MF Global is first big US victim of Europe crisis

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2011 file photo, former New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine reflects on his four year term in office during an interview with The Associated Press at his home in Hoboken, N.J. MF Global Holdings Ltd. has been suspended from conducting new business with the New York Fed amid reports that the company plans to file for bankruptcy. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2011 file photo, former New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine reflects on his four year term in office during an interview with The Associated Press at his home in Hoboken, N.J. MF Global Holdings Ltd. has been suspended from conducting new business with the New York Fed amid reports that the company plans to file for bankruptcy. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The European debt crisis has claimed its first big casualty on Wall Street, a securities firm run by former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine.

MF Global Holdings Ltd., which Corzine has headed since early last year, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday. Concerns about the company's holdings of European debt caused business partners to pull back last week, leading to a severe cash crunch, the company said in papers filed in federal bankruptcy court.

Corzine, the former head of investment banking giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc., oversaw MF Global as it amassed $6 billion in debt issued by financially strapped European countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal. Their bonds paid bigger returns than U.S. Treasury debt because bond investors believed that they were more likely to default.

That bet eventually doomed the company. Its regulator complained last month that it was overvaluing European debt, forcing it to raise more money, according to papers filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Last week, MF Global reported its biggest ever quarterly loss.

Credit rating agencies downgraded MF Global last week. Its stock plunged 66 percent. Spooked business partners required it to post more money to guarantee its trades. Before long, the company was short on cash.

MF Global looked for outside investors or buyers, but no alternative emerged before the regulators' deadline, the court papers said. Trading in shares of MF Global Holdings Ltd. was halted early Monday.

MF Global's bankruptcy shows the danger of investing when the outcome will be determined by government action, said Daniel Alpert, managing partner at the New York investment bank Westwood Capital Partners LLC.

"I don't think it's a canary in the coal mine, but it does show you that it's still a very volatile market," he said. "The nature of this crisis is that events can lead in any number of ways, and markets are trading on news, not numbers."

MF Global's big bet on Europe might not have happened before Corzine's tenure. Until he joined, the company was known mainly as a dealer in derivatives, investments based on the value of some underlying asset. Corzine wanted to build it into a major investment bank.

One method: Trading for the bank's own profit, a practice known as proprietary trading. Corzine made his career at Goldman as a trader, and the company became a trading powerhouse under his watch.

Proprietary trading was responsible for much of MF Global's quarterly loss, it said in court papers.

As of last week, MF had amassed net exposure of $6.29 billion in debt issued by Italy, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and Ireland. Of that, $1.37 billion was from Portugal and Ireland, which already were bailed out by European authorities. More than half was from Italy, where borrowing costs have increased in recent days as investors grew concerned about its finances.

By comparison, Morgan Stanley's net exposure was only $2.1 billion as of Sept. 30, according to its latest quarterly filing. Morgan Stanley's stock was battered last month by rumors of its exposure to European debt.

Still, Corzine was hopeful that European leaders would solve the crisis and protect the value of its holdings before investors grew wary. Last week he said he expected the firm to "successfully manage these exposures to what we believe will be a positive conclusion in December 2012."

MF Global turned a profit just three times in the past 12 quarters.

Corzine is also a top fundraiser for President Barack Obama. Corzine has helped raised at least $500,000 for Obama's re-election campaign since April, according to records released by the campaign.

At worst MF Global's bankruptcy could roil credit markets and make financial companies reluctant to lend to each other. It wouldn't equal the fallout from the failure of Lehman Bros. in 2008, because Lehman was bigger and more intertwined with other companies.

"It appears their exposure to risk was particularly acute," but the impact on markets will likely be muted, said Karen Shaw Petrou of Federal Financial Analytics.

However banks could be worried temporarily about who lost money as a result of MF Global's bad bets. Fears about losses on European debt already have roiled markets for months.

Bank shares fell sharply on Wall Street after the bankruptcy filing. JPMorgan Chase & Co. fell 5.3 percent, Bank of America Corp. 7.1 percent and Citigroup Inc. 7.5 percent by the end of trading Monday.

Including its subsidiaries, MF Global has assets of $41.05 billion and liabilities of $39.68 billion, according to its bankruptcy petition. It likely ranks as the eighth-biggest U.S. corporate bankruptcies, according to the research firm BankruptcyData.com. It is slightly bigger than Chrysler LLC., which filed as part of a government-run bailout and restructuring in 2009. It falls below financial-crisis casualties such as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Washington Mutual Inc. and CIT Group Inc.

____

AP Business writers Pallavi Gogoi and Chris Kahn in New York and Associated Press writer Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-10-31-MF%20Global/id-b8d85350633942d68c3130ca203f598e

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Obama voters, Muslims need not apply for Texas gun course (Reuters)

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) ? A central Texas gun dealer ran radio ads advising "Socialist" liberals, those who voted for President Barack Obama, Arabs and Muslims that they need not apply for his concealed gun license class.

Crockett Keller, who owns Keller's Riverside Store, ran the ads on the radio station in his rural hometown of Mason, Texas, which is 120 miles west of the state capital of Austin.

"If you are a Socialist liberal and/or voted for the current campaigner in chief, please do not take this class," Keller said in the ad. "You have already proven that you cannot make a knowledgeable and prudent decision as required under the law."

"Also, if you are a non-Christian Arab, or Muslim, I will not teach you the class," Keller said in the radio ad.

Keller said he is simply exercising his freedom to teach concealed handgun license classes to whomever he wants. He said he has received "hundreds" of calls from Americans who support his stance.

"I should have had the class next week instead of this week, I could have had 500 people in it," Keller said on Friday.

He said he was not joking when he put the lines about socialists in his commercial, because he knows some socialist liberals and did not want them to enroll in the class.

"I didn't want them to show up and have to tell them no," he said.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, which oversees the concealed carry program, and licenses instructors, said in a statement that "certified instructors are required to comply with all applicable state and federal statutes, and conduct by an instructor that denied service to individuals on the basis of race, ethnicity, or religion would place that instructor's certification at risk."

The department said it had begun an investigation into the matter, and would "take appropriate administrative action based on the findings of from the investigation."

Adults in Texas are allowed to carry concealed weapons if they have completed a class such as the one Keller teaches.

Keller wrapped up his radio by saying: "With no shame, I'm Crockett Keller. Thank you, and may God bless."

(Editing by Greg McCune)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111028/lf_nm_life/us_guns_texas

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Billie Piper Pregnant With Her Second Child

Billie Piper Pregnant With Her Second Child

The “Secret Diary of a Call Girl” actress and her actor husband Laurence Fox, who already have a three-year-old son, are expecting their second child. [...]

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2011/10/28/billie-piper-pregnant-with-her-second-child/

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How Klout Got Klout.com

While everyone is making up their minds about whether Klout is an utterly meaningless service or the divine "standard for influence" the world has been clamoring for, I had an interesting chat with Klout co-founder and CEO Joe Fernandez the other day at the F.ounders conference in Dublin, Ireland. When I informed him that, if anything, I think that the name of the company was well chosen, he told me the story of how he obtained the domain name klout.com. Since I have a huge interest in that type of small behind-the-scenes story - and in domain names - I loved it and found it interesting enough to be worth sharing here.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/g8hqItlFiCY/

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Bachmann criticizes Obama's student loan plan (The Arizona Republic)

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Obama's team banks on his `regular guy' appeal (The Arizona Republic)

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Consumer spending up in September on savings (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Sluggish growth in U.S. consumer income in September led households to cut back on saving to increase their spending, casting doubts over the durability of the economy's third-quarter growth spurt.

The Commerce Department said on Friday consumer spending increased 0.6 percent, matching expectations, after a 0.2 percent gain in August. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

With income edging up 0.1 percent last month, spending was at the expense of saving, which dropped to an annual rate of $419.8 billion, the lowest level since August 2009, from $479.1 billion in August.

The saving rate, the percentage of disposable income socked away, fell to 3.6 percent, the slowest since December 2007, from 4.1 percent in August.

Income fell 0.1 percent in August and economists had expected a 0.3 percent increase in September.

"Very weak income, but very solid consumption even though consumer confidence is in recession. So that's good news for the economy," said Kurt Karl, chief U.S. economist at Swiss Re in New York. "(But) it's hard to sustain without more income growth."

A separate report from the Labor Department showed wages and salaries expanded 0.3 percent in the third quarter -- the smallest rise in a year -- after gaining 0.4 percent pace in the prior quarter.

U.S. Treasuries prices held steady at higher levels after the data. Stock index futures were lower after a big rally on Thursday, while the euro extended a decline against the dollar.

In September, inflation-adjusted disposable income slipped 0.1 percent, declining for a third straight month.

Sturdy consumer spending contributed to gross domestic product growing at a 2.5 percent annual pace in the third quarter, the fastest rate in a year, after an anemic 1.3 percent rate in the second quarter. Much of the spending data was included in Thursday's GDP report.

But given that income is not driving spending, the economy could lose some of its new found momentum. Consumer spending grew at a 2.4 percent pace in the last quarter, the fastest in nearly a year.

Stubbornly high unemployment, characterized by a jobless rate that has been stuck above 9 percent for five consecutive months, is restraining income growth. Last month, wages and salaries rose 0.3 percent after dipping 0.1 percent in August.

But subsiding inflation pressures should offer households some relief. A price index for personal spending rose at a 0.2 percent rate last month, slowing from August's 0.3 percent pace. In the 12 months through September, the PCE index was up 2.9 percent after rising by the same margin in August.

A core inflation measure, which strips out food and energy costs, was flat last month after increasing 0.2 percent in August. In the 12 months through September, core PCE rose 1.6 percent after increasing 1.7 percent in August.

The Federal Reserve would like this measure close to 2 percent.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani and Jason Lange; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111028/bs_nm/us_usa_economy

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New kidnapping charges in Philadelphia basement captives case (Reuters)

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) ? New charges of kidnapping and assault have been filed against three people accused of holding captives in a Philadelphia basement, this time for a bruised and scarred 19-year-old woman kept in a locked closet, authorities said on Friday.

When police found her at an undisclosed location in Philadelphia, the woman had hand fractures, a healing leg fracture, bruising around her left eye, and several scars on her body, according to a statement from the district attorney's office.

"The victim was only let out of the closet twice a day to eat and occasionally use the bathroom," the statement said.

She was identified only as a relative of one of the suspects, who include Linda Ann Weston, 51, her daughter Jean McIntosh, 32, and Eddie Wright, 50, whom police have described as homeless.

Her age and condition, however, are consistent with that of Beatrice Weston, who is Linda Weston's niece. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said last week Beatrice Weston was in such poor condition when police found her that, "It is remarkable that she is alive."

Police believe Linda Weston was the ringleader in a scheme to steal Social Security benefits.

In that scheme, the suspects and a fourth person, Gregory Thomas, 47, are charged with keeping four mentally challenged adults locked in a dank, dirty furnace room beneath an apartment house in the city's Tacony section.

Bail in the new kidnapping case was set at $2 million for Wright and Linda Weston, and $1 million for McIntosh. That bail is in addition to bail set in the Tacony kidnapping case, which was $2.5 million for Wright and Linda Weston and $1 million for McIntosh.

Thomas was being held on $2.5 million bail in the Tacony case.

Police were still working to unravel the multi-state travels of Linda Weston, and the discovery at the Philadelphia apartment of about 50 Social Security numbers and other documents, suggesting there may be dozens of other victims.

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Jerry Norton)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111028/us_nm/us_captives_pennsylvania

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Lawmakers ask Obama to delay Keystone decision (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Fourteen lawmakers called on President Barack Obama to delay a decision on the Canada-to-Texas Keystone oil sands pipeline, while Obama was interrupted in Denver on Wednesday by a protester opposing TransCanada Corp's project.

Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who is one of the Senate's most liberal members, and Democratic Representative Steve Cohen were joined by 12 other congressional Democrats in asking for a delay until the State Department investigates alleged conflicts of interest over the project.

During an event with young people in Denver, an activist interrupted Obama's remarks, urging him to reject the project.

"We're looking at it right now, all right?" Obama replied. "No decision's been made and I know your deep concern about it, so we will address it."

Protesters held up a banner reading: "Stop the Keystone Pipeline Project." They were asked to leave.

The 14 lawmakers asked the State Department's inspector general in a letter to investigate whether alleged conflicts of interest had tainted the process for reviewing the pipeline.

The lawmakers expressed concern that Cardno Entrix, a company the State Department hired to conduct environmental impact statements on the Keystone XL line, had financial ties to TransCanada.

"Given the significant economic, environmental, and public health implications of the proposed pipeline, we believe that it is critical that the State Department conduct thorough, unbiased reviews of the project," the lawmakers wrote to State Department Deputy Inspector General Harold Geisel.

TransCanada said it had never had a direct relationship with Cardno Entrix. "The real issue is: does this proposed pipeline meet U.S. regulatory standards to be constructed and operated to deliver oil?" TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard said. "The rest of this is noise."

The lawmakers' letter came a day after a U.S. official told Reuters the State Department may miss a year-end target to approve the pipeline, risking a further delay to the most important new crude oil conduit in decades.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Liberals and environmentalists have been pushing the Obama administration to reject it because of concern that production of oil sands crude releases large amounts of greenhouse gases.

"This is an important part of the Democratic base, and the president needs to firm up his base," said Steve Cohen, a House Democrat who opposes the project.

Supporters say the pipeline would create thousands of jobs and provide a secure source of oil imports from a close ally.

Three environmental groups sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, challenging claims in a State Department report that the pipeline posed little risk to endangered species because spills on the line were unlikely.

The Republican-controlled House approved a measure in July that would require Obama to speed up the pipeline review. The Democratic-controlled Senate has not passed that legislation.

"It may seem unusual for Congress to have to publicly vote on a bill that simply asks the president to do his job; unfortunately, such action is warranted as the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline continues to languish and workers continue to wait for the Obama administration to make a decision," Republican Representative Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said on Wednesday.

The pipeline, which would cut through six central U.S. states, is also a regional issue. Nebraska's Senators Mike Johanns, a Republican, and Ben Nelson, a Democrat, have called for a rerouting of the line as it would cross the ecologically rich Sand Hills region and a major aquifer in their state.

Senator Max Baucus of Montana, a Democrat, has supported the pipeline for the jobs it would bring.

Pipeline approval has been pending since 2008. The project could face many legal and regulatory hurdles that might delay it.

Some 1,200 pipeline opponents were arrested outside the White House this past summer. More protests are expected there on November 6.

A person answering the telephone at Cardno Entrix's Seattle office said the State Department had forbidden anyone at the company from commenting on the issue and referred queries to department officials.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter from the lawmakers.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in Denver, Jeffrey Jones in Calgary and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111026/pl_nm/us_usa_pipeline

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Setting a TRAP (hamptonroads)

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MF Global shares plunge 40 pct on deep 2Q loss (AP)

NEW YORK ? Shares of MF Global Holdings Ltd. plunged more than 40 percent Tuesday afternoon after the broker reported its biggest-ever quarterly loss as a public company because volatile markets forced it to pull back on trading.

That raises questions about the plans of CEO Jon Corzine, former Goldman Sachs CEO and the former governor of New Jersey, for building MF Global into a bigger Wall Street player. Tough trading conditions are making that more difficult.

MF Global lost $186.6 million, or $1.16 per share, in the second fiscal quarter, far wider than the loss of $38.8 million, or 59 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Weaker-than-expected trading revenues were partly to blame, though the company also took charges related to deferred tax assets, restructuring costs and paying down debt early.

Stripping out those charges, MF Global posted a loss of 9 cents per share, which still missed analysts' expectations for a 4-cent gain.

Revenue, after stripping out interest costs, sales commissions and other fees, fell 14 percent to $205.9 million. That was far short of analysts' expectations for about $302 million. The company blamed the lower revenue on its decision to scale back on its own trading activities.

"Reflecting the stressed markets in the quarter, we deliberately chose to reduce overall market exposure in most principal trading activities and focused on preserving capital and liquidity," Corzine said in a statement. Revenue in the principal trading group fell to $12 million from about $45 million.

MF Global, a broker-dealer in futures, commodities, foreign exchange and other markets, went public in 2007 and has been led since last year by Corzine. He has ramped up hiring to try to transform the broker into a global investment bank that manages money for customers and provides capital services for companies.

But in the past 12 quarters, the company has turned a profit three times, and shares are down nearly 75 percent this year.

News of the quarterly loss came a day after Moody's cut MF Global's credit rating over concerns about its exposure to European debt. Moody's analyst Al Bush said that he was increasingly concerned with MF Global's risk management strategies as it underwent a "substantial re-engineering of the firm." The analyst cited the company's increased exposure to European sovereign debt and its need to inject capital into its broker-dealer subsidiary to bridge a regulatory capital shortfall. Moody's cut MF Global's credit rating to its lowest investment-grade level.

"If market volatility stays elevated, we question how the firm is going to achieve the earnings necessary to avoid a downgrade of its debt to junk status, which in turn could materially impact its ability to act as a counterparty as well as raise MF's cost of debt," Raymond James analyst Patrick O'Shaughnessy wrote in a note to clients.

MF Global on Tuesday tried to address concerns about its exposure to indebted European countries including Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. Corzine said the company actively manages its investments.

"We remain confident that we have the resources and expertise to continue to successfully manage these exposures to what we believe will be a positive conclusion in December 2012," Corzine added.

Shares fell $1.50 in afternoon trading, or 42 percent, to $2.06. The stock fell to three-year low of $1.75 earlier in the day.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111025/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_mf_global

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Democrats seek hearing on HGH tests (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Three Democratic congressmen are urging the House Energy and Commerce Committee to hold hearings on the impasse between the NFL and players union on testing for human growth hormone.

California Rep. Henry Waxman, the top Democrat on the committee, and two others made the request in a letter Tuesday to chairman Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican.

The NFL and the players agreed to begin blood testing for HGH as part of their new collective bargaining agreement reached in late July ? but only if the union agreed to the methods. The union has delayed implementing the test, asking for more scientific data to prove it is reliable.

"This delay is a cause for concern," wrote Waxman, along with G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Bobby Rush of Illinois, both of whom chair subcommittees on the panel.

The lawmakers cited a recent letter to the union and NFL from nearly two dozen scientists and lab directors from around the world stating the current test is scientifically reliable; and noted that the test has been used in the Olympics.

"There appear to be few questions about the validity of the HGH test," the Democrats wrote.

They also noted that CBS football analyst Boomer Esiason, a former NFL quarterback, said that the union is "backing off because they have players guilty of using this substance," and said that many believe at least 20 percent of players are using it.

"We hope that this is not the case," the congressmen wrote. "Committee hearings will allow us to learn about these issues, hearing from top scientists about the validity of HGH testing and from the NFL and the NFLPA about the extent of HGH use in the league and their plans for testing to eliminate such use."

In an email to The Associated Press, union head DeMaurice Smith said that players' health and the safety and integrity of the game go hand-in-hand.

"I applaud the members in their request for a hearing and look forward to fully discussing all of these issues as soon as possible," he said. "We are sending letters to the teams immediately in order to assist Congress in its fact finding mission."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league appreciated the lawmakers' commitment to the issue, "but there should be no need for this hearing if the union would simply live up to its agreements."

A spokesman for Upton's committee, Sean Bonyun, said lawmakers on the committee are in bipartisan agreement that "it is well past time for the NFL and Players Union to live up to their HGH testing agreement."

"Each day that goes by without rigorous HGH testing tarnishes the image of the NFL and sends the wrong message to the nation's youth," Bonyun said.

Earlier this month, the chairman and ranking member of another panel, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, emerged from a meeting with the NFL and players union and announced a deal to begin collecting blood for testing. But the union demurred, and last week, told the NFL to hold off collecting the blood.

The union is seeking data from the athletes who were used to originally set thresholds as to what constitutes a positive test, so it can compare that data with a population study on football players. The union believes players could have naturally higher HGH levels than those of other athletes.

___

Follow Fred Frommer on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ffrommer

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111026/ap_on_sp_ot/us_congress_hgh_testing

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EU and euro zone leaders' comments on debt crisis (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? Euro zone leaders said on Thursday they had reached agreement on a comprehensive package of measures to tackle the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.

The leaders said private holders of Greek debt would accept a 50 percent writedown on their holdings as part of a scheme to reduce the country's debt burden.

And the euro zone heads of state and government also agreed on the need to recapitalize European banks and to increase the firepower of the euro zone bailout fund, the EFSF, to about one trillion euros.

Following are comments from leaders after the talks:

GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL

ON GREEK DEBT:

"Our goal is that the debt of Greece by 2020 is 120 percent (of GDP)."

"A nominal haircut of 50 percent has been agreed. On the basis of this, we will have a new program for Greece with a value of 100 billion euros."

"There will be a reinforced monitoring regime in connection with the fulfillment of the Greek obligations."

"That will be anchored in a memorandum of understanding. There will be a permanent presence there. It will be possible to monitor the measures taken by Greece. I think that this is better than when every three months a 'troika' travels there and back, a permanent system of supervision."

ON THE EUROPEAN FINANCIAL STABILITY FACILITY:

"We know that the optimization of the EFSF is necessary ... in connection with avoiding any contagion effect. The ECB is not involved.

"We have agreed that by the end of November the... framework... will be worked out by the finance ministers. It is important that through these two options we maximize the effectiveness of the EFSF, that we have a leverage of four to five times.

"It is very difficult, without having ever used the instruments, to say what this really means. We believe we will have a lot of flexibility to protect the euro and avoid contagion risks. We say that we can achieve around about 1 trillion euros."

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT JOSE MANUEL BARROSO

ON THE ROLE OF BANKS IN ENDING THE CRISIS:

"Our goal is to ensure banks maintain lending to the real economy.

"Tonight's conclusions also make clear that banks should be subject to constraints regarding the distribution of dividends and bonus payments until recapitalization is complete.

"The technical work needed to finalize certain aspects of this package will be completed by the relevant authorities in the coming weeks."

ON SITUATION IN ITALY:

"There are here several measures and commitments. And there is afterwards a task given to the (European) Commission and to the Italian authorities to provide all of the necessary data for the implementation.

"So the key is implementation. This is the key. It is not enough to make commitments, it is necessary now to check if they are really implementing."

OUTGOING EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK PRESIDENT JEAN-CLAUDE TRICHET

ASKED IF HE THOUGHT THE DECISIONS ARE ENOUGH TO STEM THE

CRISIS:

"I think they have to be fully implemented... as rapidly and effectively as possible. And I have only to say that what counts is the level of confidence.

"What I heard in this European Council was the expression of the will of the heads (of state and government). That is in my opinion extremely important. What is backing this orientation is the will, the collegial will, if I may, of the heads of state and government that are behind.

"But again no complacency -- very hard work, very hard work."

FRENCH PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY

"The summit allowed us to adopt the components of a global response, of an ambitious response, of a credible response to the crisis that is sweeping across the euro zone."

EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT HERMAN VAN ROMPUY

ON COOPERATION IN EUROPE:

"Compared to eight or 10 years ago, the pressure which leaders put on each other has become much more effective, as the events of the last days show. Today no government can afford to underestimate the possible impact of for instance public debts or housing bubbles in another euro zone country on its own economy; they would be punished by the voters, and by the markets. Peer pressure has become more effective, because the money of their taxpayers is at stake."

ON ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK (ECB) AND INCOMING ECB

PRESIDENT MARIO DRAGHI:

"If the current president or the upcoming president are saying that they will intervene until the new mechanism is really put into place, it is up to them to decide. So we are not interfering in this, we are not asking for it. We take note of the declarations made recently by Mr Draghi but we have no demands and nothing to request."

ON GREECE:

"We want to put Greece on track, where in 2020 it will have reduced its public debt to 120 percent of GDP. Since July, market conditions have worsened. The new plan includes additional effort by the state sector.

"It also includes a voluntary contribution by private creditors who have lent to Greece. It was agreed by them tonight and amounts to nominal discount of 50 percent of notional Greek debt."

ON EUROPEAN FINANCIAL STABILITY FACILITY (EFSF):

"A sufficient firewall against contagion -- thanks to an agreement to multiply to up five-fold the firepower of the EFSF. The leverage could be up to one trillion (euros) under certain assumptions about market conditions and investors' responsiveness in view of economic policies.

"We have identified two approaches for the EFSF. The first one aims at getting credit enhancement to sovereign bonds issued by member states. Under the second approach, the fund could set up one or several (special purpose vehicles) SPVs to finance its operations. Each option could lead to leverage of up to four to five times. They can be used simultaneously so as to increase the robustness of the financial strategy."

"We are all aware the situation is serious. The situation was evolving into a systemic concern. This threat has to be contained."

IRISH PRIME MINISTER ENDA KENNY

ON BANK RECAPITALISATION:

"In respect of recapitalization of the European banks this has been achieved without any damage to Irish interests."

ON IRISH SITUATION:

"The communication is very clear that this is a unique and individual situation for Greece and clearly there is the continued funding for Ireland. This is well recognized and specifically presented by the leaders."

Following are comments from EU leaders earlier:

POLISH PRIME MINISTER DONALD TUSK

ON EU INTEGRATION:

"I had the impression all partners understand that we need enhanced integration, not only at the level of the Eurogroup but at the level of the whole European Union."

ON BANK CAPITAL QUALITY:

"The key issue was the issue of high quality capital, the 9 percent ratio that was adopted that we need to maintain this ratio. And we also adopted certain elements of the way we should proceed to attain this goal. An emotional element during this debate, was the fact of making this exceptional circumstance and not permanent element... so this will not be a permanent solution for the future."

ON AGREEING A PACKAGE OF MEASURES:

"The banking element is part of a broader package... All participants were fully aware that the draft annex to this statement concerning the recapitalization of banks will work only when the euro area approves other elements that are currently being debated.

"Bank recapitalization without the remaining elements, such as the so-called firewall... wouldn't have any chance of success. So the statement today is a pre-condition and it's really an introduction for looking for further elements in the euro area with greater comfort."

ON POLITICAL AGREEMENT:

"Bank recapitalization is an issue concerning all member states. This project cannot be seen in isolation and independently of the other elements. My impression is that all 27 accept the idea of bank recapitalization in this statement.

"If you are asking whether we are expecting that all decisions will be taken today during the euro area meeting I would be very cautious to make such a statement.

"I think we are very close to a full political agreement, however there are some important details that might perhaps require more time.

"It is important, however, that tonight the euro area should demonstrate that a political agreement has been achieved and the only things that remain are important, but only technical issues."

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON

"We made good progress tonight. It is very much in Britain's interest that we sort out these problems and solve this crisis.

"We made good progress on the bank recapitalization. That wasn't watered down, it has now been agreed. It will only go ahead when the other parts of a full package go ahead and further progress on that needs to happen tonight."

Following are comments from earlier, ahead of the EU leaders' meeting:

IRISH PRIME MINISTER ENDA KENNY

"I understand there has been some progress made in a number of areas, but clearly leaders of the euro zone will have their own individual points to put up here. As I said, the important thing here that the fully flexibility of the facilities that were approved be used now to bring certainty, and certainty of intent, for everybody, from both the (European) Council and the euro zone in particular."

AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR WERNER FAYMANN

ON HAIRCUT FOR GREEK BONDHOLDERS:

"The wish is to come up with a voluntary haircut, I think that is right, but until that is negotiated we can't announce it. It's still open."

"We always said 40-50 percent is part of the negotiations but we have to be fair because we don't know what the counterparties would ask for that."

ON EUROPEAN FINANCIAL STABILITY FACILITY (EFSF):

"The other issue is to improve the way the rescue fund is used. To make it strong enough that it would last for a few months or years would be an elementary step forward. If we always have to call summits against the background of a crisis it doesn't create a lot of trust.

"I'm very much in favor of making better use of the rescue fund and giving it more bearing capacity."

DUTCH PRIME MINISTER MARK RUTTE

"We need a real solution, we won't buy anything with mediocre compromises. Some things really need to happen.

"We need today to talk about Greece and ensure that Greek debt is sustainable and that we're finally finished with this business. We must talk about the banks and how they get through this difficult phase.

"We must ensure that this bazooka, the European rescue fund, is strong enough to show the market that we mean it. We also have to make sure this can't happen in the future. We need strong supervision and live up to our promises."

"We are in this job to take decisions. It's not easy, but it really has to happen."

BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER YVES LETERME

"I think we will have a solution for Greece. It is very important to ask for a voluntary effort by the banks to reduce Greece's debt. It is also an effort through the EFSF to make credit accessible at reasonable rates for Greece."

ON WORK AHEAD:

"I think it is work that advances step-by-step. But the step we are going to take today or tonight is a very important step toward a total restoration of the confidence in the euro zone."

"It's an economic union in the making so it does not yet have the firepower it should have, but we're taking steps forward. Let's hope for tonight."

ON EUROPEAN FINANCIAL STABILITY FACILITY (EFSF) BAILOUT

FUND:

"Let's hope we succeed in giving (the EFSF) enough convincing firepower. It's one of the two to three most important points we still have to tackle."

"I think that in effect we would need to be a whole bit above 1,000 billion euros."

GREEK PRIME MINISTER GEORGE PAPANDREOU

"Our challenge today is not simply to save the euro. It is to safeguard the ideas we cherish so much in Europe: Peace and cooperation amongst our nations, social cohesion and solidarity without prejudice amongst our people.

"From our side the Greek people are making a superhuman effort to put our house in order, to make our economy confident, viable, prosperous and create a better future for the Greek people, for our country.

"Now is the time for the European leadership to collectively take decisions to end the uncertainty, end the crisis, turn the page and make sure we make a big step forward for the better future and prosperity and security of our peoples in Europe."

EUROGROUP PRESIDENT AND LUXEMBOURG'S PRIME MINISTER

JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER

ON ITALY:

"Our Italian friends know well that we have to assume that we will be informed this evening that there will be significant, structural (budget) consolidation efforts from Italy. That is a must."

ON AGREEING DECISIONS:

"I think that if we make our decisions in such a way that they work under pressure, then we will have made the right decisions."

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Robin Emmott, Barbara Lewis, Christopher Le Coq, Robert-Jan Bartunek, Philip Blenkinsop, Jan Strupczewski and John O'Donnell)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111027/bs_nm/us_eu_summit_highlights

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US pulls envoy out of Syria over security concerns (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Obama administration pulled its ambassador out of Syria over security concerns, blaming President Bashar Assad's regime for the threats that made it no longer safe for him to remain.

Ambassador Robert Ford returned to Washington this weekend after the U.S. received "credible threats against his personal safety in Syria," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday. Ford has been the subject of several incidents of intimidation by pro-government thugs, and enraged Syrian authorities with his forceful defense of peaceful protests and harsh critique of a government crackdown that has now claimed more than 3,000 lives.

"We hope that the Syrian regime will end its incitement campaign against Ambassador Ford," Toner said. "At this point, we can't say when he will return to Syria."

Toner said the U.S. embassy will remain open in Damascus and that the threats were specifically directed toward Ford. His return is conditional on a U.S. "assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground," Toner said.

An American official said there were no plans to expel the Syrian ambassador in Washington in retaliation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation

Ford was the first American ambassador to Syria since 2005. President George W. Bush's administration withdrew a full-time ambassador from Syria over charges the country was involved in terrorism and the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria has denied any involvement.

The Obama administration decided to return an ambassador to Syria earlier this year in an effort to persuade Syria to change its policies regarding Israel, Lebanon, Iraq and support for extremist groups. Syria is designated a "state sponsor of terrorism" by the State Department.

Although Ford's appointment in January, while the Senate was out of session, was originally criticized by some Republicans in Congress, he has won praise within the administration and beyond for his determination to meet Syrian opposition leaders in a hostile environment, and tough criticism of the Assad regime's brutal military response to mass demonstrations.

The Senate unanimously approved Ford's nomination earlier this month, with Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., praising Ford for continuing to visit cities under siege and "speak truth to power."

Ford was greeted by demonstrators with roses and cheers when he traveled to the restive city of Hama in July, prompting immediate recriminations from the Syrian government, which tried to then limit where Ford could travel. Only days later hundreds of regime supporters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, smashing windows and spray-painting obscenities on the walls.

Ford also has been the subject of several incidents of intimidation by pro-government thugs, often in coordination with pro-Assad media capturing the humiliation. Media reports said Ford was hit last week with eggs and tomatoes while going to a mosque in Damascus. Other such incidents have occurred after meetings with dissident groups or individuals, and his postings on Facebook have provoked thousands of Syrian and other responses, and even some death threats from pro-Assad hardliners.

The U.S. last month decried Ford's treatment and "unwarranted and unjustifiable," after Assad supporters tried to force their way into a meeting he was having a prominent opposition figure. Syrian police were slow in responding, and Ford was trapped inside the building for about three hours. But White House press secretary James Carney insisted at the time that the U.S. had no plans to remove Ford for his safety.

Haynes Mahoney, the embassy's deputy chief of mission, confirmed that Ford has left Syria but said Washington hadn't not formally recalled him ? a symbolically significant diplomatic step.

At the time of Ford's arrival in Damascus, Syria was bouncing back from years of international isolation. Still, Assad largely shrugged off U.S. attempts to pull it away from its alliances with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. And as the Arab Spring protests escalated in Syria, Ford dropped his engagement efforts and took on an increasingly high-profile role defending the rights of Syrian protesters.

Toner lamented that the threats deprived the United States of a valuable emissary to the Syrian people at a time they face daily violence from Assad's security forces. Clashes on Sunday saw forces flood into villages where residents have been on strike and shoot two people dead, according to activists.

President Barack Obama has called on the U.N. Security Council to sanction Syria for using deadly violence against citizens who are rising up against the authoritarian government there.

A seasoned diplomat with extensive Middle East experience, Ford "has worked diligently to deliver our message and be our eyes on the ground" in Syria, Toner said. "This decision was based solely on the need to ensure his safety, a matter we take extremely seriously."

___

AP writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111024/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_syria

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Chinese officials jailed for leaking economic data

BEIJING (AP) ? Two Chinese officials have been jailed for leaking key economic data that can move global financial markets, in a breach that triggered a government crackdown to tighten secrecy, officials said Monday.

The leaks were an embarrassment for Beijing, which treats an unusually wide array of economic data as secret and is struggling to prevent official misuse of it amid intense interest in the world's second-largest economy. Businesspeople and others have been jailed under state secrets laws for obtaining or disclosing commercial information that is considered public or only trade secrets elsewhere.

The two officials from the central bank and China's statistics agency were convicted of giving stock brokerage employees details of nine indicators including inflation, economic growth and retail sales before their official release over an 18-month period ending in January 2011, said a prosecutor, Li Zhongcheng.

Such data on China's booming economy are watched closely by global investors and can cause swings in stock and bond prices when they are announced, allowing people with advance knowledge to profit.

"They have caused huge losses to the interests of the economy, the nation and the people," said Li at a news conference.

Other governments also tightly control inflation and other economic data ahead of their release. But China extends its highest security to a wider range of information that most other governments ? from sales by steel mills to possible changes in gold prices to geological data. That has made enforcement more difficult as the number of agencies and companies that handle information grows.

Last year, a Chinese-born American geologist, Xue Feng, was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of obtaining state secrets after he bought a database with information about oil and gas wells that belong to China's two biggest state-owned energy companies.

Xue, who worked for consulting firm IHS Inc., and his lawyer argued such information is commercially available in other countries. They said the database was advertised for sale before he purchased it and was declared classified only after he was detained.

In the latest case, the leaks prompted China's Cabinet to order an investigation of security at 21 government agencies that handle secrets, said Du Yongsheng, deputy director of the National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets.

Several agencies were ordered to tighten security and some administrators were punished after investigators found gaps in their secrecy measures, said Du. Li said the government will conduct education campaigns for government employees to make sure they understand their duties under the secrecy law.

The firing of the two officials was reported in June by Chinese state media but Monday's announcement was the first time the names and details of the cases were released.

In July, the National Statistics Bureau said it would start releasing monthly economic figures as soon as they were compiled to prevent leaks.

The two jailed officials profited by trading stocks based on the leaked information and also received payoffs in the form of fees for delivering lectures at brokerage events, Du said. He gave no details of how much money they made.

Sun Zhen, former deputy director of the secretary's office at the National Bureau of Statistics, was sentenced to five years for disclosing 27 items of data from June 2009 to January 2011, according to Li. He said that included 14 items deemed "classified," one of the highest secrecy levels.

Wu Chaoming, former deputy director of the financial history research office at China's central bank, was sentenced to six years for leaking a total of 25 items of data on 224 occasions between January and June 2010, Li said. He said they were "confidential," a lower level of classification.

The leaks damaged government credibility and China's economy by disrupting fair market competition, Du said, without giving details.

"The economic performance of our country is affected," he said. "After the economic data are released, usually we can see abnormal fluctuations in the stock markets. Behind that there is something unfair going on."

Four other suspects who work in the securities industry are under investigation, according to Li. Du did not respond to a reporter's request for the names of the brokerages but said he expected prosecutors to investigate their possible legal responsibility.

Du defended the prosecution of Xue, saying authorities in charge of state secrets verified before the trial that the data were deemed classified, though he did not respond to a question about the date that status took effect.

"I believe their verification was objective and accurate," Du said.

The official also cautioned foreign reporters at the briefing that they too were bound by Chinese secrecy laws.

"If accidentally you have access to such information, my advice for you is don't touch it and promptly report it to the relevant authorities," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-10-24-AS-China-Economic-Secrets/id-e8297ee7d70a49cfbd9a33d6d2828ffa

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'Miracle' tornado survivor denied workers' comp

JOPLIN, Mo.?? By all accounts, Mark Lindquist is a hero, an underpaid social worker who nearly gave his life trying to save three developmentally disabled adults from the Joplin tornado. Both houses of the Missouri legislature honored Lindquist, the Senate resolution calling him "a true hero and inspiration to others."

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But heroism doesn't pay the bills. The tornado's 200 mph winds tossed Lindquist nearly a block, broke every rib, obliterated his shoulder, knocked out most of his teeth and put him in a coma for about two months.

Lindquist, 51, ran up medical expenses that exceed $2.5 million, and the bills keep coming. He requires 11 daily prescriptions and will need more surgery.

But he has no medical insurance. Lindquist couldn't afford it on a job paying barely above minimum wage. He assumed workers' compensation would cover his bills, but his claim was denied "based on the fact that there was no greater risk than the general public at the time you were involved in the Joplin tornado," according to a letter to Lindquist from Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, his company's workers' comp provider.

That reasoning has angered Lindquist's family, employer, even lawmakers.

"I think they need to take another look at the circumstances and revisit the claim," state Rep. Bill Lant, R-Joplin, said. "What he did went beyond heroics."

Lindquist watched the skies darken on the evening of May 22 while on his way to the group home occupied by Mark Farmer, Rick Fox and Tripp Miller, three middle-aged men with Down syndrome. Soon after he arrived, a tornado siren began to blare.

Lindquist's employer, Community Support Services, had recently put workers through a tornado drill, so Lindquist and co-worker Ryan Tackett knew what to do. Because there was no basement or shelter and the residents moved too slowly to relocate, Lindquist and Tackett placed mattresses over the men for protection, then climbed atop the mattresses for added weight.

It seemed like little more than a precaution until Lindquist heard the unmistakable roar of the twister. "I told Ryan, 'If you've ever prayed before, now is the time to do it,'" he said.

The EF-5 tornado was among the nation's worst ever. It destroyed more than 7,000 homes, including the group home, and killed 162 people.

Among the dead were Farmer, Fox and Miller, a fact that still haunts Lindquist.

"I loved them almost as much as I love my own kid," he said.

Lindquist's survival defies logic. After the storm, rescuers found Lindquist buried in rubble, impaled by a piece of metal. Large chunks of flesh were torn off. Bones from his shoulder crumbled as they placed him on a door used as a makeshift stretcher. He was later delivered to Freeman Hospital.

Meanwhile, Lindquist's sister, Linda Lindquist Baldwin, his son, 12-year-old Creed, and other relatives contacted every hospital within 100 miles of Joplin searching for him. None of the unidentified matched Lindquist's description.

His injuries were so severe that his slender, athletic body had become swollen and unrecognizable. He was in a coma. Finally, after three days, he was identified by tiny brown flecks in his hazel eyes.

Doctors told Baldwin that if Lindquist survived, it likely would be in a vegetative state. Even in a best-case scenario, he likely would be blind in one eye, never regain use of his right arm, and never speak or think normally, she was told.

Things got worse. Debris that got into the open sores caused a fungal infection, one that killed five other Joplin tornado victims. Lindquist overcame the fungus but remained at Freeman until June 16. Still in a coma, he was flown to a hospital in Columbia for a little over a month before being sent to a rehab center in Mount Vernon where he awakened.

Lindquist's recovery amazed doctors. His right arm remains in a sling, but he has use of the hand. The eye that was temporarily blinded has full sight. He moves slowly and has short-term memory loss, but speaks well.

Baldwin said the insurance company's decision is unfathomable because if her brother hadn't been at work, he wouldn't have been hurt. He also could have jumped in his van and driven away from the group home as the tornado approached.

Lindquist said that thought never crossed his mind.

"I could have abandoned them to save myself, but I would never do that," he said.

Jahn Hurn, CEO of Community Support Services, said the agency has asked Accident Fund Insurance to reconsider Lindquist's case. Insurance company spokeswoman Stepheni Schlinker said she could not discuss an individual claim or whether the company would reconsider.

Lindquist also could seek relief through the Missouri Division of Workers Compensation but has not yet done so because he is weighing legal options and still dealing with health issues, Baldwin said.

Amy Susan, a spokeswoman for the division, said the state could help facilitate settlement talks with the insurance company, or Lindquist could ask an administrative law judge to hear the case. That judge would decide if the company should pay the claim.

Susan said that 132 workers' compensation claims were filed after the tornado. Only eight were denied by insurance companies.

Since word of Lindquist's plight spread, people around Joplin have pitched in, donating a few hundred dollars. Baldwin said her brother is touched by the kindness, even if it barely pays for the prescriptions, much less the medical costs.

Despite lingering pain, financial strain and uncertainty about whether he'll work again, Lindquist sees good things happening in his life.

Earlier this year, he was contacted by Carolyn Stephenson Mckinlay. They met 31 years ago in her Montana hometown, where he was helping to build a water tower. He was 21, she was 16. After a brief courtship they parted ways. Both married others, then divorced.

Mckinlay found Lindquist on Facebook earlier this year, and the two decided to meet in Joplin. The tornado hit first, but Mckinlay still came. He proposed in August, and they plan to wed.

All things considered, Lindquist said he's a lucky man.

"I'm a walking miracle," he said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45007078/ns/us_news-life/

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TI profit, revenue fall, sees more weakness (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Texas Instruments (TXN.N) posted a decline in quarterly revenue and earnings on Monday and said economic uncertainty would continue to hurt its fourth quarter results in almost every major market segment.

The maker of chips for wide range of products including cellphones, consumer electronics and industrial equipment, said net income fell to $601 million or 51 cents per share from $859 million or 71 cents per share in the year ago quarter.

Revenue fell seven percent to $3.47 billion from $3.74 billion a year ago but was ahead of its forecast range of $3.23 billion to $3.27 billion. TI closed its $6.5 billion purchase of another chip maker National Semiconductor on Sept 23, just before the quarter ended.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; editing by Carol Bishopric)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111024/bs_nm/us_texasinstruments

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Dick Till The End (Balloon Juice)

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