PAN ANDEAN RESOURCES - EL DORADO.......HUGE FIND

This should kick-start the UK share market now - both Dow and Nasdaq up by 280 points

from Nasdaq.com news :

Fed Cuts Interest Rates in Surprise Move


By Knut Engelmann

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut a key short-term interest rate by a half percentage point and signaled it was prepared to cut borrowing costs further if needed to prevent the economy from slowing too much, electrifying global financial markets.

The surprise move, which came four weeks ahead of the year's first scheduled meeting of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, takes the crucial fed funds overnight bank lending rate to 6 percent. It was the first half-percentage point cut in that rate since mid-1992.

To underline its determination to keep the economy from running into a brick wall, the Fed also said it had cut the more symbolic discount rate on Fed loans to commercial banks by a quarter percentage point to 5.75 percent.

It added that it was prepared to cut that rate further to 5.5 percent if necessary.

It was the first time the Fed cut interest rates between regular FOMC meetings since the autumn of 1998, when a global economic crisis threatened to seize up world financial markets.

``This is one of the more surprising moves the Fed has made in a long time,'' said Henry Willmore, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Group in New York. ``I'm a little bit puzzled by this.''

Within minutes of the Fed news, U.S. stocks shot higher. The Dow Jones industrial average was up more than 3 percent, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index surged more than 11 percent.

``These actions were taken in light of further weakening of sales and production, and in the context of lower consumer confidence, tight conditions in some segments of financial markets, and high energy prices sapping household and business purchasing power,'' the central bank said in a statement.

``Moreover, inflation pressures remain contained. Nonetheless, to date there is little evidence to suggest that longer-term advances in technology and associated gains in productivity are abating,'' it added.

The Fed said that even with Wednesday's moves, it still saw the risks in the economy weighted toward economic weakness -- clearly signaling that more rate cuts may come soon, possibly at the FOMC meeting scheduled for Jan. 30-31.

``I am flabbergasted,'' said Brian Robinson, senior bond strategist, 4Cast Inc. in New York. ``It almost smells like these guys are a little bit panicked. Does this mean that they will not move at the end of the month? The short answer is probably no.'' Reut13:48 01-03-01