Finance and Economic

The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance fell sharply last week, according to government data released Thursday.

There were 440,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Feb. 6, down 43,000 from a revised 483,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said in a weekly report.

Economists were expecting initial claims to drop to 465,000, according to a consensus estimate from Briefing.com.

The 4-week moving average of initial claims, which smoothes out volatility in the measure, was 468,500. That’s down 1,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 469,500.

A Labor Department spokesman said the snow storm that crippled much of the East Coast last week did not impact the number of jobless claims filed.

"Next week’s numbers will definitely be impacted by weather," said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities. "But a drop in claims fits with the more positive news we saw in the January jobs report."

The Labor Department said last week that the U.S. unemployment rate fell unexpectedly in January to 9.7% from 10%. Businesses shed 20,000 jobs for the month, far fewer than the 150,000 jobs that were lost in December.

"There are some clear positives in the labor market," Vitner said, pointing to the manufacturing sector, to which some workers have returned to work after being unemployed for a short period of time Business Card Holders.

Still, weekly initial claims totals remain "extremely high" and it is difficult to glean anything about the underlying trends in the job market from just one week of data, Vitner warned.

Continuing claims: The government said 4,538,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended Jan. 30, the most recent data available. That’s down 79,000 from the preceding week’s revised 4,617,000 claims.

Economists were expecting continuing claims to have declined 2,000 to 4,600,000.

The 4-week moving average of continuing claims was 4,603,500, a drop of 17,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,621,250.

However, many economists say the decline in continuing claims reflects a growing number of filers who have dropped off the jobless rolls into extended unemployment benefits.

Continuing claims reflect people filing each week after their initial claim until the end of their standard benefits, which usually last 26 weeks. The figures do not include those people who have moved to state or federal extensions, or people whose benefits have expired.

"The number of people receiving extended benefits is unprecedented," Vitner said.  

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Stocks erased big losses by the close Friday, with technology shares leading the advance, following a three-session rout that had taken the market to its lowest point since last fall.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added 10 points, or 0.1%, ending at 10.012. The Dow had fallen as low as 9,835 earlier.

The S&P 500 index (SPX) rose 3 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) gained 16 points or 0.7%. All three major indexes had touched three-month lows before recovering.

Stocks fell sharply in the afternoon as worries about a growing debt crisis in Europe exacerbated uncertainty about the U.S. economic outlook. But the market changed direction as the dollar trimmed bigger gains and some of the selling pressure gave way.

"There may be some late-day buying coming in because the market has sold off pretty dramatically over the last few days," said Haag Sherman, managing director at Salient Partners.

Worries about the Euro zone caused investors to dump riskier assets and plow money into the U.S. dollar and government debt. The greenback rose to a more than 6-month high versus the euro and also gained against the yen. The dollar’s strength then dragged on commodity prices, oil and gold stocks and companies and sectors that have been benefiting from a weaker dollar.

"A lot of the selling that we’re seeing is technical, and it’s all being driven by the dollar," said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group.

He said that because there’s a flight to quality into the dollar, assets that have been benefiting from a weak dollar are getting hit. However, he said that the trend was temporary and that once the panic washed out, buyers would move back into riskier assets.

Debt crisis: Stocks plunged Thursday on worries that rising debt problems in Greece, Portugal and Spain could throw a wrench into any economic recovery in Europe, which would then influence the United States.

The news that the opposition parties defeated the Portuguese government’s austerity plan provided another reminder, if any were needed, that European countries will find it extremely difficult to get a grip on their public finances.

Global markets continued to slide Friday, with Asian and European markets ending lower.

The global jitters overshadowed a U.S. government report that showed moderating job losses despite an improved unemployment rate.

"The employment report was a mixed bag overall, but the market is more focused on what is happening globally," said David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates.

He said that with heightened concerns over nations’ debt, risk premiums go up and the outlook for the economy and stock market gets cloudier.

Rosenberg said U.S. investors are focused on whether there will be a default or bailout in Greece, and how this will affect the euro and the dollar. "All of this is going to impact U.S. markets," he said.

On the move: The strong dollar again dragged on commodity prices, and energy and metal stocks fell through most of the session. But in the last hour turnaround, oil and gold stocks cut losses or turned higher.

Strength in big tech stocks such as Cisco Systems (CSCO, Fortune 500), Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) helped temper broader losses and eventually led a comeback.

In other news, Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) has surprised many on Wall Street by announcing that it is paying CEO Lloyd Blankfein $9 million in company-restricted stock as his bonus. Blankfein was expected to receive a heftier payment.

Earlier, JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) said CEO Jamie Dimon was given a $16 million bonus last year, in restricted stock and options.

Market breadth turned mixed after being negative through most of the session. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers topped winners by nine to seven on volume of around 1.56 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners seven to six on volume of 2.84 billion shares.

Rally hits a roadblock: The S&P 500 surged 23% in 2009, and 65% after hitting a 12-year low on March 9 of last year. That momentum propelled stocks into the first half of January. But by the second half of the month, the tone had turned more sour and investors had begun to step back.

Between rally highs hit on Jan. 19 and Friday’s lows, the S&P 500 lost 9.2%, getting close to the technical definition of a correction - a loss of 10%.

Jobs: Employers cut 20,000 jobs from their payrolls last month, according to a Labor Department report released before the start of trading. Employers had been expected to add about 15,000 jobs, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

Employers cut a bigger-than-initially reported 150,000 jobs from their payrolls in December.

The January report had some positive signs, including an increase in the work week and an increase in temp agency employment — both of which are seen as leading indicators.

But the report also showed that the impact of the recession on the labor market was far worse than initially reported — making the recovery process all the more arduous.

The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, fell to 9.7% from 10% in December. Economists expected it to hold steady at 10%.

Toyota: The troubled company’s chief executive apologized Friday for the recall of 8 million cars. However, he did not announce a new recall of the popular Prius Hybrid, despite reports of brake problems.

Earlier, the company said it is also examining the brake systems of the Lexus hybrid vehicles since they used the same system as the 2010 Prius.

Toyota (TM) shares gained 3.5%.

Commodities: COMEX gold for April delivery fell $10.20 to settle at $1,052.80 an ounce, after slumping $49 Thursday.

U.S. light crude oil for March delivery fell $1.95 to settle at $71.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Bonds: Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.54% from 3.61% late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. 

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The Greater Capital Association of Realtors installed new board officers to lead the organization in Albany, N.Y.

The group also recognized five Realtors with 40 years of service during a Jan. 14 meeting at the Mohawk Golf Club in Niskayuna.

GCAR officers for 2010 are: President Laurene Curtin of Albany Realty Group in Colonie; President-elect Paul Semanek of Realty USA in Clifton Park; Secretary/Treasurer Nina Amdaon of Weichert Realtors Northeast Group in Loudonville.

Five Realtors were acknowledged for their four decades working in the real estate industry:

D guaranteed high risk personal loans. Wallace Bryce of Bryce Real Estate in Troy; Joyce Carlow of Weichert Realtors Northeast Group in Loudonville; Jeffrey Christiana of Prudential Manor Homes in Colonie; Robert King of Prudential Manor Homes in Rensselaer; and C. Douglas Volean of Prudential Manor Homes in Clifton Park.

GCAR has 3,100 members, including real estate agents and brokers working in 11 local counties.

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Citigroup will suspend foreclosures and evictions for 30 days, giving 4,000 at-risk borrowers a break during the holiday season, the company said Thursday.

The New York-based bank said distressed homeowners with first mortgage loans owned by CitiMortgage or CityFinancial North America who also meet certain other criteria will not be subject to foreclosure sales or notifications between Dec. 18 and Jan. 17.

"We hope that with this suspension we can make the holidays a little less stressful for our customers who are going through a very difficult time," said Sanjiv Das, chief executive of CitiMortgage, in a statement.

Citi (C, Fortune 500) said the suspension affects 2,000 borrowers scheduled to have foreclosure sales and another 2,000 that were to receive foreclosure notices during the period, which amounts to approximately 20% of the company’s $746 billion mortgage servicing and lending portfolio low interest personal loan.

Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) also announced Thursday that it was suspending all foreclosure evictions from Dec. 19 through Jan. 3. All owners and tenants living in foreclosed properties that the mortgage financing company holds will not be subject to evictions during the holidays. 

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Thirty-eight percent of seniors who graduated from Florida colleges or universities last year were in debt, with the average amount owed on student loans at $18,621.

By comparison, the average national debt among college grads was $23,200, according to The Institute for College Access & Success’ Project on Student Debt report, which includes debt levels for the 50 states and District of Columbia and nearly 2,000 U.S. colleges and universities.

“With debt and unemployment at record levels, young college graduates may feel stuck between a rock and hard place.” said Lauren Asher, president of the Institute for College Access & Success, which produced the report. “Rising student debt is a serious problem, but struggling borrowers do have options to help manage their federal student loan debt, such as unemployment deferments and the new Income-Based Repayment program.”

In South Florida, students graduating from Nova Southeastern University in Davie had the most debt at $35,798, followed by Lynn University, a private institution in Boca Raton, with $30,175 payday loans. The proportion of students with debt from those schools was 76 percent and 37 percent respectively.

Fifty-six percent of those who graduated last year from the University of Miami were in debt. The average amount owed was $24,500. At Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, 69 percent of students owed money with an average debt of $19,420, while 29 percent of students from Florida International University in Miami had student loans with an average debt of $10,899.

Click here to see the state data.

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Malaysia’s exports unexpectedly rose for the first time in a year in October as demand from China jumped amid an Asian economic recovery.

Overseas shipments climbed 1.6 percent from a year earlier to 54.3 billion ringgit ($16 billion) after falling 24.2 percent in September, the trade ministry said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 13 economists was for a 10.5 percent decline, with none expecting an increase.

Asia is leading the world’s recovery from its worst recession since the 1930s after policy makers pledged more than $950 billion in stimulus measures and cut interest rates to revive growth. Malaysia’s government, which raised its 2009 economic forecast in October, said this week that next year’s expansion may exceed the current 2 percent-to-3 percent target.

“The outlook on the export front is getting brighter as recovery remains unabated,” said Irvin Seah, an economist at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore. “Investment is still a drag on the economy as companies have remained cautious on business spending while waiting for outlook to improve further. This will change if the improvement in export performance proves sustainable.”

Malaysia is able to achieve economic growth of 5 percent next year, aided by private investment, Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said Dec. 2. That target may be “easily” achieved as improving exports spur business expansion and employment, boosting consumption, Seah said.

Stimulus Measures

Prime Minister Najib Razak has unveiled 67 billion ringgit of stimulus measures in the past year to help the nation climb out of its recession no faxing payday loans. Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy shrank 1.2 percent in the three months through September, the smallest decline in three quarters.

The benchmark stock index has risen more than 40 percent this year as Asia’s recovery boosted demand for emerging-market assets. The ringgit has increased more than 3 percent in the past six months.

Shipments to China, Malaysia’s second-biggest market during the month, jumped 39.2 percent in October from a year earlier as electronics sales rose, the trade ministry said. Exports to Hong Kong surged 28.2 percent, while those to Thailand and Australia also gained. The decline in sales to Singapore, Japan and the U.S. eased.

Sales of electrical and electronics products by companies including Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd. and Unisem (M) Bhd. climbed 18.4 percent in October, compared with a 19.2 percent decline the previous month. Such goods made up 43 percent of total exports.

Malaysia’s imports dropped 2.3 percent in October from a year earlier to 42.8 billion ringgit, the smallest decline in a year. That widened the trade surplus to 11.5 billion ringgit.

Exports fell 20.7 percent to 448.58 billion ringgit in the 10 months through October while imports contracted 21.4 percent to 351.2 billion ringgit, resulting in a trade surplus of 97.4 billion ringgit, the report showed.

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The Treasury Department is expected to meet with lenders on Monday to press them to do more to rework troubled home mortgage loans, a source familiar with the Treasury’s thinking said.

Herbert Allison, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for financial stability, is expected to meet with the mortgage servicers, said the source who requested anonymity because the meeting has not been publicly announced.

The New York Times in its Sunday edition quoted Michael Barr, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for financial institutions, as expressing dissatisfaction with lenders over the slow pace at which they are amending loan agreements to help borrowers make their monthly payments.

A Treasury spokeswoman said on Saturday the department was taking additional steps to enhance mortgage servicer transparency and accountability as part of a broader focus on maximizing conversion rates to permanent modifications.

The Treasury spokeswoman said that that could include new resources for borrowers and said the department will announce new measures on Monday.

(Reporting by Rachelle Younglai, editing by Matthew Lewis)

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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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Amazon.com Inc is introducing Kindle, its wireless electronic reader, for over 100 countries, including China and most of Europe, intensifying a battle for the burgeoning digital book market.

The move, announced on Tuesday, gives the world’s largest online retailer the widest global reach among its competitors, including chief rival Sony Corp.

The Kindle will sell for $279 in other countries.

Amazon also said it would cut prices for its U.S.-only Kindle by 13 percent to $259 from $299, bringing its cost closer to its rivals. The new price is $100 lower than it was a year ago.

Amazon — which regards the Kindle as a pivotal growth driver — said over 200,000 English-language books from a host of publishers as well as more than 85 international and U.S. newspapers and magazines would be available on the international device, which begins shipping October 19.

“Our vision for Kindle is every book ever printed, in print or out of print, in every language, all available within 60 seconds,” Chief Executive Jeff Bezos told Reuters.

“That’s a multi-decade vision,” said Bezos, visiting a Kindle office in the Silicon Valley city of Cupertino.

Analysts have pondered the likelihood of Amazon developing the Kindle into a tablet-like device for tasks like emailing, texting and surfing the Web, thus competing with devices reportedly being developed by Apple Inc.

But Bezos reiterated his intention to optimize the reading experience, saying the company rejects compromise, whether it be a touchscreen that affects legibility or computer displays that eat up too much power.

At the same time, Amazon is working on making Kindle digital books available on more devices. Besides the Kindle, those books can now be accessed on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

“We want you to read your Kindle books on laptops and smartphones, anything with an installed base,” Bezos said. He said he was not “in principle” against making the works available on rival devices like Sony’s, but was focused on platforms with “large installed bases.”

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E-readers are expected by some to be the hottest gadget this holiday season [ID:nN01298379] and Bezos said he had “a lot of confidence” that it would be a “great holiday quarter for Kindle.”

Forrester Research estimated 3 million e-reader devices would be sold in the United States in 2009, up from an earlier estimate of 2 million. That could double in 2010, bringing cumulative sales to 10 million by end-2010.

The research group predicts that Amazon will take 60 percent market share in 2009, followed by Sony at 35 percent. 

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Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc. has announced plans to open its first Nordstrom Rack store in St. Louis. This will also be the first in the state.

The 34,000-square-foot store will be in the Brentwood Square shopping center — in the old Circuit City space. It is expected to open in fall 2010.

Now, don’t get confused. Nordstrom is still planning to open a regular Nordstrom store in the St. Louis Galleria mall down the street from this location in fall of 2011. There’s already a Nordstrom in West County Mall.

But Nordstrom Rack is a unit of the company’s off-price retail division that carries merchandise from Nordstrom stores and Nordstrom.com at 50 percent to 60 percent off original Nordstrom prices payday loans.

Nordstrom spokesman Colin Johnson said the company was able to take advantage of some of the effects of the economy with finding prime space for the store.

But he wouldn’t admit that an off-priced Nordstrom Rack is preceding the long-discussed and rescheduled opening of the regular Nordstrom store opening because of the economy.

Either way, we here at Style File are not complaining. Ever since Saks Off Fifth (at St. Louis Mills) left us a few years ago, our shopping life has not felt complete. (10/1)

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