NPR 2008-10-25

The Markets dropped again today. The Dow Jones Industrials fell 3. 5%. The NASDAQ and S&P were also down more than 3% today. NPR's Yuki Noguchi has more.

A few months ago, a 300-point-drop in the Dow would have been a very bad day, but given the setup earlier this morning, that proved to be the day's good news for investors¹. At markets open, the Dow plunged² more than 500 points following dramatic drops in Asian and European markets. Investors saw new gloomy forecasts about the world's economic outlook. The volatility³ hit the currency markets. The Yen⁴ hit a 30-year high against the dollar as Japanese investors pulled their overseas investments and bought up Yen. But over the longer term, a stronger Japanese currency could hurt Japan's export heavy economy. Meanwhile, Britain's economy is contracting quickly, South Korea's economic growth is slowing and Iceland took a 2-billion-dollar loan to shore up its economy. With a prospect⁵ of a global downturn, oil prices also fell again. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News.

On Wall Street, the Dow dropped 312 points. The S&P 500 fell 31 points. The NASDAQ was down 51 points today.

The Air Force has unveiled a new command for its nuclear arsenal⁶. The Global Strike Command is part of an effort to prevent a repeat of some embarrassing nuclear incidents over the past 2 years. NPR's Tom Bowman has more.

The Air Force officials say the new command will be a way to better manage its nuclear missiles on the land and in the air, or as the Air Force Secretary Michael Donley says, correct longstanding institutional weaknesses. Such weaknesses led Air Force pilots last year to mistakenly fly a B-52 across country with nuclear missiles. And in 2006, the Air Force was involved in wrongly sending nuclear fuses to Taiwan, after that country (region) requested helicopter batteries. The new command headed by a 3-Star General is part of what the Air Force calls its roadmap for the future with its nuclear arsenal. That includes better education, training, career development and inspections⁷. That B-52 took off in that cross-country flight after several inspectors⁸ failed to see it was carrying live nuclear missiles. Tom Bowman, NPR News, the Pentagon.

While Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama takes time off from campaigning to visit his sick grandmother in Hawaii, the candidate's wife took over. Speaking in Columbus, Ohio today, Michelle Obama told a crowd of supporters her family appreciates the messages the family has received in recent days. "We just wanna thank all of the supporters and, not just those who have been supporting this campaign, but people who have sent well wishes and good wishes and prayers, it means so much to us. And I just wanna thank you for that. " Republican presidential hopeful John McCain also continued to campaign today. Appearing in a rally in Denver, he told a group of supporters if his Democratic rival wins White House, the middle class is "going to be put through the wringer". This is NPR News in Washington.

Some signs of movement in the housing market last month, the National Association of Realtors, the industry's main trade group, says sales of existing homes shot up 5. 5% in September. However with continued difficulties in the credit markets and the weakening economy, many are wondering just how sustainable last month uptick would be. Last month’s bump-up in existing home sales was the biggest in more than 5 years and was in part driven by first-time buyers. Prices of previously⁹ owned homes continue to fall. Medium sales price of existing homes last month dropped 9% from the same period a year ago to just over 191, 500 dollars.

US Department of Transportation announced today the number of motors on nation's highways is declining. In August, Americans drove 15 billion miles less than the previous year. Spencer Raymond has more.

In a report issued Friday the Department of Transportation says the number of miles driven last August is the biggest year-to-year decline ever. The 5. 6% drop in highway travel is most evident in rural areas, and came at a time when gas prices topped $3.60 a gallon. The August numbers end a study period beginning last November, during that time, the DOT says Americans drove 78 billion miles less than the same period a year ago. The southeast saw the largest drop in highway travel in August, Florida led the way with drivers there hitting the road nearly 10% less. Nationwide public transit¹⁰ ridership, meanwhile, increased over the summer up 6%. For NPR News, I'm Spencer Raymond in Washington.

One positive upshot of the recent financial turbulence¹¹ is a big drop in oil prices. Experts say with the price of oil now less than a half of what it was in July, home heating oil prices could fall to as low as two dollars a gallon down from $3. 31 a gallon last winter.

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

3 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

4 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

5 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

6 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

7 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

11 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。