Forex BlackRock to Buy ETF firm Claymore

Forex BlackRock to Buy ETF firm Claymore RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change FII 17.45 +0.08 BLK 184.09 +0.22 BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK - News) has agreed to buy Claymore Canada from Guggenheim Partners LLC. The announcement came out yesterday and it was said that both parties have entered into a definitive agreement in this context. With this deal, BlackRock would be able to expand its exchange-traded fund (AMEX:ETF - News) business in Canada. Claymore is based in Toronto and acts as an independent Canadian subsidiary of Guggenheim Funds Services Group, a subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners, LLC. BlackRock, the leading asset manager in the world, currently manages $3.3 trillion in assets worldwide. The deal will result in addition of 34 ETFs and two closed-end funds, representing C$7.0 billion in asset under management. As of December 31, 2011, BlackRock offered 48 ETFs in Canada under the iShares brand, representing C$29.0 billion in assets under management. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, is likely to be accomplished by the end of the first quarter of 2012. The deal, whose terms are still undisclosed, is expected to be neutral-to-modestly accretive to BlackRock's 2012 earnings. We believe that the acquisition of Claymore will provide BlackRock with competitive edge to grab market share in the Canadian ETF market and hence, is a strategic fit for the company. BlackRock currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term 'Hold' rating. Among its peers Federated Investors Inc. (NYSE:FII - News) also shares the same Zacks rank. Zacks Investment Research

Earn BBDA hit $.0199 From $.0004 Alert

Earn

The stock fell after hitting $.0199 but recovered its losses and closed higher today.  Strong interest remains in this stock that had almost no interest when I alerted it at $.0003/.0004.

Forex COBI - Chart To Watch at $.001

Forex

The above chart is what COBI looked like when I made it one of my charts to watch for my subscribers at $.001.

This is what COBI's chart looks like after the close today:

Earn SAGD Running After The Dump

Earn

SAGD had a strong showing today and has made a nice move off its dump lows.  We could see the stock move back over $.01 if this momentum and buying pressure continue.

Signals Germany wants Greece to give up budget control

Signals Germany wants Greece to give up budget control RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change TRI 27.82 -0.10 Related Content A Greek national flag flies at the archaeological site of the Acropolis Hill in Athens November 3, 2011. REUTERS/John Kolesidis A Greek national flag flies at the archaeological site of the Acropolis Hill in Athens November 3, 2011. REUTERS/John Kolesidis By Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is pushing for Greece to relinquish control over its budget policy to European institutions as part of discussions over a second rescue package, a European source told Reuters on Friday. 'There are internal discussions within the Euro group and proposals, one of which comes from Germany, on how to constructively treat country aid programs that are continuously off track, whether this can simply be ignored or whether we say that's enough,' the source said. The source added that under the proposals European institutions already operating in Greece should be given 'certain decision-making powers' over fiscal policy. 'This could be carried out even more stringently through external expertise,' the source said. The Financial Times said it had obtained a copy of the proposal showing Germany wants a new euro zone 'budget commissioner' to have the power to veto budget decisions taken by the Greek government if they are not in line with targets set by international lenders. 'Given the disappointing compliance so far, Greece has to accept shifting budgetary sovereignty to the European level for a certain period of time,' the document said. Under the German plan, Athens would only be allowed to carry out normal state spending after servicing its debt, the FT said. 'If a future (bail-out) tranche is not disbursed, Greece cannot threaten its lenders with a default, but will instead have to accept further cuts in primary expenditures as the only possible consequence of any non-disbursement,' the FT quoted the document as saying. The German demands for greater control over Greek budget policy come amid intense talks to finalize a second 130 billion-euro rescue package for Greece, which has repeatedly failed to meet the fiscal targets set out for it by its international lenders. CHAOTIC DEFAULT THREAT Greece needs to strike a deal with creditors in the next couple of days to unlock its next aid package in order to avoid a chaotic default. 'No country has put forward such a proposal at the Eurogroup,' a Greek finance ministry official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the government would not formally comment on reports based on unnamed sources. The German demands are likely to prompt a strong reaction in Athens ahead of elections expected to take place in April. 'One of the ideas being discussed is to set up a clearly defined priorities on reducing deficits through legally binding guidelines,' the European source said. He added that in Greece the problem is that a lot of the budget-making process is done in a decentralized manner. 'Clearly defined, legally binding guidelines on that could lead to more coherence and make it easier to take decisions - and that would contribute to give a whole new dynamic to efforts to implement the program,' the source said. 'It is clear that talks on how to help Greece get back on the right track are continuing,' the source said. 'We're all striving to achieve a lasting stabilization of Greece,' he said. 'That's the focus of what all of us in Europe are working on right now.' (Reporting By Noah Barking; Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos in Athens and; Adrian Croft in London; writing by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Andrew Roche)

Oil Obama seeks power to merge agencies

Oil WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama on Friday took aim at his government's own messy bureaucracy, prodding Congress to give him greater power to merge agencies and promising he would start by collapsing six major economic departments into one. Pressing Republicans on one of their own political issues, Obama said it was time for an 'effective, lean government.' Obama wants the type of reorganizational authority last held by a president when Ronald Reagan was in office. Obama's version would be a so-called consolidation authority allowing him to propose only mergers that promise to save money and shrink government. The deal would help Obama considerably by entitling him to an up-or-down vote from Congress in 90 days. Still, final say would remain with lawmakers, both on whether to grant Obama this fast-track authority and then in deciding whether to approve any of his specific ideas. 'We can do this better,' Obama declared in an event with business owners at the White House, even presenting slides to help make his case. 'So much of the argument out there all the time is up at 40,000 feet, these abstract arguments about who's conservative or who's liberal,' Obama said. 'Most Americans — and certainly most small business owners — you guys are just trying to figure out how do we make things work, how do we apply common sense. And that's what this is about.' In an election year and a political atmosphere of tighter spending, Obama's move is about more than improving a giant bureaucracy. He is attempting to directly counter Republican arguments that he has presided over the kind of government regulation, spending and debt that can undermine the economy — a dominant theme of the emerging presidential campaign. Republicans have often aligned themselves with smaller government. So politically, Obama is trying to put the onus on Republicans in the House and Senate to show why they would be against the pursuit of leaner government. From Capitol Hill, a spokesman for Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the top Republican in the Senate, pledged Obama's plan would get a careful review. But the spokesman, Don Stewart, also said: 'After presiding over one of the largest expansions of government in history, and a year after raising the issue in his last State of the Union, it's interesting to see the president finally acknowledge that Washington is out of control.' Obama has an imperative to deliver. He made the promise to come up with a smart reorganization of the government in his last State of the Union speech last January. At the time, Obama grabbed attention by pointing out the absurdity of government inefficiency. In what he called his favorite example, Obama said: 'The Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they're in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them when they're in saltwater. And I hear it gets even more complicated once they're smoked.' The White House said the problem is serious for consumers who turn to their government for help and often do not know where to begin. Not in decades has the government undergone a sustained reorganization of itself. Presidents have tried from time to time, but each part of the bureaucracy has its own defenders inside and outside the government, which can make merger ideas politically impossible. That's particularly true because 'efficiency' is often another way of saying people will lose their jobs. Obama hopes to enhance his chances by getting Congress to give him the assurance of a clean, relatively speedy vote on any of his proposals. There is no clear sign that Obama would get that cooperation. He spent much of 2011 in utter gridlock with Republicans in Congress. In the meantime, Obama announced Friday that Karen Mills, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, would be elevated to Cabinet-level rank. But her job would essentially disappear if Obama has his way. If he gets the new fast-track power to propose legislation, Obama's first project would be to combine six major operations of the government that focus on business and trade. They are: the Commerce Department's core business and trade functions; the Small Business Administration; the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; the Export-Import Bank; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation; and the Trade and Development Agency. The goal would be one agency designed to help businesses thrive. The White House says 1,000 to 2,000 jobs would be cut, but the administration would do so through attrition; that is, as people routinely leave their jobs over time. The administration said the merger would save $3 billion over 10 years by getting rid of duplicative overhead costs, human resources divisions and programs. The name and potential secretary of the new agency have not been determined. The point, the White House says, is not just making the government smaller but better by saving people time and eliminating bureaucratic nightmares. The idea for the consolidated business agency grew out of discussions with hundreds of business leaders and agency heads over the last several months. Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said streamlining government was always a potentially good idea but expressed wariness about whether Obama's plan would really help business. 'American small businesses are more concerned about this administration's policies than from which building in Washington they originate,' Buck said. 'We hope the president isn't simply proposing new packaging for the same burdensome approach.' According to the White House, presidents held such a reorganizational authority for about 50 years until it ran out during Reagan's presidency in 1984. Obama has a series of other ideas about consolidating departments across the government, to be rolled out later.

Signals Swing trade idea: RYL

Signals

RYL seems to be ready to head higher after 2 months sideways base for swing trade. 10 to 20% potential from here.

Signals Swing Trade Idea: DVA

Signals

DVA breaking out of 2 month consolidation. 10 % potential

Earn August 16th Penny Stock Winners, Losers, and Stock Scans

Earn

Today's Winners and Losers

Today's Bottom Scan

Signals BBDA - One of My Best Alerts Ever Forming Cup and Handle?

Signals

BBDA was an alert to my subscribers at $.0003/.0004 a share.  The stock recently hit almost $.02 a share.  Today the stock is still holding to gains and is looking very strong.

http://thepennystockgurus.com/articles/bbda-stock-soars-from-0003-0004-to-0144/

BBDA continues to maintain strong bid support, and could have formed a cup and handle.  This means this stock is poised to break to new highs?  We will soon find out.

Forex Germany wants Greece to give up budget control

Forex Germany wants Greece to give up budget control RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change TRI 27.82 -0.10 Related Content A Greek national flag flies at the archaeological site of the Acropolis Hill in Athens November 3, 2011. REUTERS/John Kolesidis A Greek national flag flies at the archaeological site of the Acropolis Hill in Athens November 3, 2011. REUTERS/John Kolesidis By Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is pushing for Greece to relinquish control over its budget policy to European institutions as part of discussions over a second rescue package, a European source told Reuters on Friday. 'There are internal discussions within the Euro group and proposals, one of which comes from Germany, on how to constructively treat country aid programs that are continuously off track, whether this can simply be ignored or whether we say that's enough,' the source said. The source added that under the proposals European institutions already operating in Greece should be given 'certain decision-making powers' over fiscal policy. 'This could be carried out even more stringently through external expertise,' the source said. The Financial Times said it had obtained a copy of the proposal showing Germany wants a new euro zone 'budget commissioner' to have the power to veto budget decisions taken by the Greek government if they are not in line with targets set by international lenders. 'Given the disappointing compliance so far, Greece has to accept shifting budgetary sovereignty to the European level for a certain period of time,' the document said. Under the German plan, Athens would only be allowed to carry out normal state spending after servicing its debt, the FT said. 'If a future (bail-out) tranche is not disbursed, Greece cannot threaten its lenders with a default, but will instead have to accept further cuts in primary expenditures as the only possible consequence of any non-disbursement,' the FT quoted the document as saying. The German demands for greater control over Greek budget policy come amid intense talks to finalize a second 130 billion-euro rescue package for Greece, which has repeatedly failed to meet the fiscal targets set out for it by its international lenders. CHAOTIC DEFAULT THREAT Greece needs to strike a deal with creditors in the next couple of days to unlock its next aid package in order to avoid a chaotic default. 'No country has put forward such a proposal at the Eurogroup,' a Greek finance ministry official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the government would not formally comment on reports based on unnamed sources. The German demands are likely to prompt a strong reaction in Athens ahead of elections expected to take place in April. 'One of the ideas being discussed is to set up a clearly defined priorities on reducing deficits through legally binding guidelines,' the European source said. He added that in Greece the problem is that a lot of the budget-making process is done in a decentralized manner. 'Clearly defined, legally binding guidelines on that could lead to more coherence and make it easier to take decisions - and that would contribute to give a whole new dynamic to efforts to implement the program,' the source said. 'It is clear that talks on how to help Greece get back on the right track are continuing,' the source said. 'We're all striving to achieve a lasting stabilization of Greece,' he said. 'That's the focus of what all of us in Europe are working on right now.' (Reporting By Noah Barking; Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos in Athens and; Adrian Croft in London; writing by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Andrew Roche)

Forex Obama seeks power to merge agencies

Forex WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama on Friday took aim at his government's own messy bureaucracy, prodding Congress to give him greater power to merge agencies and promising he would start by collapsing six major economic departments into one. Pressing Republicans on one of their own political issues, Obama said it was time for an 'effective, lean government.' Obama wants the type of reorganizational authority last held by a president when Ronald Reagan was in office. Obama's version would be a so-called consolidation authority allowing him to propose only mergers that promise to save money and shrink government. The deal would help Obama considerably by entitling him to an up-or-down vote from Congress in 90 days. Still, final say would remain with lawmakers, both on whether to grant Obama this fast-track authority and then in deciding whether to approve any of his specific ideas. 'We can do this better,' Obama declared in an event with business owners at the White House, even presenting slides to help make his case. 'So much of the argument out there all the time is up at 40,000 feet, these abstract arguments about who's conservative or who's liberal,' Obama said. 'Most Americans — and certainly most small business owners — you guys are just trying to figure out how do we make things work, how do we apply common sense. And that's what this is about.' In an election year and a political atmosphere of tighter spending, Obama's move is about more than improving a giant bureaucracy. He is attempting to directly counter Republican arguments that he has presided over the kind of government regulation, spending and debt that can undermine the economy — a dominant theme of the emerging presidential campaign. Republicans have often aligned themselves with smaller government. So politically, Obama is trying to put the onus on Republicans in the House and Senate to show why they would be against the pursuit of leaner government. From Capitol Hill, a spokesman for Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the top Republican in the Senate, pledged Obama's plan would get a careful review. But the spokesman, Don Stewart, also said: 'After presiding over one of the largest expansions of government in history, and a year after raising the issue in his last State of the Union, it's interesting to see the president finally acknowledge that Washington is out of control.' Obama has an imperative to deliver. He made the promise to come up with a smart reorganization of the government in his last State of the Union speech last January. At the time, Obama grabbed attention by pointing out the absurdity of government inefficiency. In what he called his favorite example, Obama said: 'The Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they're in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them when they're in saltwater. And I hear it gets even more complicated once they're smoked.' The White House said the problem is serious for consumers who turn to their government for help and often do not know where to begin. Not in decades has the government undergone a sustained reorganization of itself. Presidents have tried from time to time, but each part of the bureaucracy has its own defenders inside and outside the government, which can make merger ideas politically impossible. That's particularly true because 'efficiency' is often another way of saying people will lose their jobs. Obama hopes to enhance his chances by getting Congress to give him the assurance of a clean, relatively speedy vote on any of his proposals. There is no clear sign that Obama would get that cooperation. He spent much of 2011 in utter gridlock with Republicans in Congress. In the meantime, Obama announced Friday that Karen Mills, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, would be elevated to Cabinet-level rank. But her job would essentially disappear if Obama has his way. If he gets the new fast-track power to propose legislation, Obama's first project would be to combine six major operations of the government that focus on business and trade. They are: the Commerce Department's core business and trade functions; the Small Business Administration; the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; the Export-Import Bank; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation; and the Trade and Development Agency. The goal would be one agency designed to help businesses thrive. The White House says 1,000 to 2,000 jobs would be cut, but the administration would do so through attrition; that is, as people routinely leave their jobs over time. The administration said the merger would save $3 billion over 10 years by getting rid of duplicative overhead costs, human resources divisions and programs. The name and potential secretary of the new agency have not been determined. The point, the White House says, is not just making the government smaller but better by saving people time and eliminating bureaucratic nightmares. The idea for the consolidated business agency grew out of discussions with hundreds of business leaders and agency heads over the last several months. Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said streamlining government was always a potentially good idea but expressed wariness about whether Obama's plan would really help business. 'American small businesses are more concerned about this administration's policies than from which building in Washington they originate,' Buck said. 'We hope the president isn't simply proposing new packaging for the same burdensome approach.' According to the White House, presidents held such a reorganizational authority for about 50 years until it ran out during Reagan's presidency in 1984. Obama has a series of other ideas about consolidating departments across the government, to be rolled out later.

Earn Stocks' correction coming? Not that again

Earn Stocks' correction coming? Not that again Companies: NDX Apple Inc. RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change NDX 0.00 0.00 AAPL 585.57 +0.01 Related Content A trader in the S&P 500 options pit at the Chicago Board of Trade looks at an order board shortly after the Federal Reserve's decision to leave short-term interest rates untouched between zero and 0.25 percent in Chicago, January 25, 2012. REUTERS/Frank PolichView Photo A trader in the S&P 500 options pit at the Chicago Board of Trade looks at an order board shortly after the Federal Reserve's decision to leave short-term interest rates untouched between zero and 0.25 percent in Chicago, January 25, 2012. REUTERS/Frank Polich By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors are beginning to wonder if this 'Energizer Bunny' of a rally can just keep going without taking a break or a fall. Every Friday for the past couple of months, the question has hung in the back of investors' minds: Is the stock market's rally strong enough to continue without a correction? Even with the S&P 500 above levels unseen since before the financial crisis, the answer remains: Yes. The broad market index broke through 1,400 -- a psychologically important level -- for the first time in four years last week. On Friday, the S&P 500 closed at 1,404.17, its highest since May 20, 2008. At Friday's close, the index was up for nine out of the past 10 weeks. The rally has taken the Nasdaq up to a 12-year recovery high, while it lifted the Dow (DJI:DJI) comfortably above 13,000 to its highest level since December 2007. 'We are seeing this unbelievable rally in the market and yet the market is unbelievably complacent. We haven't been this bullish for a long time,' said Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, based in Austin, Texas. Indeed, the CBOE Volatility Index or VIX (MXP:VIX), Wall Street's fear gauge, plunged to a five-year low despite the S&P 500's stunning gain of 12 percent for the year so far. The VIX measures the expected volatility in the S&P 500 index over the next 30 days and generally moves in the opposite direction of the broad market. Investors often use VIX options and futures as a hedge against a market decline. Frederick said the only concern is the wide spread between second- and third-month VIX futures, suggesting a rise in volatility in the longer term. But the front-month futures that expire this week have come down to levels near the spot VIX. The VIX fell 6.2 percent on Friday to end at 14.47, its lowest close since June 2007. 'I would like to see the VIX around 17 just because it tends to have a significant pop when there is bad news at current levels,' Frederick said, adding that 'frankly' there isn't that much negative news out there. STRENGTH IN MIDCAPS Further evidence of the market's bullish sentiment: The S&P 400 Midcap Index <.MID> has popped above the 1,000 mark, an area of strong resistance since last year, according to Ryan Detrick, a senior technical strategist with Schaeffer's Investment Research, in Cincinnati. 'It's a big area of resistance, but we have moved above this. If we manage to stay here, then the strength in the overall market will advance further,' Detrick said. 'Historically, April has been a strong month so we can even see the market going up to 1,440, which is the high made in May 2008,' he added. TRACKING THE BIG APPLE The direction of Apple shares (NSQ:AAPL - News) will also be in focus this week after the stock hit the $600 mark for the first time in history last week, only about a month after it topped 500. Apple currently accounts for about 18 percent of the Nasdaq 100 stock index (NAS:NDX - News). Its weighting was cut to 12.3 percent from 20.5 percent last April, but the price surge has pushed the stock's weighting back up, making this index of 100 well-known companies hostage to the performance of a few technology titans like Apple. With Apple's heavy weighting, investors are questioning whether the broad market can continue to rally even with a pullback in Apple shares. The Nasdaq Composite Index (NAS:COMP), the barometer of tech stocks, closed on Friday at 3,055.26 -- its highest close since November 2000. 'It's a name that a lot of people have exposure to so it definitely has an impact on indexes, but it seems even without Apple, the money gets put to work in other sectors and stocks,' Detrick said. While the VIX has been sliding, the expected volatility in Apple has increased, judging by a VIX index that tracks Apple options. Apple, like IBM and other bellwether names, has its own VIX index. The CBOE Apple VIX index <.VXAPL>, which measures the expected 30-day volatility of the underlying shares of Apple, jumped 35 percent last week, suggesting more gyrations ahead as more investors speculate on short-term moves.

Oil Fitch cuts Italy, Spain, other euro zone ratings

Oil Fitch cuts Italy, Spain, other euro zone ratings RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change TRI 27.82 -0.10 Related Content People wait to enter a government job centre in Malaga, southern Spain, January 27, 2012. REUTERS/Jon Nazca People wait to enter a government job centre in Malaga, southern Spain, January 27, 2012. REUTERS/Jon Nazca NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fitch downgraded the sovereign credit ratings of Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain on Friday, indicating there was a 1-in-2 chance of further cuts in the next two years. In a statement, the ratings agency said the affected countries were vulnerable in the near-term to monetary and financial shocks. 'Consequently, these sovereigns do not, in Fitch's view, accrue the full benefits of the euro's reserve currency status,' it said. Fitch cut Italy's rating to A-minus from A-plus; Spain to A from AA-minus; Belgium to AA from AA-plus; Slovenia to A from AA-minus and Cyprus to BBB-minus from BBB, leaving the small island nation just one notch above junk status. Ireland's rating of BBB-plus was affirmed. All of the ratings were given negative outlooks. Fitch said it had weighed up a worsening economic outlook in much of the euro zone against the European Central Bank's December move to flood the banking sector with cheap three-year money and austerity efforts by governments to curb their debts. 'Overall, today's rating actions balance the marked deterioration in the economic outlook with both the substantive policy initiatives at the national level to address macro-financial and fiscal imbalances, and the initial success of the ECB's three-year Long-Term Refinancing Operation in easing near-term sovereign and bank funding pressures,' Fitch said. Two weeks ago, Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of nine euro zone countries, stripping France and Austria of their coveted triple-A status but not EU paymaster Germany, and pushing struggling Portugal into junk territory. With nearly half a trillion euros of ECB liquidity coursing through the financial system, some of which has apparently gone into euro zone government bonds, and with hopes of a deal to write down a slab of Greece's mountainous debt, even that sweeping ratings action had little market impact. The euro briefly pared gains against the dollar after Fitch cut the five euro zone sovereigns but soon jumped to a session high of $1.3208, according to Reuters data, its highest since December 13. Italy is widely seen as the tipping point for the euro zone. If it slid towards default, the whole currency project would be threatened. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, a technocrat who has won plaudits for his economic reform drive, said he reacted to Fitch's downgrade of Italy with 'detached serenity.' 'They signal things that are not particularly new, for example, that Italy has a very high debt as a percentage of GDP and they signal that the way the euro zone is governed as a whole is not perfect and we knew that too,' he said during a live interview on Italian television. 'They also say things that give a positive view of what is being done in Italy because there is much appreciation for policies of this government and this parliament,' he said. Fitch said of Italy: 'A more severe rating action was forestalled by the strong commitment of the Italian government to reducing the budget deficit and to implementing structural reform as well as the significant easing of near-term financing risks as a result of the ECB's 3-year Longer-term Refinancing Operation.' (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, Daniel Bases, Philip Pullela and Pam Niimi, writing by Mike Peacock, Editing by James Dalgleish)

Forex France loses AAA-rating in blow to eurozone

Forex PARIS (AP) -- France's finance ministry says Standard & Poor's has cut the country's credit rating by one notch to AA. France's loss of its AAA-rating deals a heavy blow to the eurozone's ability to fight off its debt crisis. The country is the second-largest contributor to the currency union's bailout fund. S&P in December put 15 eurozone countries on creditwatch and other downgrades were expected later Friday. The cut in France's creditworthiness could also hurt President Nicolas Sarkozy's re-election chances. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. ROME (AP) -- Europe's ability to fight off its debt crisis was again thrown into doubt Friday when the euro hit its lowest level in over a year and borrowing costs rose on expectations that the debt of several countries would be downgraded by rating agency Standard & Poor's. Stock markets in Europe and the U.S. plunged late Friday when reports of an imminent downgrade first appeared and the euro fell to a 17-month low. The fears of a downgrade brought a sour end to a mildly encouraging week for Europe's heavily indebted nations and were a stark reminder that the 17-country eurozone's debt crisis is far from over. Earlier Friday, Italy had capped a strong week for government debt auctions, seeing its borrowing costs drop for a second day in a row as it successfully raised as much as euro4.75 billion ($6.05 billion). Spain and Italy completed successful bond auctions on Thursday, and European Central Bank president Mario Draghi noted 'tentative signs of stabilization' in the region's economy. A credit downgrade would escalate the threats to Europe's fragile financial system, as the costs at which the affected countries — some of which are already struggling with heavy debt loads and low growth — could borrow money would be driven even higher. The downgrade could drive up the cost of European government debt as investors demand more compensation for holding bonds deemed to be riskier than they had been. Higher borrowing costs would put more financial pressure on countries already contending with heavy debt burdens. In Greece, negotiations Friday to get investors to take a voluntary cut on their Greek bond holdings appeared close to collapse, raising the specter of a potentially disastrous default by the country that kicked off Europe's financial troubles more than two years ago. The deal, known as the Private Sector Involvement, aims to reduce Greece's debt by euro100 billion ($127.8 billion) by swapping private creditors' bonds with new ones with a lower value, and is a key part of a euro130 billion ($166 billion) international bailout. Without it, the country could suffer a catastrophic bankruptcy that would send shock waves through the global economy. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos met on Thursday and Friday with representatives of the Institute of International Finance, a global body representing the private bondholders. Finance ministry officials from the eurozone also met in Brussels Thursday night. 'Unfortunately, despite the efforts of Greece's leadership, the proposal put forward ... which involves an unprecedented 50 percent nominal reduction of Greece's sovereign bonds in private investors' hands and up to euro100 billion of debt forgiveness — has not produced a constructive consolidated response by all parties, consistent with a voluntary exchange of Greek sovereign debt,' the IIF said in a statement. 'Under the circumstances, discussions with Greece and the official sector are paused for reflection on the benefits of a voluntary approach,' it said. Friday's Italian auction saw investors demanding an interest rate of 4.83 percent to lend Italy three-year money, down from an average rate of 5.62 percent in the previous auction and far lower than the 7.89 percent in November, when the country's financial crisis was most acute. While Italy paid a slightly higher rate for bonds maturing in 2018, which were also sold in Friday's auction, demand was between 1.2 percent and 2.2 percent higher than what was on offer. The results were not as strong as those of bond auctions the previous day, when Italy raised euro12 billion ($15 billion) and Spain saw huge demand for its own debt sale. 'Overall, it underscores that while all the auctions in the eurozone have been battle victories, the war is a long way from being resolved (either way),' said Marc Ostwald, strategist at Monument Securities. 'These euro area auctions will continue to present themselves as market risk events for a very protracted period.' Italy's euro1.9 trillion ($2.42 trillion) in government debt and heavy borrowing needs this year have made it a focal point of the European debt crisis. Italy has passed austerity measures and is on a structural reform course that Premier Mario Monti claims should bring down Italy's high bond yields, which he says are no longer warranted. Analysts have said the successful recent bond auctions were at least in part the work of the ECB, which has inundated banks with cheap loans, giving them ready cash that at least some appear to be using to buy higher-yielding short-term government bonds. Some 523 banks took euro489 billion in credit for up to three years at a current interest cost of 1 percent. ___ Steinhauser contributed from Brussels. AP Business writer David McHugh in Frankfurt contributed.

Signals China to reform, grow economy, IMF eyes freer yuan

Signals Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang gestures as he talks to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing February 15, 2012. REUTERS/How Hwee Young/PoolView Photo Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang gestures as he talks to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing February 15, 2012. REUTERS/How Hwee Young/Pool By Kevin Yao and Koh Gui Qing BEIJING (Reuters) - China cannot delay tough economic reforms, Vice Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday, underscoring the top leadership's push for market-based change after the sacking last week of an ambitious provincial leader who wanted a bigger state role in the economy. Li, widely expected to succeed Wen Jiabao as premier in a leadership transition that begins later this year, promised flexible policies to keep growth brisk and prices stable, with a focus on boosting domestic demand and pursuing structural reforms to make growth more stable and balanced. 'China has reached a crucial period in changing its economic model and (change) cannot be delayed. Reforms have entered a tough stage,' Li said, echoing comments made by Wen last week. 'We will make policies more targeted, flexible and forward-looking to maintain relatively fast economic growth and keep price levels basically stable,' Li said in a speech at an economic policy conference, attended by top Chinese officials, the head of the IMF and dozens of foreign business leaders. He said China would 'deepen reforms on taxes, the financial sector, prices, income distribution and seek breakthroughs in key areas to let market forces play a bigger role in resource allocation'. Li's renewed emphasis on reform-led growth comes after Wen said slower growth and bolder political reform must be embraced to keep the world's second largest economy from faltering and to spread wealth more evenly, promising to use his last year in power to attack discontent that he warned could end in chaos. Wen told a news conference at the end of the National People's Congress (NPC) that growth would be made more resilient to external pressures, domestic property and inflation risks deflated and 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion) in debt racked up by local governments dealt with, while also promoting political change. He cut China's official 2012 growth target to 7.5 percent, down from the 8 percent targeted in each of the last eight years, aiming to create leeway to deliver reform of items including subsidies, without igniting inflation. China's annual rate of inflation cooled to 3.2 percent in February, below the government's 4 percent target for the first time in more than a year. But policymakers remain particularly sensitive to elevated commodity prices, given China's huge imports of raw materials. PRO-GROWTH POLICIES CRUCIAL Zhang Ping, head of the country's top planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, told the Sunday conference that economic policies maintaining relatively fast growth were key to the country's future. 'First of all, we need to maintain steady and relatively fast economic growth -- development is the key for resolving all problems in China,' Zhang said. The government would maintain prudent monetary and pro-active fiscal policies, and stand ready to fine-tune settings -- a consistent refrain from China's leaders since the autumn of 2011. The show of unity over pro-market reform took on new significance last week when China's central leadership moved to bolster control over the southwest city-province of Chongqing after ousting its contentious but popular chief, Bo Xilai. The calls for unity with the ruling Communist Party's top leaders were emblazoned on the front pages of Chongqing newspapers on Saturday. They made no mention of Bo, removed from power after a scandal when his Vice Mayor Wang Lijun took refuge in February in a U.S. consulate until he was coaxed out. After arriving in Chongqing in 2007, Bo, 62 and a former commerce minister, turned it into a bastion of Communist revolutionary-inspired 'red' culture and egalitarian growth, winning national attention with a crackdown on organized crime. His self-promotion and revival of Mao Zedong-inspired propaganda irked moderate officials. But his populist ways and crime clean-up were welcomed by many residents and others who hoped Bo could try his policies nationwide. Li said that while the overall trend of China's economy was stable with sound fundamentals, it faced structural obstacles that must be overcome, adding that Beijing would push forward structural reforms while encouraging technological innovations to generate new sources of economic growth. CURRENCY REFORM CARROT International Monetary Fund managing director, Christine Lagarde, dangled an additional reform carrot at the same economic forum on Sunday, saying that the yuan could become a global reserve currency with the right mix of market-oriented structural change. 'What is needed is a roadmap with a stronger and more flexible exchange rate, more effective liquidity and monetary management, with higher quality supervision and regulation, with a more well-developed financial market, with flexible deposit and lending rates, and finally with the opening up of the capital account,' Lagarde said. 'If all that happens, there is no reason why the renminbi (yuan) will not reach the status of a reserve currency occupying a position on par with China's economic status.' China, the world's biggest exporting nation and the second-largest importer, has long wanted to break the dollar's dominance as the principal global unit of cross-border trade, in part to battle internal inflation risks and also to enhance Beijing's influence on the international financial system. China's has a closed capital account system and its currency is tightly controlled. Although Beijing has increased the use of the yuan to settle cross border trade, undertaking a series of reforms in recent years to that end, yuan settlement was only about $300 billion in 2011, which Chinese exports were worth about $1.9 trillion. Li said he expected China's total trade to maintain double-digit growth this year. The government has an official target of 10 percent growth in both imports and exports for 2012. Exports are a key source of demand and jobs for China's vast factory sector and have been a principal driver of wealth creation for much of the last decade in the wake of the country's accession to the World Trade Organization. China's trade balance plunged $31.5 billion into the red in February as imports swamped exports to leave the largest deficit in at least a decade and fuel doubts about the extent to which frail foreign demand drove the drop. Li said that there were some encouraging signs emerging about the pace of global economic recovery, and forecast that China's total trade would top $10 trillion in the five years 2011-2015, but added that the outlook was not certain, with efforts to resolve Europe's debt crisis still evolving. Economists expect China's annual economic growth to slow to close to 8 percent in the first three months of 2012, down from 8.9 percent in the last quarter of 2011. That would be the fifth successive quarter of slower growth and leave China on track to end the year with its weakest expansion in a decade. A raft of economic indicators in the last two weeks have signaled that China's economy is on a gentle glide lower and on course to avoid a so-called hard landing. (Writing by Nick Edwards; Editing by Don Durfee and Jonathan Thatcher)

Earn Stocks' correction coming? Not that again

Earn Stocks' correction coming? Not that again Companies: NDX Apple Inc. RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change NDX 0.00 0.00 AAPL 585.57 +0.01 Related Content A trader in the S&P 500 options pit at the Chicago Board of Trade looks at an order board shortly after the Federal Reserve's decision to leave short-term interest rates untouched between zero and 0.25 percent in Chicago, January 25, 2012. REUTERS/Frank PolichView Photo A trader in the S&P 500 options pit at the Chicago Board of Trade looks at an order board shortly after the Federal Reserve's decision to leave short-term interest rates untouched between zero and 0.25 percent in Chicago, January 25, 2012. REUTERS/Frank Polich By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors are beginning to wonder if this 'Energizer Bunny' of a rally can just keep going without taking a break or a fall. Every Friday for the past couple of months, the question has hung in the back of investors' minds: Is the stock market's rally strong enough to continue without a correction? Even with the S&P 500 above levels unseen since before the financial crisis, the answer remains: Yes. The broad market index broke through 1,400 -- a psychologically important level -- for the first time in four years last week. On Friday, the S&P 500 closed at 1,404.17, its highest since May 20, 2008. At Friday's close, the index was up for nine out of the past 10 weeks. The rally has taken the Nasdaq up to a 12-year recovery high, while it lifted the Dow (DJI:DJI) comfortably above 13,000 to its highest level since December 2007. 'We are seeing this unbelievable rally in the market and yet the market is unbelievably complacent. We haven't been this bullish for a long time,' said Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, based in Austin, Texas. Indeed, the CBOE Volatility Index or VIX (MXP:VIX), Wall Street's fear gauge, plunged to a five-year low despite the S&P 500's stunning gain of 12 percent for the year so far. The VIX measures the expected volatility in the S&P 500 index over the next 30 days and generally moves in the opposite direction of the broad market. Investors often use VIX options and futures as a hedge against a market decline. Frederick said the only concern is the wide spread between second- and third-month VIX futures, suggesting a rise in volatility in the longer term. But the front-month futures that expire this week have come down to levels near the spot VIX. The VIX fell 6.2 percent on Friday to end at 14.47, its lowest close since June 2007. 'I would like to see the VIX around 17 just because it tends to have a significant pop when there is bad news at current levels,' Frederick said, adding that 'frankly' there isn't that much negative news out there. STRENGTH IN MIDCAPS Further evidence of the market's bullish sentiment: The S&P 400 Midcap Index <.MID> has popped above the 1,000 mark, an area of strong resistance since last year, according to Ryan Detrick, a senior technical strategist with Schaeffer's Investment Research, in Cincinnati. 'It's a big area of resistance, but we have moved above this. If we manage to stay here, then the strength in the overall market will advance further,' Detrick said. 'Historically, April has been a strong month so we can even see the market going up to 1,440, which is the high made in May 2008,' he added. TRACKING THE BIG APPLE The direction of Apple shares (NSQ:AAPL - News) will also be in focus this week after the stock hit the $600 mark for the first time in history last week, only about a month after it topped 500. Apple currently accounts for about 18 percent of the Nasdaq 100 stock index (NAS:NDX - News). Its weighting was cut to 12.3 percent from 20.5 percent last April, but the price surge has pushed the stock's weighting back up, making this index of 100 well-known companies hostage to the performance of a few technology titans like Apple. With Apple's heavy weighting, investors are questioning whether the broad market can continue to rally even with a pullback in Apple shares. The Nasdaq Composite Index (NAS:COMP), the barometer of tech stocks, closed on Friday at 3,055.26 -- its highest close since November 2000. 'It's a name that a lot of people have exposure to so it definitely has an impact on indexes, but it seems even without Apple, the money gets put to work in other sectors and stocks,' Detrick said. While the VIX has been sliding, the expected volatility in Apple has increased, judging by a VIX index that tracks Apple options. Apple, like IBM and other bellwether names, has its own VIX index. The CBOE Apple VIX index <.VXAPL>, which measures the expected 30-day volatility of the underlying shares of Apple, jumped 35 percent last week, suggesting more gyrations ahead as more investors speculate on short-term moves.

Forex Airbus expects years of grappling with A380 cracks

Forex Airbus expects years of grappling with A380 cracks Companies: European Aeronautic Defence and Space NV RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change EAD.PA 31.10 +0.28 Related Content An A380 aircraft is seen through a window with an Airbus logo during the EADS / Airbus 'New Year Press Conference' in Hamburg January 17, 2012. REUTERS/Morris Mac MatzenView Photo An A380 aircraft is seen through a window with an Airbus logo during the EADS / Airbus 'New Year Press Conference' in Hamburg January 17, 2012. REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Airbus will need years to get past problems with wing cracks on its flagship A380 passenger jet, the executive vice president of programs at Airbus told a German magazine. 'This problem will keep us busy for years,' weekly Der Spiegel quoted Tom Williams as saying in an article published on Sunday. European air safety regulators last month ordered checks for A380 wing cracks for the entire superjumbo fleet after safety engineers found cracks in almost all planes inspected. Airbus, the plane maker owned by EADS (PAR:EAD.PA - News), has said a combination of design and manufacturing slips put too much stress on a handful of the 2,000 brackets that fix the exterior of each wing to the ribcage beneath. The magazine said Williams aimed to present a solution for the problem in April, and Airbus will start installing new parts in planes by the end of the year.

Signals Mexico says G20 to look at smoothing capital flows

Signals Mexico says G20 to look at smoothing capital flows Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Henry RomeroView Photo Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Henry Romero MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - Mexico will include possible steps to blunt the impact of sharp capital flows on the Group of 20's policy agenda after discussions with Latin American neighbors, Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade said on Sunday. Mexico, which holds the G20's rotating presidency this year, hosted a seminar about G20 priorities on the sidelines of meetings of Inter-American Development Bank. The bloc's only Latin American members are Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. Meade said via his Twitter account that suggestions from the region would help to enrich the work of the G20, including a push to ease the impact of capital inflows and outflows and tools to administer flows better. One suggestion Mexico would take on board was to 'develop a better capacity to absorb financial flows in domestic financial systems,' he said. Many delegates at the IADB meeting have expressed concern about a recent move toward protectionism, particularly by Brazil, which last week pushed Mexico to curb auto exports over the next three years to boost its industrial sector, hit by an appreciating currency. Brazil blames loose monetary policy in developed economies for the foreign cash flows that have pushed up the real and unleashed a flood of cheap imports, hurting the competitiveness of Brazilian industries. Officials present at the Montevideo meeting said Uruguay, Paraguay and other countries had pushed for Mexico to make sure the G20 addressed currencies and trade barriers. 'Mexico was asked to raise issues of protectionism, exchange rates and capital flows,' Paraguay Economy Minister Dionisio Borda said. Meade told Reuters the G20 remained committed to combating protectionism and there was no intention to change this. 'In every G20 meeting what we have done is reconfirm the promise to combat protectionism, recognizing that this is a measure which does not contribute to global growth,' he said. In the G20 leaders' November communiqué, the group said multilateral trade was important as a way to avoid protectionism and called for more exchange rate flexibility. Protectionism and capital flows were not specifically mentioned in the communiqué following the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Mexico City in March, but Mexico has said one of its G20 priorities is economic stabilization. (Reporting by Krista Hughes and Guido Nejamkis; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Forex September 7th Penny Stock Winners, Losers, and Stock Scans

Forex

Today's Winners and Losers

Today's Bottom Scan

Earn Greece, creditors laboriously piece together debt deal

Earn Greece, creditors laboriously piece together debt deal ReutersReuters – 1 hour 26 minutes ago Companies: Thomson Reuters Corporation RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change TRI 27.82 -0.10 By Renee Maltezou and Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece and its private creditors head back to the negotiating table on Saturday to put together the final pieces of a long-awaited debt swap agreement needed to avert an unruly default. After weeks of muddling through round after round of inconclusive talks, the negotiations appear to be in their final phase, with both sides hoping to secure a preliminary deal before Monday's European Union summit. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was expected to meet bankers' chief negotiator Charles Dallara at around 1330 GMT (8:30 a.m. EST) on Saturday, before meeting inspectors from the 'troika' of foreign lenders pressing Athens to step up painful reforms. 'Today will be another tough day,' said George Karatzaferis, leader of the far-right LAOS party, one of three parties in Papademos's emergency coalition government. 'We will see whether we can bear the burden that lies ahead.' The debt swap, in which private creditors are to take a 50 percent cut in the nominal value of their Greek bond holdings in exchange for cash and new bonds, is a prerequisite for the country to secure a 130-billion-euro rescue package. Papademos told Reuters in an interview on Friday he expected the debt talks to be concluded within days. 'We made significant progress over the last few weeks and in the last few days in particular. We are trying to conclude the discussions as quickly as possible. I am quite optimistic an agreement will be reached in the coming days,' he said. But concern has grown that the deal may not do enough to get the country's debt reduction plan back on track, and that Greece's European partners will be forced to stump up funds to cover the shortfall. The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday that Greece's international lenders thought Athens would need 145 billion euros of public money from the euro zone for its second bailout rather than the planned 130 billion euros. The magazine said the extra money was needed because of the deteriorating economic situation in Greece, echoing a Reuters report on Thursday. Athens also faces problematic talks with the 'troika' of foreign lenders - the European Commission, IMF and European Central Bank - who have warned it needs to do more to drive through painful reforms before they dole out any more money. 'It's all very dense, difficult and crucial,' a Greek finance ministry official said. 'There is optimism because the country needs to survive and we need to protect its citizens because they have suffered a lot.' Athens and its creditors have broadly agreed that new bonds under the swap would probably have a 30-year maturity and a progressive interest rate. The deal is aimed at chopping 100 billion euros off Greece's crushing 350-billion-euro debt load. But they have wrangled for weeks over the interest rate Greece must pay on the new bonds and pressure has grown in recent days on the European Central Bank and other public creditors to accept a cut in the value of their Greek bond holdings like the private sector creditors. A debt deal must be sealed in about three weeks as Greece has to repay 14.5 billion euros of debt on March 20. Otherwise Greece will sink into an uncontrolled default that might spread turmoil across the euro zone. Papademos promised on Friday this would not happen. 'Greece will not default,' he said. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Saturday that euro zone members were making progress to overcome their crisis but must do more to strengthen their financial firewall, adding that the IMF was ready to help. 'There is progress as we see it,' Lagarde told a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos. 'But it is critical that the euro zone members actually develop a clear, simple, firewall that can operate both to limit the contagion and to provide this sort of act of trust in the euro zone so that the financing needs of that zone can actually be met.' Senior euro zone officials have expressed optimism on the Greek debt deal, though previous predictions of an imminent agreement have failed to become reality. Greece is in its fifth year of recession, and hopes of an end to the crisis in the near term have virtually gone, because of the combination of squabbling politicians, rising social anger and its inability to get its debt load under control. Germany is pushing for Greece to relinquish control over its budget policy to European institutions as part of discussions over a second rescue package, a European source told Reuters on Friday. Greece said such a move was out of the question, adding that a similar proposal had been made in the past by a Dutch minister without getting anywhere. 'There is no way we would accept such a thing,' a Greek government official told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou, Writing by Deepa Babington; editing by Tim Pearce)

Signals Stock Market for 10/12/12

Signals Stock Market for 10/12/12 The Dow Jones and Stock Market were higher on Tuesday. Will the stock market go up or down on Wednesday? Keep tabs on the stock market futures which will predict the open on Wednesday. If you are a stock trader or investor, check out my stock picks group. We are making some big trades in there right now. Sign in and sign up. Dow Jones Futures - Up 3S&P 500 Futures - Up 1NASDAQ Futures - Up 2Gold Futures - 1732Silver Futures - 33.47Oil Futures - 96.93Asian Markets ( Nikkei ) - 8807

Oil Mexico says G20 to look at smoothing capital flows

Oil Mexico says G20 to look at smoothing capital flows Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Henry RomeroView Photo Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Henry Romero MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - Mexico will include possible steps to blunt the impact of sharp capital flows on the Group of 20's policy agenda after discussions with Latin American neighbors, Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade said on Sunday. Mexico, which holds the G20's rotating presidency this year, hosted a seminar about G20 priorities on the sidelines of meetings of Inter-American Development Bank. The bloc's only Latin American members are Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. Meade said via his Twitter account that suggestions from the region would help to enrich the work of the G20, including a push to ease the impact of capital inflows and outflows and tools to administer flows better. One suggestion Mexico would take on board was to 'develop a better capacity to absorb financial flows in domestic financial systems,' he said. Many delegates at the IADB meeting have expressed concern about a recent move toward protectionism, particularly by Brazil, which last week pushed Mexico to curb auto exports over the next three years to boost its industrial sector, hit by an appreciating currency. Brazil blames loose monetary policy in developed economies for the foreign cash flows that have pushed up the real and unleashed a flood of cheap imports, hurting the competitiveness of Brazilian industries. Officials present at the Montevideo meeting said Uruguay, Paraguay and other countries had pushed for Mexico to make sure the G20 addressed currencies and trade barriers. 'Mexico was asked to raise issues of protectionism, exchange rates and capital flows,' Paraguay Economy Minister Dionisio Borda said. Meade told Reuters the G20 remained committed to combating protectionism and there was no intention to change this. 'In every G20 meeting what we have done is reconfirm the promise to combat protectionism, recognizing that this is a measure which does not contribute to global growth,' he said. In the G20 leaders' November communiqué, the group said multilateral trade was important as a way to avoid protectionism and called for more exchange rate flexibility. Protectionism and capital flows were not specifically mentioned in the communiqué following the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Mexico City in March, but Mexico has said one of its G20 priorities is economic stabilization. (Reporting by Krista Hughes and Guido Nejamkis; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Oil Germany wants Greece to give up budget control

Oil Germany wants Greece to give up budget control RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change TRI 27.82 -0.10 Related Content A Greek national flag flies at the archaeological site of the Acropolis Hill in Athens November 3, 2011. REUTERS/John Kolesidis A Greek national flag flies at the archaeological site of the Acropolis Hill in Athens November 3, 2011. REUTERS/John Kolesidis By Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is pushing for Greece to relinquish control over its budget policy to European institutions as part of discussions over a second rescue package, a European source told Reuters on Friday. 'There are internal discussions within the Euro group and proposals, one of which comes from Germany, on how to constructively treat country aid programs that are continuously off track, whether this can simply be ignored or whether we say that's enough,' the source said. The source added that under the proposals European institutions already operating in Greece should be given 'certain decision-making powers' over fiscal policy. 'This could be carried out even more stringently through external expertise,' the source said. The Financial Times said it had obtained a copy of the proposal showing Germany wants a new euro zone 'budget commissioner' to have the power to veto budget decisions taken by the Greek government if they are not in line with targets set by international lenders. 'Given the disappointing compliance so far, Greece has to accept shifting budgetary sovereignty to the European level for a certain period of time,' the document said. Under the German plan, Athens would only be allowed to carry out normal state spending after servicing its debt, the FT said. 'If a future (bail-out) tranche is not disbursed, Greece cannot threaten its lenders with a default, but will instead have to accept further cuts in primary expenditures as the only possible consequence of any non-disbursement,' the FT quoted the document as saying. The German demands for greater control over Greek budget policy come amid intense talks to finalize a second 130 billion-euro rescue package for Greece, which has repeatedly failed to meet the fiscal targets set out for it by its international lenders. CHAOTIC DEFAULT THREAT Greece needs to strike a deal with creditors in the next couple of days to unlock its next aid package in order to avoid a chaotic default. 'No country has put forward such a proposal at the Eurogroup,' a Greek finance ministry official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the government would not formally comment on reports based on unnamed sources. The German demands are likely to prompt a strong reaction in Athens ahead of elections expected to take place in April. 'One of the ideas being discussed is to set up a clearly defined priorities on reducing deficits through legally binding guidelines,' the European source said. He added that in Greece the problem is that a lot of the budget-making process is done in a decentralized manner. 'Clearly defined, legally binding guidelines on that could lead to more coherence and make it easier to take decisions - and that would contribute to give a whole new dynamic to efforts to implement the program,' the source said. 'It is clear that talks on how to help Greece get back on the right track are continuing,' the source said. 'We're all striving to achieve a lasting stabilization of Greece,' he said. 'That's the focus of what all of us in Europe are working on right now.' (Reporting By Noah Barking; Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos in Athens and; Adrian Croft in London; writing by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Andrew Roche)

Oil Rate on 30-year mortgage drops to record 3.89 pct.

Oil

Newly built luxury townhomes are offered for sale in Woodland Hills, Calif. Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012. Fixed mortgage rates hit yet another record low on the second week of the new year. But the cheap rates are expected to do little to boost the depressed housing market. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Newly built luxury townhomes are offered for sale in Woodland Hills, Calif. Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012. Fixed mortgage rates hit yet another record low on the second week of the new year. But the cheap rates are expected to do little to boost the depressed housing market. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fixed mortgage rates fell once again to a record low, offering a great opportunity for those who can afford to buy or refinance homes. But few are able to take advantage of the historic rates. Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.89 percent. That's below the previous record of 3.91 percent reached three weeks ago. Records for mortgage rates date back to the 1950s. The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage ticked down to 3.16 percent. That's down from a record 3.21 percent three weeks ago. Mortgage rates are lower because they track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which fell below 2 percent. They could fall even lower this year if the Fed launches another round of bond purchases, as some economists expect. [Click here to check home loan rates in your area.] Average fixed mortgage rates hovered around 4 percent at the end of 2011. Yet many Americans either can't take advantage of the rates or have already done so. High unemployment and scant wage gains have made it harder for many people to qualify for loans. Many don't want to sink money into a home that they fear could lose value over the next few years. Mortgage applications have fallen slightly on a seasonally adjusted basis over the past four weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said that until hiring picks up and unemployment drops significantly, the impact of lower mortgage rates will remain muted. Previously occupied homes are selling just slightly ahead of 2010's dismal pace. New-home sales in 2011 will likely be the worst year on records going back half a century. Builders hope that the low rates could boost sales next year. Low mortgage rates were cited as a key reason the National Association of Home Builders survey of builder sentiment rose in December to its highest level in more than a year. But so far, they have had little impact on the depressed housing market. To calculate the average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country Monday through Wednesday of each week. The average rates don't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount. The average fee for the 30-year loan fell to 0.7 from 0.8; the average on the 15-year fixed mortgage was unchanged at 0.8. For the five-year adjustable loan, the average rate declined to 2.82 percent from 2.86 percent. The average on the one-year adjustable loan fell to 2.76 percent from 2.80 percent. The average fee on the five-year adjustable loan rose was unchanged at 0.7; the average on the one-year adjustable-rate loan was unchanged at 0.6.

Forex A slow grinding higher move

Forex

The market is grinding higher in a channel. 3 to 4 days of rallies are followed by 3 to 4 days of down moves. The buyers lack vigor and selling is muted.

Underlying action on many stocks is sideways. As this kind of action has continued for few months, many stocks are setting up well. But absent breadth thrust breakouts are fading.

In this climate anticipation of breakout or breakdown is better approach than chasing breakouts or breakdown. 

Forex Slow start so far

Forex

It is a slow day so far with very few breakouts as of now. Some small biotechs and financial stocks are attracting buying as of now. RPRX, AFFY, GS, and C are some of the better breakouts as of now.









On the downside WM, EPAM and KLIC are some of the notable breakdowns.

Signals BBDA - One of My Best Alerts Ever Forming Cup and Handle?

Signals

BBDA was an alert to my subscribers at $.0003/.0004 a share.  The stock recently hit almost $.02 a share.  Today the stock is still holding to gains and is looking very strong.

http://thepennystockgurus.com/articles/bbda-stock-soars-from-0003-0004-to-0144/

BBDA continues to maintain strong bid support, and could have formed a cup and handle.  This means this stock is poised to break to new highs?  We will soon find out.

Earn SRGE Continues It Strong Move Out Of Triple Zero's

Earn

Southridge Announces Record Mineral Production and Revenues for Fourth Quarter of 2012
DALLAS, TX, Sep 05, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Southridge Enterprises Inc. (PINKSHEETS: SRGE) ('Southridge' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce that it has recorded milestone mineral production and revenues for the fourth quarter and year ending August 31, 2012, from its 60 ton per day (tpd) mill site at Cinco Minas in Jalisco, Mexico. In fiscal 2012, the Company processed over 9,000 tons of ore and recorded revenues of $3.14 Million.

Cinco Minas is the Company's flagship mineral property with a 60 tpd mill and 2 year supply of ore production currently on surface. In 2012, the Company confirmed the surface stockpile grades cited in the 2007 Behre Dolbear Report and released the planned expansion to increase the mill capacity to 500 tpd. Additionally, the Cinco Minas property has a world-class confirmed gold and silver resource of 235,000 oz. gold, and 23.3 million oz. silver with 80% of the known vein system at Cinco Minas has yet to be tested. Today's market value of the confirmed resource at Cinco Minas is well over $1 Billion USD, prior to the completion of further planned exploration to expand the resource.

'We are excited to announce our initial mineral production and revenues. It has been a challenging couple of years for both management and shareholders, since we first began our new Mexican gold and silver exploration and production initiative. Today's announcement of our record revenues clearly shows our undeniable success in making the Company's goals a reality,' expressed Southridge President & CEO, Michael Davies.

In other recent Company developments, the anticipated and long-awaited public update at the Mexican Mining Registry of the Cinco Minas mineral concession ownership being duly reflected in Southridge's name is now complete. Also, the Company had now engaged the necessary professional services to migrate and up-list the Company's reporting status back to the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board. It is anticipated that this process will be complete before the end of 2012.

Additionally, Mathers Research has initiated research coverage of Southridge, with a 'Speculative BUY' Opinion and a near term price target of $0.20 cents per share. The Mathers Research report is available as a free download on the Mathers Research Website @http://mathersresearch.com/srge-report

For further information on the Company's Gold and Silver projects, visit our website, http://www.southridgeminerals.com

Southridge Investors can access the following Southridge Minerals social media channels:

YouTube Cinco Minas Mexico Project: (http://youtu.be/R6P8oght4Ik)

(http://youtu.be/o2LfLaSu8ww)

(http://www.facebook.com/pages/Southridge-Minerals-Inc/163457600376466 ) (http://twitter.com/SouthridgeSRGE)

About Southridge Minerals, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: SRGE) Southridge Minerals, Inc. is a U.S.-based mineral exploration company dedicated to acquiring and developing mineral resources in geologically permissible and politically stable areas of the world. The Company seeks out early stage opportunities with good mineralization indicators that exhibit significant blue-sky potential. Southridge pursues and advances these projects that are or will be of interest to mid-size and major producers. By forming alliances on individual projects, the Company expects to develop its interests in mines operated by its partners, allowing it to continue to build value through continued exploration. Southridge is currently focused on projects in Mexico.

What sets Southridge apart is its vast experience in Mexico and the knowledge of the geological conditions and formations pertaining to known large gold deposits that have received very little attention to date. This comparative advantage, combined with a specific geographical and mineral focus, will allow for more efficient asset and income growth in the future for the benefit of shareholders' investments.

Forward-Looking Statements Although the Company believes that the forward-looking statement of beliefs, plans, expectations, and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance those beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consider all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosed in the Company's published current and periodic reports.

Signals France loses AAA-rating in blow to eurozone

Signals PARIS (AP) -- France's finance ministry says Standard & Poor's has cut the country's credit rating by one notch to AA. France's loss of its AAA-rating deals a heavy blow to the eurozone's ability to fight off its debt crisis. The country is the second-largest contributor to the currency union's bailout fund. S&P in December put 15 eurozone countries on creditwatch and other downgrades were expected later Friday. The cut in France's creditworthiness could also hurt President Nicolas Sarkozy's re-election chances. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. ROME (AP) -- Europe's ability to fight off its debt crisis was again thrown into doubt Friday when the euro hit its lowest level in over a year and borrowing costs rose on expectations that the debt of several countries would be downgraded by rating agency Standard & Poor's. Stock markets in Europe and the U.S. plunged late Friday when reports of an imminent downgrade first appeared and the euro fell to a 17-month low. The fears of a downgrade brought a sour end to a mildly encouraging week for Europe's heavily indebted nations and were a stark reminder that the 17-country eurozone's debt crisis is far from over. Earlier Friday, Italy had capped a strong week for government debt auctions, seeing its borrowing costs drop for a second day in a row as it successfully raised as much as euro4.75 billion ($6.05 billion). Spain and Italy completed successful bond auctions on Thursday, and European Central Bank president Mario Draghi noted 'tentative signs of stabilization' in the region's economy. A credit downgrade would escalate the threats to Europe's fragile financial system, as the costs at which the affected countries — some of which are already struggling with heavy debt loads and low growth — could borrow money would be driven even higher. The downgrade could drive up the cost of European government debt as investors demand more compensation for holding bonds deemed to be riskier than they had been. Higher borrowing costs would put more financial pressure on countries already contending with heavy debt burdens. In Greece, negotiations Friday to get investors to take a voluntary cut on their Greek bond holdings appeared close to collapse, raising the specter of a potentially disastrous default by the country that kicked off Europe's financial troubles more than two years ago. The deal, known as the Private Sector Involvement, aims to reduce Greece's debt by euro100 billion ($127.8 billion) by swapping private creditors' bonds with new ones with a lower value, and is a key part of a euro130 billion ($166 billion) international bailout. Without it, the country could suffer a catastrophic bankruptcy that would send shock waves through the global economy. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos met on Thursday and Friday with representatives of the Institute of International Finance, a global body representing the private bondholders. Finance ministry officials from the eurozone also met in Brussels Thursday night. 'Unfortunately, despite the efforts of Greece's leadership, the proposal put forward ... which involves an unprecedented 50 percent nominal reduction of Greece's sovereign bonds in private investors' hands and up to euro100 billion of debt forgiveness — has not produced a constructive consolidated response by all parties, consistent with a voluntary exchange of Greek sovereign debt,' the IIF said in a statement. 'Under the circumstances, discussions with Greece and the official sector are paused for reflection on the benefits of a voluntary approach,' it said. Friday's Italian auction saw investors demanding an interest rate of 4.83 percent to lend Italy three-year money, down from an average rate of 5.62 percent in the previous auction and far lower than the 7.89 percent in November, when the country's financial crisis was most acute. While Italy paid a slightly higher rate for bonds maturing in 2018, which were also sold in Friday's auction, demand was between 1.2 percent and 2.2 percent higher than what was on offer. The results were not as strong as those of bond auctions the previous day, when Italy raised euro12 billion ($15 billion) and Spain saw huge demand for its own debt sale. 'Overall, it underscores that while all the auctions in the eurozone have been battle victories, the war is a long way from being resolved (either way),' said Marc Ostwald, strategist at Monument Securities. 'These euro area auctions will continue to present themselves as market risk events for a very protracted period.' Italy's euro1.9 trillion ($2.42 trillion) in government debt and heavy borrowing needs this year have made it a focal point of the European debt crisis. Italy has passed austerity measures and is on a structural reform course that Premier Mario Monti claims should bring down Italy's high bond yields, which he says are no longer warranted. Analysts have said the successful recent bond auctions were at least in part the work of the ECB, which has inundated banks with cheap loans, giving them ready cash that at least some appear to be using to buy higher-yielding short-term government bonds. Some 523 banks took euro489 billion in credit for up to three years at a current interest cost of 1 percent. ___ Steinhauser contributed from Brussels. AP Business writer David McHugh in Frankfurt contributed.

Earn Netflix shares rise on investor optimism

Earn NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Netflix Inc. rose Friday on expectations that its shares will get a boost from the upcoming release of its fourth-quarter results. THE SPARK: Netflix shares have risen more than 40 percent in just the past week, prompting investors to wonder just how high they can go. But B. Riley & Co. backed its 'Buy' rating for Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix, saying that investors should hold on to their shares until after the company's fourth-quarter conference call on Jan. 25, when it's expected to update its outlook for the year. THE BIG PICTURE: Netflix shares took a beating and subscribers fled after the company said in July that it would increase U.S. prices by as much as 60 percent. Things only got worse two months later when Netflix said it would spin off its DVD-by-mail rental service into a separate website called Qwikster. It scrapped that idea in October. Since peaking in mid-July, Netflix shares have lost about 70 percent of their value. THE ANALYSIS: Analysts for B. Riley noted that Netflix shares are rapidly approaching the firm's $100 price target and said the company will probably post quarterly losses through at least the first half of the year. But they also said that Netflix's customer base appears to be stabilizing, which should reassure investors that the company is holding its own against the competition. 'We continue to believe that Netflix offers consumers the greatest content variety versus price relationship of the various choices,' the analysts wrote in a note to investors. 'And with the surprisingly positive announcement early last week that Netflix streamed more than 2 billion hours of movie and TV show content in the fourth quarter, we believe this is more likely to be the case than not.' In addition, the company should eventually get a boost from the expansion of its steaming services into new international markets. THE SHARES: Up $2.32, or 2.5 percent, to $94.47 in afternoon trading.

Signals Airbus expects years of grappling with A380 cracks

Signals Airbus expects years of grappling with A380 cracks Companies: European Aeronautic Defence and Space NV RELATED QUOTES Symbol Price Change EAD.PA 31.10 +0.28 Related Content An A380 aircraft is seen through a window with an Airbus logo during the EADS / Airbus 'New Year Press Conference' in Hamburg January 17, 2012. REUTERS/Morris Mac MatzenView Photo An A380 aircraft is seen through a window with an Airbus logo during the EADS / Airbus 'New Year Press Conference' in Hamburg January 17, 2012. REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Airbus will need years to get past problems with wing cracks on its flagship A380 passenger jet, the executive vice president of programs at Airbus told a German magazine. 'This problem will keep us busy for years,' weekly Der Spiegel quoted Tom Williams as saying in an article published on Sunday. European air safety regulators last month ordered checks for A380 wing cracks for the entire superjumbo fleet after safety engineers found cracks in almost all planes inspected. Airbus, the plane maker owned by EADS (PAR:EAD.PA - News), has said a combination of design and manufacturing slips put too much stress on a handful of the 2,000 brackets that fix the exterior of each wing to the ribcage beneath. The magazine said Williams aimed to present a solution for the problem in April, and Airbus will start installing new parts in planes by the end of the year.

Forex BBDA Hits New Highs - Continues its 2 Month Long Rally

Forex

I don't like to revisit a stock on a daily basis, but BBDA continues to give me a reason to write about them.  The stock sat at $.0003 a little over two months ago (its 52 week low) and hit a high today of .0172 today.  If you bought $1,000 of BBDA stock at the $.0003 price,  today those shares were worth $57,333 at the high.  If you bought $1,000 of BBDA stock when I alerted it my subscribers at $.0003/.0004,  they were worth $43,000 at the high today.  Just a great rally and just when you think its going to stop, it picks right back up and heads to new highs.

http://pennystockgurus.blogspot.com/2012/08/bbda-stock-soars-from-00030004-to-0144.html

http://pennystockgurus.blogspot.com/2012/08/bbda-stock-hits-01-share.html

http://pennystockgurus.blogspot.com/2012/08/bbda-hit-0119-share-from-0003-alert.html