| French Support for Chad Dictator Makes EU Uneasy
Since he was elected in May last year, French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to break away from the embarrassing old habit of propping up autocratic and corrupt ex-colonial regimes in Africa. But Sarkozy broke his promise last week after a brutal rebel attack in N'Djamena that left scores of civilians dead and forced tens of thousands to flee the Chadian capital. The French government came down on the side of Chad's strongman Idriss Deby, who rose to power in a 1990 coup that had the blessing of Sarkozy's predecessors, leading observers to concluded that the more things change in France's traditional Africa policy, the more they remain the same. France ruled by national interests Bildunterschrift: France has been pushing for an EU mission to stabilize Chad's border with Darfur That policy, called Francafrique, meant serving France's strategic and commercial interests by continuing to exercise post-colonial influence through African rulers.
10-month Suspension for Luk Kam Kwong Kenneth
The SFC has suspended Mr Luk Kam Kwong Kenneth for 10 months from 8 January to 7 November 2008 for his failure to act candidly during an insider dealing inquiry and for favouring his own interests ahead of his client's (Note 1).
The action follows an inquiry conducted by the Insider Dealing Tribunal in 2006, concerning trading in the then Cheong Ming Holdings Limited (Note 2) in which Luk failed to respond to the IDT and the SFC with the candour expected of a licensed person (Note 3).
His evidence before the IDT in 2006 also led to the discovery that, in January 2000, Luk executed a client's order to purchase 400,000 shares in Cheong Ming but allocated 170,000 shares to the sister of his then girlfriend rather than allocating all of the shares to his client (Note 4).
Agri volumes jump on rise in position limits
MUMBAI: Volumes in spices and few other farm commodities increased on Wednesday on NCDEX with the commodities market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) increasing the position limits in most of the agri commodities. Commodity analysts feel that the move will boost up the agri volumes.
FMC on Tuesday increased the open interest limits for 32 agriculture commodities. The position limits is the maximum level of a particular commodity that a member or a client can hold. Meanwhile the commission also reduced the daily price limits of 34 agriculture commodities.
The volume of most active pepper March contract that was on an average around 10,000 tonnes a week back on daily basis moved up to 17,000 tonnes on Wednesday, volume of jeera March contract doubled to 24,000 tonnes while volume of turmeric moved up to 45,000 tonnes from earlier levels of 35,000 tonnes.
Issues 2008
Supply figures since credit markets froze are even more telling. Volume between July and December slumped 72.5% and reached a five-year record low for a half-year supply..." January 3 - Financial Times (Paul Betts): "Last spring, the Spanish property developer Astroc started the ball rolling. Its debt servicing problems triggered the first serious plunge in the shares of Spain's financially over-stretched property and construction companies. Before crashing, Astroc shares had increased 10-fold since first listing in 2006. Its chairman, Enrique Banuela, who had been catapulted into the Fortune 100 list of the world's richest tycoons... Then, in the autumn, it was the turn of Llanera to bite the dust.... Now, it is Colonial, another small property fish that has grown by aggressive debt-financed acquisition into the country's second biggest property group...
Clintons ghettoize Obama
It began in Iowa, where Barack Obama, the first black crossover candidate with broad appeal to all racial and ethnic groups, was on fire in a state that was overwhelmingly white. Came then Billy Shaheen, the Clinton New Hampshire co-chairman, to suggest that, were Obama to be nominated, Republicans would ask when he had stopped using drugs and whether he ever bought or sold drugs. Mark Penn of the Clinton campaign denied on MSNBC’s "Hardball" that his team was raising the "cocaine issue." Mission accomplished, Shaheen dutifully resigned. Bill Clinton drove the point home, telling an interviewer that to nominate Obama would be a "roll of the dice." Nevertheless, Obama won Iowa going away and stormed into New Hampshire for what pundits predicted would be a defeat for Hillary so crushing it would be the final chapter of the Clinton era.
Euro - Belgium Business Survey Suggests Potential Strength in German ...
Record profitability could finally help to drive more liberal spending. Commodity Currencies (CAD, AUD, NZD) After yesterday's strong rally, it was not surprising to see the commodity currencies succumb to profit taking as both gold and oil prices stabilize. The biggest percentage loser of the three was the Australian dollar which came under pressure on the back of continually cautious comments from Treasurer Costello. Overnight he warned that the drought could trim three quarters of a percentage point from growth last year; Australian GDP is due on March 6th. New Zealand reported a smaller increase in credit card spending for the month January as well as a downward revision to the December data. The Canadian dollar had no reason to weaken today aside from profit taking. Crude prices continued to rise after the EIA reported the largest decline in heating oil and gasoline stockpiles since September 2005.
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