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| Little apparent progress in U.S. "fiscal cliff" talks Friday, Nov 30, 2012 07:08 PM PST  HATFIELD, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - With barely a month left before the "fiscal cliff," Republicans and Democrats remained far apart on Friday in talks to avoid the across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts that threaten to throw the country back into recession. While President Barack Obama visited a Pennsylvania toy factory to muster public support for tax hikes on the rich, portraying Republicans as scrooges at Christmas time, his primary adversary in negotiations, Republican House Speaker John Boehner, continued to describe the situation as a stalemate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boeing, engineers tentatively agree to resume talks Friday, Nov 30, 2012 06:39 PM PST (Reuters) - Boeing Co and the union that represents its 23,000 engineers tentatively agreed to resume labor talks on Tuesday, after their negotiations on a new contract ended abruptly on Thursday. But tension rose as the two sides sparred over efforts to engage a federal mediator to help them reach a new labor contract. Boeing said late on Friday that the union had declined its offer to attend meetings with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington, D.C., on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Chevron Brazil ban ended, marks restart step Friday, Nov 30, 2012 05:38 PM PST RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Chevron Corp received a boost to its efforts to restart oil output in Brazil after a court overturned a ban on its operating in the country and the company agreed on a plan to improve safety procedures after an oil spill last year. Taken together, the moves suggest the case may be coming to a quick, negotiated resolution, said Eduardo Santos de Oliveira, the federal prosecutor from the city of Campos de Goytacazes who had first filed civil and criminal lawsuits in the case. Chevron, the No. 2 U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| China Nov official factory PMI hits seven-month high Friday, Nov 30, 2012 05:35 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to a seven-month high of 50.6 in November from 50.2 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday. The headline figure is in line with an economist poll by Reuters this week, and confirms a trend toward recovering growth in the world's second-largest economy. A PMI reading below 50 suggests growth slowed, while a number above 50 indicates accelerating growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| Democrats attempt longshot to force "fiscal cliff" vote Friday, Nov 30, 2012 05:18 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday announced a longshot bid to force an early vote on tax hikes to break the stalemate in negotiations over the year-end "fiscal cliff." The Democratic plan, which Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said could begin on Tuesday, involves getting a majority of the Republican-controlled House to sign a petition scheduling a vote over the objection of the Republican leadership. Such a procedure, called a "discharge petition," might generate considerable publicity, fire up Democrats and anger Republicans. ... Full Story | Top |
| France announces ArcelorMittal steelworks deal Friday, Nov 30, 2012 04:58 PM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - The French government backed away on Friday from a threat to nationalize a steelworks, saying it secured promises from the owner, ArcelorMittal , to invest and avoid any forced layoffs at the site where the company has idled two blast furnaces. Workers at the plant said the announcement fell well short of what they had hoped from a government that won power in May on promises to combat industrial decline and mass job losses in Europe's second-largest economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed's Stein backs QE3, says policy remains effective Friday, Nov 30, 2012 04:51 PM PST  BOSTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve should continue buying long-term bonds to support economic growth until the outlook for U.S. employment gets considerably better, Fed Board Governor Jeremy Stein said on Friday. Stein, who joined the U.S. central bank in May, defended the Fed's unconventional monetary policies on a panel with Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota, who focused his comments on regulating big U.S. banks, arguing that the perceived risk of a failure has receded in recent years. The Fed has kept short term rates almost at zero for four years and has bought some $2. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cliff fight may knock out December rally Friday, Nov 30, 2012 04:18 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - In normal times, next week's slew of U.S. economic data could be a springboard for a December rally in the stock market. December is historically a strong month for markets. The S&P 500 has risen 16 times in the past 20 years during the month. But the market hasn't been operating under normal circumstances since November 7 when a day after the U.S. election, investors' focus shifted squarely to the looming "fiscal cliff. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese bid for A123 may raise security risks: Senators Friday, Nov 30, 2012 04:06 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Chinese company's attempt to take over government-backed battery maker A123 raises serious national security concerns, a bipartisan group of lawmakers said this week, adding to growing congressional opposition to the deal. China's Wanxiang Group Corp is currently competing with U.S.-based Johnson Controls Inc to buy bankrupt A123, which makes lithium ion batteries for electric cars. The government must ensure that any sale of A123's technology, which has also been used by the military and to support the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Trade body urges Britain to leave pension tax alone Friday, Nov 30, 2012 04:05 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government should not reduce the amount workers can pay tax-free into their pension because it would deter future generations from saving for their retirement, a UK pension trade body said on Saturday. The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has warned British finance minister George Osborne to leave pension tax alone ahead of his Autumn Statement next week, which outlines the government's plans for the economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Moody's downgrades euro zone rescue funds, keeps negative outlook Friday, Nov 30, 2012 03:51 PM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Credit ratings agency Moody's cut its rating for the euro zone rescue funds ESM and EFSF to Aa1 from Aaa following its downgrade of France earlier in November, the agency said on Friday. It said the downgrade of the ESM and the EFSF, which were created to stabilize the euro zone by providing financial assistance to euro area member states in difficulty, was prompted by the high correlation in credit risk among the rescue funds and their largest financial supporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street Week Ahead: Cliff fight may knock out December rally Friday, Nov 30, 2012 03:33 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - In normal times, next week's slew of U.S. economic data could be a springboard for a December rally in the stock market. December is historically a strong month for markets. The S&P 500 has risen 16 times in the past 20 years during the month. But the market hasn't been operating under normal circumstances since November 7 when a day after the U.S. election, investors' focus shifted squarely to the looming "fiscal cliff. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ford recalls some Escape, Fusion models on engine overheating risk Friday, Nov 30, 2012 03:08 PM PST  (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co said it was recalling some Escape SE and SEL models and Fusion SE and SEL models due to the risk of engine overheating that may cause fire. The voluntary recall involves 2013 versions of the models with 1.6-liter engines, the company said in a statement. The issue does not affect the models with other engines. Ford estimated that there are about 73,320 Escape SUVs and 15,833 Fusion midsize sedans in the United States and Canada with 1.6-liter engines. (Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Don Sebastian) Full Story | Top |
| Merkel says understands Germans' frustration over Greece: paper Friday, Nov 30, 2012 03:01 PM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she understood her compatriots' doubts about a bailout deal for Greece, but insisted in an interview that aid for Athens was in the interests of Berlin and all euro zone members. Her words were published on Saturday a day after German lawmakers approved the latest rescue package for Greece by a large majority despite growing unease about the cost to taxpayers. "Of course I feel many citizens' skepticism, and understand it as well partly, as Greece has often disappointed its partners in the past," she told Bild am Sonntag newspaper. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama cranks up "fiscal cliff" pressure, Boehner says talks stalemated Friday, Nov 30, 2012 02:52 PM PST HATFIELD, Penn. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama turned up the pressure in "fiscal cliff" talks on Friday, hitting the road to drum up support for his drive to raise taxes on the wealthy and warning Americans that Republicans were offering them "a lump of coal" for Christmas. In a visit to a Pennsylvania toy factory, Obama portrayed congressional Republicans as Scrooges who risked sending the country over the fiscal cliff rather than strike a deal to avert the tax increases and spending cuts that begin in January unless Congress intervenes. ... Full Story | Top |
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