Morgan Stanley became the next great Wall Street name in peril on Thursday with reports it was in talks to be bought by US Wachovia Corporation or a Chinese bank, as HBOS bank was bailed out in London.
With the flames of financial crisis outrunning renewed central bank intervention and the nationalization of US insurance titan American International Group (AIG), US media reports meanwhile said Morgan Stanley was looking for help.
The New York Times reported that Morgan Stanley, one of the last two independent US-based investment banks, was in talks to merge with Wachovia Corporation. Separately, CNBC business network said that the bank was in talks to be bought by the Chinese bank CITIC (中國國際信託投資).
Fears mounted that the US Federal Reserve’s US$85 billion loan to rescue AIG might not be sufficient to reverse a rout on financial markets.
The White House said on Wednesday that recent US economic news painted a “very mixed picture” but added that the US had “the strength” to overcome the financial crisis.
The latest US drama was unfolding against a background of plummeting global stocks and yields, or interest rates, on US Treasury bonds as investors rushed for the safety of government debt instruments.
Aaron Smith at Economy.com called the action “an unprecedented flight to quality,” adding: “Investor concern is also growing about the Fed’s ability to support markets in the future as the central bank’s own balance sheet is reduced.”
Asian stocks plunged further yesterday, tracking declines on Wall Street as investors feared more companies could succumb to the financial crisis.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which sank more than 7 percent at one point, was down 2.5 percent at 17,185.64 in late afternoon trading. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index slid 2.2 percent to 11,489.30, a three-year low.
“It’s a complete collapse of confidence,” said Francis Lun (藺常念), general manager of Fulbright Securities Ltd (富昌證券) in Hong Kong. “The financial crisis in the US is hitting everyone; everyone is running for cover. If the largest insurance company can fail, than no one is safe.”
Russia’s main stock exchanges were mostly closed yesterday, a day after regulators suspended trading amid a plummet in share prices. The MICEX resumed limited trading; it wasn’t immediately clear when the RTS would reopen.
In other markets, Australia’s S&P/ASX200 index fell 2.4 percent, South Korea’s Kospi lost 2.3 percent, India’s Sensex lost around 4 percent and China’s Shanghai benchmark dropped 2.2 percent.
The losses tracked US markets, where the Dow Jones industrial average fell about 450 points on Wednesday, or 4.06 percent, to 10,609.66.
As equities markets staggered, investors fled to gold, seen as a safe haven in times of trouble. Gold for December delivery rose as much as US$90.40, or 11.6 percent, to US$870.90 an ounce in after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after jumping US$70 to settle at US$850.50 in the regular session.
Oil rose above US$97 in Asian trade yesterday, extending its big gains overnight. The dollar was slightly higher at ¥105.13 and the euro rose to US$1.4328.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
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