Global instability.

Here I want to share out an intersting picece of information concerning the global instability. Sudan is considered the most unstable country in the world. This country occupies the first place in the list of so called unlucky countries as stated in the Foreign Policy magazine and "For Peace" international fond. 148 countries took part in this research, says The Guardian. Top "three leaders" list also includes The Democratic Republic of Congo and Cote D'Ivoire. The fourth place goes to Iraq, and the "top ten" is finished by Afganistan. Russia is taking the 43d place, nevertheless it's the country of "Big Eight", it's between Tagikistan and Niger.

The most unlucky country of the former Soviet Union is considered Uzbekistan, which is on the 22. What's remarkable is that Georgia is on the 60 place.

While preparing this statistics, the experts used 12 social, economical, political and military indicators. The information was gathered on the foundations of 11 thousands of available sources, which were published since July untill December of 2005.

Alongside, as stated by experts, most of the countries, included in the ranking, should not be considered as unlucky, as authors of the ranking mostly considered the possible level of danger, that can influence this or another country during different periods. This moslty means domestic military conflicts.

As we see, most of the unstable countries are situated in Africa. To underline this information, we can mention the current conflict in Darfur, Sudan, where the peace-making forces have appeared recently.

P.S. for those of you who just plan to launch their own web-site or personal blog, I recommend these excellent web-developers: http://smartseven.ru

Major Stock Indexes Close Week With Gains

Wall Street barreled higher Friday, sending the Dow Jones industrials up 138 points to a new six-year high after a report of modest job growth bolstered hopes that the Federal Reserve will end its interest rates hikes. All three major indexes finished the week with gains.

Investors saw a slowdown in April employment growth as the latest sign of a softening economy, a reason for the Fed to stop raising interest rates. That countered worries over rising wages, which followed an upswing in employers' labor costs on Thursday.

Jack Caffrey, equities strategist for JPMorgan Private Bank, said the market appeared to be focusing on recent positive data instead of considering the long-term consequences of why the Fed would stop boosting rates -- because economic growth has slowed enough to contain inflation.

"People are taking the weaker job creation, the stability in the unemployment rate and the uptick in jobless claims and spinning that into a hope the Fed will move to the sideline sooner than later," Caffrey said. "It's almost a hope-for-relief rally instead of a 'the Fed is done, things are slowing down' mentality."

Falling oil prices also helped stocks to their gains, although some believe higher gasoline prices will pressure consumer spending and keep the economy from overheating.

The Dow rose 138.88, or 1.21 percent, to 11,577.74, its best showing since the Dow reached its all-time high of 11,722.98 on Jan. 14, 2000. The Dow is now just 145.54 away from setting a new record.

Broader stock indicators were higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 13.51, or 1.03 percent, to 1,325.76, its highest level since Feb. 15, 2001; the Nasdaq composite index advanced 18.67, or 0.8 percent, to 2,342.57. The S&P remains 13.2 percent away from its all-time high, while the Nasdaq is 53.6 percent lower than its 2000 record.

Advancing issues led decliners by a robust 3 to 1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where final consolidated volume of 2.47 billion shares lagged the 2.5 billion shares traded Thursday.

The light trading volume was indicative of the market's ongoing uncertainty about interest rates and whether stocks can press past multiyear highs, said Christopher Piros, director of investment research for Prudential's Strategic Investment Research Group. Meanwhile, the jobs data left the inflation riddle unanswered, he said.

"We are at a point where inflation expectations are still rising, and the Fed is faced with a dilemma of whether they've done enough to cap inflation, but not enough to roll over the economy," Piros said. "I haven't seen real signs of a pickup in core inflation, although it's been ticking up slowly."

Evidence of a tapering economy in this week's data fed investors' optimism that the Fed will soon halt its rate increases, giving the major indexes a strong boost. For the week, the Dow was up 1.85 percent, the S&P climbed 1.16 percent and the Nasdaq rose 0.86 percent.

The Labor Department said U.S. employers added 138,000 jobs in April, far less than estimates of a 200,000 gain. Average hourly earnings meanwhile jumped 0.5 percent, above the consensus target of 0.3 percent. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent.

Bonds recouped recent losses, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note falling to 5.11 percent from 5.15 percent late Thursday. The U.S. dollar sank against the Japanese yen and was flat against European currencies, while gold prices topped $680 per ounce.

Crude futures edged up following a three-day decline spurred by government data showing improving supplies of gasoline and flat motor fuel demand. A barrel of light crude added 25 cents to settle at $70.19 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Warner Music Group Corp. reported a loss for the latest quarter amid declining revenue from its music publishing business. However, record music sales rose 9 percent, led by a threefold jump in digital sales. Warner Music's stock rose 66 cents to $29.40.

Medco Health Solutions Inc. posted a 66 percent slide in first-quarter profit, hurt by a $100 million charge to settle three legal matters. Medco nonetheless rose $1.99 to $52.76.

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. rose $1.21 to $30.85 although its signed contracts tumbled 29 percent last quarter. The company also lowered its forecast for full-year home deliveries.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gained 7.11, or 0.92 percent, to 781.83. The index rose above 700 points for the first time in early January and has continued pushing to new all-time highs in 2006.

Japan's markets were closed Friday for a national holiday. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.91 percent, Germany's DAX index surged 1.22 percent and France's CAC-40 was higher by 1.01 percent.
Source: muzi.com

Poverty issues

In continuation of the topic of global overview more detailed analysis of poverty trends: "There is considerable debate around global trends in poverty and inequality (Ravallion, 2003). For example, there is disagreement about the amount of decline, and a few argue that the data are insufficient to determine whether poverty levels have changed (Reddy and Pogge, 2003).


As described above, according to World Bank estimates, there has been an increase in the number of people in poverty in Europe, Central Asia, Latin America and Africa. In contrast, East and South Asia has seen a decline in the number of people in poverty (using $1 a day). Also,the percent of people in poverty has also increased in Europe and Central Asia, and the Middle East and Africa, while the percent in poverty declined in other areas.

On the other hand, Bhalla (2002) argues that there were large declines in poverty rates, from 37% in 1985 to 13% in 2000. Similarly, Sala-i-Martin (2002 a, b) estimates that poverty rates and counts declined sharply over the last several decades. For example, the one-dollar-a-day poverty rate declined from 20% in 1970 to 5% in 1998 (Sala-i-Martin, 2002 a). Bhalla's and Sala-i-Martin's estimates of recent poverty are much lower than the World Bank estimate, of 23% in 1999.

Many researchers discuss the apparent contradictions in counting world poverty rates and trends. For example, Ravallion (2003) argues that the differences are due to measurement issues, e.g., how poverty is defined, use of absolute versus relative poverty, what levels are used to define poverty, using household or person as the unit of measure and so forth. For example, poverty could be measured using a relative poverty indicator, in which the 'standard' for poverty increases as a country's income increases, or using an absolute poverty indicator, such as "what poverty means in poor countries", or $1 a day (Ravallion, 2003). Ravallion (2003) indicates that any measure is somewhat arbitrary, but if the measure is used consistently, it can still be used to measure change over time.

Ravallion (2003) also points out that poverty data are often questionnaire based, and there are a number of problems in using surveys. For example, questionnaires from different countries may use different definitions (e.g., using income versus consumption to measure well-being) or may ask about different time periods (e.g., last year, last month, etc). All of these variations may result in finding different levels of poverty. Others may also use national accounts to estimate poverty, but these also have problems, for example from higher income people underreporting their income (Ravallion, 2003). Bhalla (2002) compares estimates using survey data and national accounts (table 9.1) and shows that the two methods give similar estimates from 1950 to 1980 but substantial differents in 2000, with national accounts showing much lower percents and counts.


Reddy and Pogge (2003) criticize the World Bank estimates, and argue for a better measure. According to Reddy and Pogge (2003), the main problems with the World Bank estimates are, "The Bank uses an arbitrary international poverty line unrelated to any clear conception of poverty. It employs a misleading and inaccurate measure of purchasing power "equivalence" that creates serious and irreparable difficulties for international and inter-temporal comparisons of income poverty. It extrapolates incorrectly from limited data and thereby creates an appearance of precision that masks the high probable error of its estimates. The systematic distortion introduced by these three flaws may have led to an understatement of the extent of global income poverty and to an incorrect inference that it has declined" (Reddy and Pogge, 2003, abstract).

In addition, others argue that poverty is a multi-dimensional issue, beyond just income (Deaton, 2004; Kingdon and Knight, 2003; Mowafi, 2004; Rojas, 2005). For example, income does not account for other critical aspects of well being, such as fulfilment of basic needs, social functioning, safety from insecurity (e.g., Kingdon and Knight, 2003), and lack of access to these basic necessities is seen by many as a more important indicator of poverty than just income alone (Mowafi, 2004). In addition, people are more than consumers, so that exclusion of these other aspects of life shows an incomplet picture of well being (Rojas, 2005).

The issue of poverty measurement has not yet been solved, and continues to be examined.

In sum, a decline in poverty would be consistent with other changes among less developed countries, such as improved literacy rates, declines in infant mortality rates, increased political freedom, increased newspapers, televisions and radios per capita, and increase in per capita GDP (Shackman, Liu and Wang, 2003). However, that does not seem to be the pattern emerging, but rather there is decline in some areas and increases in others. In addition, there are a number of problems with data and methods, and conclusions are therefore our 'best guess', but not by any means certain."
Source: gsociology.icaap.org

Dow Closes Up 5, Nasdaq Finishes Down 20

Wall Street gave up early gains and closed mostly lower Friday after oil prices topped $75 a barrel for the first time. The Dow Jones industrial average reached another six-year high on strong earnings from 3M Co., and the major indexes managed gains for the week.

Investors' inflation fears intensified as oil prices climbed to a new record, rising $1.48 to settle at $75.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The continued gains in oil, gold and bond yields are keeping inflation worries at the forefront, said Ken Tower, chief market strategist for Schwab's CyberTrader. Evidence of economic growth in next week's reports will renew the debate over when the Federal Reserve might halt its rate tightening.

"The Fed is going to have a hard time stopping their increases if the economy seems to be gaining strength," Tower said. "I think the Fed will have a very hard time talking down the inflation hawks if the data comes in stronger than expected."

The Dow rose 4.56, or 0.04 percent, to 11,347.45, building on Thursday's performance that was its best close since reaching 11,351.30 on Jan. 20, 2000.

Broader stock indicators were lower. The S&P 500 fell 0.18, or 0.01 percent, to 1,311.28, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 19.69, or 0.83 percent, to 2,342.86. An analyst's downgrade of Dell Inc. helped send technology stocks lower.

Bonds edged higher, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipping to 5.01 percent from 5.04 percent late Thursday. The U.S. dollar was mostly lower against other major currencies; gold prices rose and lingered at 25-year highs.

The major indexes ended the week with gains, due largely to the big advance Tuesday after minutes of the Fed's late March meeting showed the central bank was leaning toward ending its interest rate hikes. Inflation data released in subsequent sessions and oil's ascent stifled the market's enthusiasm, but the Dow still rose 1.88 percent, while the S&P 500 index rose 1.72 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.72 percent.

Analysts say next week's trading will depend on the market's interpretation of the latest government reports, which include first-quarter GDP, employment costs, new home sales and consumer confidence. Earning reports will also continue flowing in.

On Friday, Google Inc.'s earnings pushed its stock up $22.10, or 5.3 percent, to $437.10, but the technology sector stumbled after Citigroup cut computer maker Dell Inc. to "sell" on concerns about slowing growth and weakening margins. EBay Inc. also saw a second day of losses following its lackluster quarter. Dell sank $1.23 to $27.01, and eBay fell $1.68 to $35.09.

Ford Motor Co. posted its biggest deficit in more than four years after taking $1.7 billion of pretax charges from its costly North American restructuring plan. Sales slid 9 percent amid a continued slump in U.S. vehicle demand. Ford fell 63 cents to $7.32.

Dow industrial 3M rose $2.46 to $85.06 after saying its quarterly profit swelled 17 percent on a sturdy rise in sales. The market was also encouraged by 3M's increased outlook.

Fellow Dow component McDonald's Corp. said its earnings dropped 14 percent from the year before, when a tax break boosted its results. However, sales grew 6 percent to top Wall Street estimates. McDonald's slid 48 cents to $34.60.

Drug company Wyeth's profit advanced 4 percent from strong sales of antidepressant Effexor and heartburn medication Protonix. Wyeth climbed 73 cents to $47.50.

Advancing issues led decliners 17 to 15 on the New York Stock Exchange, where final consolidated volume was 2.52 billion shares, down from 2.63 billion Thursday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.55, or 0.33 percent, to 772.12, after spending most of the day in positive territory.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.5 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.84 percent, Germany's DAX index added 0.52 percent, and France's CAC-40 was higher by 0.88 percent.


The Dow Jones industrials ended the week up 209.80, or 1.88 percent, finishing at 11,347.45. The S&P 500 index rose 22.16, or 1.72 percent, to close at 1,311.28.

The Nasdaq gained 16.75, or 0.72 percent, to end at 2,342.86.

Source: muzi.com

Nasdaq, S&P Close at New Five-Year Highs

Nasdaq, S&P Close at New Five-Year Highs

The Nasdaq composite and Standard & Poor's 500 indexes closed at five-year highs Wednesday after a positive report on the economy's service sector pushed stocks modestly higher. A jump in oil prices, however, minimized Wall Street's gains.

The Institute for Supply Management's service index, an important barometer of that sector's activity, came in at 60.5 for the month, up from 60.1 in February and better than the 59 reading economists expected. The modest gains were enough to encourage Wall Street about that sector's growth, but did not appear to reignite the market's interest rate worries.

Yet trading remained tentative as the Energy Department's weekly inventory report showed lower stockpiles of gasoline and distillate fuels, which drove up crude oil futures. A barrel of light crude settled at $67.07, up 84 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange -- a 20 percent year-over-year rise.

"The tick up in oil prices hurts, but history has shown that interest rates have a much bigger impact on the stock market than oil," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. "And looking at the ISM services number, you're seeing the kind of gradual, lazy improvement in the economy that's not going to really get rates going."

The Nasdaq gained 14.39, or 0.61 percent, to 2,359.75, its best close since Feb. 16, 2001, when it closed at 2,425.35.

The S&P added 5.63, or 0.43 percent, to 1,311.56, its best showing since May 21, 2001, when it finished at 1,312.83.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 35.70, or 0.32 percent, to 11,239.55.

Bonds climbed higher, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.85 percent from 4.87 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose, but remained below $600 per ounce.

The market's activity -- which had the major indexes seesawing through the early part of the session -- could be attributed to investor unease ahead of Friday's job creation report from the Labor Department. The report is a key indicator of the overall economy's health, and Wall Street remained concerned that a very strong economy would prompt more interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

With that uncertainty looming and stocks at or near five-year highs, investors were unlikely to push stocks substantially higher without at least some kind of retrenchment over the next few weeks, analysts said.

"Nobody likes to buy into a market that's making new highs. People like to be IN a market that's making new highs," said Chris Johnson, manager of quantitative analysis at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati. "We're pretty much at a top right now, and people are going to want to see a good-sized correction at some point before jumping in again."

In corporate news, strong corn seed sales helped agricultural supplier Monsanto Co. post an 18 percent jump in quarterly profits. The company's earnings beat Wall Street forecasts by 8 cents per share, but Monsanto nonetheless dropped 47 cents to $85.41 as its second-quarter forecasts came in lower than expected.

Apple Computer Inc. surged $6.04, or 9.9 percent, to $67.21 as the company unveiled new software that would allow its Macintosh computers running on Intel Corp. chips to use Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP, a move to broaden the Mac's appeal among PC users. Microsoft rose 10 cents to $27.74 on the news, while Intel gained 18 cents to $19.48.

Grocery store operator Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., more commonly known as A&P, declared a $7.25 special dividend, worth a total of $300 million, payable April 25 to shareholders of record April 17. A&P nonetheless lost 22 cents to $34.91 after having risen substantially for most of the session.

Shares of broadcaster CBS Corp. added 16 cents to $24.97 after NBC "Today" host Katie Couric announced she would move to CBS to anchor its evening news and contribute to "60 Minutes." NBC parent General Electric Co. slid 28 cents to $34.42.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by nearly 5 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, where preliminary consolidated volume came to 2.44 billion shares, compared with 2.2 billion traded on Tuesday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.94, or 0.52 percent, to 766.26, an all-time high for the small-cap indicator.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.28 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.66 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.26 percent, and France's CAC-40 climbed 0.29 percent.

Source: muzi.com

Nasdaq drops offer for London Stock Exchange

Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) dropped its 2.4 billion pound ($4.18 billion) proposed offer for the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L) on Thursday, becoming the fourth suitor in a year to abandon pursuit of Europe's biggest stock market.

But the second-biggest U.S. stock exchange operator left the door open to a tie-up in the future, saying it might make an offer under certain circumstances, such as if the London Stock Exchange (LSE) agreed to a deal, or a rival bidder emerged.

LSE shares fell 6.8 percent to 1,023 pence in London, valuing the exchange at around 2.6 billion pounds ($4.50 billion). But they remained well above Nasdaq's cash offer proposal of 950p as industry observers continued to believe the London exchange may eventually succumb to a bid, or take a more active role in the industry's consolidation.

LSE shares have soared to as high as 1,219-1/2p since Nasdaq's approach was unveiled on hopes Nasdaq might improve its proposal, or that a rival suitor, such as the NYSE Group Inc.(NYSE:NYX), might enter the fray.

"(The LSE) have fought off bidder after bidder after bidder and I would think that, if London is going to sell, it has to be at a very sweet price and Nasdaq certainly wasn't willing to pay it," said Richard Herr, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in New York.

Nasdaq's shares dropped 3.01 percent at $40.59 in early afternoon trading in New York, while the NYSE also fell, down 2.13 percent at $78.30.

Industry observers thought the NYSE would be in no rush to make any bid for the LSE, as it is tied up with a secondary share offering, integrating its recent acquisition of trading platform Archipelago and introducing its "hybrid" market, which will bring more automation onto the floor.

Herr thinks that, after these events are worked through in about 6 months to 12 months time, the NYSE will be more likely to make acquisitions.

The NYSE declined to comment on Nasdaq's announcement.

Global overview

This report describes world economic growth, well being and interaction, specifically trends in GDP, poverty and world trade. In brief, this report shows that:

Economic Growth:

In the last several decades, total GDP and GDP per capita increased in OECD* countries, and in non OECD Eastern Europe and Asia. In contrast, there has been little overall growth in Africa and the Middle East.
(* OECD is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Basically OECD are the more advanced economies.)

Economic Structure

Service Sector:

Since 1970, the majority of economic activity has been in the service sector; 41% in developing countries and 58% in developed countries.
By 2001, 52% of economic activity among developing countries was in service, and 72% of economic activity among developed countries.

Industry:

The pattern for industry is complex:
Mainly decline since 1980 in the developed world.
Slight declines in the developing countries of Africa and America, and recent increases in Asia and Oceania.

Agriculture:

In 2001, Agriculture was only 11% of economic activity in developing countries, and only 2% in developed countries.
However, agriculture is a very large part of the labor force, particularly in the developing countries, where it accounted for two thirds of the labor force in 1980 and still over one half in 2001.
Agriculture, as an economic activity and in the labor force, is particularly significant in Sub Saharan Africa and Oceania.
Agricultural productivity was very low in less developed countries. This explains why a large part of the labor force was in agriculture but only a small part of the GDP was in agriculture.


Poverty:

According to World Bank estimates, there has been an increase in the number of people in poverty in Europe, Central Asia, Latin America and Africa. In contrast, East and South Asia has seen a decline in the number of people in poverty (using $1 a day).
The percent of people in poverty has also increased in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, while the percent in poverty declined in East and South Asia and Latin America.
However, poverty is one of the most difficult indicators to measure. Thus, there is no universal agreement on poverty definitions or trends.

Thus, this is the first part of the review. Later, in the continuation of the report, the detailed analysys with charts will be presented to reflect the trends and to have better presentation for Yourself.

NYSE plugs itself in and floats out to an archipelago

HE New York Stock Exchange ended 213 years of private ownership yesterday, clearing the way for chief executive John Thain to complete a push into automated trading with the acquisition of Archipelago Holdings Inc.

Mr Thain has been conducting the biggest overhaul of the NYSE in almost three decades. His efforts culminated yesterday morning when he rang the opening bell and shares of NYSE Group Inc began to trade. The stock closed at $US80, compared with Archipelago's $US64.25.

Although Mr Thain has transformed the exchange, he has been unable to prevent Nasdaq Stock Market Inc from taking more of the trading in NYSE-listed companies. The Big Board's share of trades in its own stocks fell to 71.7 per cent in January — the lowest since the exchange began collecting data three decades earlier — from 79.6 per cent a year earlier.

Mr Thain, a former Goldman Sachs Group president, now needs to please shareholders, who will demand profit growth; just as they do for the other 2800 companies listed on the NYSE, the world's biggest stock exchange. To start, he's pushing NYSE Group deeper into options, a market where trading is rising faster than for common stocks, and preparing to quadruple the number of corporate bonds traded on the exchange.

Mr Thain is relying on new computer systems to modernise a trading culture that dates back to the NYSE's founding under a buttonwood tree in 1792. He has another incentive in the US Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation NMS, which from June will require brokers to send orders to the exchange that can instantaneously execute the trade at the best price.

Nasdaq, founded in 1971, is already all electronic. In an effort to take an even greater share of trading in NYSE-listed stocks, it started offering discounts last month.

The NYSE's adherence to its not-for-profit status came at a cost. The exchange earned $US65.2 million ($A88.9 million) last year, excluding expenses it said were related to the Archipelago purchase, on revenue of $US1.12 billion, for a profit margin of about 6 per cent. Nasdaq's margin for 2005 was almost 10 per cent.

Still, shares of NYSE Group are about twice as expensive as those of Frankfurt-based Deutsche Boerse AG, Europe's biggest exchange by market value. The exchange's initial value of $US10.1 billion was third behind Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc and Deutsche Boerse.

The stock is benefiting from a global rally in shares of securities exchanges that's now in its fourth year. Exchanges have benefited from rising markets, increased share trading and the ability to charge higher prices.

Each of the NYSE's 1366 members received about $US5.45 million in cash and stock of the combined company. Each member will also receive a one-time dividend of about $US70,600. Archipelago shares were swapped one-for-one for those of NYSE Group.

NYSE memberships climbed to as high as $US4 million last year from $US1.05 million at the end of 2004, which was close to a 10-year low.

Mr Thain's first step to competing better is a project he endorsed soon after arriving at the NYSE in January 2004. The so-called hybrid market marries the floor traders' world of shouted orders with fully automated buying and selling.

Under the hybrid system, floor brokers have the option of completing trades through NYSE specialists, individuals who make markets in certain stocks, or routing them electronically. The result may be big reductions in the 3000 brokers and clerks who work on the floor. For now, the hybrid market will co-exist with Archipelago.

BLOOMBERG