Five Immediate Concerns Roil Markets

[DK Matai]

Greetings!

Financial institutions have fallen hard in New York, leading the
broader stock-market down, as concern about Europe’s debt crisis
causes financial-stock declines on both sides of the Atlantic.

1. Bank of America shares crumbed again today, down 9.6% to close at
$5.53. They have fallen below $6 in New York trading for the first
time in 2.5 years, ie, since March 2009. Bank of America was the
Dow’s biggest loser in the third quarter, and it’s the third-biggest
loser today. In parallel, it is not helpful for America’s biggest
bank to be suffering website problems for a second straight business
day. Bank of America needed a $45 billion injection of taxpayer money
to bolster its finances during the financial crisis. The bailout has
since been repaid.

2. Morgan Stanley shares hit a new multi-year low on Monday in New
York as investors became more worried about its exposure to troubled
banks and governments in Europe. Shares of the second-largest US
investment bank fell 7.3 percent to a low of $12.47. The last time its
shares traded that low was in December 2008. Investors have grown
increasingly worried over the past two weeks about Morgan Stanley's
exposure to European debt and commodities. Morgan Stanley may lose
money on its holdings of European assets, as well as its business
dealings with banks and governments there. Morgan Stanley shares
dropped more than 10 percent on Friday over similar concerns.

3. American Airlines shares took a breathtaking dive as rumours
circulated that the company could soon file for bankruptcy. Shares
closed down 33%, plummeting as much as 41% at one stage. Fears that
the holding company for American Airlines -- the third largest US
carrier -- will file for bankruptcy protection, sent shares in AMR
tumbling the most since 2001, triggering automatic trading halts.

4. Dexia: Shares of Franco-Belgian financial group Dexia dropped 10
percent on concerns about its Greek exposure and a Moody's warning
about its liquidity position. The French and Belgian finance
ministers met today to discuss Dexia amongst other matters.

5. Greece: On Monday, Greece said it will miss deficit targets for
2011 and 2012, fuelling concerns about a possible default.

Taken together, it is worth noting that American and European bank
shares are declining to levels last seen in the aftermath of Lehman
Brothers. The fear of recession is also having a tremendous impact on
the shares of airlines as highlighted by the plight of American
Airlines. In Europe, could Dexia become the first casualty of the
imminent Greek default?

All the best


DKM

DK Matai, Chairman, ATCA & The Philanthropia

The original ATCA -- Asymmetric Threats Contingency Alliance -- is a
philanthropic expert initiative founded in 2001 to resolve complex
global challenges through collective Socratic dialogue and joint
executive action to build a wisdom based global economy. Adhering to
the doctrine of non-violence, ATCA addresses asymmetric threats and
social opportunities arising from climate chaos and the environment;
radical poverty and microfinance; geo-politics and energy; organised
crime & extremism; advanced technologies -- bio, info, nano, robo &
AI; demographic skews and resource shortages; pandemics; financial
systems and systemic risk; as well as transhumanism and ethics.
Present membership of the original ATCA network is by invitation only
and has over 5,000 distinguished members from over 120 countries:
including 1,000 Parliamentarians; 1,500 Chairmen and CEOs of
corporations; 1,000 Heads of NGOs; 750 Directors at Academic Centres
of Excellence; 500 Inventors and Original thinkers; as well as 250
Editors-in-Chief of major media.

The Philanthropia, founded in 2005, brings together over 1,000 leading
individual and private philanthropists, family offices, foundations,
private banks, non-governmental organisations and specialist advisors
to address complex global challenges such as countering climate chaos,
reducing radical poverty and developing global leadership for the
younger generation through the appliance of science and technology,
leveraging acumen and finance, as well as encouraging collaboration
with a strong commitment to ethics. Philanthropia emphasises multi-
faith spiritual values: introspection, healthy living and ecology.
Philanthropia Targets: Countering climate chaos and carbon neutrality;
Eliminating radical poverty -- through micro-credit schemes,
empowerment of women and more responsible capitalism; Leadership for
the Younger Generation; and Corporate and social responsibility.