| Diary: Aussie Rates, Wages, US Banks, Inflation the Watchwords
A toss up for what we should be looking at this week: there's an awful lot happening. There's the BHP Rio takeover situation, plus the impact that's happening on the valuations of the rest of the mining and oil sector; there's more speculation from the US about activity and banks (see above); the dollar fell sharply on Friday and could continue to go lower for a while this week; gold and oil though could maintain last week's levels, and there will be more speculation about interest rates and of course the Federal election. The RBA's quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy will be watched closely for clues about the interest rate outlook. While it will primarily be aimed at providing a further explanation for the latest rise in interest rates, watch for the nitty gritty of what the Bank says about the outlook for inflation, growth and the housing and mortgage markets.
Charles Brandes Buys Countrywide Financial Corp., Washington Mutual Inc., CIT Group Inc., Sells Fleetwood Enterprises ...
How did Charles Brandes become billionaire? By buying undervalued stocks in out of favor industries. As homebuilders and financials are trashed on Wall Street, Charles Brandes seems to love all of them, including Washington Mutual, Countrywide. These are the details. Charles Brandes buys Countrywide Financial Corp., Washington Mutual Inc., CIT Group Inc., Argonaut Group Inc., Braskem S.A., Pulte Homes Inc., CIBA Specialty Chemicals Holdi, Centex Corp., Lennar Corp., Brunswick Corp., The Timberland Company, D.R. Horton Inc., Toll Brothers Inc., SAIA, INC., Valassis Communications Inc., Cott Corp., Circuit City Stores Inc., KB Home, Meritage Homes Corp., Standard Pacific Corp., Molson Coors Brewing Company, Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., Beazer Homes USA Inc., Chesapeake Corp., The Ryland Group Inc., Tele Norte Celular Participaes S.A., Biovail Corp., sells Fleetwood Enterprises Inc., International Business Machines Corp, Stoneridge Inc., Telus Corp., Triad Hospitals Inc., El Paso Corp., Idearc Inc., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Compa, Tyco International Ltd., InterVoice Inc., Tenet Healthcare Corp., Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., Dorel Industries, Inc.
US Fed slashes growth forecast
THE US Federal Reserve cut its forecast for US economic growth overnight to a range of 1.8 to 2.5 per cent in 2008, citing weakness in housing and tighter credit conditions. The central bank, in its first quarterly update under a new policy implemented by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, had previously projected growth in a range of 2.5 to 2.75 per cent. The forecast was revised from a semiannual report in July, under a new policy ordered by Bernanke to provide more frequent updates on the economic outlook. "These revisions to the 2008 outlook since June stemmed from a number of factors, including the tightened terms and reduced availability of sub-prime and jumbo mortgages, weaker-than-expected housing data, and rising oil prices," the Fed said. At the same time, the Fed cut its core inflation expectation for 2008 to 1.70 to 1.90 per cent, down from 1.75 to 2.00 per cent.
ING North America Insurance Corp. Purchases a License under the Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. Patents
LOS ANGELES, BUSINESS WIRE -- ING North America Insurance Corp. (NYSE:ING) whose affiliate ING DIRECT is the nation's fourth-largest savings bank and largest online bank and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE has purchased a license under the patent portfolio held by Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. and licensed through its affiliate, NNOVIA Replacement Battery for Quickcapture A2D
B&H Photo-Video-$119.95
');" onMouseOut="setTimeout('hideLayer()',500);" class=hotlink2>A2D, L.P. The nonexclusive license covers services offered by ING in the "Financial Services Call Processing" Field of Use, including customer service provided via automated systems and live agents. The patents held by Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. cover a wide range of interactive technology including automated forms of: customer service, securities trading, prescription refill services, merchandising, prepaid services, telephone conferences, registration, home shopping, as well as functions involved in securing information from databases by telephone, interactive cable transactions, and various other uses of toll free and local numbers.
Countrywide shares go on wild ride
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Countrywide Financial Corp shares plummeted as much as 22 percent on Tuesday on speculation the largest U.S. mortgage lender might run short of cash, but recovered most of that loss after the company said it has ample liquidity and will not go bankrupt. In a statement late on Tuesday, Countrywide said it believes it has "ample liquidity and capital" to ride out the U.S. housing downturn, and will benefit from mortgage market consolidation. Earlier on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that a Countrywide spokeswoman called rumors the company could seek bankruptcy protection "absolutely false." .
China To Hasten Launch Of Direct Overseas Sec. Invest -Report
BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- China will hasten the launch of a trial program that will allow individuals to invest directly in overseas securities, said Wu Panwen, a vice-governor of the People's Bank of China's branch in Tianjin. Wu made the remarks in an essay published Monday in the central bank-backed Financial News. The essay was on financial reforms in Tianjin, the site of some trials of foreign-exchange reforms. The trial investment program, announced in August but yet to be launched, will allow individuals to invest in securities on the Hong Kong bourse through Bank of China Ltd.'s (3988.HK) Tianjin branch. Wu also said Tianjin will implement a policy of letting banks maintain a net negative position in foreign currencies on the local foreign-exchange market. Such a policy would allow banks to sell more dollars than they buy, instead of buying more dollars than they sell.
Pharmaceutical, Healthcare & Life Sciences
Late this summer, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") gave with one hand, while taking with the other. Bringing a seeming finality to the Stark Law landscape, CMS promulgated the third and apparently last phase of its final regulations for the federal physician self-referral prohibition, commonly known as the "Stark Law," (72 Fed. Reg. 51012; the "Phase III regulations"). .
RPT-Emerging debt trading volumes fall in Q3 - EMTA
NEW YORK, Nov 19 - Emerging market trading volumes declined during the third quarter compared to the previous quarter as global financial turbulence turned investors more cautious, according to a report issued on Monday by EMTA, the industry trade association. .
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