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from Tales from the Trail:
Washington Extra – Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving! Washington Extra will return on Monday.
Here are our top stories from Washington today…
U.S. vows unified response to North Korea, eyes restraint
The U.S. urged restraint following a North Korean artillery attack on South Korea and vowed to forge a "measured and unified" response with major powers including China.
For more of this story by Phil Stewart and Andrew Quinn, read here.
N.Korea pulls U.S. back to a "land of lousy options"
North Korea's artillery attack on South Korea poses the second test in three days of Washington's vow that it will not reward what it deems bad behavior with diplomatic gestures, and underscores that options are limited without serious help from China.
For more of this analysis by Paul Eckert, read here.
Bernanke's plea for fiscal help goes unanswered
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's unusually blunt plea for fiscal help will probably go unanswered, leaving the economy too limp to put people back to work any time soon. Bernanke has warned that the country is on an economic trajectory that will leave millions unemployed or underemployed for many years, and he said there were limits to what the central bank alone could do to help.
For more of this analysis by Emily Kaiser and Andy Sullivan, read here.
Fed pondered radical steps amid weaker outlook
A weaker economic outlook prompted Federal Reserve officials to consider more radical steps before settling on $600 billion in bond purchases. According to meeting minutes that showed a resolute but divided central bank, policymakers sharply revised down their forecasts for economic growth next year, and saw unemployment at significantly higher levels than they had in their last forecasts in June.
from Gregg Easterbrook:
Only the Koreans can end their conflict
For a generation, the arc of international events has been mainly positive -- the Cold War concluded, the Germanys reunited, apartheid is over. But a few conflicts refuse to end, and one became worse today as North Korea and South Korea exchanged artillery fire, killing two South Korean soldiers. It’s not yet clear how the incident began. Presumably the United States, which has substantial forces in South Korea, Japan and Guam, is at the moment watching closely.
South Korea is prosperous, reasonably free, a budding democracy, and supported by the most powerful government on earth. North Korea is impoverished, repressed and alone. Nearly all North Koreans would benefit immensely if the wall separating their country and South Korea was the world’s next wall to tumble. So why does the conflict between these two states refuse to end?
from Our Take on Your Take:
When all that’s left is underwear…
The silhouetted figure in the foreground and square crop differentiate this image from an underwear fashion show in Seoul. The crop gets rid of distracting elements on the sides and focuses the attention on the male models.
View this week's Your View showcase here.
from Tales from the Trail:
State Dept seeks new ally vs. North Korea: PETA
North Korea -- you have been warned.
The State Department on Monday held out the possibility that the isolated Stalinist state's belligerent rumblings could earn it a powerful new foe on the world stage: animal rights activist group PETA.
Asked at a news briefing about North Korea's latest move, which saw it fire a barrage of artillery shells into the ocean near South Korea, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was blunt:
from Global Investing:
PIGS, CIVETS and other creature economies…
Given the ubiquity of BRICs and PIGS, it seems everyone else in the financial and business world is attempting to conjure up catchy acronyms to group economies with similar traits. All with varying degrees of success. 
HSBC chief Michael Geogehan has been championing 'CIVETS' to describe Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa as the next tier of developing economies poised for spectacular growth.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
World Cup 2010 podcast – day 7
Join Mike Collett, Mark Gleeson, Simon Evans and Kevin Fylan for a little night's look back on a long day of excellent football at the World Cup in South Africa.
from Global News Journal:
Defiant North Korea takes case to UN press corps
North Korea's UN Ambassador Sin Son-ho (center) speaks to reporters at UN headquarters.
Officials working for the government of communist North Korea seldom appear in public -- especially in front of reporters from countries they view as hostile. But Pyongyang's ambassador to the United Nations, Sin Son-ho, turned to the U.N. press corps in New York on Tuesday to defend his nation against Seoul's allegtions that the North Korean military torpedoed a South Korean naval ship on March 26, killing 46 sailors.
from DealZone:
DealZone Daily
Prudential shares rise -- modestly -- after UK newspaper reports that its largest shareholder -- Capital Group -- is working on a plan to split the group up. The U.S. investor is not happy with Pru's planned $35.5 billion acquisition of AIA, the Asian life insurer. It is working with Clive Cowdery's acquisition vehicle Resolution, insurer Aviva and a third, unknown group, the reports say. An unlikely scenario? Perhaps, but it does show some serious discontent among shareholders.
HSBC has denied talk in the market that it may renew its bid for a $3.9 billion stake in Korea Exchange Bank. When asked whether the bank was bidding for LoneStar's KEB, the bank's Chief Executive Michael Geoghegan said: "No, we are not". Right, that's settled then.
from DealZone:
DealZone Daily
Rather predictably, the probe into Goldman Sachs overshadowed the group's first quarter results on Monday. Somewhat less predictably, Goldman's rivals have been using the furore to elbow in front of the leading Wall Street bank. As an example, rival investment bankers have been lobbying authorities in China to drop Goldman as an underwriter for the more than $20 billion IPO of state-owned Agricultural Bank of China.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) is preparing to bid for Lone Star's $4bln controlling stake in Korea Exchange Bank, the nation's sixth largest lender. The news of the arrival of unexpected contender for the U.S. private equity firm's stake helped send shares in the bank 3 percent higher.
from Financial Regulatory Forum:
S.Korea sees no need for US-style reform of banks
SEOUL, Feb 3 (Reuters) - It is not desirable for South Korea to adopt U.S.-style banking reforms because the local industry and markets are still small and in the developing stage, the head of the top financial regulator said on Wednesday.
"The new U.S. regulatory initiative called the 'Volcker's rule' provides a lot of indications to us but whether it can apply here is another matter," Chin Dong-soo, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said in a prepared speech for an international seminar.
South Korea has already been applying strict regulations on the sector and maintaining a clear division between commercial banks and investment banks, he said.
"It is desirable (for South Korea) to maintain its previous stance of supporting development of the financial industry while taking measures to fix structural weakness identified during the current financial crisis," he said. (Reporting by Yoo Choonsik; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)
((choonsik.yoo@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5580; Reuters Messaging: choonsik.yoo.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)) Keywords: BANKS KOREA/REGULATION
Wednesday, 03 February 2010 01:00:09RTRS [nTOE61200A] {C}ENDS
