| Escalation in Iraq by the numbers
Some day, we will undoubtedly discover that, in the term "surge" - as in US President George W Bush's "surge" plan (or "new way forward") announced to his nation in January - was the urge to avoid the language (and experience) of the Vietnam War era. As there were to be no "body bags" (or cameras to film them as the dead came home), as there were to be no "body counts" ("We have made a conscious effort not to be a body-count team" was the way Bush put it), as there were to be no "quagmires", nor the need to search for that "light at the end of the tunnel", so, surely, there were to be no "escalations".
The escalations of the Vietnam War era, which left more than 500,000 American soldiers and vast bases and massive air and
naval power in and around Vietnam (and Laos and Cambodia), had been thoroughly discredited.
Garcia wins toughest climb, Voigt retains lead in Tour of Germany
David Lopez Garcia of Spain won the toughest climb in the Tour of Germany and Jens Voigt took a major step toward winning his home race for the second straight year by finishing second in Tuesday's fifth stage. Garcia covered the 98-mile stage in 4 hours, 21 minutes, 7 seconds and is now second overall, 33 seconds behind Voigt. The German finished the stage 12 seconds back. .
Gold, silver gain on investor nervousness
Mumbai, Aug 13 Precious metals gained marginally on Monday in early trade at the London spot market. Spot gold touched $671 an ounce against Friday's close of $670.40. Silver ruled at $12.83 an ounce ($12.79). The local market attributed this to the injection of liquidity by the Central banks of developed economies and investor nervousness about other assets. Gold in the Mumbai spot market was quoting at Rs 8,850 for 10 g, while silver was quoted at Rs 17,820 a kg. The plunge in gold prices evident intra-day on Friday that saw the metal fall below $660 an ounce has thus proved to be short lived. The recovery in silver prices by close of Friday too has been sustained. Central banks are yet to sell nearly 200 tonnes of gold (according to latest available data) before the September 26 deadline as per the original agreement.
33 Legislators Hold Jobs With Government Entities
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - There were 33 members of the Alabama Legislature who worked for public entities in 2006. They held jobs ranging from policeman to public school teacher to college administrator. That's according to financial disclosure forms filed with the Alabama Ethics Commission. The ethics filings show that the issue of holding two state jobs among legislators goes beyond the state's embattled two-year college system. Governor Bob Riley and new Chancellor Bradley Byrne recently announced a proposed new policy that would force legislators working for two-year colleges to give up their jobs or not run for re-election in 2010. But they represent only half the number of legislators who receive a second check from a government source.
Opening Premium Expected After VMware IPO Prices at $29
Shares of VMware Inc. were expected to open at a substantial premium when they start trading Tuesday in what is being called the hottest technology IPO since Google. The highly sought after spin-off from storage giant EMC Corp. priced its initial public offering of 33 million Cl. A shares priced at $29 each -- the top of the $27-$29 range anticipated by the company last week when it raised its expectations from the original $23-$25 range. "Demand is astronomical," said Scott Sweet of IPOBoutique, with MorningNotes saying the deal was oversubscribed by as much as 25 times the number of shares available. One analyst called the share "a steal up to $35," saying they were fully valued somewhere in the mid-$40s. The underwriters' over-allotment option for another 4.95M shares is certain to be exercised.
China's shares at new high for 7th time in a month
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.1 per cent to 4,872.79, breaking the record set on Monday. The Shenzhen Composite Index for China's smaller second market rose 1.8 per cent to 1,331.22.
``The index is artificially high because of the strong performance of index heavyweights. Many investors aren't making money despite the rise of the index,'' said Li Xianming, a strategist at Ping An Securities.
The Chinese currency, the yuan, rose to 7.57 to the US dollar on the over-the-counter market.
Citic Securities shares jumped 8.5 per cent and Hong Yuan Securities gained 7.1 per cent on expectations the two brokerages will report strong first-half results.
Citic Securities said last month its net profit for the first-half is likely more than 6.5 times that of the same period a year ago due to heavy trading in China's recent market boom.
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