This time the markets are very much disappointing me. Although it may seem like a good time to buy. But do it only and only if you have the sufficient funds and don’t need the money straight away. So, good luck in you hunt for shares or stocks of firms which you think will be able to survive the crisis…

In the past few days with the negative news about the fraud and other macro-economic problems, the market was I believe at its best yesterday. This is a snapshot of how the American stocks performed.

In the Arab world, where even to display the sole of your shoe to another person is considered rude, thrown footwear is a powerful gesture of hatred, disdain, despise etc. This action does show how the Arabs feel about the Americans.

Hi!!

Just wanted to wish you all happy holidays. Everything here in Kuwait will be closed for a week, but I will keep posting. So Eid Mubarak to all Muslims and Merry Christmas to all Christians. Plus hoping that this Eid and Christams goes smoothly for everyone.

Today, unexpectedly the Bank of England slashed interest rates down to 2%. This is the 1% drop after the recent drop of 1.5% amidst fears of recession. The interest rates are now down to 57 YEAR LOW. United Kingdom (UK) which was in no sign of recession had officially announced that they were in recession and the confidence in the Pound Sterling (£) has completely collapsed. The following chart shows the trends in interest rates over the past few years.

The interest rate cut has also served in weakening the Pound and the chart shows the intra day trading value of the Pound Sterling (£).

The markets in the USofA showed a lot of positive sentiment. Now, there we can have many reasons behind this case. But what I’m personally understanding is the bailout of automakers and aiding Citigroup are major contributors. The chart shows the performance of the markets yesterday.

Even after hitting lovely peaks and analysts predicting prices of gold will get lower, there is no change in the global scene. Recession hit EuroZone and heavy demand of gold from China and India have helped to keep up the gold price. I’m happy that the demand is not to the extent of pushing prices above US $1000. I presume that if the recession gets worse in Europe (hoping it shouldn’t) then there could be a serious push in the gold prices, regardless of the demand coming from the two economic powers i.e. China and India. 

Just look at the price 10 years to date.

BA (British Airways) announced that they are planning to merge with Qantas (Australian carrier). But still it is very uncertain what the scene will be in the future.

BA reported a 91.6% drop in six-month profits, blaming “incredibly difficult trading conditions” for the plunge. Its pre-tax profit totalled £52m between April and September, down from £616m a year earlier.

Qantas fared better in its results for the year to the end of June. Its pre-tax profit rose 36% to 1.408bn Australian dollars.But the airline warned at the time that the business was starting to see the effects of a slowing economy and rising fuel prices. Last week, Qantas announced a fresh set of capacity cuts as the global financial crisis continued to hit demand for airline seats.

The Chart shows the movement in the share price of BA year to date.

The US economy is finally in recession. God, how long did it take them to say or should I say confess to the International Community abot this problem. Till a few weeks back they weren’t in recession but now the media is talking about something completely different. They have been in recession since December 2007 according to National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Lets see what other things are they hiding from the public as events unfold and real image of the world’s largest economy is on display.

Source: Business Standard

The USofA are willing to help the auto makers. Now, The chief executives of Ford, GM and Chrysler are scheduled to testify on Thursday and Friday before House and Senate panels on how the companies intend to return to sound financial footing. Lets see how it goes. I’m hoping for a positive signal. After the executives’ poorly received appearance before Congress last month. The Picture shows what seems to be a “car crash”.