Global finance blog - news, jokes, life…

Markets were boosted again on Tuesday by hopes that the 17 countries that use the euro will finally come up with a plan to deal with their crushing debt crisis.

As the 17 finance ministers of the countries that use the euro converged on EU headquarters in a desperate bid to save their currency _ and to protect the global economy from a debt-induced financial tsunami _ investors were reminded of the urgency of the task at hand.

Italy’s borrowing rates shot up Tuesday to above 7 percent, an unsustainable level on a par with rates that forced the others to seek bailouts.

The fear is that the crisis _ which already has forced bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal _ could engulf bigger economies such as Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest. If Italy were to default on its debt of euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion), the fallout could spell ruin for the euro project itself and send shock waves throughout the global economy.

Though no specific details have yet emerged of what will likely result from a Dec. 9 summit of EU leaders, the ministers are thought to be discussing ideas that would have been taboo only recently: countries ceding fiscal sovereignty to a central authority; some kind of elite group of euro nations that would guarantee one another’s loans _ but require strong fiscal discipline from anyone wanting membership.

On Tuesday, finance ministers also were likely to discuss the options _ plus a possible way to boost the region’s rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, at a meeting in Brussels.

“Global equity markets have started the week hopeful that EU policymakers are actually moving closer to resolving the eurozone debt and banking crisis, with hopes pinned on reports that France and Germany are planning a ‘fast-track’ updated Stability Pact to both tighten budget rules and provide fiscal policy oversight,” said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital.

On Monday, stocks advanced strongly, particularly in Europe, with the CAC-40 in France up a massive 5 percent or so.

As a result, the gains Tuesday were not as marked but did provide some further evidence of the hopes that European leaders will finally get their act together in around 10 days time.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 0.2 percent at 5,747, while the CAC-40 rose 0.5 percent at 3,026. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was 0.1 percent higher at 5,320. The euro, meanwhile, was up 0.4 percent at $1.3346.

Wall Street was poised for further gains, too, amid ongoing evidence of a strong start to the U.S. holiday shopping season. Dow futures were up 0.5 percent at 11,555, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures rose 0.6 percent at 1,198.

Earlier, most Asian markets ended higher, with the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo climbing 2.3 percent to close at 8,477.82.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.3 percent to 1,856.52 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.2 percent to 18,256.20. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Australia were also higher.

Mainland Chinese shares advanced, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gaining 1.2 percent to 2,412.39.

Oil prices tracked equities modestly higher _ benchmark crude for January delivery was up 49 cents to $98.70 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

____

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Source

Stocks are opening sharply higher after a strong start to the U.S. holiday shopping season and signs that Europe is getting its debt crisis under control.

Initial reports show a record number of shoppers hit the mall or bought gifts online over the holiday weekend.

Investors are also hoping that recent deterioration in Europe’s debt crisis will get the region’s leaders to agree on a package of measures that can ease market concerns over whether the euro currency itself can survive.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 274 points, or 2.4 percent, at 11,506 shortly after the opening bell Monday.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 29, or 2.6 percent, at 1,188. The Nasdaq composite is up 70, or 2.9 percent, at 2,512.

Source

By the time the sun rose Friday morning, exhausted shoppers were dozing, slumped over in chairs at area malls, surrounded by shopping bags.

It was one sign that the midnight Black Friday sales were a hit with many deal-hungry consumers who took retailers up on their promotions and literally shopped until they dropped.

By 8 a.m. Friday, marathon shoppers and sisters Tina Hamilton of Bridgeton and Lisa Gray of Overland had already been shopping for about 10 hours. They started at Walmart around 10 p.m., then went to a Target opening at midnight, followed by Kmart at 5 a.m. and then to West County Center.

You have to have a strategy, Hamilton said. And, apparently, a lot of endurance.

“Your body is so broken down after cooking all day and then you stood in line to get a TV that didn’t go on sale until midnight,” Gray said.

There were few signs of consumer backlash to the midnight openings other than some shoppers who showed up later Friday morning because they said they were unhappy that stores made employees work on the holiday.

Black Friday, considered the start of the holiday shopping season, is closely watched by economists because of the important role retail sales play in fueling the economy.

Last year, the Thanksgiving shopping weekend accounted for 12.1 percent of overall holiday sales, according to ShopperTrak, a research firm. Black Friday made up about half of that no fax payday loans.

Greg Maloney, chief executive of retail for commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle, said he thinks this will end up being an even better Black Friday than originally anticipated. He saw more customers leaving the stores with bags in hand this year. The relatively good weather around the country helped, too, he said.

“It’s a great start to the holidays,” he said. “If I had to predict, I would say next year you’ll see most if not all retailers opening up (Thanksgiving night) and staying open all night.”

Sean Phillips, regional marketing director for CBL & Associates, which operates many shopping malls in the region, said the midnight openings seemed to be a big success for those mall-based stores with special doorbuster deals such as Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret, and Bath & Body Works.

“A lot of the stores I talked to this morning did think the midnight opening was going to help them meet or exceed their sales,” he said Friday afternoon. “They felt it brought in a lot of new sales.”

A record number of shoppers are expected this weekend. For three days starting on Black Friday, 152 million people are expected to shop, either online or in stores, an increase of about 10 percent from last year, according to the National Retail Federation.

The midnight sales seemed to draw more of a younger crowd

A string of bombings in a southern oil city killed 19 people Thursday evening and injured dozens more, a grim sign of the security challenges Iraq will face after American troops go home.

The U.S. military is drawing down its troops ahead of an end-of-December deadline to have all American forces out of the country. Incidents like Thursday’s triple bombing in a city seen as key to Iraq’s economic development show the dangerous prospects awaiting Iraqis next year.

Three bombs went off in a popular open-air market in Basra, police and health officials said.

The third bomb exploded a few minutes after Iraqi army and police forces arrived on the scene in response to the earlier blasts, officials said. The third blast caused all the fatalities and almost all of the injuries, the officials said.

Among the dead and wounded were many policemen and Iraqi army soldiers.

The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Kamal Ali was working at a clothing shop across the street when the blasts went off. He said after the first explosion, bystanders rushed to help the victims. When another blast went off about five minutes later, the terrified people ran to escape.

Then police and soldiers rushed to the scene before the third and most deadly bomb went off.

“Most of the casualties are police and Iraqi troops who rushed to help the victims and cordoned off the scene no fax pay day loan. They sacrificed their lives for the poor people,” Ali said.

The head of the Basra provincial council, Ahmed al-Sulaiti, confirmed the incident.

“We can’t blame the security forces for this act. They were the people most hurt,” he said by telephone from Basra.

Basra is about 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad It is considered the center of Iraq’s burgeoning oil sector.

Many foreign oil companies have offices there. The country is relying on foreign companies to bring the money and expertise needed to develop Iraq’s vast oil sector, which has been ravaged by war, sanctions and neglect.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, and it was not clear whether it was the work of Sunni extremists like al-Qaida, or by Shiite militias. Sunni militants often stagger their blasts in order to cause the most carnage, and they often target security officials, whom they see as propping up the Shiite-led government.

The area where the blasts occurred is also a stronghold for Shiite militia members, who have been known to use violence as they jockey for power and control.

__

Associated Press writers Mazin Yahya and Rebecca Santana in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Source

Business orders for long-lasting manufactured goods fell for a second straight month in October.

While much of the weakness came from a big drop in demand for commercial aircraft, a key category that tracks business investment spending fell by the largest amount since January.

The Commerce Department says that orders for durable goods fell 0.7 percent in January following a September decline of 1.5 percent. Orders for core capital goods, considered a good proxy for business investment spending, dropped 1 payday loans for bad credit.8 percent, the biggest decline since a 4.8 percent fall in January.

Manufacturing has been one of the strongest sectors in the economy in this sub-par recovery, but this sector slowed this year as consumer demand faltered and auto factories had trouble getting parts following the March natural disasters in Japan.

Source

Egypt’s civilian Cabinet offered to resign Monday after three days of violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Tahrir Square, but the action failed to satisfy protesters deeply frustrated with the new military rulers.

The Health Ministry and a doctor at an improvised field hospital on the square said at least 26 people have been killed and 1,750 wounded in the latest violence as activists sought to fill the streets for a “second revolution” to force out the generals who have failed to stabilize the country, salvage the economy or bring democracy.

Throughout the day, young protesters demanding the military hand over power to a civilian government fought with black-clad police, hurling stones and firebombs and throwing back the tear gas canisters being fired by police into the square, which was the epicenter of the movement that ousted authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.

By midnight tens of thousands of protesters were in the huge downtown square.

The clashes have deepened the disarray among Egypt’s political ranks, with the powerful Muslim Brotherhood balking at joining in the demonstrations, fearing that turmoil will disrupt elections next week that the Islamists expect to dominate.

The protests in Tahrir and elsewhere across this nation of some 85 million people have forced the ruling military council as well as the Cabinet it backs into two concessions, but neither were significant enough to send anyone home.

The council issued an anti-graft law that bans anyone convicted of corruption from running for office or holding a government post, a move that is likely to stop senior members from the Mubarak regime from running for public office.

Hours later, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf submitted its resignation to the council, a move that was widely expected given the government’s perceived inefficiency and its almost complete subordination to the generals.

Protesters cheered and shouted “God is great!” when the news arrived of the Cabinet resignation offer, but they almost immediately resumed their chant of “The people want to topple the field marshal” _ a reference to military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.

“We are not clearing the square until there is a national salvation government that is representative and has full responsibility,” said activist Rami Shaat, who was at the site.

The council released a statement late Monday calling for a national dialogue to “urgently study the reasons for the current crisis and ways to overcome it.”

The statement, carried by Egypt’s state news agency, said the military deeply regrets the loss of life and has ordered the Justice Ministry to form a committee to investigate the incidents of the past few days. The military said it ordered security forces to take measures that would protect demonstrators, who have the right to peaceful protest.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States was deeply concerned about the violence and urged restraint on all sides so Egypt could proceed with a timely transition to democracy.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also deplored the loss of life and called on authorities “to guarantee the protection of human rights and civil liberties for all Egyptians, including the right to peaceful protest,” U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Amnesty International harshly criticized the military rulers in a new report, saying they have “completely failed to live up their promises to Egyptians to improve human rights.”

The London-based group documented steps by the military that have fallen short of increasing human rights and in some cases have made matters worse than under Mubarak.

“The euphoria of the uprising has been replaced by fears that one repressive rule has simply been replaced with another,” according to the report, issued Tuesday.

The report called for repeal of the Mubarak-era “emergency laws,” expanded to cover “thuggery” and criticizing the military. It said the army has placed arbitrary restrictions on media and other outlets.

Egyptian security forces have continued to use torture against demonstrators, the report said, and some 12,000 civilians have been tried in military trials, which it called “unfair.”

In many ways, the protests in Tahrir bore a striking resemblance to the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak. The chants are identical, except that Tantawi’s name has replaced Mubarak’s.

“The people want the execution of the marshal,” protesters screamed Monday. The hallmark chant of “erhal,” or “leave,” that once was aimed at Mubarak is now meant for Tantawi, his defense minister for 20 years.

Some of the protesters demanded that the generals immediately step down in favor of a presidential civilian council.

“If the military steps down, then who will be left to run the country until elections are held?” said Ahmed Fathy, a 27-year-old dentist who prefers a date for the handover rather than the departure of the military now. “The military can strike back by turning the nation against us.”

About 5,000 to 7,000 protesters were in Tahrir Square for most of the day but the number rose to around 30,000 after nightfall _ nowhere near filling it but displaying the strength of the movement despite the military’s tireless campaign to marginalize the youths who drove Mubarak from office. Protesters also marched in other cities, including thousands of students in the coastal city of Alexandria.

Unlike in January and February when the demonstrators were united against Mubarak, the latest protests reflect political divisions and Egypt’s growing economic hardships and tenuous security.

Islamists led by the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest and best-organized political group, are not taking part in the protests this time, a stand that has been widely seen as motivated by a desire not to get involved in anything that could disturb parliamentary elections that are due to start Nov. 28 and conclude in March.

But the Brotherhood, whose supporters gave muscle to the protesters in January and February, may have underestimated the appeal of the secular-minded activists and the depth of anger over the military rulers’ failings and the inefficiency of the Cabinet that the generals support.

To many of the protesters, the Brotherhood and its allies, mainly the ultraconservative Salafis, are more keen on winning parliamentary seats than the future of the nation.

That so many protesters are in Tahrir Square without the participation of the Islamists could provide the liberal pro-reform groups with a boost that would fuel their movement in the face of the military’s perceived intransigence.

“We don’t need them,” Zeinab Kheir, a lawyer and an activist, said referring to the Brotherhood, vilified by many activists as an opportunistic, self-serving group.

“We want the (military) council to leave immediately so we can continue our revolution, which the military sold out,” said Mohammed Ali, a shoemaker among the protesters. “A civilian Cabinet from the square is what we want.”

The divisions between the secularists and Islamists surfaced in the square Monday when senior Brotherhood leader Mohammed el-Beltagy was heckled by protesters who threw water bottles at him. He hurriedly left.

However, moderate Islamists from two groups _ the Wasat, or Centrist party, and supporters of presidential hopeful Abdel-Monaem Abul Fetouh _ said they would take part in a big protest dubbed “National Salvation” planned for Tuesday.

Throughout the day, the sounds of gunfire crackled around Tahrir Square, and a constant stream of injured protesters _ bloodied from rubber bullets or overcome by tear gas _ were brought on motorbikes into makeshift clinics on sidewalks, where volunteer doctors scrambled from patient to patient.

A morgue official said the toll had climbed to 24 dead since the violence began Saturday _ a jump from the toll of five dead around nightfall Sunday, reflecting the ferocity of fighting. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the numbers.

Since Mubarak fell and the military took over, Egypt’s revolution has been mired in frustration and confusion. Activists and many in the public accuse the generals of seeking to hold on to power, and they fear that the military will dominate the next government no matter who wins the election. Many Egyptians are also frustrated by the failure of the military and the caretaker government to conduct any real reforms, halt widespread insecurity or salvage a rapidly worsening economy.

The military says it will hand over power only after presidential elections, which it has vaguely said will be held in late 2012 or early 2013.

On Monday, a group of 133 diplomats from the Foreign Ministry took the rare step of issuing a petition demanding that the military commit to hold presidential elections and transfer power by 2012.

“What does it mean, transfer power in 2013? It means simply that he wants to hold on to his seat,” said protester Mohammed Sayyed, referring to Tantawi.

Sayyed carried two rocks as he took cover from tear gas in a sidestreet off Tahrir Square. He wore a bandage on his head after being hit by what he said was a rubber bullet.

“I will keep coming back until they kill me,” he said. “The people are frustrated. Nothing changed for the better.”

Source

Egypt’s benchmark stock index tumbled more than 2 percent on Sunday as clashes between protesters and security forces entered their second day and rattled investor confidence in the country’s already stumbling economy.

The Egyptian Exchange’s EGX30 index was down 2.45 percent, or at 4,023 points, by 12:15 p.m. on the first day of the work week in the country. The slide built on a week of declines that have helped push the index’s year-to-date losses to almost 44 percent. The index had tumbled almost 3 percent earlier in the day, but recouped some of the losses.

Brokers attributed the drop to the clashes between rock-throwing protesters and security forces in Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak in February.

The fighting had entered its second day, with the protesters demanding the country’s military rulers quickly announce a date when they plan to hand over power to a civilian government. The unrest comes days before the Nov. 28 parliamentary elections _ the first national vote in roughly 30 years that doesn’t include candidates from the former ruling National Democratic Party.

“These are bad times,” said Khaled Naga, a senior broker with Mega Investments, adding that even after a thousands-strong demonstration on Friday went relatively peacefully, there were expectations that the market would decline.

“All things considered, this is a reasonable decline,” said Naga. “We were expecting worse _ maybe 5 percent.”

Shares of Commercial International Bank were down almost 2.2 percent to 23.22 Egyptian pounds while Orascom Construction Industries’ shares were off 3.24 percent to 220.2 Egyptian pounds.

The Jan. 25 revolution that toppled Mubarak and ended nearly three decades of authoritarian rule has battered the country’s economy.

Foreign investment and tourism, which are two of the country’s economic pillars, are reeling from the unrest, while frequent labor strikes and other mass protests have disrupted daily life and forced the government to adopt populist policies that have widened the deficit and added to expenses.

Already, Egypt has run through almost 40 percent of its net international reserves since December.

Brokers said continued unrest in the capital would likely only add to the drop and expected that the market’s support point _ where it could bounce back _ could be around 3,800 points. But hitting that level would involve a number of days of heavy losses and so far the Egyptian market has shown a surprising ability to bounce back despite the continuing unrest and tension in the nation.

Source

ST. PETERS

TORONTO

They line up at soup kitchens by the thousands. Individual debt is rising, savings are eroding and many young people have simply given up, staying home without studying or even looking for a job.

They are Italy’s invisible poor, unseen by tourists, ignored by the country’s fat-cat politicians and living in a reality that’s a far cry from former Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s description of an affluent country where “the restaurants are full.”

Or in the words of Francesa Zuccari, who runs a soup kitchen in Rome: “There is another city out there where people can’t get to the end of the month.”

This is the Italy facing Mario Monti, the economics professor tapped to form an interim technocratic government after Berlusconi was forced to resign last weekend. International markets and the European Community decided the 75-year-old media mogul lacked the political clout to enact needed reforms to head off a debt crisis and get the economy moving.

On Tuesday, Monti won support from Italy’s two largest parties, but the question remains whether politicians will back his expected painful reform measures at the risk of social peace.

On the one hand, Italy’s elite manufacturers are girding for an increase in luxury exports and some wealthy Italians are looking to move their money into the real-estate markets in New York, Miami and Paris.

On the other, the state statistics institute ISTAT says 8 million Italians, almost 14 percent of the population, are living in “relative poverty.”

While tourists may not see the poor as they visit Tuscany’s rolling hills, Venice’s waterways or the Amalfi coast’s picturesque villages, they are increasingly visible on Italian city streets.

Many Italians have begun taking their money out of banks, fearing reports that measures to help fight the sovereign debt crisis might include deductions from bank accounts, as was done in the 1990s.

“They are putting it under the mattress, or even inside empty wine jugs in the cellars. We are a country of farmers,” said Elio Lannutti, president of consumer protection group Adusbef.

An American service organization in Rome asked its members to spend their Thanksgiving holiday next week making food packages for the poor. Zuccari said demand for food parcels had risen 20 percent in the last few years, with well-dressed Italians now joining immigrants in line.

Caritas, the Roman Catholic church’s charity arm, says growing numbers of families can’t meet a surprise expense of euro700 ($947) without turning to borrowing.

“What is really dramatic is the geographic division,” said Caritas’ Walter Nanni, pointing to figures that Italy’s south remains severely impoverished.

While only 18 percent of families in the Alpine province of Trento could not meet such an unexpected payment for medical expenses or car repairs, the figure rises to 48 percent in Sicily.

“The (south) shows in a particular manner growing signs of economic and social vulnerability,” Monsignor Mariano Crociata, secretary-general of the Italian Bishops Conference, said in an October report on poverty.

To be sure, Italy isn’t as bad off as Greece or Portugal, which are both in recession, struggling with high unemployment as they are being bailed out by international lenders.

But Italy’s prospects aren’t great either, particularly given its brain drain and policies that have pushed Italy’s underutilized youth even further to the margins.

A gerontocracy dominates Italy’s key professional posts, making workers even well into their 40s still considered up-and-coming. In the highest political circles, Monti is 68, Berlusconi is 75 and the president of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, is 86.

Many younger Italians in fields like medicine, science and technology leave for countries that have more professional opportunities and mobility.

And the prospects for those who have not left are eroding fast. The Bank of Italy this month reported that nearly one in four Italians under 30 _ a total of 2.2 million people _ neither study nor work.

The great majority of the Italian NEET’s _ short for “Not in Education, Employment or Training” _ live at home with at least one parent, and a full 25 percent are living in a family where no one is working, the bank said.

A university degree does little to alleviate their plight: A full 20 percent of college graduates are without a job.

Lawyers in Italy must do a two-year apprenticeship before taking the bar exam, and most firms take advantage of the requirement to get free labor out of the trainees. Among the measures being discussed to confront the debt crisis would be a requirement that internships are paid.

“At least with Monti there is some hope since he is not a politician subject to pressure from the lobbies,” said Francesco Bureca, who graduated from an elite school but can’t land a job.

But hardline leftists expect no improvement for Italy’s poor, even from the new government.

“The Monti government is born from a mandate of Confindustria (a powerful business lobby) and the banks,” said Marco Ferrando, leader of the tiny Communist Workers Party.

He called for new protests. Italy’s last major economic protest this fall ended in a bloody riot on the streets of Rome.

____

Barry reported from Milan.

Source