plus 3, A dip in consumer sentiment weighed down the markets to ... - Columbus Dispatch

A dip in consumer sentiment weighed down the markets to ... - Columbus Dispatch

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 07:30 AM PST

A dip in consumer sentiment weighed down the markets to a lower open with the Dow slipping 12 points to 10,599. Nasdaq lost 8 points to 2360.

On the upside
Potash (POT) raised its first quarter earnings outlook as demand surged.
Fourth quarter earnings for Aeropostale (ARO) climbed to top analyst estimates prompting upgrades.
Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) announced a May 14, 2010 redemption date for rights accompanying outstanding stock under the company's Shareholder Rights Plan.
On the downside
Pacific Sunwear (PSUN) widened fourth quarter losses as sales dropped.
Cytori (CYTX) blamed increased costs widening fourth quarter losses more than expected.
CF Industries (CF) will pay approximately $4.7 billion to acquire Terra Industries (TRA).

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Oilgear acquires two fluid-power companies - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 07:23 AM PST

March 11, 2010 | Wisconsin added 5,600 net new jobs in January, even as the state's unemployment rate rose to 8.7%, according to a report Thursday from the state Department of Workforce Development.
The unemployment rate increased from December's revised rate of 8.5% and from 7.1% a year earlier in January 2009. The figures are seasonally adjusted to smooth out seasonal fluctuations, such as school vacations and winter-related slowdowns in tourism and construction.
The state has had a net gain in jobs in only five other months since the national recession began in December 2007. Sectors adding jobs in January were manufacturing, administrative services and health care.
January's gains, however, barely offset half the losses in December, when the state lost 11,200 jobs. In the 12 months since January 2009, the state lost a net 113,600 jobs.
One factor behind the increase in the unemployment rate, according to the statistics, was that 3,600 unemployed state residents resumed searching for a job in January after having given up earlier in the recession. Unemployment statistics, which are based on telephone surveys of households, don't count respondents who declare that they aren't job searching, meaning the unemployment rate can rise and fall even when little else changes in the economy. »Read Full Article(8)

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Obama outlines strategy to boost US exports -- and jobs - WDBJ7.com

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 06:47 AM PST

By Mark Trumbull

President Obama moved Thursday to create a high-level team to promote US exports, with the goal of creating 2 million jobs within the next five years.
The project will span from efforts to reduce hurdles for companies in shipping goods overseas, to adjusting trade policy with a blend of carrots (a push for new free-trade agreements) and sticks (tougher enforcement of trade rules). The near-term goal is to double US exports within five years.
"For the first time, the United States of America is launching a single, comprehensive strategy to promote American exports," Mr. Obama told the annual conference of the Export-Import Bank, an institution in Washington designed to promote US trade.
Getting that many more jobs from exports won't be easy, but new efforts on trade are very much needed, economists say. The most obvious reason is that America needs more jobs, at a time when consumer demand at home remains tepid. A second reason is that the world economy continues to become more competitive, which means that the US can't rest on its laurels as the world's leading exporter of goods and services.
"Ninety-five percent of the world's customers and the world's fastest-growing markets are outside our borders. We need to compete for those customers. Because other nations are," Obama said. "We need to up our game."
Obama outlined a multipart "national export initiative":
• He signed an executive order "instructing the federal government to use every available federal resource" to boost exports. The order created an "export promotion cabinet," made up of the secretaries of State, Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor, plus the US trade representative and other officials.
• He revived a separate body, called the President's Export Council, and named Boeing CEO Jim McNerney and Xerox CEO Ursula Burns as co-chairs. The panel will make recommendations on trade policy.
• Multiple cabinet departments will help create a "one-stop shop" for small employers that want help identifying opportunities and setting up operations overseas. The effort would include embassies and consulates abroad, as well as agencies like the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce.
• Obama pledged to promote new free-trade agreements while also enforcing laws on the books, such as intellectual-property rights. "China moving to a more market-oriented exchange rate would make an essential contribution" to a more-balanced global economy, he said. That move could also help narrow the large gap by which US imports exceed exports.
• The administration will increase access to trade financing. Obama commended efforts by the Export-Import Bank over the past year to step up its activities when US credit markets were impaired.
In addition, Obama pledged to be a kind of salesman in chief for US companies, with him and his cabinet members plugging the virtues of "made in America" when they travel overseas. Next week, the president will take his export evangelism to Indonesia and Australia.
The announcement about export strategy came as a government report showed a narrower-than-expected trade deficit for the US in January. Imports exceeded exports by $37.3 billion, with the volume of oil and automobile imports falling for the month.
Obama first announced the goal of doubling exports within five years during his State of the Union address to Congress in January.
Some economists, running the numbers, have said it's a difficult objective to reach.
"During the last 25 years nominal exports never grew this quickly in five years; it took an average of 11 years for exports to double," economist Sven Jari Stehn wrote in an analysis for Goldman Sachs.
Hitting the goal, he estimated, would require a combination of strong global economic growth and an adjustment of the dollar's value relative to currencies such as China's yuan.
"If global real GDP grew by an above-consensus 4.5 percent during the next five years, the dollar would still need to depreciate by about 30 percent, slightly more than the largest 5-year real depreciation on record during the last 25 years," Mr. Stehn concluded.
This doesn't mean that Obama's target is unreachable, however. And efforts to boost exports and achieve a more-balanced global economy could bring benefits even if his goal isn't reached.

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Chile: UNICEF to reach out to 1 million quake victims - UN News Centre

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 07:09 AM PST

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is providing emergency education and water services for 1 million Chilean children and their families in the wake of the powerful earthquake that struck the South American nation on 27 February.
A tsunami inundated part of the coastline, wiping out entire villages, following the magnitude-8.8 earthquake. Parts of Chile were rocked by a strong aftershock yesterday.
The official death toll is just over 500, with six regions – home to 80 per cent of the country's population – having been declared as "catastrophe zones."
Some of the hardest hit areas are also the poorest parts of Chile. Roads have been cut off, while Government buildings, schools, health facilities and at least half a million homes have been destroyed or badly damaged.
"As in any disaster, children are the ones suffering most," since they are especially vulnerable to cold, hunger and disease, said Gary Stahl, UNICEF Representative in Chile.
"Their lives have been brutally disrupted and many of them will have difficulty coping with such an upheaval. We must help them now."
The agency is appealing for $3.5 million to meet the immediate and medium-term needs, including psychosocial support, of women and children.
UNICEF is working closely with President Sebastian Piñera, who was sworn in yesterday.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who visited Chile last weekend, stressed that Member States must help the nation – which he said has been very generous in helping Haiti during its time of need after it was struck by a catastrophic earthquake in January – rebuild.
Mr. Ban said that he has asked John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, to ensure there is coordinated support both in the emergency phase after the quake and in terms of longer-range disaster management.
He also tasked Helen Clark, the Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), to work closely with the Chilean Government, the World Bank and others to launch a post-disaster needs assessment.

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