U.N. calls for investigation into Qaddafi’s death

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) — The United Nations and two major human rights groups called for an investigation into the death of Moammar Gadhafi on Friday amid questions over the last moments of the late Libyan strongman’s life.

“There seem to be four or five different versions of how he died,” the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement. “More details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in the fighting or after his capture.”

Questions also persisted about what would happen to Gadhafi’s body. His family issued a statement Friday calling on the United Nations and Amnesty International to push Libya’s new leadership “to hand over the bodies of the martyrs of their tribe so they can be buried according to Islamic rites,” a pro-Gadhafi TV station reported.

Libya’s interim government, the National Transitional Council, has said Gadhafi’s burial will be delayed for few days to allow International Criminal Court officials to check the body in Misrata if they choose to do so.

BRUSSELS (AP) – Finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro approved the payment of Greece’s next batch of bailout loans Friday, avoiding a potentially disastrous default, but acknowledged the country’s debt remained too high.

Greece’s debts are only one piece of Europe’s economic puzzle, and the finance ministers were meeting in Brussels on Friday to address two more complicated — and arguably more important — issues: boosting the financial firepower of the eurozone’s €440 billion ($607 billion) bailout fund in order to prevent the larger economies of Italy and Spain from spinning out of control and forcing weak banks to boost their capital buffers to shore up their defenses against market turmoil.

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos welcomed the news that Athens would get the next €8 billion ($11 billion) installment, calling it a “positive step.” A day earlier, Greek lawmakers approved new, deeply contentious austerity measures.

The new measures will ensure next year’s fiscal targets are met and “sets the basis for the necessary structural reforms,” he said.

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Think it takes a million bucks to make it into the Top 1% of American taxpayers?

Think again. In 2009, it took just $343,927 to join that elite group, according to newly released statistics from the Internal Revenue Service.

Occupy Wall Street protesters have been railing against the Top 1%, trying to raise anger and awareness of the growing economic gap between the rich and everybody else in America.

But just who are these fortunate folks at the top of the income ladder?

Well, there were just under 1.4 million households that qualified for entry. They earned nearly 17% of the nation’s income and paid roughly 37% of its income tax.

Collectively, their adjusted gross income was $1.3 trillion. And while $343,927 was the minimum AGI to be included, on average, Top 1-percenters made $960,000.

But the income threshold for this exclusive group changes every year, largely with the performance of the stock market, experts said.

LONDON (AP) — Anadarko Petroleum Co. has agreed to pay $4 billion to BP PLC as part of a settlement related to last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, adding weight to BP’s contention that it was not solely responsible for the disaster.

BP said Monday that Anadarko’s payment will form part of the British company’s $20 billion trust fund, which has paid out $7 billion so far to settle claims from individuals and businesses. Eleven workers were killed when the Deepwater Horizon rig at the Macondo well exploded off Louisiana on April 20, 2010, causing the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

BP has now reached settlements with both of its partners in the Macondo well.

However, it is still embroiled in lawsuits and countersuits with Transocean Ltd., operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, and Halliburton Co., which was responsible for cementing the well. The suits are scheduled to go to trial in New Orleans in February.

BP also faces the prospect of fines in the tens of billions of dollars.

The market cheered the Anadarko agreements, pushing BP shares 4 percent higher at 433 pence in early afternoon trading on the London Stock Exchange.

“The acceptance of partial liability by Anadarko further reduces the likelihood of punitive damages against BP,” Jonathan Jackson, head of equities at Killik & Co.

“If the group is not found grossly negligent, fines relating to the incident would be a basic amount of $1,100 per barrel, as opposed to $4,300 per barrel if found guilty, Jackson said, adding that the not-guilty verdict would still cost the company $15.7 billion.

BP has made provisions for up to $42 billion in costs from the blowout, and it has embarked on raising $30 billion by selling assets.

Anadarko, based in The Woodlands, Texas, is handing over its 25 percent stake in the well to BP as part of the settlement.

The agreement also gives Anadarko a potential share in funds which BP recovers from third parties or insurance. If BP’s total recovery exceeds $1.5 billion, Anadarko would get 12.5 percent of the excess, or up to $1 billion, BP said.

“This settlement agreement with BP is the right action for our stakeholders, as it removes significant uncertainty regarding future liabilities and associated risks,” said Jim Hackett, chairman and CEO of Anadarko.

“This settlement represents a positive resolution of a significant uncertainty and it resolves the issues among all the leaseholders of the Macondo well,” said BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley.

“There is clear progress with parties stepping forward to meet their obligations and help fund the economic and environmental restoration of the Gulf,” Dudley said. “It’s time for the contractors, including Transocean and Halliburton, to do the same.”

In May, BP announced a settlement with the other partner in the well, MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC, which owned 10 percent it. That company agreed to pay BP $1 billion.

Weatherford International Inc., a contractor based in Switzerland, also agreed in June to pay $75 million to the trust fund to settle claims between it and BP. Weatherford manufactured the float collar, designed to help contain cement, used in the blown-out well.

U.S. regulators last week cited BP PLC, Transocean Lld. and Halliburton for alleged safety and environmental violations stemming from last year’s rig explosion and massive Gulf oil spill.

The companies were given 60 days to appeal the citations issued by the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

HAVANA – Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez likely has less than two years to live, his former doctor said, as the ailing firebrand traveled to Cuba for a checkup following cancer treatment.

Chavez, 57, has been through four rounds of chemotherapy in Cuba since revealing he had a cancerous tumor removed in June. But Venezuela has provided few details about the exact nature of the cancer, aside from that it was in the pelvic area.

Salvador Navarrete, his former personal surgeon, told Mexican newspaper Milenio Semanal on Sunday that the leader’s condition likely was worse than publicly admitted.

The doctor described the prognosis as “not good.” He added, “When I say this, I mean that he has no more than two years to live.”

Navarrete said Chavez likely was suffering from either a tumor in his pelvis or a sarcoma, which would explain the intensive course of treatment.

Navarrete was the personal surgeon for Chavez from 2002 until earlier this year, when Chavez changed his medical staff to exclusively Cuban doctors.

Before departing for Havana, Chavez told Venezuelan TV that the visit was routine, but he did not disclose any details of his condition. Earlier reports said the visit was for a checkup, to see whether there were any malignant cells in his body, AFP reported.

Chavez has been in power since 1999 and has maintained that he will recover in time to win re-election in 2012.

(Reuters) – Sprint Nextel shares (NYSE:S – News) fell 8 percent on Monday as analysts slashed their forecasts for the No. 3 U.S. mobile operator, which said last week that would have to raise new capital.

Sprint shares fell 20 cents to $2.21 after analysts cut their price targets for the stock and forecast free cash flow losses. S&P gave Sprint debt a “watch negative” rating.

The company discussed a costly network upgrade plan at a conference on Friday, telling investors that it would need to tap capital markets, even before accounting for big additional costs it expects from subsidizing sales of the new Apple Inc (NasdaqGS:AAPL – News) iPhone. (ID:nN1E7960J0)

UBS analyst John Hodulik estimated that Sprint would incur a free cash flow loss of $2.5 billion over the next two years and worried how it would pay for upcoming debts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is attacking the jobs front this week, with votes on China currency, free trade and President Barack Obama’s jobs bill.

The Senate on Tuesday evening should pass legislation imposing economic sanctions on China if it continues to keep its exports cheap by undervaluing its currency. The bill, however, faces opposition in the House and may function mainly as a strong message of frustration with China’s economic policies.

It will also be difficult for Senate Democrats, facing stiff GOP opposition, to obtain the 60 votes needed to advance Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill.

It is almost certain, however, that the House and Senate will vote by Wednesday to approve free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama that supporters say will foster tens of thousands of American jobs.

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Emerging-market stocks are “cheap” and Pacific Investment Management Co. is buying in China after the nation’s shares tumbled this year, said Maria Gordon, an emerging-market equity-fund manager at Pimco.

“We are definitely fishing in the more cyclically distressed areas of the market where valuations are very, very cheap,” London-based Gordon said in an interview with Sara Eisen on Bloomberg Television today. “We’re selectively accumulating positions” in China, Gordon said, adding that shares of Hong Kong-based insurer AIA Group Ltd. (1299) are poised for “a lot of capital appreciation.”

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has tumbled as much as 31 percent from this year’s high, sending its price-to-earnings ratio to 9.4 on Oct. 5, the lowest level since December 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, a gauge of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong, has slid 38 percent from a 30-month peak in November as tight monetary policy in the biggest emerging economy and Europe’s debt crisis spurred investors to sell riskier securities.

“Markets are cheap,” Gordon said. Still, “it’s very difficult to call the bottom” given concerns that the global economy is slowing, she said.

Emerging-market equity funds have posted 10 straight weeks of outflows, with investors withdrawing $3.3 billion in the seven days ended Oct. 5, according to data compiled by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research firm EPFR Global. China funds had $167 million of outflows during the week.

Sorry, but when these little bastards manage to hit some huge website with a denial of service attack or luck out by catching Sony with their pants down (no encryption) these fucks get unprecedented press time.

After issuing that idiotic video last week, I just figured it was well deserved that people remember the cyber attack that wasn’t

BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) – Europe’s banks expect to be told to raise more capital under a Franco-German effort to solve the euro zone debt crisis after the state rescue of Franco-Belgian lender Dexia SA.

Dexia agreed to the nationalization of its Belgian retail bank and secured 90 billion euros ($121 billion) in state guarantees, in a rescue that raises pressure on other euro zone countries to strengthen their banks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Sunday they would tackle Greece’s woes and agree how to recapitalize the regions’ banks by the end of the month, but they declined to reveal details of their plan.

“We expect the EU to come up with a minimum core Tier One (capital) level under certain stress scenarios and a higher one without any stress. Then banks will be asked to reach this level in a short period of time,” said a senior banker in Germany.

Banks were not involved in talks yet with governments on likely capital needs, several bankers said, although options were being considered in case they need to act quickly.

But they were concerned at just how much more capital they will be called on to find, after many urged Europe’s leaders to follow the “bazooka” approach of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who told banks they must raise capital.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told his euro zone peers to adopt a “big bazooka” solution.

This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of. This group is completely insane. Guess what, clowns?

Some people are more important than others. Using their rules, I wonder how they would have a real debate about anything useful?

Rep. John Lewis is one of 435 members of the House interminably frustrated by the arcane ways of the Senate. At an Occupy Atlanta protest, he encountered a process arguably worse.

A lengthy video posted online over the weekend showed what happened when the Democratic congressman tried to address an “assembly” of protesters in his home state. Instead of giving the floor to a man who is not just a longtime U.S. representative but a revered civil rights icon, the protesters employed a tangle of parliamentary procedures to ultimately prevent him from speaking.

A stunned Lewis could be seen watching the whole thing unfold before ambling away.

Asked about the incident Monday, a Lewis spokeswoman told FoxNews.com “the only comment that we’re going to give is the comments already made.” In a prior interview about the matter with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Lewis said, “It’s okay,” and that “they didn’t really deny me.”

The end result, though, was that Lewis did not get to speak to the protesters.

The procedures they used — rather, invented — would make the Senate blush. Imagine some combination of Model U.N., Lord of the Flies and a Phish concert.

The central premise, it appeared, was that no one person is inherently more valuable than anyone else. So when the group’s leader, a bespectacled man with a bullhorn, said anything, he spoke in clipped fragments so the rest of the crowd could repeat what he was saying back to him. Another rule — no clapping, because “clapping can prevent someone else who is addressing the assembly from being heard.”

Instead, the leader urged everyone to use effusive hand signals to show approval.

With these fundamentals in place, the assembly spent 10 minutes debating whether Lewis should be allowed to speak before the crowd, which had gathered as one of many offshoots of the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York.

When the leader put the question to the group, he asked if there were any “blocks.”

Indeed there were. Another demonstrator spoke out to say that while he respects Lewis’ contribution to society, the protesters were trying to start “a democratic process in which no singular human being is inherently more valuable than any other human being.”

Lewis nodded his head in approval, then appeared to display the makings of a hand signal before giving up and keeping his hands loosely clasped while the debate mounted.

After more commentary from the assembly, the leader took a “temperature check” — which is not quite a vote. It was evident the group was divided about letting Lewis speak.

So the leader called for a “straw poll.” More hand signals followed, and from this the leader was able to infer “the group is very divided about this issue.”

Warning that consensus would be elusive on the matter, he proposed continuing “with the agenda.”

At this point, Lewis began to make his way out of the crowd. Some started shouting, “Let him speak.”

But it was not to be. Another person shouted: “John Lewis is not better than anyone! Democracy won!”

The leader closed by restating the rules. “This group makes its decisions by consensus. We do not have a consensus,” he said.

They continued with the agenda.

Oct 5 (Reuters) – Cameco Corp said it signed a new milling arrangement with its joint venture partners which will help it cut operating cost at its Cigar Lake project.

Canada’s top uranium producer said it signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with its joint venture partners — AREVA Resources Canada Inc, Idemitsu Resources Canada Inc and Tepco Resources Inc– to mill all Cigar Lake ore at the McClean Lake mill.

Cigar Lake, located about 660 kilometres north of Saskatoon, is the world’s largest undeveloped high-grade uranium deposit, according to Cameco’s website.

The company said estimated average cash operating cost would drop to about $18.60 per pound from $23.14 per pound due to the new milling arrangement.

Cameco, which owns a 50 percent stake in the Cigar Lake project, said it continues to expect production to start in mid-2013. (Reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Bangalore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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U.S. apartment vacancies declined to 5.6%, a five year low, in Q3 according to Reis Inc. (REIS), reports Bloomberg. The average monthly effective rent rose to $1,004 from $997 in Q2 and $981 in the same period of 2010.

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Eight months ago Bill Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, said Treasuries “may need to be exorcised” and cleaned them out of his $245 billion Total Return Fund. The company then used derivatives to bet against the debt in March.

Now the Pacific Investment Management Co. fund has 16 percent of its assets in U.S. government securities as the debt posted the highest quarterly returns in almost three years.

“We’ve rebalanced,” Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer at Newport Beach, California-based Pimco said in a Sept. 27 radio interview on Bloomberg Surveillance with Tom Keene in New York. “The U.S. benefits the most from a flight to quality.”

With the economy growing slower than forecast, the biggest bond rally in three years has repudiated Standard & Poor’s Aug. 5 downgrade of the U.S. AAA credit rating and driven yields to record lows, prompting bears to play catch up in a bid to match indexes portfolio managers use to measure performance. Economists have cut their estimates for the 10-year yield in March 2012 to 2.56 percent, from a projection of 3.75 percent in July, the biggest cut since January 2009.

A Deutsche Bank AG measure of asset allocation among the 20 largest non-indexed funds indicates that since early August they have pulled close to even with the benchmark Barclays U.S. Aggregated index weighting of 34 percent in Treasuries.

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC News is joining forces with Yahoo to deliver more digital news content to their audiences. With the deal, the companies say ABC News content will be prominently featured on the Yahoo News and Yahoo front page.

ABC made the announcement Monday on its “Good Morning America” program.

The two news organizations have a combined online audience of more than 100 million people in the U.S. Yahoo News is the most visited news website in the world.

The companies will also work together on selling advertising.

The companies say ABC News will maintain editorial control of its sites and Yahoo will keep control of its sites.

(laughter) if growth falls below the “new normal” level iside of 2 years, then how normal was it?

Read here:

Bill Gross, the manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, said the global economy risks lapsing into recession with the pace of growth falling below the “new normal” level the firm has predicted since 2009.

“Sovereign balance sheets resemble an overweight diabetic on the verge of a heart attack,” Gross wrote in a monthly investment outlook posted on Newport Beach, California-based Pacific Investment Management Co.’s website today. “If global policy makers could focus on structural as opposed to cyclical financial solutions, new normal growth as opposed to recession might be possible. Long-term profits cannot ultimately grow unless they are partnered with near equal benefits for labor.”

Pimco outlined the new normal scenario at its annual Secular Forum in May 2009 that set investment guidelines for the firm for the next three to five years. The forecast predicted that following the market collapse in 2008 the U.S. economy would grow at a below-average pace for the next several years as growth in the developed markets slows, unemployment stays elevated and the “heavy hand of government” would be evident in the markets.

“Until recently, economic recovery has been relatively robust if one were a deployer of capital as opposed to the laborer who made that deployment possible,” Gross said. “Near zero percent interest rates have allowed profit margins to widen even in the face of anemic end demand. There are no double-digit investment returns anywhere in sight for owners of financial assets.”

The weaker euro is having an effect.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – Inflation jumped to a startling 3.0 percent in September in the 17 countries that use the euro, a surprise increase that makes it less likely the European Central Bank will cut interest rates next week to head off a possible recession.

The rate reported Friday from the European Union’s statistics agency was the highest since October 2008 and represented a big increase from August’s 2.5 percent. The scale of the rise was unexpected.

The ECB, the chief monetary authority for the euro countries, has come under pressure to cut interest rates soon to ward off mounting signs of recession in the eurozone economy. A waning global recovery and market turmoil from Europe’s debt crisis are starting to weigh on growth.

Leading economic indicators have been falling to the point where some predict a downturn is imminent, after a weak 0.2 percent growth figure for the second quarter.

Separate figures Friday from the statistics office showed unemployment in the eurozone stuck at 10 percent in August.

A few economists have predicted a cut next week when the ECB’s rate-setting council meets in Berlin. But the council’s 23 members may want to see evidence that inflation is not a threat before they cut. September’s rate, which is well above the ECB’s mandate to keep inflation just below 2 percent, could mean a cut that soon is less likely.

“The latest eurozone inflation and unemployment numbers would appear to reduce the chance of an imminent ECB rate cut,” said Ben May, European economist at Capital Economics.

Oh wait a minute…

CCNMoney
Thursday is off to a sunny start for investors who prefer riskier assets than bonds.

Germany approved the eurozone bailout, the U.S. economy performed stronger than previously thought in the second quarter, and fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week — all good news that is fueling a move from safe havens like U.S. Treasuries into stocks instead.

As a result, the price on the 10-year Treasury fell Thursday, pushing the yield up to 2.01%. (Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions).

The 10-year yield is coming back from a record low at 1.67% set last week.

That said, some bond traders are skeptical the optimism will last.

“The risk-on trade could be getting ahead of itself,” said Michael Cheah, senior portfolio manager at AIG SunAmerica. “For unemployment claims to be at 391,000 and the stock market rejoices in this — I’m worried about the psychology there. People are grasping for any kind of hope they can get.”

The Treasury Department is scheduled to auction $29 billion in 7-year notes later in the day, following successful auctions of $35 billion in 2-year notes Tuesday, and $35 billion in 5-year notes Wednesday.

Maybe they should put out a piece titled “Treasuries: Risk trade is back off” now? Or maybe news stations should avoid creating posts that try and preclude market direction?

God, yes…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE:CLP – News), announced the completion of multiple transactions under its multifamily asset recycling strategy. The company completed the sale of six apartment communities for total proceeds of $105.8 million and acquired three apartment communities for a total of $93.5 million. The transactions enhance the multifamily portfolio by lowering the average age, increasing operating margins and average rent per unit, reducing capital expenditure requirements and improving the long-term growth profile.

The acquired properties include: the 278-unit Colonial Reserve at Medical District (formerly Cityville at Southwestern Medical District) in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas; the 316-unit Colonial Village at Beaver Creek (formerly Creekside Hills) in Raleigh, North Carolina; and the 312-unit Colonial Grand at Commerce Park (formerly Alexon Wellborn) in Charleston, South Carolina. The three apartment communities have an average age of 3.7 years.

The company sold the following properties: the 250-unit Colonial Grand at Sugarloaf and 434-unit Colonial Grand at McGinnis Ferry in Atlanta, Georgia; the 250-unit Colonial Village at Meadow Creek in Charlotte, North Carolina; and the 232-unit Summer Tree, 232-unit Brookfield and 328-unit Paces Cove apartment communities in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas. The six properties have an average age of 21.8 years.

“The agreement we disclosed in late July has allowed us to fund attractive multifamily acquisition opportunities through the sale of certain older multifamily assets,” noted Thomas H. Lowder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “This transaction is consistent with our strategy of upgrading the multifamily portfolio.”

Shocker. I love how the Obama Administration then accuses the study of “looking backwards.”

Yeah, dipshits, that’s kind of the point of a study.

The signature legislation of the Obama Administration, the Affordable Care Act, came under damaging assault Wednesday from a Kaiser Family Foundation survey that found it has already partially contributed to increasing health care costs.

The Kaiser survey helps to shed some light on why so few employers are hiring, as health care costs for employers are spiraling upwards.

The survey found that insurance premiums rose by 9 percent in 2011. Healthcare costs for a single worker went up on average from $5,049 to $5,429, and for a family, costs rose from $13,770 to $15,073, on average.

The survey also found that some provisions of the Affordable Care Act already in place — including the allowance for young people up to 26 years of age to remain on their parents insurance policy — contributed to 20 percent of that increase.

But other factors are also contributing to the rising costs of health care. They include the prices of new technologies, research and development for new prescription drugs and the proliferation of chronic diseases like diabetes.

The aging of the baby boom generation is also placing a tremendous strain on the health care system, as baby boomers have begun qualifying for Medicare this year. The survey found that with better treatments and drugs, they may live longer than previous generations and impose huge costs on the system as they age.

The White House, seeking to limit damage from the report, issued a statement on its blog in advance of the reports’ release, accusing it of, “looking backwards.”

“When we look to the future we know that The Affordable Care Act will help make insurance more affordable for families and businesses across the country, ” wrote Nancy- Ann DeParle, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff.

White House spokesman Jay Carney later defended the provision of the Affordable Care Act allowing 26-year-olds to stay on their parents insurance policies. “That has already had this tremendous impact on young people in America, which we obviously think is very positive,” he said. Most other provisions of the Affordable Care Act will not take effect until 2014.

The survey suggests that if costs are going to come down, people will need to live healthier lives. Health information technology will need to be improved, as will efficiency. The survey also calls for greater consumer involvement in health care such as those provided in health reimbursement accounts, where employers contribute to a health account managed by the employee. But the report also acknowledged deep political differences over those accounts, as well as over other proposed solutions.