NPR 2009-03-13

Disgraced New York money manager Bernard Madoff has pleaded guilty to all 11 criminal charges related to a massive Wall Street Ponzi scheme he had masterminded over the past two decades. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports from New York.

Madoff told a Manhattan courtroom this morning that he felt compelled to meet investor¹ expectations in the 1990s so he built a giant Ponzi scheme to do so. He told clients that he was investing in a basket of stocks and said he could guarantee steady returns. In fact, he used his clients' money to cover any redemptions and support his lavish² lifestyle. The criminal counts against him include securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering³. The judge ended testimony⁴ after just a handful of investors⁵ told Madoff directly what his scheme had brought, and then summarily, the judge said that Madoff would be awaiting his sentencing from behind bars. His sentencing is scheduled for June 16, and he faces up to 150 years in prison. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, New York.

President Obama today said despite the current state of the global economy, now is not the time to embark⁶ on protectionist actions. The president told a group of business leaders in Washington today there's been some movement toward containing such sentiment, though he said it's important that countries don't fall back on such measures. Mr. Obama also said today he'll be willing to consider lowering the corporate⁷ tax rate if the business community does its part to help close loopholes in the tax code. Mr. Obama was speaking today before the Business Roundtable, a group of corporate CEOs.

General Electric had its credit rating downgraded today by a major ratings agency. The firm has been struggling amid the nation's financial crisis. NPR's Chris Arnold has that story.

The downgrade from so-called AAA to AA wasn't as bad as some investors feared, so GE stock rose on the news. General Electric is one of the most iconic and venerable corporations in the history of the country. It makes everything from dishwashers to jet engines to oil and natural gas pumping equipment. But GE made a lot of its money through its GE Capital division, and that's become an albatross dragging the rest of the firm down. Investors are nervous that GE could suffer massive losses like so many other financial firms. The stock has fallen about 70% since last spring. The company has downplayed concerns. GE forecasts that it will be profitable throughout 2009. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

More signs the weak economy continues to put people out of work: the government said today first time jobless claims last week rose to 654, 000, while the number of individuals who've received unemployment benefits for more than a week hit 5.3 million. That's the highest level since 1967 when the government first began keeping track.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up over 239 points to end the session at 7, 170. The NASDAQ was up 54 points today. The S&P gained 29 points.

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A close call for the crew aboard the International Space Station who for a brief period today had to evacuate⁸ using a Russian escape capsule. The three astronauts aboard the space station were ordered off amid fears a piece of space debris⁹ could potentially strike the station though that did not happen. NASA says the small piece of space junk was from an old spacecraft motor that was passing within three miles of the station and could have caused a loss of air pressure had it made a direct hit. There're currently two Americans and one Russian aboard the space station.

FBI agents raided a local government office in Washington, D. C. and arrested two people today. The head of the office recently left for a job at the White House. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.

FBI agents showed up Thursday morning at the office of Washington DC's chief technology officer. A woman named Vivek Kundra held that post until recently. Last week President Obama appointed Kundra to a job overseeing technology for the federal government. She'll coordinate¹⁰ security and communications across government computer systems. A spokeswoman for D. C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said Kundra is not the target of the FBI's investigation¹¹. The White House would not comment on the raid, but spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration was notified before it took place. Agents arrested two men, Yusuf Acar and Sushil Bansal. Acar is an employee of Washington's technology office. Bansal used to work for the D. C. government. Now he works for a technology firm that has won contracts from the office that was raided. The charges against the men remain under seal. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

Mortgage rates came down slightly this week amid concerns over the weak job market and worries about possible inflation. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac says the average rate for 30-year fixed¹² rate loan is now just above 5%, falling from 5.15% of the previous week.

1 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

2 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

3 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

5 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

6 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

8 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

9 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

10 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。