2007年VOA标准英语-Major World Markets Struggle to Rebound after L

By Mil Arcega
Washington
14 August 2007
 

On floor of the New York Stock Exchange (file photo)

U.S. stock indexes ended nearly flat on Monday as worries about losses tied to subprime mortgages continued to drive shares lower.  Major central banks in Europe, Japan and the U.S. tried to soothe¹ rattled² markets last week by injecting more than $300 billion into the credit markets to "normalize" market conditions.   But some analysts⁴ say the cash injection is just a short term fix for a longer term problem.  VOA's Mil Arcega reports.    

U.S. stock markets struggled to rebound⁵ Monday following a volatile⁶ trading week, which saw the Dow plunge⁷ 387 points in one day.  Analysts blamed the volatility⁸ on losses in the U.S. subprime markets, which could make credit harder to come by and further reduce consumer spending. 

Central banks around the world responded by increasing the amount of money available to lenders.  Despite the continuing concerns, Alec Young, an equity⁹ strategist at Standard & Poor's, believes the economy is strong enough to weather the storm. "Our economists¹⁰ are forecasting two percent GDP [gross demostic product] growth this year. That's a slowdown from the 3.3 percent we saw last year.  But it's a far cry from a recession.  In addition, globally we're seeing very good growth."

But some investors¹¹ believe the worries behind last week's losses are likely to stick around for a while.  Wall Street trader Steven Tamberino says, "Actually I do think there's going to be a recession.  The market has done a lot of correcting lately, but I think overall it's on a downward trend and with housing the way it's been, and housing really driving the market.  That's the main reason."

The U.S. federal reserve says it will provide funds "as necessary" to help ease market concerns.  But Barclay's financial analyst³ Henk Potts expects the downward trend to continue. "The nervousness that we are seeing at the moment revolves¹² around the fact that we don't know how deep these problems are, who has these problems, the extent of their liability.  Who has got the exposure.  There's all these great unknown questions out there, and that is where the nervousness comes through."

Despite making gains early in the day, the Dow index closed more than three points lower Monday. 

1 soothe   

v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承

参考例句：

• I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
• This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。

2 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

6 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

7 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

8 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

9 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

10 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

12 revolves   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的第三人称单数 )；细想

参考例句：

• The earth revolves both round the sun and on its own axis. 地球既公转又自转。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Thus a wheel revolves on its axle. 于是，轮子在轴上旋转。 来自《简明英汉词典》