Finance and Economic

Wholesale costs in the U.S. rose more than forecast in April, led by higher prices for food and fuel.

The 0.8 percent increase in the producer-price index compares with the 0.6 percent median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The core measure, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, climbed 0.3 percent, more than projected.

Rising costs may lead businesses such as Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFMI) to increase prices, boosting the cost of living for American consumers. At the same time, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he expects commodity prices to moderate.

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Community Health Systems Inc. has ended its effort to buy competitor Tenet Healthcare Corp. after Tenet rejected its latest $4 billion-plus offer.

Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health said Monday it withdrew its offer to buy Tenet for $7.25 per share. It has also rescinded its effort to put nominees on Tenet’s board of directors.

Tenet shares fell 6 cents to $6.46 in pre-market trading Tuesday.

Community Health has been trying to acquire Tenet since late 2010. It originally made a bid of $6 per share for the Dallas company, and took the bid public after Tenet turned it down. Community Health raised its offer on May 2. The latest bid valued Tenet at about $4 payday loans no teletrack.06 billion.

Tenet also opposed the takeover offer efforts by adopting a “poison pill” stock dilution measure, delaying its annual meeting by six months, and filing a lawsuit that accused Community Health of defrauding Medicare.

Tenet said Monday that he latest offer was still too low. Community Health had said that bid would be its last offer.

Community Health runs about 130 hospitals in fast-growing and non-urban markets, while Tenet’s 49 hospitals are in urban and suburban markets.

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Suspicion rose Monday that Pakistan’s intelligence service leaked the name of the CIA chief in Islamabad to local media in anger over the raid that killed Osama bin Laden _ the second outing of an American covert operative here in six months.

The U.S. said it has no plans to pull the spy chief, but the incident is likely to exacerbate an already troubled relationship between the two countries a week after Navy SEALs in helicopters swooped down on bin Laden’s compound without first telling the Pakistanis. The CIA and Pakistan’s spy agency have long viewed each other with suspicion, which the death of the terror leader has laid bare.

The Pakistani military and intelligence services have suffered withering criticism at home for failing to stop the U.S. operation. Many Pakistanis view the raid as a violation of their sovereignty _ even if they were pleased that bin Laden was killed.

U.S. officials have said they didn’t tell Pakistanis in advance because they were worried someone might tip off bin Laden. American forces also used helicopters with radar-evading technology so the Pakistanis couldn’t track them.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani defended the military and intelligence services Monday, telling parliament it was “disingenuous for anyone to blame Pakistan … for being in cahoots with al-Qaida.”

He acknowledged his nation’s failure to track bin Laden but said the failure wasn’t Pakistan’s alone.

“Yes, there has been an intelligence failure,” Gilani said. “It is not only ours but of all the intelligence agencies of the world.”

U.S. officials have said they see no evidence that anyone in the upper echelons of Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment was complicit in hiding bin Laden in Abbottabad, an army town only 35 miles from the capital. But suspicions remain, and members of Congress have threatened to cut off U.S. aid if evidence is found.

President Barack Obama said the U.S. believes bin Laden must have had a support network inside Pakistan.

“But we don’t know who or what that support network was,” Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “We don’t know whether there might have been some people inside of government, people outside of government, and that’s something that we have to investigate, and more importantly, the Pakistani government has to investigate.”

Gilani proclaimed the death of bin Laden as “indeed justice done” since al-Qaida has launched many attacks inside Pakistan. But he warned the U.S. not to try a similar covert raid in the future.

“Unilateralism runs the inherent risk of serious consequences,” Gilani said. “Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate with full force. … No one should underestimate the resolve and capability of our nation and armed forces to defend our sacred homeland.”

At the same time, however, he stressed the importance of Pakistan-U.S. ties and insisted the relationship was still strong.

“Our communications at the official and diplomatic levels with the U.S., during this phase, have been good, productive and straightforward,” said Gilani.

Gilani’s speech and the suspected leak of the CIA station chief’s name illustrate the balancing act that Pakistani officials seem to be trying to achieve in responding to the bin Laden raid.

Civilian and military leaders must placate a domestic population that is upset at the U.S. for violating the country’s sovereignty and outraged at the country’s army and intelligence agency for allowing it to happen. But they must also worry about preserving their relationship with the U.S., which provides billions of dollars in military and civilian aid for cooperation on the war in Afghanistan.

“Gilani’s statement and the leak of the name of the name of the supposed CIA station chief appear to be in keeping with Islamabad’s need to maintain relations with the United States and at the same time try and counter growing U.S. pressure in the wake of the Osama bin Laden killing,” said Kamran Bokhari, an analyst with STRATFOR, a private security think tank in Austin, Texas.

Even before the discovery of bin Laden, many U.S. officials accused Pakistan of playing a double game by taking American aid, promising its support and then failing to target key Islamist militants wanted by the U.S., including Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar.

But the U.S. is in a difficult position because it is reliant on Pakistan’s help to go after Taliban militants on its territory and ships a large percentage of its non-lethal goods to its forces in Afghanistan through the country. Pakistan also allows the CIA drones to carry out missile strikes on militant targets in the border regions. Pushing Pakistan too hard could jeopardize the relationship with the critical, if fickle, ally.

On Friday, the private TV channel ARY broadcast what it said was the current CIA station chief’s name. The Nation, a right-wing newspaper, picked up the story Saturday.

Although the name was misspelled, the publication of any alleged identity of the U.S. spy agency’s top official in this country could be push-back from Pakistan’s powerful military and spy agency in retaliation for the American raid.

The Associated Press is not publishing the station chief’s name because he is undercover and his identity is classified. A spokesman for Pakistani intelligence declined to comment.

ARY’s news director, Mazhar Abbas, said the television station’s reporter gleaned the name from a source. He defended the broadcast, saying it was “based on fact” and rejected suggestions the name was leaked to the television channel by an official with a motive.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of discussing CIA personnel issues, told the AP that there are no plans to remove the station chief from Pakistan.

Asad Munir, a former intelligence chief with responsibility for Pakistan’s militant-populated tribal areas, said very few people know the name of the CIA station chief in Islamabad. But he said that releasing it would not necessarily jeopardize the American’s safety.

“Normally people in intelligence have cover names,” Munir said. “Only if there is a photograph to identify him could it put his life in danger.”

In December, the CIA pulled its then-station chief out of Pakistan after a name alleged to be his surfaced in public and his safety was deemed at risk. That name hit the local presses after it was mentioned by a lawyer who planned a lawsuit on behalf of victims of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal belt.

Suspicions have lingered that that outing was orchestrated by Pakistan’s spy agency to avenge an American lawsuit that named its chief over the 2008 terror attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai. The Pakistani agency denied leaking the CIA operative’s name.

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Banks must endure financial fitness tests these days, with the results not always pretty or predictable.

This concept isn’t such a bad idea for average citizens either.

The darkest stories of recession involve lost jobs, lost homes and lost hope. It is not uncommon for others, those who avoid dire straits and experience some sense of relief, to overlook their financial responsibilities.

According to financial advisors, Americans too often are unaware of what they spend; most of their savings earn no interest; they pay too many bank fees; they carry too much credit card debt; they don’t invest for retirement; and they have no emergency fund set aside.

Remember: Just because you’re receiving a regular paycheck and no one’s knocking on the door to repossess your car, doesn’t mean that you and your family are financially fit.

“If you exercise a lot but eat horribly and are always stressed, you’re not going to be physically fit because a lot of things must work together,” said Kim McGrigg, manager of community relations for the Money Management International credit counseling agency in Denver. “The same goes for your finances, since you must examine savings balances, liabilities and future goals to see that everything is properly coordinated.”

Give yourself a test: Track your spending and income over a three-month period. Write down all money spent, including cash, using a small notepad or electronic device. Calculate your cash flow, listing all income sources in a basic budget. Don’t include anything as incoming until you are sure of it.

Record all expenses, and not simply obvious mortgage or car payments but also those you track through receipts and credit-account payments. Important additional expenses are food, transportation, medical costs and clothing.

Totaling your incoming and outgoing expenses produces a cash-flow statement. If you had an operating surplus of several thousand dollars, your net worth should have increased by at least as much. A negative income statement isn’t good. There should also be room for conscientious saving and investing.

“People treat ATMs like candy machines and keep going back again as the handful of money disappears,” observed Barbara Steinmetz, certified financial planner with Steinmetz Financial Planning in San Mateo, Calif. “I had one client with $15,000 worth of ATM withdrawals in one year and had no clue whatsoever what she had spent all that money on.”

You may think you are richer than you are.

“It’s not really helpful to make $100,000 a year when you find out that you spend $200,000, for what you make is the input and what you spend is the output,” warned Harold Evensky, CFP with Evensky & Katz in Coral Gables, Fla. “Start with liabilities, striving to minimize or eliminate consumer debt such as credit cards and car loans because they are very expensive, non-deductible forms of debt.”

There are “new kinds” of bills that consumers must cope with, such as for cellphones and cable television, McGrigg noted. Shop for the best deals and carefully go over the breakdown on your statements to see whether you need everything for which you’re being billed. If you receive a cable package in which you don’t watch most channels, weed out what you don’t want and trim that bill, she advised.

“I have clients who simply don’t open their mail every day, just thumb through to see if any envelopes look interesting or important,” said Steinmetz. “They may wait a week or more to open many of them, but you should open them right away because it is all about taking responsibility for your financial life.”

The most common financial mistake is spending beyond one’s means, and in second place is not saving to build up a nest egg, according to Evensky. Don’t focus on the total number of dollars needed at retirement when figuring how much you should save, but simply get started right away even if it is just $50 a month. If you save money now and save continuously, you will never have a chance to miss that money, he believes.

“An emergency fund is important, but remember that there is no magic answer,” said Evensky. “If you have a very secure job, maybe two to three months in emergency funds that could cover staying in your house and paying necessary bills is OK.”

Having adequate life, liability, house, auto and health insurance is also crucial, he said. Even though no one ever wants to think about it, such protection can make a big difference to your family.

Pay yourself before paying your bills, counseled McGrigg. The easiest way to build up an emergency fund, for example, is to deduct money every time you get paid and put it away before you have a chance to spend it. Most banks can do this automatically for you so that you never even get your hands on the money, she said.

“Another mistake is opening lots of new credit card accounts, especially store accounts just to save 10 to 15 percent on that first purchase,” McGrigg concluded. “Taking out credit on a whim or while standing in line is not a good idea, especially if you have larger financial goals.”

Because goals are what being financially fit is all about.

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The Bank of England won’t raise its interest rate until 2013 as the economic recovery’s momentum stays “pretty weak,” Deloitte & Touche LLP said.

“The underlying momentum of the economic recovery looks pretty weak,” Deloitte’s economic adviser Roger Bootle, a former adviser to the U.K. Treasury, said in a report today. “My central forecast is still that rates remain on hold throughout this year and next.”

Bank of England policy makers have split four ways on whether to raise interest rates or add stimulus to aid the recovery at a time when inflation remains at twice the Monetary Policy Committee’s 2 percent target. Britain’s economy grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter, just enough to offset the contraction in the final three months of 2010.

“It is not out of the question that the MPC will eventually need to give more support to the economy,” Bootle said. “But additional asset purchases, if they do come, are perhaps unlikely until 2012.”

Bootle expects gross domestic product to increase 1.5 percent this year and next, according to the report. Inflation will average 4.4 percent this year before falling to 1.8 percent in 2012.

The Bank of England kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.5 percent last month. The rate will rise by 25 basis points by November, according to forward contracts on the sterling overnight interbank average, or Sonia, compiled by Tullett Prebon Ltd.

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The signing ceremony for a deal to end Yemen’s political crisis was postponed indefinitely Sunday after the Yemeni president refused to sign it personally, a Gulf official said, signaling the possible collapse of the agreement.

Ahmed Khalifa al-Kaabi, a media official for the six Gulf Arab nations sponsoring the agreement, told The Associated Press that their foreign ministers would meet in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Sunday to try to find a way to salvage a deal.

The standoff between Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the hundreds of thousands of street protesters demanding his immediate departure after 32 years in office threatens to pull the impoverished and fragile nation into greater disorder and destabilize the rest of the Arabian peninsula.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, an association of Yemen’s oil-rich neighbors, offered a deal that calls for Saleh to step down within 30 days and for the ruling party and the opposition to come together in a national unity government. In exchange, Saleh would get immunity from prosecution.

The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

Yemen’s opposition parties, which had initially agreed to the deal, said they would not sign it if Saleh refused to do so personally.

For their part, representatives of the those staging anti-Saleh demonstrations since early February have rejected the deal outright, demanding that Saleh immediately step down and face trial for the killings of protesters and corruption.

They say the established opposition political parties taking part in the talks do not represent them, and even if a deal were reached it seemed unlikely that it would end the protests.

The ceremony was expected to be held in Riyadh on Sunday or Monday.

In what appeared to be a last-minute bid to salvage the deal, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah spoke to Saleh by telephone on Sunday, according to a brief Yemeni government statement paperless payday loans.

The deal’s collapse would raise the prospects of more bloodshed in a nation already beset by serious conflict and deep poverty and which is home to al-Qaida’s most active offshoot.

At least 140 people have died in the government’s crackdown on the protests, which have nonetheless grown in number week after week. The violence has prompted several top military commanders, ruling party members, diplomats and others to defect to the opposition.

Still, Saleh has clung to power and has the key backing of Yemen’s best trained military units, which he placed under the command of one of his sons and other close relatives.

Al-Kaabi’s citing of Saleh’s refusal to personally sign the deal indicated the GCC blamed him for the deadlock.

Government officials said Saleh had told GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani on Saturday that he intended to ratify the deal after sending a close aide and a senior ruling party official to sign it.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The opposition, whose leaders have said before that they have little trust in Saleh’s word, feared he was leaving himself room to stay in power.

Leaders of the street demonstrations said they planned to step up their protests to force Saleh out.

Tens of thousands of protesters were out Sunday in a number of Yemeni cities, including Aden and Taiz in the south, to demand that he step down.

“We will not pay attention to any mediation or foreign intervention,” said protest leader Abdel-Hadi al-Azazi in Sanaa, the capital. “We will continue to march and protest until the uprising’s goal is achieved _ the ouster of the regime.”

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A battle between Libyan troops and rebels spilled over the western border into Tunisia Friday, drawing a sharp rebuke of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime from the neighboring government.

Clashes along the Tunisian border have escalated since Thursday, posing a new challenge for Gadhafi within the western half of the country where he must consolidate his control to cling to power. Rebels captured most of the east early on in the uprising against Gadhafi that began in February.

On the other major front in western Libya, NATO foiled attempts by regime loyalists to close the only access route to the besieged rebel city of Misrata, intercepting boats that were laying anti-ship mines in the waters around the port. The port is the only lifeline for the city of 300,000, which has been under siege for two months.

The government offensive on the Tunisian border along with shelling that killed 15 in Misrata on Friday and the attempt to mine the Misrata port show the regime is redoubling efforts to crush stubborn pockets of resistance in the west.

In the capital Tripoli, residents reported rising tensions over fuel shortages, a result of international sanctions imposed on Gadhafi. Witnesses said there have been clashes between residents and troops, including with stones and tear gas, at gas stations in recent days, after security forces tried to cut into huge lines.

In another indication of shortages, the government sent text messages to mobile phones of armed supporters, urging them to stop firing in the air in order to save ammunition for “our crusader enemies,” said two city residents who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Gadhafi has clamped down hard on dissent in the capital. Shooting is heard frequently in Tripoli, some of the volleys fired in the air in pro-Gadhafi rallies. However, opposition figures say there have also been sneak nighttime shooting attacks on army checkpoints in the city.

The actions of the Libyan leader, increasingly isolated since the start of the crisis, drew new condemnations Friday.

The Tunisian Foreign Ministry summoned Libya’s ambassador to convey its “most vigorous protests” for the “serious violations” at the Dhuheiba border area Thursday and Friday, a ministry statement said.

Since early Friday, the Tunisian army had swept through the frontier town Dhuheiba searching for Gadhafi forces who fled to Tunisia following combat with rebels over control of the nearby border crossing. Tunisia’s state news agency, citing the Tunisia military, said battles at the border have left dozens dead However, the number could not be independently confirmed.

Town residents sent out distress calls after several shells fell, according to the Tunisian news agency TAP.

At one point Friday, 15 Libyan military vehicles, carrying troops armed with anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers, were spotted in Dhuheiba. Town resident Mohamed Hedia said angry Dhuheiba civilians and the families of Libyan rebels who had been staying there set upon the Gadhafi troops, creating a “chaotic situation.” Tunisian forces fired warning shots, Hedia said. Another resident, Ismail al-Wafi, said Libyan troops fired indiscriminately, injuring three people.

The Tunisian army stopped “several members of Gadhafi’s brigades, regrouping them and leading them back to Libyan territory,” the Tunisian Defense Ministry said, according to TAP.

The Tunisian news agency, citing military officials, said dozens of Libyan troops and rebel fighters were killed in the two-day battle over the Dhuheiba crossing which ended with rebels regaining control Friday, after Libyan forces held it for a day. An Associated Press Television News crew spotted the bodies of two Libyan soldiers near the crossing.

The crossing is a strategic lifeline for Libya’s western Nafusa mountain area where members of the ethnic Berber minority _ who have complained of systematic discrimination by the regime _ have been fighting the Gadhafi’s forces for several weeks.

Thousands of residents of the mountain area have fled to Dhuheiba and other Tunisian border towns. TAP said thousands more Libyan refugees streamed into Tunisian overnight.

Near the coast of Misrata, meanwhile, NATO vessels intercepted several boats laying anti-shipping mines, said British Brig. Rob Weighill, director of NATO operations in Libya.

NATO said the sea mines were being laid one to two miles offshore by sinking the inflatable boats on which they were being carried. Three mines were found and disposed of. The alliance alerted Misrata authorities who temporarily closed the port, NATO said. Two aid ships put off their journeys.

Misrata has been under siege by Gadhafi loyalists for two months. Rebels have managed to expel regime forces from the center of the city, but the enclave is isolated and remains dependent for much of its food and other supplies on the sea link with the rebel capital of Benghazi.

It appeared to be the first time sea mines have been used in the Libyan conflict. Under international law, nations laying naval mines must alert shipping about their general locations to avoid accidents.

“It again shows his complete disregard for international law and his willingness to attack humanitarian delivery efforts,” said Weighill, adding that NATO crews disposed of the mines.

Gadhafi loyalists also pounded the city with shells, mortar and anti-aircraft guns from positions on the outskirts of Misrata. In all, 15 people were killed Friday, a majority fighters, but also a 9-year-old boy, said Ahmed Diab, emergency room doctor at the city’s Hikma hospital. He 80 people were wounded, the vast majority by artillery shells fired from the Misrata airport where Gadhafi forces have set up positions.

In one the strikes, Gadhafi forces fired with tanks and anti-aircraft guns on a group of 50 rebel fighters in the village of Zawiyat al-Mahjoub, on the outskirts of the city, said rebel fighter Abdullah Shiguman, 31.

Medics scrambled to evacuate six bodies and 10 wounded people to the hospital. Some of the wounded had lost limbs and huge chunks of flesh. One was a medic who had been shot in the back. Two of the dead were carried in bundled in blankets holding nothing more than body parts.

Rebel field commander Salahidin Badi said Gadhafi’s force had been firing mortars and rockets into the city all morning and that rebels had fired back with mortars. Badi said a shoe factory caught fire during the battle.

NATO has destroyed or damaged 600 targets since the alliance began bombing Gadhafi’s military installations last month, Weighill said. In addition, 19 NATO ships are patrolling the central Mediterranean.

Weighill said the targets hit since last month include 220 tanks and armored personnel carriers, 200 ammunition facilities and 70 surface-to-air missile systems.

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The Dollar Index fell toward the lowest level in more than two years on speculation the Federal Reserve will reiterate this week its intention to keep interest rates near zero.

The euro rose for a fifth day against the greenback on prospects European Central Bank officials will signal that higher borrowing costs will be necessary to contain inflation. Australia’s dollar climbed to a record as rising gold prices boosted the outlook for the nation’s resource exports.

“What’s behind the dollar’s weakness is the difference in monetary policy in the U.S. from other major economies excluding Japan,” said Daisaku Ueno, president of Gaitame.com Research Institute Ltd. in Tokyo, a unit of Japan’s largest currency margin company. “The European Central Bank will raise interest rates several times this year.”

The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback versus the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners, declined to 73.978 as of 8:54 a.m. in Tokyo after touching 73.735 on April 21, the lowest since August 2008. The dollar was at 82.05 yen from 81.88 yen last week.

The euro climbed to $1.4587 from $1.4561 in New York last week. It reached $1.4649 on April 21, the highest since December 2009. The Australian dollar, known as the Aussie, reached $1.0776, the highest since it was freely floated in 1983.

Benchmark Rates

The Federal Open Market Committee announces its policy decision on April 27 and will hold the benchmark rate in a range of zero to 0.25 percent, according to all 80 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Most of the 50 analysts in a Bloomberg survey last month said they expect the Fed will keep its bond portfolio stable for some time after its $600 billion purchase program ends in June.

ECB executive board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo will speak in Spain tomorrow. ECB policy makers led by President Jean-Claude Trichet raised the key interest rate to 1.25 percent from a record low of 1 percent on April 7 and left the door open for further increases.

Gold, Australia’s third most-valuable raw material export, climbed 0.5 percent to $1,514.07 an ounce today, after earlier touching an all-time high of $1,520.00.

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The OECD is recommending that Japan as much as quadruple its sales tax rate to deal with a crushing deficit that’s bound to grow as it spends on reconstruction from last month’s earthquake and tsunami.

Economists in the group of the world’s wealthiest countries said in a report released Thursday that the country should boost the sales tax, now 5 percent, to as high as 20 percent while cutting corporate taxes.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria says Japan has to perform a balancing act as it finances reconstruction following the March 11 disasters while sustaining its economic recovery and cutting debt.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also recommends education system changes, freer trade with other countries and other reforms.

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Regulators have shut down a total of six banks in Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota and Mississippi, boosting the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 34. There were 157 bank closures in 2010 amid the shattered economy and piles of bad loans.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized Superior Bank, based in Birmingham, Ala., with $3 billion in assets; Birmingham-based Nexity Bank, with $793.7 million in assets; Bartow County Bank of Cartersville, Ga low fee payday advance., with $330.2 million in assets; and New Horizons Bank in East Ellijay, Ga., with $110.7 million in assets.

It also shut down Rosemount National Bank in Rosemount, Minn., with $37.6 million in assets, and Heritage Banking Group, based in Carthage, Miss., with $224 million in assets.

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