World Events: 1-Apr-08-8-Jun-08

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World Event

1-Apr-08

Washington, DC; New York, NY; Princeton, NJ - U.S. - The Federal Reserve Board announced its approval of the proposal by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to acquire Bear Stearns Bank & Trust (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 391.47 points (3.19%), closing at 12,654.36 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

Zurich; Basel - Switzerland - UBS to raise approximately CHF 15 billion; 2008Q1: UBS expects to report a net loss of about CHF 12 billion "after losses and writedowns of approximately USD 19 billion on US real estate and related structured credit positions"; Marcel Ospel, Chairman of UBS, will not seek re-election (UBS).

Washington, DC - U.S. - Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey testifies before the Senate Committee on Finance: "Transactions by those engaged in threatening conduct typically leave a trail of detailed information that we can follow to identify key actors and map their networks. Opening an account or initiating a funds transfer requires a name, an address, a phone number. This information tends to be very accurate and durable. In 2004, with the creation of TFI's Office of Intelligence and Analysis, the Treasury became the first finance ministry in the world to develop in-house intelligence and analytic expertise to use this information. . . "Following the money" yields some of the most valuable sources of information we have in this effort" (U.S. Department of the treasury).

HI - U.S. - Aloha Airgroup Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection (CNN Money-AP, 30-Mar-08; Bloomberg, 5-Apr-08).

2-Apr-08

Bucharest - Romania - NATO Bucharest Summit: NATO invited Albania and Croatia to begin accession talks to join NATO, and welcomed "Ukraine’s and Georgia’s Euro Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO" (NATO); NATO endorsed the U.S. plan to deploy a missile-defense system in Europe (NATO; VOA News); "The United States has reduced its nuclear weapon stockpile to less than 25% of its size at the height of the Cold War, and decreased tactical nuclear weapons assigned to NATO by nearly 90%" (NATO). [2-Apr-08 - 4-Apr-08.]

Indianapolis, IN - U.S. - ATA Airlines Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection (CNN Money, 3-Apr-08; Bloomberg, 5-Apr-08).

3-Apr-08

Washington, DC - U.S. - Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate: " . . . on March 13, Bear Stearns advised the Federal Reserve . . . that its liquidity position had significantly deteriorated and that it would have to file for bankruptcy the next day unless alternative sources of funds became available. . . Normally, the market sorts out which companies survive and which fail . . . However, the issues raised here extended well beyond the fate of one company. . . To prevent a disorderly failure of Bear Stearns and the unpredictable but likely severe consequences for market functioning and the broader economy, the Federal Reserve, in close consultation with the Treasury Department, agreed to provide funding to Bear Stearns through JPMorgan Chase. . . JPMorgan Chase agreed to purchase Bear Stearns . . ." (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System). (See also: U.S. Department of the Treasury.)

3-Apr-08

Space - ATV Jules Verne, the European Space Agency’s first resupply and reboost vehicle docked successfully with the International Space Station (ISS) (European Space Agency, 3/5-Apr-08; NASA). (See also: BBC News, 4-Apr-08.) [3-Apr-08 - 5-Apr-08.]

4-Apr-08

Columbus, OH - U.S. - Skybus Airlines Inc. to file for bankruptcy protection (CNN International; Bloomberg, 5-Apr-08; WSJ, 5-Apr-08).

Doha - Qatar - A U.S. Air Force B-1 supersonic bomber caught fire after landing in Doha (CNN International; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies).

Brussels - Belgium - European Commission advisory body, Article 29 Data Protection Working Party: the retention period for personal data at search engines must not exceed 6 months (BBC News).

5-Apr-08

Los Angeles, CA - U.S. - Charlton Heston, Oscar-winner and former president of National Rifle association (NRA), passed away at 83 (Time, 6-Apr-08; Los Angeles Times, 9-Apr-08; Bloomberg, 6-Apr-08).

6-Apr-08

Weliveriya - Sri Lanka - Suicide bombing killed at least 12 people including Sri Lankan minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle; Tamil Tiger rebels were blamed (BBC News; China View-Xinhua; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies).

Mahalla el-Kobra - Egypt - Egyptians protest against low wages, corruption (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 7-Apr-08; Huffington Post, 7-Apr-08).

New Haven, CT - U.S. - Robert J. Shiller, professor of economics and finance at Yale, co-founder of MacroMarkets LLC, on Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson's plan to overhaul the financial system: the Federal Reserve's mission will increasingly be "to maintain macro confidence — confidence that the entire financial system is functioning well as part of the whole economy" (NYT).

Baghdad - Iraq - Up to 22 Iraqis were killed in fighting between Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and U.S.-led forces; 5 U.S. troops were also killed (Los Angeles Times). (See also: Al Jazeera-Agencies; AFP.) 4-day death toll: 67 Iraqis (CNN International, 9-Apr-08); 13 U.S. troops (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 9-Apr-08; AP, 10-Apr-08). [6-Apr-08 - 9-Apr-08.]

7-Apr-08

Sunnyvale, CA - U.S. - Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to cut about 1,650 jobs (about 10% of staff) (Bloomberg; NYT, 8-Apr-08; WSJ, 8-Apr-08).

Baghdad - Iraq - 16 people (41 since 6-Apr-08) were killed in fighting between Shia Muslim militias; 3 U.S. were also killed (Los Angeles Times).

Port-au-Prince - Haiti - Tens of thousands of people protest against food price increases; 4 people were killed (Al Jazeera-Agencies).

New York, NY - U.S. - George Soros, on the "Superbubble": “I consider this the biggest financial crisis of my lifetime”; Soros' latest book: “The New Paradigm for Financial Markets” (NYT, 11-Apr-08).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $50 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve Board).

8-Apr-08

New Delhi - India - India-Africa Forum Summit; top concerns: high oil prices, high food prices, and climate change (Al Jazeera-Agencies, 9-Apr-08; Bloomberg, 9-Apr-08). (See also: China View-Xinhua, 8-Apr-08; BBC News, 9-Apr-08; The Times of India, 10-Apr-08; The Hindu, 10-Apr-08; VOA News, 11-Apr-08). [8-Apr-08 - 9-Apr-08.]

9-Apr-08

Hong Kong - China - Oasis Hong Kong Airlines went into liquidation (NYT).

Tokyo - Japan - The Bank of Japan decided to keep the uncollateralized overnight call rate at around 0.5% (Bank of Japan).

Washington, DC - U.S. - Iraq’s debt has been reduced by $66.5 billion over past 3 years (U.S. Department of State).

10-Apr-08

Ottawa, ON; Edina, MN - Canada; U.S. - Jim Prentice, Canada's industry minister blocked a $1.3 billion takeover of Canada's MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates by Alliant Techsystems (NYT).

Washington, DC - U.S. - U.S. Senate passed H.R.3221 A bill to provide needed housing reform and for other purposes (Library of Congress-THOMAS). The Foreclosure Prevention Act, which was supposed to help homeowners facing foreclosure, provided instead, according to critics, "government handouts to big business" (NYT, 16-Apr-08) or "socialism for the rich" (AlertNet-TruthOut.org). (See also: TheStreet.com, 15-Apr-08.)

Denver, CO; New York, NY - U,S. - Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (MarketWatch; NYT) [10-Apr-08 - 11-Apr-08.]

London - U.K. - The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee reduced the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves by 0.25% to 5.0% (Bank of England).

11-Apr-08

Washington, DC - U.S. - Meeting of G7 Finance Ministers And Central Bank Governors (U.S. Department of the Treasury; Financial Stability Forum). (See also: MarketWatch.)

Fairfield, CT; Riyadh - U.S. - General Electric Inc. reported 2008Q1 financial results: Revenues of $42.2 billion, up 8%; net EPS down 2%; continuing EPS down 8% (GE)

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 256.56 points (-2.04%), closing at 12,325.42 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

Ann Arbor, MI - U.S. - U.S. index of consumer sentiment fell to 63.2, a 26-year record low (MarketWatch) (Source: Reuters-University of Michigan, 11-Apr-08). Paul Krugman: "Americans . . . have . . . , I’d suggest, lost confidence in the integrity of our economic institutions. . . something is rotten in the state of our economy" (NYT, 14-Apr-08).

12-Apr-08

Shiraz - Iran - Explosion at a mosque killed at least 12 people (VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters, 13-Apr-09).

Washington, DC - U.S. - IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings; top concerns: global financial instability; financial markets turmoil; sharp fluctuations in major currencies; high fuel and food prices; economic disruptions (IMF, 13-Apr-08). The IMF predicted a "mild recession" for the U.S. in 2008 (IMF, 13-Apr-08). (See also: U.S. Department of the Treasury.) [12-Apr-08 - 13-Apr-08.]

13-Apr-08

New York, NY - U.S. - According to a New York Times article, many institutional investors appear to have bailed out of the auction-rate securities market leaving individual clients stranded; firms accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of having manipulated auction-rate securities reportedly include Bear Stearns, J. P. Morgan Securities, Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brother (the firms settled without admitting wrongdoing) (NYT).

14-Apr-08

Arghandab, Kandahar - Afghanistan - Taliban fighters killed at least 11 policemen; 2 NATO soldiers were also killed in southern Afghanistan (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters). (see also: Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

Charlotte, NC - U.S. - Wachovia Corporation: lowered quarterly common stock dividend to preserves $2.0 billion of capital annually; increased provision for credit losses to $2.8 billion ($2.1 billion above net charge-offs); and commenced concurrent offerings of common stock and convertible preferred stock, for a total of $7 billion (Wachovia).

Italy - Billionaire Silvio Berlusconi returned to power as premier (Bloomberg; NYT, 15-Apr-08; BBC News, 15-Apr-08).

Eagan, MN; Atlanta, GA - U.S. - Delta Air Lines Inc. to buy Northwest Airlines Corp. in an all-stock transaction with a total enterprise value of $17.7 billion; the new carrier will be the world's largest airline; more than $1 billion in annual revenue and cost synergies are expected (Delta Air Lines). (See also: Bloomberg; CNN Money, 15-Apr-08.)

Nairobi; Naivasha; Nyahururu; Nyeri; Eldoret; Nakuru; Limuru; Murang’a - Kenya - 14 people were killed in clashes between Mungiki sect members and Kenyan police (The Standard, 15-Apr-08; UPI). (See also: VOA News; Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

Worldwide - The mortgage meltdown crisis has spread worldwide (NYT).

Baghdad - Iraq - Bomb killed at least 5 people (VOA News-AP-Reuters).

15-Apr-08

Baquba; Ramadi; Baghdad - Iraq - Bombings in Baghdad killed 68 people; more than 80 people were killed throughout Iraq since 14-Apr-08 (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 16-Apr-08). (See also: Washington Post; Los Angeles Times, 16-Apr-08.)

Goma - Democratic Republic of the Congo - A Hewa Bora Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9 plane crashed; at least 40 people were killed (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 16-Apr-08). (See also: CNN International, 16-Apr-08; NYT-Reuters, 16-Apr-08.)

U.S. - Pope Benedict XVI visits the U.S.; is greeted by President George W. Bush (Vatican Information Service; VOA News). [15-Apr-08 - 20-Apr-08.]

Washington, DC - U.S. - A new "pro-peace, pro-Israel" lobby group and a new political action committee were launched: "J Street will advocate in the political arena, in the media and in Congress that a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and its neighbors are essential to the security and national interests of Israel, the United States and the broader Middle East" (J Street). J Street's annual budget is $1.5 million; Aipac's endowment exceeds $100 million (BBC News). (See also: Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera.)

Afghanistan; Chad; Ethiopia; Haiti; Keya; West Bank and Gaza Strip; Sri Lanka; Somalia; Suda; Zimbabwe - UN World Food Program (WFP) identified "hunger's global hotspots" (UN WFP).

16-Apr-08

Washington, DC - U.S. - Pope Benedict XVI visits the White House (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters; USA Today; BBC News).

Armonk, NY - U.S. - IBM 2008Q1 results: Total revenue, $24.502 billion (up 11.2%) (65% of revenues from outside the U.S.); net income, $2.319 billion (up 25.7%) (IBM).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 256.80 points (2.08%), closing at 12,619.27 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

London - U.K. - HedgeFund Intelligence (HFI) Global Review: Assets under management in global hedge funds climbed to $2.65 trillion at the beginning of 2008 (up 27%); New York and London hedge fund managers manage 46.73% and 16.73% of the assets, respectively (HedgeFund Intelligence).

Washington, DC - U.S. - According to Lester R. Brown, "food riots are now becoming commonplace"; food riots have been reported in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines, Senegal, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen (Earth Policy Institute). (See also: UN World Food Program, 15-Apr-08.)

Gaza City - Gaza - Israeli defense forces killed 20 Palestinians, including 5 children; 3 Israel soldiers were killed (Haaretz-Haaretz-Reuters, 17-Apr-08). (See also: VOA News-Reuters; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

Cambridge, MA - U.S. - Edward N. Lorenz, MIT meteorologist and discoverer of chaos theory, died at 90; Lorenz's most memorable paper: "Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?" (Washington Post, 17-Apr-08; NYT, 17-Apr-08; Los Angeles Times, 18-Apr-08; The Tech-The Tech-NYT News Service, 18-Apr-08).

17-Apr-08

Al-Bou Mohammed - Iraq - A suicide bomber killed at least 60 people at a funeral for two anti-al Qaeda members of the U.S.-backed Awakening Council (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies). (See also: VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters; CNN.) More than 100 people have been killed in Sunni areas since 14-Apr-08 (Christian Science Monitor, 18-Apr-08).

New York, NY - U.S. - Merrill Lynch 2008Q1 results: Net revenues, $2.9 billion (down 69%); net loss, $1.96 billion (compared to net earnings of $2.16 billion in 2007Q1) (Merrill Lynch).

Mountain View, CA - U.S. - Google 2008Q1 results: Revenues, $5.19 billion (up 42%); GAAP net income, $1.31 billion (up 30.4%) (Google).

The U.S. House passed bill H.R. 5715: To ensure continued availability of access to the Federal student loan program for students and families (Library of Congress-THOMAS). About 50 lenders, including Citigroup Inc.'s Student Loan Corp., SLM Corp. have stopped writing some student loans (Bloomberg). According to the U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, "student loans are more than a 400 billion dollar enterprise" (U.S. Department of Education, 14-Mar-08).

London; Carpinteria, CA - U.K.; U.S. - The Crown Estate to purchase from Clipper Windpower Plc a prototype of the world’s largest offshore wind turbine (7.5 MW MBE turbine) (The Crown Estate; Clipper Windpower).

18-Apr-08

New York, NY - U.S. - Citigroup 2008Q1 results: Revenues, $13.2 billion (down 48%); net loss, $5.1 billion; write-downs on sub-prime related direct exposures, $6.0 billion; write-downs net of underwriting fees, on funded and unfunded highly leveraged finance commitments, $3.1 billion (Citigroup). Citigroup to cut 9,000 jobs (Bloomberg; TheStreet.com; NYT).

United Nations - Pope Benedict XVI addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations: “The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and for increasing security. Indeed, the victims of hardship and despair, whose human dignity is violated with impunity, become easy prey to the call to violence, and they can then become violators of peaces” (UN News Center; Holy See Press Office; Vatican Information Service). (See also: VOA News.)

Damascus - Syria - Former president Jimmy Carter met with Khaled Meshal, exiled leader of Hamas; Israel plans to build 100 new homes in the West Bank (Washington Post, 19-Apr-08).

19-Apr-08

Basra - Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces took control of a stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia in Basra; at least 12 people were killed (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Gaza - Following Israel's blockade of Gaza, Hamas fighters attacked an Israeli cargo at the Gaza border; 13 Israeli soldiers were wounded; Israeli forces killed 4 Hamas fighters (VOA News, 20-Apr-08). (See also: Al Jazeera, 21-Apr-08; Haaretz, 21-Apr-08.)