Friday, July 30th, 2010

Daily Verdict: October 28th, 2008

Markets rebound, oil up as well
Most international markets began the day recuperating from yesterday’s losses as the Dow is currently up 400 points, FTSE100 up 70 poimts, the CAC 50 points and the DAX up an encouraging 490 points. The Nikkei also made it its losses from yesterday, now up 450 points and the TSX 320 points. Most markets were also on the rise at the time this post was published. Bargain hunting as well as a reliance on future rate cut from the Federal Reserve fed the surge today. Oil was also up to $63, reacting to demand and the effect of the production cuts by OPEC.

Obama still up, one week till election day
Obama still maintains a solid lead in most national polls today, furthering the point that John McCain is quickly running out of time. With one week left, the Reuters/Zogby political map have Obama safely leading with 255 electoral votes while McCain only counts around 127 in his safe column. Another 156 are in play with 51 leaning Democrat. Only 270 electoral votes are needed to win the election.

Zimbabwe talks at an impasse, Congo region still messy
More talks at the SADC meeting in Harare have failed to reach an agreement between the two power-sharing parties in Zimbabwe. It is quite stunning how with the many problems in the country, they can still quarrel over a few relatively unimportant cabinet positions for this long. Also, more news out of Congo further illustrates the worsening situation there with rebel fighters taking control of more villages and the number of deaths increasing. Does anybody really care enough to make a difference though?

Iceland raises interest rate to 18% (no, its not a typo)
CNN announced that Iceland’s central bank has raised its key interest rate a whopping 6 percentage points, bringing it up to 18%. Currency devaluation is the main cause as a higher interest rate will help attract foreign investors. This was also one of the conditions that Iceland agreed with the IMF for a $2 billion loan. Prime Minister Geir Haarde said that his country may require an additional $4 billion in help on top of that loan. Yikes!

Tech giants release human rights guidelines
Technology giants Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo have jointly begun an initiative to promote free expression, privacy and human rights. This comes after intense pressure from advocacy groups and a two year plan on a potential coalition and a plan of actin. All three companies have been accused of violating international human rights relating to privacy and freedom of expression when complying with demands of the Chinese government. This is a step in the right direction as more positive initiatives need to be promoted in order to continue an improvement of online etiquette.

Microsoft testing Windows 7
The New York Times announces that Microsoft will today give out test copies of its new operating system, Windows 7. After a public trashing by Apple adverts, Vista will be dropped as a brand name and only Windows will remain. No details of the release date for Windows 7 are available as of yet.