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Tehran Shuttered After Currency Protests

Police seek to keep peace at major bazaar

(Newser) - The effects of yesterday's protests —and clashes—over Iran's sinking currency are still being felt in Tehran, with the shops of the city's Grand Bazaar closed today. Police are patrolling the area, which is set to reopen Saturday. Meanwhile, trade groups are saying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's...

Now Driving Innovation in India: the Poor

As developed economies slump, it markets directly to the lower class

(Newser) - Indian engineers once did little but cater to Western companies, while consumers at home made do with hand-me-down products from the developed world. That is changing in a big way as foreign economies crater and the 1.1 billion consumers of the subcontinent reveal a taste for, well, consuming. And...

Gold Prices Hit All-Time High
 Gold Prices Hit All-Time High 
$1,038 an ounce

Gold Prices Hit All-Time High

Investors hedge against inflation in all currencies

(Newser) - Gold leapt to $1,038 an ounce today, the highest price on record, as investors bet that global stimulus efforts and rate cuts will cause rampant and widespread inflation. The precious metal’s on pace for its ninth straight positive year; the previous record was set at $1,033.90...

Women of the Future: Powerful, Stressed

Women feel overworked amid gains in economic clout

(Newser) - Women are gaining economic clout, but they’re also feeling overburdened, a survey of 12,000 women in 21 countries finds. Women spend some 70% of consumer dollars globally and are set to produce 70% of household income growth in the next 5 years—meaning entrepreneurs who can help them...

How Bush Fueled the Mortgage Mess
 How Bush 
 Fueled the 
 Mortgage 
 Mess 
ANALYSIS

How Bush Fueled the Mortgage Mess

His philosophy at center of housing crisis

(Newser) - A range of factors led to the housing crisis that dragged the economy into the toilet—but President Bush’s philosophy likely played a key role in the collapse, reports the New York Times. Dozens of interviews point to both Bush’s drive to expand homeownership and his steadfast belief...

US Soldier Among 9 Killed in Afghan Market

Attack brings year's death toll to 5,400

(Newser) - A suicide car bomber struck a US military convoy passing through a crowded livestock market in eastern Afghanistan today, killing an American soldier and at least eight civilians and wounding an additional 74 civilians. Yesterday, two British troops were also killed when their vehicle was struck by an explosive while...

The Markets Have Evened Out When ...
The Markets
Have Evened Out When ...
OPINION

The Markets Have Evened Out When ...

Analyst gives four signs of sanity to scan your tea leaves for

(Newser) - The main thing ailing the credit markets is a crisis of information, writes L. Gordon Crovitz in the Wall Street Journal, so it’ll probably end when we have some. Things may be looking up when…
  • Prices are discovered: Right now, there’s no demand for mortgage-backed securities, and hence
...

Stocks Down Sharply Despite Bailout Deal
Stocks Down Sharply
Despite Bailout Deal
MARKET open

Stocks Down Sharply Despite Bailout Deal

Wachovia failure sends markets downward

(Newser) - Stocks once again headed downward at the open this morning, as Wachovia’s selloff stoked fears that the bailout wouldn’t be enough to save financials. The Dow fell 275 points while the Nasdaq dropped 3.6% and the S&P fell 3.1%. “The Fed's bailout plan may...

Bear Stearns Chairman Sells $1B Stake for $61M

Cayne bites the bullet with his company

(Newser) - Bear Stearns Chairman Jimmy Cayne yesterday became the poster boy for the company’s fall from grace, selling his one-time $1 billion stake in the investment bank for a mere $61.3 million, reports the Wall Street Journal. Cayne sold 5.7 million shares he’d acquired for $10.84...

ECB Pumps Cash Into European Markets

Key interest rates left unchanged in effort to reduce turmoil

(Newser) - The European Central Bank pumped $57.7 billion of emergency cash into the markets today and left their key interest rates unchanged, in an effort to ease the cost of borrowing and calm markets made volatile by the US subprime collapse, Bloomberg reports. The ECB action followed a day in...

Dems' New Deal Can't Be Same as Old Deal

Financial crisis calls for tough choices, says Prospect editor

(Newser) - If current market turbulence becomes a full-blown recession, a Democratic president would need revolutionary changes to solve America’s financial troubles, writes American Prospect editor Robert Kuttner. "In the short run, a faltering economy is a political windfall for Democrats," he contends, but pointing fingers at the GOP...

BlackBerries Save Vacations for Bankers With Sand

It's required beach reading in a crisis

(Newser) - As the volatile global markets continue to burn investors, tan-fan investment bankers are managing to keep tabs on crisis-threatened portfolios and still rack up required hours on the beach—with the help of their BlackBerries. The devices have become as de riguer as umbrellas and suntan oil on sands from...

Fed Pumps $19B Into Market
Fed Pumps $19B Into Market

Fed Pumps $19B Into Market

Will add $19B in temporary funds to bolster credit markets

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve pumped $19 billion in temporary funds into the banking system today by buying up mortgage-backed securities. The move is aimed to insure that there is enough cash available in the credit markets and keep the interest rate close to the Fed's target of 5.25%. It also...

Credit Fears Rock Asian Markets
Credit Fears Rock Asian Markets

Credit Fears Rock Asian Markets

Subprime mortgage crisis ripples across Pacific

(Newser) - Asian stocks nosedived today as market fears triggered by the US subprime mortgage crisis rippled across the globe. The steepest drop in 5 months echoed upheaval spreading outward from Wall Street, with Toyota and Samsung leading a retreat by large exporters hurt by fears that the lending catastrophe and resultant...

Countrywide Reeling From Mortgage Woes

No. 1 mortgage company warns investors of 'unprecedented disruptions'

(Newser) - The nation's largest mortgage lender has warned that troubles in the subprime credit market have led to "unprecedented disruptions" that will hurt their bottom line. The Los Angeles Times reports that Countrywide is steeling its investors for bad news: in a suddenly illiquid market the already-troubled company has been...

Nokia Sees Boom in 2nd Quarter
Nokia Sees Boom in 2nd Quarter

Nokia Sees Boom in 2nd Quarter

Phone giant steals share from Motorola

(Newser) - Cellphone leader Nokia’s sales rose 29% in the second quarter, the most in five quarters, and its profit more than doubled as it stole market share from Motorola, Bloomberg reports. The Finnish company’s stock hit a 5-year high today as shares jumped 9.3% to 22.50 euros.

SEC Opens Subprime Probe
SEC Opens Subprime Probe

SEC Opens Subprime Probe

Cox announces investigations into CDOs in wake of Bear Sterns tremors

(Newser) - The feds are investigating the controversial bundles of financial services that have recently shaken the market and sparked a spate of leveraged buyouts, the Journal reports. SEC chief Christopher Cox told a congressional panel yesterday that "about 12 investigations" were under way into CDOs, shared debt packages reliant on...

Chinese Stocks Plummet After Trading Tax Tripled

Move aimed at containing market bubble; could trigger serous sell-off

(Newser) - Chinese stocks plummeted today, after the finance ministry tripled a tax on trades in an effort to deflate a worrisome stock market bubble. A week ago, the ministry publicly pledged not to raise the tax. The reversal opens the government to heavy criticism if it triggers a serious rout.

China Markets Turn on Lucky Numbers
China Markets Turn on Lucky Numbers

China Markets Turn on Lucky Numbers

Investors look for windfalls in auspicious stock codes

(Newser) - The Journal probes the Chinese practice of picking stocks based on traditional lucky numbers. In a country where middle-class novices dominate the market, new investors snap up stocks with codes that include auspicious 8s, and steer clear of those with ominous 4s. That worries analysts aware of the ripple effect...

Baghdad Merchants Beg to Differ With McCain

Say sunny security assessment is phony

(Newser) - Of course John McCain found Baghdad's central market perfectly safe during his weekend visit: He came with 100 soldiers in armored Humvees, backed by attack helicopters and sharpshooters. In a follow-up visit, Kirk Semple of the New York Times found merchants  incredulous at the Congressional delegation's sunny description of the...

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