Finance news. My opinion.

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities dropped at a slower pace in the year ended February, pointing to stabilization in the real-estate market.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values fell 3.5 percent from a year earlier, the smallest 12-month drop since February 2011, a report from the group showed today in New York. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a 3.4 percent fall. The index climbed from the prior month on a seasonally adjusted basis for the first time since April of last year.

Steadying home values are needed to lay the groundwork for a sustained rebound in the housing industry by giving prospective buyers confidence. Near record-low borrowing costs and more hiring may help the market absorb the foreclosures still in the pipeline, which may mean housing will no longer hinder economic growth.

European policy makers were urged to be tougher and more agile in their efforts to end two years of debt turmoil as the International Monetary Fund won more than $430 billion to safeguard the world economy.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde

A German court has ruled that online video platform YouTube must install filters to prevent users from uploading some music videos whose rights are held by a music-royalties collecting body.

German news agency dapd reported that the Hamburg state court on Friday mostly sided with Germany’s GEMA, which represents about 60,000 German writers and musicians.

GEMA took Google Inc.’s YouTube unit to court over 12 temporarily uploaded music videos for which no royalties were paid.

YouTube has maintained that it bears no legal responsibility for the uploaded content _ saying it checks and sometimes blocks content when users alert the firm about alleged violations of laws.

It was not immediately clear whether the ruling will be appealed.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below Payday advance.

BERLIN (AP) _ A German court is set to rule on whether the online video platform YouTube is responsible for the content of videos uploaded by its users.

GEMA, a German music royalties collecting body, took Google Inc.’s YouTube unit to the Hamburg state court over 12 uploaded music videos for which no royalties were paid.

YouTube maintains that it bears no legal responsibility for the uploaded content _ saying that it checks and sometimes blocks content when users alert the firm about alleged violations of laws.

A ruling Friday in favor of GEMA could be a major blow for YouTube because experts say that millions of videos on its platform could be affected.

Source

The yen fell against most of its major counterparts as Bank of Japan (8301) officials signaled they

After a battle lasting almost two years, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has knuckled under to the Indian government, giving security forces in that country access to private instant messages.

Experts say the change, first reported in the newsmagazine India Today, could lead to similar access for other spy agencies and government bodies around the world

The new debt-slashing budget plan pushed by House Republicans heated up as a presidential campaign issue Sunday as the proposal’s architect, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, sparred with top Democrats over its political fallout and downplayed the possibility he could be tapped as a vice presidential candidate.

Senior White House adviser David Plouffe dismissed the GOP plan Sunday as “a lot of candy, not a lot of vegetables,” and charged that it would be “rubber-stamped” as law if leading Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is elected.

“This is really the Romney-Ryan plan,” Plouffe said, adding that its mix of across-the-board tax cuts and stiff budget cuts “showers huge tax cuts on millionaires and billionaires paid for by senior and veterans.”

Ryan tried to tamp down speculation that he could be tapped for the No. 2 spot on the GOP ticket, although who will be the nominee is far from settled.

“I would have to consider it, but it’s not something I’m even thinking about right now because right _ I think our job in Congress is pretty important,” Ryan said. “And what we believe we owe the country is, if we don’t like the direction the president is taking us, which we don’t, we owe them a specific sharp contrast and a different path that they can select in November. And doing this in Congress is really important.”

The House GOP debt-reduction plan, unveiled last week with minimal Democratic congressional support, is quickly sharpening as a line of division for the fall campaign, pitting GOP and tea party pressure for a reined-in budget against White House and Democratic party alarms about a weakened Medicare system and tax relief for the wealthy.

“This is a sharp, clear difference with two different futures,” Ryan said. Despite growing signs that the U.S economy is struggling back to life, Ryan threw down a marker for the fall national election, saying that the GOP plan is the only alternative to a looming debt crisis versus Obama’s “path of debt and decline payday loan lenders.”

The GOP proposal _ endorsed by Romney last week during a meeting with GOP congressional leaders _ would slice $5.3 trillion from President Barack Obama’s budget over the coming decade through tax reforms and sweeping program cuts. The plan aims to shrink U.S. deficits by $3.1 trillion over the next decade, reducing tax burdens while cutting Medicaid payments and shifting oversight to states and sharply cutting other domestic programs.

House Budget Committee chairman Ryan, who authored a similar plan last year sunk by White House and Democratic congressional opposition, agreed that Romney backed his plan generally. But he said the former Massachusetts governor might not be in complete lockstep with his vision.

“I’m not expecting everyone to enact every little piece,” Ryan said, adding that he expects Romney will back the plan’s main planks.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., cautioned that his party would blunt the Ryan plan again as it did last year, also noting the election year “contrast with Democrats.” He said Senate Democrats would offer up a rival tax reform plan on tax day, April 15, calling for increased taxes on wealthy Americans along the lines of the “Buffett Rule” acclaimed by billionaire Nebraska investor Warren Buffett.

“Let’s be fair, you should pay more than your secretary,” Schumer said, echoing Buffett’s complaint that the current tax system allows the megarich to pay at lower tax rates than many of those who work for them.

Ryan and Plouffe spoke on “Fox News Sunday,” while Ryan and Schumer went on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Source

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, set to leave office next year after a decade in power, said his nation must adopt political change to support an economic transformation that has produced rapid development at the cost of a widening wealth gap.

British Prime Minister David Cameron faced opposition calls to abandon his health-service revamp and cut sales tax as scrutiny of the coalition government

WASHINGTON • The economy grew late last year at a pace that in normal times would suggest it’s healthy.

But the 2.8 percent annualized growth rate in the October-December quarter — the fastest pace since the spring of 2010 — isn’t being cheered by most economists or investors. That’s because growth would need to be much stronger to sharply reduce unemployment. And signs in the data point to slower growth ahead.

For all of last year, the economy grew just 1.7 percent. That was barely more than half the growth in 2010. The outlook for all 2012 is slightly better. The Federal Reserve estimates growth of roughly 2.5 percent for the year.

Though the economy has picked up and is far stronger than during the Great Recession, unemployment is still a high 8.5 percent. Many people remain reluctant to spend more or buy homes. Many employers are still hesitant to hire.

For the final three months of 2011, Americans spent more on vehicles, and companies restocked their shelves at a robust pace. But overall growth last quarter — and for all of last year — was held back by the sharpest cuts in annual government spending in four decades, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Several factors are expected to exert more of an economic drag this year: Cuts in military and other federal spending. A slower pace of company restocking. Weak or flat pay increases. Sluggish growth in consumer spending.

“Overall, the pickup in growth doesn’t look half as good when you realize that most of it was due to inventory accumulation,” said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, who expects growth to slow to below 2 percent in the first three months of this year.

In the final three months of last year, consumer spending grew at a 2 percent annual rate. That’s up modestly from the third quarter. Consumer spending is important because it makes up 70 percent of economic activity.

Much of the growth was powered by a 14.8 percent surge in sales of autos and other long-lasting manufactured goods.

Incomes, which have been weak all year because of high unemployment, grew at a modest 0.8 percent annual rate. That followed two straight quarters of declining incomes. But unless pay increases pick up, consumers who have dipped into savings in recent months may pull back.

Business restocking, which can vary widely from quarter to quarter, was the greatest contributor to growth in the October-December period. It added nearly 2 percentage points to the gross domestic product, or GDP.

Government spending at all levels fell at an annual rate of 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter and 2.1 percent for the year — the biggest decline since 1971. Sweeping federal defense cuts at the beginning and end of 2011 were a major factor.

The economy is measured by GDP, which covers everything from haircuts to hotel bookings to jet fighters. Friday’s estimate was the first of three for the fourth quarter.

Other data show that in some ways, the economy ended 2011 on a strong note. Companies invested more in equipment and machinery in December. The unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent last month — the lowest level in nearly three years — after the sixth straight month of solid hiring.

People are buying more cars, and consumer confidence is rising. Even the depressed housing market has shown enough improvement to make some economists predict a turnaround has begun.

Source

Chinese and Indian manufacturing gauges rose in December, suggesting that Asia