In Tuesday's Americas papers

12 August 2008 12:00  [Source: ICIS news]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Front Page

Russia halts attack on Georgia
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said Tuesday that Russia is ending its current military operation against Georgian forces because it has achieved its goals. But Mr Medvedev, speaking on state television, stopped short of saying Russia would withdraw its troops from Georgia.

Oil goes to the bears
Just weeks ago the fragile commodities markets could be sparked ahead by a mere hint of bad news. That market psychology has reversed, with Monday's action showing that even war can't halt oil's current retreat.

US airline stocks extend upswing as oil prices drop
US airline stocks extended a surprising recent rally Monday on an analyst's report suggesting the battered industry might return to profitability in 2009 if oil sustains its recent decline.

Money & Investing

Auction-rate fix list adds more names
Securities regulators are widening the list of Wall Street firms that are being told to fix the auction-rate securities mess. Morgan Stanley was the latest to act in response. Late Monday it said it would buy back about $4.5bn in securities it sold to retail clients, charities and small businesses, starting 30 September.

UBS posts loss, shifts strategy
UBS Tuesday said it will begin separating its troubled investment bank from its money-management arm for the wealthy, as mortgage losses continued to hammer the beleaguered Swiss bank in the second quarter.

Worry about stretched firms, consumers hits debt markets
Like a bad penny, credit-market troubles keep turning up. A range of corporate bonds and securities backed by consumer loans and mortgages have sagged in recent weeks to levels last seen in March, when worries about a financial crisis hit a high.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Front Page

Russia orders halt to military operation in Georgia
President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia announced Tuesday that he had ordered a halt to the Russian military operation in Georgia although Russian forces were still authorized to fire on enemies in South Ossetia, the Interfax news agency reported.

Putin calls shots to salve old wounds
Vladimir Putin, who came to office brooding over the wounds of a humiliated Russia, this week offered proof of its resurgence. So far, the West as been unable to check his thrust into Georgia.

Business Day

Global trail of an online crime ring
As an international ring of thieves plundered the credit card numbers of millions of Americans, investigators struggled to figure out who was orchestrating the crimes in the US.

Recall leads whole foods to a change
Whole Foods Market said Monday it would tighten oversight of its suppliers to keep substandard products out of stores, after recalling ground beef that apparently sickened customers in two states.

WASHINGTON POST

Front Page

Endangered species act changes give agencies more say
The Bush administration yesterday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades.

Russian president halts military action in Georgia
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev ordered a halt to military action in Georgia Tuesday, saying it had punished Georgia and brought security for civilians and Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway South Ossetia region.

Business

Grocer works to repair its image
Whole Foods said yesterday that it is inspecting all shipments of meat and tightening its guidelines for suppliers following last week's recall of two months' worth of ground beef that potentially was contaminated with E. coli.

Sovereign funds become big speculators
Sovereign wealth funds, the massive investment pools run by foreign governments, are now among the biggest speculators in the trading of oil and other vital goods like corn and cotton in the US, according to interviews with brokers who handle their investments at leading Wall Street banks, veteran traders and congressional investigators.

GLOBE AND MAIL, Canada

Front Page

Russia orders halt to war in Georgia
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to military operations in Georgia on Tuesday, after five days of fighting and just before French President Nicolas Sarkozy was to hold peace talks in Moscow.

Toronto mayor, regulator trade blame
Mayor David Miller and the provincial safety regulator were pointing fingers at each other yesterday over who had responsibility in authorizing a propane company to operate across the street from private residences, even though the cause of the blasts that rocked a whole Toronto neighbourhood hadn't been determined.

Business

Russian invasion stirs unrest in oil market
Russia's invasion of neighbouring Georgia has injected fresh supply fears into an edgy global crude market, as the energy superpower tightens its grip over a key oil and gas export route from central Asia.

Fairfax buys a brick in the wall
Marc and Vic Bertrand parlayed a bold attack on flagging Danish giant Lego AS into a hugely successful Canadian toy company with sales around the world based on their own version of the ubiquitous plastic interlocking brick.

BUENOS AIRES HERALD

Front Page

Morales wins big
Voters strongly reaffirmed their faith in President Evo Morales yesterday in a recall referendum that the Bolivian leader devised to try to break a political stalemate in the bitterly divided Andean nation, partial unofficial results showed. 

BA province teachers to walk out
Though winter holidays ended yesterday in Buenos Aires province, most of its 4,500,000 students will not be able to resume classes - teachers will be holding a one-day strike demanding increases in their wages. 

Georgians begin to pull back
Georgia offered Russia a ceasefire and peace talks yesterday after pulling troops back from this city, rebel South Ossetia’s capital, and mediators began a mission to end the internationally condemned fighting.

By: Staff Reporter
+44 20 8652 3214

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