Economic News

Bank of America Cuts Could Hit 40,000

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Fri, 9 Sep 2011 03:21:00 -0700

Bank of America Cuts Could Hit 40,000 - US financial giant Bank of America is considering cutting up to 40,000 jobs as part of a hotly anticipated round of belt-tightening, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The Journal cited unnamed sources as saying the company had discussed cuts of 30,000 to 45,000 jobs, but it said the numbers could still change and that the decision would be carried out over a period of a few years. Such cuts would amount to more than 10 percent of the company’s workforce.

The bank has been pummeled with losses from the 2007-2009 financial crisis and has recently been hit with a series of multi-billion dollar lawsuits relating to dodgy mortgage-backed securities issued by its subsidiaries, Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch. Weighed down with the lawsuits, the bank reported a net loss of more than $9 billion in the second quarter.

Amid rumors that it had serious capital deficiency problems, last month it announced a $5 billion injection from investment guru Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. It has also said it will sell half of its 10 percent stake in China Construction Bank to raise about $8.3 billion in cash.

Source: english.kompas.com

Mi Corazon Insiste Caputilo 80

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Fri, 9 Sep 2011 03:17:00 -0700

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Mi Corazon Insiste: Love is adrenaline and feel that the world disappears when you cling to a woman who loves and hates with the force of a volcano... only she has wept in silence for suffering, pain intensely live, love and times true happiness... Because she is Lola Volcano ... She is a woman of fire, those that show hard andimpenetrable, but inside hides a world of tenderness for those who conquer his heart. She tears did not spring for a stranger from the past trauma, and even in the most intense moments of your life, you can express what is inside ... learned to save everything and bring an explosion of feelings to herself ...

Volcano inherited from the tragic fate that haunts their women ... and in the midst of its war for survival, found a single reason to behappy, love by Andres Santacruz. They fell in loveata young age and know that burn by a feeling that is eternal.

Mi Corazon Insiste Caputilo 80 Online

Agus Martowardojo Urges Companies to Step Up Prudence

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Wed, 7 Sep 2011 00:37:00 -0700

Agus Martowardojo Urges Companies to Step Up Prudence - Indonesia Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo on Wednesday urged private companies to be more prudent about debt denominated in foreign currencies as global uncertainties have increased the risk of a reversal of sentiment over the rupiah and other emerging market assets.

The rupiah's appreciation--it has gained around 5% against the U.S. dollar so far this year--and low interest rates in developed nations have encouraged local companies to issue bonds or take out bank loans denominated in foreign currencies.

But Martowardojo said the companies should bear in mind the experiences of the Asian crisis in 1997/1998. One of the reasons for rupiah appreciation “is capital inflows, which can immediately change. Prudence needs to be maintained in managing foreign currency debts, (companies) need to be cautious when tapping cheap foreign loans, especially if the firms don't have foreign currency revenues,“ he said.

“At the moment we're still doing moral suasion and discussing with Bank Indonesia and Bapepam,“ the nation's capital market regulator, the steps that can be taken, he said.

Source: english.kompas.com

Mi Corazon Insiste Caputilo 79

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Wed, 7 Sep 2011 00:33:00 -0700

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Mi Corazon Insiste: Love is adrenaline and feel that the world disappears when you cling to a woman who loves and hates with the force of a volcano... only she has wept in silence for suffering, pain intensely live, love and times true happiness... Because she is Lola Volcano ... She is a woman of fire, those that show hard andimpenetrable, but inside hides a world of tenderness for those who conquer his heart. She tears did not spring for a stranger from the past trauma, and even in the most intense moments of your life, you can express what is inside ... learned to save everything and bring an explosion of feelings to herself ...

Volcano inherited from the tragic fate that haunts their women ... and in the midst of its war for survival, found a single reason to behappy, love by Andres Santacruz. They fell in loveata young age and know that burn by a feeling that is eternal.

Mi Corazon Insiste Caputilo 79 Online

New Fiscal 2011

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Mon, 5 Sep 2011 21:48:00 -0700

New Fiscal 2011 - The pain of this 2011 pocket preceded by the slope of January and will increase throughout the year, especially for those who suffer from the new tax in 2011, among which the deduction for primary residences for people who have revenues of over € 24,000 per year and an increase of maximum rate of income tax on high incomes. Many will be to do their utmost to save and can afford the payments.

With the start of the year, the tax department of KPMG Abogados area presented a report detailing the new fiscal 2011, which will be important to know:

Changes affecting the Company:

-Corporation Tax: In 2010 it had reduced the different rates that apply to deductions for training, for export activities, and other environmental investments, now in 2011 straight away.

- Amortization: Royal Decree-Law 13/2010 allows the modification of the DA TRLIS eleventh, allowing accelerated depreciation must not comply with the maintenance of employment in certain investments made since January 1, 2011 and having as limit 2015.

-In regard to the SME sector since the year 2011, states that the turnover of the previous year for which you can apply the special tax treatment of SMEs will spend 8 to 10 million euros.

Besides the fact that in certain cases, those companies that ceased to be SMEs, will continue the implementation of the scheme for the next three tax periods.

On the other hand rises from € 120,202.41 to € 300,000 the amount of the first stretch to ascribe to the reduced rate. On the side of micro-these are companies whose turnover is below the 5 million euros, and that has a staff of fewer than 25 employees and maintain employment, pay taxes on 20% for the base between 0 and 300,000, and 25% for the rest.

- Value Added Tax (VAT). Be eliminated by January 1, 2011 the above obligation to issue autofactura with regard to the reverse charge.

In addition to regulating certain types of changes in VAT law, to extend the application of special rules related to the location of gas deliveries. In addition to extending the special rules for gas and electricity to heat and cold.

Extending the deadline to apply VAT on the non-established and resident in the Community, Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla, until March 31, 2011.

Also adjusts the VAT Regulations to changes in the Royal Decree Law 6 / 2010 of April 9, in order April 14, 2010, regarding the amendment of the tax base of VAT credits that are wholly or partially uncollectible .

In addition to exemptions for supplies of goods, imports and services to international organizations that are recognized by Spain or the staff of these agencies have diplomatic status.

- Related party transactions: they are reduced with respect to cases in which there is the obligation of documenting transactions, having from now on a number of new exceptions.

- Fiscal consolidation. Be reduced from 75% to 70% the minimum percentage required for participation in the subsidiary to consider the tax consolidation regime, under the condition that participation is given by a listed company.

-In regard to Notification, is established from January 1, 2011, the character of obligation that companies receive through electronic notices and communications from the State Agency for Tax Administration.

- Restructuring. By reducing the participation rate below 5% and not less than 3%.

- Technological innovation. Through the bill Sustainable Economy will rise to 12% deductions for technological innovation activities. Under certain circumstances will govern the environmental investment deduction, a deduction of 8%.

Changes affecting individuals:

-Tax Income Tax. As set out in sections, changing the scale of the tax lien also included two new sections, while the marginal rate rises to 45% overall, which applies to income of over 175,000.20 €.

- Birth: the deduction is eliminated by birth or adoption of € 2,500 is the baby check.

-Yields. The amount of income that applies the 40% reduction will be limited to 300,000 € per year.

-Deduction on housing, one of the most widespread in the media is being eliminated deductions for investments in residence for taxpayers in taxable year, whether similar or about € 24,107.20. with an annual maximum of 9040 euros for those with taxable income of 17,707.20 euros or less, thus being limited basis of the deduction as the tax base of each taxpayer.

It also established a transitional regime for houses that have been previously acquired December 31, 2010.

-Continuing the theme of housing, with respect to the Lease, will review the tax treatment of leases of real property for housing loans, for which the reduction applies to net income from real estate to be obtained from 50% to 60%.

To apply the 100% reduction of net income from real estate reduces the age of the tenant losing 35 to 30 years.

In addition to a transitional regime provided for extending the age of the tenant until the age of 35 years for contracts prior to January 1, 2011.

-The SICAVS in this issue, the Law of geological storage of carbon dioxide, does modify the taxation of income from operations, capital reduction and distribution of premium of actions taken by the SICAVS.

Because since last September 23, 2010, those revenues which have been obtained by partners or participants in such operations will be considered income from capital.

-Stock options. With respect to stock options, the Bill amends Sustainable Economy Personal Income Tax Law.

It should also recall that this 2011 is expected to establish a mechanism for rapid creation of companies, which allows to operate with a new society within a maximum of 5 days and reduced cost.

Via : www.finanzzas.com

Mi Corazon Insiste Caputilo 78

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Mon, 5 Sep 2011 21:38:00 -0700

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Mi Corazon Insiste: Love is adrenaline and feel that the world disappears when you cling to a woman who loves and hates with the force of a volcano... only she has wept in silence for suffering, pain intensely live, love and times true happiness... Because she is Lola Volcano ... She is a woman of fire, those that show hard andimpenetrable, but inside hides a world of tenderness for those who conquer his heart. She tears did not spring for a stranger from the past trauma, and even in the most intense moments of your life, you can express what is inside ... learned to save everything and bring an explosion of feelings to herself ...

Volcano inherited from the tragic fate that haunts their women ... and in the midst of its war for survival, found a single reason to behappy, love by Andres Santacruz. They fell in loveata young age and know that burn by a feeling that is eternal.

Mi Corazon Insiste Caputilo 78 Online

Gold to Reach New Records Medium-Term

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Mon, 5 Sep 2011 20:41:00 -0700

Gold to Reach New Records Medium-Term - Gold is facing near-term technical resistance slightly below record levels of $1,912.29 a troy ounce, but its medium and long-term bullish trend remains intact, according to Standard Chartered Commodity Analyst Judy Zhu.

“We're pretty bullish, we expect gold to make new records in the medium to long term,“ she says as gold trades above $1,900/oz. Spot gold is at $1,903/oz, up $2.70 from its previous close.

The yellow metal will likely see near-term volatility and bouts of profit-taking above $1,900/oz, she says, but adds that gold remains one of the only remaining safe-haven assets amid increasing macroeconomic uncertainty due to the euro-zone debt crisis and slow U.S. growth.

“People might take profits but they're going to have to buy it back; if you believe the global economy is going to get worse then you're going to buy gold,“ she says.

Via : Kompas

Mi Corazon Insiste Caputilo 55

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Mon, 8 Aug 2011 21:15:00 -0700

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Dollar Falls Further

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Mon, 8 Aug 2011 21:09:00 -0700

Dollar Falls Further - The dollar slid further against the yen in Asia on Tuesday as a rout in global financial markets after the US public debt downgrade again sent investors fleeing to Japan’s safe haven currency.

The greenback dropped to 77.38 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 77.68 yen in New York late Monday. The euro, under pressure due to the European debt crisis, inched down to $1.4175 from $1.4179, and fell to 109.68 yen from 110.23 yen.

And the Australian dollar fell below parity with the greenback for the first time since March as investors move out of higher risk commodity-based stock. The “Aussie” fell to 99.38 US cents, from 103.55 earlier.

Global stocks have plummeted in the wake of the Standard & Poor’s downgrade while gold, seen as a safe asset in times of financial turmoil, has surged to record highs.

“It’s like panic-selling. Investors are scurrying to sell with the stock market leading the downturn in a move to shun riskier assets,” said Gen Kawabe, senior dealer at Chuo Mitsui Trust and Banking.

National Australia Bank said in a research note that “investors are now looking for a circuit breaker to the current extreme bout of risk-aversion and global recession concerns”. The focus is on a US Federal Reserve meeting later Tuesday, and investors will likely be disappointed unless the Federal Open Market Committee suggests more quantitative easing is coming, it said.

Kawabe said: “It’s hard to tell at which point the markets will stop falling. But the upcoming FOMC meeting may help amid growing expectation for credit easing measures by the Fed.” The FOMC may take some liquidity measures later in the day, after the G7 and European Central bank also pledged to take steps, Sumino Kamei, senior analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, told Dow Jones Newswires.

This could “in the near term ease cash flow concerns and curb the falls in the stocks,” leading to a respite in the deterioration of the risk-averse trading environment, Kamei said. The forex market kept a cautious eye on whether Japan, worried about the damage the high yen is doing to its export sector, will again intervene in currency markets as the greenback nears 77 yen, dealers said.

Japan last week stepped into the market to stem the rise of the yen, which threatens to derail the budding economic recovery from the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters.

Japan’s Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said: “While I will continue to watch the market for the next several weeks, I will maintain close coordination and communication” with foreign monetary authorities. Noda also rejected media reports that he has plans to step down soon to launch a campaign to succeed unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

Via : kompas.com

U.S. unemployment reduced to 9.1% after the good jobs data

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Fri, 5 Aug 2011 21:24:00 -0700

U.S. unemployment reduced to 9.1% after the good jobs data - The U.S. economy created 117,000 jobs in July compared to June, while 193,000 left to seek employment in that country. Both variables were the unemployment rate down one tenth to 9.1% after three consecutive months of increases, according to the Labor Department Friday in a statement.

The number of jobs created by the U.S. economy in July than in June recorded 46,000 and 53,000 of the revised figure for the month of May, down from an estimated 23,000.

Despite being a positive note, these volumes of jobs are still far from the numbers above the 200,000 new jobs recorded in the first months of this year. In this regard, stresses that the private sector created 154,000 jobs in July, up from 80,000 the previous month, while public sector employment fell by 37,000 jobs, in line with dropped 34,000 in June. Most analysts had estimated it would create between 75,000 and 80,000 jobs, which would have left the unemployment rate at 9.2%.

Rajoy five points will lower the corporate tax for SMEs

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Fri, 5 Aug 2011 21:22:00 -0700

Rajoy five points will lower the corporate tax for SMEs. PP president Mariano Rajoy, said yesterday that if his party wins the November 20 elections will reduce the corporate tax by five points for small and medium enterprises. It will be a measure of "shock plan" to apply "in order to grow and create jobs over the next four years."

Rajoy is convinced that without the SMEs, "out of the crisis would be very difficult," so it has plans to enhance an Act of entrepreneurs, help create jobs and, in addition to "turn tax" shall be accompanied by a "significant administrative simplification to reduce bureaucratic burdens." At the same time to facilitate the establishment and expansion of enterprises, support the "drive market."

In an interview with Europa Press, the popular leader announced that another of his priorities is to ensure the deficit target of zero, so that the state spends more than its income. To do so, amend the Fiscal Stability Law with the aim of setting a spending ceiling for the autonomous communities "which may not exceed." Finally, so that "citizens have an absolute knowledge of how their money is spent, the contracts are signed or what are the procedures for the award" will create a Transparency Law of Public Administration. These three immediate steps, Rajoy said the need to "work hard" to accelerate the restructuring of the financial system. In terms of employment, opted for a reform of the market "more flexible industrial relations, promote indefinite contracts and set a reasonable compensation," which implies a lowering of dismissal. In addition, opted to promote enterprise agreements on sectoral.

Also made clear its intention to maintain the minimum wage, while the potential gains linked to the remuneration of officials to the economic growth and job creation. Rajoy noted the importance of establishing an energy policy that takes into account the costs of energy, though he acknowledged that today is "difficult" to lower electric rates. Nevertheless, he scored a goal of reducing its cost and slow the escalation of the tariff deficit.

The construction sector is also a key pillar of the national economy, but did not disclose what their policy on this matter, did ask the banking sector to pull the housing market at a reasonable price that can be sold.

Attorneys and Court Confirm Success of 9/11 Settlement

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 04:47:00 -0800

Attorneys and Court Confirm Success of 9/11 Settlement - Attorneys representing the plaintiffs who were injured while working in the rescue, recovery and debris removal activities at the site of the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and subsequent collapse of the twin towers have confirmed today that they have surpassed the requisite ninety-five percent (95%) opt-in threshold required in their agreement with the City of New York and its Contractors. As a result, the Settlement is officially effectuated, as Settlement Allocated Claims Neutral Matthew Garrettson, Esq., announced earlier today.

"We are extremely happy to be able to confirm that we have met and, in fact, exceeded the 95% threshold set forth in the Settlement Process Agreement ('SPA') with the City of New York and its Contractors," said Paul J. Napoli, Senior Partner of Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern, LLP, who was appointed in 2004 as Plaintiffs' Co-Liaison Counsel in the federal litigation pending before the Hon. Alvin K. Hellerstein in the United States District Court in lower Manhattan. "Now we can move forward and see that our clients, who have suffered far too long without compensation for their serious illnesses and injuries, receive the help and closure they so desperately need," Napoli continued.

As reported by the Allocation Claims Neutral today, settlement opt-in numbers are as follows. A total of 10,043 eligible plaintiffs have submitted opt-in documents. This figure does not account for deficiencies in some of the plaintiffs' documents that will have to be corrected. Broken down by injury "Tier" level, of the 10,043 eligible plaintiffs who have submitted documents, opt-in numbers indicate that:

1. Tier 1: 2,383 out of 2,726 eligible Tier 1 plaintiffs (87.4%);
2. Tier 2: 1,567 out of 1,619 eligible Tier 2 plaintiffs (96.8%);
3. Tier 3: 785 out of 807 eligible Tier 3 plaintiffs (97.3%);
4. Tier 4: 5,308 out of 5,411 eligible Tier 4 plaintiffs (98.1%);
5. All Tiers: 10,043 out of 10,563 all eligible plaintiffs (95.1%).

The original SPA with the City is worth $625-$712.5 million, depending on the percentage of overall plaintiffs opting in to the settlement. That settlement has been made sweeter by a group of additional settlements negotiated with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ($47.5 million), two of the three contractors responsible for work performed at the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island with WTC debris ($24.3 million), the insurers for the Marine defendants responsible for the barges transporting WTC debris ($28 million), respirator manufacturer Survivair ($4.15 million) and Tishman ($1.4 million).

Bill Groner, another Senior Partner in the Worby firm, echoed Napoli's satisfaction with the result of the months-long efforts to contact each of their 10,000-plus clients and obtain their executed settlement papers. "We are thrilled to successfully conclude on behalf of the settling plaintiffs what is believed to be one of the most complex mass torts in history arising out of a horrific event that has forever changed our Country. Our clients sacrificed their safety and health to come to the urgent need of their fellow citizens, their City and our Nation and providing them with compensation for their resulting injuries and suffering is long overdue. We are so happy to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel for these deserving clients," said Groner.

Asked whether latecomers to the settlement might still choose to submit their signed settlement documents and obtain settlement funds despite the expiration of the opt-in deadline at midnight on November 16, Napoli could not say with certainty whether the Allocation Neutral and the Court would accept such late-filed papers. "We did everything humanely possible to help our clients decide whether to accept the offer in time to meet the deadline. Of course we will try to convince the Allocation Neutral and the Court to allow late comers to opt in, but there is certainly no guarantee that such late comers will be accommodated now that the deadline has passed."

Press Release Contact Information:
Paul J. Napoli
Senior Partner
Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern, LLP
(212) 267-3700
PNapoli@napolibern.com

Fight over attorney fees delays payment to family

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 04:40:00 -0800

Fight over attorney fees delays payment to family - A fight over attorney fees is delaying payment of a multimillion-dollar settlement in a lawsuit over the 2001 accident that claimed the life of Brian Cole, a top New York Mets baseball prospect, who was a standout player at Meridian High School.

A Jasper County Circuit Court jury awarded Cole's family more than $131 million in the wrongful death lawsuit against Ford Motor Co. Cole's cousin, Ryan Cole, who was injured in the crash, was awarded $1.5 million.

The settlement amount is confidential, but is much less than the jury award, parties to the case have said.

Jackson lawyer Wayne Ferrell Jr. is suing Arkansas lawyer C. Tab Turner and others in Jasper County Chancery Court, seeking to force Turner to abide by a 2006 attorney-fee sharing agreement.

This week, Chancery Judge David Clark said in an order that Ford Motor Co., has agreed to place the settlement amount in an interest-bearing account at a Jackson bank under the control of Ford's attorneys, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz law firm.

"That no withdrawals of any kind or in any amount payable to anyone are to be made without further orders of this court," Clark said regarding Brian Cole's estate. Ford may pay the settlement amount in Ryan Cole's case, the judge said.

Walker "Bill" Jones, an attorney with Baker, Donelson, said it could be several months before the fee dispute is resolved. His firm is not involved in the dispute.

Ferrell wouldn't discuss the matter when reached by phone this week. His attorney, Hunter Lundy of Lake Charles, La., said Ferrell has made it clear the dispute over legal fees shouldn't stop the Cole family from immediately receiving its settlement.

Turner couldn't be reached for comment. Cole's family members also couldn't be reached for comment.

Following Cole's death, Ferrell said Cole's family signed a retainer with him providing attorney fees in the amount of 40 percent and 45 percent on appeal.

After a mistrial in the first trial in May 2004, Ferrell said he contacted Turner about becoming a part of the legal team for the Cole family.

The attorneys agreed legal fees and expenses would be split 28 percent for Ferrell, 23 percent for Turner and other attorneys would share the rest. In early 2005, a new contingency fee was worked out with attorneys to receive 50 percent of the total amount awarded to the family.

Ferrell said in court papers Turner shut out other attorneys from the decision-making process during settlement negotiations.

After a second mistrial in February, Turner requested Ferrell and other attorneys pay about $600,000 in expenses. He said he had incurred more than $832,000 in expenses from the start of his involvement in the case. From the September trial that resulted in the jury verdict, Ferrell said Turner requested payment in advance for expenses incurred for expert witnesses and trial expenses.

But Ferrell said in court papers that Turner hadn't provided any proof by way of invoices from expert witnesses.

"Turner has threatened to pay Ferrell nothing from the fee proceeds even though Ferrell procured the case and even though Ferrell has thousands of hours in the case," Ferrell said in court papers.

Cole, 22, was killed March 31, 2001, when he was thrown from a 2001 Ford Explorer.

Cole, a 1997 Meridian High graduate, was selected to The Clarion-Ledger's Dandy Dozen for football in 1996 and is one of three Mississippi prep athletes to hit four home runs in a game, a state record.

He was driving to Mississippi after spring training in Port St. Lucie, Fla., when the accident occurred on I-10 near the Florida-Georgia line.

The lawsuit said Brian Cole veered to avoid a vehicle and the SUV rolled over. He was thrown from the vehicle and later died at a Florida hospital. The lawsuit blamed Brian Cole's death on a defective seat belt and the tendency for that model to roll over. But Ford officials said Cole was speeding and not wearing a seat belt when the accident occurred.

Obama warns on exports as APEC summit starts

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 22:47:00 -0800

Obama warns on exports as APEC summit starts. President Obama on Saturday called on big surplus economies to end reliance on exports for growth, while his Chinese counterpart vowed to rely more on domestic demand and gradually reform its currency.

The two leaders were speaking a day after a summit in Seoul of the Group of 20 major economies managed only vague commitments to keep a fragile global economic recovery on track.

"One of the important lessons the economic crisis taught us is the limits of depending primarily on American consumers and Asian exports to drive economic growth," Obama said in a speech to a business leaders' meeting.

Later, he joined join other leaders -- including China and Japan -- of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group for a weekend of talks on policies to ensure balanced growth and the establishment of a vast free trade area in the world's fastest growing economic region.

"Going forward, no nation should assume that their path to prosperity is simply paved with exports to America," Obama said on the final leg of a 10-day tour that has also taken him to India, Indonesia and South Korea.

Washington's relations with Beijing have been strained by U.S. complaints that China's yuan currency is undervalued, while Beijing has argued the U.S. Federal Reserve's easy-money policy is aimed at weakening the dollar to boost exports.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said China wanted to expand domestic demand growth and remained committed to reforming its exchange rate "on the basis of retaining initiative, controllability and gradualness.

Hu told the regional business forum that China "will make vigorous efforts to establish lastingly effective means for expanding domestic demand, especially consumer demand."

China's rapid growth has helped shore up the global economy and spur on Asia while the United States and Europe have struggled with high unemployment and financial woes.

"China will continue making encouraging a balanced international balance of payments an important task in ensuring macro-economic stability," Hu said.

China has been critical of U.S. easy money policies, claiming that Washington could destabilize the global economy and inflate asset bubbles after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it was going to pump as much as $600 billion into the economy.

REGIONAL SECURITY TENSIONS

Hanging over the summit are acrimonious disputes between host Japan and both China and Russia over neighboring islands.

Hu barely smiled when he shook hands with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan as he welcomed APEC leaders to a lunch ahead of the start of their summit.

Japan has been pressing for a bilateral meeting between Kan and Hu, but the Chinese side has yet to agree.

Japan is at odds with China over disputed isles in the East China Sea near potentially vast oil and gas reserves.

Tokyo's relations with Moscow also chilled after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited an island claimed by both countries. Medvedev and Kan, however, will hold talks later in the day.

APEC is for the first time championing a collective growth strategy, emphasizing balanced and sustainable growth, an elusive goal when the global economy is split between cash-rich exporters and debt-burdened importers.

The leaders will pledge to take steps to create a vast Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) in the region, home to 40 percent of the world's population and 53 percent of global economic output, by building on existing pacts.

"There are two big themes to this year's APEC," Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan the business leaders.

"One is ... to further nurture liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment. It is to take steps toward FTAAP, a free trade area for flows in people, goods and money.

"It is also important for APEC members to share a common thinking so we can deal with new challenges facing global and regional economies and achieve sustainable growth."

An Asia-Pacific free trade area would link the world's top economies with some of its fastest-growing ones such as Indonesia, Thailand and Mexico.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Chris Buckley; writing by Jonathan Thatcher; editing by Bill Tarrant)

New Drug, Pradaxa, May Prevent Second Stroke in Certain Heart Patients

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Tue, 9 Nov 2010 09:36:00 -0800

New Drug, Pradaxa, May Prevent Second Stroke in Certain Heart Patients, Among certain patients with a history of stroke or mini-stroke, a new anticlotting medication called Pradaxa (dabigatran) appears to be as effective as the anticoagulant drug warfarin at preventing a second stroke, new German research reveals.

Specifically, the new study suggests that Pradaxa can reduce the risk of a second stroke as effectively as warfarin among those facing an elevated risk for stroke or arterial blood clot (systemic embolism) as a result of having atrial fibrillation, the most common form of abnormal heart rhythm (or cardiac arrhythmia).

What's more, depending on the dosage used, Pradaxa appeared to fare at least as well or better than warfarin in terms of limiting the risk for bleeding -- a known warfarin side effect.

Pradaxa was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- at a dosage of 150 milligrams -- for the prevention of first stroke among atrial fibrillation patients.

The current effort took a look at the drug in two twice-daily dosages of either 110 mg or 150 mg among more than 3,600 atrial fibrillation patients, all of whom had previously experienced a stroke or a mini-stroke, also known as a transient ischemic attack.

All of the patients had participated in the larger Randomized Evaluation of Long-Term Anticoagulation Therapy study, which had included more than 18,000 people, 80 percent of whom had no prior history of stroke.

Last year, results of a prior analysis concerning this full study group indicated that at the lower dosage, Pradaxa was as effective at reducing stroke risk as warfarin, while the higher dosage provided even better stroke protection than warfarin.

The new study, published in the Nov. 8 online edition of The Lancet Neurology, was led by Dr. Hans-Christoph Diener from the department of neurology at University Hospital Essen in Essen, Germany.

Diener and his associates focused solely on a smaller subgroup (taken from the larger trial) that had a history of stroke and, therefore, a relatively higher risk for future stroke.

Among such particularly vulnerable patients, the study team found that both dosages of Pradaxa were more or less as effective as warfarin at controlling recurrent stroke risk.

In particular, the lower dosage of Pradaxa (110 mg) was also linked to significant reduction in the rate of vascular death as well as death from all causes, the researchers reported.

However, while major bleeding was also "significantly lower" among the 110-mg Pradaxa group when compared with warfarin patients, the higher dosage of 150 mg of Pradaxa twice daily prompted a bleeding risk that was as high as that found among warfarin patients.

Diener and his colleagues remain unclear as to exactly why the lower dose of Pradaxa prompts a lower rate of bleeding than warfarin, although they speculate that at that dose the drug may not cross the central nervous system's blood-brain barrier, resulting in an improved safety profile.

"In choosing the dose of dabigatran, physicians need to trade off the benefits of stroke prevention against the risk of hemorrhage," the study authors advised in a news release from the publisher.

"In general, strokes are more severe than major hemorrhages and have more significant long-term consequences," Diener's team added. "The dose of 150-mg dabigatran twice daily could be preferred to 110-mg twice daily because it significantly reduces the risk of ischemic stroke without increasing the risk of hemorrhagic stroke."

Meanwhile, the British research team of Dr. Gregory Y.H. Lip and Deirdre A. Lane, both from the University of Birmingham Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, offered commentary on the new findings in the same issue of the journal. They wrote: "Because of the necessary trade-off between stroke prevention and bleeding with both doses of dabigatran, consultation with patients regarding their preferences for treatment dose will be even more important to ascertain their threshold for stroke prevention over increased bleeding risk or vice versa."

The study was funded by Boehringer-Ingelheim, which makes Pradaxa.

More information

For more on stroke risk, visit the American Heart Association.

Family health history: 'best kept secret' in care

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Tue, 9 Nov 2010 09:25:00 -0800

Family health history: 'best kept secret' in care, Make Grandma spill the beans: Uncovering all the diseases that lurk in your family tree can trump costly genetic testing in predicting what illnesses you and your children are likely to face.

It may sound old-fashioned, but a Cleveland Clinic study comparing which method best uncovered an increased risk of cancer helps confirm the value of what's called a family health history.

All it costs is a little time questioning your relatives, yet good family health trees are rare. A government survey estimated less than a third of families have one — and time-crunched doctors seldom push their patients to remedy that.

"I view family health histories as back to the future," says Dr. Charis Eng, a cancer geneticist at the Cleveland Clinic's Genomic Medicine Institute. "It's the best kept secret in health care."

Holiday gatherings can be a good chance to gather the information, as can reunions or even funerals. The U.S. Surgeon General operates a free website — https://familyhistory.hhs.gov — that helps people create a family health history and share it electronically with relatives and their doctor.

However you do it, get the scoop on both sides of the family, says another study of 2,500 women. Researchers found that women not only know less about the health of their paternal relatives, they tend to dismiss the threat of breast cancer if it's on Dad's side.

"It's a risk no matter what," says Dr. Wendy Rubinstein of Chicago's NorthShore University Health System, who presented the research last week at a meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.

Far too often, a family health history consists of whatever you happen to jot down on that clipboard in the doctor's waiting room. Mom hasn't confided her soaring cholesterol? Can't recall what killed Aunt Mary? Don't realize that the hunched back of Grandma and her sisters could foreshadow your osteoporosis? Or maybe Dad never mentioned that in his 40s he survived the prostate cancer that killed his own father.

Looking for patterns of familial illness can predict someone's brewing health risks, so gaps can be a problem.

How does a good history compare with those online genomic testing services — sold without a doctor's prescription for hundreds of dollars — that analyze DNA glitches and predict people's predisposition to various diseases?

To find out, the Cleveland Clinic's Eng recruited 44 people — 22 patients in her family cancer clinic and their spouses — for a family health history and a saliva test from one of those genomic services, Navigenics, to calculate their risk for colon cancer and breast or prostate cancer.

Both approaches classified about 40 percent of participants as having above-average risk — but they picked the same people only about half the time. For example, the genomic screening missed all nine people with a strong family risk of colon cancer, five of whom Eng's clinic gave extra scrutiny to prove they carried a specific gene mutation.

"A patient might have done this testing and been very reassured and not come to medical care," she told last week's geneticists' meeting.

On the other hand, Navigenics listed eight men at risk for prostate cancer when their family history predicted a risk no higher than average.

Why the difference? No matter the brand, genomic screening takes a broad look at DNA variations, including some that scientists aren't sure play a big role. Yet it often doesn't include high-profile gene mutations that are linked for specific diseases and can require more specialized testing, Eng explains.

Navigenics didn't return a call for comment.

"Family history remains the best genetic tool we have, but health care providers are not taking advantage" of it, says Dr. Maren Scheuner of the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Los Angeles, who is leading a pilot project to add family cancer histories to the VA's electronic medical records at two area clinics.

Popularity may be growing. The surgeon general's office counts nearly 30,000 new visitors a month to its "My Family Health Portrait" Web site since summer, about a third of whom return, suggesting they're compiling an electronic family health tree.

Chicago's Rubinstein, who is testing a next-generation tool, found that women's newly created family health histories include much more information than was in their regular medical charts — even if they did need a nudge about the paternal side.

"It's not uncommon to think, 'I look like one parent, that affects the illness I'm going to get,'" Rubinstein says. "Generally that's not the case."

Because genes seldom are destiny, a family health tree also should reflect shared environmental or lifestyle factors that can further affect an inherited risk, says James O'Leary of the nonprofit Genetic Alliance, which just won government funding to help spread family health histories to community health centers that serve the poor.

"Collecting your family health history isn't just about knowing, it's about making healthy choices," he says.

___

EDITOR's NOTE — Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

Obama signals he may compromise on tax cuts

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Tue, 9 Nov 2010 09:21:00 -0800

Obama signals he may compromise on tax cuts, President Barack Obama gave his clearest signal yet on Saturday of a possible post-election compromise with resurgent Republicans that could prevent tax rates from rising for any American, even the wealthiest, come January.

Obama, in his first weekly radio address since his Democrats suffered big losses in Tuesday's congressional elections, reasserted that Bush-era tax cuts should be made permanent for the middle class before they expire at year-end.

But while insisting tax cuts for wealthier Americans should not become permanent because of a $700 billion impact on the deficit over the next decade, he left the door open to a temporary extension for higher income levels -- as long as it falls short of costing that much.

"I believe there's room for us to compromise and get it done together," Obama said, previewing his administration's negotiating stance when the current Congress returns later this month for its final session.

It was the latest sign that Obama might give ground in the high-stakes tax battle, which could test the new dynamic in Washington after Republicans won control of the House of Representatives and weakened the Democrats' Senate majority.

The conciliatory tone comes after Obama had argued fervently for months that the country could not afford to keep tax rates low on those with individual incomes above $200,000.

The possible makings of an agreement that the Democrats could support points to a permanent extension for the middle class coupled with a temporary extension -- possibly for a year or more -- of higher earners' tax cuts.

Republicans, emboldened by their election victories and vowing to block Obama's agenda, have taken a harder line on making permanent for all Americans, including the wealthiest, the tax cuts enacted under former President George W. Bush.

GRIDLOCK OR COMPROMISE

Obama, for his part, made clear he still does not want the rates for the wealthier Americans to be set permanently lower but stopped short of saying he would oppose a temporary fix.

"I believe we can't afford to borrow and spend another $700 billion on permanent tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires," he said. He will meet Democratic and Republican leaders at the White House on November 18 to discuss the issue.

The pressure for compromise is that neither party wants to alienate middle-class voters, who on Tuesday punished Democrats at the polls for Obama's economic policies that have failed to put much of a dent in persistently high unemployment.

"All of us want certainty for middle-class Americans," Obama said. "None of us want them to wake up on January 1st with a higher tax bill."

Lawmakers return the week after next for a post-election "lame duck" session. Until the new Congress convenes in January, Democrats will still be in charge in the House.

But gridlock is still possible, especially over sensitive tax policy in the context of a $1.3 trillion budget deficit. Republicans must now decide what their best option is -- take what they can get from Democrats now or wait until next year.

Republicans say small businesses would be hurt if taxes on the wealthiest rise. About 3 percent of small business would be impacted, but they account for about half of small business income, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. The lower rates for the wealthiest would impact about 3 percent of all Americans.

(Additional reporting by Kim Dixon; Editing by Eric Beech)

How to Save One-Third of Your Income

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Tue, 2 Nov 2010 22:29:00 -0700

How to Save One-Third of Your Income - One of the main arguments in my book, Generation Earn, is that we need to drastically increase the amount of money we're saving. On average, we should save about one-third of our income in our twenties, thirties, and forties for retirement, emergency funds, and big goals such as purchasing a home. I've gotten a lot of questions about that--how is it even possible? What did you give up to do that? Are you doing that right now? I wanted to share some of the ways I saved that much and explain why I think it's necessary.

First, a confession: I am not currently saving one-third of my income. That's because I've experienced two major financial shocks in the last year, having a baby and buying a house. Between mortgage payments and daycare expenses, I've fallen way behind, but I plan to return to my previous saving levels as soon as those costs become more manageable.

For most of my twenties, though, I was saving one-third of my income. About twenty percent went directly into my retirement accounts, so I never even saw the money. I put an additional 15 percent into after-tax savings accounts, which was mostly invested in money market funds.

Here are some of my strategies that made it possible:

Live like a college student long after graduation: My husband and I continued living in a small apartment with our old futon as a sofa for five years after graduation. At first, we didn't use cable and stuck with an old tube television. For awhile, we even figured out a way to make room for our baby in that small space.

Become a frugal chef. I didn't know much about cooking before I got married, but I quickly learned how to make vegetable-focused meals from the Food Network. Using small amounts of meat saved us money, as did limiting our restaurant meals.

Stick with one car. We've always chosen to live near public transportation so we can limit ourselves to one car, which saves us thousands of dollars a year. Between gas, upkeep, and insurance, cars are expensive, so sticking to one can make a big difference. (These first three items--housing, food, and transportation--take up about two-thirds of most people's incomes, so focusing on that pricey trifecta can have a big impact.)

[For more money-saving tips, visit the U.S. News Alpha Consumer blog.]

Use old cell phones. We never joined the smartphone craze, so while we might not look as cool with our bulky old-style phones, we're saving a lot by avoiding pricey data plans and high-tech gadgets.

Splurge on small but meaningful indulgences. When I bought my husband a LCD television for his birthday one year (to replace the old tube set we had), I knew it was a huge splurge, and certainly not a necessary one. But given all of our other sacrifices, I figured it was worth it, and given how much he likes it, I think it was. We also buy high-quality beer to drink at home. Even though a $9 six-pack is no deal, it's much cheaper than drinking at a bar.

Everyone's strategies will be different, since they're based on your own preferences. You might bring a bagged lunch every day but go on an international vacation every year, or indulge in restaurant meals while collecting coupons for the grocery store. As long as you're cutting back on the areas that aren't that important to you, you won't feel like you're making an impossible sacrifice.

Almost everyone can save a significant chunk of income, regardless of income level or where you live. You just have to live a lifestyle that's a lot more frugal than the one you could actually afford. Sure, you might occasionally wish you had a fancier television, or furniture, but purchasing those items give such short-term bursts of pleasure that the cost is hardly worth it. Instead, invest in your relationships, hobbies, and career, all of which can outlast even the most expensive television.

What are your savings techniques? How much of your income do you try to save?

Kimberly Palmer is the author of the new book Generation Earn: The Young Professional's Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back.

5 New Economic Battles for Obama

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Tue, 2 Nov 2010 22:24:00 -0700

5 New Economic Battles for Obama - Big Republican wins on Tuesday would set up key showdowns between the party and the president on the Bush tax cuts, financial regulation, and health care. Charlie Gasparino on what to expect.

Plus, join Howard Kurtz and The Daily Beast team for a live chat on the elections tonight at 8 p.m. EST and read your election guide.

If, as widely predicted, the Republicans take control of the House and make major gains in the Senate, Barney Frank from Boston, the liberal head of the House Banking Committee, will be replaced by Spencer Bachus, the soft-spoken but staunchly conservative ranking member from Alabama. Speaker Pelosi from San Francisco will be making room for Speaker Boehner from the 8th District of Ohio. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell will likely wield as much power as Harry Reid—that is, if the current Senate leader survives Tuesday’s election against Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle—which means that Richard Shelby, who voted against the massive bank bailouts of 2008, will be more than a match for any Democrat who runs the Senate Banking Committee. (With Chris Dodd retiring, the betting is on Tim Johnson from South Dakota.)

All this may not add up to a sea change in economic policy, but a clear and fundamental shift in the government’s approach to business is certainly in the cards. Broadly, it will pit a more business-friendly, particularly small-business-friendly, legislative branch against the Obama administration and its plans to raise taxes, heap mandates on entrepreneurs, and increase the size and the reach of government. But the real battles will likely be waged on five issues where the ideological differences between both sides are most stark.

1. Extending the Bush tax cuts and a government shutdown. It’s Democratic Party dogma to end them and Republican Party dogma to keep them alive, and if the economy remains weak, President Obama will have an increasingly difficult time making the argument that it’s good public policy to let the rates expire for people making more than $250,000 a year—thus taxing entrepreneurs, small businesses, and the so-called rich. Yet the president has shown little interest in a compromise that would allow the cuts to remain in effect even until the economy recovers from anemic growth and 9.6 percent unemployment. The Republicans will hammer home the foolishness of “destimulating” the economy when it obviously needs stimulus and will insist that budget cuts come before the government raises taxes. The conventional wisdom is that barring huge gains by the Republicans, the president will get his way and the Bush tax rates, at least on the upper brackets, will expire early next year. But there’s talk among House Republicans about using the public’s growing dissatisfaction with raising taxes to stage a showdown with the president early next year. This battle, some in Washington tell me, could lead to a government shutdown. The last time that happened, in 1995, President Clinton used the shutdown to make former House Speaker Newt Gingrich look like an obstructionist. The Republicans now say they’ve learned from their mistakes; they will try to show that Obama is really the obstructionist with his failure to cut spending while he raises taxes on small business.

2. Dodd-Frank Part II. Depending on the size of the new GOP majority—or even if there is one—Republicans will be cranking up the pressure on the administration to remake parts of the alleged “landmark” financial-reform bill. Expect some significant changes to the legislation if the Republicans take control of the Senate as well as the House, people both in Washington and on Wall Street acknowledge—changes that the president and his Wall Street-friendly economic team might just go along with. (Remember that for all Obama’s banker-bashing, the most onerous parts of financial reforms came from members of Congress, not from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, a longtime Wall Street friend.) If Republicans merely take the House, as is widely predicted, fundamental change will be replaced by spirited debate on issues like “Too Big to Fail”—the Republicans say it needs to be explicitly outlawed in the legislation—and bank capital standards, which they say are too onerous and are preventing banks from lending when the economy needs small businesses get loans to expand and start hiring again.

3. Ending the Fed. If many of the Tea Partiers have their way, the Federal Reserve will go the way of Lehman Brothers and be abolished. While such a radical move isn’t in the cards even if the Republicans win 70 House seats and take the Senate as well, the central bank is likely to come under unprecedented scrutiny with Republicans in Congress and the Tea Partiers and their patron saint, Rep. Ron Paul, gaining power and prestige. Keep in mind that just a couple of years ago, many Americans didn’t know what the Fed was, to say nothing of its role in controlling the money supply and regulating the banking system. Most still have no clue what the Fed really does, but what they do know they don’t like: namely, the Fed’s important if not pivotal role in the 2008 bailouts of the banks and insurance giant AIG. So while Paul may not get his wish, look for Chairman Ben Bernanke to take the place of Wall Street fat cats and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein on the congressional-hearing hot seat. Let’s just hope Bernanke doesn’t describe his job as “God’s work” or the Fed’s days really may be numbered.

4. Explaining the real cost of Obama’s health-care plan. Talk to any Republican in public office and he or she will tell you that the real cost of the president’s health-care plan received little if any scrutiny in the media, in large part because the Congressional Budget Office came out with a “study” purporting to show that the plan would save a few bucks over the next decade. The CBO study, they tell me, was riddled with faulty assumptions that made the plan sound like a win-win for everyone, particularly the American taxpayer, who is focused on the ballooning deficit like never before. Well, now comes the counteroffensive from the Republicans, who won’t miss an opportunity to show the economic downside of Obamacare as they gain control of key committees in Congress. One issue the Republicans say has legs is the spate of corporations telling their workers they will have to curtail coverage, given all the new mandates in store for them. Look for a lineup of corporate chieftains explaining why they have to make health coverage cuts (like the ones said to be in the cards at McDonald’s) during hearings that will be designed to further weaken the public’s sagging support for the president’s plan. Republicans know that even if they win the House and Senate, the president will veto any measure to rescind the health-care overhaul outright. But they also know that by attacking his plan as costly socialized medicine, they have a powerful weapon for the 2012 presidential elections.

5. Banker-bashing, but with a twist. I can’t imagine we’re going to see Spencer Bachus holding a hearing in which he calls JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon a “fat cat,” or his counterpart on the Senate Banking Committee, Dick Shelby, lambasting Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein for selling “shitty” investments to customers, but don’t expect a free pass, either. Both are likely to tone down the personal attacks but press the banks on other issues, such as demanding to know why, for all the money they continue to make, places like JPMorgan and Bank of America still aren’t lending much to small businesses. Yes, the big banks favored Republicans over Democrats in this election cycle, but as most of the Republican leadership knows, that support is fickle. Both Dimon and Blankfein are longtime progressive Democrats who supported the party and Obama big time in 2008 and are personally uncomfortable supporting conservative principles. As a result, they are inclined to return to using their banks to support the president during the 2012 contest. Meanwhile, one of the issues that resonates among Democrats and Republicans alike, particularly Tea Party types, is an absolute hatred for Wall Street, which, given the bailouts and the subsidies that followed, continues to make money while the rest of the country wallows in 9.6 percent unemployment. So while the rhetoric might be different, banks will still find themselves under scrutiny.

Charlie Gasparino is a senior correspondent for Fox Business Network. He is a columnist for The Daily Beast and a frequent contributor to the New York Post, Forbes, and other publications. His latest book, Bought and Paid For, is about the Obama administration and Wall Street.

Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.

GM can avoid federal taxes on $50 billion of profits: report

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Tue, 2 Nov 2010 22:22:00 -0700

GM can avoid federal taxes on $50 billion of profits: report - General Motors Co (GM.UL) will not have to pay U.S. federal taxes on up to $50 billion of profits for as long as 20 years, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

With the standard federal corporate tax rate at 35 percent, that tax break could save GM $17.5 billion, not factoring in tax deductions, the Journal reported.

Under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, $50 billion of losses that GM racked up before its government-funded bankruptcy can be used to offset its future tax liabilities, the Journal reported.

Employers looking at health insurance options

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 05:43:00 -0700

Employers looking at health insurance options - The new health care law wasn't supposed to undercut employer plans that have provided most people in the U.S. with coverage for generations.

But last week a leading manufacturer told workers their costs will jump partly because of the law. Also, a Democratic governor laid out a scheme for employers to get out of health care by shifting workers into taxpayer-subsidized insurance markets that open in 2014.

While it's too early to proclaim the demise of job-based coverage, corporate number crunchers are looking at options that could lead to major changes. Gov. Phil Bredesen, D-Tenn., said the economics of dropping coverage are "about to become very attractive to many employers, both public and private."

That's just not going to happen, White House officials say.

"The absolute certainty about the Affordable Care Act is that for many, many employers who cover millions of people, it increases the incentives for them to offer coverage," said Jason Furman, an economic adviser to President Barack Obama.

Yet at least one major employer has shifted a greater share of plan costs to workers, and others are weighing the pros and cons of eventually forcing employees to strike out on their own.

"I don't think you are going to hear anybody publicly say 'We've made a decision to drop insurance,' " said Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. "What we are hearing in our meetings is, 'We don't want to be the first one to drop benefits, but we would be the fast second.' We are hearing that a lot." Deloitte is a major accounting and consulting firm.

"My conclusion on all of this is that it is a huge roll of the dice," said James Klein, president of the American Benefits Council, which represents big company benefits administrators. "It could work out well and build on the employer-based system, or it could begin to dismantle the employer-based system."

Employer health benefits have been a middle-class mainstay since World War II, when companies were encouraged to offer health insurance instead of pay raises. About 150 million workers and family members are now covered.

When lawmakers debated the legislation, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected it would only have minimal impact on employer plans. About 3 million fewer people would be covered through the job, but they'd be able to get insurance elsewhere.

Two provisions in the new law are leading companies to look at their plans in a different light.

One is a hefty tax on high-cost health insurance aimed at the most generous coverage. Although the "Cadillac tax" doesn't hit until 2018, companies may have to disclose their exposure to investors well before that. Karen Forte, a Boeing spokeswoman, said concerns about the tax were partly behind a 50 percent increase in insurance deductibles the company just announced.

The tax is 40 percent of the value of a plan above $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for a family plan. Family coverage now averages about $13,800.

White House adviser Furman said blaming a cost increase next year on a tax that won't take effect for eight years "stretches credibility very far past the breaking point."

Bigger questions loom over the new insurance markets that will be set up under the law.

They're called exchanges, and every state will have one in a few years. Consumers will be able to shop for coverage among a range of plans in the exchange, with a guarantee they can't be turned down because of an existing medical problem. To help make premiums affordable, the law provides tax credits for households making up to four times the federal poverty level, about $88,000 for a family of four.

Bredesen said last week that employers could save big money by dropping their health plans and sending workers to buy coverage in the exchange. They'd face a fine of $2,000 per worker, but that's still way less than the cost of providing health insurance. Employers could even afford to give workers a raise and still come out ahead, Bredesen wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

Employers are actively looking at that. "I don't know if the intent was to find an exit strategy for providing benefits, but the bill as written provides the mechanism," said Deloitte's Keckley, the consultant.

Erin Shields, a spokeswoman for the senators who wrote that part of the law, says she's confident that when companies do the math, they'll decide to keep offering coverage.

That's because employers get to deduct the cost of workers' health care from the company's taxes. Take away the health plan and two things happen: Employers lose the deduction and they'll probably have to pay workers more to get them to accept the benefit cut. Not only will the company's income taxes go up, but the employer will also face a bigger bill for Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. So it's not as simple as paying $2,000 and walking away.

"It is clearly cheaper for employers to continue providing coverage," Shields said.

Another wrinkle: the health insurance tax credits available through the law are keyed to relatively Spartan insurance plans, not as generous as most big employers provide. Send your workers into the insurance exchange, and valuable employees might jump to a competitor that still offers health care.

MIT economist Jon Gruber says it's impossible to create new government benefits without some unintended consequences, but he doesn't see a big drop in employer coverage. "This is a brave new world with uncertainties," said Gruber. But "the best available evidence suggests a small erosion. It's not going go down wildly."

___

Online:

Deloitte Center for Health Solutions: http://tinyurl.com/2ucbnvc

American Benefits Council: http://www.appwp.org/

U.S. government health care site: http://www.healthcare.gov/

Healthcare Spending Tab Threatens Retirement

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 05:39:00 -0700

Healthcare Spending Tab Threatens Retirement - People nearing retirement underestimate their future medical expenses and still don't think they will have enough money to pay them. A new survey of people ages 50 to 64 by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) finds that only 7 percent of its survey group was "very confident" that it was saving enough money to handle healthcare retirement costs. Nine times as many--62 percent--were "not at all confident."

When asked what kind of annual healthcare cost inflation they could manage in the long term, 31 percent said they didn't know, while 43 percent said 1 percent or less and 25 percent answered either 3 percent or 5 percent. However, healthcare costs have been rising by substantially more than this amount. The SOA noted that a government forecast earlier this year pegged annual healthcare inflation at more than 6 percent for the rest of this decade.

While consumers may not be able to pinpoint exact healthcare expense numbers, it's clear they know that trouble awaits them. Asked how they would respond to continued healthcare inflation, 37 percent said they would try to stay healthy to minimize expenses, 35 percent said they'd try to just do the best they can, 31 percent said they'd save more money and cut non-healthcare spending, and 25 percent said they'd delay retirement. (Multiple responses were allowed, so the total exceeds 100 percent.)

"The overall theme in this study is that folks don't really have a good handle on dealing with the risks they will have in retirement," says Tonya Manning, a spokesperson for SOA and an actuary who specializes in retirement planning. "Our focus is on the risk that people have in retirement," she explains. "It's not just about preparing for the retirement you're planning, but planning for the retirement you're likely to have."

In a report last July, the SOA identified and explained these five post-retirement risks:

Outliving assets. At age 65, the average life expectancy is 17 years for American men and 20 years for women. Half of those who reach age 65 will survive even longer. Thirty percent of all women and almost 20 percent of men age 65 can expect to reach 90.

Loss of spouse. Because women have longer life expectancies than men and traditionally have been younger than their husbands, periods of widowhood of 15 years or more are not uncommon. For many women, the death of a spouse is accompanied by a decline in standard of living.

Decline in functional status. The cost of care as older people become frail may amount to $1 million or more for a couple over their lifetimes. Nursing home care costs may run $70,000 or more per person, per year. Care may be provided at home or in adult day care centers, assisted living facilities, or nursing homes.

Health care and medical expenses. A 2010 study estimates that health care costs for a retired couple (both age 65) could amount, on average, to $250,000 over their retirement. This figure does not include nursing home care costs or reflect health care reform legislation.

Inflation. Over the period 1980-2009, annual inflation in the U.S. for all items ranged from -0.4 percent to 8.9 percent, and has averaged 3.5 percent. For medical care, the annual average has been 5.8 percent.

You have to "have something in your bag of tricks to address these risks that you will face in retirement," Manning says. Even then, there is simply no way to avoid several basic uncertainties--how long you will live, how healthy you will be, and how big your lifetime health bill will be. "The only time you'll know exactly how much money you'll need in retirement is on the day you die," she says. "You can never completely insulate yourself from risk."

While backers of health reform say it will help bring down future cost increases in healthcare, there is little certainly about the legislation's lasting impact. Boosting people's access to health insurance--a major feature of the bill set to take full effect in 2014--may well raise costs in the short run. "Accessible healthcare does not mean affordable healthcare," Manning says.

And while the SOA can pinpoint healthcare retirement issues, finding solutions for many consumers is a much harder job. "I don't think a lot of people are in a position to make significant personal changes," Manning observes. "People don't like to hear it, but there aren't solutions for everyone who is out there."

AIG bailout loss was concealed due to valuation: report

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 05:35:00 -0700

AIG bailout loss was concealed due to valuation: report - The U.S. Treasury concealed $40 billion in likely taxpayer losses on the bailout of American International Group (AIG.N), the New York Times said, citing a report by Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

"In our view, this is a significant failure in their transparency," Barofsky said in an interview with the New York Times.

Early this month, the Treasury changed its usual valuation methods and issued a report saying that U.S. taxpayers would ultimately lose just $5 billion on the AIG investment, the paper said.

The Treasury had previously maintained a conservative estimate that it would lose $45 billion on the bailout of AIG.

However, on Monday, a Treasury official disputed Barofsky's conclusions, saying the department appropriately used different methods for different purposes, the Times said.

The official told the newspaper that the smaller loss was a projection of future events and the larger one was the result of an audit, which includes only realized gains and losses.

The Treasury will include more information about the AIG investment when it issues its own audited financial statement in November, which may likely report taxpayer losses of more than $5 billion, according to the paper.

The Treasury department and the office of the Special Inspector General for TARP could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.
Read AIG bailout exit doesn't resolve losses from TARP
(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore)

Swiss bank UBS reports Q3 profit of $1.65B

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 05:29:00 -0700

Swiss bank UBS reports Q3 profit of $1.65B - Swiss bank UBS AG reported a third-quarter net profit of 1.66 billion Swiss francs ($1.65 billion) Tuesday, beating expectations thanks partly to a significant one-off tax credit.

The Zurich-based bank, which posted a net loss of 564 million francs in the same period of 2009, also said it saw a net inflow of deposits from wealthy customers during the third quarter for the first time in over two years.

In a note to investors, analysts at Zuercher Kantonalbank said that without the tax benefit, adjusted pretax profits were significantly below what had been predicted. Shares in UBS fell 5.2 percent to 16.72 francs ($17.20) on the Zurich exchange by noon.

Chief Executive Oswald Gruebel said UBS had suffered similarly difficult market conditions as its competitors during the quarter, which was marked by weak trading and a surge in the franc against both the dollar and the euro.

"We are optimistic that an uptick in the fourth quarter will benefit all of our business divisions," Gruebel said in a statement. "We remain confident about our future and believe that we are on track to achieve our medium-term goals."

UBS booked an 825 million francs net tax credit during the third quarter, helping it beat consensus estimates among analysts for a net profit of just under 1.14 billion francs. It now has four straight quarters of profit behind it, marking something of a turnaround for a bank that was forced to take a government bailout during the subprime crisis.

Net new money flows — a key indicator of future business — reached 1.2 billion francs during the quarter. The small gain is significant because UBS has seen net withdrawals amounting to over 250 billion francs since mid-2008.

UBS had been struggling for months to stem the flow of client withdrawals and recently launched a large marketing campaign to win back the confidence of Swiss customers.

On Monday a U.S. court approved the dismissal of a criminal tax evasion case against the bank, effectively ending its damaging three-year dispute with U.S. authorities after it turned over thousands of suspected American tax cheats and paid a $780 million fine.

John Cryan, the bank's chief financial officer, told reporters the court's decision was "a good milestone."

Like cross-town rival Credit Suisse Group, which reported a lower-than-expected net profit of 609 million francs last week, UBS said its third quarter was affected by currency swings and low levels of client activity.

Recurring income at its wealth management unit decreased 10 percent compared with the previous quarter "principally due to significant strengthening of the Swiss franc against the U.S. dollar." The bank noted, however, that the 9 percent drop in the value of the dollar during the quarter also helped reduce costs by 731 million francs.

Investment banking made a pretax loss of 406 million francs due to writedowns and subdued client trading as a result of weak economic recovery indicators in the United States.

Analysts said revenues at both units were below expectationsthe operating

UBS said it is on course to meet both the newly agreed Basel III capital requirements for banks, as well as even stricter rules proposed by Swiss regulators to prevent the country's two biggest financial institutions from sudden collapse.

Mortgage woes show Wall St reform crucial: Obama

noreply@blogger.com (SinSin) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 08:57:00 -0700

Mortgage woes show Wall St reform crucial: Obama - President Barack Obama said the home foreclosure crisis underscored the importance of his Wall Street reforms, and he blasted Republicans on Saturday for "beating the drum" to roll back the regulatory overhaul.

"Recently, we've seen problems in foreclosure proceedings -- mistakes that have led to disruptions in the housing markets. This is only one more piece of evidence as to why Wall Street reform is so necessary," Obama said in his weekly radio address, 10 days before November 2 congressional elections in which his fellow Democrats are expected to sustain sharp losses.

The address marked Obama's most extensive comments on the foreclosure mess since revelations first surfaced of faulty paperwork.

He has been trying to walk a delicate line on the foreclosure issue. The White House believes the problems highlight a contrast with Republicans opponents of the landmark Wall Street reform package the Democratic Congress passed in July.

But Obama has stopped short of backing calls for a nationwide moratorium on home foreclosures -- something the White House fears could worsen the housing crisis.

The financial reform law was aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2007-2008 financial meltdown that set off the worst U.S. recession in generations.

Though analysts see little chance the financial reform law would be fully rolled back, opponents are targeting specific provisions, such as funding for a new consumer watchdog.

Obama said the new watchdog, known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "will have the authority to guard against unfair practices in mortgage transactions and foreclosures."

CAMPAIGN THEMES

Repeating a theme of recent campaign speeches for Democratic candidates, Obama said Republicans' opposition to regulatory reform showed they work for special interest groups, not middle-class Americans.

Wall Street reform is one of Obama's more popular legislative accomplishments, given Americans' anger over financial sector profits and bonuses while the country wrestles with 9.6 percent unemployment and other effects of a weak economy.

"This was a bill designed to rein in the secret deals and reckless gambling that nearly brought down the financial system," Obama said.

"Some in the financial industry were eager to protect a status quo that basically allowed them to play by their own rules. And these interests held common cause with Republican leaders in Washington who were looking to score a political victory in an election year," he said.

"Top Republicans in Congress are now beating the drum to repeal all of these reforms and consumer protections," Obama said.

Allegations of faulty foreclosure paperwork and demands banks buy back billions of dollars in mortgages sold to investors have raised fears financial firms face a new wave of difficulties similar to the 2007-2008 crisis.

Critics say the failure to fix the housing finance system in general, and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in particular, is a gaping hole in the Wall Street reform law.

Republicans say they don't oppose financial regulation but say the bill should have been structured differently.

"Everyone wants to hold Wall Street accountable and make sure that the irresponsibility that led to the terrifying crisis of 2008 never, ever happens again, but the law that Washington Democrats passed doesn't do that," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House of Representatives Republican leader John Boehner.

(Editing by Jerry Norton and Stacey Joyce)