NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street retreated Wednesday but managed a late-day partial recovery as investors reacted uneasily to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on the economy and news that two Bear Stearns Cos. hedge funds were essentially worthless.

Even without any bad news, a downturn in stocks was expected after the rally that began last week. On Tuesday, the Dow nudged past the 14,000 mark for the first time. With no major catalyst behind the advance, the record run has perhaps been puzzling to market watchers trying to determine if it has room to build or has run its course.

Investors sold off shares as Bernanke, speaking before the House Financial Services panel as part of the central bank's midyear forecast, said the economy should strengthen into 2008 and inflation risks remain the Fed's

It's not every day you get to see the world's second richest man lose.

But the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Warren Buffett's holding company, got to see it twice during the first weekend in May at the Berkshire Hathaway 2007 Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Neb.

First Buffett, whose net worth Forbes magazine lists at $52 billion, took on friend and Cleveland Cavaliers basketball star LeBron James in a game of "horse." Then he challenged an 11-year-old table tennis champion.

Suffice to say, Buffett probably ought to stick to investing.

Much of the weekend was filled with light-hearted fun. Shareholders who made the pilgrimage to Omaha this year got a chance to shop the

In Portugal, many banks, solid and often state owned are willing to give out plastic debit cards to both their nationals and to foreigners, asking that you deposit a minimum of £50 with which to open a bank account. Cheque books are also available if required. The name of this plastic debit card is the Multibanco.

In Portugal this card can be used in more than 95% of shops and restaurants, payphones, road tolls etc, and this one system covers the entire country and its banks. Because the Multibanco is a debit card you must have enough funds in your bank account to honour payments, which will be debited instantly, similar to the Switch debit card system in the U.K. Money can be withdrawn from over 2,300 ATM's (Automatic Teller Machines), or cashpoint hole-in-the-wall machines in Portugal. Because of the Multibanco's involvement with the rest of Europe, the Multibanco can be used for withdrawing cash all over Europe. In the U.K., the Link ATM system, used also by the Abbey National Building Society and other financial institutions will accept the Multibanco card.

On opening a deposit account from a bank in the Multibanco system, you will be given a plastic card on the spot. The card does not have your name embossed on it as do British cards. There is a signature strip on the back of the card under the dark magnetic strip for you to put a signature on - your signature or any name you wish to use. Because there is no embossing of personal details, there is no expiry date on the card either, so that the card will remain current until it requires

High- tech security of money is a joke. Thieves of the mid-90's all know the easiest way to rob a bank has nothing to do with guns and getaway cars. Just use a computer. The latest in a long series of fraud against ATM's, Automatic Teller Machines, the cash dispensers all but the most privacy-conscious of us use, goes as follows: Install one of those PIN changing machines somewhere with a big sign encouraging people to change their PIN's because of the possibilty that someone has shouldersurfed their old PIN. Away you go; it could even change their PIN for them. In other words, it could be a real PIN changer. This is a lot cheaper than a fake ATM machine and something that high-tech thieves have already done with success in the U.S.

With the PIN, new or old, they embed fake cards and proceed to vacuum your bank account. You will not lose, however. In some countries, including the USA, the banks have to carry the risks associated with the new technology. In Britain, the regualators and courts have not been so demanding, and despite a parliamentry commission of enquiry which found that the PIN system was insecure, bankers simply deny that their systems are ever at fault. Customers who complain about debits on their accounts for which they were not responsible. After these socalled "phantom withdrawls" are told they are lying, or mistaken, or that they must have been defrauded by their friends or relatives. The result in the UK has been a string of court cases, both civil and criminal. The pattern which emerges is not surprising: miscarriages of justice over the years. A teenage girl in Ashton-ubder-Lyme was convicted in 1985 of stealing £40 from her father. She pleaded guilty