TGIF
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Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Friday, December 5, 2008 -- 8:33 PM ET
-----
Leaders in Congress Agree on Auto Bailout Plan
Details were not immediately available but senior aides said
that the bailout would include billions in short-term loans.
Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Friday, December 5, 2008 -- 8:33 PM ET
-----
Leaders in Congress Agree on Auto Bailout Plan
Details were not immediately available but senior aides said
that the bailout would include billions in short-term loans.
Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na
Thanks bro! Enjoy the weekend!!!!!!!!!
Allen-Vanguard unit wins potential $7.5-million deal
2008-12-05 08:15 ET - News Release
Mr. David Luxton reports
ALLEN-VANGUARD AWARDED COUNTER-IED SERVICES CONTRACT WORTH UP TO $7.5 MILLION FOR U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD)
Allen-Vanguard Corp.'s wholly owned subsidiary, Hazard Management Solutions Inc., has been awarded a contract to provide Crew vehicle receiver/jammer training and operational support to the U.S. Department of Defense. The initial contract carries a base-year value of approximately $2.1-million. The program provides for two optional years totalling $5.4-million, for a potential three-year value of approximately $7.5-million. All amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.
"We are very pleased to contribute vital support to the warfighter in the ongoing effort against the lethal hazard of improvised explosive devices," said David E. Luxton, president and chief executive officer of Allen-Vanguard. "This contract award today recognizes our highly specialized capability in Counter-IED and reflects the expectation of ongoing demand for solutions to the IED threat, which continues to be described as persistent, global and evolving."
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Friday, December 5, 2008 -- 2:12 PM ET
-----
O.J. Simpson Is Sentenced to at Least Nine Years in Prison
Mr. Simpson was sentenced for his role in a 2007 raid on a
Las Vegas hotel room in which two collectibles dealers were
robbed of a trove of sports memorabilia.
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Friday, December 5, 2008 -- 2:12 PM ET
-----
O.J. Simpson Is Sentenced to at Least Nine Years in Prison
Mr. Simpson was sentenced for his role in a 2007 raid on a
Las Vegas hotel room in which two collectibles dealers were
robbed of a trove of sports memorabilia.
lol
How many symbol changes ago?
Trader but nothing else for sure, imo!
$40 was my first stop with a double short ETF, but I am thinking that $30 is not impossible. However, please note that oil companies are operating at a large deficit at these prices, so expect a violent whiplash in prices. When is the ultimate trader's question.
My plan was go long at $40 initially and if that is not the bottom, buy 20-30% stake long between $30 and $40.
Don't quote me as WTHDIK!
JMO
ou
Wow, talk about a ghost from the past ....
yep!
lol
VRS volume!
OMG, I am so addicted top my iPOD Touch that it isn't even funny anymore.
I now have the LIVE POKER app installed on it, and I am at risk of seeing the battery drained before the day is out or I get home to charge it. I will need a mobile charger soon ... better yet an instant charger!!!
lol
Oil headed to $40
Great story ... thanks for sharing!
np, I am watching ....
Gold down too!
Oil going lower!
Bailout hearing for US automakers in one hour
Thanks! So right on ...
You welcome Chu!
lol
Hey Chu!
You forgot to mention that the Bloc holds the balance of power in this coalition government, and they just happen to be a separatist party that just want more money from the feds or they take all their marbles and go home.
Last but not least the GG is a Liberal patronage appointment.
Yes, a banana republic with snowflakes!
Harper taking political battle to airwaves
1 hour, 42 minutes ago
By Martin O'Hanlon, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Stephen Harper is taking to the airwaves in an effort to turn the public tide against the opposition coalition and justify his bid to hold on to power.
The prime minister was to address the country Wednesday night as he faces an imminent opposition threat to bring down his minority Conservative government next week.
The Liberal-NDP coalition, backed by the Bloc Quebecois, asked for equal TV time to respond.
Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean was to return from Europe on Wednesday afternoon and Harper was expected to ask her to suspend Parliament until late January to put off the crucial confidence vote.
Without such a delay, the opposition is prepared to defeat the government on Monday and then ask Jean to hand power to the coalition.
But a suspension of Parliament would limit the power of Harper's government to routine housekeeping matters and preclude any major spending at a time of economic crisis.
The Tories say the opposition move is an assault on democracy and national unity and they vow to take all legal steps to block it. They turned up the rhetoric Wednesday, going so far as to talk of treason.
Ontario Conservative Bob Dechert accused the Liberals of trying to destroy the country by aligning with the separatist Bloc. He said it's "tantamount to treason."
"They're getting into bed with the separatists," he said. "They've actually written a deal giving the separatists a veto over every decision of the Canadian government. That is as close to treason and sedition as I can imagine."
The Tory outrage comes despite that fact that Harper signed a letter with the Bloc in 2004 advising the Governor General to consider letting the opposition govern should the Liberal government of Paul Martin fall.
And despite the Tory anger, the coalition arrangement is legal and legitimate under the parliamentary system.
"This is part of our democratic system," Jean said Tuesday in Prague.
The opposition parties together won just over 54 per of the popular vote in the Oct. 14 federal election.
Liberal MP John McKay said the inflamed language from the Tories makes it clear that this Parliament will not work under any circumstances.
He said the government must fall - either next week or next month.
"We have to. Have to," he said. "The die is cast, there is no turning back on this decision."
The Tories have fired up their formidable campaign machine for an all-out blitz against the opposition. The barrage includes radio ads, rallies, and urging supporters to swamp MPs, talk shows and media with calls and e-mails.
The coalition was preparing a counterattack. The Canadian Labour Congress, which is organizing rallies in support of the coalition, says it has radio spots ready to go.
Rallies were being organized across the country by supporters on both sides of the bitter parliamentary meltdown.
Jean, who must decide whether to allow Parliament to prorogue or let the opposition take over, has been working closely with her advisers and constitutional experts, said an official.
There is precedent for the vice-regal refusing to dissolve Parliament in the face of a confidence crisis - the King-Byng affair of 1926. But the question of refusing prorogation is uncharted territory.
The coalition would be first change of government without an election since 1926.
Under the opposition pact, Dion would serve as prime minister until spring when he is to be replaced as Liberal leader. The deal calls for the coalition to survive at least 18 months.
Harper precipitated the crisis last Thursday with the provocative economic update that contained no stimulus package, killed public financing for federal political parties, and banned public sector unions from striking for two years.
Desperate back-peddling by the government over the weekend in the face of the coalition talks did nothing.
Copyright © 2008 Canadian Press
Copyright 2008 © Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Allen-Vanguard receives further loan payment extension
2008-11-28 07:14 ET - News Release
Mr. David Luxton reports
ALLEN-VANGUARD ANNOUNCES FURTHER EXTENSION OF LENDER ACCOMMODATION
Allen-Vanguard Corp.'s lenders have extended the accommodation agreement announced in Stockwatch Oct. 31, 2008.
The accommodation further defers compliance with certain financial covenants and payment of the $10-million quarterly principal repayment that was due Sept. 30, 2008, until Dec. 10, 2008.
"Our lenders continue to work with us and to provide support in our efforts to recapitalize the company, and we expect to conclude on a preferred transaction prior to Dec. 10," said David E. Luxton, president and chief executive officer. "We understand that there continues to be uncertainty about our working capital position and our ability to fund our growth, particularly following our recent announcement of strong backlog and order growth as well as expanded partnerships and teaming agreements. We anticipate that when this refinancing process is concluded management and stakeholders can refocus on the intrinsic value of Allen-Vanguard and its business opportunities and proprietary technologies as a global leader in protection and countermeasures against hazardous devices."
"It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing,
but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous."
--Robert Benchley
December 1, 2008, 4:48 pm
Obama’s ‘Dream Team’
By Michael Falcone
Barack Obama in May, 2008. (Photo:Doug Mills/The New York Times)
Besides their impressive resumes and political star-power, a few of President-elect Barack Obama’s top cabinet choices have something else in common — hoop dreams.
Though these days Eric H. Holder Jr., Susan E. Rice and Gen. James L. Jones, may be more comfortable handling policy memos than shooting free throws, at one point they were very much at home on the court.
And as the basketball-loving president-elect assembles his so-called team of rivals, it appears he may have – coincidentally — put together a pretty competitive group of players.
As a teenager, Mr. Holder, the president-elect’s nominee for Attorney General, was co-captain of the basketball team, the Peglegs, at Stuyvesant High School in New York. And he stayed on top of his game as an undergraduate and a law student at Columbia University. In an interview with The New York Times that was published Monday, he trash-talked his new boss a bit, saying of Mr. Obama and basketball skills, “I don’t know if he’s ready for my New York game.”
Ms. Rice, who long-ago traded the thrill of hitting a three-pointer for scoring big on the world stage, was a star player at National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., where she also excelled in her studies. Her athleticism reportedly earned her the nickname, Spo, short for Sportin’. She’ll be the Obama administration’s ambassador to the United Nations.
And along with the announcement of Mr. Holder’s and Ms. Rice’s cabinet positions on Monday, Mr. Obama also called General Jones up from the bench to be his national security adviser. At 6-foot-4, Mr. Jones was a forward for the Georgetown Hoyas during his college years.
Though they may scrupulously avoid mixing metaphors in their new jobs — a Bush-era reference to a “slam dunk” comes to mind — their talents on the court, might earn them the distinction as the White House’s first “team of dribblers.”
Nearly superstitious, Mr. Obama became well known for playing hoops on the day of almost every primary contest. While that season may be past him, the White House carries its own series of quarterly tests, long before the next election cycle.
And, as everyone learned during the six-week lead-up to the Pennsylvania primary in May, Mr. Obama doesn’t excel at another sport — bowling. So the incoming Obama team may find, as the president-elect suggested long ago in Indiana, that the bowling alley in the White House might well become a victim of renovations to make way for a hoop court.
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company Privacy Policy NYTimes.com 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY
Any volume players in this stock price range that attracts your attention these days. I thought that all speculative money had dried up, but ....
Westaim calls for meeting of Nucryst shareholders
2008-12-01 17:46 ET - News Release
Also News Release (C-NCS) Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corp
Mr. Drew Fitch of Westaim reports
THE WESTAIM CORPORATION REQUISITIONS MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS OF NUCRYST PHARMACEUTICALS TO RETURN CAPITAL TO NUCRYST SHAREHOLDERS
The Westaim Corp. has requisitioned a special meeting of shareholders of Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corp. to consider a return of capital to Nucryst shareholders of approximately $15-million (U.S.) or 80 U.S. cents per share. Westaim will continue to review alternatives to maximize the value of its 74.5-per-cent stake in Nucryst. Under the Alberta Business Corporations Act, Nucryst's board of directors has 20 days to call a meeting of shareholders when requisitioned.
In addition to its 74.5-per-cent stake in Nucryst, Westaim has net assets of approximately $15-million including cash of approximately $20-million; third party asset-backed commercial paper with a book value of $5-million; and liabilities of approximately $11-million. In addition, Westaim has approximately $100-million in tax pools available for use against future income.
Westaim's cash position will be strengthened by approximately $13-million pending the return of capital to be considered at the meeting of Nucryst shareholders.
"Westaim's board of directors has considered all strategic alternatives to maximize the value of its assets," said Drew Fitch, president and chief executive officer, Westaim. "Given the current liquidity and credit crisis and the related scarcity of available new debt and equity capital, we believe our cash resources position us well to pursue new investment opportunities to grow the value of the company and realize maximum returns for our shareholders."
"I hate victims who respect their executioners."
--Jean-Paul Sartre
GG cuts short European trip in face of political crisis
1 hour, 54 minutes ago
By The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean is cutting short a European trip and returning to Canada on Wednesday in the face of a political crisis that could bring down the government next week.
Jean's secretary, Sheila-Marie Cook, confirms the Governor General decided to return to Ottawa after the three opposition parties announced an agreement to form a coalition government should the Conservative minority fall to a confidence vote next Monday.
Jean has been on a state visit to central Europe since Nov. 24. A spokeswoman said she is returning of her own accord and not at the request of the prime minister.
She has been working closely with her own advisers and constitutional experts, said the official.
Flanked by his NDP and Bloc Quebecois counterparts, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion announced Monday that he had informed Jean of a formal, governing entente between the opposition, and called on her to let him govern.
"I have respectfully recommended to Her Excellency that she should, at her first opportunity, exercise her constitutional authority and invite the leader of the Official Opposition to form a new government with the support of the two other opposition parties," said Dion.
The minority government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to fall next week when the House of Commons votes on last Thursday's economic update - unless Harper manages a last-minute tactical manoeuvre.
The opposition say the mini-budget presented by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was driven by Conservative ideology and contained no stimulus package for the ailing economy.
The document would have slashed government spending, banned public-service strikes and cut off nearly $30 million in funding to federal political parties.
Flaherty has promised to present a full budget Jan. 27, but the opposition leaders say that's too late.
The Conservatives hinted Monday that something might be in the works, such as asking Jean to prorogue, or end, the present Commons session and call a new session for the end of January.
That would delay the non-confidence vote and give Harper two months breathing space.
"We will use all legal means to resist this undemocratic seizure of power," Harper told Tories gathered behind closed doors for their annual Christmas party at an Ottawa hotel.
"My friends, such an illegitimate government would be a catastrophe, for our democracy, our unity and our economy, especially at a time of global instability."
The coalition would be first change of government without an election since 1926.
Under the opposition pact, Dion - a leader his own party was ready to jettison after losing the federal election Oct. 14 - would serve as prime minister until spring when he is to be replaced as Liberal leader.
The coalition pact includes a multibillion-dollar stimulus package for the troubled economy, including support for the auto and forestry sectors.
Any doubt of the seriousness of the unlikely opposition alliance was dispelled by the ashen features of Conservative MPs in the House of Commons.
"I think he's about to play the biggest political game in Canadian history," an embattled Harper told the daily Commons question period.
The 77 Liberal MPs and 37 New Democrats - backed by 49 members of the Bloc Quebecois - reached a deal Monday to form a coalition for at least 18 months.
"Canadians elected 308 members of Parliament in October, not just Stephen Harper," Dion said after signing the deal with NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc chief Gilles Duceppe.
"We are ready to form a new government that will address the best interests of the people instead of plunging Canadians into another election."
In an open letter to Canadians, the three leaders wrote:
"Since the recent federal election, it has become clear that the government headed by Mr. Harper has no plan, no competence and no will to effectively address this (economic) crisis.
"Therefore, the majority of Parliament has lost confidence in Mr. Harper's government, and is resolved to form a new government that will effectively, prudently, promptly and competently address these critical economic times."
It appears Harper's government has few options to keep this "three-headed Frankenstein monster" - in the words of one Tory MP - from coming to life.
Harper told the Commons that Canadians will question "overturning the results of an election a few weeks later in order to form a coalition nobody voted for and everybody denied."
It was total about-face for Harper who advised the Governor General in 2004 to let him govern - supported by the separatist Bloc - should the minority government of Liberal Paul Martin fall.
Harper precipitated the crisis last Thursday with the provocative economic update. Desperate back-peddling over the weekend in the face of the coalition talks did nothing.
"Conservatives have given in on a few points but nothing can restore the confidence that Stephen Harper has violated," Duceppe said Monday.
Others agreed that Harper has so poisoned the confidence of Parliament that any death-bed conversions he might offer now are worthless.
The key to breaking the logjam after weekend talks was an internal agreement Monday by Liberal MPs to hold their noses and keep Dion as interim leader - and thus prime-minister-in-waiting - until he can be replaced at a scheduled leadership convention in May.
The agreement between the Liberals and the NDP is to last until June 2011. The Bloc has agreed to support the arrangement until June 2010, at which point their support could be extended.
The Governor General's role becomes pivotal in the coming days.
There is a precedent - the King-Byng affair of 1926 - for the vice-regal refusing to dissolve Parliament in the face of a confidence crisis.
Constitutional experts suggest the current Governor General similarly may be reluctant to permit prorogation when it is such an obvious dodge of a clear lack of Commons confidence in the government. But Jean is working in uncharted waters, with no precedents to rely on.
The opposition parties represent just over 54 per of the popular vote in the Oct. 14 federal election.
A 24-member coalition cabinet would have six New Democrats and 18 Liberals, according to the deal.
Duceppe said the Bloc would not join the coalition government nor have any ministers in cabinet. It would be free to vote as it wished on non-monetary measures.
Copyright © 2008 Canadian Press
Copyright 2008 © Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Communications mogul Ted Rogers dies
By Jamie Sturgeon and John GreenwoodDecember 2, 2008 7:51 AM
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.ottawacitizen.com/roger-ted-1202.jpg
roger-ted-1202.jpg
Photograph by : Peter Redman/Financial Post
TORONTO - Rogers Communications Inc. said Tuesday that Ted Rogers, the founder and chief executive of the largest wireless carrier in the country has died. He was 75.
"It is with great sadness that the board of directors of Rogers announces the death of our colleague, leader and friend," the company said in a news release.
Rogers, who had a history of heart ailments, "saw his health weaken over the past few years," the company said, adding the CEO "suffered from congestive heart failure." He was surrounded by family and friends when he died at his home in Toronto.
Rogers founded the company in 1960 when he acquired a radio station as well as CFTO, the first private television station in Toronto. Rogers Communications has grown to become one of the largest and one of the most diversified telecommunications companies in North America.
Rogers was awarded the Order of Canada in 1990.
The company said Mr. Rogers' successor as chief executive would be addressed by the board of directors, which intends to form a special committee to lead a search considering internal and external candidates. In the meantime, chairman Alan Horn will continue to serve as acting chief executive and lead the company.
Over the last 30 years, telecom mogul Ted Rogers spent a good deal of his time fending off critics who accused him of mortgaging his company's future on an untried and untested vision of the future.
Earlier this year, Rogers scored perhaps the biggest victory of his career after Rogers Communications Inc. posted one of its most successful quarters ever, largely on the back of technology that he anticipated long before anyone else.
But instead of taking the opportunity to remind naysayers of the fact, the plain-spoken billionaire merely observed on a conference call with analysts that Rogers, once a byword for over-leverage, was now a defensive play for investors looking for shelter from the economic storm.
Rogers on Tuesday died at home after a long battle with heart disease. He was 75.
Regarded as one of Canada's shrewdest business minds, he built Rogers Communications into a media conglomerate boasting assets in broadcast, cable television, wireless and print. The former upstart is now, among other things, Canada's largest cable and wireless provider, largely because of his foresight and confidence.
"I remember an industry event where he spoke at 20 years ago," says a former Rogers executive. "He was telling people they're going to have these little cellular devices and people will watch videos on them. People though he was loopy, that he'd been reading too many Dick Tracy books.
"But this was the kind of stuff he saw. He realized what was coming long before anyone else."
Back in the early 1980s, Rogers saw an opportunity in the emergence of mobile phones and moved quickly to launch Rogers Cantel.
Over the years, he built his slice of the cellular market, buying up smaller companies and doing deals with much bigger competitors, often outmanoeuvring them.
"Once I saw and believed in (the possibilities of wireless 3/8), I was committed because I knew it was crazy being tethered to the wall with a wire on your telephone," he wrote in his 2008 autobiography Relentless.
Meanwhile, Rogers' debt load grew, much to the alarm of shareholders and even Rogers himself, who has conceded that he sometimes bet the farm when he shouldn't have.
But his instinct paid off, sometimes because of luck, but more often because he saw where the industry was headed. He understood that while cable and media could generate steady revenue, wireless was where the growth was.
Born in 1933, the son of a radio station owner, he launched his first company shortly after graduating from law school at the University of Toronto. By the mid 1960s, he was building Toronto radio station CHFI into one of Canada's biggest and most successful FM broadcasters.
By the 1970s, Rogers was putting down the foundations of what was to become his cable empire, building a reputation for providing more choice for viewers, sometimes forcibly. It took the cable business a while to recover from the "negative" billing fiasco of the 1990s.
In the following decades he moved into cellular, broadcast and publishing. With each new industry he acted quickly to achieve a broad footprint and strong competitive position.
In 2000 he made his move into professional sports, buying the Toronto Blue Jays, then the SkyDome, which he renamed the Rogers Centre.
Critics accuse him of micromanaging his company. Indeed, senior management ranks at the company have had considerable turnover. But he made no apologies for ensuring things happened the way he wanted them to.
In his autobiography, he talks about his drive to succeed: "All my life, almost from birth I have been battling poor health ... I've learned never to give up. I am a hands-on, detail-oriented manager fighting the odds, whether in business or health, always believing and hoping that the best is yet to come."
Recalls the former executive: "Some people say he micromanages, but really he's just impatient, always wanting to get things done the way he wants them. He believes that if he doesn't decide the future, someone else will."
© Copyright (c) CanWest News Service
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.ottawacitizen.com/roger-ted-1202.jpg
roger-ted-1202.jpg
Photograph by : Peter Redman/Financial Post
You da best Bruce!
TSX tumbles over 600 points;U.S. markets retreat on signs of worsening economy
51 minutes ago
By Malcolm Morrison, The Canadian Press
TORONTO - The Toronto stock market was down more than 600 points late in the morning, its slide led by big losses in energy and financial stocks - the two most powerful sectors - erasing almost half of its 14 per cent gain last week.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 640.7 points to 8,629.9.
Political turmoil in Ottawa and the prospects that the federal Conservative minority government could be ousted likely had some impact on the selloff, but analysts noted investors have plenty of other worries right now - including a disappointing start to the U.S. holiday season that has deepened worries about the American economy.
"I'm not saying that political instability or uncertainty can't affect the market," said Jeff Rubin, chief strategist CIBC World Markets.
Rubin said he thinks it's still too early to determine the effect of the political turmoil on the market, but there are other issues catching investor attention and "right now the fundamental reasons have been the U.S. economy that will probably shrink by around four per cent in the fourth quarter and still a lot of financial market deleveraging."
In Ottawa, sources said the Liberals and NDP have drafted a plan for Canada's first coalition federal government since the First World War, aiming to govern jointly until the middle of 2011. But they would need support from the Bloc Quebecois. Meanwhile, the Conservative minority government on Sunday moved the budget date ahead to Jan. 27.
The political uncertainty and another tumble in oil prices sent the Canadian dollar down 0.12 cent to 80.72 cents US.
New York markets were also hit with steep declines as weak expectations for the U.S. holiday shopping season persuaded investors to cash in some of the money made last week as American markets also surged.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 378.4 points to 8,450.6 after powering ahead almost 10 per cent last week. Investors were glum as initial reports on holiday shopping pointed to better sales than some retailers and analysts had forecast, but consumers are cautious and a difficult season is still expected.
"After a slow start to November, we believe strength on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving that is traditionally one of the biggest shopping days of the year) was not enough to save the month," said John Morris, an analyst at Wachovia Capital Markets.
"The strength did not carry through the remainder of the weekend, as business fell off sharply on Saturday, according to our field team."
Losses in New York accelerated amid signs of a worsening American economy.
The Nasdaq composite index fell 82.57 points to 1,453 while the S&P 500 index gave back 45.5 points to 850.75 after The Institute for Supply Management reported that its index of manufacturing activity hit a 26-year low in November.
Canadian economic data painted a bright picture of stronger economic growth.
Statistics Canada said the economy expanded 0.1 per cent in September, which most economists believe was the last month of growth before what could be a prolonged decline. The third quarter of the year showed 0.3 per cent growth in gross domestic product.
The energy sector was a major loser in early TSX action, down more than 10 per cent as the January crude oil contract fell $3.87 to US$50.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after OPEC did not cut production at a weekend meeting in Cairo. OPEC meets again Dec. 17.
EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) fell $6.37 to $53.63 while Petro-Canada (TSX:PCA) surrendered $4.42 to $29.32.
Financial stocks were down seven per cent ahead of earnings reports from four of the six big banks later this week. Royal Bank fell $3.30 to $39.91 while TD lost $2.71 to $43.29
The gold index pulled back 10 per cent as bullion fell $44.20 to US$772 an ounce on the Nymex. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) was down $3.55 to $34.17.
Base metals gave back almost 11 per cent with Teck Cominco Corp. (TSX:TCK.B) off 78 cents to $5.22.
The TSX Venture Exchange declined 19.46 points to 746.89.
Overseas markets were also down sharply on deepening worries about economic conditions.
London's FTSE 100 index fell five per cent, while Frankfurt's DAX retreated 6.1 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 slid 5.1 per cent as specialist financial services company London Scottish Bank announced that it has gone into administration.
Asian markets closed lower with the Nikkei 225 stock average in Tokyo down 115.05 points, or 1.4 per cent, at 8,397.22 after advancing 7.6 per cent last week.
Markets in South Korea, Australia and Singapore also fell, while India's benchmark Sensex index reversed early gains and closed with a loss of 2.8 per cent at 8,839.87 in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Copyright © 2008 Canadian Press
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Canada's opposition agrees to coalition outline
2 hours, 2 minutes ago
By Randall Palmer and David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's three opposition parties have reached a tentative deal to defeat the minority Conservative government and then put together a coalition, a senior politician said on Monday.
The deal was struck late on Sunday at the end of three days of talks between the opposition Liberals and New Democrats, who insist the government must go because it has failed to tackle the effects of the global financial crisis.
"A very constructive, positive agreement has been reached between the Liberal Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party that will bring stimulus to the economy, which is badly needed," said former New Democrat leader Ed Broadbent, who took part in the talks.
"There are going to be a lot of jobs, a protection of pensions and I think we can look forward to a very constructive period," he told reporters, saying the deal included aid for the suffering auto and forestry sectors.
Media reports said the deal would let the government rule for 2-1/2 years. Broadbent did not address that point.
Parliament is due to hold a confidence vote on Dec 8 and if the government loses, the opposition parties are likely to get their chance to run the country.
Whether the proposed coalition could last anywhere near 2-1/2 years is in some doubt, since the Liberals and New Democrats would have to rely on the separatist Bloc Quebecois for support.
The chaos has knocked down the value of the Canadian dollar and there is potential for more uncertainty. The New Democrats, who favor a stronger government role in the economy, campaigned on a promise to roll back C$50 billion in corporate tax cuts -- a stance the Liberals oppose.
The Conservatives, who won a strengthened minority in the October 14 election, say the Liberals and New Democrats are trying to subvert democracy.
"What this is all about is the opposition wanting to take power without an election. They don't want to earn the right to govern, they just want to take it," federal Transport Minister John Baird told CTV television on Monday.
The Liberals and New Democrats have a total of 114 seats in the 308-seat Parliament. The Conservatives have 143.
The opposition is also furious that Ottawa said last week it would scrap public financing for political parties.
Such a move would cripple the opposition parties, which rely much more on public financing than the Conservatives. The government withdrew the proposal on Saturday but the opposition say they can no longer trust Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Media reports said the new government would have 24 ministers, of whom 18 would be Liberals and six New Democrats. The Liberals have governed Canada longer than any other party while the New Democrats have never been in power federally.
One potential sticking point is who would lead a coalition government. The Liberals have more parliamentary seats, so leader Stephane Dion would in theory be the leading candidate.
Dion, though, led the Liberals to such a bad defeat in the October 14 election that he will step down after the party chooses a new chief next May. A move to make him prime minister so soon after such a crushing loss is bound to be controversial.
Most Liberal legislators support ex-Harvard academic Michael Ignatieff, the front-runner in the leadership race, raising the prospect that they might try to force Dion to step down early. Under party rules Dion is not obliged to quit until the May leadership convention.
Bob Rae, the other main leadership contender, said he had held talks with Dion and Ignatieff on Sunday on the need to maintain party unity and discipline.
"The notion that somehow any internal issues in the party would be allowed to interfere with a successful transition to a new government, that notion is false," he told CTV.
(Reporting by Randall Palmer and David Ljunggren; editing by Peter Galloway)
Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
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Bloc-NDP-Grit government a coalition for Canada: Layton
Sun Nov 30, 10:54 PM
By Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - A budding coalition between New Democrats, the separatist Bloc Quebecois and Liberals is an exercise in nation building, NDP Leader Jack Layton told his caucus in a conference call covertly recorded by the government.
Layton's national unity musings were secretly recorded Saturday by the Conservatives. They held the tape for a day and then had an official from the Prime Minister's Office deliver it to various media on Sunday.
"The 'Coalition for Canada,' I love the idea - (but it) could be a deal-breaker for the Bloc," Layton is heard saying to laughter.
"'The Coalition for Canada and Quebec?"' he adds, to more laughter.
Layton, however, appears deadly serious when he pitches the coalition as a potentially unifying force in federal politics.
"Nothing could be better for our country than to have the 50 (BQ) members out of 75 who've been elected in Quebec actually helping to make Canada a better place. We just approach it on that basis and say, 'We're willing to make that happen. Here are the things we're going to be investing in and transforming together.'
"If they're willing to work with us, we're willing to accept that offer."
The NDP said Sunday it may pursue criminal charges after the Conservatives covertly listened in, taped and distributed audio of Saturday's closed-door strategy session.
There no wiretap crime under the Criminal Code of Canada if someone is invited to participate in a conference call and then releases the recording publicly.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said an unnamed Conservative had been "invited" to participate on the call.
"Maybe the invitation was meant for the Bloc, and they accidentally invited us," said Dimitri Soudas.
"We were invited. When you get invited somewhere you have the opportunity to choose to participate or not participate."
Two disparate segments of the recording totalling about 15 minutes were delivered Sunday. The senior PMO official distributing the recordings suggested more will be revealed later this week.
The Conservative take is that Layton's comments show he began conspiring with the Bloc for months to bring down Canada's elected government - long before last week's economic update that precipitated the current crisis of confidence in the Harper minority government.
The recording is more ambiguous.
In a discussion over concerns that the Bloquistes will be "offside" on issues, Layton said that's already been taken into account and strategies have been developed to avoid policy conflict.
"I actually believe they're the least of our problems," he said.
"This whole thing wouldn't have happened if the moves hadn't of been made with the Bloc to lock them in early because you couldn't put three people together in three hours.
"The first part was done a long time ago. I won't go into details."
Layton suggests reluctant Liberals may be a bigger problem, and he exhorts his MPs to organize public rallies this Thursday and not wait for other coalition partners to do the work.
"Chances are there are a bunch of Liberals in the other ridings on whom we want pressure placed," he's heard saying.
As far back as 2004, it's known that Layton, Duceppe and Stephen Harper - then the leader of the Opposition - held a "close consultation" on what would happen if they could defeat the Liberal minority of Paul Martin.
The three leaders co-signed a letter to then governor general Adrienne Clarkson asking her to "consider all your options" if the Liberal government fell.
And during last year's raucous parliamentary session, the Bloc and NDP regularly voted non-confidence in the Conservatives while the Liberals abstained or supported the minority government.
NDP MP Thomas Mulcair said the Tories are panicking and desperate to change the channel on their economic management.
The recording, he said, is a breach of parliamentary rules. NDP lawyers are examining if the tapes break the Criminal Code.
As for the substance of the call, Mulcair said the talks with the Bloc were perfectly normal consultations between parties in a minority government. They began only after the government's economic update was delivered last Thursday, he said.
Layton is heard downplaying the policy questions that could plague a coalition of such disparate party interests, saying everyone will have to curb their wish list.
"What we really want is just to get Harper out and get this new group in because it's going to be a hell of a lot better for everything we believe in. Correct? Correct!"
And he warned his caucus not to be defensive because the coalition represents the majority of Canadian voters.
"You can see where Harper's going here," said Layton.
"He's going to say its the socialists and the separatists and the opportunists getting together. Those are their talking points and so we just need to push back."
Layton ridiculed the Conservatives over the issue Sunday night at an Ontario NDP event in Toronto.
"It's entirely possible the Conservative party is recording what I'm saying here right now," Layton told the partisan audience. "Here's what I have to say to the Conservative party tuned in: 'good riddance to you!' "
Copyright © 2008 Canadian Press
Copyright 2008 © Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Yes, thanks!
Thank you very much Bruce!
Sorry Bruce if I am beating the same dead horse again ...
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