4:00PM NY; 10:00PM Frankfurt; 2:30AM Mumbai - GLOBAL MARKETS
Global markets continued its downward decline. Asian markets led the world markets with a steep decline. European markets lost ground and Latin American markets declined as well. Major averages in the U.S. traded lower on worries on housing markets, slow down in economy and corporate earnings.

Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.481% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.654%.

Gold decreased $4.900 to close at $639.200 a troy ounce, silver lost 19 cents to end at $12.770 a troy ounce and copper declined $87.000 to close at $6013.000 per metric ton.

Oil lost $1.670 to close at $59.970 a barrel and heating oil decreased 4.520 cents to finish at 172.300 cents a gallon. Natural gas advanced 2.3 cents to close at $7.266 per MMBtu. Gasoline went down 5.710 cents to end at 184.470 cents a gallon.

Asian markets closed sharply down with Japanese shares declining for the fifth session in a row, while Hong Kong retreated 4%. The decliners were led by Malaysia with a decrease of 4.72%, Philippines with a loss of 4.54% and Hong Kong with a decline of 4%. There were no advancers. Australia lost 2.30% and India lost 3.7%. The Sensex index in India has lost nearly 15% in the last three weeks of trading.

European markets finished lower for the fifth session in a row, with investors worried about a host of concerns including mortgage lending in the U.S., the strength of the Japanese yen and Chinese stock valuations. The decliners were led by Norway with a decline of 1.89%, Spain with a loss of 1.53% and Switzerland with a decrease of 1.38%. There were no advancers.

Latin America markets finished lower on worries about equity valuations and the pace of global growth. The decliners were led by Argentina with a decrease of 2.68%, Brazil with a decline of 2.60% and Mexico with a loss of 1.60%. There were no advancers. Canada lost 1.29% as investors fled equities for safer havens. Resource stocks led the fall as concerns about Chinese growth hammered commodities, but the bearishness was widespread.

2:30PM NY, U.S. Market Movers

Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. (ALTI), manufacturer of safe, high-performance battery pack systems used in electric and hybrid-electric automobiles and stationary power systems, announced today that global power leader AES Corporation has made a $3 million strategic investment in Altair. Shares went up 12.5%.

Myriad Genetics (MYGN) shot 7.4% higher after the company said its Flurizan drug showed the capability of slowing the progression of Alzheimer''s disease during a phase II clinical trial.

Pathmark Stores (PTMK) said that Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea planned to buy it for $678.6 million, creating a larger company to compete in the U.S. Northeast. Shares climbed 12.9%.

Barnes & Noble (BKS), bookseller, forecast profit and sales for this fiscal year that were well below analysts'' estimates, sent its shares down nearly 10%. The company said that for the current fiscal year, it expected earnings per share in the range of $1.65 per share to $1.80 per share. Including charges for the distribution center closing and legal fees, full-year earnings are expected to be in the range of $1.49 to $1.67 per share. The muted outlook comes even in a year that includes the expected release of J.K. Rowling''s ""Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows,"" which will go on sale July 21. The company noted that while the release of this book will produce a large sales spike in the second quarter, it will be sold at a deep discount producing very little gross margin.

British Airways (BAB) tumbled 5.4%, construction materials firm Kingspan, which dropped 7.2%, and miners including Antofagasta, which eased 2.7%.Shares of British Airways PLC fell on worries that its profit could suffer as a result of a deal designed to open up the lucrative trans-Atlantic aviation market.

Fremont General Corp. (FMT) shares fell 31.2% amid worries it might go bankrupt, leading a broad decline among subprime mortgage lenders as the crisis in the sector escalates. The slide came after the largest independent U.S. subprime lender said late Friday that federal prosecutors and securities regulators are examining accounting errors and stock trading.

Home Solutions of America (HSOA), provider of recovery and rebuilding services, lowered its yearly guidance, weighed by a sagging home sector, and said its chief operating officer will resign. Shares of Home Solutions plummeted 19.8%. The company said it expects yearly earnings of between 43 cents and 46 cents. Previously, the company said it expected earnings between 56 cents and 60 cents. The company said it expects fourth-quarter earnings of 5 cents to 7 cents per share.

Memory Pharmaceuticals (MEMY) shares fell 31.6% after the biotech drug maker said results of a clinical study for one of its drugs to treat bipolar mania failed to show significant effectiveness. Memory Pharmaceuticals shares fell 97 cents, or 31%, to $2.16 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq at more than double their average volume.

Milacron (MZ) shares slumped 7.9% after the New York Stock Exchange halted trading of its subpenny eligible securities, including its common stock, because the trading system doesn''t accommodate transactions in fractions of a cent. Shares of the Cincinnati plastics processing company continue to trade on the Nasdaq and NYSE Arca exchanges, Milacron said.

OM Group Inc. (OMG), producer of metal-based specialty chemicals, said that its fourth-quarter net income increased to $56.8 million, or $1.93 per share, compared with $11.6 million, or 40 cents per share a year ago. On a continuing operations basis posted a loss of 58 cents per share. Net sales climbed to $172.1 million versus $151.5 million in the same period a year earlier. Shares fell 7.4%.

Palm Inc. (PALM) went lower amid rumors that Nokia will purchase it. Palm was off 8.8%, and Nokia was down 0.1%.

1:00PM European markets finished lower for a fifth consecutive session.
European stocks finished a volatile trading session in the red for a fifth day in a row. Monday losses came on the back of U.S. mortgage lending concerns, rallying Japanese yen and Chinese stock valuations. The yen climbed 0.6% on the U.S. dollar, 1.2% on the euro and 1.7% on the British pound. The most notable losers included British Airways which slipped 6.6%, construction materials firm Kingspan, down 7.2%, and miner Antofagast, falling 2.7%. However, there were stocks moving to the upside. Countrywide rose 3.5% after Apollo Management agreed to buy the real estate chain''s shares for 1 billion pounds. Shares in the world''s third-largest bank, HSBC Holdings added 1.1% after posting a 5% profit rise in 2006 and lifting its dividend by 11%. The German DAX 30 dropped 1% at 6,534.57, the French CAC 40 fell 0.7% at 5,385.03 and the U.K. FTSE 100 lost 0.9% at 6,058.70.