Rescuers reach Chinese epicentre, todays news.

Chinese rescue teams have reached the epicentre of Monday's devastating earthquake, Wenchuan county, where an estimated 60,000 people remain missing. A few hundred soldiers and police finally made it through late on Tuesday after being hampered by broken roads and bad weather.

They found 500 bodies within a few hours - but have still not searched many devastated areas. The official death toll is more than 12,000, and looks set to rise sharply. Thirty Chinese troops in the town of Yingxiu, in Wenchuan, rescued 300 injured residents, state news agency Xinhua said.
But of an estimated population of around 10,000, only 2,000 residents were found alive, a local official said. "They could hear people under the debris calling for help but no one could, because there were no professional rescue teams," He Biao said. Read full story on this site..

source: bbcnews.co.uk

Todays News.. Oil settles above $113 - a new record, Crude prices set new record highs as dollar loses more ground against euro.

NEW YORK - Crude oil prices surged Tuesday settling at a new record high above $113 a barrel as the U.S. dollar weakened further against the euro.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery settled at a record $113.79 a barrel after touching a new trading high of $113.99 a barrel in early morning electronic trading. The previous high of $112.21 was set April 9.
Oil settled at a record closing high of $111.76 a barrel on Monday.
"The path to $115 is cleared," said Stephen Schork, publisher of the oil trading newsletter The Schork Report.

Ringing dollar bell
The latest surge in crude prices is partly due to weakness in the U.S. dollar, analysts said. As the dollar has dropped versus the euro, many investors have flocked to commodities such as oil and gold to preserve the value of their assets.
"Those Pavlovian dogs are barking. Until someone breaks them out of that paradigm, they're going to keep trading that way," said Schork.

The euro bought $1.5865 early Tuesday, up from $1.5808 the previous session. The euro hit an all-time high against the dollar last Thursday.
Traders are also trying to get ahead of rising demand for crude as refineries finish their maintenance cycles and begin gearing up for fuel production over the next few months, Schork said.

Petrobras fizzle
Surprisingly, traders are not taking into account Monday's news that Brazilian oil company Petrobras (PZE) may have made the largest oil discovery in 30 years. According to Harold Lima, president of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency, the off-shore find could contain the equivalent of 33 billion barrels of crude, the world's third-largest oil reserve.
A find that large would normally put pressure on crude prices, said Omar Nokta, managing director of energy and commodities investment bank Dahlman Rose & Co. But the time and technology it takes to capitalize on new deep-water discoveries may be mitigating its effect on the markets.

"It's not going to happen overnight like it did 10 years ago," said Nokta. In a best-case scenario it would take a "good 5 years to fully develop a find," he added.
The new record for crude comes as both refined gasoline and diesel fuel reach record prices at the pump. According to a AAA survey, regular unleaded gasoline hit $3.386 a gallon, and diesel reached $4.119.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose slightly to $3.2029 a gallon while gasoline prices rose more than a penny to $2.8218 a gallon. Natural gas futures gained more than 15 cents to $10.053 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude futures rose $1.79 to $111.63 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

source: Kenneth Musante, CNNMoney.com staff writer

Todays News..

Visitors toast at a bar inside the Tsingtao Brewery in China Monday. The brewery was founded in 1903 by German settlers in Qingdao, introduced to the US in 1972, and became the top selling Chinese beer in the US market. Tsingtao is sold in more than 50 countries and is the number one branded consumer product exported from China. AP

source: gmanews.com

"Annus Horribilis" - Gold In 1997

1997 was the third worst year for $US Gold since the price became subject to market forces in 1971. The worst year was 1981, when Gold was coming off an $US 850 blow off high the previous year and battling 20% plus interest rates. The second worst year was 1975, the year when Americans regained their "right" to own Gold for the first time since 1934.

1997 has to be broken up into two halves. In the first half of 1997, stock markets everywhere - including Asia - were booming and Gold was sliding very slowly in terms of most currencies.
The second half of 1997 was when the Asia "flu" hit the world's markets. What started as a currency crisis in Thailand in July had, by the end of the year, expanded into a global financial crisis of unprecedented proportions.

The dividing line between these two six-month periods can be neatly drawn by the hand over of Hong Kong back to China on July 1, 1997. Hong Kong was the last Asian "nation" to be governed by a foreign power. Within weeks of this hand over, the 30-year era of the Asian "Tiger Economies" was over.
Here are the signal events of 1997 - especially the second half of 1997:

• March 25 - US Fed raises rates by 0.25% to 5.5%. This is the only rise for 1997
• Mid June - Denver G-7 meeting. US boasts its economic "management" to the annoyance of Asian and European guests.
• Late June - Japan's Hashimoto threatens to sell US bonds and buy Gold
• July 2 - Aussie Reserve banks announces (already completed) sale of 167 Tonnes of Gold.
• Early July - Thai Currency crisis hits stock market and spreads quickly throughout S.E. Asia.
• Aug. 6 - Dow hits what proves to be the high for the year - 8259 points.
• October - Asian crisis hits Hong Kong, Korea and Japan. Plummeting currencies and markets. In the U.S., the Dow falls 1000 points in less than a week before recovering.
• Nov. - Dec. - IMF moves in to offer bail-outs. Gold sell of steepens. U.S. Dollar, universally regarded as THE safe haven, surges. Gold falls almost $US 60 to its lowest level since 1979.
• End of year - Korea within days of bankruptcy. Japanese market in free fall. Asian currencies crashing. Gold anchored firmly below $US 300.

In 1981, Gold's worst year, the world was locked in recession. In 1975, Gold's second worst year, the world was locked at what was described as "stagflation" - rising (price) inflation and rising unemployment. This was an economic phenomenon held to be "impossible".
In 1997, Asia went into an economic and financial death spiral which can only be compared to what happened to the world in the Great Depression of the 1930s. But this was not a worldwide phenomenon. In Europe, markets boomed all year. In the U.S. markets boomed, the economy boomed, unemployment hit 30 year lows, and the Dollar became the most sought after investment in the world.
On November 26, 1997, the spot future Gold price closed below $US 300 (at $US 296) for the first time since March 15, 1985. Gold ended 1997 at $US 289.90. The $US 300 "floor" which had supported Gold ever since it first rose above that level in July 1979 had now become a "ceiling"