2009-05-31

This Day in History: Joan of Arc martyred

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May 30: General Interest
1431 : Joan of Arc martyred

At Rouen in English-controlled Normandy, Joan of Arc, the peasant girl who became the savior of France, is burned at the stake for heresy.

Joan was born in 1412, the daughter of a tenant farmer at Domremy, on the borders of the duchies of Bar and Lorraine. In 1415, the Hundred Years War between England and France entered a crucial phase when the young King Henry V of England invaded France and won a series of decisive victories against the forces of King Charles VI. By the time of Henry's death in August 1422, the English and their French-Burgundian allies controlled Aquitaine and most of northern France, including Paris. Charles VI, long incapacitated, died one month later, and his son, Charles, regent from 1418, prepared to take the throne. However, Reims, the traditional city of French coronation, was held by the Anglo-Burgundians, and the Dauphin (heir apparent to the French throne) remained uncrowned. Meanwhile, King Henry VI of England, the infant son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois, the daughter of Charles VI, was proclaimed king of France by the English.

Joan's village of Domremy lay on the frontier between the France of the Dauphin and that of the Anglo-Burgundians. In the midst of this unstable environment, Joan began hearing "voices" of three Christian saints--St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret. When she was about 16, these voices exhorted her to aid the Dauphin in capturing Reims and therefore the French throne. In May 1428, she traveled to Vaucouleurs, a stronghold of the Dauphin, and told the captain of the garrison of her visions. Disbelieving the young peasant girl, he sent her home. In January 1429, she returned, and the captain, impressed by her piety and determination, agreed to allow her passage to the Dauphin at Chinon.

Dressed in men's clothes and accompanied by six soldiers, she reached the Dauphin's castle at Chinon in February 1429 and was granted an audience. Charles hid himself among his courtiers, but Joan immediately picked him out and informed him of her divine mission. For several weeks, Charles had Joan questioned by theologians at Poitiers, who concluded that, given his desperate straits, the Dauphin would be well-advised to make use of this strange and charismatic girl.

Charles furnished her with a small army, and on April 27, 1429, she set out for Orleans, besieged by the English since October 1428. On April 29, as a French sortie distracted the English troops on the west side of OrlÝans, Joan entered unopposed by its eastern gate. She brought greatly needed supplies and reinforcements and inspired the French to a passionate resistance. She personally led the charge in several battles and on May 7 was struck by an arrow. After quickly dressing her wound, she returned to the fight, and the French won the day. On May 8, the English retreated from OrlÝans.

During the next five weeks, Joan and the French commanders led the French into a string of stunning victories over the English. On July 16, the royal army reached Reims, which opened its gates to Joan and the Dauphin. The next day, Charles VII was crowned king of France, with Joan standing nearby holding up her standard: an image of Christ in judgment. After the ceremony, she knelt before Charles, joyously calling him king for the first time.

On September 8, the king and Joan attacked Paris. During the battle, Joan carried her standard up to the earthworks and called on the Parisians to surrender the city to the king of France. She was wounded but continued to rally the king's troops until Charles ordered an end to the unsuccessful siege. That year, she led several more small campaigns, capturing the town of Saint-Pierre-le-Moitier. In December, Charles ennobled Joan, her parents, and her brothers.

In May 1430, the Burgundians laid siege to Compiegne, and Joan stole into the town under the cover of darkness to aid in its defense. On May 23, while leading a sortie against the Burgundians, she was captured. The Burgundians sold her to the English, and in March 1431 she went on trial before ecclesiastical authorities in Rouen on charges of heresy. Her most serious crime, according to the tribunal, was her rejection of church authority in favor of direct inspiration from God. After refusing to submit to the church, her sentence was read on May 24: She was to be turned over to secular authorities and executed. Reacting with horror to the pronouncement, Joan agreed to recant and was condemned instead to perpetual imprisonment.

Ordered to put on women's clothes, she obeyed, but a few days later the judges went to her cell and found her dressed again in male attire. Questioned, she told them that St. Catherine and St. Margaret had reproached her for giving in to the church against their will. She was found to be a relapsed heretic and on May 29 ordered handed over to secular officials. On May 30, Joan, 19 years old, was burned at the stake at the Place du Vieux-Marche in Rouen. Before the pyre was lit, she instructed a priest to hold high a crucifix for her to see and to shout out prayers loud enough to be heard above the roar of the flames.

As a source of military inspiration, Joan of Arc helped turn the Hundred Years War firmly in France's favor. By 1453, Charles VII had reconquered all of France except for Calais, which the English relinquished in 1558. In 1920, Joan of Arc, one of the great heroes of French history, was recognized as a Christian saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Her feast day is May 30.

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The Key To Successful Online Stocks Trading

If you have ever considered online stocks trading, now is a great time to get involved. Stocks are still down across the board but we are getting close to the turning point in this recession where everything will start to go up. This is great news if you are just starting out because chances are any stock you pick is going to increase in value as the whole market ride a wave to recovery.

There are never any guarantees with the market, a painful lesson a lot of us learned over the past year and a half, but a century of historical data shows that even with its rises and dips, the stock market always rises over the long term.

Indeed, "The long term" is the key to online trading success. So, you'll actually make money if you hold on to a stock as long as you're patient. It is usually the people betting on short term gains that get badly burned in the market.

So if you have started to think seriously about online stocks trading, you need to first make yourself a budget. Simply put, the money you can afford to lose is the money you can afford to invest in the stock market. The money should be in the bank where it safe, if you need to pay some bills the next month.

That way, if you are never forced to pull money out of the market, then you will rarely lose any. Because if a stock goes down, all you have to do is hold on to it and wait. Unless the company has totally imploded, the stock will usually recover in time.

To get started with online stocks trading, you need to create an account with a reputable online broker. Pick one that is well known as they will have the most secure websites. You don't want to rist yourself with identity theft, so this is very important for you since you will be sharing your personal banking info and credit card to set up an account. The stock market is risky enough!

Once you have found a brokerage site that you like, you can start researching and picking stocks. My advice to those just starting out with online stocks trading is to buy small amounts of inexpensive stocks to start. This will allow you to spread your risk around and if any of your choices turns out to be a mistake it will not wipe out your whole portfolio.

Online stocks trade should fun and by investing small amounts you can get involved with more companies which increases the rate at which you will learn about the market. My advice is buy a few reliable stocks and then take a little more risk with those that are volatile. It prevents you from losing it all while gives you a chance of hitting it big.

Stock Trading Online - What You Must Know

The process of stock trading has of course evolved a lot over the years as technology as developed. In the early part of the 20th century you had to physically visit a stock brokers office or trading room to buy and sell stocks.

When the postal mail became into common use you could then buy and sell stocks by mailing a letter to your broker, of course today nobody would dream of doing either of these.

Today the most used method of trading is either using the telephone or stock trading online. When using the telephone to trade stocks you can still do it by speaking to a broker and giving them your clear instructions, or you can do it all yourself by using some form of menu system using the digital key pad.

But by far the most common form of trading is done online, so what do you need to know about stock trading online?, more than you may think!

Here are some points that you may not have considered:

1. Virtually every broker can do stock trading but what about options, Forex and futures?. While you may not be interested in trading either Forex or futures it is quite likely that at some time you will want to trade options online, even if it is just covered calls. Make sure that your chosen broker allows you to trade all the markets that you want to.

2. Of course the fee's charged by your online broker is an obvious point to check, the fee's can vary a lot and if you are doing hundreds or thousands of trades a year it can add up to quite a lot of cash. Did you know that you can just call up your online broker and ask for a reduced commission charge?, yes you can, I've done it. Of course they don't advertise it but if you do a lot of trades they will want to keep your business.

3. Have you planned what you will do if you are in a trade and your internet connection goes down for any reason, it could be a power failure, problems with the internet or your PC crashing?. If you are day trading you will want to telephone your broker and manage your trade, probably you will just want to close it. How will your broker deal with your call, will they answer quickly, will they look at charts for you and describe what is going on?. Make sure that your broker has good telephone support.

4. Are your trading funds safe?, make sure that your broker is a member of SIPC, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which protects against losses caused by the financial failure of the broker-dealer, but not against losses resulting from depreciation in a security's value. Usually trading accounts are protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), up to $500,000 (including up to $100,000 for cash claims).

Whatever you decide to do, before trading stocks, options or anything else make sure that you get a good trading education by reading the best trading books that you can.

Stock market encourages investors to stick around till rally's end

One of the oldest adages on Wall Street is "Buy in October, sell in May." However, investors who followed that logic this time around may have left the game a bit too early.

The rally that began in early March has now extended for three months. That includes gains in May of 3.7 percent for the Nasdaq composite index, 2.6 percent for the S&P 500 stock index and 1.8 percent for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

One analyst says there is a historical precedence for the rally to continue, pointing to a surprisingly similar scenario in 1982.

"In August 1982, as today, the unemployment rate was very high and would rise for several more months before peaking close to 11 percent. The economy was embroiled in the second-leg of back to back recessions, which many felt represented the worst economy since the Great Depression," said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management.

He also pointed out that the government was "awash in red ink, the size of which was never seen before outside of war times."

And, the banking industry was in shambles and the household sector was "widely felt to be overextended after a decade of massive consumer spending."

But it was at the bleakest moment that a powerful stock market rally began.

"It rose by more than 35 percent in the first 44 days off its lows. It rose inexplicably and unbelievably and indeed, like today, most were highly suspicious of its advance. Yet, in 1982, the first 35 percent stock market advance would be followed by another 35 percent advance in the ensuing six months," said Paulsen.

Often forgotten is the fact that the stock market is a leading economic indicator. As was the case in 1982 and today, current conditions look quite bleak. But, looking down the road six to nine months, stocks are suggesting better times to come.

Back in March of this year, confidence levels had cratered. Yet, it was precisely at that time the stock market rally began. Now, consumer confidence is beginning to change as well.

The Conference Board reported on Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index rose in May much more than had been expected.

"Consumers are considerably less pessimistic than they were earlier this year, and expectations are that business conditions, the labor market and incomes will improve in the coming months. While confidence is still weak by historical standards, as far as consumers are concerned, the worst is now behind us," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center.

Of course, the stock market began telling us that was the case in March.

Correspondingly, a survey by the National Association of Business Economics found that 90 percent of economists believe the current U.S. recession will officially end before the finish of 2009.

Again, that is what the stock market began indicating back in March.

However, it is important to note that a stock market rally and rising consumer confidence does not suggest the economy will improve at a corresponding rate. The economists surveyed by the NABE believe that the unemployment rate probably won't peak until some time in the second quarter of next year.

That opinion is shared by Professor Alan Gin of the University of San Diego. Gin released his most recent reading on the local economy last week. The Index of Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County rose by 0.2 percent in April. It doesn't sound like much, but it was only the second time in the past 37 months that the indicator was positive.

Yet, despite the April advance, Gin is not sold on the possibility that the worst is behind us.

"Since economists typically look for three consecutive moves in one direction for a leading index to signal a turning point, it remains to be seen if a turnaround is in sight. Even if a bottom is reached, it is likely that the rebound from there will be weak. Indeed, there could be a significant period where the local economy remains flat after reaching that bottom," said Gin.

But, in the meantime, the stock market is still encouraging investors to stick around. Only time will tell how long the rally lasts.

What's GM worth?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Once the bankruptcy process at General Motors plays itself out, what will the company be worth?

It's more than an academic question of interest only to Wall Street traders. It will determine how much money taxpayers can expect to recoup from multiple bailouts of GM. When all is said and done, the Treasury Department is likely to pump more than $50 billion into GM (GM, Fortune 500) -- including loans made to the automaker last year.

It is also key to determining the level of future health insurance benefits for hundreds of thousands of GM retirees and how much money holders of $27 billion on GM bonds, including pension funds and individual investors, will be able to recover.

GM is widely expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday. As a result, the government, bondholders and a trust fund controlled by the United Auto Workers union will wind up owning virtually all the stock in a reorganized GM. (Current GM shareholders will essentially have their holdings wiped out through bankruptcy.)

So taxpayers, retirees and bondholders need for shares of a new, leaner GM (GM, Fortune 500) to start trading for them to stand any chance of benefiting from the company's emergence from bankruptcy. Unfortunately, these new owners probably won't know until at least 2010 just how much money, if any, they will recover.

GM's most efficient plants, dealerships, brands and other assets could exit bankruptcy within two to three months.

0:00 /02:46Coming to U.S.: GM's Chinese cars

However, it will take at least 6 to 18 months for the bankruptcy court to wade through the company's unprofitable plants, most of its debts and other liabilities, according to a senior Obama administration official. During that time GM stock is unlikely to be publicly traded.

But even once shares of GM do begin trading again, it's highly uncertain what the company could be worth.

$25 billion: too high or unreasonably low?

According to a filing by General Motors late last month, the company estimated the equity value of its common stock would be about $25 billion once it completed a reorganization.

That's substantially higher than the market value of about $450 million that GM was worth based on Friday's closing stock price of just 75 cents a share. But the last time GM was worth as much as $25 billion was late 2007.

A new company, with a greatly reduced debt burden, fewer plants and lower labor costs, could end up being an attractive investment. But auto analysts and other experts are reluctant to speculate on exactly what GM's value could be following bankruptcy.

Len Blum, managing director of Westwood Capital, an investment bank, said he thinks there's a better chance for taxpayers to recover money from their investment in GM than with insurer AIG. Taxpayers also have a majority stake in that company, and the government has kicked in more than $180 billion so far to keep AIG afloat.

Blum said that given the reduction in GM's debt level and operating costs that are being planned, there could be "some real value" in a new GM, but that there was still great risk for all shareholders.

"If it was a slam dunk, the union would have wanted more common equity," he said. The UAW wound up agreeing to a 17.5% stake.

Other experts question whether cost cutting and a lower debt load are enough to make the company attractive to investors, even if it they enable GM to earn its first profit on its auto operations since 2004.

"Back in 2007 GM was being valued on its future prospects and its assets, not its profitability," said Chris Jadro, an equity strategist focusing on distressed companies for Jefferies & Co. "But it's just hard to imagine that GM will be worth what it was a year ago coming out of this down cycle."

The two biggest shareholders of the new company also expressed doubts about how quickly the stock will recover.

A senior Obama administration official speaking to reporters Thursday conceded it is unlikely that the government can get back its entire investment in GM. The official said the government hopes "to recover as many taxpayer dollars as we can," and that it expects to sell the shares as soon as possible.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, who also said he would like to sell the union's stake in GM as soon as possible to have money available in the trust fund, downplayed expectations about the company's value going forward.

Although he said Friday that the union believes "the stock should be worth a lot more a lot quicker," he added that "right now, we realize the value is zero."

Some auto industry experts believe that the changes made by GM could position it for a level of profit it hasn't earned in decades. David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, said GM is well-positioned for even a modest rebound in industrywide sales.

Carr said the $25 billion market value estimate "is pretty reasonable and it could even be conservative." He said that profits for GM and the rest of the industry could be robust in the next few years due to reductions in capacity and pent up demand for autos.

But a number of experts doubt that GM's market value will get anywhere near the $25 billion figure in the next few years. They point out that GM will face a difficult competitive position compared to cash-rich Toyota Motor (TM) and even U.S. rival Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), both of which could pass it in terms of U.S. sales in the coming years as GM sheds brands and dealers.

Sean Egan, managing director of rating agency Egan-Jones Group, said he's not sure GM can generate a profit even with all the cost concessions they've received from the union.

"In almost every competitive front, GM is being beaten. People who see strong profits for GM are being delusional," Egan said.

But Susan Helper, an economics professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and expert on the auto industry, worries that even if GM does return to profitability following bankruptcy, investors could penalize the stock due to the company's previous problems and doubts about its future.

"It's tough to see there being a line of investors looking to get into the stock," Helper said.