Free Republic

Nikkei hovers above 8,000, Hang Seng below 14,000 By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch Last update: 11:14 p.m. EDT Oct. 22, 2008 HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian markets sold off Thursday on fears about the impact of a global recession, with South Korean and Japanese stocks plummeting as investors dumped shares across the board. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Average dropped to its lowest level in more than five years as exporters such as Mazda Motor Corp. and Nintendo Co. were hit hard by a rally in the yen and after steep losses on Wall Street overnight. In Hong Kong, the Hang...

Nikkei tumbles more than 10% in regional sell-off By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch Last update: 10:26 p.m. EDT Oct. 15, 2008HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese shares suffered a sell-off Thursday, sending the Nikkei 225 down by more than 10% at one point during the session, as investors rushed to dump equities amid fears about a U.S. recession and after stocks dived on Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 Average dropped as much as 10.3% in mid-morning Tokyo trading, before recovering a little, as shares across the board were slammed. The benchmark ended the morning session 9.6% lower at 8,635.56, while...

(CNN) -- French skydiver Michel Fournier's bid for a record-breaking parachute jump from Earth's stratosphere was aborted Tuesday when the balloon that was to carry him into the far reaches of the sky slipped away from his flight crew. The former paratrooper had hoped to set new records for the highest jump, fastest free fall, longest free fall and the highest altitude reached by a man in a balloon. But those hopes drifted away over the plains of Saskatchewan when the balloon escaped. Still clad in his bright yellow pressure suit, the visibly frustrated Fournier waved away cameras after his...

With a bad day on Friday and over seas markets in turmoil I though it might be time for another Opening Bell Thread

The Republican Party in the United States appears in dire need of inspiration. It should acquire it from Alcides Moreno, a window cleaner in New York who entered America from Ecuador. He was working 47 storeys up alongside his brother when scaffolding collapsed, sending him plunging to the ground. His sibling, sadly, was killed instantly but Mr Moreno has astonished doctors by surviving. He is talking and has movement everywhere. He could stage a full recovery by the end of this year. It has been dubbed “the miracle on 66th Street”. Can the Republicans do the same? Not if the...

So assuming all this is true, that Schiff and his fellow doomsayers are right about the rotten core of the U.S. economy, how will this affect New York City? We’ve grown accustomed to the idea of our local economy, particularly the real-estate market, being inherently stronger than the nation’s and possibly immune to whatever woes strike the rest of America. Wall Street, after all, makes money on downs as well as ups, and the stampede of foreigners and foreign cash could, if anything, be aided by the weak dollar.

This week's (unofficial) topic: Open-Line Weekend. Anything that is FR-safe (for News and Chat) is fair game. Only thing is: let's not get at each other--this is (well, I hope it is), a place to put politics, issues, etc. aside... That said, let the games begin...

Germany less competitive. Germany has fallen to rank 23 from rank 21 in the ”World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005” of Lausanne's International Institute for Management Development. In 2001, the annual study still listed Germany as the world's 17th most competitive economy. This year's study cited as particular weaknesses the relatively low inflow of foreign direct investment into Germany, weak growth rates and general economic and fiscal policy parameters. The IMD's economists called for a reform of the German tax system, the consolidation of public finances, the development of a comprehensive innovation strategy, a reform of the education and social insurance systems,...

Japan's finance ministry moved swiftly to calm markets yesterday after the dollar tumbled and Treasury yields climbed on comments made by Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister, about diversification of the country's foreign currency reserves. Asked by a parliamentary committee about government policy on Japan's $840.6bn of foreign reserves, Mr Koizumi said: "I believe diversification is necessary." Markets reacted sharply to his comments, sending the euro to a two-month high of $1.3456 against the dollar. Ten-year Treasury yields reached a seven-month high at 4.57 per cent on the news. Japan holds massive amounts of Treasuries as a result of its currency interventions...

Tom Wolfe’s best-selling novel "I Am Charlotte Simmons" has focused unwanted attention—unwanted at least by college officials—on the sexual antics of American college students. The behavior is scandalous, but an even greater scandal is what students are being taught. This mis-education is the subject of a new book by former BreakPoint editor James Nelson Black. In Freefall of the American University, Black describes how “colleges and universities are corrupting the minds and morals of the next generation.” That’s quite an indictment, but Freefall will leave any open-minded reader realizing that the evidence supports it. As Black puts it, “the university...

Tom Wolfe’s best-selling novel I Am Charlotte Simmons has focused unwanted attention—unwanted at least by college officials—on the sexual antics of American college students. The behavior is scandalous, but an even greater scandal is what students are being taught. This mis-education is the subject of a new book by former BreakPoint editor James Nelson Black. In Freefall of the American University, Black describes how “colleges and universities are corrupting the minds and morals of the next generation.” That’s quite an indictment, but Freefall will leave any open-minded reader realizing that the evidence supports it. As Black puts it, “the university...

IT'S A DAY when the Bush bounce has hit Kerry supporters upside the head. The morning papers are full of polling reports suggesting that the president is on a roll. The pundits are full of rumors about a Kerry campaign shake-up. The party that came out of the Boston convention in single-file unity has returned to its default position: a circular firing squad with the campaign strategists in the middle. The partisans in the street are frantic that the Bush campaign will "do it again" and take the low road to victory. At the center of this September anxiety attack,...

Terry McAuliffe, our secret weapon. May he keep up the good work as he shills for the Clintons. Too bad that the Clintons have destroyed a formerly great party because it is all about them. They don't give a rip about the party. It is all about their own power, and Terry is their guy. MIDI - HATS OFF THE LARRY He heads up the DNC, this Clinton Kool-Aide drinker And in terms gastrointestinal, this guy is really a stinker Hats off to Terry...he's really too cool Just who would hire him...well, only a fool He keeps on losing...and then,...

A French is on the point of trying to cross the wall of the sound in free fall The French parachutist Michel Fournier is on the point of trying a jump of 40.000 meters above the large Canadian plains, with the ambition to become the first man to cross the wall of the sound in free fall, indicated Thursday its attached of press. Eleven months after having had to be solved to defer to 2003 its tests, for lack of favorable weather conditions, this old ordering army, 59 years old, reinstalled since August 11 its headquarters on a site...