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President Barack Obama and Sec. of Education Arne Duncan, right, take questions during a group discussion with 6th grade students at Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia. January 19, 2010.
European and US stocks fell Wednesday as a reported tightening in China's monetary policy raised concerns over how commodity demand may be impacted and the impact on the bumpy global recovery.
Greek worries today pushed down the euro (see lower part of page).
Rating agency Moody's on Tuesday, said it was maintaining a negative outlook on Greece because it was unclear whether the government to its deficit to 3% of GDP.
ECB executive board member, Jürgen Stark, said in Leipzig today that"Greece knows that it must do its homework. As the ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet recently declared, we will not modify our rules."
Stark said the Greek government must make a fundamental change in economic policies and comprehensive fiscal consolidation its top priority.
Greece has a public spending deficit that rose to 12.7% of output in 2009. Its public debt is 113% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Morgan Stanley pays 62% of revenues to staff
Bloomberg reports Morgan Stanley, the world’s biggest brokerage, allocated 62 percent of revenue to pay employees in 2009, the highest ratio in more than a decade, as the firm added staff faster than it made money.
The compensation and benefits expense rose 31 percent to $14.4 billion as revenue climbed 28 percent, the New York-based company said today.
Because Morgan Stanley added more than 15,000 employees in June through its Morgan Stanley Smith Barney wealth-management joint venture, average compensation per employee fell to $235,193 from $244,000 last
US markets
The Dow Jones has plunged 195 points or 1.82% to 10,530.
The Nasdaq has slipped 2.04% and the S&P has slid 1.73%.
Berkshire Hathaway is holding a special shareholders meeting today, with Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway chairman & CEO and CNBC's Becky Quick:
Bank of America and Wells Fargo & Co. today reported improved fourth-quarter results -- with Bank of America edging closer to black ink and Wells swinging to a profit
Both banks each set aside less money for bad loans in the fourth quarter, indicating improved forecasts for consumers' financial health, although bad loans at both big banks continued to rise.
Bank of America reported a loss of $194 million in the period before a $4 billion charge in respect of its refund of bailout money to the US Treasury. Wells Fargo reported profit of $2.8 billion before charging $2.2 billion charge for repaying US taxpayers.
US housing starts fell more than expected in December, while building permits unexpectedly jumped, signaling bad weather may have kept builders away from worksites. Work began on 557,000 houses at an annual rate, down 4% from November, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Permits, a sign of future construction, climbed to the highest level in a year.
The UK could be heading back to the 1970s if a coalition government is formed in this summer's general election, according to Russell Jones from RBC Capital Markets. If we don't get an overall majority in this election, the danger is that we won't get the difficult decisions made by politicians, Jones told CNBC Wednesday:
In Europe, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 dipped 1.73% Wednesday.
All open Western European markets are in the red.
In Dublin, the ISEQ is down 0.86%.
BoI is up 1.55%; Elan is up 0.54% and CRH has dipped more than 1%.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil for February 2010 delivery is trading at $77.06 down $1.96 from Tuesday's close. In London, Brent crude for March delivery is trading at $75.91 a barrel.
Currencies
The euro is trading at $1.411 and at £0.8664.
For live currency updates, check the right-hand column of the Finfacts home page.The dollar traded at a record low $1.6038 per euro on July 15, 2008.
Greece is still in a key country in the region despite its economic problems and is able to promote the European accession process to the Balkan countries, Dimitris Droutsas, alternate foreign minister of Greece, told CNBC Wednesday:
