Finance news. My opinion.

ATHENS

TORONTO

President Barack Obama is wrapping up a three-day tour through crucial political states, searching for votes and money and unveiling executive steps to prime the economy even as his jobs bill struggles in Congress.

Obama held six fundraisers, including star-studded events in Los Angeles. He gathered backers in Denver and Las Vegas, urging them to find energy for the 2012 campaign. And he coined a new slogan _ “We can’t wait” _ to draw distinctions with congressional Republicans who oppose his $447 billion economic plan.

On Wednesday, at the University of Colorado’s Denver campus, he will highlight a new initiative to make it easier for graduates to repay their student loans. He earlier announced a mortgage refinancing program and on Tuesday the White House announced new steps to help veterans.

Source

British lawmakers investigating the country’s tabloid phone hacking scandal say James Murdoch will gives evidence before their committee for a second time next month.

The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee said Monday that the son and heir-apparent of media mogul Rupert Murdoch will appear Nov. 10.

Rupert Murdoch shut down the tabloid News of the World in July after it was accused of illegally hacking into the voice mails of celebrities, politicians and crime victims in search of scoops.

Both Murdochs denied knowing about the scale of the hacking when they appeared before the panel of lawmakers the same month.

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

LONDON (AP) _ Rupert Murdoch’s former right hand man says he authorized a 250,000 pound ($398,000) payout to a tabloid reporter who was jailed for phone hacking, but denies having any knowledge at the time that the illegal snooping was widespread.

Ex-Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton on Monday told British lawmakers investigating the hacking scandal that he personally approved the payment to Clive Goodman, the News of the World reporter convicted and jailed in 2007 for eavesdropping on the mobile phone voice mails of royal aides credit score.

Hinton, who was then the executive chairman of Murdoch’s British newspaper division, acknowledged he had seen a letter from Goodman in which the reporter alleged phone hacking was widespread at the paper and common knowledge among executives.

Hinton said he had launched a “pretty thorough” internal investigation into Goodman’s claim, but said “there was no basis found for it.”

He said he fired Goodman for gross misconduct, but decided to pay him the substantial sum, almost three times the reporter’s annual salary, to end an unfair dismissal claim by Goodman.

“I decided at the time that the right thing to do was to settle this and put it behind us,” Hinton said, giving evidence by video link from the United States.

Hinton resigned his post in July.

Source

China and the European Union on Friday called off a summit of their leaders next week so European officials can remain at home for talks on the continent’s debt crisis.

The one-day meeting planned for Tuesday in the eastern Chinese city of Tianjin will be rescheduled to a later date, the Chinese government and the European Council announced.

The meeting was scheduled to include Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, EU President Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and other officials from the two sides. Several hundred European and Chinese businesspeople also were to have held a conference while the leaders met paydayloans.

Friday’s cancellation came after European leaders scheduled meetings through the weekend to seek a solution to the continent’s debt crisis.

In a phone call with van Rompuy, Wen said the most important thing is to prevent the debt crisis from spreading and “a serious economic recession,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Source

TORONTO

Stock futures are rising, helped by encouraging corporate news in the U.S. and Europe.

Google Inc. rose more than 7 percent in premarket trading after the tech giant reported its third-quarter profit climbed 26 percent. Food and soap company Unilever PLC announced a major acquisition, and Swiss agrochemicals firm Syngenta reported strong third-quarter sales.

European markets rose.

Toymaker Mattel Inc. reported a 6 percent rise in its third quarter earnings.

The government reports before the market opens on retail sales in September, a key early barometer of consumer activity no fax payday loans.

S&P 500 futures are up 8 points, or 0.7 percent, at 1,206 at 7:51 a.m. Eastern time. Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 74, or 0.7 percent, at 11,466. Nasdaq 100 futures are up 14, or 0.6 percent, at 2,340.

Source

President Barack Obama is pushing in his weekly radio and Internet address for Senate passage of his nearly $450 billion jobs bill as senators prepare to vote Tuesday on moving to debate on the measure.

Obama also asked listeners to Saturday’s address to tell their senators to support the bill, which he’s been lobbying for aggressively against Republican opposition since unveiling it a month ago.

With the economy listless and unemployment stuck above 9 percent moving into the 2012 presidential campaign, Obama said the bill “can help guard against another downturn here in America.”

“But if we don’t act, the opposite will be true,” the president said. “There will be fewer jobs and weaker growth. So any senator out there who’s thinking about voting against this jobs bill needs to explain why they would oppose something that we know would improve our economic situation.”

Obama’s jobs plan would reduce payroll taxes on workers and employers, extend benefits to long-term unemployed people, spend money on public works projects and help states and local governments keep teachers, police officers and firefighters on the job.

He proposed paying for the plan mainly by closing tax loopholes for oil and gas companies and raising taxes on individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000. Those proposals were rejected by Senate Democrats who substituted a tax on millionaires, with Obama’s agreement.

But with Republicans opposed to much of the new spending in the bill and to tax hikes even on millionaires, the legislation stands no chance of getting through the Republican-controlled House in its current form, even if Senate Democrats were able to muster the necessary Republican support for Senate passage.

Despite the opposition Obama intends to keep pushing for the plan in an effort to show the public that Republicans are standing in the way.

“The proposals in this bill are steps we have to take if we want to build an economy that lasts; if we want to be able to compete with other countries for jobs that restore a sense of security for the middle-class,” Obama said.

“There are too many people hurting in this country for us to simply do nothing,” he said. “The economy is too fragile for us to let politics get in the way of action.” Despite opposition to the overall bill, individual elements of it may well get through Congress, particularly an extension and expansion of a payroll tax cut that took effect Jan. 1.

Republicans used their weekly address to criticize the plan.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., called it “nothing but a rehash of the same failed ideas he’s already tried, combined with a huge tax increase.”

“This is a cynical political ploy that’s designed not to create jobs for struggling Americans, but to save the president’s own job,” Thune said.

He also accused Obama of promulgating excessive regulations and too much red tape, to the detriment of business.

“We’re calling for a regulatory time-out, an affordable energy plan, broad-based tax reform including lower rates, and policies that provide the certainty and stability our economy desperately needs,” Thune said.

____

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: http://www.youtube.com/gopweeklyaddress

Source

The most closely kept secret about the iPhone 5? There isn’t one _ yet.

The new iPhone is faster, has a better camera and allows you to sync content without needing a computer. It includes a futuristic, voice-activated service that responds to spoken commands and questions such as “Do I need an umbrella today?” It will now be available to Sprint customers as well as those from AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

But there’s a catch. Apple named it 4S when most people were expecting the iPhone 5. Immediately, tech bloggers and Apple fans alike began to wonder if this new iPhone was not as cool as they had hoped. Investors were disappointed, too. Apple’s stock fell more than 5 percent before getting a late bump.

If Tuesday’s unveiling seemed like a letdown, it was because Apple didn’t do a good job of managing expectations. That’s a familiar problem for Apple, whose penchant for secrecy invites hyperbolic speculation between its product announcements. Given that it had been 16 months since the previous iPhone hit the market, imaginations had even more time to run wild this time.

“This is the typical Apple scenario: People keep wanting it to do the impossible,” said Tim Bajarin, a Creative Strategies analyst who has been following the company for decades.

Apple’s approach to the event didn’t do any favors for Tim Cook in his first major public appearance since he succeeded Steve Jobs as CEO six weeks ago. Jobs, the Apple visionary and co-founder, relinquished the reins to focus on his health problems.

Cook handled his presentation in a pedestrian fashion that lacked Jobs’ flair. The format and stage setting were similar to the presentations that Jobs had orchestrated so masterfully, giving Cook little opportunity to make his own mark, said Adam Hanft, a marketing consultant who runs his own firm in New York.

“It wasn’t fair to Tim in his inaugural because there he didn’t have any product to show off that was a real barnburner,” Hanft said.

“This allowed him to get his sea legs, but he still needs to find his voice and style. They need to come up with a new setting that is equally Apple-like aesthetically, but not the same that they had while Steve was there.”

Even though the iPhone 4S is an improvement over its predecessor, it isn’t being perceived as a breakthrough partly because it’s not being branded as an iPhone 5, as most people had been expecting, said Prashant Malaviya, a marketing professor at Georgetown University.

Not all investors were disappointed.

Stephen Coleman, chief investment officer for Daedalus Capital and an Apple investor since 2004, calls his Apple stock “the safest investment that I own.” He said Tuesday’s upgrades were “incremental” _ and praised Apple for not messing too much with a model that’s working.

“To those who say they’re underwhelmed, I’d say they’ve been fast asleep,” Coleman said. “Anyone who’s been paying attention at all would have to be dazzled by the product, and earnings.”

The stock has risen more than 15 percent this year, at one point hitting an all-time high of $422.86. It has nearly quadrupled since the first iPhone was announced in 2007. The device has been the cornerstone of one of the most remarkable runs in technology history. Apple is now one of the world’s most richly valued companies, holding its own against oil companies and international conglomerates.

“What is there to lament?” Coleman said. “For people like me, it’s peace on earth. This is one of the great economic stories of our time.”

The new iPhone has an improved camera with a higher-resolution sensor. The processor is faster _ the same A5 chip found in the iPad 2 _ so the phone will be able to run smoother, more realistic action games. It’s also a “world phone,” which means that Verizon iPhones will be useable overseas, just as AT&T iPhones already are.

The fact that a more radical revision of the phone was a no-show leaves room for speculation that Apple will reveal a new model in less than a year, perhaps one equipped to take advantage of Verizon’s and AT&T’s new high-speed data networks free credit report and score.

There had also been speculation that Apple would include a chip that could talk to payment terminals at retail stores, turning the iPhone into a mobile wallet. Competitors are starting to include this capability in their phones, though the payment systems are still immature. The iPhone 4S doesn’t have this.

The iPhone 4S will come with new mobile software that includes such features as the ability to sync content wirelessly, without having to plug the device to a Mac or Windows machine. The phone includes Siri, which lets people speak questions and commands and represents an advanced version of speech-recognition software found on other phones.

Apple also unveiled software that can send greeting cards through the postal system for $2.99 each.

Cook said the most recent iPhone, which came out in June 2010, sold more quickly than previous models, but the iPhone still has just 5 percent of the worldwide handset market. Among smartphones, devices running Google Inc.’s Android software make up 43 percent of the market in the second quarter, while the iPhone captures 18 percent, according to Gartner Inc.

Apple is hoping to grow that share with the iPhone 4S _ something it can do by luring new customers from Sprint and elsewhere, even if existing owners don’t see a need to upgrade.

Bajarin, the longtime Apple watcher, is confident that Apple will quickly overcome the perception problem once technology reviewers get a better handle on all the new bells and whistles. He believes that the improved camera and speech-recognition technology are compelling enough additions to make the iPhone 4S another hit for Apple.

“People are going to get over their initial disappointment and want this phone,” he said.

Apple’s new mobile software, iOS 5, will also be available on Oct. 12 for existing devices _ the iPhone 4 and 3GS, both iPad models and later versions of the iPod Touch.

Apple said Oct. 12 will also mark the launch of its new iCloud service, which will store content such as music, documents and photos on Apple’s servers and let people access them wirelessly on numerous devices. One component is a $25-per-year service, called iTunes Match, that will allow people to play their personal jukeboxes on any device with iTunes software instead of keeping them tethered to a personal computer that must be synced with other devices.

The new phone will come in black or white. It will cost $199 for a 16 gigabyte-version, $299 for 32 GB and $399 for 64 GB _ all with a two-year service contract requirement. Pre-orders will begin Friday with availability on Oct. 14.

The previous version, iPhone 4, will now cost $99 for 8 GB. The 2009 model, the iPhone 3GS, will be given away for free with 8 GB. Both also require a two-year service contract.

Don’t expect to see an iPhone available with prepaid, contract-free service plans any time soon _ at least not with AT&T. Ralph de la Vega, AT&T’s head of wireless and consumer services, said in an interview that the carrier has no plans to offer iPhones with prepaid plans, because even phones that are free with two-year contracts _ namely the iPhone 3GS _ would cost customers a significant amount up front. Wireless companies typically subsidize the cost of phones and make that back from monthly service fees over the life of the contract.

Apple also unveiled a new line of iPods, including a Nano model with a multi-touch display that promises to be easier to navigate.

Apple’s stock fell $2.10, or 0.6 percent, to close Tuesday at $372.50 after dropping earlier to $354.24.

Source

Cyprus’ draft budget for next year includes some euro840 million ($1.14 billion) in spending cuts and tax increases in a bid to slash the island’s fiscal deficit to 2.3 percent, the finance minister said Wednesday.

Cyprus has endured consecutive credit rating downgrades in recent months, mainly due to the large banking sector’s exposure to debt-laden Greece. The downgrades have made it difficult for the government to borrow from the markets and stoked fears the island may be forced to seek a bailout from its European Union partners.

Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias said the draft budget includes more spending cuts and tax hikes to bolster an initial, euro180 million ($245 million) austerity package that lawmakers passed in August, but which was deemed insufficient to tackle the burgeoning deficit.

The public sector takes up almost a third of all government spending. The new measures include scrapping 1,100 public sector positions and cutting new government workers’ salaries by a tenth, Kazamias said.

Other measures include rolling back social handouts by euro200 million ($272 payday advance.6 million) and raising the sales tax from 15 to 17 percent for at least three years _ a move harshly criticized by opposition parties.

Kazamias said the deficit for 2011 is projected to hover between 6 to 6.5 percent of gross domestic product. More fiscal belt-tightening is expected to shrink the deficit to around one percent in 2013 and 2014, he said.

Debt for 2012 is forecast to remain static at 65 percent of gross domestic product, dropping slightly to 64.2 percent in 2013 and to 62.8 percent in 2014. The finance minister also said growth for 2011 will be between zero and 0.5 percent at best, rebounding in 2012 to between 1 and 1.5 percent.

Kazamias will submit the Cabinet-approved draft budget to parliament next month, saying the risks of lawmakers voting it down were too serious to contemplate.

“In my calculations, there is no scenario of the budget being voted down,” Kazamias said.

Source