Shares rise ahead of key US vote: related news

Shares rise ahead of key US vote

US shares are expected to open slightly lower ahead of a key vote in the US Senate on a revised version of the $700bn (£380bn) bank rescue plan.

Shares mixed ahead of key US vote

US shares have fallen back slightly as investors wait for a key vote in the US Senate on a revised version of the $700bn (£380bn) bank rescue plan.

BrazAlta Announces Private Placement of US$18.6 Million in BCH Ltd. And Provides a BCH Operational Update

BrazAlta Resources Corp. ("BrazAlta" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE:BRX) is pleased to announce that its oilfield services subsidiary, BCH Ltd. ("BCH"), has completed a non-brokered private placement (the "Financing") of 4,474,999 Common Shares of BCH Ltd. ("BCH Common Shares"), at a price of US$4.163 per BCH Common Share for aggregate gross proceeds of US$18,629,421. BrazAlta Resources Corp. acquired 2,282,249 BCH Common Shares and Allis-Chalmers Energy Inc. ("Allis-Chalmers") acquired 2,192,750 BCH Common Shares in the Financing. BCH intends to use the proceeds from the Financing to pay down intercompany debt to BrazAlta (US$7.4 million), interest to Allis-Chalmers with respect to the previously announced US$40 million subordinated convertible debenture (the "Debenture") (US$3.

US shares expected to open lower

US shares have fallen back slightly as investors wait for a key vote in the US Senate on a revised version of the $700bn (£380bn) bank rescue plan.

Open Range Energy Corp. Announces Normal Course Issuer Bid for Its Common Shares and Increase to Bank Lines

Open Range Energy Corp. ("Open Range" or the "Corporation") would like to announce that the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:ONR) has accepted its Notice of Intention to commence a Normal Course Issuer Bid (the "Bid") to purchase for cancellation, from time to time, as Open Range considers appropriate, up to a maximum of 1,366,662 Common Shares of the Corporation. The maximum number of Common shares to be purchased pursuant to the Bid represents 5% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Corporation as of the date hereof, being 27,334,241 Common Shares. Purchases of Common Shares pursuant to the Bid will be made on the open market through the facilities of the TSX. The price which Open Range will pay for any Common Shares purchased will be the prevailing market price of the Common Shares on the TSX at the time of such purchase.

Plurk the Vote

Now is your chance to vote for the next President of the US. You can vote right on Plurk, of course this is not an official vote for president, it's just for fun. Come to Plurk the Vote and vote for your favorite presidential candidate.

US indicts UBS wealth management head

UBS suffered its biggest blow yet in the US investigation into its offshore banking activities for rich American clients as US authorities said they had indicted Raoul Weil, the Swiss bank’s head of global wealth management. The US Department of Justice indictment also said other senior unnamed UBS’s executives were involved as alleged “unindicted co-conspirators�. Separately, the indictment includes detailed allegations about how other, more junior, managers sought to circumvent US tax rules over a period of years. The DoJ claims Weil used the expression “toxic waste� to refer to the US business because of its acute sensitivity. In a statement Tuesday night, UBS said Weil would relinquish his duties pending resolution of the matter and said the bank was “fully committed� to continuing co-operating with the probe.

Toys "R"Us to Offer Apple iPod "For the First Time Ever"

The iPod phenomenon shows little signs of abating. A spokesperson from the giant, Wayne, NJ-based toys retailer Toys”R”Us informs us that, beginning this month, it will offer a “wide selection of Apple iPod products in all of its Toys”R”Us stores nationwide for the first time ever.” Those comments refer to the American Toys“R”Us outlets and Web sites only. Although iPods aren’t yet listed on America's Toys"R"Us Web site, they have been available through its U.K. affiliate (www.toysrus.co.uk) for well over a year. There's no word when (or if) iPods might become available in Canada through this retail channel.

Europe shares down on US failure

US shares are expected to rise on opening after President George W Bush renewed calls for Congress to back the $700bn (£380bn) banking rescue plan.

ACLU Creates Map of US "Constitution-Free Zone"

trackpick points out a recent ACLU initiative to publicize a recent expansion of authority claimed by the Border Patrol to stop and search individuals up to 100 miles from any US border. They have created a map of what they call the US Constitution-Free Zone. "Using data provided by the US Census Bureau, the ACLU has determined that nearly 2/3 of the entire US population (197.4 million people) live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders. The government is assuming extraordinary powers to stop and search individuals within this zone. This is not just about the border: This 'Constitution-Free Zone' includes most of the nation's largest metropolitan areas.'"

UK Ruling Says Authorities Can Force You To Hand Over Your Encryption Key

A year ago, there was a legal ruling in the US that said an individual could not be forced to hand over their encryption key to encrypted data on a computer, since it violates the 5th amendment against self-incrimination. Over in the UK, they apparently also have protections against self-incrimination, but apparently it doesn't cover handing over your encryption key (thanks to JJ for sending over the link). Basically, the ruling is pretty close to the opposite of the US ruling. Basically, it found that an encryption key isn't speech but an independent "thing" that can be required to be turned over to authorities.

US Elections: What direction now for US space exploration?

US CONGRESSMAN Adam Schiff was touring Pakistan in May when NASA's Phoenix spacecraft touched down on Mars. He was struck by the glowing accounts of NASA's triumph that suddenly dominated the Pakistani newspapers. "In a country where there are such deep suspicions about what the US does, there was at least one area where the reaction was uniformly positive," says Schiff, whose district in California includes NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which built Phoenix. "And it's one area where the US shows that it is capable of doing great things."

Shares surge on US bail-out plan

Wall Street shares have rebounded sharply after a proposed US government plan to buy billions of dollars of US banks' bad mortgage-related loans.

CLSA keeps 27% lower group earnings on HSBC (00005), "sell"

ET Net News Agency, 11 November 2008> CLSA's analyst Daniel Tabbush said the key feature of HSBC (00005) Bank USA's latest results isn't the US$136m loss, but the 34% rise in criticised assets QoQ to US$5.8bn. Tabbush noted that its impairment costs were up just 9% QoQ. Strong "fair value" gains at both HSBC Bank USA and HSBC Finance supported earnings, despite losses: Finance's US$1.8bn of Other Income limited its loss to US$300m (from a $1.4bn shortfall in 2Q08). He maintained his 27% lower group earnings forecast for this year, rating the stock "sell". Tabbush also noted there's no talk of the pending headquarters sale, which he believes is now unlikely to go through. (KL)

Two US astronauts to cast votes from space

Two US astronauts who are soaring in orbit hundreds of kilometers from Earth will be able to vote in the US election on November 4, the US space agency NASA said.

2 US astronauts to cast votes from space

Washington, Nov 01: Two US astronauts who are soaring in orbit hundreds of kilometers from Earth will be able to vote in the US election on November 4, the US space agency NASA said.

2 astronauts to vote from space

WASHINGTON - TWO US astronauts who are soaring in orbit hundreds of kilometres from Earth will be able to vote in the US election on Nov 4, the US space agency Nasa said.

Citigroup shares plunge another 20% to multi-year lows

(RTTNews) - Shares of Citigroup Inc. (C) continued to decline on Friday following their plunge below $5 during Thursday's trading, as hedge funds were forced to unload their holdings to meet the mandatory requirements of not holding shares trading below $5 a share. The share price declined more than 25% to as low as $3.05 per share, although it regained some ground going into the close, ending the session down 20% at $3.77. More than a billion shares changed hands during the trading session on Friday, nearly seven-fold increase from the normal average trading volume of shares.

How US Schools' Culture Stifles Math Achievement

Zarf writes "I'd like to file a bug report on the US educational system. The New York Times reports on a recent study that shows the US fails to encourage academic talent as a culture.'"There is something about the culture in American society today which doesn't really seem to encourage men or women in mathematics," said Michael Sipser, the head of M.I.T.'s math department. "Sports achievement gets lots of coverage in the media. Academic achievement gets almost none."' While we've suspected that the US might be falling behind academically, this study shows that it is actually due to cultural factors that are devaluing the success of our students. I suspect there's a flaw in the US cultural system that prevents achievement on the academic front as valuable.

Toys "R"Us to Offer Apple iPod "For the First Time Ever"

The iPod phenomenon shows little signs of abating. A spokesperson from the giant, Wayne, NJ-based toys retailer Toys”R”Us informs us that, beginning this month, it will offer a “wide selection of Apple iPod products in all of its Toys”R”Us stores nationwide for the first time ever.” Those comments presumably refer to the American (and possibly, the Canadian) Toys“R”Us outlets and Web sites only. Although iPods aren’t yet listed on either country’s Web sites, they have been available through its U.K. affiliate (www.toysrus.co.uk) for well over a year.

Russia's Soyuz spacecraft carrying US tourist docks with ISS

Russian Soyuz spacecraft TMA-13 carrying US space tourist Richard Garriott has docked with the International Space Station (ISS), RIA Novosti news agency reported today quoting Russia's Mission Control official. The Soyuz TMA-13 craft, which blasted off from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan on Sunday, brought US astronaut Mike Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and US space tourist Garriott to the ISS. Mr Garriott will conduct a variety of scientific experiments during his ten-day stay on the orbiting station. The son of US astronaut Owen Garriott, the sixth space tourist to travel to the ISS made his fortune in online computer games, including the popular Ultima Online. He reportedly paid 30 million dollars for the trip to the ISS.

UK Court Rejects Encryption Key Disclosure Defense

truthsearch writes "Defendants can't deny police an encryption key because of fears the data it unlocks will incriminate them, a British appeals court has ruled. The case marked an interesting challenge to the UK's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which in part compels someone served under the act to divulge an encryption key used to scramble data on a PC's hard drive. The appeals court heard a case in which two suspects refused to give up encryption keys, arguing that disclosure was incompatible with the privilege against self incrimination. In its ruling, the appeals court said an encryption key is no different than a physical key and exists separately from a person's will."

How Close Were US Presidential Elections?

Mike Sheppard writes "I'm a graduate student in Statistics at Michigan State University and spent some time analyzing past US presidential elections to determine how close they truly were. The mathematical procedures of Linear Programming and 0-1 Integer Programming were used to find the optimal solution to the question: 'What is the smallest number of total votes that need to be switched from one candidate to another, and from which states, to affect the outcome of the election?' Because of the way the popular and electoral votes interact, the outcome of the analysis had some surprising and intriguing results. For example, in 2004, 57,787 votes would have given us President Kerry; and in 2000, 269 votes would have given us President Gore. In all there have been 12 US Presidential elections that were decided by less than a 1% margin; mean

Al Salam Bank-Bahrain reports net profit of US$60.1 million

(MENAFN Press) Al Salam Bank Bahrain announced a net profit of BD22.7 million (US$60.1 million) for the nine month period ended 30 September 2008 registering increase of 30% compared to BD17.4 million (US$46.2 million) for the corresponding period in 2007. The earnings per share for the period were 18.9 fils against 14.5 fils for the corresponding period in 2007. The results represent a quarterly net profit of BD7.4 million (US$19.6 million) for the quarter ended 30 September 2008 compared to BD3.3 million (US$8.8 million), an increase of 120%, in the corresponding quarter in 2007.

Chinese Hacking of American Military Networks On the Rise

Anti-Globalism writes with this excerpt from the Guardian: "China is stealing sensitive information from American computer networks and stepping up its online espionage, according to a US congressional panel. Beijing's investment in rocket technology is also accelerating the militarization of outer space and lifting it into the 'commanding heights' of modern warfare, the advisory group claims. ... A summary of the study, released in advance, alleges that networks and databases used by the US government and American defense contractors are regularly targeted by Chinese hackers. 'China is stealing vast amounts of sensitive information from US computer networks,' says Larry Wortzel, chairman of the commission set up by Congress in 2000 to investigate US-China issues.

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