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• Companies Explore Merger Possibilities To Counteract Economic Crisis - Editor, 7 November 2008 - No Comments yet

Google has withdrawn from a planned advertising deal with Yahoo, due to resistance from clients and regulators. This fueled speculation that Yahoo may be an acquisition target. During a technology conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang reportedly said that he was “very open minded” with regard to a full or partial merger with Microsoft Corporation. In May this year, Microsoft pulled out of a bid for Yahoo, which at the time offered as much as $33 per share. Since May Yahoo’s share price has suffered and investors are anxious for Yahoo to reconsider some sort of deal. Analysts are doubtful that Microsoft would enter into a full merger deal, but believe that a deal for Yahoo’s online search business is very possible.

• U.S. Stock Markets Subdued Ahead Of U.S. Presidential Election - Editor, 4 November 2008 - No Comments yet

U.S. stock markets were rather subdued on Monday, closing practically flat ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 5.18 points (0.06 percent) closing at 9,319.83, while the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 2.45 points (0.25 percent) closing at 966.30 and the Nasdaq composite increased 5.38 points (0.31 percent) to close at 1,726.33. In Europe, the London FTSE gained 1.51 percent, the Paris CAC40 rose 1.17 percent and Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.62 percent.

• Stock Market Volatility And Trading Volumes Indicate Investors Are Still Trading - Editor, 30 October 2008 - No Comments yet

Tuesday saw Wall Street enjoying its second-best advance ever, but Wednesday presented a mixed bag of major stock indexes. While many have been referring to the stock market at seesawing, at times the drastic losses and gains are more like a bungee jump - and just as gut-wrenching for investors. So what are investors to make of the ongoing extreme volatility of the market? There are varying opinions among experts, but if looking for the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, investors may want to bear in mind that this is not the first time that the market has been extremely volatile and, based on historic trends, a number of analysts believe that more stable times are not too far ahead.

• Pension Plans/Retirement Funds Hard Hit By Economic Crisis - Editor, 27 October 2008 - No Comments yet

While world leaders gather in a series of meetings to discuss strategies to deal with the current global economic crisis, as well as looking into co-operative measures of preventing a repeat performance in the future, ordinary citizens are often baffled by what is going on. Many who regularly pay into retirement funds believe they are acting in a responsible manner by making provision for their later years, but have never given much thought as to how the money is invested. So, the all to frequent news headlines announcing that millions, billions and even trillions of dollars relating to retirement funds/pension plans have been “wiped out” or have “disappeared” are a major cause for concern.

• Third Quarter Corporate Earnings and Possible Additional Federal Reserve Intervention Affect See-Sawing Market - Editor, 22 October 2008 - No Comments yet

While acknowledging that the U.S. market is likely to remain volatile for some time, many are of the opinion that the market’s devastating downward slide may be nearing an end. However, the U.S. economy is still in a whole heap of trouble, and this was underscored by the fact that on Monday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called on Congress to consider an additional fiscal package to boost the economy. Historically, in tough times the stock market has picked up months before a noteworthy improvement was experienced in the economy – so this should come as no surprise to the financial world.

• Investor Confidence Knocked By Volatile Market – and Vice Versa - Editor, 17 October 2008 - No Comments yet

Stock markets in the U.S. opened low on Thursday, with traders apprehensive as to what surprises another trading day may hold. Adding weight to the terms "yo-yoing", "see-sawing" and "roller-coaster ride" that have become commonplace when describing the volatility of the current market, following a morning of stomach-churning declines, the market picked up dramatically with the Dow closing at 8,979 - more than 4 percent up, while the Nasdaq rose more than 5 percent and the S&P climbed by over 4 percent. European markets did not follow suit as has been the case recently, and London’s FTSE, Paris’s CAC-40 and Frankfurt’s DAX all dropped between 4 to 6 percent.

• Dramatic Market Rebound a Welcome Start to the Week as Bailout Strategies Are Fine-Tuned - Editor, 14 October 2008 - No Comments yet

No doubt driven by the news that governments around the world are taking unprecedented action to bolster the financial sector, Monday saw Wall Street record its most phenomenal bounce back since the 1930s, with major stock markets around the world enjoying similar positive results. Following one of the worst trading weeks ever, the rally was welcomed with elation by stock market players. While not wanting to put a dampener on the high spirits of investors, the question on the minds of many is likely to be: "Is this going to last?" Given the volatility of the market in recent months, the answer to that is anybody’s guess.

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