Asia tumbles after Wall Street slide

Asian and Pacific markets tumbled on Tuesday, following a rocky day on Wall Street. The Nikkei average was down 3.4 percent at the midday break, while the All Ordinaries index in Australia had slipped 2.7 percent. In Seoul, the KOSPI slipped 1.9 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was off 3.9 percent

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Ponzi Schemes

The $50 billion Ponzi scheme allegedly masterminded by former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff punctuated a miserable year for Wall Street in the worst possible way: by underlining, yet again, that savvy market-makers can harness arcane financial instruments as weapons of mass destruction. Left in Madoff’s wake are bankrupt investors, mortified regulators and a raft of unnoticed red flags.

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Asian markets track Wall Street losses

Asian markets slumped Friday, latching onto Wall Street’s bear market slide to levels not seen since 1997. Tokyo’s Nikkei average was off 3.5 percent in afternoon trading and the All Ordinaries index in Australia tumbled 1.2 percent. In Seoul, the KOSPI fell 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.3 percent.

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European markets close down

European markets closed lower Tuesday, following a global selling spree the day before. Europe’s major exchanges drifted up in morning trading but by the end of the day London’s FTSE 100 was down 3.1 percent, the CAC 40 lost 1 percent and Frankfurt’s Dax 30 sank 0.5 percent.

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World markets slump on banking fears

Stock markets in Asia and Europe were reeling Monday amid fresh concerns over the strength of the global banking industry as HSBC announced a huge slump in profits and the U.S. government said it would pump $30 billion into ailing insurance giant AIG. London’s FTSE dropped more than 3 percent in early trading to drop below 3,700 points — a six-year low — with banking stocks leading the slide

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