| How Obama's Afghan strategy is shaping up |
| News - Financial News |
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--(www.FinancialNewsUSA.com)-- 11/28/2009 - International industry news provided by Financial News USA. The centerpiece of President Barack Obama's revised war strategy in Afghanistan is expected to be the gradual deployment of about 30,000 more U.S. troops to secure population centers and train Afghan security forces. Pentagon officials hope NATO member-states will eventually supplement the buildup with up to 10,000 of their own troops and trainers, pushing the overall number close to the 40,000 recommended by General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, to counter a resurgent Taliban. Pentagon officials expect Obama to continue the existing counterinsurgency strategy with a greater focus on protecting major Afghan population centers along with agricultural areas and transportation routes. Brazil's central bank offered to buy dollars on the spot foreign exchange market on Friday in an ongoing effort to boost international reserves and soak up greenbacks pouring into the economy. The bank has bought about $23 billion on the spot market since May 8, including about $1.988 billion this month through Nov. 20, to soak up dollar liquidity and prevent further appreciation of Brazil's currency, the real. The currency (BRBY) was trading 0.34 percent stronger at 1.744 per U.S. dollar shortly after the central bank's announcement. Britain's top share index ended 1 percent higher on Friday, recouping part of the previous session's sharp losses as banks rebounded on subsiding Dubai debt fears while firmer commodity prices aided miners and oils. The FTSE 100 .FTSE closed 51.60 points higher at 5,245.73, having tumbled 3.2 percent on Thursday -- its biggest one-day percentage drop in eight months. David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index, said there was a general feeling that Thursday's sell-off was overdone and that some confidence was restored after U.S. stocks pared losses on Friday after hefty falls earlier in the session. "People are still maybe a little bit twittery as volumes are quite low in the U.S. because of Thanksgiving. We may have to wait until Monday to be really sure that we're out of the woods, but it's definitely encouraging," he said. U.S. gold futures ended 1 percent lower in heavy volume on Friday but were well above session lows as flight-to-quality demand offset fears of debt default in Dubai. COMEX December gold GCZ9 settled down $12.80, or 1.1 percent, at $1,174.20 an ounce on the COMEX division of NYMEX. Ranged from $1,130.10 to $1,195 -- an all-time high. * US gold market opened sharply lower on Dubai debt worries after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday. Inflationary expectations could be tamed if credit problems slow global growth - BMO's Bart Melek. Graphic on relative performance of gold, copper, oil and equities amid Dubai debt fears: here * Bullion supported by safe-haven appeal amid sharply lower commodities across the board. RJ/CRB index down 2 percent. Gold pummeled in dollar terms as it becomes a source of capital drawn to defend stressed equity positions About Financial News USA Financial News USA is a Next Generation Financial Communications firm focused on the distribution of market moving news. Financial News USA has developed leading edge e-publishing tools including programming proprietary RSS feeds and enabling open source press release publishing across its network. Financial News USA has been aggressively expanding its news distribution network by targeting direct feeds to financial news and data providers such as FinancialContent, Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), among others. Financial News USA offers a free news feed available online (www.financialnewsusa.com) to websites and financial services looking for content and for individual investors looking to stay informed on the financial markets. Financial News USA and its affiliates charge each client cash for news distribution and may take an equity position in the companies mentioned herein, please visit the disclaimer at www.financialnewsusa.com. 
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