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Currency Trading: Dollar Falls Against Most Rivals Amid Wider U.S. Trade Deficit | NEW YORK -- The dollar weakened against all of its major rivals with the exception of the pound, stung by a report showing a surprisingly large U.S. trade deficit.</br></br>For all of 2002, the trade deficit reached a record $435.22 billion, a significant widening from the 2001 deficit of $358.29 billion.</br></br>This has serious implications for the U.S. because the country needs to attract some $1.5 billion a day to fund its current account deficit, which is largely made up of trade in goods and services. With foreign direct investment into the U.S. having tailed off significantly, the U.S. relies largely on foreign purchases of stocks and bonds to fund its deficit.</br></br>But with the White House finding itself increasingly isolated in the court of world opinion for its tough stance towards Iraq, global distaste for risk is on the rise, making it more difficult for the world's largest economy to attract the funding to meet its deficit financing needs.</br></br>Late yesterday in New York, the euro was trading at $1.0819, up from $1.0747 late Tuesday. The dollar was valued at 118.30 yen, down from 118.74 yen. Against the Swiss franc, the dollar was worth 1.3572 francs, down from 1.3682 francs Wednesday, while the pound was changing hands at $1.5936, down from $1.5967. | no | 0 |
Heard on the street: Two strategists expect 1,000-point move in the market, but in different directions | Morgan Stanley's market strategist Byron Wien is looking pretty good so far on his April prediction that the Dow Jones Industrial Average would begin a 1,000-point decline this year. So far, the Dow industrials have fallen 296 points from their May peak.</br></br>Now a respected rival has come forward with almost a mirror-image prediction. Edward Kerschner, PaineWebber's market strategist, has just told his firm's clients that the Dow industrials will rise about 1,000 points in the next 18 months.</br></br>Wall Street gurus often shroud their predictions in enough mist that they later can claim they were right, no matter what happens. And lately, bold market predictions have been a bit rare. But Mr. Wien and Mr. Kerschner are being unusually blunt and explicit with their 1,000-point bets. For investors, a lot rides on whose reasoning is more compelling.</br></br>Mr. Kerschner maintains that inflation is licked, and that interest rates are in a gradual but dramatic downtrend that will take yields on long-term bonds all the way down to 5% by the end of 2001, from about 7% today. Low interest rates make very healthy fertilizer for stock-market rallies.</br></br>Mr. Wien's bearish stance stems from his belief that the economy will be stronger than most people expect. As companies clamor for money, he says, interest rates will rise, poisoning the stock market. He also says that various technical market indicators are flashing red. "The 1,000 points, in all honesty, was picked for its drama," he says. "But I'm not backing off" -- even though the market has rebounded by 132 points since mid-July. | no | 0 |
Fed Held Line On Money Despite Cut: But Easing Possible | ! Federal Reserve policy makers, meeting a few days after the Fed's discount rate had been cut from 8 percent to IV-i percent, agreed not to ease monetary policy further, Recording to a record of the May 21 meeting released yesterday.</br></br>Û¢ However, a majority of the jgroupÛÓthe Federal Open Market (Committee, or FOMCÛÓwas concerned about the economyÛªs relatively weak performance and strains in financial markets and ÛÏbelieved that policy implementation Should be alert to the potential need for some easing of reserve conditions,Û the statement said.</br></br>' Such language indicates a shading of FOMC sentiment toward an easier policy course rather than a neutral or a tighter position. The Fed seeks to influence financial markets and the economy in part by varying the availability of reservesÛÓcashÛÓto financial institutions.</br></br>Different members of the FOMC had varying views about the importance of the fact that the money measure Ml was well above its target range. In the end, one voting member, Robert Black, president of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, dissented from the majority position because ÛÏhe preferred to direct policy implementation in the weeks immediately ahead toward achieving somewhat slower expansion in Ml,Û the statement said.</br></br>The majority expected that the policy course they laid out would be consistent with growth of MlÛÓthe money measure that includes currency in circulation and checking deposits at financial institutionsÛÓat a 6 percent annual rate or a little more between March and June. | no | 0 |
False Alarms on the Trade Deficit | An alarmist consensus is emerging among economic forecasters and commentators that the U.S. trade deficit in 1998 and 1999 will "soar," "surge" and reach "extreme levels." Prudent observers should treat this consensus, like others arrived at by economic forecasters, with a healthy degree of skepticism. As the Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Samuelson once noted, "Economists have correctly predicted nine of the last five recessions."</br></br>In the present case, even if the forecast of a soaring U.S. trade deficit were closer to the mark than it is likely to be, its limited significance would not warrant the alarm that commentators are sounding. The reason is that the trade deficit is one of the least significant indicators of the economy's vitality and health (as Walter Wriston and I explained on this page last June 19).</br></br>In any event, the consensus view that the trade deficit -- to be more precise, the current-account deficit, which measures the excess of payments for imports of goods and services (including capital services) over earnings from the corresponding exports -- will soar is based on several seemingly persuasive arguments.</br></br>First, U.S. markets will experience a "flood" of cheap exports from Asia following the depreciation of many Asian currencies by more than 50% in the past year, and of the Japanese yen by more than 25% in the past two years.</br></br>Second, so the argument runs, U.S. exports to Asia, which represented about 25% of global U.S. exports, will decline sharply for a number of reasons stemming from Asia's financial turmoil: the severe setback to economic growth in Korea and Southeast Asia; continued stagnation in Japan; the appreciated U.S. dollar, which makes U.S. exports more expensive to foreign buyers; the depleted holdings of dollar assets in the Asian countries (apart from Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan); and the austerity imposed on the Asian countries by the International Monetary Fund. | no | 0 |
Rise of the Fed bashers | And at Rep. Ron Paul, the 2008 presidential candidate who had the zany idea -- as many laughing people thought -- that the Federal Reserve system could become a sizzling political issue. Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Fed, who does not laugh promiscuously, knows that it is no laughing matter that Paul has 317 co-sponsors (180 Republicans, 137 Democrats) for a bill to open the Fed's books to "audit" by the comptroller general.</br></br>The canny congressman cannot accomplish what the title of his best-selling book recommends: "End the Fed." But he probably hopes that if the Fed's transactions with financial institutions were publicized, he and kindred spirits could stir populist resentment of the mysterious institution. Although profoundly mistaken in his objective -- breaking the Fed to Congress's saddle -- Paul is not frivolous. His rage against the Fed is rooted in his rejection of fiat money -- paper money backed by nothing but confidence in Congress (really), and his libertarian enthusiasm for maximizing the role of unmanaged markets in allocating social rewards.</br></br>Bernanke on Monday told the Economic Club of Washington that Congress already can examine the Fed's balance sheet. His worry is that Congress, by ordering audits when it dislikes Fed monetary policy decisions, might make the Fed seem subject to, and eventually actually make it subject to, congressional pressure.</br></br>At Bernanke's recent confirmation hearing on his nomination for a second four-year term, Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican who is co-sponsoring a Senate version of Paul's bill, asked Bernanke: "Do you believe that employment should be a mission, a goal of the Federal Reserve?" Bernanke, who had already noted Congress's "mandate" that the Fed "achieve maximum employment and price stability," answered that the Fed "can assist keeping employment close to its maximum level through adroit policies."</br></br>That mandate was, however, improvidently given. Congress created the Fed and can control it, and eventually will do so if the Fed eagerly embraces the role of the economy's comprehensive manager. America's complex, dynamic economy cannot be both "managed" and efficient. Attempting to manage it is an inherently political undertaking, and if the Fed undertakes it, the Fed will eventually bring upon itself minute supervision by Congress. | no | 0 |
Market Advances Broadly | MOW YOriK. Nov. 26 (AP) ÛÓ The i stock market, encouraged by falling interest rates, advanced broadly today in quiet post-Thanksgiving trading.</br></br>The Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks climbed 5.66 to 956.62, its I highest close since it finished at 960.44 on Nov. 4, two days after the presidential election.</br></br>Gainers outdistanced losers by bet-; ter than a 2-1 spread in the daily tally of New York Stock Exchange issues.</br></br>Big Board volume slowed to an even 15 million shares from-20.42 million on Wednesday. Brokers traced the slackened pace to the absence of many investors who took an extended holiday weekend.</br></br>Nationwide turnover in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, came to 14.48 million shares. | no | 0 |
Consumer Confidence in Economy Hits New High | WASHINGTON -- With unemployment continuing to fall and the economic boom nearing a record as the longest in U.S. history, consumers began the new year with confidence in the economy soaring to an all-time high.</br></br>The Conference Board's monthly index measuring the economic outlook of U.S. households jumped three points in January, to 144.7 from 141.7 in December, and now stands at the highest level in the survey's 32-year history. The increase is the fourth straight monthly rise for the index, which has more than recovered from a slump in the summer and fall.</br></br>"This is an astonishingly strong report," Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, N.Y., told his clients.</br></br>The survey, considered a good predictor of consumer demand, offers further evidence that consumer spending is likely to remain strong into the immediate future. With jobs remaining plentiful, economists said consumers weren't fazed by recent stock-market volatility, rising mortgage rates or surging energy prices.</br></br>"An expanding global economy and a robust job market suggest that consumer optimism and consumer spending could rise even further," said Lynn Franco, the economist who oversees the survey of 5,000 households for the New York-based private research firm. | yes | 1 |
Bargain Hunters Halt Stock Slide; Dow Climbs 17 Points | NEW YORK, Aug. 16-Bargainhunting investors rescued the stock market from another decline today, boosting prices in a moderate rally that overcame bad news about the nationÛªs trade deficit.</br></br>The Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks, which fell 33.25 points Monday to its lowest close in nearly three months, recovered about half the loss by the end of trading, up 17.24 to 2021.51. Broader market indicators also advanced.</br></br>Brokers called the rally largely a technical reaction to the marketÛªs recent declines based on fear of rising interest rates, which erode the relative worth of stocks. Between Aug. 3 and Monday, the Dow aver-</br></br>Stocks, bonds and the dollarÛªs value initially fell when the Commerce Department reported a larger-than-expected June trade deficit of $12.5 billion, which suggested the U.S. currency would have to decline to make U.S. products more competitive and discourage AmericaÛªs relentless appetite for imports.</br></br>But the impact of the trade report was reversed by investors who quickly stepped in to buy stocks when prices reached what appeared to be bargain levels, brokers said. | no | 0 |
Open Season Here For Pros' Expenses | OAKMONT. PaÛ_ June 16ÛÓrGolfers are complaining about inflation, too. It used to be that they had to give a caddie S60 a week to carry a bag in the Open. Now itÛªs $125 a week. The rule of thumb is that the caddie gets 3 per cent of the playerÛªs winnings. up to $2,000; 4 per cent between $2,000 and $10,-000, and 5 per cent over $10,000. Some golfers say their expenses have jumped from $300 to $900 a week.</br></br>The Open gives a token $500 consolation prize to those golfers who fail to survive after 36 holes but everything has gone upÛÓ transportation, food and rooms. It costs golfers like Dean Beman and Lee Elder, who' play at least 20 tournaments a year, around $20,000 for expenses.</br></br>Gary Player had as his guest in Johannesburg last year Delvin Miller, the owner-breeder-trainer-driver of harness racing fame. ÛÏPlayer was paying me back for letting him sit in on the start of a harness race,Û MillerNsaid. ÛÏGary said that it was one of the greatest thrills of his life.Û</br></br>Player had WashingtonÛªs Elder as his guest in South Africa in 1971. Because of South AfricaÛªs apartheid policy, the visit attracted world-wide attention. Player, a dedicated worker for racial equality, was proud of Elder. ÛÏLee got a tremendous ovation wherever lie went," said Player. ÛÏHe proved he was capable of holding his own with anybody.Û</br></br>Charley Sifford six-putted one hole in ThursdayÛªs opening round of the U.S. Open here and wound up with an 83. Dave Stock-ton was needling him after the round and said: ÛÏCharley, I wouldnÛªt get too discouraged- You could win the award as the most improved golfer in the Open if you can break 80.Û | no | 0 |
Scared of Stocks? Try These Funds. 'Allocation' funds, by blending equities with other, less volatile investments, offer an alternative for anxious investors | The stock market's powerful rally over the past year has gone a long way toward reducing the losses that many mutual-fund investors suffered in late 2007 and 2008.</br></br>But the rebound--with the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index up 74% from its March 9, 2009, low--has done nothing for one group of investors: those who bailed out of stocks and have remained on the sidelines. Some of these investors have poured large sums into bond funds, even though those holdings may take a beating whenever interest rates rise from today's unusually low levels, possibly later this year. Some forecasters, meanwhile, believe that stocks may finish 2010 up as much as 10%.</br></br>So, for investors who want to step back into stocks but are still anxious, here's a modest suggestion: You don't have to take your stock exposure straight up. You can dilute it by buying an allocation fund that spreads its assets across many market sectors, from stocks and bonds to money-market instruments and convertible securities.</br></br>Such funds typically have less dramatic swings than pure stock vehicles. And "you will never be in a situation where everyone did well except you because you were in the wrong market niche,'' says Ned Notzon, who oversees allocation strategies at T. Rowe Price Group Inc.</br></br>The most cautious of these offerings, classified as conservative allocation funds by Morningstar Inc., may hold as little as 20% in stocks--and that number doesn't usually change much over time. | no | 0 |
Infosys to Set Up Office in China's Dalian | BANGALORE -- Infosys Technologies (China) Co. Ltd. Monday said it has signed a pact with the government of the Dalian high-technology industrial area to set up a branch company that will focus on software development and outsourcing business in the region.</br></br>The new facility in the Dalian High-Tech Zone has the capacity to seat 700 employees and will focus on delivering consulting, technology and business process outsourcing services to clients from the U.S., Europe, Japan and neighboring regions, the China unit of India's Infosys Ltd. said in a statement.</br></br>The agreement also provides a framework under which the region's administrative committee will help Infosys launch programs with local universities for training and recruitment, it said.</br></br>Infosys China, which was incorporated in 2004 and employs more than 3,300 people in China, had revenues of $79 million in the last fiscal year through March.</br></br>Write to Dhanya Ann Thoppil at [email protected] | no | 0 |
Unions Slaying Close lo Pay Iiniits Asked by President, Survey Finds | The Government made public yesterday a survey of 19G2 wage increases showing that labor unions are keeping fairly close to the limits prescribed by President Kennedy to help keep down inflation.</br></br>The survey reported that major collective bargaining agreements concluded up to Oct. 1 and covering about 3.1 million workers provided pay increases that averaged about</br></br>This included large groups of workers, such as in the steel and aluminum industries, for whom new labor contracts were negotiated lacking any increase in wages but including substantial gains in other benefits such as pensions, vacations and so on.</br></br>When only those settlements providing wage increases are considered, the average pay raise was 3.4 per cent of estimated straight-time average hourly earnings.</br></br>The data strongly indicated that wage settlements, on the whole, have been staying right within or just a bit above the level contemplated in the guideposts set forth by the Kennedy Administration early this year. | no | 0 |
Money Funds Report Record Net Inflow | Corrections & Amplifications</br></br>INVESTORS PLACED $30.77 billion into money-market funds in the week ended Tuesday, bringing net assets to a record $2.045 trillion, according to Money Fund Report, a newsletter. An article yesterday incorrectly said that the $30.77 billion was a record; in fact, the net-asset figure is a record. (WSJ May 25, 2001)</br></br>NEW YORK -- A record $30.77 billion flowed into money-market funds in the week ended Tuesday, bringing net assets to $2.045 trillion, according to Money Fund Report, a newsletter.</br></br>The surge in inflows came from institutional investors, who stashed a net $31.74 billion into taxable money-market funds in an attempt to avoid the most recent cut in interest rates, said Peter Crane, managing editor of the Money Fund Report.</br></br>Taxable money-market funds are considered temporary havens from interest-rate cuts because of their long maturity of about 52 days. As a result, assets in those funds yield the more appealing returns of former rates. The Federal Reserve cut key federal-fund rates by half a percentage point to 4% on May 15. | no | 0 |
Trade Gap Widened Last Year | Fueled by record imports in December, the U.S. trade deficit rose to $114.23 billion in 1996, the highest level in eight years, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.</br></br>The trade gap was one of the few blots on a generally sterling U.S. economic performance, combining low unemployment with low inflation, and it shows no sign of going away soon.</br></br>The data released yesterday, which show the deficit widening by 30 percent in December, suggest that imports will outstrip exports by even greater amounts in months to come, analysts said, because the rise in the dollarÛªs value on world currency markets has made U.S. . goods more expensive com- Û¢ pared with foreign-made products.</br></br>ÛÏWeÛªre going to be looking -at another year or two of ; pretty horrendous trade defi- . cits,ÛªÛª said Nariman Behra-vesh, chief international Seo TRADE, C2,CoH i</br></br>Behravesh and other economists stressed, however, that the trade imbalance is much less worrisome than it was in the mid-1980s, when many American industries were reeling amid a flood of cheap, high-quality goods made overseas. | no | 0 |
Dilemma Over Pricing --- From Cereal to Helicopters, Commodity Costs Exert Pressure | General Mills Inc. said it will increase prices next month on a quarter of its breakfast cereals as a result of rising grain and other commodity prices, illustrating the pressures more companies face to pass along sharply higher costs on everything from corn to copper.</br></br>The Minneapolis food supplier said some cereals will increase by a "low single-digit" percentage rate effective Nov. 15. Kraft Foods Inc. is also raising prices, according to people familiar with the matter, although its scope wasn't clear. A Kraft spokesman declined to comment.</br></br>Across corporate America, more companies are wrestling with when and how much to raise prices as raw materials costs climb. The increases pose new hurdles to profits as consumers continue to resist increases.</br></br>General Mills is not alone in wanting to pass along the costs. United Technologies Corp., which builds helicopters, jet engines, elevators and air conditioners, expects to try and balance commodity increases with higher prices on its own products. Finance chief Gregory Hayes said Wednesday that higher prices for copper, oil and other commodities represent a between $40 million and $50 million expense "headwind" next year.</br></br>Food inflation, "including cheese and meats hurt our company-owned store margins" during the third quarter, Domino's Pizza Inc. finance chief Michael Lawton told investors Tuesday. Cheese prices were up almost 29% compared to a year ago, he said, "and food costs, cheese costs in particular, look to be higher in the fourth quarter versus last year," Chief Executive J. Patrick Doyle added. | yes | 1 |
Burmese voters prepare for first election in 20 years | BANGKOK - On Sunday, Burmese voters will go to the polls for the first time in 20 years, in accord with the ruling generals' long-held vision of "discipline-flourishing democracy." But exactly what that means for one of Asia's poorest nations is a matter of controversy.</br></br>Win Min, an exiled Burma scholar, says the generals have long used a balance of hope and terror to control the populace and dismisses this month's elections as "purely a time-buying strategy."</br></br>The constitution, which was largely written by the military leaders, is designed to ensure that they remain in control, he says.</br></br>With a quarter of the seats in national and local assemblies to be filled by military appointees, the army will be able to suspend democracy almost at will and will retain a veto on any constitutional changes.</br></br>The junta has also sought to limit voters' choices - 80 percent of the candidates up for election belong to parties broadly aligned with the government. In 153 constituencies, there are no opposition or independent candidates. | no | 0 |
The Brady Report: One Plan for Preventing Another Crash | What's the best way to make sure that a market crash like Oct. 19 doesn't happen again?</br></br>After a little more than two months of deliberations, the Presidential Task Force on Market Mechanisms, also known as the Brady commission, has rolled out its proposals. They range from giving the Federal Reserve a bigger regulatory role to introducing "circuit breakers" that can cool the pace of trading before a panic sets in.</br></br>Some market professionals are already arguing that the recommendations go too far; others, that they don't go far enough.</br></br>Here's a review of the five major recommendations by the presidential task force, in question-and-answer form.</br></br>Q: What is the central goal of the task force's recommendations? | no | 0 |
Reagan to Propose Defense Spending Of $320.3 Billion in Fiscal 1987 Budget | WASHINGTON -- The fiscal 1987 budget that President Reagan will submit to Congress today seeks $320.3 billion for national defense, including $4.8 billion for the Strategic Defense Initiative and $1.4 billion for 21 new Trident D-5 submarine missiles, congressional sources said.</br></br>At the same time, Mr. Reagan intends to propose a cut of two-thirds in spending authority for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, including the termination of several popular housing and urban-aid programs, according to congressional and housing-industry sources.</br></br>The administration is portraying the president's request for the military as equivalent to a 3% increase above inflation. Defense budget analysts and congressional critics, however, said yesterday that the request amounts to a higher inflation-adjusted increase -- up to 8%, according to some calculations -- from the $286.7 billion in actual military spending authority this year. Before inflation adjustment, the increase would be 11.7%.</br></br>Congressional resistance to Mr. Reagan's budget is expected to be fierce. Sam Nunn (D., Ga.), the pro-defense ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the president will find it difficult to gain anything for the military beyond an adjustment for inflation in view of the steep cuts in domestic programs Mr. Reagan is proposing.</br></br>But Mr. Reagan and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger are expected to press strongly for the administration request on grounds that it will help induce the Soviets to agree to an arms-control pact. The budget envisions that in 1991, the total defense budget will reach $405.9 billion. | no | 0 |
Moving the Market: House Passes Curb On Expense Rules For Stock Options | WASHINGTON -- The House, responding to lobbying by technology companies, overwhelmingly approved a bill that would limit the required "expensing" of stock options.</br></br>The bill overrides a proposal by a national accounting-standards panel that would have required companies to expense the value of all stock options. In their 312-111 vote, the lawmakers instead approved legislation to limit the expensing rule to options granted only to the top five officers of a company. The Financial Accounting Standards Board had proposed earlier this year that companies subtract the value of all employee stock compensation from company profits.</br></br>The House vote gives the tech lobby, led by Cisco Systems Inc. and Intel Corp., a significant victory over a weighty list of policy makers who argued against Congress intruding in standard-setting in the wake of major accounting-fraud scandals beginning with Enron Corp.</br></br>Among strong supporters of stock-option expensing as a means to improve the accuracy of financial statements are Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, Treasury Secretary John Snow, and Securities and Exchange Commission William Donaldson. Mr. Greenspan warned Congress earlier this year "it would be a bad mistake for the Congress to impede FASB," because the proposed accounting for stock options "strikes me as correct."</br></br>Still, the measure faces stiff opposition in the Senate. Even though a comparable bill is pending in the Senate with 25 co-sponsors, Richard Shelby (R., Ala.), who chairs the banking committee, has pledged to block any effort by Congress to meddle in rule-making by FASB, an independent accounting-standards body based in Norwalk, Conn. | no | 0 |
Consumers Kept Sales Strong During November | WASHINGTON -- Retail sales continued to grow briskly in November, easing concerns that U.S. consumers, who have underpinned global growth recently, are hunkering down.</br></br>Still, it is too early to tell whether holiday sales will remain strong, as more recent chain-store reports have been less robust. Consumer spending depends on employment, and a jump in new claims for unemployment insurance last week, though muddied by measurement difficulties, suggests the job market remains a weak spot. And the current-account deficit -- the broadest gauge of the nation's global trade -- continued to reflect Americans' huge appetite for foreign-made goods, remaining essentially unchanged from the second quarter at a steep $127 billion.</br></br>Retail sales rose 0.4% in November from October, the U.S. Commerce Department reported yesterday, a significant acceleration from October's 0.1% increase. Excluding auto sales, which have weakened from their incentives-charged summer pace, retail sales rose an even more encouraging 0.5% in November, though that was off from October's 0.8% pace.</br></br>The data suggest this "holiday retail season will outperform early dour expectations," said Susan Polatz, an economist at Banc of America Securities. Consumer spending is being helped by the continued rise in inflation-adjusted after-tax income and by mortgage refinancing, she said.</br></br>Sales were especially strong for furniture, up 2.3%; building materials, up 1.2%; and electronics and appliances, up 0.9%. "People appear to finally be furnishing all the homes they have been buying," said Lehman Brothers economist Drew Matus. But clothing sales sank 1.3%, corroborating weak reports from many store chains. That suggests it is too early to assess the strength of holiday sales. A late Thanksgiving may have pushed some sales that normally occur in November into December. | no | 0 |
REVIEW & OUTLOOK (Editorial): The Banzai Pipeline | If Japan is worried by the sudden outbreak of protectionist bombast in Washington, welcome to the club. We too have been more than a little shaken by the King Kong roars from the House and Senate chambers this past week. They threaten to touch off jungle emotions no one could control. And nothing would halt the U.S. economic recovery or send U.S. living standards tumbling faster than a trade war with Japan.</br></br>The most serious warning signal came Tuesday when a resolution was whooped through Sen. Packwood's Finance Committee demanding U.S. retaliation with tariffs and quotas unless the Japanese compensate Americans for sales lost because of "unfair trade practices." Sen. Dole wisely pigeonholed this document to give legislators a chance to cool off on their Easter holidays, but there is no guarantee they will return with any greater wisdom than when they left.</br></br>As we have said here before, Japan is not blameless for this outburst of jingoism. Prime Minister Nakasone should have been more forthcoming when the U.S. asked for a fairer shot at the Japanese market for telecommunications equipment. The Japanese finally made concessions but Mr. Nakasone still is insisting that a Japanese committee should "approve" imported equipment, at least for the next year. That has a protectionist smell.</br></br>It's inconceivable why Japan plays games like this. With its huge stake in international trade, it should strive to make itself one of the world's least protectionist nations. Its tariffs are lower than those of the U.S., but its non-tariff barriers are the rub. Mr. Nakasone has promised new "market opening" measures this month, but it will come as a big surprise if they are impressive improvements.</br></br>The U.S. would be even more foolish, however, if it took steps to limit its trade with Japan. As George Gilder observed so astutely on this page last week, U.S.-Japanese trade is synergistic. Both sides benefit enormously, despite the U.S. "deficit" American mercantilists are always harping about. High-quality Japanese components are vital to high-tech U.S. products. Japanese competition keeps U.S. manufacturers on their toes. Most important, inexpensive Japanese goods help Americans raise their living standards, reducing wage demands on U.S. manufacturers. | no | 0 |
Key Interest Rates | Annualized interest rates on certain investments as reported by the Federal</br></br>Reserve Board on a weekly-average basis:</br></br>WEEK ENDED:</br></br>Jun 03, May 27,</br></br>2005 2005 | no | 0 |
Brazil's Real Closes Weaker | RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazil's real closed weaker against the dollar Tuesday, after a strong start to the week, as relief over China's second-quarter economic growth gave way to renewed fears about a possible withdrawal of monetary stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve.</br></br>The real exited active trading near its intraday lows at BRL2.2536 to the dollar, according to Tullett Prebon via FactSet, compared with BRL2.21 shortly after the open and BRL2.2263 at Monday's close.</br></br>The real's return to last week's levels contrasted with the broader trend in major currencies, which mostly gained against the greenback Tuesday. But market participants noted that the Brazilian currency had one of its best days of the year in the previous session, as investors breathed a collective sigh of relief after Chinese economic data came in line with expectations.</br></br>"Today it came back to where it had been," said Joao Medeiros, a partner at Sao Paulo's Pioneer brokerage.</br></br>Triggering the real's losses early Tuesday were slightly higher-than-expected inflation numbers out of the U.S., which economists say tilt the scales in favor an earlier end to the Fed's bond-buying program. The so-called quantitative easing policy pumps $85 billion of liquidity into bond markets every month and is widely believed to have boosted assets such as currencies and stocks in recent years. | no | 0 |
Market Rebounds at Close | MW VOilK. Sept. 26 (A I') ÛÓ Tin' slock market gnl off lo a weak slart to* tlay, but bounced back near (lie dose to finish mixed.</br></br>Brokers said flic late upswing stemmed mainly from internal market forces, with several of the leading indicators at their lowest levels in more than a year and a half,</br></br>The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials down more than 4 points at its mid-session low, showed a 2.51 gain at 841.65 by the close.</br></br>Losers held a 7-G edge on gainers in the daily tally at the New York Stock Exchange. but the NYSE composite index managed a .13 gain to 52.20,</br></br>Nalionwidc turnover in NYSE-lisled issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, came to nearly 21,02 million shares. | no | 0 |
Playing the Right Retirement Cards | Retirement is like a long vacation in Vegas.</br></br>The goal is to enjoy these years to the fullest, but not so fully that you run out of money. It is a dicey endeavor, involving tricky issues of longevity and investment returns.</br></br>As you try to figure out how much you can spend once retired, take a cue from the accompanying tables, which were put together by T. Rowe Price Associates, the Baltimore mutual-fund company.</br></br>To use the tables, you have to decide how long your retirement might last, what stock-bond mix you will hold and what percentage of your portfolio's value you might withdraw in the first year of retirement. After the first year, you are assumed to step up the amount you withdraw, along with inflation.</br></br>The tables don't provide definitive answers. Instead, like a gambler, you have to play the percentages. The answer you pluck from the tables is the chance that you will make it through retirement, without running out of money. | no | 0 |
Jobless Rate Increases to 4-Year High: Unemployment Rate Reaches 4-Year High | Unemployment. continued to rise in March, reaching the hi sliest mark in 4Ûªa t ears, the government announced yesterday.</br></br>And the increase since December was tlie steepest quarterly pain since the recession > car of fflfif), Bureau of f,ahnr Statistics figures showed.</br></br>RI.S said the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 4.2 per cent, of the labor force ;n February to 4 4 per cent with the brunt of the increase fulling on women. It had been 3,9 per cent in January and 3.o per cent in December.</br></br>There were no apparent flukes to explain the March increase, In tact, it occurred despite a bulge in jobs of 90,000 iemporarr census takers.</br></br>Although there was a moderate gain in employment., an unexplained jump in the labor force was even bigger, resulting in a seasonally adjusted increase of 230.000 in those seeking work who are without jobs, Unemployment stood at 3.7 million for the month. | no | 0 |
Stocks Maintain Recent Gains, Giving Investors Renewed Hope | Most stocks held up better than many investors anticipated when this week began, even though technology shares succumbed to more profit-taking.</br></br>Following 10 days of almost unprecedented gains earlier this month, there were widespread expectations that stocks would fall more heavily than they have.</br></br>The Nasdaq Composite Index did fall 1.21%, or 24.92 points, to 2034.88 yesterday.</br></br>But on both the Nasdaq Stock Market and the New York Stock Exchange, more stocks rose than fell. Led by old-style industrial stocks such as Alcoa and DuPont, the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up 0.63%, or 67.15 points, to 10692.35. The broad Standard & Poor's 500-stock index advanced 0.47%.</br></br>Although the Nasdaq composite still is down more than 17% so far this year -- and 60% off its record high, set last year -- the industrials are down less than 1% since the year began, just 8.8% off their all-time high, also reached last year. | no | 0 |
Funds Seen Hastening Freeway Construction | A speed-up in construction of both the Southwest Freeway and the Anacostia Freeway will be possible if Congress votes additional Federal highway funds as-an anti-recession measure, District Highway Director J. N. Robertson said yesterday.</br></br>The District would receive å£$1.3 million more in fiscal 1959, "added to an already allocated $12.4 million, according to</br></br>Robertson. In fiscal 1960, the District would be allocated $3.1 million in addition 'to $12.4 million already earmarked, he said.</br></br>These District allotments are contained in $1.1 billion in interstate road funds authorized by the Senate Public Works Committee to combat the economic slump.</br></br>The $30 million Southwest Freeway, started last summer, originally was expected t.o take three years to finish. The $28 million Anacostia Freeway, set for completion in 1961, would be part of an eastern bypass of central Washington. | no | 0 |
Stocks and Bonds Finish Quarter With Impressive Rally | Quarter's end brought a one-day bounce for stocks and bonds, leaving investors to debate whether they can hope for a more lasting rebound as the year's final quarter begins.</br></br>Amid heavy buying by large professional investors that wanted to avoid showing unspent cash on their books, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 123.47 points, or 1.21%, to 10336.95, the blue-chip index's biggest gain in almost four weeks.</br></br>With the latest economic news seeming to militate against a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase, investors also turned more optimistic about the market's future. Most major indexes gained, although technology stocks tended to lag behind. Treasury bonds posted sharp gains. The dollar, which has been regaining ground against the yen in recent days, pulled back a bit.</br></br>"It was end of the quarter, so there was a lot of portfolio rebalancing," said John Peluso, head of block trading at Lehman Brothers. Perhaps more significant, he said, was a rebound by bank and financial stocks that appeared to start before the brunt of the rebalancing process hit. "That gave a better tone to the tape and that's what gave legs to the market," Mr. Peluso said.</br></br>Financial stocks benefited from news that second-quarter economic growth was slower than initially believed and that unemployment claims were up last week. This added credence to the widening view that inflation is under control and that the Federal Reserve may leave interest rates alone at its policy meeting on Tuesday. | yes | 1 |
Y2K Repair Bill: $100 Billion; Commerce Estimate Lower Than Others | U.S. businesses and government agencies are being forced to spend about $100 billion to keep the year 2000 glitch from crashing their computers, making a simple two-digit programming "bug" the most expensive peacetime catastrophe in modern history.</br></br>But the vast electronic repair effort, which has commanded an unparalleled mobilization of people, money and executive attention in the past two years, is not likely to slow down the surging American economy, the Commerce Department predicted yesterday.</br></br>Comparing Y2K to "a tangled shoelace for a world-class marathon runner," the department also forecast that any problems created by malfunctioning computers--either domestically or overseas--will have an insignificant impact on the U.S. economy.</br></br>"Any glitches that pop up next year should not hurt our economic growth," said Commerce Secretary William Daley, who noted that the Y2K price tag works out to $365 for every American citizen.</br></br>"Is this a lot of money? Absolutely," Daley said. "But the potential cost of not doing anything was far greater." | no | 0 |
Wall Street Bulls Push Dow Up 72: Stock Market Gains Fueled by Optimism About Economy, \ | NEW YORK, Feb. 11ÛÓStock prices surged ahead today in heavy trading, extending one of the strongest rallies in memory in a fresh signal that Wall Street believes the recession could be over by summer.</br></br>Propelled again by falling interest rates and the ongoing conviction that the United States and its allies will win the Persian Gulf War relatively easily, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 71.54 points, breaking through 2900 and coming to rest at 2902.23.</br></br>[The Tokyo Stock Exchange, taking its cue from the steep climb in the Dow, also rose sharply Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. The 225-issue Nikkei stock average rose 638.93 points, or 2.63 percent, to close the day at 24,935.01. The index rose 191.65 points last Friday.]</br></br>On Wall Street, the dayÛªs increase marked an important symbolic and psychological breakthrough because it lifted the average more than 20 percent above its recent low point in OctoberÛÓthe traditional benchmark for declaring a "bull market" in which the long-term trend for stocks is up.</br></br>"This thing's for real," said Christopher B. Pedersen, senior vice president and director of trading at Twenty-First Securities Corp., an investment firm here that manages about $1 billion. "It's sort of like a rocket explosion. We all put on our seat belts and go for the ride.Û | yes | 1 |
J.P. Morgan Dims Its Light on 2014 --- Bank Pares a Profitability Measure Amid Slump in Trading; More Staff Cuts at Branches, Mortgage Unit | J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. offered a cautious outlook as it lowered its projections of a key profitability measure amid a slump in trading at the start of the year and boosted job-cut targets for its branches and mortgage business.</br></br>The reduced ambitions outlined Tuesday by Chief Executive James Dimon and others at the bank's annual investor day in New York show how J.P. Morgan's size and power across various markets hasn't made it immune to the struggles weighing down results at financial companies of all stripes. Executives across the banking industry, despite some early signs of loan growth, are wrestling with a sluggish U.S. economy and the effect of low interest rates on profits from lending, investing and trading.</br></br>J.P. Morgan executives said trading revenue had fallen 15% this year, due largely to a slump in trading activity in fixed-income markets. The bank lowered projections of a profitability measure known as return on tangible common equity to 15% to 16% for 2014, down from 16% in 2013.</br></br>Pressures on J.P. Morgan are acute in part because the bank has had to increase compliance costs. Tuesday, the bank said it would add 3,000 employees to compliance areas as it works to shore up relationships with the numerous regulators that oversee the bank's global operations. Executives said the 3,000 employees would be on top of the 7,000 additions to compliance in 2013.</br></br>The bank has agreed to more than $20 billion in settlements over the past year to resolve a number of government investigations and lawsuits, but it still faces a number of federal probes. | no | 0 |
Joint Group in Congress To Study U.S. Economy By Joe Hall | The Senate-House Economic Committee will make a study of the NationÛªs economic problems emphasizing: not only inflation but also full employment and growth.!</br></br>Sen. Paul H. Douglas (D-IIL), Committee chairman, announced this yesterday and said his Committee would get started on the job as soon as it completed its comments on President ElsenhowerÛªs 1039 economic report at the end of this month.</br></br>An aide to Sen. Douglas said the study was a direct outgrowth of a speech by Senate Democratic Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas last December pinpointing inflation as one of AmericaÛªs toughest problems.</br></br>Mr. Eisenhower also has voiced concern about inflation, and has urged Government economy and restraint on price and wage boosts to combat it.</br></br>It was learned Johnson asked Douglas last week to go ahead with the new study through the Economic Committee. The aim is said to be to finish the inquiry and report by the end of 1959. | yes | 1 |
Why Japan Could Take a Fall; Like Us, They're Mortgaging Their Future With Reckless Spending | Japan is America's number-one student. Unfortunately the lesson that it has been learning in recent years is a bad one: how to grow rich through greed.</br></br>As a result, the current Japanese prosperity, which pushed the Tokyo stock market to new highs last week, is, like the current United States prosperity, built upon a rickety foundation. In Japan that foundation is propped up by a superheated real estate market. In the United States the prop is a set of government policies that have made the dollar cheap and interest rates high. These supports could easily collapse with a thud heard from Bangkok to Bangor.</br></br>Despite the odds and the economists' predictions, the eight years of the Reagan administration have seen unprecedented economic growth in the free world. That prosperity, however, led by Japan and the United States, has been brought about largely by borrowing from the future. Greed, based on unrealistic expectations of the durability of short-term results, has acquired a momentum far beyond our ability to control it rationally. Government, corporations and individuals in both countries have collateralized their future, and borrowed against it, to generate cash to enjoy now.</br></br>The borrowing phenomenon is not, of course, new to the western world, but the extent and level of the credit society are unprecedented. Both the United States and Japan now spend approximately one-quarter of their government revenue just to pay the interest on their deficit-financing securities.</br></br>America's prodigality has been the subject of much learned as well as popular discussion. Less well understood, however, is the degree to which Japan has become similarly infected. Japan's corporations are now issuing stocks priced at 60 to 80 times earnings, compared with an average multiple of about 20 on the New York Stock Exchange. As a result, capital in Japan has become virtually free. Japan's consumers also have learned the use of plastic money-some 1.2 billion cards have been issued to an income-earning population of only 42 million. | no | 0 |
Fed Seeks Ban on Some Practices of Credit Card Firms | Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday that the agency's effort to regulate the credit card industry by requiring better disclosure forms has fallen short and that certain practices have to be banned to protect consumers.</br></br>"Based on our review of consumers' response to the Board's recent regulatory initiative, it seems clear that improved disclosures alone cannot solve all of the problems consumers face in trying to manage their credit card accounts," he said.</br></br>Bernanke's comments came during a meeting in which the Federal Reserve board unveiled its proposal to prohibit practices by credit card issuers that it deems "unfair" and "deceptive." The Fed joined the Treasury's Office of Thrift Supervision, which regulates all federal and some state thrift institutions, and the National Credit Union Administration, which oversees credit unions, in drafting the proposed rules, which could be finalized by the end of the year.</br></br>If they are instituted, they would constitute the most significant crackdown on the credit card industry in decades. The rules would, among other things, specify when card issuers can increase interest rates on existing balances, ban finance charges on balances that have been repaid, and prohibit late fees on customers who were not given a reasonable amount of time to pay.</br></br>Consumers have long complained about such practices. The Fed responded last year with a proposal, still under consideration, to require card companies to improve disclosure forms. | no | 0 |
Saxon Renews Fund With FRB Over Policy | Saxon vigorously disputed the claim by William MeChes-j ncy Martin, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, that the quality of bank credit is deteriorating.</br></br>Martin said last month that banks are making too many risky loans because of present easy money policies.</br></br>Testifying before the House Banking and Currency Committee, Saxon made no mention of Martin or the Fed but left no doubt that they were his target.</br></br>He said the ÛÏdeterioration" charge is misleading because , ÛÏit implies that the banks have failed to exercise prudent banking judgment and that the regulatory mechanism has broken down." SaxonÛªs agency is the ÛÏregulatory mechanismÛ for national banks.</br></br>! Saxon offered figures from [ a random survey of 151 banks showing that the proportion of ÛÏcriticizedÛ loans ÛÓ those found by bank examiners to be risky ÛÓ actually decreased in a majority of them over the past three years. | no | 0 |
Profits Sequel Won't Beat Original | What with the low bar that analysts typically set for them, it shouldn't be a shocker that companies' first-quarter earnings are clearing estimates. But the margin that they're clearing them by is pretty impressive.</br></br>With results from about 271 of companies in the index already in, first-quarter earnings for companies in the S&P 500 are now on track for a gain of 3.6% versus a year ago, according to S&P Capital IQ. That isn't very strong, but it is much better than the 0.5% that analysts were looking for at the start of this month. And given that about half the companies in the index have yet to report, and that they, too, will likely top estimates, actual earnings growth will likely be higher still.</br></br>Sales-growth figures, on the other hand, have been going the other way. As of Friday, S&P 500 revenue was on track for a gain of 1.4% versus a year ago. At the beginning of the month, that gain was pegged at 4%. Another sign of the divide between what's happening to the top and bottom lines: Only 43% of companies have topped revenue estimates thus far, compared with 70% for earnings.</br></br>The decline in revenue-growth expectations isn't as bad as it seems at first blush, however. Much of it is concentrated in the energy and basic materials sectors, and reflects a decline in commodity prices that is helping drive down costs to other companies, as well as consumers.</br></br>And once again, the overall weakness in revenue seems concentrated in companies' foreign, rather than domestic, operations. Some evidence for that: Friday's gross domestic product report for the U.S. showed that final sales to domestic purchasers were up 3% in the first quarter. Since large public companies, if anything, tend to generate better sales growth than the overall economy is experiencing, it is pretty clear that overseas sales are the real weak spot. | yes | 1 |
Dollar's Sharp Drop Pushes Bond Prices Down as It Prompts Fear Among Dealers | NEW YORK -- The U.S. dollar's sharp decline against other major currencies helped drive bond prices lower yesterday.</br></br>Actively traded Treasury bonds fell about three-quarters of a point, or around $7.50 for each $1,000 face amount of securities. Interest rates rose on short-term Treasury bills.</br></br>A renewed slump in the dollar might discourage foreigners from buying dollar-denominated securities, bond dealers fear. Moreover, the Federal Reserve System may be reluctant to ease credit conditions further if the dollar remains weak, they say.</br></br>Some traders, nervous about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, sold Treasury securities yesterday, taking profits amassed during the bond market rally earlier in the month, analysts said. Traders are worried that the dollar's weakness "could lead to some selling of Treasury securities by foreign investors," according to William V. Sullivan Jr., a senior vice president of Dean Witter Reynolds Inc.</br></br>Mr. Sullivan also said that many investors took to the sidelines, awaiting October trade figures, which are slated for release today. "No one wanted to take a big (investment) position in advance of the trade figures," he said. | no | 0 |
In Europe, Job Protections for Older Generation Are Barriers for Younger Workers; Earnings Gap Looms for Younger Generation Dependent on Short-Term Contracts | By the time the parents of Serena Violano were in their early 30s, they had solid jobs, their own home and two small daughters.</br></br>Today, Serena, a 31-year-old law graduate, is still sharing her teenage bedroom with her older sister in their family home in the small town of Mercogliano, near Naples.</br></br>Ms. Violano spends her days studying for the exam to qualify as a notary in the hopes of scoring a stable job. The tension over her situation sometimes spills over in arguments with her sister over housework or their shared space. And with her 34-year-old boyfriend subsisting on short-term contracts, Ms. Violano doesn't even dare dream of building the sort of life her parents took for granted.</br></br>"For our parents, everything was much easier," she says. "They had the opportunity to start their own life. Instead, we don't have any guarantees for our own future."</br></br>Ms. Violano's stunted adulthood and dashed expectations mark a generational divide between younger and older Europeans that is challenging the Continent's dream of broad-based prosperity. | no | 0 |
Inflation continued cool in September while consumer spending warmed up | WASHINGTON -- Inflation remained tame last month while consumers started showing a bit more spending enthusiasm after a listless summer.</br></br>Friday's official economic reports seemed to confirm the growing consensus that price pressures remain in check despite tight labor markets, while the economy is growing at a modest pace.</br></br>"The bottom line is that this still looks like the best-of-all-worlds economy," said Edward Yardeni, economist at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. "We're still seeing respectable spending by consumers and at the same time we have very moderate inflation."</br></br>Producer prices, which manufacturers and other producers charge distributors and retailers, rose just 0.2% in September, compared with a modest 0.3% increase in August, the Labor Department said. For the third quarter, wholesale prices for finished goods rose at a 2.2% annual rate, compared with 1.9% in the second quarter. The September consumer price index, which measures prices that retailers and distributors charge consumers, will be released on Wednesday.</br></br>"We've had capacity increases and slowing demand," said J.A. Parsons, executive vice president of Willamette Industries Inc., a Portland, Ore., maker of corrugated containers. Willamette actually cut prices about 8% in the third quarter, helping push profit down despite a 6% increase in sales. | yes | 1 |
Some Key Persian Gulf Oil Ministers Hint at Support for Increasing Output | Some key Persian Gulf oil ministers hinted that they back production increases to ease high oil prices, but they carefully avoided specifics about how much and when.</br></br>Meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, oil ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council said they hoped to "maintain the market stability . . . for the interests of producers and consumers without harming the world economy." The council comprises Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of oil; Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar.</br></br>The meeting comes as concern about higher oil prices is intensifying. The price for West Texas Intermediate crude now hovers around $29 a barrel, and inventories are unusually low. The supply tightness has pushed prices high enough that major consuming nations, notably the U.S., are beginning to worry about its impact on inflation and their economies.</br></br>UAE oil minister Obaid bin Said al-Nasseri told his country's official news agency WAM that oil prices in a range of $20 a barrel to $25 a barrel would be an acceptable level for both consumers and producers. An identical range was mentioned by Mr. Naimi a few days ago on a trip to South Korea, according to Korean officials.</br></br>That would imply some increase in supplies when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets March 27 in Vienna, unless demand suddenly slackens for seasonal or other reasons. | no | 0 |
Weak Dollar and Jitters Over Economic Reports Join Forces to Deal Setback to Most Bond Prices | NEW YORK -- A weaker dollar and worries about several economic reports to be released today depressed Treasury, municipal and mortgage-backed bonds.</br></br>Fears of higher interest rates abroad contributed to the setback. Actively traded Treasury issues fell about half a point, or $5 for each $1,000 face amount. Much larger declines -- although for different reasons -- were posted by corporate junk bonds, which recently have fallen into a deep slump.</br></br>Junk bonds, those issued by companies with low credit ratings or no ratings at all, tumbled yesterday by as much as two points. One major reason: worries that slower economic growth will mean trouble for many companies burdened by heavy debts. Traders also worry that an avalanche of new junk-bond issues over the next few months could weigh heavily on the market.</br></br>Nervousness about today's economic reports has pervaded the financial markets all week. Bond traders are especially concerned about the producer price and trade reports.</br></br>The PPI report is commanding special attention partly because the two previous reports showed much larger increases than most analysts had expected. Those reports showed a huge 1% surge in prices in both January and February, heightening inflation fears. This time around, many forecasters expect the March report to show an increase of 0.5%. | yes | 1 |
Nasdaq Board Powers Eroded., Report Says: Traders' Committee Said to Control Market | Deep inside the study of the Nasdaq stock market issued this week is a revealing explanation of who really runs the nationÛªs second-largest stock market.</br></br>It is not the board of directors of the National Association of Securities Dealers, which owns the market, nor the board of Nasdaq itself, but a powerful committee of traders that has largely usurped the authority of both boards, said the committee, led by former senator Warren B. Rudman (R- ÛÏThe review turned up no instance in which the NASD board itself initiated a major policy or rule for the Nasdaq market," the panel reported.</br></br>Most of those interviewed for its study characterized the Nasdaq board as having ÛÏless influence than certain NASD committees ... and little if any authority over the Nasdaq market and systems.Û</br></br>work belter for investors and corporations have been repeatedly blockedÛÓ sometimes for yearsÛÓby the NASDÛªs trading committee, made up of executives of 18 big firms that deal in Nasdaq stocks, according to the report. The Washington-based organization is facing public criticism as well as federal investigations over allegations that small investors fail to get the best prices on stocks and that conflicts of interest prevent it from operating efficiently. NASD officials deny the accusations.</br></br>After studying Nasdaq since last December, RudmanÛªs panel issued a report on Tuesday that calls for separating the operation of the Nasdaq market from the NASDÛªs duties as a regulatory entity. | no | 0 |
Trade Deficit Surges 25% to $10.3 Billion --- Imbalance With Japan Is Largest in Two Years; Chinese Gap Widens 9% | WASHINGTON -- The U.S. trade deficit ballooned to $10.3 billion in July, a 25% jump over June, reflecting substantial increases in deficits with Japan and China.</br></br>The deficit with Japan rose to $5.2 billion, the largest gap in about two years and a 27% increase over June. U.S. exports to Japan declined by $478 million to $5.3 billion from the prior month, while imports from Japan increased by $629 million to $10.5 billion. About half the import surge reflected higher auto shipments from Japan. While auto makers complain about Japanese barriers to their products, much of the gap reflects the weakness of the Japanese yen, which makes Japan's auto exports less expensive in the U.S.</br></br>The trade deficit with China increased 9% to $4.7 billion in July. Most significantly, U.S. exports to China rose a meager 4% in the first seven months of 1997, to $6.9 billion, from a year earlier, while imports galloped ahead by 25% to $32.8 billion. That bleak pattern of trade -- surging imports, nearly flat exports -- undermines the Clinton administration's contention that expanding ties with China will boost jobs in the U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley is heading to China in two weeks and says he will make it a "top priority" to press Beijing to open markets.</br></br>Despite vast trade deficits since 1993, U.S. economic growth has accelerated over that time, reducing the trade numbers' economic significance. Even though the deficits diminish the gross domestic product, other factors keep the economy growing. For instance, imports put pressure on domestic companies to innovate, eventually increasing domestic output and restraining price increases for consumers.</br></br>However, the trade deficit has broad political implications, especially when increases in imports harm powerful U.S. industries. For that reason, the escalating deficit with Japan is increasing Clinton-administration pressure on Tokyo to open its markets further to imports and restrain exports. | no | 0 |
The Burns Thesis A Strange Paradox | THE WAY to slop creeping, insidious, pocket-picking in-j flation is to stop peopleÛÓyou and meÛÓfrom worrying about deflation. Engender confidence, make people feel that jobs ar.e safe, that serious slumps belong to an ancient</br></br>THE WAY to slop creeping, insidious, pocket-picking in-j flation is to stop peopleÛÓyou and meÛÓfrom worrying about deflation. Engender confidence, make people feel that jobs ar.e safe, that serious slumps belong to an ancient era, that the future prosperity of America assures an ever upward march in living standards, and then they will be ready to battle that unseen pickpocketÛÓhigher prices.</br></br>That is the strange, compelling paradox that Dr. Arthur F. Burns, former chairman of President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisers, propounds in a readable, well-reasoned series of lectures,</br></br>Prosperity was on a one-way street. Therefore, buy now.-Lay in inventories, purchase common stocks, build new factories, install machinery, buy your own home. Borrow if you must to do so. Tomorrow's prices will be higher than todayÛªs. i</br></br>It is a well-timed paradox. In his State-of-thc-Union message. President Eisenhower reasserted determination to implement the Employment Act of 1916, to reverse the current down-trend in production and employment, lo exorcise economic gloom and replace it with renewed faith in expansion. By the end of 1958 the restless stirring of new vigor will be coursing through the NationÛªs economic arises. | no | 0 |
Job Creation Showed Surge During June --- Surprisingly Large Increase Boosts Likelihood Fed Will Lift Interest Rates | WASHINGTON -- The government's latest employment report, although distorted by quirks of the calendar and temporary hiring related to the World Cup, shows the economy continues to grow at a strong pace and increases the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the coming months.</br></br>The Labor Department said employers added 379,000 jobs in June, a</br></br>surprisingly large number, and it boosted its estimate of job growth in</br></br>May to 252,000. The unemployment rate remained steady at 6% of the work</br></br>force. That surprised many who considered the large May decline of 0.4 | yes | 1 |
Large Stock Focus: GM Declines 16%; Penney Rallies Retail | Concerns about Friday's unemployment report pushed stocks lower, with General Motors tumbling on continued uncertainty about the fate of the U.S. auto makers and retailer J.C. Penney heading higher on better-than-expected monthly sales.</br></br>General Motors acted as a hefty drag on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, falling 79 cents, or 16%, to $4.11 after the company's chief executive told lawmakers that sales of GM vehicles have already begun to dip because of speculation that the company is on the verge of bankruptcy.</br></br>Ford, which says it doesn't need immediate aid, lost 19 cents, or 6.7%, to 2.66.</br></br>"The initial jobs report that came out [Thursday] was stronger than people expected, but everyone is looking for what the big unemployment report might show" on Friday, said Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab.</br></br>Many retail stocks jumped after November same-store sales lived up to expectations of a record drop Thursday, but, thanks to deep discounting during the month, the sales slide was smaller than expected. J.C. Penney gained 1.38, or 7.5%, to 19.88. Nordstrom added 1.11, or 10%, to 12.01. Saks was up 16 cents, or 3.2%, to 5.23. | no | 0 |
1995 Year-End Review of Markets and Finance --- Review of Markets: Programs Made Up 11.3% of Volume On Big Board in '95 | NEW YORK -- Program trading on the New York Stock Exchange accounted for 11.3% of overall volume in 1995, or an average of 39.7 million daily shares.</br></br>It was the most active year, in terms of volume, for the computer-aided trading activity that critics blame for causing artificially sharp moves in the market. But because overall volume also soared on the exchange, the percentage figure of 11.3% wasn't a record; indeed, it represented a decline from last year's 11.6%. (The record was 11.9% in 1993.)</br></br>The Big Board has released program-trading data since mid-1988, in response to an outcry over the multistock trading activity and its role in the 1987 stock-market crash. Program trading is defined as the buying or selling of a group of at least 15 different stocks valued at a total of $1 million or more.</br></br>The five most active program-trading firms in 1995 through the end of September, the latest numbers available, were Morgan Stanley Group Inc.; First Options; the U.S. unit of Japan's Nomura Securities; CS First Boston, a unit of CS Holding; and Salomon Inc.'s Salomon Brothers unit.</br></br>The best-known form of program trading is index arbitrage, in which traders buy and sell baskets of stocks with offsetting trades of futures and options. In 1995, such trading accounted for 30.3% of overall program trading, down from nearly 39% in 1994. | yes | 1 |
Corporate News: UnitedHealth Will Buy Part Of Health Net for $450 Million | UnitedHealth Group Inc. said Monday that it will take over the northeastern units of rival insurer Health Net Inc.</br></br>The deal, valued at roughly $450 million, will allow UnitedHealth to assume the membership base of Health Net's northeastern operations in stages. UnitedHealth will win the rights to renew Health Net's health-plan contracts as they come up for annual renewal. The deal is expected to close within a year.</br></br>With more than 30 million health-plan members nationwide, UnitedHealth won't dramatcially expand its overall customer base with the deal. But the purchase lets it build a firmer foothold in the competitive Northeast, giving it a new entree to employers -- its potential customers -- in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. And it will gain access to nearly 578,000 health-plan members at a time when most major health insurers have been suffering membership losses amid rising unemployment and health care costs.</br></br>Health Net, long considered a potential takeover target itself, has been looking for a buyer for its northeastern and Arizona operations since last fall. The Woodland Hills, Calif.-based insurer shook up its top management and launched a strategic review in November after a sharp tumble in profits and steep membership decline. Health Net said it will now keep its Arizona operations.</br></br>Credit: By Avery Johnson and Vanessa Fuhrmans | no | 0 |
Bucking a Trend: Biggest Show of Force In a Decade Halts Slide Of the Dollar -- for Now --- U.S. and Allies Act Together To Stop a Puzzling Fall; Pressure on Fed Increases --- Global No-Confidence Vote? | The Clinton administration, alarmed that the declining dollar threatens its hopes for the U.S. economy, led a 16-nation offensive to prop up the currency.</br></br>As Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen declared unequivocally for the first time that the dollar has fallen too far, the U.S. recruited allies ranging from Germany to Portugal to buy dollars in the most-coordinated show of force that currency markets have seen in a decade.</br></br>The intervention met with modest initial success, but the markets are sure to test the dollar again. And this will increase pressure on the Federal Reserve Board to further increase interest rates to shore up the currency. The dollar traded late yesterday at 1.6535 marks, up from 1.6368 the day before, and at 101.85 yen, up from 101.00.</br></br>In a clear and deliberate departure from past rhetoric, which described intervention as a response to "disorderly" markets and "volatility," Mr. Bentsen said yesterday's moves "reflect our view that recent movements in exchange markets have gone beyond what is justified by economic fundamentals." Trying to dispel the notion that the U.S. wants to depreciate its currency to make its exports more attractive and to put pressure on Japan to agree to trade concessions, Mr. Bentsen said: "This administration sees no advantage in an undervalued currency."</br></br>Administration officials say that the markets have badly misread their dollar policy. The intervention is an effort to "counteract a negative psychology that had developed in part on the false perception that the U.S. was trying to drive down the dollar for competitive reasons or that the U.S. was somehow indifferent to where market forces took the dollar," a senior Treasury official said yesterday. Of course, Mr. Bentsen himself contributed to all this back in February 1993, just after taking office, when he told a questioner that he would like to see a stronger yen. He has since been more careful, but other officials occasionally have reinforced the markets' impression that the administration favors a weak dollar. That view gained credence earlier this year when the Treasury failed to act to brake the dollar when it fell sharply against the yen. | yes | 1 |
Capital One Scrutiny Is Eased | Capital One Financial Corp. said yesterday that regulators have ended an agreement under which the company's internal controls were scrutinized by federal and state regulators.</br></br>The "memorandum of understanding" had been in place at the McLean- based issuer of credit cards since July 2002. It meant that the Office of Thrift Supervision and other regulators were taking a hard look at whether the firm had insufficiently guarded against financial and other risks during its rapid expansion over the past decade.</br></br>Under the 2002 agreement, the company was made to classify sub- prime loans -- those with high credit risk -- more conservatively and spend heavily on technology infrastructure, internal audits and contingency planning.</br></br>"We're back to normal conversations and interactions with our regulators," said Tatiana Stead, a Capital One spokeswoman, referring to the OTS, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions.</br></br>The day after the company announced the agreement, the price of its shares, which had been trading at more than $50, plummeted 40 percent, prompting worries among analysts that the additional regulation could crimp Capital One's growth. Since then, its share price has rocketed back up, closing at $69.60 yesterday. | no | 0 |
White House Plan to Bolster FDIC Dealt New Setbacks | Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan yesterday rejected the Bush administrationÛªs plan to borrow from the Fed to pay for bank failures. Congressional Democratic leaders said they will push through legislation to tap the Treasury if the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. runs short of cash.</br></br>Greenspan told the Senate Banking Committee that using the Fed to finance the FDIC might ÛÏcompromise the independent conduct of monetary policy" and could set a dangerous precedent for using the central bank to pay for ordinary government expenses.</br></br>Simultaneously, House Democratic leaders agreed on a plan to let the FDIC borrow directly from the U.S. Treasury if its reserve fund is further depleted by bank failures. They vowed to deliver a bill to the House floor within two weeks designed to cut the cost of bank failures and refinance the FDIC. The plan was endorsed by House Speaker Thomas S. Foley ID-Wash.), banking committee Chairman Henry B. Gonzalez (D-Tex.) and Rep. Frank Annunzio (D-Il).), who heads a key banking subcommittee.</br></br>The two developments could not only derail the administrationÛªs plan for pumping cash into the FDIC, but could also pose a major setback to White House hopes for enacting the most sweeping changes in the nation's</br></br>In the midst of the worst run of bank failures since the Great Depression, Treasury officials had been counting on borrowing from the Fed as a way to avoid a direct taxpayer bailout for the dwindling FDIC fund. And they had been counting on the need to replenish the FDIC to motivate Congress to pass its far-reaching banking reform and restructuring plan. | no | 0 |
Treasurys Slip Below Highs for Day | NEW YORK--Prices of Treasury debt were up Tuesday afternoon but fell below the highest levels of the day, failing to benefit from strong demand on a $40 billion sale of three-year notes.</br></br>Investors braced themselves for the minutes for the March rate-setting policy meeting due at 2 p.m. EDT. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana said that the central bank will need to sell its mortgage-backed securities at some point as part of the efforts to normalize its bloated balance sheets and easy monetary policy.</br></br>The amount of bids for the three-year notes auction was 3.1 times the amount on offer, compared with 3.13 last month and 2.83 in February.</br></br>Indirect bidders, a proxy for demand from foreign buyers including central banks, took 52% of the supply, compared with 51.8% in March and 51.2% in February. The direct bidders, a category including non-primary dealers, banks, money managers and depository institutions who have direct accounts to submit bids to the Treasury auctions, was 11%, compared with 10.3% in March and 10.1% in February.</br></br>"This was a solid auction that hit all of the six-auction averages above," said William O'Donnell, head of U.S. government bond strategy at RBS Securities in Stamford, Conn. | no | 0 |
Why a Strong Economy Sends Markets Reeling; Wall Street Investors Play By Different Rules, Experts Say | Once again yesterday Wall Street investors ran for cover on the news that things were looking up for American workers and consumers. Even with the stock markets closed and many traders off for the Easter weekend, bond prices fell sharply, setting the stage for stocks to follow suit when the markets reopen on Monday.</br></br>This disconnect between the markets and the economy is rooted in the perennial fear that strong economic growth will lead to inflation and higher interest rates, the things investors fear most.</br></br>"The fundamentals of the markets these days are not the inflation rate or the unemployment rate but the underlying architecture of speculation," said Jim Grant, editor of a widely read newsletter on interest rates.</br></br>The rising employment and brisk growth that the economy has generated since last summer already was reflected in the strong run-up in stock and bond prices through last year. What the markets may be doing now is reflecting a widely held view that inflation and interest rates will be higher, and economic growth will be slower, in 1995.</br></br>Pessimists see an economy that has nearly reached full employment, where auto plants are running at full capacity and whose prices for raw commodities are beginning to rise. By traditional standards, these are indications that wages and prices soon will begin to climb, pulling with them interest rates. Pessimists fear high rates will choke off the recovery and send stock and bond prices into the cellar. | no | 0 |
Home-Loan Report Portends More Pain | An analysis of federal data on nearly 14 million U.S. home loans made last year portends more misery for subprime borrowers, lenders and investors, as existing loans are pressured by falling home prices and lenders put tougher underwriting standards in place.</br></br>The study by the Federal Reserve, based on data collected each year under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, found that the percentage of U.S. mortgages carrying high interest rates (generally, subprime loans) climbed to about 29% last year from 26% in 2005.</br></br>In the report, Fed researchers said the data affirmed that the rise or fall of home prices is the biggest factor in predicting mortgage- loan performance, as opposed to the creditworthiness of borrowers and other variables. The study also linked higher concentrations of high- rate loans to rising rates of serious delinquency, or mortgages with payments overdue by at least 90 days.</br></br>The study examined loans issued by 8,886 lenders nationwide, which generate an estimated 80% of U.S. home mortgages. The lenders are required to disclose dozens of pieces of information about each mortgage made or applied for, including pricing information for loans with interest rates exceeding certain thresholds. For first-lien loans, lenders must report which loans have interest rates at least three percentage points higher than Treasury securities of comparable maturity.</br></br>The 2006 increase in high-rate loans was fueled partly by the flattened yield curve, or gap between long-term and short-term interest rates, which causes the number of loans exceeding the reporting thresholds to rise even if lenders don't charge borrowers higher interest rates. Still, the data suggest frenzied competition for subprime loans, even as the housing market was weakening. | no | 0 |
Doing It His Way Will Cost Taxpayers' | Good evening. Tonight you and I witnessed a colorful ritual - a new president of the United States addressing a joint session of Congress for the very first time. The great chamber of the House rang out with cheers for the president any number of times. It was, as always, a thrilling spectacle. But now the last echo of the final cheer has faded away. The ceremony is over. It's time to put aside the pomp and circumstance. It's really time to get to work for America.</br></br>That's what I'd like to briefly visit with you about: how your government can work better for you. Don't worry. I have no props and no flip-charts, no pointer, no electronic gimmicks. I don't even have a 1-800 number for you to call. I'd just like to talk with you as though we were having a cup of coffee back in my home town of Peoria.</br></br>It is a chance to ask some questions about where our nation is heading, the kinds of questions you might ask if you were here. We Americans are a questioning people; it is part of our national character. In fact, we may be the only nation whose national anthem begins and ends with a question. So, in questioning the direction of the administration, we are acting in a great American tradition.</br></br>All of us - Democrats, Republicans, {Ross} Perot supporters, independents - want our new president to succeed. We want to help him do the right thing. But the only way we can help him is by candidly letting him know how we feel about his announced policies.</br></br>Our new president has an excellent chance to be successful. Because of the leadership of Presidents {Ronald} Reagan and {George} Bush, our nation does not face a nuclear threat. President Bush handed over to the president an economy that is growing, not shrinking, and a rate of worker productivity that is rising, not falling. As a matter of fact, the past 12 years of Republican leadership have built a strong foundation for progress. | no | 0 |
Shoring Up the Middle | In the spring of 1923, a sick and frustrated Lenin penned an article for Pravda titled "Better Fewer, But Better." The state he had willed into existence was mass-producing communists who knew nothing of communism. Better that the state should take its time, Lenin counseled, and turn out fewer but higher-quality commissars.</br></br>In fact, the genius of the Soviet system was precisely its capacity to mass-produce thugs. One system that has taken Lenin's words to heart, however, is American manufacturing. Each year, our factories employ a smaller and smaller share of American workers, but each year the value of their output continues to rise.</br></br>The dollar value of American-made goods today is three times what it was in the mid-1950s, The Post's Peter S. Goodman reported on Labor Day. Conversely, the percentage of American workers employed in manufacturing is a little less than a third of the level at mid-century: 10 percent today, 34 percent in 1950. Employers have outsourced such labor-intensive industries as clothing and textiles, retaining the manufacture of high-value products for their domestic factories.</br></br>America builds ever-more-innovative products, but ever-fewer Americans share in that bounty. We generate millions of jobs in lower-paying service-sector work even as the number of manufacturing workers continues to shrink (19 million in 1979, 14 million today). Nor do manufacturing jobs, immersed in the cauldron of global competition, offer anything near the security and middle-class living standards that many of them used to. With millions of digitizable service-sector jobs (many requiring college educations) subject to global competition as well, it's no wonder that the income of the typical American household has been flat even as national productivity rates continue to rise.</br></br>Rebuilding mass prosperity in America will require two epochal shifts in the way our nation does business. First, non-manufacturing jobs not subject to global competition -- in transportation, construction, health care, sales -- must be upgraded and upskilled the way many of their counterparts in manufacturing have. Second, the workers in those jobs must regain the power to bargain for decent wages, a power that's eroded as the union movement has shrunk from representing close to 40 percent of private-sector workers in mid-century to just 7 percent today. | no | 0 |
With consumers skittish, hopes muted for holiday sales | Consumer spending has stalled along with the economic recovery, new data show, muting expectations for the critical holiday shopping season.</br></br>The Commerce Department reported Friday that spending rose a modest 0.2 percent in August from the previous month when adjusted for inflation - well below last year's August gains. In addition, economists say the increase was boosted by the federal government's temporary extension of unemployment benefits, which also padded incomes and savings.</br></br>The feeble appetite of shoppers is one of several factors holding back the economic recovery. The stubborn unemployment rate and continued fallout in home prices have not only taken their own toll on the nation's financial health, but they also have consumers cautious, keeping their wallets in their pockets.</br></br>A monthly survey by the University of Michigan/Reuters that was released Friday showed consumer sentiment dipped in September, dropping seven-tenths of a point on the index to 68.2. That falloff was driven by declines in long-term expectations, even though consumers recognized that their current situations had improved since the depths of the recession.</br></br>"I think the consumer is a little better off. . . . But I don't think they feel better off," said Jeff Kleintop, chief market strategist for LPL Financial. | no | 0 |
Industrials Gain 12.74 as Investors Show an Interest in Growth Stocks | NEW YORK -- Computer-guided buy programs lifted the major stock market averages to moderate gains.</br></br>The trading session was otherwise marked by a rotation out of cyclical stocks that might not do as well as investors had hoped if the U.S. economic recovery proves to be a weak one. Instead, investors are again buying growth stocks whose underlying earnings are expected to be strong in spite of a sluggish economy.</br></br>Market-watchers were divided over whether the rotation will generate significant market gains.</br></br>"I don't see any reason for a big breakout; we're already at high levels," said Edward J. Laux, head of block trading at Kidder Peabody.</br></br>But Eugene E. Peroni Jr., director of technical research at Janney Montgomery Scott, says there is little technical resistance between the market's current levels and its all-time highs. "I think a run at the old highs could happen at any time here," Mr. Peroni said. | yes | 1 |
U.S. Worker Productivity Climbs | WASHINGTON--More productive U.S. workers supported faster economic growth in the third quarter, but slower business investment might limit future gains.</br></br>Labor productivity, or output per hours worked, increased at a 1.9% annual rate from July through September, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a gain of 2.4%.</br></br>Second-quarter productivity growth was revised down to a 1.8% pace from a previous reading of 2.3%. Productivity held flat from a year ago because the increase in output was matched by an increase in hours worked.</br></br>"Firms cannot count on productivity gains to meet gradually improving demand," PNC Chief Economist Stuart Hoffman said. Businesses will need to hire to keep up, "and the labor market recovery will continue throughout 2014."</br></br>Productivity improved rapidly in the early part of the recession but gains have eased in recent years. That roughly coincides with business-investment trends. Companies spent more on equipment and technology in 2010 and 2011, investments that helped improve workforce productivity. Such investments began to slow last year and spending on equipment shrank in the third quarter, according to Commerce Department data. | yes | 1 |
Consumer Confidence Posts Sharp Drop, Easing Concern Over Interest-Rate Rise | WASHINGTON -- Consumers are feeling somewhat less secure about the economy judging from June's drop in a key measure of consumer confidence.</br></br>The nearly six-point decline in the Conference Board's monthly index of consumer sentiment, to 138.8 from a high of 144.7 in May, strengthens the widely held belief that the Federal Reserve Board won't raise interest rates today. As the Federal Open Market Committee enters its second day of meetings, its members should welcome a sign of waning consumer optimism.</br></br>The May number, revised upward to 144.7 from a preliminary 144.4, equaled the record set in January. The index jumped seven points in May after moving up less than a point in April.</br></br>"We see a little slackening in expectations for businesses," said Lynn Franco, the economist who oversees the New York market research firm's survey of 5,000 households. "Overall it's just basically a little bit of cooling, but not enough to slide into a recession." Historically, she said, June's 138.8 reading is very strong.</br></br>Numerous reports in recent weeks, from construction to employment to consumer spending, have shown signs that the Fed's cycle of tightening may finally be reining in the galloping economy. "It points toward a slowing economy" but is "not really alarming," said Ms. Franco. | yes | 1 |
Cruising on Paterno's Staying Power; No. 4 Penn State Builds Fast-Paced Success on Old Stability | It's one of the trade-offs of college football. If you want a glamorous job, you probably won't live in a glamorous city. South Bend, Ind., Tuscaloosa, Ala., Lincoln, Neb., are dream locations only if you're a coach.</br></br>This is one of those places. By car, you have to drive two hours just to be two hours away from somewhere. Air travel here isn't for the faint of heart, since the airport can barely accommodate anything larger than a Cessna. If your car radio can only commit four FM stations to memory, you could live here and have a button to spare.</br></br>This is the last place you would think a native of Brooklyn would choose to spend his entire adult life, but Joe Paterno has been here 45 years and he isn't about to go anywhere. After 16 years as an assistant and the past 29 years as a head coach, with national championships in 1982 and 1986 and 15 bowl victories, Paterno is State College. His name has brought top recruits here, brought television networks here, even brought the Big Ten Conference here.</br></br>He turned down other jobs, including an opening at Michigan in 1969 (it went to some guy named Schembechler) and stayed. In a field where unemployment can be just a 5-6 season away, Paterno stayed so long he has become an institution, compiling an all-time record of 261-69-3, for a winning percentage of 78.8. Since Paterno came here, Penn State has moved Beaver Stadium and subsequently made three additions to keep up with fan interest, and its capacity of 93,967 makes it the second-largest on-campus stadium in the country behind Michigan's. In the past 29 years the dimensions of the ball have changed, the width of the uprights has been reduced, and scholarship numbers have shrunk, but Paterno's job title is the same.</br></br>"I never wanted to go as long as I've gone," Paterno said. "I probably was looking around for the first eight or ten years, but after I was here ten years I wasn't going anywhere else." | no | 0 |
How to Make Your 401(k) Plan Work Harder | Chances are you have a 401(k) plan at work. And the chances are you're not making nearly enough of it. A new year means a new leaf: This is as good a time as any to start turning that around.</br></br>If you're letting your 401(k) languish, a report released over the holiday season shows that you're not alone. According to the latest study by the Employee Benefits Research Institute, a think tank in Washington, most of us continue to neglect our 401(k) plan. The median account contains a balance of just $18,000, says EBRI.</br></br>Good luck with that.</br></br>Here's a five-step plan to fix your 401(k).</br></br>1 Take control. | no | 0 |
Why We Need the IMF | Since the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis, it has been open season for attacks on the International Monetary Fund. We have been told that the prospect of IMF bailouts caused the crisis and that the IMF's existence, if continued unchanged, will result in many more financial disruptions. Distinguished former cabinet officials, writing on this page, have asked "Who Needs the IMF?" And this newspaper has added its editorial voice to the chorus.</br></br>Here's a more balanced perspective: In a globalized economy, everyone needs the IMF. Without the IMF, the world economy would not become an idealized fantasy of perfectly liquid, completely informed, totally unregulated capital markets. Investors and lenders would still make decisions on the basis of imperfect information, and they would have to take into account the absence of an international lender of last resort. This would be a serious, perhaps devastating, defect. In fact, we got a good sense of life without the IMF in the 1920s and 1930s. The results included widespread competitive devaluation and trade wars in response to balance-of-payments problems, followed by a plunge into global depression and world war.</br></br>Without a guarantor of international liquidity, many good loans would not be made. Fundamentally sound private investment projects in emerging markets can be dragged down by decisions external to the businesses involved. Even prudent government policies can be waylaid by unforeseeable shocks. Either way, fundamentally good investments will run into temporary liquidity problems. In a world of flexible exchange rates, such temporary problems can be magnified by accompanying drops in the value of the domestic currency. IMF programs finance the adjustment necessary to give these countries and firms time to let their fundamentals pay off.</br></br>Thus, the IMF is the sovereign nations' credit union. It imposes strict conditions on countries' policies for bridge loans to get through hard times. Only a multilateral institution like the IMF could exert the discipline required without causing an unacceptable affront to a country's sovereignty. The benefits to the borrowing nation are that the adjustment program will be less painful and any resulting contraction less severe. The benefits to the lending countries are not only the availability of those credits to themselves, if and when they need them (as even the U.S. has), but a smaller contraction of world demand associated with the borrowing country's adjustment.</br></br>Some have claimed that these IMF conditions have been misapplied in the Asian crisis, demanding either too much austerity or unjustified structural reform. But IMF conditionality is highly pragmatic. Since the current crisis was not caused in large part by macroeconomic policies, but by financial fragility and lack of transparency, the conditions were designed to respond to those causes. The fund has been ready to renegotiate its programs and to loosen austerity (such as the inflation target for South Korea) as matters stabilized. There always is room for improvement in individual IMF programs. But attacks on the basic idea of IMF conditionality are thoroughly misguided. | no | 0 |
Heavy Over All Our Heads | With the Bush administration, one never knows what is intentional and what isn't, but the president's proposal to introduce private investment accounts into Social Security has certainly served to divert attention from whether the whole federal government is headed for a fiscal train wreck.</br></br>That's probably a good idea, from the administration's point of view, because both it and many private employers are asking people to pin their retirement and other hopes for the future on financial assets. And they are asking this at a time when the government is promising benefits and services it can't come close to affording without taxing the fillings out of our teeth or going to banana republic-style inflation -- or both.</br></br>It is a reality that David M. Walker, the comptroller general of the United States, has been trying to point out to everyone who will listen and to those who won't.</br></br>Walker is head of the Government Accountability Office, a congressional agency that studies government programs and policies and reports on how well or badly they are working.</br></br>The costs of the three big social programs of our society -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- are rising so fast that by 2040 they and interest payments on federal borrowings will consume all the government's revenue, even assuming that the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire and that discretionary government spending (spending that is not already promised by law) grows only at the rate of inflation. | no | 0 |
Fidelity to Lay Off 1,695 Employees --- Market Slump Is Blamed; Mutual-Fund Firm to Spare Money Managers, Analysts | BOSTON -- Fidelity Investments, its business taking a hit in the stock-market tumble, said it would lay off 1,695 employees, or 5% of its work force.</br></br>The nation's largest mutual-fund company said the job cuts would focus primarily on market-sensitive operations, such as its big online brokerage unit. But Fidelity said it wouldn't be dismissing any money managers or research analysts.</br></br>Fidelity's assets under management, now $776 billion, have fallen 22% since their peak of $1 trillion on Aug. 31, 2000, a drop that will slash the company's revenue and profit.</br></br>A Fidelity spokeswoman said the company's work force swelled "when the market roared in the '90s," and now the company needed "to adjust its resources" to reflect the sharp decline.</br></br>Overall, the company's employment will be down 12%, including attrition, after the latest job cuts from a peak of 33,369 in January 2001. In 2001, Fidelity announced layoffs of 1,114, or about 3% of its work force, mostly from its brokerage units, which had seen a sharp slowdown in trading. In the current round, about half the jobs eliminated will be in Boston, where the company is based, and suburban Marlborough, Mass. | yes | 1 |
Main Street: Reagan Was A Sure Loser Too | Not since Herbert Hoover has a party out of power had such an opportunity to run against everything that troubles the American family -- prices, interest rates, unemployment, taxes, or the fear for the future of their old age or the future of their children -- than is now presented to the Republican Party.</br></br>The Republicans, however, haven't figured this out. This is their basic problem. They have no strategy for defeating an Obama administration that is highly vulnerable on both domestic and foreign policy.</br></br>That's the conventional wisdom in a nutshell, isn't it?</br></br>It will come as no surprise that these words appeared in a Feb. 29 column in the New York Times. They are reproduced here exactly as written, save for one small adjustment.</br></br>The president whose failings they describe is Jimmy Carter, not Barack Obama. The lines were written in 1980, not 2012. The author was the then-dean of conventional wisdom, James "Scotty" Reston. The headline was "Jimmy Carter's Luck," a reference to Reagan's victory in the New Hampshire primary three days earlier. | no | 0 |
Bond Prices Rally Partly on Speculation About Weaker U.S. Data on 3rd Quarter | NEW YORK -- Bond prices rose yesterday, erasing Monday's sharp declines, although trading volume was relatively light.</br></br>Prices of some 30-year Treasury issues increased nearly a point, or almost $10 for each $1,000 face amount. But most short-term interest rates wound up little changed.</br></br>The rally was fueled partly by speculation that government figures to be released today will show that the economy was weaker in the third quarter than had been expected. If so, that could arouse renewed concern that the economy is sinking into a recession, intensifying pressure on the Federal Reserve System to drive down short-term interest rates further.</br></br>Most analysts are expecting the Commerce Department today to report that the economy grew at about a 2.5% annual rate in the third quarter. That would be an improvement from the second quarter's dismal 0.6% rate, after adjusting for inflation. A few analysts even say third-quarter growth exceeded 3%.</br></br>But rumors swept through the markets that the report will show the economy grew at only a 1% to 2% pace. Several economists also predict that the economy will remain sluggish, at best, for the balance of the year and that interest rates will decline further. | yes | 1 |
Stocks Finish in the Black | Author: Kristina Peterson</br></br>Stocks ended the session slightly higher, as investors await bellwether earnings reports due in coming days.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 3.63 points, or 0.03%, to 11010.11. The Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.42 point, or 0.02%, to 2402.33, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 0.15 point, or 0.01%, to 1165.30.</br></br>Monday's trading came on lighter-than-average volume, with just over three billion shares changing hands in New York Stock Exchange composite trading compared with the daily average of about four billion. Bond markets and federal offices were closed in the U.S. for the Columbus Day holiday.</br></br>"More than anything, it's just a holiday-type trade, with low volume kind of whipsawing around," said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group. | yes | 1 |
The Morning Brief: The Fuel-Efficiency Drive Gains More Momentum | The Wall Street Journal Online</br></br>The Morning Brief, a look at the day's biggest news, is emailed to subscribers by 7 a.m. every business day. Sign up for the e-mail here.</br></br>All in one day, oil prices reached a new record, car makers at the Frankfurt auto show jostled to display their most fuel-efficient models, and a federal judge in Vermont endorsed for the first time new state rules that would reduce emissions -- and, by extension, increase fuel efficiency -- in cars on American roads.</br></br>GM, DaimlerChrysler, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and a group of Vermont car dealers had banded together to sue that state over rules that would require a 30% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions from cars and light trucks by 2016. The group argued that the rules would force them to redesign their vehicles, which would drive up car prices and drive down sales. Lawyers have pointed out that the industry must "take into account safety, performance and cargo space in combination with improvements in fuel economy," as the Washington Post writes. Alan Weverstad, executive director of environment and energy for GM, told the court that compliance would cost his company $25 billion, and by 2016 it would still be seven miles-per-gallon short of the 43 mpg target, the Detroit News reports. However, an expert for Vermont contended the new rules would add $1,500 to the cost of a vehicle -- far less than the auto makers' estimate of as much as $6,000. Judge William Sessions rejected a host of industry arguments, including that the rules would limit consumer choice, create economic hardship for car makers, increase unemployment, undermine safety, and allow states to usurp federal authority, as the New York Times reports. "It is improbable," he wrote, according to the Times, "that an industry that prides itself on its modernity, flexibility and innovativeness will be unable to meet the requirements of the regulation, especially with the range of technological possibilities and alternatives currently before it."</br></br>Vermont's rules, like those adopted by 12 other states, are a copy of California's, and altogether about a third of the nation's auto market is at issue, The Wall Street Journal reports. "California has special dispensation under federal law to enact emissions rules that are tougher than the federal government's, a nod to California's record of dirty air," the Journal writes, adding that other states can replicate California's standards. As Vermont's effort is an extension of California's, and California is waiting for its latest federal waiver, the Vermont court decision could still be rendered irrelevant. "Congress has essentially designated California as a proving ground for innovation in emissions control regulations," Judge Sessions wrote, according to the Sacramento Bee. "History suggests that the ingenuity of the (auto) industry, once put in gear, responds admirably to most technological challenges." The Detroit Free Press writes that "the industry's best hope for stopping the rules lies with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency," but the paper notes that the EPA has never turned down California's request for a waiver to enact emissions rules -- and California has said it will sue the EPA if it does. | no | 0 |
Investment Demand Firm | The rise was irregular and spotty but volume swelled to 3,240.000 shares compared with 2,930,000 yesterday.</br></br>Unusually sharp rises for Commonwealth Edison, Eastman Kodak and American Telephone pulled a lot of weight in shoving the market averages to a 1958 peak.</br></br>Investment demand was sturdy, as evidenced b'y the climb in selected high quality stocks. At the same time, speculative interest in lower-priced issues continued.</br></br>. The Associated Press average of 60 stocks rose 70 cents to $186.60, or 10 cents higher than the former peak set Aug. 11. The industrials rose 80 cents, the rails 30 cents and the utilities 60 cents.</br></br>Studebaker-Packard was the most active stock for the second straight day, rising V4 to 7% on 100,100 shares and setting the pace for a half dozen other lower-priced issues in the spotlight. | no | 0 |
Yahoo Offers to Buy HotJobs, Trumping Proposal by TMP | Yahoo Inc. made an unsolicited offer to buy HotJobs Inc. for $436 million in cash and stock, topping a friendly all-stock bid from TMP Worldwide Inc. that was announced at the end of June.</br></br>Yahoo made its offer in the form of a "bear hug," in which a would-be buyer sends a letter to the target and then discloses it in an effort to pressure the target to negotiate. It is Yahoo's first unsolicited takeover effort.</br></br>HotJobs, New York, declined to comment. TMP Worldwide President and Chief Operating Officer James Treacey said, "We have a binding contract with HotJobs that we intend to fulfill." New York-based TMP isn't worried about Yahoo's bid. "What Yahoo is thinking, I don't know," Mr. Treacey said.</br></br>The latest offer, which values HotJobs, an Internet help-wanted site, at $10.50 a share, comes as Yahoo is seeking to broaden its offerings beyond advertising, which makes up about 80% of its annual revenues. Advertising in general is in the midst of one of the worst slumps in a decade, and the Web-portal company's revenue has fallen precipitously this year, partly due to the slump.</br></br>Yahoo's move to wrest HotJobs from TMP, which runs the Monster.com jobs Web site, comes as that deal is undergoing intense regulatory scrutiny. | no | 0 |
The Dow's Dilemma Over the Dollar: Experts, Investors Try to Explain ... | If the economy is so good, then why are financial markets so bad? Why, specifically, are investors punishing the dollar and the U.S. stock and bond markets as they did todayÛÓwhen the Dow closed down 62,15ÛÓat a time when most economic indicators suggest continued economic growth and iow inflation?</br></br>If the economy is so good, then why are financial markets so bad? Why, specifically, are investors punishing the dollar and the U.S. stock and bond markets as they did todayÛÓwhen the Dow closed down 62,15ÛÓat a time when most economic indicators suggest continued economic growth and iow inflation? ington Post spoke today with economists and investors who closely follow the financial markets. Here are the questions and their answers.</br></br>A ÛÏYes, the economy is in reasonably good shape,1Ûª said Richard B. Hoey, who is chief economist and a portfolio manager at the Dreyfus Corp., a large mutual fund company. ÛÏWe have a sustainable expansion in growth</br></br>A The answer, say the experts, is that the financial markets already have taken the good news into account in securities prices.</br></br>ÛÏFinancial markets look into the future to determine what stocks and bonds are worth today,Û Hoey said. "TodayÛªs economic recovery was taken into account by investors starting in See MARKETS, B2,Col. 3 | yes | 1 |
At the Fed, a Power Struggle Over Information | Early this year a tremor shook the Federal Reserve BoardÛªs headquarters on Constitution Avenue: All four of the Fed's then-governors met with Chairman Alan Greenspan to insist that they be told what he and the staff were doing about a wide range of international economic matters, including contacts with foreign central banks.</br></br>The four board members were not complaining about policy. Rather, they were frustrated that no one was keeping them adequately informed about the staffs activities, including discussions with the Treasury Department and research on internation- al financial issues. Two of the four also grumbled later about being excluded from the staffÛªs preparation of domestic economic forecasts.</br></br>Such complaints almost never surface at the central bank. Powerful chairmen have run the show for at least the last half century, with the staff as their strong right arm.</br></br>Each governor, as board members are called, has one vote on policy matters, as does the chairman. But traditionally the chairman speaks for the institution and opposition to his view is not a small matter.</br></br>Historically, the lines of power at the Fed have been so .clear that some years ago a departing senior staff member said he never had an interest in | no | 0 |
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Agree To Scrutiny by Federal Regulators | WASHINGTON -- In a surprise move aimed at silencing a rising chorus of criticism about their financial disclosures, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac agreed for the first time to submit themselves to scrutiny by federal securities regulators.</br></br>The Securities and Exchange Commission will oversee only the government-sponsored mortgage giants' existing common stock, however, under an agreement reached Friday with the SEC and Treasury. That means the companies have sidestepped -- for now, at least -- their biggest worry: full-scale securities regulation. The deal excludes direct government oversight of the debt and mortgage-backed securities the companies issue on Wall Street.</br></br>Fannie and Freddie will have to submit the periodic financial statements, proxy statements and reports that other issuers file with the SEC. But they already provide similar information to investors, so the immediate practical effect is relatively small.</br></br>Still, in broad terms the agreement with the Bush administration is a milestone for the two companies. Created decades ago as government agencies to increase the efficiency of the U.S. mortgage market, Fannie and Freddie later were privatized. But they maintained many of their ties to the government, including a line of credit to the Treasury and exemption from SEC oversight. The companies are reluctant to give up those benefits because they contribute to a common perception that Fannie and Freddie are backed by the federal government, and therefore worthy of preferred status with investors.</br></br>Some economic policymakers and rivals in the financial-services industry worry that Fannie and Freddie are taking advantage of this implied government backing -- which enables them to borrow more cheaply than their rivals -- to grow too large and crowd out competitors. More recently, critics have warned that the lack of SEC-required disclosure of Fannie's and Freddie's mortgage-backed securities leaves investors in the dark about exactly what they are buying. | no | 0 |
Barnes & Noble.com To Buy a 20% Stake In Electronic Publisher | NEW YORK -- Barnes & Noble.com Inc. is paying about $20 million for a 20% stake in MightyWords Corp., which offers digital versions of books and texts by both wellknown and unknown authors.</br></br>MightyWords is being shed by Fatbrain.com Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif., online retailer of technical books. Under terms, Barnes & Noble.com will begin offering MightyWords' content on its site.</br></br>Technical and educational books have provided a market for electronic publishers for several years. But e-publishing burst out to a wider audience earlier this year when Viacom Inc.'s Simon & Schuster Inc. published a novella by Stephen King exclusively on the Internet.</br></br>MightyWords' writing -- which can be downloaded to a personal computer and then printed onto paper -- includes some romance and fiction by authors including Toni Morrison and Arthur C. Clarke. But much of its subject matter focuses on technical subjects such as business or computing.</br></br>Fatbrain announced it would shed MightyWords in March, just about the time the stock market soured on Internet investments. Instead of taking the company public, Fatbrain turned to private investors. MightyWords' deal with Barnes & Noble.com is part of the company's initial round of funding, which totals $36 million. Vulcan Ventures Inc., the investment vehicle for Microsoft Corp. cofounder Paul Allen, is investing $10 million in MightyWords and $6 million is coming from other investors. | no | 0 |
Bull Run Stalls for Treasurys | NEW YORK--After a relentless two-day rally, the bull run in Treasurys hit the skids Friday with benchmark yields rising from the lowest level since the 1940s.</br></br>But the selloff only put a dent in the sharp run-up in bond prices this week. The 30-year bond was the biggest winner and its yield, which moves inversely to its bond price, tumbled about 0.47 percentage point for the week. That was the biggest weekly decline since December 2008 when Treasury prices soared on the financial crisis.</br></br>The benchmark 10-year note was 27/32 lower to yield 1.810%. The 30-year bond was 1 28/32 lower to yield 2.872%. The two-year note was 1/32 lower to yield 0.214%.</br></br>Some traders were quick to claim that it was a sign that a correction is due for the ferocious strength over the past seven months. The benchmark 10-year yield has tumbled from this year's peak of 3.77% in February and earlier Friday touched a fresh historic low of 1.672%.</br></br>Demand for safe-haven Treasurys had intensified this month due to rising fears about the global economy and the euro-zone's debt crisis. The Federal Reserve's announcement earlier this week to sell $400 billion short-dated bonds to buy longer-dated Treasurys triggered more flight into the 10-year and 30-year Treasurys. Investors are heartened that the Fed's buying binge in coming months could help boost the value of the bonds. | yes | 1 |
Key HBO Executive Quits Before Merger With McKesson | ATLANTA -- HBO & Co., preparing to be acquired by McKesson Corp., said one of its top executives, Jay P. Gilbertson, resigned "to pursue other opportunities."</br></br>Shares of HBO, a supplier of software to the health-care industry, fell sharply on the news. In Nasdaq Stock Market trading Friday, HBO closed at $22.875, down $2.3125. McKesson, a drug wholesaler based in San Francisco, agreed last month to acquire HBO in a stock swap currently valued at about $11.5 billion. In New York Stock Exchange Friday composite trading, McKesson closed at $70.375, down $1.3125.</br></br>At HBO, Mr. Gilbertson served as co-president, co-chief operating officer and chief financial officer. McKesson and HBO had said he would play an important role in the combined company as a member of a new operating committee of eight executives, a McKesson spokesman said. But he said Richard H. Hawkins, McKesson's current chief financial officer, would retain that role in the new company, to be called McKesson HBOC.</br></br>Mr. Gilbertson couldn't be reached for comment. The McKesson spokesman said the two companies wanted to retain Mr. Gilbertson, but added: "His departure should not have a significant impact on our business." HBO said Albert J. Bergonzi, also a co-president, would assume Mr. Gilbertson's duties.</br></br>Ben Rooks, an analyst at CIBC Oppenheimer, said the stock market seemed to be overreacting to Mr. Gilbertson's departure. "I'm not surprised he's leaving," Mr. Rooks said. "I'm a little surprised by the timing." But Anthony Vendetti, an analyst at Gruntal & Co., said the resignation raised questions about "who's going to be minding the store at HBO." | no | 0 |
Bon Ouin Seeks Aid to Fill Gap U.S. Left: U.S. to Help Thailand Set Up Radar Post | VIENTIANE, Laos, April 19 (UPI)ÛÓThe Royal Government of Laos intends to ask other anti-Communist Asian nations for help in the economic crisis brought on by suspension of American financial aid, informed sources said today.</br></br>The report coincided wth a disclosure that Royal Laotian army troops were trying to track down pro-Communist guerillas who struck in a bold surprise attack only seven miles from the Vientiane airport Monday.</br></br>Informed sources said Prince Boun Oum, the Premier, wil leave here next week to plead personally with the governments of Thailand and South Viet-Nam for financial aid. They said the Government wants technical and economic assistance, not military aid.</br></br>come to terms on a coalition government headed by ÛÏneutralistÛ Prince Souvanna Phou-ha and including the pro-Communist Patthet Lao rebels.</br></br>The war between the Government forces and the rebels appears to have settled into a guerilla pattern of small skirmishes. | no | 0 |
Venture-Capital Funding for Small Companies Plunges | VENTURE INVESTING in small firms continues on a downward spiral.</br></br>Venture-capital funding for small companies plunged 66% in the first quarter, industry researchers report.</br></br>Investments declined to $185 million from $539 million a year earlier, says Venture Economics Publishing Co., an industry research concern in Needham, Mass. The number of companies getting funds slid to 173 from 333. With the decline continuing in the second quarter, venture capital for small companies could sink below $1 billion for 1991, less than half 1990's $2.1 billion, Venture Economics says.</br></br>"The downward trend in venture investing has intensified," says David Schutt, editor in chief of Venture Economics. He says big institutions, disappointed by recent returns, are scaling back their involvement in venture funds. Only 15 venture-capital funds raised money from investors in the first half of this year -- a combined $541 million, off 43% from $954 million a year earlier.</br></br>Analysts say the recession has also slowed the flow of money, as venture capitalists negotiate bargain prices for stakes in struggling concerns. | no | 0 |
Tosco Increases Wholesale Gasoline Prices in West | Tosco Corp., in an effort to boost lackluster retail gasoline profits, has begun raising wholesale gasoline prices in Southern California and Arizona, two markets where it has significant market share.</br></br>Service-station dealers in California and Arizona say that since March 26, Tosco has raised wholesale prices to its dealers that market under such brands as 76 and Circle K by between six cents and 16 cents a gallon, depending on the area. As a result, dealers say they are paying substantially more than their competitors for gasoline, forcing them to either boost retail prices or sustain losses.</br></br>It isn't clear how long Tosco will hold out, however, if competitors like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. don't match the increases. "We will pursue every business practice the market will allow us to do. If the market doesn't allow us to do something, we can't do it," said Jefferson Allen, Tosco's president and chief financial officer.</br></br>Tosco, a refining and marketing company based in Old Greenwich, Conn., agreed in February to be acquired by Phillips Petroleum Co. for about $7 billion, and shareholders of both companies yesterday approved that deal. Although Tosco posted record profit from refining operations in the fourth quarter, much of that achieved in California, the company says marketing income has sagged.</br></br>So far, competitors haven't matched the price increases, but Tosco dealers and others in Arizona and Southern California believe they must be tempted. Gasoline spot prices, or the wholesale prices paid in the daily spot market for gasoline at the refinery, have been soaring in the states, and Tosco says it has lost money from marketing operations in the region for nine months. Gas stations have been unable to push through price increases in the fiercely competitive market. | no | 0 |
Budget Talks Now Are Close To Agreement --- Accord Between Congress, Bush on Cutting Deficit Could Come Late Today | WASHINGTON -- After four months of unproductive talks, White House and congressional budget negotiators finally narrowed their differences and say they could reach a deficit-reduction compromise by late today or tomorrow morning.</br></br>"I have been pleased with recent progress, although it has not always seemed so smooth," President Bush said in a televised address to Congress last night.</br></br>"But with or without an agreement from the budget summit, I ask both houses of Congress to allow a straight up-or-down vote on a complete $500 billion deficit reduction package not later than Sept. 28."</br></br>The Republican and Democratic sides are converging on a compromise that would raise taxes about $130 billion net over the next five years -- including an energy tax of some sort, a new tax on luxury goods and higher taxes on alcoholic beverages.</br></br>Defense spending would be cut between $170 billion and $200 billion from projected levels, based on proposals offered by the two sides. Domestic spending of all sorts would be trimmed between $103 billion and $126 billion, with both sides now proposing to make the elderly pay a bigger share of the cost of the rapidly growing Medicare program. Savings on interest costs would account for the balance of the $500 billion package. Even if negotiators agree to cut the deficit $50 billion for fiscal 1991, which begins Oct. 1. and the package is enacted, the federal deficit will still approach $200 billion, the White House budget office estimates. As a result, any pact will have to waive the $64 billion deficit target set by the Gramm-Rudman deficit-reduction law. | yes | 1 |
U.S. Cities Are Mired in Fiscal Woes; Study Finds a Dim Outlook, As Costs Outstrip Revenue While State Aid Dries Up | While economists have said the U.S. recession ended in late 2001, a fiscal recession continues in America's cities, according to the latest annual survey by the National League of Cities.</br></br>The survey of finance directors from 288 cities found that 63% said their cities were less able to meet financial needs during their fiscal 2004 than in the previous year. Looking ahead, 61% said their cities will be less able to meet financial needs in 2005 than in 2004. (Fiscal years start in January, July, or October depending on the city.) The survey is expected to be released today.</br></br>The financial officers blamed rising costs for employee health benefits, wages, public safety, increased infrastructure needs and employee pensions. The cities' revenues aren't keeping pace with their increased expenses. Cities' 2004 budgets predicted general-fund revenue increasing 2.6% from 2003, with general-fund expenditures expected to rise 3.6%.</br></br>"As elected officials, we can only stretch our resources so far, tighten our belts so much," says James C. Hunt, vice president of the Washington, D.C., league, which represents U.S. cities. Mr. Hunt also is a council member in Clarksburg, W.Va. "We have huge responsibilities we must address and not enough resources to support them."</br></br>Cities also cited the weak economy and insufficient state aid, reflecting the financial havoc wreaked upon states, and in turn cities, during the economic downturn. "There was a huge [income-tax] revenue burst for cities and states in the late 1990s and it disappeared with the bursting of the stock-market bubble and business capital-investment bubble," says James W. Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, of New Brunswick, N.J. As a result, "most states have been in a fiscal crisis, so they have cut back or not been able to increase state aid to cities." | yes | 1 |
House Votes To Raise Ceiling For U.S. Debt | WASHINGTON -- The House passed a bill to raise the federal borrowing limit and set a $23 billion deficit-reduction goal for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.</br></br>The legislation, approved on a 230-176 vote and sent to the Senate, would raise the federal debt ceiling to $2.8 trillion from the current $2.35 trillion limit, which is scheduled to expire today. The Senate is expected to approve the measure.</br></br>The higher debt ceiling would give the government enough borrowing authority to operate until May 1989, and thus would remove the contentious debt-ceiling issue from the realm of electoral politics next year.</br></br>The bill also would reinvigorate the Gramm-Rudman deficit-cutting law and set easier targets than the original statute. A strengthened Gramm-Rudman was a precondition to approval of the long-term extension of the debt ceiling. Many lawmakers insisted that a narrowing of the projected budget deficit be guaranteed before they voted to let the government borrow more money and increase the national debt.</br></br>Under the new Gramm-Rudman proposal, if Congress and President Reagan don't agree on a package of proposals that shrinks the projected fiscal 1988 deficit by $23 billion, an across-the-board spending cut would be automatically imposed to reach the target. | no | 0 |
Treasurys Ease as Investors Adjust Portfolios; South Korean Bonds Show More Improvement | NEW YORK -- U.S. Treasurys posted modest losses yesterday as investors made some last-minute portfolio adjustments before the end of the year.</br></br>Elsewhere in trading, South Korean bonds continued to improve, as U.S. banks appear poised to roll over short-term Korean debt obligations and as some fund managers bought Korean debt issues.</br></br>Late yesterday, the benchmark 30-year U.S. Treasury bond was off 9/32 point, or $2.81 for a bond with $1,000 face value, at 102 24/32. Its yield rose to 5.92% from 5.90% at Friday's market close, as bond yields move the opposite way as prices.</br></br>The day's declines took place on low volume and were driven by year-end portfolio adjustment, not a significant change in market sentiment, traders said. Illiquid conditions exaggerated price movements in the bond market, some added.</br></br>Also working against bonds, stock prices jumped, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 113.10 points. | no | 0 |
USDA Raises 2013 Farm-Income Forecast; Bumper Corn, Soybean Harvests Help Raise Outlook | Federal forecasters increased their estimate for U.S. farm income this year by 9% to $131 billion, as bumper corn and soybean harvests help farmers offset lower prices for their crops.</br></br>Net farm income will rise 15% from $113.8 billion last year to the highest level on an inflation-adjusted basis since 1973, the U.S. Department of Agriculture projected Tuesday.</br></br>The income gains reflect a sharp increase in production of corn and soybeans in the U.S. Midwest just a year after a severe drought curtailed harvests. Profits also are expected to be higher because growers of crops such as hay, vegetables and nuts are enjoying higher prices, the USDA said.</br></br>But economists warned the farm-income boom likely will soften next year because a steep drop in the prices of corn, soybeans and wheat will carry into 2014 and squeeze farmers' profits. The price of corn, for example, has fallen to about $4 a bushel from $8 a bushel during last year's drought.</br></br>"Next year's income is going to be a lot softer," said Michael Swanson, an agricultural economist with Wells Fargo & Co. | no | 0 |
City Faces Struggle Over Budget Drained by Social Costs Series: RUNNING ON EMPTY: The District's Troubled Finances Series Number: 1/3 | The District of Columbia government is living beyond its means, pursuing an ambitious social agenda and attacking crime at a cost that could force new taxes on city residents or shatter a seven-year record of balanced budgets.</br></br>Spending in several major agencies is largely uncontrolled because city officials habitually have underestimated the price of their campaign against drug abuse, poverty and other worsening social conditions.</br></br>The largest and most troubled city agency, the $1 billion Department of Human Services, may have ended fiscal 1988 tens of millions in the red, according to confidential financial records.</br></br>Those findings are the result of a two-month examination of the city's finances by The Washington Post. They underscore a budget crunch that has compelled the $3.5 billion D.C. government to consider its first major retrenchment since Mayor Marion Barry's administration ran a $105 million deficit in 1980.</br></br>The magnitude of the current financial crisis was demonstrated in October, only two weeks into the 1989 fiscal year, when Barry announced that the city faced a $150 million projected budget deficit. City officials raised the estimate to $175 million last month, and say the shortfall could expand to as much as $300 million in 1993 if trends persist. | no | 0 |
Growing Old and Liking It | The title of a new book by Betty Friedan was incorrect in Judy Mann's column yesterday. It is "The Fountain of Age." (Published 9/16/93)</br></br>Over dinner at my father's house this summer, he referred to his granddaughter as "Kathy." My daughter shot me a "Where is that coming from?" look.</br></br>"Dad," I said. "Katherine's name is Katherine. She can't stand being called `Kathy,' and she won't even answer to it." "How would you like a hundred dollars, Kathy?" my father asked without skipping a beat. My daughter's jaw dropped, and we all burst out laughing. He'd won that round, hands down.</br></br>Those of us in the younger generations of my family look upon our patriarch with wonder: We admire his endurance, his sharpness. He continues to go to French class once a week. He has a lively social life. We consider him exceptional. We ought to be thinking of him as a trend setter.</br></br>Born when the average life expectancy was 46 years, he is part of that remarkable generation of people who have pushed it up to nearly 80 years. This group of people is redefining aging, and it is no surprise to find Betty Friedan in the vanguard. At 72, she has just published "The Fountain of Youth," a book on which she has spent a decade working. It will liberate us from the tyranny of youth as surely as "The Feminine Mystique" liberated women from the calcified gender role of mother/sex object. | no | 0 |
Dollar Gets A Small Lift From Data | NEW YORK -- Though the dollar weakened slightly against the euro and yen, the currency posted its first broad advance in three days after U.S. economic data eased fears that the Federal Reserve would need to kick start the sluggish economy.</br></br>Second-quarter gross domestic product data, weekly jobless claims and a survey of Chicago-area purchasing managers gave investors heart that the economy may be regaining some steam.</br></br>Thursday's data gave rise to the possibility "that Fed policy easing is not yet a done deal," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.</br></br>Still, next week's U.S. unemployment report for September will be a much bigger test for gauging the likelihood of added federal stimulus, analysts said.</br></br>By late in New York, the ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, had inched up to 78.762 from 78.759 late Wednesday. The euro moved to $1.3634 from $1.3629. The dollar was at 83.48 yen from 83.65 yen. The euro weakened to 113.82 yen from 114.07 yen. The U.K. pound weakened to $1.5711 from $1.5784. The dollar strengthened to 0.9826 Swiss franc from 0.9770 franc. | yes | 1 |
Blue Chips Drop 28.32; Bonds Gain --- Rate Cut Causes Stir, But Traders Hoped It Would Be Bigger | Investors were happy that the Federal Reserve cut interest rates yesterday, but sad that the cut wasn't bigger, so they bid stocks through a series of gyrations that finally left them little changed.</br></br>In heavy trading at the time of the Fed announcement at about 2:15 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 100 points in eight minutes. Then it climbed to its high for the day, only to fall again. The average closed down 28.32, or 0.35%, at 8080.52. On the New York Stock Exchange, however, advancers and decliners were about even.</br></br>Treasury bonds gained, since interest rates on new bonds will be lower than on existing bonds, and the dollar fell.</br></br>Stocks already had gained in broad anticipation of a cut of at least one-quarter point in the federal-funds rate, the rate at which banks lend one another money overnight. Traders had been hoping for a larger, half-point cut. Few were surprised when stocks fell on news of the smaller rate cut, and some said the quick recovery could herald continuing strength.</br></br>"I think it kind of bodes well," said Bill Schneider, head of block trading at Warburg Dillon Read, who noted that some investors have been holding money out of the market. "I think a lot of cash has been raised," he said, partly as "window dressing" for quarterly fund-management reports, to show that mutual-fund managers are being conservative. | no | 0 |
World Watch | IRAN</br></br>U.S. Says Major Powers</br></br>To Seek More Sanctions</br></br>Six world powers agreed to seek new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program after the country failed to meet a weekend deadline to respond to an offer intended to defuse the dispute, the U.S. said.</br></br>Representatives of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany decided in a high-level conference call that Iran's lack of response to an incentives package aimed at getting it to halt sensitive atomic activity left them no option other than to pursue new punitive measures, the U.S. said. | no | 0 |
Bond Prices Drift Down; Phone Issue Due: Heavy Calendar | Prices of bonds and similar fixed-income securities drifted down this past weekÛÓand interest rates edged upÛÓas the credit markets waited out the traditional Christmas-to-New YearÛªs Day doldrums.</br></br>Dealers were more inclined to speculate about the course of interest rates in 1971ÛÓand in the next few months, especiallyÛÓthen to buy or sell. Trading was very quiet, with no major new issues being offered.</br></br>Buyers were largely absent, too, waiting for a resumption of the flow of attractive, top-name offerings in January. Even scattered selling, therefore, was enough to bring mark-downs in the - prices of Treasury bonds and notes.</br></br>Certainly, some easing had to be expected in the wake of the sharp price run-ups of November and early December. Further, dealer inventories of governments are high, at a time when a refinancing operation that will add to the supply of longer-term issues is less than three weeks away.</br></br>down three-quarters of a point over the past weekÛÓto 73%. Their yield edged up a negligible 5 hundredths of a percentage pointÛÓto a shade below 6% per cent that is still nearly three-quarters of a percentage point below last summerÛªs peak. | no | 0 |
Fortune 500 Companies' Profits Grew 23 Pet. in 1996 | NEW YORK April 7-Profits surged 23.3 percent at the Fortune 500 companies in 1996, as low interest rates and benign inflation helped fatten the wealth of CorporateAmeri-caÛªs mightiest businesses.</br></br>It was the fourth straight year of strong profit gains among companies ranked in FortuneÛªs annual listing, released today. The surge in profitÛÓto nearly $300 billion for the 500 companiesÛÓwas in percentage terms far greater than worker income gains and other measures of economic health.</br></br>The profit growth is widely viewed as an unsustainable trend that already has begun to show signs of faltering, partly reflected in the recent pullback in the roaring stock market.</br></br>Investors are increasingly concerned that the Federal Reserve has only started to nudge interest rates upward, which raises the cost of doing business and discourages people from spending money.</br></br>Exxon Corp., the nationÛªs biggest oil company, had the biggest profit among the 500 in 1996: $7.5 billion. | yes | 1 |
IN THE LEAD: Top Executives Chase Youthful Appearance, But Miss Real Issue | WHEN THE EXECUTIVE in the adjacent office returns from a two-week vacation minus any bags under his eyes or deep lines around his mouth, forget what he tells you about a certain Caribbean resort. Chances are, he has been under the knife.</br></br>Cosmetic surgery, botox and other de-aging skin treatments are becoming de rigueur for baby-boomer executives of both sexes who fear being judged as over the hill. For many, including some top CEOs who haven't yet gone public, plastic surgery is the next step in their rigorous fitness and beauty regimens that include several hours a week at the gym, expensive personal trainers and diet consultants, and hair treatments. "I can't tell you the number of men I know who no longer are gray or who have covered bald spots with hair transplants," says Pat Cook, president of Cook & Co., a Bronxville, N.Y., executive- search firm.</br></br>In addition to vanity, these executives are driven by job insecurity. They believe that looking older in business now means looking vulnerable, not wise and experienced, as might have been the case in the past. So many 50-something managers have suffered layoffs and early retirement that survivors in this age bracket feel pressured to look and act as young as possible to hang onto their posts. And even 45-year-olds who are unemployed in today's tight market worry that wrinkles will cut them out of the running.</br></br>They ignore the financial expense (work on eyelids costs $3,000 to $6,000 and facelifts, $15,000 to $25,000) and the medical risks (Novelist Olivia Goldsmith died last month at the age of 54 during a chin-tuck operation).</br></br>A RECENT SURVEY of senior executives by ExecuNet, a networking and job-search service, found that 82% consider age bias a "serious problem," up from 78% three years ago. And 94% of these respondents, who were mostly in their 40s and 50s, said they thought age had cost them a shot at a particular job. | no | 0 |
Democrats See Inflation as Issue | Democrats zeroed in on the Nixon administrationÛªs economic policies last night, claiming in a televised rebuttal of the President that inflation probably will be the big issue of 1970 politics.</br></br>Sen. Edmund S. Muskie (D-Maine), a potential presidential candidate, moved toward a new position by suggesting that it may be time to impose controls on wages and prices to halt inflation.</br></br>the major political issue in the 1970 congressional elections. Until now, he said, he has supported only the idea of using wage-price guidelines to control inflation, and criticized Mr. Nixon for not using White House leadership for that purpose, ÛÏNow I think we may have reached the point that we may have to go beyond wage-price guidelines into controls,Û Muskie said,</br></br>He was joined by Rep. Henry Reuss (D-Wis.) who specifically urged an ÛÏacross-the-board freeze on wages, prices, rents, salaries, the whole worksÛ for a period of at least three or four months.</br></br>Muskie, Reuss and Democratic National Chairman Lawrence F. OÛªBrien were interviewed on an American Broadcasting Co. program, ÛÏNow.Û | no | 0 |
Bullish News Is Ignored | NEW YORK, Jan. 16 UP)ÛÓ-Bullish news failed to stimulate. the stock market today. as it declined in moderate trading.</br></br>Brokers ascribed the weakness to increasing uncertainty as to whether President Eilfenhower would become a candidate for re-election.</br></br>The Associated Press index of 60 stocks was down $2.10 to $176.20, almost matching last MondayÛªs dip of $2.40. The industrials fell $3.20, the rails $2.30 and the utilities 10 cents.</br></br>Trading volume was 2,260,000 shares compared with 2,120,000 on Friday and 2,700,000 during last MondayÛªs drop.</br></br>The retreat came on a day when GM president Harlow H. Curtice predicted a record year for the economy and said his company would spend a billion dollars on expansion in 1956; when President Eisenhower sent Congress not only a balanced budget but proposals for a rise in government spending; when steel output was announced as reaching a new weekly high. | yes | 1 |
Economy 'Turning,' Burns Says: Reserve Board Policies Defended | Federal Reserve Board Chairman Arthur F. Burns said yesterday the U.S. economy is in a "turning zoneÛªÛª in which there are many signs of economic improvement and returning confidence,</br></br>Burns also strongly defended the boardÛªs monetary policies as a "responsible middle courseÛ between the dangers of recession and inflation.</br></br>As evidence of economic recovery, Burns cited an increase of 200,000 in building permits issued in the nation in April, gains in retail trade and employment and an increased flow of money to savings institutions, ÛÏWe arc now in the act of unwinding the inflation," he said, warning that inflation continues at a "disconcerting pace.Û One result is a depressed housing industry, as high interest and mortgage</br></br>He said the Federal Reserve Board is looking toward an eventual recovery that would push economic growth above 5 per cent a year.</br></br>The board has been in the thick of economic controversy for some time. Critics claimed it did too little to curb inflation and then too little to fight recession. One sign of board sensitivity to the criticism came yesterday when Burns indicated he would "consider sympatheticallyÛ proposals to include a consumer- or labor-oriented member on the Board of Governors. | yes | 1 |
Finding the Strength to Care | Beverly Kievman is an entrepreneur who is in the business of building businesses. She has helped women from India, New Zealand and Central America get their own enterprises off the ground. She has that wonderful kind of energy, enthusiasm and optimism that you need to bring something into existence.</br></br>People who have not had to deal with a long-term illness do not know what Beverly Kievman has gone through. Anyone who has been there does, and more and more of us are finding out every day what these illnesses do to the patient, and the family, financially and emotionally.</br></br>Kievman had the kind of double tragedy that would have felled a less resourceful-and balanced-person. Her husband, Michael, who was a senior executive vice president of Cox Broadcasting, was diagnosed as having diabetes five years after they were married. His first symptoms showed up when he began having trouble walking. Before he died three years ago, his circulation had become so bad that both of his legs were amputated.</br></br>"There were dozens of surgeries to try to save the legs," says Kievman. "He lost the first leg and went back to work. Eighteen months later he lost the second leg. He spent five weeks in intensive care, and nearly died."</br></br>During this same period, Kievman's mother was declining from Alzheimer's disease. Kievman, who lives in Atlanta, became the principal caretaker for both her husband and her mother. "During this time I continued being what we always were," she says, "a two-career couple." In addition to her business, Marketing Innovations Corp., she was trying to launch a new business and had raised and spent a half-million dollars on it. | no | 0 |
Precious Metals Gain in Response to Weakness In Stocks and Dollar, Initial Rise in Oil Prices | NEW YORK -- Precious metals futures prices rose on buying triggered by declines in the stock market and the dollar.</br></br>Strength in the crude oil market early in the day and a higher Commodities Research Bureau index, both of which have inflationary implications, also boosted precious metals, analysts said.</br></br>Gold for December delivery advanced $6 an ounce to $382.90, December silver was up 10.2 cents an ounce to $5.29, and January platinum rose $6.10 an ounce to $498.70.</br></br>"The lower stock market was the primary factor," said John Norris, director of precious metals trading at Citibank in New York.</br></br>Some traders initially were staying on the sidelines to await the U.S. employment report to be released this morning, Mr. Norris said. "Then when the stock market started to soften, they all seemed to come in at the same time, causing prices to surge." | no | 0 |
Producer Prices Decreased 0.2% In November --- Drop Caused by 1.5% Fall For Energy and Decline Of 0.5% in Food Costs | WASHINGTON -- In a sign that inflation remains under control even as the economy regains momentum, prices at the wholesale level dropped 0.2% in November, the Labor Department said.</br></br>The fall in the producer price index was caused by a big 1.5% drop in energy costs, reflecting the recent weakness in crude oil prices, and a 0.5% decline in food prices. Excluding these volatile sectors, producer prices edged up 0.1% in November after dropping 0.1% the month before. For the year ended in November, wholesale prices rose 1.3%.</br></br>Analysts said the latest inflation report indicates wholesalers are refusing to raise prices even as demand for their goods is picking up.</br></br>"Wholesalers and retailers are competing on a price containment basis," said Samuel Kahan, chief economist of Fuji Securities Inc. in Chicago. "Instead, they are making profits through productivity gains."</br></br>Prices were subdued across the board last month. Consumer goods and capital equipment showed moderation in pricing. There was a 1% rise in the price of passenger cars last month, following a drop of 2.3% in October. Prices for goods at the intermediate and crude stages of production in November dropped for the second straight month. Excluding food and energy, prices of intermediate goods were unchanged in November while prices of crude goods declined 0.9%. | yes | 1 |
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