Almanacs “The Almanac - OfficialWire” plus 4 more

The Almanac - OfficialWire
India reach 100 in style - Financial Express
Jobs data eyed, but Dubai is the wild card - Inside Fidelity
Daily almanac - Columbus Dispatch
'The Honor Roll of China Elite Business Women' Announced in Shanghai - Consumer Electronics Net

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Posted: 28 Nov 2009 03:14 AM PST

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Venus, Mars, Saturn and Mercury. The evening stars are Neptune, Jupiter and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include English poet William Blake in 1757; John Hyatt, inventor of celluloid, in 1837; architect Henry Bacon, designer of the Lincoln Memorial, in 1866; Motown Records founder Berry Gordy in 1929 (age 80); actress Hope Lange in 1933; singer/composer Randy Newman in 1943 (age 66); ballet dancer Alexander Godunov and band leader Paul Shaffer ("The Late Show With David Letterman") (age 60), both in 1949; actors Ed Harris in 1950 (age 59), S. Epatha Merkerson ("Law & Order") in 1952 (age 57) and Judd Nelson in 1959 (age 50); and comedian Jon Stewart ("The Daily Show") in 1962 (age 47).

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On this date in history:

In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan entered the Pacific Ocean on his way around the world. He was the first European to sail the Pacific from the east.

In 1919, Virginia-born Nancy Astor became the first woman member of the British Parliament.

In 1925, "The Grand Ole Opry," the famed country music show, made its radio debut.

In 1942, a fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston killed 491 people. Most victims suffocated or were trampled to death.

In 1958, the United States fired an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time.

In 1963, Cape Canaveral, the space center in Florida, was renamed Cape Kennedy to honor the assassinated president. Area residents later voted to revert to the original name.

In 1989, Czechoslovakian Premier Ladislav Adamec agreed to a coalition government. The next day, the Czech Parliament revoked the Communist Party's monopoly.

In 1992, a fire destroyed parts of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, threatening the famous Lipizzaner stallions.

In 1993, British officials confirmed they had made secret contacts with the outlawed Irish Republican Army in an effort to end the violence in Northern Ireland.

Also in 1993, Carlos Roberto Reina was elected president of Honduras.

In 1994, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and a second inmate were beaten to death by another prisoner at the Columbia Correctional Center in Portage, Wis.

In 2002, an explosion hit an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa, Kenya, killing at least 15 people and two missiles were fired at a departing Israeli passenger plane.

In 2003, an estimated 182 people were killed when two crowded ferries collided during a storm in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2004, a gas explosion in a central China mine killed a reported 166 people. About 123 miners escaped.

In 2005, at least 150 miners were killed in a northeast China coal mine explosion. Seventy-one were reported missing.

Also in 2005, U.S. Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., pleaded guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy charges involving bribes from military contractors.

In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI flew to Ankara, Turkey, amid heavy security measures to mend religious fences and establish a dialogue with Muslims. Some 250,000 Muslims demonstrated against the papal visit over remarks Benedict made in September perceived as offensive to Islam.

Also in 2006, leftist candidate Rafael Correa was officially declared winner of the Ecuadorian presidential election.

In 2007, a U.S. airstrike in eastern Afghanistan killed 22 Afghan civilian road construction workers. The men, working on a U.S. military contract, died as they slept in two large tents in a remote mountainous area.

Also in 2007, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf relinquished his role as head of his country's military forces, one day before he was sworn in for a third term as president.

In 2008, at least 400 people were reported killed and hundreds more wounded in violent clashes in Nigeria between Muslims and Christians over local elections.

Also in 2008, the assault on Mumbai ended after three violent days of shooting and bombings by a team of terrorists. The death toll stood at 173 with about 300 injured. The only attacker captured alive said he belonged to a militant group in Pakistan.

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A thought for the day: Thomas Carlyle said, "Speech is of time, silence is of eternity."

India reach 100 in style - Financial Express

Posted: 28 Nov 2009 03:57 AM PST

Kunal Pradhan
Posted: Saturday, Nov 28, 2009 at 1645 hrs IST
Updated: Saturday, Nov 28, 2009 at 1645 hrs IST

Kanpur: Complete century of Test wins after thrashing Sri Lanka by an innings and 144 runs in Kanpur

On February 10, 1952, when India had won their first Test match by beating Donald Carr's England by an innings and eight runs in Madras, "the scenes at the finish," the Wisden Almanac says, "were surprisingly subdued." Fifty-seven years later, in an era when emotions are rarely held back, the chanting from the packed stands seemed to make up for that as India completed a century of victories with an innings-and-144-run thumping of Sri Lanka.

For once the dark, rough patches on both ends of the abandoned Green Park pitch could not capture the full story behind another Indian Test victory at home. Television crews examined them, reporters ran their hands over them, but the reasons this time were too simple for a detailed study of the soil, the dead grass, and the bowlers' footmarks.

There was only one way the Test could've gone once Sreesanth's inspired spell of fast bowling on the third day had broken the visiting team's back, compounding their misery after India won the toss and exploited the best batting conditions the game would offer. By the time debutant Pragyan Ojha took a simple return catch on the fourth afternoon to end Sri Lanka's second innings on a breezy, futile 269, the match had long meandered into purposelessness.

Friday began with the Lankans on 57 for four, 356 behind with six sessions of cricket still to be played. There may have been an iota of motivation if they had to survive for one full day, or if rain was on the horizon. But with 180 overs left in bright winter sunshine, finding the will to hang on was always going to be difficult.

Instead of waiting for the inevitable, they at least walked out determined to go down all guns blazing. There was a flurry of boundaries as the Indian bowlers — themselves not at their sharpest because of how little they needed to do — leaked runs in the first session. All-rounder Angelo Mathews struck a hat-trick of fours in an over from Zaheer Khan, and Muttiah Muralitharan slammed two fours and a six in one from Harbhajan Singh, but India scarcely minded. Wickets were needed, and they were falling regularly enough.

Mathews got out while pulling Zaheer once too often, and Harbhajan momentarily found his loop to dismiss Prasanna Jayawardene and Rangana Herath...

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Jobs data eyed, but Dubai is the wild card - Inside Fidelity

Posted: 28 Nov 2009 01:48 AM PST

By Leah Schnurr

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dubai, jobs data, Black Friday results and a chance for Congress to throw fireballs at Fed chief Ben Bernanke: The U.S. stock market's path to glory is fraught with peril next week.

If Dubai's debt woes intensify and prompt a retreat from riskier assets, Friday's painful drop will carry through into next week.

Investors also will contend with any surprises from a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's renomination to a second term. The hearing could provide fodder for Wall Street at a time when the central bank is facing scrutiny in Congress for its bailout of large financial institutions during the crisis.

In a busy week for data, Friday's employment report for November will be the main event with job losses expected to decrease from October. Investors will also get an early view of how retailers fared during Black Friday -- often the busiest shopping day of the year.

Both the job market and consumer spending remain among the weakest links in the economy and could potentially stymie the burgeoning recovery. Encouraging data on that front could fuel the rally that has pushed the Dow and S&P to 13-month highs.

But investors got a cold reminder this week that the recovery will be far from smooth when Dubai asked to delay payment on billions of dollars of debt issued by conglomerate Dubai World and its main property subsidiary Nakheel.

The shocking move shook investors with its echoes of the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market that sent reverberations through global financial markets. It was uncertain how much exposure U.S. banks have in Dubai, though fears of a wide impact had ebbed by Friday's close.

"A big part of whether the market's positive trend continues for the next month will partly depend on whether this Dubai World problem does, in fact, mushroom into concerns about the soundness of financial markets," said Michael James, senior trader at Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles.

"At least so far here in the U.S. market, that seems to be shrugged off, but we'll see if we get any more details ... that might put a more cautionary spin to the early problems."

DECEMBER CHEER

After recovering more than 60 percent from March's 12-year low, the S&P 500 has churned sideways for most of November as investors look for fuel to keep the rally going.

December, traditionally one of the best months for stocks, has been good for an average gain of 1.7 percent in the S&P 500 since 1950, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.

"If we're higher next week, it's very bullish for the remainder of the year," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati, Ohio.

"We don't think there will be any major sell-off before the end of the year. There's still institutions that are trailing the market and they're going to use all those dips as buying opportunities."

But the bears argue that this year's run-up leaves the market in an even more dangerous place than it was in March. Indeed, the fears of a possible debt default at Dubai World is the catalyst for an "overdue correction" in equities and risk assets, the chief executive of top bond fund manager Pimco told Reuters on Friday.

BARGAIN HUNTING

Shoppers turned out in strong numbers on Friday to scoop up bargains, though many said they were spending more selectively.

Investors will be looking for data on shopper traffic as well as anecdotal readings to assess retailers' Black Friday performance. Industry forecasts range from a rise of 2 percent to a decline of 3 percent for sales during the holiday period.

"There's still a lot of anxiety in the market about the consumer, and understandably so, because the unemployment rate is so high and there are obvious headwinds to consumer spending," said John Praveen, chief investment strategist at Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC in Newark, New Jersey.

Friday's non-farm payrolls report is expected to show the U.S. economy shed 130,000 jobs in November, easing from the 190,000 that were lost in October, according to a Reuters poll of economists. The U.S. unemployment rate is expected to remain the same at 10.2 percent.

Also expected next week are separate reports from the Institute for Supply Management on the manufacturing and services sectors. The ISM manufacturing index is expected to dip to 55.0 in November from 55.7 in October, while the non-manufacturing, or services, index is expected to rise to 51.5 in November from 50.6 the month before.

Other data on tap includes pending home sales for October, car sales for November, weekly initial jobless claims and factory orders for October. See

Bernanke's renomination hearing on Thursday should be a lively one. Many lawmakers have directed their frustrations at the Fed, with senior senators of both political parties faulting the central bank's actions leading up to and during the crisis.

Even so, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said last month he sees no roadblocks to Bernanke's reconfirmation.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Jan Paschal)

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Daily almanac - Columbus Dispatch

Posted: 28 Nov 2009 12:44 AM PST

Today is Saturday, Nov. 28, the 332nd day of 2009. There are

33 days left in the year.

Highlights in History

• On Nov. 28, 1520, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait now bearing his name.

• In 1859, American author Washington Irving died in Tarrytown, N.Y., at age 76.

• In 1919, American-born Lady Astor was elected the first female member of the British Parliament.

• In 1942, nearly 500 people died in a fire that destroyed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston.

• In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began conferring in Tehran, Iran, during World War II.

• In 1958, Chad, Gabon and Middle Congo became autonomous republics within the French community.

• In 1964, the United States launched the space probe Mariner 4 on a course to Mars.

• Ten years ago: Hsing-Hsing, the popular giant panda that arrived in America in 1972, was euthanized at Washington, D.C.'s National Zoo at age 28.

• Five years ago: NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol was injured and his 14-year-old son, Teddy, was among three killed in a plane crash outside Montrose, Colo.

• One year ago: Indian forces fired grenades at the landmark Taj Mahal hotel, the last stand of suspected Muslim militants, just hours after commandos stormed a Jewish outreach center and found six hostages dead. (The 60-hour rampage in Mumbai ended the following day.)