SUBPRIME FALLOUT: Several experts said the Fed's bailout of Bear Stearns set a bad precedent at a time when other investment banks could wind up in similar trouble
The US Federal Reserve's unprecedented intervention on behalf of Bear Stearns Cos was intended to ease fallout from the credit crunch, but experts fear it augurs more government bailouts as the crisis worsens.

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INVESTMENT: The British trade minister is set to hold talks in Taipei in a bid to do away with regulations restricting government procurement to local firms
The UK seeks to discuss with the Taiwanese government the lifting of Taiwan's restrictions on government procurement and imports from China when the British trade minister visits Taipei next month, British Trade and Cultural Office Director Michael Reilly said on Thursday.

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Microsoft Corp, the world's largest software maker, may have opened the door to price negotiations with Yahoo Inc after the two companies met last week, making a deal more likely.

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Harvard University economist Martin Feldstein, a member of the group that dates business cycles in the US, said the nation has entered a recession that could be the worst since World War II.

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Toyota Motor Corp workers at a Canadian assembly plant vote this week on representation by the Machinists, the first such attempt to organize one of the Japanese manufacturer's North American factories, the union said.

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Japanese companies plan to cut off the Internet connection of anyone who illegally downloads files in one of the world's toughest measures against online piracy, a report said yesterday.

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RATE CUT: The greenback slid below below parity with the Swiss franc for the first time and tested 12-year lows against the yen in the wake of the Bear Stearns bailout
The US dollar skidded below ¥100 and marked fresh lows against the euro on Friday as more US economic woes roiled the markets after news of an emergency loan to prop up Wall Street firm Bear Stearns.

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Asian currencies fell this week, led by South Korea's won and the Indonesian rupiah, as overseas investors sold the region's equities.

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PRICE OF UNCERTAINTY: The TAIEX gave up 49.6 points as sluggish regional markets in the morning reminded investors of global economic concerns, one analyst said
Asian stocks fell to a two-month low this week, led by exporters such as Sony Corp and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (鴻海精密), on concern widening credit losses in the US and record oil prices will slow global growth.

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Oil prices held near all-time highs on Friday, capping a tumultuous week of surging prices attributed to a sliding US dollar and choppy world stock markets.

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European stocks fell, capping their third consecutive weekly decline, after Bear Stearns Cos needed to get emergency funding from the Federal Reserve and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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Unable to shake off credit market angst, Wall Street turns its attention to an upcoming US Federal Reserve meeting where policymakers will attempt to restore market confidence.

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■ INVESTMENT

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