Finance and Economic

The Toronto stock market closed slightly higher Friday as some investors speculated Thursday’s global sell-off in equities triggered by Dubai’s attempt to delay debt repayments was overdone.

The S&P/TSX composite index advanced 27.61 points to 11,464.41 after tumbling 200 points Thursday in the wake of an announcement that Dubai World, a government investment company, had asked creditors to postpone its forthcoming payments on $60 billion (U.S.) in debt until May.

Thursday’s loss was responsible for a TSX loss of 114.92 points, or 1 per cent, for the week.

New York markets tumbled Friday, catching up with the losses racked up by other global markets after being closed Thursday for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 154.48 points to 10,309.92 at the end of a shortened session. The blue-chip index was flat for the week, up a slight eight points.

The Nasdaq composite index lost 37.61 points to 2,138.44. The S&P 500 fell 23.36 points to 1,087.27.

The Dubai announcement Wednesday stoked fears of a potential default and contagion around the global financial system, particularly in emerging markets. But a day later, investors were taking a harder look at what the Dubai debt crisis means.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said there wasn’t any reason for “significant concern” about spillover effects from Dubai’s attempt to delay debt repayments and “any effects would be quite mild on the Canadian financial system.”

Blair Falconer, portfolio manager at HSBC Securities Canada, observed that investors felt better Friday knowing that Canadian financials have limited or no exposure to the Dubai debt.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.09 of a cent to 94.21 cents after a flight to the greenback had sent the loonie down 1.35 cents on Thursday.

The financial sector led gainers, up 0.8 per cent. The industrials sector ran ahead 0.91 per cent.

Commodities were also weaker, but well off early lows, with the January crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange falling $1.91 to $76.05 a barrel. The energy sector was off 0.12 per cent.

The gold sector was off 1.83 per cent as bullion prices also gave up ground with the December gold contract on the Nymex down $12.80 to $1,174.20 an ounce.

The Canadian Press

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The St. Louis chapter of the Public Relations Society of America is celebrating its 60th anniversary. It was founded in 1949 by 14 local public relations professionals as the organization’s seventh chapter.

The society now has 110 professional chapters in 10 districts nationwide advance payday loans.

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The solicitations have been flooding people’s mailboxes lately: Pay a bit more on your electricity bill for 100 percent clean wind power. Or, the fliers say, buy "green power certificates" to offset your global warming emissions.

Close to a million electricity customers have signed up for such payments voluntarily, and the amount of electricity sold in this way has nearly tripled since 2005. But the participants are in a distinct minority, with a sign-up rate of only about 2 percent in programs run by utilities.

The government has looked at the question of whether these programs really cause more renewable energy projects to get built, and says it is difficult to draw an overall conclusion. Its experts say they believe that some green power programs work better than others.

At least one major program has come under fire from regulators. Last year, a Florida Power and Light green power program was terminated by the state’s Public Service Commission after an audit found that promised solar power facilities were far behind schedule. The program had more than 38,000 customers, and was once the sixth-largest in the country. The audit also found that the vast majority of homeowners’ payments went into marketing and administration.

About a quarter of the country’s utilities offer green power programs, and the way they are structured varies. In practice, no big utility delivers 100 percent renewable power to any customer, because electricity from all sources — coal plants, wind farms, solar panels — is mingled in the same wires. The utilities are essentially collecting extra money that they promise to use to support the development of renewable energy, a pitch that some customers find persuasive.

"It’s about what’s good for the planet," said Mark Renfrow, a Dallas homeowner who this summer began paying an extra $26 or so a month to his electric company, Direct Energy, for 100 percent wind power.

But some advocates for electricity consumers argue that the payments make little difference. Matthew Freedman, a staff lawyer with the Utility Reform Network, a ratepayer advocacy group in California, said, "There is very little evidence to suggest that customer subscriptions have resulted in any new additions of renewable power."

Early this year, the city government of Durango, Colo., stopped buying renewable power from its utility, saving $45,000 a year. The clean electricity had cost 40 percent extra — and the city manager, Ron LeBlanc, was irked that part of the payment went into putting solar panels on a school in a different city.

"Paying more and then investing in a community 16 miles away was offensive to a lot of us," he said.

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New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods fell unexpectedly in October, according to government data on Wednesday that reinforced views of a gradual economic recovery from recession.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders dropped 0.6 percent after rising by an upwardly revised 2.0 percent in September. New orders in September were previously reported to have increased 1.4 percent.

Analysts polled by Reuters forecast orders rising 0 cash advance loan no fax.5 percent in October. Durable goods orders are a leading indicator of manufacturing activity, which in turn provides a good measure for overall business health.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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Home prices in 20 U.S. cities probably fell in September at the slowest pace in almost two years, underscoring improvement in real estate that’s helping the economy emerge from recession, economists said ahead of a private report today.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index declined 9.1 percent from September 2008 after an 11.3 percent year-over-year decrease a month earlier, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Separate reports may show consumer confidence slipped this month on weaker employment prospects, while third-quarter economic growth was slower than first estimated.

Rising home sales, aided by government programs and a decline in mortgage rates this year, have helped stem the slump in property values that precipitated the worst recession since the 1930s. Home buying and consumer spending may still be hindered by higher unemployment.

“It looks like some kind of corner has been turned in the housing market,” said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics LLC in Pepper Pike, Ohio. “It will take time for more people to line up. That said, I do think housing has turned.”

The home-price report is scheduled to be released at 9 a.m. in New York. Estimates ranged from declines of 8.3 percent to 10.3 percent.

The Conference Board in New York will report on consumer confidence at 10 a.m. The figures may show the index fell to 47.5 in November from 47.7, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

GDP Revision

The Commerce Department will release its first revision to third-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. The report may show growth of 2.8 percent at an annual rate, slower than the 3.5 percent pace reported Oct. 29, as the trade deficit widened and inventories were leaner.

On a monthly basis, home prices have risen in the past three months, according to S&P/Case-Shiller, signaling some stability in the housing market.

Existing home sales in October rose to a 6.1 million annual rate, the highest level since February 2007, the National Association of Realtors said yesterday. The sales increase is helping reduce housing inventory. At the current sales pace, it would take 7 months to sell the 3.57 million homes on the market. The months’ supply is the lowest since February 2007.

The Standard & Poor’s Supercomposite Homebuilding Index has risen almost 18 percent since the beginning of July as the outlook on housing brightened. It rose 0.8 percent yesterday.

Tax Credit

Housing has been among the industries helping stabilize the U.S. economy. To ensure the recovery in housing continues, President Barack Obama and Congress this month extended a tax credit of as much as $8,000 for first-time homebuyers until April 30, from Nov. 30. They also expanded it to include some current owners.

Concern over the looming expiration of the credit earlier this month weighed on builder sentiment and may have been the reason the Mortgage Bankers Association’s purchase applications index fell to a 12-year low in the week ended Nov. 13. The bankers group is scheduled to release last week’s applications report tomorrow.

While the erosion of house prices is starting to end, it will take “a considerable amount of time” for the market to recover fully, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto said in a speech Nov. 17.

“Though we have seen some signs that the worst may be over, the housing industry is not out of the woods yet,” Pianalto said at a housing conference sponsored by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing. “Nor is the broader economy.”

Unemployment, Foreclosures

Rising unemployment and foreclosures remain risks for the housing market and the economy. Foreclosures on prime mortgages and home loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration rose to 30-year highs in the third quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Nov. 19.

The unemployment rate increased to a 26-year high of 10.2 percent in October, which may lead to more mortgage defaults and an increase in foreclosed properties that would push prices lower.

D.R. Horton Inc., the second-largest U.S. homebuilder, on Nov. 20 reported a fourth-quarter loss that exceeded analysts’ forecasts and said the housing outlook remains difficult.

“The thing that drives our business the most is job creation,” Chief Executive Officer Donald Tomnitz said on an earnings call for analysts. “If we look at the macro economic environment, it’s not good for us.”

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New Zealand’s annual immigration growth accelerated to the highest in more than five years in October, adding to signs consumer spending and demand for housing may speed the economy’s recovery from a recession.

The number of permanent migrant arrivals exceeded departures by 18,560 in the year ended Oct. 31, Statistics New Zealand said in a report released today in Wellington. That’s up from 17,043 in the 12 months through September and is the most since the period ended August 2004.

Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard last month said rising house prices and a gradual pick-up in household spending were buoying the economy, which grew for the first time in six quarters in the three months to June. Retail spending rose in the third quarter as consumer confidence increased to a 22-month high.

Bollard said on Oct. 29 that he is unlikely to raise the official cash rate from a record-low 2.5 percent until the second half of 2010 because the recovery requires more stimulus. Economists say the pace of the recovery may prompt him to raise interest rates as early as the first quarter.

The increase in net immigration has been boosted by fewer New Zealanders heading overseas. About 15,600 fewer citizens left in the year ended Oct. 31 compared with the year earlier, the statistics agency said.

Departures Drop

Permanent departures fell 18 percent in the year ended Oct fast payday loans. 31, today’s report showed. Arrivals fell 0.7 percent.

Analysts monitor a monthly, seasonally adjusted series to determine the pace of immigration. In October, a net 2,120 migrants arrived compared with 1,860 in September.

Tourist arrivals declined in October, which may slow spending in an industry that makes up about 10 percent of the New Zealand economy.

Short-term visitor arrivals fell 0.7 percent, seasonally adjusted, from September, the agency said.

From a year earlier, unadjusted arrivals increased 7.7 percent, buoyed by visitors from Australia.

The global recession has cut international air travel, reducing tourist arrivals from Asia and Europe. The outbreak of swine flu also made people reluctant to travel earlier in 2009.

Arrivals in the 12 months ended Oct. 31 fell 1 percent from a year earlier, led by a 38 percent plunge in tourists from South Korea and large declines in visitors from Japan, China, the U.K. and the U.S.

Annual arrivals from Australia rose 9.7 percent after the government targeted that nation with extra marketing. Excluding Australia, visitors slumped 7.9 percent.

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Local builder Clayco Inc. was recognized by the Design-Build Institute of America for its work on the Chevron NorthPark Office Building Project near New Orleans. The project received this year’s national Design-Build Award for exceptional construction of the 300,000-square-foot, fast-tracked Chevron headquarters building.

Chevron moved most of its business operations and a staff of 750 from downtown New Orleans to the new building on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain at Covington, La., outside the most hurricane-prone area.

Clayco is a real estate development, design and construction firm. It has branch offices in the Chicago and Detroit areas.

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As the economy continues to wobble, Canadian retailers are offering deeper discounts and keeping their stores open longer in hopes of capturing whatever holiday shoppers might be in the market for this year.

Wal-Mart Canada says it’s dropping a "record number" of prices between now and Christmas to help Canadians stay on budget this holiday season.

Sears Canada is offering what it calls "Boxing Day" pricing on a wide range of items this weekend.

The price-cutting comes as a new survey suggests this will be the worst season for holiday shopping since 2005.

Just under six in 10 Canadians say they plan to spend the same amount as they did last year, about one-third plan to spend less and eight per cent plan to spend more, according to TNS Canadian Facts.

"We often hear talk of so-called cautious optimism. But these results suggest now is a time for cautious negativism. Clearly, the floor hasn’t collapsed but it might be time to start looking for cracks," TNS vice-president and research director Michael Antecol said in a statement.

The Toronto-based research firm’s Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 95.5 points. That’s down 2.5 points since last month and down 3.7 points since August cash advance in one hour.

The numbers have slipped in all categories, TNS also said. Consumers are less confident about the present and the future and also say they’re less likely to make a big purchase at this time.

Retailers are responding.

Wal-Mart Canada said it expects to cut prices on more than 18,000 items this month, 20 per cent more price cuts than the year earlier period.

"We know this has been a tough year for Canadians, so we have made every effort to drop our prices and help Canadians make their dollars go farther this holiday season," Walmart Canada president and chief executive officer David Cheesewright said in a statement.

"In every department in our stores, from electronics to toys to housewares to food, we offer everyday low prices as well as special holiday pricing."

Meanwhile, Sears Canada says this weekend’s Boxing Day prices will be available on everything from clothing to electronics.

The department store retailer said it’s also keeping selected stores open later to give customers more time to shop.

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Home Depot Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its full-year outlook as the top home improvement chain cut costs to offset weak demand for big-ticket remodeling projects.

Although the company is seeing “some positive signs of stabilization,” Chief Executive Officer Frank Blake warned there was “still a great deal of pressure” in the housing and home improvement markets.

Home Depot and smaller rival Lowe’s Cos Inc have suffered from the prolonged U.S. housing slump. On Monday, Lowe’s said it did not expect a market recovery to begin until the middle of 2010.

Home Depot said net profit fell to $689 million, or 41 cents a share, in the third quarter ended on November 1 from $756 million, or 45 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 36 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales fell about 8 percent to $16 low cost payday loans.36 billion, beating the analysts’ average forecast of $16.28 billion.

Home Depot has been quicker to cut costs and constrict inventory levels than Lowe’s, and in some cases has benefited as housing markets improved in regions where it has a heavy presence.

Same-store sales fell 6.9 percent in the third quarter, with those at U.S. stores down 7.1 percent.

For the full year, Home Depot sees earnings of about $1.55 a share from continuing operations before items, down about 13 percent from the prior year. It had earlier forecast a decline of 15 percent to 20 percent.

Home Depot said it still expected sales to fall by about 9 percent this year.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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Japan’s trade minister apologized on Monday for disclosing market sensitive third-quarter GDP figures to oil industry executives ahead of its official release, in an embarrassing slip for a government that took power two months ago.

The much-stronger-than-expected third-quarter growth figures caused Japanese bond prices to dip after the official release by the Cabinet Office at 8:50 a.m. (6:50 p.m. EST), although they later recovered as analysts warned the outlook was less rosy.

Masayuki Naoshima, the minister of economy, trade and industry, said that he told industry officials about GDP data because of concerns about the economy and he did not know the data was due later.

“I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t know it was due to be released at 8:50 a.m. so I thought it would be OK to talk about it,” Naoshima told reporters.

“I apologize for causing trouble and I’ll be careful from now on.”

Japan’s economy grew 1.2 percent in the third quarter, its fastest pace in more than two years as stimulus lifted consumer spending and capital spending bottomed out.

It was the first GDP data released after Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s new government took power in mid-September in the wake of an election that ousted the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party.

The government under the LDP had become more careful with handling the GDP data after a newspaper reported the figures ahead of the release a decade ago, forcing policymakers to confirm the figures.

(Additional reporting by Sumio Ito and Yoko Nishikawa; Writing by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Rodney Joyce)

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