Bad news draws votes for Obama
Barack Obama has spent record amounts on advertising ahead of next month’s presidential election, yet his most effective propaganda tool may prove to be one that cost him nothing at all.
EBRD fears first loss in decade
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is braced for a possible loss this year, its first in a decade. The news follows crisis-induced writedowns on the bank's central and east European investments.
Yours truly, angry mob
Dear Andrew Lahde, I have read your letter to investors in your hedge fund in which you say you are dropping out, praise marijuana as a drug that, unlike alcohol, “does not result in bar fights or wife-beating” and tell them not to “expect any type of reply to e-mails or voicemail within normal time frames, or at all”.
Chrysler’s cold cuts
Last year Volvo took European orders for 42,000 heavy trucks in the third quarter. This year, the figure was just 115. Results from the truckmaker on Friday capped a week in which not just automotive sales forecasts, but worst case scenarios, had to be torn up and started once again.
A rogue system with lax limits on risk-taking
The rogue trader is back. Markets are volatile, with oil plunging, currencies see-sawing and the Dow Jones Industrial Average bouncing up and down like a yo-yo. They are perfect conditions to expose a rogue trader in the mould of Nick Leeson of Barings.
ECB signals further interest rate reductions
Signs are emerging that the European Central Bank will soon cut eurozone interest rates again, as plummeting growth prospects and tumbling inflation clear the way for a sustained loosening of monetary policy.
Insight: Volatility returns with a vengeance
A couple of years ago – or before banks started to go bust – economists sometimes liked to talk about a phenomenon they christened The Great Moderation.
McCain’s foot soldiers fight to the bitter end
When John McCain scheduled a rally at an arena in Sarasota capable of holding 4,000, Eric Robinson, chair of the local Republican party, doubted the Florida venue could be filled.
Further instability possible, Bank says
Britain’s financial system faces the possibility of further instability, with the health of insurers and hedge funds among the current areas of concern, the Bank of England warned on Tuesday.
Hedge funds take a pounding as Porsche drives for control of VW
Volkswagen's shares more than doubled yesterday after Porsche moved to cement its control of Europe's biggest carmaker and hedge funds, rushing to cover short positions, were forced to buy stock from a shrinking pool of shares in free float.
Atlas Mugged
HENRY WAXMAN: In other words you found that your view of the world, your ideology was not right. It was not working ALAN GREENSPAN: Precisely, no I, that's precisely the reason I was shocked because I've been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well.
An ethics lesson from an unlikely quarter
It is easy to imagine corporate social responsibility being the first fad that companies abandon during the downturn
Between Iraq’s needs and dreams
Iraqi officials have been telling us for years that their great ambition was to bring an end to the United Nations mandate governing the presence of foreign troops. Only then, they reckoned, could Iraq consider itself truly free and sovereign.
Add ‘financial stability’ to the Fed’s mandate
A regulatory backlash is under way as the US body politic comes to grips with the financial crisis. Wall Street – or what is left of it – is first in the line of fire. But the era of excess was as much about policy blunders and regulatory negligence as about mistakes by financial institutions. As Washington creates a new system, it must also redefine the role of the Federal Reserve.
ECB hints at action as outlook darkens
Eurozone interest rates will almost certainly be cut again next week, the European Central Bank signalled on Monday, as collapsing German business confidence confirmed the devastating impact the bank crisis has had on eurozone growth.
America must lead a rescue of emerging economies
The global financial system as it is currently constituted is characterised by a pernicious asymmetry. The financial authorities of the developed countries are in charge and they will do whatever it takes to prevent the system from collapsing.
Learning to live with excess debt
The credit boom of the early years of the new millennium left financial institutions unhealthily bloated. Yet only a few months ago a smooth return to the pre-credit crunch world seemed conceivable. No longer. Deleveraging is in full swing. It is a necessary but painful process, hitting all sectors of the economy. Here, we focus on banks, but we will discuss the impact on other financial firms in due course.
McCain defies polls with vow to ‘fool pundits’
John McCain on Tuesday insisted that opinion polls showing his impending defeat were wrong and that he would “fool the pundits” next Tuesday, even as a new survey of early voters showed him trailing Barack Obama by a large margin.
World will struggle to meet oil demand
Output from the world’s oilfields is declining faster than previously thought, the first authoritative public study of the biggest fields shows.
Warsaw to speed euro adoption
Poland's government yesterday spelled out the country's path to adopting the euro by 2012, part of a series of moves designed to help calm spooked investors who have been retreating from the Polish zloty as emerging market currencies are buffeted by the global financial crisis.
Shortenfreude
Schadenfreude more than sympathy is likely to greet the plight of short sellers caught on the wrong end of a bet about the direction of Volks¬wagen’s share price. Their scramble to cover losses sent the European carmaker’s price so high that on Tuesday morning it was – briefly but still ridiculously – the largest company in the world by market capitalisation. Some hedge funds may fail because they have incurred such big losses, but not many people will be weeping at that. The real cause for concern is the opacity of the German stock market.
Single currency gains new appeal for outsiders
Poland's new-found enthusiasm for joining Europe's 10-year-old monetary union is finding echoes across the continent, where the euro is seen as a shelter against foreign exchange crises.
Strongest link in an unbroken chain
Wojciech Kruk looks nothing like a capitalistic shark. An avuncular character, he loves nothing more than talking about his family’s merchant roots and his father’s fight to keep his jewellery business alive during the grey years of communism.
Why Asia stays calm in the storm
What does the Asian silence on the financial crisis really mean? Does it mean silent gloating, with a heavy dose of schadenfreude? Does it signify terror that Asian economies will also be blown away? Or does it reflect a sober calculation that calm and steady heads are required in such a storm? Amazingly, in the thousands of words spun in the incestuous western discourse on this crisis, little attention has been paid to Asian views, even though the calm and steady responses of China, India and Japan, the three anchor Asian economies, provide hope that there may be some pillars of stability in the swirling storm.
Clinton nominated secretary of state
US President-elect Barack Obama unveiled members of his national security team on Monday morning.
Data signal deep global downturn
Evidence of a global slide towards a deep recession mounted on Monday with severe strain reported by manufacturing companies around the world, large falls in car sales across Europe and bad construction figures in the US.
Industry prompts EU rethink on pollution permits
European industry appears poised to reap a more generous share of free pollution allowances than first expected after persuading policymakers that proposed legislation would impose steep costs on manufacturers and threaten jobs.
Lithuania frets as Brussels prepares to pull plug on nuclear power station
Closure of the Ignalina plant will leave the country dependent on Russian energy, writes Tony Barber
Companies face spiralling funding costs
Leading European companies are facing spiralling funding costs in the bond markets as banks rein in lending, raising concerns about the impact on earnings.
UN takes step on slow road to new Kyoto
Poland: hero or villain on climate change? That will be the question for thousands of delegates at a series of crunch meetings on global warming taking place in the next two weeks.
Work worth waking up for
Alistair Blair spends a couple of days a month filleting fish. “I find that a joy,” says the founder and managing director of The Fish Society, a mail order fishmonger based in Surrey, UK. “If I can get 50 per cent of the meat off a fish, I’m a very happy man.”
UN team warns of hard landing for dollar
The current strength of the dollar is temporary and the US currency risks a hard landing in 2009, according to a team of United Nations economists who foresaw a year ago that a US downturn would bring the global economy to a near standstill.
Split widens over Europe recovery plan
Differences were widening on Monday over a European Commission €200bn economic recovery plan, with France and the UK eager to see a big, co-ordinated stimulus package but Germany more critical of such reflationary measures.
RBS promises mortgage respite
The political and public campaign to force Britain’s banks to do more to help customers weather the economic downturn will gain impetus on Monday with a promise from Royal Bank of Scotland to give at least six months’ breathing space to homeowners who fall behind with mortgage payments.
Obama signals bipartisan message
Barack Obama unveils his new national security team in Chicago on Monday morning.
School profile: Kozminski University
A functioning capitalist system needs more than capitalists to flourish, it needs managers, which is why one of the first things Andrzej Kozminski did after Poland’s Communists lost power in 1989 was to found a school offering one of the first MBAs in central Europe.
Volvo and Saab ask Sweden for aid
General Motors and Ford Motor have approached Sweden’s government about financial aid for their lossmaking Saab and Volvo brands.
Poland insists that it will not spend its way out of trouble
Poland has no intention of trying to spend its way out of the looming economic slowdown, Donald Tusk, the prime minister said.
The worst times can be the best times
The world has changed. After years of benign economic conditions, the four horsemen of financial apocalypse – credit crunch, recession, volatility and uncertainty – are blazing a trail across the horizon.
Towards a more resilient financial system
Our response to the financial crisis will be as important as the event itself. We can never eliminate financial crises, but we can reduce their likelihood and severity.
Zatrzymano porywaczy założyciela El-Gazu
Pomorscy policjanci zatrzymali sprawców porwania, do którego doszło w Gdyni pod koniec kwietnia br. Poszkodowanym w tej sprawie jest Janusz Leksztoń - trójmiejski biznesmen, niegdyś jeden z najbogatszych Polaków.
Brazylia świętuje 50-lecie tytułu mistrza świata
Brazylia świętuje 50-lecie zdobycia tytułu mistrza świata w Szwecji. 29 czerwca 1958 r. Brazylia w finale mistrzostw pokonała w Sztokholmie gospodarzy tej imprezy, Szwedów 5:2. Po dwie bramki dla drużyny brazylijskiej zdobyli Pele i Vava, jedną Zagalo
Nowe matryce aparatów
Szykują się zmiany w świecie aparatów cyfrowych. Większe i lepsze sensory już czekają na rynkowy debiut - będzie to krok milowy w dziedzinie cyfrowej fotografii. Pokazujemy, jak działają nowe rozwiązania i jak skorzystają na nich niedrogie kompakty.
Sikorski ostrzega przed rosyjskimi ambicjami
Minister spraw zagranicznych Radosław Sikorski ostrzegł w Tokio państwa Zachodu, że rosyjska interwencja na Ukrainie, przypominająca sierpniowe wydarzenia w Gruzji, naruszyłaby równowagę sił w Eurazji.
Świętokrzyskie: Ostrzeżenie przed salmonellą
Do obrotu w województwie świętokrzyskim trafiło prawdopodobnie 15 tys. kurczaków z fermy, na której inspekcja weterynaryjna stwierdziła salmonellę w ściółce. Służby sanitarne apelują o zachowanie reżimu sanitarnego podczas przygotowywania potraw z drobiu - poinformował wieczorem Świętokrzyski Urząd Wojewódzki (ŚUW).
W czasie mrozu uważaj na komputer
Podczas silnych mrozów liczba przypadków utraty danych zapisanych w komputerach i innych urządzeniach elektronicznych wzrasta nawet dwukrotnie - przestrzegają specjaliści. Ryzyko to dotyczy szczególnie laptopów, które podczas drogi między pracą a domem poddawane są zimą drastycznym zmianom temperatur.
Raport: gry komputerowe sprzedają się świetnie
Najnowsze doniesienia analityków rynku wskazują, że gry komputerowe sprzedają się znacznie lepiej niż inne produkty konkurencyjne (filmy DVD czy muzyka). Trend ten najprawdopodobniej utrzyma się w przyszłości.
Rządzący socjaliści znów wybrali Zapatero na sekretarza generalnego
Rządząca Hiszpańska Socjalistyczna Partia Robotnicza (PSOE) na dorocznym 37. kongresie ponownie wybrała na swego przywódcę (sekretarza generalnego) Jose Luisa Rodrigueza Zapatero - premiera Hiszpanii.
Spotkanie w sprawie ustawy bioetycznej
Na początku przyszłego tygodnia odbędzie się spotkanie z premierem Donaldem Tuskiem, poświęcone efektom prac zespołu ds. bioetyki - powiedział jego przewodniczący poseł Jarosław Gowin (PO).
Bieg Katorżnika - zmagania z błotem
Bieg Katorżnika to jedyny w Polsce bieg, którego trasa wiedzie przez stawy, bagna i rowy melioracyjne. Jego czwarta edycja odbędzie się w dniach 15-17 sierpnia. Na siedmiokilometrowym dystansie w Lublińcu (koło Częstochowy) z błotem zmagać się będzie ponad 800 zawodników
Książka o Wałęsie już w Internecie
Tylko cztery tysiące egzemplarzy nakładu i niebotyczne ceny na internetowych aukcjach - książka "SB a Lech Wałęsa. Przyczynek do biografii" cieszy się bardzo dużym zainteresowaniem, ale w księgarniach jest nie do dostania. Ktoś umieścił ją jednak w całości w Internecie.
Iran nie dostarcza już min EFP do Iraku
Iran nie dostarcza już irackim rebeliantom szczególnie groźnej odmiany ładunków wybuchowych, używanych jako miny-pułapki tzw. profilowanych wybuchem głowic penetrujących (ang. EFP) - poinformował amerykański generał Thomas Metz.
Przeczyta nawet te "duże"
Kieszonkowe czytniki kart pamięci obsługujące formaty: microSD/microSDHC, SD/miniSD i Memory Stick bądź wszystkie z wymienionych wprowadziła firma Verbatim.
Może powstać koalicja PO-SLD
Poparcie SLD dla odrzucenia prezydenckiego weta w sprawie ustaw zdrowotnych spowoduje spadek poparcia SLD i zniechęcenie grupy wyborców - mówi w rozmowie z "Rz" Józef Oleksy, były premier.
Dyplomacja wymaga czasu
ONZ wiele się nauczyła od czasu misji na Bałkanach ? twierdzi były zastępca sekretarza generalnego NATO Adam Kobieracki
Kalisz: 2,5 mln zł strat po pożarze młyna
Na 2,5 mln zł oszacowano wstępnie straty po pożarze młyna, do jakiego doszło w nocy w Kaliszu.
Ręka, która oburza Szwedów
Chyba każdemu z nas zdarzyła się podobna historia: czeka na przejściu dla pieszych, ale pali się czerwone światło. Naciska zatem przycisk przyspieszający zmianę sygnalizacji. Czasem jest to zwykły guzik, a czasem przycisk z rysunkiem ręki. Czy komuś przyszło jednak do głowy, że może to być ręka Boga?
Pogrzeb Adama Ledwonia w środę
Pogrzeb byłego piłkarza GKS Katowice i reprezentacji Polski Adama Ledwonia odbędzie się w środę, 18 czerwca o godzinie 14.00. w miejscowości Radawie (woj. opolskie) - podał katowicki klub
Trichet sees investor role in oil shock
The oil price shock that has hit global growth could have been exaggerated by financial speculation, Jean-Claude Trichet, European Central Bank president, suggested for the first time on Friday.
Opec makes surprise cut to oil output
Opec on Wednesday surprised the oil markets by announcing that it would make a small but symbolic reduction in its output because the oil cartel views the market as oversupplied.