Investors brace themselves for another roller coaster week

NEW YORK, Aug 12, 2007 (AFP) - Investors are girding for fresh stock turmoil in the coming week after riding a roller-coaster on world markets in recent days, amid fears that US home loan woes could trigger a credit crunch.



"The biggest favor he (Bernanke) could do for himself and the markets is not to give in to the temptation to do favors for Wall Street or anyone else, and to remain focused on his price-stability mandate," the paper said in an editorial.



The pumping of tens of billions of dollars by central banks into the markets on Thursday and Friday helped to ease the panic and stave off fears of a global economic crisis.

London's FTSE stock market closed 3.

71 percent lower and European and Asian shares slumped after losses tied to US subprime mortgages -- high-risk home loans to people with poor credit histories -- spread.

The major US stock market indexes ended the week higher Friday than a week ago, but investors saw their portfolios whiplashed with the uncertainty over the troubled US housing sector and a related credit squeeze.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has dived and jumped by more than 200 points in recent days, gained 0.

44 percent for the week to end Friday at 13,239.





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