currently the dollar is changing hands at 84.09-10. earlier on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar hit the 82-yen level for the first time about 15 years and we had this story earlier. as the dollar weakens, gold prices in new york hit a new record high this comes as investors seek the safety of a precious metal. overnight on the new york america tile exchange. futures climbed renewing a record set in june. gold is denominated in dollars and becomes much more attractive when the greenback depreciates against other currencies. market players say overseas investors are taking advantage of the dollar's weakness to buy gold as a safer asset. weaker yen lifted tokyo stock prices on wednesday morning and the nikkei jumped up ending the morning session at 9,470 up 171 ticks or 1.8%. >>> an here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. thises a yield on the benchmark on the 10-year japanese government bond. hong song just started trading and up 0.4%. the shanghai key index is down 0.6% and the sse composite down 0.8%. back to the mai

the dollar the fate of the dollar so much of it is still controlled by western institutions western ideas that if i may but the west is not up to scratch the rest of the world is moving on how does the world how does how do how does the west respond to that with those kind of things coming from like china and the other bric countries including russia to distinguish between the long term trend happening the last two or three is. the west's in relative decline against these because these is just growing and there are more people and more people being added but in the short of course there's been a great shock to the world economy which which again america and europe have felt more. so. i think the long term trend will be accentuated by the short term shock first because there's less confidence in the model of. confidence confidence in the institutions that were made after the second world war we are still with us right now but the world has changed so very much in the world isn't eurocentric anymore you really have to start thinking about what the indians and the chinese have to say on a lo

against the yen. >> tom: let's look at a 12 month chart of the dollar against the yen n may it took 59 yen to buy one u.s. dollar, today closer to 83. that is but about a 12% drop if the dollar's value yens the yen. does it show any signs of stopping? >> i think this is a patience game for a lot of investors who already started selling the yen. but i do think at some point the yen is going to weaken. it is just a 3459er of when, not if. why it is a when, in the case of japan you have entrenched deflation. the strong yen makes that work. interest rates are already ten basis points. they can't cut them much further. they are already trying quantity at that timeive easing to add liquidity and create some inflation in the market. there is not much left they can do to try to get some inflation going in their economy to support growth except the yen. and we're starting to hear that drumbeat growing louder. japanese finance minister, prime minister, commerce minister, you name it, they're all out there saying hey, if the market doesn't do it for us we're goinging to help it out. >> tom: gro

what has been driving the yen rally against the dollar? >> i think there are some japanese fundamentals that looked a little promising. and there has been also a lot of speculation of when is the central bank going to intervene, and let's test that, and that's when you started to see them really pushing for an appreciation to the point where the japanese started last week already making noise about intervention, and then them starting it today. what you see here is that they're really creating a ceiling, and you didn't see a very large move of an appreciation of the dollar against the yen. you only saw about a one and a half yen move. >> tom: wolfgang, japan, like the united states and europe are looking for a cheaper native currency to try to grow their way out of this economic mal laz, but they all can't win, can they? >> no. they can't all win. all you ever see is the g-3 or g-10s trying to make sure that the market moves in an orderly fashion. not just by everybody trying to appreciate. >> tom: less than a minute here, but i want to get

currently, the dollar is at 85.43-48 yen. the euro is currently at 11.09-13. while the yaeker yen is giving tokyo stocks a slight boost but profit-taking capped the gains. the nikkei average ended the morning session at 9,544, up 0.3% from wednesday's close. sources say the yen's fall and wall street's gains overnight encouraged investors to buy export-related stocks. here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond. >>> in other asian markets, hong kong's hang seng is currently down .25%. the shanghai key index for major blue chips is down 0.4%. and in shenzhen the sse composite is also down half a percent. >>> the u.s. government has filed complaints against china at the world trade organization. they claim china protects its financial services market from competition and criticized its tariffs on steel products. the u.s. commerce department submitted their cases to the wto on wednesday. the u.s. claims china lets domestic firms operate a virtual monopoly in financial services like ele

the yuan had been fixed at 6.83 per dollar. market players say the yuan upside will be capped at 2% this year as beijing aims to minimize an impact on its export industry. >>> the japanese government filed a complaint against canada for unfairing subsidizing its solar energy sector. the ontario government is planning to increase their ratio next year. japan said the subsidies are not fair to japanese solar panel makers operating in canada and says they violate wto rules, which ban unfair treatment of imported products. japan says it will ask the organization to establish a committee of experts to resolve the case if agreement through talks is not reached between the two countries. the government says it has taken that case to the wto to prevent the rise of protectionism in environmental-related industries. the solar energy sector is forecast to see substantial growth. the united states and the european union are expected to file complaints. >>> prime minister kan has asked california governor arnold schwarzenegger to invest in j

vallejo police are on the hunt for two suspects who they say took thousands of dollars from sixflags overy kingdom. investigators say just before 11 p.m. two armed men wearing black hooded sweatshirts and masks cut a hole in the fence and robbed several employees who had been collecting the day's receipts. the park was closed. police don't have a suspect description and there's no surveillance video. some unhappy meals being served at a mcdonald's in san francisco. homeless advocates say the decision by one of the restaurants to do away with the dollar menu is a ploy to get rid of the homeless. eric thomas is live in the haight arby, with the story. >> this at the corner of haight and samuel where all the fuss has been raised. what used to be the $1, it costs nearly a dollar and a half. he's because the dollar itself went away about a month ago. the decision made by the owner of this particular franchise and doesn't necessarily affect any of the other mcdonald's in the area, but this fast food restaurant is right across the street from golden gate park. that means an almost steady str

what has happened to the paper dollar is inflation. no inflation is not rising prices so don't blame the grocer and the gas station attendant, the landlord or employer. don't blame them. yes inflation is an increase in the quantity of currency. so who do you blame? you blame a counterfeiter, the government goes after the counterfeiters. or you been the government's partner, the federal reserve were flooding the nation with currency. we see what is rising prices isn't really rising prices but realization that the dollar's have lost value. how did they lose value? simply put the nation with them. go for a good definition and it's hard to find. you go to a current dictionary and will give a good definition but 1957 webster's new 20th century unabridged said inflation and increasing amount of currency in circulation resulting in a relatively sharp and sudden fall in its value and rise in prices. that's right. notice that the inflation is an increase in the amount of currency and the affected goods is a seven value -- loss of value in the do

the fuss has been raised. what used to be e $1, it costs nearly a dollar and a half. 's because the dolr itself went away about a month ago. the decision made by the owner of this particul franchise and doesn't necessarily affect any of the other mcdonals in the area, but this fast food restaurant is right across the street from golden gate park. that means an almost steady stream of homeless people in and out of the store are often ordering what they can, the cheapest thing on the menu. they say now that they can't get a dollar menu item, paying an extra 45 cents a meal means eating or not eating at times. some believe the price hike was aimed at the homeless. >> that means that the dollar menu is a hoax. it's a fraud, phony. if you come here and say i want something off the dollar menu they say we no longer have it, this is what it is, you can't get it for a dollar, it's basically a lie. >> my wife has served in santa cruz helping out with the homeless there. so, you know, we're aware, you know, that there are facilities that actually help, you know. it appears this

washington. >> suzie: a lot of talk today about gold prices going higher to another record, and the dollar getting weaker as well as stocks. >> tom: we just heard darren's conversation about the chinese currency and we continue to see the dollar move lower as we are about at the end here in the third quarter, let's get everybody updated on tonight's market focus. >> tom: this month saw three weeks of strong rallies, but this week the market has been marking time so far. energy stocks provided some upside as oil prices climbed to a two-week high. oil inventories fell more than expected last week. independent oil and natural gas producers were the best performing of the group. cabot oil rallied 5% to a six- week high. range resources also jumped on strong volume, up 5%. and e-q-t announced successful test wells for shale natural gas in pennsylvania. shares added more than 4%. b.p. is at its highest price since early august, when its blown-out gulf oil well was first capped. c.e.o. tony hayward officially resigns friday. incoming c.e.o. bob dudley announced a shake-up in the safety management

the dollar briefly hit 83.83 yen on tuesday. the better than expected u.s. housing and consumer confidence indices prompted dollar buying in the morning. but yen buying intensified later in the day as investors opted to hold the japanese currency, which is considered relatively safe on the last day of the month. and on the tokyo foreign exchange the dollar is hovering in the lower 84 yen range on wednesday morning. the greenback is currently at 84.36 -- 37-38 while the euro is at 106.93-97. the dollar remains under selling pressure as investors brace themselves for possible market intervention by the japanese government and central bank. turning to stocks, share prices in tokyo moved in a narrow range on wednesday morning as investors stayed on the sidelines, keeping an eye on the yen's move on the foreign exchange market. the nikkei gained half a percent, or 46 points, and ended the morning session at 8,869. sources say that investors are buying back shares after yesterday's market plunge. a wait and see attitude prevails as players hold out for u.s. employm

market watchers say that the dollar gained slightly due to u.s. economic figures that were stronger than many analysts had expected. but participants are not active ahead of u.s. employment data. and here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond. in other asian markets hong kong's hang seng opened up 0.2% higher, current will i up 0.1%. the shanghai key index for blue chips is down 0.3%. and in shenzhen the sse composite is up a quarter of a percent. >>> the eu agreed to create new agencies that will watch over the region's banks and insurers from next year. the agreement was reached in brussels on thursday by the european parliament and member states. the new watchdogs will oversee banks, insurers, and securities markets across the eu. they will have the power to give direct orders to financial institutions and to ban risky products. the new agencies will start operating in january next year. but concerns remain on how effective they will be in emergencies as member natio

joseph stiglitz estimated the cost of bush's wars was about between two and three trillion dollars so he cut income by two point seven trillion and then decided to spend about that much on a war you know this is what i never understood i mean the u.s. could have simply done a leveraged buyout of iraq for real i mean they should have some henry kravis down there or at or shorts to do it he wouldn't be complaining the right he's all complaining about bush's you know tax programs i'm sorry obama i get those two confused. and saying that it's you know it's quite an affront to his sensibilities as a private equity manager but going back to the bush years you simply couldn't offer a rock at this point it didn't offer them one or two trillion dollars in cash taken over the country could have been the fifty first american state and had a play on the oil reserves and no no no debts would have ensued and i don't understand what about all the cost benefit analysis would have been it goes back to the story about the chinese blowing up the buildings before they're even finished in other words i

. >>> the dollar could get another dip yesterday thanks to speculation from the fed. investors are convinced the federal reserve will poor more money backed away from the greenback sending the dollar to an eight-month low against the basket of other currencies. the price of gold was pushed to yet another fresh high, above $1300 an owns. energy stocks got a boost after dwindling inventories fueled a rise on the price of crude. in washington, lawmakers passed a bill that would allow the u.s. to tax imports from china in response to keeping its currency artificially low against the dollar. today, the chinese call the legislation a breach against world trading policy. >>> nearly one in every four homes sold in the second quarter was a foreclosed home. adding to the nation's foreclosure mess, jp morgan chase announced yesterday it would freeze foreclosures over paperwork flaws. experts warn it's a problem that could exist industrywide. >>> this morning's "wall street journal" reports mcdonald's could cut health care for 30,000 workers. mcdonald's claims it would be economi

before you today is our proposal basically to adjust the conflict in the dollar amount that the port commission uses to award contracts and that with those thresholds that are established in the administrative code. adoption of this resolution would also streamline the contract in process, and it would make it easier for u.s. commissioners as well as sports staff in terms of reducing the number of staff reports that are before you. in fact, there is one item on your agenda today that would not be there if we had this in place, so we are asking that you approve the resolution before you that would increase the dollar threshold for construction contracts from the current level of $50,000 to $400,000 and increase the dollar threshold for $50,000 the -- for approval of professional service contracts within the limits as established by the administrative code and other the delegation of authority that is provided by the purchaser. that concludes my report. >> so move. second. >> comment on this item? any other questions? >> i would just like to make clear that the basics for the $400,000

. >> why are they trying to kick out the homeless. no dollar menu, no bathrooms, what are we gonna do. >> and the burger brouhaha at mcdonalds, why some feel the price increase is about more than money. good evening, dana king. >>> it is a stunt straight out of "spiderman." the tonight the man who scaled a san francisco high-rise today is talking about what he was up to. here is his climb speeded up by 3000%. without warning a man known as skyscraper man began his assent of the me lynn y'all tower around 5:00 p.m. joe talked to him after he was released tonight. >> he didn't have any safety rope, just the suckings cups, climbed one of san francisco's tallest buildings. >> reporter: he calls himself skyscraper man. >> i don't know, i think it's weird. >> reporter: and for three hours he climbed the millennium tower, a condominium high-rise south of market, while a captivated and amused crowd craned their necks below. >> he is going to try to climb the corporate ladder, it would have been fast tier. >> reporter: dan good man, who claims to have s

then the dollar is then. the economy of the united states is crashing yes remarkable over the past couple interstates you herbert you've seen this unwinding of different currencies as part of the unwinding of the carry trade whether it's the japanese yen the reason it's so strong is in part due to the unwinding of the japanese yen carry trade the same thing for the swiss franc when you have zero interest rates here's the key when you have zero interest rates like you do all over the world it doesn't spurred g.d.p. growth it's spurs speculation and you're talking about speculation committed by the most irresponsible bankers in the history of the world who often make mistakes and then go to government put a gun to their head as paulson did in the end of two thousand and eight and say give us three quarters of a trillion dollars or we're going to blow your head off and that was his message well zero percent interest rates also discourages capital formation which one needs for capitalism to function because if yo

what do you think about that i think the four billion dollars is a little aggressive i mean i think it's within the ballpark of what it should be worth although the formally sort of on the upper end of that i think you know. one of the things that i hope severstal will do is not make the mistake that a lot of other companies have done doing i.p.o.'s in russia where if you get really aggressive in the valuation you spit it out in the i.p.o. and in the stock doesn't go anywhere for years because it's already been you know priced their growth started and priced in hopefully the other advisors will advise them to be a little smarter maybe price it with a little bit upside left in the price so that investors will be happy investors and happy shareholders going for it is actually make some money off own stock to see you go thank you very much for your insight with us. i look back two markets european shows have turned to the negative in the last a raising opening games that follows the release of the euro zone and purchasing managers survey for september

but the dollar menu usedto a 309-calorie mcdouble for a month. nly buy a small burger for the the same price. the article says there's no dollar menu anymore based on a number of factors. but newman and other merchants in hate ashbury district -- in the haight ash bushry district are pushing for a no-sit or no- lie policy. >> are you upset they don't have the dollar menu anymore? >> yes. >> reporter: why? >> because they are not being fair to the american people and the american people make them rich. >> reporter: the neighborhood landscape is shifting. whole foods is moving in. so there is an effort to brick new business -- bring new businesses to the area. now the owner of this mcdonald's won't be natalee holloway 10:00. so -- won't be in until 10:00. so we weren't able to get comment from her. reporting live, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> it is 8:38. we want to check in with sal castanedo. how about those giants? [ laughter ] >> you know, i'm telling you, san diego lost ten in a row. giants one game behind them vying for first place.

the estimated dollar amount of legal claims the company has received so far.dudley also says he does not expect state claims, to be too high either.b-p may even start paying out dividends to shareholders in the fourth quarter of this year after deciding to stop handing them out in june that cash was used to pay for costs associated with the spill. still to come from real estate to gold new ideas from a stock picker that's coming up later on.but first the governor of michigan joins us to talk about her state's new initiatives to boost the auto industry. it was more surreal than anything. you're under fire. you're getting blown up. there's definitely adrenaline. there was the explosion, and i remember just opening my eyes, and it got both of my legs. i had surgery after surgery, you know, i was on a lot of pain medicine. "what's going to happen next? and how long am i going to be here?" the wounded warrior project dropped off a backpack for me. and it had everything in there that i could possibly have needed at that time. peer visitors, people who have been where i had been before, sai

and the dollar's little changed against the yen early friday. investors are wary of more intervention by japan's monetary authorities in currency markets. the dollar is now at 85.72-74 while the euro is trading at 112.10-13. the upcoming three-day weekend is also adding to the market's cautious mood. here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond. in other asian markets hong kong's hang seng opened up a quarter of a percent higher. it's currently up 0.3%. the shanghai key index for major blue chips is up 0.3%. and in shenzhen the sse composite is up 0.2%. >>> makers of precision glass products may soon polish surfaces using a metal that's not rare earth. japanese researchers have developed the new polishing technology and it's drawing a lot of attention at a time when china is restricting export of rare earth metals. a research group led by ritsumeikan university professor yasuhiro tani has discovered that a metal called zirconium can be used to polish precision glass pr

flight so i think the u.s. dollar could actually do quite well and the u.s. may have no trouble selling its bonds for a period of time after that however all bets are off we are talking about economic orthodoxy and yes there monetarists that really is that the problem monetarists don't recognize the critical role of credit in credit expansion that creates excess crying to underlying real wealth and that really is the source of the problem if you're looking at it only in terms of conventional money supply measures and treating an economy i think it was a machine if you push this button or pull that lever and this will happen they're tending to take the human being out of the system to make it sound much more mechanistic than it is and that is absolutely not how markets work at any time markets are messy and irrational and emotionally driven giant swings of human herding behavior and giant expansion really our credit expansion is the expansion of human problems that the broadening of money if you like further and furthe

the white elephants billions and built we're talking billions of dollars i mean the estimates range wildly but as many as eleven billion dollars which is a lot of money in south africa on stadiums and on infrastructure and it's now have to be paid for by the people themselves through austerity measures and south africa which has the highest capital of protests in the world they're just not putting up with it and i was in vancouver before the olympics and i was in south africa before the world cup and it was fascinating because you can imagine two more different cities than been coover in johannesburg and yet the complaints were exactly the same suppression of civil liberties the pledge but budget busting deficit spending and and all the rest of it i mean it was a absolute horror show in both places and it says something about to me what it means to do these kinds of sporting events in periods of economic recession you get a hell of a collision that takes place between the desire of the government to look amazing for an international audience and try to build its tourists dollar and the peo