A group of merging economies have launched a new financial institution called New Development Bank in Shanghai. The bank is backed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa collectively known as the “Brics Countries”. The bank will lend money to developing countries to help finance infrastructure projects in the region. The bank is seen as an alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund although the group says it is not arrival. To the global markets, and there were falls overnight due to some weaker than expected corp. earnings data. The Dow fell 191 points. The Nasdaq fell 0.2% while S&P 500 lost nearly 0.5%. In London, the FTSE also fell by 1/3 of a percent. Checking commodity prices, West Texas Crude is trading at 50 US dollars a barrel. Tapis Crude is at 59 US dollars a barrel. And gold is trading at 1100 US dollars an ounce. The Australian dollar is currently buying 74 US cents, 68 euro cents, and 48 pence sterling.