| Time for a Change
Co., the construction company. But instead of using his carpentry skills, he used to carry heavy loads. “I felt this wasn't my place. I'd go to the bathroom and cry," says Bahaa, whose dream was to graduate from the College of Applied Arts. When the engineers threw away their plans and drawings, Bahaa would tape them together and pore over them at home. Then Bahaa learned about an adult education program that was open to company employees and told his mother he wanted to enroll. She convinced the principal that the disabled have an equal right to education, and Bahaa was in. “The first time I entered the class, my ears were red from fear. They could all hear and speak, and I was the only deaf person," says Bahaa with a smile. He sat at the front of the room, copied the notes of the classmate next to him and not only received a high school vocational certificate, but was the third ranking student in carpentry on the national level.
Insurers fall awating flood claims
THE major insurance companies sank deeper into the doldrums yesterday as concerns over the cost of the New South Wales floods and talk of brutal price battles in the industry hammered share prices to their lowest in several years. Shares in the two big domestic insurers, IAG (iag.ASX:Quote,News) and Suncorp (sun.ASX:Quote,News), plunged for a second day, both falling more than 2 per cent to their lowest in three and four years respectively. IAG dipped under $4. Global insurer QBE (qbe.ASX:Quote,News)was also caught up despite its focus on foreign markets, its stock down almost 2 per cent. Analysts said the pall over general insurers reflected the continued fallout over profit warnings delivered last month in the wake of the Sydney hailstorm which dumped almost 50,000 insurance claims on IAG and Suncorp, forcing them to downgrade their expected earnings for the current financial year.
Asian Stocks Rebound Fizzles Out
Forex: Carry trades continued at the start of the Asian session, as stock markets rebounded in a knee-jerk reaction to the Fed's emergency rate cut. But the rebound in Asian stocks lacked conviction, and carry trades reversed in the afternoon. "The very crux of the reason we didn't have a snapback (stocks) rally is that the market was calling for this already," said Peter McCorry at Keefe Bruyette & Woods, referring to the market's reaction to the Fed's 75bps interest rate cut. The NZD/JPY erased early gains despite talk of Uridashi issues later this week. The AUD failed to hold on to data-related gains after the stronger than expected Q4 inflation data, with AUD/JPY selling dragging down AUD/USD. AUD/USD is currently trading below the 60% retracement of its recent drop from 0.9021 to 0.8504.
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