Finance topics

+%3Cp%3ESlovenia+had+its+credit+rating+lowered+one+step+to+A1+by+Moody%92s+Investors+Service+on+the+potential+need+for+the+government+to+support+its+banking+system+amid+Europe%92s+debt+crisis.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+euro-area+nation%92s+banking+industry+has+assets+that+are+about+136+percent+of+gross+domestic+product%2C+which+is+%93relatively+large+when+compared+to+other+systems+in+eastern+Europe%2C%94+Moody%92s+said+yesterday+in+a+statement.+It+assigned+a+negative+outlook+to+Slovenia%92s+credit+grade%2C+the+fifth-highest.+Standard+%26amp%3B+Poor%92s+ranks+the+nation+AA-%2C+one+level+higher.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3ESlovenia+was+downgraded+at+Moody%92s+for+the+second+time+in+three+months+as+the+euro+area+struggles+to+resolve+its+sovereign-debt+crisis%2C+prompting+stepped-up+ratings+scrutiny+for+the+region.+S%26amp%3BP+and+Fitch+ratings+said+this+month+they+may+cut+the+scores+of+15+euro-region+members+after+assessing+the+outcome+a+European+Union+summit+on+a+tighter+fiscal+pact.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3E%93Asset+quality+pressure+and+the+euro-area+debt+and+funding+crisis+have+further+exposed+significant+vulnerabilities+in+the+solvency+and+short-term+external+funding+and+overall+business+model+of+the+largest+institutions+in+Slovenia%92s+financial+sector%2C%94+Moody%92s+said.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+government+is+the+majority+owner+of+the+country%92s+two+biggest+lenders%2C+Nova+Ljubljanska+Banka+d.d.+and+%3Ca+topic_url%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Ftopics.bloomberg.com%2Fnova-kreditna-banka-maribor-dd%2F%22+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fapps%2Fquote%3Fticker%3DKBMR%3ASV%22+density%3D%22sparse%22+title%3D%22Get+Quote%22+ticker%3D%22KBMR%3ASV%22+class%3D%22web_ticker%22%3ENova+Kreditna+Banka+Maribor+d.d.+%28KBMR%29+%3C%2Fp%3E+September+Downgrades++%3Cp%3ESlovenia%92s+rating+was+lowered+one+level+by+S%26amp%3BP%2C+Moody%92s+and+Fitch+Ratings+in+September%2C+citing+fiscal+concerns%2C+a+weak+domestic+banking+industry+and+a+poor+outlook+for+the+export-+driven+economy.+The+nation+is+rated+AA-+by+Fitch.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+former+Yugoslav+republic+needs+to+repay+1.17+billion+euros+%28%241.5+billion%29+in+bonds+next+year%2C+according+to+data+compiled+by+Bloomberg.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3E%93The+further+weakening+economic+growth+outlook+also+complicates+the+government%92s+ability+to+achieve+its+medium-term+fiscal+consolidation+plans%2C%94+Moody%92s+said.+%93The+highly+volatile+funding+conditions+on+the+euro-area+bond+markets+represent+additional+risks+even+for+a+small+issuer+like+Slovenia+in+the+event+that+the+financing+needs+exceed+the+original+estimates.%94+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3ESlovenia%92s+borrowing+costs+surged+after+voters+rejected+pension+changes+in+June+and+after+the+European+debt+turmoil+engulfed+Italy%2C+its+neighbor+to+the+west+and+the+third-biggest+trading+partner+after+Germany+and+Austria.+%3C%2Fp%3E+Rising+Yields++%3Cp%3EYields+on+Slovenia%92s+10-year+bonds+reached+a+peak+of+7.77+percent+on+Nov.+11%2C+a+level+that+had+prompted+other+nations+like+Greece%2C+Ireland+and+Portugal+to+seek+assistance+from+the+EU+and+the+International+Monetary+Fund.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+yield+on+notes+maturing+in+January+2021+has+dropped+since+and+was+at+6.66+percent+today+at+1%3A54+p.m.+in+Ljubljana+from+6.746+percent+yesterday%2C+according+to+data+compiled+by+Bloomberg.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3E%93It+was+no+surprise%2C+but+of+course+there+is+a+constant+source+of+bad+news+flow%2C%94+said+Lutz+Roehmeyer%2C+a+fund+manager+at+Landesbank+Berlin+Invest+in+Berlin+who+oversees+11.5+billion+euros+and+holds+Slovenian+bonds.+%93It+weighs+on+the+sentiment+of+investors+and+funds+with+rating+constraints+get+into+selling+pressure+depending+on+their+specific+rating+limits.%94+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3ENova+Ljubljanska+received+a+250+million-euro%2C+three-year+loan+from+the+European+Central+Bank+as+lenders+in+Europe+sought+a+record+489+billion+euros+in+financing%2C+the+Ljubljana-based+bank+said+yesterday.+The+company+wants+to+raise+400+million+euros+by+mid-2012+to+improve+its+capital+ratio+to+above+9+percent.+%3C%2Fp%3E+Bank+Ratings++%3Cp%3EMoody%92s+also+cut+the+debt+and+deposit+ratings+of+three+Slovenian+banks%2C+Nova+Ljubljanska%2C+Nova+Kreditna+and+%3Ca+topic_url%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Ftopics.bloomberg.com%2Fabanka-vipa-dd%2F%22+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fapps%2Fquote%3Fticker%3DABKN%3ASV%22+density%3D%22sparse%22+title%3D%22Get+Quote%22+ticker%3D%22ABKN%3ASV%22+class%3D%22web_ticker%22%3EAbanka+Vipa+d.d.+%28ABKN%29%2C+it+said+in+the+statement+today.+The+rating+company+also+downgraded+the+issuer+and+senior+unsecured+ratings+of+SID+Banka%2C+a+government-owned+development+bank.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3ENLB+and+its+smaller+competitor%2C+Nova+Kreditna%2C+said+they+will+probably+report+losses+for+this+year+on+mounting+bad+loans+from+the+sinking+construction+industry+and+as+more+and+more+companies+file+for+bankruptcy+or+receivership.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3ESlovenia+%93believes+that+the+question+of+a+capital+boost+only+relates+to+the+country%92s+biggest+bank+NLB%2C%94+as+Nova+Kreditna+passed+the+recent+test+by+the+European+Banking+Authority%2C+the+Finance+Ministry+in+Ljubljana+said+today.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3E%93With+the+capital+increase+at+NLB%2C+private+investors+are+considered+the+first+option%2C+or+the+participation+of+the+government+that+wouldn%92t+increase+the+country%92s+debt%2C%94+the+ministry+said.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EBad-loan+provisions+in+Slovenia+surged+40+percent+in+the+first+10+months+from+a+year+ago+to+706+million+euros%2C+the+central+bank+said+in+a+Dec.+7+report.+%3C%2Fp%3E+Savings+Measures++%3Cp%3ESlovenians+on+Dec.+4+elected+the+Positive+Slovenia+party+of+Ljubljana+Mayor+Zoran+Jankovic+in+snap+elections+after+the+previous+government+collapsed+in+September.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3ELawmakers+adopted+savings+measures+of+150+million+euros+by+freezing+by+freezing+public+employees%92+pay%2C+pensions+and+benefit+payments+to+allay+investor+concern+over+its+debt.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EAll+86+lawmakers+present+voted+for+the+legislation+that+will+come+into+force+from+Jan.+1+and+will+last+until+June+next+year%2C+according+to+a+live+broadcast+by+public+broadcaster+TV+Slovenija.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3E%93I+count+on+Europe+to+take+into+account+these+efforts+and+bond+yields+could+go+lower+if+we+adopt+these+measures%2C%94+Jankovic%2C+who+is+likely+to+form+the+next+government%2C+said+before+the+vote.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3ESlovenia%2C+the+first+former+communist+country+to+adopt+the+euro%2C+is+struggling+with+the+euro+region%92s+sovereign+debt+crisis%2C+which+erodes+demand+for+its+exports.+It+risks+sliding+back+into+recession%2C+while+public+debt+may+widen+to+more+than+50+percent+next+year.+%3C%2Fp%3E+%3Cp%3EThe+economy+shrank+0.5+percent+in+the+third+quarter+from+a+year+before%2C+following+growth+of+0.8+percent+in+the+previous+three-month+period+and+public+debt+has+more+than+doubled+in+four+years.+%3C%2Fp%3E++%3Cp%3E%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fnews%2F2011-12-22%2Fslovenia-ratings-cut-by-moody-s-on-concern-nation-s-banks-may-need-funding.html%27+rel%3D%27nofollow%27%3ESource%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fp%3E+

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President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s agreement to step down failed to halt anti-government demonstrations or prevent violence Thursday as regime supporters killed five protesters demanding that the ousted leader be put on trial for crimes ranging from corruption to bloodshed during the current uprising.

Saleh signed the U.S.-backed power-transfer deal, brokered by neighboring countries, Wednesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh in exchange for immunity from prosecution. It sets in motion a number of changes designed to stop the uprising that has battered Yemen’s economy and caused a nationwide security lapse that al-Qaida linked militants have exploited to step up operations.

Saleh passed his presidential duties to his vice president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, effectively ending his 33-year rule. If the deal holds, he’ll be the fourth leader to lose power in the wave of Arab Spring uprisings this year, following longtime dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

In the coming days, the opposition is supposed to name a prime minister, who will be sworn in by Hadi. The prime minister will then form a national unity government, evenly divided between the opposition and the ruling party. Hadi also is to announce a date for presidential elections, to be held within 90 days.

Observers note that the deal does not include a number of Yemen’s biggest power brokers, including Saleh’s relatives who head elite security forces, powerful tribal chiefs and military commanders who have joined the protesters.

Many of the protesters, who have camped out in public square for months to call for sweeping democratic reforms, rejected the deal immediately, saying the opposition parties that agreed to it were compromised by their long association with Saleh.

Thousands took to the streets again Thursday in the capital Sanaa, the central city of Taiz and elsewhere, protesting the deal and calling for Saleh to be tried for charges of corruption and for the killing of protesters during the uprising.

They chanted “No immunity for the killer” and vowed to continue their protests.

Security forces and government supporters opened fire on Sanaa’s main protest camp Thursday, killing five protesters with live ammunition, said Gameela Abdullah, a medic at the local field hospital.

A video posted online by activists showed men in long robes and Arab head scarves firing assault rifles at protesters, who scramble for cover. Some throw rocks and carrying large pictures of Saleh payday advance low fees.

“We’ll keep fighting until Saleh is tried for all the crimes he has committed against the people in his capacity as the head of the armed forces,” said activist Bushra al-Maqtari in Taiz, which has seen some of the most violent crackdowns on anti-regime protesters. Hundreds of demonstrators have been killed nationwide since January.

Abdullah Obal, a leader in the coalition that signed the deal, said the opposition intended to meet with protest leaders to address their demands.

“The agreement does not cancel the youth’s demands or go against them,” he said. “It is their right to protest.”

Some doubt that the deal marks the end of political life for Saleh, who has proved to be a wily politician and suggested in remarks after the signing ceremony that he could play a future political role in the country, along with his ruling party. He had agreed to sign the deal three times before, only to back away at the last minute.

Saleh had stubbornly clung to power despite nearly 10 months of huge street protests in which hundreds of people were killed by his security forces. At one point, Saleh’s palace mosque was bombed and he was treated in Saudi Arabia for severe burns.

“The signature is not what is important,” Saleh said after signing the agreement. “What is important is good intentions and dedication to serious, loyal work at true participation to rebuild what has been destroyed by the crisis during the last 10 months.”

International leaders who had long pushed for the deal applauded Saleh’s signature, many hoping it would help end a security breakdown that has allowed Yemen’s active al-Qaida branch to step up operations in the country’s weakly governed provinces.

President Barack Obama welcomed the decision, saying the U.S. would stand by the Yemeni people “as they embark on this historic transition.”

King Abdullah also praised Saleh, telling Yemenis the plan would “open a new page in your history” and lead to greater freedom and prosperity.

Italy’s foreign minister, Giulio Terzi, lauded the agreement and called for an end to violence.

“Now it is necessary that the accord is fully implemented and that all violence cease,” he said.

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Warren Buffett said Monday that his company has spent $10.7 billion to buy more than 5 percent of IBM’s stock this year, a surprising move by the billionaire investor who has long shied away from investing in high technology companies.

Berkshire Hathaway also revealed several other new investments made during the turmoil of the third quarter. Besides the new IBM investment, Berkshire added much smaller stakes in Intel Corp., DirecTV, General Dynamics Corp. and CVS Caremark Corp.

Most of the details emerged from the quarterly update Berkshire filed with regulators on its $59 billion U.S. stock portfolio. Buffett disclosed some details in interviews earlier in the day.

Monday’s filing doesn’t offer a full picture of Berkshire’s holdings, however, because the Securities and Exchange Commission allowed the Omaha-based company to keep some of its investments confidential.

Buffett has long refused to invest in high-tech companies because he has said it’s too difficult to predict which technology businesses will prosper in the long run.

But he said he recently realized his view of IBM was wrong based on what he read in the company’s annual reports and what he learned by talking to information-technology departments at Berkshire subsidiaries. He said he should have realized years sooner that hardware is no longer the heart of IBM’s business.

“Now they’re very much a services company, and they’re very intertwined with their customers,” Buffett said. And he said IBM’s customers are reluctant to change once they start working with IBM.

So Berkshire has bought about 64 million shares since March, or about 5.5 percent of IBM. Buffett says he believes IBM has a sound plan for the future.

Andy Kilpatrick, the stockbroker-author of “Of Permanent Value, the Story of Warren Buffett,” said it’s surprising to see Buffett invest in a high-tech company, but the investment appears to be an example of Buffett spotting something in plain sight that he had previously overlooked.

“I don’t think it moves things very far from what he’s always done,” Kilpatrick said.

IBM joins several other American business icons in Berkshire’s stock portfolio. Buffett’s company already holds stakes in Coca-Cola Co., American Express Co., Wells Fargo & Co., among others.

IBM officials declined to comment Monday on Buffett’s investment.

International Business Machines Corp., which marked its 100-year anniversary in June, has proven resilient even in a downturn because of hard decisions it made in the 1990s, when it tapped an outsider as CEO to help with a turnaround.

At the time, IBM was slipping with the rise of cheap microprocessors and rapid changes in the industry. Although it helped make the personal computer a mainstream product, it quickly found itself outmatched in a market it helped create. PCs also began to perform many of the functions of mainframes computer, throwing IBM’s main moneymaking business into disarray.

The company decided then to focus on the high-margin areas of software and technology services and move away from computer hardware. That intensified with IBM’s $3.5 billion purchase of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ consulting business in 2002 and the sale of its PC business to Lenovo for $1.75 billion in 2005. Today, IBM is the world’s biggest technology services provider no fax pay day loan.

The shift is important because it has allowed IBM to ride two recessions. When times are tough, businesses pay IBM to help them find ways to cut costs and handle technology chores that would be more expensive to perform in-house.

IBM’s stock has more than doubled since the depth of the recession in 2008. IBM shares gained as much as $2.46 Monday to trade near its 52-week high of $190.53 before slipping to close at $187.35, down 3 cents.

Buffett said Berkshire paid an average of about $170 per share for the IBM stock.

IBM executives insist the company’s focus on long-term contracts insulates it from economic swings. The company has said it is ahead of its own aggressive forecasts. IBM has disclosed a goal of hitting $20 per share in adjusted earnings by 2015, a rare example of a long-term earnings target made public by a major company. IBM, which is based in Armonk, N.Y., says it plans to continue growing its software business and invest about $20 billion in acquisitions from 2011 to 2015.

The third-quarter report filed Monday doesn’t include all of Berkshire’s new IBM stake because Buffett said some of the shares were bought in the fourth quarter.

A couple of the other new investments revealed Monday are tech companies. At the end of September, Berkshire held 9.3 million Intel shares, 4.2 million DirecTV shares, 3.1 million General Dynamics shares and 5.7 million CVS Caremark shares.

But those other new investments, besides IBM, were worth less than $200 million at the end of September. That dollar figure suggests those investments were made by Berkshire’s new investment manager Todd Combs, who manages between $1 billion and $3 billion.

It’s not clear who picked the investments because the filing doesn’t differentiate between investments Berkshire makes, investments any of roughly 80 subsidiaries make, or investments made by Buffett himself.

Besides the new investments, Berkshire also reported changes in some of its other holdings, including:

_ Increasing its sizeable stake in Wells Fargo to 361.4 million shares from 352.3 million in June.

_ Reducing its holdings of Kraft Foods to 89.7 million shares from 99.5 million.

_ Boosting its Dollar General stake to 4.5 million shares from 1.5 million.

_ Increasing its stake in insurer Torchmark Corp. to 4.2 million shares from 2.8 million.

Berkshire’s investments are closely watched in the market because of Buffett’s successful record. Buffett has said that Berkshire has been buying aggressively during the recent market turmoil.

Berkshire occasionally receives permission from the SEC to delay disclosing some stock purchases to prevent others from driving up the price of those stocks before Berkshire completes its purchases. Berkshire then discloses the purchases or sales in a subsequent quarter and issues amended reports for previous quarters.

The SEC says it grants such confidentiality to investment managers only when they can show they would be harmed substantially by immediate disclosure.

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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.”

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CUPERTINO, CALIF.—Apple Inc. says there is a problem with its latest mobile operating system that is shortening the battery life of iPhones, iPads and iPods that use the software.

Spokeswoman Natalie Harrison said Wednesday that a small number of customers have reported lower-than-expected battery life on devices running on the company’s iOS 5 operating system.

She said Apple has found bugs in the program and will release a software update to address them in a few weeks.

The latest iPhone, the 4S, comes with iOS 5.

Other devices can be upgraded to run the software: The iPhone 3GS or 4, iPads and an iPod Touch released in September 2009 or later.

Apple shares added $1.59 to $399 in aftermarket trading. Shares ended the regular session up 41 cents at $397.41.

In the meantime, if you’re suffering from battery problems on the iPhone 4S, here are a few things you can try (via Wired and Gizmodo):

1 payday loans. Drain the phone’s battery completely and then charge it up to 100 per cent. Doing so can recalibrate the battery and solve the issue.

2. One user in Apple’s forums found that disabling the calendar in their Exchange mail account and then enabling it again dramatically improved battery life.

3. If neither of those fixes seem to be helping, try adjusting your settings. Normal battery-saving techniques like lowering screen brightness or turning off Wi-Fi or switching to Airplane Mode when you don’t mind being off the grid will help

4. Location: turn off location-based services, or just on the apps you don’t need monitoring your whereabouts constantly. You can also switch off push notifications for email, switching to fetch at longer intervals instead.

Here are a few more useful tips in the video below:

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The Greek government teetered and stock markets around the world plummeted Tuesday after a hard-won European plan to save the Greek economy was suddenly thrown into doubt by the prospect of a public vote.

One day after Prime Minister George Papandreou stunned Europe by calling for a referendum, the ripples reached from Athens, where some of his own lawmakers rebelled against him, to Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average plunged almost 300 points.

Papandreou convened his ministers Tuesday night, and a spokesman said the prime minister was sticking to his decision to hold the referendum, which would be the first since Greeks voted to abolish the monarchy in 1974. Papandreou has also called a vote of confidence in his government, to be held midnight Friday.

“The government is not falling,” said Angelos Tolkas, a deputy government spokesman.

Under a recently amended law, a referendum can be called by presidential decree on issues of grave national concern, if it is proposed by the cabinet and approved by absolute majority in the 300-member parliament.

With several of his lawmakers rebelling, it was unclear whether Papandreou would have enough support to push the idea through. Although he had not set a specific question or date for the referendum, ministers indicated it would likely be held in January.

Papandreou’s decision upended a deal that was the product of months of work by European leaders who were trying, sometimes opposed by their own people, to agree the details of a second bailout for Greece and shore up their own economies in the name of saving the euro, the common currency.

The deal would require banks that hold Greek government bonds to accept 50 percent losses and provide Greece with about $140 billion in rescue loans from European nations and the International Monetary Fund.

But Greeks have been outraged by repeated rounds of tax increases and salary and pension cuts imposed as the government struggles to meet the conditions of a first, $153 billion bailout the country has been relying on since May 2010. With Greece facing a fourth year of recession next year, unions have held frequent strikes, and protests have often degenerated into riots.

A Greek rejection of the second rescue package could cause bank failures in Europe and perhaps a new recession in Europe, the market for 20 percent of American exports. It could also cause Greece to leave the alliance of 17 nations that use the euro.

European leaders made no secret of their displeasure.

“This announcement surprised all of Europe,” said a clearly annoyed French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been scrambling to save face for Europe before he hosts leaders of the Group of 20 major world economies later this week.

“Giving the people a say is always legitimate, but the solidarity of all countries of the eurozone cannot work unless each one consents to the necessary efforts,” he said.

French lawmaker Christian Estrosi was even more direct. He told France-Info radio that the move was “totally irresponsible” and reflected “a wind of panic” blowing on Papandreou and his party.

“I want to tell the Greek government that when you are in a situation of crisis, and others want to help you, it is insulting to try to save your skin instead of assuming your responsibilities,” Estrosi said.

Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who have been at the forefront of Europe’s efforts to contain national debt, talked by phone and agreed to convene emergency talks Wednesday in Cannes, France. Papandreou will also attend.

Merkel also spoke by telephone Tuesday with Papandreou, his office said.

The response was brutal in the international financial markets, especially in Europe. Greece’s general price index plunged to close down 6.92 percent, while in Germany the Dax index, the major stock market average, lost 5 percent _ the equivalent of about 600 points on the Dow.

The French stock market closed down 5.4 percent, the Italian 6.7 percent and London 2.2 percent.

“Talk about your all-time bonehead moves,” said Benjamin Reitzes, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets free business cards.

In New York, the stocks of major banks like Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase were hit hard. The value of the dollar rose, and bond prices jumped so dramatically that analysts said they were stunned.

Analysts said the bond action reflected fears that the turmoil in Greece would tear at the fabric of Europe’s financial system and create a crisis that could engulf the entire European Union, which together forms the world’s largest economy.

“This brings all of the concerns about Europe back to the front burner,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James. “If this ends up turning into a financial catastrophe in Europe, then no one will escape it.”

Papandreou’s decision was such a surprise that even the finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, apparently did not know about it ahead of time. He was unable to make the ministers’ meeting Tuesday after being hospitalized with stomach pains. He was to remain in the clinic overnight.

The main opposition conservatives called for Papandreou’s resignation. But criticism was also intense from Papandreou’s own Socialists, who have been clinging to a shrinking parliamentary majority.

A public vote would allow the party, vilified by an increasingly hostile public during months of strikes, sit-ins and violent protests over austerity measures, to shift responsibility for the country’s fate to the Greek people themselves.

But it was unclear whether Papandreou’s government would last long enough for the referendum to take place _ or even until Friday’s confidence vote.

Several Socialist lawmakers openly rebelled, with one going as far as defecting. Milena Apostolaki’s departure whittled Papandreou’s parliamentary majority to just two deputies, leaving the party with 152 seats in the 300-member legislature.

Apostolaki’s departure “shows clearly that the government itself is losing gradually its cohesion,” said George Tzogopoulos, a political analyst from the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy.

He estimated that “that the government will not be able to remain in power for many days” and said it was likely that Papandreou “will call an early election very soon.”

Papandreou did not ask for a vote last year, when Greece got its first round of international bailouts, about the same size as what is being debated now. Some lawmakers wondered why he called for one this time.

“Yesterday’s surprise and irrational announcement of the referendum has led me to doubt something that I considered certain until yesterday: That I am a member of a group that is striving to save our country from bankruptcy,” Socialist deputy Hara Kefalidou said in a letter to Papandreou. “I cannot back a referendum which is a subterfuge by a government that appears unwilling to govern.”

Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs eurozone ministerial meetings, said the referendum was a dangerous decision that could endanger Greece’s next installment of bailout loans _ without which the country will run out of money in mid-November.

Juncker told RTL radio in Luxembourg that the vote proposal changes the conditions of that deal, according to his spokesman, Guy Schuller.

It was not only international leaders who were taken by surprise.

Venizelos, the finance minister, “found out about it along with all other Greeks” during Papandreou’s speech, which was televised live, an official close to Venizelos told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.

From his hospital bed, Venizelos launched a telephone campaign to shore up international support for the debt deal, speaking with the German finance minister, the head of Deutsche Bank and the monetary affairs chief for the European Union, among others.

____

Associated Press writers Derek Gatopoulos and Nicholas Paphitis, and APTN producer Ted Tongas in Athens, Angela Charlton in Paris, Raf Casert in Brussels and David McHugh in Berlin contributed.

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Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. says it will cut 5,000 jobs in an effort as it faces soft demand and higher costs for materials.

The jobs to be cut are mostly in North America and Europe. They include 1,200 salaried positions and the closing of the company’s Fort Smith, Ark., plant.

The company expects the moves will save $400 million by the end of 2013.

Whirlpool also says its third-quarter net income more than doubled to $177 million, or $2 payday loans in one hour.27 per share, from $79 million, or $1.02 per share. Adjusted earnings of $2.35 per share fell short of analyst expectations for $2.75 per share.

The company, whose brands include Maytag and KitchenAid, has been squeezed by higher costs for materials such as steel and copper.

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Just 18 months after taking the top job, Charter Communications CEO Michael J. Lovett plans to quit.

Lovett, 50, said he will resign on April 30 or earlier if the board of directors names his successor.

“With Charter on strong footing, I believe this is the right time for me to move on to the next chapter of my career,” he said in a company press release.

The decision to leave was Lovett’s, said Charter spokeswoman Anita Lamont.

Charter emerged from bankruptcy in 2009, lost $237 million last year and $217 million loss in the first half of this year.

The company still faces a tough road ahead in a consolidating business, said analyst Juli Niemann of Smith Moore & Co. The company announced an emphasis on improving customer service, but still hasn’t won over customers.

“I have not seen any meaningful changes,” she said.

Charter, based in Town and Country, is the fourth-largest cable company in the U.S. and the dominant cable provider in St Payday Loan for Bad Credit. Louis.

Lovett last year replaced former CEO Neil Smit, who left to oversee Comcast Corp.’s cable distribution operation.

Lovett is a 31-year veteran of the cable business. He joined Charter in 2003 as vice president of operations, and became chief operating officer in 2005.

Eric L. Zinterhofer, Charter’s chairman, praised Lovett for setting a “solid foundation for growth” and his willingness to help in an “orderly transition.” Lovett will remain in his post while the board seeks a successor, Zinterhofer said.

Charter sought bankruptcy after being overwhelmed by more than $21 billion in debt. The company eliminated $8 billion of debt in its Chapter 11 reorganization. Former chairman and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen retained a 35 percent voting stake in the company.

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The United Auto Workers union won $5,000 signing bonuses, the possibility of sweeter profit-sharing checks and guarantees of more union jobs as part of a new four-year contract with General Motors Co., two people briefed on the talks said Saturday.

The deal, reached late Friday, also includes a $2- to $3-per-hour-pay raise for entry-level workers over the life of the contract and the promise of more jobs, the people said.

Both persons asked to remain anonymous because the details of the contract haven’t been reviewed by all local union leaders.

In addition, workers could get profit-sharing checks that are larger than the roughly $4,000 they received based on the company’s earnings last year. But the formula was changed so it is based only on GM’s North American financial results, said the people.

The GM deal will serve as a template for contracts that still must be negotiated with Chrysler Group LLC and Ford Motor Co. It would set the pay and benefits for 112,500 U.S. auto workers. It also will set the bar for pay and benefits at nonunion auto companies and other industries across the country.

The contract is the first since GM and Chrysler received government bailouts to make it through bankruptcy protection in 2009.

The UAW and GM would not give details of the contract. Union President Bob King said Friday that he won’t talk about them until local union leaders are briefed on the pact Tuesday in Detroit.

Workers have to approve the contract before it can take effect. A vote is expected within 10 days.

The union said in a statement Friday that the pact includes some of its major goals, including improvements in profit-sharing, new jobs and better health care benefits.

The deal also will include creative ways to cut GM’s hourly labor costs, which at $56 are still higher than those at nonunion U.S. plants owned by foreign competitors.

GM was the first of the Detroit Three to reach agreement with the UAW. Chrysler is likely to be next, followed by Ford, where little progress has been made in negotiations so far.

The UAW announced the GM agreement just after 11 p.m. EDT Friday, after a little more than seven weeks of closed-door bargaining.

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Paper producer NewPage Corp. said Wednesday that it is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while it restructures.

The privately held Ohio-based company said it expects to continue operating its U.S. business as usual and has commitments for $600 million in financing led by J.P. Morgan Chase. A statement from NewPage’s Miamisburg headquarters says it expects to emerge as a financially stronger company.

“We strongly believe that the court-supervised restructuring we began today is the most effective means of strengthening our financial position and enhancing our standing as the leading producer of printing and specialty paper in North America,” George F. Martin, president and CEO, said in a statement.

The company has some 350 southwest Ohio employees and 6,923 nationwide. The company makes coated paper used in magazines and catalogues and also uncoated and specialty paper.

It has been hurt by rising raw materials costs and lower demand. At the end of last year, NewPage reported more than $3 billion in debts, and a net loss of $656 million for 2010 with $3.6 billion in net sales for the year.

The company said it has filed in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware.

Its web site lists paper mills or other operations in Biron, Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.; Escanaba, Mich.; Duluth, Minn.; Rumford, Maine; Luke, Md.; Wickliffe, Ky., and Port Hawkesbury in Nova Scotia, Canada. The company says it hopes to sell the Port Hawkesbury mill.

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