NPR 2011-10-27

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"Markets have seen too many promises particularly in the last three or four months. We saw a lot of promises coming out of Italy through August which they then tried to backtrack on. So the punishment will be absolutely brutal⁵ tomorrow or the next few days if nothing concrete or nothing believable emerges."

 

Again we're now seeing that volatility⁶ today in US stocks which before the close the Dow was up 162 points, more than 1%, at 11,869; NASDAQ up 12 points at 2,651; S&P 500 gaining 13; it's at 1,242.

 

Another arrest in the federal government's Wall Street insider trading investigations⁷. NPR's Chris Arnold reports Rajat Gupta turned himself in to the FBI this morning in New York and was released on 10 million dollars bond.

 

Gupta is the most senior corporate⁸ executive to face criminal charges in the government's crackdown on insider trading. He's the former head of McKinsey & Co., the large and successful business consulting firm. He's also a former director of Goldman Sachs. Prosecutors⁹ allege¹⁰ that Gupta fed information to hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, who has already been tried, found guilty and sentenced for insider trading. Gupta's lawyer said in a statement that Gupta is innocent and has always acted with honesty and integrity. Gupta's lawyer also said that Gupta did not profit from any improper¹¹ trading activities. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

 

President Obama was in Denver today, touting¹² his plan to bring relief for college students saddled with student loan debt. Kirk Siegler from member station KUNC reports from the University of Colorado, Denver, where the president spoke¹³ to a crowd of mostly college students.

 

Mr. Obama's plan would allow students to combine their public and private loan debt into a single government loan, something he said would save hundreds of dollars a month for more than 1.5 million Americans when the plan takes effect next year.

 

"We're gonna make it easier for you to have one payment a month at a better interest rate. And this won't cost — it won't cost taxpayers¹⁴ a dime¹⁵, but it will save you money and it will save you time."

 

Plans to bring relief to students saddled with loan debt are of particular interest here at the University of Colorado, where tuition has been rising steadily¹⁶ as state funding has shrunk to less than 5%. For NPR News, I'm Kirk Siegler in Denver.

 

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was up 161 points, more than 1%, at 11,868.

 

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A woman weeps at the funeral of her child, who was among the hundreds killed in Sunday's earthquake in eastern Turkey. The death toll¹⁷ from the quake has surpassed 460. Meanwhile, other people are scouring¹⁸ the debris¹⁹ of collapsed²⁰ buildings, hoping to find survivors²¹. The 7.2-magnitude quake struck in Van province. There were three survivors today rescued. One of them was a teacher, who reportedly had to be revived by doctors after her heart stopped beating. More than 1,300 people have been injured.

 

The spiritual leader of a militant²² group in Indonesia had his prison sentence cut from 15 years to nine. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Jakarta that the 72-year-old cleric was sentenced to jail in March for supporting the establishment of a terrorist training camp in Indonesia.

 

The Jakarta High Court gave no explanation for its decision to cut Abu Bakar Bashir's sentence. The decision was made on October 20th but only announced today by a court spokesman. The white-haired imam is the heir to more than half a century of Muslim militants²³, who have sought to replace Indonesia's secular²⁴ state with an Islamic one. This March, Bashir was convicted of helping²⁵ to set up a camp to train jihadists to carry out terrorist attacks and assassinate²⁶ Indonesia's president. Bashir had previously²⁷ served two years in jail for his role in the deadly Bali bombings, but his conviction was later overturned. Bashir's lawyer says he's confident that his client will be exonerated²⁸ this time too. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Jakarta.

 

Investors²⁹ remain worried about progress in Europe and its tackling of the debt crisis, but US stocks were up before the close.

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