring World News, Weather, Sports and the usual fare.

Let's assume for a moment that you are a realtor who specializes in Virginia Beach, VA real estate. Click on, ‘edit this personalized page' in the upper right-hand corner and enter the keywords for the news you want delivered to your personalized news page. You might choose Virginia Beach Real Estate, Virginia Mortgage, Virginia Fore Closures, Virginia HUD Properties and Home Interest Rates.

Presto! You now have a customize news page that delivers current and breaking Virginia real estate related news to your browser at a glance.

As a web designer and SEO developer I stay on top of what's happening with the major search engines and the hi-tech sectors.
I set my Google news page to display news for SEO, (Search Engine Optimization), Sci/Tech, Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask.com and Top Stories.

Let's presume you are a Virginia attorney, you could set your Google news page to; US Supreme Court, Virginia Appellate Court, Virginia Beach Local Courts, Crime Busters and so on.

Depending on your career track or what interests you the most, you can personalize your Google news page for virtually any person, place or thing!

It's a great way to stay at the tip-top of what's happening, while it happens!

See a screen-capture of my Google News page !

Depression: How To Watch The News

Sometimes, one of the hardest things to do when you suffer for depression is to look the news. In this time of sensationalism, it can sometimes be hard to watch the news without allowing it to send you deeper into your depression. There are a few things to do so as not to undergo from that.

The first is to buffer the news. Watch something wwws before. Since the news usually ends on upbeat notes, that should remain your mood up. Another technique is to do something while you watch the news, so overly you don't spend all of your focus on the news. Read a book or do a crossword while watching the news. By focusing on the news only, you are more likely that you will allow it to change your mood. By giving it merely part of your attention, you can stabilize your mood a bit more. You can also watch the news surrounded by somebody else. That way, you have one with whom you can talk something like how you are seeing which might help you to release any anxiety that you are feeling.

Sometimes, watching the news on television is more harmful than helpful. The web allows you to get news whenever you want and that might strive better. Yahoo and Google both have complete news sites and companies such as the New York things and CNN also keep up extensive web presences. It should allow you to watch the to hear a little at a time and get headlines without needing to get too much information.

How to Write Your Own Press Release

News reports and readily available information on news and events are second nature to us. We see them all the time in all forms of media whether it be commercial or purely news-based. Both types of news reports are the result of something that ensures only an entertaining, informational, educational or otherwise beneficial news states reaches the masses. It is a serious business made up of carefully thought-out approaches. The key here is a Press Release.

A push release is basically something you spit out to inform someone of a news story, an event, or a commercial news item. More specifically however, a press release is sent to persons who survey news stories to the general public and thus do not make contact with the public directly; rather through a medium these as a newspaper or interweb news website. In condition to write an effective press release, you need to supply all important details related to your news story. Make sure it is concise and at the same time highly interesting to the reader. In short, the tone of your press release should be that the news item is in fact shock worthy regardless of how it is about.

By having a good understanding of what a press release is, how it ultimately affects what to hear stories reach the public, and how it will effect your own news item might help you to better formulate a good drive release. Do some quick research and you can find ample information on how one is written. Plan carefully and your news item can undoubtedly get further exposure amongst a nice press release!

Reality TV News Online - Part 3

At present, certain reality news TV online does not just strive to be the most comprehensive but to become the most newsworthy provider of news to the online public. These types of sites are the ones frequently updated with the most intriguing news reports of any reality TV show from all around the world.

To best suit to the news consumer's demands for quality news, they even hire a huge team of editors to sort out and guide the direction of effective and responsible news writing online. There are many original reports on various trends, gossips and creative analyzes of everyday reality news that are posted regularly. Thus, all people will know who got in and who was eliminated from certain reality TV shows, in as much as knowing what is hot and what is not.

Like these types of reality TV news online, they thrust completeness in reality news and not necessarily covering all the news. Having a complete content with the news on hand is a lot better than getting the most number of news. They only cover the news that is interesting to the news readers. Useless and insignificant news are out of the discussion boards. As an avenue for responsible journalism, they even allow the readers to make comments or corrections to the news they are posting especially when it involves non-factual and highly opinionated content. Their primary concern is to target the reality shows that meet the standard for quality wherein the best shows can even have a separate archive for arranging news specific to it.

Powell picks Obama, hits McCain campaign tone

(Update) WASHINGTON – Colin Powell, a Republican and retired general who was President Bush's first secretary of state, broke with the party Sunday and endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, calling him a "transformational figure" while criticizing the tone of John McCain's campaign.

The former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman said either senator is qualified to be commander in chief. But after studying both, he concluded that Obama is better suited than McCain, the standard-bearer of Powell's own party, to handle the nation's economic problems and help improve its world standing.

"It isn't easy for me to disappoint Sen. McCain in the way that I have this morning, and I regret that," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press," where he announced the endorsement and delivered a serious blow to the aspirations of his longtime friend, Arizona Sen. McCain.

But, Powell added: "I think we need a transformational figure. I think we need a president who is a generational change and that's why I'm supporting Barack Obama, not out of any lack of respect or admiration for Sen. John McCain."

The endorsement by Powell amounted to a stunning rejection of McCain, a 26-year veteran of Congress and a former Vietnam prisoner of war who has campaigned as the experienced, tested candidate who knows how to keep the country safe.

Powell's endorsement has been much anticipated because of his impressive foreign policy credentials, a subject on which Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, is weak. Powell is a Republican centrist popular among moderate voters.

At the same time, Powell is a black man and Obama would be the nation's first black president — a goal Powell considered pursuing for himself in 1996, before deciding not to run. Powell said he was cognizant of the racial aspect of his endorsement, but said that was not the dominant factor in his decision.

Powell expressed disappointment in the negative tone of McCain's campaign, his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate and their decision to focus in the closing weeks of the contest on Obama's ties to 1960s-era radical William Ayers, saying "it goes too far."

A co-founder of the Weather Underground, which claimed responsibility for nonfatal bombings in the United States during the Vietnam War-era, Ayers is now a college professor who lives in Obama's Chicago neighborhood. He and Obama also served together on civic boards in Chicago.

"This Bill Ayers situation that's been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign," Powell said. "But Mr. McCain says that he's a washed-out terrorist. Well, then, why do we keep talking about him?"

Powell said McCain's choice of Palin raised questions about judgment.

"She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired. But at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president," he said. "And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Sen. McCain made."

McCain seemed dismissive of Powell's endorsement, saying he had support from four other former secretaries of state, all veterans of Republican administrations: Henry Kissinger, James A. Baker III, Lawrence Eagleburger and Alexander Haig.

"Well, I've always admired and respected Gen. Powell. We're longtime friends. This doesn't come as a surprise," McCain said on "Fox News Sunday."

Asked whether the endorsement would undercut his campaign's assertion that Obama is not ready to lead, McCain said, "Well, again, we have a very, we have a respectful disagreement, and I think the American people will pay close attention to our message for the future and keeping America secure."

Powell also said he was troubled that some Republicans — he excluded McCain — continue to say or allow others to say that Obama is a Muslim, when he is a Christian. Such rhetoric is polarizing, he said.

"He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America," Powell said. "Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?"

Obama called Powell to thank him for the endorsement, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

"I am beyond honored and deeply humbled to have the support of Gen. Colin Powell," Obama said at a rally in Fayetteville, N.C. "Gen. Powell has defended this nation bravely, and he has embodied our highest ideals through his long and distinguished public service. ... And he knows, as we do, that this is a moment where we all need to come together as one nation — young and old, rich and poor, black and white, Republican and Democrat."

Powell said he remains a Republican, even though he sees the party moving too far to the right. He supports abortion rights and affirmative action, and said McCain and Palin, both opponents of abortion, could put two more conservative justices on the Supreme Court.

"I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration," Powell said.

Powell chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's top military post, during the first Gulf war under President George H.W. Bush. As secretary of state, he helped make the case before the United Nations for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, launched in March 2003.

Powell said the nation's economic crisis provided a "final exam" of sorts for both candidates, suggested McCain had failed the test.

"I found that he was a little unsure as to how to deal with the economic problems that we were having," Powell said. "Almost every day there was a different approach to the problem and that concerned me, sensing that he doesn't have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had."

In contrast, Powell said Obama "displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge and an approach to looking at problems ... . I think that he has a, a definitive way of doing business that would serve us well." - AP

melamine test negative 18 producs

MANILA, Philippines – The Health Department (DOH) on Monday announced that 18 canned meat products sold in the local market were tested negative for melamine contamination, a GMA Flash Report said.

Based on the laboratory test results from the National Meat Inspection Services (NMIS) as of October 17, the 18 melamine-free canned meat products are:

*Argentina Corned Beef Chunky, 190 grams;

*Chang Long Pork Luncheon Meat, 170 grams;

*Greatwall Brand Premium Ham Luncheon Meat, 340 grams;

*Gulong (China Well-Known Mark) Pork Luncheon Meat, 340 grams;

*Liberty Pork Luncheon Meat, 375 grams;

*Maling Canned Pork Luncheon Meat, 397 grams;

*Maling Chunky Corned Beef, 150 grams;

*Maling Pork Luncheon Meat, 170 grams;

*Maling Pork Luncheon Meat, 397 grams;

*Maling Premium Pork Luncheon Meat, 397 grams;

*Maling Vienna Sausage, 140 grams;

*Narcissus Brand Pork Mince with Bean Paste, 185 grams;

*Narcissus Brand Premium Luncheon Meat, 397 grams;

*Narcissus Brand Spiced Pork Cubes, 142 grams;

*Narcissus Brand Stewed Pork, 397 grams;

*Purefoods Chinese Style Luncheon Meat, 165 grams;

*Purefoods Corned Beef, 210 grams; and

*Shanghai Brand Chinese Luncheon Meat (New Budget Size), 165 grams.

The NMIS started testing canned meat products from China last week for possible contamination of the kidney stone-causing chemical.

For her part, Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) director Leticia Gutierrez said they expect the testing for canned meat products to be completed within the week.

"Ito na yung bulk. Kung meron mang natitira samin siguro more than 10 na lang," Gutierrez said in an interview over radio dzBB.

"Within the week baka matapos kami… Ongoing yung test," she added.

The Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) through the DOH had earlier released four installments of its laboratory testing results on China-made milk and milk-based products for melamine content.

BFAD found 103 milk and milk-based products to be melamine-free, but confirmed melamine content in four products. Products that tested positive for melamine included: Lotte Strawberry Snack Koala Biscuit, JollyCow Slender High Calcium Low Fat Milk (more calcium & Vitamin D) 1 Liter, Greenfood Yili Fresh Milk, and Mengniu Drink.

The melamine scare erupted in September when health officials in China reported 54,000 illnesses, including four infant deaths, due to kidney stones and other renal failure resulting from milk tainted with melamine. source

Work-related stress

MANILA, Philippines - Work-related stress is the top reason driving employees away from a company, the latest study by global consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide showed.

The consulting company urged human resources executives to consider whether the reason for the turnover rate is the level of stress that employees face in their jobs.

In its Global Strategic Rewards Survey, Watson Wyatt cited that the main reason that employees leave their firm is stress. However, company management has placed low importance in reducing the stress levels of their employees.

Rachelle Arcebal, Watson Wyatt strategic rewards practice leader, noted that managers usually “underestimate employee stress levels as drivers of turnover."

She added that although base pay is still the top drawer and retention-driver among companies in the region, this is usually overshadowed by work stress on employees.

The findings were the result of the study in the Asia-Pacific region, where 450 companies covering 8,000 employees participated in April and May of this year. Of the 450 companies, 12 percent were from the Philippines.

The entire poll, however, covered 1,389 companies with 15 million employees in 37 countries.

The complete study, which will be released later this year, is an annual global survey done by Watson Wyatt to find out how companies in different parts of the world address issues on how to attract, retain, manage and reward workers.

The research showed that besides basic pay, company reward programs, quality of the work environment, rotational assignments, periodical cash incentives, merit increases, career development and training are the reasons why employees are attracted to a company and keep them loyal to it.

Laura Sejen, Watson Wyatt Global Director of Strategic Rewards, said that despite the global economic turmoil, companies revealed that they are finding it difficult to attract and retain critical skills and top-performing employees.

Unlike their American counterparts, Asia-Pacific employers prefer other measures than to downsize their workforce as a way to keep the company afloat during hard times.

She said this was the lesson learned by Asia-Pacific firms in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis in the 1990s, where they let people go.

Sejen noted that Asia-Pacific companies preferred moves were to restructure organization, freeze hiring and slow down rate of salary increase.

Sejen said Asia-Pacific companies learned that upon a recovery in the economy, it would be more expensive for them to recruit and train employees again instead of keeping their workforce. -

Oil rises to $73 on expectation of OPEC cut

SINGAPORE - Oil prices rose to $73 a barrel in Asia on Monday on expectations that OPEC will cut production quotas at an extraordinary meeting later this week.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery rose $1.16 to $73.01 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. The contract Friday gained $1.53 to settle at $71.38.

Chakib Khelil, president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said Sunday that members plan to announce a "substantial" cut at a meeting that begins Oct. 24 in Vienna.

Khelil, who is also Algeria's energy minister, said OPEC may cut output again at a meeting in December, and that the group considers the oil market oversupplied by about 2 million barrels a day, Khelil said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday he would like prices between $80 and $90 a barrel.

"The market is factoring in a big cut. It will likely be as much as 2 million barrels," said Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist with ANZ Bank in Melbourne. "I think they will go pretty large just to change the sentiment."

Investors largely ignored an OPEC output reduction of about 520,000 barrels a day last month, focusing instead on weakening demand.

Fears that turmoil in global financial markets will spark an economic slowdown in developed countries has helped push prices down from a record $147.27 in July.

Last week, news of rising US oil inventories, falling retail sales and slowing housing starts fueled concerns that the world's largest economy may face a major recession that will undermine demand for crude.

"Oil demand in the US will be a bellwether," Pervan said. "If the US, Europe and Japan go into a major recession, there's no reason we can't see $35, $40 a barrel."

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 1.65 cents to $2.15 a gallon, while gasoline prices gained 2.44 cents to US$1.69 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery jumped 14 cents to US$6.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, November Brent crude was up 95 cents to US$70.55 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

British princes begin motorbike rally for charity

PORT EDWARD, South Africa – British princes William and Harry set off Saturday on a grueling 1,000-mile motorcycle rally in South Africa to raise money for charity.

The pair joked that they had a wager on which royal tumbles from their bike the most during the eight-day off-road adventure.

"It's going to be very challenging and we're expecting to fall off many a time," said Harry, 24, before more than 80 riders set off from the holiday resort of Port Edward on South Africa's southeast coast.

A crowd cheered the riders as they hit the winding dust road bound for the southern coastal city of Port Elizabeth.

William, 26, who next year will begin training to be an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot, said he and his brother had decided to take part in the rally "because it's a mixture of adventure and charity."

Funds raised through the princes' participation in the Enduro Africa 08 event will be divided among UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and Sentebale, a charity established by Prince Harry to help disadvantaged children in Lesotho.

Harry, an officer in the Household Cavalry regiment, said he was looking forward to spending some rare time together with his brother.

Both brothers ride high performance motorbikes when in the UK, but William said they had not trained for the event.

"We both ride bikes at the moment but on-road biking is completely different. All the off-road stuff is up hills, down slopes, across rivers and is all rocky and hilly," William said.

Questioned about which royal was the better rider, William said, diplomatically, that "we're both quite good actually," while his brother quipped: "We'll have to wait and see in a couple of days time."

Hawaii ending universal child health care

Hawaii is dropping the only state universal child health care program in the country just seven months after it launched.

Gov. Linda Lingle's administration cited budget shortfalls and other available health care options for eliminating funding for the program. A state official said families were dropping private coverage so their children would be eligible for the subsidized plan.

"People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free," said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. "I don't believe that was the intent of the program."

State officials said Thursday they will stop giving health coverage to the 2,000 children enrolled by Nov. 1, but private partner Hawaii Medical Service Association will pay to extend their coverage through the end of the year without government support.

"We're very disappointed in the state's decision, and it came as a complete surprise to us," said Jennifer Diesman, a spokeswoman for HMSA, the state's largest health care provider. "We believe the program is working, and given Hawaii's economic uncertainty, we don't think now is the time to cut all funding for this kind of program."

Hawaii lawmakers approved the health plan in 2007 as a way to ensure every child can get basic medical help. The Keiki (child) Care program aimed to cover every child from birth to 18 years old who didn't already have health insurance — mostly immigrants and members of lower-income families.

It costs the state about $50,000 per month, or $25.50 per child — an amount that was more than matched by HMSA.

State health officials argued that most of the children enrolled in the universal child care program previously had private health insurance, indicating that it was helping those who didn't need it.

The Republican governor signed Keiki Care into law in 2007, but it and many other government services are facing cuts as the state deals with a projected $900 million general fund shortfall by 2011.

While it's difficult to determine how many children lack health coverage in the islands, estimates range from 3,500 to 16,000 in a state of about 1.3 million people. All were eligible for the program.

"Children are a lot more vulnerable in terms of needing care," said Democratic Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland. "It's not very good to try to be a leader and then renege on that commitment."

The universal health care system was free except for copays of $7 per office visit.

Families with children currently enrolled in the universal system are being encouraged to seek more comprehensive Medicaid coverage, which may be available to children in a family of four earning up to $73,000 annually.

These children also could sign up for the HMSA Children's Plan, which costs about $55 a month.

"Most of them won't be eligible for Medicaid, and that's why they were enrolled in Keiki Care," Diesman said. "It's the gap group that we're trying to ensure has coverage."

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On the Net:

Hawaii Medical Service Association: http://www.hmsa.com/

Bush says economy will bounce back in the long run

WASHINGTON – President Bush on Saturday sought to reassure Americans about the cost and scope of the nation's financial bailout plan and said that in the long run "our economy will bounce back."

Bush, in his weekly radio address, acknowledged that people are concerned about their finances and, while he offered assurances about an eventual recovery, he did not say when that would happen.

Since Oct. 9, 2007, when the Dow topped 14,000, investors have lost $8.3 trillion from pension funds, college savings plans, 401(k)s and other investments.

"The federal government has responded to this crisis with systematic and aggressive measures to protect the financial security of the American people," Bush said. "These actions will take more time to have their full impact. But they are big enough and bold enough to work." Congress gave Bush a $700 billion plan to buy bad assets from banks and other institutions to shore up the financial industry.

Bush was to meet later Saturday at Camp David for talks on the economy with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manual Barroso, who were to stop in the United States on their way home from a summit in Canada.

In the Democrats' weekly radio address, Rep. Rahm Emanuel used the occasion for campaign criticism against John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee.

"On weekends like this, maybe you're like me and my neighbors, working around the house, trying to save a few bucks," said Emanuel, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "My neighbors and yours are struggling in this economy. They're working as hard as they know how, but the economic policies that George Bush proposed and John McCain supports have left them working harder, paying more and making less."

White House press secretary Dana Perino said the Camp David meeting was not expected to produce any new policy decisions or the date or place for a planned meeting of leaders of major economic powers, the so-called G8. Instead, she said it would focus on efforts extending as far back as April on coordination for financial stability through measures such as bank disclosures, accounting rules at credit rating agencies, capital standards and asset valuation.

The bailout plan runs counter to Bush's oft-stated commitment to free enterprise and the president said he knew many Americans have reservations about the government's approach, particularly the Treasury's planned injection of up to $250 billion in U.S. banks in return for partial ownership stakes, something that hasn't been done since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"As a strong believer in free markets, I would oppose such measures under ordinary circumstances," the president said. "But these are no ordinary circumstances. Had the government not acted, the hole in our financial system would have grown larger, families and businesses would have had an even tougher time getting loans and ultimately the government would have been forced to respond with even more drastic and costly measures later on."

Bush said the government's involvement was limited in scope and Washington will not exercise control over any private firm and federal officials will not have a seat on bank boards. He also said he believed that the final cost to taxpayers would be significantly less than the initial investment as the housing market recovers. source