THRIVING THURSDAY

Israel's president praises Saudi king By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer – Wed Nov 12, 7:44 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS – Israel's president had rare praise for Saudi Arabia's king at a U.N. interfaith conference Wednesday, saying King Abdullah's initiative to end the Arab-Israeli conflict inspired hope that all countries in the Middle East could live in peace.Speaking to hundreds of guests in the General Assembly chamber, where Israel has often been villified by its Arab neighbors, Shimon Peres appealed to Abdullah to maintain his leadership in the Arab world during the difficult peace process.Minutes earlier, Abdullah said it was high time the world learned the harsh lesson of history — that differences between followers of different religions and cultures engendered intolerance, causing devastating wars and considerable bloodshed without any sound logical or ideological justification.The Saudi monarch, who initiated the two-day U.N. conference as well as another interfaith meeting in July in Madrid, called for all peoples and nations to promote peace, harmony and tolerance, saying terrorism and criminality are the enemies of every religion and every civilization.When Peres took the floor, he told delegates that building a new future in the Middle East seems more feasible today in light of the Saudi proposal which evolved into an Arab peace initiative. The 2002 Saudi plan calls for Arab recognition of the Jewish state in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from all lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

Then, looking directly at Abdullah, the Israeli president interrupted his prepared speech.Your Majesty, the king of Saudi Arabia, Peres said. I was listening to your message. I wish that your voice will become the prevailing voice of the whole region, of all people. It's right. It's needed. It's promising.Later, Peres told reporters the king's initiative created a U-turn in the policies of the Middle East, because until quite recently the formal Arab position was ... based on three Nos ... no recognition, no negotiation, no peace with Israel.Peres called the Saudi leader a voice of frankness and understanding.There is a real change, basically positive. I don't deny there are open and difficult questions, but if there is a will — as the Arabs are saying — there is a way. What was today demonstrated was the will. We know that we have to work for the way, Peres said.Both Peres and Abdullah attended a private dinner Tuesday night for leaders attending the conference, but the Israeli president would not say whether they had any personal contact — or whether he talked with other Arab leaders.The Saudi king did not directly mention Mideast peace efforts, and he made no mention of criticism from Human Rights Watch and others about Saudi Arabia refusing to allow the public practice of any religion other than Islam.Terrorism and criminality are the enemies of every religion and every civilization, he said, adding that they have appeared because of the absence of tolerance. Abdullah said constructive dialogue among peoples and nations can revive these lofty ideals.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned the conference that globalization has increased communal strife, extremist ideologies and the polarization of societies.Anti-Semitism remains a scourge, he said. Islamaphobia has emerged as a new term for an old and terrible form of prejudice. And other kinds of racism and discrimination show a dismaying persistence.One of the great challenges of our time must now surely be to ensure that our rich cultural diversity makes us more secure — not less, Ban said.That challenge was echoed by other speakers at the conference which continues Thursday with speeches by President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.Jordan's King Abdullah II warned that extremists — Muslim, Christian and Jewish — are thriving on the doubts and divisions stemming from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I can think of no more effective way to ease East-West and inter-faith tensions than to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a peace based on justice, respect for international law and the right of all people to live in dignity, he said.

Simulation Shows What Would Happen If Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake Hit California
ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2008) — What would happen in California was hit by the Big One? New 3-D animations of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake scenario are now available to the public.

Fourteen animations can be downloaded from the site in high definition format. The 3-D animations show, from the perspective of a several different Southern California locations, how intensely the ground would shake and shift during a very strong 7.8 earthquake with an epicenter on the southern end of the San Andreas Fault.The science-based earthquake scenario, developed by USGS scientists and partners, is used for both the Great Southern California ShakeOut drill on November 13 and the statewide Golden Guardian 2008 emergency response exercise from November 13 - 18.

The ShakeOut earthquake scenario animations provide a graphic tool for first responders, engineers, decision makers, Southern California residents and other members of the public to understand, visualize and prepare for the devastating effects, even far from the epicenter, of a large, damaging earthquake. The San Andreas Fault has produced earthquakes of this magnitude in the past and could again in the future.The USGS is also making available new broadcast-quality background interviews and footage of the San Andreas Fault-crossing Cajon Pass, a narrow corridor through the San Gabriel Mountains known as an important lifeline corridor where roads, railroads, water and energy pipelines, and electrical and communications infrastructure provide service to millions of residences, businesses, commuters and communities in Southern California. In the ShakeOut earthquake scenario, this narrow corridor would be greatly affected, as the 3-D animations also show. The Great Southern California ShakeOut: An Earthquake Scenario Based On Science, is a USGS video production that shows how science is used by government agencies, emergency responders, policymakers, and the public to help build safer communities. It includes interviews with the USGS, the Office of Homeland Security, the City of Los Angeles, the County of Riverside, the California Governor's Office, the East Valley Water District, the Art Center College of Design, the County of San Bernardino, and a professor emeritus from Colorado State University.Animations are available at at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/simulations/shakeout/.

Pan-European referendum impossible, expert says
VALENTINA POP Today NOV 13,08 @ 09:25 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Recently I sat at a table with 20 top constitutional lawyers from different countries asking if a pan-European referendum was possible and the answer was 'no way,' because of all the different constitutional arrangements. It's more complicated than any other solution, Stefano Bartolini from the European University Institute in Florence said at a conference organised by the EU parliament ahead of the 2009 elections.EU leaders signed the Lisbon treaty in December 2007, but the Irish No put a halt to the project (Photo: Portuguese EU Presidency)Asked if this was the case with a non-binding referendum as well, he replied that this was the type of plebiscite he referred to, a binding one being unthinkable.The chairman of the recently registered Libertas party, Daclan Ganley, who was one of the Irish No-campaigners on the Lisbon treaty, has been advocating a pan-European referendum on the rejected document.But the idea sparked some virulent remarks from British liberal MEP Andrew Duff.

I think if you are seeking to destroy a parliament and political parties, then you resort to plebiscite. And you have populism, xenophobia, ultra-nationalism and racism.He said he was in favour of holding referendums on local matters, for instance on building a casino in a town, but not on constitutional questions.It's insulting the intelligence of the people to ask them if they agree with this extraordinarily obscure text they are not going to read or understand. What do we have MPs for? Why do we pay their salaries? he argued.Another expert from the European University Institute, Mark Franklin, also said referendums were extremely dangerous because they could be misused by unscrupulous politicians.Mr Franklin, who studied voter behaviour during the past decades, said people use treaty referendums to express feelings on unconnected EU issues, such as immigration, where they normally have no say.It's really hard to control that you will actually get an answer on the specific question you're asking and not on something else, he said.A Swiss citizen in the audience noted that in her country, people are very well informed when they go to a referendum and answer precisely on the particular matter they are being asked about, however.

Low turnout debates, a masochistic exercise

With turnout in the European elections constantly decreasing in the past decades, debates in the parliament on this phenomenon were a bit of a masochistic exercise, the legislature's vice-president Alejo Vidal-Quadras told the audience in his opening remarks.It seems to be one of the laws of nature now, that every time we have elections, we get fewer voters. We spend more and more money in trying to get people to vote, but in every European election we see the parliament acquiring less power from the ballot box, he said. While to Mr Vidal-Quadras, the explanations of the low turnout were still a mystery, in Mr Franklin's view, this phenomenon was easily explained by the fact that EU elections were not real elections, where voters could influence policy making.Voters know perfectly well that they won't have any influence on EU policy making in the European elections, because the ultimate decision maker is the EU Council, not the parliament, Mr Franklin said.Give voters some real elections, then they will come to the ballot box.

Rise of fringe parties

The absence of strategic voting in EU elections - voting for big parties because they are likely to get power - should also lead to good scores for extreme parties, both on the right and the left side of the political spectrum, the Italian-based expert added.To Mr Duff, a strong promoter of the Lisbon treaty, the rise in nationalism and even xenophobia and racism was all because of the rejection of the text. With big parties reluctant to bring up EU topics such as the Lisbon treaty, since they were usually internally split on the issues, it was up to the fringe parties to talk openly about such things in the upcoming election campaign, Mr Duff explained. This would only put more pressure on mainstream party discipline, which could ultimately fail to suppress the quarrel about the federalist and nationalist wings, he said.It should be a fairly bloody campaign. And at least if it's exciting, it might induce a higher turnout, Mr Duff concluded.

CNN NEWS VIDEO
http://edition.cnn.com/video/

YAHOO NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video

MIDEAST CONFLICT NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/1874;_ylt=A0wNcxFdg6xIgbkAwD6z174F

ABC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461

FOX NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3074

FOX BUSINESS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3045

AP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2529

BBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2918

REUTERS VIDEO NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2704

AFP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3091

CNBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3245

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS THU NOV 13,2008

09:30 AM +31.18
10:00 AM -57.93
10:30 AM +91.19
11:00 AM -1.04
11:30 AM +9.40
12:00 PM -34.89
12:30 PM -89.45
01:00 PM -238.87
01:30 PM -144.25
02:00 PM -34.49
02:30 PM +158.42
03:00 PM +208.99
03:30 PM +299.47
04:00 PM +552.59 8835.25

S&P 500 911.29 +58.99

NASDAQ 1596.70 +97.49

GOLD 737.5 +19.2

OIL 59.42 +3.36

TSE 300 9309.79 +387.22

CDNX 813.49 -9.01

S&P/TSX/60 564.44 +26.24

MORNING NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -37.56
Dow Transports -23.99%
S&P 500 -41.96%
Russell 2000 -40.89%
NYSE Composite -45.37%

Dow +109 points in first 3 minutes.
Dow up +112 points at high today so far.
Down down -58 points at low today so far.
Dow,S&P near 5 1/2 year closing lows.
3 month T-BILL 0.193% at 9:30AM.
GERMANY is officially in recession.
P.Robertson:GM must go into bankruptcy,then it can rebuild,rebound.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS

Dow at high was +125 points today.
Dow at low was -317 points.
Dow trades in 442 point range today so far as of 2PM.
Dow dips below 8000 points at 1PM today.
Dow trades below 2008 closing low but still above intraday low of 7882 points.
Dow,S&P,Nasdaq on pace for biggest weekly loss since week ending OCT 10,2008.
S&P breaches 2008 low at 12:53PM today.
Nasdaq dips to 2008 low at 1PM today.
Major averages extend losses after S&P 500 drops to 2008 low.
CHRYSLER Narelli:says it would be difficult to survive without GOV. help.

BUSH ON G 20 AND CRISIS.
-Confidence about the future.
-NY has been and always will be financial capital of the world.
-Economies worldwide connected.
-G 20 countries to be there (in WSH)Developing countries,World Bank,IMF,UN,and FINANCIAL STABILITY FORUM will be there Saturday.
-Will meet Sat to adress the current crisis.
-And to lay reforms to prevent a future crisis.
-To big for a single meeting,to complex a series of meetings needed.
1-Understanding the causes of the Global crisis.
2-Reviewing our responses so far.
3-Developing principles for reforming our financial and regulatory systems.
4-Launching a specific action plan to impliment those principals.
5-And reaffirming our conviction that free market principals offer the surest path to lasting prosperity.
-Looking for the Global causes behind the Global crisis.
-Broader reforms to strengthen the Global economy over the long term.
-Establish principals for adapting our financial systems to the realities of the 21st century market place.
-Action we can take to impliment these principals.
-Financials worldwide must be transparent.
1-Consider improving accounting rules.
2-Must be sure markets,firms,financial products are properly regulated.
3-We must enhance the integrity of our financial markets.
4-We must strengthen our cooperation amoung the worlds financial authorities.
-Lending nations should coordinate national laws and regulations.
-reform institutions IMF and WORLD BANK,based on economic order of 1944.
-IMF,WORLD BANK should modernize their Governing structures.
-Extend greater voting power to dynamic devoloping nations.
-IMF should agree to work more closely with member countries to ensure their exchange rate policies are market oriented and fair.
-The WORLD BANK should insure developement programs to reflect the prioraties of the people they are designed to serve and focus on measurable results.
-Government intervention is not the cure all.
-European countries have strict Housing laws.
-Surest path to growth is FRE MARKETS and FREE PEOPLE.
-Free market system provides incentives that lead to prosperity.

WRAPUP NEWS,STATS

Dow at high was 592 points today.
Dow at low was -317 points today.
Dow has 909 point range today.
2 BILLION shares trades today.
Dow up 7% today.
Dow dropped as much as 3.8% to 7965 in todays trading.
Dow back above 8800 points after falling below 8000 points earlier today.
S&P 500 up 7% today.
S&P was down 3.9% to 819 points at todays low.
S&P back above 900 points after dropping below 819 Earlier in the day.
Nasdaq up 6% today.
Nasdaq down 4.7% to 1429 at days low.
S&P and Nasdaq had breached OCT intraday lows before bouncing back strong.
Wall streets biggest gain in 2 weeks.
Stocks swing in range over 9% in todays trading.
Nordstrom Q3 revenue $1.80 BILLION.
Nordstrom Q3 EPS $0.33.
Kohl's Q3 Revenue $3.80 BILLION.
Kohl's Q3 EPS $0.52 VS $0.51 FORCAST.

Stocks stage huge rebound; Dow jumps 553 points By MADLEN READ and JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer NOV 13,08

CVX 75.71 +8.43
INTC 14.43 +0.91
WMT 54.93 +2.31

Reuters – … NEW YORK – Wall Street launched a massive rebound Thursday, muscling the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 553 points after driving it down near its lows for the year, as investors decided they did not want to miss out on cheap stocks.After three days of selling that wiped out about $1 trillion in shareholder value, many investors, though nervous about the economy, appeared convinced the market had priced in enough bad news. So when the Standard & Poor's 500 index managed to recover from multiyear trading lows, investors swarmed back in.It's a herd mentality, said Ryan Larson, senior equity trader at Voyageur Asset Management. We started going higher — and you don't want to be the last one on the boat.Some analysts also said investors were positioning themselves ahead of a meeting of Group of 20 leaders in Washington. The meeting could bring decisions on mending the troubled global financial system.There was some anticipation that we'll hear some good news from that meeting, said Jack A. Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. Thursday's rally was part hopeful, part technical. But certainly welcome.As stocks rallied, so did oil prices, sending shares of energy companies higher. The biggest gainer among the 30 Dow companies was Chevron Corp., which rose $8.43, or 12.5 percent, to $75.71. Another big gainer was Exxon Mobil Corp., which climbed $6.48, or 9.4 percent, to $75.41; these two energy stocks represented one-fifth of the Dow's point gain Thursday.Stocks sold off early after the Labor Department said the number of newly laid-off individuals seeking unemployment benefits jumped last week to the highest level since right after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. There was also more evidence of a severe pullback in consumer spending — a worsening trend that had pummeled stocks earlier in the week. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. trimmed expectations for full-year earnings, and Intel Corp. late Wednesday cut more than $1 billion from its sales forecast.

But then the S&P lifted above its Oct. 10 trading lows, and a Treasury auction of 30-year bonds got decent demand from both domestic and foreign buyers, said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. The auction results alleviated some fears about the government having a hard time financing its costly bailout.Many analysts had predicted the market would retest the multiyear lows it reached last month. They also still forecast volatility for some time to come, as Wall Street tries to rebuild from October's devastating losses and gauge the severity of the economy's downturn. During past recoveries from bear markets, a great deal of turbulence in the market became commonplace — so it's possible that Thursday's gains will get erased if more gloomy reports pour in.But Hogan called the market's resiliency a great sign.According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 552.59, or 6.67 percent, to 8,835.25, after falling as low as 7,965.42 and rising as high as 8,876.59. That's a trading range of 911 points. The Dow did not sink below its Oct. 10 trading low of 7,882.51.The Dow's nearly 553-point gain was the third-largest single-session point gain on record, following the 889-point rise on Oct. 28 and the 936-point surge on Oct. 13.The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 58.99, or 6.92 percent, to 911.29, after dropping to 818.69 — well below its intraday low of 839.80 on Oct. 10.The Nasdaq composite index rose 97.49, or 6.50 percent, to 1,596.70.The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 38.43, or 8.5 percent, to 491.23.The stock market gained back $700 billion Thursday, after losing about $1 trillion during the first three days of the week, according to the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 index, which reflects the value of nearly all U.S. stocks. At its lowest trading level Thursday, the market value of the Wilshire index fell below $10 trillion for the first time since April 2003.Advancing issues outpaced decliners by nearly 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.99 billion shares.The price of a barrel of light, sweet crude rose $2.08 to $58.24 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling to the lowest levels since January 2007. Government bond prices fell as investors fled back into stocks. The three-month Treasury bill's yield rose to 0.20 percent from 0.13 percent late Wednesday, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.88 percent from 3.67 percent late Wednesday. Higher yields indicate lower demand.

Wal-Mart shares rebounded $2.31, or 4.4 percent, to $54.93. The discount retailer's shares had traded lower in earlier trading after it cut its profit outlook because of the flagging global economy and renewed strength of the dollar. Wal-Mart is the only company among the Dow industrials that is up for the year. Intel also slashed its outlook, initially driving down shares on concerns that consumers are shying away from big purchases like computers. But its shares recovered to trade up 91 cents, or 6.7 percent, to $14.43. General Motors shares, however, remained weak as the nation's automakers wait for President-elect Obama to push Congress to approve a bailout of the struggling industry. There are also reports that Obama will move to appoint a czar or board to oversee the companies. GM dropped 13 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $2.95. Ford shares rose 6 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $1.90. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. Gold prices rose. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei closed down 5.25 percent and Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 5.15 percent. In European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.31 percent, Germany's DAX rose 0.62 percent, and France's CAC-40 added 1.10 percent. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Brussels turns regulatory eye on rating agencies
LUCIA KUBOSOVA Today NOV 13,08 @ 09:25 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has unveiled a proposal to regulate credit rating agencies, boasting the blueprint goes further than legislation anywhere else in the world in its attempt to prevent future turbulence based on false ratings of various market actors.These very exciting rules are necessary to restore the confidence of the market in the ratings business in the European Union, said EU internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy when presenting the document to journalists on Wednesday (12 November).The package includes measures aiming to boost the transparency of the bodies whose malpractice is viewed by some policy makers as one of the factors behind the current financial crisis - by introducing an obligation for them to disclose the models, methodologies and key assumptions on which they base their ratings.Apart from a broader disclosure, credit agencies will in future have to undergo a newly established registration procedure and face an effective surveillance regime by European regulators, under the proposed rules.

Finally, the bill tackles the issue of possible conflict of interest by forbidding rating agencies from providing advisory services, and by introducing the practice of a minimum of three independent directors on an agency board whose pay cannot depend on the business performance of the rating agency. The proposal is in my view well balanced. It ensures the analytical independence of credit rating agencies while at the same time ensuring that they are subject to effective oversight to ensure that professional standards are applied, argued Mr McCreevy.German Liberal Wolf Klinz praised the plan, noting that it will "ensure an orderly admission of rating agencies, more transparency and an enhanced co-operation between the national supervisory authorities.

Better regulation

But analyst Nicolas Veron from the Brussels-based think-tank Bruegel argues that the commission is exaggerating the role that credit agencies have played in the financial crisis. This regulation responds to obvious political demand, Mr Veron told the EUobserver, adding that it was rushed and not enough stakeholders had been consulted. Such an approach could have even worse consequences if taken when Brussels comes forward with other legislative initiatives related to market turmoil.

The analyst argues that the credit agencies showed a lack of understanding and research as they didn't see the crisis coming but that will not primarily be changed due to a stricter regulation.With some aspects - especially those on disclosure - I could definitely agree but I think the commission goes a bit too far in prescribing how the rating agencies should behave in different aspects of their life, he said. The political approach taken by the EU executive is contradictory to its doctrine of better regulation, Mr Veron noted.

Ambitions and scepticism

Commissioner McCreevy denied accusations of over-regulation, pointing out that he has been already associated with the fight against it in the EU corners.He also played down concerns over a possible shift of capital away from Europe: I think that in the new market that is developing from the financial turmoil, investors are going to be particularly careful on where they invest their money. They will invest money in jurisdictions where they think there are high standards, he said.The Irish commissioner believes the EU's rules - which must yet be agreed to by the European Parliament and national governments - will set an example for other global powers.

While we are setting standards for the EU, we want these to become global standards, and we will discuss them with our main international partners with that objective in mind, said Mr McCreevy.The reform of rating agencies is on the European to-do list for the financial market overhaul. A global overhaul of finance oversight is set to be debated at a series of G20 summits of leading industrialised and emerging economies, with the first such gathering scheduled for 15 November.But Mr Veron is sceptical also about this initiative, particularly in its early stages in which president-elect Barack Obama has yet to replace the lame duck administration of outgoing President George W. Bush.

Oil falls to $55 on grim US economic outlook By ALEX KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer NOV 12,08

BBY 21.97 -1.91
MS 11.94 -2.14
^GSPC 852.30 -46.65

SINGAPORE – Oil prices slid to near $55 a barrel Thursday in Asia as more bad economic news from the U.S. heightened fears of a severe global downturn that will pulverise demand for crude.Light, sweet crude for December delivery was down 81 cents to $55.35 a barrel, after falling as low as $55.03, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midmorning in Singapore.There are fears of reduced demand through 2009, said Victor Shum, an energy analyst at consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. Market sentiment is extremely bearish. It seems like there's nothing that can stop the bears.The crude futures contract overnight fell $3.50 to settle at $56.16, the lowest closing price since January 2007, after the U.S. Energy Department slashed its 2009 oil consumption forecast.The department said Wednesday it expects U.S. consumption of petroleum to next year drop more severely than any time since 1980. The department's Energy Information Administration said 2009 petroleum consumption is projected to sink by 250,000 barrels per day, or 1.3 percent, more than twice that projected in its previous outlook.Signs that U.S. consumer spending has plummeted also fueled pessimism. Department store retailer Macy's Inc. said sales fell more than 7 percent in the third quarter and consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co. slashed its fiscal 2009 guidance on fears that consumer spending will erode.Morgan Stanley said it plans to cut 10 percent of staff at its institutional securities group the bank's biggest business that covers everything from investment banking to stock trading.

It's not just gloom and doom sentiment, it's indeed real, Shum said. Companies are showing poor earnings and announcing major job cuts. There's a lot of bad news putting downward pressure on oil.The grim company news helped send the Dow Jones industrial average down 4.7 percent Wednesday, and Asian stocks followed suit Thursday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 5.1 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plunged 6.1 percent, and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 5.3 percent.Oil traders have looked to stock markets for guidance on investor expectations about economic growth.The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which produces about 40 percent of world supplies, has signaled it may cut production before its next meeting in December on top of a 1.5 million barrel reduction in output quotas last month.I think OPEC considers $50 a must-defend price, Shum said. There are bullish elements that the market has been ignoring.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 1.39 cents to $1.82 a gallon, while gasoline prices dropped 0.3 cents to $1.24 a gallon. Natural gas for December delivery slid 8.6 cents to $6.32 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, December Brent crude fell 41 cents to $51.96 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Canada buys up mortgages, central bank lends more By John McCrank John Mccrank – Wed Nov 12, 5:18 pm ET

TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canadian government will buy up C$50 billion ($40 billion) more in insured mortgages from banks as part of a series of steps announced on Wednesday to improve the availability of long-term credit.The move came as U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he was backing away from buying troubled mortgage assets using a $700 billion bailout fund. Canadian officials said the key difference between the two approaches is that Canadian mortgages are not in distress.

Other measures taken by Ottawa included making it cheaper to use government insurance to guarantee bank borrowing, loosening regulations for banks to allow them more sources of funding, and boosting the borrowing authority of the government's Business Development Bank by C$1.8 billion.The Bank of Canada also set up a term loan facility to lend C$8 billion to banks in four tranches, using their non-mortgage loans as collateral.The measures were aimed not only at easing the credit crunch but at ensuring that domestic banks are able to compete on an equal basis with those in other countries.The government of Canada is prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that Canada's strong financial system is not put at a competitive disadvantage by developments in other countries, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said.The government will not allow Canada's financial system, which has been ranked as the soundest in the world, to be put at risk by global events.

Flaherty said Ottawa would triple to C$75 billion the amount of insured mortgage pools it would buy by the end of the fiscal year on March 31. The assets are already insured by the government's Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.Most Canadian mortgages are not in default nor are they worth more than the underlying properties, unlike many in the United States. But there is still not a strong market for mortgages in the current crisis, so when the government buys them it moves funds to the banks, which they are able to use to lend again.This extension of the program to purchase insured mortgages will further support the availability of credit, which will benefit Canadian households, businesses and the economy, Flaherty said. In addition, it will earn a modest rate of return for the government with no additional risk to the taxpayer.Looking ahead to the weekend G20 summit in Washington on the crisis, Flaherty said countries should make sure their regulations and financial systems are in good order rather than engaging in a grand reorganization of capitalism.I think, quite frankly, that the regulatory approach of getting one's own house in order first is the right approach... because we are in the midst of this and we're probably not that close to the end, he told a business round-table.Among Wednesday's announcements, Flaherty said the government would charge less to guarantee borrowing by Canadian banks. The guarantee facility was introduced on October 23 to ease the lending crunch and to put the banks on an equal footing with foreign competitors. It has not been used so far.The lowest price for insurance under the facility will now be 110 basis points rather than the 160 basis points as announced on October 23, making it more attractive to banks.The move to increase the borrowing authority of the Business Development Bank, which lends to Canadian businesses, was another attempt to improve credit availability.Toby Auterson, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said the mortgage purchase plan was a good move to try to get lending moving again.But there is still this crisis of global de-leveraging and risk aversion still present in the market, so banks may end up just hoarding the cash to protect their own interests, Auterson added.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Chief Executive Ed Clark said that Canadian banks should be able to get through the financial crisis without relying on the kind of government aid that is being deployed to financial institutions in other countries. He noted that Ottawa is making money from the mortgage purchase program. We would like to get through this crisis without government bailouts. There have been no bailouts of the Canadian banking system, Clark told a conference in New York. ($1=$1.24 Canadian)
(Writing by Randall Palmer, editing by Rob Wilson)

Putin questions Baltic pipeline, as oil and gas prices drop
VALENTINA POP Today NOV 13,08 @ 09:44 CET

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has questioned the construction of the Nord Stream pipeline for the first time since the signing of the agreement with Germany to establish the gas delivery network, as gas is set to become cheaper along with the drop in oil prices.Two days ahead of the EU-Russia summit, Mr Putin said he would scrap a planned pipeline that would carry Gazprom gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany if Europe didn't show enough commitment. His remarks suggest the pipeline might be too expensive for Gazprom to build, especially since the price of gas is set to drop significantly.Europe must decide whether it needs this pipeline or not, Mr Putin told Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen on Wednesday (12 November) at a meeting in Moscow.If you don't, we will build liquefaction plants and send gas to world markets, including to European markets. But it will be simply more expensive for you, he added.His remarks come ahead of the EU-Russia summit in Nice on Friday, when EU leaders are set to announce the resumption of talks with their eastern neighbour on a strategic partnership agreement, suspended after the Russian-Georgian conflict.Joachim Pfeiffer, energy-policy spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, said in a statement that while Germany still supports the pipeline, We won't insist on the Nord Stream project if it doesn't make business sense.Moscow has so far never questioned the viability of the , km-long submarine pipeline, despite construction costs rising year after year, and now estimated to total €7.4 billion, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung.The German daily points out that the financial crisis has hit Moscow badly and that the price of oil, the driver of Russian growth, has dropped by 50 percent since the summer, leaving Gazprom highly indebted.Mr Putin's calls for Europe to make up its mind about Nord Stream refers to geopolitical and environmental concerns raised by several EU member states. Even in Germany, the project sparked multiple controversies.

The agreement between then president Vladimir Putin and Chancellor Gerhard Schroder was signed during the latter's last weeks in office, with Mr Schroeder later hired later as a member of the Nord Stream board.The Baltic states and Poland strongly oppose the project, concerned they would be cut off from existing gas infrastructure with Russia, as Moscow would probably channel most of the gas deliveries through the direct pipeline to Germany. Sweden also opposes the project due to environmental concerns, echoed by MEPs, who have called for a new investigation into the pipeline's impact on the environment. Finland, one of several EU states that has a say in approving the project, will conduct an environmental review of the plan next year, Mr Vanhanen said after the meeting with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday.

Missile quid pro quo

Ever since the decision of EU foreign ministers to resume talks with Russia, Moscow has softened its stance towards member countries. It has dropped plant import restrictions against Poland and postponed an increase in timber tariffs.Even President Dmitri Medvedev's discussion of placing missiles in its Kaliningrad outpost the second day after the US elections has proven to be a short-term tactical gambit.In an interview with Le Monde on Thursday, Mr Medvedev said he was not going to deploy the short-range missiles in Kaliningrad unless the US goes ahead with its planned missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech republic. We are ready to give up our decision to deploy missiles in Kaliningrad if the new US administration, after having analysed the real utility of the system in responding to rogue states decides to abandon its anti-missile system. The first reaction of the US shows that the new administration is reflecting upon it. We are ready to negotiate a zero-option, he said.

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Syria blames Israel for uranium at bomb site,Claims leaked reports were politically motivated attempt to bring pressure November 12, 2008 11:00 am Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily

Syrian nuclear site

JERUSALEM – Syria's foreign minister today claimed Israel may be behind the United Nations' discovery of uranium traces at a site in Syria bombed last year by the Jewish state.Walid Mualem said the uranium may have been in the bombs that Israel used to target the site and claimed leaks last weekend by the diplomats about the traces found at the site were politically motivated and aimed at pressuring Syria.

These media leaks are a clear-cut signal that the purpose was to pressure Syria. This means that the subject is not technical but rather political, Moallem said.No one has ever asked himself what kind of Israeli bombs had hit the site, and what did they contain, he added.Israeli security sources dismissed Mualem's claims, while the Israel Defense Forces and prime minister's office had no comment.The site bombed by Israel Sept. 6, 2007, was identified by the White House in April as a secret nuclear reactor being built with aid from North Korea.Last weekend, Reuters quoted diplomats close to the U.N. investigation charging uranium was found at the bomb site. The new information is significant, because it was leaked to the media hours after another report by International Atomic Energy Agency Director Mohamed ElBaradei. The head of the U.N. agency said at an IAEA board meeting two months ago that preliminary findings from test samples taken by inspectors who visited the Syrian site in June found no evidence of atomic activity.But two diplomats tied to the U.N. investigation told Reuters the test samples showed evidence of a form of processed uranium that was engineered by humans and was not natural.The diplomats said the finding is not smoking-gun proof that Syria was building a nascent nuclear reactor, but that taken together with other information released by the White House, the uranium discovery warrants further investigation.It isn't enough to conclude or prove what the Syrians were doing, but the IAEA has concluded this requires further investigation, a diplomat told Reuters.A second diplomat said the findings would figure into a report on Syria that will be presented to the IAEA's 35-nation board next week ahead of a scheduled two-day board meeting starting Nov. 24.

The Bush administration, the CIA and other intelligence officials in April briefed select congressional committees on some details of Israel's Sept. 6, 2007, air strike. White House press secretary Dana Perino issued a statement explaining the Syrian regime was building a covert nuclear reactor in its eastern desert capable of producing plutonium.We are convinced, based on a variety of information, that North Korea assisted Syria's covert nuclear activities, she said. We have good reason to believe that reactor, which was damaged beyond repair on Sept. 6 of last year, was not intended for peaceful purposes.The U.S. statement accused Syria of hiding the reactor from the International Atomic Energy Agency and said after the Israeli air strike, Damascus moved quickly to bury evidence of the reactor's existence.This cover-up only served to reinforce our confidence that this reactor was not intended for peaceful activities, the White House statement read.A top U.S. official told the foreign media the Syrian reactor was similar in design to a North Korean reactor in Yongbyon that previously produced small amounts of plutonium, which could be used to construct a nuclear weapon.The White House also released photographs of the bombed Syrian site, which looked strikingly similar to the known designs of North Korean nuclear reactors.Syrian officials denied any involvement in nuclear activity and dismissed Washington's accusations as part of a campaign to discredit the Damascus government.Syria allowed U.N. investigators to visit the site in June, but according to media reports, Syrian Ambassador Mohammed Badi Khattab suggested his country would not allow further visits by U.N. inspectors under any circumstances, claiming that since his country was still technically at war with Israel, additional IAEA visits could expose some of Syria's non-nuclear military secrets.The information throws a wrench into the reported plans of President-elect Barack Obama to dialogue with Damascus. On Monday, WND quoted a Syrian diplomatic source stating his country was briefed by Obama policy aids this past summer that the Democrat supports ending Syria's isolation and that as president he would work to bring Damascus into the international community.The source said the pledges were made at a meeting in Washington, D.C., between Obama's policy aids and Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha. The source said Moustapha was asked at the time by Obama's camp not to comment on the meeting.The source said Moustapha was told that Obama favors engagement and economic cooperation with Syria as opposed to the Bush administration's policy of isolating the country and imposing economic sanctions.The source also disclosed Obama's team said the president-elect favors talks between Israel and Syria leading to an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights – strategic, mountainous territory looking down on Israeli population centers that was twice used in the past by Syria to mount ground invasions into the Jewish state.

Hamas: We met Obama advisers,Terrorist group says campaign asked it to keep contact secret until after election November 11, 2008 9:39 am Eastern By Aaron Klein
2008 WorldNetDaily

Barack Obama speaks to media during trip to Israel in July

JERUSALEM – Hamas held a meeting in the Gaza Strip several months ago with aides to President-elect Barack Obama, but the terror group was asked to keep the contacts secret until after last week's elections, according to a senior Hamas official.Ahmed Yousef, Hamas' chief political adviser in Gaza, told the leading Al-Hayat Arabic-language newspaper Hamas has maintained regular communication with Obama aides that even continued during the past week.We were in contact with a number of Obama's aides through the Internet, and later met with some of them in Gaza, but they advised us not to come out with any statements, as they may have a negative effect on his election campaign and be used by Republican candidate John McCain (to attack Obama), Yousuf told Al-Hayat.Yousuf said Hamas's contact with Obama's advisers was ongoing, adding that relations were maintained after Obama's electoral victory last Tuesday.Yousef could not be reached by WND for immediate comment. It wasn't clear which Obama aides Hamas is claiming to have met in Gaza. Obama's transition team did not immediately respond to a WND e-mail and phone message requesting comment.Obama's senior foreign policy adviser, Denis McDonough, told the Jerusalem Post today, This assertion is just plain false.

Yousef gave WND a series of recent interviews in which he praised Obama as the leading candidate. Last week, he called Obama's win a historic victory for the world and told WND that Hamas was sending a letter of congratulation to the president-elect.Six months ago, Robert Malley, a Mideast expert described as an ancillary adviser to Obama, resigned amid a report in a London newspaper that he had contact with Hamas. According to some media reports, Malley is again representing Obama's positions in meetings in Egypt and Syria, although it wasn't immediately clear whether he was acting independently. FrontPageMagazine.com claims Malley was dispatched by Obama.Hamas is responsible for scores of suicide bombings, rocket attacks, shootings and cross-border raids. Its official charter calls for the murder of Jews and destruction of Israel. Just today, Hamas members took responsibility for launching dozens of rockets from Gaza aimed at Jewish civilian population centers.

Last week, Yousef told WND of Obama's win: This is a historic day, a turning point. I think this is the very first time in history that one country's election concerned everyone everywhere all over [the] world. Everybody is looking forward to Obama's change, for a change in the U.S. policy, particularly in the Israeli-Palestinian equation, which is the mother of all conflicts.Yousef said he believes an Obama administration will be more willing to engage in dialogue with Hamas.He said Obama's job will be to restore America's dignity in the world and put an end to the wars in the region.Yousef took the occasion to blast the policies of President Bush, commenting he hopes that after January the Bush administration will not be heard from again.We are sick of wars and conflict, the Hamas official said.Yousef seemed aware his comments may generate some negative publicity for Obama, but he said he feels it important to reach out and to express our thoughts and engage.I praised him six months ago, some people tried to use that against him. But I knew he would win. Like everyone else, we expected this important victory, he said.Yousef was referring to an interview he gave to WND and WABC Radio in April in which he praised Obama and then found his comments had fueled a firestorm of accusations in the presidential campaign.In April, Yousef stated he hoped Obama would become president, comparing the Illinois senator to President John F. Kennedy.We like Mr. Obama, and we hope that he will win the election, Yousef told WND at the time.I hope Mr. Obama and the Democrats will change the political discourse. ... I do believe [Obama] is like John Kennedy, a great man with a great principle. And he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community, but not with humiliation and arrogance, Yousef said.Sen. John McCain repeatedly used Yousef's remarks to criticize Obama's judgment foreign policy.