Thursday, February 28, 2013

Philippine liquidity expands 10.8 pct in Jan.


Demand for money in the Philippines expanded 10.8 percent on year to 5.2 trillion pesos (127.Visit the Best Price Auto Accessories wholesalers Secure online store for the best prices on car accessories, car covers.76 billion U.S. dollars) in January, the local central bank said Thursday.carbon sheets are distinguished by a significantly higher tensile strength. 

"The sustained expansion in domestic liquidity indicates that previous policy actions to help support non-inflationary economic growth continue to work their way through the economy," the central bank said in a statement.MVP-type Stone crusher structure is significantly different from traditional cone crusher. The biggest difference is: MVP-type use rolling bearings instead of the traditional sleeve and sphere tile. 

The central bank slashed policy rates by an aggregate of 100 basis points last year. 

On a monthly basis, seasonally-adjusted domestic liquidity or M3 increased by 1.knife sets3 percent. 

Money supply grew by 23.3 percent on year on back of growth in net domestic assets (NDA) following the sustained increase in credits to the private sector and robust bank lending activity. 

Net foreign assets (NFA) decreased by 1.7 percent on year. While the central bank's NFA position increased by 4.Chefs Kitchen Knives5 percent, supported by steady foreign exchange inflows from overseas remittances, portfolio investments, and receipts from the outsourcing industry, the NFA of banks continued to contract. This is due to the sustained increase in their foreign liabilities.

US consumer debt snaps four-year decline

Total consumer debt in the US rose in the fourth quarter, ending four years of declines as Americans borrowed more for education and car purchases and mortgage debt stabilised. 

Household debt rose 0.3 per cent, or $31bn, to $11.34tn in the final three months of 2012, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday. 

Americans have been in a long period of paying down debts after running them up during the housing boom. Since outstanding credit peaked at $12.68tn in the third quarter of 2008,carbon sheets are distinguished by a significantly higher tensile strength. US households have cut about 10 per cent, or $1.3tn, from their debt load, mainly due to modified or defaulted housing loans. 

Thursday’s report “suggests that there’s a slowdown in household deleveraging, but whether this is a turning point is something we’ll have to see over the next few quarters”, said Wilbert van der Klaauw, senior vice-president at the New York Fed. 

An end to deleveraging would be a boon to the economy, as consumer spending accounts for about 70 per cent of US gross domestic product. 

Over the past year there has been a steady increase in new mortgages and auto loans, helped by low interest rates, more affordable home prices and the need for many Americans to replace ageing cars. Auto loan originations were back to levels last seen in 2007, before the crisis, while new mortgages rose for a fifth straight quarter, reaching $553bn. 

Delinquency rates have also improved for mortgages, car loans and credit cards, edging down to an overall 8.6 per cent in the fourth quarter from 8.9 per cent in the third quarter. Student loans were an exception, however, with the rate of those delinquent on payments for 90 days or more rising to 11.7 per cent.Visit the Best Price Auto Accessories wholesalers Secure online store for the best prices on car accessories, car covers. 

Total residential debt was broadly flat at $8.6tn as fewer houses entered foreclosure, mortgage originations rose and delinquent home equity loans were written off. 

Outside of the housing sector, debt balances rose for a third-straight quarter. Student loan debt rose $10bn to $966bn. Auto loans rose $15bn to $783bn – the highest in almost four years. Credit card balances rose $5bn to $679bn. 

For the year, non-housing debt was up $100bn to a record $2.75tn, led by student loans, which since 2010 have become the largest source of indebtedness for US consumers behind mortgages. 

Student debt rose $92bn, or 11 per cent, and auto loans increased $50bn, or 7 per cent,knife sets over the year. Americans paid down credit card debt in 2012,Chefs Kitchen Knives however, decreasing balances by $25bn, or 4 per cent. 

“While it is too soon to conclude that a trend has been established in which households are beginning to increase their debts again, there are signs that the four-year long contraction is slowing,” said James McAndrews, executive vice-president of the New York Fed. 

But he warned that the $85bn in automatic spending cuts set to take effect on Friday and higher payroll taxes that hit consumers’ paychecks in January could hinder spending.MVP-type Stone crusher structure is significantly different from traditional cone crusher. The biggest difference is: MVP-type use rolling bearings instead of the traditional sleeve and sphere tile.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Wall Street rises, but S&P 500 snaps 7-week winning streak

U.S. stocks bounced back on Friday after a two-day losing streak, boosted by good earnings from leading U.S. companies and rising business confidence in Germany, but the S&P's 500 snapped a gaining streak for seven weeks. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 119.95 points, or 0.86 percent, to 14,000.57. The S&P 500 surged 13.18 points, or 0.88 percent, to 1,515.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 30.33 points, or 0.97 percent, to 3,161.82. 

Shares of Hewlett-Packard, a Dow component, leapt 12.28 percent to 19.This is a sheet-shaped intermediate material made by impregnating carbon prepreg with thermoplastic resin.20 U.S. dollars a share,Our collection of tyre equipments consists of tire changer and two post mechanical lift. leading the blue-chip index to soar during Friday's trading. The world's top personal computer maker on Thursday posted a net loss of fiscal first quarter profit, but the figure came in better than analysts' estimates. 

Shares of the American International Group rallied 3.14 percent to 38.45 dollars, pushing the S&P 500 higher. 

The main stock indices were also bolstered by continued improvement in Germany's business sentiment. The Ifo Business Climate Index rose sharply to 107.4 in February from 104.3 in January,knives supplier marking the fourth straight rise and the biggest monthly gain since July 2010. The figure signaled Europe's largest economy was regaining momentum. 

Wall Street retreated in the last two days after the minutes released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve indicated that the central bank may slow down or halt its bond-purchasing even before the jobless rate falls below 6.5 percent. 

St. Luis Fed President James Bullard said Friday on CNBC that "the Fed policy is very easy and it's going to stay easy for a long time." He predicted on Thursday that the U.S. jobless rate may drop to 6.5 percent by the mi-2014 and prompt the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate from near zero. 

For the week, the Dow inched up 0.1 percent, and S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent while the Nasdaq fell 0.Prepreg is made by impregnating fibers such as carbon cloth .9 percent. 

On other markets, crude prices recovered moderately on the upbeat German data but still posted sharp weekly declines. 

Oil prices started to tumble after the release of the Fed's minutes on Wednesday. Reports that Saudi Arabia might raise output in the second quarter also pressured crude prices. 

Light, sweet crude for April delivery edged up 29 cents, or 0.31 percent, to settle at 93.13 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For this week, it plunged 2.73 dollars, or 2.85 percent. 

Brent crude for April delivery also went up 57 cents,Change tires in the comfort of your own garage with this tire changer ! or 0.50 percent, to close at 114.10 dollars a barrel, posting a weekly decline of 3.56 dollars, or 3.03 percent. 

The U.S. dollar slightly slipped against the euro, strengthened by improved German business sentiment in February. But the greenback traded mixed against major currencies. 

In late New York trading, the euro climbed to 1.3179 dollars from 1.3171 dollars of the previous session and the British pound dropped slightly to 1.5241 from 1.5242 dollars. 

The dollar slipped to 0.9306 Swiss francs from 0.9317 and went up to 1.0213 Canadian dollars from 1.0195. The dollar bought 93.41 Japanese yen, higher than 93.11 in the previous session.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Why Wal-Mart’s bad news could be good news for the economy

“Where are all the customers? And where’s their money?” asked Cameron Geiger, a Wal-Mart senior vice president, in e-mails obtained by Bloomberg News that also described February sales to that point as “a total disaster.” 

Aside from making us wish that corporate executives would discuss their companies’ results with reporters using the same colorful bluntness that they apparently use in internal communications,knives supplier the leak prompted a wave of fears that a dangerous consumer spending slowdown was underway more broadly, and that the economy as a whole might be in danger. Well-run companies can get sales results in something close to real-time while compilers of official government statistics can take weeks or months. As my colleague Brad Plumer noted, even Federal Reserve officials have frequently cited what they hear about the economy from Wal-Mart as an early warning of trends to come. 

But Thursday morning, Wal-Mart released its official financial results for the quarter that ended in January—and an accompanying conference call that gave its official take on what is happening so far in February and what its leaders expect for the rest of the year. The results indeed weren’t very good; the company expects flat sales in its United States Wal-Mart stores for the February through April period compared with a year ago. By contrast, for all of its just-finished fiscal year, sales for that division were up 3.Our collection of tyre equipments consists of tire changer and two post mechanical lift.9 percent. 

There are four major possibilities for what is weakening consumer spending right now. In order from least worrisome to most: Shifts in when people received tax refunds due to the last-minute negotiations over tax rules at the end of 2012; a higher payroll tax that has reduced workers’ after-tax income; higher gasoline prices in February; and some mystery X factor, psychological or otherwise,Prepreg is made by impregnating fibers such as carbon cloth . that is leading Americans to pull back on spending. 

The first of these isn’t cause for any concern. Congress was tweaking the 2012 tax code until New Year’s Day, and so people couldn’t file as early as they usually could, and so people who in the past have received their refund check at the start of February are getting them in late February instead. Many of those people presumably used those checks to buy a new flat-screen TV or other major purchase at Wal-Mart, and to the degree that’s the problem, it just shifts purchases around within the quarter. 

The other factors are more cause for concern. If the payroll tax hike and higher gasoline prices pinch consumer spending enough, it will be bad for the overall economy. But the good news, if there is any, is that these should be one-time hits; once spending levels have adjusted to the new normal levels of gas prices and lower levels of after-tax income, spending should level off and rise from that point. 

The scariest possibility would be if the Wal-Mart memos were the earliest evidence of a broader crisis of confidence in the economy, one that might presage a new recession or steep downturn. 

The good news out of Wal-Mart’s earnings release is that its leaders see the first, and most benign, possibility as the biggest driver of the crunch.Change tires in the comfort of your own garage with this tire changer ! “February sales started slower than planned due in large part to the delay in income tax refunds,” said Bill Simon, president of Wal-Mart U.S., in a recorded conference call the company released Thursday morning. “We began seeing increased tax refund check activity late last week in our stores. This resulted in a more normalized sales pattern for this time of the year.” 

He acknowledged rising gasoline prices and payroll taxes as factors in sluggish January sales.This is a sheet-shaped intermediate material made by impregnating carbon prepregwith thermoplastic resin. But he gave no hint of the X option being the case; Simon and his fellow Wal-Mart executives seem to view the crimped consumer spending that seemed so dramatic in some of their colleagues’ e-mails as explainable by the usual factors that affect spending patterns—not some scary economic monster lurking under the bed.

U.S. Gulf Coast oil spillers about to face day in court

Nearly three years after a deepwater well rupture killed 11 men, sank a rig and spewed 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico,Prepreg is made by impregnating fibers such as carbon cloth . BP and the other companies involved are scheduled to face their judge in court. 

The trial over the worst U.S. offshore oil spill is set to start Monday in New Orleans before a federal judge and without a jury. Few expect the case, seen lasting several months, will be decided by the judge. 

An eleventh-hour settlement this weekend is a possibility, but legal experts expect a resolution, at least with the U.S. Department of Justice, in the coming months. Early testimony is likely to set the tone for any settlement talks, depending on how damaging the evidence is, they said. 

"This is a game of corporate chicken," said John Zavitsanos, a Houston civil litigator. "We have tangled with BP often, and they blink." 

Joining well owner BP Plc in Judge Carl Barbier's courtroom will be rig owner Transocean Ltd and well cement services provider Halliburton Co. 

Lined up against them will be the Justice Department,This is a sheet-shaped intermediate material made by impregnating carbon prepreg with thermoplastic resin. several Gulf Coast states and other plaintiffs. 

BP and Transocean declined to comment on the specifics of the upcoming trial. Halliburton was not immediately available for comment. 

BP has a history of settling civil cases before or during trial. Four trials began over the 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery that killed 15 people. All were settled. Payouts totaled $3.1 billion. BP has since sold the refinery.Change tires in the comfort of your own garage with this tire changer ! 

The stakes are higher this time, though. The Macondo well explosion and spill on April 20, 2010 affected five state coastlines, prompted a six-month ban on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf and disrupted the livelihoods of fishermen, hoteliers and others. And once a trial gets under way, a new dynamic can take hold.Our collection of tyre equipmentsconsists of tire changer and two post mechanical lift. 

"If the first couple of days are good for the plaintiffs or good for the defendants, that could shift. Once the first pitch is thrown, those odds could change," said Anthony Sabino,Shop Side Steps suppliers offers parts, accessories, and lifestyle items from various automobile manufacturers. a business law professor at St. John's University School of Law. 

Just ahead of the trial, BP won agreement from the Justice Department to exclude 810,000 barrels from the total spilt barrels estimate, but BP says the estimate is still too high. It also wants "efforts to do the right thing" afterwards taken into account and has earmarked only $3.5 billion for Clean Water Act payments, compared with its potential maximum liability of $17.5 billion. 

A BP settlement with the Justice Department over such a large liability could lead to another delay of a trial that has already been postponed. 

"With the federal government out of it, he (Barbier) might well postpone ... particularly if the states indicated to him that they were continuing to talk," said Ed Sherman of Tulane University Law School in New Orleans.