03.06.10
Posted in .com, hot news, money, top, world of money tagged All, blogs, events, money, opinion at 3:12 pm by carydalton
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Anglo-Swiss mining firm Xstrata gained ground on Friday after a deal to sell its Prodeco assets in Columbia to shareholder Glencore, a move that helped the metals sector to advance in the British stock market.
Xstrata shares climbed 2.5% after it said Glencore International will exercise its option to acquire its Prodeco coal operations in Columbia.
Under the option agreement, Glencore, which holds more than 34% of Xstrata, will pay Xstrata at least $2.25 billion in cash upon completion of the sale.
“Glencore’s decision to exercise its option provides Xstrata’s shareholders with a robust cash return on the initial purchase price and provides additional financial flexibility as Xstrata’s capital expenditure program ramps up to deliver 50% volume growth by 2014,” said Xstrata CEO Mick Davis.
Analysts at MF Global noted: “Prodeco was Glencore’s asset contribution during the [Xstrata] rights issue last year, when the metals trader did not have the cash to participate.”
They believe that the deal will take Xstrata’s net debt/EBITDA ratio back below 1 times which “should allow the group to spend more on capital expenditure or even mergers and acquisitions.”
They added: “investors in that context could focus on Lonmin once more, of which Xstrata already owns 24.65%.” Platinum miner Lonmin rose 1.8%.
Overall, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.4% to 5,550.99 on Friday and other European shares also advanced. U.S. stock futures were pointing to mild gains ahead of key jobs data due out later. See Europe Markets. Read more on jobs.
“News flow from Japan is overshadowing the final trading session of the week, though we expect that will change in a few hours when the U.S. employment report for February is published,” said Kenneth Broux, economist at Lloyds Corporate Markets.
On Friday, there was speculation that Japan will ease monetary policy through April in order to push down short-term rates. The BOJ’s policy board is expected to discuss such steps at a two-day meeting starting March 16, Japanese business daily Nikkei reported cash advance. Read more on BOJ.
Banks were higher in London trading, with Standard Chartered shares up 2.4% and HSBC Holdings up 1%.
Still, shares of advertising giant WPP / declined 0.7%. Its fiscal-year net profit was broadly flat at 437.7 million pounds, compared to 439.1 million pounds a year ago. Sales rose 16.1 to 8.68 billion pounds.
WPP said that 2010 should be a more stable year although “there is no marked growth as yet.”
Shares of British American Tobacco declined 0.4% to 2,309 pence.
It was downgraded to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse with the broker saying it sees limited upside to its new target price of 2,350p following a recent strong performance for the firm’s shares. It raised 2010 and 2011 earnings per share forecasts for the firm by 4%, mainly to reflect recent sterling weakness.
“At current levels, we would favor Imperial Tobacco and Philip Morris International , which should also deliver robust earnings growth in 2010 as pricing - the industry’s main P&L lever - remains good,” the broker said.
Outside the top index, United Business Media shares jumped 10%.
The media firm posted 2009 profit after tax of 81.8 million pounds, from 82.7 million pounds last year and also resolved its “decade-long dialogue” with the U.K. tax authorities following the sale of its regional newspapers business in 1998.
“We have agreed to make a payment of 46.5 million pounds in settlement of this and a number of other tax issues. This, together with the resolution of a number of other tax matters, has resulted in a release of 135.2 million pounds of our previous tax creditor,” the firm said.
Michael Page International shares fell 1.7%.
The recruitment firm’s 2009 net profit fell to 12.4 million pounds, from 97.3 million pounds recorded at the same point last year. Revenue declined to 716.7 million pounds, from 972.8 million pounds last year.
London Markets: British shares up as miners, banks rise
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03.05.10
Posted in .com, business, economic, news, online tagged events, finance, newsreports, personal, politics at 7:12 am by carydalton
NEW YORK – Shoppers returned to the nation’s malls last month, buying a surprising amount of spring clothing and other items and helping stores post the strongest retail sales since November 2007, a month before the recession began.
The better-than-expected 3.7 percent gain reported Thursday showed that Americans are still thrifty, but they are letting go of some of the frugality brought on by the economic downturn. And many are willing to spend for certain higher-end goods.
Consumers “are now starting to go back to where they had typically shopped” before the recession, said Michael Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers, who expected a 2 percent gain. “I’m surprised by the broad strength.”
But, he added, there’s still uncertainty about whether such a robust pace can be sustained, particularly later this year when the sales figures are being compared with more stabilized spending patterns.
The February sales report was the third consecutive monthly increase, according to the ICSC. The monthly index excludes Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which stopped reporting monthly sales last year.
Shoppers shrugged off snowstorms and worries about the economy to visit a broad array of merchants, from luxury retailer Nordstrom to middlebrow Macy’s Inc. to discounter Target Corp., which all reported solid sales increases that beat Wall Street analysts’ estimates.
The figures are based on sales at stores open at least a year and are considered a key indicator of a retailer’s health.
Stores in malls, which had seen sales plunge as their customers traded down to cheaper options, are starting to bring shoppers back by offering lower-priced or exclusive items.
Saks Fifth Avenue, for example, is expanding its exclusive merchandise offerings, putting more emphasis on lower prices and expanding its discount Off Fifth chain.
Selia Black, 26, was at the Manhattan Mall in New York on Thursday to find a birthday gift for her sister. She splurged on a $178 jacket at full price at Bebe. A year ago, she would have been scouring for a present that was deeply discounted, she said.
“I’m easing up a little bit, but not totally,” said the Brooklyn woman. She does not work, but her husband is a security guard.
Black says the recession has made her switch from Macy’s to discounters such as Marshall’s, and she planned to keep shopping at discount stores even when the economy recovers.
“You always get the deals,” she said. “But this is something special.”
Dennis Jacobe, chief economist at Gallup, believes shoppers’ thriftiness may have thawed a bit, as shoppers who have jobs are buying a little more. But, he said, frugality has not gone away, based on Gallup’s polls.
“We are in a new normal of spending,” he said low fee payday advance. He cited Gallup surveys taken Feb. 1 to Feb. 3 in which 57 percent of consumers polled said they are spending less. One-third of those surveyed said curtailed spending will be their normal pattern.
Another factor that helped the monthly sales figures look so strong was that February 2009 figures were so awful. Jacobe says spending levels are still well below 2008.
February, sandwiched between post-holiday clearance and spring, is the second-least important month of the year for retailers after January. Analysts see combined data for March and April as a more accurate measure of consumer behavior.
Still, the fact that shoppers were buying full-priced spring clothing was a pleasant surprise in the face of a sharp drop in the monthly Consumer Confidence Index.
Economists pointed to factors that depressed shoppers’ mood last month but did not seem to affect spending: gridlock in Congress over the jobs bill and a dive in the stock market related to worries about Greece’s national debt — not to mention repeated winter storms that buried much of the country in heavy snow.
Most economists say companies need to start hiring significantly in order for spending to keep improving. Unemployment stood at 9.7 percent in January and was expected to increase to 9.8 percent in February. The Labor Department was to report new job figures Friday.
In other encouraging signs for the economy, the Labor Department reported Thursday that new claims for jobless benefits fell last week, reflecting that layoffs may be easing as the economy slowly recovers. Factory orders also rose in January, according to the Commerce Department.
Shoppers are buying food at Wal-Mart and picking up discounted designer clothing at TJ Maxx, but trading up to stores such as Macy’s and Kohl’s for exclusive merchandise, said Craig Johnson, president of retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners.
Target, the nation’s second-largest discounter behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said February sales in stores open at least a year rose 2.4 percent as it attracted more customers and more spending per customer. But food and household essentials remained the biggest sellers, with furniture and clothing sales about flat with last year.
Gap, where sales had been led by low-price Old Navy, is starting to see a recovery across all its brands, including upscale Banana Republic, where sales were hurt when the financial meltdown escalated. Sales at namesake Gap stores were flat, but Banana Republic posted a 6 percent gain and Old Navy’s business improved by 5 percent.
Retail sales post strongest gains since late 2007
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02.04.10
Posted in .com, All, Free blog Tips, hot news, shortly tagged economics, events, markets, political, politics at 6:12 am by carydalton
GENEVA – In an embarrassment to Switzerland’s government, the country’s top court said Wednesday that at least $4.6 million in Swiss bank accounts previously awarded to charities must be returned to the family of Haiti’s ex-dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier.
The decision was reached on Jan. 12, just hours before the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti, killing at least 150,000 people. The ruling is urelated to the disaster, but the amount of money contested could feed more than a million Haitians for two weeks.
The court’s decision was only published Wednesday, prompting the Swiss government to issue an emergency decree to keep the money frozen in a Swiss bank until a new law can be passed allowing it to be donated to aid groups working in Haiti.
“This is a public relations disaster for Switzerland,” said Mark Pieth, a Swiss professor with a long resume in international corruption cases such as the U.N. oil-for-food scandal.
In the decision, the Federal Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s ruling that the money should have gone to aid groups working in the impoverished nation because the statute of limitations on any crimes committed by the Duvalier clan would have expired in 2001.
Delays are common in Switzerland between court verdicts and their public announcements, but the release of the decision could not have come at a worse time. Beyond depriving Haiti’s relief efforts of additional money, the ruling also strikes a blow at Switzerland’s long-standing efforts to shed its image as an investment haven for the world’s dictators.
“We assume that this money doesn’t belong to the Duvalier family,” said Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, the Swiss justice minister. “We’ve blocked the money again today to prevent that it goes somewhere that it shouldn’t for political reasons. We really hope that this money finally goes back to the country.”
Many Haitians accuse Duvalier and his entourage of robbing millions from public funds before he was ousted in 1986. Duvalier is believed to be living in exile in France and has always denied wrongdoing.
The decision cannot be appealed, but the Swiss Foreign Ministry said it would try to keep the money from being withdrawn while it works on a better national law for dealing with assets of “criminal origin.” It said the amount of money actually totaled $5.7 million, though the reason for the discrepancy was unclear.
The government “wants to avoid the Swiss financial center serving as a haven for illegally acquired assets,” it said in a statement, adding that a new law working retroactively could be ready this month. Widmer-Schlumpf was less optimistic, but said the law could come into effect as early as 2011.
Switzerland has traditionally been a favorite location for potentate money because of its banking secrecy rules. But reforms over the last two decades have made it harder to hide money in Switzerland, and the country has become a world leader in returning cash.
Virtually all of about $730 million in Swiss accounts linked to the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha has been sent back to the African country, while the Philippines recouped hundreds of millions stashed in Swiss banks by late dictator Ferdinand Marcos low cost payday loans.
Problems have nonetheless persisted, particularly linked to the statute of limitations. Last year, the heirs of late Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko recovered about $7.4 million, even though Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey had promised in 2007 to return the cash to the Congolese government.
Swiss officials gave few details about the new law they hoped to create to make it easier for assets belonging to deposed dictators to be repatriated to national governments. The current rules only allow Switzerland to return cash when asked for by a national government that is pursuing its own criminal investigation — a handicap in countries where amnesty laws, corruption or weak legal systems hinder prosecution of past leaders.
Haiti made its first request for the money in 1986, shortly after Duvalier’s ouster.
But it has been frozen ever since because Switzerland would not give it back while the Haitian government wasn’t pursuing Duvalier under its own justice system. As a way out, the Swiss government had proposed giving the money to aid groups working in Haiti.
“At a time when everyone tries to help Haiti, issuing a decision that the money belongs to the dictator’s family because of the statute of limitations is very clumsy,” Pieth said. “You have a head of state with a secret army that tortures people, and at the same time he empties the state treasury. The people cannot defend themselves. It’s robbing from the people, and this aspect has to be addressed by the court.”
The U.N. says about $2 billion has already been donated to various relief efforts in Haiti. But the country’s long-term problems related to infrastructure, endemic poverty and criminality means more will be needed to stabilize the country.
The $4.6 million may represent only a drop in the bucket, but the U.N. food agency could use it to feed 1.25 million Haitians for two weeks, said spokeswoman Emilia Casella.
The Supreme Court said it was unhappy about the ruling but that its hands were legally tied, forcing it to reverse an August decision that said the Duvalier family had essentially acted as a “criminal organization” by diverting public funds through a Liechtenstein foundation to accounts at UBS AG, Switzerland’s largest bank.
UBS declined to comment, but said the bank and its employees have donated $3 million to Haiti.
The Swiss government’s decision to keep the money blocked is based on an article in the Swiss Constitution giving it the power to issue emergency decrees to protect national interests. Officials wouldn’t explain the move further.
__
Associated Press writers Bradley S. Klapper and Frank Jordans contributed to this report.
Haiti, Swiss gov’t losers in Duvalier cash ruling
Hot News: Civil Madoff-related fraud charges dismissed
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02.02.10
Posted in .com, hot news, money, online, world of money tagged blogs, economy, events, life, personal at 9:47 pm by carydalton
NEW YORK – Shares of several staffing agencies ticked higher Tuesday after Manpower Inc. posted fourth-quarter results that beat analysts’ expectations, and its CEO said he is confident about the sustainability of an economic recovery.
Manpower said quarterly earnings plunged 62 percent as employers still feared taking on more workers and unemployment continued to hover around 10 percent. Still, the results topped estimates and CEO Jeffrey Joerres said revenue should start to grow in the first quarter for the first time since late 2008.
“(The) CEO’s commentary regarding the recovery was much stronger and more positive than his comments out of Davos last week,” Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a note to investors Tuesday, referring to the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
The Milwaukee-based company said it’s continuing to see improving trends across its businesses and is more confident that the global economic recovery is sustainable. It also announced it will acquire fellow staffing firm Comsys IT Partners Inc installment payday loans., which provides temporary employees for information technology jobs.
Shares of Manpower Inc. rose $2.08, or 3.9 percent, to $55.24 in afternoon trading.
Other staffing companies also advanced. Shares of Robert Half International Inc. gained 32 cents to $27.19. The owner of Accountemps and OfficeTeam last week reported a 65 percent drop in its fourth-quarter earnings as high unemployment persisted but also still beat Wall Street expectations. The company placed more temporary and more permanent workers in new jobs than it had in the third quarter, providing some evidence of a recovery.
Shares of blue-collar staffer True Blue Inc. added 28 cents, or 2 percent, to $14.47 and jobs Web site operator Monster Worldwide Inc. climbed 35 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $15.94. Kelly Services Inc. rose 24 cents to $13.80.
Shares of staffing cos. rise on Manpower results
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01.28.10
Posted in .com, All, money, news, online tagged All, events, marketing, markets, political at 11:00 am by carydalton
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Bank of China said Thursday it may sell additional shares in Hong Kong even as it moves ahead with a 40 billion yuan ($5.9 billion) convertible bond sale, moves designed to ensure it meets capital adequacy ratios.
Asian Shares Mostly Up After Fed Announcement
Asian markets rise after a modest rise on Wall Street, and the Fed’s more upbeat assessment on the economy. Dow Jones Newswires’ Leslie Shaffer reports.
Bank of China said in statement filed with stock market regulators in Hong Kong that the fund raising is designed to help the bank maintain a capital adequacy ratio of at least 11.5% in 2010 and 2011.
The bank was the most aggressive in terms of issuing new loans last year, responding to Beijing’s order to help prop up the economy.
In total, Chinese banks extended 9.6 trillion yuan in 2009, nearly double levels from a year earlier.
Beijing has targeted an additional 7 car loans for people with bad credit.5 trillion yuan in new lending this year, stoking concerns that the institutions will need to raise funds to ensure they stay within regulatory requirements.
Bank of China said in a statement on Thursday that the timing of the Hong Kong equity sales would depend on market conditions, regulatory approvals and other factors.
The bank’s capital adequacy ratio may have slipped to below 11% at the end of December, down from 11.6% at the end of September, according to a report by Dow Jones Newswires Thursday, which cited unidentified analysts.
China Merchants Securities research estimates Bank of China will need to raise about 60 billion yuan in addition to the planed 40 billion yuan convertible bond to maintain an 11.5% capital adequacy ratio, the report said.
Bank of China may issue more HK-listed stock
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01.23.10
Posted in .com, economic, money, news, top tagged All, events, money, opinion, work at 1:29 am by carydalton
ELYRIA, Ohio – A combative President Barack Obama exhorted Congress Friday to pass a new job-creation bill, taking a populist appeal to America’s recession-racked Rust Belt in hopes of recapturing the energy of his campaign and moving his presidency beyond this week’s blows.
Obama weaved angry us-against-them rhetoric throughout the day, telling a town hall audience that he “will never stop fighting” for an economy that works for the hard-working, not just those already well off.
“This isn’t about me. This is about you,” Obama shouted in a rousing defense of his presidency and not-so-subtle slaps at his critics. “I think that I win when you win. That’s how I think about it.”
He said a jobs bill emerging in Congress must include tax breaks for small business hiring and for people trying to make their homes more energy efficient — two proposals he wasn’t able to get into a bill the House passed last month. And he used the word “fight” or some variation of it well over a dozen times. The House-passed $174 billion stimulus package faces a stern test in the Senate, in part because it is financed with deficit spending.
With the town hall meeting, tours of a factory and classroom, an impromptu diner stop and even the lack of a necktie, Obama’s day had the feel of one from his campaign. Followed by campaign videographers, he grinned, bantered and joked through the snowy scenery, a far cry from his more somber demeanor of late.
The upset win by Republican Scott Brown in a special Massachusetts Senate election this week — a victory spurred in large part by an anti-establishment sentiment — badly stung the White House and prompted awareness that neither Obama’s agenda nor the electoral prospects for fellow Democrats this fall can be taken for granted.
So in his at the town hall meeting at Lorain County Community College near Cleveland, the president assailed Washington and Wall Street alike, hoping to connect with public’s frustration and position himself as the solution — not the problem.
He strongly defended unpopular actions he has taken to bail out banks and insurers and to rescue automakers from collapse. Such measures have not gone over well in many quarters, derided as expanding government and swelling the deficit while many on Main Street still walk unemployment lines.
Obama said propping up the financial industry was as much about regular Americans as wealthy bankers. “If the financial system had gone down, it would have taken the entire economy and millions more families and businesses with it,” he argued on line pay day loans.
Similarly, allowing GM and Chrysler to go under might have satisfied calls to force businesses to reap the consequences of bad decisions.
But he also said, “Hundreds of thousands of Americans would have been hurt, not just at those companies, but at auto suppliers and other companies and dealers here in Michigan — here in Ohio — up in Michigan and all across this country.”
Obama made a repeated point of criticizing Washington, too — saying that one can get a “pretty warped view of things” from inside the capital city, targeting special interest power and mocking the popular parlor game of handicapping his presidency.
“Is he weakened? Oh, how is he going to survive this?” he joked. “That’s what they do.”
He sought to demonstrate understanding for the economic uncertainty that lingers in many American homes and businesses despite some economic improvements.
“Folks have seen jobs you thought would last forever disappear. You’ve seen plants close and businesses shut down,” Obama said.
He promised to help. “I won’t stop fighting for you,” he said. “I’ll take my lumps.”
He acknowledged “we got a little bit of a buzz saw” on health care overhaul. But he said his pursuit of sweeping overhaul was — and still is — the right thing to do even amid war and economic crisis. “I am not going to walk away just because it’s hard.”
The choice of Ohio was no accident.
It has unemployment slightly higher than the national average, with the state reporting before Obama landed in Cleveland that its rate had ticked upward in December, to 10.9 percent from 10.6 percent the month before. The national rate was 10 percent in December.
Ohio is also a political must-win — a state Obama won in 2008 and probably must win again if he is to get a second White House term.
Across the street from the community college were groups of anti-Obama protesters.
“He’s done a lot, but they are all negative things,” said Ray Angell, 65, of Twinsburg, Ohio, a conservative active in the anti-tax Tea Party movement, mentioning the stimulus package and climate change proposals.
___
Associated Press writer Thomas J. Sheeran contributed to this story.
Defiant Obama urges Congress to pass jobs bill
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01.15.10
Posted in All, Free blog Tips, hot news, shortly, top tagged blogs, campaign, events, politics, world at 5:06 am by carydalton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell in December as consumer spent less on vehicles and an array of other goods during the holiday shopping month, data showed on Thursday, raising concerns about the durability of the economy's recovery.
The Commerce Department said total retail sales fell 0.3 percent last month, the first decline in three months, after rising by an upwardly revised 1.8 percent in November. Sales in November were previously reported to have increased 1.3 percent.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales gaining 0.5 percent last month.
Compared to December 2008, sales rose 5.4 percent, but fell 6.2 percent for the whole of 2009.
Motor vehicle purchases fell 0.8 percent, while sales at electronics and appliance stores dropped 2.6 percent.
The data, coming in the wake of a report last week showing a surprise drop in non-farm payrolls in December, could add to worries that the economic expansion that started in the third quarter of 2008 could falter once government stimulus ends bad credit personal loan lenders.
Stubbornly high unemployment remains the weakest link in the recovery from the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. Job worries are expected to constrain consumer spending, which normally accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity.
Excluding motor vehicles and parts, retail sales fell 0.2 percent in December, the biggest decline since July, after rising 1.9 percent the prior month. Economists had expected a 0.3 percent increase.
Core retail sales, which excludes autos, gasoline and building materials, fell 0.3 percent after rising 0.9 percent in November.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Neil Stempleman)
Retail sales unexpectedly fall in December
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01.13.10
Posted in .com, Free blog Tips, online, top, world of money tagged events, news, people, work, writing at 9:35 pm by carydalton
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks ended higher on Wednesday, pushing the Dow average to a fresh 15-month closing high, as investors bought financial and technology shares, and Merck & Co (MRK.N) benefited from a brokerage upgrade.
Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) rose 53.66 points, or 0.50 percent, to end at 10,680 payday loans.92. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 9.47 points, or 0.83 percent, at 1,145.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 25.59 points, or 1.12 percent, at 2,307.90.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
Market ends higher; tech, financials lead
Hot News: Ruble Jumps as Russia Returns From Holidays
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01.12.10
Posted in All, Free blog Tips, business, shortly, top tagged economics, events, life, money, writing at 8:54 pm by carydalton
LONDON (AFP) – The leading stock exchange fell on Tuesday as investors reacted to weak earnings data from US aluminium producer Alcoa, which kicked off the latest results season in the world's biggest economy.
The FTSE 100 index slumped 0.71 percent to 5,498.71 points, dragged down by heavyweight mining groups whose share prices suffered after Alcoa's earnings missed analyst expectations.
Lloyds was the most traded stock, seeing 187 million units change hands, followed by telecom giant Vodafone, which saw 128 million shares switch owners.
Land Securities topped the leader board, gaining 10.50 pence — or 1.54 percent — to finish at 693.50.
The day's second-best performer was wholesale firm Wolseley, up 21 instant payday loan.00 pence — or 1.47 percent — to stand at 1,447.
The session's biggest loser was silver miner Fresnillo, which lost 44.00 pence — or 5.16 percent — to close at 808, as metal prices tumbled.
It was followed by peer Lonmin, which shed 88.00 pence — or 4.08 percent — to finish at 2,069.
Sterling gained ground against the euro and the dollar.
At 17:06, the pound was trading at $1.6181, up from $1.6115 at Monday's close. Against the euro, the pound stood at 0.8975 euros, up from 0.8962 over the same period.
FTSE 100 closes lower
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01.11.10
Posted in All, Free blog Tips, business, news, top tagged business, events, life, personal, politics at 2:00 pm by carydalton
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian stocks hit a 17-month high on Monday as a strong rebound in China's exports raised investor optimism about Asia's economies while the dollar suffered its biggest loss in six weeks after poor U.S. jobs data.
European shares were expected to gain, financial spreadbetters said, as the dollar's weakness pushed the euro to a three-week high. U.S. stock futures were up 0.4 percent.
China's exports and imports last month blew past expectations, with exports surging 17.7 percent from a year earlier to break 13 months of declines. The trade data, released on Sunday, triggered a shift into Asian assets as investors shrugged off Friday's disappointing U.S. non-farm payrolls data.
Gold pushed up to a five-week high at $1,157.65 an ounce at one point as the data showed a sharp rise in China's commodities imports and sent the Australian dollar to a 26-month peak against the euro.
Chia-Liang Lian, a senior vice president at bond fund PIMCO, said Asia's fundamentals made it highly attractive.
"We have seen how Asia has navigated successfully through a tough year with a score card that is nothing short of spectacular," Lian told Reuters in an interview.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) hit its highest level since July 2008, gaining 1.2 percent. The Thomson Reuters index of Asian shares (.TRXFLDAXPU) was 0.8 percent higher.
Japanese financial markets were closed for a public holiday.
Australia's leading share index (.AXJO) climbed 0.8 percent to a 15-month high as the China data lifted resource companies that benefit from Chinese demand.
"People are gradually getting more comfortable with the recovery story. You have seen some reasonably good data out of China, and there have been no disasters, no more Dubais," said Greg Goodsell, equity strategist at RBS Australia.
The Australian dollar soared to its highest in more than two years against the euro and to a five-week high against the dollar.
OIL TOPS $83
Resource-related shares gained in Hong Kong, including Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) (2600.HK) (601600.SS), the country's top aluminum company, which surged 5 percent, and Jiangxi Copper (0358 allstate insurance company.HK)(600362.SS), China's top metals producer, which rose more than 3 percent.
Chinese brokerage shares gained in Shanghai after news late last week that Beijing had decided to allow stock index futures and margin trading.
The dollar, however, extended losses stemming from the jobs report, which dampened expectations of an early rise in U.S. interest rates.
A member of the U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy committee, James Bullard, said on Monday that rates may remain low for quite some time, reiterating the central bank's long-standing position.
The dollar dropped 0.5 percent against a basket of currencies (.DXY) and was quoted at a three-week low at around $1.4533 against the euro.
The U.S. economy shed 85,000 jobs in December, confounding expectations that the job market was finally stabilizing. Still, analysts argued the outcome was consistent with economic recovery because the pace of job losses had dropped sharply since the height of recession.
Oil jumped more than 1 percent, topping $83 a barrel, on the back of the weak dollar, extremely cold weather in the northern hemisphere and a surge in China's crude oil imports last month.
China's export rebound fueled expectations China could soon let the yuan start rising again and helped push Asian currencies higher as a stronger yuan would benefit pricing for fellow Asian exporters.
The high-yielding Indonesian rupiah jumped 1 percent to 9,120 to the dollar, despite suspected intervention by the central bank. It has gained 3.3 percent so far this year as investors have sought out higher-yielding assets.
South Korean authorities were also seen intervening to curb the won which touched a 15-month high of 1,117.5 to the dollar.
PIMCO's Lian said Asian currencies were still undervalued on a trade-weighted basis and cited the yuan, the won and the Singapore dollar among his top currency picks. He also likes Indonesian debt which offers better yield than other Asian debt.
(Additional reporting by Saikat Chatterjee in HONG KONG and Victoria Thieberger in MELBOURNE; Editing by Jan Dahinten)
Asia stocks hit 17-month high on China export surge
Hot News: Fed unlikely to be swayed by jobs data: Bullard
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12.28.09
Posted in .com, All, Free blog Tips, hot news, news tagged campaign, events, people, reviews, writing at 3:54 am by carydalton
MIAMI (Reuters) – A key informant in the U.S. tax evasion case against Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N) has asked a Florida court to postpone the scheduled January 8 start of his prison term, saying he is ready to cooperate further with the U.S. government in the case.
Former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld, who was sentenced in August to three years and four months in prison for helping a billionaire hide assets from U.S. tax authorities, made the postponement request in a filing this weekend by his lawyer to a U business card.S. district court in Florida.
The filing also requested a hearing to reconsider the 4O-month sentence imposed on Birkenfeld by federal Judge William Zloch on August 21.
(Reporting by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Leslie Adler)
UBS case whistleblower requests prison postponement
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12.25.09
Posted in hot news, online, shortly, top, world of money tagged campaign, events, life, marketing, people at 8:48 pm by carydalton
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Mortgage rates rose for a third straight week as the 30-year loan climbed back above the 5% level for the first time since Oct. 29, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
The mortgage agency’s weekly rate survey showed the national average on the 30-year mortgage at 5.05%, up from 4.94% a week ago but below its year-ago average of 5.14%. The 15-year loan, a popular refinancing choice, also jumped, to 4.45% from 4.38%. A year ago the 15-year loan was at 4.91%.
Mortgage fix elusive for many
Recent evidence suggests housing is rebounding, but many mortgage holders who face financial problems because of the recession have a tough climb to modify their loans and keep their homes out of foreclosure. (Dec. 16)
Adjustable-rate mortgages rose as well, but only slightly. The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM averaged 4.40%, up from 4.37%. The hybrid was at 5.49% a year ago. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMS averaged 4.38%, up from 4.34%. Last year at this time the ARM was at 4.95%.
To achieve the rates, the 30-year loan required the payment of an average 0.7 point; the other three loans needed 0 low cost payday loans.6 point. A point is 1% of the loan amount, charged as prepaid interest.
“Although interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are above 5% this week for the first time since the end of October, they are still around 0.5 percentage points below this year’s peak set in mid-June,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist. “ARM rates increased by a lesser amount as the market consensus calls for no rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in the immediate future.”
Nothaft pointed out that the low rates have helped the housing market continue to show improvement. “Total existing home sales jumped 7.4% in November to an annualized pace of 6.54 million units, which was the most since February 2007. Moreover, the number of unsold existing homes was the lowest since December 2006 and the number of unsold new homes was the least since April 1971, which may leave future room for new construction.”
Mortgages: 30-year motgage jumps back over 5%
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11.30.09
Posted in Free blog Tips, business, economic, hot news, shortly tagged business, campaign, events, news, opinion at 8:29 pm by carydalton
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks inched lower on Monday with retail shares down after Black Friday and data suggesting weak holiday sales, while data showing expansion in business activity in the Midwest helped to limit losses.
Investors said the market's sell-off on Friday in response to concerns about a debt default in Dubai had been overdone, and that tremors would be minor in U.S. equities markets.
The S&P Retail index (.RLX) fell 1.3 percent after the National Retail Federation said total Black Friday holiday spending was down from last year, suggesting that consumers were still reluctant to spend.
"Retail sales data did not produce a surprise … it looks like investors are sitting back and regrouping," said Fred Dickson, market strategist and director of retail research at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
"Spillover from Dubai seems to be minimized," he added.
The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer showed that business activity in the U.S. Midwest expanded more than expected in November, reaching its highest level in over a year as new orders jumped.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 8.91 points, or 0.09 percent, at 10,301.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was down 1.15 points, or 0.11 percent, at 1,090.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index ( guaranteed online payday loans.IXIC) was down 5.93 points, or 0.28 percent, at 2,132.51.
On the plus side, online retailers' shares rose after analytics firm comScore said that online spending was the highest it had ever been on Black Friday, with Cyber Monday spending expected to be even stronger.
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) shares hit an all-time high of $135.25 in intraday trading on Nasdaq on Monday after it said its Kindle electronic book reader posted its best sales yet in the month of November. The stock was up 2.1 percent at $134.48.
By midday on Monday, major U.S. department stores' stocks were taking a beating, with Macy's (.M.N) down 6 percent at $15.96 and Saks Inc (SKS.N) down 8.3 percent at $6, both in New York Stock Exchange trading.
On the Dubai front, following last week's request from Dubai for a standstill agreement on billions of dollars in debt, its government said on Monday it will not take responsibility for the debts of the Dubai World conglomerate. The Dubai government's statement squashed creditors' hopes that the emirate would guarantee its liabilities.
(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)
Market dips with retailers on spending worries
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