My family use to enjoy going to the beach?
A.tmetals tend to have a dark view of the world. Scratch a gold bug, and you might find a canned-goods enthusiast, or someone who thinks the world's currencies one day will collapse.
Sure, gold and silver have been great investments over the past couple of years. But silver seems to have taken on a more manic stripe, while gold has retained a degree of restraint. It is that divergence that argues for looking at these two metals differently.
Take the last two weeks. Silver is down nearly 30% this month in volatile trading. Such a move in the Dow Jones Industrial Average would equate to an eye-popping drop of more than 3,700 points. of Pacific Investment Management Co. called silver's parabolic rise and subsequent skid a "tulip mania-style move."
Silver backers counter that even with its recent drop, the lesser precious metal has retained a nearly 80% gain over the past year. Of course, it was up nearly 150% two weeks ago. Over the past year, gold is up 23% and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is up 15%.
Even before last week's dive, things had gotten pretty crazy in the silver markets. On April 25, the exchange-traded fund traded nearly as much dollar volume as the S&P 500 ETF. And , which oversees silver trading at its Nymex unit, tightened silver margin requirements four times in the last few weeks as the speculative fever got hotter.
1. Take the last two weeks. Silver is down nearly?
A. 50%
B. 30%
C. 15%.
2. Silver's halcyon days may be fading?
A. and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is up 15%.
B. Even before last week's dive.
C. but gold still looks like it has some spunk.
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Private debtholders, including euro zone banks, should accept a debt extension or other form of "soft default" to alleviate the debt burden for countries such as Greece if Europe wants a solution to the sovereign debt crisis, Bill Gross, Co-CIO of PIMCO told CNBC on Tuesday."We wouldn't go so far as to suggest that Greece or any other country leave the euro," Gross said. "What I think needs to be done....is for private debtholders and Euroland banks...to take a debt extension or some kind of soft default that alleviates the burden for these countries."
Gross admitted it was difficult to suggest that countries such as Germany, which have been more forthright and fiscally conservative, should help peripheral nations."But if they want a consolidated solution, that's really the way to go," he said.
"Countries like Greece and Ireland are subject to the euro currency and can't lower their high debt to GDP ratio by offering interest rates in the low to negative range such that a country can pay for its debt by real growth," Gross said.
That might have provided a solution, he said. "It's a rather surreptitious and sneaky way to do it, but it's quite effective."
Despite concerns that European banks have taken on too much risk and will not be able to withstand future shocks to the economy, Gross believes they are an attractive investment.
"Lloyds [LLOY-LN 49.74 -1.13 (-2.22%)] and Royal Bank of Scotland [RBS-LN 40.44 -0.44 (-1.08%)]and Rabobank all have cocos (contingent convertible bonds) which provide yields of 300-400 basis points more than typical senior bank capital, and we think it's attractive. Admittedly there is a risk and if these banks move down to a certain equity as a percentage of capital level then the price has to be paid, but ultimately we think banks such as those are in the process of recapitalizing... and that going forward they will be much more careful in terms of riskiness," he said.
Bond investors needed to look for opportunities from the standpoint of currencies where real interest rates are high as opposed to low or negative, Gross said.
"We're looking currencies and bonds in those currencies which offer high real interest rates. Brazil does that at 6-7 percent real. Canada... basically offers a half to 1 percent higher real interest rate. Same thing for Mexico," he said.
Bill Gross, Co-CIO of PIMCO told CNBC on Tuesday."We wouldn't go so far as to suggest that Greece or any other country leave the euro," Gross said?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Despite concerns that European banks have taken on too much risk and will not be able to withstand future shocks to the economy, Gross believes they are an attractive investment?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
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Take a helping of Russian genius, add a portion of risk appetite and stir in a lot of patience, and you have the recipe for the resounding success of search engine Yandex's U.S. stock market float.
The Nasdaq listing values Russia's leading internet search engine [YNDX 35.0799 10.0799
at $8 billion, an eye-popping 500 times its worth when private equity investors bought into the company in 2000.
That year the business, founded in 1997 by mathematician Arkady Volozh and geophysicist Ilya Segalovich, had revenue of $72,000 and lost $2 million.
Eyeing a long-term prospect, Yelena Ivashentseva of private equity fund Baring Vostok Capital Partners put together an investor group that bought a 36 percent stake in Yandex for just over $5 million.
Talks to buy into Yandex lasted seven months, Ivashentseva said recently, recalling the horror of the fund's backers over the deal. "It was really difficult to explain this to our investors, who en masse demanded that we get rid of the stake," she told Forbes magazine's Russian edition.
It turned out to be the only round of fund-raising that the company did until the initial public offering (IPO), which featured a slug of new shares. Investors who came into Yandex in recent years bought stock from existing shareholders. (Update: Yandex launched its $1.3 billion IPO on the Nasdaq Tuesday. Shares began trading at around $40 a share, after the offering was priced at $25 a share.)
Yandex went on to richly reward that investment, with the algorithm driving its search engineconceived to scan the Bible, Russian classical literature and patent textsproving consistently superior to that of rival Google [GOOG 520.71 2.32 (+0.45%) ], whose co-founder, Sergey Brin, was born in Russia.
The company's home site yandex.ru has a market share of 65 percent in Russia, compared with Google's 22 percent, capitalising on a boom in online advertising to generate sales of $445 million last year, up 43 percent, while earnings rose 90 percent to $135 million.
Volozh is a slight man with a quiet manner and, since the earliest days of the Internet boom, a wry scepticism about the millions, then billions of dollars flooding into his industry.
"We used to be very conservative, until we started meeting so many excited people," Volozh joked in 2000.
He resisted the overtures of suitors dangling the prospect of a huge payday through, telling Reuters in 2005 that bankers "are promising us a golden future, diamonds in the sky, if we do an IPO."
Patience Pays
Bankers say plans for a long-awaited float were prepared in 2008, only to be derailed by the global financial crisis. The company's core investors decided to sit out the crash and Yandex, bucking an 8 percent contraction in the Russian economy in 2009, delivered top-line growth that year although earnings shrank by 17 percent.
"The investors waited for long enough and this strategy was successful. They weren't trying to push Yandex into an IPO as soon as possible," said Anna Lepetukhina, an analyst at Moscow brokerage Troika Dialog.
"There were rumours that they were going to do an IPO in 2008. Then the crisis came and they were prepared to wait. They got a good return on that investment."
Russia Returns
For the investors, the Yandex story amounts to proof that Russia's investment climate is by no means as hostile as many say.
Baring Vostok, which retains a 26 percent stake as Yandex's largest shareholder, abides by a few golden rules to avoid the pitfalls that others have fallen into, founding partner Michael Calvey told Reuters on Tuesday.
The fund's 19-firm portfolio is weighted towards services, avoids industries where it might clash with state firms and relies on equity funding, not debt, to shield its investments against Russia's often vicious business cycle.
Calvey, an American who founded Baring Vostok in 1994, said in an interview that the fund's strategy had enabled it to ride out the 2008-09 crash without having to make any disposals.
"We don't expect there to be any fatalities in our portfolio as a result of the crisis," Calvey said. He declined to comment on the Yandex IPO, citing regulatory restrictions.
What business man founded in 1997 company?
A. Arkady Volozh
B. Gerald Kesler
C. Harold Keller
Who was the American who founded Baring Vostok?
A. Calvey
B. London
C. Jason
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Traders are eagerly awaiting indications from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that interest rate hikes aren't likely anytime soon.
The hope that Bernanke will make that clear in remarks scheduled for Tuesday afternoon is keeping stocks afloat. Stocks recovered some of their losses Tuesday after sliding for four straight days.
The Dow Jones industrial average rosleeker broadcast networks like
EXCERCISE #1
Directions: Discuss the italicized verbs. Do they expree present time or past time? Do the Verbs describe an activity or situation....
a. is in progress right now?
b. is usual or is a general statement of fact?
c. began and ended in the past?
d. was in progress at a time in the past?
1. Jennifer works for an insurance company.
2. When people need help with their automobile insurance, they call her.
3. Right now it is 9:05 A.M., and Jennifer is sitting at her desk.
4. She came to work on time this morning.
5. Yesterday Jennifer was late to work because she had a minor auto accident.
6. While she was driving to work, her cell phone rang.
7. She answered it. It was her friend Rob.
8. She was happy to here from him because she likes Rob and always enjoys
her conversations with him.
9. While they were talking, Jennifer, who is allergic to bee stings, noticed two bees in her car.
10. She quickly opened the car windows and swatted at the bees while she was talking to Rob on the phone.
11. Her hands left the steering wheel, and she lost control of the car. Her car ran into a row of mailboxes beside the road.
12. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the accident.
13. Jennifer is okay, but her car isn't. It needs repairs.
14. When Jennifer got to work this morning, she talked to her automobile insurance agent.
15. That was easy to do because she works at the desk right next to hers.
EXCERCISE #2
Directions: Write the correct pronunciations and practice sayin the words aloud. / T / D / ED /
1. cooked= T 6. dropped= drop/ / 11. returned= return/
2. served = D 7. pulled= pull/ / 12. touched= touch/ /
3. wanted= ED 8. pushed= push/ / 13. waved= wave/ /
4. asked = ask/ / 9. added= add/ / 14. pointed= point/ /
5. started= start/ / 10. passed= pass/ / 15.agreed= agree/ /
Directions: Read the following the paragraphs and answer the questions?
News reporters are taught to start their stories with the most important information. The first sentence, called the lead, cantains the most essential elements of the story. A good lead can convey a lot of information, as in these two leads from srticles that won awards from the American Society of Newpaper Editors: A healthy 17-year -old heart pumped the gift of life through 34- year -old Bruce Murray Friday, following a four- hour transplant operation that doctors said went without a hitch.
1. Is this story about?
A. Child
B. Cat
C. News reporters
2.How old are the people in the story?
A. 17-year -old 34- year -old
B. 21-year -old 72-year -old
C. 28-year -old 82-year -old
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Many market participants believe the end of the Federal Reserves quantitative easing program in June will signal the government's exit from the extraordinary interventions made during the financial crisis. After a healthy earnings season, they say, it is time now for our free market to stand on its own two feet.Not so fast, says Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy for Brown Brothers Harriman. He and others believe that the incredible amount of borrowing by the U.S. and the European Union to get out of the credit crisis will force governments to stay involved to ensure an orderly decline of this debt load.
It's a concept called financial repression, akin to what occurred after the Great Depression and WWII. Financial repression refers to official actions that run counter to the market-based incentive structure, said Chandler in a note to clients. The ostensible goal is to support the government bond markets. Moral suasion, the cajoling of investors are soft forms of financial repression, where the government can impose such cooperation by fiat.
The Federal Reserves second round of quantitative easing, the purchase of $600 billion longer-dated Treasury securities, is scheduled to end June 30. Despite successfully keeping interest rates low, the program didnt stop housing prices from hitting a new post-recession low, according to Case-Shiller data released Tuesday. Bernanke, Paulson and Geithner had visions of Tina Turner in a burlap outfit and cage matches in Thunderdome especially when the AIG situation exploded on them right after the Lehman bankruptcy, said Alec Levine of WallachBeth Capital. The hindsight lesson is not that we overreacted, but that we were this close to the abyss. So-called free market countries will be much less free for a longer time than people realize.Over in Europe, a second aid package to Greece is being put together to avoid the default of Greek bonds, which could set off a catastrophic domino effect for the European banks holding the debt.
The US debt hit its legal limit of $14.3 trillion last month. Congress is currently fighting over an increase in the so-called debt ceiling, with Republicans wanting such a vote linked to heavy spending cuts. Congress has no choice, but to ultimately pass the increase in order to avoid a U.S. default.
Spending cuts, tax increaseseven organic growth wont do much of anything to solve a debt load of this magnitude, according to an NBER working paper referenced by Chandler on financial repression.
Earlier this year, Standard & Poors put Americas triple-A rating on negative watch in part because of concerns about Congress not having the political will to instill strict austerity measures. It may all be a moot point Hoping that substantial public and private debt overhangs are resolved by growth may be uplifting, but it is not particularly practical from a policy standpoint, states an NBER Working Paper by Carmen Reinhart and M. Belen Sbrancia entitled The Liquidation of Government Debt. The evidence, at any rate, is not particularly encouraging, as high levels of public debt appear to be associated with lower growth.
Once QE2 has ended, regulation may be used to force large institutions to reduce risk and hold more of the safest assets (i.e. Treasurys), said BBHs Chandler. Economists have been downgrading their second half growth estimates recently on fears that high unemployment may be here for a while and that manufacturing growth is slowing. This makes it all the more likely that the governments hand, and not an invisible one, will stay involved in this market to keep interest rates low and allow for the country to refinance this debt load.
The U.S. could still win under this scenario as long as it doesnt get too drastic in its continued intervention efforts and inflation doesnt explode, some investors said.
Despite this, the U.S. is still running at a much more free market mechanism vs. other market regulations, namely those in Europe and Asia where official controls and quotas are even more comprehensive and daunting and effect all asset classes, said Ron Shah of Jina Ventures in an interview from India.
Many market participants believe the end of the Federal Reserves quantitative easing program in June will signal the government's exit from the extraordinary interventions?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
The Federal Reserves second round of quantitative easing, the purchase of $600 billion longer-dated Treasury securities, is scheduled to end June 30?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy has weakened in recent weeks, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke noted Tuesday. But he stuck with a message he's delivered since April: The slowdown from high gas prices and Japan's crises is temporary, and growth should pick up later this year.
Bernanke made no mention of any new steps the Fed might take to boost the economy. The Fed's $600 billion Treasury bond-buying program is ending this month. The program was intended to keep interest rates low to strengthen the economy. But critics said it raised the risk of high inflation.
The Fed chairman said the economy still needs the benefit of low interest rates. The Fed is scheduled to meet in two weeks and is all but certain to keep those rates at record lows.
Stocks fell after Bernanke began speaking. The Dow Jones industrial average erased gains made earlier in the day and closed down for the fifth straight day, as did broader indexes.
"The market was disappointed," said David Jones, head of DMJ Economic Advisors, a private consulting firm. "Wall Street investors were hoping for the promise of another round of credit easing, and they didn't get it."
Bernanke noted the May jobs report released last week was a setback. It showed the unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1 percent and the economy added just 54,000 jobs, the fewest in eight months. But he said he expected job creation and overall economic growth to rebound in coming months.
"The economic recovery appears to be continuing at a moderate pace, albeit at a rate that is both uneven across sectors and frustratingly slow from the perspective of millions of unemployed and underemployed workers," he said at a banking conference in Atlanta.
Bernanke said the central bank would not consider the recovery well-established "until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation."
He repeated a pledge that central bank officials have been making for more than two years: that they will keep interest rates at record lows "for an extended period."
Bernanke said that consumer inflation has jumped 3.5 percent in the six months ending in April -- well above the average of less than 1 percent over the preceding two years. But he noted that most of the increase had been caused by higher gas prices, which have been creeping down in recent weeks. Excluding food and energy, inflation has been tame, he noted.
He also noted that supply disruptions stemming from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan have hampered growth in the April-June quarter. But he said the effect on manufacturing output will likely ease in the coming months.
Bernanke disagreed with critics who say the Fed's policies are raising inflation risks by weakening the dollar and contributing to the jump in oil and commodity prices. He said that slow growth in the United States and a persistent trade deficit were the fundamental reasons for the dollar's decline, and not the Fed's interest rate policies.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., asked Bernanke if he was concerned that rules from last year's financial overhaul law will take effect just as the economy is slowing.
Bernanke responded that the worst financial since the Great Depression "revealed a lot of weak spots" that needed to be addressed. But he said regulators were trying to make sure financial institutions would not be overburdened with costs to meet the rules.
Did he also noted that supply disruptions stemming from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan have hampered growth in the April-June quarter?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
The economy has weakened in recent weeks, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke noted Tuesday?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street bounced in light volume on Tuesday, a day after the S&P 500 fell to its lowest in over two months, with some describing the S&P's losses in the past five weeks as overdone.
The S&P 500 has fallen 4.9 percent since a recent high at the start of May. On Monday, the benchmark index closed at its lowest level since March 18.
Tuesday's move "is just an uptick off some oversold levels," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in San Francisco.
"Friday set us up with a low close. We had a cascading, selling kind of situation that got, in my opinion, a little bit overdone in the very short term."
Recently battered energy shares bounced back despite a drop in U.S. crude prices, though Brent crude rose, helped in part by a weaker U.S. dollar. Healthcare and utility stocks also ranked among the leaders.
Some investors are seeing an opportunity after weeks of soft economic data failed to create a panic in the U.S. stock market. Expectation of strong earnings reports in July could bring in buyers who want to get ahead of the expected move up next month.
"We are doing as typical a market move as you could possibly imagine," Pado said.
"We have no base at this point so we need to bounce and construct a base, then you can make the case for the next bull leg to start."
The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - News) gained 63.72 points, or 0.53 percent, to 12,153.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - News) rose 6.87 points, or 0.53 percent, to 1,293.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC - News) added 8.87 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,711.43.
Bank stocks, heavily sold in recent weeks, were among the biggest gainers. JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM - News) rose 1.9 percent to $41.28, while the KBW bank index (^BKX - News) was up 1 percent.
But not all market participants were ready to call the end of the downturn. Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey, said light volume and lack of buyers could mean any bounce is short-lived.
"The problem for institutions on a day like today is the volume being light. Any concerted effort to raise funds (sell positions) could have a disproportionate impact on pricing as buyers will be on the thin side," he wrote in a note to clients.
In company news, International Paper Co (IP - News) launched a $3.3 billion unsolicited offer for rival Temple-Inland Inc (TIN - News). Shares of Temple-Inland shot up 40.4 percent to $29.50, while IP's stock rose 1.3 percent to $30.05. Temple-Inland said it adopted a stockholder rights plan to fend off the hostile takeover.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak on the U.S. economic outlook at a banking conference in Atlanta.
Did the Fed officials have said recent data was a disappointment, with Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Fed, suggesting it could delay the Fed's exit from its extremely easy monetary policy. Bernanke is set to start speaking shortly before the market closes?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Did the Recently battered energy shares bounced back despite a drop in U.S. crude prices, though Brent crude rose, helped in part by a weaker U.S. dollar?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Directions: Write the -ing and -ed forms of the following verbs. (The simple past/past participle of ireegular verbs is given parentheses.)
-ING- -ED-
1. start starting started
2. wait
3. hit
4. write
5. shout
6. cut
7. meet
8. hope
9. hop
10 .help
11. sleep
12.step
13. tap
15. rain
16. run
17. whine
18. win
19. explain
20. burn
DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer questions?
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Monday that he will immediately halt investments in two big government pension plans so the government can continue to borrow money.
Geithner informed Congress of his decision in a letter stating that the government had officially reached its $14.3 trillion borrowing limit. He repeated a warning that if lawmakers do not increase the borrowing limit by August 2, the government is at risk of an unprecedented default on its debt.
The debt limit is the amount of money the government can borrow to help finance its operations. The nation has reached its debt limit because the federal government has grown accustomed to borrowing massive amounts of money. The latest estimate is that it borrows 40 cents for every dollar it spends.
Republicans have said they will not vote to raise the borrowing limit until Congress and the White House agree on a plan to reduce the deficit through spending cuts. House Speaker John Boehner last week those cuts should be larger than any increase in the debt ceiling.
The deficit is the difference between what the government spends and what it takes in through taxes and other revenue. The Congressional Budget Office projects that this year's deficit will total $1.4 trillion. That's would nearly match 2009's record imbalance and mark the third straight year in which the federal deficit has exceeded $1 trillion.
1. What is the name of the Treasury Secretary?
A. Timothy Geithner
B. Hillary Clinton
C. Barrack Obama
2. What is the government borrowing limit?
A. 18.2 trillion
B. 102 billion
C. 14.3 trillion
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After 33 years of marriage, Steven Simkin and Laura Blank divorced in 2006. They agreed to split their considerable wealth equally. She got the apartment on the Upper East Side; he got the house in Scarsdale, N.Y.Afterward, they spoke infrequently, mostly concerning their two grown sons.
More than two years later, Ms. Blank received a voicemail message that stunned her: Mr. Simkin wanted to revise their settlement. She refused, and he sued.
While divorce agreements are generally ironclad and rarely rescinded, this challenge has now reached New Yorks highest court. Deeply divided appellate justices requested what is considered an unusual review of settled law involving contracts.
What made Mr. Simkins call for a do-over even remotely possible has its roots in Bernard L. Madoffs Ponzi scheme. When the couple split their assets evenly, the largest chunk of money was invested with Mr. Madoff. Mr. Simkin kept much of his funds in the Madoff account, which was held in his name.
Ms. Blank, who said she had no interest in investing with Mr. Madoff, received her settlement proceeds in cash.
Shortly after Mr. Madoff admitted wrongdoing in December 2008, Mr. Simkin, a lawyer at one of the countrys most powerful law firms, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, filed court papers to drastically alter the terms of his divorce settlement.
Ms. Blank, he argued in the lawsuit, should be required to turn over millions of dollars that she had received in their settlement to make up for the substantial losses he had sustained in the fraud.
The Simkin-Blank dispute has riveted the states matrimonial bar, and splintered opinions among the six judges who have already weighed in on the case. Some lawyers are predicting that if the Court of Appeals allows Mr. Simkin to try to revise the agreement, the ruling could affect not only divorce settlements but also other contracts.
The decision could open the floodgates for people who want to challenge agreements after they go sour, said Peter Bienstock, a divorce lawyer not involved in the case. Deals are done every single day based on assumptions about what things are worth. If the court allows this lawsuit to go forward, how can we be certain that deals will hold up?
Some lawyers also say that if judges allow this agreement to be rescinded, it could lead to more Madoff-related suits by destabilizing all types of contracts struck with the fraud victims.
The case, which is expected to be decided later this year, has spawned at least one copycat action. In January, a Madoff victim in Middlesex County, Mass., filed a similar complaint against his ex-wife to revise their separation agreement. A family court judge dismissed the lawsuit earlier this month, and the plaintiffs lawyer is now weighing an appeal.
A ruling in the Blank-Simkin case would only have a direct effect on New Yorks laws, but a decision by the influential court could influence how judges interpret laws in other states.
Mr. Simkins suit rests on the doctrine of mutual mistake, a well-established principle that allows for the cancellation of contracts, including divorce agreements, when both parties are innocently mistaken about an essential term.
In a famous example, if a violinist sells another violinist what they believe to be a Stradivarius, and it turns out to be a cheap knockoff, they can void the contract.
In this case, Mr. Simkin, chairman of the real estate department at Paul Weiss, and Ms. Blank, a labor lawyer for the City University of New York, believed at the time of their divorce that $5.4 million of their $13.2 million in assets was in a Madoff account.
To divvy up things, Mr. Simkin withdrew some money from his Madoff account and put it toward a $6.6 million cash payment to Ms. Blank. He continued to invest with Mr. Madoff. But once the Madoff empire collapsed, Mr. Simkin began arguing that he and Ms. Blank were mistaken about the existence of the account.
There was in fact no account and no securities or other assets, wrote Mr. Simkins lawyers in a recent filing. There was only a Ponzi scheme of unprecedented size and duration.
Richard Emery, a lawyer for Ms. Blank, counters that Mr. Simkin did have an account with Mr. Madoff. Any mistake, he contends, involved the accounts future value not its existence. Under the law, an error about an accounts future value would not justify rewriting the agreement.
Just like other Madoff investors, he was able to redeem his money until the scheme collapsed precisely because he had an account there, Mr. Emery said.
To argue that he didnt have a Madoff account is nothing more than a semantic trick.
Last year, a trial judge dismissed Mr. Simkins suit. But in January, a sharply divided New York appellate court, in a 3-to-2 decision, ruled that Mr. Simkin could sue to revise the deal because of the fraud, citing their mutual mistake about the existence of the Madoff account.In her dissent, Justice Karla Moskowitz sharply criticized the majority opinion, writing that it undermines decades of established precedent favoring finality in divorce cases. She said the ruling could bring chaos for not only for the court system but for litigants as well, who deserve finality and to move on.
Ms. Blank, the judge wrote, cannot be responsible for Mr. Simkins decision to invest with Mr. Madoff for two and a half years after their divorce.
Just as she would not have benefited from any increase in the value of the account, she should not have to bear the burden of its loss, she wrote.
Steven received exactly what he bargained for. He alone took on the risk that he might not be able to recoup his investment. Mr. Simkins lawyers his colleagues at Paul Weiss described their partner in court papers as gravely damaged and suffering extreme hardship as a result of the Madoff fraud.
The annual profits per partner at Paul Weiss are about $3 million, according to The American Lawyer magazine. Last October, Mr. Simkin sold his Scarsdale home for $5.7 million and bought another in nearby Mamaroneck for $4.1 million, according to state real estate records.
Paul Weiss, a law firm renowned for its litigation department, is representing Mr. Simkin free of charge. Mr. Simkin and his lawyers declined to comment.
The legal community is divided on the case.
On one hand, the contract law principle of mutual mistake makes a strong case to cancel this divorce agreement, said Lawrence A. Cunningham, a law professor at George Washington University who has written about the dispute.
On the other, judges are reluctant to rescind these contracts because there is a strong interest in maintaining the finality of divorce. Its a close call.
Ms. Blank, who also declined to comment, plans to fight her former husbands lawsuit if the court does not dismiss the case, said Mr. Emery, her lawyer.
The finality of divorce is important for financial reasons and legal reasons, but its also important for emotional reasons, he said.
Five years ago Laura thought she had moved on with her life, but its now been put on hold.
Ms. Blank, who also declined to comment, plans to fight her former husbands lawsuit?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Ms. Blank, the judge wrote, cannot be responsible for Mr. Simkins decision to invest with Mr. Madoff for two and a half years after their divorce?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the United States would cooperate with Europe as it deals with Greece's debt woes and said a potential default there would be disastrous.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meeting with Obama on an official visit, said the euro zone shared a common interest in ensuring that the currency bloc was not endangered.
The two leaders said they discussed the debt crisis extensively. A proposal for a second Greek bailout package worth 80 billion to 100 billion euros over three years was taking shape, euro zone sources said.
Obama said Germany would be key to solving the crisis.
"I'm confident that Germany's leadership, along with other key actors in Europe, will help us arrive at a path for Greece to return to growth, for this debt to become more manageable," he said.
"But it's going to require some patience and some time. And we have pledged to cooperate fully in working through these issues, both on a bilateral basis, but also through international and financial institutions like the IMF."
Obama has cited the crisis as one in a handful of foreign "headwinds" affecting the U.S. economy.
Merkel, who is under political pressure at home to avoid being the financial savior for other struggling European countries, said Germany understood its role.
"We've seen that the stability of the euro as a whole will also be influenced if one country is in trouble," she said.
"So we do see clearly our European responsibility and we're shouldering that responsibility, together with the IMF."
Obama welcomed Merkel at a formal ceremony on the White House lawn with cannon shots and military musicians adding to the pomp and circumstance of an official visit -- the first visit by a European leader under Obama's presidency.
The show of partnership did not mask differences that the two leaders have over economic and security issues.
The United States cautiously endorsed military action in Libya while Germany confounded its NATO partners by refusing to take part.
Obama said he would expect Germany to help with Libya once Gaddafi was gone and recovery work was needed in the country, and he thanked Merkel for Germany's stepped-up support in Afghanistan, which freed up other NATO members to be active in Libya.
Did President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the United States would cooperate with Europe as it deals with Greece's debt woes and said a potential default there would be disastrous?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Is Obama said he would expect Germany to help with Libya once Gaddafi was gone and recovery work was needed in the country, and he thanked Merkel for Germany's stepped-up support in Afghanistan, which freed up other NATO members to be active in Libya?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Directions: Write the -ing and -ed forms of the following verbs.
1. opean
2. begin
3. occur
4. happen
5. refer
6. offer
7. listen
8. admit
9. visit
10. omit
11. hurry
12. study
13. enjoy
14. reply
15. stay
16. buy
17. try
18. tie
19. die
20. lie
21. lift
22. promise
23. slap
24. wipe
25. carry
26. cry
27. pray
28. smile
DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer the questions?
Silver is Special, Silver has properties that make it unique and irreplaceable for industry. Nothing else combines strength with softness that allows it to be formed and stretched. Nothing conducts electricity as well as is malleable resistant. Nothing else has such a high tensile strength, is wear resistant. From this you can see that silver cant be substituted. It has to many unique properties.
1. What are the properties that make silver unique?
A. strength with softness.
B. conducts electricity.
C. All of the above.
2. Is silver high tensile strength, is wear resistant?
A. TRUE
b. FALSE
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U.S. consumer confidence slid in May as consumers turned more pessimistic on the outlook for the labor market and inflation worries rose, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes fell to 60.8 from a revised 66.0 in April. The reading was below economists' forecasts for 66.5.
April was originally reported as 65.4. The expectations index tumbled to 75.2 from 83.2, while the present situation index edged down to 39.3 from 40.2.
Consumers' labor market assessment was less favorable. The proportion of those who said jobs were hard to get rose to 43.9 percent from 42.4 percent the month before, although the "jobs plentiful" category also rose to 5.6 percent from 5.1 percent.
Consumers were also more negative on their view of the labor market for the next six months. Those expecting more jobs in the coming months decreased to 15.9 percent from 17.8 percent, and those expecting fewer jobs rose to 20.8 percent from 18.7 percent.
Consumers' expectations for inflation in the coming 12 months rose to 6.6 from 6.3 percent.
Consumers turned more pessimistic on the outlook for the labor market?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Consumers were also more negative on their view of the labor market for the next six months?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
A.tmetals tend to have a dark view of the world. Scratch a gold bug, and you might find a canned-goods enthusiast, or someone who thinks the world's currencies one day will collapse.
Sure, gold and silver have been great investments over the past couple of years. But silver seems to have taken on a more manic stripe, while gold has retained a degree of restraint. It is that divergence that argues for looking at these two metals differently.
Take the last two weeks. Silver is down nearly 30% this month in volatile trading. Such a move in the Dow Jones Industrial Average would equate to an eye-popping drop of more than 3,700 points. of Pacific Investment Management Co. called silver's parabolic rise and subsequent skid a "tulip mania-style move."
Silver backers counter that even with its recent drop, the lesser precious metal has retained a nearly 80% gain over the past year. Of course, it was up nearly 150% two weeks ago. Over the past year, gold is up 23% and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is up 15%.
Even before last week's dive, things had gotten pretty crazy in the silver markets. On April 25, the exchange-traded fund traded nearly as much dollar volume as the S&P 500 ETF. And , which oversees silver trading at its Nymex unit, tightened silver margin requirements four times in the last few weeks as the speculative fever got hotter.
1. Take the last two weeks. Silver is down nearly?
A. 50%
B. 30%
C. 15%.
2. Silver's halcyon days may be fading?
A. and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is up 15%.
B. Even before last week's dive.
C. but gold still looks like it has some spunk.
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Private debtholders, including euro zone banks, should accept a debt extension or other form of "soft default" to alleviate the debt burden for countries such as Greece if Europe wants a solution to the sovereign debt crisis, Bill Gross, Co-CIO of PIMCO told CNBC on Tuesday."We wouldn't go so far as to suggest that Greece or any other country leave the euro," Gross said. "What I think needs to be done....is for private debtholders and Euroland banks...to take a debt extension or some kind of soft default that alleviates the burden for these countries."
Gross admitted it was difficult to suggest that countries such as Germany, which have been more forthright and fiscally conservative, should help peripheral nations."But if they want a consolidated solution, that's really the way to go," he said.
"Countries like Greece and Ireland are subject to the euro currency and can't lower their high debt to GDP ratio by offering interest rates in the low to negative range such that a country can pay for its debt by real growth," Gross said.
That might have provided a solution, he said. "It's a rather surreptitious and sneaky way to do it, but it's quite effective."
Despite concerns that European banks have taken on too much risk and will not be able to withstand future shocks to the economy, Gross believes they are an attractive investment.
"Lloyds [LLOY-LN 49.74 -1.13 (-2.22%)] and Royal Bank of Scotland [RBS-LN 40.44 -0.44 (-1.08%)]and Rabobank all have cocos (contingent convertible bonds) which provide yields of 300-400 basis points more than typical senior bank capital, and we think it's attractive. Admittedly there is a risk and if these banks move down to a certain equity as a percentage of capital level then the price has to be paid, but ultimately we think banks such as those are in the process of recapitalizing... and that going forward they will be much more careful in terms of riskiness," he said.
Bond investors needed to look for opportunities from the standpoint of currencies where real interest rates are high as opposed to low or negative, Gross said.
"We're looking currencies and bonds in those currencies which offer high real interest rates. Brazil does that at 6-7 percent real. Canada... basically offers a half to 1 percent higher real interest rate. Same thing for Mexico," he said.
Bill Gross, Co-CIO of PIMCO told CNBC on Tuesday."We wouldn't go so far as to suggest that Greece or any other country leave the euro," Gross said?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Despite concerns that European banks have taken on too much risk and will not be able to withstand future shocks to the economy, Gross believes they are an attractive investment?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
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Take a helping of Russian genius, add a portion of risk appetite and stir in a lot of patience, and you have the recipe for the resounding success of search engine Yandex's U.S. stock market float.
The Nasdaq listing values Russia's leading internet search engine [YNDX 35.0799 10.0799
at $8 billion, an eye-popping 500 times its worth when private equity investors bought into the company in 2000.
That year the business, founded in 1997 by mathematician Arkady Volozh and geophysicist Ilya Segalovich, had revenue of $72,000 and lost $2 million.
Eyeing a long-term prospect, Yelena Ivashentseva of private equity fund Baring Vostok Capital Partners put together an investor group that bought a 36 percent stake in Yandex for just over $5 million.
Talks to buy into Yandex lasted seven months, Ivashentseva said recently, recalling the horror of the fund's backers over the deal. "It was really difficult to explain this to our investors, who en masse demanded that we get rid of the stake," she told Forbes magazine's Russian edition.
It turned out to be the only round of fund-raising that the company did until the initial public offering (IPO), which featured a slug of new shares. Investors who came into Yandex in recent years bought stock from existing shareholders. (Update: Yandex launched its $1.3 billion IPO on the Nasdaq Tuesday. Shares began trading at around $40 a share, after the offering was priced at $25 a share.)
Yandex went on to richly reward that investment, with the algorithm driving its search engineconceived to scan the Bible, Russian classical literature and patent textsproving consistently superior to that of rival Google [GOOG 520.71 2.32 (+0.45%) ], whose co-founder, Sergey Brin, was born in Russia.
The company's home site yandex.ru has a market share of 65 percent in Russia, compared with Google's 22 percent, capitalising on a boom in online advertising to generate sales of $445 million last year, up 43 percent, while earnings rose 90 percent to $135 million.
Volozh is a slight man with a quiet manner and, since the earliest days of the Internet boom, a wry scepticism about the millions, then billions of dollars flooding into his industry.
"We used to be very conservative, until we started meeting so many excited people," Volozh joked in 2000.
He resisted the overtures of suitors dangling the prospect of a huge payday through, telling Reuters in 2005 that bankers "are promising us a golden future, diamonds in the sky, if we do an IPO."
Patience Pays
Bankers say plans for a long-awaited float were prepared in 2008, only to be derailed by the global financial crisis. The company's core investors decided to sit out the crash and Yandex, bucking an 8 percent contraction in the Russian economy in 2009, delivered top-line growth that year although earnings shrank by 17 percent.
"The investors waited for long enough and this strategy was successful. They weren't trying to push Yandex into an IPO as soon as possible," said Anna Lepetukhina, an analyst at Moscow brokerage Troika Dialog.
"There were rumours that they were going to do an IPO in 2008. Then the crisis came and they were prepared to wait. They got a good return on that investment."
Russia Returns
For the investors, the Yandex story amounts to proof that Russia's investment climate is by no means as hostile as many say.
Baring Vostok, which retains a 26 percent stake as Yandex's largest shareholder, abides by a few golden rules to avoid the pitfalls that others have fallen into, founding partner Michael Calvey told Reuters on Tuesday.
The fund's 19-firm portfolio is weighted towards services, avoids industries where it might clash with state firms and relies on equity funding, not debt, to shield its investments against Russia's often vicious business cycle.
Calvey, an American who founded Baring Vostok in 1994, said in an interview that the fund's strategy had enabled it to ride out the 2008-09 crash without having to make any disposals.
"We don't expect there to be any fatalities in our portfolio as a result of the crisis," Calvey said. He declined to comment on the Yandex IPO, citing regulatory restrictions.
What business man founded in 1997 company?
A. Arkady Volozh
B. Gerald Kesler
C. Harold Keller
Who was the American who founded Baring Vostok?
A. Calvey
B. London
C. Jason
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Traders are eagerly awaiting indications from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that interest rate hikes aren't likely anytime soon.
The hope that Bernanke will make that clear in remarks scheduled for Tuesday afternoon is keeping stocks afloat. Stocks recovered some of their losses Tuesday after sliding for four straight days.
The Dow Jones industrial average rosleeker broadcast networks like
EXCERCISE #1
Directions: Discuss the italicized verbs. Do they expree present time or past time? Do the Verbs describe an activity or situation....
a. is in progress right now?
b. is usual or is a general statement of fact?
c. began and ended in the past?
d. was in progress at a time in the past?
1. Jennifer works for an insurance company.
2. When people need help with their automobile insurance, they call her.
3. Right now it is 9:05 A.M., and Jennifer is sitting at her desk.
4. She came to work on time this morning.
5. Yesterday Jennifer was late to work because she had a minor auto accident.
6. While she was driving to work, her cell phone rang.
7. She answered it. It was her friend Rob.
8. She was happy to here from him because she likes Rob and always enjoys
her conversations with him.
9. While they were talking, Jennifer, who is allergic to bee stings, noticed two bees in her car.
10. She quickly opened the car windows and swatted at the bees while she was talking to Rob on the phone.
11. Her hands left the steering wheel, and she lost control of the car. Her car ran into a row of mailboxes beside the road.
12. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the accident.
13. Jennifer is okay, but her car isn't. It needs repairs.
14. When Jennifer got to work this morning, she talked to her automobile insurance agent.
15. That was easy to do because she works at the desk right next to hers.
EXCERCISE #2
Directions: Write the correct pronunciations and practice sayin the words aloud. / T / D / ED /
1. cooked= T 6. dropped= drop/ / 11. returned= return/
2. served = D 7. pulled= pull/ / 12. touched= touch/ /
3. wanted= ED 8. pushed= push/ / 13. waved= wave/ /
4. asked = ask/ / 9. added= add/ / 14. pointed= point/ /
5. started= start/ / 10. passed= pass/ / 15.agreed= agree/ /
Directions: Read the following the paragraphs and answer the questions?
News reporters are taught to start their stories with the most important information. The first sentence, called the lead, cantains the most essential elements of the story. A good lead can convey a lot of information, as in these two leads from srticles that won awards from the American Society of Newpaper Editors: A healthy 17-year -old heart pumped the gift of life through 34- year -old Bruce Murray Friday, following a four- hour transplant operation that doctors said went without a hitch.
1. Is this story about?
A. Child
B. Cat
C. News reporters
2.How old are the people in the story?
A. 17-year -old 34- year -old
B. 21-year -old 72-year -old
C. 28-year -old 82-year -old
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Many market participants believe the end of the Federal Reserves quantitative easing program in June will signal the government's exit from the extraordinary interventions made during the financial crisis. After a healthy earnings season, they say, it is time now for our free market to stand on its own two feet.Not so fast, says Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy for Brown Brothers Harriman. He and others believe that the incredible amount of borrowing by the U.S. and the European Union to get out of the credit crisis will force governments to stay involved to ensure an orderly decline of this debt load.
It's a concept called financial repression, akin to what occurred after the Great Depression and WWII. Financial repression refers to official actions that run counter to the market-based incentive structure, said Chandler in a note to clients. The ostensible goal is to support the government bond markets. Moral suasion, the cajoling of investors are soft forms of financial repression, where the government can impose such cooperation by fiat.
The Federal Reserves second round of quantitative easing, the purchase of $600 billion longer-dated Treasury securities, is scheduled to end June 30. Despite successfully keeping interest rates low, the program didnt stop housing prices from hitting a new post-recession low, according to Case-Shiller data released Tuesday. Bernanke, Paulson and Geithner had visions of Tina Turner in a burlap outfit and cage matches in Thunderdome especially when the AIG situation exploded on them right after the Lehman bankruptcy, said Alec Levine of WallachBeth Capital. The hindsight lesson is not that we overreacted, but that we were this close to the abyss. So-called free market countries will be much less free for a longer time than people realize.Over in Europe, a second aid package to Greece is being put together to avoid the default of Greek bonds, which could set off a catastrophic domino effect for the European banks holding the debt.
The US debt hit its legal limit of $14.3 trillion last month. Congress is currently fighting over an increase in the so-called debt ceiling, with Republicans wanting such a vote linked to heavy spending cuts. Congress has no choice, but to ultimately pass the increase in order to avoid a U.S. default.
Spending cuts, tax increaseseven organic growth wont do much of anything to solve a debt load of this magnitude, according to an NBER working paper referenced by Chandler on financial repression.
Earlier this year, Standard & Poors put Americas triple-A rating on negative watch in part because of concerns about Congress not having the political will to instill strict austerity measures. It may all be a moot point Hoping that substantial public and private debt overhangs are resolved by growth may be uplifting, but it is not particularly practical from a policy standpoint, states an NBER Working Paper by Carmen Reinhart and M. Belen Sbrancia entitled The Liquidation of Government Debt. The evidence, at any rate, is not particularly encouraging, as high levels of public debt appear to be associated with lower growth.
Once QE2 has ended, regulation may be used to force large institutions to reduce risk and hold more of the safest assets (i.e. Treasurys), said BBHs Chandler. Economists have been downgrading their second half growth estimates recently on fears that high unemployment may be here for a while and that manufacturing growth is slowing. This makes it all the more likely that the governments hand, and not an invisible one, will stay involved in this market to keep interest rates low and allow for the country to refinance this debt load.
The U.S. could still win under this scenario as long as it doesnt get too drastic in its continued intervention efforts and inflation doesnt explode, some investors said.
Despite this, the U.S. is still running at a much more free market mechanism vs. other market regulations, namely those in Europe and Asia where official controls and quotas are even more comprehensive and daunting and effect all asset classes, said Ron Shah of Jina Ventures in an interview from India.
Many market participants believe the end of the Federal Reserves quantitative easing program in June will signal the government's exit from the extraordinary interventions?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
The Federal Reserves second round of quantitative easing, the purchase of $600 billion longer-dated Treasury securities, is scheduled to end June 30?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy has weakened in recent weeks, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke noted Tuesday. But he stuck with a message he's delivered since April: The slowdown from high gas prices and Japan's crises is temporary, and growth should pick up later this year.
Bernanke made no mention of any new steps the Fed might take to boost the economy. The Fed's $600 billion Treasury bond-buying program is ending this month. The program was intended to keep interest rates low to strengthen the economy. But critics said it raised the risk of high inflation.
The Fed chairman said the economy still needs the benefit of low interest rates. The Fed is scheduled to meet in two weeks and is all but certain to keep those rates at record lows.
Stocks fell after Bernanke began speaking. The Dow Jones industrial average erased gains made earlier in the day and closed down for the fifth straight day, as did broader indexes.
"The market was disappointed," said David Jones, head of DMJ Economic Advisors, a private consulting firm. "Wall Street investors were hoping for the promise of another round of credit easing, and they didn't get it."
Bernanke noted the May jobs report released last week was a setback. It showed the unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1 percent and the economy added just 54,000 jobs, the fewest in eight months. But he said he expected job creation and overall economic growth to rebound in coming months.
"The economic recovery appears to be continuing at a moderate pace, albeit at a rate that is both uneven across sectors and frustratingly slow from the perspective of millions of unemployed and underemployed workers," he said at a banking conference in Atlanta.
Bernanke said the central bank would not consider the recovery well-established "until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation."
He repeated a pledge that central bank officials have been making for more than two years: that they will keep interest rates at record lows "for an extended period."
Bernanke said that consumer inflation has jumped 3.5 percent in the six months ending in April -- well above the average of less than 1 percent over the preceding two years. But he noted that most of the increase had been caused by higher gas prices, which have been creeping down in recent weeks. Excluding food and energy, inflation has been tame, he noted.
He also noted that supply disruptions stemming from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan have hampered growth in the April-June quarter. But he said the effect on manufacturing output will likely ease in the coming months.
Bernanke disagreed with critics who say the Fed's policies are raising inflation risks by weakening the dollar and contributing to the jump in oil and commodity prices. He said that slow growth in the United States and a persistent trade deficit were the fundamental reasons for the dollar's decline, and not the Fed's interest rate policies.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., asked Bernanke if he was concerned that rules from last year's financial overhaul law will take effect just as the economy is slowing.
Bernanke responded that the worst financial since the Great Depression "revealed a lot of weak spots" that needed to be addressed. But he said regulators were trying to make sure financial institutions would not be overburdened with costs to meet the rules.
Did he also noted that supply disruptions stemming from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan have hampered growth in the April-June quarter?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
The economy has weakened in recent weeks, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke noted Tuesday?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street bounced in light volume on Tuesday, a day after the S&P 500 fell to its lowest in over two months, with some describing the S&P's losses in the past five weeks as overdone.
The S&P 500 has fallen 4.9 percent since a recent high at the start of May. On Monday, the benchmark index closed at its lowest level since March 18.
Tuesday's move "is just an uptick off some oversold levels," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in San Francisco.
"Friday set us up with a low close. We had a cascading, selling kind of situation that got, in my opinion, a little bit overdone in the very short term."
Recently battered energy shares bounced back despite a drop in U.S. crude prices, though Brent crude rose, helped in part by a weaker U.S. dollar. Healthcare and utility stocks also ranked among the leaders.
Some investors are seeing an opportunity after weeks of soft economic data failed to create a panic in the U.S. stock market. Expectation of strong earnings reports in July could bring in buyers who want to get ahead of the expected move up next month.
"We are doing as typical a market move as you could possibly imagine," Pado said.
"We have no base at this point so we need to bounce and construct a base, then you can make the case for the next bull leg to start."
The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - News) gained 63.72 points, or 0.53 percent, to 12,153.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - News) rose 6.87 points, or 0.53 percent, to 1,293.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC - News) added 8.87 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,711.43.
Bank stocks, heavily sold in recent weeks, were among the biggest gainers. JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM - News) rose 1.9 percent to $41.28, while the KBW bank index (^BKX - News) was up 1 percent.
But not all market participants were ready to call the end of the downturn. Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey, said light volume and lack of buyers could mean any bounce is short-lived.
"The problem for institutions on a day like today is the volume being light. Any concerted effort to raise funds (sell positions) could have a disproportionate impact on pricing as buyers will be on the thin side," he wrote in a note to clients.
In company news, International Paper Co (IP - News) launched a $3.3 billion unsolicited offer for rival Temple-Inland Inc (TIN - News). Shares of Temple-Inland shot up 40.4 percent to $29.50, while IP's stock rose 1.3 percent to $30.05. Temple-Inland said it adopted a stockholder rights plan to fend off the hostile takeover.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak on the U.S. economic outlook at a banking conference in Atlanta.
Did the Fed officials have said recent data was a disappointment, with Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Fed, suggesting it could delay the Fed's exit from its extremely easy monetary policy. Bernanke is set to start speaking shortly before the market closes?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Did the Recently battered energy shares bounced back despite a drop in U.S. crude prices, though Brent crude rose, helped in part by a weaker U.S. dollar?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Directions: Write the -ing and -ed forms of the following verbs. (The simple past/past participle of ireegular verbs is given parentheses.)
-ING- -ED-
1. start starting started
2. wait
3. hit
4. write
5. shout
6. cut
7. meet
8. hope
9. hop
10 .help
11. sleep
12.step
13. tap
15. rain
16. run
17. whine
18. win
19. explain
20. burn
DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer questions?
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Monday that he will immediately halt investments in two big government pension plans so the government can continue to borrow money.
Geithner informed Congress of his decision in a letter stating that the government had officially reached its $14.3 trillion borrowing limit. He repeated a warning that if lawmakers do not increase the borrowing limit by August 2, the government is at risk of an unprecedented default on its debt.
The debt limit is the amount of money the government can borrow to help finance its operations. The nation has reached its debt limit because the federal government has grown accustomed to borrowing massive amounts of money. The latest estimate is that it borrows 40 cents for every dollar it spends.
Republicans have said they will not vote to raise the borrowing limit until Congress and the White House agree on a plan to reduce the deficit through spending cuts. House Speaker John Boehner last week those cuts should be larger than any increase in the debt ceiling.
The deficit is the difference between what the government spends and what it takes in through taxes and other revenue. The Congressional Budget Office projects that this year's deficit will total $1.4 trillion. That's would nearly match 2009's record imbalance and mark the third straight year in which the federal deficit has exceeded $1 trillion.
1. What is the name of the Treasury Secretary?
A. Timothy Geithner
B. Hillary Clinton
C. Barrack Obama
2. What is the government borrowing limit?
A. 18.2 trillion
B. 102 billion
C. 14.3 trillion
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After 33 years of marriage, Steven Simkin and Laura Blank divorced in 2006. They agreed to split their considerable wealth equally. She got the apartment on the Upper East Side; he got the house in Scarsdale, N.Y.Afterward, they spoke infrequently, mostly concerning their two grown sons.
More than two years later, Ms. Blank received a voicemail message that stunned her: Mr. Simkin wanted to revise their settlement. She refused, and he sued.
While divorce agreements are generally ironclad and rarely rescinded, this challenge has now reached New Yorks highest court. Deeply divided appellate justices requested what is considered an unusual review of settled law involving contracts.
What made Mr. Simkins call for a do-over even remotely possible has its roots in Bernard L. Madoffs Ponzi scheme. When the couple split their assets evenly, the largest chunk of money was invested with Mr. Madoff. Mr. Simkin kept much of his funds in the Madoff account, which was held in his name.
Ms. Blank, who said she had no interest in investing with Mr. Madoff, received her settlement proceeds in cash.
Shortly after Mr. Madoff admitted wrongdoing in December 2008, Mr. Simkin, a lawyer at one of the countrys most powerful law firms, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, filed court papers to drastically alter the terms of his divorce settlement.
Ms. Blank, he argued in the lawsuit, should be required to turn over millions of dollars that she had received in their settlement to make up for the substantial losses he had sustained in the fraud.
The Simkin-Blank dispute has riveted the states matrimonial bar, and splintered opinions among the six judges who have already weighed in on the case. Some lawyers are predicting that if the Court of Appeals allows Mr. Simkin to try to revise the agreement, the ruling could affect not only divorce settlements but also other contracts.
The decision could open the floodgates for people who want to challenge agreements after they go sour, said Peter Bienstock, a divorce lawyer not involved in the case. Deals are done every single day based on assumptions about what things are worth. If the court allows this lawsuit to go forward, how can we be certain that deals will hold up?
Some lawyers also say that if judges allow this agreement to be rescinded, it could lead to more Madoff-related suits by destabilizing all types of contracts struck with the fraud victims.
The case, which is expected to be decided later this year, has spawned at least one copycat action. In January, a Madoff victim in Middlesex County, Mass., filed a similar complaint against his ex-wife to revise their separation agreement. A family court judge dismissed the lawsuit earlier this month, and the plaintiffs lawyer is now weighing an appeal.
A ruling in the Blank-Simkin case would only have a direct effect on New Yorks laws, but a decision by the influential court could influence how judges interpret laws in other states.
Mr. Simkins suit rests on the doctrine of mutual mistake, a well-established principle that allows for the cancellation of contracts, including divorce agreements, when both parties are innocently mistaken about an essential term.
In a famous example, if a violinist sells another violinist what they believe to be a Stradivarius, and it turns out to be a cheap knockoff, they can void the contract.
In this case, Mr. Simkin, chairman of the real estate department at Paul Weiss, and Ms. Blank, a labor lawyer for the City University of New York, believed at the time of their divorce that $5.4 million of their $13.2 million in assets was in a Madoff account.
To divvy up things, Mr. Simkin withdrew some money from his Madoff account and put it toward a $6.6 million cash payment to Ms. Blank. He continued to invest with Mr. Madoff. But once the Madoff empire collapsed, Mr. Simkin began arguing that he and Ms. Blank were mistaken about the existence of the account.
There was in fact no account and no securities or other assets, wrote Mr. Simkins lawyers in a recent filing. There was only a Ponzi scheme of unprecedented size and duration.
Richard Emery, a lawyer for Ms. Blank, counters that Mr. Simkin did have an account with Mr. Madoff. Any mistake, he contends, involved the accounts future value not its existence. Under the law, an error about an accounts future value would not justify rewriting the agreement.
Just like other Madoff investors, he was able to redeem his money until the scheme collapsed precisely because he had an account there, Mr. Emery said.
To argue that he didnt have a Madoff account is nothing more than a semantic trick.
Last year, a trial judge dismissed Mr. Simkins suit. But in January, a sharply divided New York appellate court, in a 3-to-2 decision, ruled that Mr. Simkin could sue to revise the deal because of the fraud, citing their mutual mistake about the existence of the Madoff account.In her dissent, Justice Karla Moskowitz sharply criticized the majority opinion, writing that it undermines decades of established precedent favoring finality in divorce cases. She said the ruling could bring chaos for not only for the court system but for litigants as well, who deserve finality and to move on.
Ms. Blank, the judge wrote, cannot be responsible for Mr. Simkins decision to invest with Mr. Madoff for two and a half years after their divorce.
Just as she would not have benefited from any increase in the value of the account, she should not have to bear the burden of its loss, she wrote.
Steven received exactly what he bargained for. He alone took on the risk that he might not be able to recoup his investment. Mr. Simkins lawyers his colleagues at Paul Weiss described their partner in court papers as gravely damaged and suffering extreme hardship as a result of the Madoff fraud.
The annual profits per partner at Paul Weiss are about $3 million, according to The American Lawyer magazine. Last October, Mr. Simkin sold his Scarsdale home for $5.7 million and bought another in nearby Mamaroneck for $4.1 million, according to state real estate records.
Paul Weiss, a law firm renowned for its litigation department, is representing Mr. Simkin free of charge. Mr. Simkin and his lawyers declined to comment.
The legal community is divided on the case.
On one hand, the contract law principle of mutual mistake makes a strong case to cancel this divorce agreement, said Lawrence A. Cunningham, a law professor at George Washington University who has written about the dispute.
On the other, judges are reluctant to rescind these contracts because there is a strong interest in maintaining the finality of divorce. Its a close call.
Ms. Blank, who also declined to comment, plans to fight her former husbands lawsuit if the court does not dismiss the case, said Mr. Emery, her lawyer.
The finality of divorce is important for financial reasons and legal reasons, but its also important for emotional reasons, he said.
Five years ago Laura thought she had moved on with her life, but its now been put on hold.
Ms. Blank, who also declined to comment, plans to fight her former husbands lawsuit?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Ms. Blank, the judge wrote, cannot be responsible for Mr. Simkins decision to invest with Mr. Madoff for two and a half years after their divorce?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer the questions?
http://www.freeenglishconversation.blogspot.com/
http://www.grammar-help.blogspot.com/
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the United States would cooperate with Europe as it deals with Greece's debt woes and said a potential default there would be disastrous.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meeting with Obama on an official visit, said the euro zone shared a common interest in ensuring that the currency bloc was not endangered.
The two leaders said they discussed the debt crisis extensively. A proposal for a second Greek bailout package worth 80 billion to 100 billion euros over three years was taking shape, euro zone sources said.
Obama said Germany would be key to solving the crisis.
"I'm confident that Germany's leadership, along with other key actors in Europe, will help us arrive at a path for Greece to return to growth, for this debt to become more manageable," he said.
"But it's going to require some patience and some time. And we have pledged to cooperate fully in working through these issues, both on a bilateral basis, but also through international and financial institutions like the IMF."
Obama has cited the crisis as one in a handful of foreign "headwinds" affecting the U.S. economy.
Merkel, who is under political pressure at home to avoid being the financial savior for other struggling European countries, said Germany understood its role.
"We've seen that the stability of the euro as a whole will also be influenced if one country is in trouble," she said.
"So we do see clearly our European responsibility and we're shouldering that responsibility, together with the IMF."
Obama welcomed Merkel at a formal ceremony on the White House lawn with cannon shots and military musicians adding to the pomp and circumstance of an official visit -- the first visit by a European leader under Obama's presidency.
The show of partnership did not mask differences that the two leaders have over economic and security issues.
The United States cautiously endorsed military action in Libya while Germany confounded its NATO partners by refusing to take part.
Obama said he would expect Germany to help with Libya once Gaddafi was gone and recovery work was needed in the country, and he thanked Merkel for Germany's stepped-up support in Afghanistan, which freed up other NATO members to be active in Libya.
Did President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the United States would cooperate with Europe as it deals with Greece's debt woes and said a potential default there would be disastrous?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Is Obama said he would expect Germany to help with Libya once Gaddafi was gone and recovery work was needed in the country, and he thanked Merkel for Germany's stepped-up support in Afghanistan, which freed up other NATO members to be active in Libya?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Directions: Write the -ing and -ed forms of the following verbs.
1. opean
2. begin
3. occur
4. happen
5. refer
6. offer
7. listen
8. admit
9. visit
10. omit
11. hurry
12. study
13. enjoy
14. reply
15. stay
16. buy
17. try
18. tie
19. die
20. lie
21. lift
22. promise
23. slap
24. wipe
25. carry
26. cry
27. pray
28. smile
DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer the questions?
Silver is Special, Silver has properties that make it unique and irreplaceable for industry. Nothing else combines strength with softness that allows it to be formed and stretched. Nothing conducts electricity as well as is malleable resistant. Nothing else has such a high tensile strength, is wear resistant. From this you can see that silver cant be substituted. It has to many unique properties.
1. What are the properties that make silver unique?
A. strength with softness.
B. conducts electricity.
C. All of the above.
2. Is silver high tensile strength, is wear resistant?
A. TRUE
b. FALSE
DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer the questions?
http://www.americanenglishconversation.com/
http://www.freeenglishconversation.blogspot.com/
U.S. consumer confidence slid in May as consumers turned more pessimistic on the outlook for the labor market and inflation worries rose, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes fell to 60.8 from a revised 66.0 in April. The reading was below economists' forecasts for 66.5.
April was originally reported as 65.4. The expectations index tumbled to 75.2 from 83.2, while the present situation index edged down to 39.3 from 40.2.
Consumers' labor market assessment was less favorable. The proportion of those who said jobs were hard to get rose to 43.9 percent from 42.4 percent the month before, although the "jobs plentiful" category also rose to 5.6 percent from 5.1 percent.
Consumers were also more negative on their view of the labor market for the next six months. Those expecting more jobs in the coming months decreased to 15.9 percent from 17.8 percent, and those expecting fewer jobs rose to 20.8 percent from 18.7 percent.
Consumers' expectations for inflation in the coming 12 months rose to 6.6 from 6.3 percent.
Consumers turned more pessimistic on the outlook for the labor market?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Consumers were also more negative on their view of the labor market for the next six months?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
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