Thought Beans Blog

Bush’s Middle east trip including Isreal, Saudi Arabia & other countries in the middle of high oil prices, global terrorism & other economic problems was expected to be a big one. However, the outcome of the trip was not as expected. The Saudi prince did not approve of Bush’s talk on Oil output changes. Also there is news that Bush attacked Obama’s policy on a foreign soil drawing heavy criticism back home. The question is will the next Democratic or Republican President will be able to exercise the same clout which US had earlier in the middle east. The US influence on the Middle east is at an all time low since the end of cold war. The gas price increase is creating a ripple effect on the global economy. Will the new President be able to play role in middle east. The Iran Nuclear program is also straining the relations.

A missile interceptor launched from a U.S. Navy warship has hit a dying American spy satellite. Both China & Russia has been objecting to the US use of shooting down the satellite & called for global ban on space weapons. China has asked for relevant data to be released about teh shooting down of the satellite. The missile was fired by the The Lake Erie. The satellite carried toxic hydrazine. Strategic Command in Omaha, Nebraska managed the entire operations.

Stan o’ Neal, the CEO of Merrill Lynch has finally announced his resignation for his role in the $2.2 billion loss in Q3 on account of sub prime market exposure. Subprime mess has enough effct on both sides of Atlantic. Many French & German banks have also been affected by the  subprime mess. The Fed has cut the interest rates twice to hoping to life the market. The firm has also been sued for false information about its exposure to subprime market to the tune sof billions of dollars. This is the first major exit for a major wall street firm after the sub prime mess.  Merrill Lynch has written off billions of dollars for its sub prime exposure. Shares of the firm are down this year.  The CEO is taking home around $160 million dollars.

MIcrosoft has finally agreed to comply with the Decision of the Antitrust decision of the European commission. Microsoft has challenged the decison in the European Union court which upheld the decision of the European commission. MS has been fined half a million euros & more in 2006 for non compliance.  MS has been facing the heat of the antitrust regulators in the US & Europe. The European commissioner has stated that it is a victory for consumers & more fine will be in the offing if MS didnot comply with the commission. Also MS would make available the open source for software developers.

Fed has finally cut the lending rates & discount rates by half a percentage point. All the major US indices Dow jones, Nasdaq & Std & Poor’s all gained by the cut in rates. Though the wall street was expecting a quarter point cut, this 50 point cut has sent the market on a ride. Bernanke has more or less moved in the same path as of his predessor. The market has been in turmoils in recent months with rising oil price, sub prime market collapse & iraqi war straining the economy. Even the Asian markets have rallied in the wake of the cut & Indian Benchmark BSE 30 has crossed the 16000 mark for the first time.

The bushisms of George W Bush is one of the most parodied part of presidency. The bushisms have provided enough fodder for late night comedy shows. The most famous was of course during the recent Queen visit to US. The queen was introduced as 18th century. The most recent one being at the APEC summit in Australia where Bush said Opec summit & also Austrian troops instead of australian troops. There are many videos circulating on the net of the bushims including the visit of Bush to china where he tried to open a locked door & then said I am trying to find an exit. Though the bushims have been criticized by the media, it has helped bush make popular in the heartland America.

The Subprime mortage meltdown in the US has sent shivers across the global stock markets. The stocks across NY, London, tokyo are tumbling. The european banks which had exposure to the Subprime market of US are feeling the heat. The paris based BNP paribas has suspended the mutual funds exposed to the US subprime market. many are fearing that the days are somewhat comparable to 1930’s great depression. This could also mean the end of chaep credit for the market. Many of the big players in the US mortgage market have seen their capital erode from the market. Even the rating agencies which provide rating for the bonds of the Securities are also in the dock & may be part of the investigation for the mortgage fruad.

Robert Nardelli, former CEO of Home depot, will be donning the role of boss at Chrysler. Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity owner is appointing Robert Nardelli as the CEO for Chrysler. Robert Nardelli has had no automotive experience as also the Boss at Ford. Nardelli will have huge challenges at Chrysler to turn it around. He has to make negotiations with the UAW for pensions & wages related issuses. Nardelli was ousted from home depot over the compensation related & poor performance. As per the NY times report his compensation will be tied to performace of chrysler.Daimler Chrysler Sold the Company it purchased 9 yeras ago because of huge losses. At the time of merger, it was hailed as transatlantic merger. But soon it was a clash of cultures. See more of NYT report here.

The first CNN - Youtube presidential debate is a radical change in the way we elect presidents. This is the first time in a TV show, questions were asked without any moderation from the anchor. More than 3000 questions were submitted to CNN/Youtube. Finally around 40 questions were selected & posed for the democratic candidates. This is the age internet & hence blogs, forums, videos play an important role in elections. The questions ranged from a father who has lost his son in Iraq war, to gay marriage, minimum wage & education. This is the kind of discussion we need in a country like India. The present presidential election in India is one of the murkiest one. No one had heard of Pratiba Patil earlier. Now she is Madame President. This is the reson why India is losing credibility at the International Diplomacy.

Sanjaya’s Exit from American Idol, who has created ripples & spurred late night chat programs is sure to be remembered in the US television industry for a long time. Though his singing was not very good, he managed to get through all the stages. This is because of his home state support, Indian support, his ever changing hair styles & that charming smile he had. Even the websites like vote for the worst, howerd stern’s radio shack jack pummeled him to the top spot.