radio

North Korea Open Radio Prompts Wonder About Life of Riches Across Borders

April 1, 2010

By Bomi Lim April 1 (Bloomberg) — Illegal cell phones first arrived in North Korea a decade ago from defectors who sent them to loved ones. They’ve become a two-way window allowing those within and without the reclusive state to glimpse life on the other side. As many as 1,000 North Koreans use handsets that connect to Chinese networks to tell people in the South about subjects ranging from food shortages to leader Kim Jong Il’s health, said Ha Tae Keung, a South Korean who runs a Seoul-based radio station that broadcasts daily to the North. Ha’s Open Radio for North Korea is one of several groups gathering information from people on phones that only work near the 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) border with China . The risks are absolute: One caller was executed, Ha’s employees heard, leading Open Radio to curb contact with informants. “To us, it’s about breaking news,” said Ha, who receives U.S. congressional funding through the National Endowment for Democracy . “To them, it’s a matter of life and death.” North Korea accuses the U.S. and South Korea of financing such organizations to conduct “a black propaganda campaign,” the Korean Central News Agency said last month. Kim’s government glorifies his achievements as “the great sun of the nation,” who repels “U.S. warmongers and South Korean puppet forces.” Efforts to control the information flow may intensify as Kim, 68, prepares to hand over power, most likely to his youngest son, Kim Jong Un . Food scarcity, international sanctions and a shortage of foreign currency to buy basic necessities may threaten stability, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a March 15 report. More Executions? Kim Jong Il’s declining health has attracted attention since he reportedly suffered a stroke in 2008, raising speculation about an imminent succession. Little is known about Kim Jong Un, who is in the 20s, according to the Unification Ministry in Seoul. Ha predicts more executions as Kim rolls back an experiment with free markets that weakened his hammerlock on all aspects of life. With the trickle of consumer goods traders brought from China came illicit mobile phones that offered a peep into the reclusive nation and gave some North Koreans an alternative view of a southern neighbor demonized by Kim’s media barrage. “Even short-lived reforms have provided many people a taste of how life could be, and now this is being taken away from them again,” said Rudiger Frank , professor of East Asian Economy and Society at the East Asian Institute of the University of Vienna. “This creates frustration, which in the long run is a necessary ingredient of a revolution.” Instilling Fear The man said to have been executed, in his 40s, was shot in public in January in Hamhung, the country’s second-biggest city, Open Radio said March 4, citing a police officer in the North it didn’t identify. The victim had a Chinese cell phone and had confessed to giving details on rice prices and living conditions to a South Korean defector, the report said. Kim’s government makes “rampant” use of public executions, torture and collective punishment to instill fear, a United Nations report said in February. Defection and disclosing “national secrets” are deemed treason under North Korea’s criminal code and are punishable by death, according to a copy posted on the Web site of South Korea’s Unification Ministry . Listening to “anti-state radio” is punishable by up to five years in a labor camp. Radios are pre-tuned to government programs and owning computers without permission is forbidden, according to the Feb. 17 UN report. Security squads raid homes looking for contraband, it said. SIM Cards While mobile phones are allowed in and around the capital of Pyongyang, their use is forbidden near the border, the UN said. Legal cell phones in North Korea, many operated by Cairo- based Orascom Telecom Holding SAE , can’t be used for international calls, a U.S. State Department human-rights report released in March said. More than 10 North Korean informants for Open Radio use phones with pre-paid SIM cards bought in China that work as far as 10 kilometers across the border, Ha said. Pre-paid cards accounted for 82 percent of all users at Beijing-based China Mobile Ltd. , that country’s biggest operator, in 2007. Illegal phones started appearing as early as 2000, when defectors living in China and South Korea had them smuggled across the border to relatives, said Sohn Kwang Joo, chief editor at Seoul-based Daily NK . Regime Change “Cell phones are the most powerful and surest way to change the North Korean regime,” said Sohn, whose newspaper was the first to report on North Korea’s bungled currency revaluation last year. “A regime change is inevitable and it may come a lot faster than we expect.” The government in December knocked two zeros off the currency, wiping out savings derived from the black market. The move backfired when food prices soared, sparking sporadic protests, according to Daily NK and Open Radio. The government executed a senior official, Pak Nam Gi, in February for “intentionally harming the country’s economy,” South Korea’s Yonhap News agency said. “What the regime is worried about is the North Korean people’s growing awareness that the South Korean people are not only richer but that they also do not want to live under Kim Jong Il,” said Brian Myers, professor of international studies at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea. “You raise in the minds of the North Korean people: ‘Why don’t we just live under South Korean rule?’” To contact the reporter on this story: Bomi Lim in Seoul at blim30@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

China Confusing `Google Geeks’ Reinforces Effectiveness of Great Firewall

April 1, 2010

By Tim Culpan April 1 (Bloomberg) — Google Inc .’s confusion over what caused searches in China to fail this week reinforces the mystery of how the country’s “Great Firewall” operates and hinders attempts to subvert the censors, analysts said. China’s firewall, a Web-based system that sets restrictions on some sites, blocked results at Google.com.hk, the company said late March 30. A few hours earlier, Google had blamed the disruption on a change in its own coding. “One of the reasons why the Great Firewall is so effective is that the boundaries are so opaque,” said Jeremy Goldkorn , the Beijing-based founder of Danwei.org, a web site that reports on Chinese media. “People are left to guess, so they tend to be more conservative” in the content they provide. Google’s mistake is understandable given that the Chinese government doesn’t warn or notify foreign content providers what it will block, Goldkorn said. Google, which last week started redirecting mainland users to its Hong Kong site, has clashed with Chinese officials since January when it said it will stop self-censorship after previously agreeing to limit content. In an initial e-mailed statement, Mountain View, California-based Google said its Hong Kong site was blocked because its Internet addresses for search results contained the letters “rfa,” which the firewall associated with Radio Free Asia, the U.S.-funded radio network banned in China. That coding was actually introduced a week earlier and wasn’t the cause of the disruption, Google said later. ‘Google Geeks’ China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology didn’t respond to a faxed request for comment. The ministry doesn’t accept telephone enquiries. “The fact that Google geeks couldn’t figure it out doesn’t surprise me,” Goldkorn said. Danwei.org, which is hosted on a server in Texas, is not available in China, while Danwei.tv, which provides much of the same information, can be viewed, he said. Danwei.org carries stories on Chinese filmmakers, blogs and web sites. China censors web sites as part of a policy it says is to protect against undesirable content such as pornography and maintain social stability. Google said Jan. 12 it plans to stop self-censoring results and might close its China site, Google.cn, which was set up in 2006, after saying hacks against its e-mail service were aimed at Chinese human rights activists. Last week the company started directing mainland users to its Hong Kong site, where officials don’t usually assist China censors Web-search results. Search Results Blocked China’s government allows Internet users to search for controversial topics such as “Tiananmen Square massacre” and “ Dalai Lama ,” while the firewall limits or blocks access to some of the sites that are found by the query. “From a technical point of view, it’s not that difficult,” Steve Chang , Chairman of Tokyo-based security software company Trend Micro Inc. said in an interview in Taipei yesterday. “The mystery is in the rules, you never really know exactly what is being blocked.” False-positives, where a site is accidentally blocked, are also inevitable and can add to confusion, said Chang, whose company gets 60 percent of its revenue from security software used in servers and Internet data centers. “We only have very vague ideas about what’s to be banned,” said Joseph Cheng , Chair of Political Science at City University in Hong Kong. Terms such as “Tibet” and “Xinjiang” were more closely monitored after riots in both regions, and the whims of censors also affects what may be blocked or allowed, he said. “Besides self-censorship and technology, there’s also the actual Internet police monitoring content,” Cheng said, estimating that China has as many as 30,000 people tasked with keeping tabs on online activities. “The whole package of strategies is to generate a deterrence effect; that you may get in trouble.” To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

Richard Zombeck: ShameTheBanks.org Gaining Momentum

March 28, 2010

Since www.shamethebanks.org was launched on March 23 and announced on the Huff Post, the site has received thousands of visitors. Homeowners have been submitting stories , commenting on articles and stories, and downloading hundreds of mortgage related documents that are available on the site. The content on the site has received over 13,000 hits and continues to gain momentum. In the site’s short time on the web it’s been featured on moveyourmoney.info , with the tag line, “Want to tell people how you were abused by the big banks? Share your story at ShametheBanks.org , where you can read other horror stories and stay up to date on how government policies affect you.” Denise Richardson, consumer advocate and owner of GiveMeBackMyCredit.com , wrote in her recent Sun Sentinel post, “ShameTheBanks.org is a great non-commercial location for consumers to share their stories about fighting the banking system, lowering their interest rates, or advocating for student loan rights. It is also a resource, providing homeowners with mortgage and loan information drawn from across the Internet and beyond, all in one location.” Richardson also sent us an e-mail shortly after the site was announced on Huff Post . “I never heard of the site, so went to see if it was a legit site — I was thrilled that it was,” she wrote eluding to the enormous number of commercial sites offering similar information at a cost to already cash-strapped and desperate homeowners. Unfortunately not every site covering the crisis is as dedicated to helping homeowners or grateful to see another site as Richardson is. Earlier this month, in an effort to inform Congress and the powers that be about the daunting experiences homeowners were facing in getting loan modifications, I visited homeowner forums to solicit stories from people. On a recent visit to one forum I posted a request for information from homeowners who had received trial modifications and been granted permanent modifications. I wanted to repudiate the amount of “successful” modifications banks and servicers have claimed. The owner of the site banned me from the site the same day, claiming that I was self promoting, though it was difficult to read his response amongst the ads on the site. Over the last year, while blogging about the crisis, I have received a number of e-mails from homeowners recounting their stories and difficulties in getting any relief in this crisis. Each story is different and was sent with the hope that comes with media attention. As I wrote in my last post, “Every once in a while a story will pop up in the press about a homeowner being unfairly treated by a bank, like this Indiana couple who were denied a modification by GMAC for making their payments early . The bank is contacted by the media, the situation is rectified, the bank explains it away and inevitably they simply go back to business as usual with the rest of their customers -the ones who didn’t get media attention.” Initially people contacted me with trepidation and reserve, asking me to not mention them by name or location for fear that publicizing their plight would lead to retribution from the banks. A couple of weeks ago, facing a pile of e-mails, a few of us got together and decided to put a site together for people to tell their stories. I contacted each of the homeowners who had e-mailed me to inform them of shamethebanks.org and our intention. I fully expected to get push back and more misplaced fear. My inbox was brimming the next morning. “YES, you have my permission to use my case or words in anyway that will help another realize they are not alone and make the point the banks are scamming us by double and triple dipping ONCE they can do what they do to get our homes to auction,” was just one e-mail I received from Catherine Drake. She and her husband are among the many who have had enough and feel they have nothing to lose by coming forward and telling their story. Lori Kelly wrote, “Feel free to use my first and last name. I have nothing to hide. Except maybe the HAMP police,” she wrote. She now blogs on the site. The site is riddled with information, stories from homeowners are coming in every day, and the blogs are active. The contributors to the site are homeowners, consumer lawyers, and even some who worked for loan servicers. A few of the members have blogs on the site . Each of them is dedicated to one purpose: Helping homeowners find information and give them a voice they otherwise may not have had. The majority of of the comments are empathetic as people respond to the stories and blog posts.”I don’t even know you, but your story hits home with me,” one reader posts. Banks aren’t the only ones angering homeowners. People frustrated with how elected officials have responded to this situation leave their comments as well. “I went to Senator Feinstein’s office a few weeks back as I had petitioned for a meeting. I thought I was going to meet her, but ended up in a room with a twenty-something aide,” writes one reader. Another woman told me that Congressman Mike Conway of Texas told her, “I don’t get involved in the private sector.” Bank of America recently announced a plan to reduce principal after a tongue lashings from the White House. Treasury’s March report of modifications to date by servicer show’s Bank of America as having modified less than 10 percent of its eligible loans. There is little confidence among homeowners or economists that the bank will follow through with this recent announcement according to an NPR Radio broadcast . On March 4 Ocwen’s president, Ron Farris appeared before the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and said, “In Ocwen’s experience, negative equity increases the chance of a re-default by one-and-a-half to two times.” This assessment by Farris may be accurate, but it is in stark contradiction to his companies policies. In e-mail communications and phone conversations with Jennifer Levy, an Ocwen Bank Loan Workout Specialist and Farris’ own secretary, Linda Ludwig, about our loan, both women stated emphatically that Ocwen never reduces principal, despite what their executives are quoted as saying. Ludwig even accused us of taking what they said out of context. Ocwen has been ordered by a judge to clean up their accounting , calling it “systematic abuse” and repeatedly been given a grade of “F” by the Better Business Bureau, yet Congress continues to accept their testimony without verifying any of their claims. A successful loan modification from either of Bank of America or Ocwen has yet to be reported. The public relations departments of these firms has done an excellent job convincing Congress and homeowners who are not trouble that they are doing great things, but the reality of the situation for homeowners is far from great and we’re posting new stories as they come in. In just one week shamethebanks.org has managed to reach more people than we had hoped. We’re hoping the momentum will continue and eventually reach Washington. Help spread the word and the shame at ShameTheBanks.org and tell your story about the bank or elected official treating you shamefully. Let them know that their plan isn’t working and homeowners continue to be duped out of their money and their homes.

Read the full article →

Biden Visits Middle East as Israel, Palestinians Agree to Indirect Talks

March 8, 2010

By Gwen Ackerman and Jonathan Ferziger March 8 (Bloomberg) — Vice President Joe Biden began a trip to the Middle East as the U.S. announced that Israel and the Palestinians accepted a plan to start indirect talks that analysts say are unlikely to lead to a breakthrough. Biden landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport as U.S envoy George Mitchell clinched understandings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to participate in discussions aimed at reviving direct peace talks. “We’ve begun to discuss the structure and scope of these talks and I will return to the region next week to continue our discussions,” Mitchell said in a statement released in Washington today. Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have been frozen since the end of 2008, when Israel launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip that it said was to stop Hamas from firing rockets. Last week, Arab states endorsed a U.S. bid to break the ice by mediating a series of indirect talks that are designed to pave the way for direct negotiations. Hours before Biden’s arrival, Israel disclosed that it had approved the construction of 112 new homes in a West Bank settlement, drawing condemnation from the Palestinian Authority, which called the action “provocative.” Mitchell asked “the parties, and all concerned, to refrain from any statements or actions which may inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of these talks.” ‘Dire’ Situation U.S.-led efforts to revive talks have foundered on the issue of West Bank settlement building, with Netanyahu announcing a partial halt and Abbas demanding a freeze of all construction. The fact that it has taken more than a year for Mitchell to arrange indirect talks indicates how “dire” the situation has become between the two sides, said Jonathan Spyer , a political scientist at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, near Tel Aviv. The mediation effort is a “pleasant illusion” to avoid confronting the fact that the “positions are irreconcilable,” Spyer said. “It’s kicking the ball down the road for a few more years when someone else will have to deal with the problem.” President Barack Obama raised Arab hopes that the U.S. would apply pressure to Israel with a June 4 speech in Cairo in which he called for a total settlement freeze. Arab leaders expressed disappointment five months later when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged that a complete construction halt is unrealistic and praised Netanyahu’s proposal for a limited 10-month freeze as “unprecedented.” ‘Proximity Talks’ The format of indirect negotiations enables Palestinians to engage with Israel even though Abbas made a public commitment not to hold talks until all settlement construction is stopped. The foreign ministers of Arab states agreed in Cairo last week to give the “proximity talks” four months and call for an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting if they fail. “The Americans, the Israelis and the Palestinians are afraid that a continuation of the stalemate might lead to a new round of violence in the near future,” said Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist at Gaza Strip’s Al-Azhar University. The indirect talks are a way “to keep things under control for the foreseeable future.” He said there was “no hope whatsoever that these proximity talks will be able to bridge differences or reach conclusive results.” Israel said it had approved construction of 112 new homes at the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit. Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said in a telephone interview that the building didn’t violate Netanyahu’s temporary construction freeze because “this is part of a project that had previously received approval.” Security Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib said the announcement of new settlement construction is “like putting a stick in the wheels of reviving the stalled peace process” and that “the Palestinian Authority considers the Israeli decision provocative.” “The diplomatic process is not a game, it’s the real thing, and it’s rooted first of all in security,” Netanyahu said in remarks broadcast on Army Radio. Abbas is willing to negotiate a West Bank land swap with Israel to set the borders of an independent state, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said today. In past negotiations, Israel proposed keeping areas of the West Bank close to the 1967 borders where there is a large concentration of settlements, and in exchange giving the Palestinians land inside Israel. Biden will also visit Jordan during his trip this week to the region, the White House said yesterday. To contact the reporters on this story: Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackerman@bloomberg.net Jonathan Ferziger in Jerusalem at jferziger@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Obama Says Benefits from Health-Care Measure Will Start Before Year’s End

March 7, 2010

By Nicholas Johnston March 6 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama said some provisions in health-care legislation he wants Congress to pass within weeks would begin improving insurance coverage for many in the U.S. before year’s end. Soon after passage the measure would give tax credits to small businesses, bar insurance companies from refusing coverage and help senior citizens afford their medications, Obama said in his weekly address on the radio and Internet. “There are numerous protections and benefits that would start to take effect this year,” Obama said. “That’s why we must act now.” Obama urged Congress to have an “up-or-down” vote on the legislation. Republican lawmakers are unanimously opposed to Obama’s plan and have vowed to make it an issue in the campaign for congressional elections in November. The plan would give insurers such as Minnetonka, Minnesota- based UnitedHealth Group Inc . and drugmakers including New York- based Pfizer Inc . millions of new customers while also putting new requirements on the companies. The president this week promised his supporters he would do “everything in my power” to make the case for the most sweeping U.S. health-care legislation in more than four decades. On March 8, he’ll continue that effort when he travels to Arcadia University , near Philadelphia. In the Republican address , Congressman Parker Griffith of Alabama said Democrats are rushing to “jam through a massive government takeover of health care.” Republican Objections “It would raise taxes, slash Medicare benefits and destroy American jobs,” said Griffith, a medical doctor who switched political parties last year. “It would put federal bureaucrats in charge of medical decisions that should be made by patients and doctors. And it must be stopped.” Obama said there has been almost a year of debate on the legislation, including a day-long summit with Democrats and Republicans in Congress last week, and that the discussion has been “public and substantive.” “Now, despite all the progress and improvements we’ve made, Republicans in Congress insist that the only acceptable course on health care is to start over,” Obama said. Griffith said Republicans favor a “step-by-step” approach, and that he joined the party because congressional Democrats refused to listen to public opposition to their health-care proposals. Legislative Tactic He said the procedure Democrats will use to get the legislation through the Senate with 51 votes, using a tactic known as “budget reconciliation,” is a “toxic, controversial legislative scheme.” “Reconciliation would allow Democrats to make a few last- minute backroom deals and rely on only Democratic votes,” Griffith said. Under Senate rules, 60 votes are required to cut off debate and move legislation toward passage. Democrats control 59 seats in the 100-member chamber. Democratic leaders may seek to have the House pass the version of the legislation that cleared the Senate on Dec. 24 and then make changes using the reconciliation process. Obama said Republican ideas have been incorporated into the legislation and heeding calls for delay from opponents would let insurance companies continue to “arbitrarily and massively” raise rates and deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. He said failing to pass a health-care overhaul now would mean an opportunity lost for “another decade, or another generation.” “We are not finished with our journey just yet. But we are close. We are very close,” Obama said. “So I ask Congress to finish its work. I ask them to give the American people an up or down vote.” To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Macau Casino Billionaire Stanley Ho Discharged From Hospital, RTHK Reports

March 6, 2010

By Kelvin Wong March 6 (Bloomberg) — Macau casino billionaire Stanley Ho has been discharged from hospital today, Radio Television Hong Kong reported on its Web site. The billionaire, accompanied by his family, was seen waving to reporters at the front door of Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, according to the RTHK report. Ho has regained weight lost before he was hospitalized and he has been walking, RTHK cited his daughter, Pansy Ho , as saying today. “He’s in very good condition and his health has fully recovered,” Pansy Ho said in comments broadcast on Hong Kong’s Cable TV News. Ho, 88, had been hospitalized in Hong Kong since August. His last public appearance was in December, when Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui took the oath of office. Ho controls SJM Holdings Ltd., the casino operator with the biggest market share in Macau, in turn the world’s largest gambling hub. Ho, who also owns ferry operator and property developer Shun Tak Holdings Ltd., has never named a successor. The gaming magnate’s companies have made no public statement on his condition. Janet Wong , a spokeswoman for Shun Tak, couldn’t be reached immediately for comment today. Ho has undergone two “pretty big” surgeries, Lawrence Ho , his eldest surviving son, said in a Bloomberg Television interview broadcast Dec. 9, without elaborating. To contact the reporter on this story: Kelvin Wong in Hong Kong at kwong40@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Chile Struck by Magnitude 8.8 Earthquake, Tsunami Alert Issued, USGS Says

February 27, 2010

By Mike Millard Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) — Chile was rocked by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake, the USGS said on its Web site . A tsunami warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for Chile and Peru. The temblor struck 197 miles (317 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Santiago, at a depth of 36.9 miles at 3:34 a.m. local time, the USGS said. Chile’s Radio Cooperativa reported that the quake was in the Antofagasta region, a copper mining area. Power and telephone lines in Santiago were cut. Chile was shaken in 1960 by the most powerful earthquake on record, a magnitude 9.5 earthquake that killed about 1,655 people, according to the USGS Web site. A further 211 people were killed by tsunamis generated by the quake that struck Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines. Last month, Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7 quake. The death toll may reach 300,000, President Rene Preval said Feb. 21. More than 1 million people were left homeless. To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Millard in Singapore at Mmillard2@bloomberg.net ;

Read the full article →

Toyota Backers Say Critics Are Motivated More by Self-Interest Than Safety

February 22, 2010

By John Hughes and Theo Francis Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) — “Gangster government targets Toyota,” said the headline on a Washington Examiner editorial . U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was behaving like “one of the brand managers” for General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, “running around ripping Toyota to shreds,” Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show. The governors of four states with Toyota plants wrote to House lawmakers to complain about the federal government’s “disturbing statements and hasty actions.” For some critics, U.S. scrutiny of Toyota Motor Corp.’s handling of vehicle defects is motivated by more than safety concerns. They say the government may be beating up on Toyota partly because of the federal stakes in GM and Chrysler. “Here’s another reason you don’t want the government in the car business,” Indiana Republican Mitch Daniels, one of the governors who signed the protesting letter, said in an interview. “It sure has given every impression of the government discriminating against its direct competitor.” The U.S. owns 61 percent of Detroit-based GM, the biggest U.S. car company, after bailing out the automaker with $49.9 billion in aid. Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler received $14.3 billion, giving the U.S. a 10 percent stake. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , part of the Transportation Department, is investigating reports of unintended acceleration and brake problems in Toyota cars and trucks that have caused the recall of more than 8 million vehicles on five continents. Three Hearings The Toyota probe takes center stage in Washington today, with the first of three scheduled congressional hearings. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, headed by California Democrat Henry Waxman , holds today’s session. LaHood and Jim Lentz, Toyota’s U.S. sales unit president, are among the scheduled witnesses. Akio Toyoda , president of Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota, which last year passed GM as the world’s biggest automaker, is due to testify tomorrow before a separate House committee. A Senate panel will have a hearing on March 2. Critics may be justified in wondering about the politics behind the controversy, said Chester Spatt , a finance professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and a former chief economist for the Securities and Exchange Commission. “There’s definitely a problem,” Spatt said in an interview. “In a private context, people would be talking about all kinds of conflicts.” Administration officials dismiss the notion that the government’s stakes in GM and Chrysler are influencing the investigation. Safety Only “We take auto safety very seriously and base all decisions for investigations on the merits of the data regardless of who manufactures the vehicle,” LaHood spokeswoman Olivia Alair said in an e-mail responding to the conflict-of-interest suggestions. Of the agency’s 44 open investigations, 39 involve automakers other than Toyota, she said. Bill Burton, the White House deputy press secretary, and Meg Reilly, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department officials who oversee the GM and Chrysler stakes, also said the ownership issue plays no role in the investigation. The U.S. can juggle its interests, particularly considering that the GM and Chrysler stakes don’t give it the kind of economic motivations that a private owner would have, said Julian Zelizer , a Princeton University professor of history and public affairs in Princeton, New Jersey. The government “took over GM not simply as a business venture, but to shore up the economy,” Zelizer said. “A lot of Toyota is in the U.S. now. They want Toyota to be healthy as well.” ‘Witch Hunting’ Toyota defenders see cause for concern. In their Feb. 10 letter to Waxman and three other members of the House committees holding hearings, the governors of Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi and Alabama said the federal government has an “obvious conflict.” “There seems to be a degree of witch-hunting,” Indiana’s Daniels said in the interview. Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and United Auto Workers union protested Jan. 27 outside Japan’s embassy in Washington, calling Toyota a “danger to America.” The demonstrators chanted that the company took U.S. money in the so-called cash for clunkers rebate program while producing “damaged cars.” “Certainly the labor unions would love to have the non- unionized Toyota be over-enforced,” Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican, said in an interview. “But it’s really their turn in the barrel,” he said of Toyota. Ford Scrutiny Issa, the senior Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which holds tomorrow’s hearing, said Ford Motor Co. “was just as much in scrutiny” for defects about a decade ago. George Lusby, county executive for Scott County, Kentucky, where Toyota has a plant that had to halt production because of a sales decline linked to the recalls, said past government responses to defects by automakers including Ford were more subdued. “All of a sudden a Japanese company is having a problem, and it’s like this thing is the most dangerous thing that ever was,” Lusby said in an interview. The Washington Examiner, a free daily newspaper in the nation’s capital, weighed in with its “gangster government” editorial on Feb. 4, taking lawmakers and “a chorus of Naderite auto safety nannies” to task. Founded by Anschutz The newspaper was founded by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz , who has contributed almost $150,000 to Republican candidates and state or national organizations since 2008, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington group that monitors campaign finance. Radio host Limbaugh said GM and Chrysler are “essentially owned by Obama, owned by the federal government,” according to the Feb. 4 page for his show’s Web site. “So here’s one of the branch managers, Ray LaHood, running around ripping Toyota to shreds.” Japanese media also have voiced suspicions. In a Feb. 5 commentary, the Nikkei, Japan’s top-selling financial newspaper, said U.S. elections coming in November may have contributed to the government and Congress taking “a hard-line stance” on Toyota. “The fact that the Japanese auto giant has sharply increased its market share in the U.S., while General Motors and Chrysler headed for bankruptcy, provoked a strong reaction to its vehicle problems,” the Nikkei said. ‘Protectionist’ Policies “It appears that the U.S. is moving toward more protectionist trade policies,” Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo, said in an interview. “My hope is that Toyota’s recalls won’t accelerate that trend and make the U.S. more defensive.” Before the recall controversy, Toyota indicated it was cognizant of a “changing political environment” in the U.S., according to a company document dated last July on operations of the automaker’s Washington office. The document, as provided to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, listed an “Activist Administration & Congress” and “Massive government support for Detroit automakers” as “Toyota Challenges.” “We’re focused on upcoming hearings,” said Ed Lewis, a Toyota spokesman in Washington, when asked whether a conflict of interest may be influencing the investigation. ‘Calmer Heads’ “We need to let calmer heads prevail,” said Representative Shelley Moore Capito , a West Virginia Republican whose district has a Toyota engine and transmission plant. “I don’t think it serves anybody to unreasonably gang up on Toyota and try to take them down for other reasons, besides the fact of getting the straight information out,” Capito said in an interview. “The Toyota that I know is a high-quality, good-paying company,” she said. “Obviously there is a problem, and they’re trying to fix it.” To contact the reporter on this story: John Hughes in Washington at jhughes5@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

Obama Calls on Lawmakers to Attend Meeting on Health Care in `Good Faith’

February 20, 2010

By Nicholas Johnston Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) — U.S. President Barack Obama urged lawmakers to attend his meeting on health care next week in “good faith” as he decried “jaw-dropping” insurance rate increases that he said underscore the need for congressional remedies. After legislation that would have required all Americans to have insurance while imposing new regulations on insurers stalled in Congress amid Republican opposition, Obama invited congressional leaders from both parties to a meeting Feb. 25 to discuss alternative proposals. “I hope they come in a spirit of good faith,” Obama said today in his weekly address on the radio and the Internet. “I don’t want to see this meeting turn into political theater, with each side simply reciting talking points and trying to score political points.” In the Republican address, Representative Dave Camp of Michigan said that the health-care debate needs to be reset to the beginning and he criticized Democratic proposals that are being negotiated ahead of time in secret. “If the starting point for this summit is more of the same backroom deals and partisan bills, then this meeting will likely be a charade,” Camp said. Obama said he is considering Republican ideas as he crafts his own proposal, such as letting health insurance be sold across state lines and allowing small businesses to join together to purchase insurance policies for the employees. “I hope Democrats and Republicans can come together next week around these and other ideas,” Obama said. Republican Ideas Camp said the Republican proposals include letting states implement their own reforms and a crackdown on medical malpractice lawsuits. “Republicans remain ready to discuss these ideas with President Obama and move forward in a bipartisan way to lower health care costs,” he said. “But Americans’ health care is way too important to risk on a rushed backroom deal that puts federal bureaucrats in charge of your personal health-care decisions.” On Feb. 9 Obama singled out for criticism proposed insurance premium increases by a California subsidiary of Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc . that the company later delayed. In his address today, he said customers of Anthem Blue Cross of California recently “opened up their mailboxes to find a letter” and that the “news inside was jaw-dropping.” The company, he said, wanted to raise premiums “by an average of 25 percent, with about a quarter of folks likely to see their rates go up anywhere from 35 to 39 percent.” Other States He expressed concern about similar rate hikes that either have been put into effect or are proposed in Michigan, Kansas and Maine. “The bottom line is that the status quo is good for the insurance industry and bad for America,” he said. Obama called the health-care debate a test of the government’s ability to solve problems, and said it has gone on long enough. “Americans are understandably despairing about whether partisanship and the undue influence of special interests in Washington will make it impossible for us to deal with the big challenges that face our country,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Societe Generale Falls as Asset Writedowns Weigh on Profit, Dividend Cut

February 18, 2010

By Fabio Benedetti-Valentini Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) — Societe Generale SA , France’s second-largest bank by market value, fell as much as 6.2 percent in Paris trading after writedowns tied to risky assets weighed on fourth-quarter profit and the company cut its dividend. Societe Generale fell 2.17 euros to 39.83 euros by 12:21 p.m., bringing the decline this year to 19 percent. The Paris- based bank cut its dividend to 25 cents a share for 2009 from 1.2 euros a year earlier, it said in a statement today. The French bank, still adding up the cost of the global financial crisis, reported about 1.6 billion euros of writedowns and provisions linked to toxic assets, exceeding an estimate of about 1.4 billion euros it provided last month. A 732 million- euro gain from the creation of an asset-management venture with Credit Agricole cushioned the effect on earnings. “They continue to disappoint with negative charges each quarter,” said Jonathan Tyce , a London-based analyst at FBR Capital Markets International Ltd. who has an “outperform” rating on the stock. “Other top investment banks are talking about a good start in 2010. SocGen has taken risk off and you can question whether they’re off to the same good trend.” Trailing BNP Paribas Net income was 221 million euros in the fourth quarter, up from 87 million euros a year earlier. The bank’s earnings have lagged behind larger rival BNP Paribas SA throughout the crisis. BNP Paribas posted a 1.37 billion-euro fourth-quarter profit yesterday, helped by the purchase of Fortis assets and lower provisions for bad loans. For the full year, BNP Paribas earned 5.8 billion euros, compared with 678 million euros at Societe Generale. Societe Generale Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea indicated the worst impact from the financial crisis is past. “In 2009 we’ve done a big cleaning because of the crisis, and namely on the U.S. residential” market, Oudea said in an interview on France’s Radio Classique today. “I remain very confident on a rebound capacity” and further writedowns this year would be “infinitely more modest than in 2009,” he said. Bonus Pool Societe Generale has a 2009 cash bonus pool of about 250 million euros for its so-called market professionals, or an average of about 96,100 euros each. BNP Paribas set aside 500 million euros for cash bonuses to its capital-market employees, or about 125,000 euros each. On average, 55 percent of the variable compensation at Societe Generale is deferred over three years, paid in the bank’s stock and can be clawed back if performance criteria are not met. BNP Paribas’s variable pay was subject to similar conditions. The corporate- and investment-banking unit at Societe Generale had a 563 million-euro loss in the fourth quarter, compared with a restated 937 million-euro loss a year earlier. The French retail bank earned 188 million euros, compared with a profit of 290 million euros. The international retail banking unit had earnings of 97 million euros, compared with a loss of 75 million euros in the fourth quarter of last year. Societe Generale marked down mortgage-related securities because of an increase in estimated loss rates on U.S. subprime and prime loans. Chief Financial Officer Didier Valet told reporters on Jan. 13 that the bank “hardened” its assumptions in valuing risky assets. Toxic Assets The bank, which had about 10 billion euros in markdowns and provisions stemming from the financial crisis through September, said last month it plans to isolate risky assets in a separate unit. The company had about 35.5 billion euros of such assets remaining at the end of 2009 from holdings including asset- backed securities and debt backed by U.S. bond insurers, according to a presentation on the company’s Web site. Oudea, 46, is seeking to rebuild profitability at its investment bank two years after the company announced a record trading loss, which it blamed on unauthorized positions amassed by former trader Jerome Kerviel . Kerviel, 33, will stand trial for his role in the 4.9 billion-euro loss in June, a Paris court said last week. He has admitted to covering up his bets on stock index futures with fake orders to hedge positions, while asserting there was no crime because the bank knew what he was doing. Societe Generale raised 4.8 billion euros in a rights offer in October to repay 3.4 billion euros of state funds, bolster capital and finance acquisitions. It agreed in December to pay 676 million euros to Dexia SA to take full control of the French consumer-banking network Credit du Nord. To contact the reporter on this story: Fabio Benedetti-Valentini in Paris at fabiobv@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

Dave Johnson: News Flash: Nations Compete

February 15, 2010

I have a regular spot on the radio show, The Fairness Doctrine , currently in Massachusetts but going national. The show has a liberal and a conservative host and they present and discuss differing viewpoints — without shouting. On the show today we talked about my post from last week, With Washington Stalled, China and Others Race Past Us . In that post I wrote, One party in Washington is following a strategy of obstructing everything, believing that the public will blame the other party for nothing getting done. The other party refuses to use the powers it has to act on the nation’s agenda, fearing that the public will thing they’re being mean or something. So we’re stuck, standing still, getting nothing done. And the rest of the world moves forward with the green manufacturing revolution, taking the jobs, taking the industries, taking the momentum, taking the future. Here is my point: W e’re standing still, and other nations are moving ahead . Literally. High-speed rail is an example of this difference. Compare China’s investment in public infrastructure like high-speed rail with our own. At Open Left Saturday, Paul Rosenberg wrote a post about China’s wonderful new high-speed rail system, Whose near future is our far future: Europe, China or California? , saying, “It’s really amazing how much rail they’re going to have built within the next two years, 42 lines including connections between China’s most important cities. … The US, in contrast, will have one line built in four years, connecting Tampa and Orlando. Tampa and Orlando? That’s not so much a high-speed rail line, more an overgrown Disney ride.” China has a national strategy of massive investment in public infrastructure to create jobs and stimulate manufacturing. This investment then leaves behind a modernized manufacturing infrastructure as well as a much more efficient transportation system. This is part of a larger strategy to develop an economy that is much more energy efficient than their competitors, which means they will be better able as a nation to compete economically. President Obama has been trying to get our own country to invest strategic projects like this. If we can invest in a more efficient economy then WE will be more competitive in the future than we are today. This means more jobs and a higher standard of living in the future, as these investments pay off. But his efforts meet resistance every step of the way. Just one example of this is how the entrenched oil and coal interests take advantage of the corruption of Washington, especially the Senate, to block these efforts. They also invest heavily in poisoning the information that reaches the public, like funding “climate skeptics” and think tanks that pump out ” ideology ” that isn’t really ideas but is propaganda that serves their own financial interests. They and others are doing everything they can to block us from investing in the green manufacturing revolution while the rest of the world is moving ahead. America is stuck in this weird ideology that says government is bad, and it is wrong for government to help the people by planning and investing in our future. There is a “market fundamentalism” that says that markets must decide things, not democracy. They say our people through our government will make bad decisions, that companies are much more efficient at making decisions, so we should instead let the people who run the largest companies decide how to use our country’s resources, labor force, and capital. They say this is much more “efficient” than letting democracy make decisions. Here is a fact: nations compete . You might believe this is an outmoded concept. It might not fit with the business model of multinational corporations. But we still have countries that see themselves as unified nations with a shared identity, and these nations compete. They compete with US. China is competing with US and the rest of the world, to bring manufacturing to itself, and using national strategies. We are not responding as a nation. When someone is in a fight with you, you have a much better chance of winning if you at least understand that you are in a fight and get yourself organized to do something about it! How hard is that to understand? China and other countries are in a fight with us for economic dominance. Manufacturing is the key to economic power, and they are fighting to win manufacturing business away from us. I don’t say this to particularly criticize China. The Chinese don’t owe me a job . China is just taking care of its own. It should. That is what nations are supposed to do. So to the extent that we still see ourselves as a NATION, we need to take care of OUR own. We need a national economic/industrial strategy, where we say THIS is how WE are going to compete. If America is still a nation with a democracy we’re going to have to step up to the plate and compete as a country and as a people. This post originally appeared at Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF.

Read the full article →

Obama Says Budget Rule He Signed Into Law Will Aid U.S. Deficit Reduction

February 13, 2010

By Kate Andersen Brower Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama said Congress will “have to pay for what it spends, just like everybody else,” now that he’s signed a budget rule into law that requires some tax cuts and funding increases be offset with savings elsewhere. Obama, in his weekly address on the radio and the Internet today, discussed a provision in the bill he signed into law yesterday that raised the federal debt limit. The measure’s additional provision enacted into law the pay-as-you-go budgeting rule designed to make it harder for lawmakers to add to the federal budget deficit . The rule, known as pay-go, requires lawmakers to finance new federal benefit programs and some tax cuts with savings or revenue increases elsewhere in the budget. Critics have noted that about 40 percent of the budget was exempt from the rule. Obama said past failures to follow the rule, which had existed as a guideline rather than a law, is one cause of the government’s rising deficit, along with the economic recession and rising health-care costs. “It was this rule that helped lead to balanced budgets in the 1990s,” Obama said of pay-go. “It was the abandonment of this rule that allowed the previous administration and previous Congresses to pass massive tax cuts for the wealthy and create an expensive new drug program without paying for any of it.” Obama referred to the series of tax cuts enacted during former President George W. Bush’s administration and the Medicare program’s prescription drug benefit that took effect in 2006. Deficit Projections The Congressional Budget Office has forecast this year’s deficit will be $1.35 trillion, following on a $1.4 trillion shortfall last year. Obama said that while he has proposed $20 billion in budget cuts this year and a freeze on some government spending for three years, his administration will “continue to go through the budget line by line, looking for ways to save.” “Like families across the country, we have to take responsibility for every dollar we spend,” he said. He spotlighted his plan to create a bipartisan fiscal commission by executive order that will offer recommendations to Congress on budget reduction. He said “solving our fiscal challenge — so many years in the making — will take both parties coming together, putting politics aside, and making some hard choices.” Republican Address In the Republican address , Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the Obama administration’s decision to hold a trial in civilian court for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba “a major mistake in the war on terror.” The Justice Department is re-examining its decision to hold the trial in New York City after lawmakers and New York officials raised concerns about holding it in lower Manhattan. Mohammed is the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. Graham, a military lawyer, said Mohammed and the four alleged co-conspirators should be tried swiftly in the military justice system. He said it is unprecedented to offer them the “same constitutional rights as American citizens.” He said civilian trials can further jeopardize U.S. national security. Graham said years before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Osama Bin Laden was tipped off to U.S. surveillance because of information leaked during the civilian trial of another terrorist. Graham also criticized the administration for having authorities read Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s his Miranda rights shortly after the 23 year-old Nigerian man was arrested on charges of trying to blow up an airliner traveling to the U.S. from Amsterdam on Dec. 25. “Is reading Miranda rights to terrorists any way to fight a war?” Graham asked. He called the military justice system “transparent” and “well-staffed.” “And above all else it is built around the idea that we are a nation at war,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Kate Andersen Brower in Washington at kandersen7@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Stocks in U.S. Retreat as Europe Debt Concern Overshadows Analyst Upgrades

February 8, 2010

By Rita Nazareth Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slid and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below 10,000 for the first time since November amid concern that deteriorating European government finances will derail the economic recovery. Bank of America Corp. and American Express Co. lost at least 2.8 percent for the biggest declines in the Dow. Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. fell 4 percent to lead the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lower after its forecast for operating expenses topped some analysts’ estimates. Home Depot Inc. rose 2.2 percent and Google Inc. climbed 0.4 percent on analyst upgrades. The S&P 500 decreased 0.9 percent to 1,056.74 at 4:07 p.m. in New York, its biggest Monday drop since October. The Dow slipped 103.84 points, or 1 percent, to 9,908.39. Almost four stocks retreated for each that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. All 10 major groups in the S&P 500 fell today. “There’s risk aversion,” said Michael Holland , who oversees more than $4 billion as chairman of Holland & Co. in New York. “Good economic and corporate data points in the U.S. are being offset by uncertainties in Europe. Investors should continue to be mindful. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the market flat to down this week.” U.S. stocks have fallen for four straight weeks, the longest losing streak since July. Stocks rallied in the final hour of trading on Feb. 5, with the Dow average erasing a 167- point drop, on speculation the European Union would devise a solution for the budget deficits. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB is “confident” Greece will cut its deficit below the limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product in 2012 from 12.7 percent. G-7 Meeting “The European members of the G-7 will make sure it is managed,” French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told reporters on Feb. 6 after meeting counterparts and central bankers from the Group of Seven in Iqaluit, Canada. The S&P 500 has still surged 56 percent from a 12-year low on March 9 as governments and central banks globally maintained low interest rates and committed more than $12 trillion to stimulate economic growth. The Group of Seven finance ministers pledged to press ahead with economic stimulus measures even as investors intensify their focus on mounting budget deficits. “We need to continue to deliver the stimulus to which we are mutually committed and begin looking at exit strategies to move to a more sustainable fiscal track,” Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters yesterday. Credit Rating The U.S. is in no danger of losing its Aaa debt rating, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in an ABC News interview broadcast yesterday. Even so, UBS AG advised clients to further reduce their holdings in equities for a second time in as many weeks. Economist Larry Hatheway and strategist Kenneth Liew reduced their equity allocation to “neutral” from “a small overweight,” saying “resolution of the challenges facing Greece, Portugal and Spain is likely to take time and as a result risk premiums will remain elevated.” Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke plans to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Feb. 10 about the central bank’s plans to withdraw emergency stimulus, according to a committee memo to lawmakers on the panel. The Fed’s efforts have helped push U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage rates down to 5.04 percent on Feb. 5 from last year’s high of 5.74 percent in June, according to Bankrate.com in North Palm Beach, Florida. Financials The S&P 500 Financials Index dropped 2.2 percent for the biggest decline among 10 industries. JPMorgan Chase & Co. fell 1.6 percent and Bank of America lost 3.5 percent. American Express, the biggest credit-card issuer by purchases, retreated 2.8 percent to $36.79. “Financials are underperforming the broader market,” said Art Hogan , the chief market analyst at New York-based Jefferies & Co. “It’s a very tricky space. There’s concern over sovereign debt issues in Europe and their resolution. This is going to take a long time to play out.” Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said a U.S. economic recovery is “going to be a slow, trudging thing,” and that he “would get very concerned” if stock prices continue to fall. A drop in stock prices is “more than a warning sign,” Greenspan said yesterday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “It’s important to remember that equity values, stock prices, are not just paper profits,” Greenspan said. “They actually have a profoundly important impact on economic activity.” Nasdaq Nasdaq retreated 4 percent to $18.05. The owner of the second-largest U.S. equity exchange forecast higher 2010 operating costs than some analysts projected. Expenses in 2010 will be $865 million to $885 million, including about $50 million in one-time costs, the New York-based company said today in a statement. In 2009, costs were $850 million, at the top end of the company’s forecast range. Homebuilders in the S&P 500 surged 2.8 percent as a group after the Wall Street Journal said the industry is looking “a lot less bad,” citing fewer writedowns and new-home order cancellations and improved order rates. Lennar Corp., Pulte Homes Inc. and D.R. Horton Inc. advanced at least 2 percent. “The decline of last week was overdone,” said Stanley Nabi , New York-based vice chairman of Silvercrest Asset Management Group, which manages $8.5 billion. “There’s nothing in the U.S. market that justified last week’s selloff. The U.S. is emerging as more stable. The economy and corporate earnings are improving.” Home Depot, Google, Motorola Home Depot rose 2.2 percent to $28.59. The home improvement retailer was raised to “overweight” from “equal-weight” at Morgan Stanley. Google shares gained 0.4 percent to $533.47. The Internet search company was added to Bank of America-Merrill Lynch’s “U.S. 1” list because the company “remains an attractive macro-economic recovery play,” analysts wrote in a note to clients. Motorola Inc. climbed 2.7 percent to $6.57. The mobile- phone maker may rise as much as 40 percent during the next year if it spins off its mobile-phone unit and revenue from the radio and data-communications equipment division increases, Barron’s reported. Hasbro Inc. rose the most in the S&P 500, jumping 13 percent to $34.71. The maker of “Transformers” robot toys reported fourth-quarter earnings excluding some items of $1.09 a share, topping the average analysts’ estimate by 34 percent, according to Bloomberg data. CVS Caremark Corp. jumped 5.3 percent to $32.72. The largest U.S. distributor of prescription drugs posted fourth- quarter profit excluding one-time items of 79 cents a share. Analysts estimated earnings of 78 cents a share in a Bloomberg survey. To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

Stocks in U.S. Fluctuate as Analyst Upgrades Offset European Debt Concerns

February 8, 2010

By Rita Nazareth Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fluctuated as analyst upgrades lifted Home Depot Inc., Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. while a weaker dollar boosted commodities, offsetting concern over deteriorating European government finances. Home Depot rallied 3 percent as Morgan Stanley advised buying the shares, while Google climbed as Bank of America Corp. added the company to its “U.S. 1” list of favorite stocks. Alcoa Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. rose at least 1.1 percent as oil and metal prices rebounded from last week’s slide. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America had the biggest declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 0.2 percent to 1,068.48 at 12:03 p.m. in New York. The Dow decreased 19.49 points, or 0.2 percent, to 9,992.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 2,146.82. “There’s risk aversion,” said Michael Holland , who oversees more than $4 billion as chairman of Holland & Co. in New York. “Good economic and corporate data points in the U.S. are being offset by uncertainties in Europe. Investors should continue to be mindful. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the market flat to down this week.” U.S. stocks have retreated for four straight weeks, the longest losing streak since July. Stocks rallied in the final hour of trading on Feb. 5, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average erasing a 167-point drop, on speculation the European Union would devise a solution for the budget deficits. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB is “confident” Greece will cut its deficit below the limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product in 2012 from 12.7 percent. G-7 Meeting “The European members of the G-7 will make sure it is managed,” French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told reporters on Feb. 6 after meeting counterparts and central bankers from the Group of Seven in Iqaluit, Canada. The S&P 500 has still surged 58 percent from a 12-year low on March 9 as governments and central banks globally maintained low interest rates and committed more than $12 trillion to stimulate economic growth. The Group of Seven finance ministers pledged to press ahead with economic stimulus measures even as investors intensify their focus on mounting budget deficits. “We need to continue to deliver the stimulus to which we are mutually committed and begin looking at exit strategies to move to a more sustainable fiscal track,” Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters yesterday. Credit Rating The U.S. is in no danger of losing its Aaa debt rating, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in an ABC News interview broadcast yesterday. Even so, UBS AG advised clients to further reduce their holdings in equities for a second time in as many weeks. Economist Larry Hatheway and strategist Kenneth Liew reduced their equity allocation to “neutral” from “a small overweight,” saying “resolution of the challenges facing Greece, Portugal and Spain is likely to take time and as a result risk premiums will remain elevated.” Shares of companies that rely on discretionary spending added 0.9 percent for the biggest gain among 10 industries in the S&P 500. Home Depot gained 3 percent to $28.83. The retailer was raised to “overweight” from “equal-weight” at Morgan Stanley. Amazon, Homebuilders Rally Amazon.com Inc. rose 1.4 percent to $119.05. The world’s largest Internet retailer was raised to “buy” from “hold” by Collins Stewart, which cited sales of the company’s Kindle e- reader device and web services arm. Homebuilders in the S&P 500 surged 3.6 percent as a group after the Wall Street Journal said the industry is looking “a lot less bad,” citing fewer write-downs and new-home order cancellations and improved order rates. Lennar Corp., Pulte Homes Inc. and D.R. Horton Inc. advanced at least 3.7 percent. “The decline of last week was overdone,” said Stanley Nabi , New York-based vice chairman of Silvercrest Asset Management Group, which manages $8.5 billion. “There’s nothing in the U.S. market that justified last week’s selloff. The U.S. is emerging as more stable. The economy and corporate earnings are improving.” Gauges of energy and raw-materials advanced more than 0.4 percent as the dollar fell, boosting demand for commodities as an alternative investment. Exxon, Alcoa Exxon Mobil, the world’s biggest energy company, climbed 1.1 percent to $65.10. Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum maker, jumped 2.2 percent to $13.47. Google shares gained 1.6 percent to $539.97. The Internet search company was added to Bank of America-Merrill Lynch’s “U.S. 1” list because the company “remains an attractive macro-economic recovery play,” analysts wrote in a note to clients. Motorola Inc. climbed 4.2 percent to $6.67. The mobile- phone maker may rise as much as 40 percent during the next year if it spins off its mobile-phone unit and revenue from the radio and data-communications equipment division increases, Barron’s reported. Hasbro Inc. rose the most in the S&P 500, jumping 14 percent to $35.03. The maker of “Transformers” robot toys reported fourth-quarter earnings excluding some items of $1.09 a share, topping the average analysts’ estimate by 34 percent, according to Bloomberg data. Financials The S&P 500 Financials Index dropped 0.5 percent for the biggest decline among 10 industries. JPMorgan and Bank of America fell more than 0.9 percent. American Express Co., the biggest credit-card issuer by purchases, retreated 0.5 percent to $37.64. “Financials are underperforming the broader market,” said Art Hogan , the chief market analyst at New York-based Jefferies & Co. “It’s a very tricky space. There’s concern over sovereign debt issues in Europe and their resolution. This is going to take a long time to play out.” CIT Group Inc. jumped 2.5 percent to $31.51. John Thain , the ousted chief of Merrill Lynch & Co., was named to lead the commercial lender that emerged from bankruptcy in December after almost a four-month search for a replacement. To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

Obama Says Small Businesses Will Be at Forefront in U.S. Economic Recovery

February 6, 2010

By Nicholas Johnston Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama said small businesses are “the places where most new jobs begin” and will be at the forefront of new hiring as the economy recovers. Obama, in his weekly address on the radio and the Internet today, spotlighted the importance of small businesses the day after announcing his latest initiative to spur job growth. He said his recent proposals for tax incentives and credits, expanded government loan programs and aid to community banks will help small businesses add employees. “Government can’t create these businesses, but it can give entrepreneurs the support they need to open their doors, expand, or hire more workers,” Obama said. Obama has outlined a series of steps to encourage small business hiring, including $33 billion in tax credits and incentives and using $30 billion in repaid bank bailout money to encourage small business lending by community banks. Yesterday, at a business in Lanham, Maryland, he announced that he will back a temporary increase in Small Business Administration loans to $1 million from $350,000 to encourage hiring along with assistance for commercial mortgage refinancing through the Small Business Administration. All of the proposals need congressional approval. “Leaders in both parties have supported similar ideas in the past,” Obama said. “So let’s come together and pass these measures without delay.” Obama has called job creation his top priority this year. Yesterday the Labor Department reported the nation’s unemployment rate in January fell to 9.7 percent, from 10 percent the month before. “It is still unacceptably high,” Obama said. His administration has forecast the unemployment rate to average 10 percent through 2010. Republican Address In the Republican address , Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling criticized the federal budget Obama unveiled on Feb. 1 for proposing a record $3.8 trillion in spending and adding to the deficit . Hensarling said Obama’s proposal to freeze nondiscretionary spending over three years starting in fiscal 2011 would exempt too much of the federal budget. “We have got to do better,” he said. “Serious fiscal responsibility requires more than just tinkering around the margins,” Hensarling said. He criticized the stimulus legislation backed by Obama and passed by Congress a year ago, saying it failed to stem unemployment as promised and cost too much. Democratic proposals to overhaul the U.S. health-care system and enact climate-change legislation are helping to slow job growth, Hensarling said. “We cannot continue on this reckless path,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

LaHood’s `On the Fly’ Toyota Statements Accelerate Confusion Over Crisis

February 4, 2010

By John Hughes Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood , charged with getting to the bottom of Toyota Motor Corp. ’s vehicle-safety crisis, served up more confusion than clarity yesterday. At about 9:30 a.m., LaHood told reporters that drivers of recalled Toyota cars and trucks should “exercise caution” until repairs can be made. Then he told a House panel that owners should “stop driving” them. Then he told reporters his stop-driving comment was “obviously a misstatement.” Toyota’s American depositary receipts, each representing two ordinary shares, gyrated on his remarks. They fell as much as 8 percent to a 10-month intraday low of $71.90 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading after he said owners shouldn’t drive, and then climbed to close at $73.49 following the retraction. For the 64-year-old LaHood, barely a year into the job as the only registered Republican member in President Barack Obama ’s cabinet, the day may have reinforced a principal of behavior in the nation’s capital, said Robert Johnson , former Transportation Department chief of staff under President George W. Bush . “You can’t open your mouth whenever you feel like it and expect to get away with it, especially in Washington,” Johnson said in an interview. Toyota’s Crisis “The secretary has been consistent over the last week,” said his spokeswoman, Olivia Alair. “He’s consistently said Toyota needed to be pushed, but they’re doing the right thing now.” The context for LaHood’s remarks was the biggest crisis to hit Toyota, the world’s largest automaker. Some of its vehicles unexpectedly accelerate, sometimes causing drivers to lose control. Henry Waxman , a California Democrat who heads a House committee that plans hearings on the matter, this week linked the accelerations to 19 deaths in the U.S. Toyota began shipping steel plates to U.S. dealers on Feb. 1 as a fix for sticky gas pedals that the company says have caused the recall of about 2.57 million vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to tarnishing Toyota’s reputation for quality, the turn of events has wiped out $29.5 billion in Toyota market value since the current recall began on Jan. 21. “It just points out that no one is ever really ready for the intensity of a crisis like this,” Jon Harmon , a Chicago communications consultant, said of LaHood’s don’t-drive comments. “He should not be making policy pronouncements on the fly,” said Harmon, who wrote “Feeding Frenzy: Inside the Ford- Firestone Crisis,” a book about fatal accidents linked to Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone tires that led to recalls about a decade ago. ‘Extremely Confused’ For LaHood to say that Toyota owners should stop driving the cars was “very significant,” said Michelle Krebs , senior analyst at auto research firm Edmunds.com, based in Santa Monica, California. “People are extremely confused about whether their Toyotas are safe to drive,” Krebs said. “We have struggled with what we should say, and we aren’t the top safety person in the country.” LaHood has appeared to change course at other times when discussing the Toyota recalls. He told WGN Radio in Chicago Jan. 27 that the reason Toyota decided on the recall was “because we asked them to.” The following day, when asked by a reporter whether Toyota did the recall at the government’s request, LaHood said the company acted because it was following the law. “I have no criticism of Toyota on this,” LaHood said. “They did what they’re supposed to do.” On Feb. 2, he told the Associated Press that Toyota was “a little safety deaf” and federal officials had to “wake them up” to the seriousness of safety issues. Unfamiliar Role Asked yesterday why his comments changed from the previous week, LaHood said, “because I talked to our people, and I did a more complete review.” At the time of his earlier comments, he felt that Toyota had done all it should have done, he said. LaHood was forced into the leadership role on the Toyota recall because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , which is part of his agency, didn’t have a confirmed chief until last month, said Joan Claybrook , a former NHTSA chief. “The secretary of Transportation rarely gets involved in these kinds of recalls,” Claybrook said. “He’s probably not used to the kind of intense scrutiny over these kinds of enforcement actions.” Still, LaHood has pushed Toyota to be responsive, she said. “He has no problem dealing with controversy,” said Claybrook, former head of the Washington-based advocacy group Public Citizen. “He certainly has been tough dealing with Toyota.” Obama, Emanuel Ties Before becoming secretary in January 2009 LaHood served seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives for a district that includes Peoria, in Obama’s home state of Illinois. He has known Obama for more than a decade and is close to Rahm Emanuel , the White House chief of staff who also was an Illinois congressman. Bob Michel , a former Illinois representative who was the top Republican in the House when LaHood worked as his aide, said LaHood’s comments yesterday won’t blemish his record as secretary. “He’s a very resilient individual,” Michel said. “There’s no sinister move on his part other than just wanting to be sure of safety.” Asked yesterday whether the president still has confidence in LaHood, White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton replied, “You bet.” As for Toyota, the automaker said in a statement: “We appreciate Secretary LaHood’s clarification.” To contact the reporters on this story: John Hughes in Washington at jhughes5@bloomberg.net ;

Read the full article →

Nina Wang Fortune Claimant Arrested After Will Ruled Fraudulent, AFP Says

February 3, 2010

By Marco Lui and Debra Mao Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — Tony Chan , the Hong Kong feng shui practitioner who tried to claim the fortune of late billionaire Nina Wang , was arrested yesterday, a day after a court ruled a will produced by him wasn’t signed by Wang, Agence France-Presse reported. A man aged 50 surnamed Chan remained in custody after his arrest yesterday for the alleged forgery of a document, Hong Kong police spokeswoman Odelia Tam said today, declining to identify the man as Tony Chan. Documents were confiscated and no charges have been laid against the man, she said. High Court Judge Johnson Lam ruled that Wang’s estate belongs to the charitable foundation created by the late owner of the Chinachem property group after a legal battle that gripped the city with accounts of kidnap, sex and feng shui rituals. Lam wrote in his judgment that a 2006 will produced by Chan following Wang’s April 2007 death was forged. Police earlier searched Chan’s house on the Peak, Hong Kong’s most exclusive residential area, according to Radio Television Hong Kong reports. Chan “lied and withheld relevant information from this court,” Lam wrote in his 326-page judgment, following a 40-day probate hearing that began in May last year. Wang was awarded her husband’s estate in 2005 at the city’s highest court after a legal dispute in which two lower court judgments sided with her father-in-law’s claim to the money. Teddy Wang , Nina’s husband, was kidnapped in 1983 and again seven years later. He wasn’t returned after the second abduction, even after his wife paid part of the ransom. ‘Little Sweetie’ When Nina Wang, dubbed “Little Sweetie” by Hong Kong media, died of cancer in 2007 at the age of 69, Chan claimed her fortune, citing a 2006 will. That sparked a legal fight with Wang’s siblings, who helm her charitable foundation and said they had a 2002 will that made it the legitimate heir. In June, Chan told the court Nina called him husband and he was seeing her while his wife was pregnant with their first son. He said digging holes at Chinachem sites and burning real money were among the happy memories he and Nina Wang enjoyed as a “married couple.” “We won’t say anything at the moment on Mr. Chan’s case,” Kenis Liu, a PR manager at Master Gain Consultants Ltd., a firm hired by Chan, said by phone today. She declined to reveal Chan’s whereabouts. “The will was handed over to me by Nina’s own hands,” Chan told reporters on Feb. 2 in comments that were broadcast on local television in Hong Kong. “The truth will come to light, because I am innocent.” Chan’s lawyer, Jonathan Midgley , said on Feb. 2 his client planned to appeal the court decision. Midgley wasn’t immediately available for comment today, Candy Law, secretary to the lawyer, said by phone today. A final decision on the case may ultimately be made in the city’s highest court, the Court of Final Appeal, which could take 12 to 18 months, Fai Hung Cheung, a Hong Kong-based lawyer at Allen & Overy, said earlier this week. To contact the reporter on this story: Marco Lui in Hong Kong at mlui7@bloomberg.net ; Debra Mao in Hong Kong at dmao5@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Huff Radio: Arianna Explains Move Your Money On Marketplace Money (AUDIO)

January 16, 2010

Arianna made the case for Move Your Money on the radio show Marketplace Money on Friday. Move Your Money is a project that encourages account holders at Wall Street’s bailed out banks to withdraw their money and deposit it into community banks and credit unions. Arianna explained that the goal isn’t to hurt banks, but to make them accountable by eliminating the limitless government support that they’ve used to generate record profits and bonuses. When Marketplace ‘s Tess Vigeland asked if Move Your Money could make a dent in banks’ bottom lines, Arianna explained why banks will take notice: “Well, it actually makes a big difference, because the core deposits that the banks rely on, are very important to the bottom line. Just to give you an idea: This year alone, banks are expected to make $38 billion — the big banks — on overdraft fees.” (Read the whole transcript here .) Listen to the interview:

Read the full article →

Buffett-Backed BYD May Sell Electric Car in U.S. This Year, Founder Says

January 11, 2010

By Alan Ohnsman Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) — BYD Co. , the Chinese auto- and battery maker backed by Warren Buffett , may sell a rechargeable electric car in the U.S. as soon as this year to meet demand for fuel-efficient models, the company’s founder said. “The U.S. is a very important market for BYD in the future, and the electric vehicle is our future,” Chairman Wang Chuanfu said yesterday in an interview at the Detroit auto show. “We will start toward the market in the second half.” Beginning U.S. sales in 2010 would accelerate the timetable BYD set last year, when the Shenzhen, China-based automaker targeted a 2011 debut. Speeding up the model’s debut in a market dominated by hybrids such as Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius is “very ambitious and probably too risky,” said Bill Russo , a Beijing-based senior adviser at Booz & Co. “Introducing a new brand and technology to a mature market is a major task for even the most experienced companies,” Russo said. It “seems like a stretch for a relatively new company like BYD.” Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns a 10 percent stake in the company. BYD introduced its F3DM plug-in hybrid to company and government agency buyers in December 2008, and sold 39 of the vehicles in the first 11 months of 2009. Cutting Costs The company pushed back sales of the model to individual customers until this year after it failed to cut costs, Radio Television Hong Kong reported in November. BYD sees a chance to reach U.S. buyers who want cars that use little or no gasoline and cut emissions of greenhouse gases, and it faces pressure in China to develop electric vehicles for energy security, Wang said. China’s auto market grew to 13.6 million units in 2009, surpassing the U.S. for the first time, and “it’s possible over the next five years it will grow to 20 million,” Wang said. “We’ll consume a huge amount of oil that China doesn’t have and may not be able to buy.” Wang, 43, is to discuss details of BYD’s plans for the U.S. later today at a press conference at the North American International Auto Show. While overall passenger-car sales in China grew 53 percent last year, Wang said BYD’s deliveries jumped 160 percent to about 450,000. Wang was named China’s richest man by Forbes Magazine in November after Buffett’s investment helped increase his estimated personal wealth to $5.8 billion. Buffett, 79, has yet to visit BYD’s factories in China, Wang said. “I hope he’ll come,” he said. — Tian Ying in Beijing. Editors: Ed Dufner , Jamie Butters To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Alan Ohnsman in Detroit +1-323-559-1067 or aohnsman@bloomberg.net ; Tian Ying in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7571 or ytian@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

China Curbs Power Use, Florida Citrus Threatened as Cold Weather Persists

January 6, 2010

By Bloomberg News Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) — China curbed electricity use because of coal shortages, Florida citrus growers braced for more nights of freezing temperatures and snow blanketed southern England as icy weather continued to grip the Northern Hemisphere. China will be hit by a new cold front this weekend, with snowstorms forecast for the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Hubei on Jan. 9, China National Radio reported. Mexico will have “severe winter” weather. In the U.S., frigid air sent orange-juice futures up as much as 4.3 percent to a two-year high yesterday and natural gas jumped to a 13-month peak. “The cold weather is hitting a lot of the more populated areas, such as western and northern Europe, a lot of the eastern U.S.,” Bob Tarr , a meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. , said in a telephone interview yesterday. “It’s a rare pattern, and unusual to see this cold weather affecting a number of major population centers and persisting for about three weeks.” The Chinese provinces of Jiangsu, Hubei, Henan, Hunan and Jiangxi and the municipalities of Shanghai and Chongqing have limited electricity consumption because of fuel shortages, the official Xinhua News Agency said today, without giving details. Some aluminum smelters in Henan, the largest producing province, received notices from power suppliers to prepare for stoppages, according to CRU International Ltd. China is the world’s biggest maker of aluminum used in homes and cars. There have been “periodic power supply disruptions” in provinces including Henan and Hunan, though the impact “is not serious” so far, Wan Ling , a Beijing-based analyst, said by phone today. She declined to identify the smelters affected. Mexico Freezes Mexico will have “severe winter” weather in most of the nation from today, the National Meteorological Service said in an e-mailed statement. Temperatures below freezing are forecast for 10 states and Mexico City, it said. At least seven deaths in the U.S. have been blamed on icy roads or cold-related accidents, the Associated Press reported. In the U.K., which is enduring the longest cold snap since 1981, the British army was called out to help rescue motorists from as many as 1,000 vehicles. Eurostar canceled four trains between London, Paris and Brussels, a spokesman, Richard Holligan , said yesterday. Temperatures in New York City are forecast to be as much as 13 degrees below average by Jan. 10, according to MDA Federal Inc.’s EarthSat Energy Weather of Rockville, Maryland. The U.S. Northeast is responsible for about four-fifths of the country’s heating oil use. Temperatures will be 25 degrees below average in Houston and St. Louis on Jan. 9, EarthSat said. About 72 percent of households in the Midwest use natural gas for heat. Citrus at Risk Florida’s orange growers face frigid weather again early today after freezing conditions did minimal damage yesterday, according to AccuWeather Inc. The cold in the past 24 hours harmed less than 1 percent of the crop, said Dale Mohler , a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather. Citrus may sustain “light damage” overnight as freezing weather returns, said AccuWeather’s Dan Kottlowski . Oranges can be ruined when exposed for too long to temperatures below 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 2.2 degrees Celsius). “The entire Florida crop is at risk for these next few nights,” Pete Spyke, the owner of Arapaho Citrus Management Inc., said yesterday by telephone. The company has 300 acres (121 hectares) of citrus groves, with 60 percent producing oranges, 25 percent grapefruit, and the rest tangerines. Lower Crop Florida’s crop will fall to 135 million boxes in the season through June from a year earlier, the smallest in three years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Dec. 10. Last season, growers packed 162.4 million boxes, each weighing 90 pounds (41 kilograms). Florida is the largest producer after Brazil. Orange-juice futures for March delivery fell 1.5 cents, or 1 percent, to $1.4205 a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York yesterday. Earlier, the price rose to $1.4965, the highest level for a most-active contract since Jan. 2, 2008. French electricity demand may reach a record next week as temperatures are expected to drop as much as 7.7 degrees Celsius below average, the grid operator Reseau de Transport d’Electricite said on its Web site. Temperatures were at or below freezing across most of northern and central France, sinking as low as minus 4 degrees Celsius in Paris, according to the forecaster Meteo-France .

Read the full article →

Greek Default Beats Bailout, Lehman Lesson Shows: Mark Gilbert

December 22, 2009

Commentary by Mark Gilbert Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) — There’s a theory making the rounds comparing Greece with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Letting Lehman go broke , the story goes, was the worst policy error of the credit crisis; with that lesson learned, the global authorities will do anything to stop a European Union member from defaulting. I disagree. Letting Lehman collapse wasn’t the problem. The guardians of financial stability bungled because they had earlier backstopped Bear Stearns Cos. with a $29 billion dowry to engineer its shotgun marriage to JPMorgan Chase & Co. That created a false sense of security about the size of the safety net, an inconsistency that heightened the ensuing Lehman panic. Instead, the Federal Reserve should have stood aside and let Bear Stearns fall off the cliff. The splash, while lamentable, would have been smaller. Moral hazard would have been minimized. Lehman would probably have survived, albeit by sacrificing independence and finding a partner to cling to, as Merrill Lynch & Co. did by snuggling up to Bank of America Corp. Financial Darwinism would have been allowed to do its job of keeping the gene pool pure. A similar argument applies to Greece. Any intervention on behalf of the European Union or the European Central Bank to rescue the nation from its self-created economic travails would be a disaster for the common-currency project. It would risk paving the way for the similarly profligate to ignore their own fiscal responsibilities, safe in the knowledge that euro membership has its privileges. Truth and Consequences Greece owes its lenders about $361 billion, according to June figures compiled by the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. So, make no mistake — a default would be a terrible thing. The consequences of a bailout engineered by Greece’s European peers, though, would be far worse. There is no joint-and-several guarantee for euro adopters. Just because euro-region debt is all denominated in the same currency doesn’t mean it’s backed by a single lender of last resort. Not only would a bailout of a distressed lender be undesirable for moral reasons, it would also probably be illegal, something European officials seem to be telling bondholders. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in the Dec. 21 edition of Bild-Zeitung newspaper that Greece has been living beyond its means for years, and can’t expect Germany to pay for Greece’s mistakes. Frank Schaeffler , a member of the German parliament’s finance committee, said on Dec. 18 that any attempt to accomplish a joint bond sale by both countries “would be the first nail in the coffin of the euro.” ‘No Mandate’ ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny told Dow Jones Newswires that the central bank won’t bail out debt-burdened euro members. “The ECB has no mandate or intention to take into account the situation of a specific country, especially not with regard to public finances,” Dow Jones reported on Dec. 20, citing an interview. There’s no question that Greece is in an economic mess. Its budget deficit is 12.7 percent of gross domestic product, much worse than the 3 percent limit stipulated for euro members. Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou , who says he’ll shrink that shortfall to 8.7 percent next year, says previous governments misled investors about how unfit the nation’s finances were. ‘Sleight of Hand’ “There’s been some sleight-of-hand,” he told BBC Radio 4 in an interview on Dec. 20. “Especially in 2009, there’s been a big difference between data reported and the underlying trends in the deficit.” The Greek banking system has borrowed about 47 billion euros ($67 billion) from the ECB, according to figures compiled by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, based on the amount of collateral the nation has pledged. That’s out of the 700 billion euros lodged at the central bank by the region as a whole. Put another way, Greece has taken almost 7 percent of the emergency liquidity that the ECB has supplied to ease the credit crunch. Its economy, though, accounts for only about 2.7 percent of the euro area and its public debt is about 4 percent of the total outstanding among euro members, according to figures compiled by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Greece has already been punished by the rating companies. Fitch cut its grade by one level to BBB+ on Dec. 8. Standard & Poor’s followed suit on Dec. 16, warning that a further downgrade is possible “if the government is unable to gain sufficient political support to implement a credible medium-term fiscal consolidation program.” Moody’s chopped its assessment this week, also leaving the door open to more downgrades. Bond Vigilantes The bond vigilantes are also penalizing Greece. The nation’s 10-year borrowing cost leaped to 6 percent this week, up more than a percentage point in the past month and up from a low for this year of 4.4 percent in October. Greek debt yields about 2.50 percentage points more than that of Germany, Europe’s benchmark borrower. The spread , a measure of how much riskier Greek debt is perceived to be, reached 276 basis points on Dec. 21, more than doubling in five weeks. At those prices, investors aren’t yet pricing in a default. What’s not clear, though, is whether their repayment expectations are based on optimism that Greece will mend its ways, or hopes that deeper pockets will be made available should the need arise. Anyone banking on the latter is probably making a costly mistake. ( Mark Gilbert is the London bureau chief and a columnist for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.) Click on “Send Comment” in the sidebar display to send a letter to the editor. To contact the writer of this column: Mark Gilbert in London at magilbert@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Citadel Broadcasting Files for Bankruptcy Court Protection in New York

December 20, 2009

By Tiffany Kary and Don Jeffrey Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) — Citadel Broadcasting Corp. , the owner of radio stations in cities including New York and Chicago, filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection in Manhattan. The company, which syndicates Don Imus’s morning talk show through its U.S. radio network, listed assets of $1.4 billion and debt of $2.5 billion in its Chapter 11 filing today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Forstmann Little & Co., a New York-based private equity firm, owns 29 percent of the company’s common stock, according to court papers. The filing covers about 50 units of Las Vegas-based Citadel. Citadel hired financial advisers in May to aid in talks with lenders on a possible refinancing. U.S. radio broadcasters including Clear Channel Communications Inc. , the largest, have struggled with debt loads and a drop in advertising revenue, particularly from carmakers. Citadel reported a loss of $21.3 million in the third quarter as revenue fell 14 percent. “The ongoing weakness in the economy and advertising spending, compounded by rising debt and leverage” have left Citadel with an “unsustainable capital structure,” Neil Begley , an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, said Dec. 11 in a report. Sales “will continue to decline” this quarter, Citadel said in a Nov. 6 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company didn’t expect to meet January financial covenants , leading to a default and possibly forcing a bankruptcy filing, Citadel said at the time. Unsecured Creditors Citadel listed its largest unsecured creditors as JPMorgan Chase Bank, with an unspecified claim, Wilmington Trust Co., with a claim of $49.2 million and The Walt Disney Co. with a claim of $11.2 million, according to today’s filing. Citadel, which owns WABC in New York and WLS in Chicago, is the third-largest U.S. radio company broadcasting from land- based antennas, behind Clear Channel and CBS Corp. Sirius XM Radio Inc. , which charges subscribers for programming transmitted by satellites, is the second-largest radio broadcaster by revenue. Citadel added debt when it merged its broadcast operations with Disney’s ABC radio stations and network in 2007. A credit agreement with lenders required that Citadel have at least $150 million in available cash as of Jan. 15. The company’s cash balance was $27.8 million as of June 30, Standard & Poor’s said in September. Citadel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Farid Suleman was the third-largest holder with a 3.1 percent stake, behind Wells Fargo & Co. with 5.1 percent, the data showed. To contact the reporter on this story: Tiffany Kary in New York at tkary@bloomberg.net and; Don Jeffrey in New York at djeffrey1@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

NATO Allies to Send 5,000 Troops to Afghanistan to Support Obama’s Buildup

December 2, 2009

By James G. Neuger Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) — NATO allies will send 5,000 more troops to Afghanistan in response to President Barack Obama’s buildup, while putting off final decisions until the Afghan government cracks down on corruption. France and Germany said an international summit next month on stabilizing Afghanistan will hold the key to any additional deployments after Obama ordered 30,000 more U.S. troops to the country. Roughly a third of allied reinforcements will come by extending the tours of duty of troops scheduled to be pulled out, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. “You will see some pledges right now, some at a later stage,” Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels today. “The most important thing is not the timeline here but the fact they will actually contribute with an additional number.” Rasmussen declined to name the European NATO allies that will send more troops. The buildup will take the U.S. presence to about 100,000 soldiers, compared with a current force of 38,000 from the rest of NATO. Obama’s deployment puts a stronger American stamp on the war he inherited from George W. Bush . Obama took office with the U.S. supplying 54 percent of the foreign troops in Afghanistan, a figure that he will push past 70 percent. Britain last week announced 500 reinforcements, taking its force up to 9,500, the second largest contingent after the U.S. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a Jan. 28 conference on Afghanistan’s governance will determine whether they send more forces. ‘Clear Commitments’ France plans to maintain its force at 3,100, tying any buildup to “clear commitments” by the Afghan government to stem corruption, improve social standards and fight drug trafficking. “For the moment our mission is going well and there is no need to increase the number of our troops,” Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in an interview on France Info radio. “But nothing says we might not decide at some point to adjust our levels. We’ll see.” Germany needs parliamentary reauthorization of its current 4,400 troops before it debates more. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters in Berlin today that Germany would provide Afghan police training. Asked if Germany would send more combat troops to Afghanistan, Westerwelle said the government will take the next eight weeks to discuss whether additional troops should be sent. Conference Outcome “There might be allies that want to see the outcome of the international conference” on Jan. 28 “before they actually announce their concrete contributions,” Rasmussen said. Poland, now with 1,900 troops in Afghanistan, will “most likely” add 600 and place 200 more in reserve, government spokesman Pawel Gras said on Radio Tok FM. Spain will send 200, increasing its force to 1,200, the newspaper El Pais reported. A Taliban spokesman vowed that resistance to the U.S. surge would be stepped up, Agence France-Presse reported. To contact the reporter on this story: James G. Neuger in Brussels at jneuger@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Fortune’s Stanley Bing: Back off, Santa!

November 20, 2009

I was riding in a taxi the other day. The driver had the radio on. I don’t like to tell drivers who have their radios on to turn them off. First, if it’s not too loud, I figure it’s their home for 10-12 hours per day and they have the right to establish their own environment as much as possible. I used to drive a cab, briefly. It wasn’t much fun. A lot of waiting. A lot of aggravating. Bad money unless you work ungodly hours. So if they want to listen to their favorite station while they sit and honk and fester, I’m sympathetic. I also think that if you poke the wrong taxi driver, the guy could turn around and blow your head off. There’s that. So we’re riding along and I realize there’s something strange on the radio. What is it? Could it be? Yep. It’s Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas.” Hm, I think to myself. Did I go to sleep and wake up in December? I looked at my BlackBerry. Nope. It was indeed still mid-November. Bing concluded his crooning. There was a short pause. Then Mel Torme piped up to tell me that chestnuts were already roasting on an open fire. I rolled down the window. It was 62 degrees in New York that day. The Halal vendor at the corner of 53rd was dispensing chicken, but there wasn’t a chestnut in sight. Most people were walking around without coats. By the time I got to my destination, the Andrews Sisters were welcoming Santa Claus, who apparently was as confused as I was, and was coming to town a month and a half early. Look, I don’t know about you, but as far as I’m concerned Christmas is not Ramadan, which lasts for a month, nor is it Lent, which takes a full 40 days to run its course. Even in the Middle Ages, the holiday extended no more than 12 days, taking into account all those lords a-leaping and toads a-creeping or whatever. A few years ago, I noticed that the holidays were starting immediately after Thanksgiving, on Black Friday — a shopping institution that premiered as a marketing concept in the mid-1960s. But mid-November? Why not right after Labor Day? Why not immediately post-Memorial Day? Why not have the season of shopping and giving last all year round? I realize the retail sector wants this to be a great return to materialism after the last bummer years. But personally, I don’t want to see Santa and his minions until there’s a little snow on Rudolph’s nose, or hear about the first Noel until we’ve all had the time to kill a billion turkeys. Then the gloves can come off and the herald angels can start shoving all those bargains down our throats full throttle.

Read the full article →

Video: Market Close 10.26

October 26, 2009

S&P Falls 1.1%; Dow Falls 1%; Nasdaq Falls Less Than 1%; KBW Bank Index Falls Nearly 4%; S&P Homebuilding Index Falls 3.4%; RadioShack Earnings Send Shares Up Around 16% (Bloomberg News)

Read the full article →

Some Football Owners Are on Limbaugh’s Republican Side in Game of Politics

October 21, 2009

By Jonathan D. Salant Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) — Rush Limbaugh said his ouster from a group trying to buy the St. Louis Rams showed “if you are conservative, then you are not wanted.” Politically, though, many professional football owners share the same bench with Limbaugh. National Football League owners and their family members have given $1,458,946 to Republicans since Jan. 1, 2007, more than three times as much as the $419,042 they contributed to Democrats during that period, according to the Center for Responsive Politics , a Washington-based research group. “Football team owners are, by and large, very wealthy and conservative,” said Sheila Krumholz , executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. “Not only do they own clubs; they are themselves a very small, very elite club.” Limbaugh was dropped last week from an ownership group seeking to purchase the St. Louis Rams following criticism of provocative comments he has made by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the league’s players association. The head of the ownership group, Dave Checketts , said Limbaugh’s involvement had “become a complication and a distraction.” Limbaugh, 58, blamed Smith, the union leader, and civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson for derailing his ownership bid. They are keeping those “who don’t share the left’s agenda from participating in the full array of opportunities this nation otherwise affords each of us,” Limbaugh wrote in an Oct. 16 Wall Street Journal opinion article. McNabb Comment The conservative radio talk-show host lost a football commentary job on ESPN in 2003 after saying Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb , who is black, was overrated, and that “the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well.” On his regular radio show in 2007, Limbaugh described the NFL, where blacks account for 67 percent of all players, as “a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons.” Becoming a new owner of a NFL franchise requires the approval of 24 of the 32 teams. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay told reporters at an owners’ meeting in Boston that he wouldn’t back an ownership group that included Limbaugh. Irsay supports Democrats with his contributions; he gave $5,750 to the party’s candidates for the 2008 and 2010 elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics . Democratic Backers Other owners who primarily support Democrats include Zygi Wilf, who purchased the Minnesota Vikings in 2005. Wilf and his family contributed $76,800 to the Democratic Party and its candidates since 2007, while also giving $22,500 to Republicans, primarily the 2008 campaign of then-Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman , according to the center. Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross gave $69,700 to Democrats and $5,100 to Republicans. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft donated $52,000 to Democrats. He also gave $22,700 to the Republican National Committee. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama appointed Dan Rooney , owner and chairman of the Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers, as U.S. ambassador to Ireland. Rooney endorsed Obama before the Pennsylvania primary last year and campaigned for him during the general election campaign. Rooney gave $27,392 from 2007 to 2009, all to Democrats, according to the center. Other owners funnel most of their donations to the party Limbaugh generally supports. Alex Spanos , the San Diego Chargers’ owner, and members of his family contributed $467,523 to Republican candidates and party committees between Jan. 1, 2007, and June 30, 2009, according to the center. Jets’ Owner Donations Woody Johnson , owner of the New York Jets, donated $121,100 to Republicans for the 2008 and 2010 elections, the center reported. Robert McNair , the owner of the Houston Texans, gave $112,214, all to Republicans. Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell made $60,100 in donations, all but $3,000 to Republicans. The NFL formed a political action committee last year after it asked the Federal Communications Commission to order Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. to expand the distribution of its NFL Network. The league is also lobbying on Internet gambling. The PAC made $64,500 in political contributions through June 30, Federal Election Commission records show, with 67 percent going to the Democrats who control both houses of Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. To Limbaugh, his thwarted bid to become a part of a team’s ownership is an indication of a larger political trend. ‘Latest Assault’ “This is just the latest assault on people who believe in rugged individualism and liberty and freedom who threaten the whole notion of state-controlled tyranny,” he said on his radio show. The owner of the team that plays in the suburbs of the nation’s capital, the Washington Redskins, also is a Republican supporter. Daniel Snyder gave $69,050 in contributions to Republicans, including $28,500 to the Republican National Committee, since 2007, according to the center. He contributed $1,000 to the 2008 campaign of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer , a Maryland Democrat whose district includes the stadium where the Redskins play. The team contributed $50,000 last month to Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell , according to reports to the Virginia Board of Elections. To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

Freakonomics Guys Flunk Science of Climate Change: Eric Pooley

October 20, 2009

Commentary by Eric Pooley Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) — Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner are so good at tweaking conventional wisdom that their first book, “ Freakonomics ,” sold 4 million copies. So when Dubner, an old friend, told me their new book would take on climate change, I was rooting for a breakthrough idea. No such luck. In “ SuperFreakonomics ,” their brave new climate thinking turns out to be the same pile of misinformation the skeptic crowd has been peddling for years. “Obviously, provocation is not last on the list of things we’re trying to do,” Dubner told me the other day. This time, the urge to provoke has driven him and Levitt off the rails and into a contrarian ditch. Their breezy take on global warming unleashed a barrage of highly detailed criticism from economists and climate experts , including a scientist who is misrepresented in the book. Dubner wonders why everyone is so angry. In part, it’s because the book’s blithe remedies — “We could end this debate and be done with it, and move on to problems that are harder to solve,” Levitt told the U.K. Guardian newspaper — are an insult to the thousands of scientists who have devoted their careers to this crisis. One of the injured parties is Ken Caldeira , a climate scientist at Stanford University who is quoted (accurately) as saying that “we are being incredibly foolish emitting carbon dioxide.” Then Dubner and Levitt add this astonishing claim: “His research tells him that carbon dioxide is not the right villain in this fight.” Provocative, Untrue That’s provocative, but alas, it isn’t true. Caldeira, like the vast majority of climate scientists, believes cutting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions is our only real chance to avoid runaway climate change. “Carbon dioxide is the right villain,” Caldeira wrote on his Web site in reply. He told Joe Romm , the respected climate blogger who broke the story , that he had objected to the “wrong villain” line but Dubner and Levitt didn’t correct it; instead, they added the “incredibly foolish” quote, a half step in the right direction. Caldeira gave the same account to me. Levitt and Dubner do say that the book “overstates” Caldeira’s position. That’s a weasel word: The book claims the opposite of what Caldeira believes. Caldeira told me the book contains “many errors” in addition to the “major error” of misstating his scientific opinion on carbon dioxide’s role. Why does this matter? Because there’s a titanic battle going on over whether and how to reduce carbon emissions, and this soon-to-be bestseller tries to convince people that we don’t need to do so. Dubner and Levitt trumpet their “wrong villain” line in their table of contents and promotional material . On National Public Radio the other day, Levitt said , “The real problem isn’t that there’s too much carbon in the air.” Multiple Villains “SuperFreakonomics” never identifies the “right villain,” so I called Dubner and asked. “I don’t think anybody knows for sure,” he told me. Then he acknowledged that the chapter’s most newsworthy claim “could have been better phrased, as ‘carbon dioxide is not the only villain.’” That’s a huge admission. No climate scientist believes carbon dioxide is the only villain: methane, nitrous oxide and other gases need to be reduced too. But that basic truth wouldn’t have drawn attention. It wouldn’t have given Levitt a bold contrarian line for NPR. Dubner and Levitt acknowledge that the planet has warmed but pretend that cutting emissions is a hopelessly old-school response. “It’s not that we don’t know how to stop polluting the atmosphere,” they write. “We don’t want to stop.” They ignore the fact that U.S. emissions have dropped 9 percent since 2007 — not just because of the recession but also thanks to energy efficiency and cleaner fuels. Chance of Catastrophe They exaggerate the cost of climate action and underestimate the likelihood of runaway global warming, pretending that the “relatively small chance of worldwide catastrophe” isn’t worth getting bothered about. They dismiss global warming as a “religion” and rehash the so-called “global cooling” scare of the 1970s, a favorite skeptic myth . (A handful of scientists warned of a coming ice age, a false alarm in no way comparable to today’s scientific consensus on warming.) They trumpet the “little-discussed fact” that the average global temperature has decreased in recent years. This is accurate according to one set of global data — the other shows an increase — but scientists say it proves nothing. Imagine the Dow climbing to 14,000, with a wobble to 13,950. That’s what global temperatures have done. Even with small fluctuations, this decade is by every measure the hottest in recorded history. The second hottest is the 1990s. The third hottest is the 1980s. Get the picture? Levitt and Dubner don’t. Shooting Sulfur Dioxide Having downplayed the problem, they try to solve it with a set of silver-bullet technologies known as geoengineering. One would shoot millions of tons of sulfur dioxide 18 miles into the air to artificially cool the planet. This could work; it also could have dire unintended consequences. Caldeira, who is researching the idea, argues that it can succeed only if we first reduce emissions. Otherwise, he says, geoengineering can’t begin to cope with the collateral damage, such as acidic oceans killing off shellfish. Levitt and Dubner ignore his view and champion his work as a permanent substitute for emissions cuts. When I told Dubner that Caldeira doesn’t believe geoengineering can work without cutting emissions, he was baffled. “I don’t understand how that could be,” he said. In other words, the Freakonomics guys just flunked climate science. ( Eric Pooley , a former managing editor of Fortune magazine who is writing a book about the politics of global warming, is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) Click on “Send Comment” in the sidebar display to send a letter to the editor. To contact the writer of this column: Eric Pooley at epooley2@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

NFL Commissioner Goodell Wouldn’t Welcome Limbaugh’s `Divisive Comments’

October 13, 2009

By Aaron Kuriloff Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) — Commissioner Roger Goodell said Rush Limbaugh’s “divisive” commentary wouldn’t be welcome in the National Football League. Limbaugh and David Checketts, owner of hockey’s St. Louis Blues, are part of a group bidding for the Rams. Goodell said at a league meeting in Boston today he disagreed strongly with comments Limbaugh made in 2003, when the radio commentator was forced to resign from ESPN’s football telecasts after saying Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated by the media because he is black. “I’ve said many times before, we’re all held to a higher standard here and I think divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about,” Goodell said. “I would not want to see those comments coming from people who are in a responsible position in the NFL, absolutely not.” Goodell said the Rosenbloom family, which owns the Rams, told owners that they haven’t fully committed to selling the team, which is being shopped by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Goodell said it was too early to speculate on potential buyers. To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kuriloff in Boston at akuriloff@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

Obama Says Congress Approaching `Historic Moment’ for Health-Care Debate

October 10, 2009

By Kate Andersen Brower Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama said his plan to overhaul the U.S. health-care system has gained momentum in Congress where lawmakers are approaching a “historic moment” in crafting the legislation. Obama said his push for a bill was aided by the Congressional Budget Office’s report that the version being considered by the Senate Finance Committee would trim the federal deficit while insuring millions more people. He also cited endorsements of his effort by prominent current and former Republican officeholders, such as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger . “What’s remarkable is not that we’ve had a spirited debate about health insurance reform, but the unprecedented consensus that has come together behind it,” Obama said in his weekly address on the radio and Internet. “Now is the time to rise above the politics of the moment.” The Senate finance panel’s $829 billion plan would cut the deficit by $81 billion over 10 years, with new taxes and savings more than offsetting the measure’s cost, the CBO said in a preliminary analysis released Oct. 7. It would continue to reduce the deficit in the subsequent decade, the CBO said, though the nonpartisan agency said it couldn’t give precise figures. The panel’s legislation would require that millions of Americans purchase health insurance, impose new restrictions on insurers, and tax high-end insurance plans. Supporters Obama said revamping health care has gained broad support from leaders such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg , an independent, and Republicans Schwarzenegger, Bob Dole and Bill Frist , both former Senate majority leaders, and Tommy Thompson , who was Health and Human Services secretary under President George W. Bush . Bloomberg is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, parent of Bloomberg News. “These distinguished leaders understand that health insurance reform isn’t a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, but an American issue that demands a solution,” Obama said. He said they are joining doctors and nurses and representatives of the hospital and drug industries who already have expressed their support. The Senate Finance Committee, the last of five congressional committees working on proposals, plans to vote on its bill Oct. 13, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid . The legislation will be combined with a separate Senate version approved by the chamber’s health committee in July. Three House committees have also acted. Republican Address In the Republican address , Senator George LeMieux of Florida said the Democratic-backed health-care plans would cost at least $1.8 trillion over 10 years and will take nearly $500 billion out of Medicare funding. “Taking money from a program already in financial trouble is not responsible; it’s not fair to our seniors who paid into the program and it’s not fair to our children and grandchildren who will be burdened with massive debt obligations,” he said. LeMieux said the overhaul would force millions of people onto Medicaid, the state and federal insurance program for the poor. He said that will add a burden on state governments. “Piling on additional obligations would mean even more severe cuts to roads, schools, law enforcement and other essential state services,” he said. LeMieux said requiring all Americans to purchase health- care insurance would add “a new tax burden” for people who can’t afford it. Every adult would be charged a $750 penalty if they don’t buy health insurance, LeMieux said. That would break a promise Obama made not to raise taxes on families earning less than $250,000 a year. “If it looks like a tax, and it’s paid like a tax, then it is a tax, plain and simple,” he said. Democrats are working on the legislation without Republican input and are rushing toward a resolution, LeMieux said. To contact the reporter on this story: Kate Andersen Brower in Washington at Kandersen7@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Small Businesses Would Gain From Lower Cost of Health Overhaul, Obama Says

October 3, 2009

By Nicholas Johnston Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama said small businesses that are now overwhelmed by medical-insurance costs would benefit from his proposed overhaul of the U.S. health-care system. In his weekly address on the radio and Internet, Obama said he regularly hears from small-business owners who can’t grow their companies because of rising health-care costs and entrepreneurs who can’t start new ventures because of health- insurance concerns. “Rising health-care costs are undermining our businesses, exploding our deficits and costing our nation more jobs with each passing month,” Obama said. Obama continued his push for a health-care revamp as the last of five congressional committees working on proposals neared completion of its legislation. The Senate Finance Committee plans to vote this week on its version, which will be combined with a separate Senate version approved by the health committee in July. Three House committees have also acted. “Under these proposals, small businesses will be able to purchase health insurance through an insurance exchange, a marketplace where they can compare the price, quality and services of a wide variety of plans, many of which will provide better coverage at lower costs than the plans they have now,” Obama said. Obama said that small businesses wouldn’t be required to cover their employees under his proposal, but could receive a tax credit if they chose to do so. Employees would also receive tax breaks to help them afford insurance, he said. Doctors’ Concerns Obama on Oct. 5 will welcome to the White House doctors who support his push for a health-care overhaul. Separately, the American Medical Association , the nation’s largest doctors’ group, expressed some concerns about the Senate Finance Committee measure, which also has drawn Republican opposition. In a letter to finance panel Chairman Max Baucus , AMA Executive Vice President Michael D. Maves said doctors are concerned about the authorities that would be granted to an independent commission the panel would create to propose spending cuts in Medicare , the federal program for the elderly. The commission’s recommendations to cut cost growth to a targeted level would automatically go into effect if the Senate failed to pass its own legislative package that achieves the same level of savings. Cost-Cut Target Maves said Congress should keep the ability to set its own cost-cut target “to adjust for new developments that warrant spending increases.” Maves also said physicians could face multiple cost cuts in a single year under Baucus’s plan. The AMA also objected to a proposal to penalize physicians who use markedly more resources than their colleagues and a proposed $350 fee for doctors to participate in Medicare and Medicaid, the program for the poor and disabled. They urged the elimination of a provision that would place limits on physician- owned hospitals. Maves called for a permanent fix to a formula imposed by Congress that he wrote would cut physician payments for Medicare treatment by 40 percent over the next several years. The Senate finance plan offers a short-term solution by eliminating a 21 percent cut in payments that would take effect in January. The AMA would like the panel to repeal the measure permanently, arguing that it affects the ability of seniors to obtain care. The legislation eventually must be reconciled with a House measure. ‘Vigorous Debate’ “I understand that members of Congress from both parties will want to engage in a vigorous debate and contribute their own ideas,” Obama said in today’s remarks. “But what I will not accept are attempts to stall, or drag our feet.” Obama also addressed yesterday’s employment report, which showed the U.S. jobless rate climbing to 9.8 percent, the highest level since 1983. Payrolls dropped by 263,000 in September, exceeding the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. He said his administration is considering “additional options to promote job creation” beyond the $787 billion economic stimulus legislation approved in February. “Yesterday’s report on September job losses was a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts, and that we will need to grind out this recovery step by step,” Obama said. Republican Address In the Republican address, Representative Candice Miller of Michigan said the jobs report proves that the Democrat-backed stimulus legislation didn’t help the economy, and that a Republican-backed proposal to use tax relief would have created more jobs. “Republicans offered better ideas to help working families and small businesses across our country weather this storm,” she said. Miller also warned of the economic consequences of other Democratic legislative priorities such as the health-care overhaul and proposals to limit the emission of greenhouse gases. The climate-change legislation, Miller said, would raise annual U.S. energy bills by $1,700. “There could not be a worse time to heap additional pain on families struggling to make ends meet,” she said. “This isn’t the change the American people were promised.” To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Texas Instruments CEO Templeton Says Analog Chips Unit Can Grow 20% a Year

October 2, 2009

By Ian King Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) — Texas Instruments Inc. is sticking to a prediction that demand for chips used in products such as electric saws and disposable hearing aids can more than make up for revenue lost from mobile phones. Sales of so-called analog chips can grow as much as 20 percent a year once the semiconductor industry recovers, Chief Executive Officer Rich Templeton said this week in an interview at Texas Instruments’ headquarters in Dallas. “I don’t think we’ve delivered on the potential of what’s fully there,” said Templeton, 50. “The exciting story about analog is the size of the opportunity.” Templeton is trying to convince investors that Texas Instruments can return to the double-digit annual sales growth from earlier this decade, when its products were used in more than half of the world’s mobile phones. The company, the second- largest chipmaker in the U.S., told investors last year that it plans to get out of the radio-chip market and instead focus on analog semiconductors. Analog chips covert physical inputs such as sound and touch into electrical signals, and are used in virtually all electronic devices. The worldwide market for analog products will fall to $35 billion this year from $43 billion in 2008, according to El Segundo, California-based researcher ISuppli Corp. Sales will probably climb about 14 percent to $40 billion next year, ISuppli says. Market Growth The challenge for Texas Instruments is to grow faster than the industry, said Srini Pajjuri , an analyst at Calyon Securities in San Francisco. The company’s revenue from analog chips fell 1.4 percent to $4.86 billion in 2008, compared with an 18 percent gain in 2006. “They’ve outgrown the market, but only modestly,” said Pajjuri, who rates the stock “underperform.” “That’s not enough to offset the declines in wireless.” Templeton first made his 20 percent growth prediction for the analog business in May 2008, saying that if the market grows at 10 percent a year, Texas Instruments can grow at twice that pace. Texas Instruments fell 22 cents to $22.44 at 11:20 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares had advanced 46 percent this year before today. Of the 35 analysts covering the company, 14 suggest buying the stock, 18 say hold and 3 say sell, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Stock Slump Templeton’s decision to get out of the market for mobile- phone radio chips came after Nokia Oyj , the world’s biggest mobile-phone maker, decided in 2007 to seek other suppliers, ending an exclusive relationship with Texas Instruments. Along with the global economic slowdown, that contributed to Texas Instruments stock falling from a five-year high of $39.18 in July 2007 to as low as $13.77 in March this year. The stocked has since rallied because the company is financially stronger than its rivals and will weather the recession better, said Michael Shinnick, a South Bend, Indiana- based fund manager at Wasatch Advisors Inc. “Good business model, well run and good execution is probably the top reason,” said Shinnick. His firm, which manages about $6 billion, owns Texas Instruments shares. “Potential for growth is not the most important variable. It’s really about balance sheet.” In the second quarter, analog chips made up 40 percent of Texas Instruments’ $2.46 billion in revenue, with the wireless business accounting for about 24 percent. While getting out of the market for radio chips, the company will continue to make application processors, which run software on mobile phones. Analog Share Texas Instruments can increase its share of the analog market — which stands at about 13 percent — because its sales force and product range are much larger than those of its competitors, Templeton said. The company’s biggest rivals include Norwood, Massachusetts-based Analog Devices Inc. and Milpitas, California-based Linear Technology Corp. Texas Instruments introduces between 800 and 1,000 new analog chips a year and has a portfolio of over 30,000 products. Unlike in the computer industry, where chips quickly are made obsolete, some analog chips have been selling for 20 years, said Gregg Lowe , who heads the company’s analog unit. Lowe said the size of his sales force means the company can serve small customers that wouldn’t be attractive to competitors. The rising demand for chips that require very little power and run for years without new batteries will also spur growth in the analog business, Templeton said. For example, engineers could blanket bridges with sensors that monitor wear and tear, without having to install wires or batteries, he said. “Analog is 10 years of a great growth opportunity for the company,” Templeton said. “The game is in front of us.” To contact the reporter on this story: Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Samoan Tsunami Kills 141 Before Indonesian Quake Leaves at Least 75 Dead

September 30, 2009

By Gavin Evans and Achmad Sukarsono Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) — Rescue workers in the South Pacific’s Samoan islands and Tonga searched for more victims of a tsunami that killed at least 141 people, while a temblor of magnitude 7.6 leveled buildings in Indonesia. A magnitude-8 earthquake south of Samoa spawned yesterday’s tsunami, which left 110 people confirmed dead in the island nation. The toll may rise as emergency workers try to find bodies buried in sand, Radio New Zealand said, citing the nation’s Disaster Management Office. Waves of at least 20 feet (6 meters) devastated resorts in the area, Red Cross worker Sati Young told the station. At least 24 people were killed in American Samoa and as many as seven in Tonga, the station said. In Indonesia, authorities said houses were destroyed though there were no reports of deaths in the quake, which hit off southern Sumatra at 5:16 p.m. local time today. A tsunami watch was in place briefly from Indonesia to India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka and Australia’s Cocos Islands. A tsunami generated by a magnitude-9 earthquake off northern Sumatra in December 2004 left about 220,000 people dead or missing in 12 countries around the Indian Ocean as it traveled as far as Kenya and Somalia in Africa. The quake near Samoa that caused yesterday’s tsunami was the deadliest since a magnitude-6.3 temblor struck Italy in April, killing 300 people. Villages Destroyed The tsunami destroyed villages on the southern coast of Samoa’s largest island, Upolu, and left many people missing, the New Zealand station cited Disaster Management Office official Ausegalia Mulipola as saying. At least one of those killed is from New Zealand and other New Zealanders may be among the dead, the country’s government said. New Zealand schools are on vacation, with many families traveling to southern Samoa for the break, Radio New Zealand said. A 5-foot wave was reported at Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. Waves may have been as high as 15 feet in other parts of the island, Eni Faleomavaega , the territory’s delegate to the U.S. Congress, told AFP. A change in the sea level of 4 inches (10 centimeters) was recorded by a sensor south of Tokyo. Officials in Ofunato, a city in northern Japan, ordered the evacuation of about 10,000 residents, according to a notice on the municipality’s Web site. The tsunami alert in Japan and a warning issued for the South Pacific region were later canceled. Alerts were briefly in place for waves possibly hitting Japan and the U.S. West Coast. ‘Just Coincidental’ The occurrence of the two major earthquakes within 24 hours is “just coincidental,” Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Boulder, Colorado, said in a telephone interview. The quakes were on different fault lines. “It’s approximately 6,000 miles between the two locations so there’s no connection between the two, and even if they were closer there still probably wouldn’t be any connection,” said Baldwin. “These are just very active areas; they are active on a daily basis.” President Barack Obama declared a “major disaster” in American Samoa, the White House said in an e-mailed statement. The declaration makes government funding immediately available for aid operations and rebuilding in the territory that has a population of about 65,600 people. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending a team to American Samoa to assist, administrator Craig Fugate said in an e-mailed statement. Emergency provisions in Hawaii will be sent south as needed, he said. 18 Kilometers Deep The earthquake struck shortly before 7 a.m. local time on Sept. 29 about 125 miles (195 kilometers) south of Samoa’s capital, Apia. The quake struck at a depth of 11 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Tsunami warnings were issued for Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga, the Cook Islands and 16 other nations. It may take another day for the final death toll to be known, New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said. Bodies are being brought into Apia, while the sea along Samoa’s southern coast is being searched. “The majority of the deaths so far are elderly or children because they were less able to escape the tsunami as it came in,” he told Radio New Zealand. At least five people are reported dead on Tonga’s northern island of Niuatoputapu , New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully told journalists in Wellington. The airstrip on the island is out of action and may have been damaged in the earthquake, he said. Tsunami Drills In Samoa, residents in coastal villages were evacuated to higher ground after the quake. Tsunami drills earlier in the year may have helped reduce the death toll, Radio Polynesia journalist Jonah Tui Le Tufuga told Radio New Zealand. Cars and parts of houses were left floating in the sea, he said. The nation of about 180,000 people consists of 10 islands and lies about 1,740 miles north-northeast of New Zealand. It’s about 50 miles northwest of Pago Pago on Tutuila, American Samoa’s principal island. Australia will deploy a taskforce to Samoa within 24 hours, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told ABC Radio yesterday. One Australian was killed in Samoa, the ministry said. Residents of Samoa , shocked by the strength of the jolt, heeded warnings of local police and moved inland, Radio New Zealand’s Samoa correspondent, Tipi Autagavaia, said on a broadcast. “My kids were preparing to go to school and were all crying and screaming,” he said in the broadcast. “It was a big, big shock to most people, because it is the first time they have experienced such a very strong earthquake.” The magnitude of the quake was revised higher from an initial reading of 7.9, the USGS said. The quake was followed by more than two dozen aftershocks of magnitude-5 or higher, the USGS said . To contact the reporters on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington at gavinevans@bloomberg.net ; Achmad Sukarsono in Jakarta at asukarsono@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

Tsunami in Pacific Ocean May Have Killed Over 120 People in Samoa, Tonga

September 30, 2009

By Gavin Evans and Tracy Withers Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) — A tsunami in the Pacific Ocean caused by a magnitude-8 earthquake may have killed more than 120 people in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, as well as prompting alerts for waves hitting Japan and the U.S. west coast. The toll in Samoa, where 62 people are confirmed dead, may rise to 100 as rescue teams reach isolated villages, Radio New Zealand reported, citing an estimate by the nation’s Disaster Management Office. At least 24 people were killed in American Samoa and five in Tonga, it said. Villages on the southern coast of the Samoan island of Upolu were destroyed and many people are missing, the radio cited Disaster Management Office Assistant Chief Executive Officer Ausegalia Mulipola as saying. A tsunami alert sounded in Samoa’s capital, Apia, several hours after the waves struck, Agence France-Presse reported, citing people in the city. The quake was the biggest since a magnitude-8.1 tremor hit east of the Kuril Islands in Russia in January 2007. The Pacific warning center extended a tsunami advisory to the west coast of the U.S. from the Californian-Mexican border to the Oregon- Washington border. A 5-foot (1.5-meter) tsunami was reported at Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. Waves may have been as high 15 feet in other parts of the island, Eni Faleomavaega , the territory’s delegate to the U.S. Congress told AFP. Japan Tsunami A change in the sea level of 10 centimeters (4 inches) was recorded by a sensor south of Tokyo a little before 2 p.m. Japanese time, after Japan’s weather agency warned an 0.5 meter tsunami may hit the country’s eastern seaboard by 3 p.m. Officials in Ofunato, a city in northern Japan, ordered the evacuation of about 10,000 residents, according to a notice on the municipality’s Web site. The tsunami alert in Japan and a warning issued for the South Pacific region were later canceled. President Barack Obama declared a “major disaster” in American Samoa, the White House said in an e-mailed statement. The declaration makes government funding immediately available for aid operations and rebuilding in the territory that has a population of about 65,600 people. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending a team to American Samoa to assist, administrator Craig Fugate said in an e-mailed statement. Emergency provisions in Hawaii will be sent south as needed, he said. Hit by Quake The tsunami was triggered by a magnitude-8.0 earthquake shortly before 7 a.m. local time on Sept. 29 about 122 miles (196 kilometers) southwest of Apia. Samoa is close to the International Date Line and 7 a.m. on Sept. 29 is 7 a.m. on Sept. 30 in Wellington, New Zealand. The quake struck at a depth of about 22 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Tsunami warnings were issued for Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga, the Cook Islands and 16 other nations. The final death toll may not be known until tomorrow, New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said. Bodies are being brought into Apia, while the sea along Samoa’s southern coast is being scoured. “The majority of the deaths so far are elderly or children because they were less able to escape the tsunami as it came in,’ he told Radio New Zealand. At least five people are reported dead on Tonga’s northern island of Niuatoputapu , New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully told journalists in Wellington. The airstrip on the island is out of action and may have been damaged in the earthquake, he said. Coastal Villages In Samoa, residents in coastal villages were evacuated to higher ground after the quake. Tsunami drills earlier in the year may have helped reduce the death toll, Radio Polynesia journalist Jonah Tui Le Tufuga told Radio New Zealand. Cars and parts of houses were left floating in the sea, he said. The nation of about 180,000 people, consists of 10 islands and lies about 2,800 kilometers north-northeast of New Zealand. It’s about 80 kilometers northwest of Pago Pago on Tutuila, American Samoa’s principal island. Australia will deploy a taskforce to Samoa within 24 hours, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told ABC Radio today. One Australian was killed in Samoa, the ministry said. Residents of Samoa , shocked by the strength of the jolt, heeded warnings of local police and moved inland, Radio New Zealand’s Samoa correspondent, Tipi Autagavaia, said on a broadcast. “My kids were preparing to go to school and were all crying and screaming,” he said in the broadcast. “It was a big, big shock to most people, because it is the first time they have experienced such a very strong earthquake.” The magnitude of the quake was revised higher from an initial reading of 7.9, the USGS said. The quake was followed by 20 aftershocks of magnitude-5 or higher, the USGS said . To contact the reporters on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington at gavinevans@bloomberg.net : Tracy Withers in Wellington at twithers@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

At Least 19 Killed on Samoan Islands After 8.0 Earthquake Triggers Tsunami

September 29, 2009

By Gavin Evans and Tracy Withers Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) — A tsunami unleashed by the largest earthquake in two years swept coastal areas of Samoa and American Samoa today, killing at least five people and flattening villages. The earthquake, with a magnitude of at least 8.0, struck shortly before 7 a.m. local time about 122 miles (196 kilometers) southwest of Apia, the capital of the independent island nation of Samoa, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Tsunami warnings were issued for Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga, the Cook Islands and 16 other South Pacific countries. Three people are dead in Samoa, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing local officials. At least two people died after the ground floor of the Federal Building in Pago Pago, American Samoa, was flooded, Gerard Fryer, a geophysicist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, told Radio New Zealand. A 5-foot (1.5-meter) tsunami was reported at Pago Pago, on the northern side of American Samoa, the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. Homes in villages on the southern coast of the Samoan island of Upolu were washed away and a 4-year-old child was missing after a boat was swamped, Radio New Zealand reported. “We also received an early report this morning that the entire Manono village on Manono Island has totally gone underwater,” Radio Polynesia journalist Jonah Tui Le Tufuga told Radio New Zealand. “Luckily, most of the residents made it up to higher ground before the actual tsunami hit.” Tsunami Drills Cars and parts of houses were floating in the sea, Tufuga said. Tsunami drills earlier in the year may have helped reduce the death toll, he said. Coastal villages evacuated to higher ground after the quake. The injury count is expected to rise as casualties are brought in from outlying regions, Lemalu Fiu, a doctor at Samoa’s main hospital in Apia, told the BBC. “Our house has already been taken by the tsunami,” Theresa Falele Dussey told Radio New Zealand from hills above Apia, where people took shelter. “Some of the houses and cars next to our village have already been taken by tsunami as well.” A tsunami warning and watch was canceled for the South Pacific region about four hours after the quake hit, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in an e-mailed statement. Tidal waves were observed in six locations, with the largest registered in Pago Pago, the center said. Shocked by Jolt Residents of Samoa , shocked by the strength of the jolt, heeded warnings of local police and moved inland, Radio New Zealand’s Samoa correspondent, Tipi Autagavaia, said on a broadcast. “My kids were preparing to go to school and were all crying and screaming,” he said in the broadcast. “It was a big, big shock to most people, because it is the first time they have experienced such a very strong earthquake.” The tsunami warning center reported the quake had a magnitude of 8.3, while USGS revised it to 8.0 from an initial reading of 7.9, the USGS said. The quake was followed by five temblors ranging from 5.0 to 5.8, in the Samoa Islands region, the Cook Islands and Tonga, the USGS said. There have been fewer than 90 earthquakes of magnitude 8.0 or greater around the world since 1900, according to the USGS’s Web site. Before today, the last one was a temblor of intensity 8.5 that struck in September 2007 off Southern Sumatra, Indonesia, and killed 25 people. To contact the reporter on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington at gavinevans@bloomberg.net : Tracy Withers in Wellington at twithers@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Obama Meets Israelis, Palestinians Without Clear Path to Reopening Talks

September 22, 2009

By Janine Zacharia and Jonathan Ferziger Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama , who pledged to personally pursue Middle East peace, will meet in New York today with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority with little sign the sides are ready to engage in serious peace talks. Obama’s envoy, George Mitchell , has for months been trying to win an Israeli settlement freeze as a first step toward reopening talks on the major issues that divide Israel and the Palestinians: territory, borders, the future of Jerusalem, and Palestinian refugees. Successive U.S. presidents have failed to produce a peace deal. So far the Obama administration has been unable to win a more limited Israeli agreement on a settlement freeze, or to persuade the Arab states to take minor steps toward normalization with Israel. “It’s a summit by default,” said Shmuel Sandler , a political scientist at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv. “They’re going to New York only because neither one wants to say no to Obama, but they’re certainly not ready to start peace talks again.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s acceptance of Obama’s invitation doesn’t signal a return to talks, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said in an e-mailed statement. He said there will be no negotiations until Israel freezes all building in West Bank settlements. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t agree to a freeze, his spokesman Nir Hefez told Israel Army Radio yesterday. Suspended Talks Mitchell left Jerusalem last week after failing to bridge this gap and restart peace talks suspended nine months ago with Netanyahu’s election. After the White House announced Sept. 19 that a three-party get-together would take place, Israeli, Palestinian and U.S. officials have been lowering expectations for the meeting. “We don’t anticipate an announcement coming out of meeting,” Tommy Vietor , assistant White House press secretary, said yesterday. “What we do expect is a continued process of deliberate, persistent work on an issue that the president said during his campaign would be a priority.” U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the meeting, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York this week, “shows that we are ready to engage at the highest level of our government to try and bring about something that we’ve all wanted, that all sides have wanted for decades.” ‘Good First Step’ David Makovsky , a fellow at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, said the three-way meeting is a “good first step.” “You obviously cannot have negotiations unless you can get Netanyahu and Abbas in the same room. With the ice broken, hopefully the diplomatic thaw is now possible,” said Makovsky, co-author of a book on Middle East peacemaking with Obama’s senior adviser on the region, Dennis Ross. Netanyahu and Abbas face strong domestic pressure not to make any compromises while in New York. Netanyahu’s Likud party has long supported settlement building in the West Bank while opposing territorial compromises that would allow a Palestinian state there. Abbas faces opposition to compromise from the Islamic Hamas movement, which seized full control of the Gaza Strip in June, 2007. Hamas leader Ismail Haniya criticized Abbas on Sept. 20 for agreeing to meet with Netanyahu in the U.S. “No one is authorized to sign any agreement that would weaken legitimate Palestinian rights,” Haniya said, according to an e-mail sent by the Hamas spokesman’s office. ‘Very Bad Position’ Mkhaimar Abusada, professor of political science at Gaza’s Al-Azhar University, said, “Abbas will be in a very bad position if he goes back to the negotiating table without even getting a temporary freeze on settlement expansion.” Netanyahu and Obama have disagreed over settlements since they met at the White House in May and Obama called for a total construction freeze. Netanyahu has said that while he is willing to negotiate over a Palestinian state in the West Bank, settlers should still be allowed to build new homes and schools in existing settlements to accommodate population growth. Israel approved building 455 housing units in West Bank settlements on Sept. 7, while about 2,500 new homes are under construction. There are almost 300,000 Israelis living in 121 settlements in the West Bank, where Palestinians hope to create a state. To all but the dimmest minds, “the notion of a conflict- ending agreement” between Abbas and Netanyahu “is just not there,” said Aaron David Miller , a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. Close the Gap Incremental steps like settlement freezes and confidence- building measures failed in the past and won’t close the gap on the “core issues,” said Miller, a longtime Middle East peace negotiator. “It’s conceivable Obama could apply enough brutal pressure on Netanyahu to get him to agree to a settlement halt minimally acceptable to his coalition,” said Mark Heller , a political scientist at Tel Aviv University’s National Institute for Strategic Studies. “But the U.S. administration doesn’t have enough leverage on the Palestinians to get them to agree to key Israeli positions, such as recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.” To contact the reporters on this story: Janine Zacharia in Washington at jzacharia@bloomberg.net ; Jonathan Ferziger in New York at jferziger@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

China Appeals WTO Ruling That Curbs on U.S. Books, Films, Music Are Unfair

September 22, 2009

By Jennifer M. Freedman Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) — China appealed a World Trade Organization ruling that found its curbs on the sale of books, films and music from the U.S. are unfair. WTO judges concluded on Aug. 12 that China was violating its free-trade commitments by requiring importers to channel foreign publications and audiovisual products through state-run companies. The panel also urged China to allow foreign companies to sell music over the Internet, which would be a boon for Apple Inc., with its iTunes software. “China has appealed to the WTO over the publication ruling,” said a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing. U.S.-Chinese trade relations have soured amid allegations about market-access restrictions, trade protectionism, copyright infringement, currency manipulation and claims that Chinese exporters are undercutting higher-cost American manufacturers. The U.S. has lodged eight complaints against China at the Geneva-based WTO — more than any other government — while four of China’s five trade complaints are against the U.S. The U.S., the world’s biggest exporter of entertainment products, sees higher sales of cultural goods as a way to narrow its trade deficit with China, which totaled $103 billion in the first half of 2009. While foreign films and music are popular in China, suppliers face competition from the country’s thriving black market. President Barack Obama’s trade chief, Ron Kirk , has made getting China, Russia and other nations to clamp down on piracy of American-made goods one of his top goals. Lost Revenue China’s copying of movies, music and software cost companies $2.2 billion in 2006 sales, according to an estimate by lobby groups representing Microsoft Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Vivendi SA. Revenue generated from films in China climbed 27 percent last year to 4.2 billion yuan ($615 million), according to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television . Foreign movies grossed 1.7 billion yuan, up 8 percent from 2007. Imported films can be distributed only by two state-owned enterprises, a unit of China Film Group and Huaxia Film Distribution Co. China Film controls most of the 20 import licenses that grant foreign films the right to a modest slice of their box-office earnings, usually about 13 percent. While WTO judges didn’t rule against the import quota of 20 foreign films a year, they said China Film “can no longer be the monopoly importer.” The panel also agreed that China has the right to ban foreign films and publications that government censors deem objectionable. China bans foreign social networking Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter . To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer M. Freedman in Geneva at jfreedman@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

Dollar Declines the Most Since May as Its Borrowing Costs Become Cheapest

September 12, 2009

By Matt Townsend and Oliver Biggadike Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) — The dollar declined the most since May versus six major counterparts as the greenback became the cheapest funding currency, prompting investors to sell the dollar and buy riskier assets. Sterling rose this week to a one-month high versus the dollar as the central bank refrained from expanding its asset- purchase program. The yen appreciated to near 90 versus the dollar before next week’s Bank of Japan meeting on speculation China’s recovery will boost the growth of its Asian neighbors and Japan’s exporters will repatriate earnings. “The use of the dollar as a funding currency is understandable given how liquid the dollar is in terms of its ability to trade across foreign-exchange markets,” said Nick Bennenbroek , head of foreign-exchange strategy at Wells Fargo & Co. in New York. “That’s probably why it’s being taken advantage of right now.” The Dollar Index , which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against the currencies of U.S. trading partners including the euro, yen, pound, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and Swedish krona, dropped 2 percent to 76.608 yesterday, from 78.136 on Sept. 4. The decline was the biggest since a 3.7 percent reduction in the five days ended May 22. The gauge touched 76.457, the lowest since Sept. 25, 2008. The U.S. currency’s decline didn’t discourage investors from buying Treasuries this week. Thirty-year U.S. bonds advanced, pushing the yield down 0.1 percentage point to 4.17 percent, after the $12 billion of the securities offered Sept. 10 drew the strongest demand in almost two years. Stronger Yen The yen advanced to a seven-month high versus the dollar as China’s output increased 12.3 percent in August from a year earlier and on speculation Japanese companies are bringing back money earned abroad to take advantage of a tax break that went into effect this fiscal year. The Japanese currency gained against most of its major counterparts as it surpassed a support level at 92 yen per dollar, said Boris Schlossberg , director of currency research at online currency trader GFT Forex, in New York. Support is a technical-chart area where orders may be clustered. “It’s a momentum move,” Schlossberg said. “We broke the 92 handle, which was a pretty critical support area. There was a tremendous amount of stops below there, and once that gave way it was like a waterfall cascade and pushed everything lower.” The Bank of Japan is forecast by all of the eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg News to hold the target lending rate next week at 0.1 percent. Weaker Dollar The yen advanced 2.5 percent to 90.71 versus the dollar and reached 90.21, the strongest level since Feb. 12. Japan’s currency gained 0.6 percent to 132.17 yen per euro. The euro increased 1.9 percent to $1.4571 after reaching $1.4634, the strongest level since Dec. 18. The three-month London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for dollars dropped below that of the Swiss franc on Sept. 8 for the first time since November, making the greenback the cheapest currency to fund purchases of higher-yielding assets. The dollar rate ended the week at a record low of 0.299 percent, compared with 0.359 for the yen and 0.307 for the franc. The franc gained 2.3 percent to 1.0373 versus the dollar and touched 1.0340, the strongest level since July 29, 2008. The pound advanced to $1.6742, the highest since Aug. 7, as the Bank of England left unchanged its asset-purchase program of buying up to 175 billion pounds ($290 billion) in bonds in a sign policy makers believe the economy is recovering. The BOE kept the main rate at a record low of 0.5 percent. Bollard on Currency New Zealand’s dollar rose for a ninth week in the longest stretch of gains in a decade even as Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard said in a Radio New Zealand interview yesterday that its “undesirable” gains won’t encourage exports. Bollard left New Zealand’s benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 2.5 percent this week and said cutting borrowing costs was unlikely to curb demand for the currency. The kiwi, as the currency is known, reached 70.88 cents, the highest level since August 2008. The New Zealand dollar surged 38 percent against the U.S. currency in the past six months in the best performance among the 16 most-traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg as optimism the global economy will recover encouraged traders to bet Bollard won’t be able to hold down interest rates. The U.S. currency may pare its decline next week on speculation its drop is too big to sustain, according to some strategists. Relative Strength The 14-day relative strength index on the euro-dollar exchange rate rose to 67.8 on Sept. 10, the highest since June 2. A reading of 70 tends to indicate the rise approaches the extreme and a reversal may be imminent. When the RSI reached 69.6 on June 1, the euro dropped 1.3 percent in a week. “The thing about the currency market is it tends to go farther and longer than any point of rationality that makes sense,” GFT’s Schlossberg said. “It’s very possible that the turn in the dollar won’t happen until we break 90 in the yen, $1.47 in the euro and $1.70 in the pound. Once you hear people talking about $2 a pound and $1.50 in the euro, you are going to see a correction in the dollar.” The U.S. will report inflation data and advanced retail sales on Sept. 15, giving investors more insight into a recovery from the worst recession since the Great Depression. The producer price index in August rose 0.8 percent after a 0.9 decline in the previous month, according to the median forecast of 61 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Advance retail sales climbed 1.9 percent in August after a 0.1 percent drop in July, 60 economists said in a separate survey. To contact the reporters on this story: Matt Townsend in New York at mtownsend9@bloomberg.net ; Oliver Biggadike in New York at obiggadike@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Rick Smith: 9/11/09: How Has Your Perspective Changed?

September 11, 2009

The greatness of our potential is created in our minds. The limits, the obstacles that prevent us from achieving our potential are created in the same place. Eight years ago, my perspective was changed dramatically as a result of the horrific events that unfolded that day. I wrote down my thoughts, my scribblings hit the internet, and ever since I have become more and more active as a writer. Today, we are recovering from an economic disruption not seen in most of our lifetimes. How have these tough times changed your perspective? How can your current circumstances trigger a great leap in your life? a two-by-four from GOD september 12, 2001 All the world is a stage, and we are merely players. With the horrific and all-consuming events of the last few days, it has never been more undeniably evident that as players, we do all indeed share the same stage. I am not a professional writer or commentator. These words are merely the offering of a minor player on this grand stage. I was one of more than a million passengers in the air when tragedy struck, landing in Washington DC just as a plane attacked the Pentagon. Chaos ensued, the airport became a military camp, a few frightened people ran past me – in the direction of anywhere. For me, that morning began a three day pilgrimage from Washington back to my family and home. There was time to reach out to loved ones, to rage, to mourn and to reflect. There seemed no shortage of time. Along the way, I came upon a lonely stretch of road in the Blueridge mountains. On the radio was a suburban housewife from Ohio, who had decided to postpone the purchase of a new European automobile. “It just doesn’t seem as important now. Our family just wants to go home.” Perhaps it was her tone, the inflection in her voice, but it was evident that this woman was not merely a consumer concerned about the economy, exercising fiscal restraint. She seemed to be, for perhaps the first time in her adult life, content. A bit unsettled, I couldn’t help but sense I had experienced this feeling before. Early in my career, I enjoyed many successes. But with greater responsibility and financial rewards came an increasing conflict between my career and family. My travel schedule had expanded to five, sometimes even six days a week. Then one day I had an epiphany, thanks to my two-year old daughter. I had returned late on a Friday night from yet another week of travel, too late to put my kids to bed. Saturday morning, my daughter woke up and ran to me in the kitchen, exclaiming “Daddy, Daddy, thanks for coming to visit!” My wife and I sat there dumbfounded, saying nothing. I called my employer that weekend and resigned. Reflecting on this incident, I often refer to it as “a two-by-four from GOD,” a moment so startling it was as if the hand of God himself reached down and smacked me on the head. Life has a way of settling into the incremental. We are rarely faced with life altering choices, but rather minor decisions to move slightly to the left, to the right, or perhaps more often to simply just plow ahead. That Saturday morning with my daughter, I realized I had just been given a great gift. The opportunity to stand back from all the elements that made up my everyday life, and ask myself – is this what I really want? Now, with three beautiful children and a fulfilling marriage, I could not be more grateful for the choices that resulted from the powerful, innocent wisdom of a child. Today, America by many measures is the leading nation in the world, and yet we, too seem lost. With critical reflection, it is utterly amazing that as citizens we have perhaps the greatest opportunity of any people on earth to achieve self-actualization. Food, shelter and safety are enjoyed in the US at levels unimaginable to 90% of the world. But, with the opportunity to lead truly meaningful lives within our grasp, we instead become trapped in an endless loop of material one-ups-manship. On September 11, 2001 America was horrified beyond words. Violated were our beliefs, our safety, the fundamentals of our way of life. And yet, in what is slowly becoming the aftermath of these dreadful events, I cannot help but feel that within the ashes of this destruction are hidden two extraordinary gifts. The first is the gift of perspective. So disorienting were these events that each of us now must rethink our lives, our decisions and our direction. The lady in Ohio who suddenly realized the futility in her endless pursuit of material things. A newfound understanding that life is indeed a journey, not a destination. That family is important, and working more to afford luxuries for our children may have a price much higher than simply being there. That work is important, for it provides an excellent opportunity to contribute, to challenge ourselves and exercise our capacity to learn. That charitable endeavors are not just the right thing to do, but are requisites to our inclusion within a community. That significance is more meaningful than success. The second gift is the chance to rebuild. When all the rubble is lifted, the citizens of New York have the unique opportunity to rebuild in any way they choose. A memorial, parks, mixed use housing, perhaps even a more dramatic symbol of freedom and commerce than was originally built. No matter the outcome, the slate is clean. So too is the foundation of all of our lives. The world, each of our world’s, will never be the same. How will we rebuild? In what ways will we change the very direction of our lives? On September 11, an evil outside of our control destroyed a part of us. Today, an opportunity within our control exists to rebuild our lives as we see fit. The thousands who have died should be honored and remembered. But within our reach is the opportunity for tens of millions more to be reborn into more fulfilling and meaningful lives. Out of the loss of innocence and the forced realization that we are but a small part of global world, may come an appreciation of our great fortunes. Out of the haunting images, a chance for a new perspective. Out of the rubble, the chance to rebuild on a stronger foundation. And out of death, the chance for all of us as players in this sometimes woeful, yet wondrous theater, the opportunity to no longer merely survive… but to live. This post was originally published at RickSmith.me Subscribe to Rick’s Blog Friend Rick Smith on Facebook

Read the full article →

Pat Ryan Appointed General Manager of Salem Media of Boston

August 28, 2009

BOSTON, MA–(Marketwire – August 28, 2009) – Salem Communications announced that Pat Ryan has been appointed General Manager of its three Boston radio stations, WEZE (590 AM), WROL (950 AM) and WWDJ Radio Luz (1150AM). Ryan has more than 14 years of broadcasting experience all in the Salem Boston cluster. Most recently she served as General Sales Manager. Pat is a Boston native and holds a Masters Degree in Education from Eastern Nazarene College, Quincy, MA. In announcing this appointment, Joe D. Davis, President of Salem’s Radio Division, said, “Pat Ryan is the kind of manager we like to promote from within. She has proven her abilities with increasing levels of responsibility during her tenure with Salem, and has won the trust of staff and clients. When we needed someone to sell time on WROL right after we purchased it, Pat stepped right up and volunteered to take on additional responsibility. She has experienced one success after another since that day.”

Read the full article →

Obama Says U.S. Health-Care Debate Is Dominated by `Outright Distortions’

August 22, 2009

By Nicholas Johnston Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama said debate over revamping the U.S. health-care system is being dominated by “willful misrepresentations and outright distortions.” Obama, after leaving Washington to start a weeklong vacation, used his weekly address on the radio and Internet to urge Americans to “rise above our differences” to fix a costly and ineffective health-insurance system. The president pushed back against what he called “outrageous myths” about his proposals. “This is an issue of vital concern to every American,” Obama said. “But it should also be an honest debate, not one dominated by willful misrepresentations and outright distortions.” As the health-care debate has intensified, Obama’s approval ratings have fallen and Democratic members of Congress have faced contentious town-hall meetings. On Aug. 20, Obama told supporters their help is needed to correct misperceptions. In his address today, Obama said opponents have falsely said that Democratic health-insurance legislation would cover illegal immigrants, provide federal funding for abortions and lead to a government takeover of health care. “These are phony claims meant to divide us,” Obama said. Obama said proposals for a government-run insurance plan, to compete against private insurers , have created confusion about government involvement in the health-care system. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Aug. 20 that a government- run insurance program would have to be included in any legislation voted on in the House. Obama has said he prefers that approach but is open to others. Provide Competition “This is one idea among many to provide more competition and choice,” Obama said. After taping the address earlier this week, Obama left yesterday for the presidential retreat at Camp David , Maryland. Tomorrow the president is scheduled to travel to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts . He is expected to remain in contact with congressional negotiators on health care. “He’ll continue to touch base with members of Congress in the House and the Senate on the finance committee to check in with them about progress that’s being made,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said. Obama plans to return to Washington on Aug. 30. Lawmakers return from Congress’s August recess on Sept. 8 Republican Address Georgia Representative Tom Price , who is a doctor, said in the weekly Republican address that Democratic proposals would give the federal government too much control over health care. “The president’s plan is a 1,000-page expression supporting the notion that Washington knows best when it comes to your family’s health care,” he said. Price said Obama is responsible for some of the misinformation in the health-care debate, disputing Obama’s statements that Americans will be able to keep insurance they already have and that a government-run coverage option wouldn’t drive private insurers out of business. “We all know that when the government is setting the rules and is backed by tax dollars , it will destroy, not compete, with the private sector,” he said. Price also criticized Obama for not working with Republicans on a health-care compromise. He said Obama’s approach is “his way or the highway.” “It’s time we start over and create a truly bipartisan solution,” Price said. To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at Njohnston3@bloomberg.net

Read the full article →

Lehman Collapse `Alarmed and Surprised’ Gieve After Rescue of Bear Stearns

August 17, 2009

By Jennifer Ryan and Brian Swint Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) — Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse in 2008 surprised former Bank of England Deputy Governor John Gieve because the rescue of Bear Stearns Cos. led him to assume U.S. officials would save investment banks. “I remember being alarmed and surprised,” Gieve, the central bank’s financial stability chief at the time, told BBC Radio 4 in an interview broadcast today. The U.S. government’s actions on Bear had “established a strong presumption that it would do what was necessary to prevent a collapse of an investment bank as well as a commercial bank.” U.S. officials didn’t share much information with the Bank of England as they struggled to save Lehman, Gieve said. The investment bank announced on Sept. 15 it had filed for bankruptcy after negotiations at the New York Federal Reserve to engineer a rescue by its peers failed. “This was the weekend so I think I was patched in on various calls through that evening to the U.S. to get the latest news,” Gieve said. “I must say that we didn’t get a lot of news, we were told hour after hour that they would have some news shortly.” U.S. officials were unable to broker a rescue of Lehman after talks including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the heads of as many as 14 financial institutions. The U.K.’s Financial Services Authority blocked a rescue by Barclays Plc . ‘Biggest Mistakes’ Questioned about the contribution of Britain in causing the financial crisis, Gieve said that the most serious errors were made in the U.S. “We’re the tail, not the dog here,” Gieve said. “This whole crisis was born in the U.S. and the biggest mistakes that led up to it were made in the U.S. We made some of the same ones but we’re not big enough to shape the world.” Lehman’s bankruptcy filing led to a loss of confidence that jeopardized funding for banks around the world. Gieve said his main concern then was the focus that would follow on some U.K. financial institutions. “I knew one thing that it would do was lead the markets to focus on who’s next,” Gieve said. In the U.K., “the people in the firing line were Bradford & Bingley which had been struggling through the summer, and HBOS. Beyond that, of course was RBS, Barclays. The only question was: well how far will this wave go?” Gieve, asked about his time on the bank’s rate-setting panel, said Governor Mervyn King never tried to “browbeat” the Monetary Policy Committee. “As chairman of the MPC, he acted entirely properly,” Gieve said. “He gave his views. They were influential — of course they were influential. Outside the MPC, the bank is more of a monarchy,” he said, citing the money-markets division as an example. King doesn’t deserve to bear most of the blame for any mistakes made in the crisis, Gieve said. “Looking back on this, the arrangements we set in place for economic and financial policy didn’t work as well as we wanted,” Gieve said. “I don’t think you can blame this on an individual being over-mighty.” To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Ryan in London at Jryan13@bloomberg.net ; Brian Swint in London at bswint@bloomberg.net .

Read the full article →

Two Killed at Tel Aviv Gay, Lesbian Center; Police Say Likely a Hate Crime

August 2, 2009

By Gwen Ackerman Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) — An unknown assailant opened fire last night in a Tel Aviv center for young gays and lesbians, killing two people and seriously wounding three others, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Read the full article →

Two Killed at Tel Aviv Gay, Lesbian Center; Police Say Likely a Hate Crime

August 2, 2009

By Gwen Ackerman Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) — An unknown assailant opened fire last night in a Tel Aviv center for young gays and lesbians, killing two people and seriously wounding three others, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. “The gunman shot randomly at anyone in the building,” Rosenfeld said in a phone interview, adding that police were searching for the suspect in and around Tel Aviv. “We believe this is a hate crime against the gay and lesbian community and not a terrorist act.” Army Radio said the dead were a 26-year-old man and a 17- year-old woman.

Read the full article →

Two Killed at Tel Aviv Gay, Lesbian Center; Police Say Likely a Hate Crime

August 2, 2009

By Gwen Ackerman Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) — An unknown assailant opened fire last night in a Tel Aviv center for young gays and lesbians, killing two people and seriously wounding three others, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. “The gunman shot randomly at anyone in the building,” Rosenfeld said in a phone interview, adding that police were searching for the suspect in and around Tel Aviv. “We believe this is a hate crime against the gay and lesbian community and not a terrorist act.” Army Radio said the dead were a 26-year-old man and a 17- year-old woman

Read the full article →

Two Killed at Tel Aviv Gay, Lesbian Center; Police Say Likely a Hate Crime

August 2, 2009

By Gwen Ackerman Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) — An unknown assailant opened fire last night in a Tel Aviv center for young gays and lesbians, killing two people and seriously wounding three others, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. “The gunman shot randomly at anyone in the building,” Rosenfeld said in a phone interview, adding that police were searching for the suspect in and around Tel Aviv. “We believe this is a hate crime against the gay and lesbian community and not a terrorist act.” Army Radio said the dead were a 26-year-old man and a 17- year-old woman.

Read the full article →

Cablevision Said to Be Preparing Spinoff of Madison Square Garden Division

July 30, 2009

By Kelly Riddell July 30 (Bloomberg) — Cablevision Systems Corp. is preparing to spin off its Madison Square Garden assets, including the New York Knicks basketball team and Radio City Music Hall, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Read the full article →

Cablevision Said to Be Preparing Spinoff of Madison Square Garden, Knicks

July 29, 2009

By Kelly Riddell July 29 (Bloomberg) — Cablevision Systems Corp. is preparing to spin off its Madison Square Garden assets, including the New York Knicks basketball team and Radio City Music Hall, according to a person familiar with the matter. Stockholders would receive one share of the new company, to be called Madison Square Garden, for every share of Cablevision they own, said the person, who declined to be identified because the plan isn’t public.

Read the full article →

Wal-Mart’s Chicago Push Gets Hip-Hop Backing (VIDEO)

July 27, 2009

Supporters of Wal-Mart’s controversial bid to open a second Chicago store, at 83rd at Stewart in Chatham, now have starpower on their side. Chicago hip-hop artist Rhymefest joined the pro Wal-Mart groups, Jobs or Else and the Walmart Community Action Network , at a City Hall protest last week calling for Aldermen to approve the new store. And because no good opportunity should go to waste, they made a video of the protest: The City Council is set to vote July 29 on whether to allow Wal-Mart’s bid to move forward

Read the full article →

Youth Radio — Youth Media International: Stock Market Obsessed

July 27, 2009

Originally published on Youthradio.org , the premier source for youth generated news throughout the globe. By: Lauren Silverman I’ve been ducking and dodging the unfamiliar economic terms since the first financial bailout was announced, hoping phrases like ” credit default swaps ” and ” short selling ” might disappear

Read the full article →

U.S. Stocks Drop as Aetna, Verizon Earnings Blunt Optimism Over Home Sales

July 27, 2009

By Lynn Thomasson July 27 (Bloomberg) — U.S.

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →