Sensex

The delay in passage of a US bailout package for ailing financial markets and shut down of America's second largest bank caused a global meltdown with Indian bourses crumbling by a huge 940 points, biggest point-wise fall in the last 25-week, in the week under review। Even as the US administration continued its debate on a USD 700-billion rescue package for the shattered financial system, the on-going credit crisis claimed yet another victim leading to across the board sell-off in the stock markets.
The US regulators on Thursday seized the 119-year-old Washington Mutual Inc, a leading savings and loan bank in the US, and sold its banking operations to JP Morgan Chase for 1.9 billion dollars.
In the week to September 27, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer tumbled by 940.14 points or 6.70 per cent to end the week at 13,102.18 against its last weekend's close.

BMW CASE

Nine years after the BMW hit-and-run case, the verdict has been pronounced and we all feel relieved that justice is done.All this hindsight really taught us about ourselves. Today we're using the BMW case to take a long hard look at ourselves, something we perhaps should have done a long time ago.It has become almost standard practice for the media to tape popular sentiment when the verdict in a case like the BMW hit-and-run case is out.The public is ready with answers, but as we dig a little deeper, a more complex reality unfolds.In the nine years it has taken for Sanjeev Nanda to be convicted for running over and killing six people, he has been out on bail, successfully running his posh hotel in Delhi where often the same faces that form part of the public condemnation when faced with a camera can also switch sides in the evening and party with him."The page 3 circle float knows when to float with whom. This is a step in climbing the social ladder," said fashion designer Narendra Kumar."It is regressive because we believe we've been part of a moral victory. We see it as the triumph of good over evil, not realising that many times, we've been part of that evil. So the desire to be holier than thou is a normal human trait but you also want to be on the right side of the debate," said Suhel Seth.The most honest admission of the doublespeak that happens is what we came across on the street quite by accident.There is, however, a distinction that can be even in the middle class reaction to a case like the BMW, between people from the glitterati, the social elite, and the rest of the middle class, truly relieved to see that justice in this instance could not be subverted."I think there is a universal element to it. Everyone wants to know famous people but what is interesting here is that we look at famous people as if they were patrons. In politics we don't vote for someone who represents our point of view, we vote for someone we feel can do something for you. So in the Nanda case, it is there. In the chattering classes, the noisy people, they are the ones who are exulting, but if you see the other class many are not happy because they feel if it could happen to him it could happen to us," said Dipankar Gupta, a sociologist.

International Industrial Trade Show

ArriveNEWS, a division of the Industrial Leaders Group (ILG) and organizer of the International Industrial Trade Show (http://www.ArriveNEWS.com/iits.html), announced today the addition of 87 exhibitors for IITS 2008. According to Conrad Bailey, spokesman for the company, the show is designed to connect industrial buyers and suppliers worldwide utilizing the Web as a meeting platform for exhibitors, visitors and participants of the virtual event.Bailey said the International Industrial Trade Show is an all-year-long event held daily to enable manufacturing, engineering and construction professionals to participate at their convenience as well as post and explore proposals and open RFQ's from qualified buyers at http://www.IndustrialLeaders.com/mfg.html. "IITS is not a typical virtual trade show because it showcases offerings of products and services from exhibitors throughout the year and allows buyers and suppliers to connect with one another when its most convenient for them to do so," said Bailey.The exhibitors recently added to the trade show, among others, include manufacturers and suppliers of measuring and testing systems, industrial lasers, lead-based PVC stabilizers, leather work gloves, heavy-duty mechanical equipment, granite and marble slab, EDM wire, stainless steel wire, CNC machines, 3D inspection systems, seamless welded tubing, PCR tube, plastic extrusions, edge protectors made of rubber, metal scrap, cement, pipe and valves, grinding stones, semiconductors, commercial printing presses, packaging materials, machine tools and a wide range of other industrial machines, equipment, supplies and raw materials.

Market

Almost every day there's another headline about the deepening crisis in the housing Market. Foreclosures climb to new record levels, and homeowners caught in this crisis pay a higher cost than just the financial losses of foreclosure. The personal and emotional costs are also mounting. They are worried, confused, frustrated and often embarrassed and afraid to talk with their lender about ways to help solve their problems. Organizations are springing up everywhere to assist distressed homeowners deal with their financial and emotional situation. Some offer counseling services or mediation with lending institutions. Some offer buyout options to homeowners who are about to lose their homes to foreclosure.
Tina, a single mother of two, living in Moreno Valley, California, thought buying a house was going to be the happiest time of her life. "I was living 'the American dream' until one day my son was diagnosed with a life threatening illness. My dream after time became my nightmare. I started missing days at work that lead to missed income. It was nearly impossible to make my mortgage payment."
Larry Howell co-founder of the Mortgage Default Legal Team, a new enterprise that assists homeowners through the foreclosure process, said, "We saw a need that we knew we could fill. We had a group of legal, mortgage, and real estate professionals that have more than 100 years combined experience. We negotiate with lenders, stop harassment and collection calls, assist in relocation and credit repair and council our clients about their rights. Howell said that although many foreclosure stories are about family hardship, there is also an increasing number of homeowners who are upside-down in their mortgages; that is the value of their home is significantly less than their mortgage. They recognize that the investment in their home has gone bad, and they are looking for help and advice.