■ Stock exchange
NYSE takes Manhattan
The New York Stock Exchange abandoned plans for a second trading floor that would operate simultaneously with its existing marketplace in downtown Manhattan, saying it doesn't have enough money for the project. The Big Board had been exploring a second site since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack so it could continue operating during an emergency. NYSE Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Grasso said today that the economy derailed the plan. It's too "expensive for us and the firms who do business here," he said at a news conference "It is a very difficult economy. There is no avoiding that reality." In case of an emergency, the NYSE will make do with a back-up floor at an undisclosed location that can be put into operation within 36 hours. The exchange, which shut down for four days after the 2001 attack, spent US$25 million for the 18,300m2 alternate space, Grasso said.
■ Retailers
Japan more convenient
Along with a liter of milk, ball of rice and pack of cigarettes, Japanese consumers may soon be able to pick up government bonds at their local convenience stores, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday. "People have this image that you have to go to a financial institution to buy government bonds. But I'd like to make it so the regular person can just put on their slippers and go buy them," Shiokawa said. A finance ministry spokesman said a legal revision would have to be made to accommodate convenience store sales and at present no date was set for their introduction. Orders for government bonds targeted at individuals, which can be bought for a minimum ¥10,000 (US$84) instead of the ¥50,000 for normal bonds, sold out when post offices were allowed to sell them for the first time in February. Several financial institutions, handling orders for the first time, also sold out.
■ Banking
Sumitomo expects loss
Japanese megabank Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group on Friday reversed a profit forecast for the year to March to a net loss of ¥470 billion (US3.9 billion) due to increased bad loan write-offs. SMFG had previously expected a profit of ¥30 billion for the period, but downgraded its projection as bad loan disposals surged to ¥1.07 trillion from ¥700 billion seen previously as the government grew tougher on banks to clean up their balance sheets. It now expects to suffer a recurring loss of ¥530 billion in the financial year just ended instead of a ¥200 billion profit, the bank said.
■ Crude oil
Prices start to edge lower
World oil prices edged down slightly on Friday after the rises of the previous day, as traders took heart from rapid US-led advances on Baghdad. In London, the price of reference Brent North Sea crude oil for May delivery slipped US$0.33 to US$25.17 a barrel in early trades. New York's benchmark light sweet crude oil contract for May delivery fell US$0.27 to US$28.70 a barrel in out-of-hours electronic trading. Both markets had moved slightly upwards Thursday after fears that it might take months before Iraq's oil supplies flowed again. On Friday, US forces took almost total control of Baghdad airport as the city was plunged into darkness ahead of a seemingly looming final assault.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique