Finance news. My opinion.

+%3Cp%3E+Shares+in+solar+power+company+First+Solar+fell+over+20%25+in+early+trading+Wednesday+after+the+firm+lowered+its+sales+forecast+for+2011.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+Arizona-based+company%2C+which+is+a+leading+maker+of+thin-film+solar+panels+and+also+a+developer+of+solar+power+projects%2C+predicted+net+sales+in+2011+of+%242.8+to+%242.9+billion.+That%27s+down+from+earlier+projections+of+%243.0+to+%243.3+billion.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+company+said+the+lower+sales+were+due+to+delays+in+its+projects+caused+by+weather+and+%26quot%3Bother+factors%2C%26quot%3B+but+predicted+a+healthy+2012.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%26quot%3BOur+diverse+business+model+and+robust+project+pipeline+will+help+First+Solar+generate+a+significant+amount+of+cash+in+2012+while+improving+operational+efficiencies%2C%26quot%3B+Mike+Ahearn%2C+Chairman+and+Interim+CEO+of+First+Solar%2C+said+in+a+statement+Wednesday.+%3C%2Fp%3ESolar+power+bankruptcies+loom+as+prices+collapse%3Cp%3EThe+company%2C+which+has+been+steadily+growing+in+profitability+since+2007%2C+is+expecting+its+earnings+per+share+to+range+between+%243.75+and+%244.25+in+2012.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThin+film+solar+panels+are+less+efficient+than+traditional+silicon-based+solar+panels+but+have+historically+been+cheaper+to+produce.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3ELike+all+solar+panel+makers%2C+shares+in+First+Solar+%28%29+have+been+battered+this+year+as+a+huge+oversupply+and+slack+demand+caused+the+price+of+silicon+solar+panels+to+plummet.+First+Solar+shares+are+down+over+70%25+since+January.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EDozens+of+solar+panel+makers+are+expected+to+go+bankrupt+this+year+as+the+depressed+prices+prune+weaker+companies+from+the+market.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+most+visible+victim+of+the+price+collapse+so+far+has+been+Solyndra%2C+a+maker+of+advanced+but+pricey+solar+panels+that+went+bankrupt+after+receiving+a+half-billion+dollar+loan+backed+by+the+U.S.+government.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EFirst+Solar+does+not+have+any+government-backed+loans.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EJesse+Pichel%2C+an+analyst+at+the+investment+bank+Jefferies+%26amp%3B+Co.%2C+maintained+a+hold+rating+on+First+Solar+stock+earlier+this+week+even+in+anticipatiinon+of+the+lowered+sales+figures.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EStill%2C+Pichel+said+the+company+has+to+work+on+lowering+costs.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%26quot%3BFirst+Solar+has+projects+which+are+profitable+and+is+not+a+bankruptcy+risk+near+term+in+our+view%2C%26quot%3B+he+said.+%26quot%3BBut+the+future+of+the+company+will+be+determined+by+its+ability+to+lower+module+costs+and+increase+efficiency.%26quot%3B+%26nbsp%3B+%3C%2Fp%3E++%3Cp%3E%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2011%2F12%2F14%2Ftechnology%2Ffirst_solar%2Findex.htm%27+rel%3D%27nofollow%27%3ESource%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fp%3E+

Stock indexes swung from gains to losses and back again Tuesday afternoon, after the Federal Reserve cautioned that Europe’s financial crisis still poses a threat to the world’s economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 7 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,028 as of 3 p.m. Eastern time. It had risen as high as 126 points earlier Tuesday after two strong auctions of European debt reassured investors.

The Federal Reserve portrayed the U.S. economy as slightly healthier but cautioned that it remains vulnerable to the European debt crisis. “Strains in global financial markets continue to pose significant downside risks to the economic outlook,” the Fed said in a statement.

The Spanish government was able to sell short-term debt at much lower interest rates Tuesday compared with a month ago, a signal that markets are becoming less fearful about the government’s ability to repay its debt.

In its first sale of short-term bills, the European Financial Stability Fund raised 1.9 billion euros ($2.6 billion) from investors at an average rate of 0.22 percent. That’s below the rate Germany pays for the similar bills. “This is an amazing success,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note to clients.

The Dow sank 162 points Monday when Moody’s and Fitch warned that the fiscal agreement reached last week among European leaders fell far short of what was needed to contain that region’s debt crisis.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that retail sales rose for the sixth straight month in November. Sales increased just 0.2 percent, below what analysts had expected. But the government also revised the previous month’s slightly higher. That was the encouraging part, said Tim Hoyle, director of research at Haverford Investments. “It reassures you that the economy is going in the right direction,” Hoyle said cash advance to savings account.

Energy companies led the market higher as crude oil rose back above $100. Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 2 percent, Chevron Corp. 1.5 percent. Drugmaker Pfizer added 2.1 percent, the most of the 30 companies in the Dow. Pfizer said it plans to buy back up to $10 billion of its own stock.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 2 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,233. The Nasdaq composite fell 14 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,598.

The Vix, a measure of stock market volatility, fell to 25. It has dropped 10 percent in December. The index remained above 30 from early August until last week. Hoyle said a sustained fall in the Vix usually is followed by a rise in stock prices. The recent trend “sets us up for a little Santa Claus rally between now and the end of the year.”

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.95 percent from 2.02 percent late Monday after an auction of new 10-year notes drew strong demand.

Urban Outfitters jumped 6 percent, the most in the S&P 500 index, after the retailer said its sales were rising faster than analysts were expecting. The Philadelphia-based company owns Urban Outfitters stores, Anthropologie and Free People.

Sprint Nextel Corp. rose 1 percent as it looked like its rival AT&T Inc. would be unable to pull off an acquisition of T-Mobile USA. Sprint agreed to drop a lawsuit against AT&T now that the deal appears to be in jeopardy. Sprint had been lobbying to stop it.

Electronics retailer Best Buy plunged 15 percent. The company said its third-quarter income sank 29 percent as it cut prices on tablets and TVs to drive sales and traffic during the busy holiday season.

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Lee Enterprises, owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other newspapers, filed for prepackaged bankruptcy early today in an effort to refinance about $1 billion in debt.

The bankruptcy was expected. Two weeks ago, the Davenport, Iowa-based publisher announced it would file for bankruptcy “on or about Dec. 12″ as part of a debt refinancing plan it had successfully negotiated with creditors.

Lee filed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in the Wilmington, Del., bankruptcy court, becoming the latest newspaper publisher saddled with debt to seek the court to help its finances. Though based in Iowa, the publisher is incorporated in Delaware.

The company said that the bankruptcy will have no impact on its business and that its papers will continue to publish. Vendors, advertisers, subscribers, employees and the company’s operations will not be affected.

In its bankruptcy filing, Lee lists $1.15 billion in assets and $994.5 million in liabilities.

When the publisher announced its bankruptcy plans, Lee said had secured agreements with nearly all of its creditors, which it predicted would allow an exit from bankruptcy in 60 days or less.

The filing is unusual in that the company plans to shed no debt and pay a higher interest rate to all lenders.

In return, lenders agreed to extend the loans - now due in April - until at least December 2015. The plan also preserves most of the stock’s value, allowing Lee to continue trading on the New York Stock Exchange during the bankruptcy process.

Lee also previously said it would cede a 13 percent ownership stake to three creditors, Goldman Sachs, Monarch Master Funding Ltd., and Franklin Templeton/Mutual Quest Fund.

The newspaper publisher says the refinancing plan is needed to keep it in business.

“Our ability to operate as a going concern is dependent on our ability to obtain approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the refinancing plan approved by creditors and to generate cash flows and maintain liquidity sufficient to service our debt,” the company said Friday in its annual report.

Though the refinancing plan will increase its higher interest payment - it would pay an average of 9.2 percent interest rate on its debt versus 5.1 percent currently - the publisher said it can pay that level of interest while also paying down the principal.

Lee’s newspapers turn an operating profit, and Lee has been making its debt payments. But the company, one of the nation’s largest newspaper chains, has been struggling for months to refinance the debt before it comes due in April.

Like other newspaper chains, Lee piled on debt to make acquisitions, then only to suffer from declining circulation and advertising revenue brought on both by the sluggish economy and the migration of advertising revenue and readers to the Internet.

Without refinancing, Lee would not have the cash to repay the maturing debt.

An effort to issue junk bonds in the spring failed, forcing the company to negotiate a refinancing plan this summer with creditors. Those negotiations led the refinancing plan with two groups of creditors.

One group holds about $865 million in debt secured by properties that Lee owned before 2005. Most of that debt was assumed that year when Lee bought St. Louis-based Pulitzer Inc., then the owner of the Post-Dispatch, for $1.5 billion.

The company said 94 percent of those debt holders have agreed to the deal. At one point, Lee hoped to borrow money to redeem the debt of those creditors not consenting to the refinancing, but those plans fell through.

A second group of creditors holds $138 million in debt, which Lee inherited with the Pulitzer deal. That debt is secured by the old Pulitzer properties, including the Post-Dispatch. All of those creditors agreed to the deal.

To deal with creditors not agreeing to the refinancing, the Lee has resorted to a prepackaged bankruptcy, in which a company works out terms with most creditors in advance. This allows the debtor to quickly reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy. The company then uses the bankruptcy proceedings to force its plan on lenders who didn’t agree to the refinancing.

In order to gain approval of the prepackaged plan, at least 50 percent of each class of creditors must vote to approve it, and those voting for it must own two-thirds of the dollar amount of the debt.

Dissenters can object, but they must convince the court that the deal is not fair and equitable.

Lee newspapers have a combined daily circulation of 1.3 million and Sunday circulation of 1.6 million, as of the end of September. Lee also owns nearly 300 specialty publications, including the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, Ladue News, and Feast and St. Louis’ Best Bridal magazines.

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Retailers are reporting strong sales gains in November, boosted by a discount-fueled spending binge for the start of the holiday shopping season last weekend. Now, the challenge is to keep shoppers spending throughout the most important selling period of the year.

Macy’s Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp., Limited Brands Inc. and teen retailer Buckle Inc. all reported sales gains Thursday that beat Wall Street estimates. Target Corp., however, was a straggler, reporting a slim sales gain that was below what analysts had expected.

The figures are based on revenue at stores opened at least a year and are considered a key indicator of a retailers health.

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Michael Woodford, who was fired as chief executive of Japanese camera and medical equipment company Olympus after blowing the whistle on dubious spending, said Thursday that he is resigning from the board.

Woodford said the decision was difficult because he still cares about Olympus Corp. and hopes it will come clean. Woodford was still a member of the board because dismissal from it can only be done by shareholders.

Although it initially denied wrongdoing, Tokyo-based Olympus has acknowledged a $687 million payment for financial advice and expensive acquisitions to cover up investment losses dating to the 1990s.

“It has been a difficult decision for me to resign from a company that I have devoted my entire life to,” said Woodford, 51, a Briton who worked at Olympus for about three decades and became a rare foreigner to head a major Japanese company.

But he said he lost hope that the Olympus board would move toward reform after seeing a Nov. 28 message from Olympus’ new president, Shuichi Takayama. He said he now thinks that the Olympus board will not change.

He also said stakeholders should decide who should lead Olympus and called for a shareholders meeting. He will be working with stakeholders to propose a new board, he said.

Woodford, fired Oct. 14, has called for the entire board to resign and to bring in outside members to the board for more transparency.

Olympus’ bookkeeping is now under investigation in Japan, the U.S. and Great Britain. The fiasco has evolved into one of Japan’s biggest corporate scandals.

Woodford was in Japan last week to speak with Japanese prosecutors and police and also spoke with the Olympus board during the visit. He says he is also speaking with U.S. and British authorities.

Speculation is rife that the amount that Olympus has falsified in its financial reports could be massive. Japanese magazine Facta was first to report on the dubious money.

Olympus must submit a proper financial report by Dec. 14, or it risks being delisted by the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

“I am strongly of the view that it’s completely inappropriate for the current management team who are tainted by its past mistakes to make choices about the identity of new board members,” Woodford said.

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Stocks are wavering between gains and losses in light trading Friday, with the S&P 500 index edging up following six straight days of losses. Even with modest gains, major indexes remain on track to post their worst week since September.

Worries about Europe’s debt crisis flared up again Friday after Italy had to pay 7.8 percent to borrow for two years at a debt auction. It’s another sign that investors are growing hesitant to lend to European countries.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 16 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,272 as of 12:10 a.m. Eastern. Travelers Cos. Inc was up 1.4 percent, the most of the Dow’s 30 stocks.

The Dow remains down 4.5 percent for the week, putting the average on track for its worst week since late September.

The S&P 500 index is up 1 point to 1,162. The Nasdaq is down 12 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,448.

The euro slipped to $1.32 and is now down 2 percent this week against the dollar. The drop puts the euro at its lowest level since Oct. 6.

Higher interest rates on government debt backed by Italy, Spain and other European countries have rattled stock markets in recent weeks. When borrowing costs climb above the 7 percent threshold, it deepens fears about a government’s ability to manage its debts. Greece, Ireland and Portugal were forced to seek financial lifelines when their interest rates crossed the same mark no faxing 1 hour payday loans.

Markets have been battered this week as governments in Europe and the U.S. struggle to tackle their debts. The Dow lost 248 points on Monday as a Congressional committee failed to reach a deal to cut federal budget deficits. It plunged 236 points Wednesday after investors balked at buying German government debt.

In midday trading, AT&T’s stock was down less than 1 percent. The company said Thursday that it’s budgeting to pay $4 billion in break-up fees if its attempted $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom falls apart.

Retailers were trading mixed on the Friday after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season and usually the busiest day of the year for retailers. Amazon.com Inc. dropped 3.3 percent. Macy’s Inc. inched up less than 1 percent.

A record number of people are expected to show up at stores this weekend to take advantage of deep discounts. The National Retail Federation estimates that 152 million people will go shopping over the three days starting on Friday. That would be an increase of 10 percent from last year.

Trading will end at 1 p.m. Eastern time. U.S. markets were closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

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Asian stock markets headed lower Monday as a change of government in debt-laden Spain and Singapore’s warning of a sharp growth slowdown underlined the challenges facing the world economy.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2 percent to 8,354.65. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 2.3 percent lower at 18,068.51. South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 1.3 percent to 1,815.48.

Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and mainland China were also lower.

Market jitters were evident a day after Spain voted in a new government _ the third time in as many weeks that Europe’s debt crisis has toppled an administration. Governments in financially troubled Greece and Italy have also fallen.

Spain dumped its ruling Socialist government Sunday for the conservative leadership of Mariano Rajoy, who inherits an economy wracked by debt and an unemployment nightmare _ which at more than 21 percent is the highest among the 17 nations that use the euro.

Rajoy also must lower Spain’s soaring borrowing costs with deficit-reducing measures while preventing an already moribund economy from heading into a double-dip recession.

Adding to pessimism, Singapore on Monday warned that its economy will likely suffer a sharp slowdown next year as export demand from developed countries wanes. Because of its high reliance on trade, Singapore is often a bellwether for the rest of Asia.

Japan, meanwhile, said its exports fell for the first time in three months in October, eroded by a strong yen and a sputtering global economy.

Gains were muted on Wall Street on Friday. While the Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators rose more than Wall Street analysts were expecting _ a sign that the economy may pick up in the coming months _ many investors were cautious as a key Congressional committee remained deadlocked on ways to cut the U.S. budget deficit.

A bipartisan panel must agree on making at least $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts by Wednesday. If the committee fails and Congress takes no other action, automatic spending cuts will take effect beginning in 2013. Economists worry that a deadlocked Congress will erode business confidence and slow the already fragile U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.2 percent to close at 11,796.16. The Standard and Poor’s 500 lost less than 0.1 percent to 1,215.65. The Nasdaq composite slid 0.6 percent to 2,572.50.

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Protesters camped outside St. Paul’s Cathedral in London say they are staying put despite a deadline for them to take down their tents or face legal action.

London officials attached eviction notices to the tents Wednesday, demanding they be removed from the churchyard by 6 p.m. (1800 GMT, 1 p.m. EST) Thursday.

The Occupy London group say they will not leave, but will mark the passing of the deadline with a rally outside the cathedral. The City of London Corporation says that if the tents are not removed it will go to court seeking an eviction notice _ a process that could take months low fee cash advance.

More than 200 tents have been pitched outside the famous domed church since Oct. 15 in a protest against capitalist excess inspired by New York’s Occupy Wall Street.

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A former St. Peters vehicle-service contract business and its owner have settled with the state over alleged violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, Attorney General Chris Koster said today.

Vehicle Services, which no longer is in business, marketed what appeared to be “extended auto warranties” through the mail, the internet and by telephone, Koster said. The warranties actually were service contracts or automotive additives, he said.

The company and its owner, Steven Chapa, agreed to pay the state $25,000 in restitution and civil penalties for the costs of the investigation, said Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for Koster’s office.

Chapa could not be reached immediately for comment.

Gonder said the office has been contacting customers who filed complaints in an effort to help them get restitution.

Koster’s office received 85 complaints about the company, she said.

Koster said many customers were led to believe their current vehicle warranties were about to expire, and they had to act immediately or lose the chance to buy an extended warranty payday lenders. Many weren’t told Vehicle Serivces wasn’t affiliated with their dealership or manufacturer, he said.

He said customers who bought service contracts by telephone often learned later that the coverage was limited. Those who asked for a cancellation or refund when they discovered the provider wouldn’t pay a claim often were denied a refund or made to go to great lengths to get part of their money back, he said.

Gonder said anyone who is seeking restitution or who has complaints about businesses selling extended motor vehicle service contracts can contact the Attorney General’s Office through its website or by calling the consumer protection hotline at 1-800-392-8222.

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ATHENS