Business Channel 2007-03-20&22（在线收听）

Valerie Morris: I have to tell you (it) was another down day on Wall Street, ending a down week. Earlier in the week it was the Subprime Mortgage story, now renewed concerns about inflation, consumer prices rose a little bit more than expected in February, and that has investors worried, partly because the Fed is unlikely to cut interest rates while prices are on the rise. So as a result, stocks ended broadly lower today, taking a look at the Big Board at the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow lost 49 points, the NASDAQ Composite fell a quarter of a percent, the S&P 500 dropped more than a third of a percent, Catherine.

Catherine: Oh my goodness and that story just won't go away. We mentioned the mortgage rates and the subprime mortgages earlier this week rocking the stock market and the housing market. What are today's developments?

Valerie: Well, there could be, let's say, a couple of positive items to report today, first of all, the head of a key House Committee says that he is targeting the end of the year for passage of a bill to rein in the types of predatory lending behind the subprime crisis. Elsewhere Fremont General, which makes loans, is getting a loan, the company says it's getting an increased line of credit from Credit Suisse for another 1 billion dollars, and while that may help Fremont in a short term, the company still plans to get out of the Subprime business. At least 20 Subprime lenders have gone out of business as a result of the rising number of late payments and foreclosures. So the companies are trying desperately to raise cash. Now another company, Accredited Home Lenders says it will sell nearly 3 billion dollars in loans at a substantially discounted price, it needs to get money to meet demands from its lenders in order to pay off some of the debt, Catherine.

Catherine: And, and doesn’t this, Valerie, affect the overall economy?

Valerie, Oh, yes, because what happens is that consumer spending which is of course a huge area and a growing area of concern. This could hit businesses from restaurants to retailers to vacation companies like Carnival Cruises. The first few months of the year are usually Carnival's best. But the Wall Street Journal says the Subprime problems are leading to fewer cruise bookings for its shorter, cheaper trips to the Caribbean. And retailers that cater to low-income workers could also take a big hit; stores like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target might run into problems as consumers hold off on big-ticket purchases, Catherine.

Catherine: That is so interesting, but you know if you've got to choose between paying your mortgage and taking a vacation, there is no question on what you're going to do? (Right) Er, the Subprime story obviously is having a big impact, but what about the Enron scandal? Nothing like that, you know, 5 or 6 years ago, Valerie, is still in the news again today?

Valerie: Well, I think you know, because it went so deep, it hurt so many people, and so it stays in the news, the desk of Enron's founder and chief, the late Kenneth Lay,is now up for sale on eBay, this custom-made desk has a minimum bid of 25, 000 dollars, proceeds will benefit the charity saving animals across borders. The auction is going to run for about 10 days, so that is the very latest from here in New York, back to you, Catherine. And have a good weekend.

Catherine: Thank you, Valerie, but I cannot let you go without saying to everyone that this is your last day with us here at CNN, and we are so going to miss you, I know you have been here for more than a decade, and you are such a professional and a pleasure to work with.

Valerie: Thank you very much I will miss you all but you know my eyes will be on you and I will check out the pipes.

Catherine: Good luck to you and all your new adventures because I know we will be hearing from you very soon. Valerie. Thank you very much.

Valerie: Thank you.

NOTES:

1. NASDAQ Composite

The Nasdaq Composite is a stock market index of all of the stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock market, meaning that it has over 3,000 components. It is the most watched index of the performance of stocks of technology companies and growth companies. Since both U.S. and non-U.S. companies are listed on the NASDAQ stock market, the index is not an exclusively U.S. index.

2. Predatory Lending

A practice attributed to certain mortgage Lenders that seeks to take advantage of the ignorance or gullibility of borrowers. Often associated with Refinancing, Home Equity Lending, or home improvement lending, these practices take on several forms: saddling borrowers with more Debt than they can handle, tricking a borrower into a Loan with high Rates and Junk Fees , and overcharging or charging twice for required services. See Flipping (LOAN). Often associated with Sub-Prime Lending.

Example: Most mortgage lenders are in business to earn income by originating legitimate loans that help people buy homes and other types of Real Estate. On the other hand, predatory lending uses deception and misinformation to burden borrowers with unnecessarily costly Financing, often in hopes the borrower will Default and allow the lender to acquire the property cheaply.

3. Credit Suisse

The Credit Suisse Group (SWX:CSGN, NYSE: CS) is a financial services company, headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. It is the second-largest Swiss bank, behind UBS AG. Credit Suisse was founded in 1856 under the name Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA, Swiss Credit Institution). The bank is organized into three divisions, Investment Banking, Private Banking, and Asset Management.

4. Kmart

Kmart is a chain of department stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. The chain merged with Sears in 2005, creating the Sears Holdings Corporation. Kmart also exists in Australia and New Zealand as Kmart Australia, although it now shares no current relation with the American stores except in name after US equity in the Australian business was purchased in the late 1970s.

The company's business model makes it a competitor to Wal-Mart and Target.

5.Target Corporation

Purveyor of all that is cheap, yet chic, Target Corporation has slimmed down. The nation's #2 discount chain (behind Wal-Mart) now operates nearly 1,500 Target and SuperTarget stores in 47 states, as well as an online business called Target.com. After years of struggling to turn around its Marshall Field's and Mervyns departments stores divisions, the discounter sold them both in 2004. Target and its cousins, including SuperTarget, which sells groceries, and Target Greatland, have carved out a niche by offering more upscale, fashion-forward merchandise than rivals Wal-Mart and Kmart. Target also owns apparel supplier The Associated Merchandising Corp. and issues Target Visa and its proprietary Target Card.

6. Enron Scandal

In 2001, however, Enron's success appeared to be phony. The company had assigned billions of dollars of debt and risk to subsidiary companies, which then kept them off their books. Share prices began to fall precipitously. Enron's accounting firm, Arthur Anderson, was caught destroying Enron-related documents. On 2 December 2001, Enron filed for bankruptcy, along with sixty subsidiary companies. In 2002, its shares were traded at 11 cents. The company's collapse destroyed thousands of investors' savings. In July 2002, Arthur Andersen, Enron's accounting firm, was convicted of destroying evidence, although an appeal was pending at the time of this writing. Enron's officials were then undergoing further congressional hearings and criminal investigations, and numerous agencies were investigating other corporations for similar accounting and finance methods
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