Cary Dalton's blog

Automakers Report Sales Gains, Despite Rising Gas Prices

  DETROIT - Auto sales rose in February Substantially despite surging gasoline Prices, carmakers and analysts Said Thursday.

Chrysler Group Said icts dirty Were up 40 percent from February 2011, while the Ford Motor Company Reported a 14 percent gain.

General Motors Said icts dirty laundry charges 1 percent from a year ago, Especially When It Had an strong month as a result of big discounts.

All Three Detroit carmakers beat analysts' expectations, as DID Nissan posted a 16 percent Which it increase.

Said Chrysler passenger car sales more Than Doubled, Helped by hand in a high-profile Super Bowl ad featuring the actor Clint Eastwood. Said Ford sales of compact because icts, the Focus, Jumped 115 percent.  

"Our product portfolio now contains Some Of The Most fuel-efficient vehicles in our company's history," Reid Bigland, Chrysler's head of United States sales, Said in a statement. "A few years ago, higher Fuel Prices Were A Major Threat to our total vehicle sales, Whereas today, Those Higher Prices Have Become less far end of year."

Through Thursday, gas prices Have Risen for 23 consecutive days, According To the AAA motor club. The national average for regular gas is about $ 3.74 a gallon, 10 percent more Than a year ago.

Still, analysts Projected That the industry's selling rate in February climbed to One of The Highest Levels in Nearly Four Years.  

Ford's chief sales analyst, Erich Merkle, excluding non-recurring demand for new Said vehicles WAS strong enough That Were Not Deterring gas prices consommateurs from buying new vehicles. Ltr; going ahead with purchase Their aim Choosing increasingly smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, He Said online payday advance.

Many people put off because or Replacing Their current truck During The recession and are now in a position Where the vehicle Needs to Be Replaced. The average age of a vehicle on the roads today is 10.8 years, The Highest one record, According To the research firm R. L. Polk.

"Clearly Has Some point, gas prices Would Have a Detrimental Effect on the economy, we're not there yet objective," Mr. Merkle said.

In Fact, rising pickup truck sales are a positive sign for the economy, Because Those vehicles are Often Bought by Builders and Other Businesses. Ford and Chrysler EACH dirty Said of Their full-size pickups Were Up More than 20 percent.

For all vehicles, the average price buyers rose Paid Nearly $ 2,000, or 7 percent, from a year ago, According To the automotive information Web site TrueCar.com. That Helps Increase offset the lower profit margins That smaller cars relative to trucks generate.

"With gas prices rising, more Than one-fifth of all cars sold in February Will Be subcompact or compact cars, yet continues to rise Transaction Prices have consommateurs are looking for Highly-equipped vehicles," Said Jesse Toprak, vice president of market intelligence for TrueCar.com.

The Chevrolet Volt, GM's plug-in hybrid car, rebounded in February After a government investigation Surrounding publicity of the Volt HAD Caused demand for it to drop. GM sold 1.023 Volts in February, up from 603 in January.  

Automakers Report Sales Gains, Despite Rising Gas Prices

European Lending Remained Slow in January

  FRANKFURT - A flood of central bank cash Appears To Have averted a credit squeeze in the euro area not yet led goal HAS to significant growth in lending to Businesses, According To Data published on Monday by the European Central Bank.

Loans to Businesses, Including not banks or Other Financial Corporations, laundry charges 0.7 percent in January from a year Earlier, the central bank said. That Was Slower Than in December, When loans to nonfinancial corporations rose at rate of 1.1 An annual percent.

Some analysts found the result disappointing, the goal Others Said That data Indicated at least stable lending WAS the after the central bank Took extraordinary steps in December to help hard-pressed banks Compensate for a dearth of market financing.

Lending to Households rose, the bank Said, Which was regarded a positive sign.  

In December, the central bank offered banks unlimited loans at 1 percent interest for Three Years, Compared with a previous loan of up to one year. The central bank of Another Round Will offer three-year loans this week, and There is intense speculation about how strong the demand Will Be This Time.

The bank Will Disclose the results on Wednesday.

"The positive impact on Psychological markets and, particularly, government bond Obvious Markets has-beens from the start," Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING Bank, wrote of the central bank's action in a note to clients.

"The economic impact, however, still limited restes, 'he said best payday advance.  

Policy makers and analysts are eagerly waiting for hard information on what the banks with 489 DID one billion euros, or $ 655 one billion at the current exchange rate, that 'THEY borrowed from the central bank in December.

Mario Draghi, the central bank's president, Said ET Intended for the money to flow to bank Customers in the form of loans, Promoting Economic Growth. Purpose There Is Evidence That Some banks are hoarding cash INSTEAD.

Some analysts saw signs the central bank action That WAS Hello! To Have year effect.

"These numbers are not signaling an imminent collapse year in money and credit growth. Quite the Contrary, "Jens Sondergaard, an economist for Nomura in London, wrote in a note to clients.  

The central bank said on Monday aussi That It Did not buy euro zone government bonds Any last week for the second consecutive week, the bank Reinforcing expectations That WAS winding down ict intervention in the Debt Markets.

The Bond Purchases, Begun in May 2010, Helped Contain Costs for borrowing Countries like Spain and Italy and Bought time for Countries to address Their Economic Problems.

Order the three-year loans to banks Have Proved a more effective way of Stabilizing the Financial System euro area, at least for the Time Being. Mr. Draghi and Other members of the central bank's governing council left open the option Have RESUMING of the Bond Purchases, however.

European Lending Remained Slow in January

New Sunday Edition Signals That Murdoch Is Now Fighting Back

  LONDON - For the past week, it 's been just like old times: Rupert Murdoch, shirtsleeves rolled up, Bossing the newsroom of the country's leading tabloid newspaper as if ET beens away Had not historical building media empire in America for much of the past 30 years, as if the phone-hacking and police bribery scandals embroiling-historical British newspapers Could Be rolled back by the sheer force of the proprietor's Will.

Mr. Murdoch, Who Will turn 81 in Two Weeks, HAS taken on-the-spot command of the ET Project Announced After flying in from New York 10 days ago: After more Than 40 years as a Monday-through-Saturday paper, the rambunctious tabloid ET built Into the Country's Richest and MOST Widely circulated paper, The Sun, is Becoming a seven-day-a-week operation, publishing this Sunday for the first time.

But The Sun on Sunday is more Than a new step down the path Mr. Murdoch newspaper HAS worn as a pioneer - and it has more implications for ict in News Corporation, the $ 40 one billion company built from history ET long-ago home as the owner of Two newspapers in Australia, Than the gamble Relatively modest in terms of home -up money, Many newspaper analysts say.

For Mr. Murdoch, and the staff at British history publications, the true significance of the new Sunday paper Seems To Be That it, in effect, Draws a line in the sand. With the founding of The Sun on Sunday, Mr. Murdoch Appears To Have Declared That Will not Be tabloid history Hounded Into oblivion by the opprobrium That HAS beset The Sun and the News of the World, the weekend tabloid shuttered ET When The phone-hacking scandal broke wide open. About 30 of the papers' current form and employed Have Been Arrested and released on bail on suspicion of criminal wrongdoing in the hacking and bribery scandals.

Mr. Murdoch raised the battle cry in an e-mail to the Sun staff ET Drafted last week have crossed the Atlantic in ET history corporate jet. "Having a winning paper is the best answer to our Critics," He Said, Announcing the new Sunday paper.

To this, hey added a change of course Aimed at Quelling year incipient rebellion Among the Sun staff. While Continuing to hand the police "every piece of evidence we find" of wrongdoing by staff members "Because it is the right thing to do," He Said, He Was lifting the suspensions of All Those Arrested - at least & ldquo ; Until gold whether charged "- and ordering the company to pay all legal Their dépenses.

The decision to invest in The Sun Is not icts without risks: although the cost of the new venture is Estimated at only tens of millions of dollars, Some Fear It Could Sap Mr. Murdoch's focus from Other shares history of empire. Even a brilliant success and Would not erase the litany of expensive legal problems and Other Caused by the reporting scandals.

With nine recent Arrests at The Sun, Mr. Murdoch faces a crisis That is, if anything, more serious Than the phone-hacking scandal, accusations That Involving staff members bribed year array of Public Officials, Including police officers and military personnel, for leaks That Formed The Basis of Many of the paper's scoops. If Any Of Those Questioned by the police are charged and Convicted, Could News Corporation confront Heightened scrutiny in the United States Under The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Which Makes of foreign bribery by American companies Officials and Their overseas filiales a criminal offense.

To many HIM Who Have Known for years, the decision to mount a counterattack at a time of vulnerability is classic Rupert Murdoch. ET That Should Be doing this at Wapping, News Corporation's base in East London, They Say, adds to the drama. It Was Mr. Murdoch's decision in the 1980s to move to a historical newspapers cluster of Computerized newsroom and a printing plant in Wapping Digitalized, precipitating one of the MOST violent Labor disputes of the Thatcher era, that 'history cemented reputation for winning tough battles . Many in Britain still see the Battle of Wapping, as it Became Known, HAVING've saved Britain's newspapers.

He is working with aussi Some Practical advantages. Since historical decision to abruptly shut News of the World, News International, the British newspaper filiale of the United States-based News Corporation, HAS HAD it underutilized capacity icts Wapping printing presses payday advances. It Has enough staff for the new edition, from the weekday and survivors of Sun News of the World, and To Be Said Advertisers are hungry for a new Sunday paper to fill the void left by News of the World.

Purpose Most of All, the venture Has the personal Commitment of Mr. Murdoch, Who cut year aging, exhausted figure last summer When He Appeared Before a Parliamentary Committee Investigating the phone-hacking scandal, only to return, According To Some in the Sun newsroom , have old history scrappy, innovative and self contrarian.

Purpose There are Many at High Levels of News Corporation, and Among investors, Who gaze historical Commitment to the new edition Sun-as-a distraction from the more important business of managing the company's lucrative non-newspaper assets. Those include the Fox television channels in the United States and Their Counterparts at the British broadcaster BSkyB, and the Twentieth-Century Fox film studios in Hollywood, now the core of News Corporation's profits.

Many in Britain HAD speculated the News Corporation chairman That Would corresponds to the spate of Sun Arrests by replicating the shutdown of News of the World.

Those Who worry about the focus on the new edition include Three Sun News Corporation executives form Interviewed for this article, For Whom News Corporation HAS Become a sports and entertainment company with a newspaper problem, rooted in Mr. Murdoch's predilections. "Designing and Launching a new newspaper is history favorite thing in the world," one of the form Said executive, speaking as all Three About did on the condition of anonymity so as To Be Able to Discuss News Corporation's problems candidly. "This is catnip for HIM."

Another form executive WAS blunter. "Let's just accept That thesis are toxic properties," He Said, referring to the British tabloids. "They're Severely damaged, and Have No value to anyone Other than HIM," He Said, referring to Mr. Murdoch.

Purpose admirers of Mr. Murdoch Have taken another view. William Shawcross, a British author and longtime friend Murdoch, just lauded Him In a column in The Spectator, a weekly newspaper That excoriated Mr. Murdoch on the tabloid scandals. "While newspaper Other Proprietors are in retreat all over the world, and while Murdoch Himself the greatest sides ever-Threat to historical empire as a result of the phone-hacking scandal, ET loads the barricades, confounding historical enemies," Mr. Shawcross said.

Nor Have the plaudits come only from friends. The Guardian, Which led the reporting in Britain That Forced Scotland Yard to reopen investigations icts Into the tabloid scandals, editorial last week ran year Praising the man Who has beens so Often icts nemesis. "The old Newspaperman restes the arch-magician of print - wrong-footing Critics history, rallying staff and stunning historical history historical rivals with sheer speed and audacity," the editorial said.

Insiders in the Sun newsroom Have Described Mr. Murdoch ALONGSIDE editors working to commission columns for The Sun on Sunday, hire and assign columnists stories for a paper That Will AIM insiders say at retrieving up to 1.5 million of the 2.7 million weekly dirty That Were lost with the close of News of the World.

Meanwhile, Mr. Murdoch HAS taken on the task with what Those working with Him Have Enthusiasm Described as a giddy. He scrapped plans to fly to Hollywood for the Oscars on Sunday to show support for Fox Searchlight's "The Descendants."

Captured HAS history but nothing better than historical mood Twitter feeds. "Great staff tired purpose excited for Sunday edition, 'he wrote on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, accustomed ET Showed concern for the historical bottom line. "We're sold out completely Call for advertising! 'He wrote.

John F. Reported Burns from London, and Amy Chozick from New York.

New Sunday Edition Signals That Murdoch Is Now Fighting Back

Asian Stocks Mixed Amid Muted Data, High Oil Price

  HONG KONG (AP) - Asian stocks Markets Were muted Friday FOLLOWING a mixed bag of US and European Economic and deferrals as Oil Prices rose to a new nine-month high.

Crude climbed Above $ 108 a barrel and the dollar weakened against-the euro and yen.

Japan's Nikkei 225 WAS little changed at 9,594.20 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.2 percent to 21,418.43. South Korea's Kospi added 0.1 percent to 2,009.88.

Australia's S & P / ASX 200 WAS 0.2 percent at 4,295.10 Higher. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.3 percent to 2,415.65. Some Markets swung back and forth Between positive and negative in early trading territoire.  

Asian investors downcast Were the after the European Commission forecast combinée That the economies of the 17 nations use the euro That Would shrink in 2012, Raising Concerns That austerity Programs are holding back growth.

Another postponement Said German business confidence rose in February for a fourth straight month, aim Some analysts Noted the report aussi That Highlighted Disparities in growth across Europe online payday loan lenders.

A report that Found the US oven-week average of chômage aid applications Fell to Lowest in Four Years icts Helped push up US stocks aim HAD little effect on Asian traders.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average finished 0.4 percent at 12,984.69 and the Higher Broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index Gained 0.4 percent to close at 1,363.46. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 0.8 percent to 2,956.98.  

Fears over the price of crude oil - driven by tensions over Iran Higher and the weakening dollar - Asian Markets Were Keeping in check Because Of It Could worries crimp the US Economic Recovery.

Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 63 cents to 108.46 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract advanced $ 1.55, or 1.5 percent, to settle at $ 107.83 on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro to $ 1.3367 Strengthened from $ 1.3337 late Thursday in New York. The dollar rose to 80.06 Japanese yen from 80.08 yen.

Asian Stocks Mixed Amid Muted Data, High Oil Price

OnLive Desktop Plus Puts Windows 7 on the iPad in Blazing Speed ​​- State of the Art

  You're Probably Paying something like $ 60 a month for high-speed Internet. I'm Paying $ 5 a month, and my connection is 1.000 times faster.

Your iPad can not play Flash videos on the Web. Mine can.

Your copy of Windows Needs constant updating and patching and Protection Against viruses and spyware. Mine is always clean and always up-to-date.

No, I'm Not Some Kind of techno-elitist smug, You Can Have all Of That, too. All you Have to do is sign up for a crazy, radical Called OnLive service iPad Desktop Plus.

It's a tiny app - about 5 megabytes. When you open it, you see a standard Windows 7 desktop, right there on your iPad. The full, latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer and Adobe Reader are set up and ready to use - no installation, no serial numbers, no pop-up balloons nagging you to update this gold That. It may Be The least annoying version of Windows you've ever used.

That's pretty impressive - but not as impressive as what's going on behind the scenes. The PC that's driving your iPad Windows experience is, in Fact, a "farm" of computers at one of Three Data Center Thousands of miles away. Every time you tap the screen, a scroll list or type on the on-screen keyboard, you're Sending signals to remote Those computers. The screen image is blasted back to your iPad with astonishingly little lag.

There's an insane Amount of technology behind this stunt - 10 years in the making, the company's According To founder. (He'sa veteran of Apple's original QuickTime and Microsoft's WebTV team and Xbox teams.) OnLive Desktop builds on the company's original business, a service That lets gamers play video games high-horsepower is low-powered Macs gold Windows computers like netbooks.

The free version of the Service OnLive Desktop Arrived in January. It Gives You Word, Excel and PowerPoint, A Few Basic Windows apps (Paint, Media Player, Notepad, Calculator and so on), and 2 gigabytes of storage for your documents.

Now, There are plenty of apps That Give You stripped-down versions of Office on the iPad. Purpose Desktop OnLive Gives you the complete, full-blown, Windows Office suite. In Word, you can do fancy stuff like tracking exchange and high-end typography. In PowerPoint, you-can make slide shows That the iPad projects with all of the cross fades, zooms and animations intact.  

Meanwhile, thanks to Microsoft's Own Touch Pack add-on, all of this works with standard touch-screen gestures. For example, you-can pinch and spread Two Fingers to zoom in and out of your Office documents. You Can use Windows's impressive handwriting recognition injustement to enter text (although a Bluetooth keyboard works much better). You Can flick to scroll-through list has.

Instead of the mouse clicking will be things, You Can Simply tap, although a stylus works better than a fingertip; Many of the Windows controls are too tiny for a finger to tap PRECISELY. (Of course, it was real Windows PC, You Could Open the Control Panel to enlarge the controls for touch use - OnLive's goal is simulated PC Entirely Lacking the Control Panel, Which is one of ict FEW downsides.) ... ..... OnLive Desktop is seamless and Fairly amazing. And fast, what is Other PC Does Word open in one second?

The purpose only way to get files onto and off OnLive is using a desktop Documents folder on the desktop. To access it, you Have to visit OnLive's Web site on your actual PC.

The news today is the new service, OnLive Called Desktop Plus. It's not free - it costs $ 5 a month - but it adds Adobe Reader, Internet Explorer and a 1-gigabit-a-second Internet connection.

That's not a typo. And "1-gigabit Internet" connection means clustering the fastest you've ever Used in your life - on your iPad. It means clustering speeds 500 or 1.000 times as fast as what you probably get at home. It means clustering downloading a 20-megabyte file Before Your finger lifts from the glass cheap pay day loans.

You get The Same Speed ​​in Both directions. You can upload a 30-megabyte file in one second.  

And remember, you're using a state-of-the-art Windows computer, so You Can Play Any kind of video you might encounter online. OnLive Desktop Plus turns the iPad Into a Tablet That Can not play Flash videos at all - into the smoothest you've ever Flash player used. And yes, that 'includes watching TV at Hulu.com free, Which Otherwise you can not do on the iPad.

The Plus version's Internet connection makes a world of difference. Now You Can use DropBox to get files onto and off your iPad From Other gadgets, like Macs and PCs. (That, the company says, is why the Plus service still offers only 2 gigabytes of storage for your files, it figures you've got the Whole Internet now have your storage bin.) You Can Get to your Gmail, Yahoo mail, corporate Exchange Email and Other online accounts - with ridiculously quick response.  

Now, you might Be wondering: What good is a 1-gigabit connection on OnLive's end, if the far Slower connection on my end is the bottleneck?

The Secret Is That OnLive Is not Sending you all of the data from your web browsing session. Sending you it's only a video stream the size of your screen iPad.

For example, if you're playing a hi-def video, OnLive pares down the data just to show what your iPad Cdn. If you scroll off the screen a video, OnLive Does not bother you icts Sending data. And so on.

OnLive (free) OnLive and More ($ 5 a month) Both are brilliantly Executed steps forward Into the world of long-Promised "thin client" computing, In Which We Can use cheap, low-powered computers to run Programs that live online. Order the company's next plans are Even More exciting.  

For example, the company intends to Develop a Third-service, OnLive Called Pro ($ 10 a month) That Will Let You Run Windows Programs Any you want. Photoshop, Firefox, Autodesk, games - whatever.

The company still Is not sure how That Will work, somehow, you'll Have to PROVE That You Actually Own the software you're running on servers icts. Purpose what a Day That Will Be, When You Can Run Any Windows program on your iPad on earth.

And not just on your iPad. The company is working aussi Bringing OnLive to Android tablets, iPhones and iPod Touches, Macs and PCs, and Even to TV sets. (That last trick Would require a small set-top box.)

Suddenly Mac Fans Will Have the full world of Windows and all of ict programs - without the speed and memory penalties of Programs like Parallels and VMWare. And nobody Will Have to worry about viruses, spyware or software updates; OnLive's virtual PCs are always pristine.

This is all so crazy cool, It Seems Almost ungrateful to point out the flaws - but here goes.

The Delay Between finger touch and on-screen response is Usually tiny. Purpose When You use the gold paint handwriting recognition, the lag is painful.

Actually since you're viewing a video stream, you see Sometimes typical video stream glitches like low-resolution blocks of text That Momentarily clear up.

That says OnLive service works great icts over 4G cellular connections (like the one provided by LTE MiFi year) - but 3G connections and feeble hotel Wi-Fi hot spots are too slow To Be satisfying. OnLive wants at least a 2-megabit-a-second connection on your end.  

Finally, you Have to sign OnLive Into Every Time you want to use it, Even If you've just flicked away to Another Briefly iPad app. (OnLive says it'll Fix That.)

Even so, if There Were ever a poster child for the potential of cloud computing, OnLive is it. This is jaw-dropping, extremely polished technology. It opens up a universe of software and horsepower Live That Far Beyond the iPad's wildest dreams - with no more effort on your hand Than A Few taps on glass.

OnLive Desktop Plus Puts Windows 7 on the iPad in Blazing Speed ​​- State of the Art

Inside Europe: EU Banks and States Caught in a Vicious Cycle

  PARIS - Like drunks at a bar door, the euro zone's Governments and banks are leaning unsteadily on each other for support.

The banks know They Have to sober up, aim Governments are urging Them To Have one more for the road.

European policy makers may Have managed to stop the building from swaying Entire in the past FEW weeks, aim They Have not yet found a way to break the dangerous mutual dependency Between overindebted states and overleveraged banks.

'' If you do not cut the dependency Between banks and sovereigns, states Inevitably Will Be inhibited by the Risks of Their banks and banks Will Be inhibited by the Risks of Their states,'' Said Jean Pisani-Ferry, director of Bruegel, a group based economic research in Brussels.  

Almost a decade for, European banks binged on euro zone sovereign debt, with the blessing of National Regulators, making little distinction Among German bunds, Italian and Greek government issues Treasury bonds.

They Have Learned the hard way That There Is no such thing as a risk-free asset. When the true scale of Greece's public debt and deficit WAS disclosed at the end of 2009, the market panicked, setting off a vicious cycle of rising interest rates, credit rating downgrades and bank liquidity problems.

Economists call this a'' negative feedback loop.'' Weakened Governments are less Able to guarantee domestic banks Their, Which in turn are weakened by the dwindling value of Their sovereign bond holdings.  

When credit ratings downgrade Agencies nations like Italy, Spain or Portugal, that 'Automatically hits banks That Hold Their Governments' debt, leading to cuts Often In Those banks' ratings and to Their Own facing laundry charges year cost of credit.

That in turn Makes banks to lend less Able to Businesses, Reducing the Country's Economic Growth potential and hence ict icts Ability to Repay debt. So the vicious cycle goes.

In the worst case, It Could Lead to a bank run was chaotic That might Precipitate a sovereign default.

Silent bank runs invisibly Have Been Taking place across Southern Europe over the past year have Depositors Have Withdrawn funds, Especially from Greece, a goal Damaging public stampede has-been Avoided so far.  

Data collated by Bruegel from national sources show foreign investors Reduced Their holdings of the bonds of The Weakest European states from 2007 to mid-2011, while domestic banks laundry charges Their exposure Substantially During The extended period.

This pattern exacerbated Their mutual vulnerability.

According To The Most recent available figures, Which predate the latest sell-off of bank assets, Spanish banks owned 27 percent of Their government's debt. The figure for Portugal WAS 22.4 percent and, for Greece, 19.4 percent.

Many banks thing to Reduce Their sovereign bond holding the after the European Banking Authority Ordered Them to mark 'em to market value and in stress tests to raise Their core capital ratio to 9 percent by mid-2012.  

The European Central Bank narrowly prevented That'' doom loop'' Bringing banks from crashing down at the end of last year, interbank lending market When The HAD frozen up cash advances pay day loan.

The E.C.B. Provided ¤ 489 billion, or $ 642.5 one billion at the current exchange rate, in low-cost three-year loans to about 500 banks and is set to a second liquidity injection conduite next week

. Flooding banks with inexpensive money year averted imminent credit crunch and HAS Helped in the short term to restore market confidence, reopen interbank lending and bring down record euro zone government agricultural yields on bonds.

Purpose it may Merely Have postponed the day of reckoning and aggravated Rather Than Reduced Interdependence of the banks and sovereigns.  

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France Encouraged banks to use the funds to buy government debt and still more attractive pocket year interest-rate differential.

That means clustering'' This EACH STATE Cdn icts turn to banks, Which Will Have At Their Disposal liquidity,'' Mr. Sarkozy Said the day after the ECB Announced icts lending Measures in December.

It is too early to measure this so-Called Sarkozy carry trade, anecdotal evidence from recent purpose Spanish and Italian bond auctions Suggests That Some banks are history FOLLOWING advice.

That may help the Two biggest borrowers in Southern Europe get over a hump refinancing, aim it leaves banks and Governments injustement more vulnerable to less Than Each Others' Weakness.  

In the United States or Japan, Said Erik Jones, professor of European history at Johns Hopkins University, if government bonds Become a less-safe investment, investors switch to Another asset class like corporate debt, stocks or commodities.

Because the goal of national segmentation of financial Markets in Europe, Even After 12 years of the common currency, the flight to safety money flow from Has Seen MOST Countries to the Crisis Exposed to Those seen as havens.

While euro zone policy makers Have Discussed the problem behind closed doors, They Have done little to break the link.

Several steps That Could Reduce the risk oreliminate Have beens Ruled out so far, notably Issuing common euro zone bonds, the currency area's mutualizing Existing debt stock gold Creating a common European bank guarantee and resolution system.  

Germany, the EU paymaster, insisted EACH HAS REMAIN linkable member state for banking supervision and Its Own guarantees. Berlin has Rejected French Proposal for a European guarantee fund bank Lehman Brothers collapsed in After 2008 and adamantly restes Opposed to Such burden sharing.

That argues German Officials Maintaining'' country risk'' Gives Governments year incentive to clean up public finances Their. The solution, They Say, is to Reduce and Eliminate Eventually public borrowing. Purpose That Will Be Long, slow process.

In the Meantime, the euro area last year Agreed That Could icts rescue fund to lend money to recapitalize banks if Governments considers. Purpose That Would not sever the dependency.  

Mutualizing Europe's debts Would Be a Surer way to sever the'' doom loop.''

Paul Taylor is a Reuters match.

Inside Europe: EU Banks and States Caught in a Vicious Cycle

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Anthony Shadid's Death Puts Focus on Difficulty of Covering Syria

  The conflict in Syria HAS Become, for journalists, one of the MOST difficulty and dangerous assignments in Many Years, with at least five died while HAVING Covering the uprising last March That Began There.

The Refusal of the Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, to let foreign Journalists Freely move around the country spurred Some HAS to sneak in Lebanon or Turkey-through at great personal risk. Among Them WAS Anthony Shadid, a foreign correspondent of The New York Times, Who Spent Nearly a week HAD reporting covertly inside Syria and WAS on his way back to Turkey and died When He collapsed on Thursday, Apparently Of An asthma attack. He Was traveling with Tyler Hicks, a photographer for The Times.

Journalists from the BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, Al Jazeera English and a small number of organisms other news Have managed to enter Syria without visas, like Mr. and Mr. Shadid About did Hicks, and bear witness to the lopsided battles Between the Assad government and opposition fighters and Citizens. Along the way, Journalists Have Confronted a unique combination of challenges, Including tenuous cellphone and Internet connections, the lack of a clear front line and the constant Threat of Being caught by security forces loyal to the Syrian government.

"I've never seen anything quite like this," Said Mark Whitaker, an executive vice president at CNN, Which Has Two news crews working undercover in Syria this week. Other countries while restrictions on the press Have That Are as severe as Syria's - North Korea, Iran, Myanmar - "You do not have live wars going on there," Mr. Whitaker said.  

"If you get stopped at a government checkpoint, it's over not just for you, aim for everybody in the car," Said Clarissa Ward, CBS News are, Who Followed a route similar to Mr. Shadid's in and out of northern Syria from Turkey this month. Ms. Ward, a veteran of conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Elsewhere, Said, "I have never Experienced anything akin to what I saw in Syria."

Some Journalists Have Been Given Permission to enter Syria, Mainly-through ict capital, Damascus, goal They Have Reported Being tailed by the secret police and Being forbidden from touring Some share of the country.

Bill Neely, an international editor for ITV News in Britain Who Flew out of Damascus on Friday, Being Described in a government "security bubble" during a trip to Dara'a, where 'the uprising was born. When "I escaped from the bubble to talk to people," Said Mr. Neely, "it was clear They Were Afraid to speak."

Mr. Shadid felt Compelled to enter Syria with the help of smugglers for The Same Reasons That Other Journalists Cited in interviews this week: a sense That the killing and Widespread Suffering There Needs to be Documented.

"It's just nuts. I feel like no one There Is telling the truth now, "Mr. Shadid wrote in an e-mail to editors at The Times As They Should Weighed whether ET sneak back Into the country. "We Have to get the details."

The first time He Did so, in July of last year, hey Reported on antigovernment sentiment and sectarian tensions in the restive city of Homs. "Anthony WAS reporting from Homs When The rest of us only dream of it Could," Said Jon Williams, the BBC world news editor, Who Others joined in phrase providing condolences to The Times on Friday.

Mr. Williams Said That During The Period of upheaval in the Middle East That Began in December 2010 in Tunisia, Syria "is by far The Most perilous story we've Covered." Although There Were Many boxes of harassment and violence Affecting Journalists in Egypt and Libya, "the intensity with the Assad regime Which are Contesting places like Homs Raises the level of risk enormously, 'he said.

When the BBC's Paul Wood match and His cameraman Fred Scott, snuck Into Syria from Turkey this month, Mr. Williams Said That ET insisted THEY travel with a contractor Who Could act as a paramedic "in case something went wrong." This was Prompted by the death of Tim Hetherington, photographer and filmmaker, in Libya last year. "He bled to death Essentially Because nobody With Him Knew how to stem the bleeding," Mr faxless cash advances. Williams said.

Some other news Agencies Have feels security contractors Into Syria With Their news crews. Eason Jordan, CNN's Who Was chief news executive Until 2005 Helped coordinate security and for television networks in Iraq, Said, "Certainly It's prudent to Have Someone with experience, Including paramedic experience, in the traveling party, but it ' s not always to Do That for Practical Reasons and Logistical Sometimes Monetary Reasons. "

Mr. Shadid and Mr. Hicks Elected to travel without a security consultant. The Times Sometimes Such uses consultants aim Weighs EACH Individually situation.

Representatives For Some News Agencies, Including the Associated Press and Reuters, Declined to how the methods Used by Their staff members to cover Syria, Citing safety related concerns.

The reporting hazards Have Had a Suppressing Effect on Syria coverage, at least in the United States, where 'There Was not a significant spike in coverage Until the week of Feb. 6. Many articles and TV segments Have Had to Rely Heavily on secondhand information - what Mr. Shadid Called "remote-control reporting" in an NPR interview last December. For Some of the Journalists Involved, it has-been deeply frustrating.  

"I would hate to think That the Assad regime has-been Successful in Their Very cynical calculation Keeping Journalists That out of the country That Will mean the world forgets about the story," Ms. Ward of CBS News said.

CNN executives THEY HAD Said Tried to put a spotlight on the strife in Syria Because THEY Anticipated That, without easy access to professional-quality video, other news outlets pay less attention to Would to it. "If We Could see as much of what is happening on the ground as We Were Able To See in Egypt and Libya, this Would Be Leading the news broadcasts of all the networks Almost Every Night," Mr. Whitaker said.

He and others Asserted That Were professional video and reporting essential Even In year age of social media, When graphic videos of the violence in Syria are uploaded to YouTube and shared on Twitter Seemingly Every Day. "It's quite dehumanizing, really, to see fuzzy YouTube videos and photos shot That Have Been on cellphones," Mr. Williams said. Interviews by Professional Journalists, on the Other Hand, "bring the story alive to the audience, 'he added.

Viewer surveys by the BBC Showed a below-average interest in the Amount of Syria for the better hand story of the last year, Mr. Williams Said, Possibly Because of the Lack of Journalists Firsthand stories from there. The Past Two Weeks, When Mr. Wood and Mr. Scott of the BBC Were holed up in Homs and broadcasting During The Syrian government's bombardment of the city, "it's gone Substantially above-the-average," Mr. Williams Said, reiterating in mind the historical value of original reporting.  

At least kiln Other Journalists Have died since the uprising in Syria Began, According To the Committee to Protect Journalists, Which Has No Record of Deaths journalist There In the 20 years before. According To the group, five Journalists and one media worker died in Libya last year and Two died in Egypt, where 'more freedom of Journalists HAD movement.

In Syria, a freelance cameraman, Ferzat Jarban, WAS found dead in early November. His body WAS Mutilated, According To Information Gathered by the group. Another freelance cameraman, Basil al-Sayed, died at the end of December. A French television reporter, Gilles Jacquier, died in January DURING a government-sponsored trip to Homs. A freelance reporter for Agence France-Presse, The Guardian and other publications, Mazhar Tayyara, died in Homs in early February.  

Each death WAS Accompanied by Syrian security forces claim That Were at fault, claims purpose Those Were unable to confirm Nearly Because of the dearth of independent reporting in the country.

This Article has-been revised to Reflect the Following correction:

Correction: February 18, 2012

An Earlier Version of this article misidentified the Committee to Protect Journalists. It is not the Committee to Project Journalists.

Anthony Shadid's Death Puts Focus on Difficulty of Covering Syria

Global Battle Against Tax Crimes intensified

  PARIS - The global body That sets standards for Combating money laundering and terrorist financing Said Thursday That Should Governments treat tax crimes as a red flag for Other Types of financial malfeasance, has signed International Cooperation Against That tax cheats is Gaining Momentum.

The body, the Financial Action Task Force, Said It Was icts Expanding list of "predicate offenses for money laundering" to include serious tax crimes.

The Task Force, based at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development here, aussi updated its so-Called blacklist of noncooperative Countries and territories For The First Time in Several years.

The exchange Reflect A Growing Movement Toward International cooperation to catch tax cheats. Governments Have Become much less lenient on the subject since the Financial Crisis Began oven years ago, with tax havens like Switzerland coming under pressure to Cooperate.

On Feb. 8, Six Countries, Including the United States, France, Germany and Britain, Announced That Would THEY work together to fight tax evasion in the context of putting the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act in place, a United States initiative to find hidden overseas accounts.

The Task Force Has No Its Own Powers of enforcement, the goal recommendation "means clustering the produit of tax crimes must now Be regarded" by Governments, Richard Chalmers, co-chairman of the body's working group for Assessing Compliance, Said at a news conference.

The focus is not on tax evasion per se, we aim injustement how ill-gotten gains Might Be able to use fast payday loan. Officials Acknowledged That the definition of tax crimes differed from country to country and That It Would Be up to National Officials to define and act on the information THEY found.

The Task Force Operates by consensus, and Officials Declined to say HAD Which Countries supported gold Opposed the new initiative. Purpose the Swiss Banking Association in a statement Said That It had "always Face value Skepticism Regarding the addition of tax crimes" to the task force's list of offenses, and That it welcomed "the Fact That the FATF leaves it up to the respective Countries to define the terms of the predicate crime as offense for money laundering. "

The task force, Whose agenda includes the Fight Against financing nuclear proliferation, last revised guidelines icts in 2003. The end of tax crimes WAS Proposed as a topic for inclusion at the last revision, order failed to make the final text. The inclusion in the new guidelines shows the extents to the international climate Which Has Changed since then.

Officials said at the news conference the task force That WAS no longer Separating Measures for Combating terrorist financing recommendations from icts hand Because There Was much in common with Other money laundering criminal, rendering moot the distinction.

The task force working to Ensure That WAS Governments Knew Who Were the "beneficial owners" of Their Businesses Within jurisdictions, officials said.

Global Battle Against Tax Crimes intensified

W.Va. AG launches mortgage settlement project

  

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - West Virginia Officials are Launching a project to help homeowners get relief stemming from a nationwide mortgage settlement.

To help with the settlement, state Attorney General Darrell McGraw's office HAS Launched "Project: Save Our Homes."

The $ 25 one billion Settlement Between States and five mortgage lenders over foreclosure are mistaken WAS Announced last week.

Will the banks make cash payments to Those Who Experienced foreclosure are mistaken from January 1, 2008 to Dec guaranteed fast personal loans. 31, 2011. Under the agreement, the banks aussi Will modify loan terms and provide statement Other relief to home borrowers. The banks are Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial.

McGraw says homeowners Who Believe They Might Be eligible for relief from mortgage or Have Should banks with contact history's Office hotline at 1-800-368-8808 burn.

W.Va. AG launches mortgage settlement project

As Xi visits, China's US crop demand has balm for tension

  

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - China is half a world away from the 2.300-acre family farm in east-central Iowa Where John Weber and His plant his corn and soybeans.

Goal 62-year-old Weber is Among a number of Iowa Farmers Who are Benefiting Rising Incomes in China have lead to demand for billions of dollars of American farm goods.

"There are huge Opportunities," Said Weber, Who in addition to corn and soybean business history, markets more Than 14.000 hogs a year with a partner. "Absolutely huge."

This week, a visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping to the state farm Will underscore the possibilities of the deepening relationship and Agricultural Trade Between China and the United States.

Xi, who is Expected to replace Hu Jintao as Communist Party chief late this year and then Become China's new president in early 2013, Will Spend Two Days in Iowa After meeting President Barack Obama in Washington.

China last year Bought $ 20 trillion, or 14 percent, of record and Agricultural US exports and it is now the US Largest buyer of soybeans, while Becoming an increasingly important US import of pork and corn. The farm exports, up from $ 18.6 one billion in 2010, now about one fifth of Represent sales of American goods to China and US Officials are Hopping for a lot more.

Beijing is not only buying food That Will Go directly to feed 1.3 billion people icts aussi goal for feedstuff That Is Going to the animals raised to Meet Increasing Demand for meat and dairy produce more Chinese Cdn That now AFFORD.

Public policy experts say is China's wealthier Increasing reliance on the American farm belt's Enormous Strengths - bountiful grain, seed technology and advanced equipment - is Likely to Be Stabilizing has influence on Sino-US relations, Which are fraught in a number of parking areas.

Those complaints include US friction over the Chinese currency That is Undervalued, that 'American Manufacturing Companies Do not Have to fair access the Chinese market, and allegations China is carrying out That cyber warfare to steal secrets US. Add in disagreements over human rights in China and Iran's nuclear program, most Chinese Concerns That the US military is meddling in a year of construction icts backyard-through focus on the Asia-Pacific region, and the farm year parts provide statement important counter weight.

"The more the Chinese come to depend on US and Agricultural exports, the more That Could Potentially make a big difference on the Geopolitical relationship Between the Two Countries," Said William Overholt, a senior research fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and author of "Asia, America, and the Transformation of Geopolitics."

"The Stronger That part, the less the chance of Some overalls explosion happening in Some Other arena," Overholt said.

TOP PRODUCER

Iowa is central to all this as it Produce more soybeans, corn and hogs Than Any Other US state.

Xi year will visit Iowa soybean farm, be feted at a gala dinner sponsored by the state's corn, soybean and Pork Producers, Iowa and Meet with business leaders.

"It makes sense for Him to visit Iowa," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Said in interview year. "They are a significant customer."

Vilsack, Who served as governor of Iowa from 1999 to 2007, He Is Said to Strengthen working What He Sees Already have a personal relationship with Good China's Agriculture Minister Han Changfu and to resolve trade conflicts related to agriculture.

Vilsack HAS scheduled a first-ever US-China "agricultural symposium" for Thursday in Des Moines as a forum for Xi, Han And Other high-level Chinese and US Officials and business leaders to Discuss Agriculture, food security, food safety, and Other issues.

China is Increasing ict investment in biotech seeds and Other Agricultural Research and farmland is Trying to use more Efficiently, goal is still Relying more on imports free 3-in-1 credit report. While it accounts for a fifth of the world's population, It Has Less than 9 percent of arable land icts.

Soybeans, for feeding people and animals, are in particularly high demand. China imports about 60 percent of soybeans traded across the world, 52.6 million tons last fiscal year, Including 24 million tons, or $ 12.1 trillion, from the United States. That is up from 18.5 million tons, or one billion $ 7.1 Two Years Earlier, According To the States Department of Agriculture.

US pork exports to China rose 68 percent in 2011 (through November) from all of 2010. Indeed, China's monthly imports pork Have Been hitting new record in recent years, with US imports accounting for MOST of the growth, US figures show.

"China is the world's leader in pork production. They Can not intended market supply Their Own, "Said Ron Birkenholz, Spokesman for the Iowa Pork Producers Association. "There's a lot of potential there."

LONG-STANDING TIES

Xi HAS ties to Iowa dating back to the 1980s, When He Was a mid-level government official in the pig-farming region in Hebei. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad visited China as a share of sister-states exchange program, and in 1985, Xi Brought year animal-feed delegation to Iowa, staying for Two nights in the tiny farming town of Muscatine, a community He Will revisit Wednesday afternoon tea for year .

Xi and Branstad reunited in September at a meeting in Beijing, and the invitation extended Branstad That Is Bringing Xi to Iowa now. Said the governor considers ET Xi a good friend and Between China Sees parts, Iowa and the United States Strengthening.  

"We Have a lot of companies doing significant business Iowa there," Branstad said.

Some new business is Expected To Be signed while Xi is in Iowa. A group of Nearly Three dozen Chinese soybean buyers Have scheduled a ceremony in Des Moines to sign purchase intentions for trillions of dollars in US soybeans on Thursday.

A Chinese Delegation Will turn Des Moines-based Kemin Manufacturing, Which Makes animal feed and animal nutrition and human Other products. Kemin HAS Recently Doubled the size of Chinese manufacturing operations icts Which Annually bring in about $ 30 million in revenue for the family-owned Iowa company.

Kemin Chairman RW Nelson Said dirty far in China Are Growing Faster Than They Are In The United States. He Will Be one of the business leaders at the state Xi Honoring dinner on Wednesday night.

"We're Growing with 'em,' he said.  

And Another Chinese delegation is slated to visit aussi Iowa-based Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a global developer of biotech soybeans and corn owned by DuPont.

DuPont executive vice president Jim Borel Described a "very Rapidly growing" business in China. "China HAS Their Own food security issues. We're Actively working with 'em,' he said.

For Li Zhao, a native of China Who now lives in Des Moines and Iowa brokers business deals Between Companies and Chinese ventures, this is a key moment for US agricole ties with China.

"The Chinese ... They Are all Wanting To Have better food. That puts a lot of pressure on the Chinese government, "Said Zhao, president of China operations for the ChinaIowa Group. "There is a huge market out there."

Many Iowans Know That Fellow Americans are not as welcoming to China, particularly in manufacturing industries Involved Those That Have Seen jobs lost to China.  

Purpose here, the welcome is warm.

"It may not Be The Case for Other segments of the economy," Said Weber. "Purpose Agriculture is on the winning side of trade with China Any."

(Reporting By Carey Gillam in Des Moines, additional reporting by Andrew Stern and PJ Huffstutter in Chicago and Paul Eckert in Washington; Editing by Martin Howell)

As Xi visits, China's US crop demand has balm for tension