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Soaring oil prices helped Exxon Mobil post a slightly higher fourth-quarter profit. But a slowdown in production and lower natural gas prices are worrying investors.

Exxon’s oil and natural gas production fell 9 percent during the quarter. The drop came even after the company spent a record $36.8 billion last year to explore for more energy. Exxon’s stock price fell $1.74, or 2 percent, to $83.75 a share in midday trade.

Exploration can take years to yield more oil and gas. Some of Exxon’s biggest investments recently have been in U.S. natural gas fields, which so far haven’t paid off because prices are at the lowest level in a decade.

Its $29 billion acquisition of XTO Energy two years ago has been a disappointment, Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Fadel Gheit said.

The deal, which overnight made Exxon America’s biggest natural gas producer, hasn’t generated the kind of profits that investors expected.

Gheit said the company needs to consider cutting production. “They don’t want to have dead wood dragging them down,” he said.

The business Exxon is best known for, oil, drove results during the quarter. In the final three months of the year, the company sold crude for 27 percent more than a year earlier.

That boosted net income to $9.4 billion, or $1.97 per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $9.25 billion, or $1.85 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose nearly 16 percent to $121.6 billion.

Exxon produced an average of 4.5 million barrels of oil and natural gas a day. That’s nearly twice as much as Chevron Corp., America’s second-largest petroleum company.

But the output is less than what Exxon’s wells produced the year before. That’s partly because some of fields matured and produced less. Also, many contracts in foreign countries limit the amount of oil that Exxon can keep and sell as prices rise.

Earnings in Exxon’s exploration and production business rose 18 percent thanks to higher prices.

But those same prices hurt its refining business, where income dropped 63 percent. The refineries have struggled to pass along to customers the higher cost of oil used for gasoline, diesel and other fuels. That’s because demand is slowing in many parts of the world.

Stricter rules on car and truck fuel economy are expected to keep demand low for years in the U.S. and Europe.

As result, large oil and gas companies have been shedding refining operations, especially in developed markets.

Exxon announced Sunday that it is selling its Japanese refining and marketing business to partner TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. for $3.9 billion following an extended slide in Japanese fuel demand. The deal is expected to close mid-year.

Exxon’s chemicals business saw profits decline 49 percent.

For the full year, Exxon’s net income rose 34.8 percent while revenue rose 26.9 percent.

Last week, Chevron Corp. said profits slipped 3.2 percent. ConocoPhillips reported a 66-percent increase in quarterly earnings, though much of that came from the sale of a pipeline and other assets. Royal Dutch Shell expects to report its financial results later this week.

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. fell 91 cents to $84.58 in early trading.

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Last minute shoppers gave merchants a solid lift during the final week before Christmas, according to a report from a mall trade group Wednesday.

Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 0.9 percent for the week ended Saturday compared with the previous week. That is also up 3.4 percent from the week before, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index.

Revenue at stores opened at least a year for the week ended Saturday rose 4.5 percent compared with the same period a year ago. The index serves as a sales proxy to 24 major stores including Macy’s Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp.

“The downs and ups were much more accentuated,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the council. “It just shows how cautious the consumer is. Consumers are bargain hunters more today than ever before personal loan for poor credit.”

For the week ended on Nov. 26, which included the traditional start of the holiday shopping season on the day after Thanksgiving, stores had the biggest sales surge compared with the prior week since 1993, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs weekly index. The cumulative two-week-sales drop-off that followed marked the biggest percentage decline since 2000. Then, during the final two weeks before Christmas, sales surged again, by the highest rate since 2005, Niemira says.

“The holiday season was good but uneven,” Niemira said.

ICSC expects that holiday sales for the November and December combined will be in line with its forecast of 3.5

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New York City’s economy faces an “extreme downside risk” from Europe’s debt crisis because its banks hold over $1 trillion of assets in the city, where they are active lenders, according to a new report released on Thursday.

The city’s economy is intertwined with Europe’s because non-financial companies have significant ties to European companies while millions of tourists from this region visit the city every year, according to the report by City Comptroller John Liu.

“In light of these widespread commercial interactions, adverse effects on the City’s economy from Europe’s debt crisis appear alarming and lend greater urgency to addressing existing budget issues,” Liu said in a statement.

This potential problem could bedevil New York City’s finances, which already are being pressured by the job-cutting downturn of its prime industry: Wall Street.

The Democratic comptroller warned that Mayor Michael Bloomberg might be underestimating some risks. The list includes

the difficulty of negotiating labor contracts for teachers and supervisors with no wage increases for the past round of bargaining and the possibility that cash-poor New York state will cut $200 million in aid.

A mayoral spokesman, saying Bloomberg had warned that New York City’s economic outlook was uncertain, added: “He has kept the city’s fiscal house in order while delivering services that continue to produce record results through two historic downturns guaranteed pay day loans.”

The kinds of risks that Liu indentified could help widen the city’s budget gaps to $1.7 billion in the current accord, $3.2 billion in fiscal 2013, $4.4 billion in 2014 and $5 billion in 2015.

The city’s current budget is balanced.

Bloomberg, a political independent, has forecast smaller gaps of $2 billion in 2013, $3.8 billion in 2014 and $4.9 billion in 2015.

On the positive side, the comptroller estimated that the city’s five pension funds will cost less than Bloomberg predicted, which could save more than $1 billion from the current fiscal year to 2015.

Though New York City typically benefits when the stock market rises, as it sweeps in higher tax collections from profitable banks and brokerages and individuals with capital gains, there is a plus to the market’s current roller-coaster ride.

“The Comptroller’s Office believes that continued stock market volatility and low interest rates will further encourage institutional investors to shift portfolios towards commercial real estate, especially in premium markets such as New York City, thereby stimulating transactions of commercial property,” the report said.

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Italy’s government on Tuesday approved the release of euro4.8 billion ($6.4 billion) from state coffers to fund strategic infrastructure projects aimed at stimulating economic growth.

The funds will pay for highway projects, high-speed railways and retractable underwater barriers to help protect Venice from flooding. They were released as part of Premier Mario Monti’s program to help Italy exit the sovereign debt crisis and build market confidence to save the euro currency.

Monti, an economist and former EU commissioner who took office less than three weeks ago, announced emergency measures on Sunday that seek to save euro30 billion through austerity measures, and reinvest euro10 billion of savings from those measures to enhance growth, stuck at zero for a decade.

The emergency decree allows the funds to be released immediately, but Parliament must still convert the measures to law. Approval is expected by Christmas, although major parties on the right and left want to make changes.

Monti has combined the powerful economic development and infrastructure ministries under Corrado Passera, formerly CEO of Banca IntesaSanpaolo, to ensure good coordination on projects that can boost economic growth. Many of the projects have been stalled in progress or stuck in planning due to a combination of local resistance and interruptions in state funding.

Economists have mixed views on how effective infrastructure programs are for spurring economic growth, with most favoring privately funded projects for better stimulus. Still, longer-term projects, like railways, usually require state funding because the investment period is too long for many investors.

The new funding includes euro2 billion to upgrade the Treviglio-Brescia and Milan-Genoa railway lines, both in the north, to highspeed, euro598 million for highways, and euro600 million for the Venetian lagoon mobile barriers, a project already more than two years behind schedule due to financial problems.

The projects are expected to stimulate growth through putting people to work, as well as keeping construction contracts flowing.

The gates _ called Moses, after the Old Testament figure who parted the Red Sea _ would be activated when the tide reaches 110 centimeters (43 inches), which happens on average four times a year. St. Mark’s Square floods when the tide reaches just 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) _ and most of the city’s artistic treasures are kept above 2 meters (6.6 feet) for their protection.

Other measures taken by the Monti government include raising the pension age and seniority requirements, slimming down provincial governments, reinstating a tax on first homes, raising taxes on large boats, high-performance cars and private jets and helicopters.

Monti has described the measures as a first step by his government of technocrats tasked with reforming the Italian economy, balancing its budget and spurring moribund growth. He has emphasized that he will step down at the end of his mandate, which could run into 2013, a fact that frees him from re-election pressures that have hampered long-needed reforms.

Unicredit economic analyst Chiara Corsa said the measures appear “sufficiently bold” to allow Italy to balance its budget by 2013,” even with recession looming.

“In turn this should allow Italy’s debt-to-GDP ratio to enter a downward trajectory soon,” she said.

Italy’s debt of euro1.9 trillion, or 120 percent of GDP, is considered too big to bail out if the eurozone’s third-largest economy cannot continue to turn over its debt.

Monti’s measures come on top of euro59.8 billion in adjustments made by Silvio Berlusconi’s government, before he resigned after proving unable to take even more stringent, politically costly, steps

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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.

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NATO has announced it will end its air campaign over Libya next Monday, following the decision of the U.N. Security Council to lift the no-fly zone and end military action to protect civilians.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday that the operation was “one of the most successful in NATO history,” one which was able to wind down quickly following the death of former Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi.

Monitoring air patrols are expected to continue until Monday to make sure there are no more threats to civilians.

NATO’s 26,000 sorties, including 9,600 strike missions, destroyed about 5,900 military targets since they started on March 31.

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Saddled with millions of dollars in recent judgments for failure to pay licensing fees, television station operator Roberts Broadcasting filed for bankruptcy Friday.

Roberts Broadcasting is one of the many businesses owned by brothers Michael and Steven Roberts, two high-profile St. Louis businessmen who also are former St. Louis aldermen. Their holdings also include real estate and hotels around the country. Neither returned calls for comment.

The four TV stations owned by Roberts Broadcasting are WRBU-Channel 46 in St. Louis, WZRB in Columbia, S.C.; WRBJ in Jackson, Miss.; and WAZE in Evansville, Ind.

In a statement released Friday, Steven Roberts, president of Roberts Broadcasting said the four stations will seek to create a reorganization plan within the next six months.

“It was difficult to make the decision to file these cases, but the provisions of Chapter 11 (bankruptcy) will allow us to deal with the old debts, preserve the jobs of about 50 employees, and continue to service these communities,” he said.

The bankruptcy, filed in St. Louis, lists Roberts Broadcasting’s assets as $50,000 or less and its debts ranging between $500,000 and $1 million.

Creditors include law firms Armstrong Teasdale and Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP, electric utility AmerenUE and the city of St. Louis.

The three television stations outside the St. Louis area also filed separately in St. Louis for Chapter 11. All showed debts ranging between $100,000 and $500,000 and assets of $50,000 or less.

In the statement released Friday, Steve Roberts blamed the bankruptcy on the downfall of the UPN television network, which shut down in 2006.

“All four of these stations were designed to be affiliates of the former UPN network, owned by the CBS Corp.,” he said in the statement. “UPN’s minority-oriented programming fit nicely with each station’s demographics, and with its potential advertisers. To our surprise, UPN folded shortly after these stations started broadcasting, which throw off all of our business plans.”

Roberts Broadcasting has faced multiple lawsuits for failure to pay syndication fees for programs it aired on its stations. In 2009, 20th Century Fox filed a lawsuit against Roberts Broadcasting over nonpayment of more than $1 million in fees. The two sides settled last year, and the case was dismissed.

Then in April 2010, CBS subsidiaries CBS Studios Inc. and King World Productions Inc. filed a lawsuit against Roberts Broadcasting, alleging their TV stations aired CBS shows without paying licensing fees. CBS won a $1 million judgment against Roberts Broadcasting in March in that case.

Last week, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered Roberts Broadcasting to pay a $1.4 million judgment to Warner Bros. for airing “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “George Lopez” and other Warner Bros. shows on its stations without paying. The Roberts Bros. filed a notice of non-objection to the Warner Bros. judgment on Aug. 31. Linda Burrow, an attorney representing Warner Bros., declined to comment on the case.

FINANCIAL STRESS

Signs of financial stress have been seen at the Roberts’ other business entities, all owned by a parent company, Roberts Cos. Roberts Cos. sold its wireless communications tower business last year for $88.5 million, in part, to shore up its other business interests, Michael Roberts said at the time of the sale.

Other than its TV stations, Roberts Cos.’ remaining business interests - real estate and hotels - have suffered during the economic downturn. Ground was broken on their $70 million high-rise condo building in the heart of downtown St. Louis’ central business district just as the recession took hold. Originally slated to open to residents two years ago, the vacant 300-foot tall tower sits empty.

Several of the Roberts Cos.’ other real estate development plans in recent years have also soured. A planned $25 million Hotel Indigo slated for the 900 block of Locust Street in downtown St. Louis was scrapped.

Roberts Cos. has also faced lawsuits recently for its hotel operations. Several local contractors filed lawsuits totalling nearly $1 million against the brothers related to the $4.4 million renovation of a hotel in the Central West End. That hotel was originally flagged a Hotel Indigo but the name was changed to the Roberts Hotel Central West End this year.

Roberts Cos.’ is privately held and no financial records were available.

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Libyan revolutionary forces faced fierce resistance as they streamed into one of the remaining bastions of support for Moammar Gadhafi on Friday, while the Turkish prime minister met with the country’s new rulers in the capital Tripoli.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit came a day after the French and British leaders traveled to Libya as the international community rallies around the interim government’s efforts to establish legitimacy and start rebuilding the country despite continued fighting against loyalists of Gadhafi, who remains on the run.

Libyan fighters in dozens of pickup trucks mounted with heavy weapons made their way from the north into the center of town of Bani Walid, 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli. Explosions and gunfire resounded across the area and smoke billowed into the sky as fierce clashes broke out.

One of the fighters, Hisham Nseir, said the frontline is “very heated and chaotic” and his troops were meeting with heavy resistance from Gahdafi’s men.

Libyan fighters also have converged on Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte to the north of Bani Walid.

NATO airstrikes continued to pound pro-Gadhafi targets. The alliance said it struck multiple rocket launchers, air missile systems, armored vehicles and a military storage facility in Sirte on Thursday. NATO has conducted over 8,500 strikes on Libya since late March.

As revolutionary forces battle pro-Gadhafi holdouts centered in Bani Walid, Sirte and the city of Sabha, deep in the southern desert, Libya’s interim leadership has been pushing forward with efforts to form a new government.

Erdogan was greeted at the airport by Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the head of the National Transitional Council, the closest thing Libya has to a government. He traveled to Libya as part of a tour of the Arab world, including Egypt and Tunisia, that is aimed at offering help for the countries and advancing his growing status as a regional leader.

He was expected to discuss how to resume investments in Libya, where Turkish contractors were involved in 214 building projects worth more than $15 billion before the rebellion that ousted Gadhafi personal loan for poor credit.

Erdogan’s tour comes as once-strong ties between Turkey and Israel are unraveling due to Israel’s refusal to apologize for its raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists last year.

The flotilla incident and Turkey’s desire to broaden its influence in the Middle East and the Arab world could dramatically affect the power dynamics in the region since the revolutions now known as the Arab Spring.

Turkish companies have been involved in lucrative construction projects worth billions of dollars, building hospitals, shopping malls and five-star hotels in Libya before the uprising began in mid-February.

The bilateral trade with Libya was $2.4 billion in favor of Turkey before the chaos and the two countries had waived travel visas to boost that trade.

The United States and more than 30 other nations formally recognized Libya’s main opposition group as the country’s legitimate government in a July meeting in Istanbul, giving the rebel movement a major boost. The move came after Turkey escalated its pressure on Moammar Gadhafi despite its long-standing ties to the Libyan leader.

Erdogan has said: Gadhafi has ignored calls for change in Libya and instead preferred “blood, tears and pressure against his own people.”

Turkey has recently reopened its embassy in Tripoli which was shut down due to deteriorating security. The Turkish consulate in the rebel-controlled city of Benghazi remained open throughout the conflict.

Turkey initially balked at the idea of military action in Libya, but as a NATO member it is helping to enforce an arms embargo on Libya and volunteered to lead humanitarian aid efforts.

Erdogan also was expected to appear on the Martyrs’ Square, which was renamed from the Gadhafi-era Green Square, in Tripoli and to travel to the cities of Misrata and Benghazi.

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Rogers Communications wants to be your bank, as well as your phone, cable and Internet supplier.

The company says it has applied to the federal government for a banking license.

But Rogers won’t be jostling on for space on prime street corners with the Big Five banks, the company says.

Instead, it will be “primarily focused on credit, payment and charge card services,” said Carly Suppa of Rogers in an email.

“We have no plans to become a full-service deposit-taking financial institution.”

The company hasn’t set a target date for plunging into the financial services sector. In fact, it hasn’t made a final decision.

“The license, if granted, would give us the flexibility to pursue a niche credit card opportunity to our customers should this make sense at a future date,” Suppa said.

In any case, she added, the licensing process is a rigorous one that could take more than a year.

David McVay of McVay and Associates Ltd. said Rogers probably wants to capture a share of the fees generated by credit and debit cards.

When a consumer pays with a credit card, the merchant gets paid about 98 cents on the dollar for the transaction. The other two cents is divided between the card issuer and the clearing house that tracks the payments.

“I suspect they may want to get in the middle of that process to get some of that revenue,” McVay said.

Debit card transactions generate a set fee per transaction, rather than a percentage of the purchase value.

But Rogers may also be looking to new telephone technology that’s just over the horizon, McVay said.

“It may actually relate to the cellphone becoming a payment device. Not far off, you’ll be able to wave your cellphone by a payment terminal and it will debit your account or charge your credit card.”

That, too, will generate fees that Rogers, as a phone company, will want to capture more of.

If that is the goal, McVay warned it’s no slam dunk.

Wal-Mart entered the banking sector so it could issue MasterCards, he said, and has had difficulty winning market share.

“The cards that the banks offer are so rich in rewards right now, there’s not a good reason for consumers to switch,” he said.

“I think it’ll be tough slogging for anybody up against the major banks, because they are very big, and very good.”

That hasn’t deterred some retailers from offering financial services.

Canadian Tire Financial offers a MasterCard, while President’s Choice — a brand carried by grocery chain Loblaw — provides a host of other banking services including credit cards and mortgages. Also read: Are low-fee banks worth it?

10 fees to avoid

With files from the Canadian Press

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