Business and Finance

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tossed a softball overhand with gusto Thursday, said his latest medical checks have been stellar and ridiculed rumors that his health might have taken a turn for the worse.

Chavez said he is bouncing back vigorously from chemotherapy and gaining weight more than three months after he had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his pelvic region. He declined to say what type of cancer he was diagnosed with.

“You want me to tell you more? What for?” Chavez said when asked about the cancer at a news conference. “Go to the hospital and ask any person who has cancer: … ‘What is it that you have? And what type is it?’ Isn’t there something morbid in that?”

“I had a tumor. Now, what do you want me to tell you? That I take the tumor and explain to you here what type of tumor it was and the causes?” Chavez said. “I’m not going to gratify you. A malignant tumor. What more do you all want? … I had it here, they extracted it.”

Chavez motioned to the area where he said the tumor was removed, indicating a vertical incision on his abdomen crossing his waist line. The president said he saw images of the tumor, which was about the size of a baseball, and he held up a baseball as he described the operation.

He reiterated that all of his medical checks have shown no sign of any resurgence of the cancer.

“My latest tests, all of them, have shown very positive results,” he said.

“Here I am. I’m not in my best shape,” Chavez acknowledged, saying that is to be expected after chemotherapy. But he also said he has been lifting weights and is recovering smoothly.

“I’m my own response. And the life I lead from now on, with the grace of God, will be the response, the new Chavez,” said the president, who is running for re-election in 2012.

Chavez dismissed a report in a U.S. newspaper, El Nuevo Herald of Miami, that cited anonymous sources saying he had been hospitalized and that his condition might be deteriorating. He read aloud portions of the report to journalists outside the doors of the presidential palace.

“They’ve got me on dialysis,” Chavez said with a laugh, denying it.

Chavez had been largely out of sight since returning from Cuba last week after a fourth round of chemotherapy that he has said would be his last.

He said in a telephone call broadcast on television earlier Thursday that he is taking steroids and other medicines as he recovers from the chemotherapy.

He said he is working at “half throttle” while the effects of the treatment pass.

“I’m going to completely get out of this soon,” Chavez said.

The 57-year-old leader said his body has coped well with chemotherapy and assured Venezuelans he will keep them informed.

“I would be the first … to communicate any difficulty in the process. None beyond the normal has come up,” Chavez said.

Chavez has provided regular updates on his condition since he announced in a prerecorded video aired June 30 that he had undergone surgery for cancer. He said later that the surgery to remove the tumor was performed June 20.

The president’s critics have complained that he has kept secret some key details about his illness.

Chavez said he has provided ample information. He reiterated that his tumor had been “encapsulated” when it was removed and it hadn’t affected his colon or organs.

“I had cancer, in a ball that was removed,” Chavez said, holding up the baseball.

Later, he pitched a softball to his foreign minister outside the palace, smiling and throwing his weight behind each toss.

Source

Factory workers at General Motors are likely to approve a new four-year contract with the company.

Negotiators for GM and the United Auto Workers union agreed to a tentative contract on Sept. 16. Union members have until Wednesday morning to vote. Most local unions with results posted on their websites have approved the deal.

Most of GM’s 48,500 factory workers won’t get annual pay raises under the contract. But they’ll get $5,000 signing bonuses and profit-sharing checks, along with other payments pay day advance. GM has also promised to add at least 5,100 jobs.

Entry-level workers at GM will get raises.

The pressure is now on for bargainers to reach contract agreements at Ford and Chrysler.

Source

The U.S. Treasury has named Richard “Chan” Peterson to the board of directors of Centrue Financial Corp. and its subsidiary, Centrue Bank, after the bank repeatedly failed to repay dividends owed through the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

In 2009, the Treasury bought $32 million of Clayton-based Centrue’s preferred stock through TARP, the federal government’s bank bailout program. Until the investment is repaid, participating banks make quarterly dividend or interest payments to the Treasury. They also have the option of deferring those payments.

Centrue Bank owes the Treasury more than $3.6 million in unpaid dividends and has deferred making payments nine times. The Treasury has the right to elect up to two board members after six dividend deferrals. 

Peterson is the managing principal and co-founder of Hermitage Capital Partners, a private equity venture that acquires and re-capitalizes troubled community banks in the Chicago area.

It’s the second time this year that the Treasury has named board members at local banks. In July, the Treasury appointed two directors to the board of Clayton-based First Banks, the holding company for First Bank. First Banks owes the Treasury more than $32 million in unpaid dividends on a $295 million investment the Treasury made in the bank in 2008.

Source

The sell-off in Asian markets continued Monday, as Europe’s prolonged debt crisis and the possibility of a global recession caused investors to flee riskier assets like stocks.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1.6 percent to 8,421.53. South Korea’s Kospi index was 1.4 percent lower at 1,673.47. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.2 percent to 17,633.21. Bucking the trend was Australia’s S&P ASX index, up 0.5 percent to 3,921.60.

On Wall Street on Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose slightly _ but closed the week down 6.4 percent, its worst showing since the depths of the financial crisis three years ago.

Fears about Europe’s debt increased early Friday on news that Moody’s Investors Service had downgraded its ratings of eight Greek banks by two notches. Investors have been waiting in vain for news that Greece will receive the next installment of a bailout package in time to avoid defaulting on its debt next month.

If it defaults, banks throughout Europe are likely to lose the money they invested in Greek bonds _ and investors fear that could ultimately lead to a recession in Europe and the U.S.

Finance ministers from 20 large countries pledged Friday to take “all necessary actions to preserve the stability of the banking systems and financial markets.” But they offered nothing specific.

Europe’s problems helped feed the heavy selling in stocks this week. But the chief worry was that the U.S. is headed for another recession and that the Federal Reserve is running out of ways to fight it.

Source

Swiss bank UBS says its chief executive has resigned over a $2.3 billion rogue trading loss.

The bank says its Europe chief Sergio P. Ermotti will take over as interim chief executive until Gruebel’s replacement is appointed.

UBS board president Kaspar Villiger said in a statement Saturday that Oswald had considered it his duty to take responsibility for the massive loss caused by unauthorized trading at its London-based investment banking unit.

Source

Investors on Wall Street and around the world sold stocks with abandon Thursday, more convinced than ever that the United States and perhaps the globe are headed for a new recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 400 points, the second consecutive rout in the stock market since the Federal Reserve announced a change in strategy for fighting the economic slowdown.

One financial indicator after another showed that investors are quickly losing hope that the economy can keep growing. The price of oil and metals, both of which depend on economic demand, fell sharply. Traders bought bonds for safety.

“The probability of going back into recession is higher now than at any point in the recovery,” said Tim Quinlan, an economist at Wells Fargo. He put his odds of a recession at 35 percent, the highest yet.

By early afternoon, the Dow was near low of the day, on what was shaping up to be one of its worst days of the year. At 1:45 p.m. EDT, the average was down 429 points, or 4 percent, at 10,695.

Looking for a safe place to put their money, traders bought American government debt, which they see as less risky than stocks even as the nation wrestles with its long-term budget.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note hit a record low of 1.76 percent, down from 1.86 late Wednesday. Yields fall as investors buy bonds and send their prices higher.

The Fed, adopting a new strategy to try to get the U.S. economy going, announced Wednesday that it would shuffle $400 billion of its own holdings in hopes of reducing interest rates on long-term loans.

The central bank hopes that allowing people and businesses to borrow money more cheaply will encourage them to spend it throughout the economy, providing a lift that could turn it around.

The Fed statement troubled investors. It offered a bleak assessment of the future of the U.S. economy, saying it sees “significant downside risks to the economic outlook,” including volatility in overseas markets.

“In financial markets, the thinking seems to be: If the Fed is worried, the rest of us ought to be really worried,” said Brian Gendreau, senior investment strategist at Cetera Financial Group.

Economists say the Fed action may help, but probably not much. The only thing that will help is for people and businesses to start spending more money, said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners, a hedge fund.

“Counting on the Fed to get us out of this is a mistake,” he said.

The price of commodities like oil and metals dropped steeply because investors worried that demand for them would fall if the world economy keeps slowing or falls into recession again.

The price of oil fell 6 percent, more than $5 a barrel, to $80.68, its lowest since Aug. 19. The selling reflected concerns that world demand for oil would fall if the economy slows.

The price of silver fell 8.6 percent. And gold fell 3.6 percent. Earlier this summer, gold set one record high after another. Investors wanted it both as a safe place for their money and to cash in on what seemed an unstoppable run.

In a broader reading of the U.S. stock market, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 41 points, or 3 instant payday loan.5 percent, to 1,125. The S&P is barely higher than its lowest point in August, 1,119. Last month was marked by extreme volatility in the market.

The Nasdaq composite fell 86, or 3.4 percent, to 2,452.

Stocks fell sharply even though the New York Stock Exchange executed a rule designed to smooth trading. The exchange invoked Rule 48, which limits how much information is released about stock trades.

Stock volatility rose anyway. The VIX, an index that measures investor fear, rose 8 percent to 40.4, well above average.

It’s common for stocks to move dramatically after the Fed makes a big announcement. But the number of trades that can be made instantly has also gone up in recent years, causing big swings to happen more quickly.

“These major moves are much more compressed, time-wise, than in the past,” Landesman said. “A 5 percent move can now happen in a couple of minutes as opposed to a week or two.”

Some analysts thought the heavy selling was an overreaction.

“The facts show we are not in a recession, and we are not borderline recession,” Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, wrote in a report Thursday.

The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the first half of this year, the slowest growth since the end of the Great Recession in June 2009. It would take much healthier growth, 4 or 5 percent, to bring unemployment down significantly.

The government reported Thursday that fewer Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week. But the decline wasn’t nearly enough to raise any real hope that the job market is getting better.

Elsewhere in the world, economic reports weren’t much better. A gauge of European business activity fell to its lowest level since July 2009, and industrial orders in Europe fell in July.

The data suggest that constant gloom surrounding a debt crisis among European nations is causing people and businesses to cut back on spending, which could push the region into recession.

“Odds of Europe falling into recession are uncomfortably high and rising,” said Ryan Sweet, an economist at Moody’s Analytics.

Asian stocks were hammered to start the world’s trading Thursday. The Nikkei index in Japan fell 2.1 percent. The main stock averages fell 2.9 percent in South Korea, 2.6 percent in Australia and almost 5 percent in Hong Kong.

Europe fared even worse. The stock market fell 5.3 percent in France and 5 percent in Germany. Besides the economic headache, Europe is wrestling with how to tame a big debt problem.

In the U.S., FedEx stock fell 9 percent after it said that it would earn less in 2012 than it had expected. The company is seen as an indicator because demand for shipping rises and falls with the economy.

The next big round of corporate earnings reports doesn’t start for several weeks, but many analysts expect big companies can’t sustain the strong profits they have posted for the last few quarters.

Source

Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday as investors fearful of a debt implosion in Europe held onto hopes that the Federal Reserve will announce measures to jolt the U.S. economy.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was marginally higher at 8,721.98 after the Finance Ministry released trade data showing the country’s exports rose for the first time in six months. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.4 percent to 1,845.09.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8 percent to 18,866.30. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200, swinging between gains and losses, was less than 0.1 percent up at 4,041.30. Benchmarks in New Zealand and Taiwan were higher. Those in Singapore and Malaysia fell.

On Wall Street, stocks rose on hopes the U.S. central bank would announce steps to boost the flagging economy. Many analysts believe the Fed will announce a new stimulus plan at the end of a two-day policy meeting Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.1 percent at 11,408.66. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.2 percent to 1,202.09. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.9 percent to 2,590.24.

Meanwhile, debt-saddled Greece moved closer Tuesday to getting the vital bailout funds it needs to avoid a disastrous default on its debts after persuading international debt inspectors to return to Athens and resume reviewing its austerity program. Without the money, the country would default within weeks.

Greece has been depending on rescue loans from other eurozone countries and the IMF since May 2010, when its borrowing costs went through the roof following revelations Athens had been underreporting an alarmingly bloated budget deficit and public debt.

Greece is only one of several European countries that investors fear may be at risk of failing to pay their debts. On Monday night, the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Italy’s credit rating by one notch. Italy has the second-biggest debt burden among countries that use the euro, after Greece.

If Greece or Italy were to default, European banks that have lent money to the countries could lose billions of dollars. That could hurt the European banking system and have repercussions for U.S. banks. Investors are concerned that a default in Europe could cause a lending crisis similar to what happened after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

In energy trading, benchmark oil for October delivery was down 35 cents at $86.57 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose $1.11 to settle at $86.92 on Tuesday.

In London, Brent crude for November delivery was up 9 cents at $110.63 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Source

Man Dip has a six-month lease on life.

That’s about how long local grocery stores will give the spicy sausage and cheese dip, a new product from an unknown local entrepreneur, before they decide whether to keep it or dump it. But that’s a lot farther than most other food startups make it in the highly competitive race for grocery shelf space.

If it were up to Dr. Ted Mimlitz, the man behind Man Dip, the concoction he’s been whipping up for 15 years might have remained just a party favorite and inside joke among his circle of friends.

But about four years ago, Andy Wolf, a serial entrepreneur who has brought to market a number of items including a deer sled for hunters, took a bite of Mimlitz’s dip at a school-related event for their children.

“I said right there, ‘Have you ever thought about bringing this out commercially?’” Wolf said. “I pestered him for three months. Then he called me one December night and said, ‘Do you really think we can do this?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’

That confidence belies the difficulty in bringing a product to market from scratch. Lots of folks flirt with the idea of branding and selling their homemade creations. But few people pursue it beyond their daydreams.

Local products face stiff competition from large food manufacturers with established brands, bulk negotiating power and money for extensive product and marketing research. Most local food products that have found success at area grocery stores are affiliated with local restaurants or well-known landmarks such as the Hill. Think Imo’s salad dressing, Zia’s pasta sauce and Fitz’s root beer.

“When people see that on your shelves, there’s that connection right away,” said Rich Wallace, Dierbergs’ director of procurement.

Another local example

General Motors Co. and the United Auto Workers have reached an agreement on a new contract.

The UAW announced the agreement just after 11 p.m. EDT Friday after several weeks of bargaining. No contract details were released.

The contract covers 48,500 GM workers in the U.S. GM was the first of the Detroit Three to reach an agreement with the UAW. Chrysler Group and Ford Motor Co. are still negotiating.

The UAW says the contract improves health-care benefits for workers and also protects their retirement benefits. It also says there is an improved profit-sharing plan.

Workers must vote on the plan before it will take effect. GM says a vote is expected in the next week to 10 days.

Source

A spat involving Safeway and Hawaii coffee growers is still brewing, even after the supermarket giant agreed to change labeling on its Kona blend coffee.

A $5 million class-action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Northern California claiming Safeway profited off the reputation of Kona coffee while selling an inferior product with very little Hawaii-grown coffee.

The lawsuit was filed Aug. 30, a day before Safeway’s letter informing the Kona Coffee Farmers Association the company would change its packaging to reflect the percentage of Kona it contains. The farmers had called for a boycott of Safeway’s 1,700 stores nationwide after a farmer saw the Kona blend for sale in a California store.

In an effort to protect a world-famous Hawaii product, the state’s Board of Agriculture Chairman Russell Kokubun sent a letter to Safeway officials asking them to comply with a law here requiring labels to specify the percentage of Hawaii-grown coffee included in the blend. The law requires those blends have at least 10 percent Hawaii-grown coffee. But because Safeway’s Kona blend isn’t sold in any of the 19 Hawaii locations, Kokubun could only ask for voluntary compliance.

The farmers’ battle inspired the class-action lawsuit, said Janet Lindner Spielberg, a Los Angeles attorney representing the plaintiffs.

“It affects their livelihoods and how their product is viewed in the world,” she said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday.

Coffee drinker Chanee Thurston, of Benicia, Calif., is the only plaintiff named in the lawsuit, which is also on behalf of consumers who purchased the Safeway Select Kona Blend since Aug. 30, 2007. According to the complaint, Thurston bought the coffee believing it “was comprised largely or entirely of high quality coffee beans from the Kona region of Hawaii and relied on these representations in making her purchases.”

She paid more money for the Kona blend than she would have for other similar coffee products made up of a large amount of non-Kona beans.

“They’re really using the reputation of Kona beans. They’re using it to sell something that’s essentially an inferior product,” Spielberg said.

A Safeway spokeswoman said Thursday the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

Hawaii is the only place in the United States where coffee is grown. Coffee aficionados pay a premium for coffee grown in farms in the Kona district, known for its rich volcanic soil and tropical climate.

Spielberg said the lawsuit won’t be dropped despite Safeway agreeing to change the label.

Source