The Malaysian Insider

NEW YORK, Feb 10 — Former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and billionaire investor Warren Buffett, from different sides of the political spectrum, expressed support yesterday for the US government’s aggressive steps in 2008 to keep the nation’s banks and economy from a complete meltdown.

The men were speaking before the annual meeting of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce in Omaha, Nebraska, where Buffett’s insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc is based. CNBC simulcast their talk on its website.

Paulson and many other regulators have been faulted for letting Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc go bankrupt on Sept. 15, 2008, a signal event in the global financial crisis and still by far the largest bankruptcy in US history.

SINGAPORE, Feb 10 — About 400,000 less visitors came to Singapore last year than in 2008, although there was a record number of them in December.

That month registered a record 971,000 visitors — the highest number of tourists ever received.

But for full-year 2009, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) yesterday said visitor numbers fell to 9.7 million — a 4.3 per cent year-on-year decline — due to the global recession. 

LONDON, Feb 9 —The euro rose today on speculation that European Union nations could bail out errant member Greece, while global stocks inched higher, lifted by emerging market shares.

Wall Street looked set to open stronger.

Expectations about a rescue for Greece followed news that European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was leaving a meeting of central bankers in Sydney early to attend a European Union leaders’ summit.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 — The US government will continue its investigation into 2010 Prius hybrids (picture) over braking complaints even though Toyota Motor Corp has announced a recall of that model, the Transportation Department said today.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement that his agency would remain in “constant communication” with Toyota to “ensure that all possible defects” are identified and fixed as quickly as possible.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a formal probe into the newest gas-electric Prius hybrid on Feb 3 after receiving 124 complaints from owners about momentary loss of braking while driving on rough road surfaces. The number of those complaints has risen sharply since.

LONDON, Feb 9 — After New Year cheer, reality is starting to bite.

Several factors have doused the rallies in some key basic resources this year, including dollar strength and concern about regulation, but most noticeable are the steps taken by commodity consuming giant China to curb excessive loan growth.

While the moves made so far are relatively small, the prospect of higher borrowing costs is proving hard to digest and looms large over sentiment.