The financial news is negative

... 'CEO now stands for Chief Embezzlement Officer while
EPS, instead of earnings per share, means Eventual Prison Sentence...the worse
the news, the quicker the jokes spread...It's a field day for satirists,'
said Andrew Marlatt, who runs SatireWire.com, a website that is devoted to
making light of newsworthy events..."

Another tale of manifesting what we focus on: Reuters, the
worlds largest financial and media news reporting agency is in trouble.

"Reuters has its own disaster story -– ...The
company has come a long way since it began 151 years ago, delivering share
information by cable and even pigeon. Now it sends about 30,000 headlines and
information on more than a million financial instruments around the world every
day, through its Reuters screens and the Internet...

Reuters has earned a reputation for honesty through its long
history. Mr Glocer laughs off the thought that the group could have indulged in
any Enron or WorldCom-style accounting scams, saying 'we normalise [the
accounts] to make them look as bad as possible'...

Its main customers are the financial markets, and to a lesser
extent the media. Though the overall economy is steady, these sectors are in a
severe recession, with many companies cutting costs and staff...

...debt-ratings agencies are starting to become bearish on
the company, with both Standard & Poor's and Moody's putting Reuters on
negative outlook..." The Dominion Post, 7 August 2002.

Reuters staff must have been overcome by the bad news they
report daily. Mind you -– I just spent ten minutes flicking through a couple of
recent newspapers to find that current global financial news is largely very
negative.

Japans last financial year was another disaster: combined
net loses (listed firms and financial institutions) totalled an incredible ¥3
Trillion -– included in this figure were ¥2.36 trillion of bad bank loans.

Thailand's BBB- credit rating (Standard & Poors) is
the lowest investment grade -– which cannot be changed until the Thai
Government deals with bad debts.

America's shaky financial position is creating
headaches for politicians alarmed at a predicted budget deficit of US$150
billion this year.

Australia is experiencing severe droughts: threatening
between NZ$2.8 -– NZ$5.7 billion dollars worth of agriculture.

Meanwhile Aug/Sept floods in Germany and Central
Europe have cost an estimated Eu$10 billion.

Brazil: Short-term credit lines are not being
renewed as borrowers reel over real debt . Bank of American, Citigroup, and
rival lenders have reduced Brazilian financing to limit their risk in the face
of the financial turmoil that has gripped South America's largest economy.

And finally -– in New Zealand: Challenge Weekly, "Doorknock
ends -–

In New Zealand, The Salvation Army has had to change with the
times and give up collecting donations through door knocking.

Lt Col Don Oliver, The Salvation Army's public relations
office in the north, says that they have had to abandon this practice, which has
been a part of their fundraising campaigns for many years, for a number of
reasons.

Mr Oliver says that the growth in the use of EFTPOS and
credit cards means that hardly anyone keeps cash at home anymore." Now that's
the end of an era.