Banks repossess US homes at record pace -RealtyTrac

July 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 15 (Reuters) – Banks repossessed a record number of U.S. homes in the second quarter, but slowed new foreclosure notices to manage distressed properties on the market, real estate data company RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

The root problems of job losses and wage cuts persist, making a sustained U.S. housing recovery elusive.

Banks took control of 269,962 properties in the second quarter, up 5 percent from the prior quarter and a 38 percent spike from the second quarter of last year, RealtyTrac said in its midyear 2010 foreclosure report.

Repossessions will likely top 1 million this year.

“The underlying conditions haven’t improved,” RealtyTrac senior vice president Rick Sharga said in an interview.

The housing market still grapples with “unemployment, economic displacement in general, and still sits on over 5 million seriously delinquent loans that in all likelihood will at some point go into foreclosure,” he said.

In 2005, the last “normal” year in housing, Sharga said, about 530,000 households got a foreclosure notice and banks took over a comparatively minuscule 100,000 houses.

This year more than 3 million households are likely to get at least one foreclosure filing, which includes notice of default, scheduled auction and repossession, Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac forecasts.

In the first half of the year, foreclosure filings were made on 1.65 million properties. That was down 5 percent from the last half of 2009 but up 8 percent from the first half of last year.

One in every 78 households got at least one foreclosure filing in the first six months of this year.

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Banks repossess US homes at record pace -RealtyTrac

July 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 15 (Reuters) – Banks repossessed a record number of U.S. homes in the second quarter, but slowed new foreclosure notices to manage distressed properties on the market, real estate data company RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

The root problems of job losses and wage cuts persist, making a sustained U.S. housing recovery elusive.

Banks took control of 269,962 properties in the second quarter, up 5 percent from the prior quarter and a 38 percent spike from the second quarter of last year, RealtyTrac said in its midyear 2010 foreclosure report.

Repossessions will likely top 1 million this year.

“The underlying conditions haven’t improved,” RealtyTrac senior vice president Rick Sharga said in an interview.

The housing market still grapples with “unemployment, economic displacement in general, and still sits on over 5 million seriously delinquent loans that in all likelihood will at some point go into foreclosure,” he said.

In 2005, the last “normal” year in housing, Sharga said, about 530,000 households got a foreclosure notice and banks took over a comparatively minuscule 100,000 houses.

This year more than 3 million households are likely to get at least one foreclosure filing, which includes notice of default, scheduled auction and repossession, Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac forecasts.

In the first half of the year, foreclosure filings were made on 1.65 million properties. That was down 5 percent from the last half of 2009 but up 8 percent from the first half of last year.

One in every 78 households got at least one foreclosure filing in the first six months of this year.

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Fed officials see soft recovery and more uncertainty

July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Louisiana (Reuters) – Jitters that financial strains may derail the U.S. economic recovery mean the Federal Reserve will be in no rush to end its ultra-low interest rates, comments by officials of the U.S. central bank suggested on Wednesday.

One senior Fed official went as far as acknowledging that falling inflation could spur the central bank to further ease financial conditions, and another policy maker would not rule out additional measures to stimulate growth.

When asked whether lower inflation would prompt the Fed to try to push borrowing costs even lower, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart told a Rotary Club audience: “It’s appropriate to think about what we would do under a deflationary scenario. At this point, no specific planning in my view is occurring but discussion in all likelihood will be on the agenda.”

The president of the Chicago Fed, Charles Evans, said the central bank had “provided a tremendous amount of accommodation,” but he also would not rule out further action to stimulate the economy.

“I’m going to be looking at the circumstances, and if we need to adjust policy in either direction, I am going to be responding,” he told business news channel CNBC.

The Fed cut interest benchmark interest rates to near zero percent in December 2008. With no room left to cut rates further, it continued efforts to boost economic activity by flooding the financial system with hundreds of billions of dollars worth of credit.

Financial market strains stemming from the European debt crisis and weak reports about U.S. housing and employment in recent weeks have led some analysts to anticipate the Fed would need to spur the tepid recovery with additional actions to promote growth. If it decided to take further action, the Fed would likely buy additional Treasury or other securities.

Lockhart and Evans are generally considered to be in the mainstream of thinking at the U.S. central bank. Neither, however, is a voter on the Fed’s interest-rate setting panel this year.

But Comments by a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, Elizabeth Duke, suggest some trepidation at the Washington-based board about the strength of the recovery. Duke typically focuses on banking issues at and rarely comments on the outlook for the economy or policy.

Duke said the job market recovery was likely to proceed only slowly due to sluggish economic expansion. U.S. gross domestic product rose at a modest 2.7 percent annual rate in the first quarter.

“At that speed of recovery, you are not going to create jobs very quickly,” she said, in response to questions at a banking conference in Columbus, Ohio. “It is going to be, I think, a long period for jobs to recover.

Unemployment has hovered near 10 percent for several months, and analysts expect a report on Friday to show a big drop in employment, although private hiring is seen moving higher.

The Fed last week renewed its promise to hold interest rates exceptionally low for an extended period, saying the recovery is “proceeding.”

The economy has expanded for three quarters in a row, and most analysts had until recently been expecting the Fed’s next move to be a tightening of financial conditions through a combination of raising interest rates and sales of mortgage-related debt the Fed bought to stimulate lending.

The Chicago Fed’s Evans said the economic recovery is “definitely on,” with growth expected at 3.5 percent this year.

But he said he expects inflation may run below his guideline of 2 percent for the next three years or more and said unemployment would stay high for some time.

“It’s going to be a number of years before (unemployment) is going to get down to any type of rate that we might almost say is acceptable,” he said.

Taken together, low inflation and high unemployment mean that the Fed’s current accommodative monetary policy is still needed, he said.

(Additional reporting by Ann Saphir in Chicago and Jim Leckrone in Columbus, Ohio; Writing by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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TSMC, UMC push Taiwan stocks to near 1-month high

June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

TAIPEI, June 15 (Reuters) – Taiwan stocks rose 0.9 percent on
Tuesday to their highest close in nearly one month, after TSMC
(2330.TW) and UMC (2303.TW) forecast growing chip demand amid
rising sales of PCs and other consumer gadgets. [ID:nTOE65E03Y]

Analysts also said the increased likelihood that Taiwan and
China would sign their much-discussed free-trade style agreement
which will cut tariffs on hundreds of Taiwan products would
sustain stocks in the long-term. (For more see [ID:nTOE64D06L])

Taiwan’s main TAIEX share index closed up 66.66
points at 7,454.06, the highest finish since May 19.

TSMC shares rose 0.5 percent and UMC shares jumped 1.03
percent, lifting the electronics sub-index .TELI 0.74 percent
higher. The financial sub-index .TFNI gained 1.44 percent.

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Puget Ventures Inc. Discovers High Grade Extension of Werner Lake Cobalt Deposit

June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Jun 07 (MARKET WIRE) —
Puget Ventures Inc. (TSX VENTURE: PVS) -

– NI 43-101 Resource Calculation Underway by PEG Engineering Group

– Summer Program Scheduled to Continue work to Expand Eastern Extension

PUGET VENTURES INC. announced today that the drill results from its 100%
owned Werner Lake Cobalt Deposit continue to demonstrate the high grade
nature of the primary cobalt deposit as Puget moves closer to a renewed
production decision on this key North American cobalt project.

Puget also released grab samples from the newly discovered eastern
extension of Werner Lake, located 800 metres to the east of the current
deposit area and directly on strike to Puget’s Eastern Shallows Cobalt
Deposit, clearly demonstrating the high potential for additional tonnage
for the Werner Lake Project.

“We are very pleased to discover the eastern extension to the
deposit, suggesting the likelihood of a much larger deposit area for
Werner Lake,” said Erin Chutter, President of Puget Ventures Inc.
“This drill season exceeded our expectations as we continue to move
our primary cobalt project of Werner Lake to a production decision.”

“The next step for the deposit is the NI 43-101 Resource Report
which will also include integration of historic drilling and resource
numbers and work from this spring’s program,” said Michael Dehn, CEO
of Puget Ventures Inc. “We are very excited to begin to better
understand the potential of further cobalt deposits moving across the
property towards our Eastern Shallows cobalt deposit four kilometres to
the east from Werner Lake.

The company completed 7,616m of drilling in 34 holes over the winter and
spring of 2009-2010. The initial winter program of 1839 metres in 17
relatively shallow holes was designed to test the bodies within and
adjacent to the known oreshoots of the West Cobalt and Old Mine Site
blocks, essentially as part of the due diligence for the NI 43-101
Resource Estimate which was initiated by PEG Engineering Group. After
successful completion of the initial phase, the program was expanded to a
spring phase of 5777m in 17 holes, aimed at probing the oreshoots at
depth, and at testing whether the deposits were indeed constrained by an
apparent shallowly plunging shoot direction. The drill program achieved
all these goals. On the basis of the results of these two programs, a
summer field program of surface exploration is being planned.

Tabulated below are the more significant values returned from all but one
hole (WL10-019 for which not all results have been received) in the
program:

—————————————————————————

INTERCEPT Au Co Cu Ni
HOLE NUMBER Final depth from to interval g/t % % %
—————————————————————————
WL09-001(ii) 89 67.0 70.3 3.3 0.06 0.028 0.507 0.02
includes 68.9 69.7 0.8 0.11 0.018 0.431 0.02
and 69.7 70.3 0.6 0.17 0.044 2.015 0.04
83.8 84.8 1.0 0.02 0.008 0.285 0.21
—————————————————————————
WL09-002(iii) 102 54.0 55.5 1.5 0.02 0.060 0.200 0.02
73.5 77.5 4.0 0.15 0.070 0.280 0.02
includes 75.0 76.4 1.4 0.20 0.120 0.560 0.02
—————————————————————————
WL10-003(iii) 97 65.7 66.5 0.8 0.09 0.050 0.460 0.01
—————————————————————————
WL10-004(iii) 74 25.4 37.7 12.3 0.30 1.210 0.220 0.02
includes 28.8 30.2 1.4 0.38 1.550 0.160 0.04
and 30.2 31.1 0.9 0.52 12.480 0.190 0.15
and 31.1 32.0 0.9 0.73 0.710 0.050 0.03
41.4 45.5 4.1 0.12 0.030 0.590 0.02
includes 41.4 42.9 1.5 0.15 0.030 0.450 0.02
and 44.3 45.5 1.2 0.13 0.030 1.190 0.03
47.6 49.2 1.6 0.09 0.020 0.160 0.02
includes 47.6 48.7 1.1 0.12 0.030 0.220 0.02
—————————————————————————
WL10-005(iii) 99 62.3 65.4 3.1 0.29 0.140 0.380 0.01
includes 63.6 65.4 1.8 0.45 0.180 0.610 0.02
68.0 71.8 3.8 0.32 – 0.710 0.01
includes 68.0 69.3 1.3 0.47 0.040 0.340 0.02
and 70.3 71.8 1.5 0.38 0.010 1.800 0.01
—————————————————————————
WL10-006 137 88.5 93.6 5.1 0.16 0.032 1.098 0.00
includes 88.5 89.5 1.0 0.21 0.003 0.215 0.00
and 92.4 93.6 1.2 0.42 0.124 4.346 0.01
99.6 101.0 1.4 0.15 0.090 0.081 0.00
—————————————————————————
WL10-007 135 54.8 55.2 0.4 0.07 0.012 0.323 0.00
————-
WL10-008(iii) 76 1.0 2.9 1.9 0.20 0.040 0.200 0.01
—————————————————————————
WL10-009(iii) 148 114.6 117.0 2.4 0.18 0.102 0.266 0.02
includes 116.1 117.0 0.9 0.39 0.120 0.470 0.02
—————————————————————————
WL10-010(iii) 164 131.8 136.1 4.3 0.11 0.100 0.370 0.02
includes 131.8 132.6 0.8 0.14 0.140 0.050 0.01
and 133.5 135.1 1.6 0.14 0.080 0.650 0.02
and 135.1 136.1 1.0 0.06 0.120 0.440 0.03
————-
WL10-011(iii) 95 67.4 68.4 1.0 1.31 0.010 0.020 0.01
72.2 73.1 0.9 0.17 0.011 0.382 0.02
—————————————————————————
WL10-012 69 38.4 39.6 1.2 0.04 0.053 0.159 0.02
—————————————————————————
WL10-013 92 76.8 79.1 2.3 0.14 0.060 0.190 0.02
includes 78.2 79.1 0.9 0.09 0.122 0.241 0.04
—————————————————————————
WL10-014 69 59.0 63.5 4.5 0.06 0.231 0.099 0.03
includes 59.0 60.6 1.6 0.10 0.377 0.135 0.04
and 62.0 63.5 1.5 0.04 0.232 0.080 0.02
—————————————————————————
WL10-015 131 no significant values
—————————————————————————
WL10-016 140 no significant values
—————————————————————————
WL10-017 122 no significant values
—————————————————————————
WL10-018 323 266.3 267.2 0.9 0.04 0.020 0.234 0.01
—————————————————————————
WL10-019 256 assays still outstanding
—————————————————————————
WL10-020 244 210.4 211.2 0.8 0.06 0.018 0.164 0.01
230.2 231.5 1.3 0.02 0.011 0.431 0.42
—————————————————————————
WL10-021 374 no significant values
—————————————————————————
WL10-022 281 220.0 224.9 4.9 0.18 0.025 0.243 0.01
includes 220.0 221.0 1.0 0.13 0.021 0.623 0.01
—————————————————————————
WL10-023 263 185.9 190.6 4.7 0.23 0.289 0.096 0.02
includes 185.9 186.6 0.7 0.76 0.826 0.244 0.06
and 186.6 187.6 1.0 0.11 0.383 0.087 0.02
and 189.0 189.6 0.6 0.20 0.349 0.062 0.02
203.3 204.4 1.1 0.09 0.121 0.139 0.03
—————————————————————————
WL10-024 296 240.0 241.1 1.1 0.06 0.288 0.156 0.02
248.5 249.3 0.8 0.08 0.057 0.150 0.01
252.5 253.5 1.0 0.04 0.007 0.106 0.01
—————————————————————————
WL10-025 465 no significant values
—————————————————————————
WL10-026 400 no significant values
—————————————————————————
WL10-027 439 no significant values
—————————————————————————
WL10-028 276 233.1 235.8 2.7 0.06 0.279 0.085 0.02
includes 233.1 233.8 0.7 0.07 0.853 0.049 0.04
—————————————————————————
WL10-029 499 33.2 35.2 2.0 0.09 0.020 0.082 0.01
363.0 364.0 1.0 0.07 0.005 0.201 0.01
368.6 370.0 1.4 0.16 0.039 0.422 0.01
381.8 382.5 0.7 0.02 0.028 0.157 0.02
—————————————————————————
WL10-030 366 223.3 224.3 1.0 0.04 0.007 0.142 0.04
—————————————————————————
WL10-031 37 hole abandoned – rig unstable
—————————————————————————
WL10-031B 542 468.2 469.2 1.0 0.03 0.069 0.156 0.02
472.2 475.2 3.0 0.10 0.017 0.274 0.00
—————————————————————————
WL10-032 358 289.1 290.1 1.0 0.08 0.126 0.147 0.02
312.3 315.1 2.8 0.09 0.196 0.145 0.01
includes 312.3 313.3 1.0 0.08 0.247 0.126 0.01
and 313.3 314.3 1.0 0.10 0.268 0.160 0.01
320.5 321.5 1.0 0.06 0.008 0.119 0.01
—————————————————————————
WL10-033 358 246.2 248.2 2.0 0.05 0.006 0.161 0.01
276.0 277.0 1.0 0.02 0.010 0.108 0.02
hole curtailed above zone
—————————————————————————
(i) the intercept thickness is not true thickness, which would be
approximately 70% of the quoted figure
(ii) Previously reported on January 27, 2010
(iii) Previously reported on April 19, 2010
nd indicates that one or more of the values within the sample interval
was below detection limits.
Detection limits are as follows: Au 5ppb, Pt 15ppb, Pd 10ppb
There are no significant values in the Platinum group Elements

Prudence dictated that WL10-033 be curtailed before reaching the
programmed intersection point when spring break-up occurred rather
earlier than expected. The casing remains in the hole to allow reentry.

Holes WL09-002 through WL10-013 all probed the original historically
drilled area beneath the Western Cobalt zone; and demonstrate that,
although values and thicknesses fluctuate, the values and thicknesses of
the original intersections are reflected in the current drilling program.
Hole WL10-014 targeted the heart of the Old Mine Area.

Holes WL10-015, WL10-016, WL10-017 were drilled to investigate the gap
between the Old Mine site and Werner Lake West Cobalt deposit. They show
that the zone is indeed absent in this area. Holes WL10-023, WL10-024,
WL10-028, WL10-032 are also all probes below the presumed lower limit of
the West Cobalt ore shoot. All showed good cobalt values of over 0.2% and
there are some good thicknesses indicated. They demonstrate that the
shallow easterly pitch is a fallacy. This has very positive implications
as far as increasing resources by further probing is concerned.

Holes WL10-029, WL10-031B probed below the known limits of the Old Mine
#3 lens oreshoot, but appear to have been sited too far to the west, and
therefore missed this short, high-grade strike.

A summer program of surface exploration and prospecting to extend the
known strike of the cobalt bearing zones is being planned. Preliminary
field work to the east of the Old Mine zone has demonstrated that the
zone does indeed extend in this direction, with some gratifying values
returned from surface grab sampling 800m east of the old mine site:

Au Co Cu Ni
g/t % % %
0.60 0.31 3.43 0.026
0.62 0.19 3.10 0.014
0.24 0.09 0.79 0.008
0.40 0.06 0.22 0.003

All cores were saw split before sampling. Cores are stored at the
Company facility on site. All analyses were done by Accurassay at
Thunderbay. Assays for gold and platinum group elements were by single
assay ton fire assay with an AA finish. Base metal analyses were by
ICP-MS following acid digestion. The QP for this drilling, logging and
sampling is Toby Hughes, P.Geol., P.Geo., P.Geo. The QP for this release
is Dr. Adrian G. Mann, P.Geol.

About Puget Ventures Inc. (www.pugetventures.com)

Puget Ventures Inc. is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. Puget controls
100% of its lands in the Werner Lake Mineral Belt in Northwestern Ontario
which includes the advanced stage Werner West Cobalt deposit.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information: The statements made
in this News Release may contain certain forward-looking statements.
Actual events or results may differ from the Company’s expectations.
Certain risk factors may also affect the actual results achieved by the
Company.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of any offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these
securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale
would be unlawful. The shares offered will not be and have not been
registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended
(the “U.S. Securities Act”) and may not be offered or sold in
the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the
registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state
securities laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:
Puget Ventures Inc.
Ms. Erin Chutter
604-688-4219
info@pugetventures.com

Puget Ventures Inc.
Mr. Michael Dehn
604-688-4219
604-688-4215 (FAX)
mdehn@pugetventures.com
www.pugetventures.com

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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India, S. Korea place development as top item on G-20 agenda

June 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Busan (S.Korea), June 4 (ANI): India and South Korea, on Friday said they will put ”development” on top of the G-20 agenda.

The commitment was made after Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee held discussions with Il Sakong, the chairman of Presidential Committee for the G-20 Finance Ministers Summit.

The two days of talks will bring together twenty of the world”s most developed and emerging economies to Busan.

After the talks, Mukherjee said:“I had a very fruitful discussion with the Chairperson of the Presidential Councils for the summit. There are many areas of common interests and convergence of the views about how the summit will be made more effective and development will play an important core agenda of the functioning of the G-20. Ourselves and Korea have the convergence of views.”

Il Sakong also reiterated India’s stand on core agenda of development and said that the meeting was very fruitful and “we agreed on almost everything as we have been very closely cooperating with India in the preparation of G-20 Summit.”

He added:“ There are a number of agenda items which related to previous agreements made by G20 leaders. But in addition, India and Korea are very much interested in `Development’ being up on the agenda and also the strengthening of financial safety net particularly for developing and emerging economies.”

Commenting on the European crisis and the likelihood of it dominating summit deliberations, the South Korean Leader said: “I don’t think it will dominate the summit, but certainly it will be substantially part of the discussion.”

Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors will be working on a host of options for their political leaders to be endorsed at a summit in Toronto at the end of this month with a view to making more specific commitments at a follow-up summit in Seoul in November this year during the two-days meeting here.

The meeting in Busan will also try to thrash out an agreement ahead of the Toronto summit on how to tackle banks. Policy makers want to make it easy and quick to wind up an ailing bank so that it does not destabilise the financial system, as investment bank Lehman Brothers did when it crashed in 2008. (ANI)

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SCENARIOS-What next for UK’s Pru after Asia deal hits rocks?

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 1 (Reuters) – Prudential (PRU.L) has faced yet another embarassing setback in its bid to buy U.S. giant AIG’s Asian arm, leaving the deal on the verge of collapse and raising questions over the future of Britain’s largest insurer. Bailed-out AIG (AIG.N) on Tuesday snubbed a revised bid that would have slashed $5 billion off the original $35.5 billion offer — a last-ditch effort by Pru to win over disgruntled shareholders. [ID:nTOE64U07Y]

Stocks | Mergers & Acquisitions | Global Markets

Based on conversations with analysts, bankers, shareholders and industry figures, this is a look at what may happen next.

PRUDENTIAL WITHDRAWS FROM DEAL LIKELIHOOD: High.

An “honourable withdrawal”, drawing the line under Pru’s Asian escapade, is widely seen as the most likely outcome, after AIG in a terse statement rebuffed a lower bid for American International Assurance.

Prudential — after suffering its first major setback with an unprecedented regulatory delay to the deal last month — was already facing growing shareholder discontent.

A withdrawal as early as Tuesday, after Pru management meets top investors, would avoid taking the deal to a vote at a general meeting scheduled for June 7. Pru would need 75 percent of voting stock to be cast in favour to push ahead, and it was increasingly unclear it would have gathered that support.

If it does withdraw — scrapping what would have been the sector’s largest ever takeover — Pru will have to pay AIG a hefty break fee of 153 million pounds ($223.3 million).

PRUDENTIAL PURSUES DEAL, FACES DOWN SHAREHOLDERS LIKELIHOOD: Improbable.

The alternative option for Prudential management is to push ahead with plan A — the takeover offer for AIA and an audacious plan to become Asia’s biggest foreign-owned insurer.

This is widely seen as implausible. AIG’s management is unlikely to return to the negotiating table and accept even a face-saving discount for Pru, after the earlier statement sticking to the original terms and conditions.

And the Pru has little motivation to take the $35.5 billion offer to shareholders next week and face what would likely be an unprecedented defeat for a British blue chip at the hands of investors.

And life after the Asian adventure?

PRUDENTIAL PURSUES FUTURE INDEPENDENTLY

LIKELIHOOD: High.

Prudential, faced with volatile markets and ruffled shareholders, will most likely return to its previous, independent strategy, emphasising to investors high levels of growth seen in first-quarter results, when when sales rose 26 percent to a record 807 million pounds.

Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam, a high flyer who replaced veteran Mark Tucker last year, has emerged bruised and vulnerable from the battle for AIG’s Asian unit, his reputation for smooth charisma badly damaged after failing to win over shareholders and clashing with several large investors.

But there are few likely successors within the company, making it likely that Thiam, who joined from rival Aviva (AV.L), will remain in the top spot for the foreseaable future.

PRUDENTIAL AS BREAK-UP TARKGET

LIKELIHOOD: Low.

Talk of breaking up Prudential into its U.S., UK and Asian arms has been in the market for several years. But with several major rivals dealt body blows by the credit crunch — not least AIG — this scenario is now seen as unlikely.

Analysts emphasise hedge funds and some banks will continue to pursue this option. But hostile bids this complex — reminiscent of the joint three-way takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro — are virtually unheard of in insurance. (Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; Editing by Michael Shields)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thailand maintains growth projections despite riots

May 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thailand’s economic growth this year will be resilient despite the worst riots in modern Thai history and political uncertainties ahead, the government said as its battle-scarred capital re-opened for business on Monday.

The state planning agency reported economic growth of 3.8 percent in the first quarter, double market expectations of 1.8 percent, but analysts said output over the rest of the year would be hostage to the likelihood of more violence.

Thai stocks, which resumed trading after the exchange closed amid street battles on Wednesday, plunged nearly 3.0 percent on the day, with retail and hotel shares badly affected.

“Investors may be temporarily relieved that a semblance of normalcy has returned, but the political risk remains high and investors will likely be cautious,” said Warut Siwasariyanon, head of research at Finansia Syrus Securities in Bangkok.

“The big, underlying conflict is still there and the wound is deeper than ever, even as the roads have been wiped clean.”

At least 54 people were killed in Bangkok and more than 400 wounded in the latest bout of violence that began on May 14. Almost 40 buildings were set on fire last week as the army dispersed thousands of anti-government protesters who had taken over the commercial heart of the city for weeks.

But the crisis has not been resolved and “red shirt” protesters plan to resume their campaign for new elections next month.

The planning agency said the 2010 growth forecast was being maintained at 3.5-4.5 percent.

But the forecast would have been 1.5 percent higher if not for the two-month protest in central Bangkok that paralysed business, decimated the vital tourism industry and depressed consumer spending, the agency said.

RATES ON HOLD?

Thailand’s $264 billion economy grew 12 percent in the first quarter of 2010 from a year earlier, its best rate in 15 years, beating the consensus of 8.9 percent due to a surge in exports and a low base last year.

“Outstanding first-quarter growth was much anticipated but I think what we have to keep an eye on is the second-quarter growth, which will seriously take a hit from political violence in Bangkok,” said Pimonwan Mahujchariyawong, an economist at Kasikorn Research Center in Bangkok.

Economists said the disruption to the economy could also persuade the central bank to leave interest rates on hold at a record low 1.25 percent at its next review on June 2.

But, with the protests over, most expect rates to start rising, perhaps from July or August.

Thai bond yields jumped to a three-week high as the market began to price in a rate rise, traders said, but later fell back. Benchmark five-year bond yields rose as much as 13 basis points to 3.32 percent but then trimmed to just 3 bps.

Thailand’s five-year credit default swaps, the cost of insuring against a sovereign default, narrowed 10 basis points to 150/160, from a one-year high of 165/175 reached last week as violence escalated between troops and protesters.

The baht firmed slightly, but Thai stocks closed 2.77 percent down, with hotel, retail and transport shares the worst hit.

Central Pattana, which operates Central World, Southeast Asia’s second largest department store that was burned down in the riots, dropped 8.8 percent although the company said it expected no significant impact since it was covered by insurance.

Thai Airways fell 6.85 percent on concerns that tourist arrivals would fall, while Bangkok metropolitan train operator BTS lost 7.25 percent on lost revenue during the unrest.

DAMAGE

The government said it had received complaints of damage totalling 4.8 billion baht ($148 million) from at least 2,900 individual businesses in central Bangkok.

“This is just an initial estimate based on complaints,” said Sathit Wongnongtoey, a minister in the prime minister’s office.

“But in the long-term, we may have to consider low-interest loans to small businesses which are affected.”

On Monday, however, the city of 15 million appeared to be operating as usual, at least on the surface.

Both metropolitan train systems, the Skytrain and the underground, were running after starting skeletal service over the weekend following disruptions during the protests.

Trains were crowded, but with enough space to stand comfortably, even in rush hour.

Government offices and some schools reopened, but a night curfew in the city and 23 provinces remained.

“You look around and it feels like nothing has happened,” said Dao Pipirom, a 35-year-old market researcher whose apartment is in the business district. “Life goes on as normal now.”

“But I still get very agitated when I hear loud noise. I keep thinking it’s another grenade blast or gunshot.”

(Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Paul Tait)

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Obama’s former pastor says the President “threw him under the bus”

May 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 19 (ANI): In an impassioned letter to the President of an African relief fundraising group, US President Obama’s former pastor has written that he is considered “toxic” by the Obama administration, and accused the US President of “throwing him under the bus”.

The embittered pastor Jeremiah Wright, made the statements in relation to his pleas to the Obama administration to release frozen funds for earthquake ravaged Haiti, which the pastor believes will be ignored in all likelihood.

Wright is known for shooting off his mouth and has made absurd claims earlier when at a National Press Club appearance in April 2008, he said that the US government could plant AIDS in the black community, praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and suggested Obama was putting his pastor at arm”s length for political purposes while privately agreeing with him, The Telegraph reports.

Following these remarks Obama had condemned Wright as a “divisive and destructive” man and had severed all ties with him. (ANI)

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Men with more money have bigger waistlines

May 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 15 (ANI): Wealthy men increase their likelihood of being overweight with every extra dollar they make, a new Canadian study has claimed.

The study, led by Nathalie Dumas, a graduate student at the University of Montreal Department of Sociology, presented the finding at the annual conference of the Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS).

“Women aren”t spared by this correlation, but results are ambiguous,” says Dumas. “However, women from rich households are less likely to be obese than women of middle or lower income.”

To reach the conclusion, Dumas used data from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). This provided access to information from some 7,000 adults aged 25 to 65.

After analysing the data, Dumas concluded that a socioeconomic hypothesis could only explain the link of obesity and income for women.

“Since the 1980s, the greatest increase in obesity levels has been among rich Canadian and Korean men,” says Dumas. “We still can”t explain why.” According to Dumas, one possible explanation is dining out. “Canadians love restaurants. And people who regularly eat out have no control over what they eat. They also tend to eat more calories and consume larger amounts of alcohol.”

Too many restaurant meals, combined with a decrease in physical activity, is another possibility.

“There are obviously various factors at play: we still haven”t empirically proved them,” says Dumas. (ANI)

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Brit school banned from flying own flag because it is ”advertising”!

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 11 (ANI): A village school in Britain has been banned from flying a flag that was designed by its own pupils as it was deemed to be “advertising”.

St Mary”s Primary School in Beetley, near Dereham, Norfolk was told by Breckland District Council that the flag required planning consent.

The Royal Marine Association in Norwich had funded the specially designed flag to mark the 65th anniversary of Victory in Europe.

Children from the school, which has 204 pupils aged from four to 11, had created a new school badge which was being used as the basis of the design.

Second World War veteran Len Bloomfield, 88, of Beetley, said he had wanted the school to have its own flag for years – and said many European schools proudly flew their own flags.

“I have felt for some time that the school should fly both its own and the Union flag and I think it helps to give the children genuine pride in their school,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

Louise Bunning, a parent governor, said: “We have put such a lot of work into this project and we were keen to fly it to say that we are proud of St Mary”s school.”

However, Ralph Hedley, acting headmaster at the school, was unwilling to give way.

“Breckland Council told us that we needed to get permission from the Flags Commission. We understand that because the flag has the school”s name on it, it is deemed to be advertising,” he said.

“We have applied to the Flags Commission and called time and again but they haven”t got back to us. To be honest once the flag is made we”ll just fly it and if they ask us to take it down we”ll take it down,” he stated.

A spokesman for Breckland District Council said: “Flags used for advertising and promotional purposes are controlled under Advertisement Regulations and would require consent from the council.”

“Planning permission will be required if you intend to fly flags used for advertising, in all likelihood the flying of the school flag will be acceptable to the planning committee,” he explained.

A spokesman for Norfolk County Council added: “It seems there”s a commission for everything.” (ANI)

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Turn 100 with a little help from your friends

May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The secret to reaching 100 years of age is not based on genetics but having a healthy, happy lifestyle surrounded by family and friends, a study says.

Reaching the ripe old age of 100 used to be a rare event but now it is a growing phenomenon.

By 2020 it is expected there will be more than 12,000 centenarians in Australia.

As part of the study, researchers at the University of New South Wales interviewed more than 200 centenarians.

Professor Robyn Richmond said the centenarians shared common traits, including not smoking or drinking excessively and maintaining their weight throughout their lives.

She said lifestyle played a bigger role than genetics.

“About 20 to 30 per cent of the likelihood of living to 100 is because of your genes, so we know that longevity does run in families,” she said.

“If your parents lived to a ripe old age [then] your brothers and sisters and you are likely to also live to a very long age.

“Not always, of course, but it can be, so that leaves the environmental factors about 70 to 80 per cent.”

Being optimistic, open to change and being resilient were also common characteristics.

Professor Richmond said those surveyed had lower levels of depression that the rest of the community and lower levels of cardiac disease than people in their 80s.

And she said having good relationships was equally important.

“Certainly social contact with family and friends is very important,” she said.

“For example, if they don’t have children, if they have very strong connections with their friends or if they are living in a nursing home [and] they are part of a good organisation that gets them going and busy and doing interesting things with the other people who live there, they are more likely to live to 100.”

The findings of the study were released at the International Federation on Ageing Conference in Melbourne today.

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HIV-positive women less likely to find work than male counterparts

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 4 (ANI): HIV-positive women are less likely to find work than men affected by the virus, say researchers.

In a new study, Juan Oliva, a researcher at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) explored the relationship between the employment status of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-positive individuals and socioeconomic characteristics in Spain between 2001 and 2004.

The study found that gender was a “statistically significant” variable when predicting employment status.

“The probability of HIV-positive individuals participating in the labour market varies significantly depending on gender, type of transmission, health and level of education, Juan Oliva, main author of the study and a researcher at the UCLM told SINC.

This statistical analysis, the conclusions of which have been published recently in the journal entitled Health Economics, will determine the likelihood of an HIV-positive individual having a job in Spain.

“Gender is a statistically significant variable when predicting employment status. In this sense, women are 13.4 percent less likely than men to be in employment,” Oliva states.

“The psychological factor is also a fundamental variable. People who need psychological treatment to overcome the impact of discovering they are infected see their chances of employment diminish,” the expert says. (ANI)

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Blame your genes for credit card debt

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 4 (ANI): A gene linked with impulsive and addictive behaviour makes people up to 16 per cent more likely to have credit card debt, a study has found.

The study was conducted by researchers from the London School of Economics and the University of California, reports The Independent.

Gene MAOA is associated with neurotransmitters which affect mood, and can be either “efficient” or “inefficient” at controlling mood chemicals.

Every human has a pair of the genes.

However, those with one “inefficient” MAOA gene were found to be 8 per cent more likely to have credit card debt than those with none, and for those with two the likelihood increased by 16 per cent, the study of 2,500 people found. (ANI)

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Parental involvement key to preventing bullying

May 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Toronto, May 3 (IANS) Parents can play an important role in preventing their children from becoming bullies, says new research.

‘Improving parent-child communication and parental involvement with their children could have a substantial impact on child bullying,’ said Rashmi Shetgiri, study co-author.

Shetgiri, paediatrician and researcher at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre (UTSMC), and colleagues analysed data from the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health.

Among the questions asked of 45,897 parents with children 10-17 years old were whether their child bullies or is cruel or mean to others. Researchers then identified factors that increased or reduced the risk of a child being a bully.

Results showed the prevalence of bullying was 15 percent. Factors increasing the risk included race, emotional/behavioural problems and mothers’ mental health.

African-American and Latino children had a higher likelihood of being bullies compared to white children.

In addition, children with emotional, developmental or behavioural problems and those whose mothers reported having less than ‘very good’ mental health also were more likely to be bullies.

Other parental characteristics that increased the likelihood of child bullying were getting angry with their child frequently and feeling that their child often did things to bother them, said a UTSMC release.

Parents also played a protective role. Those who shared ideas and talked with their child, and those who met most of their child’s friends were less likely to have children who bully.

These findings were presented at the Paediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

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Obese kids are bullied more

May 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 3 (ANI): A new study has shown that obese children are more likely to be bullied regardless of gender, race, socioeconomic status, social skills or academic achievement.

A research team, led by Julie C. Lumeng, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at the University of Michigan”s C.S. Mott Children”s Hospital, studied 821 children who were participating in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

These children were recruited at birth in 10 study sites around the country.

The researchers evaluated the relationship between the child”s weight status and the odds of being bullied as reported by the child, mother, and teacher.

The study accounted for grade level in school, gender, race, family income-to-needs ratio, racial and socioeconomic composition of the school, and child social skills and academic achievement as reported by mothers and teachers.

The researchers found that obese children had higher odds of being bullied no matter their gender, race, family socioeconomic status, school demographic profile, social skills or academic achievement.

The authors concluded that being obese, by itself, increases the likelihood of being a victim of bullying. Interventions to address bullying in schools are badly needed, Lumeng added.

The study will be published in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics. (ANI)

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Oman army all set to use India’s INSAS rifles

April 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Kolkata, April 22 — Assault rifle INSAS (Indian Small Arms System), built by the state-run Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), will soon be used by the Royal Oman Army. The indigenously built rifle was sent to Muscat in March and is currently undergoing trial for the Oman army. “Oman has informed us that the rifles have successfully passed the trial run. INSAS will, in all likelihood, be the standard assault rifle of the Royal Oman Army,” said an OFB deputy director-rank official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. The rifles were subjected to endurance tests for extreme desert temperatures and sandstorms and performed well in both conditions, sources in OFB and Ministry of Defence told Hindustan Times. Developed in OFB’S Ishapore factory, 45 km north of Kolkata, in 1998, it has three variants – an assault rifle, a light machine gun and a carbine. India will be supplying the 5.56 mm assault rifle to Oman. The weapon has been sent as part of the India-Oman comprehensive defence agreement of 2003. “If a deal is struck with Oman, the quantity and size of the deal will not be made public,” said Major General V.K. Narula, additional director general (public relations) of the Indian Army. Equipped with 20 or 30-round transparent magazines, the rifle has an effective range of 450 metres. The loaded weapon weighs around four kilograms.

In 1999, it served the army against Pakistan in the Kargil confrontation.

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Likely yuan rise to stoke commodities prices, demand

April 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – The likelihood of a rise in the value of China’s yuan currency is growing daily, sharpening expectations for commodity markets to see price gains as Chinese consumers exploit their increased buying power.

China

Beijing faces international pressure to scrap the yuan’s peg, especially from Washington, which says the currency is seriously undervalued, sparking reports China may be about to revalue the yuan.

Raising the value of the yuan versus other currencies would cut the cost of China’s imports of dollar-denominated commodities such as oil, copper and iron ore, while making Chinese exports more expensive, but analysts said the net impact would be positive for commodity demand and prices.

The greatest impact will probably be seen in bulk commodities such as iron ore, metals such as copper and in soy, where China is a big importer and consumes most of the products made from those imports at home.

“The currency rise will hurt exports but will make imports cheaper. But that won’t matter to China and the net impact will be positive for commodities,” Jonathan Barrat, managing director of Commodity Broking Services in Sydney said.

“Long-term infrastructure development plans become cheaper and this will help focus on domestic markets and domestic growth. I think the yuan will continue to appreciate in the long term and will only serve to boost primary imports and that means a bull trend for these commodities.”

Even a rise of 3 percent in the value of the yuan, the range of increase discussed by a number of analysts, to around 6.60 to the dollar from last year’s average, would have a profound effect on China’s $244 billion commodity bill.

Last year the country spent around 607 billion yuan ($88.97 billion) on importing oil, 343 billion yuan ($50.28 billion) on iron ore and 206 billion yuan ($30.20 billion) on copper.

An increase of 3 percent in the yuan would have saved the nation some 56 billion yuan ($8.21 billion) on its commodity purchases, or enough to buy more than 1 million tonnes of copper.

China uses its centrally-planned economic power to control prices of certain products such as fuel but when international prices climb substantially the government has no option but to raise domestic prices, as it did this week for diesel and gasoline.

But analysts said it might be hard to reflect further rises in crude oil, unless the yuan strengthened.

“With the government suppressing domestic fuel prices, Chinese consumers will have little motivation to conserve, thus demand growth could accelerate,” said Gordon Kwan, Head of Regional Energy Research of Mirae Asset in Hong Kong.

“I don’t think this is yet priced in as global crude prices are still down 40 percent from their peak, and China’s prior mergers and acquisition deals are beginning to look like genius moves amidst rebounding crude prices. This could also translate into lesser oil product exports on a percentage basis.”

GONE FOR GOOD?

While viewed as a positive for most commodities, analysts said the effect on demand would vary depending on the product.

“When you are looking at consumption of food items, it is not such a huge impact as compared to something like manufacturing goods,” said Toby Hassall, an analyst at CWA Global Markets in Sydney.

But the longer-term implications of a stronger yuan may eventually be negative for commodities demand, said Nick Moore, global head of metals strategy at RBS.

The last time China raised exchange rates back in 2005, commodities saw a steady rally for more than a year after the revaluation.

In that time copper prices doubled to a then record high of $8,800 a tonne in 2006, chipping around half a million tonnes off copper consumption annually, analysts estimated.

“A revaluation could be a sell signal rather than a buy. Higher prices in the West won’t help people trying to boost their businesses and there should be no excuse for producers not to turn on the taps or face the wrath of consumers,” Moore said.

A second weight could land on commodity markets in the form of price-induced demand destruction, he added.

China has the luxury of lifting rates to curb imported inflation, which other nations cannot do, so higher prices could mean demand destruction.

“Already before any further recovery we face the specter of demand destruction. Consumers already view current prices with some concern, and as we saw in nickel and copper in the last run up … once it’s gone it’s gone forever.”

($1=6.822 Yuan)

(Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral and Judy Hua; Editing by Michael Urquhart and Clarence Fernandez)

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Good weather linked to asylum spike

April 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A lack of cyclonic activity in the North West has been touted as a possible contributor to the high number of asylum seekers intercepted in Australian waters.

More than 40 boats have been intercepted by Australian authorities this year.

Two tropical cyclones have crossed the Kimberley coast this season, three fewer than the average.

Andrew Bartlett, researcher of migration law at the Australian National University, says weather patterns can play a part in the flow of asylum seekers.

“Certainly, one of the factors is the storm season or the cyclone season across the tropics. There’s less likelihood of boats seeking to make their way across,” he said.

“I guess the big unknown is whether the boats would have come anyway and whether they would have sat and waited for a couple of months.”

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Missing 80yo found in rugged bushland

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

An elderly Dongara man missing for more than three days is recovering in hospital after being found late yesterday afternoon.

Eighty-year-old Walter Fallon disappeared from his Dongara retirement home on Easter Sunday.

Grave concerns were held for his welfare because he was without vital medication.

The Police Air Wing yesterday spotted Mr Fallon’s car on a remote bush track, about 16 kilometres south-east of the town, and directed searchers to his location.

Senior Sergeant Martin Haime says both his family and police are relieved at the result.

“We plan for the worst but hope for the best,” he said.

“In this sort of case, often things don’t turn out the way we would have liked and thankfully in this case it’s not a tragic result. It’s very pleasing for us and we’re happy we can help the family.”

Senior Sergeant Haime says without the aircraft, police may not have been able to find Mr Fallon.

“It was a very rugged location and it was difficult to get in there,” he said.

“The last sort of section we had to get in on foot to try to recover this gentleman and it was quite an effort getting him out onto the main road, so there’s every likelihood, that had we not had the aircraft available and applied these resources, there’s every chance that he wouldn’t have been found for some time and could have quite conceivably passed away.

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