Let the free market be the winner

What a week. It looked good in the beginning of the week. It looks really gloomy at the moment. I think correction were required. I just hope that it will be on the upside from next week. I bought some C and FNM shares. I hope these stocks will gain over the next few weeks. YGE, I just don’t know what this will do given the fact that Chinese government tighten up loaning procedures. The market seems to be correcting as the DOW is on a 3 day slide. I am hoping that it will soar back on Monday. I loaded some FNM, C and YGE shares which will pay off end of next week.

I ordered a steam bath from Steam Showers Inc. located in California. I am hoping that it will be at my house within 5 days. I am excited about it. I hope that it will be in a good temperature and insert enough steam.

It was a great weekend. I needed a good weekend to cheer up for the year. Malahat is feeling great and I hope that everything goes well with the pregnancy.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market slumped Wednesday on concerns that tighter lending standards in China could endanger an economic recovery. Disappointing earnings results from IBM Corp. and Morgan Stanley added to the market's angst. At the same time, a spike in the dollar pushed commodity prices sharply lower, hurting stocks of energy companies and materials producers. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 190 points from a 15-month high, its biggest drop since Oct. 30. Demand for safe havens like government debt jumped, pushing yields lower in the Treasury market. Concerns grew that China's efforts to keep its economy under control could hurt a global recovery. A top banking regulator said Wednesday that China will tighten its monitoring of banks as it tries to prevent speculative bubbles in areas like real estate. It would be the latest effort by China to restrict runaway lending and cool that country's overheated growth. Stocks fell sharply last week after China tightened its monetary policy and boosted the amount banks must hold in reserve. Investors are worried about how badly a slowdown in China's huge economy would affect other countries. "The China news is a disappointment and a continuation of the trend," said Steven Goldman, chief market strategist at Weeden & Co. in Greenwich, Conn., referring to last week's moves. Meanwhile, IBM Corp. led the Dow industrials lower after the company's results, which many analysts praised, nonetheless disappointed investors who had hoped profits would be stronger. Banks posted mixed results. Bank of America Corp. reported better results and said credit conditions were improving, but also said the economic environment "remain fragile." Wells Fargo & Co. sounded an optimistic note on consumer resilience, but Morgan Stanley fell short of expectations.

- PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A powerful aftershock sent Haitians screaming into the streets on Wednesday, collapsing buildings, cracking roads and adding to the trauma of a nation stunned by an apocalyptic quake eight days ago. The magnitude-5.9 jolt matched the strongest of the aftershocks that have followed the huge quake of Jan. 12 that devastated Haiti's capital. The new temblor collapsed seven buildings in Petit-Goave, the seaside town closest to the epicenter, according to Mike Morton of the U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination agency, but there were no reports of people crushed or trapped, perhaps because the earlier quake frightened most people into sleeping outside. Wails of terror erupted in Port-au-Prince, where the aftershock briefly interrupted rescue efforts amid the broken concrete of collapsed buildings, and prompted doctors and patients to flee the University Hospital. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians remain homeless, hungry and in mourning — most still waiting for the benefits of a nearly $1 billion global aid campaign. At least one woman died of a heart attack in Port-au-Prince, according to Eddy Thomas, a private undertaker.

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- The housing market remains a significant risk to the economy, data Wednesday showed, as bad weather across much of the country hit the construction industry. The Commerce Department said construction of new homes and apartments fell 4 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000 from an upwardly revised 580,000 in November. Applications for future projects, however, increased strongly as the industry ramps up for the spring selling season. The results for new home construction were lower than the 580,000 forecast by economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters and were led by declines of 19 percent in the Northeast and Midwest. Construction fell 1 percent in the West, but rose more than 3 percent in the South. "Builders continue to be nervous about the employment situation and the number of foreclosures out there competing with them," said David Crowe, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. Another problem, Crowe noted, is that builders have seen their financing for new projects dry up steadily over the past 18 months. Applications for new building permits, a gauge of future activity, rose 11 percent to an annual rate of 653,000, a far stronger showing than economists had predicted and the highest level of activity since October 2008.

- NEW YORK (AP) -- Wells Fargo & Co. on Wednesday took a more optimistic view than other banks about the outlook for the loan business and the economy as it reported a surprise $394 million profit for the fourth quarter. The bank did say problems remain in lending portfolios and that another downturn in the economy would hurt profitability. But unlike the extremely cautious tone banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. have taken in recent days, Wells Fargo provided a brighter picture for 2010. Mike Loughlin, Wells Fargo's chief credit and risk officer, said, "while losses remained elevated during the quarter as expected, a more favorable economic outlook and improved credit statistics in several portfolios further increase our confidence that our credit cycle is turning." Analysts weren't as sure about Wells Fargo's statements on a potential recovery. "I think it's still too early to make that prediction," said Adam Barkstrom, a managing director at Sterne Agee. Barkstrom said the bank is still highly exposed to risky mortgage markets like Florida and California. Economists and investors also have doubts about consumers' ability to pay their bills because many banks are still reporting a high number of loan defaults. But Wells Fargo said it was seeing improvement.

- NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks traded mixed early Thursday as good news from several strong earnings reports was tempered by an unexpected jump in initial jobless claims. The Labor Department said workers filing for unemployment benefits for the first time rose by 36,000 to 482,000 last week. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting a small drop. The four-week average rose for the first time since August. The report provided a grim reminder that while the economy might have improved modestly, a robust recovery is unlikely until companies start adding jobs. The unemployment rate remained at 10 percent last month. The disappointing jobs report was offset partly by a batch of strong earnings reports. Xerox, UnitedHealth and Goldman Sachs were among big companies that posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 31.36, or 0.3 percent, to 10,571.79. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.48, or less than 0.1 percent, to 1,137.56, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 7.33, or 0.3 percent, to 2,298.58. Stocks tumbled Wednesday as concern grew that China would move to curb rapid economic growth and the latest round of earnings failed to impress investors.

- NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks traded mixed early Thursday as good news from several strong earnings reports was tempered by an unexpected jump in initial jobless claims. The Labor Department said workers filing for unemployment benefits for the first time rose by 36,000 to 482,000 last week. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting a small drop. The four-week average rose for the first time since August. The report provided a grim reminder that while the economy might have improved modestly, a robust recovery is unlikely until companies start adding jobs. The unemployment rate remained at 10 percent last month. The disappointing jobs report was offset partly by a batch of strong earnings reports. Xerox, UnitedHealth and Goldman Sachs were among big companies that posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 31.36, or 0.3 percent, to 10,571.79. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.48, or less than 0.1 percent, to 1,137.56, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 7.33, or 0.3 percent, to 2,298.58. Stocks tumbled Wednesday as concern grew that China would move to curb rapid economic growth and the latest round of earnings failed to impress investors.

- PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Workers are carving out mass graves on a hillside north of Haiti's capital, using earth-movers to bury 10,000 earthquake victims in a single day while relief workers warn that people are still dying of their injuries. Medical clinics have 12-day patient backlogs, untreated injuries are festering and makeshift camps housing thousands of survivors could foster disease, experts said. "The next health risk could include outbreaks of diarrhea, respiratory tract infections and other diseases among hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in overcrowded camps with poor or nonexistent sanitation," said Dr. Greg Elder, deputy operations manager for Doctors Without Borders in Haiti. The death toll is estimated at 200,000, according to Haitian government figures relayed by the European Commission, with 80,000 buried in mass graves. The commission now estimates 2 million homeless, up from 1.5 million, and says 250,000 are in need of urgent aid. In the sparsely populated wasteland of Titanyen, north of Port-au-Prince, burial workers said the macabre task of handling the never-ending flow of bodies was traumatizing. "I have seen so many children, so many children. I cannot sleep at night and, if I do, it is a constant nightmare," said Foultone Fequiert, 38, his face covered with a T-shirt against the overwhelming stench. The dead stick out at all angles from the mass graves — tall mounds of chalky dirt, the limbs of men, women and children frozen together in death. "I received 10,000 bodies yesterday alone," said Fequiert. Workers say they have no time to give the dead proper religious burials or follow pleas from the international community that bodies be buried in shallow graves from which loved ones might eventually retrieve them.

- BRUSSELS – General Motor Co.'s Opel unit will cut 8,300 jobs across Europe, including 4,000 in Germany, and close a plant in Antwerp, Belgium — casualties of the "tough reality" of a shrinking European auto market. Opel head Nick Reilly said Thursday that the Antwerp plant had to go, with the loss of more than 2,300 jobs, because the company needs to shed 20 percent of its manufacturing capacity. That's because far fewer cars are being sold as a result of the recession. "We have to take a plant out and unfortunately it's Antwerp," Reilly said at a press conference in Brussels. "It is the tough reality of the current business environment." Reilly said the economic crisis means European car markers will likely sell 1.5 million fewer cars this year than in 2009 and 4 million fewer than in 2007. The GM cutbacks were a hard blow for the 2,600 Opel workers in Antwerp and the automotive supply companies that employ 10,000 workers. Werner Dillen, a trade union official, said the future "is not bright (but) we had been expecting that news for 12 months." When General Motors Co. planned to sell its European car making unit to Canada's Magna and Russia's Sberbank last year, the bidders said they would close Antwerp down. GM later decided not to sell its European business. German daily Welt reported Thursday that most of Antwerp's Astra production is to be transferred to the plant in Bochum, citing anonymous sources from the workers' council.

- BEIJING – China declared it is over the global crisis and signaled a shift in focus to controlling inflation, sparking concern it could hamper growth and the country's contribution to a worldwide rebound. Economic growth accelerated to 10.7 percent in the final quarter of 2009, the government said Thursday, beating most forecasts and driving the full-year expansion to 8.7 percent. But inflation also picked up, driven by a jump in food costs amid a torrent of stimulus spending and bank lending. The strong numbers keep China on a course to replace Japan sometime later this year as the world's second-largest economy after the U.S. Chinese leaders say the fiscal largesse will continue this year but have ordered banks to curb credit after a surge in 2009 to a record 9.5 trillion yuan ($1.39 trillion) in new loans. They worry that reckless lending has fueled overinvestment in some industries such as steel and cement and a possible bubble in stock and real estate prices, which are up sharply. Most Asian stock markets dropped as investors worried whether Beijing can prevent overheating without hurting recovery in what is now the world's third-largest economy. Hong Kong's main index lost 2 percent. "The Chinese authorities seem to be juggling knives at this juncture. Let's hope they don't cut themselves or drop the knives on the audience," said Thomas Lam, chief economist at financial services firm OSK-DMG in Singapore. A solid Chinese recovery could help to drive a global rebound by boosting demand for imported oil, industrial raw materials and consumer goods. But inflation could disrupt that by eroding consumer spending power and pushing up the price of China's exports, hurting sales and demand for imports used to produce them — factory machinery from the United States, Germany and Japan or iron ore from Australia. "We need to prevent overly fast price increases and closely watch the trend in consumer inflation," said Ma Jiantong, commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics, at a news conference. Inflation is politically sensitive in China, where it can erode the rising living standards that underpin the ruling Communist Party's claim to power. Analysts said they expect Beijing to take new steps to control credit through tighter restrictions on lending and ordering banks to set aside still more reserves following an increase last week.

- NEW YORK (AP) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Thursday it earned $4.79 billion in the fourth quarter as the bank cut back on compensation and its trading business again outdistanced the rest of the financial industry. The company rewarded its employees with $16.2 billion in salaries and bonuses for 2009, up 47 percent from the previous year but still lower than many had expected. Compensation accounted for 36 percent of Goldman's $45.17 billion in 2009 revenue, the lowest annual ratio ever for the company. In 2008, Goldman set aside 48 percent of its revenue to pay employees. The pullback in pay helped the bank easily top analysts' earnings estimates. Goldman earned $8.20 a share in the last three months of the year, well above the $5.20 a share expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Trading of fixed income, commodities and currencies buoyed Goldman's profits for the third straight quarter. The bank also reported higher fees from underwriting stock and debt offerings. Its shares initially rose but pulled back in midmorning trading, falling $2.99, or 1.78 percent, to $164.80. Goldman, which has outperformed other financial companies for years, has been the strongest bank throughout the financial crisis. It had less exposure to toxic mortgage-backed securities than other companies and also has been more aggressive in its trading. For the full year, Goldman earned $13.4 billion, almost as much as the $15 billion earned by the five other big national banks combined. 2009 was a difficult year for the banking industry, as companies with big lending operations lost money in those businesses. JPMorgan Chase & Co., earned $11.73 billion for the year on the strength of its investment banking business, and Wells Fargo & Co. turned a $7.99 billion profit. But Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. lost a combined $3.81 billion. And Morgan Stanley, whose problems have been attributed in part to a lack of aggressiveness in its trading business, lost $907 million.

- NEW YORK – Toyota said Thursday it is recalling 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. to fix accelerator pedals that can become stuck, the latest in a string of quality problems that have bedeviled the Japanese automaker. The recall affects the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia. The latest move comes just months after Toyota Motor Corp. recalled 4.2 million vehicles over concerns that accelerator pedals could become lodged under floor mats, causing sudden acceleration. That problem was blamed for several crashes, including an accident involving a Lexus that accelerated to more than 120 mph before crashing in San Diego, killing four people. But Toyota said Thursday's recall is due to potential problems with the actual gas pedal mechanism, causing the accelerator to become stuck regardless of whether the vehicle contains a floor mat. Toyota said in certain rare cases, the gas pedal mechanism wears down, causing the accelerator to become harder to press, slower to return or, in some cases, stuck.

- BEIJING – Beijing issued a stinging response Friday to Hillary Rodham Clinton's criticism that it is jamming the free flow of words and ideas on the Internet, accusing the United States of damaging relations between the two countries by imposing its "information imperialism" on China. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu defended China's policies regarding the Web, saying the nation's Internet regulations were in line with Chinese law and did not hamper the cyber activities of the world's largest online population. His remarks follow those made by the U.S. ecretary of state, who in a speech Thursday criticized countries engaging in cyberspace censorship, and urged China to investigate computer attacks against Google. "Regarding comments that contradict facts and harm China-U.S. relations, we are firmly opposed," Ma said in a statement posted Friday on the ministry's Web site. "We urge the U.S. side to respect facts and stop using the so-called freedom of the Internet to make unjustified accusations against China." In her speech in Washington, Clinton cited China as among a number of countries where there has been "a spike in threats to the free flow of information" over the past year. She also named Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

- BAGHDAD – Suicide bombers struck near three hotels popular with Western journalists and businessmen Monday just as Iraq announced the execution of Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin known as "Chemical Ali." At least 37 people were killed and more than 104 injured, security officials said. The blasts — coming in a span of about 15 minutes in downtown Baghdad — came shortly before state television announced that Ali Hassan al-Majid had been hanged. There was no claim of responsibility for the latest major attacks in Baghdad — about six weeks after a series of blasts killed 127 and brought outcry against Iraq's government for repeated security lapses as U.S. troops withdraw. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the latest bombings "represent an extension" of the activities of insurgents linked to Saddam's regime. But he stopped short of declaring the blast as possible revenge for the execution. The first explosion struck at about 3:40 p.m. local time in the parking lot of the Sheraton Hotel, toppling high concrete blast walls protecting the site and damaging a number of buildings along the Abu Nawas esplanade across the Tigris River from the Green Zone.

My heart goes to Haiti earth quake victims

This is a tragic week as the earthquake shook Haiti and killed over 200 thousand people. It’s really sad and I hope that the people of Haiti recover quickly from this tragedy.

It was dull week for the market. C, FNM and OPC are not doing anything right now. I just hope that this market picks up and gives us a breathing room. I wish I could do some trading right now but I just don’t know which the winners are.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after the strongest earthquake to hit the poor Caribbean nation in more than 200 years crushed thousands of structures, from schools and shacks to the National Palace and the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters. Untold numbers were still trapped. It seemed clear that the death toll from Tuesday afternoon's magnitude-7.0 quake would run into the thousands. France's foreign minister said the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission was apparently among the dead. International Red Cross spokesman Paul Conneally said a third of Haiti's 9 million people may need emergency aid and that it would take a day or two for a clear picture of the damage to emerge. The United Nations said the capital's main airport was "fully operational" and that relief flights would begin Wednesday. Aftershocks continued to rattle the capital of 2 million people as women covered in dust clawed out of debris, wailing. Stunned people wandered the streets holding hands. Thousands gathered in public squares to sing hymns. People pulled bodies from collapsed homes, covering them with sheets by the side of the road. Passersby lifted the sheets to see if loved ones were underneath. Outside a crumbled building the bodies of five children and three adults lay in a pile. The United States and other nations — from Iceland to Venezuela — said they would start sending aid workers and rescue teams to Haiti on Wednesday as the start of a major emergency operation. The international Red Cross and other aid groups announced plans for major relief operations in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country. Many will have to help their own staff as well as stricken Haitians. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said its embassy was destroyed and the ambassador hospitalized. Spain said its embassy was badly damaged. "Haiti has moved to center of the world's thoughts and the world's compassion," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said. Tens of thousands of people lost their homes as buildings that were flimsy and dangerous even under normal conditions collapsed in the shaking. Nobody offered an estimate of the dead, but the numbers were clearly enormous.

- SHANGHAI – China's lavish bank lending spurred a recovery but also pumped up markets as speculators scooped up stocks and property and even dabbled in garlic, dried chilli peppers and luxury Pu'er tea. Now, China is reining in its spendthrift banks, shifting toward an exit strategy that aims to avoid a bust. After a brief slowdown a year ago, China's economy has bounced back rapidly, with growth forecast at 8.3 percent for this year. Yet the stimulus spending that led that revival — supported by more than 9 trillion yuan ($1.3 trillion) in new bank loans last year — has spurred speculation, raising alarm over a potential housing bubble. The stimulus has also propelled huge investments in industries already larded with overcapacity. On an average day in 2009 some 1,000 new industrial projects were launched, Standard Chartered bank economist Stephen Green estimates. The challenge now is to stave off inflation and ensure that the stimulus goes into productive investments rather than to speculators. To help curb those risks, Beijing late Tuesday increased the reserves that banks must hold by 0.5 percentage point, to 15 percent of their deposits. U.S. banks must hold 10 percent in reserve, though that requirement is based on only a fraction of their balance sheets. The surprise move followed reports that Chinese banks lent 600 billion yuan, or about $88 billion, in the first week of January — nearly double the total for all of December. "We need to guide rational investment to avoid speculation," Qi Ji, Vice Minister of Construction, told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday. Qi's bland comment belies concerns voiced by many prominent Chinese economists. In the state-run China Securities Journal on Monday, He Fan and Yao Zhizhong of the government-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences warned that without tighter controls the economy could grow an unsustainable 16 percent this year. If stimulus policies remain unchanged, "the economy is destined for serious overheating," they said. The resulting bust could derail growth and leave banks with massive holdings of bad loans.

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wall Street executives said Wednesday they underestimated the severity of the 2008 financial crisis and made poor decisions, while also defending their bonus and compensation practices to a skeptical commission investigating what caused the collapse. Americans are furious and "have a right to be" about the hefty bonuses banks paid out after getting billions of dollars in federal help, the commission's chairman told chief executives of four major banks. As the hearings opened before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Phil Angelides pledged "a full and fair inquiry into what brought our financial system to its knees." Brian Moynihan, chief executive and president of Bank of America, said compensation levels will be higher next year than they were in 2008, but not at levels before the financial meltdown. "We understand the anger felt by many citizens," he said. "We are grateful for the taxpayer assistance we have received." With Bank of America having repaid its bailout money, he said "the vast majority of our employees played no role in the economic crisis" and do not deserve to be penalized with lower compensation. Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co., said most of his employees took "significant cuts in compensation" in 2008. He said his company would continue to pay people in a "responsible and disciplined manner" to attract and retain top talent. John Mack, chairman of Morgan Stanley, said the crisis was "a powerful wake-up call for this firm." He said he didn't take a bonus in 2009 and that his bank has overhauled its compensation practices to discourage "excessive risk-taking."

- BEIJING – Google's threat to pull out of China over censorship is a rare display of defiance in a system where foreign companies have long accepted intrusive controls to gain access to a huge and growing market. Dismayed by the prospect of a China without Google, visitors left flowers at its Beijing headquarters Wednesday as Web sites buzzed with words of support and appeals to stay. "I felt it's a pity and hope it will not withdraw from the Chinese market," said a man who left flowers at the building in the high-tech Haidian district and would give only his surname, Chang. "Google played a key role in the growth of our generation. The control (of the Internet) is excessive." In industries from automaking to fast food, companies have been forced to allow communist authorities to influence — and sometimes dictate — their choice of local partners, where to operate and what products to sell. Web companies have endured criticism for cooperating with a communist system that tightly controls information. Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others have acceded to pressure to block access to politically sensitive material. "The Internet is like media, and the media are under tight government control, so that poses additional challenges for foreign Internet companies compared with, say, manufacturers of TV sets, mobile phones or autos," said Edward Yu, president of Analysys International, an Internet research firm in Beijing.

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Retail sales unexpectedly fell in December, leaving 2009 with the biggest yearly drop on record and highlighting the formidable hurdles facing the economy as it struggles to recover from the deepest recession in seven decades. In another disappointing economic report, the number of newly laid-off workers requesting unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week as jobs remain scarce. Economists said the drop in retail sales in December underscored how tentative the economic remains given all the headwinds facing consumers. "We cannot expect a true turnaround in consumption until the jobs numbers improve significantly and consistently," Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in a research note. The Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales declined 0.3 percent in December compared with November, much weaker than the 0.5 percent rise that economists had been expecting. Excluding autos, sales dropped by 0.2 percent, also weaker than the 0.3 percent rise analyst had forecast. For the year, sales fell 6.2 percent, the biggest decline on government records that go back to 1992. The only other year that annual sales fell was in 2008, when they slipped by 0.5 percent. The 0.3 percent decline in December was the first setback since September, when sales had fallen 2 percent. Sales posted strong gains of 1.2 percent in October and 1.8 percent in November, raising hopes that the consumer is starting to mount a comeback. A separate report showed that business inventories rose by 0.4 percent in November. It marked the second straight month that stockpiles have increased after a stretch of 13 monthly declines in inventories. The hope is that future sales gains will convince businesses to keep restocking, a development that will boost production and provide support for the recovery. In the jobs report, the Labor Department said new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 444,000. Wall Street economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected an increase of only 3,000. The rise was partly a result of large seasonal layoffs in the retail, manufacturing and construction industries, a Labor Department analyst said. The second week of January usually sees the largest increase in claims, unadjusted for seasonal trends, during the year, the analyst said.

- TORONTO (Reuters) – The heads of Canada's four largest banks said on Thursday they remain focused on capital conservation because of uncertainty over global regulatory changes and the riskiness of making acquisitions. Gord Nixon, chief executive of Royal Bank of Canada, the nation's biggest bank, and Ed Clark, chief executive of Toronto Dominion Bank, the No. 2 bank, both said Canadian banks have strong capital levels compared with global rivals, but that there is no rush to spend it on acquisitions. "I don't think most Canadian bank CEOs are going to be rushing to burn through their capital until they have some certainty of (global rules)," Clark told investors at an RBC Capital Markets banking conference in Toronto. TD, which has focused its expansion strategy on the U.S. retail banking market, said it has mostly ruled out a blockbuster purchase in the United States. "We've always said, not that everything would absolutely have to be an FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp)-assisted deal, but it would have to be a small deal where we thought the catastrophic risk was estimable, so the idea that we would go out and do a big acquisition -- I just don't think it is in the cards." RBC's Nixon said the lack of mergers and acquisitions in financial services generally, particularly in the U.S. market, is due to a lack of clarity about asset values and risks. He said it is "almost irresponsible" to go out and invest in the current uncertain environment. Sabi Marwah, chief operating officer at Canada's third-largest lender, Bank of Nova Scotia, said there were only two areas that might offer the internationally focused bank the opportunity for a large acquisition: Mexico, where it already has a strong presence; and Canada, where it has a stake in CI Financial Corp. Bill Downe, CEO of Bank of Montreal, the nation's No. 4 bank, said there is no question that Canadian banks in general, and BMO in particular, are far better capitalized than global rivals. He said that puts BMO in a good position to expand as peers work to rebuild their cash reserves. BMO has focused its expansion goals on the U.S. Midwest. (Reporting by Andrea Hopkins; editing by Peter Galloway)

- NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices fell for the fifth straight day Friday, dipping below $79 a barrel as the dollar strengthened and forecasters saw milder winter weather ahead. Benchmark crude for February delivery slid 57 cents to $78.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The weather outlook for the next 10 days calls for above average temperatures across nearly all regions of the U.S., which should temper demand for heating oil. Crude prices were pressured by a stronger dollar, making it more expensive for holders of foreign currencies to purchase oil, which is priced in U.S. dollars. Prices also fell on concerns about weak consumer demand. The Labor Department reported that inflation-adjusted wages fell 1.6 percent last year, the sharpest drop since 1990 and well below the 2.7 percent inflation rate for the year. That came on the heels of data released Thursday showing a drop in retail sales in December. In other Nymex trading in February contracts, heating oil fell 2.06 cents to $2.0623 a gallon and gasoline slid 1.52 cents to $2.0582 a gallon. Natural gas futures gained 7.5 cents to $5.663 per 1,000 cubic feet.

- SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore's exports jumped in December for the second straight month as global demand for the city-state's electronics surged. Exports excluding oil rose 26.1 percent from a year earlier to 13.2 billion Singapore dollars ($9.5 billion), according to Trade and Industry Ministry figures released Monday. The ministry said sales abroad rose a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent from November. "The numbers reflect a solid rebound from the low levels of the first quarter last year," said David Cohen, an economist with consultancy Action Economics in Singapore. Electronics -- which account for 40 percent of non-oil exports -- rebounded strongly, rising 25.2 percent from a year earlier after falling 6.1 percent in November. Pharmaceuticals rose 76 percent while petrochemicals increased 64 percent, the ministry said. Singapore's economic recovery slowed last quarter as gross domestic product fell by an annualized seasonally adjusted 6.8 percent. The government expects the economy to grow up to 5 percent this year after contracting by 2.1 percent last year. The improvement in exports eases fears of a possible derailment of the global economic recovery, said Cohen. "The upward trajectory in exports from Singapore and other Asian economies is a sign that global demand is continuing to recover," he said. Non-oil exports rose 27 percent to Europe and 20 percent to China from last year, the ministry said. U.S. demand for non-oil products grew by 6 percent after falling nearly 13 percent in November.

- GENEVA (AP) -- Swiss Reinsurance Co. said Monday it transferred part of its U.S. life insurance business to American investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.27 billion) to free up capital and invest it more profitably. The deal with billionaire Buffett, who already has a stake in Swiss Re, takes effect retroactively on Oct. 1, 2009. It has freed up 300 million francs ($292 million) in capital, Swiss Re said. The transaction known as "retrocession" means that Swiss Re transfers the business to another reinsurer -- Berkshire Hathaway. Reinsurance companies sell backup coverage to other insurers, spreading risk in the event of huge losses. The life insurance business had failed to meet Swiss Re's hurdle rate of 14 percent of returns, the company said. "This is a significant step forward in Swiss Re's strategy to increase capital efficiency," said Christian Mumenthaler, who heads the company's life and health department. "The transaction puts us in an excellent position to redeploy the capital at more attractive returns." The business had liabilities of around 1.9 billion francs, said Swiss Re. The total of Swiss Re's life insurance business in the United States amounted to roughly 6 billion francs in gross premiums last year. Swiss Re said it will continue doing the administration and reporting for the business in question. The reinsurer said it remains committed to life insurance in the United States. Shares in Swiss Re were down 1.4 percent at 49.40 francs ($48.14) on the Zurich exchange. Among previous deals with Buffett, Swiss Re had its property and casualty reserves reinsured with Berkshire last year to cover up to 5 billion Swiss francs in losses. Buffett's Omaha, Neb.-based company invested 3 billion Swiss francs ($2.6 billion) in Swiss Re last year with the possibility to convert the investment into conventional Swiss Re shares in 2012. This would allow Berkshire to control roughly one-quarter of Swiss Re. Berkshire owns several major insurance companies, including Geico and reinsurance giant General Re Corp. It owns a diverse mix of more than 60 businesses -- including furniture, jewelry, candy, natural gas and corporate jet firms.

- TOKYO (AP) -- Japan Airlines is expected to file for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, ending months-long speculation about its fate and launching a massive overhaul to shed the fat and inefficiency that hobbled Asia's biggest airline. With debts of 1.5 trillion yen ($16.5 billion) as of November, the carrier will go down in Japanese corporate history as one of its biggest failures. Its access to Asia, however, is a mouthwatering prize for foreign airlines. The tug-of-war between Delta Air Lines and American Airlines intensified even as bankruptcy loomed, with the latest media reports pointing to Delta as the eventual winner. The bankruptcy filing will most likely be immediately followed by a restructuring plan crafted by a government-backed corporate turnaround body. The government itself will offer assurances of support for the airline's rehabilitation and ongoing operations, the Nikkei financial daily said. Investors Monday braced for a seemingly inevitable removal of the airline's shares from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The issue, which has lost more than 90 percent of its value over the last week, tumbled another 29 percent Monday to 5 yen. The company is now essentially worthless, with a market capitalization of about 13.7 billion yen ($150 million) -- the price of one Boeing 787 jet. It's a humbling outcome for Japan's once-proud flagship carrier, called JAL for short, which was founded in 1951 and spent its early years owned by the state. Along with Japan's economy, it expanded quickly in the decades after World War II and was privatized in 1987. But it soon became the victim of its own ambitions. When Japan's property and stock bubble of the 1980s burst, risky investments in foreign resorts and hotels undermined its bottom line. JAL also shouldered growing pension and payroll costs, as well as a big network of unprofitable domestic routes it was politically obligated to maintain. More recently, JAL's passenger traffic has slowed amid the global economic downturn, swine flu fears, competition from Japanese rival All Nippon Airways Co. and a spate of safety lapses that tarnished its image. It lost 131.2 billion yen ($1.4 billion) in the six months through September. Its four government bailouts since 2001 only exacerbated JAL's problems, officials now say.

Happy New Year 2010

Another new year and a new hope to the future. 2009 had been interesting. Some of us want to forget and some one wants to remember the year. I am glad that we survived through a lot of ups and downs. I have learnt a lot from 2009 and hopefully will be able to apply the knowledge in the future.

I had a great vacation in Vancouver, a much needed break. We really enjoyed Steve and May’s company. I am hoping that this is the beginning of a long lasting friendship. We did a lot of good eating. We really appreciated that May did so much for us. We hope to visit again very soon.

I had a great weekend. My wife was just awesome. I am so glad that she is feeling so great. We had so much fun. She felt and looked great. I am really happy and hopeful that we will have a healthy baby.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market has extended its 2009 rally into the new year. Major stock indexes surged more than 1.5 percent Monday after improving news on manufacturing from China to the U.S. pointed to a strengthening global economy. The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 156 points. A U.S. trade group said manufacturing activity expanded faster than expected in December. The Institute for Supply Management's index of manufacturing activity rose to 55.9 from 53.6 in November, more than analysts had expected. Overseas markets had started out higher on news that China's manufacturing industry expanded last month at the fastest rate in 20 months. There were also positive signs on manufacturing activity in Europe. A monthly purchasing managers' index for the 16 countries that use the euro rose to a 21-month high, and a similar survey for Britain rose to a 25-month high. Meanwhile a weakening dollar boosted commodities prices, lifting energy and materials stocks. An analyst's upgrade of semiconductor maker Intel Corp. sent technology shares higher.

-PARIS (AP) -- Airbus on Tuesday increased pressure on European governments to give it more money for the troubled A400M military transport plane, saying it is considering scrapping the project just weeks after its maiden flight. The plane is running at least three years late and over budget. The seven customer governments agreed to re-negotiate the original contract, which Airbus CEO Tom Enders has slammed for being badly drawn up and making the planemaker shoulder too much of the cost overruns. EADS, Airbus' parent, hopes governments will either pay more for the planes or reduce the number of planes on order. Other options include reducing the specifications, or spreading increased payments out over time.

- WASHINGTON (AP) The number of people preparing to buy a home fell sharply in November, an unsettling new sign that the housing market may be headed for a "double-dip" downturn over the winter. The figures Tuesday came after a similarly discouraging report on new home sales, illustrating how heavily the housing market depends right now on government help. In October, buyers raced to get contracts signed in time to take advantage of a tax credit for first-time homeowners that was set to expire. It has since been extended into spring -- and now prospective buyers are taking their time. The National Association of Realtors said its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts fell 16 percent from October to November, ending nine months of gains. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected only a 2 percent drop. "This was bound to happen at some point, although not by this much," wrote Jennifer Lee, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets. She added: "Gulp." When the tax credit expires this spring and the government phases out programs to keep mortgage rates low, the housing market will have to stand on its own. Many economists doubt it can. "We're just going to languish at the bottom," said Anna Piretti, senior economist at BNP Paribas. The last housing downturn helped drag the nation into the worst recession in decades. The expected dip in home sales and prices this winter appears to pose less of a threat to the broader economy.

- NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors turned cautious on the second trading day of the year as a pair of economic reports gave mixed signals about how the recovery was going. Major stock indexes ended little changed a day after the Dow Jones industrials soared more than 150 points on upbeat manufacturing reports in the U.S. and China. Uncertainty over key reports this week on employment and the service industry also kept buyers at bay. The economic news on Tuesday was muddled. The Commerce Department reported that factory orders rose by more than twice what had been expected in November, reflecting demand in the steel, computer and chemical industries. The gain of 1.1 percent easily beat the 0.5 percent forecast of analysts polled Thomson Reuters. Meanwhile, the number of buyers who agreed to purchase previously occupied homes fell sharply in November, an indication that sales will fall this winter. The National Association of Realtors said its index of pending home sales fell 16 percent, the first drop after nine months of gains. Some decline had been expected as investors raced to buy homes ahead of a tax credit deadline, which was later extended.

- MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) -- Google Inc. began selling its own mobile phone Tuesday, a much-anticipated move aimed at protecting its online advertising empire as people increasingly surf the Web on handsets instead of personal computers. The Nexus One joins about 20 other mobile devices that already run on Android, the mobile operating system that Google introduced in 2007 to make it easier to connect to its services and other Web sites away from home or the office. Google designed the touch-screen phone in partnership with Taiwan's HTC Corp., which made the first Android-powered phone and will manufacture this one, too. Google will handle all sales online and has no plans to let consumers check out the Nexus One in retail stores. The Nexus One has been in the hands of Google employees for the past three weeks, triggering media speculation and anticipation for the company's first attempt to peddle a consumer electronics device. Given the hype, the Nexus One could be a bit of a letdown because it only takes a few incremental steps beyond what's already possible on handheld devices. And the Nexus One's standard sales price of $529 may lessen its appeal in a still-shaky economy.

- CHICAGO (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK-A - News) issued a stern warning to Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT - News) Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld, saying it opposed the food maker's plan to float new shares in pursuit of Cadbury Plc (LSE:CBRY.L - News). It was the strongest statement yet by Berkshire questioning Kraft's hostile 10 billion pound cash and stock offer for the UK confectioner. Berkshire is Kraft's single largest shareholder, with a 9.4 percent stake in its own holdings and its pension funds. Kraft shares rose 3.5 percent after the Berkshire statement, while Cadbury fell 3.3 percent on concerns opposition by Buffett would severely constrain a deal. Berkshire said it voted against Kraft's proposal to issue up to 370 million shares to help the food maker buy Cadbury, but could reverse to a "yes" vote, depending on the final offer's details. Berkshire declined to elaborate further about the statement.

- Snow, ice and wind wreaked havoc on energy markets Wednesday, where a barrel of oil topped $83 a barrel for the first time since the fall of 2008. Natural gas futures soared 6 percent. Dangerous temperatures that knocked fruit from vines in Florida and made driving treacherous in New England had people reaching for the thermostat. Weather easily trumped a surprise report Wednesday from the Energy Information Administration that showed the supply of crude and gasoline in storage is growing. The amount of gas placed into storage last week was three times greater than what was expected by energy analysts polled by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Still, there has been a huge influx in speculative money entering the market to start 2010, said Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover. A weak dollar has attracted billions of new dollars. Oil is bought and sold in the U.S. currency, which means investors holding euros or other stronger currencies can get more oil for less when the dollar falls. But it was dropping temperatures from Baltimore to Beijing that had energy prices moving. A big snowstorm hit Beijing Wednesday and freezing temperatures were expected to last there through the week. Benchmark crude rose $1.13 to $82.90 in the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose as high as $83.15 earlier in the day and that has begun to drag pump prices higher. By the weekend, the national average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. will top $2.70, predicted Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.

- BETHESDA, Md. (AP) -- Defense contractor Lockheed Martin said Wednesday it plans to cut 1,200 jobs to lower costs as it combines two units. The cuts amount to less than 1 percent of the company's total work force of about 140,000. The company says employees who will lose their jobs will be notified by early April. Lockheed announced in November its plans to combine two units in its electronics systems business -- the former Maritime Systems & Sensors business, based in Washington, D.C., and its Systems Integration unit in Owego, N.Y. The newly combined unit, Mission Systems & Sensors, will provide services to maritime forces. It currently employs about 16,000 workers. Its headquarters is in Washington, but workers are spread at many locations including Baltimore, Syracuse, N.Y.; Akron, Ohio, and others. Lockheed spokeswoman Anne Marie Squeo said the cuts would not be confined to any one location and the facility in Owego would remain open. Lockheed is based in Bethesda, Md. Its shares shed 69 cents to $76.96 in afternoon trading.

- WASHINGTON – A government report Thursday on claims for unemployment aid signaled that layoffs are easing and that the economy could be on the verge of posting the first monthly gain in jobs in two years. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits for the first time barely rose last week, after two weeks of sharp drops. But the four-week average of claims, which smooths fluctuations, fell for the 18th straight week to 450,250. That figure is nearing the roughly 425,000 that many economists say would be a sign the economy will start creating jobs. The Labor Department will issue a more comprehensive snapshot of the job market on Friday, when it releases the monthly jobs report for December. Economists forecast the unemployment rate will rise to 10.1 percent from 10 percent and employers will have shed 8,000 jobs. Still, the sharp drop in first-time unemployment claims in recent months as well as other signs of improvement have caused some economists to predict small job gains in December. If so, it would be the first net increase in jobs in two years.

- NEW YORK (AP) -- A firm stand on prices and a surge of last-minute holiday shoppers gave retailers a big present: modest December sales gains and healthy profits, a big improvement from last year's Christmas catastrophe. Many retailers raised their fourth-quarter outlooks Thursday. A big reason why: Stores never had to resort to drastic price-cutting after keeping inventories lean. The solid finish capped a rough year that saw the biggest sales decline in at least four decades, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. December sales rose 2.8 percent compared with a year ago, according to the ICSC sales index; sales for the year fell 2 percent from all of 2008. For November and December combined, the index rose 1.8 percent, better than the group's estimate for a 1 percent gain. Last year, holiday sales fell 5.8 percent, the biggest sales decline for the key period in at least four decades. As merchants reported results Thursday, a diverse group of retailers including Costco Wholesale Corp., Target Corp., Macy's Inc. and TJX all reported increases. Luxury stores like Saks Inc. and Nordstrom also saw strong December sales.

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Inventories held by wholesalers posted an unexpectedly strong gain in November while sales shot up by the largest amount in 10 months, two signs that the economic recovery was gaining traction in the fall. The Commerce Department said Friday that wholesale inventories rose 1.5 percent in November, a much stronger showing than the 0.2 percent drop that economists had expected. Sales jumped 3.3 percent, far better than the 0.9 percent rise that had been forecast. It marked the eighth consecutive month that sales at the wholesale level have increased and was the largest gain since last January. Economists hope that sustained sales increases will encourage businesses to restock depleted shelves which will in turn mean higher orders to factories. That would provide support to plants struggling to emerge from a deep recession. Commerce also reported, in another positive economic sign, that wholesale inventories increased by 0.6 percent in October, double the estimate the government made a month ago. That increase marked the first rise in inventories after a record stretch of 13 straight declines as businesses slashed the amount of inventories they were holding in an effort to trim costs.

- BEIJING (AP) -- China overtook the United States as the biggest auto market in 2009 and automakers should see more strong growth this year, an industry group reported Friday. Boosted by Beijing's stimulus, 2009 passenger car sales soared to 10.3 million and total vehicle sales are estimated at 13.6 million, the China Passenger Car Association said. That represents growth of about 45 percent from 2008. "This is even better than anyone expected," the group's general secretary, Rao Da, said at a news conference in Shanghai. By contrast, U.S. sales of cars and light trucks plunged 21 percent in 2009 to 10.4 million as a shaky economy kept buyers away from showrooms. It was the first time any country bought more cars than Americans. The Chinese group's data were in line with forecasts by J.D. Power and Associates of 12.7 million sales of cars and light trucks and 900,000 bigger vehicles in 2009 for a total of 13.6 million. The company in early 2009 expected sales of 9 million vehicles but raised that as Beijing rolled out measures to boost demand.

- TAIPEI, Taiwan – A Taiwanese company agreed to a request from a firm in China to procure sensitive components with nuclear uses, then shipped them to Iran, the firm's head said Friday. Such transactions violate U.N. sanctions imposed on the Middle Eastern nation. The admission by Steven Lin of Hsinchu-based Heli-Ocean Technology Co. Ltd. comes amid an international effort led by the United States to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. While Lin said he didn't know whether the parts — a vital component in the production of weapons-grade uranium — were eventually used by Iran militarily, he did acknowledge that they have nuclear applications. U.N. sanctions to prevent Iran from expanding its uranium enrichment program have led it to the black market to obtain sophisticated nuclear-related equipment. Aided by these illegal purchases, the program has grown to the stage where thousands of centrifuges are churning out enriched material, which can be used both for fuel or as the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

- OTTAWA (Reuters) – The recovery in Canada's job market stalled in December as employers unexpectedly cut 2,600 jobs after hefty hiring in November, another sign the economic revival will be sluggish rather than in leaps and bounds. The data released by Statistics Canada on Friday showed the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.5 percent, as forecast in a Reuters poll. The job losses, which followed a 79,000-job gain in November, are small enough to be considered a flat reading but disappointed the market consensus of a 20,000 increase. The Canadian dollar fell immediately after the report but economists focused on evidence the economy is holding on to gradual gains made over the past few months. "This is consistent with an economy that is on the mend but at a relatively moderate pace," said Don Drummond, chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank. The Canadian dollar fell as low as C$1.0386 or 96.28 U.S. cents, from C$1.0314 or 96.96 cents just before the report. The currency fully regained the lost ground 90 minutes later, however, after U.S. data showed 85,000 job losses in December. It touched C$1.0306, or 97.03 U.S. cents after that report. The Bank of Canada is likely to shrug off the worse-than-expected numbers when it sets interest rates on January 19. It is widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate at an all-time low of 0.25 percent until mid-year.