World Events: 11-Feb-09 - 13-Mar-09

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World Event

11-Feb-09

Houston, TX - U.S. - KBR announced it settled with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding "violations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) occurring between 1994 and 2004": Total financial penalties are $579 million; KBR to pay $20 million over 8 quarters to the DOJ; Halliburton to pay the remainder (Halliberton; KBR). (See also: NYT-Editorial-14-Feb-09.)

14-Feb-09

Iskandiriya - Iraq - Female suicide bomber targeted Shia pilgrims and killed at least 40 people, mostly women and children (Al Jazeera-Agencies, 14-Feb-09). (See also: AP, 14-Feb-09; BBC News.)

Ladha, South Waziristan - Pakistan - U.S. drones killed at least 27 Uzbeks; US drones killed >220 people in 2008 (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 15-Feb-09). (See also: Reuters India.)

U.S. - David Colker documented the U.S. foreclosure process (Los Angeles Times). (See also: Los Angeles Times, 7-Dec-08.)

15-Feb-09

Caracas - Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez won the referendum to end term limits (VOA News, 15-16-Feb-09; Washington Post, 16-Feb-09; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 16-Feb-09).

West Bank; Israel - Israel grabs West Bank land (VOA News-AP; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 16-Feb-09).

Lynchburg, VA - U.S. - Peanut Corporation of America filed for bankruptcy protection following a scandal alleging the company sold peanut products contaminated with salmonella bacteria; contaminated peanuts were linked to 9 deaths (Washington Post). (See also: Peanut Corporation of America, 8-Feb-09.)

Japan; U.S. - Japan's economy contracted at an annual rate of 12.7% in 2008Q4 -- a 35-year record (Los Angeles Times, 16-Feb-09). The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 3.8% in 2008Q4 (NYT).

16-Feb-09

Kurram - Pakistan - Suspected U.S. missile strike killed at least 12 people (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Russia - Russia's industrial output fell 19.9% in Jan-09 (month-over-month) (VOA news-AFP).

Baghdad - Iraq - 2 bombs targeting Shia pilgrims killed at least 8 people (Al Jazeera-Agencies; VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Swat Valley - Pakistan - Swat Valley adopts Sharia law (Washington Post; Los Angeles Times, 17-Feb-09).

Houston, TX - U.S. - United States District Court judge for the Northern District of Texas signed an order appointing a receiver to take possession of all the assets of Stanford Financial Group and other associated entities (Case No.: 3:09-cv-0298-N) (Stanford Financial Group Receivership-Stanford Financial Group). (See also: SEC, 17-Feb-09.)

17-Feb-09

Bentonville, AR - U.S. - Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. financial results for FY2009: Net sales, $401.244 billion (up 7.2%); income from continuing operations, $13.254 billion (up 3.0%). Results for FY2009 Q4: Net sales, $107.996 billion (up 1.7%); income from continuing operations, $3.792 billion (down 7.7%). (Wal-Mart.)

Atlantic City, NJ - U.S. - Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (Trump Entertainment Resorts). (See also: NYT-Reuters.)

Denver, CO - U.S. - President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (White House) -- a $787 billion economic stimulus plan (VOA News, 24-Feb-09).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 297.81 points (-3.79%), closing at 7,552.60 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

20-Feb-09

Swat Valley, North West Frontier - Pakistan - Ceasefire between Pakistan's military and the Taliban (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 22-Feb-09). (See also: CNN Asia, 22-Feb-09.)

Dera Ismail Khan - Pakistan - Suicide bomb attack killed at least 30 people (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 21-Feb-09).

Berlin - Germany - Germany approved a €50 billion ($63 billion) stimulus package (BBC News). Germany approved an initial €31 billion package in 2008 (AFP). (See also: Washington Post, 26-Feb-09.)

23-Feb-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - Federal Reserve to offer $150 billion in 84-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve Board).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Federal Reserve Board: "The U.S. government stands firmly behind the banking system during this period of financial strain to ensure it will be able to perform its key function of providing credit to households and businesses. The government will ensure that banks have the capital and liquidity they need to provide the credit necessary to restore economic growth" (Federal Reserve Board).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 250.89 points (-3.41%), closing at 7,114.78 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance) -- a 6-year record low (Bloomberg, 19-Feb-09).

24-Feb-09

New York, NY - U.S. - The Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller U.S. national home price index (20-city composite) fell 18.55% in 2008Q4 (YOY) (S&P) -- a record low for the time period since 1988 (S&P).

Dulles, VA; Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA - U.S. - The launch of a Taurus XL rocket carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) satellite for NASA failed (Orbital Sciences Corporation; NASA); the satellite was to monitor greenhouse gas emissions (VOA News-AP-Reuters).

Washington, DC - U.S. - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress: " . . . the unemployment rate has moved up to 7.6 percent. . . overall consumer price inflation measured on a 12-month basis was close to zero last month . . . The principal cause of the economic slowdown was the collapse of the global credit boom and the ensuing financial crisis . . . The central tendency for the unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2009 was marked up to a range of 8-1/2 percent to 8-3/4 percent. . . " (Federal Reserve Board). (See also: NYT.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - President Obama, address to a joint session of Congress: "But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before. The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. . . In other words, we have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity; where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election. A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future." (White House.)

Munich - Germany - Ifo Economic Research Institute: The Ifo Business Climate index for industry and trade in Germany tumbled to a record low 82.6 points (down 23.4% from a record high of 109.1 in Dec-06). Germany entered recession in 2008Q3; its economy fell 2.1% in 2008Q4 -- a 20-year record (Deutsche Welle-DPA-Reuters-AFP).

25-Feb-09

Amsterdam - The Netherlands - A Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 crashed while landing killing 9 people (VOA News).

Iran - Inaugural test run of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant (VOA News).

Montreal, QC - Canada - Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, 2008 financial results: Record loss of C$39.8 billion ($31.7 billion); total assets under allocation $120.1 billion (down from $155.4 billion in 2007) (Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec). (See also: Financial Post; Globe and Mail; Bloomberg.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - National Association of Realtors: Existing-home sales fell 5.3% in Jan-09 (MOM), and 8.6% (YOY) (National Association of Realtors). (See also: Washington Post.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - U.S. State Department released "2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" (U.S. Department of State).

26-Feb-09

London - U.K. - Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) 2008 financial results: Record loss attributable to shareholders, £24.1 billion ($34.2 billion); loss before tax, £40.7 billion; impairment losses, £8.1 billion; over 50% of losses pertained to ABN AMRO-originated portfolios (RBS). The U.K. government to inject up to £25.5bn in RBS (Financial Times). (See also: NYT.)

Detroit, MI - U.S. - General Motors 2008 financial results: Loss, $30.9 billion; revenue, $149 billion (down 17.2% from $180 billion in 2007) (GM). (See also: NYT; Washington Post.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - Office of Management & Budget Director Peter Orszag, FY2010 Government of the U.S. Budget: "The budget that we are releasing this morning fulfills the President's campaign promises to be honest and responsible . . Under current policies, and without any policy intervention, our estimates suggest that we would face $9 trillion in budget deficits over the next decade" (White House; OMB).

U.S. - U.S. banks lost more than $26 billion in 2008Q4; the number of "troubled" banks increased by nearly 50% (VOA News).

27-Feb-09

New York, NY; Washington, DC - U.S. - Citigroup to convert up to $25 billion of bailout funds into a 36% equity stake in Citigroup for the U.S. Department of the Treasury (VOA News).

Camp Lejeune, NC - U.S. - President Barack Obama, on responsibly ending the War in Iraq: "Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end. . . [O]ur mission will change from combat to supporting the Iraqi government and its Security Forces . . . we will retain a transitional force to carry out three distinct functions: training, equipping, and advising Iraqi Security Forces . . .; conducting targeted counter-terrorism missions; and protecting our ongoing civilian and military efforts within Iraq. Initially, this force will likely be made up of 35-50,000 U.S. troops" (White House).

Washington, DC - U.S. - Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA): The real gross domestic product of the U.S. decreased at an annual rate of 6.2% (BEA).

Washington, DC; Memphis - U.S. - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused 2 Stanford Financial Group executives, including Robert Allen Stanford, of involvement in a “massive Ponzi scheme”; funds were misappropriated and more than $1.6 billion in “bogus” loans to Mr. Stanford were made (NYT). (See also: Stanford Financial Group Receivership-Stanford Financial Group.)

28-Feb-09

Hua Hin - Thailand - 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit: Key issues: Political security; socio-cultural community blueprint; ASEAN integration; food security; global economic and financial crisis; and petroleum security. ASEAN member states: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam (ASEAN; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand.) (See also: VOA News.) [28-Feb-09 - 1-Mar-09.]

1-Mar-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - The U.S. Treasury: (1) to exchange its existing $40 billion cumulative perpetual preferred shares for new preferred shares that resemble common equity; and (2) to offer American International Group (AIG) as much as $30 billion in exchange for non-cumulative preferred stock to the U.S. Treasury; also, the Federal Reserve to take actions relating to the $60 billion Revolving Credit Facility for AIG established by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in Sep-08 (U.S. Department of the Treasury; Federal Reserve Board). AIG has received $150 billion in taxpayers funds; the credit default swap market, in which AIG has participated, is estimated at $28.5 trillion (Reuters UK). (See also: VOA News-Bloomberg-Reuters; USA TODAY; MarketWatch, 2-Mar-09.)

Kiev - Ukraine - Ukraine on the edge of financial collapse; thousands of jobs have been lost (NYT).

London - U.K. - MI5 reportedly issued an alert on potential for bank riots (Daily Express). (See also: BBC News.)

2-Mar-09

New York, NY - U.S. - American International Group, Inc. (AIG) financial results: 2008Q4 net loss, $61.659 billion (vs. a net loss of $5.3 billion in 2007Q4); 2008 net loss, $99.289 billion (vs. a net income of $6.2 billion in 2007) (AIG).

London - U.K. - HSBC Holdings plc, 2008 financial results: Pre-tax profit, US$9.3 billion (down 62%); profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company, $5.728 billion (down 70%). HSBC: to increase its capital by $17.7 billion via fully underwritten Rights Issue; to close substantially all branch offices of US Consumer Lending business and terminate 6,100 jobs (HSBC). (See also: MarketWatch; Financial Times, 1-Mar-09.)

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 299.64 points (-4.24%), closing at 6,763.29 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance) -- a record low since 25-Apr-1997 (Yahoo! Finance-AP).

5-Mar-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - Bankruptcy filings in U.S. federal courts: 1,117,771, in 2008 (up 31%); 850,912, in 2007; 617,660, in 2006; 2,078,415, in 2005; 1,597,462, in 2004 (US Courts).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 281.40 points (-4.09%), closing at 6,594.44 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

London - U.K. - The Bank of England’s (BOE) Monetary Policy Committee reduced the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves by 0.5% to 0.5% and announced a £75 billion program to purchase gilts (U.K. government bonds) (BOE).

Frankfurt am Main - Germany - The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to decrease the interest rate on the main refinancing operations of the Eurosystem by 0.50% to 1.50% (ECB).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve Board has published tips to help consumers avoid foreclosure scams (Federal Reserve Board).

Beijing - China - Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) (China View-Xinhua). [5-Mar-09 - 13-Mar-09.]

6-Mar-09

Hamza, Babil - Iraq - A car bomb killed at least 12 people (BBC News).

Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka's military killed at least 150 Tamil Tiger rebels (VOA News-AFP-Reuters). [6-Mar-09 - 8-Mar-09.]

Washington, DC - U.S. - Robert B. Zoellick and Justin Yifu Lin: "The root cause of broader global payment imbalances is structural: overconsumption in the United States and oversaving in China. For the United States, the consumption boom was fueled by bubbles in stocks and housing. This was accompanied by a collapse in the U.S. savings rate. For China, the savings surplus is a result of structural distortions in the financial, corporate and resource sectors" (World Bank; Originally published in the Washington Post).

7-Mar-09

Malmo - Sweden - About 7,000 people protest Israel's attack on Gaza (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies ).

Vienna - Austria - Amazing Op-Ed contribution, "The Armageddon Waltz," by Frederic Morton in the New York Times. The Op-Ed piece connects the dots: The Vienna Bankers Club's "Bankruptcy Ball" in 1913; the Vienna (and Europe's) "housing problem"; government debt; the military commitment to "mostly Muslim" Albania; the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist; and World War I (NYT).

8-Mar-09

Baghdad - Iraq - A suicide bomber killed at least 28 people at a police academy (VOA News; BBC News). (See also: Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

South China Sea - Chinese vessels harass the USNS Impeccable (The Washington Post).

9-Mar-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $150 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve Board).

Whitehouse Station, NJ; Kenilworth, NJ - U.S. - Merck & Co., Inc. and Schering-Plough Corporation to merge in a transaction valued at $41.1 billion (Merck; Schering-Plough). (See also: Bloomberg.)

Midland, MI; Philadelphia, PA - U.S. - Dow Chemical Co. settled a $15.3 billion dispute to buy Rohm & Haas (Dow Chemical; Rohm & Haas; NYT). (See also: MarketWatch.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - President Barack Obama issued a new Presidential memo on scientific integrity, and lifted barriers to scientific research involving human stem cells (White House). (See also: VOA News; CNN Politics.)

U.S. - Warren Buffett said the U.S. economy had "fallen off a cliff" (Bloomberg).

Manila - Philippines - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released a study titled "Global Financial Turmoil and Emerging Market Economies: Major Contagion and a Shocking Loss of Wealth?" According to the study, global financial assets fell by more than $50 trillion in 2008 (the study was prepared by Claudio M. Loser, President of Centennial Group, as discussion materials for the "South Asia Forum on the Impact of Global Economic and Financial Crisis") (ADB). (See also: Bloomberg; VOA News-AP-Bloomberg.)

10-Mar-09

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 379.44 points (5.80%), closing at 6,926.49 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

10-Mar-09

Hartford, CT - U.S. - United Technologies to cut 11,600 jobs (United Technologies).

U.S. - HedgeFund Intelligence survey: Funds of hedge funds lost more than $300 billion (~33%) of their assets in 2008H2; 35% of the industry’s assets are managed by the top 10 fund-of-funds (NYT-DealBook). The Eurekahedge Report: Hedge fund assets fell $69 billion to $1.4 trillion as at Jan-09 (Eurekahedge, Feb-09). (See also: Bloomberg.)

Copenhagen - Denmark - International Scientific Congress on Climate Change, organized by International Alliance of Research Universities: Climate change likely to increase sea level by at least 50 cm, perhaps even 100 cm, by 2100; about 600 million people to be affected (Environment News Service, 10-Mar-09; Scientific American-Reuters, 10-Mar-09). (See also: University of Copenhagen, 10/12-Mar-09; International Alliance of Research Universities, 12-Feb-09.) [10-Mar-09 - 12-Mar-09.]

Washington, DC - U.S. - Charles Freeman, president of the Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) think-tank: "The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth. The aim of this Lobby is control of the policy process . . . " (WSJ). (See also: Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 11-Mar-09; JTA, 11-Mar-09; Bloomberg, 11-Mar-09; Washington Post, 12-Mar-09; Middle East Policy Council.)

Baghdad - Iraq - Suicide bomber killed 33 people outside Baghad (NYT).

11-Mar-09

Winnenden - Germany - A 17-year-old gunned down at least 15 people (Deutsche Welle-SP-JC-SMS-DPA-AFP-Reuters). (See also: Spiegel International.)

Kinston, AL; Samson, AL; Geneva, AL - U.S. - Gunman killed 11 people, including family members and himself (AP; ABC News).

12-Mar-09

Basel; South San Francisco, CA - Switzerland; U.S. - Roche to acquire Genentech for approximately $46.8 billion (Roche; Genentech).

New York, NY - U.S. - Bernard L. Madoff pleaded guilty to all 11 charges, including fraud, money laundering, making false statements, perjury, and theft (NYT; Bloomberg; BBC News). (U.S. v. Madoff, 09-cr-00213, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.)

Karachi - Pakistan - Pakistan's government counters countrywide large-scale protests with detentions of hundreds of people (Los Angeles Times; AP; BBC News).

St. Johns, NL - Canada - S-92 Sikorsky helicopter transporting offshore oil workers crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland; 16 people are missing (CNN International).

13-Mar-09

Beijing - China - Chinese premier Wen Jiabao is concerned about the safety of China’s $1 trillion investment in U.S. treasuries and asked “the U.S. to maintain its good credit" (Bloomberg; NYT; WSJ). China's foreign exchange reserves at yearend 2008: A record $1.95 trillion (China View-Xinhua).

N30/13-Mar-09

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