Cloverfield' arrives--and it's a scream

The monster has landed and you should be very afraid. The new low-budget monster movie Cloverfield arrives in movie theaters Friday after months of secrecy and carefully leaked information and trailers. Its viral marketing caused an online sensation in the tradition of The Blair Witch Project and Snakes on a Plane. Prior to its release, fans looking for information about the movie were sent on a chase around the Web to phony sites containing clues to other sites. Director Matt Reeves calls it "a monster movie for the YouTube generation."

Cloverfield reviews are coming in and are generally very good. This warning though--shaky cameras could make you a little nauseous.

Oil price rises high in international market

SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose 61 cents to 87.6 dollars a barrel after plunging over continued fears that U-S led global economic slowdown could decrease world’s energy demand.
Oil prices have shed about 12 percent since the start of this year when prices were beyond the 100-dollar mark.
Market players are awaiting the release of a U-S energy report, which is expected to show a gain of 1.8 million barrels in oil inventories.
Analysts say that the U-S fiscal stimulus package and interest rate cut will help spur consumer demand and oil prices will be seen on the rise again.

Equities under pressure, 100 Index sheds 68 points

  

 

KARACHI: The local capital market witnessed selling pressure on Thursday suppressing the benchmark KSE-100 Index by 68 points to 13719.
The market opened positive to hit a day high of 13,836 but the momentum lost steam as energy shares fell following a decline in world crude oil prices.
But it wasn’t just the pressure from energy stocks, as dealers said political uncertainty also kept investors at bay.
Total trade volume shrank to 185 million shares, compared to an average of 238 million last week.
The broader market also stayed weak with 192 losers to 112 gainers.
Market analysts predict the market to stay in a narrow range on Friday, saying the investors are likely to stay on the sidelines.
However, they cautioned that any negative development on the political front may cause a further slide in the market.

World stock markets up today

 

KARACHI: Aiming to prevent the U-S economy from falling into a recession, the US Federal Reserve Bank has slashed its key short-term interest rate by a dramatic 3 quarters to 3.5 percent.
As a result, world stock markets opened today on positive trends.
The Asian markets also opened today on positive trends, with the The Hang Seng going up 1,150 points, the Nikkei up by 256.01 points while the sensex ended two days of heavy losses with a 772 point gain in morning trade.

FDA says food from cloned animals safe-However, sales of meat and milk from clones won't begin right away

WASHINGTON - Meat and milk from cloned animals is as safe as that from their counterparts bred the old-fashioned way, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday — but sales still won’t begin right away.

The decision removes the last big U.S. regulatory hurdle to marketing products from cloned livestock, and puts the FDA in concert with recent safety assessments from European food regulators and several other nations.

“Meat and milk from cattle, swine and goat clones are as safe as food we eat every day,” said Dr. Stephen Sundloff, FDA’s food safety chief.

But the government has asked animal cloning companies to continue a voluntary moratorium on sales for a little longer — not for safety reasons, but marketing ones.

USDA Undersecretary Bruce Knight called it a transition period for “allowing the marketplace to adjust.” He wouldn’t say how long the moratorium should continue.

“This is about market acceptance,” Knight added, who said he would be calling a meeting of industry leaders to determine next steps.

Injaz Mena to lay foundation stone of $600m project

ABU DHABI: The investment inflows to Pakistan would not be affected, though some delays cannot be ruled out, says Shariq Azhar, Director-General of Injaz Mena.

"The south Asian country is second home to many top investors from GCC in general and the UAE in particular," Shariq said.

"Acts of terrorism, and lately the political turmoil is keeping Pakistan in the headline news, but the investors believe the country offers great returns on investment, the top executive of Abu Dhabi-based company said. Injaz Mena, a capital based investment firm, has made splashes during its three years of existence, and had announced last year, a mega real estate project with an end value of $600 million in Karachi.

Business is as usual for Shariq Azhar, as his company is going-on with its project and will lay the foundation stone sometimes this year.

"At present the designs work is being completed."

But, he believed uncertainty is one thing investors don't like.

In Pakistan, the encouraging thing was continuity of the political system.

The strong performance put up by a vibrant stock market has relieved many foreign investors, which did not crash not only during the judiciary-government stand-off but later also.

Shariq said Pakistan, which is world's sixth largest nation with 160 million population, has maintained a 6-7 per cent gross domestic product, in past three to four years.

“The high growth rate has boosted the sale of consumer goods and led to the phenomenal growth in consumer finances-mortgages, car loans and other loans, which has spurred production of automobiles, electrical and electronic goods,” he said.

"Any business or project that aims at exploiting the large consumer-base will definitely be a success and yield high return on investment."

"The investors will certainly hold-back their investment plans for a while, in present circumstances, until things clears-up,” he said.

"Next two quarters are important for any major investment related decision to be taken as far as private sector is concerned. However, it has never been an issue for public sector companies,” he said. - KT

Business News No structural risks to foreign investment

ABU DHABI: Pakistan's strong macro-economic indicators will help sustain the political crisis, and there is no risk to foreign investment, said Merrill Lynch. "Though in short-term jitters cannot be ruled out," world top investment bank said. In its analysis on Pakistan economy, it said that investment flows into Pakistan will sustain, driven by its young population and strong economy driven by private and public investments. Pakistan economy has a strong balance sheet, built up in the past five years.

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IRS tightens charitable-gift rules-Charitable contributions are good for society and good for your tax bill. But the IRS is demanding more detail

Let's be honest.

Sometimes it really is better to receive. Indeed, the glory of a charitable contribution is that when you give, you get back as well.

Charitable donations are deductible. But, to get the deduction, you have to jump through a lot of Internal Revenue Service hoops. Tax provisions that took effect on Jan. 1, 2007, will increase the documentation all of us must keep in order to claim a charitable deduction.

How you win when you give
If you itemize your deductions for 2007, you get to deduct your charitable contributions. You'll itemize only if the total of your itemized deductions is greater than your standard deduction ($10,700 on a joint return, $5,350 for a single).

Congress has been talking about a charitable deduction for non-itemizers, but the provision has yet to be passed.

Each dollar you contribute gives you a tax benefit equal to your marginal tax bracket. Let's say you're in the 25% bracket. A $100 contribution saves you $25 dollars in tax. In the 35% bracket, you save $35. The real cost of your donation is only $65.

If you give more than 20% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) in any given year, you may start to be subject to deduction limits. How much? Let's say your AGI is $100,000, you spend practically nothing. and you have lots of cash that you want to give away to a fully accredited charity. Under that scenario, your deduction for the year would be limited to 50% of your AGI or $50,000.

The rules on 20% limits are complicated and convoluted. If your generosity exceeds that amount, check Publication 526, "Charitable Deductions," or consult with a tax adviser. If your donations are that substantial, you may be able to get free guidance from the charity's professional development officers.