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.หัวข้อ:Tokyo stocks fall, dollar lower against yen โดย:4202680726 Tokyo stocks fall, dollar lower against yen ASSOCIATED PRESS From www.msnbc.com TOKYO, July 11 Slumping confidence in the U.S. economy undercut Tokyo stocks on Thursday after Wall Street plunged to its lowest level this year. The dollar was weaker against the yen.The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average closed down 266.92 points, or 2.48 percent, at 10,485.74. On Wednesday, the average shed 207.59 points, or 1.89 percent. The dollar bought 117.40 yen at 5 p.m. (4 a.m. EDT) Thursday, down 0.44 yen from late Wednesday and also below its 117.62 yen level in New York overnight. On the stock market, high technology, telecommunications and export-oriented firms led the Nikkei deeper into negative territory. Losers included Sony, Toyota and telecoms giant NTT. Investor sentiment in Tokyo was dampened by Wall Street's sharp retreat overnight. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 282.59 to close at 8,813.50 Wednesday. It was the Dow's biggest one-day drop since Sept. 20, when it plunged 382.92. The Nasdaq composite index closed at 1,346.01, down 35.11. On Wednesday, U.S. stocks were pushed down by more disappointing news when brokerages downgraded the two largest U.S. automakers General Motors and Ford. Wall Street was already under selling pressure from investors concerned by earlier reports of accounting scandals and poor prospects for earnings growth. The broader Tokyo Stock Price Index of all issues listed on the first section fell 20.09 points, or 1.93 percent, to 1,017.17 on Thursday. The TOPIX dropped 12.88 points, or 1.23 percent, the day before. An estimated 644.82 million shares traded hands Thursday, down from 668.03 million shares the previous day. Decliners overwhelmed advancers 1,260 to 135, while 90 issues finished unchanged. In currency dealings, the dollar's bearish trend against the yen continued, extending its overnight decline in New York amid Wall Street's weakness. It traded in a range between 117.33 yen and 117.93 yen in Tokyo Thursday. In other currencies, the euro was traded at 115.98, down from 117.24 yen late Wednesday in Tokyo. Against the dollar, the euro was quoted at 98.83 U.S. cents, just below 98.86 cents its late New York level overnight. The yield on the newly issued benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond settled Thursday at 1.2700 percent, and its price stood at 91.46. 7/12/2002 10:52:21 AM หัวข้อ:US heads for $165bn budget deficit โดย:4202680379 Friday, 12 July, 2002, 19:10 GMT 20:10 UK BBC NEWS US heads for $165bn budget deficit The White House says it expects the US federal government to end the year with a deficit of $165bn The debt has been swollen, in part, by anti-terrorism spending. It will be the first time since 1997 that the federal government has gone into the red. But it is not a surprise - analysts have been forecasting deficits because of the fragile economy, tumbling financial markets and the cost of responding to the 11 September terrorist attacks. And President George W Bush warned of a deficit in February - although the figure being spoken of then was a considerably lower $106bn. In the last financial year - which ended on 30 September 2001 - there was a $127bn surplus. Tax cuts White House officials blamed the projected deficit on matters beyond President George W Bush's control. "The president is the first to acknowledge that when nations have emergencies, when nations have wars and when nations have recessions, a deficit is an appropriate way for the country to fight the war and fight the recession," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. "The president deals with the cards that were dealt him," he added. But opposition Democrats said the budget's long-term prospects were worse than the President was suggesting. They blamed the $1.35 trillion 10-year tax cut that he pushed through Congress last year, and the impact of higher defence and security spending. Federal government revenues have also been falling below expectations because of last year's tax cut and the slowed economy. 7/13/2002 1:35:17 PM หัวข้อ:EU unveils farm policy shake-up โดย:4202680023 The European Commission has approved a radical reform of Europe's much-criticised Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that would sever the link between farm subsidies and output. European Union Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler said farmers would be offered a single "direct payment" based on past income, providing strict environmental conditions are met. Fischler: CAP needs complete facelift The move will thus cut out the current, bewildering array of payments based on the number of livestock or the amount of land under cultivation. Tough talks lie ahead as the reform has still to be approved by the EU's 15 national parliaments but it has been cautiously welcomed both by non-European competitors and states applying for EU membership. "It is not enough just to touch things up cosmetically," Mr Fischler told the European Parliament. "We need a complete facelift to give credibility to the CAP." Proposed reforms to CAP Remove link between production and subsidy Payments to be reduced over time Impose ceiling of 300,000 euros (ฃ187,500) per subsidy to large farms Very small farms exempt from any cuts Make direct aid dependent on observing environmental and food safety laws Gradually cut support payments for rural development Introduce farm subsidy inspection system In Germany, Agriculture Minister Renate Kuenast welcomed new environmental controls but warned that aspects affecting the poorer east of the country might be unacceptable. Defenders of the 40-year-old CAP say it is unfair to revisit the issue only three years after an earlier reform package. The French argue that the United States recently raised its own domestic subsidies, but Mr Fischer slammed the Farm Bill there as "stone-age" and "deplorable". Concession to new members There have been fears that the CAP reform will complicate EU accession talks with former Communist countries such as Poland, which expect the same subsidies as member-states. But Mr Fischler announced that farmers in candidate-countries would receive the same level of direct aid from 2011, not 2013 as originally envisaged. Poland's Secretary of State for EU Affairs, Danuta Huebner, said the CAP reform appeared to be "beneficial for the competitiveness of Polish agriculture". Some farmers are expected to react with fury In Latvia, Agriculture Minister Atis Slakteris said there now seemed to be a chance of a "level playing-field for everyone". "The possible maximum amount that has been mentioned for one farm to claim - 300,000 euros - in Latvian terms is quite a large sum," he said. At the same time, BBC Europe correspondent Chris Morris reports, the Commission is keen to avoid the impression of wanting to reform the CAP in order to fund enlargement. 'Fairer world trade' The CAP has been a running sore in relations between the EU and developing countries who complain that their farmers are undercut by subsidised imports from the EU. Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile told the BBC that developing countries desperately needed fair access to markets for their own agricultural exports. He said the CAP reform would help remove distortions in world trade. In the US, the biggest farmers' group welcomed the reform, saying it would remove some of the artificial incentives for EU farmers to produce. Mixed feelings Scores of Spanish farmers demonstrated against the reform near the commission's headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, banging drums and blocking traffic. In Britain, the National Farmers' Union fears that since ministers are so keen to see changes to the overall policy, they will be prepared to accept measures which are against the interests of their own industry. UK Government sources have indicated that they too are unhappy about this aspect of the package. They are also concerned that the proposals will do little to cut the overall cost of the CAP, since the reductions in subsidy will be ploughed back into new payments for environmental improvement and rural development. 7/13/2002 3:12:30 PM หัวข้อ:ANA pushes Air Do to trim costs โดย:4202680858 TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Bankrupt Japanese carrier Air Do will have to cut costs deeply to make a successful turnaround, according to its new alliance partner All Nippon Airways. ANA, Japan's biggest domestic carrier, has already agreed to help Air Do with its restructuring. But ANA President Yoji Ohashi said this week that Air Do's costs for aircraft leases, fuel, maintenance and wages will have to come down. Air Do, the operating name for discount airline Hokkaido International Airlines, filed for court protection on June 24, with debts of about 6 billion yen ($50 million) Hefty government debt load It has been running six discount flights a day between Tokyo and Sapporo, the biggest city on the northern island of Hokkaido. It's a popular getaway in both winter and summer. But Air Do struggled when competitors matched its ticket price. About 3.6 billion yen, or 60 percent of Air Do's debt load, is owed to the Hokkaido prefectural government, the Sapporo city government and the Ministry of Transport. The airline is seeking to have these debts waived. ANA sources told CNN on Thursday that while it has agreed to help Air Do, the details of its assistance would not be known for several months. They said the areas where Air Do needs most help include maintenance, spare parts and personnel. 7/13/2002 4:04:50 PM หัวข้อ:Silver lining amid the gloom โดย:4202680676 Silver lining amid the gloom By John Garnaut July 13 2002 Higher interest rates are beginning to hit home buyers and the building industry, with figures showing lending for new homes on the slide. But the turmoil rocking sharemarkets around the world will provide an unexpected bonus for local home-owners, as analysts say it is likely to force the Reserve Bank to reduce the pace and extent of interest rate rises. Average Sydney borrowers could be spared much of an anticipated $192 rise in monthly mortgage repayments this year. ANZ Bank's chief economist, Saul Eslake, said the bank might even consider easing fixed rates soon. Other banks indicated that they may also reduce fixed rates in coming weeks. While there were fears only a few months ago that the Reserve could push up rates by as much as 2 per cent as the economy strengthened, financial markets have sharply wound back their predictions as global markets have been hit by corporate scandals, and the US recovery has faltered. The bond market, which reveals the financial market's expectations for future interest rate levels, now suggests the Reserve will raise rates by only 0.25 per cent this year. Early last month, the market had implied rates would rise by 1 per cent. Deutsche Bank's senior economist, Tony Meer, said share market stability was a prerequisite for the Reserve to continue tightening interest rates. Raising rates now would be tantamount to "opening the gates of hell", he said . "In this environment with equity markets under enormous pressure, central banks think about injecting money, not taking it out," Mr Meer said. "They learnt the lesson of the Great Depression: you don't jack rates up when equity markets are falling." If the bond market is right, official rates will rise from 4.75 per cent to 5 per cent by Christmas, nudging up standard variable home loan rates to 6.82 per cent. Rather than having to find an extra $192 each month for the average $300,000 Sydney home loan by the end of the year, borrowers would only have to pay an extra $51. In recent days, some economists have speculated that rates might not rise at all this year if the international share market implosion continues. "Contrary to what has been suggested in some market commentary, the Reserve Bank likes 4 per cent economic growth and falling unemployment," said Macquarie Bank economist Rory Robertson. "It doesn't want the economy to slow, or home prices to fall." New home lending figures released yesterday by the Bureau of Statistics showed that the two rate rises already this year - and the winding back of of the Federal Government's first home owners grant - are starting to bite. Lending to build new homes slipped 0.5 per cent, while borrowing to buy ready-built new homes fell 1.7 per cent. However, lending for established homes climbed 1.4 per cent, suggesting there was still some heat in the property market. But a prominent New York-based economist, Morgan Stanley's Stephen Roach, warned in Sydney yesterday that the US had a "better than 50-50 chance [of] what I call a double-dip recession, an economy that goes back into recession before it is able to stage a meaningfully robust recovery". The recovery in place of that would be "anaemic and will keep the US on a very, very sluggish growth path over the next two to three years" at least. 7/13/2002 4:21:22 PM หัวข้อ:A Violation of Justice โดย:4202611515 Tribal law turns brutal when a young woman is gang-raped because her brother had a girlfriend BY BRIAN BENNETT/LAHORE Shaking behind her black chador, or veil, 18-year-old Makhutar Mai stood before a jury made up of men who hated her. Mai is a dairy farmer's daughter, a Tatla Gujjar, and the council members before her were all from a higher, landed caste group, the Mastoi Baloch. Mai's brother had dared to romance a girl from the higher caste, and in the dusty mid-day sun of rural Pakistani Punjab, a rowdy crowd gathered to demand eye-for-an-eye-style justice. The six seated elders finally delivered their judgment. To restore the caste's honor, they announced, Mai should be repeatedly raped. For the next hour, in a small barn nearby, three men penetrated Mai while a fourth stood watching. It's common in rural Pakistan for local councils, called panchayats, to adjudicate minor disputes over land, water or honor; the system is supposed to work in tandem with local police. But these days the councils are veering out of control. Last week, a man acquitted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court was retried by a village committee in Punjab. A day later he was stoned to death by a crowd of 250 to 300. Mai's life began to unravel in late June, when her 14-year-old brother Abdul Shakoor was seen walking with his lover, an older girl from the more powerful caste. According to police, the girl's uncles kidnapped Shakoor, beat him up, sodomized him and held him captive in a family compound. The next day, Shakoor's uncle tried to get him released by proposing a formal panchayat. A council was formed by three members of each clan group. After hearing testimony it came to a decision: that Shakoor should marry his girlfriend, and one Tatla girl should be given to a Mastoi son for marriage, along with a parcel of land. The Mastois didn't feel that was enough, so they convened their own council made up of Mastoi men, many of them armed with Kalashnikovs, and demanded that Mai be raped. After her ordeal, she was forced to walk home through the town almost naked. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf condemned the incident and ordered $8,200 to be given to the family for immediate relief. On receiving the money, Mai said she wanted it to be used to build a school in the village. "For the girls," she told a government minister, "because they must no longer remain enclosed in darkness." From : http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501020715-300692,00.html 7/14/2002 12:21:20 AM หัวข้อ:ASIA'S turn has come says Thaksin โดย:4202680734 Asia's turn has come, says Thaksin Poised to benefit from investment Nuntawun Polkuamdee and Cholada Ingsrisawang Visitors check prices of their virtual portfolios in the hope of winning prizes. _ KOSOL NAKACHOL Thailand has a prime opportunity to gain over the next few years as international investors increasingly focus on Asia, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday. In a speech opening the three-day SET in the City investor fair, Mr Thaksin said increased co-operation in Asia would play a key role in establishing growth in the region. With international markets shaken by corporate accounting scandals on Wall Street, foreign investors were already beginning to shift portfolio weightings to Asia, he claimed. The weakening of the US dollar and higher fund flows into Thailand meant that the baht was likely to appreciate over the next few years. While the US economy continued to run a current account deficit of $1 billion a day, Thailand was continuing to enjoy steady surpluses. The baht has climbed over the past year and is now trading at a two-year high, raising some concerns among exporters. But central bank officials maintain that the baht's appreciation was in line with other currencies in the region, and reflected the weakness of the US dollar rather than any change in the baht's fundamentals. Yesterday the baht ended trade at 41.09/13 against the US dollar, compared with 41.19/23 on Thursday. Satian Tantanasarit, the senior vice-president at DBS Thai Danu Bank, said the baht would end the year between 40.5 and 42.5 baht to the dollar. Trends were pointing to the baht's appreciation in the short-term, following the yen. But Mr Satian said capital flows into Thailand were likely to slow in the second half, given the already considerable gains made in the local stock market. The SET index has risen by 31% this year. Mr Thaksin said Asian countries should strengthen their co-operation to increase their bargaining power on the global stage. Asia was home to 3.3 billion people, half the world's population. ``Yet Asian countries mostly look to produce and sell goods to the US, to Europe. We compete with each other rather than look to serve each other within the region,'' Mr Thaksin said. The launch of the Asian Co-operative Dialogue in June, which calls on 17 Asian countries to join together to forge closer economic and political ties, was an important first step in strengthening the region. The government's efforts to forge trade ties had shown clear results. At the same time, domestic reform had to continue, including that of the education and civil service systems, to boost the country's long-term competitiveness. (news for 15-21/07/02 from Bangkok Post.com) Mr Thaksin said the government was committed to strengthening the local capital markets, including improving corporate governance, regulatory oversight and market transparency. Securities regulators had to tighten supervision of the accounting system and strengthen monitoring of listed firms to serve as an early-warning system to protect investors. The prime minister said that the market authorities should establish a team of analysts to look at listed companies and issue warnings if problems were detected. ``With a good monitoring system, then we can clamp down on potential abuses,'' he said. The problems in the US markets ``could be seen in Thailand if we don't have a strong system''. Investors meanwhile, were advised to diversify their holdings among fixed assets, financial assets and cash. ``But it is important that investors know their own limits. You shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket,'' Mr Thaksin said. The fair, held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, features numerous seminars and presentations by listed companies, securities brokers, analysts and financial experts.. SET president Kittiratt Na Ranong yesterday expressed confidence that sentiment and market prospects in the second half should continue to improve. 7/14/2002 2:40:28 PM หัวข้อ:KPMG chief attacks powers for US agency โดย:4202680882 July 13, 2002 KPMG chief attacks powers for US agency Unacceptable for it to have jurisdiction outside US, he says (LONDON) KPMG LLP, one of the big four global accounting firms, has hit out at plans for a new US regulator with powers to monitor the work of auditors based outside the US, the Financial Times said on Thursday. In an interview with the newspaper, KPMG International chairman Mike Rake said the attempt to give powers of global reach to the proposed US regulator would result in international regulatory gridlock. 'I think it has been demonstrated that the US does not have the right answers to all these problems. Forcing the US solution on the rest of the world is not acceptable,' Mr Rake told FT in reference to US corporate scandals and plans for a new US regulator. KPMG, together with the other big four accounting firms, is fighting to ensure corporate scandals do not result in new laws and regulations that it regards as damaging to the accounting profession. The plans for a new US accountancy regulator are contained in a bill put forward by Maryland Democratic Senator Paul Sarbanes, chairman of the US Senate banking committee, which has a good chance of becoming law. The legislation would create an accounting overseeing board with powers to set professional standards for auditors as well as investigate and discipline them. Auditors based outside the US would be affected insofar as they have clients who must comply with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements. 'Those rules can and do clash with local laws and professional regulations and requirements,' Mr Rake told FT. He said the US scandals have primarily highlighted instances of poor corporate governance and that accountants should take only limited blame. 'I know people do not like to hear this, but audits are not designed to detect fraud,' Mr Rake said. 'The auditor is a watchdog, not a bloodhound.' Separately, Mr Rake told FT the big four accounting firms had suffered a relationship breakdown with the SEC in the aftermath of the scandals. - Reuters 7/14/2002 3:19:00 PM หัวข้อ:การว่างงานในค่อยๆมีเพิ่มมากขึ้น โดย:4202680874 7/14/2002 8:50:00 PM หัวข้อ:การว่างงานในอเมริกาค่อยๆเพิ่มมาขึ้น โดย:4202680874 อัตราการว่างงานในอเมริกาเพิ่มขึ้น 5.9% ในเดือนมิถุนาที่ผ่านมา เนื่องจากการถดถอยทางเศรษฐกิจอย่างต่อเนื่องทำให้การหางานทำได้ยากขึ้น ถึงแม้ว่าจะมีการปล่อยงานออกมาถึง 36,000 งานในเดือนมิถุนาที่ผ่านมา แต่ก็ยังไม่เพียงพอที่จะไม่ให้เกิดการว่างงานที่เพิ่มขึ้นได้ Job losses ในภาคอุตสาหกรรม และค้าปลีก รวมถึงรถยนต์, เรือ และห้างสรรพสินค้า ทำให้การสร้างงานเป็นไปอย่างช้าๆตลอดทั้งเดือน นักเศรษฐศาสตร์หลายท่านได้กังวลว่าการเพิ่มขึ้นของการว่างงานนี้จะส่งผลกระทบต่อผู้บริโภคผู้ซึ่งใช้จ่ายเงิน 2 ใน 3 ของกิจกรรมทางเศรษฐกิจในอเมริกา โดยจะทำให้การฟื้นตัวทางเศรษฐกิจเป็นไปได้ช้า 7/14/2002 9:20:02 PM หัวข้อ:Coke to Begin Expensing Stock Option Cost โดย:4202680353 Coke to Begin Expensing Stock Option Cost Sun Jul 14, 9:33 AM ET ATLANTA (Reuters) - Soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co. announced on Sunday that it would begin expensing the cost of all stock options beginning in the fourth quarter of this year. The world's No. 1 soft drink maker said the change would have a minimal impact on its financial results in the current year, noting that it would cost about 1 cent per share if the company granted options at a similar level as last year. The expensing of options has become a flash point in corporate America during the past year as a drop in earnings and accounting troubles attracted the attention of critics and shareholders. Shares of Coca-Cola fell $2.06, or 3.9 percent, to close at $51.05 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange ( news - web sites). 7/14/2002 9:59:52 PM หัวข้อ:Japan upbeat on economy โดย:4202680163 Published: July 12 2002 : Financial Times - London The Japanese government yesterday timidly lifted its assessment of the economy amid concern that a rise in the yen to a 10-month high could begin to undermine the export-driven recovery."Although the economy continues to be in a difficult situation, movements of a recovery can be seen in some areas," a monthly report said, representing the fourth upgrade by the government in five months.The report cited rising exports and increasing production and capital investment as reasons for optimism but cautioned that shaky global demand, volatile equity markets and a rising yen threatened the recovery. A strong yen makes Japan's exports more expensive overseas. Bryan Shih Tokyo 7/14/2002 10:45:25 PM หัวข้อ:More gloom for investors/BBC News โดย:4202612588 Shares in New York have tumbled for the fifth day in a row and recorded their biggest weekly loss since stocks fell in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks. The Dow Jones ended down 117 points at 8,685 - a fall of more than 7% since Monday morning. The gloom was shared by investors on the other side of the Atlantic. Leading shares in London had earlier closed at their lowest level since April 1997. New five-year low There were hopes that the markets were beginning to stabilise when shares on the London and other European exchanges surged on Friday morning. But the turnaround came swiftly - when New York began to fall it dragged Europe with it. New York endured a very volatile session - with the Dow Jones swinging between a loss of 201 points and a gain of 47 points. London's leading FTSE 100 index closed just 5.9 points lower at 4224.1 - but that was a new five-year low. And it meant that shares in the UK's 100 leading companies had lost 8.5% or ฃ94bn ($145.7bn) of their value since last weekend. 'Shell-shocked' Initially the Dow Jones index opened higher but when a key report from the University of Michigan showed that US consumer confidence had fallen, the markets reacted by falling sharply within minutes. London reacted immediately. "The Michigan survey is what's kicked us down again. The bear market continues," said Peter Cogliatti at brokerage Williams de Broe. "Everyone I speak to is shell-shocked and can't quite believe what's happening. "These gyrations are scaring the genuine investors, they're just stepping aside," he added. President's problems But Ash Rajan of Prudential Securities in New York, said the consumer confidence figures were not solely to blame. "We have to just go back to the intangible - that is, the corporate governance issue, the accounting irregularity issue, and just malaise in general that's caused this weakness." The falling stock markets have added further to President Bush's difficulties. The White House announced on Friday that the federal government was heading for a $165bn (ฃ106.3bn) deficit this year. 7/14/2002 11:11:46 PM หัวข้อ:กลียุคระบบบัญชี ป่นปี้ตลาดหุ้นและตลาดเงิน โดย:4202680114 www.manager.co.th ทิศทางดอลลาร์สหรัฐฯ ยังคงมืดมน ตามความอลเวงตลาดหุ้น Wall Street ซึ่งกระทบจากกรณีซุกตัวเลขการเงินที่แท้จริงของบริษัทชั้นนำสหรัฐฯ ที่ถูกตีแผ่ให้สาธารณชนต่อเนื่อง สร้างความวิตกกังวลนักลงทุน ที่มีต่อความโปร่งใสระบบการเงินและตลาดหุ้นสหรัฐฯ อย่างมาก แม้ประธานาธิบดี George W. Bush ออกแถลงการณ์ เพื่อกอบกู้ความเชื่อมั่นตลาดหุ้น Wall Street แต่ไม่ได้รับความสนใจจากนักลงทุนมากนัก ทำให้ดอลลาร์ค่าร่วงลงเฉียด 1 ดอลลาร์ ต่อ 1 ยูโร ครั้งที่ 2 รอบ 2 สัปดาห์ เมื่อเทียบเงินเยน ดอลลาร์ยิ่งได้รับแรงกดดันอย่างหนัก ทำสถิติต่ำสุดรอบ 10 เดือน ณ 116 เยน/ดอลลาร์ เป็นผลจากการแสดงความคิดเห็นรัฐมนตรีคลังญี่ปุ่น ที่ชี้ว่าดอลลาร์สหรัฐฯ กำลังอยู่ในช่วงขาลง และการแทรกแซงตลาดไม่เหมาะสม ปอนด์สเตอร์ลิงอังกฤษ ค่าเข้มแข็งสวนทางดอลลาร์สหรัฐฯ โดยค่าสูงสุดรอบ 26 เดือน แตะ 1.55 ดอลลาร์/ปอนด์ แต่เงินสเตอร์ลิงค่าอ่อนตัวลงเทียบเงินยูโร ราคาทองคำตลาดต่างประเทศ เคลื่อนไหวช่วง 312-315 ดอลลาร์/ออนซ์ ปัจจัยที่มีอิทธิพล ได้แก่ ความอ่อนแอค่าดอลลาร์ ความผันผวนตลาดหุ้นสหรัฐฯ และเหตุการณ์ไม่สงบในตะวันออกกลาง ดอลลาร์สหรัฐฯ พยายามยืนหยัดต้านแรงเทขายนักลงทุน ที่กำลังขาดความเชื่อมั่นบริษัทชั้นแนวหน้าสหรัฐฯ ซึ่งคณะกรรมการตลาดหลักทรัพย์อเมริกาค้นพบหลักฐานทุจริตปกปิดข้อมูลการเงินที่แท้จริงบริษัทสหรัฐฯ หลายแห่ง และทยอยเปิดเผยสู่สาธารณชน สะเทือนตลาดหุ้น Wall Street และตลาดหุ้น Nasdaq รายล่าสุด ได้แก่ บริษัทยาชั้นนำ Merck & Co. และบริษัท Reliant Resources ก่อนหน้านี้ บริษัทยักษ์ใหญ่ อาทิ Enron, WorldCom และ Xerox ล้วนสร้างความหวั่นไหวให้วงการการเงินและตลาดหุ้นอย่างมาก เนื่องจากบริษัทเหล่านี้ ปกปิดตัวเลขการเงินที่แท้จริงมานาน สะท้อนภาพระบบการเงินการบัญชีสหรัฐฯ ที่ด่างพร้อย และความบกพร่องระบบธรรมภิบาลบริษัทสหรัฐฯ อย่างคาดไม่ถึง ผลคือ ตลาดหุ้นสหรัฐฯ ซบเซา ดัชนีหุ้น Dow Jones และ Nasdaq หล่นอย่างรวดเร็ว ทำให้ค่าดอลลาร์สหรัฐฯ ตกต่ำ แตะ 99.69 เซนต์/ยูโร ใกล้ระดับราคาพาร์ 1 ยูโร ต่อ 1 ดอลลาร์สหรัฐฯ อีกครั้งสัปดาห์นี้ กรณีอื้อฉาวบริษัทอเมริกัน ส่งผลประธานาธิบดี Bush ไม่อาจเพิกเฉยอีกต่อไป โดยเดินทางแถลงการณ์ใกล้ตลาดหุ้น Wall Street เมื่อวันที่ 9 กรกฎาคม เพื่อกอบกู้วิกฤตศรัทธานักลงทุน โดยเสนอมาตรการเฉียบขาด ที่จะลงโทษผู้บริหาร และผู้กระทำความผิดรุนแรงถึงขั้นจำคุก ตั้งหน่วยงานเฉพาะกิจ ด้านสืบสวนคดีกลโกงในบริษัท รวมถึงการเพิ่มเงินทุนให้คณะกรรมการตลาดหลักทรัพย์ เพื่อให้การตรวจสอบรวดเร็ว และรอบคอบที่สุด แต่ตลาดหุ้นและตลาดเงินขานรับแผนการดังกล่าวเพียงชั่วขณะ ก่อนเทขายหุ้นและค่าดอลลาร์ต่อไป เนื่องจากนักลงทุนต้องการเห็นการจัดการที่เป็นรูปธรรมโดยเร็ว รวมทั้งการจับกุม และลงโทษผู้กระทำความผิด เพื่อเป็นตัวอย่าง น่าสังเกตว่า เงินยูโรค่าเข้มแข็งขึ้น เมื่อเทียบกับดอลลาร์ ที่กำลังโดนมรสุมความฉ้อฉลบริษัทสหรัฐฯ แต่เงินตราสกุลเดียวยูโรกลับไม่สามารถฉวยโอกาสพุ่งผ่านแนวต้าน 1 ดอลลาร์ได้ เป็นผลจากสภาพเศรษฐกิจเยอรมนีที่ยังอ่อนแอ ตัวเลขผลผลิตอุตสาหกรรมพฤษภาคมต่ำกว่าที่คาด รวมถึงการว่างงานมิถุนายน เพิ่มเกือบ 4 ล้านคน เป็นข่าวร้ายเศรษฐกิจกลุ่มยูโร เยนญี่ปุ่น ทะยานสูงขึ้นถึง 116 เยน/ดอลลาร์ เป็นครั้งแรกตั้งแต่เหตุการณ์วินาศกรรมสหรัฐฯ เพราะรัฐมนตรีคลังญี่ปุ่น นาย Masajuro Shiokawa ให้สัมภาษณ์ที่ประชุมเอเชีย-ยุโรป ที่กรุงโคเปนเฮเกน เดนมาร์ก เขาเห็นว่าค่าดอลลาร์ยังคงทิศทางทรุดต่ำลง เจ้าหน้าที่การเงินประเทศต่างๆ คาดว่าอาจร่วงถึง 115 เยน/ดอลลาร์ ซึ่งเป็นระดับช่วงกันยายน 2544 นาย Shiokawa ยังเห็นว่า การที่ทางการญี่ปุ่นแทรกแซงตลาดเงิน ไม่เหมาะสม เนื่องจากบิดเบือนกลไกตลาด ท่าทีขุนคลังญี่ปุ่นสร้างความสับสนท่าทีทางการญี่ปุ่นเกี่ยวกับค่าเยน และไม่มั่นใจว่าทางการญี่ปุ่นจะแทรกแซงตลาดเงิน เพื่อพยุงค่าดอลลาร์ และกดค่าเยนอีกหรือไม่ เพราะที่ผ่านมา ทางการญี่ปุ่นเทขายเยนและซื้อเงินดอลลาร์ รวม 7 ครั้ง ช่วง 2 เดือน ครั้งล่าสุดร่วมมือกันระหว่างแบงก์ชาติญี่ปุ่น ธนาคารกลางสหรัฐฯ และธนาคารกลางยุโรป 28 มิถุนายน ปอนด์อังกฤษ ยังคงได้รับแรงสนับสนุนจากความผันผวนค่าดอลลาร์ และเงินทุนไหลออกจากดอลลาร์มาสกุลปอนด์ แต่เงินสเตอร์ลิงก็ค่าอ่อนแอ เมื่อเทียบเงินยูโร เพราะกระแสข่าวบริษัทอังกฤษอาจซื้อกิจการสื่อสารยุโรป ซึ่งจะทำให้ปอนด์ไหลออกไปสกุลเงินยูโร ปอนด์ทำสถิติพุ่งเหนือ 1.55 ดอลลาร์/ปอนด์สำเร็จครั้งแรกตั้งแต่พฤษภาคม 2543 เนื่องจากรายงานตัวเลขผลผลิตภาคอุตสาหกรรมพฤษภาคมสดใสมาก ทำให้นักลงทุนเก็งว่า อังกฤษแนวโน้มอาจปรับเพิ่มอัตราดอกเบี้ย เป็นเสน่ห์ค่าปอนด์มากขึ้น ราคาทองคำตลาดต่างประเทศ ยังคงมีทิศทางสวนทางค่าดอลลาร์สหรัฐฯ และได้รับแรงหนุน เมื่อตลาดหุ้นสหรัฐฯ ทรุดต่ำลง นักลงทุนบางส่วนยังคงหนีออกจากตลาดหุ้น และถือทองคำเป็นหลักทรัพย์ปลอดภัย ทำให้ราคาทองส่ายไปมาตามความเคลื่อนไหวดัชนีหุ้น Wall Street คาดว่าความตึงเครียดในตะวันออกกลาง และแนวโน้มราคาน้ำมันที่สูงขึ้น จะเป็นปัจจัยที่มีอิทธิพลต่อราคาทองคำให้เพิ่มขึ้นได้อีก อัตราแลกเปลี่ยนดอลลาร์สหรัฐฯ เทียบเงินตราสำคัญสกุลต่างๆ 8 กรกฎาคม เทียบกับ 11 กรกฎาคม (ตัวเลขในวงเล็บ) ดังนี้ ดอลลาร์สหรัฐฯ 0.9890 ดอลลาร์/ยูโร (0.9888 ดอลลาร์/ยูโร) 118.53 เยน (116.92 เยน) และ 1.5400 ดอลลาร์/ปอนด์ (1.5547 ดอลลาร์/ปอนด์) ราคาทองคำตลาดลอนดอน 8 กรกฎาคม 312.70 ดอลลาร์/ออนซ์ เทียบกับ 315.30 ดอลลาร์/ออนซ์ 11 กรกฎาคม 7/15/2002 12:43:06 AM หัวข้อ:แฉเพิ่มบริษัททำบัญชีโกงดอลล่าร์ร่วง-หุ้นตกระนาว โดย:4202680437 แฉเพิ่มบริษัททำบัญชีโกงดอลล่าร์ร่วง-หุ้นตกระนาว สรุปข่าว พบอีกบริษัทยายักษ์ใหญ่ระดับเจ้าอุตสาหกรรม MERCK ทำบัญชีปลอม 3 ปี สร้างรายได้หลอกอีก 12 พันล้าน ตามหลังเวิล์ดคอม ที่เพิ่งทำลายความมั่นใจของประชาชน ต่อบริษัทมหาชน เพราะปั่นขาดทุนเป็นกำไร เพื่อโก่งราคาหุ้น ทำให้มีผลต่อค่าเงินดอลล่าร์ที่อ่อนตัวลงทันที และตลาดหุ้นสหรัฐตกดิ่ง จนประธานาธิบดี บุช หน้าเกรี้ยวสั่งจับตัวการใหญ่มาลงทัณฑ์ให้หมด แต่ถูกฝ่ายค้านสกัด ดึงข้อมูลของเขาเอง ตอนซื้อขายหุ้นมีเลศนัยมาแฉด้วย เมื่อวันจันทร์ที่ผ่านมา หนังสือพิมพ์วอลล์สตรีท เจอร์นัลได้รายงานตั้งคำถามเกี่ยวกับยอดรายได้หลายพันล้านดอลล่าร์ของบริษัทยายักษ์ใหญ่ เมอร์ค แอนด์ โค โดยระบุว่า ผลทำให้ดัชนีหุ้นอุตสาหกรรมดาว โจนส์ ตกทันที 11.5 เปอร์เซ็นต์ ในการค้าที่ตลาดหุ้นยุโรป และในอเมริกาตกลงเหลือ 45.50 ดอลล่าร์ จากราคาเปิดตลาดที่ 48.86 ดอลล่าร์ จากนั้นราคายังได้ตกลงเรื่อยๆ ตลอดรอบสัปดาห์ พร้อมกับมีผลทำให้ค่าเงินดอลล่าร์อ่อนตัวลงด้วย เนื่องจากครั้งนี้เป็นครั้งที่บริษัทยักษ์ใหญ่อเมริกัน สร้างความคลอนแคลนในความเชื่อใจของประชาชน โดยเหตุการณ์ของเมอร์ค เพิ่งเกิดหลังกรณีของเวิล์ดคอม ผู้ให้บริการโทรทางไกลที่พบว่า บริษัททำบัญชีกล นำยอดค่าใช้จ่าย เช่นค่าบำรุงรักษาสถาณี หรือค่าเช่าช่องสัญญาณ ไปเป็นเงินลงทุน ทำให้ปิดบังค่าใช้จ่ายได้ 3.8 พันล้านดอลล่าร์ และมีรายได้สวยหรูปีละ 4 พันล้านดอลล่าร์ โดยพฤติกรรมนี้ได้ทำมาเป็นเวลาหลายปี และถ้ารื้อบัญชีมาทำใหม่ก็มีแต่ขาดทุน ก่อนหน้านั้น ในระยะเวลาต่อเนื่องกัน ก็มีกรณีของเคเบิลทีวี อเดลเฟีย ที่พบว่า ครอบครัวผู้ก่อตั้งเงินถึง 3 พันล้านจากบริษัทไปใช้ในธุรกิจส่วนตัว และยังใช้งบประมาณบริษัทในกิจกรรมบันเทิงเอ็กซ์คลูซีฟส่วนตัว ทั้งสนามกอล์ฟ บ้านตากอากาศ และเครื่องบินเจ็ต ทำให้บริษัทต้องรับผิดชอบ ด้วยการปรับบัญชีย้อนหลัง 3 ปีใส่ยอดหนี้สินนี้เข้าไป นอกจากนั้นตั้งแต่ต้นปีนี้ยังมี กรณีของเคมาร์ท ที่ล้มละลาย เพราะพ่ายธุรกิจการแข่งขัน การจัดการที่ไร้ประสิทธิภาพ หรือ การฉ้อฉลของผู้บริหาร ยังไม่สามารถระบุได้ และกรณีของเอ็นร่อน ที่สงสัยว่าจะเป็นการฉ้อฉลของผู้บริหาร และการใช้เงินงบประมาณอย่างสุรุ่ยสุร่าย รวมถึงการปั่นเงินจากตลาดหุ้นของกลุ่มผู้บริหาร บางคนกว่าสิบล้านดอลล่าร์ นอกจากนั้นยังมีกรณีเล็กๆ ของพิธีกรหญิงคนดัง มาร์ธา สจ๊วต ที่ต้องสงสัยว่าจะใช้ข้อมูลภายใน เก็งกำไร ในการซื้อขายหุ้นของบริษัทอินเตอร์ริม ที่จ้างผู้จัดการกลยุทธ์หุ้นคนเดียวกับบริษัท ออมนิ ลิฟวิ่งของเธอ ขณะนี้ก็กำลังสืบสวนอยู่ ข่าวของเมิร์คที่ออกมาหลังวันหยุดสี่กรกฎาคมของสหรัฐอเมริกา ทำให้ตลาดหุ้นดิ่งลงเรื่อยๆ มาจนถึงปลายสัปดาห์ และดัชนีหุ้นทุกประเภทที่ใช้วัดความมั่นคงของเศรษฐกิลดลง เพราะ มหาชนพากันกังวลเกี่ยวกับภาพพจน์หลอกหลวงของบริษัทยักษ์ใหญ่ สร้างคำถามว่าจะมีบริษัทอีกกี่แห่งที่ทำกำไรสวยๆ หลอกหลวง เพื่อให้บริษัทสามารถมีเครดิต เรตติ้งที่ดี และมีราคาหุ้นที่สูง ราคาหุ้นอเมริกาที่ค้าขายในตลาดต่างชาติก็ตกลง รวมไปถึงค่าเงินดอลล่าร์ เพราะยังมีข่าวร้ายซ้ำเรื่องอัตราคนว่นที่สูงของเดือนมิถุนายน ประธานาธิบดีบุช ในฐานะประธานาธิบดีคนแรกของสหรัฐอเมริกาที่มีคุณวุฒิระดับปริญาโทด้านธุรกิจเกรี้ยวกราดเรื่องนี้มาก มาตั้งแต่กรณีของเวิล์ดคอมเมื่อสัปดาห์ก่อน ซึ่งได้พาดพิงถึงมาจากที่ประชุม G8 ในแคนาดาทุกวัน ล่าสุดก็ได้สั่งให้หน่วยงานรัฐบาลจริงจังตรวจตรา และสร้างความมั่นใจให้นักลงทุนเพิ่มขึ้น โดยบอกว่า จะเพิ่มกำลังคนและงบประมาณให้คณะกรรมการตลาดหลักทรัพย์ และจับอาชญากรรมฉ้อฉลบริษัทใหญ่มาลงโทษให้ได้ ประธานาธิบดีบุช ยังบอกว่า อาจมีการปรับปรุงคณะกรรมการควบคุมอุตสาหกรรมการตรวจบัญชีเสียใหม่ เพราะที่ผ่านมา ส่วนหนึ่งของผู้ร่วมมือฉ้อฉลครั้งนี้ คือบริษัทตรวจบัญชีที่รับรองบัญชีปลอมของบริษัทยักษ์ใหญ่เหล่านั้น ในการแถลงข่าวเมื่อวันจันทร์ที่ผ่านมา ตัวบุชเองก็เจอคำถามระดมใส่เกี่ยวกับปัญหาพฤติกรรมน่าสงสัยในการค้าขายหุ้นของเขาเอง ครั้งที่เขาขายหุ้นของบริษัทในเท็กซัสชื่อ ฮาร์เค็น มูลค่า 848,560 ดอลล่าร์ เมื่อวันที่ 22 มิถุนายน ปี 1990 ซึ่งเป็นขณะที่เขากำลังเป็นคณะกรรมการบุคคลภายนอกในกรรมการอำนวยการของบริษัท และรายงานการซื้อขายนี้ กลับมาสรุปเปิดเผยล่าช้าในอีก 8 เดือนต่อมา 7/15/2002 8:09:40 AM หัวข้อ:Broad Skepticism Over Accounting Punishes the Stock Price of AOL โดย:4202680445 From The New York Times: Broad Skepticism Over Accounting Punishes the Stock Price of AOL By GRETCHEN MORGENSON t could be a case of guilt by association, but the stock of AOL Time Warner seems to be weighed down by investor concerns that the company's accounting may not reflect its true financial state. How else to explain the lack of resilience in the company's stock price, despite relatively good news like AOL's having secured $10 billion in new bank loans a week ago. The company's executives may have hoped that news of the financing would reassure investors and alleviate some of the pressure on the shares. But they fell 10 percent last week to close at $13.14, down 59 percent so far this year. Over the last 12 months, AOL's stock performance has closely tracked that of Vivendi, a company facing significant financial difficulties. Accounting irregularities at WorldCom and Adelphia, among others, have made it a new and tough world for managements, especially those that run large, diversified companies like AOL. Its executives find themselves with a bad case of stock market whiplash: what used to be viewed as the company's strengths are now seen as weaknesses. Investors are suspicious of any item in a company's financial statements that may allow for aggressive accounting. They are so skittish about what might be revealed in the books that some bond analysts say that conforming to generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, may no longer be enough. Patricia Lee, an analyst at CreditSights Inc., an independent research firm in New York, noted that money managers and investors want rigorous proof of conservative accounting at AOL and greater transparency in its figures. "We continue to believe that AOL has an attractive asset base and that the company will continue to be conservative in its guidance," she said. "But we are somewhat disappointed at new C.E.O. Parsons's lack of a directed strategy and ability to do damage control with a very clear action plan." Richard D. Parsons became AOL Time Warner's chief executive in May. Recent management turmoil in the top ranks at AOL cannot be helping its share price, as the chief operating officer, Robert W. Pittman, finds himself having to deny rumors that he may soon be gone. But what seems a heavier weight on the stock is a fear that the company's financial data show some of the same characteristics that investors have come to consider potential signs of trouble. Perhaps most significant is the rapid growth in earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortization or Ebitda, in accounting shorthand. Such earnings rose 18 percent last year to $9.9 billion, from $8.4 billion in 2000, and increased 3 percent in the first quarter. The reason that such rapidly rising earnings can be worrisome is that they may be a sign that the company is taking everyday expenses that ought to be deducted from revenue and is shifting them to capital accounts. Items booked in capital accounts are considered assets and are amortized, or deducted over longer periods. By capitalizing expenses, a company can enhance its Ebitda: the deductions for expenses are smaller than they would be if they were subtracted from revenue in one piece, and because they fall below the Ebitda line on the income statement. Such shifts in expenses do not affect net earnings. Moving operating expenses to capital accounts is what WorldCom's chief financial officer did, resulting in a $3.8 billion restatement of the company's results last month. While AOL's Ebitda grew to $9.9 billion last year, its free cash flow measured by cash from operations minus invested cash amounted to only $24 million. For the same reason that investors consider large disparities between a company's reported earnings and its retained earnings to be a sign of potential income overstatement, large discrepancies between free cash flow and Ebitda can be a red flag for alert money managers and investors. On Friday, an AOL spokesman, Edward Adler, defended the company's accounting. "Our free cash flow generation is actually strong," he said, "and our capitalization policies are conservative, not only in accordance with GAAP." He added that the generating of cash flow could be volatile from quarter to quarter and that long periods must be studied to get a clear picture of the results. But the problem for AOL today is that investors want details on those expenses it is capitalizing. The details have not yet been forthcoming. "AOL better go the extra nine yards to defend their expense capitalization policies and not wave it off with indignant protestations of `we follow GAAP,' " Ms. Lee, the credit analyst, said. The company would help allay investors' fears, analysts said, if it specified, for instance, how much it is capitalizing in software development costs each year. These figures are now lumped together on the balance sheet on the "other assets" line, totaling $2.8 billion, up from $2.43 billion in 2000. Investors cannot compare how the expenses for software costs change year over year; a big jump in costs could indicate an overly aggressive accounting approach. One capitalized expense that did grow significantly at AOL last year was for plant, property and equipment. Investment in cable systems rose $2.2 billion, to $9.9 billion, an increase from the previous year of almost 30 percent. The figure also looks big when compared with expenditures carried on Time Warner's books before the merger with AOL. In fiscal 1999, Time Warner's investment in cable systems grew by $1 billion, less than half of what it did last year. Because AOL considers such expenses capital investments, it amortizes them over time. But investors seem fearful that some of these expenses may include day-to-day costs that the company is burying, a tactic that burnishes the Ebitda figures. Mr. Adler said most of the big jump in cable spending was the result of an upgrade by AOL of its cable systems so it could offer customers video on demand and other services. Even as AOL's Ebitda comes under scrutiny, and even after the stock's decline, the company's shares still trade at a fairly high valuation. The problem for AOL shares is that at more than 9 times estimated Ebitda this year, they are too rich for value-stock investors. And the company's slowing financial results and earnings disappointments are keeping it off limits to growth-stock fans. With both investor groups on the sidelines, AOL Time Warner's shares could tread water for some time. 7/15/2002 8:40:06 AM หัวข้อ:บังกลาเทศหวังดึงเอกชนไทยลงทุนโครงสร้างพื้นฐาน โดย:4202612653 บังกลาเทศต้องการภาคเอกชนลงทุนโครงสร้างพื้นฐาน (Infrastructure projects) ท้องถิ่น ขณะที่นายกรัฐมนตรีหญิงของประเทศนี้ (คาลีดา เซีย) เห็นด้วยกับแนวคิดเอซีดีของทักษิณ วานนี้ (9 ก.ค.) เวลา 11.15 น. ตามเวลาท้องถิ่น ณ สำนักนายกรัฐมนตรีบังกลาเทศน พ.ต.ท.ทักษิณ ชินวัตร นายกรัฐมนตรี หารือทวิภาคีกับนางคาลีดา เซีย (Mrs. Khaleda Zia) นายกรัฐมนตรีบังกลาเทศ และร่วมหารือข้อราชการเต็มคณะ ในโอกาสการเยือนบังกลาเทศเป็นทางการ ประเด็นสำคัญ ดังนี้ ทั้ง 2 ฝ่ายเห็นพ้องความร่วมภูมิภาคเอเชีย (Asia Cooperation Dialogue) ว่า เอเชียมีศักยภาพที่จะร่วมมือกัน แต่ละชาติสามารถตั้งคณะทำงาน (Working Group) ที่ตนเองถนัด เพื่อประสานความร่วมมือด้านต่างๆ ความร่วมมือภูมิภาคเอเชีย จะช่วยแก้ปัญหาความขัดแย้งด้านการเมืองส่วนหนึ่ง จะช่วยเสริมสร้างความร่วมมือด้านเศรษฐกิจระหว่างกัน โดยผู้นำทั้ง 2 จะใกล้ชิดกันมากขึ้น ไทยและบังกลาเทศยังเห็นพ้องร่วมกันความร่วมมือด้านการค้าหักบัญชี (Account Trade) การพัฒนาทรัพยากรมนุษย์ แก้ไขปัญหาความยากจน การลงทุนด้านประมง อุตสาหกรรมรถยนต์ โดยเฉพาะความร่วมมือด้านเส้นทางคมนาคม สร้างเครือข่ายเชื่อมโยงไทย-พม่า-อินเดีย-บังกลาเทศ เพื่อส่งเสริมการติดต่อทั้งด้านการค้า การลงทุน รวมทั้งการท่องเที่ยว พ.ต.ท.ทักษิณ ชินวัตร นายกรัฐมนตรี โดยเฉพาะการเชื่อมเส้นทางการบินระหว่างเชียงใหม่ของไทย และจิตตะกองของบังกลาเทศ ซึ่งจะใช้บริการด้านการบินไปประเทศอื่นๆ ในภูมิภาคสะดวกมากขึ้น เที่ยวบินที่จะเปิดใหม่ ยังเพิ่มศักยภาพขนส่งสินค้าทางอากาศระหว่างกันได้อีกด้วย ฝ่ายบังกลาเทศยังแสดงความสนใจศักยภาพเชียงใหม่ ซึ่งมีสถานพยาบาลที่ดี ทัศนียภาพสวยงาม อีกทั้งมีศักยภาพการท่องเที่ยว บังกลาเทศยังแสดงความสนใจที่จะให้ภาคเอกชนไทยลงทุนด้านโครงสร้างพื้นฐาน เช่น ทำถนนยกระดับในบังกลาเทศ พ.ต.ท.ทักษิณยังร่วมเป็นสักขีพยานพิธีลงนามเกี่ยวส่งเสริมและคุ้มครองการลงทุน 7/15/2002 8:43:18 AM หัวข้อ:ซาอุดิอาระเบีย ห้ามนำเข้าสินค้าทุกชนิดมีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลือง โดย:4202681294 ซาอุดิอาระเบีย ห้ามนำเข้าสินค้าทุกชนิดมีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองหวั่นมะเร็ง กระทรวงพาณิชย์ ๑๔ ก.ค.- นายธรรมนูญ เชี่ยวสกุล อธิบดีกรมการค้าต่างประเทศชี้ประเทศซาอุดิอาระเบียได้ประกาศห้ามนำเข้าและจำหน่ายสินค้าทุกชนิดที่มีซอสถั่วเหลืองที่มีส่วนผสมของสาร๓ MCPDจากหลายประเทศ ทำให้สินค้าขนมอบกรอบทำจากข้าวRice Cracker ของไทยถูกอายัดไม่สามารถนำเข้าและจำหน่ายได้ เตรียมประสานเพื่อแก้ไขปัญหาด่วน นายธรรมนูญเปิดเผยว่า เมื่อเร็วๆนี้ กระทรวงพาณิชย์ของซาอุดิอาระเบียได้ประกาศห้ามนำเข้าและจำหน่ายสินค้าทุกชนิดที่ประกอบด้วยซอสถั่วเหลืองที่มีส่วนผสมของสาร ๓ MCPD จากหลายประเทศ ทำให้สินค้าขนมอบกรอบทำจากข้าวRice Cracker ของไทยที่มีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองถูกอายัดไม่สามารถนำเข้าและจำหน่ายในซาอุดิอาระเบียได้ ดังนั้น กรมการค้าต่างประเทศได้ประสานงานกับหน่วยงานที่เกี่ยวข้องเพื่อแก้ไขปัญหาดังกล่าว รวมทั้งติดต่อขอคำชี้แจงและท่าทีที่ชัดเจนจากทางการซาอุดิอาระเบีย ทั้งนี้ ได้รับการยืนยันจากซาอุดิอาระเบียว่าไม่ยอมรับให้มีการนำเข้าสินค้าที่มีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองที่มีสาร ๓ MCPD อย่างเด็ดขาด แม้จะมีปริมาณน้อยกว่าปริมาณที่อนุญาตตามมาตรฐานสากลก็ตาม แม้ซาอุดิอาระเบียมีแนวทางปฏิบัติที่ค่อนข้างเคร่งครัดเกี่ยวกับการนำเข้าสินค้าที่มีสาร ๓ MCPD หากสำนักงานมาตรฐานสินค้าซาอุดิอาระเบีย(SASO) ตรวจพบว่าสินค้ามีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองจะกักกันสินค้านั้นไว้ก่อน และส่งสินค้าไปตรวจสอบที่ประเทศอังกฤษ เนื่องจากไม่มีห้องปฏิบัติการในซาอุดิอาระเบียที่สามารถตรวจสอบได้ ทำให้ใช้เวลาค่อนข้างนานกว่าจะทราบผลบางครั้งใช้เวลากว่า ๖ เดือน นายธรรมนูญกล่าวว่า สินค้าที่จะได้รับอนุญาตให้นำเข้าและจำหน่ายในซาอุดิอาระเบียได้จึงต้องหลีกเลี่ยงส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลือง โดยสินค้าที่มีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองที่ไร้สาร ๓ MCPD จะต้องมีใบรับรองมาตรฐานสินค้าจากห้องทดลองที่เป็นที่ยอมรับของนานาชาติประกอบการขออนุญาตนำเข้าด้วย ดังนั้น เพื่อหลีกเลี่ยงปัญหาการตรวจสอบที่ใช้เวลายาวนาน และอาจเสี่ยงทางการค้าหากตรวจพบว่ามีสาร ๓ MCPD ผู้ส่งออกควรประสานงานกับผู้นำเข้าของตนเอง โดยจัดส่งสินค้าตัวอย่างไปให้ SASO ทำการตรวจสอบเพื่อความมั่นใจในเบื้องต้นจากมาตรการเข้มงวดของทางการซาอุดิอาระเบียในการนำเข้าสินค้าที่มีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองที่มีสาร ๓ MCPD ดังกล่าว ผู้ส่งออกไทยที่ต้องการจะส่งสินค้าไปซาอุดิอาระเบียควรจะต้องยึดถือเป็นแนวทางปฏิบัติอย่างเคร่งครัด และพยายามรักษาคุณภาพสินค้าให้ได้มาตรฐาน ไม่มีสิ่งเจือปน จึงจะสามารถขยายและรักษาตลาดซาอุดิอาระเบียไว้ได้ต่อไป สำนักข่าวไทย เอ็มเว็บนิวส์ 7/15/2002 8:54:04 AM หัวข้อ:ซาอุฯห้ามนำเข้าสินค้าที่มีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองหวั่นมะเร็ง โดย:4202611515 จาก: http://www.mcot.or.th/news.php?id=9274 ซาอุฯห้ามนำเข้าสินค้าที่มีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองหวั่นมะเร็ง กระทรวงพาณิชย์ ๑๔ ก.ค.- นายธรรมนูญ เชี่ยวสกุล อธิบดีกรมการค้าต่างประเทศชี้ประเทศซาอุดิอาระเบียได้ประกาศห้ามนำเข้าและจำหน่ายสินค้าทุกชนิดที่มีซอสถั่วเหลืองที่มีส่วนผสมของสาร๓ MCPDจากหลายประเทศ ทำให้สินค้าขนมอบกรอบทำจากข้าวRice Cracker ของไทยถูกอายัดไม่สามารถนำเข้าและจำหน่ายได้ เตรียมประสานเพื่อแก้ไขปัญหาด่วน นายธรรมนูญเปิดเผยว่า เมื่อเร็วๆนี้ กระทรวงพาณิชย์ของซาอุดิอาระเบียได้ประกาศห้ามนำเข้าและจำหน่ายสินค้าทุกชนิดที่ประกอบด้วยซอสถั่วเหลืองที่มีส่วนผสมของสาร ๓ MCPD จากหลายประเทศ ทำให้สินค้าขนมอบกรอบทำจากข้าวRice Cracker ของไทยที่มีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองถูกอายัดไม่สามารถนำเข้าและจำหน่ายในซาอุดิอาระเบียได้ ดังนั้น กรมการค้าต่างประเทศได้ประสานงานกับหน่วยงานที่เกี่ยวข้องเพื่อแก้ไขปัญหาดังกล่าว รวมทั้งติดต่อขอคำชี้แจงและท่าทีที่ชัดเจนจากทางการซาอุดิอาระเบีย ทั้งนี้ ได้รับการยืนยันจากซาอุดิอาระเบียว่าไม่ยอมรับให้มีการนำเข้าสินค้าที่มีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองที่มีสาร ๓ MCPD อย่างเด็ดขาด แม้จะมีปริมาณน้อยกว่าปริมาณที่อนุญาตตามมาตรฐานสากลก็ตาม แม้ซาอุดิอาระเบียมีแนวทางปฏิบัติที่ค่อนข้างเคร่งครัดเกี่ยวกับการนำเข้าสินค้าที่มีสาร ๓ MCPD หากสำนักงานมาตรฐานสินค้าซาอุดิอาระเบีย(SASO) ตรวจพบว่าสินค้ามีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองจะกักกันสินค้านั้นไว้ก่อน และส่งสินค้าไปตรวจสอบที่ประเทศอังกฤษ เนื่องจากไม่มีห้องปฏิบัติการในซาอุดิอาระเบียที่สามารถตรวจสอบได้ ทำให้ใช้เวลาค่อนข้างนานกว่าจะทราบผลบางครั้งใช้เวลากว่า ๖ เดือน นายธรรมนูญกล่าวว่า สินค้าที่จะได้รับอนุญาตให้นำเข้าและจำหน่ายในซาอุดิอาระเบียได้จึงต้องหลีกเลี่ยงส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลือง โดยสินค้าที่มีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองที่ไร้สาร ๓ MCPD จะต้องมีใบรับรองมาตรฐานสินค้าจากห้องทดลองที่เป็นที่ยอมรับของนานาชาติประกอบการขออนุญาตนำเข้าด้วย ดังนั้น เพื่อหลีกเลี่ยงปัญหาการตรวจสอบที่ใช้เวลายาวนาน และอาจเสี่ยงทางการค้าหากตรวจพบว่ามีสาร ๓ MCPD ผู้ส่งออกควรประสานงานกับผู้นำเข้าของตนเอง โดยจัดส่งสินค้าตัวอย่างไปให้ SASO ทำการตรวจสอบเพื่อความมั่นใจในเบื้องต้นจากมาตรการเข้มงวดของทางการซาอุดิอาระเบียในการนำเข้าสินค้าที่มีส่วนผสมซอสถั่วเหลืองที่มีสาร ๓ MCPD ดังกล่าว ผู้ส่งออกไทยที่ต้องการจะส่งสินค้าไปซาอุดิอาระเบียควรจะต้องยึดถือเป็นแนวทางปฏิบัติอย่างเคร่งครัด และพยายามรักษาคุณภาพสินค้าให้ได้มาตรฐาน ไม่มีสิ่งเจือปน จึงจะสามารถขยายและรักษาตลาดซาอุดิอาระเบียไว้ได้ต่อไป.๑๑๓ 7/15/2002 8:54:40 AM หัวข้อ:OUTSOURCING โดย:4202612380 New Kid China, the newest player in IT outsourcing, has big ambitions. One day it may challenge India By Winter Wright/BEIJING Issue cover-dated July 11, 2002 FIRST IT WAS Beanie Babies, then microchips. Now China is once again raising its economic ambitions, hoping to become an export powerhouse for software and IT services. Think outsourcing, and you automatically think of India. The country has built a thriving software industry on demand from overseas buyers for programming that's cheaper than they can get at home. But Indian prices are rising, opening the way for newer, lower-cost competitors. Enter China, a country with 300,000 software professionals and 30,000 new graduates every year. Pay is 15%-20% below Indian levels and a mere one-sixth of United States rates. "China is poised to be the next frontier for the offshore market," according to research published earlier this year by technology consultancy Gartner. Indeed, China is tipped to become one of the world's top offshore outsourcing hot spots between 2007 and 2010. But getting there will be tough. Only about 10% of its IT workers have experience in complex programming tasks. A lack of English skills hinders communications with clients in North America and Europe. Organizational ability is another stumbling block. "If you look at individual programmers, Chinese are just as good as Indians," says Tony Perkins, director of consulting firm McKinsey & Company in Beijing. "But the Chinese don't have any idea how to manage complex projects the way the Indians do." Then there's the thorny issue of intellectual property rights--the bedrock of the software business. Piracy is rampant in China, and some companies fear contractors will misuse confidential or proprietary data. But others report positive experiences. Dotster, a U.S.-based domain-name registrar, used Chinese programmers to create a multilingual interface for its Web site. Vice-President of Marketing Anne O'Connor says Dotster had a "trusting relationship" with its suppliers and would work with them again. MAKING PROGRESS Progress in other areas could come quickly. Now that China is a World Trade Organization member, learning English has become a priority, and China's cost advantages could siphon off high-end work from India, giving Chinese engineers the experience they need to climb the value chain. Companies using Chinese engineering talent are already doing some of the high-end work for which India is known. At Objectiva, a U.S. outsourcing company with operations in Beijing, engineers are developing sophisticated enterprise applications using J2EE, Sun Microsystem's most advanced business software platform. And Chinese engineers at IT United, an IT-services company with operations in North America and China, have created a diverse range of applications, including a system for evaluating employee performance. But there's still a long way to go. China's annual software exports hover at around $600,000. By contrast, India's export market of $6.2 billion is projected to swell to $50 billion by 2008, according to India's National Association of Software and Services Companies. China is serious about narrowing the gap and has launched a series of initiatives to bolster the country's software industry. It has sent fact-finding delegations to Bangalore, India's hi-tech centre. Beijing has set up an IT Industry Promotion Centre and has developed a low-level coding training programme. Beijing and Shanghai are also helping local companies cover certification costs through the Capability Maturity Model for Software, an international standard created in the U.S. "In the future, not being certified will be an impediment to being recognized as a leader in the industry," said Cyrill Eltschinger, chief executive of IT United. Some industry watchers say language barriers will lead Chinese companies to target East Asian markets such as Japan and South Korea. Others see Indian companies partnering with Chinese firms to combine local cost savings with India's project-management and programming skills. InfoSys Technologies, India's largest IT outsourcing company, is taking China's ambitions seriously. It is seeking approval to set up a software-development centre in Shanghai. Infosys regional manager, Vineet Toshniwal, says the centre will focus on opportunities in Greater China, Korea and Japan, while serving as a hedge against the possibility of a downturn in India's outsourcing trade. 7/15/2002 9:17:00 AM หัวข้อ:Stocks ready to chill? โดย:4202620011 NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - After some tumultuous times, U.S. stock markets could be ready to calm down this week as investors focus on a slew of quarterly earnings reports from major companies. According to market strategists, stock markets are showing signs of stabilizing and establishing a bottom in the short term. "I think [market's are] showing some signs of bottoming out," Richard McCabe, chief market analyst at Merrill Lynch, told CNNfn's "Market Call" "Indicators in the background are either very oversold or they're showing a shift to a lot of pessimistic psychology, which contrarily is usually a good sign in terms of indicating a bottom," McCabe said. "And we may take another couple of weeks to complete this bottoming process but I think we'll then see a mid-to-late-summer rally." The markets took investors on a roller coaster ride last week. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 7.4 percent to end the week at 8,684.53. The Nasdaq composite index finished the week 5.2 percent lower at 1,373.49. And the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed the week at 921.40, with a loss of 6.8 percent. "After a couple of crazy weeks on both sides we might start to base a little ... and trade in a tight range," said Charles Payne, CEO and chief strategist at Wall Street Strategies. "I don't know if we'll have these triple-digit swings, but we could see this type of pattern of up, down, up, down, red, green, red, green." Earnings, earnings, earnings There's no doubt that investors will be looking at corporate balance sheets this week, with a calendar full of heavyweights reporting earnings, or lack thereof. "We start getting into earnings and at least theoretically that's going to drive the market," said Timothy Ghriskey, president of Ghriskey Capital Partners. "There were very few preannouncements, which means [earnings] are going to come in line or better than expected," Ghriskey said. "There a fair chance that the market really stabilizes, and we might even see an up week." There's a little breathing room for Monday's trading with a few financial services companies scheduled, but the earnings action heats up before the bell on Tuesday when Caterpillar (CAT: Research, Estimates), General Motors (GM: Research, Estimates), Merrill Lynch (MER: Research, Estimates) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: Research, Estimates) announce results. After the bell, results come in from semiconductor bellwether Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates), Motorola (MOT: Research, Estimates) and Apple Computer (AAPL: Research, Estimates). Wednesday before the bell brings Boeing (BA: Research, Estimates), Citigroup (C: Research, Estimates), Coca-Cola (KO: Research, Estimates), Ford (F: Research, Estimates), Honeywell (HON: Research, Estimates), J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: Research, Estimates) and Pfizer (PFE: Research, Estimates). After the bell the tech sector sees IBM (IBM: Research, Estimates) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: Research, Estimates) report. On Thursday, DaimlerChrysler (DCX: Research, Estimates), International Paper (IP: Research, Estimates), Philip Morris (MO: Research, Estimates), Sprint (FON: Research, Estimates) and US Airways (U: Research, Estimates) weigh in before the bell. After trading, Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates), eBay (EBAY: Research, Estimates), Sun Microsystems (SUNW: Research, Estimates) and Gateway (GTW: Research, Estimates) come in. And before the bell Friday investors will have results from Merck (MRK: Research, Estimates), PepsiCo (PEP: Research, Estimates) and UAL (UAL: Research, Estimates) to consider. Ghriskey noted that technology shares still could see a lot of volatility if they miss their revenue numbers, even if the earnings numbers are in line with expectations. Don't forget Alan While earnings should dominate the headlines, everyone listens when Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan speaks. On Tuesday, Greenspan gives his semiannual Humphrey-Hawkins testimony on the state of the economy to the Senate and Wednesday to the House. In other economic news, housing data are expected Wednesday, with the number of housing starts in June expected to fall modestly to 1.68 million in June from 1.733 million in May, according to a survey by Briefing.com. "Housing is going to be important because we've got a lot of housing companies that are going to start reporting in the last two weeks of the month," Payne said. The Consumer Price Index for June is scheduled to be released Friday, with economists looking for a 0.1 percent increase in June compared with no change in May, according to Briefing.com. 7/15/2002 9:27:04 AM หัวข้อ:We all got burned -- what now? โดย:4202612711 Forecasts, picks and strategies for putting the pieces back together. July 12, 2002: 6:13 PM EDT NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - There's a movie opening this weekend in which dragons cruise the air breathing fire and the few people left on the planet cower in fear of being scorched. Investors can relate. With U.S. stocks having lost more than $7 trillion in market value in the past two and a half years, even conservative portfolios have gotten burned, while more aggressive ones are deep-fried to near nothing. Worse, it's tough to see things getting better any time soon. Well, if you feel lost in this market, you're not alone. And after 2-1/2 years of losses, giving up now is tempting. But throwing in the towel could be as big a mistake as riding the market down from its peak. That doesn't mean the market won't fall further, but the values are out there. The following articles can guide you through these confusing times. Forecast: So are stocks cheap or not? Stocks have been whacked back to valuations not seen since 1997, and by at least some valuation models, the market is way undervalued. But there are still clouds on the horizon. Does the Fed think stocks are cheap? According to one popular valuation model, stocks are undervalued by 20 percent. Bracing for an earnings hit Two new studies show just how overvalued earnings may be. Picks: Think trust and safety Stocks aren't out of the woods yet (and some are probably heading to the woodshed). But even in these scandal-ridden times, there are some good values. Funds you can count on Now more than ever, it's best to go with the best of breed. Clean up your portfolio with mutual funds from MONEY Magazine's brand new Money 100. Six classic growth plays They led the last market cycle -- and likely will lead the next one too. Stocks you can trust Bottom Line columnist Adam Lashinsky profiles Procter & Gamble, Caterpillar, Quest Diagnostics and Illinois Tool Works. Big-cap bargains Two top fund managers on where they're finding value now. Strategies: Coping with the bear Feeling a lot poorer these days? Join the club. But as much as it hurts, you've got to put your emotions aside and start dealing. Three-step action plan: Ask the Expert: I've lost half my savings in the market slide. What can I do? Retiring into a bear market Smart portfolio strategies are key when your income is on the line. So you haven't sold yet... It's a tough choice: Hang on or (finally) get out? 401(k): Stay the course Your instinct may be to run and hide. That would be a mistake. 7/15/2002 9:33:18 AM หัวข้อ:ไก่ไทยมีวัวบ้า โดย:4202681294 สื่ออังกฤษแฉไก่ไทยอาจมีเชื้อวัวบ้า สำนักข่าวบีบีซีภาคภาษาไทย ประจำกรุงลอนดอนรายงานเมื่อวันที่ ๘ กรกฎาคม ว่า หนังสือพิมพ์เดอะการ์เดียน (The Guardian) ของอังกฤษลงข่าวหน้าหนึ่งเกี่ยวกับปัญหาโรควัวบ้าในเนื้อไก่นำเข้าพบว่าไก่ไทยกับไก่บราซิลแช่แข็งที่ขายอยู่ในอังกฤษ ซึ่งนำเข้าจากเนเธอร์แลนด์อาจติดเชื้อวัวบ้า ส่วนกระทรวงพาณิชย์ไทยออกมาย้ำว่าได้มีการตรวจสอบโรงงานผลิตไก่ทุกแห่งแล้วไม่มีปัญหาดังกล่าวแน่ การกระทำของอังกฤษถือเป็นการกีดกันทางการค้าเพราะเนื้อวัวอังกฤษไม่สามารถขายได้ในยุโรปทำให้คนยุโรปหันมาบริโภคไก่นำเข้าจากไทยมาก 7/15/2002 9:46:05 AM หัวข้อ:Rice exports set to fall short of target โดย:4202610574 Rice exports set to fall short of target HCM CITY Rice exports this year will fall well short of the Governments 3 million tonne target, Trade Ministry sources said. Viet Nam exported approximately 1.5 million tonnes of rice in the first half of this year, according to trade officials. Between 60 and 70 per cent of this total was exported under Government contracts. The figure represents a year-on-year decrease of 27 per cent in volume, and 3 per cent in turnover. With commercial production of the 2001-2002 crop nearly exhausted, only a limited amount of rice is available for the overseas market. Meanwhile, nine vessels are docked at Sai Gon Port waiting for 79,450 tonnes of rice for export. Viet Nam remains competitive in the rice market against major rival Thailand. Viet Nams broken rice is priced between US$162-164 per tonne, compared with Thai prices of $178-180 per tonne. However, the export price of Vietnamese rice is still too low to cover production costs. The Trade Ministry has recommended that exporters fulfil their current Government contracts, and adopt caution when signing export contracts for the summer-autumn crop. VNS 7/15/2002 1:03:57 PM หัวข้อ: โดย: 7/15/2002 1:36:16 PM หัวข้อ: โดย:4202681773 Greenspan to calm nervous US markets after big corporate scandals Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan will seek to calm congressional concern over recent market turmoil in the wake of a series of big corporate scandals when he testifies before the Senate banking committee, analysts said. Greenspan is expected to appear before the committee at 10:00 am (1400 GMT) Tuesday to deliver the Fed's semi-annual report on monetary policy and his usual brief economic forecast. The slide in stock and currency markets follow corporate accounting scandals involving Enron, Arthur Andersen, Xerox, WorldCom and others. "The risk is if you have continued financial distress, clearly that's going to hurt consumption and investments and would trigger a new recession," said John Silvia, chief economist of Wachovia Securities. Consumption is the main motor of growth for any economy, he said. Last week the Dow Jones industrial average, the best-known Wall Street index, plummeted 7.4 percent. It has lost 20 percent of its value since March. Likewise, Standard and Poor's 500, recognized as a more representative sampling of New York Stock Exchange stocks, fell 6.8 percent last week alone. Since early July, consumer confidence has been off sharply, as calculated by the University of Michigan. According to Silvia, the calculations show there is a real danger of putting a break on household spending in the near future. Some 80 million Americans have their retirement funds tied up in the stock market. Those 80 million are expected to rein in their spending to make up for value lost from their retirement portfolios. In the face of such economic turmoil, Greenspan will likely "reassure investors that Fed policy will counter any drag from falling equity prices and continue to foster a return of full employment," said JP Morgan economists in a research note. He could also say, as he has in his congressional testimony since February, that "the near-term outlook is clouded ... by weak stocks prices, soft business investment and uneven foreign growth," according to David Gilmore, partner at Foreign Exchange Analytics. Richard Rippe, chief economist, Prudential Securities, said: "I think he will reaffirm the Fed's intention to remain accommodative (until they) achieve a sustainable growth rate in final demand." The principal interest rate manipulated by the Fed, the overnight rate, has been at 1.75 percent since December, its lowest level in 40 years. For Sal Guatieri, an economist at Bank of Montreal in Chicago, "The drop in consumer sentiment raises the possibility of the Fed easing rates at the August 13" meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, where interest rate actions are decided. Besides delivering his report on the health of the US economy, Greenspan will surely take advantage of the intense media coverage that usually surrounds such hearings, to reassure US investors and the public that the US financial system remains solid despite the recent scandals, said Silvia. According to economists, Greenspan could also chide the markets for irrational pessimism, the flip side of the "irrational exuberance" term he coined when stocks were soaring in 1996 during the "new" economy. 7/15/2002 2:10:32 PM หัวข้อ:Tauzin: More WorldCom cooking โดย:4202680130 Tauzin: More WorldCom cooking Congressman says documents show WorldCom cooked books back in 2000. July 14, 2002: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Accounting irregularities at fallen telecommunications giant WorldCom Inc. stretch back to 2000, one year earlier than previously believed, a congressman investigating the company said Sunday. Internal WorldCom documents show the company's then-chief financial officer rebuffed complaints from at least two employees that it was artificially inflating profits as far back as April 2000, Louisiana Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin said on ABC's "This Week." Scott Sullivan, the company's long-serving CFO, was fired last month for his role in inflating profits by transferring $3.85 billion in expenses to capital spending accounts over 15 months starting in 2001. Tauzin, who is leading a congressional investigation into the matter, said five boxes of internal company documents showed that Sullivan and other top managers tried to quash employee concerns about accounting methods a year earlier. "The documents ... reveal a strange pattern of people inside the corporation discovering it, trying to do something about it, and ultimately failing until recently," said Tauzin, who chairs the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee. A finance department employee named Troy Normand pointed out bookkeeping problems in 2000 to Sullivan and company controller David Myers, and contemplated resigning after he was assured there was nothing wrong, Tauzin said. "There's quite an insight in these documents as to how corporate greed took over, and how, beginning in the year 2000 actually, the company began shifting ordinary expenses over to capital accounts," he said. In a separate incident in April 2000, a London employee named Stephen Brabbs notified auditor Andersen after Sullivan reclassified $33.6 million in expenses as capital spending, he said, allowing the charges to be written off over several years. "This is way beyond aggressive accounting. This is Fraud 101, you know, basic illegal conduct," Tauzin said. Andersen, which was fired by WorldCom earlier this year, was convicted June 15 of criminally obstructing justice in the government's probe of collapsed giant Enron Corp. Sullivan said he told former CEO Bernard Ebbers about the accounting problems, a charge Ebbers has denied. A WorldCom spokesman declined to comment on Tauzin's charges, but said the company was cooperating with all external investigations. 7/15/2002 4:19:27 PM หัวข้อ:Consumer Confidence Falls in June โดย:4202610574 NEW YORK washingtonpost Americans' anxiety about corporate scandals and jobs dragged down consumer confidence to a four-month low in June in a reflection of lingering weakness in the economy. The New York-based Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 106.4 this month from a revised 110.3 in May, the second biggest drop since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Analysts were expecting a reading of 106.0. Sales of previously owned homes also dipped, though the figure for May was still the fourth-highest monthly level on record, thanks largely to low mortgage rates. Economists said the two reports point to moderate economic growth in the months ahead. "It's been a very difficult month for the financial markets, but in addition we had a lot of international concerns that weighed on confidence," said Gary Thayer, chief economist for A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. Nevertheless, "consumers are still feeling better about things than they did six, seven months ago," he said. "We'll probably see them continue to spend and support economic growth going forward." The industry group's index, based on a monthly survey of some 5,000 U.S. households, is closely watched because consumer confidence drives consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of the nation's economic activity. The index compares results to its base year, 1985, when it stood at 100. June's figure is the lowest since February, when consumer confidence stood at 95.0 amid congressional hearings investigating the Enron scandal. The drop in confidence from last month also is the largest since the reading fell 11.7 points to 85.3 in October, after the terror attacks. "Weak labor market conditions, generally soft business conditions and waning public confidence in questionable business practices have helped erode consumer confidence," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's research center. Weighing on confidence was consumers' assessment of the employment picture, according to the Conference Board. Consumers reporting jobs were currently "hard to get" increased to 23.1 percent from 21.8 percent in May. Those claiming jobs were plentiful decreased to 20.1 percent from 21.2 percent. The jobs outlook for the next six months also weakened. Fewer consumers, 20.1 percent in June, expect more jobs to become available in the next six months, compared to 21.2 percent in May. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available rose to 14.2 percent from 13.6 percent. "We have seen a basically stable employment picture because of a cautious attitude on the part of businesses," said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo in Minneapolis. "But as employment improves later this year, consumer confidence should move upward with it." Tuesday, June 25, 2002; 7:27 PM 7/16/2002 2:05:27 PM หัวข้อ: โดย:4202 7/16/2002 2:07:22 PM หัวข้อ:Consumer Confidence Falls in June โดย:4202610574 NEW YORK washingtonpost Americans' anxiety about corporate scandals and jobs dragged down consumer confidence to a four-month low in June in a reflection of lingering weakness in the economy. The New York-based Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 106.4 this month from a revised 110.3 in May, the second biggest drop since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Analysts were expecting a reading of 106.0. Sales of previously owned homes also dipped, though the figure for May was still the fourth-highest monthly level on record, thanks largely to low mortgage rates. Economists said the two reports point to moderate economic growth in the months ahead. "It's been a very difficult month for the financial markets, but in addition we had a lot of international concerns that weighed on confidence," said Gary Thayer, chief economist for A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. Nevertheless, "consumers are still feeling better about things than they did six, seven months ago," he said. "We'll probably see them continue to spend and support economic growth going forward." The industry group's index, based on a monthly survey of some 5,000 U.S. households, is closely watched because consumer confidence drives consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of the nation's economic activity. The index compares results to its base year, 1985, when it stood at 100. June's figure is the lowest since February, when consumer confidence stood at 95.0 amid congressional hearings investigating the Enron scandal. The drop in confidence from last month also is the largest since the reading fell 11.7 points to 85.3 in October, after the terror attacks. "Weak labor market conditions, generally soft business conditions and waning public confidence in questionable business practices have helped erode consumer confidence," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's research center. Weighing on confidence was consumers' assessment of the employment picture, according to the Conference Board. Consumers reporting jobs were currently "hard to get" increased to 23.1 percent from 21.8 percent in May. Those claiming jobs were plentiful decreased to 20.1 percent from 21.2 percent. The jobs outlook for the next six months also weakened. Fewer consumers, 20.1 percent in June, expect more jobs to become available in the next six months, compared to 21.2 percent in May. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available rose to 14.2 percent from 13.6 percent. "We have seen a basically stable employment picture because of a cautious attitude on the part of businesses," said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo in Minneapolis. "But as employment improves later this year, consumer confidence should move upward with it." Tuesday, June 25, 2002; 7:27 PM 7/16/2002 2:15:09 PM หัวข้อ:Foreign investment in Britain slashed โดย:4202681013 LONDON Foreign investment in Britain plunged 12 percent in the year to March as companies around the globe scrambled to rein in spending in response to the deepest downturn in a decade, a government agency said yesterday. Invest.UK said Europes third largest economy attracted 764 new investment projects in the year to the end of March 2002, down from a record of 869 in the year earlier period. And job creation was halved, with just 34,087 new workers taken on as a result of inward investment projects compared with 71,488 the year before. The report was seized upon by pro-euro campaigners as evidence that the British economy would suffer if stirling remained outside the single European currency for much longer. Inward investors have been warning for years that Britains isolation from the euro makes us a less attractive location for overseas investment into the European single market, said Lord Marshall, chairman of the pro-European Britain in Europe organisation. Prime Minister Tony Blairs labour government has pledged to hold a referendum on British membership as long as five economic tests have been judged to have been met by next summer. AFP 7/16/2002 9:50:30 PM หัวข้อ:China H1 exports rise 14.2% to reach $142bn โดย:4202612208 BEIJING Chinas exports rose 14.2 percent in the first six months of this year from the same period in 2001, a senior trade official said yesterday, in a sign the country is cementing its role as a regional manufacturing base. First half exports hit $142.12 billion while imports were $128.52 billion, a rise of 10.3 percent, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade Ma Xiuhong told an investment seminar in Hong Kong. Most Asia-Pacific countries are hitting the bottom, but China is growing at double digits, thats very encouraging, said Tai Hui, an economist with Standard Chartered in Hong Kong. China is becoming a manufacturing centre for Asia.Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, they ship their semi-manufatured goods to China for assembly and export, Hui said. Mas data showed exports in June alone rose 18.3 percent from a year earlier to $26.13 billion while imports rose 8.05 percent to $22.96 billion. Chinas bullish export sector has worried some other Asian nations who fear the country may be grabbing more than its fair share of the regional export pie. But Chinas strong import growth was evidence that others in the area are benefitting from the Chinese boom, analysts said. The import numbers have very strong implications for the rest of Asia as well.Chinas increasing imports are important to Asia, soaking up goods from Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and so forth, so that gives a lift to those economies, Hui said. Chinas June surplus was $3.17 billion, nearly four times the small $830 million surplus a year earlier.The first half surplus worked out to $13.6 billion, up 67 percent from the same period last year. The export growth in June and the first half was well ahead of Chinas official target of seven percent for this year to help it achieve overall economic growth of seven percent. Growth in exports, a key economic driver, has swung wildly this year, soaring 18.4 percent in May and 17.2 percent in April after a surprisingly slow 3.4 percent rise in March. Chinas rulers, worried slow export growth of just 6.8 percent last year would carry over into this year and undermine economic growth and job creation, have tried to stimulate the sector this year with extra export tax rebates. The government had budgeted 100 billion yuan (US$ 12 billion) for export tax rebates this year and had handed out 40 billion yuan in the first quarter alone, a state economist said in a report last week. Reuters 7/16/2002 9:54:06 PM หัวข้อ:European shares skid to new lows โดย:4202612646 European stocks skidded lower again in early trading after a tentative rebound fizzled out and jitters about the outlook for corporate profits pushed indices down to the lowest levels for about five years. European stock markets had opened higher as dealers breathed a sigh of relief after US markets had pulled out of a tailspin on Monday to close with modest losses. But the gains proved short-lived and European markets tumbled into loss again, having dived by over five percent on Monday, with drugs companies and insurers among the main losers. The pan-euro zone Euro Stoxx 50 index lost 1.8 percent to 2,661.7 points. The British FTSE 100 index dropped 2.1 percent to 3,909.3 points, having closed at its lowest level since December 1996 on Monday. The German DAX 30 index eased back 0.6 percent to 3,889.0 points, while the French CAC 40 index shed 2.0 percent to 3,256.0 points, having closed at its lowest level since October 1998. Stocks were under the hammer in Asia as well after the recent volatility on Wall Street and concerns about a stronger yen against the dollar. Tokyo shares shed 1.2 percent on Tuesday, while Hong Kong stocks gave up 1.5 percent. Investors are nervous that the upcoming second-quarter reporting US and European season might reveal more skeletons lurking in corporate cupboards, and will be studying companies' outlook statements closely. "What we want to see is guidance, any form of guidance for the third and fourth quarters in terms of earnings, in terms of capital spending," said BNP Paribas European equity strategist David Thwaites. "The actual numbers for the second quarter are not really the issue," he told AFP. There was some supportive news on the earnings front from Dutch electronics giant Philips, whose share price rose 0.8 percent to 23.38 euros as its second-quarter results got the thumbs up from investors. The group announced a loss of 1.355 billion euros (dollars), largely owing to a one-off charge of 1.516 billion related to the fall in the value of its 3.5-percent stake in French media group Vivendi Universal. Stripping out this and other exceptional charges, Philips made a profit of 171 million euros, above analyst expectations. "Those looked pretty good. If we get everybody else doing something pretty similar, then things are going to turn-around, but I don't think that's very likely," said Thwaites. Investors around the globe were hoping for some words of comfort from US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan later Tuesday. Greenspan was due to appear before the Senate Banking Committee at 10:00 am (1400 GMT) to deliver the Fed's semi-annual report on monetary policy and his usual brief economic forecast. Standard and Poor's economist Will Rugg said equity investors were pinning their hopes on Greenspan to bring calm to the rollercoaster market. "They want a knight in shining armour, but there's nothing he can say to restore confidence in corporate governance," Rugg said. Among the main losers in Europe, drugs companies were under pressure again. Shares in British giant GlaxoSmitKline plunged 8.8 percent to 1,072 pence on negative broker comment after Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis announced Monday it would launch Amoxicillin, a generic version of Glaxo's Augmentin antibiotic in the US. But one winner was P and O Princess Cruises. Its shares surged by 10.6 percent to 390.25 pence on reports that the European Commission was likely to clear a proposed takeover of British cruise operator by US rival Carnival. P and O Princess has rebuffed the offer, choosing to pursue a merger of equals with Miami-based Royal Caribbean instead. Shares in Deutsche Telekom firmed 4.3 percent to 10.74 euros. The group's supervisory board was to meet Tuesday to discuss the possible removal of Ron Sommer as chairman, as proposed by the German government which still holds a 43-percent stake in the former state-owned monopoly. 7/16/2002 10:01:54 PM หัวข้อ: โดย:4202680049 7/18/2002 8:23:54 AM หัวข้อ:Credit blowups even as economy improves โดย:4202680049 Bank of America Securities says corporate America's profit rebound is likely to be uneven. July 11, 2002: 8:18 PM EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Corporate bond investors can look forward to a brighter economic and profit picture for the rest of the year, but they should still tread cautiously over the next few months, Banc of America Securities strategists said. Corporate America's profit rebound is likely to be uneven, and some ratings are likely to come under continued pressure, particularly in the hard-hit telecommunications sector, the firm's strategists said during a mid-year outlook conference call. "Intraday spread widening, historically viewed as a buying opportunity, should cause hesitation over the next two to three months," said Michael Johnson, senior high-grade strategist for Banc of America Securities. "The number of potential credit implosion candidates has not materially declined over the past six months," he said. Still, credit quality may not be as bad as market sentiment suggests, he said. The overall market has generally improved while a small number of "usual suspects" has exerted an extraordinary influence, said Johnson. That has left some corporate sectors representing value, the bank's strategists said. Investors should buy casino bonds, where yields are attractive and where companies have been cutting costs and applying cash flow to debt reduction, said Chris Brown, an analyst who covers the sector. A favorite pick is MGM Mirage (MGG: Research, Estimates), expected to generate $500 million of free cash flow in 2002, with all of that going to debt reduction, Brown said. Some media company bonds also have become more attractive after sharp spread widening in the first part of the year, said analyst Matt Bartlett. AOL Time Warner Inc. (AOL: Research, Estimates), the parent of CNN/Money, offers the best relative value in the sector because of its positive free cash flow, improved liquidity following approval of new bank lines, and the attractive spreads on its bonds, Bartlett said. Telecom bonds, the market's worst performers so far this year, could continue to struggle with regulatory probes, concerns about liquidity, ratings downgrades and intense competition, Bartlett said. Banc of America recommends a market weight in the sector, meaning a weight matching corporate bond indexes. The bank also cut its recommendation on the auto sector to market weight from overweight. Though sales were strong this year, they were achieved mostly through incentives that may have robbed future sales growth, said Tim Patrick, head of global high-grade research. Negative business trends also could pressure ratings, though rating agencies will likely hold off this year while they monitor business trends, he said. 7/18/2002 8:25:36 AM หัวข้อ:IBM, NEC eye second-hand PC market โดย:4202612786 IBM, NEC eye second-hand PC market July 3, 2002 , Cnn.com TOKYO, Japan -- IBM Japan and NEC Corp. plan to resell their own second-hand computers, according to reports. The companies plan to tempt corporate customers to return used laptops. They will then sell them on to wholesalers and other companies. The resale plan may have an environmental benefit. IBM Japan has applied for a license from Japan's Environment Ministry to collect and recycle used personal computers. Most computer makers have resisted selling second-hand computers because they fear it will make customers stop buying new ones. They have ceded the second-hand business to retail stores. Disposing of unwanted computers That has left large companies to foot high bills for disposing of used computers. IBM and NEC now expect to take that cost on, reselling IBM and NEC computers, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on Wednesday. Both makers plan to help companies simply dispose of unwanted computers, if they are not worth reselling. The idea is to recover many computers, including other brands. But each company will only resell its own computers, and only with a three-month warranty. IBM already collects around 15,000 computers worldwide, two-thirds of them in the United States. Used computer market growing fast "At least 10,000 of them are collected in the United States, some of them refurbished, some of them resold, some of them recycled," a spokesman told Reuters news agency. The sluggish economy in Japan has been stimulating interest in refitted or upgraded used computers. The second-hand computer market is growing at around 20 percent a year. The country is coming out of one of its worst recessions in half a century. The latest tankan report out of the Bank of Japan showed business confidence is mounting once again Small- and mid-size companies have been big buyers of used computers. Schools and local governments have also proved ready to take them. Around 60,000 computers a year IBM aims to take in around 60,000 personal computers a year, the Nikkei stated, just under 10 percent of its total sales five years ago. It will then on-sell only about 3000 of those PCs, gradually increasing that figure if demand is strong. The computers will cost around 35,000 yen ($291). They originally cost 200,000 yen ($1664) five years ago. Used IBM laptops would go for some 50,000 yen ($416), down from their original price of around 350,000 yen ($2912). NEC, which has been shifting its computer production to China, hasn't outlined details of its plan. But it has targeted an NEC affiliate in the Gunma prefecture to sell the computers. NEC said in May it is spinning off its chip business to focus on more-profitable lines (full story). It tussles with Fujitsu for top spot for personal-computer sales in Japan. 7/19/2002 1:15:36 PM หัวข้อ: โดย:4202 7/19/2002 5:35:50 PM หัวข้อ:Saddam scorns threats to Iraq โดย:4202680023 Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has said that "evil tyrants and oppressors" will not be able to unseat him and his government. The US has branded Iraq part of an "axis of evil" supporting terrorism, and President George W Bush has vowed to pursue the Iraqi leader's removal. The wind will blow away foreign rattling as the noise of an evil covetous tyrant Saddam Hussein "You will never defeat me this time. Never!" said Saddam Hussein, speaking in a televised address. "Even if you come together from all over the world, and invite all the devils as well, to stand by you," he added. The Iraqi president did not make specific mention of the US or threats of military action, but he implicitly warned other Arab countries not to back any US campaign. Iraq has denied US allegations that it is developing weapons of mass destruction. The prospect of US military action increased earlier this month, when talks between Iraq and the United Nations on the return of UN weapons inspectors to Baghdad broke down. Anniversary Saddam Hussein was speaking on the 34th anniversary of the 1968 coup d'etat which brought his Baath Party to power. The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Baghdad says that the speech was less fiery than usual, and less forceful had been expected. The revolution "returns to us ... to meet the level of your struggle and your jihad. But its resolve, this time, is deep-rooted," he said. "It will not succumb to, or be shaken by, the propaganda of foreign powers," Saddam said. "The wind will blow away foreign rattling as the noise of an evil covetous tyrant, the enemy of Allah." Baghdad has been hung with defiant banners for the occasion, and the press has reinforced the president's line. The state-run Al-Iraq newspaper said: "US plans against Iraq will meet with failure". The US administration is "seeking to export its internal crises to cover up financial scandals and its failures in Afghanistan," said Ath-Thawra. 7/20/2002 1:41:59 PM << End of file >>
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