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Big losses expected on TASE after Wall Street drops 18% By Rotem Sella and Tal Levy, TheMarker Correspondents and Reuters Tags: TASE, Israel News  There has never been a day like this in the history of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. It will open trading this morning after being closed since last Monday - having taken five days off due to the Yom Kippur holiday and the weekend - and traders are expected to react to a 18% drop in the Dow Jones over those same five days by pushing the TASE down, too. Last week was the worst week on Wall Street in the 112 years the Dow Jones index has existed, and world markets also fell about 20%. Altogether, global stock markets lost about $4 trillion in value last week, and have wiped out $25 trillion since the start of 2008. Many traders in Tel Aviv, as well as government officials, it seems, felt the Tel Aviv markets should remain closed today, as this week is another short trading week - there is no trading tomorrow or Tuesday because of the Sukkot holiday. In fact, some thought the TASE should stay closed until after the holiday of Simhat Torah, on Tuesday of next week, hoping that this would save Israeli investors from the nerve-wracking roller-coaster of world markets. Advertisement However, many traders - and senior government officials - feel such a move is premature and unfair. "I don't think we need to stop trade. It violates the most basic principles of the free market, and in the end only serves one side," said Dan Laluz, the chairman of Migdal Capital Markets. Shlomo Maoz from Excellence called such a closure a "Soviet idea," saying that the worst thing was a nontradeable asset. "The capital market reflects, and must reflect, the true price at any time. Reality is out there, and if we shut our eyes, we will not change it," said Maoz. So if nothing else changes, trading on the TASE is expected to open with big losses. However, losses of more than 2.5% in the preliminary trading stages could delay the regular opening, which might at least provide Israeli investors with a few more minutes of quiet before the storm. But during the day, an 8% fall in the TA-25, for instance, would immediately stop trading for 45 minutes. The maximum the TASE can drop is 12% in one day. IMF: Financial system on brink of meltdown The IMF warned yesterday that the global financial system was on the brink of meltdown, while France and Germany pushed ahead with a pan-European crisis response to try to prevent the worst global downturn in decades. At a joint news conference, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they had "prepared a certain number of decisions" to present at a meeting today of European leaders as they work feverishly to restore blocked credit markets to working order. The United States appealed for patience, but the IMF stressed that time was running short, after leading industrialized nations failed to agree on concrete measures to end the crisis at a meeting on Friday. "Intensifying solvency concerns about a number of the largest U.S.-based and European financial institutions have pushed the global financial system to the brink of systemic meltdown," IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said. President George W. Bush huddled with Group of Seven economic chiefs and officials from the IMF and World Bank, and said top industrial nations grasped the gravity of the crisis and would work together to solve it. "I'm confident that the world's major economies can overcome the challenges we face," Bush said, adding that Washington was working as fast as possible to implement a $700-billion financial bailout package approved a week ago. Confidence has been in short supply and panic has swept through global markets, driving stocks to a five-year low on Friday and prompting banks to hoard cash. That has choked off lending to businesses and households, threatening to turn a global economic slowdown into a dangerously deep recession. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said risks to the global economy were "the most serious and challenging in recent memory." An emergency meeting of euro zone leaders today is intended to discuss a bank rescue package, based on a British initiative to guarantee lending between banks. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Hair apparent Ultra-Orthodox shop unveils 'Sarah Palin Wig' based on Alaska governor's famous 'do. Protocols of Wall Street 'Report': Jewish execs sent $400 billion to Israel before Lehman Brothers' demise.

Read & React Gideon Levy: Acre Jews warn 'Arabs will kill you with knives' Responses: 126 Conspiracy theory on Jews' role in Lehman Brothers collapse gains popularity Responses: 157 Amos Harel: Gilad Shalit is still in captivity - who is to blame? Responses: 37 Adar Primor: Will Haider's death pave the way to a unified far-right in Austria? Responses: 16 More Headlines 22:52 Driver who sparked Acre riots: I'd sacrifice myself to bring back coexistence 00:33 Labor Party, Kadima expected to sign coalition agreement 20:30 TASE defies grim forecasts, ends day with moderate losses 20:14 Conspiracy theory faults Jews for Lehman Brothers' collapse 20:32 Olmert: Israeli Arabs have long suffered discrimination 00:45 Ultra-Orthodox wig shop unveils 'Sarah Palin Wig' based on Alaska governor's famous locks 01:09 N.Y. synagogues feel holiday pinch as financial crisis wears on congregants 16:23 IN DEPTH / The 24 hours that could have saved Gilad Shalit 13:43 Hamas-Fatah reconciliation tops agenda in Abbas-Assad meeting 17:03 Gideon Levy / Acre Jews warn: Arabs will kill you with knives 18:44 Peres: Israel has learned from history - Iran won't surprise us 15:27 Iranian presidential candidate: Ahmadinejad`s Holocaust comments are `irrelevant` 09:43 ANALYSIS / Will Haider's death pave way to unified far-right in Austria? 21:14 Mideast Muslims: U.S. financial crisis is divine punishment 22:40 How many Israelis will lose their jobs due to financial crisis? Previous Editions Select Day 12 oct 10 oct 09 oct 08 oct 07 oct 06 oct 05 oct 03 oct 02 oct 01 oct 30 sep 29 sep

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