Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts

Centrica withdraws nuclear plans







Centrica has withdrawn from the UK’s nuclear re-building programme because of increasing costs and delays.






The move further reduces the involvement of UK companies in the massive nuclear project.


Centrica, which owns British Gas, had the option of taking a 20% stake in four new reactors in a partnership with EDF, the French state-owned utility.


Centrica said “the project costs in new nuclear have increased and the construction timetable has extended”.


The nuclear plants being proposed by EDF would be the first such facilities to be built in the UK since 1995. Without Centrica’s investment, the companies behind the projects are likely to have to find alternative backers.


Last month, EDF said it would start discussions with Chinese state-owned nuclear company CGNPC about joining the partnership to build the next generation of UK nuclear plants.


Centrica’s move follows a decision by German utilities E.On and RWE to quit the nuclear sector after Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011. In October, they sold their interest in Horizon Nuclear Power, which was to build reactors at sites near Anglesey and Bristol, to Japan’s Hitachi.


Centrica’s 20% interest in the eight existing nuclear power stations in the UK is unaffected by the decision.


Centrica’s intention had been to get involved in the two new reactors at Hinkley Point, in Somerset, and two at Sizewell, in Suffolk.


‘Not right for Centrica’


The company said in a statement: “With pre-development expenditure on the project approaching the agreed £1bn cap, Centrica’s decision not to proceed follows a detailed appraisal of the project.


“While there has been progress in a number of key project areas, particularly design and planning, there remains uncertainty about overall project costs and the construction schedule. Centrica’s 20% share of the pre-development expenditure will be written off as an exceptional cost in the group’s 2012 results.”


The company’s chief executive, Sam Laidlaw, added in the same statement: “Since our initial investment, the anticipated project costs in new nuclear have increased and the construction timetable has extended by a number of years.


“These factors, in particular the lengthening time frame for a return on the capital invested in a project of this scale, have led us to conclude that participation is not right for Centrica and our shareholders.”


Later, at a news conference, he added that the Fukushima disaster had had a “knock-on impact” on the schedule to build plants in the UK.


A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman said: “We are determined to make the UK a leading global destination for investment in new nuclear, which will play a key role in our future energy mix.


“We welcome EDF Energy’s continued commitment and determination to take forward the Hinkley Point C project. The decision by Centrica reflects the company’s investment priorities and is not a reflection on UK Government policy.


“The recent purchase of Horizon Nuclear Power by Hitachi is clear evidence of the attractiveness of the new nuclear market in the UK.”


EDF said it respected Centrica’s decision, adding: “EDF Energy was prepared for this decision and understands that the profile and scale of this investment may not meet Centrica’s shareholders’ current expectations and priorities.”


Centrica’s news follows publication on Monday of a report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee which showed that the “enormous” legacy of nuclear waste at Sellafield in Cumbria had been allowed to build up,


It said the cost of decommissioning the site had reached £67.5bn, with no indication of when the expense would stop rising.


BBC News – Business





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Ofgem wants ‘rogue’ broker powers







Energy regulator Ofgem is urging the government to give it the power to protect firms from what it calls rogue brokers, mis-selling energy deals.






Its research found that between 14% and 17% of businesses which had used brokers were not satisfied with them.


They were concerned about cold calling, high-pressure sales tactics and unprofessional behaviour from brokers.


Citizens Advice said 42% of complaints it received from small businesses about mis-selling had mentioned brokers.


Ofgem spokesman Mark Wiltsher told the BBC: “We’ve had quite outrageous behaviour; sometimes energy brokers have phoned up impersonating another company, to try and get an energy company switch, and also we’ve had brokers telling a company ‘You’ll get a cheaper deal’, and once they sign up, they find out they are paying more for their energy.”


“We don’t actually have powers over these energy brokers, because they’re independent, so what we’re asking today is for powers so we can take energy brokers that mislead business to court, and if they carry on doing that they will be in contempt of court.”


Welcoming the calls from Ofgem, Adam Scorer from Consumer Focus said: “There is a real protection gap on energy issues for small businesses.”


“Many don’t have the resource or knowledge to tackle the confusing process and high pressure tactics often encountered from energy salespeople.”


BBC News – Business





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Video: Incubator for the Next Generation of Game Design








0fc92  3Gduepif0T1UGY8H4yMDoxOm1qO387Kn Video: Incubator for the Next Generation of Game DesignPlay


Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) — Carol Massar explores the world of video games. She speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “On the Move Asia.” (Source: Bloomberg)










Businessweek.com — Top News





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Canadian dollar declines ahead of U.S. jobs data






TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canadian dollar weakened on Friday, ahead of a U.S. jobs report which will be closely scrutinized for clues on the economic health of Canada’s main trading partner and for what it means for U.S. monetary policy.


The U.S. non-farm payrolls report is expected to show modest growth in January, supporting a view that the U.S. economy continues to recover despite a surprise contraction in economic growth in the final three months of 2012.






The employment report is central as the U.S. Federal Reserve has tied its monetary stance to improvement in the labor market.


Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at TD Securities, said he was braced for less-than-dazzling news.


“The trend for U.S. data releases recently has been towards disappointment relative to expectations and we are a little bit below consensus so we’re expecting perhaps a softer number would be a modest negative for the Canadian dollar,” he said.


At 7:52 a.m. (1252 GMT) the Canadian dollar was trading at C$ 0.9993 to the greenback, or $ 1.0007, compared with C$ 0.9973, or $ 1.0027, at Thursday’s North American close.


The currency hit a fresh 13-month low of C$ 1.3669 against the euro, as the single currency recorded broad gains on a positive outlook for the euro zone.


While the Canadian data calendar is sparse, other U.S. data on tap includes manufacturing and construction spending, and vehicle sales.


The price of a two-year Canadian government bond was unchanged to yield 1.163 percent, while the benchmark 10-year bond fell 19 Canadian cents to yield 2.010 percent.


(Editing by Bernadette Baum)


Economy News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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TSX may open lower on global growth fears






(Reuters) – Canada‘s main stock index looked set to open lower on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve said in its latest statement that economic growth had stalled and as weak German retail sales data hurt investor sentiment.


TOP STORIES






* The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left in place its monthly $ 85 billion bond-buying stimulus plan, arguing the support was needed to lower unemployment even as it indicated a recent stall in U.S. economic growth was likely temporary.


* Potash Corp of Saskatchewan reported a bigger-than-expected 38 percent drop in quarterly profit on Thursday as key potash buyers China and India stayed out of the market, but the company forecast a modest rebound in earnings for 2013.


* Research In Motion Ltd on Wednesday unveiled the long-delayed line of smartphones it hopes will put it on the comeback trail, but it disappointed investors by saying U.S. sales of its all-new BlackBerry 10 devices will not start until March.


* Facebook Inc doubled its mobile advertising revenue in the fourth quarter, a sign that the social network is seeing early success in expanding onto handheld devices as more of its users migrate to smartphones and tablets.


* German retail sales tumbled by their largest amount in over three years in December, preliminary data showed, denting hopes that private consumption can compensate for weaker exports and lift Europe’s largest economy this year.


* Spain’s Santander has sharply raised provisions against bad loans after defaults rose in its home market and key earnings-driver Brazil, while writedowns on rotten Spanish real estate also contributed to a 59 drop in yearly net profit.


MARKET SNAPSHOT


* Canada stock futures traded down 0.2 percent


* U.S. stock futures,, were mixed around -0.01 percent and 0.04 percent <.n></.n>


* European shares <.fteu3>, <.stoxx> were down <.eu></.eu></.stoxx></.fteu3>


COMMODITY PRICE MOVES


* Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index <.trjcrbtr>: 305.0439; fell 0.06 percent</.trjcrbtr>


* Gold futures: $ 1,674.8; fell 0.3 percent


* US crude: $ 97.76; fell 0.18 percent


* Brent crude: $ 114.91; rose 0.01 percent


* LME 3-month copper: $ 8,223.5; fell 0.03 percent


CANADIAN STOCKS TO WATCH


* Agrium Inc : The fertilizer company expects North American potash producers to strike a deal with Indian importers in February or March, ending a long standoff, CEO Mike Wilson said on Wednesday.


* JDS Uniphase Corp : The company reported a quarterly profit on higher demand for its products used in broadband networks in the Americas.


* Turquoise Hill Resources : Rio Tinto Plc said its Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia is on track to reach commercial production in the first half of 2013, countering a media report saying the company was considering a temporary halt to construction work because of political issues.


ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS


Following is a summary of research actions on Canadian companies reported by Reuters.


* AGF Management Ltd : National Bank Financial raises target price to C$ 11 from C$ 9.50 on an increased valuation after the company reported fourth-quarter results.


* Altagas Ltd : CIBC raises price target to C$ 37.50 from C$ 35 after news of plans to form a 50/50 joint venture with Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd to pursue opportunities involving the export of LPG and LNG from Canada to Asia.


* CGI Group : CIBC raises price target to C$ 31 from C$ 30 citing the company’s solid first-quarter results and growth in its U.S. operations.


* KEY Real Estate Investment Trust : CIBC raises to sector performer from sector underperformer and raises price target to C$ 7 from C$ 5.75 after Huntington Capital Corp announced its intention to make an all-cash offer to purchase up to 6.6 million units of the company.


* Teranga Gold Corp. : CIBC cuts price target to C$ 2.50 from C$ 3 after the company’s updated reserve statement for Sabodala showed a decrease in reserve ounces.


ON THE CALENDAR


* Major Canadian economic data includes GDP, producer prices and raw materials


* Major U.S. events and data includes personal income and consumption, PCE price index, initial claims, continuing claims and Chicago PMI


(Reporting by Chandrashekhar Modi; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson)


Economy News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Mortgage approvals pick up again







The number of mortgages agreed by lenders for home buyers has risen for the fifth month in a row, figures from the Bank of England show.






In December, 55,785 mortgages were approved for home buyers, the most since January 2012 and, before that, the highest since December 2009.


The figures suggest that house sales will rise in the coming months.


Lenders have attributed this revival to the government’s Funding for Lending scheme (FLS).


On Tuesday, the Land Registry for England and Wales reported that house prices in England and Wales had risen by 1.7% in 2012.


Although that was the fastest rate for more than two years, the average rise was driven by price increases in London.


FLS is a scheme run by the Bank of England which, since last August, has been offering cheap funds to banks and building societies, on condition they then lend the money to personal and business customers.


The aim has been to stop overall bank lending falling any further, as part of the authorities’ strategy to stop the economy falling even deeper into recession.


The increased funding has already translated into higher sales.


Earlier this month figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) showed that house sales in the UK rose by 5% last year.


There were 932,000 completed sales in 2012, up from 885,000 the previous year, and the highest since 2007.


At the start of January the Bank of England surveyed lenders and found that lending, which had risen in the last three months of 2012, was also expected to rise “significantly” in the first three months of this year.


Mutual lenders, such as building societies, were responsible for an increased share of new mortgage lending last year.


The Building Societies Association (BSA) said new lending by its members rose by 30% in 2012.


This gave them a 22% share of the total new lending market, up from 17% in 2011.


“Mutual lenders are likely to continue to play a prominent role in the mortgage market in 2013, helped in part by the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending Scheme,” said Adrian Coles, director-general of the BSA.


“Well over half of the 35 firms signed up to the scheme in December are mutuals. The full potential of the scheme and its benefits to homebuyers will be demonstrated as the year progresses.”


BBC News – Business





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Soon You Can Flee Your Underwater Home. But It Will Cost You






For some homeowners, March 1 will be Liberation Day. That’s when Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) will start allowing some homeowners who have been stuck in their homes—unable to move because they owe more than the property is worth—to relinquish the houses and cancel their debt.


The new rules (PDF) for deed-in-lieu transactions apply to people who are current or less than 90 days late on their mortgage payments. To the extent that the change makes it easier for people to move—to take a new job, shift locations following the death of a spouse or caregiver, or if they become ill and can no longer afford the house payment—it should help the economic recovery. The change also will benefit military personnel who are relocated.






To be eligible to turn over the house keys, homeowners must be making payments of at least 55 percent of their monthly income for the house and must be able to document a “hardship” that requires a move, such as a spouse’s death. The home must be clean and not damaged. Homeowners may also have to surrender as much as 20 percent of personal assets, excluding retirement accounts, to partially meet the loan’s unpaid balance, depending on the borrower’s financial situation. The program does not affect second mortgages. Mortgage servicers can offer up to $ 6,000 for second-lien holders to release borrowers from the loans, but there’s no requirement that the holders agree. This could limit participation.


The new rules are not a free pass for people who can land a better job and want to escape an underwater mortgage, said Barry Zigas, director of housing policy at the Consumer Federation of America in Washington. “Borrowers who have any kind of equity in their home and are able to pay the mortgage … never come out ahead by just walking away from the home,” he said. “A deed-in lieu is a much better credit event than a foreclosure, but it’s not a great conclusion to the story. But some people, they have no choice.”


Thus, the new rules for mortgage services are hardly a giveaway for debtors who can afford to pay. There is no estimate as to how many borrowers will be eligible to apply for a deed-in-lieu release, although the number is expected to be small, Freddie Mac spokesman Brad German said Monday. Short sales—in which lenders allow the sale of a home for less than they are owed—have been far more popular among distressed borrowers than deed-in-lieu transactions, noted Julia Gordon, director of housing finance at the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan research institute. In the first three quarters of 2012, the Federal Housing Finance Agency approved more than 108,000 short sales, compared with 13,000 deeds-in-lieu.


Nationally, rising home prices helped drive negative equity down to $ 658 billion at the end of September 2012, from $ 689 billion at the end of the second quarter, research firm CoreLogic (CLGX) said in a Jan. 17 report (PDF). About 22 percent of residential properties with a mortgage, or 10.7 million, were underwater at the end of the third quarter, the firm said. The worst-hit states—Nevada, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, and Michigan—accounted for more than a third of all underwater mortgages. JP Morgan (JPM) estimates that the number of properties with negative equity could fall to 4 million by 2015, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.


Why did it take so long to come up with such a restricted program to help struggling homeowners? The politics of bailing out borrowers who took on more debt than they could afford have haunted the housing market’s recovery since the collapse of subprime mortgages led to the 2008 financial crisis. (It was, after all, CNBC reporter Rick Santelli’s February 2009 on-air rant about not wanting to “subsidize the losers’ mortgages” that has been widely credited with forming the Tea Party movement.) On the other hand, Fannie and Freddie have gotten nearly $ 200 billion from taxpayers since the 2008 crisis.


Businessweek.com — Top News





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Wall Street Week Ahead: Bears hibernate as stocks near record highs






NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks have been on a tear in January, moving major indexes within striking distance of all-time highs. The bearish case is a difficult one to make right now.


Earnings have exceeded expectations, the housing and labor markets have strengthened, lawmakers in Washington no longer seem to be the roadblock that they were for most of 2012, and money has returned to stock funds again.






The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index <.spx> has gained 5.4 percent this year and closed above 1,500 – climbing to the spot where Wall Street strategists expected it to be by mid-year. The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> is 2.2 percent away from all-time highs reached in October 2007. The Dow ended Friday’s session at 13,895.98, its highest close since October 31, 2007.</.dji></.spx>


The S&P has risen for four straight weeks and eight consecutive sessions, the longest streak of days since 2004. On Friday, the benchmark S&P 500 ended at 1,502.96 – its first close above 1,500 in more than five years.


“Once we break above a resistance level at 1,510, we dramatically increase the probability that we break the highs of 2007,” said Walter Zimmermann, technical analyst at United-ICAP, in Jersey City, New Jersey. “That may be the start of a rise that could take equities near 1,800 within the next few years.”


The most recent Reuters poll of Wall Street strategists estimated the benchmark index would rise to 1,550 by year-end, a target that is 3.1 percent away from current levels. That would put the S&P 500 a stone’s throw from the index’s all-time intraday high of 1,576.09 reached on October 11, 2007.


The new year has brought a sharp increase in flows into U.S. equity mutual funds, and that has helped stocks rack up four straight weeks of gains, with strength in big- and small-caps alike.


That’s not to say there aren’t concerns. Economic growth has been steady, but not as strong as many had hoped. The household unemployment rate remains high at 7.8 percent. And more than 75 percent of the stocks in the S&P 500 are above their 26-week highs, suggesting the buying has come too far, too fast.


MUTUAL FUND INVESTORS COME BACK


All 10 S&P 500 industry sectors are higher in 2013, in part because of new money flowing into equity funds. Investors in U.S.-based funds committed $ 3.66 billion to stock mutual funds in the latest week, the third straight week of big gains for the funds, data from Thomson Reuters’ Lipper service showed on Thursday.


Energy shares <.5sp10> lead the way with a gain of 6.6 percent, followed by industrials <.5sp20>, up 6.3 percent. Telecom <.5sp50>, a defensive play that underperforms in periods of growth, is the weakest sector – up 0.1 percent for the year.</.5sp50></.5sp20></.5sp10>


More than 350 stocks hit new highs on Friday alone on the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow Jones Transportation Average <.djt> recently climbed to an all-time high, with stocks in this sector and other economic bellwethers posting strong gains almost daily.</.djt>


“If you peel back the onion a little bit, you start to look at companies like Precision Castparts , Honeywell , 3M Co and Illinois Tool Works – these are big, broad-based industrial companies in the U.S. and they are all hitting new highs, and doing very well. That is the real story,” said Mike Binger, portfolio manager at Gradient Investments, in Shoreview, Minnesota.


The gains have run across asset sizes as well. The S&P small-cap index <.spcy> has jumped 6.7 percent and the S&P mid-cap index <.mid> has shot up 7.5 percent so far this year.</.mid></.spcy>


Exchange-traded funds have seen year-to-date inflows of $ 15.6 billion, with fairly even flows across the small-, mid- and large-cap categories, according to Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at the ConvergEx Group, in New York.


“Investors aren’t really differentiating among asset sizes. They just want broad equity exposure,” Colas said.


The market has shown resilience to weak news. On Thursday, the S&P 500 held steady despite a 12 percent slide in shares of Apple after the iPhone and iPad maker’s results. The tech giant is heavily weighted in both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 <.ndx> and in the past, its drop has suffocated stocks‘ broader gains.</.ndx>


JOBS DATA MAY TEST THE RALLY


In the last few days, the ratio of stocks hitting new highs versus those hitting new lows on a daily basis has started to diminish – a potential sign that the rally is narrowing to fewer names – and could be running out of gas.


Investors have also cited sentiment surveys that indicate high levels of bullishness among newsletter writers, a contrarian indicator, and momentum indicators are starting to also suggest the rally has perhaps come too far.


The market’s resilience could be tested next week with Friday’s release of the January non-farm payrolls report. About 155,000 jobs are seen being added in the month and the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 7.8 percent.


“Staying over 1,500 sends up a flag of profit taking,” said Jerry Harris, president of asset management at Sterne Agee, in Birmingham, Alabama. “Since recent jobless claims have made us optimistic on payrolls, if that doesn’t come through, it will be a real risk to the rally.”


A number of marquee names will report earnings next week, including bellwether companies such as Caterpillar Inc , Amazon.com Inc , Ford Motor Co and Pfizer Inc .


On a historic basis, valuations remain relatively low – the S&P 500′s current price-to-earnings ratio sits at 15.66, which is just a tad above the historic level of 15.


Worries about the U.S. stock market’s recent strength do not mean the market is in a bubble. Investors clearly don’t feel that way at the moment.


“We’re seeing more interest in equities overall, and a lot of flows from bonds into stocks,” said Paul Zemsky, who helps oversee $ 445 billion as the New York-based head of asset allocation at ING Investment Management. “We’ve been increasing our exposure to risky assets.”


For the week, the Dow climbed 1.8 percent, the S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 0.5 percent.


(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)


Business News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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World Bank approves $500 million loan for Tunisia






Tunis (Reuters) – The World Bank has approved a $ 500 million loan to Tunisia to support its 2013 budget and help its economy after the first Arab Spring uprising that toppled its former ruler, a minister said on Thursday.


Two years after the revolution that ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, increasing numbers of Tunisians are staging street protests to demand jobs and economic development.






The new loan follows another of the same amount last November to support economic recovery by providing funds to improve the business and financial sectors and reform social services.


The World Bank approved a loan of $ 500 million to support Tunisia‘s budget in 2013,” Riadh Bettaib, minister of investment and international cooperation, said.


Tunisia, whose uprising sparked political changes across North Africa, said in November it is seeking a $ 2.5 billion loan from the IMF, and Fund officials said last Friday discussions were under way to establish what was needed.


Tunisia‘s Islamist-led government has sought to revive the economy hit by a decline in trade with Europe and by policy disputes between secularists and hardline Salafi Islamists.


Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank, said on Wednesday in Tunis he was optimistic about the future of Tunisia though it needed painful reforms to revive its economy.


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Stock futures flat, but techs rally in premarket






NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stock index futures were flat on Wednesday, with investors reluctant to make big bets following a five-day rally that took major averages to levels not seen since December 2007.


Tech shares will be in focus with earnings due from tech heavyweight Apple and following strong results from both IBM and Google, which rallied in premarket trading and continued the string of major companies outperforming following results.






Investors were also cautious as they awaited another onslaught of earnings reports, including from Dow component McDonald’s Corp . Apple Inc reports after the market’s close and investors will scour that report for signs the company can continue to grow at an accelerated pace.


“The market has an upward bias because earnings have generally been better than most expected, but whether we take another leg up from here depends on Apple,” said Oliver Purshe, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services in Suffern, New York. “That is such a heavily watched stock that if it doesn’t come out with strong numbers we could take a pause.”


Google Inc rose 5.1 percent to $ 738.61 in light premarket trading a day after the search giant’s core Internet business outpaced expectations. Revenue was also higher than expected.


International Business Machines Corp late Tuesday forecast better-than-anticipated 2013 results and also posted fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations. The results helped to allay concerns about the tech sector that arose when Intel Corp gave a weak outlook last week. IBM, which is a Dow component, rose 3.9 percent to $ 203.81 before the bell.


Dow component United Technologies Corp reported earnings that fell from the prior year, hurt by large restructuring charges.


Coach Inc slumped 12 percent to $ 53.20 before the bell after reporting sales that missed expectations.


According to the latest Thomson Reuters data, of the 74 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far, 62.2 percent have topped expectations, roughly even with the 62 percent average since 1994, but below the 65 percent average over the past four quarters.


Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings rose 2.6 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. That estimate is above the 1.9 percent forecast from the start of earnings season, but well below the 9.9 percent fourth-quarter earnings forecast from October 1, the data showed.


S&P 500 futures fell 1.8 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 3 points and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 4 points.


Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average hit five-year closing highs on Tuesday, and recent gains have largely been fueled by a strong start to the earning season. The S&P has jumped 6.4 percent over the past four weeks.


Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives aim on Wednesday to pass a bill to extend the U.S. debt limit by nearly four months, to May 19. The White House welcomed the move, saying it would remove uncertainty about the issue.


The debt limit issue has been viewed as a market overhang for the past few weeks, with many investors worried that if no deal is reached to raise the limit, it could have a negative impact on the economy.


“We’re raising our year-end target from 1,535 to about 1,575, in part because of the strong fourth-quarter earnings, but also because with the debt ceiling off the table that’s a headwind removed from the market,” Purshe said.


(Editing by W Simon and Kenneth Barry)


Business News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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The Market’s Unrelenting Cheer Makes Some Nervous






The late economist Hyman Minsky posited that a long stretch of calm on Wall Street and in the broader markets sows the seeds of its own demise. His 1960s-era “financial-instability hypothesis” didn’t get much love in the mostly deregulated half-century that followed—until so much financial laxity crashed and burned into 2008 and 2009. (Witness how blind the Federal Reserve was in the run-up to financial meltdown that would force it to take trillions of dollars worth of action.)


According to Minsky, investors take on more risk and debt in boom times, when complacency and easy money are the rage, until they hit a point when they realize they can’t service that debt. The ensuing rush to the exits is dominated by margin calls and forced selling; in an inflection known as a “Minsky moment,” markets fall, as does access to capital. The preliminaries to the ’08 financial crisis were marked by such instances, including subprime homeowner distress and the financial pyromania practiced by Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG (AIG).






In light of today’s calm and renewed risk-taking, could another Minsky moment be in the offing? Of late, that thought seems to be getting more mention on Wall Street.


“The ghost of Hyman Minsky hovers over Taleb’s work,” wrote Michael Lewitt, in the Jan. 1 Credit Strategist he edited. He was referring to Antifragile, the recently released bestseller by Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness author Nassim Nicholas Taleb. “The lesson for portfolio managers,” wrote Lewitt, “is we should stop worrying about things we can’t predict (such as the timing of the inevitable market dislocations to which current monetary and fiscal policy failures will lead) and instead focus on structuring our portfolios to be strong enough not only to withstand such events but even to profit from them.”


While Lewitt is arguing that you can’t necessarily time the elusive Minsky moments as much as brace yourself for them, there is fresh fodder for worry.


For one thing, volatility is at its lowest reading since June 2007, the month that a pair of Bear Stearns hedge funds blew up, sending shock waves across Wall Street. By at least one composite measure, aversion to risk is presently at a three-decade low. The U.S. markets have finally returned to pre-2008 levels, global debt issuance just staged a record year, and the individual investor is finally peeking his head back into the tent (a development that some on the Street swear is the best contrarian indicator of all). Bad credit? No credit? No problem.


All of this is being suborned by a super-accommodative Federal Reserve—far more generous than Alan Greenspan ever was during the early-to-mid 2000s swelling of the credit bubble.


Next, throw in the fact that leverage at hedge funds just hit the highest level to start any year since at least 2004, according to Morgan Stanley (MS). At the New York Stock Exchange (NYX), margin debt among member firms rose in November to the highest level since February 2008—a month before Bear Stearns collapsed.


Robert J. Barbera, co-director of the Center for Financial Economics at Johns Hopkins University, is a Minsky expert. He explains that in the wake of a recession, safety is paramount until an economic recovery eclipses memories of the decline, and higher-risk/higher-return thinking takes hold. Then takes greater hold. And then. …


Barbera says that today’s recovery from a once-in-a-generation downturn is not as easily diagnosable. “A Minsky moment in the making?” he asks, via e-mail. “Not so fast! The deadly admixture that elicits Minsky like financial system crises is a combination of risky finance and CENTRAL BANK TIGHTENING OF MONEY AND CREDIT” (his caps).


It is true, Barbera says, that some financial measures are looking relatively risky. But the economic backdrop to date has not signaled that easy money the world over will soon be reined in. The paradox, he says, is that a rapid upturn in the economy would force investors to have to “radically recalculate” the Federal Reserve’s tightening schedule. The result is that the boom and the attendant prospects of tighter monetary policy—normalcy, if you will—could beget market distress.


“The delicious Minskyian irony?” he says. “Angst about a return to recession, which has persisted in this recovery for four years, keeps the Fed on hold and the asset market recovery on track. Unambiguous economic strength, and the recognition that Fed largesse is no longer needed on Main Street, is the more serious threat to asset market returns.”


Businessweek.com — Top News





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Gift cards to be accepted at HMV







The administrators of HMV have said that the music and DVD retailer will start accepting gift vouchers in stores from Tuesday.






Deloitte had previously said that gift cards could not be redeemed in stores, leading to anger among many customers.


Deloitte said it was able to honour the vouchers after assessing HMV’s financial position.


Meanwhile restructuring specialist Hilco has emerged as the frontrunner to save HMV, reports say.


An industry consortium of music labels and film studios, including Universal Music and Sony, are believed to favour Hilco, according to newspaper reports.


Hilco bought out HMV Canada from parent HMV group in 2011 for £2m.


Deloitte, HMV’s administrator, has said there are 50 separate groups or individuals who have expressed an interest in buying all, or part of HMV.


If Hilco is successful with its bid, the suppliers are believed to be willing to give HMV stores generous credit terms.


In Canada, Hilco said the support of HMV’s key suppliers had been of “critical importance” to the business’s performance.


HMV has 223 UK stores in total, and a workforce of about 4,000.


The music, DVD and games retailer went into administration last Tuesday.


HMV’s administration came after the firm failed in recent years to cope with increasing competition from online rivals, supermarkets, and illegal music and film downloads


Hilco was not immediately available to comment.


BBC News – Business





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Dotcom starts new file-sharing site







Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom has set up a new cloud storage and file-sharing site.






Mega, a web-based service that lets people upload and store files of any kind, is a sequel to the Megaupload system that was shut down last January.


Police raids on the offices and home of Kim Dotcom led to the closure of Megaupload.


The Mega site went online at dawn on Sunday, with Mr Dotcom due to hold a gala at his New Zealand mansion later.


Mr Dotcom has said the new site complies with the law and warned that attempts to take it down would be futile.


“This is not some kind of finger to the US government or to Hollywood,” he told Reuters on Saturday.


“Legally, there’s just nothing there that could be used to shut us down. This site is just as legitimate and has the right to exist as Dropbox, Boxnet and other competitors.”


Extradition hearing


Hours after the site was launched, Mr Dotcom tweeted that it had received 250,000 user registrations, although limited server capacity meant Mega was unreachable to many.


In a series of earlier tweets Mr Dotcom said every customer would have 50 gigabytes of free storage – far more than is offered by rival services such as Dropbox or Microsoft’s SkyDrive.


Mega will be encrypted so only those who upload data have access to it.


Data is also being held in the cloud to make it easy for users to get and share files.


The 2012 raids on Megaupload were carried out because, said US law enforcement, many users of Megaupload were engaged in pirating content and illegally sharing it.


They accused Mr Dotcom and other managers at Megaupload of profiting from piracy.


Mr Dotcom, who was born Kim Schmitz, has rebuffed the accusations and is fighting a legal battle to stay in New Zealand from where he ran Megaupload.


A hearing on whether he can be extradited to the US is due to be held in March.


The case has generated controversy in New Zealand over the way the police and intelligence services gathered evidence before the raid and won an apology to Mr Dotcom from the country’s prime minister.


Mr Dotcom has also won support from prominent computer pioneers such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.


The raid on Megaupload put 25 petabytes of data uploaded to it by its 50 million members into a legal limbo.


In one message, Mr Dotcom said he was working with lawyers and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which campaigns on digital rights issues, to get access to that seized data and return it to users.


BBC News – Business





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Caterpillar writes off most of China deal after fraud






(Reuters) – Caterpillar Inc uncovered “deliberate, multi-year, coordinated accounting misconduct” at a subsidiary of a Chinese company it acquired last summer, leading it to write off most of the value of the deal and wiping out more than half its expected earnings for the fourth quarter of 2012.


Shares of Caterpillar fell 1.5 percent in afterhours trading following news of the fraud, which was discovered after problems were found with the Chinese company’s inventory.






Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of tractors and excavators, said on Friday it would take a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $ 580 million, or 87 cents per share, in the quarter.


Analysts had expected the company to report $ 1.70 per share when it reports its results on January 28, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.


Caterpillar closed the purchase of ERA Mining Machinery Ltd and its subsidiary Siwei, China‘s fourth-largest maker of hydraulic roof supports, last June, paying HK$ 5.06 billion, or $ 653.4 million. ERA had been publicly traded in Hong Kong, doing business through Siwei, which is known for making equipment to support roofs in mines.


A member of the Caterpillar board during the course of the Siwei deal told Reuters the board was distracted at the time by a larger transaction and paid relatively little attention to the Siwei acquisition.


“It came as a complete surprise to us,” the former board member said of the fraud, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. “It was presented to us as a pretty straightforward transaction. It’s a shame. It should have been investigated further.”


The source said the driving force behind the deal was Ed Rapp, the former Caterpillar chief financial officer who now serves as a group president with responsibility for China, among other operations. The source said it was Rapp who presented the deal to the board and pushed for its completion.


A Caterpillar spokesman declined to comment on Rapp’s role in the deal. Rapp could not be immediately located for comment.


REVERSE TAKEOVER


At the time of the Caterpillar purchase, ERA Mining was listed in the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) of the Hong Kong stock exchange, which is “designed to accommodate companies to which a higher investment risk may be attached,” according to the offering circular filed by Caterpillar last year in Hong Kong.


The company was previously known as ERA Holdings Global Ltd. and provided “corporate secretarial services” before being acquired by Siwei in September 2010 through a reverse takeover.


Caterpillar’s write-off could revive concerns over accounting scandals and corporate governance issues of Chinese companies voiced by investors including Muddy Waters founder Carson Block.


Reverse takeovers have been of particular concern, since most of the recent accounting scandals in the United States have come from small Chinese companies who went public via a reverse takeover, including China MediaExpress Holdings Inc. A Hong Kong arbitration panel on Wednesday ruled China MediaExpress was a “fraudulent enterprise.”


‘COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE’


In a statement, Caterpillar said an ongoing investigation launched after the deal closed “determined several Siwei senior managers engaged in deliberate misconduct beginning several years prior to Caterpillar’s acquisition of Siwei.”


According to a question-and-answer dialog Caterpillar included in its statement, the company found discrepancies in November between the inventory in Siwei’s books and its actual physical inventory, triggering the probe.


The company also said it had replaced several senior managers at Siwei, adding that their conduct was “offensive and completely unacceptable.”


Representatives for Siwei didn’t respond to calls and requests for comment on the Caterpillar announcement. The company employs about 4,000 people in Zhengzhou and produces hydraulic roof supports used to prevent rocks from falling into a coal mine’s working area.


Siwei competes with market leader Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery, according to Zhengzhou Coal’s IPO prospectus filed in November.


Citigroup and law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP served as financial and legal advisers to Caterpillar on the transaction. Blackstone and DLA Piper acted as ERA’s financial and legal advisers.


Freshfields said in an emailed statement that it wasn’t able to comment on client matters. Representatives for Blackstone, Citigroup and DLA Piper didn’t respond to requests for comment on Saturday.


CHINA AMBITIONS


The Siwei deal came as part of Caterpillar’s larger ambitions in China. In early 2012, it added Jon Huntsman, the former U.S. ambassador to China, to its board of directors.


The company, which already has 23 manufacturing facilities in China and four more under construction, said the Siwei episode would not change its strategy in the country.


Caterpillar’s experience with Siwei may also renew focus on the standoff between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and audit firms over access to accounting documents of U.S.-listed Chinese companies suspected of fraud.


While Siwei was not U.S.-listed, the broader accounting question has been a thorny one for U.S. companies looking to grow their business in China.


($ 1=HK$ 7.75)


(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Additional reporting by Soyoung Kim in New York, Elzio Barreto in Hong Kong and Kevin Yao in Beijing; Writing by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Gary Hill, Tim Dobbyn and Susan Fenton)


Business News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Oil falls as traders weigh China data, 2013 demand






The price of oil slipped to near $ 95 a barrel Friday but remained near four-month highs after new data showed China‘s economy rebounded in the final quarter of last year, suggesting an increase in energy demand.


By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for February delivery was down 26 cents to $ 95.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $ 1.25 to finish at $ 95.49 a barrel. That was the highest close for crude on the Nymex since Sept. 17 and a result of the positive economic reports out of the U.S.






“Investors were prompted to some profit-taking to lock in recent gains, while the markets try to digest the Chinese economic data that slightly improved market sentiment” said a report from Sucden Financial Research in London.


China’s economy grew 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, up from the previous quarter’s 7.4 percent. In December, retail sales and factory output growth both accelerated, the National Bureau of Statistics reported.


The figures suggest increased energy demand, a key driver of oil prices. But overshadowing markets were concerns that the U.S. could face a new economic crisis if political leaders fail to resolve discord over spending cuts and the country’s borrowing limit, which needs to be raised to avoid an unprecedented federal default.


Higher expectations for oil demand in China also contributed to an upwardly revised oil consumption forecast from the International Energy Agency.


Global oil demand is expected to rise to 90.8 million barrels a day this year, the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly oil market report released Friday. That’s 930,000 daily barrels more than in 2012 and 240,000 barrels a day higher than the agency’s previous forecast released in December.


The IEA said that economic figures for China had in recent months raised concerns about growth, but that seems to have changed. “Recent data suggest the tide may have begun to turn,” it said in the report.


The IEA described market conditions as tighter than expected, with oil production in Saudi Arabia at the end of 2012 relatively weak. Analysts described that as a call to producing nations to keep supply up.


“This IEA report is basically a message to Saudi Arabia: ‘Please, please, don’t cut further,’” said Olivier Jakob, an analyst with Petromatrix in Switzerland.


Traders were also keeping an eye on the hostage crisis in southern Algeria. Algerian forces launched a raid to free hostages being held by militants at a remote natural gas facility. Casualties were reported. Spanish, Norwegian and British oil companies have evacuated workers from energy facilities in the country, which produces both natural gas and crude oil.


Meanwhile, brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, fell 46 cents to $ 110.64 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.


In other energy futures trading on Nymex:


— Wholesale gasoline was down 1.36 cent to $ 2.7689 a gallon.


— Natural gas added 1.9 cents to $ 3.513 per 1,000 cubic feet.


— Heating oil lost 1.01 cents at $ 3.0044 a gallon.


___


Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.


Economy News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Mauritius expected to welcome 1 million tourists this year






PORT LOUIS (Reuters) – Tourist arrivals in Mauritius are expected to rise to the one million mark this year after numbers barely changed in 2012, largely due to sluggish growth in the island’s key European market, data showed on Thursday.


Arrivals are seen increasing by 3.5 percent this year from the 965,441 registered in 2012, when they rose just 0.1 percent, the country’s statistics agency said.






Finance Minister Xavier Duval said earlier this month lower dependence on Europe for tourists and exports has helped the Indian Ocean island weather the economic crisis better.


The government expects the economy to grow 3.7 percent this year, up from 3.3 percent in 2012.


“Visitors from Europe which represented 67 percent of arrivals in 2009 have been declining to 58 percent last year – a drop which has been compensated by higher tourists from other regions namely Africa and Asia,” Duval said.


He expected a boost in arrivals this year as Air Mauritius starts direct flights to China and Russia.


Statistics Mauritius said arrivals from Europe were down 8 percent year-on-year to 560,699 while visitors number from Africa grew 14.7 percent to 265,215.


(Reporting by Jean Paul Arouff; Editing by James Macharia, John Stonestreet)


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Iran president: Sanctions fight requires oil shift






TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president says the country must move away from dependence on oil revenue to overcome Western sanctions that have slowed the economy and disrupted foreign trade.


Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that “structural changes” are needed in Iran’s economy to counter sanctions that have targeted crude oil exports. Iran has long depended on oil revenue for about 80 percent of its foreign currency revenue.






The Iranian president made the remarks in an address to parliament on Wednesday.


Ahmadinejad and other officials have appealed to broader Iran’s export base and shift more toward refined petroleum products.


Iran is under tightening sanctions on its oil and banking sectors for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. The U.S. and its allies fear Iran may ultimately develop nuclear weapon. Tehran denies the charge.


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Oil slips below $94 on lower growth in Germany






The price of oil slipped below $ 94 a barrel Tuesday due to concerns about weakening economic growth in Germany and expectations of a rise in U.S. crude stockpiles.


By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for February delivery was down 31 cents to $ 93.83 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 58 cents to finish at $ 94.15 per barrel in New York on Tuesday.






Germany’s economy grew only 0.7 percent in 2012, suggesting it shrank in the fourth quarter, according to government figures. For 2012, the economy still grew faster than the rest of the 17 European Union countries which use the euro, but it showed a sharp drop over 2011, when it grew 3 percent.


The struggles of Europe’s largest economy corroborated figures released Monday which showed industrial output across the eurozone down in November for the third straight month.


The dispute in Washington about the U.S. debt ceiling was also discouraging oil investors, who will later in the day monitor fresh information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.


Data for the week ending Jan. 11 is expected to show a rise of 2.5 million barrels in crude oil stocks and of 3 million barrels in gasoline stocks, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.


The American Petroleum Institute will release its report on oil stocks later Tuesday, while the report from the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration — the market benchmark — will be out on Wednesday.


Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, was down 7 cents to $ 111.81 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.


In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:


— Wholesale gasoline was down 0.91 cent at $ 2.7628 a gallon.


— Natural gas fell 0.1 cent to $ 3.363 per 1,000 cubic feet.


— Heating oil rose 0.13 cent to $ 3.0638.


___


Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.


Economy News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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City sackings ‘at five-year high’







Dismissals and suspensions in the UK financial services sector hit a five-year high in 2012, according to data from the Financial Services Authority.






Some 1,373 workers were sacked for disciplinary reasons, up 76% from 2011.


The total number of job losses in the sector – including redundancies, resignations and retirements – was also at a five-year high, of 177,697.


The data was obtained from the FSA by law firm Pinsent Masons under a freedom of information request.


“The FSA has increasingly shown that it is cracking down on financial crime and market abuse,” said Helen Farr, a London-based partner in the financial services team at Pinsent Masons.


“FSA enforcement activity has clearly had an impact on firms’ willingness to tolerate wrongdoing. Firms now appear much more likely to discipline employees for offences.”


The spike in dismissals follows a string of scandals in recent years:


  • the manipulation of Libor – an international benchmark interest rate set by the London banks and used for trillions of dollars’ worth of financial contracts

  • the mis-selling of payment protection insurance to mortgage borrowers

  • the mis-selling of interest rate and currency hedging products to small businesses

  • a string of insider trading cases

  • the conviction of London-based rogue trader Kweku Adoboli, who lost $ 2.3bn (£1.5bn) for Swiss bank UBS

Banks and other financial firms are required to inform FSA of any change in employment status of workers required to be registered with the City watchdog.


The data does not take account of possible reemployment of the dismissed workers at another firm or internally within the same company.


BBC News – Business





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Support for Spain’s leaders drops to a new low: poll






MADRID (Reuters) – Support for Spain‘s political leaders has fallen to a new low, according to a poll published by El Pais on Sunday, in the midst of a deep economic recession and record high unemployment.


In a survey by Metroscopia January 9 and 10, only 29.8 percent said they would vote for Spain’s ruling People’s Party (PP), the lowest level of support since the November 2011 election when it won an absolute majority and over half of the vote.






Spain’s economy is expected to continue to contract through 2013 and protests at austerity measures are on the rise, with over one in four workers unemployed.


The economy has shrunk for three of the last four years after the bursting of a property bubble destroyed consumer and business sentiment and left the government applying budget cuts to control one of the euro zone’s highest public deficits.


While the poll showed growing disillusionment with Spain’s leaders – 84 percent said they had little or no confidence in Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy – the main Socialist opposition also saw sliding support.


Just 23.3 percent said they would vote for the Socialists, in power from 2004 to 2011, down from 28.7 percent during the 2011 election.


Meanwhile, support jumped for the smaller left-wing IU party, up to 15.6 percent in January from 7.7 percent a year ago, and the centrist UPyD, rising to 10.2 percent from 4.6 percent in January 2012.


The poll also showed that 74 percent of those surveyed did not believe the government knew how to resolve the economic crisis, while 96 percent said there was a great deal of corruption amongst Spanish politicians.


(Reporting by Paul Day; editing by Andrew Roche)


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