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 investors 1. At markets open, the Dow plunged 2 more than 500 points following dramatic drops in Asian and European markets. Investors saw new gloomy forecasts about the world's economic outlook. The volatility 3 hit the currency markets. The Yen 4 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 prospect 5 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 arsenal 6. 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 inspections 7. That B-52 took off in that cross-country flight after several inspectors 8 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 previously 9 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 transit 10 ridership, meanwhile, increased over the summer up 6%. For NPR News, I'm Spencer Raymond in Washington.

One positive upshot of the recent financial turbulence 11 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.