Saturday, December 31, 2011
Oil price to end 2011 near $100 a barrel - BusinessWeek
The price of oil will finish 2011 about 8 percent higher, after concerns about tighter global supplies dominated energy markets throughout the year.
Benchmark crude, which on Friday fell 30 cents to $99.35 per barrel in New York, started the year at $91.38 per barrel. Prices surged in February as unrest in Libya cut off 1.5 million barrels of oil exports. After a summertime slump, they rose to $100 per barrel following threats from Iran to close key shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf.
Friday, December 30, 2011
OIL FUTURES: Crude Edges Higher In Asia; US Data Lend Support
By Ga-Woon Philip Vahn Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRESSINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Crude-oil futures edged higher in Asia Friday, as positive U.S. economic data boosted risk sentiment, but gains were limited as investors refrained from making aggressive bets on the last trading session in 2011.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $99.83 a barrel at 0644 GMT, up $0.18 in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.17 to $108.18 a barrel.
Gains in most Asian stock markets set the tone for some buyers after data showed Thursday a modest improvement in U.S. housing and employment sectors.
The latest U.S. employment data point "tops off a solid quarter of U.S. economic performance and leans toward a more bullish 2012," said Joel Murphy, a sales trader at GO Markets.
Market participants said crude will likely trade in a limited range in the near term, as investors are reluctant to commit new funds to risk assets amid growing expectations that Europe's debt problems will continue to hurt global economic growth and, hence, oil demand in 2012.
"It has been a quite a volatile year for crude, with so many macroeconomic surprises and numerous political events" in the Middle East and North Africa, said a sales manager at S-Oil Corp. in an email. "One thing for certain is that Europe's debt crisis will remain a key focus next year because the problems there are deep-rooted."
Energy consulting firm Ritterbusch and Associates said Nymex futures could retreat to the mid-$90 area, as it expects the euro zone to be the primary driver of oil pricing during the first quarter of 2012.
"We still view the euro-zone debt issues as intractable despite this week's Italian bond auctions that were widely perceived as better than expected. Nonetheless, a breakdown in the euro to 15-month lows is an element that can't be denied when assessing oil price direction across the month of January," Ritterbusch said in a note.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for January--the benchmark gasoline contract--fell 5 points to $2.6796 a gallon, while ICE gasoil for January changed hands at $927.25 a metric ton, up $5.75 from Thursday's settlement.
-By Ga-Woon Philip Vahn, Dow Jones Newswires; +65-64154149; philip.vahn@dowjones.com
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Romney Has Large Lead Over Obama In 2012
Mitt Romney has now jumped to his biggest lead ever over President Obama in a hypothetical Election 2012 matchup. It’s also the biggest lead a named Republican candidate has held over the incumbent in Rasmussen Reports surveying to date.
US warns Iran against closing key oil passage - BusinessWeek
The U.S. strongly warned Iran on Wednesday against closing a vital Persian Gulf waterway that carries one-sixth of the world's oil supply, after Iran threatened to choke off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz if Washington imposes sanctions targeting the country's crude exports.
The increasingly heated exchange raises new tensions in a standoff that has the potential to spark military reprisals and spike oil prices to levels that could batter an already fragile global economy.
Iran's navy chief said Wednesday that it would be "very easy" for his country's forces to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the passage at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about 15 million barrels of oil pass daily. It was the second such warning by Iran in two days, reflecting Tehran's concern that the West is about to impose new sanctions that could hit the country's biggest source of revenue, oil.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Iran Threatens to Block Oil in Reply to Sanctions
The declaration by Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, came as President Obama prepares to sign legislation that, if fully implemented, could substantially reduce Iran’s oil revenue in a bid to deter it from pursuing a nuclear weapons program.
Prior to the latest move, the administration had been laying the groundwork to attempt to cut off Iran from global energy markets without raising the price of gasoline or alienating some of Washington’s closest allies.
Apparently fearful of the expanded sanctions’ possible impact on the already-stressed economy of Iran, the world’s third-largest energy exporter, Mr. Rahimi said, “If they impose sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, then even one drop of oil cannot flow from the Strait of Hormuz,” according to Iran’s official news agency. Iran just began a 10-day naval exercise in the area.
In recent interviews, Obama administration officials have said that the United States has developed a plan to keep the strait open in the event of a crisis. In Hawaii, where President Obama is vacationing, a White House spokesman said there would be no comment on the Iranian threat to close the strait. That seemed in keeping with what administration officials say has been an effort to lower the level of angry exchanges, partly to avoid giving the Iranian government the satisfaction of a response and partly to avoid spooking financial markets.
But the energy sanctions carry the risk of confrontation, as well as economic disruption, given the unpredictability of the Iranian response. Some administration officials believe that a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States — which Washington alleges received funding from the Quds Force, part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps — was in response to American and other international sanctions.
Merely uttering the threat appeared to be part of an Iranian effort to demonstrate its ability to cause a spike in oil prices, thus slowing the United States economy, and to warn American trading partners that joining the new sanctions, which the Senate passed by a rare 100-0 vote, would come at a high cost.
Oil prices rose above $100 a barrel in trading after the threat was issued, though it was unclear how much that could be attributed to investors’ concern that confrontation in the Persian Gulf could disrupt oil flows.
The new punitive measures, part of a bill financing the military, would significantly escalate American sanctions against Iran. They come just a month and a half after the International Atomic Energy Agency published a report that for the first time laid out its evidence that Iran may be secretly working to design a nuclear warhead, despite the country’s repeated denials.
In the wake of the I.A.E.A. report and a November attack on the British Embassy in Tehran, the European Union is also contemplating strict new sanctions, such as an embargo on Iranian oil.
For five years, the United States has implemented increasingly severe sanctions in an attempt to force Iran’s leaders to reconsider the suspected nuclear weapons program, and answer a growing list of questions from the I.A.E.A. But it has deliberately stopped short of targeting oil exports, which finance as much as half of Iran’s budget.
Now, with its hand forced by Congress, the administration is preparing to take that final step, penalizing foreign corporations that do business with Iran’s central bank, which collects payment for most of the country’s energy exports.
The sanction would effectively make it difficult for those who do business with Iran’s central bank to also conduct financial transactions with the United States. The step was so severe that one of President Obama’s top national security aides said two months ago that it was “a last resort.” The administration raced to put some loopholes in the final legislation so that it could reduce the impact on close allies who have signed on to pressuring Iran.
The legislation allows President Obama to waive sanctions if they cause the price of oil to rise or threaten national security.
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Senate Democrat Ben Nelson Won’t Run in 2012 - Bloomberg
Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska announced today he won’t seek re-election next year, a retirement hurting his party’s bid to keep its majority in the chamber.
“It is time to move on,” Nelson, 70, said in a statement posted on his Senate website. He said he’s looking for “new ways to serve our state and nation.”
Nelson, whose home state is predominantly Republican, is the seventh member of the Senate’s Democratic caucus to decide to retire ahead of November elections in which his party is defending a 53-47 majority in the chamber. A net gain of four seats by Republicans would ensure them Senate control, regardless of the outcome of the presidential race.
A former two-term governor and state insurance commissioner, Nelson was the Democrat best able to defend the seat, said Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor of the non-partisan Cook Political Report.
“There is no obvious Democratic replacement to Nelson,” she said in a telephone interview. “I don’t see a path to victory for Democrats in Nebraska,” so Nelson’s retirement “puts Republicans one seat closer to a majority,” Duffy said. With Nelson in the race, Republicans “were going to have to fight” to defeat him.
‘Cornhusker Kickback’
Not always a reliable vote for Democrats, Nelson secured a concession for Nebraska in return for supporting President Barack Obama’s health-care legislation over a crucial procedural hurdle in 2009. Republicans derided the provision exempting Nebraska from paying for expanded Medicaid coverage as the “Cornhusker Kickback.” Nelson later asked that all states be treated equally.
A recent Republican political ad accused Nelson of accepting a bribe for his vote for the health-care legislation.
In a statement, Obama called Nelson’s bipartisanship “a trait far too often overlooked in today’s politics.”
Senator Patty Murray of Washington state, chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, played down the impact of Nelson’s stepping down.
“We remain confident that we will hold the majority next year because incumbents have built strong campaign organizations in their states,” Murray said in a statement. “Republicans will continue to have their hands full with a very divisive primary” in Nebraska, “which will provide an opportunity for Democrats to remain competitive.”
Three Republicans
So far, three Republicans, state Attorney General Jon Bruning, state Treasurer Don Stenberg and Deb Fischer, a state senator, are seeking the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.
John Heineman, Nebraska’s Republican governor, told reporters earlier this month that he rebuffed overtures by party officials in Washington, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, about running for the seat.
“I understand their arguments. They’re persuasive. But I also indicated that it would take a lot to change my mind,” Heineman was quoted as saying by the Omaha World-Herald.
Possible Democratic candidates identified today by the newspaper include former Lieutenant Governor Kim Robak and Steve Lathrop, a state senator.
Bob Kerrey
Bob Kerrey, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska, had also been mentioned on political blogs as a possible candidate if Nelson retired. Kerrey, who recently retired as president of the New School in New York, told Nebraska.Watchdog.org on Dec. 9 that running for the Senate is “not what I would consider being my logical career path.”
Duffy said that while Kerrey, who held the seat from 1989-2000, “in theory” is “a really good candidate, in practice, I think it would be tough” because “it’s been a really long time since Bob Kerrey has been on the ballot.”
Democrats, who must defend 23 seats next year, have fewer opportunities to make gains because only 10 Republican incumbents are seeking re-election.
Two Republican senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona, are retiring. A third, former Nevada Senator John Ensign, resigned and his appointed successor, Dean Heller, faces a potentially strong challenge from Democratic Representative Shelley Berkley.
Swing States
Nevada is one opportunity for Democrats because it’s “a swing state” where “the presidential race is going to have an impact over the outcome,” Duffy said.
Another state where presidential politics could affect the outcome is Virginia, she said. There, two former governors, Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen, are vying for the seat being vacated by Democrat Jim Webb, who is retiring. Webb’s defeat of Allen in 2006 was the final pickup that gave Democrats control of the Senate.
The other retiring Democratic senators are Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico. Connecticut independent Joseph Lieberman, who caucuses with the Democrats, also isn’t seeking re-election.
To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
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Iran Threatens to Block Oil if West Sets New Sanctions
Iran issued a blunt warning on Tuesday that it would block the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transit point, if Western powers attempt to impose an embargo on Iranian petroleum exports in their campaign to isolate the country over its suspect nuclear energy program.
Sears to close more stores as holiday sales slump - Yahoo! News
(Reuters) - Sears Holdings Corp will close up to 120 stores in its Kmart and namesake chains, blaming poor sales of consumer electronics so far this holiday season and saying it would focus its energy on its better performing stores.
Sales at Sears Holdings, whose chairman and top shareholder is hedge fund manager Edward Lampert, have fallen every year since it was formed through the merger of Sears and Kmart in 2005.
And so far this holiday season, the drop has continued. Same-store sales at Kmart were down 4.4 percent in the current quarter through Christmas Day, and down 6 percent at Sears' U.S. stores. Companywide, they were down 5.2 percent, the company said on Tuesday.
Sears said that typically, it would keep "marginally performing" stores open to give them time to improve, but "we no longer believe that to be the appropriate action in this environment."
The store closings follow its announcement last quarter it would shutter 10 stores. Kmart and Sears have a combined 2,177 U.S. full service locations and another 500 in Canada.
Sears blamed poor consumer electronics sales in a tough economic environment "especially for big-ticket items" for more than half of the decline in its namesake chain's domestic same-store sales.
It even reported lower layaway sales, which are designed to allow lower income shoppers to pay for items in installments.
Sears Holdings said the lower sales and margin pressure would lead to adjusted fourth-quarter earnings before interest, debt and amortization of less than half of the year-ago quarter's $933 million figure.
Last month, Sears reported a much wider than expected quarterly loss as higher markdowns and pricing pressures in appliances squeezed margins.
The retailer, home to brands including Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances, expects to earn $140 million to $170 million by selling of inventory in affected stores and selling or subleasing store space.
Sears also expects to record a non-cash charge of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion in the fourth quarter related to a valuation allowance on certain deferred tax assets.
(Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York, and Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Roshni Menon, Dave Zimmerman)
Drew Brees Passes Dan Marino, And Tom Brady Probably Will, Too
Drew Brees Passes Dan Marino, And Tom Brady Probably Will, Too
Dec 27 8:01a by Matt Watson
Read More: Tom Brady (QB - NEP), Drew Brees (QB - NOS), Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots
Drew Brees broke Dan Marino's 27-year-old NFL record for the most passing yards in a season in the final minutes of Monday's win over the Falcons. Brees has now thrown for 5,087 yards, two more than Marino's old mark. Considering the Saints still have much to play for -- a Saints' win coupled with a 49ers' loss would give New Orleans a first-round bye in the playoffs -- Brees will continue adding to that total in Week 17.
VIDEO: Drew Brees Breaks Dan Marino's Record
Follow @sbnation on Twitter | Like SB Nation on Facebook | Sign up for our NewsletterBut while Brees is the first player to surpass Marino this season, there's a good chance he won't be the last. Tom Brady, who's averaging 326.4 yards per game, enters the final week of the season with 4,897 yards, just 187 shy of matching Marino's old mark. For context, Brady has thrown for fewer than 226 yards just once all season, and in that game he still threw for 198.
In fact, he's already thrown for more yards in 15 games than he did over the course of a full season in either of his MVP seasons in 2007 and 2010. And when you include his three rushing scores this year, he's accounted for more touchdowns (39) than he did last year (37). In any other year, he'd be the leading contender for his third MVP. Instead, Aaron Rodgers and Brees have helped render him something of an afterthought for the first time in a decade.
Like Brees, Brady has a lot to play for: one more win for the Patriots will clinch home-field advantage through the playoffs. And while he looks like a solid bet to overtake Marino in the season finale against the Bills, there's also a chance -- a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless -- that he overtakes Brees, as well.
Granted, doing so would require throwing for 190 more yards than whatever Brees manages. It's almost silly to think it could happen, but this is a guy who threw for 517 yards in Week 1, so you can't entirely rule it out -- especially considering the Patriots' secondary had Brady playing from behind for much of Week 15 while the Bills put up 40 points on Denver's vaunted defense. If we've learned anything during the Year of the Quarterback, it's that anything can happen.
For more on the Saints, visit Saints blog Canal Street Chronicles. For the latest on the Patriots, check out Patriots blog Pats Pulpit.
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Monday, December 26, 2011
Online shopping jumps 16.4 pct on Christmas Day
A growing number of shoppers apparently need only the briefest of breaks before diving back in, especially if they can log in to shop.
IBM found that online shopping jumped 16.4 percent on Christmas Day over last year, and the dollar amount of those purchases that were made using mobile devices leaped 172.9 percent.
IBM tracks shopping at more than 500 websites other than Amazon.com, which is the largest. It found a huge increase in the number of shoppers making their purchases with iPhones, iPads and Android-powered mobile devices.
US Retailers brace for busy ‘mega monday’ - FT.com
Dec 26 – Retailers were bracing for a busy day on Monday, as a day off for many Americans and warm, dry weather were expected to entice shoppers looking for discounts.
Many chains were still relying on the lure of bargains to bring in shoppers on the day after Christmas. Office Depot advertised its ‘Ultimate After Christmas Sale’, with stores opening at 8am. Carter’s, the children’s apparel retailer, promoted discounts of up to 70 per cent.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Islamists kill dozens in Nigeria Christmas bombs | Reuters
(Reuters) - Islamist militants set off bombs across Nigeria on Christmas Day - three targeting churches including one that killed at least 27 people - raising fears that they are trying to ignite sectarian civil war.
20 Dead, 50 Wounded in Afghan Suicide Attack | Asia | English
An Afghan official says at least 20 people were killed and 50 wounded in a suicide attack Sunday in northern Afghanistan.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Gingrich, Perry to Miss Virginia Ballot
By NEIL KING JR.
Republican Party officials in Virginia have announced that neither Newt Gingrich nor Rick Perry submitted a sufficient number of valid signatures to qualify for the state's presidential primary ballot.
The development is a significant blow to both campaigns. Virginia is one of the most delegate-rich states to hold its election contest on March 6, so-called Super Tuesday.
The Gingrich and Perry campaigns each filed more than 11,000 signatures Thursday to meet the 10,000-signature requirement, but the party ruled late Friday, after working to verify the petitions, that not enough of the signatures were valid.
The ruling is a serious setback for the Gingrich campaign in particular. The former House speaker lives in Virginia, and his campaign headquarters are there. He is also leading in most polls in the state.
But the failure underscores how challenged the campaign remains, organizationally. The Gingrich camp hired a firm earlier this month to scramble to collect the signatures, including the 400 needed from each of the state's 11 congressional districts.
On Wednesday evening, Mr. Gingrich held a rally in the state to urge supporters to help gather additional signatures in a flurry. His campaign submitted its petitions just before the deadline on Thursday.
Republican party officials for weeks had advised the campaigns to submit at least 15,000 signatures to assure they had a sufficient number of valid signings.
The ruling leaves only two candidates on the Virginia ballot: Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. The campaigns of Jon Huntsman, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum did not submit any petitions to get on the state's ballot.
The Romney campaign has a huge volunteer base in the state and began collecting its signatures months ago. The Gingrich and Perry setbacks in Virginia will likely strengthen Mr. Romney's argument that his large organization is best able to win a state-by-state fight for delegates to the GOP nominating convention next year.
Write to Neil King Jr. at neil.king@wsj.com
Friday, December 23, 2011
Britain's Prince Philip taken to hospital - CNN.com
London (CNN) -- Britain's Prince Philip was taken to a hospital on Friday for "precautionary tests" after complaining of chest pains, a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said.
He was taken from Sandringham to the cardiothoracic unit at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, she said. The royal family traditionally spends Christmas at the Sandringham Estate.
Philip, the husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, is also known as the Duke of Edinburgh.
He turned 90 in June, at which point a Buckingham Palace spokesman said that Philip would gradually "wind down" his workload.
Oil Heads for Biggest Weekly Gain in Two Months on U.S. Economy - Businessweek
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
Christchurch earthquake: Rockfalls, liquefaction, injuries after quakes - National - NZ Herald News
ExpandThe scene at a Christchurch supermarket after the 1.58pm quake. Photo / Nathan Mercer (Twitter)
A series of earthquakes have terrified many already-frazzled Christchurch residents this afternoon, starting with a 5.8 magnitude tremor at 1.58pm.
It was followed by a 6.0 magnitude aftershock at 3.18pm, centred 10km east of Christchurch in South New Brighton.
Initial reports said one person had received minor injuries, although St John had responded to 19 earthquake-related emergency calls in and around Christchurch.
They ranged from complaints of chest pain and seizures, to a panic attack.
Five people had collapsed, and one suffered a knock to the head.
St John said all injuries were minor.
Police say there is no tsunami threat, and they have no reports of serious or widespread damage or injury.
Rockfalls and damage
People were urged to stay away from hill suburbs because of risk of rockfalls, and Coastguard had rescued four people who were trapped by rockfall in Boulder Bay.
Police said there had also been a significant rockfall at Redcliffs, a stopbank on New Brighton Road had collapsed, a partly demolished building on the corner of Barbadoes and Kilmore Streets collapsed, and a vacant house at 81 Aynsley Terrace collapsed.
Road damage and liquefaction
Major holes in the road were reported to have opened up on Broadhaven Avenue, and liquefaction was reported in Avonside.
Drivers were urged to slow down and be patient as congestion built up in some areas.
Police said Christchurch residents should stay off roads if at all possible, and text rather than phone.
Christchurch Hospital, the Princess Margaret Hospital and Hillmorton are all fully operational. Burwood is operating on emergency power.
There are no reports of damage and no injuries to staff or patients who were at the board's facilities at the time of the quake.
The DHB said people can access 24-hour non-emergency care through their general practice, and are asked to help keep the Emergency Department clear for genuine emergencies. The 111 service is operating normally for emergencies.
The Christchurch mayor said his heart breaks for Cantabrians shocked by a series of earthquakes this afternoon.
The first, a magnitude 5.8 tremor, struck at 1.50pm. Its focal point was at a depth of eight kilometres, 20km off the coast of Lyttelton.
Key: 'My heart goes out to the people of Christchurch'
Prime Minister John Key said Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister, Gerry Brownlee, will be heading to Christchurch this afternoon to access the situation.
"My heart goes out to the people of Christchurch and Canterbury at this time," Mr Key said.
"However, residents can be confident that the authorities are onto the situation and government resources stand ready to assist wherever they are needed.
"The Government's resolve to work with the people of Christchurch and Canterbury to rebuild remains unchanged following today's two aftershocks."
Mayor Bob Parker has now booked to fly back to Christchurch from Taupo, where he was holidaying.
He told TVNZ he was getting a lot of reports in from the east of the city of minor damage.
"On the east there's more reports coming in of liquefaction, in Avondale ... and there's small collapses around riverbanks."
He said while initial reports tell of minor damage to the city, today's shake would have taken a large emotional toll on people.
"Many of them just sitting around and in tears. You just can't understand the ongoing stress."
"We were just getting over that feeling, I think, and it sets people back."
Chlorine had finally been removed from the waterways two weeks ago, and today's quake could have set infrastructure progress back, he said.
'Very violent... constant rolling'
Jacqui Taylor said she was working in the Lyttelton library when the first magnitude 5.8 quake hit.
"It was very violent, with constant rolling for a very long time, we left the building and people gathered in the main street. there were more aftershocks while we were in the street.
"I luckily made it through the tunnel and back home in Addington, feeling one more shake while i was in my car at the lights."
Power outages
Electricity distributor Orion reports power is out from the New Brighton area through to Shirley. It is thought 15,000 customers in the eastern suburbs including New Brighton and Dallington were without power. Electricity was also out in Springston in central Canterbury.
Orion said its crews were out assessing damage. It said it appeared power is out due to tripping caused by shaking rather than damage to equipment.
Neanwhile New Zealand Post said there will be no mail deliveries in Christchurch. The Christchurch Mail Centre has been evacuated as a precaution and will not re-open this evening.
The next scheduled mail deliveries following the statutory holidays will be December 28.
Emergency Operations Centre
The Christchurch City Council has established an Emergency Operations Centre in the city. There has been a rockfall behind containers at Scarborough, and liquefaction at Parklands, the council said.
Police are doing aerial reconnaissance to check for damage across the city.
All Council buildings will be closed until they can be assessed as safe to occupy. People should assume all Council buildings are closed until they can be assessed and declared safe.
Cantabrians are being warned that more aftershocks could be on the way before Christmas.
GNS: More aftershocks to come
GNS seismologist Ken Gledhill told TVNZ "this is part of a series of earthquakes that have been set off by what happened in September 2010.
"In the coming days the most likely scenario is that there will be a series of aftershocks in a similar location.
"This is just a reminder that this area is more active than what it was before September 2010."
He said GNS were doing the best they could with information and the situation in Christchurch.
- APNZ
By APNZ
The Associated Press: Oil rises for 4th day, nears $100 a barrel
Oil rises for 4th day, nears $100 a barrelBy JONATHAN FAHEY, AP Energy Writer – 5 minutes ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices rose above $99 a barrel Thursday amid signs of growing U.S. crude demand and concerns about global supply.
Benchmark crude rose 73 cents to $99.40 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price crude produced in many foreign countries and is an important feedstock for U.S. gasoline producers, rose 20 cents to $107.91 per barrel in London.
A series of positive reports in the U.S. suggested that the economy is improving. That has sent stock prices and oil prices higher this week. Crude prices are up for the fourth straight day.
Investors got a double-barrel of encouraging news Thursday, as the Labor Department said unemployment claims last week dropped to the lowest level in more than three and a half years, and a private report said leading economic indicators pointed to a strengthening economy.
On Tuesday, a report showed housing construction was picking up in the U.S. And on Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration reported a dramatic drop in the nation's oil supplies last week.
Gasoline demand was down 2.6 percent from last year through the first nine months of the year, according to government data. Drivers cut back amid high pump prices and worries about the economy.
"That's an astonishing amount," said Andrew Lipow, an independent oil analyst. He expects gasoline demand to fall slightly next year, though the decline won't be as great if the economy improves.
Demand for oil and gas grows with the economy as shippers move more goods and consumers drive and fly more.
Oil prices are also being pushed higher by threats to global supplies. Rising tensions between the West and Iran over Iran's nuclear ambitions are raising fears that oil from the world's fourth biggest producer may be kept from reaching markets in the coming weeks.
Oil traders also are concerned about political instability in Kazakhstan, which exports about 1.3 million barrels of oil per day, about 1.5 percent of world demand. The Central Asian nation has been battling political protests that have resulted in more than a dozen deaths in the last month.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC had to shut a large field off the coast of Nigeria because of a leak.
Oil prices have spent much of the year near $100 per barrel. That has pushed the retail price of gasoline to its highest annual average ever, $3.52 per gallon. On Thursday national average pump prices rose a penny to $3.22 per gallon according to AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
In other energy trading, heating oil was virtually unchanged at $2.1933 per gallon, and gasoline futures rose 1 cent to $2.6324 per gallon. Natural gas was little changed at $3.158 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Oil Rises for a Fourth Day as U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Decline - Bloomberg
Oil rose a fourth day in New York as the number of applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell to the lowest level since April 2008, bolstering optimism that economic growth will accelerate.
Futures advanced as much as 0.7 percent after the Labor Department said that jobless claims dropped by 4,000 to 364,000 last week. The median forecast of 45 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected an increase to 380,000. U.S. oil supplies declined the most in a decade last week, an Energy Department report showed yesterday.
“We’re in an uptrend and may have further to go,” said Tom Bentz, a director in New York with BNP Paribas Prime Brokerage Inc. “The inventory number yesterday surprised a lot of people and added to the rally. The jobless numbers today gave us an initial boost but we ran into resistance around $100.”
Crude oil for February delivery rose 80 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $99.47 a barrel at 9:38 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $99.50, the highest level since Dec. 14. Prices have risen 8.9 percent this year after climbing 15 percent in 2010.
Brent oil for February settlement increased 43 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $108.14 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell 10.6 million barrels last week, the largest decrease since February 2001, yesterday’s Energy Department report showed.
$100 a Barrel
New York oil will average a record $100 a barrel next year as the U.S. averts recession, while Brent will decline from the 2011 mean, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.
The $100 forecast for West Texas Intermediate oil, the U.S. benchmark, is based on the median of 27 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg, topping the all-time high of $99.75 set in 2008. WTI is on course to average $95 a barrel this year. Brent will average $109 next year, compared with $110.98 so far this year, a survey of 28 analysts showed.
Oil is up 25 percent this quarter, the biggest gain since the second quarter of 2009, as the European Union and the U.S. seek support from the Middle East and Asia for sanctions against Iran, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
EU nations, the U.S. and Asia-Pacific allies discussed possible measures in Rome on Dec. 20 and vowed to increase pressure on Iran to abandon a suspected nuclear weapons program, according to an Italian Foreign Ministry statement.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Banks take 489 billion euros in 3-year ECB loans | Reuters
(Reuters) - Banks took a huge 489 billion euros at the European Central Bank's first ever offering of three-year funding on Wednesday, raising hope a credit crunch can be avoided and that the money may be used to buy Italian and Spanish bonds.
A total of 523 banks borrowed money at the tender with demand way above the 310 billion euros expected by traders polled by Reuters in the run-up to the operation.
The banks' lunge for funding pushed the euro to a one-week high versus the dollar and sparked a rally in stocks.
Comscore: US online holiday sales rise 14% on week - MarketWatch
U.S. online retail sales rose 14% in the latest week from a year earlier, placing e-commerce spending for the holiday shopping season on track to top 2010 levels, according to Internet measurement company comScore Inc. /quotes/zigman/105907/quotes/nls/scor SCOR -0.10% .
"The final big week of online holiday shopping remained strong throughout," said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. While most of the last minute holiday shopping is expected to shift to brick-and-mortar retail, an additional $5 billion or $6 billion in online spending is predicted over the remainder of the month, Fulgoni said.
For the week ended Sunday, sales reached a record $6.3 billion, including four individual days that topped $1 billion in sales. Sales during the last shopping weekend before Christmas reached $1.04 billion, the second heaviest weekend of online spending on record.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
U.S. asks journals to censor bird flu studies | Reuters
(Reuters) - A U.S. scientific advisory board Tuesday asked two scientific journals to leave out data from research studies on a lab-made version of bird flu that could spread more easily to humans, fearing it could be used as a potential weapon.
The U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity has asked the journals Nature and Science to publish redacted versions of the studies by two research groups that reportedly created forms of the H5N1 avian flu that could easily jump between ferrets -- typically considered a sign that the virus could spread quickly among humans.
The Associated Press: Deadly snowstorm halts travel across Great Plains
Deadly snowstorm halts travel across Great PlainsBy JERI CLAUSING, Associated Press – 10 minutes ago
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Fierce winds and snow that caused fatal road accidents and shuttered highways in five states, crawled deeper into the Great Plains early Tuesday, with forecasters warning that pre-holiday travel would be difficult if not impossible across the region.
Hotels were filling up quickly along major roadways from eastern New Mexico to Kansas, and nearly 100 rescue calls came in from motorists in the Texas Panhandle as blizzard conditions forced closed part of Interstate 40, a major east-west route, Monday night.
About 10 inches of snow had fallen in western Kansas before dawn Tuesday, and several more inches — along with strong wind gusts — were expected, National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Russell said.
"We're talking about whiteout conditions," he said.
The storm was blamed for at least six deaths Monday, authorities said. Four people were killed when their vehicle collided with a pickup truck in part of eastern New Mexico where blizzard-like conditions are rare, and a prison guard and inmate died when a prison van crashed along an icy roadway in eastern Colorado.
The late-autumn snowstorm lumbered into the region Monday, turning roads to ice and reducing visibility to zero. The conditions put state road crews on alert and had motorists taking refuge and early exits off major roads across the region.
In northern New Mexico, snow and ice shuttered all roads from Raton to the Texas and Oklahoma borders about 90 miles away. Hotels in Clayton, N.M., just east of where the three states touch, were nearly full.
Linda Pape, general manager of the Clayton Super 8 motel said it was packed with unhappy skiers who had been headed to lodges in Colorado and elsewhere in New Mexico.
"They lost a day or two of skiing, and they had budgeted an amount of money they were going to spend, and now they have to spend more staying somewhere else," she said.
Pape said it's not uncommon for skiers to get stuck in Clayton during the winter, and she keeps two freezers and a refrigerator stocked in case roads are closed.
"They are not happy, but we are not letting them go hungry," she said.
The storm came after much of the country had a relatively mild fall. With the exception of the October snowstorm blamed for 29 deaths on the East Coast, there's been little rain or snow. Many of the areas hit Monday enjoyed relatively balmy 60-degree temperatures just 24 hours earlier.
The snow moved into the Oklahoma Panhandle early Monday, and 1.5 inches accumulated in about an hour, said Vicki Roberts, who owns the Black Mesa Bed and Breakfast in Kenton. Her inn sits at the base of the 4,973-foot-tall Black Mesa, the highest point in Oklahoma. Looking out her window, she couldn't see it.
"I have a mail route and I'm not going," Roberts said. "You just don't get out in this. We'll be socked in here. If we lose power, we'll just read a book in front of the fireplace."
Travel throughout the region was difficult. New Mexico shut down a portion of Interstate 25, the major route heading northeast of Santa Fe into Colorado, and Clayton police dispatcher Cindy Blackwell said her phones were "ringing off the hook" with calls from numerous motorists stuck on rural roads.
Bill Cook, who works at the Best Western in Clayton, said he hadn't seen such a storm since the 1970s, when cattle had to be airlifted with helicopters and the National Guard was called in to help out. His hotel was packed Monday with people "happy they have a room," and some of the children were playing outside in the snow.
Keith Barras, the owner of the Eklund Hotel, a landmark in Clayton since the 1890s, said guests were happily milling around the lobby and he expected to be full by nightfall.
"We have lots of board games, one of our customers has a guitar, we have a piano, so there'll be a party tonight," Barras said.
Though some drivers were inconvenienced, farmers and meteorologists said the storm was bringing much needed moisture — first rain, then snow as temperatures dropped — to areas of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas that had been parched by a drought that started in the summer of 2010.
Virginia Kepley, 73, spent Monday afternoon baking pumpkin bread to give as Christmas gifts while snow fell on her farm near Ulysses, Kan.
"I decided to try to get as much done today in case the electricity goes off and I can't make it tomorrow," she said.
Kepley was grateful for the snow after some of her family's wheat never got enough moisture to sprout last season. A new crop had been planted in the fall for harvest next summer.
"It is wonderful for the wheat," Kepley said. "At least we have wheat we can see this year."
Clausing reported from Albuquerque, N.M. Associated Press writers Terry Wallace in Dallas; Juan Carlos Llorca in El Paso, Texas; and Tim Talley in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Republican candidates meet for last debate before Iowa caucuses - The Boston Globe
Last night Romney defended his experience at Bain, saying that it taught him valuable lessons about how the economy works. ‘‘Government doesn’t create jobs, but the private sector does,’’ Romney said. ‘‘I spent my life, my career, in the private sector. I understand, by the way, from my successes and my failures what it’s going to take to put Americans back to work with high-paying jobs.’’
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Gasoline Falls to Two-Week Low as OPEC Raises Limit, Euro Drops - Businessweek
Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Gasoline fell the most since August, following crude oil lower after OPEC raised its production limits and as the dollar strengthened, reducing the investment appeal of commodities.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Huntsman seeks GOP presidential nomination his way - Politics Wires
WASHINGTON — At 19, Jon Huntsman arrived in Taiwan for a two-year gig as a missionary for the Mormon church. He didn't receive a warm reception. The Taiwanese government was furious at the United States for re-establishing diplomatic ties with China, and the people whom Huntsman was there to recruit to his faith weren't much happier.
"You don't know much of the language at all," Huntsman recalled of his first days, bunking in a squalid apartment, riding his bicycle by the U.S. Embassy, which had been pelted with tomatoes, eggs and rocks. "You're in a foreign environment. People are calling you names and spitting at you for reasons that you're not fully up to speed on."
Yet the teenage venture would serve as a defining moment for Huntsman. He learned Mandarin and later would return to live in the region three more times, including stints as the U.S. ambassador under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama.
"It was such a monumental, geopolitical event happening under my feet," Huntsman said. "At 19, I was able to see the power and the influence of the U.S. abroad and how it changes history."
Now 51, Huntsman is running for the Republican nomination for president, touting himself as the only candidate with foreign-policy experience, along with two terms as a popular governor of Utah, one of the country's most conservative states.
But he's struggled to break into double digits in polls, and he acknowledges that his decision to cut short his second term as governor and go to China for a Democratic president is a non-starter for "a certain percentage" of hard-core, anti-Obama conservatives.
In addition, his support for civil unions for same-sex couples, as well as what conservative commentators considered a snarky assertion in support of climate change — he tweeted in August that he believes in "evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy" — fueled Republican suspicion of his conservative bona fides, which supporters say include state tax cuts, passage of a flat state income tax and an anti-abortion record.
Huntsman and his family say that his decision to serve as U.S. envoy to Beijing wasn't complicated: The president asked him to serve his country during a crucial time. To counter critics, Huntsman raises the issue before his audiences at campaign events can.
"I know it's on people's minds, and I don't want them left wondering, 'Why would he serve?" Huntsman said in an interview at his campaign headquarters in New Hampshire, where he's staking his candidacy. "If the president of another party asks me to stand up, that's what I'm going to do. I think people relate to putting country before party."
He positions himself as a candidate of conviction — contrasting himself with fellow Mormon Mitt Romney, whom he portrays in a campaign ad as a wind-up, back-flipping monkey — and says at some appearances that it would've been unpatriotic to turn down Obama.
Such public service runs deep in the Huntsman family, one of the most prominent in Utah, friends say. His two sons serve in the military. His father, Jon Huntsman Sr., who made a fortune by inventing the containers that held Big Macs, is a major philanthropist and has said he wants to "to die broke" after donating much of his fortune to cancer research. (Huntsman Sr. also is said to be contributing to an independent political action committee that backs Huntsman).
Missing mother's body found in Dyer County - KAIT-Jonesboro, AR-News, weather, sports, classifieds-
DYER COUNTY, TN -(WMC-TV) – The TBI has confirmed that Karen Swift's body was found in rural Dyer County Saturday afternoon.
Police blocked off a large portion of Harness Road near Highway 78 for most of Saturday afternoon and night. That is where they found a decomposed body near the home of missing Dyer County mother Karen Swift.
Swift, a mother of four, picked up her daughter from a Halloween party in late October and has not been seen since. Days after her disappearance, her car was found near her home. Her tires were split.
Investigators haven't released Swift's cause of death.
Body found near Dyer County home of missing mom | The Tennessean | tennessean.com
DYERSBURG, TENN. — Police in West Tennessee say they have found a decomposed body near the home of a woman who has been missing for more than a month.
The remains were found Saturday in Dyer County near the home of Karen Swift, a mother of four who hasn’t been seen since late October, according to a WMC-TV report.
The body was sent to the Regional Forensic Center in Memphis for an autopsy and positive identification.
Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Box told the station that the identity of the body would not be released before today.
— Associated Press