Fitch Ratings is withdrawing its underlying A rating on the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority’s $203 million refunding revenue bonds, series 2008A.
Due to market conditions, the Expressway Authority did not issue the refunding bonds.
The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority is responsible for the construction, maintenance and operation of toll roads in Central Florida bad credit payday loans.
European Union Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Joaquin Almunia said he has no “clear idea'' how long the financial-market turmoil will last.
This year “may be one of the hardest years we can remember,'' Almunia said today at a conference in Madrid. “We still don't have a clear idea of how long we'll be living in such a difficult situation.''
The euro-area economy contracted in the second quarter for the first time since monetary union began almost a decade ago, buffeted by record-setting gains in the euro and oil prices, while the yearlong credit squeeze has led in the past two weeks to the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the government takeover of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and American International Group Inc.
“The degree of optimism has reduced in past six months,'' Almunia said faxless payday loans. “Many thought we were at the beginning of the end of the financial tension.''
Almunia said the European Central Bank has a “clear awareness'' of the dangers inflation poses for the economy, though price growth probably peaked at 4 percent in June and July.
“Inflation in August has started to slow in the euro region,'' he said. “We can expect that this deceleration won't just continue, but will become more evident.''
And this “will help avoid errors of the past with second- round effects,'' Almunia said.
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.
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.
Reynolds American Inc. and its subsidiary R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said Tuesday they were cutting about 10% of their American work force as the company restructures its portfolio.
The nation’s second-largest tobacco company said it plans to lay off about 570 workers in Winston-Salem, N.C, where the two companies are based, or about 16% of the work force there.
The cuts are expected to begin in the third quarter and last through the end of 2009.
The company said it expects to record a $90 million pretax restructuring charge in the third quarter of 2008 because of the efforts.
Meanwhile, Reynolds said it was realigning its brands as it tries to "simplify programs and processes, reduce complexity and improve productivity" throughout the company while focusing on innovation and "maximizing trademark equity."
Among the changes: The company is scaling back marketing and promotional support for its Kool menthol brand cigarettes, while boosting the amount of money it spends on Camel brand menthol products.
"The company believes that Camel’s strength provides significant opportunities in the expanding premium-priced menthol category, in which the brand currently has a small but growing position," Reynolds said in a statement.
The Pall Mall label will also remain one of the company’s growth brands.
"Continued success demands that we fully align our plans, programs and people behind the things that matter most to our future performance," Daniel M payday loan online. Delen, chairman, president and chief executive officer of R.J. Reynolds, said in a statement. "The steps we are taking support R.J. Reynolds’ ongoing evolution to a ‘total tobacco’ business model that includes both cigarettes and innovative smokeless tobacco products."
Reynolds (RAI, Fortune 500) shares were unchanged at $51.57 in premarket trading Tuesday.
The European Commission cut its growth estimate for the euro area this year and signaled it may also lower its 2009 forecast as the U.S. and Asian economies cool.
The economy of the 15 nations that use the euro will probably expand 1.3 percent this year, the Brussels-based commission said today, revising down its April forecast of 1.7 percent. “Developments in the global economy seem to suggest a significant downward revision for 2009,'' it said, referring to forecasts it plans to publish in November.
Europe's economy shrank in the three months through June and Luxembourg Finance Minister Jean-Claude Juncker today said there is a “risk of a technical recession.'' Manufacturing and services activity contracted for a third month in August and confidence dropped to the lowest in more than five years. Even with a cooling economy, the European Central Bank has resisted cutting interest rates as it tries to combat inflation.
“Economic activity has slowed down considerably'' in recent months, Juncker, who leads the group of euro-area finance ministers, said in Brussels today. The EU report said growth “is expected to stall'' in the current quarter. A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.
“We expect economic activity to be essentially stagnant across the region in the second half of 2008,'' said Howard Archer, chief European economist at Global Insight in London. He sees growth slowing to 0.8 percent next year from 1.2 percent this year.
Largest Economy
The commission left its growth forecast for Germany, Europe's largest economy, unchanged at 1.8 percent, and lowered those for France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.
“The continuation of the turmoil in the financial markets one year on, the near doubling of energy prices over the same period and the correction in some housing markets have had an impact on the economy,'' Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in today's report.
While the commission raised its inflation forecast for 2008 to 3.6 percent from 3.1 percent, it said consumer-price growth “may be at a turning point'' after oil prices fell from a record and as past increases in food and energy costs “gradually fade in the coming months.'' The recent fall in commodity prices and the euro also “have provided some relief,'' Almunia said.
Oil Prices
Since reaching a record $1.6038 against the dollar on July 15, the currency has dropped around 12 percent to $1.4163 today. Oil prices have fallen almost 30 percent in the last two months to $103.84 a barrel.
Still, the euro's advance and the surge in energy prices have already taken their toll fastcash. Paris-based L'Oreal SA, the world's largest cosmetics maker, on Aug. 29 reported the slowest profit growth in three years. Stora Enso Oyj and UPM-Kymmene Oyj, Europe's largest papermakers, today said they will close unprofitable production lines as raw-material and energy costs have outpaced their ability to raise prices.
Banks including Amsterdam- and Brussels-based Fortis and Irish Life & Permanent Plc of Ireland have suffered due to writedowns, losses or increased funding costs related to the credit crisis. Credit Agricole SA, France's third-largest bank, today said it will eliminate about 500 jobs at its Calyon corporate- and investment-banking unit to rein in costs following three consecutive quarterly losses.
`Downside Risks'
“The main downside risks identified in the spring forecast have materialized, with the financial turmoil deepening, commodity prices soaring and the shocks to several housing markets spreading more widely,'' the commission said in the report. It sees a “marked deceleration'' ahead in most Asian economies and predicts that the effect of a tax rebate that boosted second-quarter U.S. growth will fade.
The ECB last week lowered its euro-region growth outlook and raised its inflation projections for this year and next. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said today in Brussels that inflation “is likely to remain high for quite some time, moderating only gradually during the course of 2009,''
The European Commission has backed the ECB's monetary- policy stance, with Almunia saying yesterday that policy makers are “doing a good job in difficult conditions and they deserve our full confidence and support.''
Some companies have tried to offset falling European and U.S. orders by expanding in Asia and oil-exporting countries. German exports to India more than tripled in the four years through 2007, according to figures from that nation's statistics office. Volkswagen AG, Europe's biggest carmaker, on Sept. 8 said emerging markets will provide the fastest growth in worldwide sales over the next 10 years, led by economic expansion in Asia and Russia.
“The risks to the growth outlook stay tilted to the downside. In particular, developments in commodity and financial markets will continue to be the key factors shaping the growth outlook,'' the commission said. “The risks to the inflation outlook appear somewhat more balanced, albeit they are still tilted to the upside.''
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.”
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.
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."
Earnings at Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-insured banks tumbled by more than 86 percent in the second quarter, while its list of troubled banks swelled to its largest since 2003.
Financial institutions posted net income of $5 billion in the quarter ended June 30, compared to $36.8 billion during the same period last year - a $31.8 billion decline, according to the FDIC.
Also, the bank regulator's "problem list" grew to 117 banks within a three-month period, compared to 90 at the end of the first quarter. Total assets of problem institutions increased to $78 billion, compared to $26 billion. At least $32 billion was attributed to the failure of California-based IndyMac Bank in July, the press release said.
"More banks will come on the list as credit problems worsen," said FDIC Chairwoman Sheila C. Bair. "Assets of problem institutions also will continue to rise."
Financial institutions experienced "another rough quarter," after a number of banks were forced to increase their loan loss provisions to cover soured loans amid the housing slump and the economic downturn, Bair said.
More than half of all financial institutions reported a dip in earnings in the latest quarter cash advance today.
On top of that, non interest income at banks waned as trading and securitization services slowed. Expenses for goodwill impairment and other charges to intangible assets were also significantly higher than last year, according to the press release.
As more banks continue to fail across the country, the FDIC announced plans to replenish its Deposit Insurance Fund, which took a hit after IndyMac went under.
The restoration plan "likely will include an increase in the premium rates that banks pay into the fund," Bair said. "And we'll be proposing changes to the current assessment system that will shift a greater share of any assessment increase onto institutions that engage in high-risk behavior to encourage and reward safer behavior."
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