Subprime and Mortgage Related Losses as of Dec 20, 2007

(http://www.nytimes.com)

CNBC Survey - Do you think the government should give more than a $600 tax rebate to help strapped home owners?

Do you think the government should give more than a $600 tax rebate to help strapped home owners? * 350 responses
	Yes, much more 29%
	No, that should be enough 6.3%
	Government should not help at all 65%
Not a scientific survey.

(http://www.cnbc.com)

How much gold is in Fort Knox?

How much gold is in Fort Knox? Central bank and government holdings of gold are believed to account for about 20.5 percent of the world's gold, at approximately 33,200 tons. With gold prices all-time highs,

the question is: Who's got the most? The top ten countries banking the most bullion... especially with the value of Gold at new record highs!(Data is based on the World Gold Council's Monthly report and is converted to US short tons at a rate of 1 T = 1.102311 US tons. All monetary estimates are calculated at the rate of 1oz gold = $900 US)

#1 - United States, 8,965.6 Tons, $258.2 Billion

#2 - Germany, 3767.1 Tons, $108.5 Billion

#3 - The IMF, 3,546.1 Tons, $102.12 Billion

#4 - France, 2,890.6 Tons, $83.25 Billion

#5 - Italy, 2,702.6 Tons, $77.83 Billion

#6 - Switzerland, 1,285.6 Tons, $37.03 Billion

#7 - Japan, 843.5 Tons, $24.29 Billion

#8 - Netherlands, 688.39 Tons, $19.83 Billion

#9 - European Central Bank, 666.5 Tons, $19.2 Billion

#10 - China - 661.4 Tons, $19.05 Billion

(http://www.cnbc.com)

First national poll taken after the New Hampshire primary

George W. Bush "Days Left In Office" Countdown Clock

374 DAYS 4 Hrs 56 Min

Registered Republicans					Registered Democrates
	Jan 9-10	Dec 6-9	Nov 2-4			Jan 9-10	Dec 6-9	Nov 2-4
	%	%	%			%	%	%
McCain	34	13	16		Clinton	49	40	44
Huckabee	21	22	10		Obama	36	30	25
Giuliani	18	24	28		Edwards	12	14	14
Romney	14	16	11
Thompson	6	10	19
				Top 5 Issues
						Jan 9-10	Dec 6-9	Nov 2-4
						%	%	%
				Economy		35	29	29
				War in Iraq		25	23	28
				Health Care		18	20	18
				IllegalImmigration		10	14	10
				Terrorism		9	10	12
		CNN / Opinion Research Poll
		1033 Adults				Margin of Error (%)
		397 Registered Republicans				5
		443 Registered Democrates				4.5

China Development Bank is expected to invest $2 billion in Citigroup

By Reuters | 11 Jan 2008 | 06:13 PM ET

Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Citigroup's largest individual shareholder, will inject new cash to help America's biggest bank grapple with heavy mortgage market losses, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Friday.

Alwaleed, who has owned his Citi stake since the early 1990s and helped engineer a previous rescue plan for the bank more than a dozen years ago, is likely to keep his total stake in the bank below 5 percent to avoid regulatory scrutiny, the newspaper said.

In addition, the China Development Bank is expected to invest $2 billion in Citigroup

Citigroup Inc C 28.56 0.45 +1.6% NYSE

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[C 28.56 ] the newspaper reported, adding other investors could inject additional capital.

Altogether, the bank is hoping to raise $8 billion to $10 billion from a number of investors, including the Chinese bank and Alwaleed, the newspaper said.

In November, Citi accepted $7.5 billion in new capital from the The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority only weeks after its former chief executive officer, Charles Prince, was forced out amid news of the heavy losses related to bad bets on mortgage securities and an ailing housing markets.

Citigroup spokeswoman Shannon Bell declined to comment.

(http://www.cnbc.com)

China 2007 trade surplus a record $262bn

By Richard McGregor in Beijing

Published: January 11 2008 07:46 | Last updated: January 11 2008 09:49

China’s trade surplus rose by nearly 50 per cent to a record $262bn in 2007, but import growth exceeded export growth in each of the final three months of the year, suggesting that the country’s controversial trade imbalance may be peaking.

In another first, the European Union also replaced the US as China’s largest export market. Sales to the expanded EU grew by 29.2 per cent in 2007, compared to just 14 per cent to the US.

(http://ft.com)