| Shanghai exchange considers letting foreign companies trade
The Shanghai stock exchange may allow big multinational companies to sell shares in China to expand the nation's capital markets, the government-run Xinhua press agency said, citing Que Bo, assistant general manager of the bourse. The Shanghai bourse, the largest Chinese stock exchange, could permit companies like HSBC Holdings, Coca-Cola and Siemens to trade, and is conducting market research on the plan, Xinhua said. Allowing overseas companies to sell shares in China could help accelerate government efforts to fully open the country's capital account, easing restrictions on inflows and outflows of yuan for investment purposes, said Liang Futao, an analyst at Shenyin Wanguo Research and Consulting in Shanghai. "This may suggest foreign companies can raise money in China and use the funds outside the country," Liang said Sunday by telephone.
Excerpt: 'Green With Envy'
Buying a home can be a great financial milestone, and does have a lot of advantages. It's an investment likely to rise in value over the long-term, the mortgage interest is tax deductible, and as equity builds, a home becomes a source of low-cost emergency money in the form of a home equity line of credit. But there are potential pitfalls: � It's easy to stretch too far and get a home that's not easy to afford. � You might have to sell on short notice, when the market is down, or before the house has had time to appreciate in value. It's expensive to sell property, and some sellers do end up owing more money than they get from buyers. � Plus there is what I call the social cost of home ownership: Projects you'll be tempted to take on to improve the property, especially to make it look as nice as what your friends or neighbors have or what you've seen on the home shows on TV.
Yemen, Drugs and the Water Table
As Yemen attempts to reinvent itself as a pro-Western ally in the so-called war on terrorism, it faces a number of difficulties. As Jonathon Walz explains, prominent among them is the prevalence of the drug qat — the consumption of which has surprisingly widespread economic, environmental and political ramifications. .
Mother robber sent to jail
A woman has been jailed for stealing ?80,000 ($219,000) from her mother who sold up her home in New Zealand to be nearer her daughter in the UK. Care worker Kim Goffin was jailed for two-and-a-half-years in Plymouth Crown Court yesterday after a judge heard how her mother Patricia Williams was left heartbroken and penniless. Widow Mrs Williams, 67, moved back to Britain from New Zealand so she could be closer to her daughter and her three grandchildren. The court was told Goffin, 47, offered to help her mother shop online and then used the information to empty her internet bank account. She got through more than ?80,000 in just 17 months and spent much of the cash buying designer clothes and splashing out on holidays. Jo Martin, prosecuting, said Mrs Williams gave her daughter details of her bank account so she could shop online for her with Tesco Direct.
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