Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Report: Cain reassessing campaign
Presidential contender Herman Cain is in the process of reviewing whether to stay in the race for the White House, according to a report by National Review Online.
NRO is reporting that Cain told his senior staff on a conference call this morning that he is "reassessing" … "over the next several days."The report comes less than 24-hours after a Georgia woman came forward alleging she and Cain conducted a 13-year affair that ended shortly before he announced his run for president.The AP reported the tone of the conference call was "positive" but that there was some "uncertainty coming from Cain," citing an unnamed call participant.
Steve Grubbs, Cain's Iowa campaign manager, told the AP Cain said the allegations have "taken an emotional toll on his family."
"He said this lady was a friend, someone he thought was a friend, that he was trying to help out financially and had been a friend for some period of time," he said. "But that nothing inappropriate occurred."Cain has adamantly denied the allegations and told CNN Monday night that he would not drop out of the race.
In a statement released after the interview with Ginger White aired, Cain said the American people are tired of "dirty politics and smear tactics" and that the allegations were prompted by political opponents "afraid of a Cain presidency.
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Hundreds of Thousands Protest in Yemen
By HAKIM ALMASMARI
SANA'A, Yemen—One civilian was killed by government forces on the outskirts of the capital, while hundreds of thousands of youths demonstrated in cities across the country Saturday in opposition to an agreement last week that grants President Ali Abdullah Saleh immunity from prosecution in return for leaving office.
"Martyrs wrote with their blood, that Saleh must stand trial," read a banner held up by protesters in the capital.
Yemen has seen some of the biggest demonstrations of the year in recent days, after Mr. Saleh signed the agreement following months of delay. The agreement, negotiated by neighboring Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, passes Mr. Saleh's powers to Vice President Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi and calls for a presidential election within 90 days.
While the international community has endorsed the deal, protesters and other opposition figures remained skeptical that Mr. Saleh is stepping back from power after ruling the country for 33 years. A senior Interior Ministry official said that Mr. Saleh contacted the interior minister twice over the past 36 hours to give orders on how to run certain matters, said the official.
The turmoil in Yemen threatens to overwhelm efforts to pull off a smooth transition of power from Mr. Saleh to a government that would share power more broadly. Under the power-transfer agreement signed in Riyadh days ago, Mr. Saleh retains his title but no authority.
Meanwhile, troops loyal to Mr. Saleh attacked several neighborhoods on the outskirts of the capital as skirmishes with opposition militias and tribal fighters continued.
"Our children and wives are being killed while Saleh is given immunity. Who will give me my children back if they are killed?" said Saleem Naser, a local of Nehm whose house has been destroyed in air raids.
An Interior Ministry official confirmed air raids on Nehm, a suburb of the capital, but wouldn't give details on why the attacks were conducted.
Government attacks on opposition tribal areas also continued Saturday morning in Bani Hushauish district, about 15 kilometers south the capital. Eyewitnesses said air raids continued for more than two hours. At least two civilians were injured, one of them a child and is in critical condition.
Also today, Yemen's opposition National Council officially chose Mohammed Basendowah as its candidate for prime minister in Yemen's first national government after Mr. Saleh's transfer of power.
According to the agreement, the opposition would nominate its candidate to lead the government while the vice president would accept the nomination as president and ask him to form the unified government.
Friday, November 25, 2011
AT&T and T-Mobile Withdraw F.C.C. Merger Application
Deutsche Telekom, the parent of T-Mobile, and AT&T said in a joint statement that they still intended to pursue the $39 billion merger and would prepare for a federal antitrust lawsuit that is seeking to block the deal. But the companies also said that AT&T planned to take a $4 billion charge against earnings to reflect the potential breakup fees that AT&T would have to pay Deutsche Telekom if the deal failed to go through.
The actions followed the decision this week by Julius Genachowski, the F.C.C. chairman, that the merger did not meet the commission’s standard for approval. Mr. Genachowski sent other commissioners a proposed order to refer the case to an administrative law judge, the first step toward a commission move to block the deal, which would combine the second- and fourth-largest cellphone carriers in the United States.
The application withdrawal appears in part meant to prevent the F.C.C. from making public AT&T and T-Mobile records about the potential effects of the merger, records that could then be used by the Justice Department in the antitrust trial.
The companies have maintained publicly that the deal would not lessen competition and that it would create jobs in the United States. But the Justice Department has said that the merger would severely restrict competition, and F.C.C. officials have said that AT&T’s confidential filings indicate the merger would eliminate jobs.
The withdrawal of the F.C.C. application “is a tacit acknowledgment by AT&T that this story is all but over,” said Craig Moffett, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. “The fat lady hasn’t started singing yet, but she’s holding the mike, and the band is about to play.”
The efforts by the Justice Department’s antitrust division and the F.C.C. to block the merger reflect a reinvigoration of federal efforts to rein in excessive business practices after a prolonged period of deregulation that preceded the 2008 financial crisis.
President Obama came into office pledging to take a harder look at the antitrust implications of proposed mergers, but the Justice Department was criticized by consumer groups in its first year for appearing hesitant to follow through on that promise.
Similarly, the F.C.C. drew rebukes for its approval last year of the merger between Comcast and NBC Universal, which critics claimed would concentrate too much power over both television content and its transmission to consumers.
The move this week to conduct a hearing on the cellphone deal was the first time the F.C.C. had done so on a merger since the 2002 proposed alliance between Echostar and Direct TV, which ultimately was scrapped.
In the current case, however, AT&T has noted that expansion of the nation’s Internet infrastructure is one of Mr. Obama’s top goals to help rebuild the economy, and the F.C.C. itself has predicted that its recent initiative to expand broadband Internet access to rural areas would create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Consumer groups, which generally have opposed the merger, said this week’s combined actions indicated that the deal was falling apart.
“The chances that AT&T will take over T-Mobile are almost gone,” Gigi B. Sohn, president of the consumer group Public Knowledge, said in a statement. “While you can never count out AT&T entirely, the fact that they pulled their F.C.C. application speaks volumes about the company’s lack of confidence” in getting approval.
Deutsche Telekom, based in Germany, said in a statement that the withdrawal “is being undertaken by both companies to consolidate their strength and to focus their continuing efforts on obtaining antitrust clearance for the transaction from the Department of Justice. As soon as practical, Deutsche Telekom and AT&T intend to seek necessary F.C.C. approval.”
AT&T issued its own statement saying that the companies were taking this step “to facilitate the consideration of all options at the F.C.C.,” as well as to consider other options.
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Edward Wyatt reported from Washington and Jenna Wortham from New York.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Stocks Fall, Credit Risk Rises to Record on Merkel Bond Comments
Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks fell, Italian bonds declined and the cost of insuring European government debt against default rose to a record after German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out joint euro-area borrowing.
The MSCI All-Country World Index retreated 0.3 percent at 2:21 p.m. in New York. The yield on Italy's 10-year bonds climbed above 7.1 percent. The Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of credit-default swaps on 15 governments rose three basis points to 381. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.2 percent and Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures slid 1.4 percent. U.S. markets are closed today for Thanksgiving. The euro was little changed against the dollar at $1.3338.
Euro bonds are "not needed and not appropriate," Merkel said at a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Strasbourg, France. More than $4 trillion has been erased from the value of equities worldwide this month as rising borrowing costs in the euro-area stoked concern the debt crisis will derail growth.
"The market sees a 'no' and reacts to it," said Martin Huefner, chief economist at Assenagon GmbH in Munich, which manages more than $4.7 billion of client assets. "We're going to see a deterioration of equity markets in the coming months to the point where something will have to be done. The market would be euphoric to get euro bonds. Apparently the pressure is not big enough yet."
The euro weakened 0.3 percent against the yen and 0.1 percent versus the Swiss franc. The yen advanced against all but two of its 16 major counterparts.
Portugal Downgrade
The yield on Italy's 10-year bond climbed 14 basis points to 7.11 percent, while similar-maturity French debt yields rose three basis points to 3.72 percent.
Portugal's bonds fell, with 10-year note yields climbing 90 basis points to 12.21 percent after Fitch Ratings cut the nation's credit grade one step to BB+, the highest junk status.
Germany's 10-year bond yield rose as much as 12 basis points to 2.26 percent before trading five basis points higher at 2.20 percent. Two-year note yields increased three basis points to 0.47 percent.
The Munich-based Ifo institute's German business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, increased to 106.6 from 106.4 in October. Economists expected a decline to 105.2, according to the median of 40 forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.
Three shares advanced for every two that fell in the Stoxx 600 even as the benchmark gauge closed at the lowest level since Oct. 4. Oil and health-care stocks led declines while basic- resources and automakers advanced.
Beating Estimates
Raiffeisen Bank International AG gained 5.9 percent after eastern Europe's third-biggest lender reported profit that topped analyst estimates. Dixons Retail Plc jumped the most since May, advancing 7.1 percent after the U.K.'s largest electronics retailer reported a smaller first-half loss than analysts had predicted.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average sank 1.8 percent after S&P signaled it may be getting closer to lowering Japan's sovereign credit rating. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's administration hasn't made progress in tackling the public debt burden, S&P said.
Canadian stocks fell, with the benchmark index retreating 0.6 percent, on track to the lowest close in seven weeks. Volume was 77 percent below its average for the time of day over the past 180 days due to the U.S. market holiday.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index added 0.3 percent and Brazil's Bovespa gauge advanced 0.7 percent while Russia's Micex Index lost 0.8 percent. Banks led Turkey's ISE National 100 Index down 2.9 percent after Merkel's comments. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 1 percent in Hong Kong after the Chinese central bank lowered reserve-ratio requirements for some rural lenders. India's Sensex rose 1 percent.
--With assistance from Shiyin Chen in Singapore, Julie Cruz in Frankfurt, Emma Charlton, Will Hadfield, Adam Haigh and Michael Shanahan in London and Marie-France Han in New York. Editors: Marie-France Han, Brendan Walsh
To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net
Oil Rises From 2-Week Low on U.S. Supply, German Business Data - Bloomberg
Oil climbed from the lowest price in two weeks after a surprise drop in U.S. stockpiles, and as an unexpected advance in German business confidence countered concern that Europe’s debt crisis will trigger a recession.
New York futures gained as much as 1.1 percent. Crude inventories declined last week to the lowest since January 2010, according to an Energy Department report yesterday. German business confidence unexpectedly rose for the first time in five months in November. The official Saudi Press Agency reported that four people were killed and nine wounded in violence in the kingdom’s eastern province.
“Oil is holding the banner high with strong demand for heating oil as we move into the winter combined with the lack of sweet crude from Libya,” said Thorbjorn Bak Jensen, an analyst at Global Risk Management in Middelfart, Denmark, who forecasts Brent will average $107 a barrel this quarter.
Crude for January delivery rose as much as $1.14 to $97.31 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It finished the session at $97.03. Prices have gained 6.2 percent this year.
Floor trading on Nymex is closed today for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Electronic transactions will be booked with tomorrow’s trades for settlement purposes.
Brent oil for January settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange settled at $107.78 a barrel, up 76 cents. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $10.73 to New York-traded West Texas contracts. The spread reached a record $27.88 on Oct. 14.
German Business Climate
Oil closed at the lowest price since Nov. 9 yesterday after Germany failed to find buyers for 35 percent of bonds at an auction. Today’s business climate index from the Munich-based Ifo institute, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, rose to 106.6 from 106.4 in October. Economists in a Bloomberg News survey expected a decline to 105.2.
U.S. crude stockpiles fell 6.22 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 18 to 330.8 million barrels, according to yesterday’s Energy Department report, the biggest drop in nine weeks. Supplies were expected to climb 500,000 barrels, based on the median estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
“The decrease in inventory is going to be a supportive factor to keep crude oil from losing too much ground,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity-derivatives trading manager at Newedge Group in Tokyo. “One hundred dollars is not far from now but I really doubt it will exceed the recent high of around $103.”
Distillate-fuel stockpiles declined 770,000 barrels to 133 million, the lowest since December 2008, the report showed. Stockpiles were down for an eighth week. Gasoline inventories surged 4.48 million barrels, the most since January.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. yesterday raised its forecast for West Texas crude to $102 a barrel for the first quarter. The bank cited a Nov. 14 announcement by Enbridge Inc. that it would reverse the Seaway pipeline to boost the flow of oil from Cushing to the Gulf of Mexico. The storage hub in Oklahoma is the delivery point for New York-traded crude futures.
To contact the reporter on this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net
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Oil Prices to Remain Choppy
By SARAH KENT
LONDON—The sharp price swings seen in the oil market this year are likely here to stay, as the market remains torn between a weakening global economy and heightening risks to an already tight oil supply.
The push and pull of these two competing themes is expected to keep oil prices volatile in the coming months, causing pain to oil traders unable to stay on top of the market fluctuations.
In a sign of just how confusing the current picture is, revisions to major banks' oil-price forecasts—used by traders as useful market barometers—have become common place in recent weeks. But banks are by no means in agreement on which direction the market will go.
On Tuesday, French bank Société Générale raised its price forecast for European benchmark Brent crude by $10 to $110 a barrel, citing the tight global oil supply picture. But that was followed the next day by a forecast from JP Morgan, which trimmed its Brent forecast for the beginning of 2012 to $105 a barrel, from $115 a barrel previously. The U.S. bank said "the headwind of economic and financial market risks is turning into a gale."
In light holiday trading Thursday, the front-month January Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was 65 cents higher at $107.67 a barrel. The front-month January contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading 42 cents higher at $96.58 per barrel.
Physical oil inventories have dwindled in recent months following the Libya supply disruption and other factors. But the dismal global economic picture poses a significant threat to oil demand, with concerns over the state of the economy causing Brent to sink around 6% over the last two weeks.
"People are reassessing their economic expectations. There's far too much uncertainty in the euro zone and that at the moment really is the key factor we cannot determine for next year," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, vice president of commodities research at VTB Capital. "Given that macro risks are still there ... volatility is here to stay."
But countering the current economic uncertainty and boosting oil prices are continuing geopolitical tensions with the potential to severely disrupt oil supply.
Iran has been the key focus in recent days, after the U.S., the U.K and Canada imposed fresh sanctions on the country Monday. But a resurgence of protests in Egypt as well as ongoing problems in Syria and Yemen also pose potential threats to the crude markets.
The risks presented by the current unrest in the Middle East and North Africa are heightened as they follow on from a year in which supply was already interrupted, leading to a drain on crude stockpiles, analysts said.
The loss of some 1.3 million barrels a day in Libyan crude exports for much of the year put a big dent in global oil supply, while production problems in the North Sea, and disruptions due to sabotage and civil unrest in Nigeria, Yemen and Syria further depleted supply.
According to the most recent data from the International Energy Agency, oil inventories in Europe in September were at their lowest level since November 2007, while preliminary data from October show further stock draws.
"Volatility is going to be there right through next year," said Amrita Sen, oil -market analyst at Barclays Capital. "Supply buffers are very thin and in a market like that, there is much higher volatility."
Write to Sarah Kent at sarah.kent@dowjones.com
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Nokia Siemens to Cut 17,000 Jobs
By CHRISTOPHER LAWTON And ARILD MOEN
HELSINKI—Network-equipment vendor Nokia Siemens Networks said it would cut nearly a quarter of its staff and restructure its business in a last-ditch effort to reach profitability and position itself for independence.
Rajeev Suri, chief executive of the joint venture owned by Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG, said the company would cut 17,000 jobs globally, or 23% of its work force of 74,000, to save €1 billion ($1.35 billion) in annual costs by 2013—double its current target. Mr. Suri also pledged to double down on its mobile broadband businesses, promising to divest other noncore businesses or manage them for value.
"While we plan to reduce our work force significantly, we will not make simple across-the-board reductions. We will focus on doing what we do best," Mr. Suri said in a conference call Wednesday. He declined to specify which regions would be affected.
Up until earlier this year, Nokia and Siemens had hoped they could unload a controlling stake in the unprofitable venture onto a consortium that included private-equity firms Gores Group LLC and Platinum Equity LLC, but the talks fell through. Previous talks with private-equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and TPG Capital also fell through.
Instead, in September, Nokia and Siemens injected €1 billion into the struggling joint venture, which recorded a €114 million operating loss in the three months to Sept. 30 despite a 16% rise in revenue to €3.41 billion. They also appointed Jesper Ovesen, the former chief financial officer of Danish operator TDC A/S, as the company's new chairman.
The level of job cuts was surprising, but necessary as Nokia Siemens works to position the venture to go public, said Swedbank analyst Jari Honko. "The present chairman of the board has a task to prepare Nokia Siemens for an initial public offering. The company can't really continue with the current setup. It's not that profitable," Mr. Honko said.
Nokia in September listed an IPO as one option for Nokia Siemens, as it works to be more of a "stand-alone" entity. In a statement, Mr. Suri on Wednesday said that as Nokia Siemens looks toward an "independent future," it needs to take action now to improve its profitability and cash generation. The joint venture is scheduled to come to an end in 2013. Of the last five consecutive quarters of revenue growth Nokia Siemens has recorded, only one was operationally profitable. The venture has been hurt by stiff competition from rivals, such as Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, the market leader by sales in wireless gear.
Nokia and Siemens each own half of the venture, but Nokia has four of its seven board seats and consolidates the venture's results in its financial statements.
Nokia Siemens Networks Wednesday said it will focus its strategy on mobile network infrastructure and services, with a particular emphasis on mobile broadband.
The planned cost-cutting measures include site consolidation, cost synergies from the integration of Motorola's wireless assets and efficiencies in service operations, it said. Nokia Siemens acquired Motorola's wireless network equipment unit for $1.2 billion in July.
Cost cuts will largely come from shedding jobs but also from general cost cuts and selling of real estate.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
MF Global Trustee Says Shortfall Could Exceed $1.2 Billion
David Goldman for The New York TimesJon S. Corzine on the trading floor of MF Global last year.
6:35 a.m. | Updated
The amount of customer money missing from the collapsed trading firm MF Global may be more than $1.2 billion — double previous estimates — the trustee dismantling the firm’s brokerage unit said on Monday.
But the surprise finding, which caught regulators off guard, may be overstated, according to a person briefed on the investigation. Some regulators say they believe that the trustee double-counted $220 million that had been transferred between units of MF Global, this person said.
Still, the much higher number highlights the disarray of MF Global’s records and raises significantly the hurdle for tens of thousands of customers seeking to get their money back. The trustee’s estimate represents a significant portion of customer funds held by MF Global.
Regulators suspect that as investors and customers fled MF Global in the last week of October, the firm used some of the customer money for its own needs — violating Wall Street rules that customers’ money be kept separate from the firm’s funds. Much of that money may never return.
Now the challenge has grown for investigators trying to determine exactly what happened in those last frantic days. Just days ago, investigators believed that they were closing in on what they thought was about $600 million in missing customer funds, according to people briefed on the matter. Regulators were relying on estimates from the firm and the CME Group, the exchange where MF Global did most of its business.
But after weeks of reconstructing MF Global’s books, forensic accountants from Deloitte and Ernst & Young working for the trustee concluded that the account shortfall was much greater than originally estimated. Regulators have yet to verify the new numbers. While they are expected to raise their estimate above $600 million, it is unlikely to reach the trustee’s $1.2 billion figure.
Kent Jarrell, a spokesman for the trustee’s office, stood by that figure, but he noted that it was preliminary.It is unclear what was behind MF Global’s original lower estimates. Some authorities chalk up the inaccuracies to the firm’s sloppy bookkeeping, and only slowly discovered additional holes in customer funds over the last three weeks.
The search for MF Global’s missing money has consumed a growing number of authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and federal prosecutors in New York and Chicago.
These inquiries have increasingly homed in on the theory that much of the customer money had left the firm, the people briefed on the matter said.
Regulators currently suspect that MF Global — at the time run by Jon S. Corzine, the former Democratic governor of New Jersey — improperly used customer money for its own purposes in the days before filing for Chapter 11 protection on Oct. 31.
Investigators are considering two possible situations. One is that MF Global used the money to meet trading partners’ demands for extra cash, which could come back. The other is that it was used to cover trading losses, which would mean that the money cannot be recovered.
MF Global’s management, however, has maintained that some of the money is still sitting at clearinghouses and banks, according to a person close to the company. Though they have not disputed that some of the money is gone, these executives think that other funds were trapped after the firm rapidly unwound more than half of its trading book as it was collapsing.
No one at MF Global, including its former chief executive, Mr. Corzine, has been accused of wrongdoing.
Representatives for MF Global, the CME and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission declined to comment.
The trustee, James W. Giddens, held a four-hour conference call on Sunday evening with staff members in New York City andChicago to discuss the latest shortfall numbers, according to Mr. Jarrell.
Ultimately, Mr. Giddens — under pressure from customers demanding the return of their money — decided to provide his fullest update yet on the progress of his investigation.
“He felt duty-bound to say” that more money was missing, Mr. Jarrell said.
In Monday’s announcement, the trustee said that his office controlled about $1.6 billion in customer funds, but most of that wasalready earmarked to be paid out. The trustee said he was close to exhausting those funds. But the person briefed on the investigation said that the trustee would soon be able to tap more than $1 billion in customer money that is trapped in Harris Bank.Beyond the shortfall in customer accounts, Mr. Giddens’s office said it did not have access to money that was held in foreign subsidiaries of MF Global, which are under the control of trustees in those countries.
“While the trustee will pursue them vigorously, it has been his experience that recovery of these foreign assets may take more time,” the office said.
In a separate move on Monday, MF Global’s estate requested court permission to appoint a trustee to oversee the winding down of the firm’s parent company. Such an authority would replace the company’s existing board. The trustee would be responsible for coordinating responses to regulators, among other duties.
MF Global is still running on about $8 million in remaining cash, and has yet to secure additional financing to support it through what will be a long bankruptcy case, lawyers for the estate said on Monday.
The fallout from the collapse of MF Global has renewed calls for tougher regulation of the futures industry, which has long relied on the principle that customer money is always safe.
While brokerages can use customer funds, they must put up sufficient collateral. Days before its Chapter 11 filing, however, MFGlobal was taking what amounted to free loans from its clients.
If federal prosecutors determine that MF Global intentionally tapped the customer funds, they could file criminal charges. But in a speech on Monday, David Meister, the C.F.T.C.’s enforcement chief, said that his agency need not show intent.
“You should know the commission takes the laws on segregated funds very seriously,” Mr. Meister said.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Branson's blueprint to revive British economy - UK Politics - UK - The Independent
The Virgin tycoon, who writes overleaf, is calling for a three-point blueprint for growth to create more jobs – particularly for the young – and fund new businesses. His wish list includes making it easier for companies to employ workers on a part-time and flexible basis, cutting the time spent at university in half and the creation of a new government body to underwrite micro-finance for people who want to start their own businesses, modelled on the Student Loan Company.
The businessman, whose Virgin Money bought the taxpayer-owned Northern Rock for £1bn last week, will set out his blueprint in a letter this week to Mr Osborne, before the Autumn Statement on 29 November.
The Chancellor is under pressure to come up with radical ideas for stimulating growth when he addresses the Commons. In a parallel move, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, has told Mr Osborne he must use any additional funding in the growth review to tackle youth unemployment after the tally rose above one million last week. Aides say the issue has become "toxic" for the coalition.
A wide-ranging panel of economic experts today sets out suggestions for a much-needed "Plan B" for growth, amid criticism the Chancellor is refusing to acknowledge that Britain's precarious economic position is not solely due to the eurozone crisis.
Talking exclusively to The Independent on Sunday, Sir Richard said: "We've got to stop this high youth unemployment – there's a great danger of creating a lost generation who've never known work. If you want to take people off the dole then we must make it cheaper for companies to be more flexible. The Government should help companies by offsetting some of these costs. It could transfer money spent on welfare benefits to help companies employ more people."
Unemployment now tops 2.6 million and, according to last week's figures, more than one million young people – aged 16 to 24 – are out of work while the number of long-term unemployed is also rising. But Sir Richard said: "If the Government were clever, there would be no need for anyone ever to be out of work on a voluntary basis. It needs to get the nuts and bolts right and move quickly; everyone needs a purpose to life."
His own research, he says, shows that at least 20 per cent of the working population would like to work part-time, or be more flexible, but are often not given the option because of the cost to the employer and worries over productivity. "It might be that people want to have Fridays free, whatever. Offering staff flexible options is expensive because of National Insurance, the time invested in training and other investments."
University degree courses should be sliced in half to 18 months because, for most students, there is too much time wasted, he claims. "Most students are twiddling their thumbs. Many only get one lecture a week. This is nonsense, particularly with tuition fees so high."
Sir Richard, who left school at 16 to start his first business, added: "I've already told David Cameron that he should look at this."
Third, the Virgin boss said it's crucial to find ways to allow people – especially the young – access to small amounts of money so they can start their own businesses.
The IoS understands that the Deputy Prime Minister has pinpointed unemployed 18- and 19-year-olds as those most in need of help. "If you leave school and go straight on to the scrapheap, your entire work life is affected," a senior Lib Dem source said. "You end up going into lower-paid jobs later in life. So we want to come up with a package for them."
Mr Osborne will prioritise more than 40 major infrastructure projects, including the roll-out of high-speed broadband, the electrification of the Great Western railway line and traffic-blighted sections of the M25. Other ideas include extending the National Insurance holiday for new firms that take on staff from the first year of trading to three years, as well as credit easing to increase the flow of loans to small businesses.
A ComRes poll for The IoS today shows that public confidence in the economy has plummeted: only 23 per cent expect the economy to start showing signs of improvement soon, compared with 67 per cent in June 2009.
In a speech to the Confederation of British Industry tomorrow, David Cameron will unveil plans to open up £50bn of government business to some of the smallest companies in the country.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said yesterday that billions of pounds of government tenders will be accessible online and pledged that departments will be ordered to speed up their dealings with business.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Amazon Kindle Phone On Tap, Says Citigroup - Mobile and Wireless - News & Reviews - eWeek.com
Amazon's Kindle Phone is reportedly being made in Taipei for somewhere between $150 and $170, according to Citigroup's Mark Mahaney. Is this prudent?
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Obama says U.S. to reassert role as Pacific power
By Peter Nicholas and Christi Parsons, Los Angeles TimesNovember 16, 2011, 6:50 p.m.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Pending Attack On Iran Not Behind Oil's Run Toward $100 - Forbes
Oil has moved up strongly to almost $100 per barrel. There have been rumors regarding a potential attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and Israeli President Shimon Peres has even hinted at it.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Caterpillar to Shift Some Production to U.S.
By BOB TITA
Caterpillar Inc. said it plans to shift production of small construction machinery from Japan to a new plant in North America that is expected to employ more than 1,000 people.
The new plant, whose location wasn't identified, will become the company's global source for small bulldozers and mini-hydraulic excavators. It also will export partially assembled mini-excavators to Europe to improve delivery times for European customers.
Caterpillar, which is based in Peoria, Ill., said it expects to begin construction during the first half of 2012.
Compact machinery originated from Japan's cramped urban centers where full-sized machinery is too large for many job sites. But the small machinery has become ubiquitous on construction sites in the U.S. and Europe, performing a variety of tasks from moving gravel to digging holes for building foundations.
"The markets for smaller track-type tractors and mini-excavators have evolved significantly in the past 30 years, with the majority of customers now located in North America and Europe," said Mary Bell, vice president for Caterpillar's Building Construction Products division. "Producing these machines at a North American location will put us in the best possible position to serve our customers in the building construction industry."
The new plant will handle all major fabrication work for the machinery, painting and final assembly. The company also is planning an on-site distribution center for the equipment made at the plant.
Caterpillar, the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment by sales, has been rearranging its overseas assembly sites to create more production capacity for developing countries, particularly in Asia. Its plant in Sagami, Japan, that has been assembling small bulldozers and excavators will be retooled for high-tech component assembly to support the company's growing production base in Asia.
Caterpillar last year announced plans to move some of Sagami's excavator production to a new plant being constructed in Wujiang, China.
Caterpillar also is moving assembly of its larger excavators from Akashi, Japan, to a new plant in Victoria, Texas, to free up production capacity for Asian markets where sales of Caterpillar equipment have been surging in recent years. The new Texas plant is expected to be completed by the middle of 2012.
Caterpillar's announcement of a new plant without naming a location will likely set off an intense competition between U.S. states hungry for manufacturing jobs. States interested in hosting plant can be expected to offer the company incentive-laden aid packages with tax breaks and government grants for training new employees.
Nearly all of Caterpillar's investments in new U.S. plants in recent years have been the South, particularly Texas and North Carolina, where the company's Building Construction Products division is based. Caterpillar already builds compact construction machinery in Clayton and Sanford, N.C.
Write to Bob Tita at robert.tita@dowjones.com
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Penn State Students in Clashes After Joe Paterno Announcement
The demonstrators congregated outside Penn State’s administration building before stampeding into the tight grid of downtown streets. They turned their ire on a news van, a symbolic gesture that expressed a view held by many that the media exaggerated Mr. Paterno’s role in the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal.
“I think the point people are trying to make is the media is responsible for Joe Pa going down,” said freshman Mike Clark, 18, adding that he believed Mr. Paterno met both his legal and moral responsibility by telling university authorities about Mr. Sandusky’s alleged 2002 assault on a boy in a school shower.
Demonstrators tore down two lampposts, one falling into a crowd of students. They also threw rocks and fireworks at police, who responded with pepper spray. The crowd undulated like an accordion, with the students crowding the police and the officers pushing them back.
“We got rowdy and we got maced,” Jeff Heim, 19, said rubbing his red, teary eyes. “But make no mistake, the board started this riot by firing our coach. They tarnished a legend.”
An orderly crowd first filled the lawn in front of Old Main when news of Mr. Paterno’s firing came via students’ cell phones. When the crowd took to the downtown streets, its anger and intensity swelled. Students shouted “We are Penn State.”
Some blew vuvuzelas, others air horns. One young man sounded reveille on a trumpet. Four girls in heels danced on the roof of a parked SUV and dented it when they fell after a group of men shook the vehicle. A few, like Justin Muir, 20, a junior studying hotel and restaurant management, threw rolls of toilet paper into the trees.
“It’s not fair,” Mr. Muir said hurling a white ribbon. “The board is an embarrassment to our school and a disservice to the student population.”
Just before midnight police lost control of the crowd. Chanting, “Tip the van,” they toppled the news vehicle and then brought down a nearby lamppost. When police opened up with spray, some in the crowd responded by hurling rocks, cans of soda and flares. They also tore down street signs, tipped over trashcans and newspaper vending boxes and shattered car windows.
Some students noted the irony that they had come out to oppose what they saw as a disgraceful end to Mr. Paterno’s distinguished career as a football coach, and then added to the ignobility of the episode by starting an unruly protest.
Greg Becker, 19, a freshman studying computer science, said he felt he had to vent his feelings anyway.
“This definitely looks bad for our school,” he said sprinting away from a cloud of spray. “I’m sure Joe Pa wouldn’t want this, but this is just an uproar now, we’re finding a way to express our anger.”
As the crowd got more aggressive, so did police officers. Some protesters fought back. One man in gas mask rushed a half dozen police officers in protective gear, blasted one officer with spray underneath his safety mask and then sprinted away. The officer lay on the ground, rubbing his eyes.
Paul Howard, 24, an aerospace engineering student, jeered the police.
“Of course we’re going to riot,” he said. “What do they expect when they tell us at 10 o’clock that they fired our football coach?”
Other students expressed sadness instead of anger. Kathryn Simpson walked crying arm-in-arm with a friend.
“I’m here because I just need to be with the rest of my school right now,” she said. “This is devastating for us.”
When the unrest began, merchant Douglas Albert stood outside his downtown shop, Douglas Albert Gallery, to keep it safe.
“I’ve been in State College for 42 years and I’ve never seen anything like this; this is uncharted waters,” he said looking at the overturned news van, on which one young man was dancing.
Students pounded on the sides of upright news vans as officers herded them down the street they and shouted, “Flip it over!” Some took off their shirts and tied them around their mouths for protection from the fog of pepper spray that left countless students hacking. A few wore ski goggles. Many climbed on the tops of parked cars, denting and sinking the roofs, to get a better view of the spectacle.
Police finally dispersed the crowd by around 1:30 a.m. by marching, a dozen abreast, down College Avenue shouting and spraying any students that didn’t hustle away. Soon state police cruisers could speed down the street toward the backhoe that was procured to flip the news van back upright.
Mixed in the crowd were a few dissenting opinions. Dan Smith, 21, a junior studying secondary education, said he thought the board was correct.
“The hardest part, because he was a hero to me, is coming to grips with what he did, or actually what he didn’t do,” Mr. Smith said.
Like Mr. Smith, Kevin Goff, 19, a freshman studying film, didn’t protest Mr. Paterno’s firing. He came out just to see the show.
“My friends were like, ‘I don’t want to get maced,’” he said. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to miss seeing this, so I guess that means I do kind of want to get maced.’”
Mark Viera contributed reporting.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Damage Reported After 5.6 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Oklahoma | Fox News
SPARKS, Okla. – A 5.6 magnitude quake rocked Oklahoma late Saturday after a day of smaller quakes, leaving cracked buildings and a buckled highway but no major damage.
Another 4.0 magnitude earthquake hit the state at 3:39 a.m. Sunday, and was centered about 36 miles east of Oklahoma City.
Unspecified damage to buildings located close to the quake's epicenter was reported by the Lincoln County Emergency Management department.
"Very significant damages are being reported in southern Lincoln County," the department posted on Facebook.
An emergency manager in Lincoln County later said U.S. 62, a highway in the region, had crumbled in places.
The reports in the late-night hours were sketchy and the extent of damages remained uncertain early Sunday. The quake was one of several to rattle the state Saturday, including a magnitude 4.7 earthquake that shook the same area early Saturday.
The quake could prove the most powerful on state record if the 5.6 reading reported by the U.S. Geological Survey stands. The seismic monitoring agency said the quake struck at 10:53 p.m. local time Saturday and was centered about 44 mile east-northeast of Oklahoma City. It had initially reported the temblor as a 5.2 magnitude quake.
It said the quake struck near the community of Sparks -- in eastern Oklahoma between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The temblor shook the stadium at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater just at the end of the school's football game with Kansas State. No. 3 Oklahoma State's players were gathered in the locker room under the Boone Pickens Stadium stands just after a 52-45 win against No. 17 Kansas State when the ground began to shake.
"Coach (Mike) Gundy was talking to me, everybody was looking around and no one had any idea," quarterback Brandon Weeden said. "We thought the people above us were doing something. I've never felt one, so that was a first."
The shaking could be felt in the stadium's press box for the better part of a minute before it subsided. The stands were already clearing out when the quake happened, just a few minutes after the down-to-the-wire game had ended.
"That shook up the place, had a lot of people nervous," OSU wide receiver Justin Blackmon said. "Yeah, it was pretty strong."
Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, said no injuries were reported to emergency management officials and that there had been no reports of injuries. She also said the authorities had no immediate reports of major damages.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported from Golden, Colo., on its website that it monitored a 5.6 magnitude quake at 10:53 p.m. local time Saturday and said it was centered about 44 miles east-northeast of Oklahoma City. It had initially reported the temblor as a 5.2 magnitude quake.
If the intensity of the Saturday night quake is confirmed, it would be the state's strongest on record. USGS records show that a 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck El Reno, just west of Oklahoma City, in 1952 and, before Oklahoma became a state in 1907, a quake of similar magnitude 5.5 struck in northeastern Indian Territory in 1882.
The Saturday night quake was felt as far away as Tennessee and Wisconsin, according to reports received by the USGS.
Some in Oklahoma reported cracks appeared after the latest quake.
"There's a crack going from the closet to the ceiling. I've never seen that before. I was in my bedroom grabbing my phone and I happened to notice it," said Todd McKinsey, in the community of Moore, speaking with The Oklahoman.
Saturday's earlier temblor, which hit at 2:12 a.m., woke people and pets as it shook an area that stretched from Texas to Missouri. Its epicenter was 6 miles north of Prague in Lincoln County, in the rolling hills about 50 miles east of Oklahoma City.
A 3.4 magnitude aftershock was reported at 2:27 a.m. from the same location, as well as a 2.7 magnitude aftershock at 2:44 a.m.
"Oh, man. I've never felt anything like that in my life," Prague City Police Department dispatcher Claudie Morton told the Tulsa World. "It was the scariest thing. I had a police officer just come in and sit down and all the sudden the walls started shaking and the windows were rattling. It felt like the roof was going to come off the police department."
Morton said the office was flooded with calls, but no one reported injuries or major damage. She said residents told her that picture frames and mirrors fell from walls and broke, drawers worked loose from dressers and objects tumbled out of cabinets.
"We do have several damaged buildings downtown, but it's just cracks and things like that," Morton said. "Nothing is destroyed or anything like that."
Oklahoma Geological Survey researcher Austin Holland told Oklahoma City television station KOTV that the earthquake and aftershocks occurred on a known fault line.
Residents in Prague and Sparks felt an intense shaking, while farther away, the quake was more of a dull rumble, he said.
"It shakes much more rapidly when you're closer to it," he said. "Because it's a large earthquake, it's going to rumble for a while."
Holland said his office received hundreds of emails from people who felt the quake. The messages came from as far as Texas, Missouri and Arkansas, he said.
Tom Foster of Oklahoma City told The Oklahoman that he slept through the earthquake but was awakened by an aftershock.
"I know we've already had several phone calls from out of state relatives wondering what happened," Foster said. "I guess it's more interesting than anything that was dangerous."
Heather Spicer of Sapulpa said the shaking woke her son and their dog.
"At first I thought an airplane had crashed nearby," she told The Oklahoman. "But now I believe it was an earthquake because the whole house just kept vibrating with what sounded like distant thunder outside."
In Muskogee, retired advertising and public relations executive Robert Rhea said he felt his home rocking for about 15 to 20 seconds with the last quake Saturday night..
"Oh man, it just about shook this old man out of his TV chair," said Rhea, 70, speaking with The Associated Press by telephone. He said nothing broke in his homes but he was rattled by all the shaking during the day.
Newscore contributed to this report.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Ventura, miffed by court, says he's off to Mexico - Yahoo! News
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) — Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is so upset by the dismissal of his airport security lawsuit that he threatened Friday to apply for dual citizenship so he can spend more time in his beloved Mexico — or run for president of what he labeled "the Fascist States of America."
Ventura, also a former wrestling star, sued the U.S. government in January, alleging that airport scans and pat-downs amounted to unreasonable search and seizure. A district judge threw out his lawsuit Thursday, ruling it should have been filed in a Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ventura has said a titanium hip implanted in him in 2008 sets off metal detectors and that agents previously used hand-held wands to scan his body. He said he was subjected to a body pat-down after an airport metal detector went off last November. Ventura said he hasn't flown since and won't fly commercially again.
Outside the federal courthouse in St. Paul, with a crew from his "Conspiracy Theory" cable TV show filming, Ventura said he hadn't decided whether to continue pressing his lawsuit. He said he wanted to make his case before a jury, not a panel of judges.
Ventura, a political independent who served one term as governor, teased that he might have to run for president to change the policy and a court system he regards as broken.
Moments later, he vowed to apply for Mexican citizenship so he can live there more months of the year.
The former Navy SEAL said he had lost his patriotism.
"I will never stand for a national anthem again. I will turn my back and I will raise a fist," he said.