Monthly Archives: April 2011

Instant View- Consumer prices fall 0.1 percent in June_7102

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Paul Julius Reuter noticed that, with the electric telegraph, news no longer required days or weeks to travel long distances. In the 1850s, the 34-year-old Reuter was based in Aachen — then in the Kingdom of Prussia, now in Germany — close to the borders with the Netherlands and Belgium. He began using the newly opened Berlin–Aachen telegraph line to send news to Berlin. However, there was a 76-mile (122 km) gap in the line between Aachen and Brussels, Belgium’s capital city and financial center. Reuter saw an opportunity to speed up news service between Brussels and Berlin by using homing pigeons to bridge that gap.

Instant View: Consumer prices fall 0.1 percent in June

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. consumer prices fell for a third straight month in June due to lower energy costs, according to a government report on Friday that pointed to subdued inflation pressures amid sluggish domestic demand.

KEY POINTS: * The Labor Department said its seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index dipped 0.1 percent last month after falling 0.2 percent in May. * Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast consumer prices to be flat last month. * In the 12 months to June, the consumer price index rose 1.1 percent, the smallest advance since October, after increasing 2 percent in May,Coach Buckle Purses, the Labor Department said. * Markets had expected a 1.2 percent increase in June.COMMENTS:CARY LEAHEY, ECONOMIST, DECISION ECONOMICS, NEW YORK:”Thank God people are smoking because the boost in tobacco prices is keeping us away from deflation. Right now underlying inflation is probably running around 1 percent. This is probably lower than the Fed would like at this stage of the business cycle, but this is the bed they made so they’re going to have to sleep in it for awhile.”The Fed,buy Abercrombie and fitch mens, in aiming for a one to two percent target inflation rate, now has the problem that in the aftermath of the worst downturn in 75 years, inflation just won’t stop moving toward zero. Those inflation boundaries were too low.”I’m sure the Fed is looking at scenarios where the core inflation rate touches zero in the next two years should U.S. economic growth not hit 2.5 percent to 3 percent.”The first option the Fed has is to cross their fingers and pray. The second is to re-establish the programs that they withdrew from — such as purchasing longer-term Treasury securities and mortgages. And then, finally,Financier Soros gives $100 million to rights group_5285, the great Rubicon the Fed is not yet willing to cross is to admit they set too low an inflation target and promise investors and the public that they will aim for a higher one in the future.”This is not unlike the prescription that Bernanke gave the Bank of Japan nearly ten years ago when he told them if they wanted to get out of the deflation trap, you have to tell everyone you’re aiming for a higher price level and do it. Bernanke may have to apply his own medicine to the U.S. This is particularly important because fiscal policy around the globe is moving toward retrenchment and the old Econ 101 rule is that if you’re tightening fiscal policy you need to loosen monetary policy.”CHRISTOPHER LOW, CHIEF ECONOMIST, FTN FINANCIAL, NEW YORK:”It’s consistent with what we saw yesterday with the PPI. There is less food and energy inflation because the weather has been cooperative, but mostly growth outside the U.S. has slowed down enough, resulting in lower commodity demand and therefore price relief.”Maybe more importantly going forward, the year-over-year rise in core inflation at 0.9 percent is the same as last month which is the lowest since the 1960s. This is a very low inflation environment.”This along with yesterday’s PPI that showed no price line pressure and the economy growing at a slower rate than a few months ago, I don’t see any reason for the Fed to raise interest rates until perhaps the second half of 2012.”The only reason to raise rates is to control inflation. With inflation so well behaved, now the Fed can turn its focus completely to jobs. They can leave rates low and if the economy continues to falter, they can go back to quantitative easing.”Now it’s easier for the Fed to do that, since it has about $8 billion a month in income from its mortgage securities holdings. They can do it without the accusations of monetizing the debt.”JIM PAULSEN, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, WELLS CAPITALMANAGEMENT, MINNEAPOLIS:”There’s certainly concern about deflation, but I don’t think this is going to give you a lot more ammo for that today. We have deflation fears because we’re so close to zero, that’s the primary reason, and then whenever you get a soft patch, you’re going to exacerbate that.”But today’s number, if anything, would calm a little bit. What people will be watching is if that core number fades, and that actually came in a tenth heavy today.”Energy prices tend to be really volatile, probably not that significant. But that core number, if anything will calm, very marginally. I don’t think market-wise it’s going to be a big deal.”SUBODH KUMAR, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, SUBODH KUMAR &ASSOCIATES, TORONTO;”The CPI is quite low, it’ll reinforce the thinking within the Fed that they can afford to keep interest rates low.”In earnings releases so far,Coach Multifunction Handbags, revenues are not as strong as the consensus would have wanted to see, so I don’t expect the equity market to take much encouragement from the CPI numbers.”I don’t think the quality of revenues, along with the CPI data, is strong enough to quell fears of deflation.”The most recent rallies were related to one-off factors, like the gulf oil spill relief and regulation relief. I don’t think one-off reliefs will keep the rally going.”LAWRENCE GLAZER, MANAGING PARTNER, MAYFLOWER ADVISORS, BOSTON:”There is a lot of sensitivity to CPI now in general. There is this growing camp that deflation might be a greater concern than investors had originally expected.”It appears that the data is giving some support to the idea that investors should be less focused on inflation and more focused on deflation right now.”BRIAN DOLAN, CHIEF CURRENCY STRATEGIST, FOREX.COM, BEDMINSTER,NEW JERSEY:”The core is up a little bit more than expected,House panel invites J&J CEO to second recall hearing_8007, and the initial bond market reaction has been a bit of selling. That’s firmed up dollar-yen a bit. But this is really about the euro and this is a big euro move we’ve been seeing. I think the first four big figures were short-covering but these last few, I think it’s on pricing in positive expectations for European bank stress tests and on a feeling that the worst of the European crisis is over. Dollar-yen is partly about interest rate differentials, but there were a lot of stops around 87 yen that were triggered and that’s accelerated the move.”MARKET REACTION: STOCKS: U.S. stock index futures tick slightly higher after higher-than-expected core reading in CPI data. BONDS: U.S. Treasury debt prices turn negative. DOLLAR: U.S. dollar pares losses versus yen.



Reuters employs several thousand journalists, sometimes at the cost of their lives. In May 2000, Kurt Schork, an American reporter, was killed in an ambush while on assignment in Sierra Leone. In April and August 2003, news cameramen Taras Protsyuk and Mazen Dana were killed in separate incidents by US troops in Iraq. In July 2007, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh were killed when they were fired upon by a US military

Data shows economic recovery still on track_5189

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Paul Julius Reuter noticed that, with the electric telegraph, news no longer required days or weeks to travel long distances. In the 1850s,Coach Hobo Bags Outlet, the 34-year-old Reuter was based in Aachen — then in the Kingdom of Prussia,Barnes & Noble says Burkle unqualified for board_5660, now in Germany — close to the borders with the Netherlands and Belgium. He began using the newly opened Berlin–Aachen telegraph line to send news to Berlin. However, there was a 76-mile (122 km) gap in the line between Aachen and Brussels, Belgium’s capital city and financial center. Reuter saw an opportunity to speed up news service between Brussels and Berlin by using homing pigeons to bridge that gap.

Data shows economic recovery still on track

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week to a two-month low, while the trade deficit narrowed sharply in July, hopeful signs for the stuttering economic recovery.

The data on Thursday helped to calm fears of a sharp slowdown in growth and implied the economy could start working its way out of a soft patch.”The economy is not out of the woods with today’s data, but things look better than they have in several weeks and there is no danger of a new downturn in activity,” said Chris Rupkey,Coach Baby Bags Outlet, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York.Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 27,000 to 451,000, the lowest since the week ended July 10, the Labor Department said. That was well below financial market expectations for 470,000.Separately, the trade deficit shrank 14 percent to $42.8 billion in July, smaller than the $47.3 billion gap that markets had expected. Analysts said that suggested the pace of economic growth would quicken in the third quarter.Stocks on Wall Street rose on the data, while prices for safe-haven U.S. government debt slipped. The dollar hovered near a 15-year low against the yen.The U.S. economy braked sharply in the second quarter, expanding at just a 1.6 percent annualized rate, and soft data in recent months had fueled fears of a double-dip recession.While the most recent signs have tamped down those fears, they likely come too late for the embattled Democratic Party ahead of the November 2 congressional mid-term elections.Opinion polls suggest voters, dissatisfied with President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy, could punish Democrats and hand control of the House of Representatives,Bankers urge government to pull plug on Fannie, Freddie_5233, and perhaps even the Senate,Coach Backpacks Outlet, to Republicans.LACK OF JOBS UNDERMINING RECOVERYA weak labor market has been undermining the economy’s recovery from its longest and deepest downturn in 70 years, but a few rays of light are starting to poke through the dark cloud of unemployment.Government data on Friday showed private employers added a better-than-expected 67,000 jobs in August, while 36,000 more jobs were created in July than previously reported.Confronted with a 9.6 percent unemployment rate and potentially big losses for Democrats at the polls, Obama on Wednesday called for $50 billion in spending on infrastructure and tax breaks for businesses.The decline in claims for unemployment benefits last week saw them push further away from a nine-month high of 504,000 touched in mid-August, a further sign of some stability returning to the labor market.”Given the flood of soft economic data that we’ve seen in recent months, the continued improvement in jobless claims is encouraging as it reinforces the reversal of the negative trend that had been in place,” said Jim Baird, a partner at Plante Moran Financial Advisors in Kalamazoo, Michigan.”However, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the labor market is still exceptionally weak.”A Labor Department official said the department had to estimate claims data for some states that had been unable to submit data due to Monday’s Labor Day holiday.Some have since submitted their data and the official said the figures were close to the department’s estimates, indicating the data was unlikely to be revised much.TRADE SHIFT COULD LIFT GDPThe shrinking of the trade deficit was welcome news after a widening trade gap sliced nearly 3.4 percentage points off U.S. economic growth in the second quarter.A widening trade deficit weighs on growth because it shows more domestic demand is being met by overseas production.Economists said July’s shrinking gap suggested third-quarter growth could improve on the second quarter’s dismal performance.A Reuters poll released on Wednesday showed economists were looking for GDP to expand at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the third quarter, just a fraction above the April-June pace.The smaller trade gap reflected a 1.8 percent increase in exports to $153.3 billion, the highest since August 2008. Imports fell 2.1 percent to $196.1 billion.However imports from both China and Germany — two countries with persistent trade surpluses — were the highest since October 2008.The closely watched trade deficit with China fell almost 1 percent in July, but for the first seven months of the year it was nearly 18 percent higher, at $145.4 billion, compared to the same period in 2009.U.S. lawmakers are expected to turn their attention to China’s exchange rate practices when they return next week from their summer recess.Many accuse Beijing of deliberately undervaluing its currency by as much as 40 percent to give Chinese exporters an unfair trade advantage.(Editing by Andrea Ricci)



Reuters employs several thousand journalists, sometimes at the cost of their lives. In May 2000, Kurt Schork, an American reporter, was killed in an ambush while on assignment in Sierra Leone. In April and August 2003, news cameramen Taras Protsyuk and Mazen Dana were killed in separate incidents by US troops in Iraq. In July 2007, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh were killed when they were fired upon by a US military

Australian military abuse could lead to payouts_4014

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Australian military abuse could lead to payouts

SYDNEY (AFP) – A spiralling scandal involving alleged sexual and other abuse within the Australian military could force the government into making payouts to victims, the country's defence minister said Sunday.

Canberra has announced sweeping reviews of the military after a female cadet at the nation's military academy told the media that a male classmate had broadcast her having sex with him over Skype to fellow students.

Her allegations unleashed a wave of complaints,Abercrombie And Fitch Outlet, some dating back decades, from other former members of the military involving sexual abuse, beatings and other misconduct within the defence force.

"There is a distinct possibility, either in individual cases or more generally, that through the department of defence or through the services, that there is a Commonwealth (federal government) liability here," Defence Minister Stephen Smith said.

"That is why I say we need to proceed carefully,cheap Abercrombie and fitch mens, we need to make sure we respect all the rights of the people who are either complaining or raising issues or in respect of whom adverse comments have been made."

It emerged on Saturday that the defence force faces the threat of a class action lawsuit after advocates for one ex-recruit, who claims he was beaten and raped, warned "hundreds" more cases could emerge.

Police are investigating allegations that the man, who was 15 when he joined HMAS Leeuwin in the 1970s, endured beatings and assaults before he left the service within a year with an honourable discharge.

Smith said that every allegation would be thoroughly investigated by an external group of lawyers.

"I have made it clear that the first thing we need to do is a methodical assessment of all those cases to see if anything more needs to be done," Smith told Channel Ten's "Meet The Press" programme.

"I do not rule out in that context any further legal or judicial activity so far as those complaints or allegations are concerned."

But the former foreign minister said he was not talking of holding a Royal Commission into the scandal at this stage.

"There are a range of possibilities. One, for example, would be intense legal work on particular cases, particular individual cases, another might be a use of lawyers or retired judges to look generally at the issue," he said.

"There also is the possibility… of giving people who want to tell their story the opportunity of doing that, and also giving people who may have been involved in such cases, so-called bastardisation or victimisation, giving them the opportunity to express a modern-day view."

Key independent MP Andrew Wilkie, whose support is vital to Labor Party Prime Minister Julia Gillard's narrow hold on power, said he supported Smith in his efforts to crack down on mistreatment within the military.

Wilkie, accused last week of ordering military cadets to salute the 50th anniversary of Hitler's rise when he was a senior cadet at the elite Royal Military College at Duntroon in 1983,buy Abercrombie and fitch mens, admitted he had taken part in the "bastardisation", or initiation, of young recruits.

"At the time, I thought it was fine, with the benefit of hindsight, I know that it is appalling and wrong," added Wilkie, who said he never physically or sexually assaulted anyone.

Australia's military has endured negative publicity in recent months, after an inquiry into allegations of misconduct on board the supply ship HMAS Success revealed sailors worked amid a culture of predatory sexual behaviour.

The 400-page report into the Success noted several onshore leave incidents, including the collapse of sailors due to excess alcohol in Hong Kong and public sex in a bar in China's Qingdao as others watched.