Finance news. My opinion.

The five-week run of Disney’s "The Lion King" at the Milwaukee Theatre grossed a total of $6.2 million and sold nearly 110,000 tickets, exceeding the presenter’s expectations and attracting nearly $3.2 million in estimated spending to the city, officials from The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts said.

The run, which concluded March 2, is the most successful theatrical engagement in Milwaukee history, according to the Marcus Center. "The Lion King" was presented at the Wisconsin Center District’s Milwaukee Theatre as part of the Broadway Across America series presented by the Marcus Center.

"Even with fierce Wisconsin winter weather challenges, audiences came out in droves to experience ‘The Lion King’," said Jack Eldon, vice president of domestic touring for Disney Theatrical Productions.

The show exceeded goals even after having its opening night performance "snowed out" by the Feb. 6 storm that dumped a foot or more of snow on the area. Marcus Center president Paul Mathews said the cancellation cost the show one night of gross ticket receipts, but the center was able to seat all patrons who wished to attend later shows cash advance loan.

The show’s success was also aided by the fact that it ran at the Milwaukee Theatre, a larger venue than the Marcus Center’s Uihlein Hall. That move wasn’t made for capacity, but for timing reasons, Mathews said. The Milwaukee Theatre was open during the period when "The Lion King" was available, with Disney picking up the rental tab for the space, Mathews said.

Mathews said "The Lion King" sold out, or nearly sold out, about a dozen of its 33 performances. Total ticket sales reached about 94 percent of capacity for the 3,500-seat Milwaukee Theatre.

"Disney is very pleased with the strong sales in Milwaukee," Mathews said.

By bringing about 110,000 attendees to downtown from both inside and outside the Milwaukee area, the show had an estimated economic impact of nearly $3.2 million, Mathews said. He based that figure on a 2007 study by Americans for the Arts, which estimated that Milwaukee County arts and cultural event attendees spend about $28.99 each per event.

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Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. reported a loss of $130.9 million on Monday after markets closed, which includes land-related charges.

The just-completed quarterly loss was more than double the $57.4 million loss a year ago.

The company delivered 3,604 homes in the first quarter that ended Jan. 31, an increase from the 3,266 homes delivered in the previous quarter. But the homes sold for less, with revenue falling from $1.14 billion to $1.05 billion.

"Market conditions remain challenging across many of our markets," said Ara K. Hovnanian, president and chief executive officer of Hovnanian Enterprises in Red Bank, N.J quick payday. "We continue to focus on reducing our inventories, maximizing cash flow and shrinking our overhead to ensure that we properly manage the difficult market conditions we currently face."

Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV) builds in Sacramento under the name K. Hovnanian Homes, and was ranked seven in the Greater Sacramento market last year, based on new-home sales, according to Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.

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China's inflation probably surged to another 11-year high in February on snowstorms that disrupted food supplies, making an interest-rate increase more likely.

Consumer prices rose 7.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, after gaining 7.1 percent in January. The statistics bureau will release the figure at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

China is grappling with how to tame inflation without triggering a sharp slowdown as a cooling global economy threatens export growth. Raising rates when the U.S. Federal Reserve has cut them may attract more overseas money into a financial system already flooded with cash.

“It may be better to act early,'' says Michael Dai, a senior economist at Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd. “If inflation climbs to double digits they would have to slam on the brakes very hard.''

Inflation is “the biggest concern of the people,'' Premier Wen Jiabao told lawmakers at the annual meeting of the National People's Congress last week. Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said “there is still room'' to raise rates after six increases last year pushed the one-year lending rate to a nine- year high of 7.47 percent.

February's price surge was likely driven by blizzards that disrupted food and fuel supplies, said Paul Tang, an economist at Bank of East Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Producer Prices

“If you take out food and energy prices, inflation remains about 1 percent,'' said Tang free credit report.com. “So there are worries, but there's still a lack of evidence that inflation has spread to become a general problem.''

Some economists disagree for reasons including accelerating producer prices. February's increase for goods as they leave the factory gate was a three-year high of 6.9 percent, according to the survey.

“The notion that there is nothing to worry about because non-food CPI inflation remains about 1 percent is probably not valid because every other price index seems to suggest some real pricing pressures,'' said James McCormack, head of sovereign ratings at Fitch Ratings in Hong Kong.

China has added price controls this year on some foods, frozen energy prices and quickened the yuan's pace of appreciation, which lowers import costs. Banks' reserve requirements have climbed to a record 15 percent.

Goldman Sachs Group Ltd. economists last week forecast a rate increase “in coming days.''

Tang said he expects the central bank to wait until the second quarter to avoid sapping investor confidence in the stock market. The benchmark CSI 300 Index has fallen 13 percent this year after climbing 160 percent in 2007.

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Jean-Claude Trichet's European economy may be reaping the rewards of risk aversion.

As the U.S. teeters on the brink of a recession after the end of a five-year housing boom, growth in the 15 nations that share the euro is poised to outpace the American economy for a second straight year.

The region's resilience lets Trichet, who today presides over the European Central Bank's monthly policy meeting, focus on fighting inflation instead of cutting interest rates. Because Europeans save more than Americans and splurge less on houses and stocks, the continent is better placed to withstand the global credit squeeze without the need for lower borrowing costs.

“To be thrifty is a good thing and definitely a plus for the European economy in this tough period,'' said Jean-Michel Six, chief European economist at Standard & Poor's in London. “The attitude to debt and credit is clearly very different between the U.S. and Europe.''

U.S. growth will slow to 1.5 percent this year from 2.2 percent in 2007, according to the International Monetary Fund. The Washington-based fund forecasts the euro-area economy will expand 1.6 percent after 2.6 percent last year.

While that has pushed the euro to a record against the dollar, German companies have compensated by improving efficiency and reducing labor costs. Adidas AG, the world's second-largest sporting-goods maker, reported a 63 percent jump in fourth- quarter profit yesterday, and sports-car maker Porsche SE said March 4 that first-half profit rose 44 percent.

`Best Performance'

“We are seeing the best performance in years despite the exchange rates,'' ECB council member Nout Wellink said on Feb. 27. The euro has risen 16 percent against the dollar in the past year, reaching $1.53 for the first time yesterday.

Growth in Europe's service industries accelerated in February, unemployment fell to the lowest since records began in 1993 and business confidence in Germany, the region's largest economy, unexpectedly rose for a second month.

The economy's performance will allow the ECB to keep its benchmark rate at a six-year high of 4 percent today, said all 54 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The ECB announces its decision at 1:45 p.m. in Frankfurt and Trichet, 65, briefs reporters 45 minutes later. Inflation is running at 3.2 percent, the fastest since the euro's debut in 1999.

Contrast With Fed

The ECB's inflation-fighting zeal contrasts with the growth- oriented policy of the Federal Reserve. The Fed has cut its key rate by 2.25 percentage points as the U.S. economy reels from the worst housing recession in a quarter century. The slump has made banks reluctant to lend and caused credit markets to seize up in August free credit report online.

U.S. manufacturing shrank at the fastest pace in almost five years last month and in January U.S. home sales fell to the lowest level since records began.

The euro area isn't completely immune, given the U.S. is the second-biggest customer for its goods. German exports to the U.S. dropped 5.9 percent last year.

Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands may also be tripped up by housing busts of their own, while Morgan Stanley forecasts the Italian economy will slip into a recession this year.

“The economy seems set for a substantially weaker 2008,'' said Howard Archer, chief European economist at Global Insight Inc. in London, who predicts the ECB will start cutting rates in June. The central bank is likely to lower its forecast for 2008 growth to 1.8 percent from 2 percent today, Archer said.

Less Debt

Still, European consumers are more reluctant than their American counterparts to run up debt, and have more savings to support them when expansion falters.

European household debt amounts to 90 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 134 percent in the U.S., according to estimates by Six at Standard and Poor's. Consumers in Europe save about 14 percent of their disposable income; Americans' savings rate is about zero.

While lower debt means Europe's economy is less likely to benefit from market booms, it also helps it avoid busts.

“If you haven't borrowed then you're not really exposed to the debt cycle going wrong,'' said David Mackie, chief European economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in London.

Europe's resilience marks a change from 2001, when a U.S. recession dragged the economies of Germany, France and Italy down with it. Since then, European companies and governments have taken steps to overcome structural obstacles to growth.

35-Hour Week

Germany in 2003 cut jobless benefits for the first time since World War II and in France, President Nicolas Sarkozy has effectively scrapped the 35-hour working week. Companies such as Siemens AG and Daimler AG have forced staff to work longer for less pay.

Profit growth has accelerated since 2003 to about 6.5 percent, according to JPMorgan, encouraging companies to hire.

With exports to Asia and the Middle East also helping manufacturers cope with the stronger euro, Europe may come out of the credit squeeze in better shape than the U.S., said Klaus Baader, chief European economist at Merrill Lynch & Co. in London.

“The euro area is well placed to weather the storm,'' said Baader.

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Apple Inc. stuck to its sales target of selling 10 million iPhones by years’ end and said it plans to start selling the popular devices in India and China in 2008.

The news came at Cupertino-based Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) annual meeting, a day after several analysts lowered their price targets on its stock citing the potential impact of a slowing economy on its sales pay day loan.

Apple also said it has no plans for a stock buyback or dividend.

Shareholders at the meeting approved a proposal to give them a nonbinding vote on pay packages for senior executives.

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Billionaire investor Warren Buffett stepped into a debate about the emergence of sovereign wealth funds, saying the government-controlled firms are fueled by U.S. spending overseas, not political motives.

“This is our doing, not some nefarious plot by foreign governments,'' Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said yesterday in his annual letter to shareholders. “Our trade equation guarantees massive foreign investment in the U.S. When we force-feed $2 billion daily to the rest of the world, they must invest in something here.''

Countries including China, Russia and Dubai have deployed record central bank reserves to set up funds wielding as much as $2.9 trillion. Firms from Singapore, Korea, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi bought stakes during the past four months in Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, and Merrill Lynch & Co., the world's biggest brokerage. Officials from the U.S. Treasury Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission have said there's a risk government-controlled funds may invest to achieve political, rather than commercial, ends.

“He's right that we're the ones that created the problem in the first place,'' said Mohnish Pabrai, who manages $600 million at Pabrai Investment Funds in Irvine, California. “The U.S. is better off if foreign governments buy Treasuries, because we have a printing press for them, but if I were running China's money, I'd be buying U.S. companies, oil reserves, hard assets too.''

Pabrai and a friend paid $650,100 last year in an annual charity auction to have lunch with Buffett.

Warren's World

“Both the growth in size and number of these funds is such now that vigilance is required,'' Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt said in a Feb. 27 interview on Bloomberg Television. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said in December that the state-run investment firms don't adequately disclose why they're buying stocks and other assets.

Buffett, 77, built Berkshire Hathaway over four decades from a failing textile manufacturer into a $215 billion investment and holding company. The stock rose 29 percent in 2007 and about 4,700 percent in the 20 years through Dec. 31, six times more than the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, dividends included. The feat made Buffett an icon to shareholders and investors.

In his annual letters, Buffett offers his view of market conditions, potential investments, corporate governance and economic policy, as well as his plans for Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire.

Fear and Greed

Along with insurance operations and a stock portfolio valued at $75 billion at yearend, Berkshire owns businesses ranging from candy making and residential real estate brokerage to utilities and corporate jet leasing, giving Buffett an insider's perspective on many facets of the economy and finance.

Buffett released the shareholder letter with Berkshire's 2007 full-year and fourth-quarter financial results. Net income in the quarter fell 18 percent to $2.95 billion, or $1,904 a share as profit from insurance units fell. The company's shares dropped $250, or 0.2 percent, to $140,000 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Berkshire said it owned a 1.3 percent stake in Sanofi- Aventis SA, France's largest pharmaceuticals company, at yearend payday advance lenders. The 17.2 million shares cost $1.47 billion and had appreciated by $109 million, Berkshire said.

In last year's letter, Buffett said his method was to “be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.''

Party's Over

He said Berkshire followed that maxim by rushing to insure coastal properties after 2005's Hurricane Katrina caused prices to double and triple. Berkshire, which gets about half its profit from insurance, sold less of the coverage in 2007 as prices dropped.

“The party is over,'' Buffett said in yesterday's letter. “It is a certainty that insurance industry profit margins, including ours, will fall significantly in 2008. Prices are down.''

Fourth-quarter underwriting profit from Berkshire's insurance business dropped 46 percent to $465 million, led by declines at auto insurer Geico Corp. and reinsurance units. Reinsurance is coverage for insurance companies.

The worst housing recession in a quarter century hurt Berkshire's building-related companies. Profit fell 17 percent to $109 million at Shaw Industries, the world's largest carpet maker. Earnings also dropped at Acme Brick and Johns Manville.

Buffett applied the strategy of greed in the face of fear when defaults on mortgage-related securities surged during the past year.

MBIA, Ambac

The losses threatened the credit ratings of bond insurers including MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Group Inc. Berkshire formed a company in December to compete with the firms, charging more to guarantee payment on municipal debt while avoiding the mortgage-related securities that jeopardized their credit ratings.

As defaults on mortgage-related securities climbed, Buffett offered to assume $800 billion of municipal bond obligations from MBIA, Ambac and FGIC Corp. in exchange for more than $9 billion in premiums. None of the companies have said they'll accept the terms.

“When you have an adversary who's embattled, in a corner and has no other options for survival, they'll do anything,'' said Charles Hamilton, an analyst at FTN Midwest Securities Corp. in Nashville, Tennessee. “He was just seeing if they were desperate enough to have to take the deal.'' Hamilton rates the stock “neutral.''

Four Contenders

Buffett revealed in last year's letter his decision to split the roles of chief executive officer and chief investment officer when he steps down. He previously said the CEO spot will go to one of three Berkshire managers, whom he hasn't identified. He has said his health is good and he has no plans to retire.

Four “young to middle-aged'' candidates have been selected for the investing post, Buffett wrote in yesterday's letter.

“All manage substantial sums currently,'' he said. “The board knows the strengths of the four and would expect to hire one or more if the need arises.'' They range from “well-to-do to rich,'' and “all wish to work for Berkshire for reasons that go beyond compensation,'' Buffett said.

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