Friday, July 30th, 2010

Daily Verdict: October 24th, 2008

Markets take a tumble, oil back down
World markets took a big dive at the end of yesterday and today when fears of a worldwide recession resulted in investors cashing out risky investments. The dollar and yen gained dramatically against the sterling on news that Britain’s economy contracted in the third quarter, the first time it has done that in 16 years. The volatility of the foreign exchange markets has proven to be yet another worry for investors who are consumed by the credit crunch, slowing economies, and a global dive in stock prices. Oil also dropped dramatically as expectations about falling demand drove the price as low as $62.65/barrel, effectively eliminating any short-term positive impact the announced OPEC production cuts of 1.5 million barrels a day may have had.

Housing market shows hope
A new report from the National Association of Realtors from the US shows that home sales had their largest increase since July 2003 last month. This is a promising sign for the deep slumping housing market and could signal a new readiness for consumers to invest in property. The drop in the inventory of unsold homes, while still high, should help ease the long and steep decline in prices. While this by no means points to a way out of the housing slump, it shows the light at the end of the tunnel may just be entering our sights.

Tsvangirai will attend negotiations Monday
Morgan Tsvangirai, prime minister designate and leader of the opposition party in Zimbabwe, will attend SADC negotiations in Harare Monday after he has been given permission to travel to Swaziland without a passport. The negotiations have been deadlocked for weeks because of a dispute over cabinet positions.

Medvedev appoints ambassadors in disputed regions
Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev has appointed ambassadors to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the disputed regions which led to the military conflict between the two nations earlier this year. Two weeks after the brief war with Georgia, Russia recognized the independence of the two provinces. No other nations, except Nicaragua, have confirmed the independence of the two provinces, leaving their status uncertain for the near future.

Fashion gets technological update
A UK clothing company, Cute Circuit, has designed a dress, the M-Dress, which will have a workable SIM card and can be used as a cellular phone. To answer a call from the ringing dress, all you’ll have to do is raise your hand to your head in a motion similar to answering a regular phone. While it is far-fetced such a design will gain popularity anytime soon, experts suggest that mass customization of clothing with high-tech gadgets will be a re-occuring trend in fashion as soon as 10 years from now.