After APEC, free trade orthodoxy questioned (AP) and IMF approves Pakistan loan package (AP)

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City of Industry, CA --(www.USEquityNews.com)-- 11/25/2008 - Economy industry alert provided by U.S. Equity News. LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Leaders of 21 nations that represent half the global economy fear a raft of new protectionist barriers will strangle commerce as the world slides into a frightening recession.There are growing signs that developing countries will erect protectionist barriers to weather the crisis, partly because they have seen that time after time, "free trade" agreements have focused chiefly on beating rivals to market.
Even free-trade disciples say many trade deals have been mishandled, limiting their ability to spread wealth and level the competitive playing field."These are not free trade agreements in any sense of the term," said Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning economist. "They're really advantage-trade agreements. They're worse than NAFTA, which Obama says he wants to re-negotiate."President-elect Barack Obama voiced distaste during his campaign for "unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters," said he'd cap subsidies to U.S. [Read the full article]


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- The economic crisis threatening Pakistan eased Tuesday after the International Monetary Fund agreed a $7.6 billion bailout, though experts warned that the militancy-torn country remains at risk without more aid from the West and painful reforms at home. The IMF loan program approved Monday banished the immediate risk of a currency crash and debt default in a country already creaking under the pressure of 25 percent inflation and slowing economic growth.The Pakistani rupee had slid some 20 percent since March as economic storm clouds gathered around Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country increasingly seen as vital to stabilizing neighboring Afghanistan.But on Tuesday, the U.S. [Read the full article]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Two widely watched indexes released Tuesday showed home prices dropping by the sharpest annual rate on record in the third quarter. But the worst may be yet to come as the full force of Wall Street's collapse hits the economy in the fourth quarter. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index tumbled a record 16.6 percent during the quarter from the same period a year ago. Prices are at levels not seen since the first quarter of 2004.Meanwhile, the Federal Housing Finance Agency -- using a different calculation -- said U.S. home values declined a record 6 percent in the third quarter from the year-ago period."The real economy took a sharp turn for the worse toward the end of the third quarter ... So as bad as the latest Case-Shiller numbers appear to be, they are bound to get much worse," said Patrick Newport, a U.S. [Read the full article]

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings has affirmed the underlying 'A' rating on the Industrial Development Authority of St. Joseph, Missouri's outstanding
approximately $133 million health facilities revenue bonds issued on behalf of Heartland Regional Medical Center (Heartland). The outstanding bonds are insured by Ambac Assurance Corp. (which is no longer rated by Fitch). The Rating Outlook is Stable. The rational for the underlying rating centers on Heartland's status as a sole community provider and its dominant market position that has led to solid operating profitability and debt service coverage. As a sole community provider (SCP), Heartland garnered a very strong 83.0% primary service area market share in 2007 (the most recently available year-end numbers). [Read the full article]

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