News You Can Use for Monday

Man, there is a lot going on in the world today ...

Recession symptoms near fever level Scott Badesch of the United Way is used to seeing people in need. Usually, it is the homeless or the poor who tap the services of Palm Beach County's leading community fund. But these days, Badesch notices something different. "We're seeing more and more of the middle class falling into these situations. The demand in our shelters and in our emergency food pantries has never been as great as it is," said Badesch, chief executive of the United Way of Palm Beach County.

BRICs Prove Cheap to GDP as Greenspan Leads Warning of Speculative Bubble For all the concern about stock- market bubbles in Brazil, Russia, India, China, the biggest emerging markets still may have more promise than anything in the developed world.

Asian Stocks Slide on Subprime Losses; Hang Seng Index Plunges Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell after Citigroup Inc. said it will increase writedowns by as much as $11 billion and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signaled plans to allow citizens to invest in Hong Kong shares are on hold.

More than 1,000 coal-fed power plants will be built in the next five years, mostly in China and India, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. China, the world's biggest coal producer, became a net importer for the first time this year, taking supplies from Indonesia, Australia and South Africa and reducing the amount available for Europe.

Some Bank of Japan Members Said Low Rates Caused U.S. Subprime-Loan Rout Bank of Japan policy makers said the U.S. subprime mortgage collapse was caused by keeping interest rates too low, signaling their intention to increase the world's lowest borrowing costs to prevent investment bubbles.

India Will Grow at 9% This Year, Boosting Rupee's Gains India's economy will expand by almost 9 percent in the fiscal year ending March 31, boosting the local currency's gains, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said.

Musharraf's Emergency Rule May Spur, Not Deter, Al-Qaeda Terrorism Threat Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule to fight terrorism without legal constraints may lead to worsening violence in the world's second-largest Muslim state, analysts say.

Check out my new gold and energy blog at MoneyAndMarkets.com