Congratulations and good luck to Barack Obama – a very nervous start to his presidency!

There are millions watching in inaugural speech and watching him swear his allegiance to the United States of America and to God and he messed up his words, as he was clearly very nervous. I found this to be quite endearing and shows that he is human. However, let’s hope that these errors in his first works leading up to his presidency are not a sign on things to come. The USA and the World cannot afford to have another president like George W Bush!

AS I have written before, Mr Obama will have to hit the ground running – with the financial crisis, middle east problems in Israel, Iraq and of course Afghanistan, not to mention global warming.

I feel that Barack Obama restored himself in what sounded like a great inaugural speech including words like “re-making America” and I hold my hand up to him and wish him all the success – the World needs it…he holds the whole World in his hands – the next 100 hours will be crucial…the next few days need to be decisive…the following few weeks will be revealing…the coming months will show him out for what he brings to the most powerful country in the World…the next few years will be painted in history and lets hope that the real job at hand for Mr Obama is not too much and that he proves himself not just as the first black president, but more importantly in his capacity as a President of the United States of America!

His colour should not be looked at, but instead his actions, his decision and of course where he takes his country, the USA, from this moment on!

US shares clawed back some of Monday’s heavy losses, after President George W Bush renewed calls for Congress to back a $700bn (£380bn) banking rescue plan.

With Wall Street having seen record falls after Congress blocked the deal, the Dow Jones index rose 345 points or 3.3% by mid-afternoon on Tuesday.

Analysts said investors were hopeful a new deal could be agreed this week.

Mr Bush warned that if agreement is not reached, the US economy faces “painful and lasting damage”.

‘Urgent situation’

“We are in an urgent situation and the consequences will grow worse each day if we do not act,” Mr Bush said at the White House.

“It matters little what path a bill takes to become law. What matters is that we get a law.

“We’re at a critical moment in our economy.”

While the Dow Jones reached 10,711.3 points, the other main Wall Street index – the Nasdaq – had advanced 3.8% to 2,060 points.

On the back of the strong gains, European shares closed ahead.

The UK’s FTSE 100 added 1.7%, 83.4 points to 4,902.5, France’s key index added 2% to 4,032.1 points while Germany’s Dax ended 0.4% higher at 5831 points,.

Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei index ended Tuesday down 4.1%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8%.

Oil, which had fallen by about $10 a barrel on Monday, also rallied.

Expectations that politicians would pass some form of financial stability plan gave investors hope that demand for energy would increase.

US light, sweet crude rose by $3.88 to $100.25 a barrel while London Brent crude added $3.63 to $97.61.

‘Not dead’

Analyst Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, said European investors were hopeful the US would eventually pass the bail-out plan.

“This deal is not dead in the water and there are hopes that when Congress reconvenes it could still go through,” he said.

There were a number of other key financial events on Tuesday:

– In Russia, trading was temporarily suspended on the country’s two main stock markets
– In the Republic of Ireland, the government announced that all bank deposits would be guaranteed for the next two years
– European bank Dexia has received a state bail-out, costing the Belgian, French and Luxembourg governments a combined 6.4bn euros ($9.2bn; £5bn)
– Several banking stocks fell on the FTSE 100 index, with HBOS down 13.8%, Barclays losing 2% and Royal Bank of Scotland slipping 1.1%
– Day of turmoil

The US rescue plan, a result of tense talks over several days between the government and lawmakers, was rejected by 228 to 205 votes in the House of Representatives.

“I know we need a strong financial sector, but where is the talk of structural change that’s going to prevent recurrence?” Neil, California, US

Send us your commentsAbout two-thirds of Republican lawmakers refused to back the rescue package, as well as 95 Democrats.

Congress will not meet again until Thursday – after a break for the Jewish New Year – with another vote unlikely before the weekend, the BBC’s Jonathan Beale in Washington says.

The House’s rejection of the bail-out plan came after a day of turmoil in the US and Europe, with Wachovia, the fourth-largest US bank, being bought by larger rival Citigroup.

Monday also saw the partial nationalisation of Benelux banking giant Fortis by three governments, and UK lender Bradford & Bingley was taken into state ownership.

News reported by The BBC

President George W. Bush said Wall Street had “got drunk” and was experiencing a hangover at a recent closed-door fundraiser in Houston in which he also made light of the US housing crisis.

In a video recording that emerged on Tuesday, Mr Bush questioned how long Wall Street banks would remain sober and “not try to do all these fancy financial instruments”.

Fresh data add to US economic woes – Jul-15The recording was obtained by an ABC outlet in Houston and filmed even after the president apparently asked for cameras to be turned off.

Politicians on the campaign trail have been forced to watch their every word since the 2006 congressional elections, when a video showing George Allen, the former Virginia senator, using a racial slur became a YouTube phenomenon, ending the Republican’s senate career and his presidential ambitions.

But Mr Bush has rarely been caught on video making such frank remarks before a friendly audience about a politically sensitive topic, proving that even the carefully guarded White House is susceptible to being caught off guard in the new era of the endless internet campaign.

When asked at a press conference last week whether the US banking system was “in trouble”, Mr Bush said: “I think the system basically is sound. I truly do. And I understand there’s a lot of nervousness…but the economy’s growing.”

In the video obtained by ABC, Mr Bush had a tougher view of Wall Street.

”There’s no question about it. Wall Street got drunk – that’s one of the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras – it got drunk and now it’s got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments.”

Mr Bush then shifts attention to the housing crisis, pointing out to a laughing audience that the cities of Houston and Dallas had not been hit by the downturn in the housing market.

”And then we got a housing issue… not in Houston, and evidently not in Dallas, because Laura’s over there trying to buy a house. I like Crawford [where Mr Bush owns a ranch] but unfortunately after eight years of sacrifice, I am apparently no longer the decision maker.”

The White House did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. According to the Houston Chronicle, the remarks were recorded at a fundraiser for Republican Pete Olson last week.

News reported by The FT