What a bad Monday. I have not seen such Monday in a while. The market took a dive and won’t get up. It just keeps sliding down. I hope to see some light toward the end of the week. I bought C Monday to sell off by the end of the day. I am glad I did sell. OPC is still looking for a solid ground. Once it found the ground, it will rise to $ 4 in quick successions.
This is such a weird week for investment. I am sure a lot of the guys would admit that they have no clue about the Wall Street. STEC lost 36% on November 4th and I don’t know what will happen to this stock. I have no choice but to hold. My average price is over $ 20 per share. This stock is at $ 16/ share right now. I am just clueless.
There seem to be positive signs in Fort McMurray. I am getting a lot of calls about projects that are underway. I think we will be busy until the year end. I am hoping that the momentum keeps going into the New Year.
I spoke to an old friend (Kamini Chandra) this week. I am glad to talk to her after 7/8 years. It was nice to catch up. I am glad that her kids (Puchki and Jojo) are doing so well. I just wish all the best for them.
- NEW YORK (AP) -- A rise in factory orders is doing little to ease investors' concerns about the economy. The Commerce Department is reporting Tuesday that orders to U.S. factories rebounded in September after dropping in August. Orders for autos, heavy machinery and military aircraft rose. Orders rose 0.9 percent in September, slightly better than the 0.8 percent advance economists expected. Investors have also been drawing only modest comfort from investor Warren Buffett's decision to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad as they worry about unemployment and banks. The Dow Jones industrials are down 38 at 9,751. The Dow was down 35 before the report. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 1 at 1,042. The Nasdaq composite index is down 5 at 2,044.
- NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors worried about the economic recovery drew only modest comfort from billionaire investor Warren Buffett's decision to buy one of the nation's largest railroads. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said Tuesday it is paying $100 a share for Burlington Northern Santa Fe in a deal valuing the railroad at $34 billion. Investors are on edge about unemployment and the stability of major financial firms in Europe. Health care products maker Johnson & Johnson said it would cut up to 7 percent of its global work force and streamline its business structure to save up to $900 million next year.
- ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – The world's top financial officials on Friday sought a blueprint for securing future global growth and worked to break a deadlock over who bears the cost of fighting climate change. Even as the world emerges hesitantly from recession, finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 leading rich and developing countries meeting in Scotland are likely to agree that it is too early to pull the plug on economic stimulus measures. While Britain remains officially in recession, the United States, Germany, and Japan have all recorded renewed growth and the 16-country euro zone is expected to do the same when figures are released next week. British Treasury chief Alistair Darling, the host of the gathering, urged the group to maintain the collective approach forged in more dire circumstances at summits in London in April and in Pittsburgh in September, arguing that sustainable growth would only come from agreed action to increase trade and boost productivity. Some countries are more eager to begin sketching out exit strategies to unwind the recent massive government spending, low interest rates and expansion of the money supply that are supporting the world economy. And the European Central Bank broadly hinted Thursday that it will soon begin cutting back some of its emergency lending to banks, ramped up during the finance crisis. There are also disagreements on banking reform, with Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty acknowledging on the eve of the meeting that there were "disparate views" on how to address the problem of banks being too big to fail. Britain is forcing major bailed-out banks to sell part of their business, while the U.S. has shied away from calls to break up major banks. Meanwhile, a French official said his country is worried that the momentum behind tightening rules on bonuses is flagging. "There can be no room for complacency amongst G-20 countries this weekend," Darling said in a speech in Edinburgh on his way to chair the grouping that represents around 90 percent of the world's wealth, 80 percent of world trade, and two-thirds of the world's population. Darling acknowledged that plans for recovery must eventually be coordinated, but said "as we draw up our plans, we must accept that the biggest risk to recovery would be to exit before the recovery is real." The other key item on the agenda for the officials — holed up away from the blustering Scottish winds in a seaside golf resort — is tackling the financial cost of climate change. With the major UN climate conference in Copenhagen a month away, Darling said that "heavy lifting" was needed to push through a deal on so-called climate finance, which would give developing countries funds to help them cut emissions by switching from fossil fuels to cleaner energy such as wind and solar. EU leaders last week agreed to a euro100 billion annual package of public and private finance by 2020 to help poorer nations develop green industries and adapt to climate change.
- NEW YORK (AP) -- Criminal charges have been filed against 14 people, including attorneys and Wall Street professionals, in a widening $53 million insider trading case that has already snared one of the richest men in America, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The actions raise to 20 the number of people who have been charged in the case first disclosed last month with the arrests of Galleon Group founder and hedge fund operator Raj Rajaratnam and five others. At the time, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called the first arrests "a wakeup call for Wall Street." "Today the alarm bells have only grown louder," he said at a news conference Thursday. Bharara said that total profits alleged by prosecutors was $40 million while the Securities and Exchange Commission raised the total to $53 million, saying it includes millions in profits not described in the criminal complaints. He said he knew people would ask if the insider trading case was the tip of the iceberg of illicit trading on Wall Street. "We don't have an answer to that but we aim to find out," he said. He said eight people were arrested Thursday on securities fraud charges and another five have already pleaded guilty are are cooperating. Another person is still at large, he said. A bail hearing for Rajaratnam, who is free on $100 million bail and has been listed among the nation's richest people, was scheduled for later Thursday.
- WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve pledged Wednesday to keep a key interest rate at a record low for an "extended period," in a sign that the economy is growing but remains deeply dependent on government help. The Fed said economic activity has "continued to pick up" and that the housing market also has grown stronger, a key ingredient to a sustained recovery. But Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues warned that rising joblessness and hard-to-get-credit for many people and companies could restrain the rebound in the months ahead. "Economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time," they said. Against that backdrop, the Fed kept the target range for its bank lending rate at zero to 0.25 percent. And it made no major changes to a program to help drive down mortgage rates. Commercial banks' prime lending rate, used to peg rates on home equity loans, certain credit cards and other consumer loans, will stay at about 3.25 percent, the lowest in decades. Still, some credit card rates have risen over the last several months. Part of that reflects rate bump-ups by lenders in response to escalating defaults on credit card loans. Lenders also pushed through increases before a new law clamping down on sudden rate hikes for credit card customers takes effect early next year. The average rate nationwide on a variable-rate credit card is 11.5 percent, according to Bankrate.com. Lenders charge more and credit card customers pay rates higher than the prime because the debt they run up is more risky.
- Auto sales show industry beginning to stabilize
DETROIT – After months of roller coaster-like sales, the auto industry offered signs of recovery from its yearlong slump on Tuesday, as most automakers reported higher levels of U.S. sales in October. GM, the largest U.S. automaker, reported its first monthly sales gain in almost two years, while Hyundai and Subaru were huge winners thanks for their popular models and fuel-efficient sedans. Other top automaker — Toyota, Ford, Nissan _also posted higher sales. The mood was in contrast to a year ago, when consumers were frightened away from showrooms by the early effects of the financial meltdown, plunging stock markets and the credit freeze. Automakers had said this October would be a test of the strength of the auto market after the volatile effects of the government's Cash for Clunkers program. The industry staggered through a tough September following the summer's clunker-fueled sales surge. The industry still has to see its way through a number of economic challenges, said Bob Carter, a Toyota vice president. Americans remain anxious about high unemployment, while consumer confidence remains dampened. "We expect the recovery to be very gradual, extending into next year and beyond," he said. Demand for new cars and crossovers fueled the better October sales for General Motors Co. and Detroit rival Ford Motor Co. GM's sales rose 4.7 percent, while Ford notched a 3-percent gain. Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. said its sales edged up less than a percent. Less rosy news came from Chrysler Group LLC, whose sales fell 30 percent, though they improved from September. Ford's top economist Emily Kolinski Morris said last month's sales signal a real underlying demand for new vehicles after the distorting impact of the clunkers program. The economy, she said, is "in transition from recession to recovery." "We expect consumers to remain cautious as the recovery continues," she told analysts and reporters during a conference call. Hyundai, based in South Korea, said its sales jumped 49 percent, boosted by its fuel-efficient Elantra sedan. Japanese automaker Subaru also topped the winner's list with a 41-percent surge, helped by strong sales in its Outback and Forester models.
- LONDON – World stock markets rose sharply Wednesday after a batch of upbeat earnings reports and expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would indicate it will keep its easy monetary policy for quite a while yet. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 70.68 points, or 1.4 percent, at 5,107.89 while Germany's DAX rose 90.88 points, or 1.7 percent, to 5,444.23. The CAC-40 in France was 86.08 points, or 2.4 percent, higher at 3,670.33. And on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 122.28 points, or 1.3 percent, at 9,894.19 around midday New York time while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.82 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,057.23. Sentiment, particularly in Europe, was buoyed by some forecast-busting earnings from the likes of British retailer Marks & Spencer PLC, French bank Societe Generale SA and German sportswear company Adidas AG. Though the earnings helped provide some support in Europe's markets, trading has been volatile of late and could well remain so in the coming days through to Friday's closely watched U.S. nonfarm payrolls figures for October — the data often set the tone in equity markets for a week or two.
Over the last week or two, the rally in stocks has faltered amid concerns about the pace of the global economic recovery. "Admittedly, valuations now look stretched after the gains that have been racked up this year but the favorable monetary policy backdrop and the improvement in the economic data that have fueled the rally should persist over the next few quarters," said John Higgins, an analyst at Capital Economics.
- JERUSALEM – Israeli commandos seized a ship Wednesday that defense officials said was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons from Iran bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas — the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered. The Israeli military said an Iranian document was found on board, showing that the arms shipment originated from Iran, although the paper was not shown to reporters. Rear Admiral Roni Ben-Yehuda, the deputy Israeli navy commander, said that despite its size, the shipment of weapons was "a drop in the ocean" of arms being shipped to Hezbollah. "It's a cargo certificate that shows that it was from a port in Iran," military spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich said. "All the cargo certificates are stamped at the ports of origin, and this one was stamped at an Iranian port." The Israelis boarded the ship before dawn in the waters near Cyprus. Israel has long accused Iran of arming its enemies.
- KABUL – An Afghan policeman opened fire on British soldiers in the volatile southern province of Helmand, killing five before fleeing, authorities said Wednesday, raising concerns about discipline within the Afghan forces and possible infiltration by insurgents. The attack Tuesday afternoon came a month after an Afghan policeman on patrol with U.S. soldiers fired on the Americans, killing two. Training and operating jointly with Afghan police and soldiers is key to NATO's strategy of dealing with the spreading Taliban-led insurgency and, ultimately, allowing international forces to leave Afghanistan. Attacks such as these will heighten concern about the effectiveness of the Afghan forces. Lt. Col. David Wakefield, spokesman for the British forces, told Sky News that the soldiers had been mentoring Afghan national police and had been working and living in the police checkpoint in Helmand's Nad-e-Ali district.
- NEW YORK (AP)—The New York Yankees bolted from the dugout even before the last grounder was scooped up. After waiting nine years for championship No. 27, no one would dare hold them back. “It feels better than I remember it, man,” captain Derek Jeter(notes) said. “It’s been a long time.” Hideki Matsui(notes) tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte(notes) won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive title—the most in all of sports. Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the Yankees are baseball’s best again. Matsui, the Series MVP, powered a quick rout of old foe Pedro Martinez(notes). And when Mariano Rivera(notes) got the final out, it was ecstasy in the Bronx for George Steinbrenner’s go-for-broke bunch. What a way for Alex Rodriguez(notes) and Co. to christen their $1.5 billion ballpark: One season, one World Series crown—the team’s first since winning three straight from 1998-2000. “The Yankees won. The world is right again,” team president Randy Levine said. The season certainly ended a lot better than it started—with a steroids scandal involving A-Rod, followed by hip surgery that kept him out until May. “My teammates, coaches and the organization stood by me and now we stand here as world champions,” said Rodriguez, who admitted using steroids from 2001-03 while with Texas. “We’re going to enjoy it, and we’re going to party!” For Chase Utley(notes) and the Phillies, it was a frustrating end to another scintillating season. Philadelphia fell two wins short of becoming the first NL team to repeat as World Series champions since the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds. Utley tied Reggie Jackson’s record with five home runs in a Series. But Ryan Howard’s(notes) sixth-inning shot came too late to wipe away an untimely slump that included 13 strikeouts, also a Series mark. Meanwhile, Phillies pitchers rarely managed to slow Matsui and the Yankees’ machine. “I told them that I loved the way they played. We’re fighters and never quit,” Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. “We want to keep what we got as far as attitude and chemistry.” For second-year manager Joe Girardi, a three-time Yankees champion as a player, it was the fulfillment of a mission. When he succeeded Joe Torre in October 2007, Girardi chose uniform No. 27, putting his quest on his back for all to see. His tenure didn’t start out so well, with New York missing the playoffs in its final season at old Yankee Stadium following 13 consecutive appearances.
- FORT HOOD, Texas – Soldiers who witnessed the shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar!" — an Arabic phrase for "God is great!" — before opening fire, the base commander said Friday. Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said officials had not yet confirmed that the suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, made the comment before the rampage Thursday. Hasan was among 30 people wounded in the shooting spree and remained hospitalized on a ventilator. All but two of the injured were still hospitalized, and all were in stable condition. Military officials were trying to piece together what may have pushed Hasan, an Army psychiatrist trained to help soldiers in distress, to turn on his comrades. Cone said the 39-year-old Hasan was not known to be a threat or risk. "I'm not aware of any problems here," said Col. Steve Braverman, the Fort Hood hospital commander. "We had no problems with his job performance." An imam from a mosque Hasan regularly attended said Hasan, a lifelong Muslim, was a committed soldier, gave no sign of extremist beliefs and regularly wore his uniform at prayers. The motive for the shooting wasn't clear, but Hasan was apparently set to deploy soon and had expressed some anger about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Retired Col. Terry Lee, who said he had worked with Hasan, told Fox News said Hasan had hoped President Barack Obama would pull troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq and got into frequent arguments with others in the military who supported the wars.
- TEHRAN, Iran – A senior Iranian prosecutor accused three Americans detained on the border with Iraq of espionage on Monday, the first signal that Tehran intends to put them on trial. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for the release of the three. The announcement came as Washington and Tehran are maneuvering over a deadlock in negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. "We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever," Clinton told reporters in Berlin. "And we would renew our request on behalf of these three young people and their families that the Iranian government exercise compassion and release them, so they can return home." Clinton said the U.S. would continue to make that case through the Swiss channels who represent U.S. interests in Tehran. Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, all graduates of the University of California, Berkeley, were arrested July 31 after straying over the Iranian border from northern Iraq. The U.S. government and their families say there were on a hiking vacation and crossed accidentally. Tehran chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi says the three "have been accused of espionage" and that investigations were continuing, according to the state news agency IRNA. He said an "opinion (on their case) will be given in the not distant future."
- VERAPAZ, El Salvador – Soldiers and townspeople dug through rock and debris Monday in hopes of finding dozens of people missing in a mudslide that swept down on a town, part of a wave of floods and landslides that killed at least 124 people in El Salvador. Days of heavy rains loosed mud and boulders that rolled down the slopes of the Chichontepec volcano before dawn Sunday, burying homes and cars in Verapaz, a town of about 3,000 people 30 miles (50 kilometers) outside the capital, San Salvador.
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