Culturite

Finance ministers and central bank officials from leading industrialized nations have kicked off a critical meeting at the U.S. Treasury Department to discuss ongoing turmoil in the financial markets and measures to stem a crisis that has rapidly spread around the globe.

International stock markets have plummeted this week and credit markets have frozen. Investors are yearning for finance officials this weekend to announce a coordinated plan to ease market tension.

Text of G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors’ plan of action, as provided by the Treasury Department:

The G-7 agrees today that the current situation calls for urgent and exceptional action. We commit to continue working together to stabilize financial markets and restore the flow of credit, to support global economic growth. We agree to:

1) Take decisive action and use all available tools to support systemically important financial institutions and prevent their failure.

2) Take all necessary steps to unfreeze credit and money markets and ensure that banks and other financial institutions have broad access to liquidity and funding.

3) Ensure that our banks and other major financial intermediaries, as needed, can raise capital from public as well as private sources, in sufficient amounts to re-establish confidence and permit them to continue lending to households and businesses.

Shares of General Motors Corp., one of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow, tumbled $2.15, or 31.1 percent, to close at $4.76 after falling as low as $4.65. That low marked the automaker’s lowest trade since March 15, 1950, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago. GM and Ford Motor Co. stock plunged in the waning minutes of trading after Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services placed their credit ratings under review for possible downgrade.

Ford’s stock was down 58 cents, or 21.8 percent, to close at $2.08

US President George W. Bush offered assurances Friday, Oct. 10 that the US government was doing all it could to keep the world’s largest economy afloat ahead of a meeting with other G7 leaders in Wasiungton.
Bush’s comments came as global stocks were in free-fall and ministers from the world’s richest nations prepared for a crucial meeting.

Bush said a “startling” drop in US stocks in the last few days was being “driven by uncertainty and fear” and insisted the US already had all the tools necessary to resolve the financial crisis.

“This has been a deeply unsettling period for the American people,” Bush acknowledged. “We will continue to act to resolve this crisis and restore stability to our markets.”

US stocks have plummeted more than 10 percent in the last three days and continued falling on a wild trading day Friday. European stocks also tumbled, leading some countries to temporarily halt trading.

Cycling commuters in Shanghai have been on a steady decline due to the boom in car ownership and the elimination of bike lanes on select major roads over the past 5 years.  However, that trend may change with a new initiative launched last month to promote bike use.

The city started testing a bike-sharing system to coincide with World Car Free Day and as part of the preparations for the the 2010 World Expo.  The limited trial began outside one metro station near a high-tech research area with the goal of encouraging people to bike between the metro station and their office.  The plan is to expand the program to 800 metro station exits and 2,700 other sites by 2012.

Riders pay a 200 RMB ($28) deposit on the bike, with the first half hour free.  For each additional hour, riders pay 3 RMB ($0.40).  Bikes are supplied by the Shanghai Forever Bicycle Company, one of the most famous and recognizable old bicycle brands in China.

Hearst Magazines has folded Cosmogirl. December will be the final issue. Editor in chief Susan Schulz will remain with the company. It’s the second Hearst title to fold this year; Quick & Simple went over the summer.

Statement: Hearst Magazines has made a strategic decision to consolidate its teen publishing activities into Seventeen, the largest-selling monthly teen magazine on newsstands. Effective with the December issue, CosmoGirl will cease as a print magazine, remaining online only at cosmogirl.com. CosmoGirl’s subscriber base will be folded into Seventeen.

IBM Corp. sold $3.9-billion in bonds on Thursday, a sign that the stalwarts of the corporate world are still finding lenders.

“The markets were open to us at this time, so we decided to enter,” said IBM spokesman Doug Shelton. He added that it was an opportunity to cover pending maturities as the company enters the fourth quarter and approaches the new year.

Late Wednesday, the Armonk, N.Y.-based tech company gave Wall Street an early glimpse into its quarterly results, reporting a better-than-expected profit.

Shares of IBM fell $1.55, or 1.7 per cent, to close at $89 on Thursday. That was a smaller drop than the 7.3 per cent decline in the Dow Jones industrial average, which includes IBM, and the 5.3 per cent decrease in the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index.

Still, analysts have expressed concern that IBM could have problems in the fourth quarter and into 2009 if the lending and spending environment deteriorates, as many expect it will.