NPR 2008-10-16

The chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke warned today that an economic recovery will not come overnight. But he said federal officials are using every resource to stabilize 1 the financial markets. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

Speaking to the Economic Club of New York, the Fed chairman reviewed some of the extraordinary measures taken by the Treasury 2 Department and the Fed to thaw 3 out the credit markets. "I am not suggesting that the way forward will be easy. But I strongly believe that we now have the tools we need to respond with the necessary force to meet these challenges." Among the measures he cited was the Bush administration's announcement this week that it would buy 250 billion dollars worth of stock in some of the country's biggest banks. Bernanke also defended the government's decision to let Lehman Brothers go under. He said rescuing the company would have cost taxpayers 4' money because unlike mortgage giant Fannie Mae and insurance company AIG, it lacked the collateral 5 to guarantee federal loans. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

Wall Street was apparently 6 not reassured 7 by the Fed chairman's remarks. The Dow Jones Industry Average fell 733 points today. That's a nearly 7.9% decline. The NASDAQ ended the day down 150 points. The S&P 500 fell 90 points.

Members of the Group of Seven industrialized nations are calling for an international summit this year to discuss what they are calling a new world financial order to prevent future financial crisis. The call from European leaders came today at a meeting in Brussels where Britain and Germany joined France in advocating the session. Meanwhile, EU leaders have agreed on a continent-wide 2.3-trillion-dollar bailout plan for the banking 8 sector 9. The agreement will pave the way for all 27 EU nations to shore up national banks and financial institutions.

Former first lady Nancy Reagan is in a Los Angeles hospital. She is being treated for a fractured pelvis. A family spokeswoman says Reagan is not expected to require surgery. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.

Mrs Reagan fell at her Bel-Air home last week and according to a spokeswoman did not immediately seek medical care. But after persistent 10 pain, the former first lady went to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and was hospitalized for a broken pelvis and a sacrum. The spokeswoman said Reagan is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days and then will receive up to two months of physical therapy. Reagan is 87 years old. Earlier this year, she was hospitalized for three days after taking a fall. Carrie Kahn, NPR News.

Hurricane Omar has been picking up strength as it heads for Puerto Rico and some of the smaller islands in the northeastern Caribbean. Omar is the season's 15th named tropical storm. Officials at the National Hurricane Center expect it to reach Category-2 strength when it makes landfall sometime later tonight. Eduardo Tirado, was a resident of San Juan, Puerto Rico and says he's ready for the worst. "We have hurricane shutters 11. So we are installing all of those. Getting some canned goods just in case we run out of electricity or water at some period of the storm."

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Two of the nation's largest airlines have weighed in with their quarterly earnings 12 numbers. The parent company of American Airlines says excluding its sale of investment division, it lost 360 million dollars in the third quarter. Delta 13 which is in the process of buying Northwest says it lost 50 million dollars. Both Delta and America have been working to reduce their domestic capacity. Delta recently announced plans to cut 2000 jobs. However, both airlines also express some optimism that with fuel costs coming down, they may see better fourth quarter numbers.

Band leader and composer Neal Hefti has died. Hefti was most famous for composing the themes for TV's "Batman" and "The Odd Couple". NPR Sonari Glinton has more.

That driving beat was part of Neal Hefti's signature sound. Before he started penning catchy 14 theme sounds in the 1940s, Hefti played trumpet 15 and arranged for Earl Hines and Woody Herman. In the 50s, Hefti became the in-house arranger for the Count Basie Orchestra responsible for some of the band's biggest hits and its hard driving swing. Hefti also branched out into pop, arranging hit albums from Dean Martin, Malt Almay and Frank Sinatra. Hefti died Saturday. He was 85. Sonari Glinton, NPR News.

Consumers were apparently staying away from stores and shopping malls in droves last month. The Commerce Department confirmed that with the financial markets in turmoil 16 and credit markets basically locked up, consumers reined 17 in their spending. The government says retail 18 sales fell 1.2% in September. That was nearly double what analysts 19 had expected. It was the biggest decline in spending in three years. Much of that was led by a fall-off in car and truck sales.