tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46677821582672326242024-02-21T01:29:16.285-08:00World Financial ReportThe Web's Most Comprehensive Source For Financial NewsLaveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.comBlogger422125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-87728475950186908202015-11-12T04:05:00.002-08:002015-11-12T07:39:15.164-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_abALjKchrOdTc215hX9KB5xXLt-4mBE-jTpQvxrnvNAaR6t0zvQUGnYd1dRF1TFiRh4pGuq8eFEBFlnx-xOPDcA9pgle7dXRzmNt-1bHyPMuPUfMXSRgyvdhrW2FMFNS7GuBoA8-bnV/s1600/the-hit-factory-studio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_abALjKchrOdTc215hX9KB5xXLt-4mBE-jTpQvxrnvNAaR6t0zvQUGnYd1dRF1TFiRh4pGuq8eFEBFlnx-xOPDcA9pgle7dXRzmNt-1bHyPMuPUfMXSRgyvdhrW2FMFNS7GuBoA8-bnV/s320/the-hit-factory-studio.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
We've been taking time off to work on other projects. Some of our writers are continuing to write for many top tier news organizations, some went into start their own businesses and news aggregators, and some delved into crazy ventures in the arts. One of our editors has been pursuing a career in music and it's actually quite good. He started <a href="https://soundcloud.com/jetsetofficial">JetSet</a>. It's a great new project in the increasingly popular form of hip hop, electronic, and other eclectic forms of music. Our favorite cerebral track was a short instrumental <a href="https://soundcloud.com/jetsetofficial/satellites-snippet">Satellites</a>. We wish him the best of luck and give him a WFR thumbs up.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-50171640158129597112010-09-09T09:54:00.000-07:002010-09-09T09:57:16.329-07:00WFR Book Of The Month<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYTNOFGywv00PWwVOrxECsMYnWt5XvJj9krvpWQZa_O0suVopv9SuUO06hc6_LmSP_zUU-G1JJG0ickWKm92bFj6k9S4WGZ-m2c8I0VJWJQbERJ9E29PnLHeHJ-cFAeIKuSZlaXXAvrRg/s1600/beforeyoudo.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYTNOFGywv00PWwVOrxECsMYnWt5XvJj9krvpWQZa_O0suVopv9SuUO06hc6_LmSP_zUU-G1JJG0ickWKm92bFj6k9S4WGZ-m2c8I0VJWJQbERJ9E29PnLHeHJ-cFAeIKuSZlaXXAvrRg/s400/beforeyoudo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514958817579551746" /></a>Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-87099633769060729472010-08-30T13:23:00.000-07:002010-08-30T13:29:04.096-07:00I want a Norwich<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2017/2011753911_b98931fee1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 423px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2017/2011753911_b98931fee1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/02/07/gal_dog_show5.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 342px; height: 500px;" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/02/07/gal_dog_show5.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-30125021847317487282010-06-10T14:18:00.001-07:002010-06-10T14:18:21.505-07:00Florida AG Seeks At Least $2.5B Escrow Account From BPDOW JONES NEWSWIRES<br /><br />Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum asked BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) to put at least $2.5 billion into an interest-earnings escrow account to ensure money is available to cover potential losses.<br /><br />The oil giant has pledged to cover all claims related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.<br /><br />McCollum, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor this year, said in a statement that in light of the likely "staggering blow" to Florida's economy in the wake of the spill, "it is essential that BP establish immediately a dedicated escrow account solely for the purpose of paying claims and damages to Florida and its citizens."<br /><br />A BP spokesman wasn't immediately available to comment.<br /><br />Its American depositary shares closed up 12% Thursday after a 16% slump a day earlier, finishing at $32.78.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-16214930097213654652010-05-21T15:18:00.000-07:002010-05-21T15:22:28.182-07:00New Link Marketplace for Adult<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxRYhh0YIA1TERaM-0BL336S6Ys48A_A1Y0FX5zWt1KIYzArr7OaPHQ5PkFFgSZjcSUjv5YwxpAQB4OO-xDMVrw3W2jo1524z5x_m4zSRAPShLz2N-v3QM9EMHdWkPlTrr0Mqr3MweDqY/s1600/logo.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 53px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxRYhh0YIA1TERaM-0BL336S6Ys48A_A1Y0FX5zWt1KIYzArr7OaPHQ5PkFFgSZjcSUjv5YwxpAQB4OO-xDMVrw3W2jo1524z5x_m4zSRAPShLz2N-v3QM9EMHdWkPlTrr0Mqr3MweDqY/s200/logo.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473852104140406402" /></a><br />SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—The most controversial online marketing companies have always been text link brokers. From the first start-ups like Text Link Ads to new power houses like Conductor, text link ad brokers have been the easiest way to rank high on Google. Unfortunately none of them have ever worked with adult companies. For years the only way for adult companies to acquire back links to raise their search rankings have been through spam link exchanges and reciprocal link forms which are ineffective.<br /><br />Launched in 2009, <a href="http://www.adultlinkmarket.com/">Adult Link Market</a> gave the adult industry the first SEO specific text link marketplace. Websites in the adult space can now search ALM’s hundreds of relevant websites and blogs to drive targeted traffic and raise their rankings in Google, Bing and Yahoo.<br /><a href="http://business.avn.com/company-news/Adult-Link-Market-2-0-Launches-397716.html">Read the whole story on AVN</a>Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-41186056621634177872010-03-31T13:35:00.001-07:002010-03-31T13:36:55.709-07:00Ford’s Mulally Not Taking Cost Over Health-Care Law (Bloomberg)(Adds analyst’s comment in the fourth paragraph.)<br />By Keith Naughton and Katie Merx<br /><br />March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally said the automaker won’t record a cost related to the new U.S. health-care law. Ford isn’t affected by the way the legislation reduces the corporate benefit for contributing to retirees’ Medicare and prescription-drug costs, Mulally said today at the New York auto show. The automaker is avoiding charges disclosed by companies including Boeing Co. and AT&T Inc. because liability for United Auto Workers retirees’ health expenses was shifted to a so- called Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association, or Veba, in 2007. General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC have the same contract provisions. “Ford, GM and Chrysler are no longer responsible for current or future retirees’ health-care or prescription-drug costs because of the VEBA,” said Kristin Dziczek, director of the labor and industry group at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan.<br /><br />Health-care costs related to the law may shave as much as $14 billion from U.S. corporate profits, according to an estimate by benefits consulting firm Towers Watson. Ford fell 59 cents, or 4.4 percent, to $12.69 at 11:28 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker has gained 27 percent this year.<br /><br />--With assistance from Bill Koenig in Southfield, Michigan, and Will Daley in New York. Editors: Jamie Butters, Ed DufnerLaveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-56540694285265572282009-10-21T11:18:00.000-07:002009-10-21T11:30:31.792-07:00Obama to Offer Banks Capital for More Small Businesses LendingBy Rebecca Christie and Hans Nichols<br /><br />Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama plans to announce new measures to open up credit for small businesses, including capital injections for community banks to spur lending, the administration said. Community banks with less than $1 billion in assets will be eligible for lower-cost capital if they submit a small business lending plan and document their lending in quarterly reports, according to a White House fact sheet. If approved by regulators, these banks would pay the government an initial 3 percent dividend on the injection, instead of the previous 5 percent rate. Obama also will seek legislation raising the limits for Small Business Administration loans from $2 million to $5 million and as much as $5.5 million for manufacturing. The president will visit a small business in Maryland this afternoon to make the announcement, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. The Treasury Department will work with banks to develop program terms, including ways they could replace older, and more expensive, infusions from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Treasury also is looking at ways to expand its Community Development Financial Institutions program to promote small business lending, according to the administration statement. Some credit unions also will be eligible for capital assistance under the administration’s new plan, the first time those institutions have had access to the bank rescue funds, according to the fact sheet. Credit unions that qualify as community development financial institutions will be able to apply for capital injections in the form of subordinated debt.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Conference of Regulators</span><br /><br />In addition, Obama will call for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and SBA administrator Karen Mills “to convene a conference of regulators, congressional leaders and small business owners to establish further steps the government can take to help small businesses achieve greater access to capital,” Gibbs said this morning. Senate Democrats are pushing for more aid to small businesses to counter the perception that the administration is focusing on big banks. The announcement comes seven months after the Treasury’s March announcement of a $15 billion program to purchase pools of SBA loans, which so far has not been implemented. “We see continued evidence that Wall Street has been stabilized, but to date it seems that Main Street continues to struggle to create new jobs,” Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat on the banking committee, wrote in a letter to Obama yesterday that was signed by 30 other lawmakers. Co-signers include Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">New TARP Program</span><br /><br />The lawmakers called on Obama to redirect bank rescue funds for community lending by creating a new program within the $700 billion TARP. The program suggests using federal financing to anchor a $40 billion pool to support new lending, accompanied by as much as $10 billion in private investment.<br /><br />Gibbs said “Geithner’s announcement of TARP programs that had been set up for larger banks and were used also for the auto industry will begin to wind down.” Obama’s announcement today won’t dissuade Warner from pushing for further assistance to small businesses to make it easier for them to hire, aides said. “We certainly intend to continue working on this issue,” spokesman Kevin Hall said. Some Republican lawmakers argued that Obama’s small- business initiative won’t make a difference if Congress places new tax burdens on companies by enacting health-care legislation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Pink Slip</span><br /><br />“The president offering bailout funds to small businesses while pushing a government takeover of health care is like getting a Christmas bonus right before you get a pink slip,” said Indiana Representative Mike Pence, chairman of the House Republican Conference. House Republican Leader John Boehner said lower taxes and other policies to help small businesses invest in equipment and jobs are needed to restart the economy. “Until we get the small businesses working again, we are not going to get the economy working again,” he said. Uncertainty about more expenses contained in health-care and energy legislation is causing small business owners “to sit on their hands,” he said.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-3917132990870139892009-10-21T11:12:00.000-07:002009-10-21T11:17:47.374-07:00Fiat 3Q Trading Pft Down 62%, Write-Offs Seen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.autospectator.com/cars/files/images/2008-Fiat-Fiorino-Qubo-1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 339px;" src="http://www.autospectator.com/cars/files/images/2008-Fiat-Fiorino-Qubo-1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />By Gilles Castonguay (Wall Street Journal)<br /><br />Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES<br /><br />MILAN (Dow Jones)--Italian auto maker Fiat SpA (F.MI) Wednesday posted a 62% drop in quarterly trading profit as the recession hit its sales hard, and it spoke of possible write-downs due to its partnership with Chrysler Group LLC. The warning is one of the first signs that its holding in the U.S. car maker, brokered by the U.S. government earlier this year, could weigh on its earnings even though Fiat had vowed it would not cost it any money.<br /><br />"This is a sign that it might have an impact on its P&L," one London analyst said on condition of anonymity. In June, Fiat took a 20% stake and full management control of Chrysler. Fiat said it was reviewing the carrying value of some investments in platforms and architectures, especially in its cars, as it aligned its business with that of the U.S. company. "The group may revisit the future viability of some of its past investments, necessitating the write-off, as unusual items, of these legacy investments," it said. "They will not have a cash impact."<br /><br />Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne declined to elaborate on a conference call with analysts ahead of the Nov. 4 presentation of his plan to revive Chrysler. UBS analyst Philippe Houchois said it likely meant ditching old platforms at the cost of hundreds of millions of euros. For the third quarter, Fiat's net profit tumbled 95% to EUR25 million, as revenue fell 16% to EUR12 billion. Its closely-watched trading profit - operating profit excluding exceptional items - totaled EUR308 million, ahead of analysts' expectations of EUR260 million, according to a Fiat poll.<br /><br />"Aggressive cost containment actions helped mitigate the effect of revenue declines and pushed trading margins up to 2.6% (against 2.4% in the second quarter)," Fiat said in a statement. Like other car makers, the Turin-based maker of Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia cars has suspended some production at its factories, cut costs and reduced cash burn in the face of the downturn. Fiat confirmed its 2009 targets, including a group trading profit exceeding EUR1 billion and a net industrial debt of less than EUR5 billion. Marchionne told analysts he expected Fiat to produce a trading profit of EUR1.5 billion in 2010 on a 2%-3% rise in sales as long as the government in its home market of Italy extended its scrapping scheme in some form beyond the Dec. 31 deadline.<br /><br />Fiat and other manufacturers have had a fillip over the summer and autumn with demand for their cars being bolstered by government schemes across Europe to encourage the scrapping of old cars and the purchase of new, less polluting ones. Industry experts fear demand will fall once more when the scrapping schemes end. As for its Iveco truck and CNH (CNH) agriculture and construction equipment units, Fiat said it expected them to keep facing depressed demand for the whole year. Fiat shares ended 2.05% down at EUR11 in Milan, following the whole European auto sector lower following the publication of lower sales figures by France's PSA Peugeot-Citroen (UG.FR) earlier Wednesday. One Milan analyst cited profit-taking after a surge in Fiat's stock ahead of its results as well as speculation on the extent of the write-offs.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-37621601426385495302009-10-07T14:55:00.000-07:002009-10-07T14:57:19.552-07:00Alcoa Posts Surprise Profit on Cost CutsBy KATHY SHWIFF (Wall Street Journal)<br /><br />Alcoa Inc. posted a third-quarter profit–after three quarterly losses in a row–surprising Wall Street, which had expected another loss, and getting the third-quarter earnings season off to a good start. Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld said cost-cutting and other steps the aluminum giant took earlier this year had a strong effect on the cash position and profit. "Despite unfavorable currency and energy headwinds, our performance this quarter indicates that Alcoa is weathering the economic storm and is in excellent shape to benefit when the market recovers," he added. Alcoa, the first blue-chip company to release quarterly results, said it sees signs that key markets are stabilizing and predicted global aluminum consumption would increase 11% in the second half of 2009. The company has cut output and costs during a brutal period for the aluminum industry, saving $1.61 billion in procurement costs and $375 million in overhead so far this year. Reductions in working capital generated $780 million in cash. Alcoa said it finished the quarter with $1.1 billion of cash on hand, up 29% from the end of the second quarter.<br /><br />The company also has been investing in areas expected to recover early from the economic downturn, ranging from a construction-products factory in Russia to a small fasteners business in Morocco to sections of the oil-and-gas industry. Alcoa reported a profit of $77 million, or 8 cents a share, down from a year-earlier profit of $268 million, or 33 cents a share. The latest results included 3 cents a share in restructuring and other charges. Prior-year results included a 4-cent charge related to the curtailment of a smelter in Texas. Excluding items, earnings were 4 cents a share in the latest period. Revenue dropped 34% to $4.62 billion. Analysts' estimates were for a loss of 9 cents a share on revenue of $4.55 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. Alcoa's average realized aluminum price during the third quarter was $1,972 a metric ton, up 18% from the previous quarter. Shipments declined 8.3%. The company posted profits in all segments of its business, except primary metals. Alcoa's shares closed Wednesday up 2.2% at $14.20; trading was halted after hours. The stock, which has been rising recently on optimism about its results, has almost tripled from a 21-year low in March but is still down one-quarter from a year ago.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-73614889364699817622009-10-07T13:33:00.000-07:002009-10-07T13:36:43.541-07:00Russia lauds birthday strongman Putin<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiyv7zipTlNhM2JzmSRI_HVnbUavKLZFIkeKeFTIlOWrp5oEI6aHbDChHB8wNU7tJ4FOSlczZOYhIQ5rHdguxBIVAPxODItREmVjLN3Dl2Uo-AWq74umLk6JjoSCmSkewWwrUQdiFsTqDo/s1600-h/untitled.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiyv7zipTlNhM2JzmSRI_HVnbUavKLZFIkeKeFTIlOWrp5oEI6aHbDChHB8wNU7tJ4FOSlczZOYhIQ5rHdguxBIVAPxODItREmVjLN3Dl2Uo-AWq74umLk6JjoSCmSkewWwrUQdiFsTqDo/s320/untitled.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389959695394557618" /></a><br /><br />By Anna Smolchenko (AFP)<br /><br />MOSCOW — An ode was published in his honour. A painting was given to him by the president. A novelist wished him a long life. And the Orthodox Church praised him for his tact. There was no shortage of leading Russians Wednesday queuing up to congratulate their favourite politician Vladimir Putin on his 57th birthday, with his critics still sidelined after 10 years in power. "Fifty-seven years is an average age," mused leading novelist Valentin Rasputin at a meeting Putin attended with some of Russia's best known writers.<br /><br />"Today people live for a long time and statesmen -- the more they work... the more energies remain for the rest of the life," Rasputin was quoted as saying by Russia's official news agency ITAR-TASS. "God willing you manage the same. We wish everything goes well for you. And what is well? That means well for the country, well for us." Analysts say Putin, who served eight years as Russia's second post-Soviet president and has now settled comfortably into the role of prime minister, remains Russia's favourite politician. He is keeping the world in suspense over whether he is plotting a return to the Kremlin but if he wins the 2012 polls he is likely to stay in power for another 12 years, until he turns 72.<br /><br />A Russian newspaper, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta, carried an ode in honour of Putin on its front page that stepped a fine line between eulogy and irony. "I congratulate you, comrade Putin/ And may God give you another 120 years," it said. Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, extolled what he described as Putin's openness, wisdom and tact.<br /><br />"With inherent tact you persistently defend the interests of the state, confirming the authority of power far outside the country's borders," he said in a statement posted on the Church's website. Putin's protege and now president, Dmitry Medvedev, also took the time to meet with Putin and presented him with a painting, the Russian television said. Earlier Wednesday, Putin met with some of Russia's leading writers at the Pushkin Art Museum in Moscow, pledging more financial aide for them in an apparent attempt to win the intellectuals' support. But several top writers, including author Dmitry Bykov and prize-winning novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya, said they had declined invitations to meet Putin.<br /><br />"I am not attending," Ulitskaya told AFP.<br /><br />"I am leaving today on my holidays and I bought my tickets in advance," she added without giving further details. Later Wednesday, Bykov attended an event to mark the memory of Anna Politkovskaya, an anti-Kremlin journalist killed three years ago. Neither the Kremlin nor Putin made any statements regarding her unsolved murder in 2006.<br />Bykov told Moscow Echo radio that he would have considered attending, but Putin's birthday was a bad choice for the event.<br /><br />"The fact it's on his birthday turns it into protocol. My upbringing does not allow me to see someone on his birthday and then talk about problems with him, to express criticism." Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that several writers were unable to come but denied this was because of any objections towards the prime minister. Putin loses no opportunity to stress that he is in good physical health -- be it by posturing with a naked torso in the Russian wilderness or diving to the bottom of the world's deepest lake. Moskovsky Komsomolets, a newspaper seen as being close to the Kremlin, said Medvedev's main problem was the elite didn't consider him to be a decision maker. "At a time when the president makes his speeches, the prime minister makes all the real decisions," it said. "That's the main internal political challenge faced today by Dmitry Medvedev."Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-24722167818657325142009-10-07T13:26:00.000-07:002009-10-07T13:29:36.221-07:00Dell to lay off 905 in plant closureBy David Goldman, CNNMoney.com staff writer<br /><br />NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Computer maker Dell announced on Wednesday that it will close a plant in Winston-Salem, N.C., and will cut 905 jobs as a result. Dell said that 600 plant workers will be laid off in November, and the remaining 305 employees will be cut by January 2010, when the plant is scheduled to close. The cuts represent about 1% of the company's 76,000 employees. "This is a difficult decision, especially for our North Carolina colleagues, but a necessary one for Dell customers and our company," said Frank Miller, vice president of Dell, in a statement. "The efforts of our team members there have been significant and we're committed to helping them through their transition."<br /><br />The Winston-Salem plant was used to make desktop computers. The company said the plant closing is part of a larger effort to simplify Dell's operations and improve its efficiency. Dell began cutting back staff and closing plants in January. In late September, Dell bought tech services provider Perot Systems (PER) for $3.9 billion as part of an effort to seek an additional source of revenue. Until the Perot deal, Dell has strictly been a hardware company, selling PCs and servers to its customers. But businesses have relied less on hardware recently, buying fewer computers and outsourcing their servers during the recent economic recession. Consumers also made fewer desktop and laptop purchases during the downturn. That cut into Dell's sales and profit in recent quarters and sent the stock down to an 11-year low in March before rebounding in recent months. Shares of Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) fell more than 1% in afternoon trading.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-8520361675074562042009-08-07T12:55:00.000-07:002009-08-07T12:57:03.768-07:00U.S. Consumers Reduce Debt for Fifth Month in a RowBy JEFF BATER (Wall Street Journal<br /><br />WASHINGTON -- Americans cut their borrowing a fifth time in a row in June, underscoring how consumer caution could dog the economy's recovery. Consumer credit outstanding fell at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.9% to $2.503 trillion, according to Federal Reserve data. The drop outpaced analysts' expectations. The big retreat in borrowing points to weakness in the economy even as hints of recovery emerge. Earlier Friday, the government reported the U.S. unemployment rate edged down in July to 9.4%. Job losses were lower than expected, too. Last week, the Commerce Department reported gross domestic product receded April through June just 1.0%, far less than the contraction over the prior nine months.<br /><br />But consumers are focusing on rebuilding their savings that have been slashed by the recession. Wall Street analysts had projected a $4.1 billion decline in consumer credit during June. The actual $10.3 billion drop marked the fifth consecutive decline. Consumer credit in May decreased $5.4 billion, adjusted down from a previously estimated $3.2 billion drop. Borrowing hasn't fallen so many months in a row since 1991, when credit fell June through December. Revolving credit, which includes credit-card use, dropped in June by $5.3 billion to $917.0 billion. It was the 10th drop in a row, which is a record. Revolving credit fell $4.9 billion in May. Non-revolving credit, including automobile and mobile home loans, decreased in June by 3.8%, or $5 billion to $1.586 trillion. Non-revolving credit in May decreased 0.4%, or $506 million.<br /><br />The consumer-credit data exclude home mortgages and other real estate-secured loans. These tend to be highly volatile from month to month and are frequently revised. But the report still has interesting details on how Americans finance their lifestyles.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-61369912124056361702009-05-27T11:50:00.000-07:002009-05-27T11:53:36.078-07:00Cudia Will Succeed McGillin, World's Longest-Running Phantom, on Broadway<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.playbill.com/images/photo/m/c/mcgillinphantom200.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 570px;" src="http://www.playbill.com/images/photo/m/c/mcgillinphantom200.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Howard McGillin will exit Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera on July 25 to pursue new projects. He leaves the Majestic Theatre after ten years — with some breaks in between — and takes with him a new record: world's longest-running Phantom.<br /><br />At a record-breaking 2,450 performances and counting, McGillin has already played the title role more than any other performer on Broadway. His closest competition, as far as performance count, at just under 2,400 performances, is the late Rob Guest, who played the title role in Australia and New Zealand. Americans Franc D'Ambrosio — the longtime record-holder before Guest — and Brad Little follow with over 2,100 performances each.<br /><br />After ten years since his first of many engagements with the production, McGillin has decided to pursue other theatrical ventures, according to a statement released May 7.<br /><br />McGillin is a two-time Tony Award nominee as Best Actor in a Musical (Anything Goes) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (The Mystery of Edwin Drood).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.playbill.com/news/article/129013-Cudia_Will_Succeed_McGillin_World%27s_Longest-Running_Phantom_on_Broadway">Read More At Playbill.com</a>Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-5128762268641766642009-05-13T16:49:00.000-07:002009-05-13T16:52:34.133-07:00Obama Pushes Broad Rules for Oversight of Derivatives<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iFL76qaS_EI/Sb6_Nl8_cUI/AAAAAAAAB1g/FMPXUuiyIec/s400/obama_geitner.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iFL76qaS_EI/Sb6_Nl8_cUI/AAAAAAAAB1g/FMPXUuiyIec/s400/obama_geitner.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />By STEPHEN LABATON (New York Times)<br /><br />WASHINGTON — Marking its first major effort to overhaul financial regulation, the Obama administration will seek new authority to supervise the virtually unregulated complex financial instruments, known as derivatives, that were a major cause of the market crisis, Congressional aides and others who have been briefed on the decision said Wednesday.<br /><br />The administration will ask Congress to approve legislation that would impose a new government oversight structure for the instruments, which Warren Buffett once called “weapons of mass destruction.”<br /><br />In a two-page letter to Congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner asked for the swift approval of a measure that would require many kinds of derivative instruments, including credit default swaps, to be traded on exchanges and subject to tighter regulation. Derivatives can take many forms, but in total there are trillions of dollars’ worth exchanging hands every day around the globe.<br /><br />The letter asked the lawmakers to give regulators the authority to impose new capital and business conduct requirements on the large Wall Street companies that issue the financial instruments. Capital requirements would, for example, require companies that issue derivatives to hold capital in reserve in case of a default, much the way banks must hold reserves when they make loans.<br /><br />The letter leaves it to Congress to decide whether the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would be playing the lead role in supervising the new system for trading such instruments.<br /><br />People briefed on the plan said the administration had asserted four major principles guiding the legislative process. The legislation should be aimed at reducing trading practices that pose major risks to the financial system. The regulatory overhaul should promote efficiency and transparency in the markets. The legislation should discourage market manipulation and fraud. And it should protect investors.<br /><br />Credit default swaps, a type of derivative instrument that acts like an insurance policy by protecting investors from defaults of mortgage backed securities, played a central role in the collapse of American International Group. The company, one of the largest issuers of such swaps, nearly collapsed as a result of issuing a huge volume of such instruments that it was unable to support.<br /><br />Mr. Geithner, along with the leaders from the two agencies, was set to brief reporters about the proposal at the Treasury Department late Wednesday afternoon.<br /><br />The proposal would not require that derivative instruments with unique characteristics negotiated between companies be traded on exchanges or through clearinghouses. But standardized or uniform ones would. If approved, the plan would require the development of timely reports of trades, similar to the system now used for corporate bonds.<br /><br />During his confirmation hearings in January, Mr. Geithner vowed to move quickly to push for regulation of derivative instruments, and both Mary Schapiro, the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Gary Gensler, the nominee to head to the C.F.T.C., also made similar commitments.<br /><br />Lawmakers in the House and Senate have already introduced legislation to regulate derivative instruments. But a number of members have pressed the administration to put out its own plan. Last Friday, at the confirmation hearing of Neal Wolin to be the next deputy Treasury secretary, Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, pressed the nominee to move quickly to get the administration’s views on the regulation of derivatives.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-17848746575577764862009-03-18T04:45:00.000-07:002009-03-18T04:50:26.906-07:00World Bank cuts China 2009 GDP forecast to 6.5 pct<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.marzeporgohar.org/files/images/worldbank.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 294px; height: 300px;" src="http://www.marzeporgohar.org/files/images/worldbank.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />By Alan Wheatley, China Economics Editor<br /><br />BEIJING, March 18 (Reuters) - The World Bank lowered its forecast for China's 2009 economic growth on Wednesday but warned Beijing that it would be thwarting its own medium-term goals if it tried to offset the slowdown by further boosting investment.<br /><br />In a quarterly economic update, the bank cut its projection of gross domestic product growth this year to 6.5 percent from the 7.5 percent outcome it had forecast in November. It said there were both upward and downward risks to its outlook.<br /><br />The global crisis would be a drag both this year and next, mainly via weaker exports and non-government investment, but the bank said China's economic fundamentals were still strong enough to give policymakers the luxury of looking well beyond 2009. The bank welcomed the inclusion of steps to boost consumption in the government's 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package since over-reliance on capital-intensive investment could damage the pace of job creation and the quality of growth. Indeed, it said there was room for a further shift towards consumption and for less emphasis on capital spending in order to rebalance the economy so that growth is more sustainable economically, socially and environmentally.<br /><br />"The fundamentals for China are strong enough to ride out this storm, and it may be just as appropriate to shift the focus as much as possible to the medium and long-term challenges instead of a very narrow focus on short-term growth objectives," Louis Kuijs, the senior economist in the bank's Beijing office, said at a news conference to launch the report. The bank said it expected 16-17 million non-farm jobs to disappear this year but it played down the social repercussions.<br /><br />"Somewhat lower overall growth is not likely to jeopardize China's economy or social stability, especially if the adverse consequences of dislocation and layoffs are alleviated by using and expanding the social safety net," the report said. The median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists published on Wednesday is for GDP to expand by 7.8 percent this year, narrowly missing Beijing's target of 8 percent. For a table with details of the World Bank's forecasts. For a graphic on China's growth over the past three decades. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">COULD BE WORSE</span><br /><br />The bank's advice flies in the face of the ruling Communist Party's determination to do whatever is necessary to meet its self-imposed target of 8 percent growth this year. Last Friday, Premier Wen Jiabao said the government was ready to roll out extra stimulus measures if needed. But the World Bank said Beijing should keep some of its powder dry in case growth next year proves even weaker. What's more, the government cannot hope to take up all the slack left by the collapse in exports and knock-on drop in private investment; for a start, there may be limits to how much money can be spent efficiently on traditional investment schemes. As it is, the bank already expects 4.9 percentage points of its projected 6.5 percent growth this year to stem from government-influenced investment and public-sector consumption.<br /><br />"China's economy cannot escape the impact of the global weakness. Government-influenced activity makes up a modest share of the total: it cannot and should not offset fully the downward pressures on market-based activity," the report said. The bank tempered this message of resignation with the assurance that China would continue to grow substantially faster than most other countries this year and next. Indeed, the stimulus is already supporting activity and sentiment, even if it is too early to expect a sustained rebound, the World Bank said. The bank said it expected the yuan to keep strengthening in the next decade given China's prospective balance-of-payments and productivity trends. Kuijs described the outlook for exports this year as "grim" and "sombre". But he said depreciating the currency in the short term would not help revive exports, because global demand is so weak, and would slow China's switch to consumption-led growth.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-34785231522924509242009-03-09T16:40:00.000-07:002009-03-09T16:43:03.619-07:002 dozen victims seek to be heard at Madoff plea<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/12/19/PH2008121901216.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 228px; height: 307px;" src="http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/12/19/PH2008121901216.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />NEW YORK - (Business Week) Federal prosecutors say they've received more than two dozen e-mails from investors seeking to speak Thursday when Bernard Madoff is expected to plead guilty. Prosecutors described the e-mails in a letter to Judge Denny Chin, who sent notification to investors last week saying they could speak Thursday. Prosecutors say they have received 25 e-mails from investors asking to be heard. They did not say if each e-mail pertains to a single investor or multiple ones. The 70-year-old former Nasdaq chairman was arrested in December on a securities fraud charge. Prosecutors say he confessed to family members that he had run a $50 billion Ponzi scheme for years.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-20731068617483492552008-11-19T10:19:00.000-08:002008-11-19T10:23:23.943-08:00Chrysler Considered, Abandoned, Bankruptcy Before Seeking AidBy Jeff Green<br /><br />Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Chrysler LLC Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli said his company studied a prearranged bankruptcy before dismissing the idea as unworkable and approaching the U.S. government for money to survive. Nardelli and General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner, who has repeatedly ruled out bankruptcy, told senators yesterday that a failure will lead to an economic ``catastrophe'' much costlier than the $25 billion in aid being proposed by Democrats. GM has said it may run out of operating cash this year.<br /><br />``We did look at prepackaged,'' Nardelli testified in Washington. ``We looked at pre-negotiated. We've looked at almost every alternative within Chrysler as a privately held company before we came here and ask for support to -- to provide a bridge, if you will, through this economic trough.'' His comments highlighted U.S. automakers' objections to so- called prepackaged bankruptcies, as advocated by some Republican lawmakers. While proponents say a filing with financing in hand would let GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. survive, the automakers say going to court would end in their liquidation. Wagoner, Nardelli and Ford CEO Alan Mulally returned to Capitol Hill today for a House committee hearing as they seek an industry bailout before Congress's lame-duck session ends this week. Opposition from President George W. Bush and Republicans threatens to scuttle Democrats' bid to tap the $700 billion bank-rescue plan for automaker loans. A defeat may push consideration of any new aid into 2009, because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday she doesn't intend to reconvene in December.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">`Fresh Capital'</span><br /><br />``Without fresh capital, we project that GM may not have sufficient liquidity to make it to year end,'' Deutsche Bank AG analysts including Rod Lache in New York wrote in a note to investors today. A GM bankruptcy is the ``only way'' for the biggest U.S. automaker to end union costs that make it uncompetitive, Republican Senator James DeMint of South Carolina said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio. Nardelli, who said Chrysler is down to $6.1 billion in cash and burning about $1 billion more each month, told senators yesterday that bankruptcy would take too much time.<br /><br />``To a certain degree, all of these take an extensive amount of time,'' he said of the options for arranging a filing for court protection. Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler would need support from ``all the players, all of the suppliers, all of the vendors, all of the labor,'' he said.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">`Very Fragile'</span><br /><br />``In fact, we are in a very fragile position,'' he said of Chrysler, whose 26 percent U.S. sales decline this year through October is the most among major automakers. The median time for a prepackaged bankruptcy is 45 days, according to Lynn LoPucki, who teaches bankruptcy law at Harvard University and the University of California at Los Angeles. The median time for an ordinary bankruptcy is about 1 1/2 years, or more than 10 times as long, he said. For GM, a prepackaged bankruptcy plan with federal assistance would involve fewer taxpayer dollars than a bailout done outside of court, said Mark Bane, a bankruptcy lawyer at Ropes & Gray in New York. He isn't involved in GM's case. The Detroit-based automaker could use court protection to reduce debt, reject unfavorable contracts and minimize the risk that it would need a future bailout, Bane said in an interview. ``It creates the environment to deal with GM's problems, but limits government financial commitment,'' he said.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">No `Stigma'</span><br /><br />``I don't understand the stigma that would come with prepackaged bankruptcy,'' with the benefit of government funds to the industry, Tennessee Republican Senator Bob Corker said yesterday. ``I don't know how that could possibly be detrimental.'' Mulally, who said Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford isn't yet running out of money, said he expects that the bankruptcy of one automaker may lead to the failure of the others. The failure of GM would cost the government as much as $200 billion should the biggest U.S. automaker be forced to liquidate, Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts, estimates. A GM collapse would mean ``more aid to specific states like Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, and more money into unemployment and extended benefits,'' he said Nov. 15. Aid will likely be delayed until Congress attaches more conditions, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Himanshu Patel in New York wrote in a report today. ``The tone of the hearing conducted on behalf of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and the direction of questioning did not change our view that federal aid is more likely than not,'' Patel wrote. ``However, we feel it is clearer now that the timing of any such aid is not imminent as key differences remain amongst influential power-brokers.''Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-46251634819758276982008-11-05T14:22:00.000-08:002008-11-05T14:33:24.914-08:00Molson Coors Rises on Sales Gains, Quicker SavingsBy Allison Abell Schwartz (Bloomberg)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/00Pr8XGa7FeXu/610x.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 610px; height: 405px;" src="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/00Pr8XGa7FeXu/610x.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> Molson Coors Brewing Co., the third- largest U.S. beer maker, rose 8.3 percent in New York trading because of market-share gains in Canada and the U.K. and after the company said it expects to achieve total cost savings from its joint U.S. venture with SABMiller Plc six months early. Sales to retailers in Canada climbed 3.7 percent, led by “double-digit growth“ of Coors Light, Carling and Rickard’s, the company said today. Those sales gained 0.7 percent in the U.S. In the U.K., the brewer grew market share amid a slowing economy and fewer pub visits because of a smoking ban there. An increase in sales to retailers in the U.S. and Canada and Molson Coors’s cost savings announcement helped send the shares higher in New York trading today, Brian Yarbrough, an analyst at Ed Edward Jones in St. Louis, said in a telephone interview. “We are in probably the healthiest position we could wish to be in,” Chief Executive Officer Peter Swinburn said today in a telephone interview. Molson Coors, based in Denver and Montreal, climbed $3.20 to $41.78 at 4:12 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have lost 19 percent this year. Net income jumped 29 percent to $173.2 million, or 94 cents a share, Molson Coors said in a statement. Profit excluding some one-time costs and gains was unchanged at 95 cents from a year earlier, 2 cents lower than the average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Revenue after excise taxes dropped 45 percent to $921.1 mi million from $1.69 billion in the three months ended Sept. 28 as Molson Coors separated its U.S. operations into the MillerCoors venture. Including the U.S. business, its worldwide beer volume rose less than 1 percent to 12 million barrels.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Canadian Sales</span><br /><br />Beer discounts and commodity inflation hurt earnings in Canada, where sales grew by a “high-single-digit” percentage, the brewer said. Profit in the country fell 8.1 percent to $151 million before taxes as the cost of goods sold rose 7 percent because of higher material, packaging material and fuel prices. Earnings in the U.K. climbed 19 percent before taxes, helped by new contracts with suppliers and lower pension costs. Sales volume declined and a 7 percent drop in the pound against the dollar trimmed profit, Molson Coors said. As commodity costs begin to slow, Molson Coors may be well positioned to boost profit, said Yarbrough, who recommends investors buy the shares.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">MillerCoors Venture</span><br /><br />Earlier today, MillerCoors reported third-quarter profit increased 15 percent to $168.2 million on sales gains of 1.9 percent, helped by purchases of Coors Light. It was the first period of joint operations. MillerCoors will cut “a lot” of jobs in the coming weeks, the unit’s executives said on a Webcast discussing earnings. The venture is the second-biggest U.S. beer company behind Anheuser- Busch Cos. and holds 30 percent of the country’s beer market. In June, Molson Coors and SABMiller joined their U.S. divisions and said they expect to save $500 million over three years from the combination. The brewer said today it anticipates accelerating by six months that savings plan, with the first $50 million by June 30 and $350 million in the second year of the venture. A year earlier, Molson Coors earned $134.7 million, or 74 cents a share.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-17389677564674379562008-11-05T11:55:00.000-08:002008-11-05T11:59:14.106-08:00Outsource Your Collections<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.americanprofit.net/images/logo.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 247px; height: 129px;" src="http://www.americanprofit.net/images/logo.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Debt collection is a touchy subject because of the economic climate in the US right now but still a necessity for companies. Although some companies do this in house, most businesses are looking to free up current staff and reduce overall costs that are associated with this process. We’ve been looking at a number of debt collectors and will report on them in the next few weeks. The first one we found was American Profit Recovery. They seem to have the right approach. They’ve streamlined the whole process to make it as easy as possible for a client to manage all of their accounts right on their website. Some of the pages in the site seem to be down but it looks like this is a temporary issues and I’ve been told that these kinks will be worked out soon. I’ve worked at a few companies that could have been greatly helped by APR’s work so I would recommend that if you’re looking for help with <a href="http://www.americanprofit.net">debt collection</a> that you set up a call with them so they can answer any questions you might have. If you have used them before we’d love to hear your experiences so we encourage you to send us feedback. From all I can gather they have a great operation going.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Senior Journalist Casper Nightingale contributed to this article</span>Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-41753195961375598452008-11-05T06:52:00.000-08:002008-11-05T06:57:17.872-08:00Obama Is Elected President as Racial Barrier Falls<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://chicagoist.com/attachments/Margaret%20Lyons/2008_1_28.obamaposter.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 598px;" src="http://chicagoist.com/attachments/Margaret%20Lyons/2008_1_28.obamaposter.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />By ADAM NAGOURNEY (NYTimes)<br /><br />Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive. The election of Mr. Obama amounted to a national catharsis — a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country. But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago. Mr. Obama, 47, a first-term senator from Illinois, defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona, 72, a former prisoner of war who was making his second bid for the presidency.<br /><br />To the very end, Mr. McCain’s campaign was eclipsed by an opponent who was nothing short of a phenomenon, drawing huge crowds epitomized by the tens of thousands of people who turned out to hear Mr. Obama’s victory speech in Grant Park in Chicago. Mr. McCain also fought the headwinds of a relentlessly hostile political environment, weighted down with the baggage left to him by President Bush and an economic collapse that took place in the middle of the general election campaign.“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” said Mr. Obama, standing before a huge wooden lectern with a row of American flags at his back, casting his eyes to a crowd that stretched far into the Chicago night.<br /><br />“It’s been a long time coming,” the president-elect added, “but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America.” The focus shifted quickly on Wednesday to the daunting challenges facing the president-elect, with his supporters offering sober reflections of what lies ahead. “We’re in deep trouble,” said Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and leader in the civil rights movement, on the Today show on NBC.<br /><br />“We’ve got to get our economy out of the ditch, end the war in Iraq and bring our young men and women home, provide health care for all our citizens,” Mr. Lewis said. “And he’s going to call on us, I believe, to sacrifice. We all must give up something.” Mr. McCain delivered his concession speech under clear skies on the lush lawn of the Arizona Biltmore, in Phoenix, where he and his wife had held their wedding reception. The crowd reacted with scattered boos as he offered his congratulations to Mr. Obama and saluted the historical significance of the moment.<br /><br />“This is a historic election, and I recognize the significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight,” Mr. McCain said, adding, “We both realize that we have come a long way from the injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation.” Not only did Mr. Obama capture the presidency, but he led his party to sharp gains in Congress. This puts Democrats in control of the House, the Senate and the White House for the first time since 1995, when Bill Clinton was in office.The day shimmered with history as voters began lining up before dawn, hours before polls opened, to take part in the culmination of a campaign that over the course of two years commanded an extraordinary amount of attention from the American public. As the returns became known, and Mr. Obama passed milestone after milestone —Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa and New Mexico — people rolled spontaneously into the streets to celebrate what many described, with perhaps overstated if understandable exhilaration, a new era in a country where just 143 years ago, Mr. Obama, as a black man, could have been owned as a slave.<br /><br />For Republicans, especially the conservatives who have dominated the party for nearly three decades, the night represented a bitter setback and left them contemplating where they now stand in American politics. Republican leaders began on Wednesday what will likely be a lengthy re-examination of their brand, as Democrats hope to shape a permanent re-alignment of the electoral map. “Certainly, we have to examine this,” said Rep. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a Texas Republican, on CNN on Wednesday. “We have to listen to what the people are saying if we’re going to be a forceful voice.” Mr. Obama and his expanded Democratic majority on Capitol Hill now face the task of governing the country through a difficult period: the likelihood of a deep and prolonged recession, and two wars. He took note of those circumstances in a speech that was notable for its sobriety and its absence of the triumphalism that he might understandably have displayed on a night when he won an Electoral College landslide.<br /><br />“The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep,” said Mr. Obama, his audience hushed and attentive, with some, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, wiping tears from their eyes. “We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.” The roster of defeated Republicans included some notable party moderates, like Senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire and Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, and signaled that the Republican conference convening early next year in Washington will be not only smaller but more conservative. Mr. Obama will come into office after an election in which he laid out a number of clear promises: to cut taxes for most Americans, to get the United States out of Iraq in a fast and orderly fashion, and to expand health care. In a recognition of the difficult transition he faces, given the economic crisis, Mr. Obama is expected to begin filling White House jobs as early as this week.<br /><br />Mr. Obama defeated Mr. McCain in Ohio, a central battleground in American politics, despite a huge effort that brought Mr. McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, back there repeatedly. Mr. Obama had lost the state decisively to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in the Democratic primary.<br /><br />Mr. McCain failed to take from Mr. Obama the two Democratic states that were at the top of his target list: New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Mr. Obama also held on to Minnesota, the state that played host to the convention that nominated Mr. McCain; Wisconsin; and Michigan, a state Mr. McCain once had in his sights. The apparent breadth of Mr. Obama’s sweep left Republicans sobered, and his showing in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania stood out because officials in both parties had said that his struggles there in the primary campaign reflected the resistance of blue-collar voters to supporting a black candidate. “I always thought there was a potential prejudice factor in the state,” Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat of Pennsylvania who was an early Obama supporter, told reporters in Chicago. “I hope this means we washed that away.” Mr. McCain called Mr. Obama at 10 p.m., Central time, to offer his congratulations. In the call, Mr. Obama said he was eager to sit down and talk; in his concession speech, Mr. McCain said he was ready to help Mr. Obama work through difficult times. “I need your help,” Mr. Obama told his rival, according to an Obama adviser, Robert Gibbs. “You’re a leader on so many important issues.” Mr. Bush called Mr. Obama shortly after 10 p.m. to congratulate him on his victory. “I promise to make this a smooth transition,” the president said to Mr. Obama, according to a transcript provided by the White House .”You are about to go on one of the great journeys of life. Congratulations, and go enjoy yourself.” For most Americans, the news of Mr. Obama’s election came at 11 p.m., Eastern time, when the networks, waiting for the close of polls in California, declared him the victor. A roar sounded from the 125,000 people gathered in Hutchison Field in Grant Park at the moment that they learned Mr. Obama had been projected the winner.<br /><br />The scene in Phoenix was decidedly more sour. At several points, Mr. McCain, unsmiling, had to motion his crowd to quiet down — he held out both hands, palms down — when they responded to his words of tribute to Mr. Obama with boos. Mr. Obama, who watched Mr. McCain’s speech from his hotel room in Chicago, offered a hand to voters who had not supported him in this election, when he took the stage 15 minutes later. “To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn,” he said, “I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too.” Initial signs were that Mr. Obama benefited from a huge turnout of voters, but particularly among blacks. That group made up 13 percent of the electorate, according to surveys of people leaving the polls, compared with 11 percent in 2006.<br /><br />In North Carolina, Republicans said that the huge surge of African-Americans was one of the big factors that led to Senator Elizabeth Dole, a Republican, losing her re-election bid. Mr. Obama also did strikingly well among Hispanic voters; Mr. McCain did worse among those voters than Mr. Bush did in 2004. That suggests the damage the Republican Party has suffered among those voters over four years in which Republicans have been at the forefront on the effort to crack down on illegal immigrants. The election ended what by any definition was one of the most remarkable contests in American political history, drawing what was by every appearance unparalleled public interest. Throughout the day, people lined up at the polls for hours — some showing up before dawn — to cast their votes. Aides to both campaigns said that anecdotal evidence suggested record-high voter turnout.<br /><br />Reflecting the intensity of the two candidates, Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama took a page from what Mr. Bush did in 2004 and continued to campaign after the polls opened. Mr. McCain left his home in Arizona after voting early Tuesday to fly to Colorado and New Mexico, two states where Mr. Bush won four years ago but where Mr. Obama waged a spirited battle. These were symbolically appropriate final campaign stops for Mr. McCain, reflecting the imperative he felt of trying to defend Republican states against a challenge from Mr. Obama. “Get out there and vote,” Mr. McCain said in Grand Junction, Colo. “I need your help. Volunteer, knock on doors, get your neighbors to the polls, drag them there if you need to.” By contrast, Mr. Obama flew from his home in Chicago to Indiana, a state that in many ways came to epitomize the audacity of his effort this year. Indiana has not voted for a Democrat since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s landslide victory in 1964, and Mr. Obama made an intense bid for support there. He later returned home to Chicago play basketball, his election-day ritual.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-15741528851510550432008-10-30T09:23:00.000-07:002008-10-30T09:27:47.800-07:00Economy shrinks in 3Q, signaling recession<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20080709/cartoon20080709.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 525px; height: 406px;" src="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20080709/cartoon20080709.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />AP WASHINGTON: The economy jolted into reverse during the third quarter as consumers cut back on their spending by the biggest amount in 28 years, the strongest signal yet the country has hurtled into recession. The broadest barometer of the nation's economic health, gross domestic product, shrank at a 0.3 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. It marked the worst showing since the economy contracted at a 1.4 percent pace in the third quarter of 2001, when the nation was suffering through its last recession. The latest GDP reading marked a rapid loss of traction for the economy, which logged growth of 2.8 percent in the second quarter, and is sure to buttress the belief of many economists that the nation is in the throes of a painful downturn.<br /><br />"No question. We're definitely in a recession. That is just a reality," said Brian Bethune, economist at IHS Global Insight. The White House tried to downplay the significance of the numbers, saying they were not unexpected and caused partly by special circumstances such as hurricanes and a Boeing Co. strike.<br /><br />"While we continue to face serious challenges, the United States remains the best place to do business, and we're positioned to bounce back," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. The deterioration reflected a sharp retrenchment by consumers, whose spending accounts for the largest chunk of national economic activity. Consumers ratcheted back their spending at a 3.1 percent pace in the third quarter, the most since the second quarter of 1980, when the country was in the grip of recession. GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States and is the broadest barometer of the country's economic health. While the third-quarter's contraction wasn't as deep as the 0.5 percent annualized decline analysts expected, the poor showing underscored the terrible toll of the housing, credit and financial crises. J. Steven Landefeld, director of the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis, which puts together the GDP report, didn't use the word "recession" to describe economic conditions but said: "Certainly we are seeing a period of dramatic slowdown."<br /><br />On Wall Street, however, the smaller-than-expected decline gave some comfort to investors. The Dow Jones industrials were up about 80 points in midday trading. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said Thursday that new claims for jobless benefits for the week ending Oct. 25 stood at a seasonally adjusted 479,000, the same as the previous week and above analysts' estimates of 475,000. Jobless claims above 400,000 are considered a sign of a struggling economy. The grim reports come just days before the nation picks the next president on Nov. 4. Whether Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain wins the White House, the incoming president will inherit a deeply troubled economy and a record-high budget deficit that could cramp his domestic agenda. Many economists believe the economy will continue to contract into next year, which would more than meet a classic definition of recession two straight quarters of shrinking GDP. The National Bureau of Economic Research, the panel of experts that determines when U.S. recessions begin and end, uses a broader definition to determine recessions than two quarters of contracting GDP. That didn't happen in the last recession, in 2001. The NBER takes into account income, employment and other barometers. The finding is usually made well after the fact.<br /><br />A collapse of the housing market and locked up lending have produced the worst financial crisis to hit the country in more than 70 years. To cushion the fallout, the Fed slashed interest rates on Wednesday by half a percentage point to 1 percent, a level seen only once before in the last half century.Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that the country's economic weakness could last for some time even if the government's unprecedented $700 billion financial bailout package and other steps do succeed in getting financial and credit markets to operate more normally. Unemployment now at 6.1 percent could hit 8 percent or higher next year. Disappearing jobs, battered nest eggs and retirement accounts, and falling home prices are likely to make consumers retrench even more. Underscoring the strain faced by consumers, the report showed that Americans' disposable income fell at an annual rate of 8.7 percent in the third quarter, the largest quarterly drop on records dating back to 1947.<br /><br />In the third quarter, consumers cut back on purchases of cars, furniture, household appliances, clothes and other things.They pulled back after the bracing impact of the government's tax rebates disappeared. In addition to consumers, businesses cut back sharply in the third quarter. They cut spending on equipment and software at a 5.5 percent pace, the most since the first quarter of 2002, when the economy was struggling to recover from the 2001 recession. Home builders slashed spending at a 19.1 percent pace, marking the 11th straight quarterly cut back, and fresh evidence of the depth of the housing slump. Slower growth for U.S. exports reflecting less demand from overseas buyers who are coping with their own economic problems also factored into the weak GDP report. Exports grew at a 5.9 percent pace in the third quarter, a sharp deceleration from the second quarter's 12.3 percent growth rate. The U.S. economic downturn in the third quarter was accompanied by higher inflation. An inflation gauge tied to the GDP report showed prices excluding food and energy rose at a 2.9 percent pace, up considerably from the 2.2 percent growth rate in the second quarter. Although the new reading is outside the Fed's comfort zone, Fed officials predict the economy's slowdown will damp inflation pressures in the months ahead. The Fed has made clear that its primary mission at the moment is reviving the economy.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-71788847832189004432008-10-27T11:53:00.000-07:002008-10-27T11:57:44.122-07:00Newspapers see sharp circulation drop of 4.6 pctBy ANICK JESDANUN<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.seekingalpha.com/wp-content/seekingalpha/images/thumb-newspapercartoon.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 291px;" src="http://static.seekingalpha.com/wp-content/seekingalpha/images/thumb-newspapercartoon.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>(AP) — The nation's daily newspapers, already finding advertising revenue fell sharply because of the weak economy, saw circulation decline more steeply than anticipated in the latest reporting period, an auditing agency said Monday. Average weekday circulation was 38,165,848 in the six-months ending in September, a 4.6 percent decline from 40,022,356 a year earlier at the 507 papers that reported circulation totals in both periods. The drop was only 2.6 percent in the September 2007 period, compared with September 2006. In the six-month period that ended in March 2008, the decline was 3.6 percent over a year earlier, according to circulation figures that newspapers submitted to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Sunday circulation fell even more, 4.8 percent, to 43,631,646 in the latest period at the 571 papers with comparable totals. The drop was 3.5 percent a year ago and 4.6 percent in the period ending in March. Circulation and advertising have been dropping at newspapers as readers continue to migrate to the Internet. Ad revenue began to decline more steeply this summer as the weak economy prompted advertisers to pull back on spending. The sharper circulation declines appear to be a response to that, said Rick Edmonds, media analyst at the journalism think tank Poynter Institute.<br /><br />"Times are tough, and they are looking at everything that's in their expense base," he said. "Building new subscribers is an expensive proposition." Some newspapers have purposely let some sales slide to focus on those readers who are coveted by advertisers and exclude those in outlying areas that are more expensive to reach. Circulation could drop even faster as regular readers, in a tight economy, decide they no longer need their printed newspapers, Edmonds warned. Many papers have offset circulation declines with price increases, though papers risk losing readers if they raise prices too much. In a sign of hope, the Newspaper Association of America said last week that usage of newspaper Web sites grew nearly 16 percent in the third quarter, compared with last year, to an average of more than 68 million monthly unique visitors. But online ad sales haven't increased fast enough to offset the declines in print, which still makes up the bulk of a paper's revenue. USA Today remains the nation's top-selling newspaper, with average daily circulation of 2,293,310, just 173 more than last year. The No. 2 daily, The Wall Street Journal, also reported flat circulation — up just 117 copies to 2,011,999.<br /><br />The New York Times saw circulation decline 3.6 percent to 1,000,665, while the Los Angeles Times had a 5.2 percent drop to 739,147. The other papers in the top 25 also saw circulation drops of from 1.9 percent at The Washington Post to 13.6 percent at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The New York Times remains the top paper on Sundays, when USA Today and the Journal do not publish, with a circulation of 1,438,585, down 4.1 percent. The Los Angeles Times follows at 1,055,076, down 5.1 percent, and the Post at 866,057, a decrease of 3.2 percent. Among the top 25, only the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Sunday gains, of 0.8 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. Despite the industrywide decline in circulation, five papers outside the top 25 reported gains of at least 5 percent, led by the Wisconsin State Journal of Madison, where circulation rose 10.6 percent to 97,012. The other gainers are The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens, Mich., The Daily Sun of The Villages, Fla., The Times of Trenton, N.J., and the Citizen Tribune of Morristown, Tenn.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-48987308154515863862008-10-22T08:25:00.000-07:002008-10-22T08:29:02.805-07:00Wells Fargo Chairman Prefers U.S. Plan to Buy Stakes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/06/17/business/wells.184.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/06/17/business/wells.184.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>(Bloomberg) -- Wells Fargo & Co. Chairman Richard Kovacevich said the U.S. Treasury's intention to buy stock in banks provides a better stimulus to escape the financial crisis than an earlier plan to purchase soured mortgage-related assets.<br /><br />``Direct capital injections versus buying loans is a far more preferable way'' to help companies already facing credit losses, Kovacevich, 64, said yesterday at an event hosted by San Francisco's Commonwealth Club. ``It's an important tool to get the financial system back into the money business again.'' Wells Fargo, which agreed to buy Wachovia Corp. for about $14 billion this month, is one of nine large lenders slated to receive cash infusions as part of the government's plan to spend $700 billion unfreezing credit markets. Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, will get $25 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are among the others that will receive the cash.<br /><br />U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson last week urged banks to ``deploy'' the money in loans. He was forced to change his strategy after the initial plan to buy distressed assets caused banks to hoard cash and failed to halt a slide in the stock market. Kovacevich declined to say if he initially opposed Paulson's plan as the New York Times reported. Wells Fargo dropped 99 cents, or 3 percent, to $31.65 at 10:04 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares gained 8.1 percent this year through yesterday, the biggest advance in the 24-comopany KBW Bank Index. Wachovia fell 17 cents to $5.92, adding to its 84 percent decline this year.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">He's Seen Worse</span><br /><br />Kovacevich said the current economic crisis isn't the worst he's seen, and the U.S. government's may help end the credit freeze ``reasonably soon.''<br /><br />``Our customers, except those in residential home lending or autos, are doing quite well,'' he said. ``By far, the worst economic crisis of my career was in the 1980s.'' The Wachovia deal, orchestrated by Kovacevich, marks an eastward expansion and strategic shift for Wells Fargo, which maintained a profit during the financial crisis by avoiding riskier loans. Wachovia's mortgage portfolio includes an estimated $74 billion in future losses. The Wells Fargo-Wachovia deal will create the biggest U.S. bank network, with 6,675 branches. The Federal Reserve said yesterday that Wells Fargo agreed to reduce its deposit base to comply with U.S. bank-merger law should the combined company control more than 10 percent of deposits nationwide.<br /><br />Wachovia reported its third straight quarterly loss today, hurt by crumbling mortgage markets and writedowns on securities backed by real estate. The loss for the three months ended Sept. 30 was $23.9 billion, or $11.18 a share, compared with net income of $1.6 billion, or 85 cents, in the same period a year earlier, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said in a statement. The Wachovia deal would be Wells Fargo's biggest acquisition since Norwest Corp. purchased the old Wells Fargo 10 years ago and adopted the name. Kovacevich was chief operating officer at Minneapolis-based Norwest in the 1980s when current Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf, 55, was running the auto-dealer business and working on commercial loans. Kovacevich was promoted to CEO of Norwest in 1993 and stepped down in June 2007 to make way for the promotion of Stumpf, who has been with the company for 26 years.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-21180325325839590922008-10-22T08:13:00.001-07:002008-10-22T08:25:00.595-07:00Let 'Em Ride<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.casino.de/themes/default/header.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://www.casino.de/themes/default/header.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I haven't been playing much online poker since my party poker days at college but I've recently been getting into some of the new casino sites that offer table games. A friend of mine recommended a new German casino <a href="http://www.casino.de">www.casino.de</a> that is absolutely fabulous. They've got a great <a href="http://www.casino.de/blackjack/blackjack-training.html">blackjack</a> game and my favorite <a href="http://www.casino.de/craps">craps</a>. Craps is possibly the most fun table game in casinos and although it's dangerous, can provide hours of fun online. There's nothing like being on a roll in craps. I remember being at the Luxor a few years ago and turning my gas money (that's all I had left after getting killed in blackjack) into a grand on the last night in the casino. The shooter at the table didn't crap out for 2 hours! I'll probably be gambling less after losing a lot in the markets this month but there will always be a place in my heart for that Las Vegas action that you can now get online. This casino is great because not only can I enjoy the gaming, I can also brush up on my German which I've used less and less since my days in Berlin. I'd be wary of spending too much on gambling, but the game play is great and if you can't make it to Vegas or Atlantic City (and you speak German) check our their site for good times. Good Luck!Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667782158267232624.post-51898174284014020462008-09-25T06:59:00.000-07:002008-09-25T07:02:39.645-07:00Deal close on $700 billion financial bailout planBy JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS<br /><br />WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush is bringing presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain into negotiations on a $700 billion rescue of Wall Street as Democrats and Republicans near agreement on a bailout plan with more protections for taxpayers and new help for distressed homeowners. Senior lawmakers and Bush administration officials have cleared away key obstacles to a deal on the unprecedented rescue, agreeing to include widely supported limits on pay packages for executives whose companies benefit. They're still wrangling over major elements, including how to phase in the eye-popping cost - a measure demanded by Democrats and some Republicans who want stronger congressional control over the bailout - without spooking markets. A plan to let the government take an ownership stake in troubled companies as part of the rescue, rather than just buying bad debt, also was under intense negotiation. A bipartisan meeting was set for Thursday to begin drafting a compromise, which top Democrats said they hoped could pass within days.<br /><br />The core of the plan envisions the government buying up sour assets of shaky financial firms in a bid to keep them from going under and to stave off a potentially severe recession. Bush acknowledged in a prime-time television address Wednesday night that the bailout would be a "tough vote" for lawmakers. But he said failing to approve it would risk dire consequences for the economy and most Americans.<br /><br />"Without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic, and a distressing scenario would unfold," Bush said as he worked to resurrect the unpopular bailout package. "Our entire economy is in danger." Bush's warning came soon after he invited Obama and McCain, one of whom will inherit the economic mess in four months, as well as key congressional leaders to a White House meeting Thursday to work on a compromise. With the administration's original proposal considered dead in Congress, House leaders said they were making progress toward revised legislation that could be approved. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who has led negotiations with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on the package, said that given the progress of the talks, the White House meeting was a distraction.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/ap/FINANCIAL_MELTDOWN.sff_GFX890_20080915183434.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/ap/FINANCIAL_MELTDOWN.sff_GFX890_20080915183434.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />"We're going to have to interrupt a negotiating session tomorrow between the Democrats and Republicans on a bill where I think we are getting pretty close, and troop down to the White House for their photo op," said Frank, the House Financial Services Committee chairman. "I wish they'd checked with us." Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have been crisscrossing Capitol Hill in recent days, shuttling between public hearings on the proposal and private meetings with lawmakers, to sell the proposal. Obama and McCain are calling for a bipartisan effort to deal with the crisis, little more than five weeks before national elections in which the economy has emerged as the dominant theme.<br /><br />"The plan that has been submitted to Congress by the Bush administration is flawed, but the effort to protect the American economy must not fail," they said in a joint statement Wednesday night. "This is a time to rise above politics for the good of the country. We cannot risk an economic catastrophe." Presidential politics intruded, nonetheless, when McCain said earlier Wednesday he intended to return to Washington and was asking Obama to agree to delay their first debate, scheduled for Friday, to deal with the meltdown. Obama said the debate should go ahead. Lawmakers in both parties have objected strenuously to the rescue plan over the past two days, Republicans complaining about federal intervention in private business and Democrats pressing to tack on more conditions and help for beleaguered homeowners. But many in both parties said they were open to legislation, although on different terms than the White House has proposed. Some partisan sticking points remain. Democrats are pushing to allow bankruptcy judges to rewrite mortgages to ease the burden on consumers who are facing foreclosure - a nonstarter for Republicans.<br /><br />Democrats acknowledge privately that the provision will almost certainly be dropped in the interest of a bipartisan deal. Obama told reporters it's "probably something that we shouldn't try to do in this piece of legislation." Democrats also want any potential proceeds the government reaps from the bailout to go to a fund designed to pay for housing for poor families. Many Republicans oppose the very existence of the fund, which they say is a backdoor means of funneling money to liberal political groups. Democratic demands that Congress be given greater authority over the bailout and that the government be required to help homeowners renegotiate their mortgages so they have lower monthly payments already have been accepted in principle. Under the bailout bill, which will let the government buy huge amounts of toxic mortgage-related assets, "we're now the biggest mortgage holder in town, and we can do serious foreclosure avoidance," Frank said.Laveranues Pedigreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04140881812812145814noreply@blogger.com0