Speaking after several hours of talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko, he said Russia had agreed to allow Ukraine to buy less gas next year and it would now be up to the two countries' energy companies to put that agreement in writing. "Gazprom and Naftogaz will agree on new volumes," Putin said, referring to the two countries' energy firms after talks. "We deemed it possible to meet Ukraine halfway and tweak several of our earlier agreements," Putin said. Earlier this year, Russia also agreed to reduce the volume of gas Kiev must acquire this year without imposing fines. That agreement however has yet to be put in writing. Ukraine's Naftogaz has said it is meant to buy 52 billion cubic metres of Russian gas next year but may only need 27 bcm.
"Gazprom and Naftogaz will agree on new volumes," Putin said, referring to the two countries' energy firms after talks.
"We deemed it possible to meet Ukraine halfway and tweak several of our earlier agreements," Putin said.
Earlier this year, Russia also agreed to reduce the volume of gas Kiev must acquire this year without imposing fines. That agreement however has yet to be put in writing.
Ukraine's Naftogaz has said it is meant to buy 52 billion cubic metres of Russian gas next year but may only need 27 bcm.
The deal is expected to continue forward at a meeting of Volkswagen shareholders, scheduled for December 3, to approve taking on a 49.9 percent stake in Porsche. The deal is estimated to be worth around 3.9 billion euros ($5.9 billion).
Shortly before noon Friday, an Air France A380, the world's largest civilian airliner, will take off from Paris for New York on its first transatlantic flight with 538 passengers on board.
The world's biggest cruise ship - boasting its own open air park and amphitheatre - was officially unveiled today. The credit crunch-busting 225,000-tonne leviathan called Oasis Of The Seas was shown to the media and public at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, by American company Royal Caribbean. The unveiling was shown live on American breakfast television.
The world's biggest cruise ship - boasting its own open air park and amphitheatre - was officially unveiled today.
The credit crunch-busting 225,000-tonne leviathan called Oasis Of The Seas was shown to the media and public at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, by American company Royal Caribbean.
The unveiling was shown live on American breakfast television.
I had the same relationship with Metallica concerts - hate the show, but you gotta admire the logistics. I was asked to bid on Oasis, but offers had to be in dollars, so I declined. 7 ships ago they were a very useful client - endless budgets and artistic freedom, with 50% up front and 50 on installation, and paid on time.
The Dante's inferno stage of red steel welding at the beginning was mostly done by highly skilled Finns and Estonians. And most of the cabins are built as complete modules in Finland with all services incorporated - they are slotted into place and hooked up. But come the fitting stage (more than 14 months) for all the other spaces on board, the ships were a hive of multiculturalism. You can't be me, I'm taken
Japan's government has officially announced the country is in a deflation period expressing fears that it could harms the recovery process. The Bank of Japan has decided to keep interest rates at its lowest level.
The overhang of debt around the developed world, said the OECD, is the major factor holding back a more vigorous recovery and the creation of thousands more new jobs. Pressure on public finances will also dampen public-sector employment growth in the the next few years. The OECD expects the jobless rate to peak in the first half of 2010 in America, but it may not be until 2011 that unemployment begins to fall in the eurozone area.The report says the recovery is tepid because economic activity is being held back by families and businesses repairing their finances and reducing their debts. China, the OECD predicts, will lead the global recovery, helped by its limited direct exposure to the financial crisis and by a massive stimulus package. The US, the world's largest economy, is expected to grow by 2.5 per cent in 2010 and a further 2.8 per cent in 2011.
The overhang of debt around the developed world, said the OECD, is the major factor holding back a more vigorous recovery and the creation of thousands more new jobs. Pressure on public finances will also dampen public-sector employment growth in the the next few years. The OECD expects the jobless rate to peak in the first half of 2010 in America, but it may not be until 2011 that unemployment begins to fall in the eurozone area.
The report says the recovery is tepid because economic activity is being held back by families and businesses repairing their finances and reducing their debts. China, the OECD predicts, will lead the global recovery, helped by its limited direct exposure to the financial crisis and by a massive stimulus package. The US, the world's largest economy, is expected to grow by 2.5 per cent in 2010 and a further 2.8 per cent in 2011.
The jobless recovery is on the way, ...
"on the way" ?? No it's not. It's already here. It should read "underway, by design". In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
Senator Kaufman has been concerned about the SEC and about High Frequency Trading and "sponsored access" to real time market monitoring information. Below is a press release that was associated with a letter he wrote to Mary Shapiro, Chair and the other Boardmembers of the SEC.
Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) today urged Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Schapiro to take immediate steps to combat manipulative high frequency trading algorithms and end so-called "sponsored access," which Kaufman and many market experts believe exposes the U.S. capital markets to systemic risk. Sponsored access permits traders - many of which are unregulated hedge funds - to trade directly on an exchange, circumventing risk checks that apply to broker-dealer trades. "While it is clear that high frequency trading brings certain benefits to our markets, it is also clear that manipulative high frequency algorithms are almost certainly operating today and that sponsored access creates a systemic risk today," Kaufman wrote in a Nov. 20 letter delivered to Chairman Schapiro and the SEC's four other commissioners. Kaufman has been urging the SEC to look more closely at market structure issues since he wrote the Commission on Aug. 21 calling for a comprehensive "ground up" review before piecemeal changes in the existing structure only increase concerns about unfairness or systemic risk. Last month he was the lead witness in a Senate Banking subcommittee hearing on a host of market structure issues, including high frequency trading, which uses ultra-fast computers, co-located servers and proprietary data feeds direct from market centers to make thousands of trades a second. "Given that the Commission under current procedures is now blind to high frequency operations, the need for immediate action should not wait until the Commission has completed its comprehensive review," Kaufman wrote. An attachment to Kaufman's letter to Schapiro spells out in detail his thoughts on three areas where further Commission action is needed for market fairness: consolidated surveillance authority, dissemination of market data and modernizing best execution reporting standards. "Fairness," Kaufman writes in his attachment, "may be an elusive and evolving concept in the securities market, but it must be defined and then vigorously defended by regulators." "[G]iven the current lack of effective market surveillance," Kaufman writes, "we simply cannot permit high frequency practices to continue unchecked without the ability of regulators to observe and stop manipulation or to avert systemic risks."
"While it is clear that high frequency trading brings certain benefits to our markets, it is also clear that manipulative high frequency algorithms are almost certainly operating today and that sponsored access creates a systemic risk today," Kaufman wrote in a Nov. 20 letter delivered to Chairman Schapiro and the SEC's four other commissioners.
Kaufman has been urging the SEC to look more closely at market structure issues since he wrote the Commission on Aug. 21 calling for a comprehensive "ground up" review before piecemeal changes in the existing structure only increase concerns about unfairness or systemic risk. Last month he was the lead witness in a Senate Banking subcommittee hearing on a host of market structure issues, including high frequency trading, which uses ultra-fast computers, co-located servers and proprietary data feeds direct from market centers to make thousands of trades a second.
"Given that the Commission under current procedures is now blind to high frequency operations, the need for immediate action should not wait until the Commission has completed its comprehensive review," Kaufman wrote.
An attachment to Kaufman's letter to Schapiro spells out in detail his thoughts on three areas where further Commission action is needed for market fairness: consolidated surveillance authority, dissemination of market data and modernizing best execution reporting standards. "Fairness," Kaufman writes in his attachment, "may be an elusive and evolving concept in the securities market, but it must be defined and then vigorously defended by regulators."
"[G]iven the current lack of effective market surveillance," Kaufman writes, "we simply cannot permit high frequency practices to continue unchecked without the ability of regulators to observe and stop manipulation or to avert systemic risks."
A brand new city with no residents. All of the homes are sold---as investments. (Apparently, few of the people who would live there can afford to buy!) But the province met its GDP growth goals. It is NOT a Potemkin city, but what is it? A badly done SimCity?
As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Rep. DeFazio: "There was a very interesting slide shown to the caucus on Monday night, and I don't know who the guy was, some economist. He had polling data. And he said the American people`s opinion of what we've done so far for economic recovery, 90% think its been way too much Wall Street and that's pretty overwhelming, and only 10% felt it was oriented toward helping real folks with real jobs in the real economy. That is a very troubling number, especially for a Democratic administration and a Democratic Congress. I just think that pretty drastic steps are necessary to change direction of the policy. We've been fighting with the President's economic team for months... They don't believe in infrastructure. They don't seem to believe in investment. They want a borrowed money, consumer driven recovery...that ain't happening."
That is a very troubling number, especially for a Democratic administration and a Democratic Congress. I just think that pretty drastic steps are necessary to change direction of the policy. We've been fighting with the President's economic team for months...
They don't believe in infrastructure. They don't seem to believe in investment. They want a borrowed money, consumer driven recovery...that ain't happening."
