Katrina by Zuzana Valkova

You would say how beautiful name. But after the August 2005 in the United States, is this name one of the most hated. Hurricane Katrina came to the New Orleans area and destroyed everything what was in its way. The day before, started one of the biggest evacuation actions in the history. On August 29 died 1464 people, mostly elderly and poor people, who didn't have a chance to leave the city. The main problem caused by this hurricane was that the strength of it destroyed about 50 flood walls and levees near the city. So the water didn't have any other barrier and could easily drown the city. Many people weren't able to leave the city, so they had to swim in that dangerous, dirty, cold water and try to find a place where to stay. Others had to hide on the roofs of their houses or in totally strange buildings. 80 % of the city was under the water. Somewhere was the water level 15 feet high. New Orleans stadium called Superdome became the refugee camp for people who remained there. People from all over the country came to help to army and doctors to save and care about injured or weak people. Many people brought food, clothes, and many donate their money. Lots of people help with searching for people alive and cleaning the mess. All the country came together. It's sad that they could do this only because of hurricane like this. Katrina was hurricane category 5. It didn't affect only Louisiana and New Orleans, but also Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Cuba and Bahamas.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080131/ap_on_re_us/katrina_levee_suit;_ylt=AgPDO5VLXyyXKQXI9xykdXOs0NUE

by Zuzana Valkova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

Societe Generale in risk by Lenka Lehenova

Companies, banks are very important part of economy. They earn a lot of money and their actions influence all world. To be honest I don't understand it very well. It is just only about numbers and money. Of course I like money, who don't like them? But to understand the mechanism how it is working is a little difficult. In France there are a lot of banks. Societe Generale is very popular bank because it is the second biggest bank in France. And now it is popular a little bit more because of situation which has happened. Societe Generale misses 4.9 milliard euros. How it is possible? Who is responsible for it? Jerome Kerviel is a name of young 31 year old trader who is actor of this action. He was working there since 2000 but now he together with his superiors lost job. His firstly simple transactions created a big defect and troubles to the bank. Kerviel said that he was sure his bosses knew about his massive hided transactions, that they had to notice something suspicious. He also tried to persuade us that he did it for bank, that it was his goal number 1 to earn money for bank. The bank has big troubles now and its place on market is in risk. It can influences also the other banks in many countries.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080129/ap_on_bi_ge/france_societe_generale;_ylt=AubvNF8jZUYHxrnS2RxVKkms0NUE

by Lenka Lehenova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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Fraud pursuit by Claudia Sonea

On Tuesday the FBI officials made public the fact that they opened criminal investigations into 14 corporations as part of a crackdown on improper subprime lending. The probes involved potential violations, including accounting fraud and insider trading and also reached across the industry to include developers, subprime lenders, companies that securitized loans and investment banks that held them, according to Neil Power, head of the FBI's economic crimes unit. The 14 cases refer to individual loans that have also risen sharply in a crackdown on subprime lending irregularities. Furthermore, Sharon Ormsby, head of the FBI's financial crimes section, reveals the fact that next year is expected for the mortgage corporate fraud potential cases to increase due to another wave of adjustable rate mortgages that will most likely reset. In parallel with FBI's investigation, the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened about three dozen civil investigations into the subprime market collapse and some of the probes overlap. If FBI has not revealed any of the corporations, SEC probe include Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX) and U.S investment banks Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Merrill Lynch (MER.N), Bear Stearns (BSC.N), as well as bond insurer MBIA (MBI.N). The SEC, which has formed an internal subprime mortgage task force, will analyze the way financial firms priced mortgage-based securities and if it was necessary for investors to be announced earlier about the declining value of those securities. A criminal investigation into two mortgage-related hedge funds at Bear Stearns that collapsed during the summer was launched by the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, New York and the FBI. About 1,200 active cases, up 40 percent from 2006, with 321 criminal complaints or indictments are on the FBI's list, officials said. Indeed there are some loan cases referring to individuals lying to qualify for mortgages, but mostly 80 percent of the cases involved fraud for profit. California, Texas, Arizona, Florida, and the Midwest, are the areas where fraud has been remarked as being frequent.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080129/bs_nm/subprime_crime_dc;_ylt=AllKuVX_I2X6Ft50JC3O7eas0NUE

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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Shaking position after the fraud case by Martina Harvanova

It isn't usual that state officials would intermeddle with cases of private enterprises unless it becomes really serious and the possible consequences could reach solid troubles. It isn't deemed democratic and fair enough if public functionaries express their personal opinions about the trading on the market. When it nevertheless happens, the comments about the situation should affect the community in limited measures, often the requirement is in the main possibly lowest impact on the private business sector. Recently, Nicolas Sarkozy tends to do the exact opposite. He talks fully frankly about the problems in Societe General, a French bank nowadays generally known for its rogue trader. Jerome Kerviel, a 31-year-old employee, stimulates the dispute about the threats of the existence of Societe General on the market as well as the discussions about its eventual future. The case began when the trader falsified documents and breached computer access codes that consequently caused the biggest fraud in the history carried-out by single person. The following loss for the bank represents 4.9 billion Euros, but, unfortunately, "only" this isn't how the story ends. The bank's chief Daniel Bouton now faces a tough task as his position isn't certain anymore. The bank reputation altered and the institution's position has weakened. Societe Generale disclosed a massive trading loss and further asset impairments last week. The pressure on the head-officials is high, analysts said their future remains in doubt and Sarkozy told the press "high-paid management cannot escape their responsibilities when a major problem is discovered." There was also a possible danger which affirmed the bank could be offered on the market for the sale. If Bouton and other managers are forced to resign, the bank will be in an even weaker position, potentially opening the door to a deal. The possible bidders could include domestic rival BNP Paribas, Barclays in the U. K. or Italy's Unicredit. No one can in the present predict the future of Societe General, but one thing is clear. Its position on the market deteriorates constantly and the more the public and analysts speak about them, the worse their conditions are going to look like. And Sarkozy's statement just confirms that.

related story: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/socgen-chief-remains-under-pressure/story.aspx?guid=%7B779191B4%2D29CC%2D48C9%2D8503%2D32CADA5AEAFB%7D&dist=morenews_ts

by Martina Harvanova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.