In Wednesday's Americas papers

23 January 2008 11:28  [Source: ICIS news]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Front Page

Fed rate cut halts market free fall, but recession fears are mounting
The Federal Reserve chairman, who normally tries to avoid reacting directly to financial markets, saw global markets in free fall, and yesterday abruptly orchestrated the single deepest cut in the Fed's main interest-rate target in more than two decades.

Regional indexes rebound
Asian markets bounced back Wednesday as the US Federal Reserve slashed the cost of borrowed money, calming frayed nerves but leaving long-term doubts about the state of the global economy.

Apple net rises, but stock falls on forecast
Apple's shares sank after the company issued a tepid outlook, stoking worries that sales of its gadgets may suffer from a weakening economy.

Money & Investing

Stocks show classic bear signals, and this time, impact is global
A classic bear market starts with a period of exuberance. Then a downturn hits one part of the market, and gradually, the losses spread even to strong companies. A prolonged grind begins.

Bank shares get a reprieve but may not be in the clear
For weeks, bargain hunters have screamed that beaten-down banks were a buy. Shares in many, including big names like Wachovia, had nearly halved amid worries about their holdings of securities linked to mortgages.

Stocks stage comeback
Stocks ended squarely in the red Tuesday, but things could have been far worse as investors around the world were torn between recession fears and jubilation over a steep rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Front Page

Thousands cross Gaza wall to Egypt
Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured from the Gaza Strip into Egypt Wednesday after masked gunmen with explosives destroyed most of the seven-mile wall dividing the border town of Rafah.

Heath Ledger, actor, is found dead at 28
Heath Ledger, the Australian-born actor whose breakthrough role as a gay cowboy in the 2005 movie Brokeback Mountain earned him a nomination for an Academy Award and comparisons to the likes of Marlon Brando, was found dead Tuesday in an apartment in Manhattan with sleeping pills near his body, the police said.

Business Day

Fed’s action stems sell-off in world markets
The Federal Reserve, confronted by deepening panic in global financial markets about a possible recession in the US, struck back on Tuesday morning with the biggest one-day reduction of interest rates on record and at least temporarily stopped a vertigo-inducing plunge in stock prices.

On Wall Street, a day of frayed nerves
Dan MacMillan was fearing the worst on Tuesday morning. Like many Wall Street traders he expected share prices to plummet after two days of severe declines in overseas markets.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Front Page

Tens of thousands cross downed Gaza wall
Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured from the Gaza Strip into Egypt Wednesday after masked gunmen with explosives destroyed most of the seven-mile wall dividing the border town of Rafah.

Clinton now looking beyond SC
The next Democratic presidential nominating contest will take place in South Carolina on Saturday, but Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has already turned her full attention to places such as this: delegate-rich pockets of states that will vote in a tidal wave of primaries two weeks from now.

Business

Investors of all ages, take a deep breath
The stock market is plummeting, the housing market is tanking, and talk of recession has reached a fevered pitch. So what does this mean for the American consumer?

Fed cuts interest rate to stem panic
The Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point yesterday, a bold action designed to prevent steep losses in world stock markets from causing an all-out panic.

GLOBE AND MAIL, Canada

Front Page

Gunmen breach Gaza border wall
Masked gunmen destroyed about two-thirds of the 11-kilometre-long metal wall separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the town of Rafah and tens of thousands of Palestinians poured across the border to buy supplies made scarce by an Israeli blockade of the impoverished territory.

Heath Ledger found dead in New York apartment
On a day of the Hollywood calendar normally reserved for giddy celebration and gratitude for the happy winds of fate, talk suddenly turned grim with the discovery Tuesday afternoon that the promising 28-year-old Australian-born actor Heath Ledger had died in a downtown Manhattan apartment of a seeming drug overdose.

Business

Bond insurance crisis looms on Wall Street
Ben Bernanke may have temporarily halted a crippling nosedive in global stock markets, but bankers aren't convinced the US Federal Reserve's surprise rate cut Tuesday will address what is emerging as a growing threat to the economy: monoline bond insurers.

The day the banks raced to the rescue
Ben Bernanke should have been enjoying a national holiday like the rest of America on Monday. Instead, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve was anxiously watching the rest of the world's stock markets plunge and grappling with what to do about it.

BUENOS AIRES HERALD

Front Page

World markets plunge
World stocks nosedived and demand for safe-haven bonds and currencies soared yesterday as fears gripped investors that a deteriorating US economy would drag others down with it.

Israel: Stop rockets, get fuel
Large parts of the Gaza Strip plunged into darkness yesterday when its main power plant shut down after Israel blocked fuel supplies and closed the border to the Hamas-run territory.

Pakistani leader pleads for patience amid crisis
Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf opened a European tour yesterday by offering assurances that his government is committed to democracy and playing its full role in the global fight against terrorism.

By: Staff Reporter
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