By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO (Reuters) - Gold fell to below $1,050 per ounce on Friday as the dollar edged up, snapping a rally that took prices to all-time highs for three consecutive days.
Spot gold hit a record high of $1,061.20 on Thursday as the dollar's weakness increased bullion's traditional appeal as a hedge against the U.S. currency.
The dollar rose on Friday, with comments from Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that indicated monetary policy might have to be tightened as a recovery takes hold, helping to pull the greenback off 14-month lows against a basket of currencies.
Apart from its strong inverse correlation with the dollar, fears of inflation have also fuelled gold's rise to historic levels this week.
"I think gold's uptrend remains intact," said Shuji Sugata, a manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures & Securities' research team.
Technical analysts at Barclays Capital have also said their outlook on gold was bullish, with a push towards $1,120 now a possibility.
"There are new participants that are being attracted to the market now as it rises," Sugata said.
He said these new inflows of money could be seen in areas including gold-backed exchange-traded funds and physical buying
By Miho Yoshikawa
TOKYO (Reuters) - Gold fell to below $1,050 per ounce on Friday as the dollar edged up, snapping a rally that took prices to all-time highs for three consecutive days.
Spot gold hit a record high of $1,061.20 on Thursday as the dollar's weakness increased bullion's traditional appeal as a hedge against the U.S. currency.
The dollar rose on Friday, with comments from Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that indicated monetary policy might have to be tightened as a recovery takes hold, helping to pull the greenback off 14-month lows against a basket of currencies.
Apart from its strong inverse correlation with the dollar, fears of inflation have also fuelled gold's rise to historic levels this week.
"I think gold's uptrend remains intact," said Shuji Sugata, a manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures & Securities' research team.
Technical analysts at Barclays Capital have also said their outlook on gold was bullish, with a push towards $1,120 now a possibility.
"There are new participants that are being attracted to the market now as it rises," Sugata said.
He said these new inflows of money could be seen in areas including gold-backed exchange-traded funds and physical buying
Dec 10, 2009
Gold falls from record, dips below $1,050
Dec 6, 2009
Palace says it will no longer ‘tolerate’ intrusion by paparazzi
The Queen has issued a blunt warning that the Royal Family stands ready to take legal action against harassment and intrusion by paparazzi.
After years of what one aide yesterday called “a growing feeling of frustration” over repeated breaches of privacy, lawyers operating for the Queen have reminded newspapers of their obligations under the industry’s own code of practice.
Photographers will be closely monitored around the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where the Queen and members of her family will gather for Christmas.
The use of telephoto lenses by paparazzi — who sometimes conceal themselves in the undergrowth or wear camouflage to snatch pictures from public roads near the estate — “will not be tolerated”, according to the aide.
Last Christmas there were a number of incidents, including publication of images allegedly showing the Earl of Wessex beating two gun dogs with a walking stick at Sandringham.
Prince William is also understood to have been dismayed that a shooting party with friends was spoilt by photographers “hiding in bushes”. Some members of the Royal Family blame the paparazzi for the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash 12 years ago.
William has taken a keen interest in whether privacy laws have been broken by those following Kate Middleton, his girlfriend, over recent years. He came close to taking legal action when he and Ms Middleton were pursued by the paparazzi after leaving a nightclub.
Disclosure yesterday of the tougher approach towards intrusive photography renewed speculation that they might be planning to get engaged over Christmas. The bookmaker William Hill halved the price on such a prospect from 12-1 to 6-1. The palace, however, is playing down talk of an engagement and says it reflects long-standing concerns.
“We wrote to newspapers with a private letter two and a half months ago and you will have to ask The Sunday Telegraph [which run the story on its front page yesterday] why this is news right now,” said a senior official.
Paddy Harverson, the Prince of Wales’s communications secretary, was quoted by the newspaper saying: “Members of the Royal Family feel they have a right to privacy when they are going about everyday, private activities. They recognise there is a public interest in them and what they do, but they do not think this extends to photographing the private activities of them and their friends.”
The Republic Campaign, which calls for the monarchy to be replaced with an elected head of state, said the Royal Family must be open to scrutiny. “While everyone has a right to a level of privacy, the Queen cannot expect the media to dance to her tune,” said Graham Smith. “If people who claim a God-given right to head our nation are falling out of nightclubs, clearly there is a public interest.”
Obama’s Sunday on Capitol Hill
A Call for Making ‘History’ | 5:13 p.m. President Obama exhorted Senate Democrats on Sunday to put aside their fierce policy differences and to make history by passing landmark health care legislation, according to The Times article now posted on our Web site.
Original Post | 2:35 p.m. President Obama arrived on Capitol Hill shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday for his meeting with Senate Democrats.
Mr. Obama offered a “Hey, guys, good to see you” greeting to the Capitol press corps but otherwise did not say anything as he walked briskly into the Mansfield Room, where Democrats hold their weekly party luncheon.
The Sunday session is unusual. Democrats remain divided over some important issues in the health care bill, and Mr. Obama was expected to urge them to band together to finish the legislation.
Climate change protesters take to London streets
Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday calling for a deal on climate change at next week's conference in Copenhagen.
Organizers of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition had originally estimated that more than 10,000 people would participate in the event that began at Grosvenor Square and made its way to the Houses of Parliament on the River Thames.
But London's Metropolitan Police said there were about 20,000 people at the march.
"We wanted to make a positive statement," retired teacher Pip Cartwright, 72, from Witney, Oxfordshire said. "It's for the future. It's not my generation that's going to have the problem to solve."
The coalition — which includes groups such as Oxfam, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the World Wildlife Federation — called the protest "The Wave," and organizers asked marchers to dress in blue.
The first stop for many in the march was the headquarters of BP, the large British-based oil company, because of its relationship with Alberta's tarsands project.
"We have to leave the tarsands oil in the ground," said one of the speakers.
The march was to climax with a mass "wave" around Parliament. Other "Wave" events were being held in Glasgow, Belfast, and Dublin. Similar demonstrations took place in Brussels and Berlin.
"The U.K. government must fight for a comprehensive, fair and binding deal at Copenhagen. That is our demand today and we expect it to be fulfilled," Oxfam GB chief executive Barbara Stocking said in a statement.
"They must return home with a strong, effective climate deal both for our own sakes in the U.K. and for the millions of poor people already suffering from the effects of climate change around the world," she said.
Data from 1,000 weather stations to be released
Also on Saturday, Britain's Met Office said it would publish some of the data it uses to analyze climate change, after thousands of pieces of correspondence between some of the world's leading climate scientists were stolen from the University of East Anglia and leaked to the internet.
Skeptics of man-made global warming have said the mails prove that scientists have been conspiring to hide evidence about climate change.
On Friday, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, said the issue raised by the emails was serious and would be looked at in detail.
Met Office spokesman Barry Gromett said data from 1,000 weather stations around the world, covering 150 years, will be released early next week. The office has written to 188 countries to ask for permission to release more data from a further 4,000 stations.
Ahead of the march through central London, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams offered prayers for negotiators in Copenhagen and urged people not to listen to those who say there's a choice between "looking after human beings and looking after the Earth."
"If we make ourselves a bit less comfortable, if we draw back from a little bit of our space and liberty so that others may have the space and comfort they need for life, thank God," Williams said.
A second group of climate campaigners was planning an action for later Saturday.
Richard Bernard, a spokesman for Camp for Climate Action, said protesters planned to pitch tents somewhere in central London to spotlight the talks in Copenhagen.
He said his group intended to march with the main protest, and then head off to their so-far secret site in London.
The Post-Imperial Presidency
Even as Obama increases troop levels, he is scaling back American foreign policy.
If you take just one sentence out, Barack Obama's speech on Afghanistan last week was all about focusing and limiting the scope of America's mission in that country. His goal, he said, was "narrowly defined." The objectives he detailed were exclusively military—to deny Al Qaeda a safe haven, reverse the Taliban's momentum, and strengthen the Kabul government's security forces. He said almost nothing about broader goals like spreading democracy, protecting human rights, or assisting in women's education. The nation that he was interested in building, he explained, was America.
And then there was that one line: "I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan." Here lies the tension in Barack Obama's policy. He wants a clearer, more discriminating foreign policy, one that pares down the vast commitments and open-ended interventions of the Bush era, perhaps one that is more disciplined even than Bill Clinton's approach to the world. (On the campaign trail, Obama repeatedly invoked George H.W. Bush as the president whose foreign policy he admired most.) But America is in the midst of a war that is not going well, and scaling back now would look like cutting and running. Obama is searching for a post-imperial policy in the midst of an imperial crisis. The qualified surge—send in troops to regain the momentum but then draw down—is his answer to this dilemma. This is an understandable compromise, and it could well work, but it pushes off a final decision about Afghanistan until the troop surge can improve the situation on the ground. Eighteen months from now, Obama will have to answer the core question: is a stable and well-functioning Afghanistan worth a large and continuing American ground presence, or can American interests be secured at much lower cost?
This first year of his presidency has been a window into Barack Obama's world view. Most presidents, once they get hold of the bully pulpit, cannot resist the temptation to become Winston Churchill. They gravitate to grand rhetoric about freedom and tyranny, and embrace the moral drama of their role as leaders of the free world. Even the elder Bush, a pragmatist if there ever was one, lapsed into dreamy language about "a new world order" once he stood in front of the United Nations. Not Obama. He has been cool and calculating, whether dealing with Russia, Iran, Iraq, or Afghanistan. A great orator, he has, in this arena, kept his eloquence in check. Obama is a realist, by temperament, learning, and instinct. More than any president since Richard Nixon, he has focused on defining American interests carefully, providing the resources to achieve them, and keeping his eyes on the prize.
In 1943 the columnist Walter Lippmann defined foreign policy as "bringing into balance, with a comfortable surplus of power in reserve, the nation's commitments and the nation's power." Only then could the United States achieve strategic stability abroad and domestic support at home. Consciously or not, President Obama was channeling Lippmann when he said, "As president I refuse to set goals that go beyond our responsibility, our means, or our interests." In his speech he quoted only one person, a president of the opposite party, Dwight Eisenhower, who said of national-security challenges, "Each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs." Obama added that "over the past several years, we have lost that balance." He is hoping to restore some equilibrium to American foreign policy.
"In the end," said the president last week, "our security and leadership does not come solely from the strength of our arms." He explained that America's economic and technological vigor underpinned its ability to play a world role. At a small lunch with a group of columnists (myself included) last week, he made clear that he did not want to run two wars. He seemed to be implying that these struggles—Iraq and Afghanistan—were not the crucial path to America's long-term security. He explained that challenges at home—economic growth, technological innovation, education reform—were at the heart of maintaining America's status as a superpower.
It is now clear that Obama is attempting something quite ambitious—to reorient American foreign policy to-ward something less extravagant and adversarial. That begins with narrowing the war on terror; scaling back the conflict with the Islamic world to those groups and countries that pose serious, direct threats to America; and reaching out to the rest. He has also tried to develop a better working relationship between America and other major powers like Russia and China, setting aside smaller issues in hopes of cooperating on bigger ones. This means departing from a bipartisan approach in which Washington's role was to direct the rest of the world, pushing regimes large and small to accept American ideas, and publicly chastising them when they refused. Obama is trying to break the dynamic that says that when an American president negotiates with the Chinese or Russians, he must return with rewards or concessions—or else he is guilty of appeasement.
And then there is that line. It might seem hard to reconcile a more targeted and focused foreign policy with the expansion of a war and the introduction of 30,000 troops. But it is not unprecedented. When Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger entered the White House in 1969, they inherited a war in Vietnam that they might have believed in at some theoretical level, but that they recognized was bleeding the country. Over their years in office, they focused on shoring up America's power position through diplomacy with the Soviet Union, China, Egypt, and Israel. But they also recognized that they had to deal with the crisis in Vietnam and said explicitly that they were going to try to scale back America's involvement there. In this they succeeded. By April 1969, soon after Nixon took office, there were 543,000 American troops in Vietnam. At the end of his first term, there were fewer than 20,000 left. But in between, in order to keep the enemy on the defensive, to gain momentum, and to create space for American troops to leave, Nixon and Kissinger ordered a series of offensive military maneuvers that were designed to hit the North Vietnamese hard. Surge and then draw down, you might say.
Although the Viet Cong were beaten back temporarily, ultimately the North took over the South in 1975. But it is instructive to think about why. First, our local ally lacked legitimacy and competence. The government of South Vietnam was simply unable to gain the confidence of its people, and the Viet Cong and its Northern allies were able to persuade or intimidate tens of thousands of Vietnamese to shift to their side. Second, the enemy had safe havens outside South Vietnam—mainly in North Vietnam and Cambodia—which provided them escape routes and supply chains. More significant, the insurgents had the active support of the other superpower, the Soviet Union, as well as some aid from China. Finally, the United States cut off all assistance to South Vietnam, abandoning a country it had lost 59,000 troops defending.
Nov 10, 2009
Gold rallies to fresh record, stocks up
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold climbed to a record on Thursday as the dollar struggled, while U.S. stocks settled higher after Alcoa (AA.N) began the third-quarter earnings season with an unexpected profit.
Major U.S. equity indexes rose nearly 1 percent, led by Alcoa, a day after the Dow component and the largest American aluminum producer posted its first profit after a string of quarterly losses. Alcoa cited improving metal prices and cost savings as the main reasons for its profitable quarter.
Alcoa is the first major company to release earnings in the U.S. third-quarter reporting season.
Its profit surprise also played a factor in world equity markets on Thursday, as investors have been scouring for signs of any fundamental improvement in organic growth. The MSCI world equity index .MIWO00000PUS rose 1.32 percent to 1,137.84, near the year's high of 1,150.42.
For their part, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 61.29 points, or 0.63 percent, at 9,786.87, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 7.90 points, or 0.75 percent, at 1,065.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 13.60 points, or 0.64 percent, at 2,123.93.
But gold stole the spotlight again.
The yellow metal topped $1,060 per ounce to mark a record high for the third session in a row, versus its late New York Wednesday quote of $1,043.70. It closed the day at $1,055.45.
The move in spot bullion has primarily been driven higher by the weakening dollar, which makes the dollar-denominated metal more attractive to investors.
In some currencies -- the high-flying Australian dollar, for example -- gold has actually fallen in price this year.
"Investors are turning toward gold as a hedge in dollar weakness," said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
The dollar was down against a basket of major trading-partner currencies, with the U.S. dollar index down 0.69 percent at 75.966, a 14-month low and below a previous session close of 76.494.
The currency has been hit by a combination of expectations that U.S. interest rates will stay low for some time and a belief that the global economy is on the mend, easing the motivation behind last year's flight to dollar safety.
The euro was up 0.63 percent at $1.4778 from a previous session close of $1.4685, while against the Japanese yen, the dollar was down 0.15 percent at 88.45 from a previous session close of 88.580.
The Australian dollar jumped 1.7 percent to US$0.9063, still benefiting from this week's rate hike. It has now gained nearly 28 percent against the U.S. dollar this year.
Nov 8, 2009
United Commercial Bank is shut down, sold to East West BancorpThis creates by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market and the largest bank based in Southern California. United Commercial was the 120th bank to fail in the U.S. this year.This creates by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market and the largest bank based in Southern California. United Commercial was the 120th bank to fail in the U.S. this year.
This creates by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market and the largest bank based in Southern California. United Commercial was the 120th bank to fail in the U.S. this year.
Toppled by loan losses and misstated financial reports, San Francisco's United Commercial Bank was shut down by regulators Friday night and immediately sold to Pasadena's East West Bancorp, creating by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market.
US jobless rate rises to over 10%
Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed has risen by 8.2 million, while the jobless rate has risen from 4.9%.
President Barack Obama described the rise in unemployment as "sobering".
"I will not rest until all Americans who want work can find work," he added.
He also said he would be signing legislation to extend unemployment benefit, cut taxes for businesses and extend tax credits for home buyers.
Berlin all fired up for wall-to-wall partying
The policeman smiled back. Stretching away on either side, a chain of 1,000 wall-like slabs daubed with graffiti form a new 1.2-mile barrier from the Brandenburg Gate to Potsdamer Platz — now once again one of Europe’s busiest intersections.
Texan police officer Kim Munley who shot Fort Hood gunman hailed as a heroine
Major Nidal Hasan, an army psychiatrist due to be posted to Afghanistan, shot dead 13 people and wounded 30 others after opening fire with two handguns at Fort Hood yesterday afternoon.
But the death toll from the rampage could have been far worse had it not been for the actions of Sergeant Kimberly Munley, a civilian police officer stationed at the base who was the first on the scene as Major Hasan picked off his victims.
Sergeant Munley managed to hit Major Hasan four times but was herself hit by a bullet that passed through both her legs, according to witnesses.
Fort Hood shooting: President Barack Obama will travel to Texas for Fort Hood memorial service
A memorial service has been scheduled for Tuesday. The White House said Mr Obama and Michelle Obama, the First Lady, would be there. Mr Obama is due to leave the following day for a 10-day tour of Asia.
Earlier, he said the response to the tragedy had displayed "the best of America." He said: "Thursday's shooting was one of the most devastating ever committed on an American military base and yet, even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display, we also saw the best of America."
Nov 1, 2009
UPDATE: US Stocks Close Sharply Lower; DJIA Ends Month Flat
By Donna Kardos Yesalavich
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. stocks tumbled Friday, with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Alcoa leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average's components lower as investors again grew concerned about the economy after the short-lived excitement over Thursday's good report on gross domestic product.
The Dow Friday posted its biggest one-day point drop since April 20, and ended October just 0.45 point above where it began. Other major measures, including the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, ended the month in the red, marking their first monthly declines since February.
The Dow closed down 249.85 points, or 2.51%, at 9712.73, marking its 10th triple-digit movement this month. Five of them were down and five up, reflecting how volatile the market has gotten as investors try to get a handle on whether the 48% surge in the Dow since March can be justified by economic fundamentals. For the week, the Dow fell 259.45 points, or 2.6%, marking its second consecutive week in the red.
Banks broken up: Q&A
Three new banks are to appear on Britain's high streets as part of a major break-up of the sector to be announced by the Government this week, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.
Why is the government doing it?
Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling have little choice. Under European law, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds Banking Group and Northern Rock have to pay a price for the billions of pounds of state aid they have received. However, there are likely to be smiles rather than frowns in Downing Street because gradually returning these troubled institutions to full private ownership is firmly on the to do list. The government’s stakes in RBS and Lloyds are also threatening to become an even bigger political headache should these banks shower their best performing staff with bonuses in the New Year. Expect to see the emergence of Williams and Glyn, the revival of TSB and the resuscitation of Northern Rock hailed by the Prime Minister as a return to an era of more sensible and conservative banking.
Who will own these new banks?
Pilots 'face same distractions as drivers'
"I have my own ideas about this, but I'm going to work with the folks at the FAA and our department to deal with this issue," LaHood said. "We're going to take a very close look at that entire issue."
The Obama administration and lawmakers have already expressed interest in targeting distracted driving, including the use of mobile devices while behind the wheel. LaHood held a summit meeting in September that brought together researchers, regulators and other experts on distracted driving.
WASHINGTON - The two airline pilots who overshot their destination by 150 miles have prompted the Obama administration to broaden its look at distracted driving to include distracted flying, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today.
Oct 30, 2009
Flat incomes, weak consumer spending raise concern
WASHINGTON — Flat incomes suggest more weakness ahead in consumer spending, reinforcing concerns about a ho-hum holiday shopping season and a sluggish economic recovery.
"This recovery is going to be very weak. Consumers are in no position or mood to spend. Their wages are down and they can't get credit," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University's Smith School of Business.
Concerns about the economy sparked by disappointing government data on spending and incomes sent stocks down Friday, erasing the previous day's big gains. The Dow Jones industrial average lost about 250 points, and broader indexes also fell.
The Commerce Department reported that personal incomes were stagnant in September while the all-important wage and salary category dropped 0.2 percent, as unemployment rose.
Consumer spending — which accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity — dropped 0.5 percent, the first decline in five months and the biggest since December.
UPDATE: US Stocks Close Sharply Lower; DJIA Ends Month Flat
By Donna Kardos Yesalavich
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. stocks tumbled Friday, with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Alcoa leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average's components lower as investors again grew concerned about the economy after the short-lived excitement over Thursday's good report on gross domestic product.
The Dow Friday posted its biggest one-day point drop since April 20, and ended October just 0.45 point above where it began. Other major measures, including the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, ended the month in the red, marking their first monthly declines since February.
Stock futures point to modestly lower opening
By STEPHEN BERNARD
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK -- Stocks are headed for a moderate decline Friday, erasing some of the big gains racked up a day earlier after the government said the economy grew more than expected in the third quarter.
Overseas markets were mixed.
Investors welcomed a report showing the economy grew at 3.5 percent in the third quarter, but much of that growth was fueled by government stimulus programs. With those programs winding down, the economy might not be able to sustain such rapid improvement after the economy shrank for four straight quarters.
A Labor Department report due out Friday at 8:30 a.m. EDT on personal spending and income from September will provide further details into the health of the consumer. The strength of consumers is considered vital to a recovery because their spending accounts for more than two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity.
Hillary Clinton wraps up tough mission in Pakistan
The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, wrapped up one of the toughest missions of her diplomatic career tonight after three days of bruising encounters with Pakistanis enraged by US drone attacks in the tribal areas.
The visit was never going to be easy for Clinton, who flew into Islamabad with the goal of blunting anti-Americanism in a country that seethes with hostility towards Washington.
STIMULUS WATCH: Stimulus Jobs Overstated in Report
The White House is promising that new figures being released Friday will be a more accurate showing of progress in President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan. It aggressively defended an earlier, faulty count that overstated by thousands the jobs created or saved so far.
Ed DeSeve, serving as Obama's stimulus overseer, said the administration has been working for weeks to correct mistakes in early counts that identified more than 30,000 jobs paid for with stimulus money. He said a new stimulus report Friday should correct many mistakes an Associated Press review found that showed the earlier report overstated thousands of stimulus jobs.
"I think you'll see a pretty good degree of accuracy," DeSeve said in an interview.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs downplayed errors in job counts identified by the AP's review, telling reporters, "We're talking about 4,000, or a 5,000 error."
Celebrating Stock Market Bears Take a Major Hit
Yesterday we get some strong volume and blow through the 50-day exponential moving average on the Nasdaq. We fall only a bit below on the S&P 500 (4 points) and hold above it on the Dow. We didn't have all 3 major indexes trading below the 50-day exponential moving averages and that's what you want to see if you believe the market is ready for deeper selling than has already occurred. In addition, you don't want to clear by as little as we did on the S&P 500 as that's not a true breakdown. 4/10th's of 1% is not sufficient to say it's all clear for the bears.
Stock Markets and Other Risky Assets Tumble on Recovery Fears
I concluded a post on stock markets over the weekend saying: “After equities’ seven-month climb, stock markets certainly look vulnerable for a decline. Two downside reversal days - on Wednesday and Friday - would seem to indicate that stocks could commence a pullback to work off the overbought condition, allowing fundamentals to reassert themselves.”
Source: StockCharts.com
Cockpit distractions go beyond laptops
The laptops that triggered two Northwest Airlines pilots to fly 91 minutes without talking to the ground may be relatively new technology, but distractions in the cockpit have led to accidents and incidents since the dawn of aviation.
As lawmakers and federal regulators called this week for banning laptops and certain other electronic devices in airline cockpits, experts who study why pilots make mistakes said the problem may be much more fundamental: People don't multitask very well.
Distractions ranging from a disgruntled passenger to a burned-out light bulb have been behind scores of crashes, according to federal accident reports and researchers.
U.S. economy stabilized but risks remain: Geithner
The government estimated that gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent from July through September. Still, Geithner said the government must be ready to reinforce growth if needed to avoid risks of a credit crunch.
In a one-hour question-and-answer session at the Economic Club of Chicago, Geithner said the United States can't borrow-and-spend its way to health and pledged every effort to encourage an investment-led recovery.
Oct 29, 2009
Boeing picks South Carolina for Dreamliner plant
The move "will expand our production capability to meet the market demand for the airplane," Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a statement late Wednesday.
"This decision allows us to continue building on the synergies we have established in South Carolina with Boeing Charleston and Global Aeronautica," he said, the latter being a company 50-percent owned by Boeing.
Boeing's South Carolina plant already assembles and installs parts of the 787 fuselage sections. Almost all Boeing planes are manufactured at its Everett plant outside Seattle, in the northwest state of Washington.
Delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner -- to Japanese launch customer ANA -- is now set for late 2010, more than two years behind schedule.
Oct 28, 2009
WORLD FOREX: Euro Breaches Key Level, Could Sink Below $1.46
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The dollar hit a more than two-week high against the euro in afternoon trading Wednesday, as investors reassessed their riskier holdings and shifted out of stocks, commodities and high-yielding currencies.
The euro has since bounced off its lows after having sunk to $1.4712, but is still down on the day. Recently, the euro was at $1.4728, down from $1.4802 late Tuesday, according to EBS via CQG.
The dollar was at Y90.70, from Y91.82, while the euro was at Y133.54, from Y135.88. The U.K. pound was at $1.6430, from $1.6389. The dollar was at CHF1.0262, from CHF1.0219.
The Dollar Index, a trade-weighted basket of six currencies, was at 76.344, from 76.288 late Tuesday.
Breaching a key technical level of $1.4720 signals the euro could sink further, perhaps below $1.46, said Tom Fitzpatrick, chief technical analyst at Citigroup in New York.
Euro dips under 1.48 dollars
Investors were also waiting for fresh US data due out later in the day, including durable goods orders and new home sales.
In London morning deals, the European single currency slipped to 1.4798 dollars, from 1.4810 dollars late on Tuesday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar sank to 91.06 yen from 91.77 yen late on Tuesday in New York.
A disappointing US consumer sentiment report on Tuesday sparked concerns that the world's largest economy may not be recovering as quickly as hoped, reducing demand for higher-risk but also higher-yielding currencies like the euro.
U.S. welcomes yuan rise so far, wants more
However, a Chinese trade official said that despite pressure for the yuan to appreciate, the currency would probably not see a major adjustment until the country's exports improve noticeably.
"We think more progress needs to be made in that area," Locke told a news conference in Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province, which accounts for nearly a third of China's exports.
China has in effect re-pegged the yuan to the dollar since mid-2008 to help its exporters, who were hit hard by a slump in orders as the global financial crisis intensified.
DreamWorks' quarterly results beat low expectations
The Glendale studio also announced that it would not be producing a sequel to its latest movie, "Monsters vs. Aliens," which received a tepid response in keyoverseas markets.
DreamWorks reported net income of $19.6 million, or 23 cents a share, on revenue of $135.4 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30. That compared with net income of $37.4 million, or 41 cents a share, on revenue of $151.5 million during the same quarter in 2008, when the studio benefited from its hit film "Kung Fu Panda."
Analysts were expecting earnings of 16 cents a share on revenue of $129.3 million, according to the average estimate compiled by Thomson Reuters.
Oct 25, 2009
Biden to visit GM plant amid reports of reopening
The visit to the Boxwood plant comes amid media reports that start-up firm Fisker Automotive Inc is in talks to buy the plant to build plug-in electric hybrid cars.
The Wall Street Journal and the Detroit Free Press both reported on Friday that the talks for the purchase were at advanced stages and that an announcement was likely on Tuesday.
The White House statement announcing Biden's visit said he planned a major announcement about the assembly plant's future but gave no other details. Delaware is Biden's home state.
Brown: I will take us out of recession
Skip additional links
Gordon and Sarah Brown at the Labour Party Conference, Brighton 2009
Recession busting: Gordon Brown insists he can lead the UK out of recession this year
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
* Recession sends political shockwaves
* UK economy in longest ever recession
* Banker: Bumper bonuses are right
OTHER STORIES
* A to Z of the Sunday newspapers
* FTSE week: Lloyds, Next up; Autonomy off
* Lloyds faces new rights issue delay
* Off-plan buyers stranded with no mortgage
* Credit card firms face crackdown
FTSE LATEST
5242.5735.21
Go to Market data
PENSION PLANNING
Top retirement topics
at your fingertips
The Prime Minister said he would continue to act on excessive bonuses in the financial sector following the news that the UK economy was stuck in its longest ever recession.
He said: 'My pledge to you is to make reform of the financial sector a reality and to see Britain's economy return to growth by the turn of the year.'
Will the U.S. buy Reva NXR, 120 miles per charge for $25,000?
The India-based company announced a deal with Bannon Automotive to produce 20,000 Reva NXR’s a year at a New York facility. The site could be fully optional already by fall 2010.
But check out Bannon’s Web site: http:/bannonautomotive.com. This sure doesn’t look like a technologically savvy company ready to hire 200 some employees and produce thousands of electric vehicles a year.
Although Bannon has already announced plans to start manufacturing the vehicles, the Long Island company has yet find all the financing, according to http:/syracuse.com.
Earnings reports weigh on stocks
U.S. stocks posted their first weekly decline in three weeks as several major companies forecast earnings that trailed Wall Street estimates.
Boeing slid 6.2 percent, the steepest drop among companies in the Dow Jones industrial average, as it posted a loss that was bigger than analysts forecast and reduced its full-year profit projection. Boston Scientific posted its biggest drop since February on concerns that sales of heart devices are slowing. Burlington Northern, meanwhile, fell 8.4 percent -- the most since March -- on concerns that shipments of consumer products will remain weak.
Dow finishes below 10,000
Stock markets in the United States fell yesterday, with the major indexes slipping for the first week in three, as industrial companies' weak results overshadowed robust earnings from tech and retail heavy-weights.
The blue-chip Dow average finished below 10,000 for the second time this week.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 109.13 points, or 1.1%, to 9972.18, marking its second finish this week below the 10,000 mark. The S&P 500 fell 13.31 points, or 1.2%, to 1,079.60. The Nasdaq slipped 10.82 points, or 0.5%, to 2,154.47.
For the week, the Dow slipped 0.2% and the S&P 500 declined 0.7%, while the Nasdaq dipped 0.1%.
Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=2139516#ixzz0UyFBc8Uc
The New Financial Post Stock Market Challenge starts in October. You could WIN your share of $60,000 in prizing. Register NOW
Oct 24, 2009
Community banks to get bailout money as Obama seeks to boost small business
To spur lending to small businesses, it is 'essential that we make more credit available to the smaller banks and community financial institutions that these businesses depend on,' the president says.Reporting from Washington - President Obama, looking to boost lending to small business, will start using some of the leftover federal bailout funds to shore up smaller community banks and induce them to offer credit to firms he called the "backbone of the American economy."
Obama Says Small Businesses Must Be at Forefront of Recovery
By Catherine Dodge and Julianna Goldman
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama called small businesses the “engine” of the U.S. economy and said too many are still struggling to get the credit they need to operate.
In his weekly address on the radio and Internet, Obama said the nation’s banks, supported by taxpayers in the economic crisis, now need “to stand by the creditworthy small businesses.”
“It’s time for those banks to fulfill their responsibility to help ensure a wider recovery,” Obama said. “We’re going to take every appropriate step to encourage them to meet those responsibilities.”
The president this week announced measures to open up credit for small business, such as capital injections for community banks to spur lending. Obama also asked Congress to raise the limits for Small Business Administration loans from $2 million to $5 million and as much as $5.5 million for manufacturing.
“The goal here is to get credit where it’s needed most -- to businesses that support families, sustain communities, and create the jobs that power our economy,” Obama said.
The president has asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and SBA administrator Karen Mills, to convene a conference of regulators, congressional leaders, lenders, and entrepreneurs to come up with additional steps to improve the flow of credit to small businesses looking to expand.
Business and Insurance
In the radio address, Obama said his health-care overhaul plan would allow small businesses to buy insurance for employees through exchanges that may offer better coverage at lower costs.
The “crushing” costs of health-care are discouraging many entrepreneurs from even trying to start a business and causing others to cut benefits and jobs, or close their doors, Obama said.
“Small businesses have always been the engine of our economy -- creating 65 percent of all new jobs over the past decade and a half -- and they must be at the forefront of our recovery,” Obama said.
In the Republican address, Senator Mike Johanns focused on Obama’s number one domestic priority -- overhauling U.S. healthcare.
The Nebraska Republican said Obama’s plan would drive up costs and lead to higher premiums and more government mandates. Older Americans would see funding for hospice care and home health care services “cut off,” he said.
Impact on Paychecks
“We have a record budget deficit, and many families are working hard just to put food on the table and to pay the bills,” Johanns said. “Yet, there’s no doubt about it: these proposals will negatively impact pocketbooks and paychecks across America.”
The president’s aides worked behind the scenes this week with Senate leaders to merge legislation designed to curb costs while covering tens of millions of the uninsured. The changes could be the biggest since the creation of Medicare in 1965 and would affect one-sixth of the nation’s economy.
Johanns criticized Obama for not fulfilling a campaign promise to hold open and transparent health care negotiations televised on C-SPAN saying, “a 1,500 page bill, full of carve- outs and back room deals, is currently being brokered behind closed doors.”
Oct 23, 2009
UK economy remains in recession
LONDON
The British economy shrank 0.4 percent in the third quarter of the year, according to official statistics released Friday, dashing hopes that the country had emerged from recession.
The fall in gross domestic product for the sixth consecutive quarter takes the total loss of output since the recession began last year to 5.9 percent, leaving Britain in the grip of the longest period of continuous decline since the Statistics Office began taking records in 1955.
Economists had expected the update from the Office for National Statistics to be a close call between growth and contraction -- but most had plumped for slight growth and few had forecast a fall of that size.
The persistent decline comes despite attempts by the government and Bank of England to boost the economy, including holding interest rates at a record low of 0.5 percent since March, an unprecedented 175 billion pound ($290 billion) injection into the money supply and billions more through fiscal measures.
Many Bailed Out Execs Flee Before Pay Cuts
The administration had tasked Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury Department's special master on compensation, to evaluate the pay packages of 25 of the most highly compensated executives at each of seven firms receiving exceptionally large amounts of taxpayer assistance.
But Thursday, he ruled only on slightly more than three quarters of the pay packages that were to be under his purview. The balance reflected executives who have left since he began his work in June or will be gone by the end of the year.
Many executives were driven away by the uncertainty of working for companies closely overseen by Washington, opting instead for firms not under the microscope, including competitors that have already returned the bailout funds to the government, according to executives and supervisors at the companies.
"There's no question people have left because of uncertainty of our ability to pay," said an executive at one of the affected firms. "It's a highly competitive market out there."
Who cares if Wall Street 'talent' leaves?
On Thursday, White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg outlined compensation restrictions at seven firms that got special bailouts, and the Federal Reserve proposed to review pay practices at 28 unnamed giant banks.
Critics warn that reining in pay makes it hard to keep talented employees. Hemmed in, institutions like AIG (AIG, Fortune 500),Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) could lose their best people.
These firms would then perform even more abysmally, if that's possible, leaving them hard pressed to repay tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer-backed loans.
Still, we say Godspeed to this "talent." After all, the traders and suits in the corner offices don't exactly have an unblemished track record. In 2008, Citigroup, BofA and Merrill Lynch (since acquired by BofA) posted a grand total of $51 billion in losses.
Yet even as they were running themselves into the ground, the firms managed to pay out more than $12 billion in bonuses -- including 1,606 million-dollar-plus bonuses, according to a report from the New York attorney general's office.
Jump in U.S. home sales fails to lift stock market
New York — The Associated Press Published on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 7:27AM EDT Last updated on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 11:29AM EDT
Investors looked past a jump in home sales and strong profits at key technology companies as disappointing forecasts from major railroads stirred unease about the economy.
Stocks zigzagged early Friday as investors found little reason to buy into the market after a strong rally on Thursday.
A huge jump in sales of existing homes last month was seen as an aberration. The National Association of Realtors said that sales rose 9.4 per cent, nearly double the advance that had been expected. It was the highest level in more than two years as buyers raced to complete purchases before a tax credit expires at the end of November.
Profits at Amazon.com (AMZN-Q115.3721.9223.46%) and Microsoft (MSFT-Q28.381.796.73%) sailed past expectations and drew some buyers to tech stocks.
Cautious comments from the leaders of major railroad companies were a cause for worry. Union Pacific (UNP-N57.29-3.83-6.27%) chairman and CEO Jim Young said Thursday that he expects the economy to “limp along” until unemployment starts to fall. Burlington Northern (BNI-N79.27-5.35-6.32%) also issued a tepid forecast after the end of trading Thursday.
U.S. Stocks Retreat as Oil Slumps; Microsoft, Amazon Rally
By Elizabeth Stanton
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell, wiping out a weekly gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as a drop in oil weighed on energy producers and disappointing results at the nation’s largest railroad dragged down industrial shares.
Exxon Mobil Corp. and Schlumberger Ltd. led energy producers lower as crude slid for a second day. Industrial shares in the S&P 500 fell 1.3 percent as a group, led by railroad stocks, after Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. forecast profit that missed analyst estimates. Technology shares posted the smallest drop among 10 groups as Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. jumped on better-than-estimated earnings.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.7 percent to 1,084.89 at 11:16 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 67.64 points, or 0.7 percent, to 10,013.67. The Nasdaq slipped 0.1 percent to 2,162.74 after earlier climbing as much as 1.2 percent.
“You have this skepticism in the equity market that is frankly irrational,” said Richard Campagna, chief executive officer of 300 North Capital LLC in Pasadena, California, which manages $600 million. “Given that the third quarter was the tail end of the recession and earnings are this good tells you earnings are going to snap back much faster than people expect.”
Oct 22, 2009
U.S. Stocks Advance as AT&T, McDonald’s Top Earnings Estimates
Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks advanced as better-than- estimated earnings at AT&T Inc. and McDonald’s Corp. overshadowed a bigger-than-projected increase in jobless claims.
AT&T added 1.1 percent after new iPhone and television customers bolstered earnings. McDonald’s climbed 2.4 percent following a better-than-projected increase in global comparable sales. Gains were limited by a Labor Department report that initial applications for jobless benefits rose to 531,000 last week.
The S&P 500 increased 0.1 percent to 1,082.69 as of 9:37 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 30.38 points, or 0.3 percent, to 9,979.74.
The S&P 500 is trading at its highest valuation in five years after climbing 60 percent from a 12-year low in March as the government lent, spent or guaranteed $11.6 trillion to combat the worst recession since the 1930s. The index is valued at more than 20 times the reported operating profits of its companies, twice its price-earnings ration on March 6.
Oct 21, 2009
WORLD FOREX:Dollar Slips Back Again As Risk Appetite Returns
By Nicholas Hastings
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON (Dow Jones)--Appetite for risk is returning a little, pushing the dollar lower and higher-yielders, such as the Australian dollar and even the pound, higher in Europe Wednesday.
Optimism about the global economy was also reflected in equities, with most European bourses opening higher.
The rallies mark the end of the downturn that swept through financial markets Tuesday after the Bank of Canada disappointed investors with its decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
The BOC had widely been expected to follow the Reserve Bank of Australia with a rate hike - a move that would have reinforced the view that G10 economies had recovered enough for the unwinding of emergency credit-crunch policies.
Instead, the Canadian central bank warned of the risks that the recent strength of the Canadian dollar posed to the economy and lowered its growth forecast for the next year or two.
After that, a spate of third-quarter earnings results from the U.S. failed to live up to expectations, giving investors more reason to sell equities and preventing the euro from having enough momentum to break resistance at $1.50.
Investors waiting for more clues about consumers
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK -- After getting worrisome signs about consumers from bankers' earnings reports, investors will be looking at a broad range of companies this week for further insights into the outlook for the economy.
Consumer-focused companies including Apple Inc., McDonald's Corp., appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. and toy maker Hasbro Inc. are among those reporting results during the week. Airlines, drug companies and more big banks are also scheduled to release their earnings.
The market is so focused on companies' third-quarter results and their outlooks for the coming months that economic data like the September existing home sales report expected this week isn't likely to move the market much.
"Right now earnings are critical," said Channing Smith, a vice president at Capital Advisors in Tulsa, Okla. "Earnings, revenues give us a better picture of what's happening. If the economic data turns out well, its just the cherry on the sundae."
BEFORE THE BELL:US Stock Futures Point Lower Again
By Steve Goldstein
U.S. stock futures on Wednesday pointed to a second straight day of declines, ahead of a slate of earnings from Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley and an assessment of the economy from the Federal Reserve.
S&P 500 futures fell 5.7 points to 1,083.70 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 8.5 points to 1,749.70. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 47 points.
U.S. stocks on Tuesday returned a portion of the prior day's advance, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 51 points, the S&P 500 off 7 points and the Nasdaq Composite down 13 points. Disappointing economic data offset mostly well-received earnings updates from the likes of Caterpillar and Apple.
"Markets are being pulled between generally better corporate results, and occasional disappointments on the macro economic data. This is not perhaps unexpected, if the economic profile resembles the Nike 'swoosh' more than the classic V," said Paul Donovan, senior economist at UBS.
Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said the U.S. equity rally from the lows of March can continue. He sees nominal GDP rising and unit labor costs declining next year.
Oct 20, 2009
Wall Street ends lower on profit taking
New construction of U.S. homes rose less than expected in September and U.S. producer prices posted an unexpected decline, both pointing to an anemic economic recovery.
DuPont shares fell 2.2 percent to $33.87, making it a top drag in the S&P materials sector and the Dow industrials after the chemical maker posted higher-than-expected third-quarter profit, but revenue fell short of Wall Street estimates.
After the closing bell, Yahoo Inc, one of the largest sellers of online display advertising, said third- quarter profit more than tripled from a year ago, beating Wall Street's estimates and sending its stock up 4.1 percent to $17.88.
Stocks slide, but Dow holds 10,000
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks dipped Tuesday as a stronger dollar and some disappointment about DuPont and Coca-Cola's results gave investors a reason to retreat from the recent rally.
A weaker-than-expected housing market report added to the downward pressure.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 50 points, or 0.5%, according to early tallies, after ending the previous session at the highest finish since Oct. 3, 2008.
The S&P 500 (SPX) index lost 7 points, or 0.6%, after ending Monday's session at the highest point since Oct. 2, 2008. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) fell 13 points, or 0.6%, after ending the previous session at the highest point since Sept. 26, 2008.
After the close, Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) reported higher quarterly earnings that beat forecasts on weaker revenue that also beat forecasts.
Also after the close, Sun Microsystems (SUN, Fortune 500) said it was cutting 3,000 jobs related to its purchase by Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500).
Europe Concerned as Dollar Decline Continues
The signs of a recovering global economy are everywhere. Global stocks are up 75 percent from the deep lows seen in the darkest days of the financial crisis, many banks and other financial institutions are reporting a return to profits and a number of countries have emerged from recession.
But one development has some in Europe concerned that the path to recovery in Europe's single currency zone could be riddled with obstacles: The dollar continues to weaken against the euro. The result is that European exports -- one of the primary engines behind Europe's fragile recovery -- are becoming more expensive in the United States and in a number of Asian countries that have pegged their currency to the dollar.
Dutch government, Deutsche Bank in ABN AMRO deal
AMSTERDAM/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) agreed in principle to buy some ABN AMRO assets from the Dutch state in a deal which should clear the way for a merger of nationalized banks ABN and Fortis Bank Nederland.
Under the deal, 15 months and two ABN owners in the making, the acquisitive German lender will boost its Dutch operations by acquiring commercial bank HBU, 13 advisory branches, two corporate client units and a factoring business.
The pact, which is not final and depends on negotiations and a host of regulatory approvals, is the same in terms of assets as the deal Deutsche, Germany's biggest bank, agreed with former ABN owner Fortis in July 2008.
The European Commission mandated the sale of those assets in late 2007 to preserve competition in the Dutch market after a consortium took over ABN AMRO that year.
The financial terms of the proposed deal were not disclosed. The Dutch government said on Tuesday it will seek an extension of the EU deadline to finalize agreement. The commission had no immediate comment, and ABN AMRO said it could not comment beyond the finance ministry's statement.
The merger of ABN and Fortis, followed by an eventual IPO, is core to the Dutch state's exit strategy for the banks, which it nationalized in October 2008 for 16.8 billion euros ($25.16 billion).
Deutsche Bank says it will buy parts of ABN Amro
"The assets to be acquired remain the same as those in the original agreement announced on July 2, 2008. Negotiations continue on final terms and conditions" with the Dutch finance ministry, a statement said.
The deal, targeting parts of the Dutch bank's commercial banking activities, is subject to approval by ABN Amro, Deutsche Bank's supervisory board, the Dutch central bank and regulatory authorities, it added.
In September, Deutsche Bank had said it would abandon negotiations for the purchase of parts of ABN Amro.
In July 2008, the Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance group Fortis had announced the sale of a portion of ABN's commercial activities to Deutsche Bank for 709 million euros, a requirement under fair competition conditions set by the European Commission.
Stock Market Boosted by Better than Expected Corporate Earnings
Risky assets remained in favor during the past week, generally helped along by fairly robust economic data and better-than-expected corporate earnings reports. A number of bourses, crude oil, inflation-linked bonds and high-yielding corporate bonds and currencies recorded fresh highs for the year, whereas gold hit an all-time high of $1,070.20 per ounce.
Assets such as government bonds and the US dollar saw fading demand as safe havens, now that the global economy is on the mend. Similarly, credit default spreads tightened markedly and the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) declined to its lowest level since early September 2008.
The Dow Jones Industrial Index passed a psychological milestone this week as the Index broke above the 10,000 level for the first time in a year, although it then declined again to fall shy of the roundophobia number by four basis points by the closing bell. The Dow first broke above 10,000 more than ten years ago in 1999 and has since done so on 26 occasions. Yes, a ten-year buy-and-hold index investor has had no capital gain over the period!
Stocks rise as earnings reports top expectations
NEW YORK — Investors are seeing the kind of earnings numbers that make them feel confident about stocks.
The stock market stepped to new highs for the year Monday after a handful of earnings reports bolstered hopes that the economy is coming back sooner than many analysts had thought.
That is helping some investors move past a bout of nerves about whether expectations for the economy are stretched too far. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 96 points, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose but ended just shy of 1,100, having topped that level during the day.
Industrial equipment maker Eaton Corp. said it was seeing improvement in key markets and raised its full-year profit forecast. Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. managed to post a profit despite a sharp fall in revenue.
Morgan Stanley to sell fund arm
The deal includes a $500m cash payment and will see Morgan Stanley take a 9.4% equity stake in Invesco.
A number of banks, such as Bank of America and Barclays, have agreed to sell their fund businesses this year.
As profits have been squeezed during the global downturn, many banks are restructuring their businesses.
The Morgan Stanley sale to Invesco has been approved by the boards of both companies and should be finalised by the middle of next year, the firms said.
"By taking a minority interest in Invesco, Morgan Stanley will be able to realise significant value in partnership with a world class player," said Morgan Stanley co-president James Gorman.
He added that the deal would allow the Van Kampen Investments, which is part of its asset management division, to operate more freely.
Morgan Stanley is due to report its results for the July-to-September period on Wednesday.
Investors lap up Apple's 47 percent profit jump
SEATTLE — Wall Street knew Apple Inc.'s results for the most recent quarter would blow past the company's guidance, but investors clearly weren't prepared for the 47 percent jump in profit that Apple delivered.
Shares skyrocketed to an all-time high in after-hours trading Monday evening on news that Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple sold more iPhone and Mac computers than ever.
Apple's financial report "reinforces my view that Apple is hands down the best technology company on the planet," said Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall in an interview.
Apple shares hit all-time high as profits rise 47pc
Sales in the fourth quarter, to the end of September, rose by 24.9pc to $9.87bn.
Apple sold 7.4m iPhones, up 7pc year-on-year, and doubled the sales of iPod Touches – which are essentially iPhones without the telephone element.
Apple sold 3.05m Mac computers, 17pc higher than the same quarter last year, while it sold 10.2m iPods, up 8pc.
As a result, for the year to the end of September – its financial year starts on October 1, typically its busiest period in the run-up to Christmas – Apple made a profit of $5.7bn against $4.8bn last year, up 19pc, in the midst of one of the largest consumer downturns in decades.
The results showed strength across the globe, as well as in its American heartland, with average sales up 20pc in international stores, and international sales accounting for 46pc of revenue in the quarter, up from 41pc in the same period last year.
Oct 19, 2009
U.S. Stocks Extend Global Rally on Earnings as Dollar Retreats
Gannett Co., the biggest U.S. newspaper publisher, jumped 6.9 percent on results that beat estimates. Texas Instruments Inc. climbed before reporting earnings. Caterpillar Inc. surged 4.3 percent after RBC Capital Markets recommended the shares. Banks advanced as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said it is assessing the use of reverse repurchase agreements to drain record amounts of cash added to the financial system.
Earnings optimism, Caterpillar boost Wall St
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday in a broad-based rally after corporate results fed growing optimism the accelerating earnings season will be strong.
Better-than-expected earnings from companies including Gannett Co Inc and positive broker commentary for Caterpillar Inc further buoyed investors looking for confirmation the economy is stabilizing.
"It's all about earnings, and it's all about momentum," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co in Nashville, Tennessee.
"Investor optimism is really rising rapidly now for the first time since the March lows, and I think a lot of money is bursting off the sidelines as a result."
Will Apple keep up the momentum?
We'll find out if the company's good health has remained during the quarterly checkup Monday afternoon. According to Wall Street, it's been another good three months for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company. Apple's stock price jumped 43 points during the quarter to close at $185.35. Because of a string of impressive earnings announcements dating back a year ago, the launch of the company's latest operating system update, signs it gained share in the smartphone and computer markets, and a helpful accounting rule change, financial analysts are expecting good things from the company's fiscal year fourth-quarter earnings. Analysts are expecting Apple to record earnings per share somewhere between $1.24 and $1.72, and revenue between $8.74 billion and $10.55 billion for the quarter ending September 30. Apple is known to provide consistently conservative guidance for future quarters, hence the wide gap in analyst estimates.
But a good way to know what's to come can usually be seen in the unit sales reports. Last week IDC reported that Apple had amassed a 9.4 percent share of the U.S. PC market--a jump from the 8.6 percent of the previous quarter. Near the end of the previous quarter Apple offered some price cuts on most of its Mac models. The sales numbers for the quarter, whatever they end up being, will be regarded as a commentary on whether those price cuts went far enough.
Euro heads towards $1.50 before key meet
In London morning deals, the euro rose to 1.4928 dollars, from 1.4903 dollars late in New York on Friday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar fell to 90.52 yen from 91.09 yen late on Friday.
"The euro has been creeping higher again ... despite a push below 1.4850 dollars overnight on fears that European officials may speak out against the euro's strength," said Jane Foley, an analyst at currency traders Forex.com.
WORLD FOREX: Dollar Generally Lower, But Sterling Slides
By Katie Martin
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON (Dow Jones)--The dollar has fallen a little against most other major currencies through European trading hours, although it has gained against sterling, which is declining after last week's surprise gains.
Concerns that euro-zone finance ministers, who are meeting Monday and Tuesday, might bemoan the euro's current strength pushed the single currency to a session low of $1.4829 in Asian hours.
However, that currency move swiftly reversed in later Asian trading and the euro's climb accelerated as European trading began, offering a hint that markets aren't taking the prospect of solid action against euro strength seriously at the moment.
Israel claims Russian pledge on Gaza war report
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wrote in a letter that Moscow would oppose the Security Council, of which it is a veto-wielding member, examining the Goldstone report, the official said on condition of anonymity.
"The Russian ambassador to Israel, Peter Stegnyi, handed the letter to the foreign ministry several days ago," he said.
Tough task of vanquishing Taliban
It has deployed thousands of troops and a vast array of weaponry for what it knows is a crucial battle for the future of the Pakistani state.
But despite all these measures, it increasingly appears that traditional factors in this remote mountainous region bordering Afghanistan will be decisive.
"Ultimately it will come down to the terrain and weather," says a senior government official based in the region.
"The timing of the operation is not the best and the forces will have to push fast and hard to defeat before the snows come."
At the moment, the situation is a stalemate as the army tries to use ground troops backed by heavy weapons and air power to push back the Taliban.
Gold little changed, pressured by firmer dollar
Last Wednesday, spot gold soared to an all-time high of $1,070.40 an ounce, while New York gold futures hit a record peak of $1,072 as the greenback's weakness spurred buying of gold, which became less expensive for holders of other currencies.
The precious metal is also often bought as a hedge against a depreciation in the U.S. currency.
"The dollar is recovering a touch against the euro, and that is putting pressure on gold," said Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at Tokyo's Fujitomi Co Ltd.
BEHIND OUR MARKET TIMING INDICATOR
Following the markets drop in the summer 2008, we have put into place a Market Timing indicator in October 08. This indicator, added on top of our portfolios, helps to reduce volatility by a big margin.
The following graph shows how one of our portfolio, the Ultimate Price Momentum v4, is affected by the addition of our Market Timing Indicator. See how the red line equity curve experiences a lower volatility:
Note: Whereas the underlying portfolios data have been recorded live, the indicator signals before October 08 have been simulated. Indicator signals after October 08 have been recorded live.
We are still in the process of integrating this indicator in our website. In the mean time, you can get more information by reading the following threads on our forum:
RHB Capital Expands into Indonesia
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia's fourth-largest lender by assets, RHB Capital Bhd., is expanding its regional footprint with plans to buy 80% of Indonesia's PT Bank Mestika Dharma for 1.16 billion ringgit ($344.2 million).
RHB Capital will join Malaysian peers such as CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. and Malayan Banking Bhd. in penetrating the Indonesian market.
CIMB has a controlling stake Bank CIMB Niaga while Maybank has majority stake in Bank Internasional Indonesia.
RHB plans to extend Bank Mestika's presence throughout Indonesia. RHB Capital Managing Director Tajuddin Atan said Bank Mestika has 50 branches and "with a strong capital adequacy ratio of 27% currently, it should be able to fund its expansion through internally generated funds."
Mr. Tajuddin said Bank Mestika is exploring an initial public offering and expects to be listed on the Indonesian stock exchange by the second quarter of next year.
He expects Bank Mestika to contribute positively to the company's earnings.
"The group's contribution from overseas operations will be raised to 8% from 4% based on the first-year contribution from Bank Mestika," RHB Capital Chief Financial Officer Kellee Kam Chee Khiong said.
The planned purchase from PT Mestika Benua Mas, the major shareholder in Bank Mestika, pegs the transaction at 3.5 times price to book and 23 times price to earnings, RHB Capital Director Azlan Zainol said.
Pakistan fights 'mother of all battles' with the Taliban
The tanks, armoured columns and helicopter gunships of Pakistan's army stormed into South Waziristan, the global headquarters of al-Qaeda and its Taliban allies.
Within hours of leaving their camps early on Saturday morning to fight what is being hailed as the decisive battle in the war against terror, 12 soldiers had been killed in the first ferocious gunfights.
Pakistan's generals have called the offensive the "mother of all battles" for the survival of a country under siege.
There were reports of Taliban compounds coming under aerial bombardment from Pakistan gunships as troops moved out in three columns from Razmak to the north, Jandola to the east and Shakai in the west, and advanced on notorious Taliban target towns like Makeen and Ladha.
My kid, the ratings bonanza: beyond the 'balloon boy' saga
Falcon Heene isn't the only child drafted into TV-ready story lines -- think Octomom, Jon & Kate's 8, 'Toddlers and Tiaras.'
Reporting from Fort Collins, Colo., and Los Angeles -- The strange case of Falcon Heene took another twist Sunday when a Colorado sheriff said the boy's parents had staged the runaway balloon saga as a publicity stunt to score a reality television show.
Revolutionary guards killed in Iran suicide bomb
The commanders were inside a car on their way to a meeting in the Pishin region near Iran's border with Pakistan when an attacker with explosives blew himself up.Iran's parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, condemned the assassination of the Guard commanders, saying the bombing was aimed at disrupting security in southeastern Iran.
Oct 18, 2009
Bank of America loses $2.24B as loan losses rise
By IEVA M. AUGSTUMS (AP) – 2 days ago
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bank of America Corp. said Friday it lost more than $2 billion in the third quarter as loan losses kept rising, providing further evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills.
The nation's second-largest bank, which lost $2.24 billion after accounting for preferred dividends, said its losses for failed loans came to almost $10 billion during the July-September period, up almost $1 billion from the second quarter. The bank also added $2.1 billion to its reserves to cover bad loans, bringing its provision for credit losses to $11.7 billion. The bank's total allowance for loan and lease losses sits at $35.83 billion.
Bank of America's results were aided by profit from investment bank Merrill Lynch, including income from bond, stock and currency trading.
Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 Uses Snapdragon?
The Dow Jones Finishes at 10,015 (BAC, JPM, INTC)
U.S. stocks rallied, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 10,000 for the first time in a year to finish the day at 10,015 thanks to better-than-estimated earnings at JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), but can Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) keep the rally going?
JPMorgan Chase's (JPM) third-quarter earnings soared as strong investment-banking results outweighed another sizable provision for loan losses. Chief Financial Officer Michael Cavanagh said the bank "is getting close to the end of loan-loss reserves." The nation's biggest banks joined JPMorgan, the first to report with Bank of America (BAC) next on deck to report this Friday.
Bank of America Corporation (Public, NYSE:BAC) is reporting Q3 2009 earnings on Friday (Oct 16th) before the market open and Wall Street is expecting the partially government owned financial giant to report a loss of 7 Cents per share,
