The Canadian dollar is trading at its highest levels in nearly a week.
At early afternoon, Canada's currency was below the high of the day but still above 81 cents US.
RBC Capital currency strategist David Watt says the loonie's strength reflects renewed confidence in currencies that are sensitive to the global economy.
He says the U.S. government's weekend bailout announcement for Citigroup is helping restore calm, as is the new economic team announced by president-elect Barack Obama business cards.
At about 1 p.m. in Toronto, the Canadian dollar was worth 81.10 cents US – up 2.8 cents from Friday's close.
The loonie hasn't closed above 81 cents since last Tuesday.
Beijing appears to be taking advantage of falling crude oil prices to fill its strategic reserve tanks, potentially giving it a 100-million-barrel buffer by year’s end that could help smooth out future demand growth.
A near 30 percent surge in China’s crude oil imports to their third highest daily rate on record last month, coupled with widespread signs of anemic demand in the world’s second-largest user, has stirred fresh speculation about Beijing’s emergency reserves, the status of which remain a closely guarded secret.
Data due on Thursday is expected to show that the country’s major refiners — which have increased output by only 5.5 percent so far this year — could not have processed all of that crude themselves, suggesting some of it has been put in storage.
Analysts say it is still too early to conclude that Beijing must have given the order to top up its national reserves, half of which were constructed over the past two years while the other half are due to be finished by the end of the year.
But from the economics point of view, oil’s plunge from a record above $147 hit in July to below $60 definitely makes buying crude now an attractive and logical option, they say.
“There is no question about stockpiling,” said Lin Boqiang, director of the Center for China Energy Economics Research (CCEER) at Xiamen University.
“Strategic storing needs to be done even without a plunge in oil prices, and China should go for three months (of buffer stocks) now,” he said.
Building stocks now would also allow China to take advantage of the steep contango structure in oil markets, with prompt prices far cheaper than longer-dated futures, at a time when many oil companies and traders are struggling to profit from storage as the credit crisis drives up the cost of financing stockpiles payday advance services.
September crude imports rose 28.2 percent from a year ago, their fastest pace in more than a year, to hit 3.81 million barrels per day (bpd), the third highest ever. Domestic production has also eked out modest growth, helping meet some of the growing demand.
China’s first phase of its SPR plans, with tanks that can hold 100 million barrels of oil or just under a month’s imports, are due to be commissioned by year-end with the completion of the last two out of four bases at Qingdao and Dalian.
The first two facilities at Zhenhai and Zhoushan were up and running more than a year ago.
Last year the government leased out its 33 million barrel capacity tanks at Zhenhai to top refiner Sinopec Corp (0386.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for use as commercial storage, but it is not clear whether that arrangement continues or whether the tanks are full or not.
Beijing has maintained a near total silence on the status of these tanks and the location for a second batch of facilities to hold some 26.8 million cubic meters, plans for which have just been finalized, Beijing announced on Wednesday.
By comparison, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) holds about 700 million barrels.
STRATEGIC OR COMMERCIAL?
President Bush will host world leaders November 15 for a summit to confront the world financial crisis, the White House announced Wednesday.
He will invite the leaders of the G20 group of countries "to discuss the financial markets and the global economy," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
The leaders will try to "agree on a common set of principles" for reforming regulation of the markets, she said.
Bush will host a dinner at the White House the night before the summit, she said.
The event will come after the November 4 presidential election. Perino said it is "too early to say" whether the president-elect will attend the summit.
"We don’t know what that president will want or not want to do," she said, but added that the White House will seek his "input."
Bush was joined over the weekend by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, at Camp David, where he said it is "essential that we work together because we’re in this crisis together cashadvance."
Bush said the summit will include developed and developing nations from around the world and suggested it could be the first of a series of high-level meetings.
The G20 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.
The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, the president of the World Bank, the United Nations secretary-general, and the chairman of the Financial Stability Forum also have been invited to participate, Perino said in a written statement.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified Monday that Congress should consider passing a new stimulus package to try to jump start the economy.
Bernanke, speaking before the House Budget Committee, came just short of an outright endorsement of a package to pump tax dollars into the economy. But he clearly said the economy needs additional help from Congress.
"With the economy likely to be weak for several quarters, and with some risk of a protracted slowdown, consideration of a fiscal package by the Congress at this juncture seems appropriate," he said.
Experts said Bernanke’s testimony gives an important lift to the chances that Congress will pass some sort of stimulus package, perhaps in a lame duck session after the November election and before the new Congress takes office in January.
"Effectively, the Fed chairman is giving Congress a green light to go ahead with an additional fiscal stimulus package," said Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist for research firm Global Insight.
Earlier this year, Congress approved a $170 billion plan - nearly $100 billion in payments to tax filers - to boost consumer and business spending. Talk has grown louder in recent weeks in Washington and on the presidential campaign trail for further steps including an extension of unemployment benefits, infrastructure spending and other measures.
Bernanke’s comments were cheered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
"Chairman Bernanke added his voice to the chorus of economists, experts and policymakers who insist that America needs a job-creating recovery package to get our economy back on track and to restore consumer and investor confidence," said a statement released by her office.
The Bush administration said it was open to discussing a new stimulus package with lawmakers but said it did not see Bernanke’s statements as a blanket endorsement of any plan proposed so far by Congress.
"I think we just need to wait and see," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "We’re open to ideas and we’ll take a look at what comes our way."
Bernanke, who with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has led the government’s extraordinary efforts in recent weeks to stem the financial crisis, was asked by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., whether the economy is in a recession.
"We are in a serious slowdown," Bernanke said, refusing to give the yes-or-no answer DeLauro said she wanted.
He said "recession" is a technical description of economic conditions faxless payday advances. "Whether it’s called a recession or not is of no consequence," Bernanke said.
Some economists saw Bernanke’s comments as his most dire assessment yet of the U.S. economy.
"The Fed has accepted that the rate cuts and actions, even if they are of help to the financial sector, will not be adequate to stabilize the economy," said Arpitha Bykere, economic analyst for RGE Monitor.
Most of Bernanke’s nearly 90-minute appearance focused on economic stimulus. He said that Congress should consider another measure but nonetheless declined to say how much money should be spent. He said that’s a decision for Congress, not the Federal Reserve.
Bernanke suggested Monday that any stimulus program should be activated as quickly as possible to boost the economy when it is facing its greatest period of weakness.
In addition, Congress should weigh whether to make credit more available to consumers, homeowners, businesses and other borrowers, Bernanke said. He said that loan guarantees and direct lending by government are among the ways lawmakers can get credit flowing again.
Democrats have been pushing for a second stimulus package for months. Among the proposals they’ve put forward: extend jobless benefits, increase food stamps, invest in infrastructure projects and impose a requirement for a foreclosure moratorium.
Republicans have made their own proposals, which focus more on tax breaks than direct payments. Among them, reduce or suspend the capital gains tax and offer a bigger tax break for home buyers.
The presidential candidates, whose crisis-related stimulus plans largely differ from one another, nevertheless both call for suspending the income tax on unemployment benefits and temporarily exempting seniors over 70-1/2 from having to make withdrawals from their IRAs and 401(k)s.
At Monday’s hearing, Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash, pushed Bernanke about the value of spending on infrastructure projects, such as roads and water projects. Such projects have economic value, but it generally takes a long time for spending on such projects to get into the system, Bernanke said. Baird responded that in his district and across the country there are many projects ready to go and lacking only funding.
Lawmakers also questioned Bernanke about the need to help state and local governments avoid budget cuts. The federal government could loan states money at significantly lower rates than available in the financial markets, he said.
Bank of America Corp’s $50 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co Inc marks the end of a storied name in American finance, but also creates the nation’s biggest bank by far.
The purchase would end the 94-year independence of Merrill, Wall Street’s third-largest bank, and pair it with a banking behemoth that has announced more than $150 billion of acquisitions in the last five years. Bank of America would pass Citigroup Inc, the largest bank by assets, in size.
Merrill shares jumped 19 percent, while Bank of America slid 14 percent at mid-day Monday.
Monday’s merger deal came together in less than two days — after Merrill Chief Executive John Thain called Kenneth Lewis, his counterpart at Bank of America, to propose a combination. The deal came as Thain, other top industry executives and officials from the U.S. Federal Reserve had huddled in emergency meetings in downtown Manhattan over the weekend to mull the fate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
“We thought this was the strategic opportunity of a lifetime,” Lewis, 61, said at a news conference with Thain in Bank of America’s new offices in New York http://payday-nofax.com online payday advance. The bank will remain based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Lewis said.
Bank of America agreed to pay 70 percent more than Merrill’s closing price Friday. The shares had fallen precipitously in the last week as worries grew that it could become Wall Street’s next casualty.
Lehman, the fourth-largest Wall Street investment bank, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday.
Adding Merrill would more than double the size of Bank of America’s investment banking unit, and give it the largest retail brokerage and a dominant position in wealth management. It also would get Merrill’s 45 percent stake in the asset manager BlackRock Inc.
Northwest Airline Corp.’s traffic increased 1.9 percent in August, amidst rising fuel costs and airfare hikes.
The Eagan, Minn.-based carrier flew 7.3 billion revenue-passenger miles last month. That’s up from 7.1 billion in the same month last year. Each revenue-passenger mile represents one paying passenger flown for one mile.
International traffic rose 7 percent, while domestic traffic fell 8.4 percent.
Northwest’s (NYSE: NWA) available-seat miles grew 3.1 percent to 8.4 billion pay day loans instant cash advance. Each available-seat mile stands for a mile flown by a seat, occupied or not. The airline’s load factor, a measure of how full were for the month, fell to 86.6 percent from 87.6 a year ago.
Northwest is the third-largest carrier at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport.
Following is a summary of the Aug. 2 initial jobless claims report from the Labor Department. ======================================================================== Week Ending Aug. 2 July 26 July 19 Prior Year ======================================================================== Initial Claims (SA) 455,000 448,000 403,000 318,000
Change 7,000 45,000 31,000 137,000
Percent change 1.6% 11.2% 8.3% 43.1% 4-Wk moving average 419,500 392,750 381,750 312,000 ———————————————————————— Initial Claims (NSA) 381,529 375,150 411,408 270,563
Change 6,379 -36,258 -72,573 110,966
Percent change 1.7% -8.8% -15.0% 41.0% ======================================================================== Week Ending July 26 July 19 July 12 Prior Year ======================================================================== Continuing claims (SA) 3,311,000 3,280,000 3,097,000 2,553,000
Change 31,000 183,000 -19,000 758,000
Percent change 0.9% 5.9% -0.6% 29.7% ======================================================================== Week Ending July 26 July 19 July 12 Prior Year ======================================================================== 4-Wk Moving average (SA) 3,201,000 3,174,000 3,131,750 2,549,750 ———————————————————————— Ins fast payday loan no faxing. Unemployment Rate (SA) 2.5% 2.5% 2.3% 1.9% Ins. Unemployment Rate (NSA) 2.4% 2.4% 2.4% 1.9% ———————————————————————— Continuing claims (NSA) 3,175,663 3,211,067 3,164,970 2,445,524
Change -35,404 46,097 46,246 730,139
Percent change -1.1% 1.5% 1.5% 29.9% ========================================================================
July 19 July 12 July 5 Prior Year ======================================================================== Extended benefits (NSA) 1,483 1,777 1,298 0
Change -294 479 -428 1,483 ======================================================================== (SA) = Seasonally adjusted figures. (NSA) = Not seasonally adjusted.
British Airways PLC and Spain’s Iberia SA said Tuesday they are in talks over a potential all-share combination.
BA and Iberia, which are long-term partners in the "oneworld" alliance, said that each would retain its branding under the tie-up.
The pair said the negotiations are supported unanimously by both boards, but did not disclose any financial details in a statement.
BA and Iberia have also been in discussions for several months with American Airlines to potentially form a trans-Atlantic joint venture, but they did not provide any immediate update on those talks.
BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh said airline consolidation is long overdue as the aviation landscape changes.
"The combined balance sheet, anticipated synergies and network fit between the airlines make a merger an attractive proposition, particularly in the current economic environment," Walsh said in a statement.
The pair said they expect it will take "several months" to reach agreement on the terms of the combination and to finalize a joint business and integration plan for the combined group.
They added they were confident of securing regulatory approval, noting that the European Union has already granted the two carriers approval to cooperate widely. The pair have been working closely as alliance partners for more than a decade.
Media reports earlier this month had suggested that BA, Iberia, and AMR Corp.’s (AMR, Fortune 500) American, the world’s largest carrier, were close to applying for U.S 1500 payday loans. antitrust immunity to form a trans-Atlantic joint venture.
BA and American have failed in the past to win an exemption from U.S. antitrust laws to work more closely together because of their dominance at London’s Heathrow Airport, where the pair have more than half the capacity to and from the U.S.
In the meantime, BA has steadily been increasing its shareholding in Iberia, from 9% in 1999 to 13.15% currently.
Iberia revealed Tuesday it has recently acquired a 2.99% direct shareholding in BA and financial exposure to a further 6.99% through "contracts for difference" linked to BA’s share price.
A contract for difference is an agreement to exchange the difference in a share’s value between the time a contract is opened and the time it is closed. Holders of CFDs are financially exposed to the share price but do not own the shares and therefore have no voting rights.
The pair said that the corresponding shareholdings "reflect the mutual interest of both companies in each other."
The city of Denver Tuesday picked Diamond and Schmitt Architects Inc. of Toronto and local partner Oz Architecture of Denver to design the renovation and expansion of Boettcher Concert Hall.
Six design teams competed for the project.
Denver voters in November approved a $60 million bond issue to finance improvements to Boettcher, including better acoustics. The Colorado Symphony Orchestra, which performs at Boettcher, has pledged another $30 million for the project.
Three acoustical design firms are vying for part of the Boettcher project, and will give presentations to a selection committee later this month. The candidates are Acoustic Dimensions of New Rochelle, N.Y., Akustiks of South Norwalk, Conn., and Kirkegaard Associates of Chicago paydayloans.
The city also announced the hiring of Romani Group Inc. as project manager for the project. Romani has overseen construction of the Colorado Convention Center expansion, the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field at Mile High.
Boettcher was built in 1978. The concert hall has been plagued by poor acoustics.
An analyst upgraded J.C. Penney Co. Monday, saying the retailer’s valuation and recent sales improvement make shares a good investment.
Deutsche Bank analyst Bill Dreher Jr. boosted his rating to "Buy" from "Hold" and his price target to $46 from $45. The new target implies he expects the stock to rise 25% over Friday’s $36.88 close.
Sales appear to have improved at the Plano, Texas-based company recently, though it’s not clear if this is due to seasonally warmer temperatures or the federal stimulus program, Dreher said.
So far this year, the stock has dipped about 16%, compared with a 10% drop in the S&P 500.
"We recommend purchase of J.C fast cash online. Penney shares as a value story, with a compelling risk/reward profile," he said in a note to clients.
Dreher boosted his fiscal 2008 earnings estimate to $3.33 from $3.32 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect, on average, earnings of $3.28 per share for the year.
A representative for J.C. Penney (JCP, Fortune 500) was not immediately available for comment.
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