Finance topics

Construction spending surged to a near 1-1/2 year high in November as investment in public and private projects rose solidly, cementing expectations of

strong economic growth in the fourth quarter.

Construction spending increased 1.2 percent to an annual rate of $807.1 billion, the highest level since June 2010, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.

Spending in October was revised to a 0.2 percent fall, after initially reported as a 0.8 percent rise.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected construction spending to rise 0.5 percent in November.

Overall construction spending was up 0.5 percent compared to November 2010.

Private construction spending rose 1.0 percent, advancing for a fourth straight month. Spending on residential projects increased 2.0 percent, with solid gains in both multifamily and single family homes.

The housing market is showing some signs of recovery, with builders breaking more ground on new projects to meet growing demand for rental apartments. It is becoming less of a drag on the economy and is expected to significantly add to growth in 2012.

Private nonresidential construction was flat in November after declining 0.6 percent the prior month.

Spending on public sector construction rebounded 1.7 percent in November as outlays on federal projects jumped 5.3 percent after dropping 7.5 percent in October.

State and local government spending rose 1.3 percent after falling 1.2 percent the prior month.

Read more

fast cash loan is fast becoming a viable financial option for consumers who need a few extra dollars.

There was no “Mission Accomplished” banner. No victory parade down the center of this capital scarred by nearly nine years of war. No crowds of cheering Iraqis grateful for liberation from Saddam Hussein.

It took the U.S. military just 45 minutes Thursday to declare an end to its war in Iraq with a businesslike closing ceremony behind concrete blast walls in a fortified compound at Baghdad International Airport. The flag used by U.S. forces in Iraq was lowered and boxed up. On the chairs _ nearly empty of Iraqis _ were tags that listed not only the name of the assigned VIP, but the bunker to rush to in case of an attack.

With that, and brief words from top U.S. officials who flew in under tight security, the U.S. drew the curtain on a war that killed 4,487 Americans, by the Pentagon’s count, and more than 100,000 Iraqis.

The conflict also left another 32,000 Americans and far more Iraqis wounded, drained more than $800 billion from the U.S. treasury and diverted resources from Afghanistan, where the Taliban and al-Qaida rebounded after their defeat in the 2001 invasion.

“To be sure the cost was high _ in blood and treasure of the United States and also the Iraqi people,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the roughly 200 troops and others in attendance. “Those lives have not been lost in vain. They gave birth to an independent, free and sovereign Iraq.”

Many Iraqis, who saw their country devastated through years of fighting, disputed that.

“With this withdrawal, the Americans are leaving behind a destroyed country,” said Mariam Khazim, a member of the Shiite Muslim sect that has dominated politics since the end of Saddam’s Sunni-led regime.

“The Americans did not leave modern schools or big factories behind them,” said Khazim, whose father was killed when a mortar shell struck his home in Sadr City. “Instead, they left thousands of widows and orphans. The Americans did not leave a free people and country behind them. In fact, they left a ruined country and a divided nation.”

The low-key ceremony stood in sharp contrast to the start of the war, which began before dawn on March 20, 2003, with a “shock and awe” airstrike in southern Baghdad where Saddam was believed to be hiding. U.S. and allied ground forces then stormed across the featureless Kuwaiti desert, accompanied by reporters, photographers and television crews embedded with the troops.

Now, the final few thousand U.S. troops will head out in orderly caravans and tightly scheduled flights, leaving behind a nation free of Saddam’s tyranny but fractured by violence and fearful of the future. Bombings and gun battles still occur almost daily. Experts are concerned about the Iraqi security forces’ ability to defend the nation against foreign threats.

U.S.-Iraqi ties are no doubt closer than they were during much of Saddam’s rule but are still short of what Washington once envisioned. Iranian influence is on the rise. One of the few positive developments from the American viewpoint _ a democratic toehold _ is far from secure.

“You will leave with great pride _ lasting pride,” Panetta told the troops seated in front of a small domed building in the airport complex. “Secure in knowing that your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people to begin a new chapter in history.”

Many Iraqis, however, are uncertain how that chapter will unfold. Their relief at the end of Saddam, who was hanged on Dec. 30, 2006, was tempered by a long and vicious war that was launched to find nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and plunged the nation into a bloodbath between rival Muslim sects.

An insurgency that rose up within months of the April 2003 fall of Baghdad scuttled reconstruction plans and forced the Americans to keep up to 170,000 troops in Iraq years after Saddam was captured.

Iraq nowadays is far quieter than at the height of the war, but with an uneasy peace achieved through intimidation and bloodshed. The number of Iraqi neighborhoods in which members of the two Muslim sects live side by side and intermarry has dwindled.

The forced segregation, fueled by extremists from both communities, has fundamentally changed the character of the country. And it raises questions about whether the Iraqis can heal the wounds of the sectarian massacres after the Americans leave.

Some Baghdad neighborhoods, such as Hurriyah, are still guarded by thick blast walls and security checkpoints. Widespread corruption, bureaucratic hurdles and electricity shortages continue to stifle Iraq’s economy.

It was hard to find an Iraqi on Thursday who did not celebrate the exit of what they called American occupiers, neither invited nor welcome in a proud country whose capital, Baghdad, was once among the world’s great centers of culture and learning.

Some said that while grateful for U.S. help ousting Saddam, the war went on too long. A majority of Americans would agree, according to opinion polls, though many initially supported the war as a just extension of the fight against terrorism after the 9/11 attacks.

One of the many ironies of the war is that Saddam had not tolerated al-Qaida, which planned and carried out the attacks. With Saddam gone and the country in chaos, al-Qaida in Iraq became the terror movement’s largest and most dangerous franchise, attracting fighters from North Africa to Asia for a war that lingers on through suicide bombings and assassinations, albeit at a lower intensity.

The ceremony at Baghdad’s airport also featured remarks from Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who served two tours in Iraq, and Gen. Lloyd Austin, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Austin led the massive logistical challenge of shuttering hundreds of bases and combat outposts, and methodically moving more than 50,000 U.S. troops and their equipment out of Iraq over the last year _ while still conducting training, security assistance and counterterrorism battles.

As of Thursday, there were two U.S. bases and about 4,000 U.S. troops in Iraq _ a dramatic drop from the roughly 500 military installations during the surge ordered by President George W. Bush in 2007. All U.S. troops are slated to be out by the end of the year.

President Barack Obama had no comment on Thursday’s ceremony but told soldiers at Fort Bragg in North Carolina this week that the “war in Iraq will soon belong to history, and your service belongs to the ages.”

Despite Obama’s earlier contention that all American troops would be home for Christmas, at least 4,000 forces will remain in Kuwait for some months. The troops could be used as a quick reaction force if needed.

The U.S. will leave behind thousands of diplomats and security contractors.

“We will have to be working closely with the Iraqis to ensure the security of our civilians,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement.

Still, the disappearance of uniformed troops marked a defining moment in Iraq’s history.

“It is a great achievement for the Iraqi people,” said Hayder al-Abadi, a Shiite lawmaker in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s coalition. “Iraqi politicians have made their way and have made the independence and sovereignty a reality here. The Americans have committed a lot of mistakes in Iraq and they failed to protect the country.”

Source

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. tumbled on Wednesday after the retailer of preppy teen apparel reported third-quarter results that missed expectations due to higher costs and a slowdown in Europe.

After losing market share to cheaper competitors during the recession, Abercrombie & Fitch has focused on expanding internationally with flashy flagship stores in places like Milan and Paris and on closing underperforming stores in the U.S.

But it is facing challenges on two fronts, higher costs and the increasingly shaky economy in Europe. In a call with analysts, CEO Mike Jefferies said the company stood by its European expansion plans.

“Our European business, while slowing somewhat during the quarter, is very robust and healthy by any objective measure,” he said. “If anyone is inclined to believe that a softening of our business in Europe this quarter in the face of severe macroeconomic headwinds is a major issue for our model, frankly, I think they are missing the forest for the trees.”

Its shares dropped more than 14 percent in late morning trading.

Abercrombie reiterated that it plans to open 40 international mall-based Hollister stores during the year. About 25 have opened as of Oct. 29. It plans to open five international flagship Abercrombie & Fitch stores in 2011. It said it would open Abercrombie & Fitch flagship stores in Amsterdam and Munich in 2012, in addition to previously announced flagships opening in Hamburg and Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, high costs pressured results. The cost of goods sold was up 34 percent during the quarter. But the company did not raise prices, in order to drive sales in its U.S. stores.

“We chose to keep our average unit retail prices down in these stores, which, combined with double-digit average unit cost increases, puts significant pressure on our gross margins,” Jeffries said.

He said the company likely would likely raise prices in the future, and not doing so “left dollars on the table,” in the third quarter.

The New Albany, Ohio-based retailer’s net income rose to $50.9 million, or 57 cents per share, for the three months ended Oct. 30. That compares with $50 million, or 56 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 72 cents per share.

Revenue rose nearly 22 percent to $1.08 billion from $886 million. Analysts expected revenue of $1.07 billion.

U.S. revenue rose 14 percent to $920.2 million. International sales rose 56 percent to $255.7 million.

Revenue in stores open at least one year, a key gauge of a retailer’s performance, rose 7 percent, including a 4 percent gain at Abercrombie & Fitch, a 6 percent gain at Abercrombie kids stores and an 8 percent gain at surf-themed Hollister Co.

Shares fell $8.01, or 14.4 percent, to $47.69 in late morning trading after falling as low as $46.69 earlier in the session. The stock had been down 3 percent since the beginning of the year.

Stock fell in the broader market as oil topped $100 a barrel for the first time since July and concern about Europe’s debt crisis lingered. The Dow fell 121 points in morning trading.

Source

Asian-Pacific leaders gathering in warm, sunny Honolulu this week will be searching for ways to kickstart faster growth through freer trade, moving on from the gloom over European debt that prevailed days earlier at the G20 summit in chilly Cannes.

In an era of debt crises and protests over inequality, the role of the annual Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit may turn out to be just as much about confidence building as it is about combating protectionism.

The leaders of the 21 regional economies “do see freer trade flows as critical to growth and jobs,” said Charles Morrison, president of the East-West Center, a think tank in Honolulu.

“The main contribution APEC can make in the short-run is to restore the feeling that the leaders, ministers and central bankers of the major economies are indeed working closely together,” he said.

APEC’s activities encompass a wide range of issues, including climate change, energy and food security, and politics. But the spotlight in Honolulu will be on its original mission: promoting growth through trade and closer economic ties among Pacific Rim nations from Chile to China.

For President Barack Obama, the Aloha APEC, as the event is being dubbed, is a chance to spotlight progress on re-energizing exports, while pushing for a major Pacific rim trade pact.

The U.S. recently clinched long-sought free trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama _ agreements that if ratified will bring to 20 the number of countries that have free trade agreements with the U.S.

Such arrangements are potentially worth billions to American exporters, and thousands of new jobs. Despite a recent surge in exports, the U.S. share in Asian international trade has fallen 9 percent since 1990 as other nations have set trading agreements among themselves.

Europe’s debt troubles remain a concern, with talks Wednesday among deputy ministers focusing on how that may affect the global outlook and on the need for willingness to act to counter those headwinds, said a senior U.S. Treasury official.

Officials agreed on the need to push ahead with reducing trade gaps, especially through flexible management of exchange rates. China’s willingness to make that commitment both in Cannes and in Honolulu could encourage similar moves by other Asia-Pacific economies, he said.

Prospects for major progress in Hawaii on establishing a Pacific-wide free trade zone, encompassing more than half the world’s economic output, remain unclear.

The U.S., Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Peru are negotiating to join the bloc, called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which already brings together the smaller economies of Chile, New Zealand, Brunei and Singapore.

Bringing onboard other big regional powers such as Japan and China, the world’s third and second-largest economies, would vastly expand the bloc’s scope and impact.

But Japan’s debate on joining the TPP, sidetracked by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster, remains in limbo, with the ruling party split fast payday loan no faxing. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is expected to hold a news conference in Tokyo before leaving for APEC, when he may announce a decision.

Supporters view membership as a way to revive Japan’s sagging economy, enabling it to better tap into Asia’s dynamism, but politically influential farmers say that cutting tariffs _ the duty on imported rice, for example, is 778 percent _ would destroy them.

Such moves are risky for other countries as well.

“It’s very difficult for countries to make concessions on significant sectors like agriculture or things like that in an environment where there’s not enough to go around in the first place,” Patrick Chovanec, an associate professor at Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management in Beijing.

“In this environment, when the world’s gone through the worst contraction since the 1930s, it’s actually pretty miraculous that everybody’s not at each other’s throats over trade. That is something of an accomplishment,” he said.

China, which has not been invited to join the Pacific trade pact, says Washington’s goals are overly ambitious and run the risk of requiring concessions that might not take into account regional disparities in development.

Despite qualms over the pace and scope of any push for a regional free trade bloc, the 20,000 business and political leaders meeting in Hawaii appear to share a general consensus over the region’s potential _ and need _ to compensate for malaise in the U.S. and Europe.

“Our goal for the meetings is to build a commitment for practical policies that will strengthen the global recovery,” Charles Collyns, the U.S. Treasury assistant secretary for international finance, told reporters at a briefing Monday to preview the meetings.

“The dynamic emerging markets must play a bigger role in bolstering global growth,” he said.

The share of exports in the U.S. GDP has risen to 14 percent from 11 percent over the past few years, the highest share in over 200 years, helped by the rebound from the global crisis, a weak U.S. dollar, strong growth in China and South America as well as by policy.

But so far, the export boom has not provided the oomph needed to make a significant dent in unemployment, partly because most growth has been concentrated in sales of corn and soybeans, coal and other resources, rather than in more labor intensive manufacturing, said Ed Gresser of the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

“The export sector has done really well, but the general economy hasn’t,” he said. “In farm areas there are jobs, but in the cities and suburbs we still have 14 million out of work.”

Source

OTTAWA

The maker of Robert Mondavi wine and Svedka vodka says its second-quarter profit jumped 78 percent on lower costs and improved wine and spirits sales in North America.

Constellation Brands Inc.’s earnings beat Wall Street estimates. Its shares rose 4 percent to $19.49 in premarket trading.

The Victor, N.Y.-based company reported net income climbed to $162.7 million, or 76 cents per share, in the June-to-August quarter. That’s up from $91.3 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, the Victor, N business card design.Y., company earned 77 cents per share. Wall Street expected 65 cents per share.

Its revenue fell 20 percent to $690.2 million largely because it sold the bulk of its Australian and British wine business in January.

Its wine and spirits sales in North America rose 5 percent to $690.2 million.

Source

U.S. stock futures are falling as traders close out what could be the worst quarter since the peak of the financial crisis.

Fears about a European debt crisis with potentially catastrophic consequences have weighed on markets since the spring. Economic data are mostly weak. Major stock indexes have fallen more than 10 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is down 12 percent _ the most since the final quarter of 2008.

The government reports before the market opens on consumer spending and personal incomes in August easy to get unsecured personal loans. Economists expect spending edged up after rising in July.

At 7:33 a.m. Eastern time, S&P 500 futures were down 14, or 1.2 percent, at 1,143. Dow futures were down 118, or 1.1 percent, at 10,981. Nasdaq 100 futures were down 22, or 1 percent, at 2,168.

Source

Under pressure from skeptical financial markets, the world’s economic powers scrambled on Saturday for ways to keep Europe’s debt crisis from spiraling out of control.

The continent’s financial woes grabbed the attention of the policy-setting committees of the 187-nation International Monetary Fund and the World Bank during the lending institutions’ annual meetings.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the IMF panel that the debt crisis posed the most serious threat to the global economy and that failure to take bold action raised the risk of domino-style defaults by heavily indebted European countries.

He said the European Central Bank should try to ensure that governments pursuing sound reforms could get loans at affordable rates and that European banks have access to the capital they need to operate. The ECB is the central bank for the 17 nations that use the euro as a common currency.

Global financial markets plunged this week on fears of a possible default within weeks by Greece on its government debt and on worries a default would cause runs on major European banks with heavy exposure to Athens’ debt.

“The threat of cascading default, bank runs and catastrophic risk must be taken off the table. Otherwise, it will undermine all other efforts, both within Europe and globally,” Geithner said. “Decisions as to how to conclusively address the region’s problems cannot wait until the crisis gets even more severe.”

Geithner was one of a number of finance leaders demanding forceful action.

Mark Carney, the head of Canada’s central bank, called for “overwhelming” the problem with a big increase in Europe’s rescue fund for heavily indebted countries.

In an interview with CBC radio, Carney suggested that a European financial stability fund should be increased from 440 billion euros to 1 trillion euros. At current exchange rates, that would be the equivalent of expanding a $590 billion fund to $1.35 trillion.

“You need a big pot of money,” he said.

For Christine Lagarde, who took over as head of the IMF in June, the debt crisis was a tough first test. Lagarde has warned that without strong and collective action, the world’s major economies risk slipping back into recession.

To avoid that, finance officials of the Group of 20 major economies pledged on Thursday to “take all necessary actions to preserve the stability of banking systems and financial markets.”

But private economists have questioned whether the plan goes far enough to deal with market concerns that a Greek default is a virtual certainty.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said a second bailout package for Greece may have to be re-evaluated because of Athens’ problems in fulfilling earlier financial promises.

This re-evaluation could include changing the terms of the voluntary contribution from banks and other private investors to Greece’s rescue, two European officials said.

One of the officials said that Germany and other rich eurozone nations, including the Netherlands and Austria, are now pushing for an “orderly default” by Greece. That would entail losses for investors that go beyond the 21 percent cut in the face value of government bonds foreseen under the voluntary contribution. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The comments underline how confidence is eroding among core eurozone countries over whether they can actually save Greece. The Greek debt is close to 160 percent of its gross domestic product and its economy looks set for a fourth straight year of recession.

Stock markets in Europe and the U.S. recouped some of their previous day’s hefty losses Friday, but investors remained skeptical about whether the world’s leading economies can keep the global economy from going over the cliff.

Despite the modest gains Friday, the worries are piling up for investors. The Federal Reserve warned this week that the American economy is in significant difficulty, while there were several downbeat European and Asian economic indicators.

Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University’s Martin Smith School of Business said the great concern is that if Greece doesn’t make further painful cuts in government spending and ends up defaulting on its debt, the shock waves will rock big banks in Europe.

He said this would cause fearful investors to sell bonds of other heavily indebted countries such as Italy and Spain, countries with much bigger economies.

“The fear in markets is that the problem will spread to bigger economies such as Spain and Italy. Europe would not have the resources to handle a crisis of that magnitude,” Sohn said.

The finance officials at the Washington meeting said they believed that the 17 nations that use the common euro currency were getting the message they needed to move more quickly to reform their surveillance procedures and increase economic support.

____

Associated Press writers Martin Crutsinger and Luis Alonso Lugo in Washington and Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris contributed to this report.

Source

A brand new Oakville house that was listed for $1 has been pulled off the market after six bids came in over the weekend, two of them in the $700,000 range.

That was about $200,000 less than the sellers had been hoping for after first listing their three-bedroom stucco home for $1.088 million in August and then urging their agent to drop the price last week.

The unusual $1 price tag stimulated a lot of interest, along with some accusations of false advertising. About 170 people came from miles away to tour the house Saturday and Sunday, but the bidding war never got as heated as hoped.

News Corp. on Friday said long-time independent board member and venture capitalist Thomas Perkins is leaving its board of directors.

The media conglomerate has been struggling with a phone hacking scandal at one of its British papers.

Perkins resigned from Hewlett-Packard Co.’s board in 2006 after learning that the company had hired private detectives to obtain his phone records. News Corp. didn’t say why he was leaving.

A message seeking from from Perkins was not immediately returned on Friday morning. He is one of the founders of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a Menlo Park, Calif., venture capital firm that has funded many Silicon Valley companies.

Also leaving News Corp fast cash loans.’s board is Kenneth Cowley, a former News Corp. executive.

Cowley and Perkins will leave after News Corp.’s Oct. 21 annual meeting, the company said.

Standing for election at the meeting will be James Breyer, another venture capitalist and nominee to the board. He is a partner of Accel Partners and serves on the board of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Dell Inc.

News Corp.’s independent directors, including Perkins, expressed their support for the company’s senior management in a July statement.

Source