Finance news. My opinion.

The spending cuts that helped the U.K. preserve its AAA credit rating last year and bolstered the pound are now weighing on the currency as investors lose confidence that Prime Minister David Cameron will revive economic growth.

Sterling had its worst January since 2008, falling 0.6 percent, after a 3.1 percent advance in the second half of 2011, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes that track 10 developed-market currencies against each other. Gilts are lagging behind lower-rated Treasuries, after world-beating gains of almost 17 percent last year.

Investors are beginning to favor policies promoting growth over austerity just as the biggest government-spending squeeze since World War II risks sending the U.K. into its second recession since 2009. U.S. President Barack Obama has used outlays to drive America

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The jailed founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload is complaining that women inmates are giving him unwanted attention.

In a New Zealand courtroom to appeal a decision denying him bail, Kim Dotcom said he’s gotten unwanted letters from female prisoners and a phone call from a man posing as a prosecutor, according to reports by media outlets.

A government lawyer said during the hearing that a known forger tried to visit Dotcom.

Dotcom told the Auckland court he would not flee New Zealand and wants to fight to get back his money, some of which authorities seized last month.

U.S. authorities claim Megaupload facilitated millions of illegal downloads. They are trying to extradite Dotcom and three colleagues on racketeering charges.

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The team at Payday Loan Company is ready to tell anyone yes for a payday loans or cash advance for up to $1000 cash.

Fiat Group SpA, which controls Chrysler LLC, has reported that full-year earnings more than doubled as Chrysler posted its first profit since 1997.

The company says it made euro1.3 billion ($1.71 billion) in net profit last year, compared with euro520 million a year earlier, as revenue rose 66 percent to euro59.5 billion.

The results exceeded the company’s guidance. Fiat’s trading profit _ or earnings before interest, taxes and one-time items _ was euro2.3 billion, exceeding the target of more than euro2.1 billion.

Fiat said Wednesday that the results reflected higher Chrysler sales, resilient Fiat Group Auto revenues and double-digit growth at the Ferrari luxury brand.

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The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it is unlikely to raise interest rates before late 2014, extending a period of record-low rates by more than a year.

The Fed says it is keeping rates low to help lift a weak but modestly growing economy.

The new timeframe hints at details in the Fed’s quarterly economic forecast, which will be released later. That will show in what year policy members expect the first increase in the Fed’s benchmark interest rate. The Fed has kept its key interest rate at a record low near zero for three years.

In a statement released after its two-day meeting, the Fed said the economy is growing moderately, despite some slowing in global growth. It held off on any other new steps to boost the economy.

The statement was approved on a 9-1 vote. Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond regional Fed bank, dissented, saying he objected to the new time period.

The extended timeframe is a shift from the Fed’s previous plan to keep the rate low at least until mid-2013. The change is intended to reassure consumers and investors that they will be able to borrow cheaply well into the future. And some economists said it could lead to further Fed action to try to invigorate the economy.

The forecast on interest rates will be released along with the Fed’s updated projections for economic growth, unemployment and inflation. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will discuss the forecasts and Fed policy at a news conference later Wednesday.

Beyond the adjusted outlook for interest rates, the January statement tracked closely to the Fed’s previous comments about economic conditions personal business card.

The central bank used the same language in describing Europe’s debt problems and the impact on the world economy.

The economy is looking a little better, according to recent private and government data. Companies are hiring more, the stock market is rising, factories are busy and more people are buying cars. Even the home market is showing slight gains after three dismal years

Still, the threat of a recession in Europe is likely to drag on the global economy. And another year of weak wage gains in the United States could force consumers to pull back on spending, which would slow growth.

The Fed has taken previous steps to strengthen the economy, including purchases of $2 trillion in government bonds and mortgage-backed securities to try to cut long-term rates and ease borrowing costs.

The idea behind the Fed’s two rounds of bond buying was to drive down rates to embolden consumers and businesses to borrow and spend more. Lower yields on bonds also encourage investors to shift money into stocks, which can boost wealth and spur more spending.

Some Fed officials have resisted further bond buying for fear it would raise the risk of high inflation later. And many doubt it would help much since Treasury yields are already near historic lows. But Bernanke and other members have left the door open to further action if they think the economy needs it.

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Walt Disney Co. gave a 2011 pay package valued at about $31.4 million to CEO Bob Iger, up 12 percent from a year earlier, according to an Associated Press analysis of data disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday.

The company said Iger merited the raise, citing Disney’s growth in the face of a challenging economic environment. Burbank-based Disney generated record-breaking profit and revenue for fiscal 2011.

The boost in Iger’s compensation came after Disney’s share price slid 12.5 percent to $29 during the company’s fiscal year, which ended Oct. 3. That was also the same day the stock market reached its low for 2011 after a turbulent summer and early fall that drove the stocks of many companies sharply lower. Disney shares have since recovered and closed Friday at $39.31.

Iger, 60, received a base salary of $2 million, unchanged from the previous fiscal year, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He also received stock awards valued at $8.1 million at the time they were granted, an increase of 10 percent from a year earlier, and option awards valued at about $4.8 million on the day they were granted, up 9 percent from the year before.

Iger’s performance-based cash bonus grew 15 percent from the prior year to about $15.5 million.

His other compensation jumped 21 percent to $962,932, including $371,439 for personal use of company aircraft and $561,303 for security costs.

Iger’s total compensation in fiscal 2010 was $28 million.

Disney’s net income for fiscal 2011 grew 21 percent to a record $4.8 billion, or $2.52 per share, aided by the success of films such as “The Lion King” in 3-D, and improved revenue from its consumer products, TV and theme park businesses.

Revenue rose 7 percent to a record $40.9 billion.

The Associated Press formula calculates an executive’s total compensation during the last fiscal year by adding salary, bonuses, perks, above-market interest the company pays on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock and stock options awarded during the year. The AP formula does not count changes in the present value of pension benefits. That makes the AP total slightly different in most cases from the total reported by companies to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The value that a company assigned to an executive’s stock and option awards for 2011 was the present value of what the company expected the awards to be worth to the executive over time. Companies use one of several formulas to calculate that value. However, the number is just an estimate, and what an executive ultimately receives will depend on the performance of the company’s stock in the years after the awards are granted. Most stock compensation programs require an executive to wait a specified amount of time to receive shares or exercise options.

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The leaders of Germany and Italy sought to present a united front Wednesday in the fight to resolve the eurozone debt crisis and revive the ailing European economy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the efforts of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti to cut government spending and make his nation’s economy more competitive.

"We have followed with great respect how quickly the measures are being implemented," said Merkel. "The work of the Italian government is being honored."

Monti said Italians support a "very hard series of measures," adding that Europe "doesn’t have to fear any more that Italy is a possible source of contagion."

Italy has been a big worry for global investors in recent months. The nation’s economy has been stagnant for a decade and its borrowing costs have ballooned, raising concerns about the government’s solvency.

Monti acknowledged that high interest rates could have been justified when market participants were uncertain about Italy’s economic policies. "But not anymore," he said, adding, "especially after representatives of those same markets have said they appreciated the efforts [Italy] made."

That assertion will be put to the test this week when the Italian government will offer €8.5 billion in bills Thursday and up to €4.75 billion in bonds Friday.

On Wednesday, yields on 10-year Italian bonds eased, but still held above the key 7% threshold.

Europe’s debt crisis: An end in sight? Not so fast

The meeting in Berlin between Merkel and Monti was the latest in a series of talks this week among top European Union leaders as they piece together a solution to the long-running government debt and banking problems in the eurozone.

Merkel met with International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde late Tuesday and French President Nicolas Sarkozy Monday. Lagarde will meet with Sarkozy later Wednesday in Paris.

Merkel and Sarkozy will travel to Rome for more talks with Monti on Jan 20. Then, the top leaders of all 27 members of the EU will gather in Brussels on Jan. 30 for their first summit of the year.

On Wednesday, Merkel and Monti discussed the situation in Greece, where Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is under pressure to push through reforms needed to secure additional bailout funds.

Merkel said the first step in resolving the debt crisis is to "create the preconditions" for a second bailout for Greece fast payday loan.

EU leaders agreed in October to provide a second €130 billion rescue package for Greece and announced a deal with private sector investors to voluntarily write down the value of Greek government bonds by 50% as part of a debt exchange.

But negotiations with the private sector have stalled and there is still disagreement among some policymakers over whether requiring Greece to enact more austerity as a condition of a second bailout will help or hurt the nation’s fragile economy.

"The talks with banks are being pushed so that the question of Greece can be solved rationally, so that we can then focus on structural reforms in the euro zone as a whole," said Merkel.

Europe: Still a huge pain in the neck for investors

Still, European leaders are optimistic that a proposed fiscal compact, designed to ensure that governments do not spend beyond their means and rack up unsustainable debts, will be signed by the end of the month.

"There is work to be done but there is a good chance that we can expect significant progress or a political conclusion already on Jan. 30," said Merkel.

The terms of the pact include, among other things, a balanced budget requirement with an "automatic correction mechanism," and a provision to make national budget policies subject to EU authority "ex ante," or before the fact.

The political leaders of the 17 eurozone nations, which share the embattled single euro currency, agreed in principle to abide by the pact following a summit on Dec. 9. But the agreement is still subject to parliamentary approval in some member states.

Merkel also suggested that Germany, the eurozone’s largest economy, could commit more capital to the European Stability Mechanism, which is expected to come into effect this year.

But Merkel was careful to say that Germany would contribute more capital to the fund only if necessary and other eurozone governments do the same.

The ESM would enhance or replace the eurozone’s current bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility. European leaders have said they will decide in March on a proposal to put more capital into the €500 billion ESM.

– CNN’s Diana Magnay contributed reporting from Berlin. 

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The King of Beers slipped another notch down the list of beer royalty in 2011.

Sales of Budweiser fell 4.6 percent last year, according to estimates by Beer Marketers Insights, to 17.7 million barrels, while Coors Light eked out a 0.8 gain to 18.2 million barrels. That means the Silver Bullet is now the nation’s second best-selling beer, after Bud Light.

It’s the first time in almost two decades that Anheuser-Busch (now Anheuser-Busch InBev) couldn’t claim the country’s two top brews, and it comes amid a long decline for the company’s flagship lager. Bud’s 4.6 percent decline actually marks its best performance in some time – sales fell nearly 10 percent in 2009 – and ABI has said one of its top priorities is to boost sales of the brand, both in the U no fax payday loans.S. and overseas.

Both ABI and Miller Coors saw overall shipments fall last year – 2.9 percent and 3 percent, respectively – amid a tough sales climate for the beer industry. ABI sold less beer in 2010 than it did in 2000, Beer Marketers estimates. But its income on those sales nearly doubled.

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A Saudi oil official said that whether Japan or other countries continue to buy Iranian oil was an “internal matter,” reflecting the unease in many nations after the latest U.S. sanctions on Tehran and Iran’s threats to choke off the Strait of Hormuz in response.

The comments by the Oil Ministry official were reported on Monday by the Saudi daily Al-Watan a day after Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba met with senior Saudi officials in the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh.

The newspaper said that Japanese officials asked Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, to make up for the potential loss of Iranian oil for Japan. The Asian nation is now even more heavily dependent on oil and natural gas imports after last year’s tsunami forced the shutdown of nuclear reactors.

The latest U.S. sanctions target Iran’s central bank and are aimed at hindering Tehran’s ability to receive payment for its oil exports.

Al-Watan quoted the senior Saudi official as saying that “the issue of buying or not buying oil from Iran is an internal matter to be decided by these countries.” The official was not identified.

Still, Saudi officials have said that Gulf oil producers are ready to step in and offset any loss of Iranian oil in the market, though it remains unclear if the necessary pipelines that would reroute the oil away from the strait are all fully operational. One pipeline with a capacity of about 1.5 million barrels per day being built by the UAE has yet to be completed.

China, a major Iran oil importer, has resisted the sanctions effort. The Asian powerhouse’s deputy foreign minister, Cui Tiankai, said Monday that China’s trade relations with Iran have nothing to do with Tehran’s nuclear program and that sanctions alone cannot resolve the dispute.

The West maintains that Iran is enriching uranium with an eye on developing a weapon, an allegation Tehran denies. Iran says its program is for purely peaceful purposes.

The official Saudi Press Agency said Gemba’s meeting with Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi and other top officials “dealt with the current situation in the international oil market and the importance of its stability Online payday loans.”

Iran has repeatedly raised the specter of closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a sixth of the world’s oil flows, if the U.S. and its allies impose measures targeting its oil exports.

Many analysts and officials have played down the comments as bluster by the Islamic Republic, noting that such a move would hit Iran hard given that it receives over 80 percent of its government revenue from oil sales.

But on Sunday, an Iranian newspaper quoted a senior Revolutionary Guard commander as saying that the country’s leadership had decided to close off the strait if its oil exports were targeted. The remark marked an escalation of earlier warnings that Tehran could easily close the waterway if it so desired.

The threats have rattled global oil markets, with the U.S. benchmark crude futures contract for February delivery hovering at slightly under $102 per barrel in electronic trading in Asia while its North Sea counterpart, Brent, was trading at above $113 per barrel in London.

Japan has been supportive of the U.S. and its allies’ efforts to pressure Iran over its controversial nuclear program. But Asian buyers of Iranian crude, in particular Japan and South Korea, are worried about the impact of the sanctions both on international crude prices and their economies.

Gemba, who is on an eight-day Mideast tour that began Thursday, later traveled to Qatar where they discussed the effect of santions on the oil market. He is slated to travel to the United Arab Emirates for meetings there on Tuesday.

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European stock markets headed higher in early trading Monday, while South Korea’s benchmark Kospi closed flat following the New Year’s holiday weekend.

Britain’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.1 percent at 5,572.28. Germany’s DAX was 1.1 percent higher at 5,960.04. France’s CAC-40 rose 0.5 percent to 3,174.76.

South Korea’s Kospi index, which lost 11 percent of its value last year, closed nearly unchanged at 1,826.37. Most other Asian markets were closed for an extended New Year’s holiday.

South Korea’s tech sector move higher, with Samsung Electronics up 2.1 percent and LG Electronics gaining 2.3 percent. Steel giant POSCO slid 1.1 percent and Korea Electric Power shed 1.8 percent.

Taiwan’s TAIEX, which was also open for business Monday, fell 1.7 percent to 6,952.21. Foxconn Technology, the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer, which makes iPads and iPhones for Apple Inc., fell 0.9 percent. Personal computer maker Acer Inc. shed 2.3 percent.

Benchmarks in the Philippines and India rose while Indonesia fell.

The Asian-Pacific region’s major benchmarks, including Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and Australia’s S&P ASX 200, were closed. Markets in the U.S. are also closed in observance of New Year’s Day.

Last year was one that traders would prefer to forget: most Asian equity indexes closed out 2011 deeply in the red unsecured personal loans. The Nikkei in Tokyo ended the year at 8,429.45 _ its lowest closing since 1982.

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, closed Monday, endured a 21 percent loss for the year as the impact of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar stimulus faded and the government tightened curbs on lending and investment to cool blistering economic growth.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished at 18,434.39 _ a precipitous slide of 19.7 percent from a year ago. Singapore’s Straits Times Index took a 17.5 percent dive when it closed at 2,646.35 on Friday.

Australia’s benchmark S&P ASX 200 ended the year at 4,140.4 _ 14.5 percent lower for 2011.

India’s benchmark Sensex index fell more than 22 percent in 2011, making it one of the worst performers globally. The rupee also lost about 14 percent this year and recently hit an all-time low, breaching 54 rupees to the dollar.

In hopes of reducing volatility and attracting foreign cash, India announced Sunday that it would allow individual foreign nationals to invest directly in its stock market starting Jan. 15. Currently, foreign investors are limited to indirect investments such as mutual funds.

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Gold fell, capping the longest slump since October 2009, and silver tumbled to a three-month low as Europe’s deepening debt crisis drove commodities and stocks lower.

The euro dropped to an 11-month low against the dollar as lending to financial institutions sent the European Central Bank’s balance sheet to a record high. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials and the MSCI World Index of equities were poised for the biggest declines in two weeks.

Platinum approached the lowest since November 2009, and palladium dropped almost 3 percent.

The ECB said lending to euro-area banks jumped 214 billion euros ($276.9 billion) to 879 billion in the week ended Dec. 23, bolstering credit to the economy during the financial turmoil. Gold has slumped 19 percent from a record $1,923.70 an ounce on Sept. 6, partly on sales to cover losses in other markets.

“What’s going on in Europe is very worrying,” James Dailey, who manages $215 million at TEAM Financial Management LLC in Harrisburg, Pa., said in an e-mail. “The dollar’s strength is working against all commodities, including gold.”

Gold futures for February delivery declined 2 percent to settle at $1,564.10 at 1:47 p.m. on the Comex in New York. The price dropped for the fifth straight session, the longest slide since October 2009. The commodity headed for the first quarterly slump since September 2008.

Silver futures for March delivery fell 5 quick guaranteed personal loans.2 percent to $27.234 an ounce on the Comex. Earlier, the price touched $27.10, the lowest since Sept. 26. The metal has plummeted 45 percent from a 31-year high of $49.845 on April 25.

Gold imports by India, the biggest consumer, may drop as much as 50 percent this month after the rupee plunged, according to the Bombay Bullion Association. China restricted gold trading in spot and futures contracts to the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange to crack down on illegal buying and selling of commodities.

Platinum futures for April delivery declined 3.2 percent to $1,392.40 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the price touched $1,388.60. On Dec. 15, the metal declined to $1,376, the lowest since Nov. 13, 2009.

Palladium futures for March delivery slumped 2.9 percent to 647.15 an ounce on Nymex, the biggest drop since Dec. 14.

This year, gold has advanced 10 percent, heading for the 11th straight annual gain, on demand for an alternative investment amid slumping equities.

“Gold has been one of the best performers this year, so it comes as no surprise that we are seeing some end-of-year profit-taking,” said Ronald Stoeferle, a commodity analyst at Erste Group Bank AG in Vienna.

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