| Goldman Sachs reduces '08 base metals forecast, maintains $750 gold
Citing downgrades in global economic activity, Goldman Sachs reduced its 2008 base metals price outlook, advising a stronger U.S. dollar will pressure gold prices lower to an average of $750/oz.RENO, NV Demand concerns and rising supply have convinced Goldman Sachs commodity analysts to forecast a "retrenchment in commodity prices from recent highs, which has already largely occurred." Noting that base metals are most closely related to the industrial cycle with expected global economic activity expected to decline, commodities analysts reduced their 2008 base metals forecasts, but added they "still expect prices to reach historically high levels in some cases by year-end." Nevertheless, Goldman Sachs recommended opening a long timespread position in copper.
College counselors hurtful, Gunn grads say
Their college counselors were unhelpful and discouraging, two former Gunn High School students told the school board and Superintendent Kevin Skelly Tuesday night. One student said he was told he should join the military. Another said she left the counselor's office in tears. "I was told I shouldn't go to college. I wouldn't make it. The military was the best option for me," 2003-graduate Paul Esber said. Esber ignored the advice and attended Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, completing a triple major and going on to work for the intellectual-property firm Rambus, he said. Esber and 2001 graduate Jenny Blake were the only students who turned out to tell the school board and Skelly what they thought of Gunn at the school district's invitation, delivered via a parents' e-mail news list, Skelly said.
Overview: Uncertainty persists despite positive US data
Uncertainty remained the key theme in financial markets as reassuring comments from the banking sector and some broadly positive US economic data failed to quell lingering credit worries on Wednesday. Bear Stearns, the US investment bank, said it expected to write down $1.2bn of mortgage-linked assets in the fourth quarter – less than many in the markets feared. .
Lawsuit settled over derailed Sallie Mae deal
Sallie Mae, the embattled student-lending giant, reached a settlement Sunday over its scuttled $25 billion buyout, ending months of legal fighting that had cast a cloud over the company, according to people briefed on the agreement. The company, formally known as SLM, agreed to settle with its onetime buyers, which include the private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co., JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, in exchange for a deal to refinance about $30 billion in debt due next month. Both Sallie Mae's lawsuit and the buyers' counterclaims will be dismissed, and the merger agreement has been terminated, these people said. A spokesman for Sallie Mae declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for the buyers' consortium. Since the near shutdown of the credit markets last summer, the company has been unable to issue new debt backed by its student loans.
Five things to watch
4 Backing up. The starting outfield is set with Matt Holliday in left, Willy Taveras in center and Brad Hawpe in right. Baker and Ryan Spilborghs, both right-handed hitters, would seem to have two other spots. But there is a need for a left-handed hitter to back up Taveras. It could be holdover Cory Sullivan or recent signee Scott Podsednik, a key to the White Sox's 2005 title but an injury disappointment the past two years. 5 Attitude. The Rockies enjoyed the underdog role. They played without pressure last year. Now, fans are going to have expectations. The challenge for the inexperienced Rockies will be to keep that edge they had in 2007 and to maintain that one-game-at-a-time mentality that served them so well last season. .
Pak Lah: Don’t be racial
SIBU: Malaysians must not harbour racial prejudice in their hearts, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The Prime Minister said there should not be any confrontation among the races as it would jeopardise peace and stability. I want Malaysia to be a peaceful country. We must maintain the good reputation of our country, he added when opening the RM7mil-SMK St Elizabeth Mill Hill Franciscan Centennial Hall at Jalan Oya yesterday. Abdullah said Malaysians should respect and help each other to live in harmony and urged teachers to instil in their students love for the country and goodwill to one another. .
Working to end Israeli apartheid
For a long time, they focused on Israels military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. As problematic and significant as the occupation is, it fails to capture the breadth of what lasting peace and justice require. The discourse of ending the occupation does not address the refugees stemming from 1948 and 1967, discrimination against the one million Palestinian citizens of Israel, water access rights, the Golan Heights, and the future of Jerusalem. One term that captures Israels ethno-religious supremacy, as well as its infrastructure of segregation against the Palestinians, is apartheid. It captures Israels essence. Like apartheid South Africa, Israel is a regional rogue that shows no regard for the sovereignty of the surrounding states, nor the people whose land it took.
London shares up midafternoon, but off highs, as Wall St declines ...
LONDON, Feb. 14, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Leading shares pared gains in midafternoon deals, dented by a negative start on Wall Street as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke faced Congress on the state of the US economy, but with Diageo topping the UK blue-chip leaderboard after pleasing first-half numbers. At 3.15 am, the FTSE 100 index was 19.3 points ahead at 5,899.4, while the FTSE 250 index took on 111.8 points at 10,107. Volume was solid, with 1.7 bln shares changing hands in 563,510 deals. Across the pond, Wall Street traded negative in early deals after a big rally yesterday and as comments filtered out from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's congressional testimony. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell back 40.00 points to 12,512.20, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 9.45 to 2,364.09 and the S&P 500 slipped 4.05 lower at 1,363.15.
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