Two more small western banks are closed on Friday by Federal Regulators which increase the number of failed Western Banks to seven. According to the Federal Deposit & Insurance Corporation two Banks will have to transfer their deposits and some of the assets to Mutual of Omaha Bank.

The Banks which are to be closed are owned by the National Bank Holding Co. of Scottsdale and Arizona. On Friday the office of the Comptroller of the Currency said that the Banks were under capitalized and hence has to be closed.

It is expected that the bank failure will likely to increase as foreclosures rise and home sales lose.

Chairman of FDIC state that the Federal Govt. may offer the share in low prices to the public for the payment of comparatively higher prices for the IndyMac’s assets which was closed earlier by regulators.

Consumers are now concerned about their deposits and are trying hard to withdraw their funds in the past week. FDIC ensures the customers of the First National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank, that there money and deposits are safe and accessible and there would not be any loss to their money, as account holders would be able to obtain funds over the weekend from cash machines.

This week the external merchandise trade statistics for June 2008was released by Census and Statistics Department (C&SD). The value of imported goods increased by 1.3%compared to last year but the value of exports of goods decreased marginally by 0.6% in Hong Kong in June 2008.

After the increase in export’s comprising of both domestic & re export’s in May 2008 which is approx. 10.3%, now the value has decreased by 0.6% in June 2008. In June 2008, the value of re-exports increased marginally by 0.2%, whereas the value of domestic exports decreased by 20.2%.

Subsequently, in June 2008 the value of imports of goods grew by 1.3% over a year earlier, after a high increase of 15.4% in May 2008. A trade deficit is visible which is equivalent to 9.7% of the value of imports of goods, as recorded in June 2008.

As compared to the first half of 2007, the value of total exports of goods rose by 9.1% over the first half of 2008. Alarmingly within this total, the value of domestic exports decreased by 7.8% whereas the value of re-exports increased by 9.8%. As a result a tremendous trade deficit of 8.1% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded for the first half of 2008.

In the second quarter of 2008 the value of re-exports increased by 2.5%, on the other hand the value of domestic exports went down by 6.4%. Also, the value of imports of goods increased by 3.8%.

Total exports to Asia compared to June 2008 with June 2007, as a whole fell by 3.1%. The decreases in exports are mainly registered in some major destinations such as Korea, the mainland of China and Japan.

Marginal decreases apart from destinations in Asia, some other major destinations in other regions, including the United Kingdom and the USA also faced marginal deficits in exports.

As compared to exports in the first half of 2008 year-on-year increase were seen in the values of total exports to most major destinations like India, Singapore, Germany and the Mainland. But as compared in the same period, increases were registered in the values of imports from all major suppliers, particularly India, Thailand, Germany, the USA and Malaysia.

ArcelorMittal announces acquisition of 70% stake in Brazilian Steel Processor at Manchester Tubos E Perfilados SA subsequent to 50% acquisition of Gonvarri Brazil, a well known steel service facilities provider for industrial & automotive sectors.

Acquisition of both plants will boost the ArcelorMittal Business operations in Brazil and help to cement the base in the construction market in the country.

According to reports ArcelorMittal desires to widen its business network in distribution segment located in Contagem, Minas Gerais by providing the customers new enhanced product line and range.

Manchester Tubos has an annual capacity of finished steel products of 2.4 lakh tonnes and 60,000 tonnes of processed products which brings the net sales approx. over $ 170 million in year 2007, that shows this fast growing market will diversify the business and production by offering from tubes to structural profiles which will in turns increase the sales and profit of the group.

According to Consumer Electric Appliances Manufacturer Association price of colour televisions may arise due to Anti Dumping duty.

Rise in price is supposed to happen due to Anti Dumping Duty levied by the Government on imported colour picture tubes which is one of the components of colour television, after finding that countries like China, Malaysia, Thailand and Korea are dumping into India.

The amount of duty will depend on the size of screen ranging between $20 and $1000 based on a cathode ray colour picture tube used in manufacture of CTVs. Imposition of duty will cause rise in cost of production of commodity and thus definitely have adverse effect on the price of CTVs.

The duty is levied on the companies covered in the notification of department of revenue which include famous companies like Samsung, L.G., Phillips, Shenzen Samsung etc.

The duty imposed after a large survey which indicated that the goods which are imported are not of standards and causing loss of material market in the domestic market.

As the price rise will cause consumer loss and effect adversely sale of the commodity in already struggling market entire burden of duty can not be transferred on consumers but consumer has to face some adverse effect of this duty by way of price rise in colour televisions.

Explosion in Imperial Sugar Co. (NEW YORK) caused adverse effect on the shares of the company along with difficulty in claming the insurance and may be levied by heavy penalty because of violation of rules & regulations of Safety & Health Administration.

Penalty imposed could be upto $87 million which if imposed will be third highest according to OSHA report. One of the analyst stated that discoveries of OSHA report may cause insurance companies to make out reason to not to pay the insurance claims to the defaulting company Imperial Sugar Co.

The investigators revealed that warnings regarding explosive dust hazards in the Imperial Sugar Co. were duly given since 2002 based on company audit report, insurance records and other related documents, which shows that explosion is caused due to the negligence of the company and it can be prevented from this damage of money and lives.

The spark in the metal sliding caused due to collision of large bucket used to lift sugar in silo elevator which got loose and explosion took place. The Imperial Sugar Company denies the facts and allegations made by the investigators and analysts. The allegation and entire matter made negative impact on status of company by fall in shares of the company which is more than 9% on Friday. The company is going to report its third quarter report on 30th July as per schedules. Explosion

There is an interesting story posted on www.profitedition.com on avoiding bankruptcy. Perhaps the banks should learn from this rather than just fallin’ like rolling pins. Two more small western banks closed on Friday by Federal Regulators which increase the number of failed Western Banks to seven. There is another one on Strategies when the market hits low.

When the market hits a bottom, it’s time to start the bargain hunting says the author. Very true indeed. He goes on to add the upside from a bottomed market is huge, and then profits can be further compounded into a short position. Bottoms can be hard to spot, but with some experience, bottom hunting can be profitable and extremely rewarding. Even with the best uptrend, you’re unlikely to time a bottom perfectly. Sometimes you’ll see a bottom, enter a trade only for the security to downtrend briefly and retest a bottom. Bottoming securities are unlikely to be perfect, so you’ll have to have plenty of patience. Profitable traders do very well in market bottoms, as they provide some of the best risk to reward ratios.

Sounds absolutely great. But what has happened to companies like Chrysler who are now leaving the auto leasing business feeling the oil pressure literally or the banks closing one after another. Great advice but the big blue blooded companies don’t seem to be listening.