On Tuesday January 12, 2010, 5:45 pm
EST
November trade deficit increases to
$36.4 billion
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. trade
deficit jumped to the highest level in 10 months as an improving U.S. economy
pushed up demand for imports. However, exports rose as well, boosted by a
weaker dollar, supporting the view that American manufacturers will be helped
by a rebounding global economy.
The Commerce Department reported
Tuesday that the trade deficit jumped 9.7 percent to $36.4 billion in November,
a bigger imbalance than the $34.5 billion deficit economists had forecast.
Exports rose 0.9 percent, the seventh
consecutive gain, as demand was up for American-made autos, farm products and
industrial machinery. Imports, however, rose a much faster 2.6 percent, led by
a 7.3 percent rise in petroleum imports.
Weaker Alcoa results, China news drag
stocks lower
NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors are
suffering another bout of pessimism about the strength of the global economic
recovery.
Stocks fell sharply Tuesday, sending
the Standard & Poor's 500 index down nearly 1 percent. Demand for the
safety of Treasurys sent bond prices higher and interest rates lower,
tightening the market barometer known as the yield curve. The Dow Jones
industrial average fell 36.73, or 0.3 percent, to 10,627.26.
A disappointing profit report from
Alcoa Inc. and moves by China to curtail growth raised questions about whether
a 10-month surge in stocks can be sustained. At the same time, financial stocks
slid on concerns the government would impose taxes on bailed out banks.
Subpoena would probe Geithner's AIG
decisions
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner came under increased scrutiny Tuesday when a key congressman
said he would subpoena the Federal Reserve Bank of New York about bailout
decisions made on Geithner's watch.
Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., said
Tuesday he will subpoena the New York Fed for documents related to the bailout
of failed insurer American International Group Inc.
Towns chairs the House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee. The committee is investigating deals that diverted
billions of AIG bailout dollars to banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
SEC bring new charges against Bank of
America
NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal regulators
sued Bank of America Corp. on Tuesday, accusing the company of failing to
disclose "staggering financial losses" at Merrill Lynch before
shareholders approved a combination of the companies.
The lawsuit filed by the Securities and
Exchange Commission in U.S. District Court in Manhattan sought an order
requiring Bank of America to pay a civil penalty for not telling shareholders
it was losing $15.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Bank of America spokesman Robert
Stickler called the charges "totally without merit." He said the
company believes it provided sufficient and appropriate disclosure to
shareholders prior to their vote approving the combination.
Job openings drop as hiring remains
elusive
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The competition for
jobs is intensifying as companies are reluctant to hire new workers, leaving
millions of unemployed Americans chasing fewer job openings.
There were nearly 6.4 unemployed
workers, on average, for each available job at the end of November, according
to Labor Department data released Tuesday. That's up from 6.1 in October and a
record high.
There were 1.7 jobless people for each
opening in December 2007, when the recession began.
Job openings fell sharply to 2.42
million in November from 2.57 million in October, according to the department's
Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey.
Fed adopts new rules to protect credit
card users
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve
on Tuesday issued sweeping new rules to better protect Americans from sudden
hikes in interest rates on credit cards.
The new rules, which take effect on
Feb. 22, generally bar rate increases during the first year after an account is
opened. After the first year, companies must provide customers with a 45-day
notice before bumping up rates.
Some lenders have pushed through rate
increases ahead of the new rules. That irked lawmakers in Congress who had
wanted to speed up implementation of the Fed's rules.
Another chain pulls cadmium-tainted
kids' jewelry
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A second
international chain store said it is pulling from shelves jewelry that lab
tests show contained high levels of the heavy metal cadmium, and Chinese
regulators said they will investigate dangerous levels of the toxin in
children's jewelry being exported to the United States. Also, a U.S. senator
called for hearings.
The jewelry and accessories store
Claire's, with nearly 3,000 locations in North America and Europe, on Tuesday
joined Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in saying it would stop selling any item cited in
an Associated Press investigation of the presence of cadmium in cheap bracelets
and charms.
Charms on a "Best Friends"
bracelet sold at Claire's contained 89 and 91 percent cadmium, according to
testing organized by AP, and shed alarming amounts in a procedure that examined
how much cadmium children might be exposed to.
Grain prices sink as crop report shows
big supply
NEW YORK (AP) -- Grain prices tumbled
Tuesday after the Department of Agriculture said 2009 crops came in above
previous estimates.
Corn, soybean and wheat prices all
plummeted on the Chicago Board of Trade following a government report that
showed corn and soybean production surpassed forecasts made in November and hit
record levels last year.
Even though the agency may update its
harvest estimates again in March, analysts say the market has heard enough from
the January report to conclude that this year's grain crops were abundant
enough to send futures prices sharply lower.
Prosecutor: Inside trades maybe topped
$50 million
NEW YORK (AP) -- Insider trading
profits for a wealthy hedge fund operator may have topped $50 million, a
prosecutor told a judge Tuesday as he argued unsuccessfully for him to be
jailed pending trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Klein told
Judge Richard Holwell in federal court in Manhattan that overwhelming evidence
cited by the government at the time of Raj Rajaratnam's October arrest
continues to get stronger.
The swelling numbers documented by the
government mean the total attributed to inside trades by Rajaratnam may be more
than $50 million, Klein said.
EU stats office: Greek economy figures
unreliable
BRUSSELS (AP) -- Eurostat, the European
Union's statistics arm, said Tuesday that Greece's government budget figures
were unreliable and seem to have been falsified to play down a budget crisis
that has shaken the EU.
Eurostat said the Greek statistical
office NSSG had complained of political interference in the financial figures
that were sent to the EU executive in October. The NSSG is currently controlled
by the Greek Finance Ministry.
The ministry blamed the problems on
Greece's previous conservative government when "every sense of statistical
reliability and transparency was abused." The ministry said it planned
reforms to make NSSG independent, but did not say when that would happen.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial average fell
36.73, or 0.3 percent, to 10,627.26.
The S&P 500 index fell 10.76, or
0.9 percent, to 1,136.22, after advancing for the first six days of the year
for the first time since 1987. The Nasdaq composite index fell 30.10, or 1.3
percent, to 2,282.31.
Benchmark crude for February delivery
fell $1.73 to settle at $80.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
It's the first time this year a barrel has closed below $81.
In other Nymex trading in February
contracts, heating oil fell 4.83 cents to settle at $2.1318 a gallon and
gasoline slipped 4.49 cents to settle at $2.0978 a gallon. Natural gas futures
rose 13.7 cents to settle at $5.591 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude for February
delivery fell $1.67 to settle at $79.30 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.