Gold falls from record, dips below $1,050

By Miho YoshikawaTOKYO (Reuters) - Gold fell to below $1,050 per ounce on Friday as the dollar edged up, snapping a rally that took prices to all-time highs for three consecutive days.Spot gold hit a record high of $1,061.20 on Thursday as the dollar's weakness increased bullion's traditional appeal as a hedge against the U.S. currency.The dollar rose on Friday, with comments from Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that indicated monetary policy might have to be tightened as a recovery takes hold, helping to pull the greenback off 14-month lows against a basket of currencies.Apart from its strong inverse correlation with the dollar, fears of inflation...

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Palace says it will no longer ‘tolerate’ intrusion by paparazzi

The Queen has issued a blunt warning that the Royal Family stands ready to take legal action against harassment and intrusion by paparazzi.After years of what one aide yesterday called “a growing feeling of frustration” over repeated breaches of privacy, lawyers operating for the Queen have reminded newspapers of their obligations under the industry’s own code of practice.Photographers will be closely monitored around the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where the Queen and members of her family will gather for Christmas.The use of telephoto lenses by paparazzi — who sometimes conceal themselves in the undergrowth or wear camouflage to snatch pictures...

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Obama’s Sunday on Capitol Hill

A Call for Making ‘History’ | 5:13 p.m. President Obama exhorted Senate Democrats on Sunday to put aside their fierce policy differences and to make history by passing landmark health care legislation, according to The Times article now posted on our Web site.Original Post | 2:35 p.m. President Obama arrived on Capitol Hill shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday for his meeting with Senate Democrats.Mr. Obama offered a “Hey, guys, good to see you” greeting to the Capitol press corps but otherwise did not say anything as he walked briskly into the Mansfield Room, where Democrats hold their weekly party luncheon.The Sunday session is unusual. Democrats remain...

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Climate change protesters take to London streets

Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday calling for a deal on climate change at next week's conference in Copenhagen.Organizers of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition had originally estimated that more than 10,000 people would participate in the event that began at Grosvenor Square and made its way to the Houses of Parliament on the River Thames.But London's Metropolitan Police said there were about 20,000 people at the march."We wanted to make a positive statement," retired teacher Pip Cartwright, 72, from Witney, Oxfordshire said. "It's for the future. It's not my generation that's going to have the problem to solve."The...

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The Post-Imperial Presidency

Even as Obama increases troop levels, he is scaling back American foreign policy.If you take just one sentence out, Barack Obama's speech on Afghanistan last week was all about focusing and limiting the scope of America's mission in that country. His goal, he said, was "narrowly defined." The objectives he detailed were exclusively military—to deny Al Qaeda a safe haven, reverse the Taliban's momentum, and strengthen the Kabul government's security forces. He said almost nothing about broader goals like spreading democracy, protecting human rights, or assisting in women's education. The nation that he was interested in building, he explained,...

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Gold rallies to fresh record, stocks up

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold climbed to a record on Thursday as the dollar struggled, while U.S. stocks settled higher after Alcoa (AA.N) began the third-quarter earnings season with an unexpected profit.Major U.S. equity indexes rose nearly 1 percent, led by Alcoa, a day after the Dow component and the largest American aluminum producer posted its first profit after a string of quarterly losses. Alcoa cited improving metal prices and cost savings as the main reasons for its profitable quarter.Alcoa is the first major company to release earnings in the U.S. third-quarter reporting season.Its profit surprise also played a factor in world equity markets...

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United Commercial Bank is shut down, sold to East West BancorpThis creates by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market and the largest bank based in Southern California. United Commercial was the 120th bank to fail in the U.S. this year.This creates by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market and the largest bank based in Southern California. United Commercial was the 120th bank to fail in the U.S. this year.

This creates by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market and the largest bank based in Southern California. United Commercial was the 120th bank to fail in the U.S. this year.Toppled by loan losses and misstated financial reports, San Francisco's United Commercial Bank was shut down by regulators Friday night and immediately sold to Pasadena's East West Bancorp, creating by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market.The combination also will be the largest bank based in Southern California, surpassing City National Bancorp.East West agreed to assume all of United Commercial's deposits, so no depositors...

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US jobless rate rises to over 10%

The unemployment rate in the US rose to 10.2% in October, which was its highest rate since April 1983, according to figures from the US Labor Department.It rose from September's figure of 9.8%. The economy lost 190,000 jobs in the month. Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed has risen by 8.2 million, while the jobless rate has risen from 4.9%. President Barack Obama described the rise in unemployment as "sobering". "I will not rest until all Americans who want work can find work," he added. He also said he would be signing legislation to extend unemployment benefit, cut taxes for businesses and extend tax credits...

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Berlin all fired up for wall-to-wall partying

THE elderly lady with her shopping bag stood and stared at the armed policeman politely but firmly preventing her from crossing the 8ft-high barrier built across the street. “It’s like having the Wall back,” she said tetchily. But with a smile.The policeman smiled back. Stretching away on either side, a chain of 1,000 wall-like slabs daubed with graffiti form a new 1.2-mile barrier from the Brandenburg Gate to Potsdamer Platz — now once again one of Europe’s busiest intersections.Tomorrow night, at the climax of the biggest official party seen in Europe, with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, hosting Gordon Brown, Hillary Clinton, the US...

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Texan police officer Kim Munley who shot Fort Hood gunman hailed as a heroine

A police officer who intervened to stop a shooting spree at America's biggest military base was hailed today a heroine as she received treatment for the wounds received in a shoot-out with the gunman. Major Nidal Hasan, an army psychiatrist due to be posted to Afghanistan, shot dead 13 people and wounded 30 others after opening fire with two handguns at Fort Hood yesterday afternoon. But the death toll from the rampage could have been far worse had it not been for the actions of Sergeant Kimberly Munley, a civilian police officer stationed at the base who was the first on the scene as Major Hasan picked off his victims. Sergeant Munley...

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Fort Hood shooting: President Barack Obama will travel to Texas for Fort Hood memorial service

The mass shooting by Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan on Thursday, left 13 dead and 38 wounded at America's largest military base.A memorial service has been scheduled for Tuesday. The White House said Mr Obama and Michelle Obama, the First Lady, would be there. Mr Obama is due to leave the following day for a 10-day tour of Asia.Earlier, he said the response to the tragedy had displayed "the best of America." He said: "Thursday's shooting was one of the most devastating ever committed on an American military base and yet, even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display, we also saw the best of America."Mr Obama said he had...

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UPDATE: US Stocks Close Sharply Lower; DJIA Ends Month Flat

By Donna Kardos Yesalavich Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. stocks tumbled Friday, with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Alcoa leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average's components lower as investors again grew concerned about the economy after the short-lived excitement over Thursday's good report on gross domestic product.The Dow Friday posted its biggest one-day point drop since April 20, and ended October just 0.45 point above where it began. Other major measures, including the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, ended the month in the red, marking their first monthly declines since February.The Dow closed down 249.85 points, or 2.51%, at 9712.73, marking its 10th triple-digit movement this month. Five of them were down and five up, reflecting how volatile...

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Banks broken up: Q&A

Three new banks are to appear on Britain's high streets as part of a major break-up of the sector to be announced by the Government this week, The Sunday Telegraph has learned. Why is the government doing it?Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling have little choice. Under European law, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds Banking Group and Northern Rock have to pay a price for the billions of pounds of state aid they have received. However, there are likely to be smiles rather than frowns in Downing Street because gradually returning these troubled institutions to full private ownership is firmly on the to do list. The government’s stakes in RBS and Lloyds are also threatening to become an even bigger political headache should these banks shower their best performing staff with bonuses in the New...

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Pilots 'face same distractions as drivers'

"I have my own ideas about this, but I'm going to work with the folks at the FAA and our department to deal with this issue," LaHood said. "We're going to take a very close look at that entire issue."The Obama administration and lawmakers have already expressed interest in targeting distracted driving, including the use of mobile devices while behind the wheel. LaHood held a summit meeting in September that brought together researchers, regulators and other experts on distracted driving.WASHINGTON - The two airline pilots who overshot their destination by 150 miles have prompted the Obama administration to broaden its look at distracted driving...

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Flat incomes, weak consumer spending raise concern

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER (AP) – 4 hours agoWASHINGTON — Flat incomes suggest more weakness ahead in consumer spending, reinforcing concerns about a ho-hum holiday shopping season and a sluggish economic recovery."This recovery is going to be very weak. Consumers are in no position or mood to spend. Their wages are down and they can't get credit," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University's Smith School of Business.Concerns about the economy sparked by disappointing government data on spending and incomes sent stocks down Friday, erasing the previous day's big gains. The Dow Jones industrial average lost about 250 points,...

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UPDATE: US Stocks Close Sharply Lower; DJIA Ends Month Flat

By Donna Kardos Yesalavich Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. stocks tumbled Friday, with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Alcoa leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average's components lower as investors again grew concerned about the economy after the short-lived excitement over Thursday's good report on gross domestic product.The Dow Friday posted its biggest one-day point drop since April 20, and ended October just 0.45 point above where it began. Other major measures, including the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, ended the month in the red, marking their first monthly declines since February.The Dow closed down 249.85 points, or 2.51%, at 9712.73, marking its 10th triple-digit movement this month. Five of them were down and five up, reflecting how volatile...

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Stock futures point to modestly lower opening

By STEPHEN BERNARDAP Business WriterNEW YORK -- Stocks are headed for a moderate decline Friday, erasing some of the big gains racked up a day earlier after the government said the economy grew more than expected in the third quarter.Overseas markets were mixed.Investors welcomed a report showing the economy grew at 3.5 percent in the third quarter, but much of that growth was fueled by government stimulus programs. With those programs winding down, the economy might not be able to sustain such rapid improvement after the economy shrank for four straight quarters.A Labor Department report due out Friday at 8:30 a.m. EDT on personal spending and...

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Hillary Clinton wraps up tough mission in Pakistan

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, talks to tribesmen from Pakistan's north-western areas in Islamabad. Photograph: EPA/AP of PakistanThe US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, wrapped up one of the toughest missions of her diplomatic career tonight after three days of bruising encounters with Pakistanis enraged by US drone attacks in the tribal areas.The visit was never going to be easy for Clinton, who flew into Islamabad with the goal of blunting anti-Americanism in a country that seethes with hostility towards Washington.In meetings with journalists, students and other leaders she came armed with a determined smile and a willingness...

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STIMULUS WATCH: Stimulus Jobs Overstated in Report

The White House is promising that new figures being released Friday will be a more accurate showing of progress in President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan. It aggressively defended an earlier, faulty count that overstated by thousands the jobs created or saved so far.Ed DeSeve, serving as Obama's stimulus overseer, said the administration has been working for weeks to correct mistakes in early counts that identified more than 30,000 jobs paid for with stimulus money. He said a new stimulus report Friday should correct many mistakes an Associated Press review found that showed the earlier report overstated thousands of stimulus jobs."I...

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Celebrating Stock Market Bears Take a Major Hit

Yesterday we get some strong volume and blow through the 50-day exponential moving average on the Nasdaq. We fall only a bit below on the S&P 500 (4 points) and hold above it on the Dow. We didn't have all 3 major indexes trading below the 50-day exponential moving averages and that's what you want to see if you believe the market is ready for deeper selling than has already occurred. In addition, you don't want to clear by as little as we did on the S&P 500 as that's not a true breakdown. 4/10th's of 1% is not sufficient to say it's all clear for the bears.So we had a nasty day and the bears were celebrating, but we also had something else take place and that's the reality that we got massively oversold on the 60-minute time frame charts. Stochastics below 5, and RSI's below 30, as...

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Stock Markets and Other Risky Assets Tumble on Recovery Fears

I concluded a post on stock markets over the weekend saying: “After equities’ seven-month climb, stock markets certainly look vulnerable for a decline. Two downside reversal days - on Wednesday and Friday - would seem to indicate that stocks could commence a pullback to work off the overbought condition, allowing fundamentals to reassert themselves.” Global stock markets, as well as other risky assets, closed sharply lower over the past few days as concerns mounted over the sustainability of the global economic recovery and the outlook for central bank policy.Source: StockCharts.comA summary of the movements of major global stock markets since...

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