World stock markets end a tumultous year well down
World stock markets have rounded off a wild and difficult year.
The UK FTSE 100 fell 5.6% in 2011, while France and Germany stocks saw falls of 18% and 15% as growing fears for the survival of the euro took their toll. But US stocks ended the year up.
The Libyan revolution saw the oil price surge in the first half of the year, while the gold price set a new record high as investors sought its safety.
Meanwhile, the euro ended 2011 close to a 15-month low against the dollar.
The euro has been fighting for its survival
The eurozone crisis has had a massive impact on global markets, as investors nervously await a plan to ensure Italy's government can continue to support its enormous debts.
The US and Europe, including the UK, have also come to accept that it may be many years before their heavily-indebted economies regain their former dynamism.
US troubles
Financial markets started 2011 in an optimistic mood.
However, this was dramatically halted in the summer after the US lost its top AAA credit rating, following political deadlock in Congress over raising the country's debt ceiling - the legal limit on the federal government's total borrowing.
Much of the year has been dominated by the euro crisis, which came to the boil in August.
The euro ended the year close to a 15-month low against the dollar after it shed more than 3% on Thursday.
With fears over the future of the eurozone, many analysts say it could drop even further in 2012.
Of the heavily-indebted so-called PIIGS (Portugal, the Irish Republic, Italy, Greece and Spain) countries, Irish shares fared best.
France and Germany look likely to bear the brunt of the bailout costs for the southern European states - and this was reflected in the performance of their equity markets.
German falls
France's Cac 40 dropped 17.5% and Germany's Dax fell 14.7% over the year.
By contrast, the German market was the best performer in Europe in 2010, so it marks a dramatic change in fortunes for the European 'powerhouse'.
Overall, however, the UK FTSE 100 index is 5.6% lower on the year, having fallen from 5,899.94 to close at 5,572.28 over 12 months, with worries over the impact of the eurozone crisis doing much of the damage.
This is in marked contrast to previous years - 2010 saw a 9% rise, while 2009 saw stocks rise in value by 22% during the year.
"As traders say goodbye and probably good riddance to 2011, a year that saw most of the European and Asian indices recording double-digit losses, traders may not be so welcoming to 2012 either," said Jonathan Sudaria, a dealer at brokerage Capital Spreads.
"The one bright spark to 2011 has been the resilience of the US, given the weak global economic backdrop."
US downgrade
The US Nasdaq and Dow Jones were rocked by the Americans' own financial woes in July, when the US rapidly approached its debt ceiling, risking default if agreement could not be reached by a polarised Congress to raise it.
And despite ultimately raising the ceiling, rating agency Standard & Poor's lowered the credit rating of the United States from AAA to AA+, deciding that the budget plan that was passed did not go far enough to address the country's deficit - a move which wiped off 5.6% of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in a single day.
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 69 points at 12,218, but remained higher than at the start of the year.
Japan's stocks lost 17% in 2011 in the wake of March's devastating tsunami, which saw 20,000 lives lost and affected manufacturing of some of the world's most vital component suppliers, not to mention severe damage to the country's energy sector, including a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
Japan's Nikkei index closed at 8,429.45 on Friday - its lowest year-end close since 1982.
China slowdown
China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 22% in 2011 as tighter government curbs on lending and investment cooled the country's rapid economic growth.
The flood of state spending and bank lending after the 2008 crisis had fueled a surge in house and stock prices.
In 2010, Beijing responded by clamping down on credit and property speculators to cool inflation and soaring housing prices.
Beijing is trying to ensure economic growth remains at a more sustainable level after 2010's rate of 10.3%.
Growth eased to an annual rate of 9.1% in the three months ending in September, down from 9.5% on the previous quarter.
Indian markets saw the second biggest fall in a decade this year. The Sensex, the Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark equity index, ended trading at 15,543.93 on Friday, falling 24% during the year.
But foreign investors would have been doubly burnt, as India's rupee was one of the worst performing currencies this year, down 16% against the dollar.
Top and bottom
Unsurprisingly, the two worst performing equity markets were in the eurozone.
The Cyprus market fell 72% over the year, while the Greek market was the next worse performer, down 52%.
But which world stocks were the best? Not what people may expect.
Calculated in their respective currencies, Venezuela was top of the class, with gains of almost 79% in 2011, followed by Mongolia and Zambia. Very few other stock markets ended the year in positive territory.
On commodity markets, both the Arab Spring and the eurozone crisis have taken their toll.
Oil has seen numerous peaks and troughs
The price of oil surged to the highest in more than two years in May, after a popular uprising in Tunisia sparked similar protests across the Middle East and North Africa.
Clashes in Libya between rebels and forces loyal to Colonel Gadaffi cut off more than 1.5 million barrels a day of oil exports from the country.
Prices gave up the year's gains by August amid concern the US economic recovery was stalling, and speculation that Libya would resume oil production faster than expected after Gadaffi's ousting that month.
The price of Brent crude - Europe's main oil price benchmark - slipped in October to its lowest in a year, as Europe's escalating debt crisis sapped confidence in the health of the global economy.
However, escalating tensions with Iran look set to push prices up further.
Gold standard
For precious metals, the year was affected by fears over the sustainability of debts in Europe and the US, and speculation that the US Federal Reserve's unprecedented money creation may ultimately lead to sharply higher inflation.
During the first few months of the year, the price of silver sharply outperformed gold and by the end of April the silver price rose by nearly 56%.
Gold rallied in August as the eurozone crisis affected stock markets across the globe, but has fallen back at the end of 2011.
It hit an all-time high of $1,921.15 per troy ounce in September.
UK issues offshore drilling licences
The UK government has awarded 46 new exploratory drilling licences to firms, including Shell and Centrica, looking for oil and gas.
The awards were initially held back due to environmental concerns.
However the government says it is now confident exploring in the regions, including the English Channel, North Sea and West of Shetland, is safe.
Environmental groups have criticised the decision saying the drilling may put marine ecosystems at risk.
"There is insufficient data with regards to the complexity of the marine environment in these areas," said Adam Ma'anit from environmental pressure group Platform.
"It is highly irresponsible for [the Department of Energy and Climate Change] to sign off on any concomitant oil and gas expansion in the region."
However the government says safeguards have been put in place.
"Oil and gas remains crucial to the UK economy - contributing around 2% to the country's GDP," said energy minister Charles Hendry.
"These further licences have been subject to rigorous examination, and we are now satisfied that initial exploration can go ahead."
The licences are in the West of Shetland, North Sea Central area, the North Sea Southern area, the English Channel, the North Channel and Morecambe Bay.
However the licensing round, launched in 2010, excluded possible sites in the Moray Firth and in Cardigan Bay, in order to protect marine wildlife, and in the south-west approaches to the English Channel due to a lack of data.
Shell has been offered 6 exploration licences, alongside their partner in the project, Exxon-owned Esso.
GDF Suez, Centrica and RWE are amongst the other beneficiaries, who also include a range of smaller exploration companies.
It is not yet known how much oil and gas will be found in the region, but analysts expect the gas reserves may be larger than oil.
In the summer, BP announced that it and its partners would invest £3bn in redeveloping two oil fields off the Shetland Islands.
Oil hovers below US$100
Oil prices hovered below US$100 a barrel Thursday, with a report showing a jump last week in US crude supplies, countering concerns about Iran's threat to block a key Middle East oil shipping route.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for February delivery rose 29 cents to US$99.65 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, Brent crude was up eight cents at US$107.64 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
The American Petroleum Institute said late Wednesday that crude inventories rose 9.6 million barrels last week, while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos, had predicted a drop of 2.3 barrels. The rise is a sign demand could be weakening.
Inventories of gasolene added 1.9 barrels last week, while distillates grew 600,000 barrels, the API said.
Investors are also closely watching developments in the Persian Gulf. On Tuesday, Iran's vice-president said his country will close the Strait of Hormuz, and cut off crude exports, if Western nations impose sanctions on Iran's oil shipments.
On Wednesday, the US Navy warned that any disruption of traffic in the strait, though which about a sixth of global production passes, would not be tolerated. A Saudi oil ministry official said his country and other Gulf producers are ready to provide more oil if Iran tries to block the strait.
"(Closing the Strait of Hormuz) would instantly draw all consuming nations into opposition with Tehran," energy consultant Cameron Hanover said in a report. "The US and its Arab allies would be compelled to open it by military force.
"Under any scenario, that would be a game-changer."
Gains were limited by the stronger dollar, which usually weighs on crude by making the commodity more expensive for investors trading in other currencies.
The euro was down to US$1.2878 from US$1.2941 late Wednesday in New York.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 1.49 cents to US$2.9161 per gallon and gasolene futures added 0.15 cent at US$2.6471 per gallon. Natural gas futures were up 2.1 cents to US$3.142 per 1,000 cubic feet.
- AP
Stanford losses latest bid to delay fraud trial
U.S. District Judge David Hittner has denied Allen Stanford’s request to have his fraud trial delayed by three months paving the way for jury selection to proceed January 23.
“The public’s interest in a speedy trial is particularly acute in such a case as this in which thousands of investors allegedly purchased CDs from Stanford under false pretenses and subsequently lost billions of dollars,” the judge said in his eight-page ruling.
“This trial will decide not just whether Stanford is guilty of the criminal charges, but also whether hundreds of millions of dollars of investor funds currently frozen may be forfeited and returned to his alleged victims.”
Stanford’s attorneys have argued that their client would not have sufficient time to review millions of papers in time for the trial.
Following the ruling, Ali Fazel, Stanford’s lead lawyer maintained that stance stating, “Our ability to defend our client has been consistently limited by matters the court is well aware of…we are now reviewing our options.”
“…The defense in this case does not merely require knowledge of one company as the government contends, but rather, depends upon knowledge of the finances and operations,” he added.
Prosecutors said a further delay would not be fair to thousands of Stanford investors.
The judge ruled a week ago that Stanford, 61, is mentally competent to aid his own defense.
The former financier was previously found to be incapable of doing so because of addiction to anxiety medications developed after a head injury suffered in a prison fight.
He was indicted in June 2009 on charges he masterminded a US$7 billion Ponzi scheme by selling bogus certificates of deposit at his Antiguan bank.
The former financier has denied all wrongdoing.
Caribbean 360 News
T&T attorney general concerned about increase in murders
Trinidad-Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said the crime plan implemented in the wake of the State of Emergency has failed.
And, he wants Commissioner of Police Canadian Dwayne Gibbs to present his 2012 plan to ensure that murders are kept to a minimum.
At least 15 people have been killed since the SoE ended December 5 – eight of them during the Christmas holiday weekend.
“There should have been some plans to deal with it, anticipate it and that is why perhaps it’s a little troubling at this time,” the attorney general told a media conference yesterday.
“…The government is very concerned in the spike of the murder rate post State of Emergency. I for one am very anxious to hear from the Commissioner of Police who had the benefit of a year to settle into the job and who we hoped to have brought fresh ideas and new perspective to be able to help us to solve the crime problem.”
Ramlogan said the matter would likely be discussed at an upcoming meeting of the National Security Council.
While noting that the murder rate was now lower than the previous three years, he said there was clear evidence that the SoE, which was in effect from August 21, saved lives.
More than 350 people have been murdered for the year so far, 117 more than in 2010.
Caribbean 360 News
PNP keeping close watch over Tufton's seat
People's National Party (PNP) candidate for South West St Elizabeth Hugh Buchanan yesterday expressed confidence that he will be a parliamentarian as the official count for Thursday's general election got underway here yesterday.
The preliminary count at the end of polling Thursday saw the incumbent Jamaica Labour Party candidate Dr Christopher Tufton with 9,426 votes to Buchanan's 9,325 votes.
Yesterday, Buchanan expressed optimism that the results would be reversed after the final counts are completed. He was, however, reluctant to declare what the margin of his victory was likely to be.
"It will not be a big margin, but it will be enough to take us into Gordon House," said the young politician.
Scores of PNP supporters gathered yesterday in the Black River square — from where music blasted from a sound system — celebrating what they anticipate would be victory for their candidate after the final tally. "Losers don't celebrate," a jubilant Rastafarian supporter told the Observer.
Tufton won the seat in September 2007, polling 9,899 votes to defeat the PNP's Stanley Redwood who got 8,074 votes.
Grenadian attorney demands outside help to investigate fatal beating
The attorney representing the wife of a Grenadian-born Canadian who died Tuesday, hours after being beaten allegedly by police officers, has demanded that an investigator be brought in from another jurisdiction to ensure that an independent probe is conducted into the matter.
Derick Sylvester said the investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of the 39-year-old Oscar Bartholomew should be “unbiased, clear and open”.
“We’re concerned that to date, no one has been detained and or arrested in relation to this matter,” he told a media conference yesterday.
The attorney said the post mortem determined Bartholomew died as a result of trauma to the head, and had multiple skull fractures and a brain haemorrhage.
Police Commissioner, Wilan Thompson, said the officer in charge of the police station in the eastern parish of St. David where the incident reportedly occurred has been replaced, while two others are assisting with the investigation.
“To date, all the officers who were present at the station at the time of the incident have had a preliminary interview. Reports have also been submitted by the officers,” he said.
“Further, some officers at the station will be reassigned to other areas so as to allow the investigation to proceed quickly and unimpeded.”
But Sylvester said authorities should seek outside assistance “to ensure that it (the investigation) is fair because justice is all about perception. You can’t have the cat watching the cheese…”
He said there appeared to be a “breeding of police brutality in the country” with numerous lawsuits filed against law enforcement officers over the last 10 years.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Tillman Thomas visited the family of the deceased and expressed sorrow at the incident.
He said the Attorney General’s Chambers has been asked to assist with the investigation.
“I have directed the respective government departments and agencies, including the Attorney General’s Chambers, to provide the support necessary for the full and unimpeded investigation of this occurrence,” Thomas stated.
Bartholomew died at hospital, a day after he was arrested for assaulting an officer.
This followed an incident in which he reportedly hugged a plainclothes female police officer whom he mistook for an old friend.
Caribbean 360 News
Proposed US sanctions against Antigua & Barbuda escalates
Antigua and Barbuda continues gain attention in both houses of the United States Congress as 10 US Representatives recently introduced a Congressional Resolution also calling for sanctions to be levied against the eastern Caribbean territory.
This December 23 resolution follows the one introduced December 8 in the Senate, which called for “provision of all further direct or indirect aid or assistance, including assistance derived from Federal funds, by the United States Government to the Government of Antigua & Barbuda should be suspended until the Government of Antigua & Barbuda provides complete redress of the issues…”
These issues relate to the Allen Stanford ponzi scheme that was based in Antigua, and Half Moon Bay land acquisition by the Antiguan government, both scandals which the US Congressmen piloting the two resolutions say disenfranchised US investors.
The House Resolution 507, led by Representative Mike Coffman of Colorado, states that the “Government of Antigua and Barbuda has committed numerous acts against the interests of United States citizens and operated the financial sector and judicial system of Antigua and Barbuda in a manner that is manifestly contrary to the public policy of the United States.”
The resolution is also backed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, Representatives John Culberson and Pete Sessions, all of Texas; Representatives Jeff Boustany and Bill Cassidy, both of Louisiana; Representative Jo Bonner of Alabama; Representative John Duncan of Tennessee; Representative Greg Harper of Mississippi; and Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri.
Similarly to the previous Senate Resolution, it calls for “provision of all further direct or indirect aid or assistance, including assistance derived from Federal funds, by the United States Government to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda should be suspended until the Government of Antigua and Barbuda provides complete redress of the issues described”, including the return of all expropriated lands, full co-operation with all investigations and court matters related to the Stanford fraud, and a sizeable donation of funds to the receivership to benefit victims of the fraud.
In addition, the resolution echoes the Senate request that, “the Secretary of the Treasury should direct the United States Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association (commonly known as the ‘‘World Bank’’) and the International Monetary Fund to use the voice and vote of the United States to ensure that any future loan made by the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda is conditioned on providing complete redress of the matters, and satisfaction of the requirements.”
This move in both seats of Congress is receiving strong backing from the Stanford Victims Coalition.
Director and Founder Angela Shaw, in commenting on the Congressional resolutions, suggested that these actions would force the hand of the Antigua and Barbuda government, which she alleged had not been acting in the interest of Stanford’s victims from more than 65 countries in the almost three years since the scandal broke.
The resolution has been referred to the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs for a formal vote. The earlier Senate Resolution is now pending a vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Caribbean 360 News
New Year's Eve 2012: Celebrations around the world
Revellers around the world are celebrating the end of 2011 and are seeing in 2012.
Sydney heralded the new year with a 15-minute multi-million dollar firework display at midnight (13:00 GMT).
In Dubai an extravagant pyrotechnic display lit up the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, with fireworks spouting from the top floor.
Celebrations are now taking place in Europe, with large crowds on the streets in many cities.
Thousands of people gathered in Red Square in Moscow to witness a firework display at midnight, although alcohol was banned to prevent the festivities getting out of hand.
Heavy rain dampened the celebrations in the Turkish city of Istanbul, but the main square in the Ukrainian capital Kiev was illuminated with an array of colourful lights and fireworks.
The first places to celebrate were Samoa and Tokelau after they jumped across the international dateline.
As the clock struck midnight at the end of 29 December, the two South Pacific island nations fast-forwarded to 31 December, missing out on 30 December entirely.
Tourists and locals partied throughout Saturday as Samoa revelled in being the first country to ring in the new year, rather than the last.
Hopes and fears
In Tokyo, people released helium balloons in front of the Tokyo Tower at midnight with notes attached listing their hopes for 2012.
Many wished for a better year, following the earthquake and tsunami that brought devastation to the north-east of Japan in 2011.
"I hope it will be a year full of smiles. For those who are crying now, I hope they'll be smiling too," said 21-year-old Horie Soichiro.
Days after the death of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, the authorities issued a New Year message urging people to back his son and successor, Kim Jong-un.
"The whole party, the entire army and all the people should possess a firm conviction that they will become human bulwarks and human shields in defending Kim Jong-un unto death," it said.
A downbeat tone was reflected in the new year's message of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said 2012 would be more difficult than 2011, but hoped Europe's debt crisis would bring its member states closer.
In a televised message marking the start of an election year in France, President Nicolas Sarkozy, issued a similar warning, but tried to remain upbeat.
"We have to be courageous and we have to be lucid. What is happening in the world announces that 2012 will be a year full of risks but also full of possibilities," he said.
For his part, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who starts his second term on Sunday, said he hoped the new year would continue the move towards democracy that protesters had started during the so-called Arab Spring in 2011.
For the UK, meanwhile, New Year's Eve is just the start of a year of festivities that will include the Queen's diamond jubilee and the London Olympics.
In Brazil, revellers are set to enjoy a fireworks display on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.
And hundreds of thousands will pack into New York's Times Square later for the ceremonial ball-dropping at midnight.
Musical medley
Sydney's firework spectacular had the theme "Time to Dream", which producer Aneurin Coffey said was about giving people a chance to put a bad year behind them.
An estimated million-strong crowd watched the pyrotechnics around Sydney Harbour Bridge, which were accompanied by a medley of wild animal sounds and pop music.
Some of the fireworks resembled waterfalls, rainbows and clouds - which Mr Coffey said was "because every cloud has a silver lining".
Bad weather prompted some New Zealand planners to cancel outdoor events, but a low-key fireworks display went ahead at Auckland's Sky Tower.
Heavy rain meant celebrations in Palmerston North, Mount Maunganui, Rotorua and on Wellington's waterfront were called off, the New Zealand Herald reported.
"We hate having to cancel events but especially for something like New Year's Eve," Wellington's events manager Lauren Fantham told the paper.
"We'd rather have people safe inside somewhere than catching colds from a cold wet southerly," she explained.
European Leaders Express Somber New Year Messages
European leaders delivered somber New Year's messages to their citizens Saturday.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned that France's future will hang in the balance in 2012. He acknowledged that many people are starting the new year worried about the future of their children and that emerging from the crisis will remain a challenge for the continent.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the past year in Europe was marked by the financial crisis. But she reminded citizens that the peaceful continent is a historical gift and that lessons could be learned from past mistakes.
” One of these is that a common that a common currency can only be successful if we work together more than ever in Europe. Europe is growing closer in the crisis. The road to overcome it remains long and not without setbacks, but at the end of this path Europe will re-emerge stronger from the crisis than it was when it entered it.”
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos also warned that the coming year will be difficult and urged Greeks to accept austerity.
“We have to continue our efforts with determination, so that the sacrifices we have made up to now won't be in vain, so that we prevent this crisis from developing into disorder, so that we can continue to use the euro as our currency, so that we return to the path of development and reduce unemployment.”
Athens has cut down its spending on holiday festivities and used the funds to help the needy.
Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev was somewhat more optimistic in his last televised message of the outgoing year. He said that 2011 was “not easy” but that it is ending well for the country as a result of people's joint efforts.
Pope Benedict marked the end of the year with prayers of thanks and said humanity awaits the new year with apprehension, but also with hope for a better future.