Finance news. My opinion.

An obscure U.S. Treasury Department fund that Robert Rubin once used to save the Mexican economy may provide cash to preserve the savings of investors in U.S. money-market mutual funds.

The Treasury will use the $50 billion Exchange Stabilization Fund to insure publicly offered retail and institutional funds, the department said in a statement. The move comes after the Reserve Primary Fund this week became the first in 14 years to break the buck, or drop below $1 a share, exposing investors to losses.

The ESF — a mix of U.S. dollars, euros and yen — was created in 1934. It enables the department to buy and sell currencies to stabilize the dollar. Because it is outside congressional control, Treasury secretaries have been able to tap it for a number of other purposes, including the 1995 bailout of the Mexican economy orchestrated by then-Treasury Secretary Rubin.

The use of the fund in the past “has been very controversial,'' said Peterson Institute fellow Edwin Truman, former head of the Federal Reserve's international-finance division. “It is, on the basis of its prior use, a stretch to use the Exchange Stabilization Fund for domestic financial- stability purposes.''

Record Redemptions

Nevertheless, Truman said it's “appropriate'' for the Treasury to consider all options. Interest rates on the shortest-maturity Treasury securities fell to almost zero this week as money-market funds, fearing redemptions, rushed to raise cash. Investors pulled a record $89.2 billion from the funds on Sept. 17, according to data compiled by the Money Fund Report, a newsletter based in Westborough, Massachusetts.

The Treasury's use of the ESF doesn't always attract headlines payday advance low fees. Late last year and early this year, Secretary Henry Paulson authorized a bridge loan to Liberia to address some technical issues with the African nation's debt-relief transactions at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

In 1995, however, Rubin's move drew heavy criticism on Capitol Hill, including calls for his impeachment.

The peso was plunging as Mexico appeared close to defaulting on billions of dollars in short-term borrowings. After Congress refused a direct loan, Rubin persuaded former President Bill Clinton to send Mexico $20 billion from the fund, then talked the IMF into lending another $17.8 billion. Mexico later paid back all the money, with interest.

End Run

This time, an end run around Congress isn't likely to create a huge outcry, said Paul McCulley, a portfolio manager at Pacific Investment Management Co.

“You never can legislate the nature of crisis or how it may unfold,'' he said.

The ESF held $49.97 billion as of the end of August. Treasury officials told reporters they don't expect to use the entire amount, since strict rules that require money-market funds to invest in safe assets will likely prevent widespread failures.

Given that some of the fund is in foreign currencies, using it all domestically would require selling euros and yen, which might be tricky, said Wrightson ICAP chief economist Louis Crandall. However, “it could probably be arranged'' with other central banks, he said.

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The good news for recent college graduates is that, despite the slumping economy, there are still several industries that are hiring young graduates at a brisk pace, according to a new study by MonsterTrak, the student division of Monster Worldwide Inc.

The top five industries for entry-level workers are sales and business development, which accounts for almost a quarter of all postings for entry-level workers and includes jobs in account management, real estate and advertising; accounting and finance; training and instruction; information technology and software development; and medical and health pay day advance.

Maynard, Mass.-based Monster (Nasdaq: MNST) also found that there was a 200 percent increase in entry-level postings related to the health care and medical fields.

Also, white collar entry-level jobs in sales and business development, as well as accounting and finance, still account for a large percentage of entry-level postings.

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China may cut interest rates again, ease limits on bank lending and boost spending to spur economic growth after lowering borrowing costs for the first time in six years.

“Policy makers will consider further interest-rate cuts in the coming month, in conjunction with a more proactive fiscal policy,'' said Jing Ulrich, chairwoman of China equities at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Hong Kong. The central bank yesterday reduced the one-year lending rate and lowered the proportion of deposits that the nation's smaller banks must set aside.

The slowest inflation in 14 months gave China room to lower borrowing costs and protect jobs as the outlook for exports dims and the credit crisis deepens. The rate cut came as stock markets slumped globally after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy and Bank of America Corp. agreed to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. for $50 billion.

“A gradual easing cycle has probably begun,'' said Alec Young, an international equity strategist at Standard & Poor's in New York. “The focus is no longer on inflation and is more on China's growth. The rest of the world is flirting with a recession and China's growth is slowing too.''

The People's Bank of China reduced the one-year lending rate to 7.20 percent from 7.47 percent, effective today. It lowered the reserve-requirement ratio for smaller banks to 16.5 percent from 17.5 percent.

`Important Problems'

The rate cut is “to help solve important problems in our economy for its continued stable and fast development,'' the central bank said in a statement on its Web site yesterday, when markets were closed for a holiday.

In July, the central bank reduced restrictions on how much banks can lend by raising 2008 loan quotas for national banks by 5 percent and regional lenders by 10 percent, according to reports by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., BNP Paribas SA, and China Merchants Bank Co.

It's likely those quotas, the main constraint on borrowers, will be eased again, said Mark Williams, a London- based economist with Capital Economics Ltd. The rate cut will have a limited impact on the economy because bank lending financed just 15 percent of fixed investment last year, Williams said.

The Shanghai Composite Index of stocks has fallen 60 percent this year, closing on Sept. 12 at 2,079.67, on concern that measures to tame inflation will erode company profits.

Stock Market's Drop

It's “suspicious'' that the central bank acted when the index seemed set to drop below 2,000, Williams said, adding that some people thought that level “was a floor at which the government would intervene to shore up the market.''

China last week released data indicating that the economy has slowed no fax payday loans.

Inflation cooled to 4.9 percent in August, export growth slowed and industrial production expanded by the least in six years. China's economy expanded 10.1 percent in the three months to June 30 from a year earlier, the fourth straight quarter of slower growth.

The weakness in China's asset markets is not just in stocks. Property could be headed for a “meltdown'' as home prices and sales decline, Morgan Stanley said Sept. 12.

“This is the beginning of an easing cycle in China,'' said Darius Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist at CFC Seymour Ltd. in Hong Kong.

China has already slowed gains by the yuan against the dollar to protect jobs at exporters of shoes, toys and clothes and raised export-tax rebates for garments and textiles.

Infrastructure Spending

Infrastructure spending is a possible tool for stimulating economic growth. Officials are working on a plan for as much as 400 billion yuan ($58 billion) of spending and tax cuts, according to economists and reports in domestic news media.

China's central bank pushed the reserve requirement for lenders to a record 17.5 percent in June. The biggest banks are excluded from the reduction. Those exempted are: Bank of China Ltd., Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank Corp., Bank of Communications Co. and Postal Savings Bank of China.

The requirement for smaller banks drops by 1 percentage point from Sept. 25. In areas affected by the Sichuan earthquake, the reduction is 2 percentage points.

The central bank left the key deposit rate unchanged at 4.14 percent, narrowing banks' margins on loans.

Zhu Baoliang, the chief economist at the State Information Center, a government research agency, said August's economic data probably prompted yesterday's moves, rather than events in the U.S.

In the U.S., banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. formed a $70 billion fund to ensure market liquidity as Lehman filed for bankruptcy and Bank of America Corp. agreed to acquire Merrill. The Federal Reserve may reduce the benchmark interest rate today to 1.75 percent from 2 percent, according to the futures market.

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Novell Inc. and Microsoft Corp. announced Thursday that it has developed technology that allows businesses to run Waltham, Mass.-based Novell’s open-source operating system on Microsoft servers.

The product is the first that allows companies to run a mixed Windows/Linux IT environment seamlessly, as the operating systems were designed to work, or interoperate, with each other cash till payday.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Novell’s (Nasdaq: NOVL) interoperability lab in Cambridge will test and validate the technology, which will be supported by original equipment manufacturers like Dell Inc.

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The attorney general of New York is negotiating settlements with eight student loan companies to reform deceptive practices in the industry. A particular focus is the marketing of products so they appear to be federal loans, an official said Friday.

"Some of the seals [used by lenders] looked very similar to those of the federal government," said Alex Detrick, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office.

The distinction is important because federal loans have fixed interest rates that are often lower than private loans.

The student loan companies also misled consumers at times about the best loan options on the market, he said.

This group of direct-to-student lenders sends advertising material by mail or market to students online, but does not necessarily have a presence on campus. Students are sometimes offered iPods or gift cards as an incentive to sign up, Detrick said.

The attorney general’s office is also preparing to sue student lender Goal Financial LLC for deceptive practices, Detrick said. Unlike the lenders currently negotiating settlements, Detrick said Goal Financial did not signal a willingness to reform its practices. He did not know how many, if any, of the companies would reach a settlement.

Calls to Goal Financial’s headquarters in San Diego went to voicemail Friday and were not immediately returned. The company’s attorney, Lewis Rose of Kelley Drye & Warren, did not return requests for comment.

Goal Financial was the sixth largest lender of consolidated student loans in the country in 2006, according to Student Marketmeasure, which tracks the student loan industry. Goal Financial made 111,426 loans worth $2.5 billion that year, according to the group.

The attorney general’s office sent a letter to Goal Financial in July notifying the company of its intent to sue.

The letter said Goal Financial enlisted students to promote loans on campus and offered incentives for students who secured applicants.

The letter also said Goal Financial’s advertising materials gave misleading examples of monthly payment amounts and annual savings.

In addition, the company referred students to a comparison Web site, www.eStudentLoan.com, which is operated by a Goal subsidiary, according to the letter payday loan low fee. The site does not disclose that it only lists lenders that pay Goal Financial a fee, Detrick said.

Last year, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office helped bring about reforms in the student lending industry when he investigated deals that gave colleges "kickbacks" in exchange for being listed as a preferred lender.

At least 22 schools agreed to adopt codes of conduct with regard to their financial relationships with lenders as a result of the investigation. Several of the lenders targeted in that investigation, including Sallie Mae (SLM, Fortune 500), formally SLM Corp., and Citibank, a unit of Citigroup Inc. (C, Fortune 500), agreed to reforms and to pay a combined $6.5 million into a national fund to educate families and students about loans.

The attorney general’s office is now investigating other possible conflicts of interest on college campuses - including deals with credit card, textbook and catering companies, Detrick said. 

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Acknowledging that nonprofits are not immune to these more challenging economic times, the United Way Capital Area said Friday it has laid off about 10 percent of its more than 70 employees.

The Austin nonprofit says it was forced to make cut the seven employees because of the slumping economy’s effect on its budget.

“We are tightening our budget belt on the operations side to avoid impacting our agency grant commitments,” says David Balch, president of United Way Capital Area. “We greatly regret the loss of valuable staff and thank them for being part of our family here, and will do all that we can to assist our colleagues in finding other positions.”

The nonprofit says it’s offering severance pay and associated benefits to the employees that have been laid off.

United Way also said Friday that its grants for upcoming 2008-2009 fiscal year will total $3.9 million to 36 Central Texas nonprofits, up from $3.4 million this year online cash advance. The group says it wants to “assure the community that our proposed investment … is paramount.”

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The public will be able to pick up pieces of memorabilia at an auction of Gold’s Gym equipment this weekend.

Everything is being sold at Saturday’s auction at the gym at 768 South St. in Honolulu— from treadmills and stairsteppers to free weights and circuit machines, according to auctioneer Joe Teipel.

Teipel said memorabilia includes pieces from the original Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach, Calif., and items with the distinctive Gold’s logo.

Teipel will hold auction previews on Friday and Saturday mornings; the auction begins at 10 a.m http://easy-quick-payday-loans.com. Saturday.

Gold’s Gym International announced last month that it would close the popular gym at the end of August. Approximately 1,500 active memberships were transferred to the Powerhouse Gym at 432 Keawe St. in Kakaako.

The gym has donated some of its equipment to local high schools, which also will be the beneficiary of any unsold items.

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Six unions representing employees at The Honolulu Advertiser said they have reached an agreement with the company on health insurance costs that involves switching from the Hawaii Medical Service Association to Summerlin Life & Health Insurance Co.

The tentative deal on health coverage breaks a year-long stalemate between the newspaper and the unions, which have been working under contract extensions while talks continued.

The Advertiser had insisted that any contract enable the company to cut its health insurance costs, either by having workers pay more than the 10 percent of medical premiums or scaling back benefits.

In a statement issued Friday, the Hawaii Newspaper and Printing Trades Council said workers will continue to pay 10 percent of the premium and “receive benefits nearly identical to current ones,” but that HMSA will be dropped for Summerlin.

Coverage by Kaiser Permanente, Hawaii’s largest HMO, will continue to be offered, but the union said workers “who choose to keep Kaiser will pay a substantially higher premium that will be based on the cost difference between Summerlin and Kaiser rates."

The unions say the switch will save the newspaper $164,000 a year.

If workers approve the deal at a meeting Sept. 14, the unions will then move forward on other contractual issues, including pay.

"I'm pleased we've reached this juncture and I agree that we have more work to do," said Lee Webber, the Advertiser's president and publisher.

In another development, the unions said the Advertiser had agreed to share information about its finances, something the newspaper, owned by Gannett Co., Inc payday loans. (NYSE: GCI), has never done before.

The newspaper recently fired 54 workers and last week announced the layoffs of 27 more, all part of an effort to cut costs as its advertising revenue has declined. Company-wide, Gannett’s print advertising revenue plunged 17 percent in July from the previous year.

Once one of Gannett’s most profitable newspapers, the Advertiser “recently said it has been losing money,” the statement by the printing trades council said. An auditor hired by the unions will review the company’s financials.

The deal with the Advertiser and its 600-plus employees marks a big win for Las Vegas-based Summerlin, which came into Hawaii in 2004 and has aggressively gone after customers of HMSA and smaller insurers.

HMSA, a licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is Hawaii’s largest insurer.

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Ruben Jose King-Shaw Jr. has been named chief executive officer of Miami-based All-Med Services of Florida and Clinical Medical Services, the company's Puerto Rico-based operations.

King-Shaw will be responsible for leading the durable medical companies’ strategic growth while addressing changing market conditions and patient demand.

Raul Rodriguez, who founded both companies, will serve as executive chairman.

King-Shaw has more than 20 years of experience in health care, including a two-year stint as deputy administrator and chief operating officer of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services between 2001 and 2003.

Prior to joining the Bush administration, King-Shaw was the secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.

"All-Med Services and Clinical Medical are top-tier organizations with a wealth of opportunities for growth," King-Shaw said faxless payday loan. "It's a great responsibility, and I am excited for the opportunity to lead the companies moving forward."