Troubled Greece

Greece continues to suffer from rioting over a teen's killing by police action. BBC has the story:

"Greek rioters clash with police"

Thousands of rioters across Greece have clashed with police in a third day of violent protests over the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy.

Police used teargas against protesters roaming the streets of Athens throwing petrol bombs and setting fire to buildings, vehicles and rubbish bins.

Dozens of people have been injured throughout the country and there are reports of looting in some areas.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has gone on television to appeal for calm.

Read Full Article BBC News

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Mumbai Developments

Mumbai was a tragic incident. Investigators are continuing to learn more:

"More Mumbai Links to Pakistan and Signs of Hostage Abuse"
By JEREMY KAHN and SALMAN MASOOD

MUMBAI, India — The Mumbai police on Thursday identified a second Pakistani terrorist as an engineer of the bloody assaults on the city last week and confirmed that they were investigating whether a Mumbai man arrested on terrorism charges had scoped out some of the high-profile targets the attackers struck, leaving more than 170 dead.

Gruesome new evidence also emerged Thursday suggesting that some of the six people killed at the Jewish center in Mumbai had been treated savagely. Some of the bodies appeared to have strangulation marks and wounds on their bodies did not come from gunshots or grenades, the police said.

Read Full Article New York Times

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Gloomy economic news

For the U.S., along with the rest of the world, the economy is on everyone's mind. CNN has more bad news unfortunately:

"Citigroup to cut more than 50,000 jobs"
By David Ellis, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Citigroup said Monday it planned to cut more than 50,000 jobs, the latest move by the struggling bank to cut costs in order to weather the credit crisis plaguing Wall Street.

In an investor presentation on its Web site, the company said it would reduce its workforce to approximately 300,000 employees. As of the end of September, the New York City-based bank had about 352,000 employees.

This would be a 20% reduction in Citigroup's staff from their peak levels late last year.

Read Full Article CNN

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Economy Down, Oil Profits Up

Apparently Exxon Mobil profits are in record-breaking territory. I guess someone is benefiting from high gas prices. Washington Post has the story:

"Exxon Mobil Profits Set a Record in Third Quarter"
By Steven Mufson, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, October 30, 2008

Exxon Mobil Corp. smashed its own record for quarterly profits today, ringing up $14.8 billion in net income in the third quarter powered by soaring summertime crude oil prices.

Exxon Mobil's earnings, at $2.86 a share, are up 58 percent from the same period in 2007 and higher than what analysts expected, capping a week of strong profit numbers from the world's biggest oil companies, all of whom benefited from the spike in oil prices in July. Royal Dutch Shell also posted higher earnings today, beating analysts' estimates with $8.54 billion of profits for the third quarter.

Read Full Article Washington Post

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N.Y. suffering

The City of New York has always been a top powerhouse area in the United States. This Wall Street mess is definitely going to hurt N.Y.C. What's coming in the Wall Street reform arena? This reuters article provides interesting analysis:

"Massive market clean-up looms after election"
By Kevin Drawbaugh - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Salvaging order from the Wall Street train wreck will mean years of toil for the next U.S. president and Congress, with an early reform push expected in the high-leverage, low-oversight markets for securitized debt and derivative financial instruments.

Soon after the November 4 elections, lawmakers plan to pursue big changes in credit default swaps, mortgage-backed securities and other complex investment vehicles at the core of a crisis that is costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

"No one has the right to juggle knives on a public bus," Rep. Chris Shays said at a congressional hearing last week.

Read Full Article Reuters

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Greece grinding to a halt

Greece is apparently having massive labor strikes that is basically stopping all commerce. BBC has the latest:

"Strike-hit Greece at standstill"

Air traffic, urban transport and public services have ground to a halt in Greece, where hundreds of thousands of people have walked out on strike.

Thousands marched through Athens in protest at privatisation, caps on pay and reforms to the pension system.

A small group of protesters threw stones and clashed with riot police, who fired tear gas.

But there were no reports of injuries and for the most part rallies in the capital passed off peacefully.

Read Full Article BBC News

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More stimulus checks??

Remember that nice little boost many of us received during the last economic stimulus bill. Well I guess there's talk of another round. MSNBC has the story:

"Bernanke: Fresh stimulus worth considering"
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Monday a fresh round of government stimulus is a good idea because there’s a risk the country’s economic weakness could last for some time.

President Bush — backing away from an earlier stance — said he was open to the idea.

Bernanke’s remarks before the House Budget Committee marked his first endorsement of another round of energizing stimulus, something that Democrats on Capitol Hill have been pushing. “With the economy likely to be weak for several quarters, and with some risk of a protracted slowdown, consideration of a fiscal package by the Congress at this juncture seems appropriate,” Bernanke testified.

Read Full Article MSNBC

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