| The priorities are clear for Northern Rock
1. Depositors. Banks are different from other businesses, where customers shop at their own risk. The people who have placed their savings in Northern Rock need to know that their money is safe, not only to prevent another run on the bank but to ensure confidence in the banking system. It is in the general public’s interest that the depositors sleep easy at night. 2. Financial stability. The Government’s job is to address systemic risk. The chaotic collapse of a bank could easily prompt a run on others, paralysing the financial system and damaging the economy. Jobs and prosperity well beyond Tyneside are at stake. 3. Taxpayer funds. British citizens did not sign up to Northern Rock’s foolish business model, nor should they underwrite it. While Treasury money is not sacrosanct – i.e.
Stocks down in light trade
AUSTRALIAN shares traded in a small range this morning, leaving them marginally down at midday after a weak lead from the US and a rise in oil and gold prices. At 1200 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 13.6 points lower at 6411.8, while the All Ordinaries dropped 9.6 points to 6480.6. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 16 points lower at 6443 on a volume of 15,901 contracts. ABN AMRO Morgans Ipswich manager Tony Russell said the market had been interesting after no clear lead from the US. "It has been swinging from 10 down to 10 up at the moment," Mr Russell said. "We had no real lead from the US overnight, with it being very volatile even though it did close up." "Oil and gold prices have also buoyed our market a little bit." At 1204 AEDT, the two mining giants were in up after taking a bath yesterday, with BHP Billiton Ltd 87 cents higher to $41.17 while Rio Tinto Ltd added 20 cents to $132.10.
(AFX UK Focus) 2007-11-20 17:11 GMT: London shares close higher, near day's peak; NY up on FOMC rate cut hopes UPDATE
(Updating with full details) LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK blue chips ended stronger today, posting a triple-digit gain and ending just below the session peak after a volatile morning session, lifted by a rally on Wall Street amid hopes that minutes from the last FOMC meeting, due later today, could hint at further US rate cuts. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 105.7 points firmer at 6,226.5, just below the session high of 6,227.9, having recovered from an early morning low of 6,078.7. The broader FTSE indices ended mixed, however, with the FTSE Small Cap and techMARK 100 indices remaining weak. Volume was solid, with 2.988 bln shares changing hands in 885,352 deals. On Wall Street, by London's close, the DJIA was 118.70 points higher at 13,077.10, while the S&P 500 index added 15.30 points to 1,448.55, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 34.60 points at 2,627.98.
A Wahoo to WaMu - community blog from Chris Skinner
Leaving Las Vegas is always a bitter pill. On the one hand, you're leaving behind all the bright lights, shows, drinks, girls ... you name it - what goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas ... on the other, my pocket is a few thousand dollars lighter and so it's nice to escape before bankruptcy or Chapter 11 or whatever it is occurs. The BAI Retail Delivery show has been top heavy with big hitters: Geldof, Greenspan and Forbes; and the message seems to be one where America's cup is either half-full or half-empty. The half-full would say that America's just going through a minor market hiccup. What's interesting there is that it used to be that when America sneezed, the world got flu. Now, if America sneezes, it's just Europe that gets the Lemsip, for the half-empty glass watchers are saying that China, India and the BRIC economies are fast rising and America is no longer the resilient currency. That's why the dollar is weak and the subprime is being offset by Europe and not Asia. Asia is meantime investing in the next BRIC economy: Africa.
European Markets Fall, Led By Banks, Exporters - European Commentary
(RTTNews) - The European markets fell sharply on Wednesday, as banking stocks declined on persistent worries about the wilting credit markets while a record high euro hit the exporter stocks. Crude for January delivery fell $0.91 to $97.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, by the time the European markets closed, the U.S. government reported that supplies at a key oil terminal in the Midwest rose for the first time in weeks. Separately, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly report showed that crude oil inventories fell unexpectedly last week. Before the inventory report, crude futures had risen as high as $99.29 a barrel in electronic trading to break the previous intra-day record of $98.62 set earlier this month. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips closed 2.48% lower at 1,443.23 points, while the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index fell 2.49% to 3,537.48 points.
Post Bank Uganda and Map International Partner to Transform Rural Economy
Post Bank Uganda has entered into an agreement with Map International, the New York-based multi-dimensional financial services system which links consumers, merchants, banks, mobile operators, and service providers to deliver modern banking services throughout the country, but in particular, to rural areas. .
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