Replies to post #310243 on $Stock*Shop*Charts*News*Option$

[FoodStamps4stocks]

Obama ally targets 401(k) dollars
Trillions in IRA funds could be forced into U.S. Treasury debt

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Posted: March 26, 2010
1:00 am Eastern


By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2010 WorldNetDaily



President Obama

A key labor union ally of the Obama administration has mounted an effort to create government-mandated worker retirement accounts as an entitlement program, with the possibility that a portion of all private retirement funds could be forced into U.S. Treasury debt.

Branding the program "Retirement USA," the Service Employee International Union, or SEIU, has joined with the AFL-CIO, the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based economic left-leaning think tank that receives substantial labor funding and two other left-leaning interest groups, the Pension Rights Center and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=132061

[HoosierHoagie]

Abu Dhabi Fund Director Search Continues After Glider Crash

By Caroline Alexander and Greg Chang

March 29 (Bloomberg) -- The search for Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Managing Director Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was continuing after a glider he was in crashed into a lake in Morocco, the official Emirates News Agency said.

“The nature of the terrain is making the survey and tracking effort especially challenging,” the state-run news service said yesterday. The pilot of the sailplane was rescued and is in stable condition, the news service said. The glider went down near Morocco’s capital Rabat March 26, according to the official Moroccan MAP news agency.

ADIA is one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds and managed an estimated $328 billion at the end of 2008, according to economists at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. Abu Dhabi possesses about 8 percent of the world’s oil supply.

Calls to the Investment Authority yesterday weren’t answered. Neither news service provided further details.

Sheikh Ahmed is a younger brother of Abu Dhabi ruler and president of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed. He took charge of ADIA in 1997, according to a BusinessWeek profile in 2008. The 41-year-old ranked No. 27 on the Forbes list of most powerful people last year. He’s also chairman of Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation.

Estimates of ADIA’s assets range from $300 billion to $800 billion. Sheikh Ahmed in a January interview with Handelsblatt declined to comment on the size of the fund, though he cited Abu Dhabi’s ruler as saying that the highest estimates were exaggerated. The fund’s global investments range from real estate to finance and hospitality.

The glider crashed into a lake near the Sidi Mohammed bin Abdullah dam near Rabat, the Emirates News Agency said.

To contact the reporters responsible for this story: Greg Chang at [e-mail]; Caroline Alexander in London at [e-mail]

Last Updated: March 28, 2010 16:06 EDT

[Stock Lobster]

BL: Asian Stocks Decline for First Week in Five on Greece Concern

By Kana Nishizawa and Shani Raja

March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell this week for the first time in five weeks on concern the region’s central banks will boost efforts to curb inflation and that European Union leaders will fail to agree on an aid package for Greece.

Poly Real Estate Group Co. fell 3.2 percent in Shanghai on concern local governments in China are stepping up measures to limit land supply. Li & Fung Ltd., a trading company that supplies Wal-Mart Stores Inc., slumped 11 percent after reporting lower-than-estimated earnings. PetroChina Co., the nation’s biggest energy producer, dropped 5.1 percent after agreeing to take over Australia’s Arrow Energy Ltd. Nintendo Co. surged 15 percent in Osaka, Japan, after saying it will sell a 3-D video-game console that doesn’t require glasses.

“Investors are increasingly jittery about the inflationary outlook and high levels of sovereign debt,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage about $1.1 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.4 percent this week after India unexpectedly increased its benchmark interest rate on March 19 and as European leaders disagreed about how to rescue debt-stricken Greece. The index climbed yesterday, on speculation Europe will agree on a bailout.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.6 percent this week to its highest close since October 2008, as a weaker yen boosted the earnings outlook for companies dependent on overseas demand. The market was closed on March 22 for a public holiday.

Hong Kong, China

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.5 percent this week, and China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.5 percent, South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.7 percent.

China’s stocks fell the most in two weeks on March 25 on concern rising trade tensions will hurt the outlook for exports and the government may further tighten policy to curb asset bubbles.

Poly Real Estate declined 3.2 percent to 20.20 yuan. Li & Fung lost 11 percent to HK$37.15 after reporting profit that missed all nine estimates of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. PetroChina, the world’s biggest company by market value, fell 5.1 percent to HK$8.75 in Hong Kong after agreeing to acquire Arrow Energy. Separately, the company’s full-year earnings missed analysts’ estimates.

Cosco Shipping Co., a unit of China’s biggest shipping company, dropped 2.4 percent to 10.58 yuan in Shanghai after Vice Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said pressuring China to revalue its currency won’t succeed.

“We’re worried that the currency issue will lead to trade protectionism, which will hurt the global economic recovery,” said Xiao Bo, Beijing-based strategist at Huarong Securities Co. “Government measures to tame inflation are likely to weigh on the market, especially on the property sector.”

Nintendo Advances

Among stocks that rose, Nintendo, the world’s biggest maker of video-game players, soared 15 percent to 32,150 yen, its highest close in more than a year. The company said on March 23 that its new DS game player model will allow users to play 3-D titles without special glasses and will go on sale in the fiscal year starting April 1.

Sharp Corp., Japan’s largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, advanced 4.3 percent to 1,137 yen. Kyocera Corp., an electronic components maker which derives over half of its sales outside Japan, rose 4.3 percent to 9,080 yen.

Japan’s exports climbed at the fastest pace in 30 years in February, the Finance Ministry said on March 24 in Tokyo. Exports rose to all regions for the first time since August 2007.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has climbed 3.3 percent this year as improving U.S. jobs data, a Federal Reserve pledge to keep borrowing costs low and a Japanese bank-lending program eased concern that budget deficits in Europe will derail the global recovery.

To contact the reporters for this story: Kana Nishizawa in Tokyo at [e-mail]; Shani Raja in Sydney at [e-mail].

Last Updated: March 26, 2010 18:49 EDT