Euro Declines as ECB Majority Supports Rate Cut

“The euro declined against most of its 16 major peers after a majority of European Central Bank members indicated support for an interest-rate cut if the economy doesn’t pick up.

The shared currency fell to the lowest in more than a week against the dollar after the Bundesbank lowered its 2013 forecast for economic expansion in Germany, following the ECB’s euro-area downgrade. The yen briefly extended gains after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake hitTokyo, fueling haven demand for the Japanese currency. The Dollar Index rose for a third day before a report economists said would show U.S. companies hired fewer workers in November…”

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“ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece says it is sticking to plans to close its offer to buy back its own bonds from investors on Friday in a deal that should meet a debt writedown target set by its international lenders.

The government said it would shield the country’s banks from any lawsuits over losses booked if they take part in the buyback.

The buyback, part of a broader debt relief package worth 40 billion euros ($52 billion) agreed by Greece’s euro zone and International Monetary Fund lenders last month, is central to efforts to bring its debt to manageable levels.

Athens has no plans to extend the deadline for bids beyond Friday, finance ministry officials said, dismissing a Greek newspaper report suggesting the government could extend the deadline to early next week.

“The process will close today and there is no need for an extension,” a senior finance ministry official said. A second official confirmed the 12.00 p.m. EST deadline….”

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“FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Key Euribor bank-to-bank lending rates fell on Friday, a day after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank discussed cutting interest rates at its December meeting but in the end decided to leave them unchanged at 0.75 percent.

Draghi said on Thursday there had been “a wide discussion” on rate cuts during the Governing Council meeting, which fuelled expectation that the ECB was ready to lower rates further in the coming months.

The central bank also announced a six-month extension to its full-allotment policy in all liquidity operations….”

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Oil is down again to cap off a week of downside.

WTI is down  $0.26 currently while Brent is up $0.13

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“U.K. manufacturing production fell more than economists forecast in October as food and alcohol slumped, indicating weakness in the economy at the start of the fourth quarter.

Factory output dropped 1.3 percent from September, the most in four months, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median forecast of 28 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 0.2 percent decline. Total industrial output unexpectedly fell 0.8 percent, a third consecutive decrease, led by mining, oil and gas….”

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“Australia’s dollar was set for a five-day advance before Chinese data next week that may show the world’s second-largest economy is picking up.

The so-called Aussie was near a two-month high after a private report showed the nation’s construction industry contracted at a slower pace. Demand for the currency was also supported after data showed Australia’s trade deficit widened by less than economists predicted as exports withstood a slower global economy and capital goods purchases increased.

“Chinese economic data are improving after concern about a slowdown,” said Teppei Ino, a Tokyo-based analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., a unit of Japan’s biggest financial group by market value. “That’s providing some support for the Australian and New Zealanddollars.”

Australia’s currency traded at $1.0478 as of 5:07 p.m. in Sydney. Yesterday it rose 0.3 percent to $1.0486 in New York after touching $1.0516, the highest since Sept. 21. The New Zealand dollar, nicknamed the kiwi, bought 83.19 U.S. cents from 83.27. The Aussie has risen 0.5 percent this week, while the kiwi has advanced 1.4 percent.”

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“Australia’s trade deficit widened less than economists predicted in October as exports withstood a slower global economy and capital goods purchases increased.

Imports outpaced exports by A$2.09 billion ($2.2 billion), compared with a revised A$1.42 billion deficit in September, the Bureau of Statistics said in a report in Sydney today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 24 economists was for a deficit of A$2.2 billion.

Central bank Governor Glenn Stevens has reduced interest rates four times this year to 3 percent as prices of the nation’s biggest commodity exports ease. Policy makers are trying to revive demand outside of a resource boom that may crest in the first half of next year at a lower level than previously expected.”

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“Gold-producing companies in Ivory Coast may have to shut down operations in the West African nation if parliament approves a proposed tax on profit, according to Nouho Kone, head of a miners’ group.

A tax of 9 percent to 19 percent on profit “is not reassuring,” Kone, head of the Professional Group of Miners in Ivory Coast, said in a phone interview today from Abidjan, the commercial capital. “The worst-case scenario would be to see companies shut down their mines in the short term.”

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Japan had a 7.3m earthquake and Tsunami warnings that were put into effect have been lifted. This caused investors to be cautious.

Europe and the euro fell as growth for Germany was ratcheted downward to 0.4%.

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World Markets

Currencies

Commodities

USD Libor

Euribor

Yields for Italy, Spain, France,  and Germany …

 

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[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UypT5MBryMs 450 300] [youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmNV8_VBGX0 450 300]

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Unbelievable 

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Hey, even $100k would work.

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“As official videographer for the U.S. government, Kurt Sonnenfeld was detailed to Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, where he spent an entire month filming: “What I saw at certain moments and in certain places … is very disturbing!” He never handed his 29 tapes over to the authorities and has been persecuted ever since. Kurt Sonnenfeld lives in exile in Argentina, where he wrote “El Perseguido” (Persecuted). His recently-published book tells the story of his unending nightmare and drives another nail into the coffin of the government’s account of the 9/11 events. Below is an exclusive interview by Voltaire Network.”

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“The government that led the way two decades ago in establishing legal rights for the disabled has failed to ratify an international agreement based on the very same law.

The U.S. Senate this week took up the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a United Nations treaty that was inspired by the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark law adopted in 1990.

But in order to ratify the convention, 67 senators were needed to vote for it. Only 61 did, after a block of Republicans refused to endorse the treaty that they claimed would jeopardize American sovereignty.

Several GOP senators did vote “yes,” including John McCain of Arizona, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, John Barrasso of Wyoming, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Richard Lugar of Indiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Others, though, voted in opposition, even after former senator and majority leader Bob Dole appeared in the Senate chambers to encourage his party’s members to back the convention. Dole, 89, arrived via wheelchair, having come from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was being treated for poor health…”

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Better think twice before you slam a business with a bad review on Yelp – one Virginia woman is being sued for it.
Jane Perez was slapped with a $750,000 lawsuit by Dietz Development after she publicly logged complaints about construction work the building contractor performed on her home.
In her write-ups on the popular business review sites Yelp and Angie’s List, Perez accused the company of damaging her house, trespassing and stealing jewelry.
‘Bottom line,’ she wrote on Angie’s List. ‘Do not put yourself through this nightmare of a contractor.’
Perez is only the latest online critic to find herself in court over negative comments post online.
In 2009, a San Francisco man was sued by a chiropractor after he posted a Yelp review accusing the business of over-charging him. That suit was settled out of court.
A Chicago plastic surgeon sued three women in 2010 after they wrote online accusations that he gave them disfigured and misshapen breasts after surgery.
In September, a Pilates studio in Virginia sued two Yelp reviewers who complained that the business smelled like mildew and that the staff was unfriendly

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If the United States’ war on terror was intended to curb terrorist attacks, then it has failed to meet its goal.

Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, terrorism incidents worldwide have actually gone up, from 982 in 2002 to 4,564 in 2011, according to a new study from the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Fatalities resulting from terrorism also have increased, although they peaked five years ago and have been on a downward trend since. In 2002, more than 3,800 people died due to terrorist attacks, climbing to 7,473 deaths last year, 25% less than in 2010.

The countries most impacted by the rise of terrorism incidents have been Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Yemen…”

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Source 

“No More Media for Murdoch

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Let me get my basket….

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Washington becomes the first state to legalize the consumption of trees.

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[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABc8ciT5QLs 450 300]

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