Defterios: What keeps Davos relevant

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Since the late 20th Century, the ski resort of Davos has been synonymous with the World Economic Forum


• Defterios: I first came to Davos as a relatively junior correspondent, two months after the Berlin Wall fell


• Fall of Communism, China's opening, removal of apartheid in South Africa unfolded in the 90s
  
  


• It's the inter-play between geo-politics and business is what keeps the forum relevant

Davos (CNN) -- Veterans of Davos often refer to nature's awe-inspiring work as the Magic Mountain.

The name comes from an early 20th century novel by Thomas Mann -- reflecting on life in an alpine health retreat, and the mystery of time in this breath-taking setting.

Read more from John Defterios: Why Egypt's transition is so painful

Since the late 20th century, this ski resort has been synonymous with the World Economic Forum, which represents networking on its grandest scale.

This year nearly 40 world leaders -- a record for this annual meeting -- 2000 plus executives and it seems an equal number of people in the media, like yours truly, are in pursuit of them all. The setting is certainly more chaotic then a decade ago. The agendas of the Fortune 500 chief executives are to filled with bi-lateral meetings and back door briefings to allow for the spontaneity that made this venue unique.

Davos gets ready for leaders' gathering

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I first came to Davos as a relatively junior correspondent in 1990, two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was arguably then, after nearly two decades in the conference business, when the forum became a fixture on the global calendar.

Quest: U.S. economy to dominate Davos 2013

I can remember, quite vividly, working out of a bunker (like we do today) in the Davos Congress Centre. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl sat side-by-side with his East German counterpart Hans Modrow. That meeting before the global community helped set the stage for monetary union, a huge unification fund for what became Eastern Germany and shortly thereafter German elections.

The early 90s at Davos were dominated by European reconstruction after the fall of communism. Former party bosses came to the forum to convince business leaders that a transition to market economics could be delivered. Boris Yeltsin made his Davos appearance during that chaotic transition from the USSR to today's Russia.

Davos 2013: New year, same old problems?

In 1992, Chinese Premier Li Peng used the setting here in the Alps to articulate plans for the country's economic opening up to the world. Not by chance, the architect of Washington's engagement with Beijing, the former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger also took a high profile that year.

Again only two years later in 1994, Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres walked hand in hand on stage, holding a public dialogue leading up to the creation and recognition of the Palestinian Authority.

The World Economic Forum, as the saying goes, was positioned to be in the right place at the right time. While the author of the Magic Mountain talked about the complexity of time around World War I, in the 1990s time was compressed here.

The fall of communism, the lowering of global trade barriers, the opening up of China, the removal of apartheid in South Africa and the proliferation of the internet all unfolded in that decade.

Interactive: How's your economic mood?

As those events came together, so too did the major players as they made the journey to Davos. Michael Bloomberg, evolving as a global name in financial data and now the Mayor of New York City, sat alongside Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. U.S. President Bill Clinton outlined his party's historic move to the political center before a packed audience of global business executives.

To spice things up, rock stars and actors, as they became activists, chose the Davos platform: Bono, Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Brad and Angelina would have the wealthiest and most powerful corporate titans freeze in their tracks.

Earlier this week, I walked into the main plenary hall as workers put the final touches on the stage and lighting. It is a venue which has welcomed countless political leaders and business executives, during internet booms and banking busts, in the midst of a Middle East crisis and even during the lead up to two Gulf Wars.

But that inter-play between geo-politics and business -- during the best and worst of times -- is what keeps the forum relevant. It allows this setting at the base of the Magic Mountain to endure and recreate something unique during what Mann rightly described as the ongoing complexity of our times.

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Michelle Obama wears Wu to the balls again

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama made it a fashion tradition Monday night, wearing a custom-made Jason Wu gown to the inauguration balls. The ruby-colored dress was a follow-up to the white gown Wu made for her four years ago when she was new to Washington, the pomp and circumstance, and the fashion press.

She now emerged in velvet and chiffon as a bona fide trendsetter.

“I can’t believe it. It’s crazy,” said Wu, reached at his Manhattan studio. “To have done it once was already the experience of my life. To have a second time is tremendous.”

President Barack Obama also struck a similar style chord to his first-term inaugural balls: He wore a white tie with his tuxedo.

The red halter dress was the only one Wu, who went from fashion insider to household name on this night in 2009, submitted for Mrs. Obama’s consideration. He collaborated with jeweler Kimberly McDonald on the jeweled neckline. “For this occasion, it had to be real diamonds,” Wu said.

He said he felt the dress showed how he has grown up as a designer — and how Mrs. Obama’s style has evolved to be even more confident.

The first family headed out to inaugural festivities earlier on Monday with Mrs. Obama leading a very coordinated fashion parade in a navy-silk, checkered-patterned coat and dress by Thom Browne that were inspired by a menswear necktie.

The outfit was specifically designed for Mrs. Obama, but Browne said he wasn’t 100 percent sure she was going to wear it until she came out with it on at Inauguration. “I am proud and humbled,” he said.

The rest of Mrs. Obama’s Inauguration Day outfit included a belt from J. Crew, necklace by Cathy Waterman and a cardigan by Reed Krakoff, whose ensemble she also wore to yesterday’s intimate, indoor swearing-in ceremony.

Obama wore a blue tie with his white shirt, dark suit and overcoat. Malia Obama had on a plum-colored J. Crew coat with the hemline of an electric-blue dress peeking out and a burgundy-colored scarf, and her younger sister Sasha had on a Kate Spade coat and dress in a similar purple shade.

“It is an honor that Sasha Obama chose to wear Kate Spade New York,” said the company’s creative director, Deborah Lloyd, in an email to the Associated Press. “She epitomizes the youthful optimism and colorful spirit of the brand. We are so proud to have been a part of this historic moment.”

Jenna Lyons, creative director of J. Crew, said it was “a huge point of pride for all of us” to be a part of the day — as the brand was back in 2009 when the girls wore outfits by CrewCuts, its children’s label.

“It’s amazing to see the evolution of the family. I love the way Michelle looks. She looks beautiful in something so clean and tailored. It’s such an elegant choice,” Lyons said, “and they all look so sophisticated! You can see how the girls have grown up in the four years, and they’re still so alive and vibrant, but more sophisticated.”

The vice president’s wife, Jill Biden, wore a gray coat and dress by American designer Lela Rose.

Mrs. Obama has worn Browne’s designs for other occasions, including a gray dress with black lace overlay to one of the presidential debates last fall, and she honored him last summer at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards for his contribution to fashion.

Browne made his name in modern — very modern — menswear, but he launched womenswear in 2011. He was in Paris on Monday, just finishing previews for his next menswear collection. The idea to use the tie fabric came to him because he was indeed designing these men’s clothes at the same time, he explained.

“I wanted ‘tailored’ for her. For me, she stands for strength and confidence, and that’s what I wanted to design for her,” he said.

Simon Collins, dean of the school of fashion at Parsons The New School for Design in New York, said the Obamas dressed in their typical fashion: one that shows pride in their appearance.

“They are a stylish couple and their children look fabulous. Too many people get dressed in the dark,” he said. “They show it’s good to dress up, take pride in how you look. … It’s a wonderful example for America and the rest of the world.”

He also noted that the Obamas seem to understand that the fashion industry is a driving force in the U.S. economy and that its lobby is a powerful one. They don’t treat fashion frivolously, he observed.

The first lady “is so supportive of so many American designers,” Browne noted.

But Collins said he was a bit surprised the public doesn’t pay much attention to the president’s wardrobe. He joked that Obama should perhaps try one of Browne’s signature shrunken suits — the ones that show a man’s ankles.

At the end of the Inaugural festivities, Mrs. Obama’s outfit and accompanying accessories will go to the National Archives.

___

Samantha Critchell tweets fashion at (at)AP_Fashion, and can be reached on Twitter at (at)Sam_Critchell.

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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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Wall Street opens flat as investors eye earnings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened little changed on Tuesday as investors held back from making large bets at the start of a busy week for corporate earnings after major indexes notched five-year highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 16.95 points, or 0.12 percent, to 13,666.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> shed 0.33 point, or 0.02 percent, to 1,485.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> added 0.21 point, or 0.01 percent, to 3,134.91.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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Jim, John Harbaugh ready for rematch at Super Bowl

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Jim and John Harbaugh have exchanged a handful of text messages, and plan to leave it at that. No phone conversations necessary while the season's still going. No time for pleasantries, even for the friendly siblings.

There is work to be done to prepare for the Super Bowl, prepare for each other, prepare for a history-making day already being widely hyped as "Harbowl" or "Superbaugh" depending which nickname you prefer.

"It doesn't matter who the coach is, what relationship you have with the person on the other side," 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said so matter-of-factly Monday afternoon.

Their parents sure aren't picking sides for the Feb. 3 matchup in New Orleans.

These days, the Harbaughs' longtime coaching father, Jack, stays away from game-planning chatter or strategy sessions with his Super Bowl-bound coaching sons. Baltimore's John Harbaugh and little brother Jim have been doing this long enough now to no longer need dad's input.

Yet, they still regularly seek it. And, their father does offer one basic mantra: "Get ahead, stay ahead."

"Probably the greatest advice that I've ever been given and the only advice that I've ever found to be true in all of coaching, I think we mentioned it to both John and Jim ... the coaching advice is, 'Get ahead, stay ahead,'" Jack Harbaugh said.

"If I'm called upon, I'll repeat that same message."

His boys still call home regularly to check in with the man who turned both on to the coaching profession years ago, and the mother who has handled everything behind the scenes for decades in a highly competitive, sports-crazed family — with all the routine sports clichés to show for it.

The Harbaugh brothers will become the first siblings to square off from opposite sidelines when their teams play for the NFL championship at the Superdome.

Not that they're too keen on playing up the storyline that has no chance of going away as hard as they try.

"Well, I think it's a blessing and a curse," Jim Harbaugh said Monday. "A blessing because that is my brother's team. And, also, personally I played for the Ravens. Great respect for their organization. ... The curse part would be the talk of two brothers playing in the Super Bowl and what that takes away from the players that are in the game. Every moment that you're talking about myself or John, that's less time that the players are going to be talked about."

Both men love history, just not the kind with them making it.

"I like reading a lot of history ... I guess it's pretty neat," John Harbaugh offered Monday. "But is it really going to be written about? It's not exactly like Churchill and Roosevelt or anything. It's pretty cool, but that's as far as it goes."

Nice try, guys.

John watched the end of Jim's game from the field in Foxborough, Mass., as Baltimore warmed up for the AFC championship game. Jim called his sister's family from the team plane before takeoff after a win at Atlanta and asked how his big brother's team was doing against New England.

The improbable Super Bowl features a set of brothers known around the NFL as fierce competitors unafraid to make a bold move during the season. Unafraid to upset anyone who stands in their way.

In fact, each one made a major change midseason to get this far — John fired his offensive coordinator, while Jim boosted his offense with a quarterback switch from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick.

Leading up to Sunday's games, parents Jack and Jackie said they would wait to decide whether to travel to New Orleans if both teams advanced or stick to what has been working so well — watching from the comfort of their couch in Mequon, Wis.

"We enjoy it very much. We get down in our basement, turn on the television and just have a fantastic day watching outstanding football," Jack said last week. "We share our misery with no one but ourselves. Not only the misery, but the ups and downs, the ins and outs of an outstanding professional game."

And, no, the Harbaughs weren't looking ahead to a potential big trip to the Big Easy.

Jack insists his wife is quick to pull out that old sports cliche: "It's one game at a time. I think it's very appropriate," he said.

Jim figures they won't possibly miss this history-making game.

"I think they'll be there," he said with a smile.

The brothers, separated in age by 15 months, have taken different paths to football's biggest stage — years after their intense games of knee football at the family home. They tried to beat each other at cards, or whatever other game it was at the time. Sometimes, they tried to beat each other up. Sister, Joani Crean, often got in on the fun, too.

The 49-year-old Jim never reached a Super Bowl, falling a last-gasp pass short during a 15-year NFL career as a quarterback. The 50-year-old John never played in the NFL.

Still, both will tell you, "Who's got it better than us? No-body!" — one catchphrase they got from their dad.

"We can't put into words what it means to see John and Jim achieve this incredible milestone," their brother-in-law, Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean, said on Twitter. "We talked to Jim (before) his team plane left. All he wanted to know was how was John doing? How were they playing? One incredible family who puts the care, well-being and love for each other at the forefront like most families do. Again, we are very proud of them. Going to be exciting to watch it unfold."

John worked his way up from the bottom of the coaching ranks, while Jim was the star college quarterback at Michigan, a first-round draft pick and eventual Pro Bowler who made coaching his career once he retired.

John already has the one-up, while Jim's team is the early favorite. John's Ravens beat the 49ers 16-6 on Thanksgiving night 2011, in Jim's rookie season as an NFL coach — though both know that means nothing now.

"I just want everybody to know, that was a four-day deal and every story has been told," John said. "We're not that interesting. There's nothing more to learn. The tape across the middle of the room story, OK, you got it? It's OK. It was just like any other family, really. I really hope the focus is not so much on that. We get it, it's really cool and it's exciting and all that."

Said Jim, "Completely new business."

In spite of his efforts to avoid the topic, Jim did take the opportunity to express how proud he is of John.

"He's a great football coach, a real grasp of all phases — offense, defense, special teams. I think he could coordinate at least two of those phases and do it as well as anyone in the league," Jim said. "I've got half the amount of coaching experience he does. Again, it's not about us. I keep coming back to that. I'm really proud of my brother. I love him. That's the blessing part, that this is happening to him."

And, fittingly for the big brother, John feels the exact same way.

___

AP Sports Writer Dave Ginsburg in Baltimore contributed to this story.

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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How Obama made opportunity real

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• LZ Granderson: Specifics of Obama's first term may not be remembered


• He says his ability to win presidency twice is unforgettable


• Granderson: Obama, the first black president, makes opportunity real for many


• He says it makes presidency a possibility for people of all backgrounds

Editor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter: @locs_n_laughs.

(CNN) -- In his first term, President Barack Obama signed 654 bills into law, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by about 70% and the national debt by $5.8 trillion.

And in 10 years -- maybe less -- few outside of the Beltway will remember any of that. That's not to suggest those details are not important. But even if all of his actions are forgotten, Obama's legacy as the first black president will endure.

And even though this is his second term and fewer people are expected to travel to Washington this time to witness the inauguration, know that this moment is not any less important.

For had Obama not been re-elected, his barrier-breaking election in 2008 could have easily been characterized as a charismatic politician capturing lightning in a bottle. But by becoming the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to win at least 51% of the vote twice, Obama proved his administration was successful.

And not by chance, but by change.

A change, to paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr., that was not inevitable but a result of our collective and continuous struggle to be that shining city on a hill of which President Ronald Reagan spoke so often.

Best of 2013 inauguration

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For much of this country's history, being a white male was a legal prerequisite to being president. Then it was accepted as a cultural norm. Because of that, we could not be the country we set out to be.

But today, somewhere in the Midwest, there is a little Asian-American girl with the crazy idea she could be president one day, and because of Obama, she knows that idea is not very crazy at all.

That's power -- the kind of power that can fade urgent numbers and debates of the day into the background of history.

Gergen: Obama 2.0 version is smarter, tougher

Few remember the number of steps Neil Armstrong took when he landed on the moon, but they remember he was the first human being who stepped on the moon. Few can tell you how many hits Jackie Robinson had in his first Major League Baseball game, but they know he broke baseball's color barrier. Paying homage to a person being first at something significant does not diminish his or her other accomplishments. It adds texture to the arc of their story.

I understand the desire not to talk about race as a way of looking progressive.

But progress isn't pretending to be color blind, it's not being blinded by the person's color.

Or gender.

Or religion.

Or sexual orientation.

Somewhere in the South, there is an openly gay high schooler who loves student government and wants to be president someday. And because of Obama, he knows if he does run, he won't have to hide.

That does not represent a shift in demographics, but a shift in thought inspired by a new reality. A reality in which the president who follows Obama could be a white woman from Arkansas by way of Illinois; a Cuban-American from Florida; or a tough white guy from Jersey. Or someone from an entirely different background. We don't know. Four years is a long time away, and no one knows how any of this will play out -- which I think is a good thing.

For a long time, we've conceived of America as the land of opportunity. Eight years ago, when it came to the presidency, that notion was rhetoric. Four years ago, it became a once in a lifetime moment. Today, it is simply a fact of life.

Ten years from now, we may not remember what the unemployment rate was when Obama was sworn in a second time, but we'll never forget how he forever changed the limits of possibility for generations to come.

Somewhere out West, there is an 80-year-old black woman who never thought she'd see the day when a black man would be elected president. Somehow I doubt Obama's second inauguration is less important to her.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.

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Legend, 2 Chainz, MC Lyte honored at Hip-Hop Ball

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Legend believes hip-hop played its part in helping Barack Obama become president, and he’s proud at how the genre has matured over the years.

“I think hip-hop had a role in making sure we elected a black president in America because we made it so that black people were in people’s homes … through our music and through our culture,” the R&B crooner said Sunday night at the Hip-Hop Inaugural Ball.

“I think it made Barack Obama and more people like him possible, so I’m really thankful for hip-hop and the role it plays in society,” he continued.

Legend was awarded the humanitarian award at Sunday’s event, and it was one of many honors handed out at the Harman Center for Arts.

Hip-hop pioneers MC Lyte and Doug E. Fresh were both given lifetime achievement awards. Fresh even hit the stage, beat boxing while comedian-actor-singer Wayne Brady cooed Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” At one point, Brady even busted out his own rhymes.

Rapper Yo Yo earned a roaring cheer when she hit the stage to honor MC Lyte; Lil Mama also paid tribute to the “Ruffneck” rapper.

2 Chainz, who had a breakthrough year with his Grammy-nominated solo debut and multiple rap hits, earned the street soldier award for encouraging young voters as a spokesperson for the Hip-Hop Caucus’ “Respect My Vote!” campaign.

“Doing my thing on the charts is one thing, but to be getting honored on another avenue, it just feels like a blessing,” he said in an interview. “I’m keeping my head leveled and staying humble.”

Actress Rosario Dawson won the vanguard award for her work as chairman of the Voto Latino organization.

“It’s time to step out of the shadows. It’s time to not just be talked about by other people, it’s time to take the leadership ourselves and that first step of leadership is voting,” Dawson said of the importance of the Latino vote.

Rappers Swizz Beatz and Meek Mill also earned honors at the event, attended by a few hundred hip-hop fans, including model Tyson Beckford, former NBA star Dikembe Mutumbo and Victor Cruz of the New York Giants. La La Anthony and Terrence J hosted the ball.

British singer Marsha Ambrosius also delivered a rousing performance, and playful jokes about Obama.

“I got a call from the president and he asked me to perform his favorite song,” she said before singing the R&B jam “Hope She Cheats on You (With a Basketball Player).”

Then she sang “Butterflies,” a song she co-wrote for Michael Jackson’s 2001 “Invincible” album.

“This might have been his favorite,” she said.

___

Follow Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MusicMesfin

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Gift cards to be accepted at HMV

21 January 2013 Last updated at 08:03 ET

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.

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How to Cut Costs in Retirement

Finding success in retirement is a matter of trade-offs. Some pre-retirees will say that they’d like to have every bit as much, if not more, money in retirement as they had while they were working, even if it means they have to work longer or economize more in advance. Ticking off items on their bucket lists is a key goal, and hiking in the Himalayas and playing golf at Pebble Peach don’t come cheaply.

Other pre-retirees are comfortable with a different type of trade-off. They, too, would like a good quality of life in retirement, but don’t mind economizing a bit in their later years, especially if it means they can be retired longer. They consider time to be the true luxury that accompanies retirement. To get there, they’re willing to downsize their homes, hang on to their cars long enough to earn plaudits from tightwad pals, and entertain at home rather than enjoying lavish meals out.

Many others will balance the above two styles, economizing on some items but considering other splurges sacrosanct. I’ve known plenty of retirees who weren’t wealthy but still managed to travel to fascinating places and contribute to charitable organizations that mirrored their values. They made room in their budgets for these priorities by saving on other line items.

If you’re nearing retirement and you don’t have as much saved as you had hoped, working longer, taking Social Security later, and continuing to sock money away are key ways to help bridge the shortfall. But you might also take heart in knowing that your successful retirement will depend on identifying your own trade-offs–areas where you’re able to trim costs in exchange for what you really want, which might be the ability to retire sooner.

Here are some of the key ways in which retirees might be able to cut their costs.

Make Changes on the Home Front
Moving is a pain in the neck, but one of the easiest ways to make retirement more affordable is to consider moving to a less-expensive residence, usually someplace smaller. If you own your home, you might be able to reduce your mortgage amount or unlock equity by downsizing to a smaller place; you’re also likely to cut your property taxes, maintenance costs, and utility bills. You may even cut your health-care costs, as Morningstar contributor Mark Miller discussed in this recent analysis (http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=580488). Of course, downsizing carries its own trade-offs; Morningstar.com users discussed them in this Discuss forum thread (http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/forums/p/310170/3289160.aspx#3289160), and I summarized their comments in this article (http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=565050). Several cited the ability to shed unnecessary objects as one of the key side benefits of downsizing, though many also noted that they didn’t plan to downsize because they had never “upsized” in the first place.

In a related vein, some retirees and pre-retirees in the same Discuss forum thread noted that relocating to cheaper geographic locales had helped them dramatically reduce their in-retirement cost loads (and escape brutal Northern winters). Not only do housing costs vary significantly by geography, but so do tax burdens. This handy map (http://www.retirementliving.com/taxes-by-state) provides an overview of the tax rates in each state, including the skinny on property, income, and sales taxes. For adventurous pre-retirees who would like to economize, moving to a foreign country with low costs may be an option; this article (http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=564465) provides an overview of some of the trade-offs that accompany retirement overseas.

Trim Day-to-Day Expenses
Making changes to your housing situation is one of the biggest-ticket ways to cut your in-retirement costs, but it’s also the one that will require the most dramatic lifestyle adjustment. For those who aren’t prepared to take that plunge, there are a host of simple ways to reduce expenses on everything from food to utilities to personal care–small changes that will add up over time. This article (http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=376020) details some of the easiest tweaks you can make to reduce your day-to-day outlay, and users also offered terrific tips of their own in the Comments field below the article.

Slice Travel and Leisure Costs
Retirees have something working folks don’t have, and they have it in abundance: time. But many retirees will also tell you that having more time gives them more opportunities to bust their budgets by overspending. Online alerts and daily deal sites make it particularly easy to save on everything from meals to vacations to skydiving, but there are oldfangled ways to economize on travel and leisure costs, too. This article (http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=377819) amalgamates money-saving tips on everything from cultural and sporting events to travel, entertaining, and dining out.

Watch Your Investment and Other Financial Costs Like a Hawk
The aforementioned tips all relate to lifestyle changes. But if you want to cut your in-retirement expenses without having to change your living habits one little bit, the easiest way to do so is to reduce how much you’re paying your financial institutions. Consumers don’t typically write checks for most of these services; instead, their share of expenses is automatically deducted from their balances. That might be convenient, but the end result is that they’re usually not particularly sensitive to what they’re spending, even though financial-services costs can easily be one of the biggest line items in many retiree households. To boot, higher investment costs are inversely related to investment performance, making mutual funds and exchange-traded funds some of the rare consumer products where paying up doesn’t typically buy you a better product. This article (http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=376989) provides 50 tips for cutting your investment, insurance, and banking costs.

A version of this article appeared Sept. 12, 2012.

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European shares test two-year highs, yen volatile before BOJ

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares inched towards two-year highs and German Bunds dipped on Monday, as a political attempt to break a budget impasse in the United States and expectations of aggressive Japanese stimulus bolstered the appetite for shares.

U.S. House Republican leaders said on Friday they would seek to pass a three-month extension of federal borrowing authority in the coming days to buy time for the Democrat-controlled Senate to pass a plan to shrink budget deficits.

European shares <.fteu3> were supported by the news <.eu>, but with no clear response from the Democrats and a thin session expected due to a market holiday in the United States, the impact on assets such as bonds and commodities was limited.

By 1400 GMT London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> were up 0.3 to 0.4 percent, leaving the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 within touching distance of a two-year high and MSCI's world index <.miwd00000pus> steady at a 20-month high. <.l><.eu/>

Expectations that the Bank of Japan will deliver a bold monetary easing plan at the end of its two-day meeting on Tuesday also supported shares and created choppy conditions in the currency market.

According to sources familiar with the BoJ's thinking, the government of new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the central bank have agreed to set 2 percent inflation as a new target, supplanting a softer 1 percent 'goal'.

The yen, which has fallen 13 percent against the dollar over the last two months as the shift in Japanese policy has taken shape, touched a new 2-1/2 year low in early trading but then firmed as traders cut short positions given the BOJ has often fallen short of market expectations.

"Investors are being mindful that the moves we have seen over the course of the last month or two are just worth locking in at least until we understand how the BOJ are really going to play in the future," said Jeremy Stretch, head of currency strategy at CIBC World Markets.

CURRENCY WARS

Japanese equities have surged in recent weeks in anticipation of a more aggressive monetary policy stance, but not everyone is happy.

The slump in the yen has prompted Russia's deputy central bank governor to warn of a new round of 'currency wars' and the medium-term risk of running ultra-loose monetary policies is likely to be a theme of the World Economic Forum in Davos, which opens on Wednesday.

With little in the way of economic data or debt issuance and U.S. markets shut for the Martin Luther King public holiday, the rest of the day was expected to be a fairly quite for investors.

Ahead of the first European finance ministers' meeting of the year, most euro zone government bonds were trading virtually flat and the euro was steady at $1.3316.

Market pressure on Europe is now less intense thanks to the European Central Bank's promise to prevent a collapse of the euro. Policymakers are set to discuss Cyprus's plight and plans for the euro zone's bailout fund to directly recapitalize banks.

"Negotiations will be complex, and a final decision is unlikely to emerge soon. Risks for sovereign spreads in the periphery should be limited, but we have some concerns that the long-term solution may fall short of what a real banking union needs," said UniCredit economist Marco Valli.

POLITICAL GAME

The efforts by Republican lawmakers to give the U.S. government leeway to pay its bills for another three months dented demand for safe haven assets and pushed German government bond yields near the top of this year's range.

The U.S. Treasury needs congressional authorization to raise the current $16.4 trillion limit on U.S. debt sometime between mid-February and early March. A failure to achieve that could lead to a debt default.

"This is part of the political game, it remains to be seen whether the Democrats will accept it," KBC strategist Piet Lammens said, adding that investors' working scenario was that a solution to raise the ceiling would be eventually found anyway.

One of the key factors that drove 2-year German yields higher last week was also the prospect of sizeable early repayments of the 1 trillion euros euro zone banks took from the ECB roughly a year ago.

The central bank will publish on Friday how much banks plan to return at the optional first repayment date on January 30. A Reuters poll on Monday showed around 100 billion euros are expected to be repaid although some predict it could be as high as 250 billion.

OIL OVERSUPPLY

German markets showed no reaction after the country's centre-left opposition party edged Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives from power in a regional election on Sunday, reviving its flagging hopes for September's national election.

Oil prices took their cues from a report in the United States at the end of last week that showed consumer sentiment at its weakest in a year as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the country's debt crisis.

Concerns about demand overshadowed supply disruption fears reinforced by the Islamist militant attack and hostage-taking at a gas plant in Algeria, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Brent futures were down by 40 cents to $111.47 per barrel by mid-afternoon. U.S. crude shed 43 cents to $95.13 per barrel after touching a four-month high last week.

"The over-riding fundamental feeling in the market is that crude oil is over-supplied in 2013," said Tony Nunan, an oil risk manager at Mitsubishi.

Last week's data showing a pick-up in the Chinese economy helped keep growth-sensitive copper prices steady at roughly $8,056 an ounce. Gold, meanwhile, reversed Friday's losses to stand at $1,688 an ounce.

(Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Marious Zaharia and Anooja Debnath; Editing by Peter Graff)

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