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Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Macy's profit beats Wall Street expectations
NEW YORK (AP) ? Macy's reported a fourth-quarter profit that beat Wall Street expectations as its strategy of tailoring merchandise to local markets paid off during the holiday season.
The department store chain, which also operates the upscale Bloomingdale's stores, also said Tuesday that it expects that same game plan to help increase revenue at stores open at least a year by 3.5 percent in fiscal 2013. That's on top of the increase of 3.7 percent for 2012. The measure is a key indicator of health because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations.
"Going into 2013, our team is moving ahead with new plans and actions to sharpen our approach to localized merchandise assortments and marketing," CEO Terry Lundgren said in a statement.
Like many retailers, Macy's had a slow start to the fourth quarter because of the lingering effects of Superstorm Sandy and ongoing economic uncertainty. But sales bounced back in January. Gross margin, or revenue after the cost of sales, slipped to 40.6 percent during the quarter, from 41 percent a year earlier, suggesting the company may have had to discount more heavily to sell items.
Meanwhile, rival J.C. Penney is expected to report its fourth straight quarter of big losses and declining sales on Wednesday. The company has been reeling since it abandoned hundreds of sales last year in favor of "everyday pricing," with shoppers fleeing to competitors.
When asked about how J.C. Penney's missteps helped Macy's, Chief Financial Officer Karen Hoguet said, "As you know it's obviously helped us" in 2012. But she also added that the overlap in customers between Macy's and J.C. Penney isn't "100 percent."
Separately, the two companies are also locked in a lawsuit that alleges Penney violated Macy's exclusive deal with home diva Martha Stewart. That trial is under way in New York City and focuses on whether Macy's has the exclusive right to sell some of Martha Stewart branded products such as cookware, bedding and bath items. Stewart and Penney CEO Ron Johnson are among those expected to take the witness stand in coming days.
For the period ended Feb. 2, Macy's Inc. said it earned $730 million, or $1.83 per share. That compares with $745 million, or $1.74 per share, a year earlier, when the company had more shares outstanding.
Not including one-items such as expenses associated with the early retirement of debt, it earned $2.05 per share. Revenue was $9.35 billion, up from $8.72 billion a year ago.
Analysts expected a profit of $1.99 per share on revenue of $9.35 billion.
Hoguet said the categories that performed best during the period included handbags, watches, shoes, women's suits, luggage and furniture. The weaker categories included housewares and juniors.
This year, she said the company will significantly step up its courtship of customers in their 20s and early 30s with the launch of 13 new brands.
For the year, Macy's earned $3.24 per share on revenue of $27.69 billion. In 2013, it expects earnings per share of $3.90 to $3.95. That's above the $3.85 analysts expected.
Shares of Macy's rose $1.07, or 2.8 percent, to close at $39.59 Tuesday.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/macys-profit-beats-wall-street-expectations-131937177--finance.html
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10 Signs We're Not In Another Real Estate Bubble (Part 1) - Seeking ...
Over at Yahoo! Finance, the headline for one of the most popular articles screams, "Housing Already Shows Signs of a New Bubble." The exact same sentiment is being shouted from the rooftops at Forbes, too: "Home Builders Could Become Heartbreakers Again." We're less than one year into a legitimate recovery in prices, and already the pundits can't help but sound the alarm about another possible "bubble"? Give me a break! Forget Rodney Dangerfield, the residential real estate rebound gets "no respect." Don't worry. We're nowhere close to another peak. Nor has the profit potential for housing-related investments suddenly vanished. Here are 10 hard facts to prove it?
1. Too Far, Too Fast? Nope!
Housing market bears point to the meteoric rise of homebuilding stocks as proof that the recovery has been too robust, too soon.
The S&P 1500 Homebuilder group is up 170% since hitting a low in August 2011. In the last year alone, many individual homebuilder stocks, like KB Home (KBH), PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) and Ryland Group (RYL), doubled in price.
As Bespoke Investment Group aptly points out, though, "Remember that 'too far, too fast' is relative." And, in this case, short-term relativity can be deceiving. It turns out that the S&P 1500 Homebuilder group is still down 55% from its 2005 high, despite the impressive run-up over the last 18 months. Too far, too fast? I don't think so!
2. Peak Activity? Nope!
Actual homebuilding and sales activity haven't peaked, either. Based on the January data, single-family housing starts remain almost 200% below the peak hit during the last boom. And they're more than 60% below the long-term average since 1962. As far as existing home sales, we're still about 40% below peak levels.
3. RFI is Back in the Black.
Ever since 2005, the real estate market has been a drag on the U.S. economy. More specifically, residential fixed investment (RFI) weakened GDP growth.
Not anymore! In the fourth quarter, RFI added 0.4% to GDP growth. In dollar terms, RFI needs to increase another 40% just to hit the long-term average since 1995. So forget being near a top. The latest data indicates that "the housing rebound is fairly entrenched at this point," as RBS Securities' economist, Omair Sharif, puts it. Entrenched? with plenty of room to run, too.
4. Less Distressed.
Any talk about the housing market wouldn't be complete without mentioning the unending onslaught of foreclosures and short sales, which naturally hold back a recovery ? particularly in prices. But (surprise, surprise) "distressed sales" are becoming less and less of a factor.
Notices of defaults, scheduled auctions, bank repossessions and other filings fell 28% in the last year, according to RealtyTrac. Perhaps even more telling is the fact that new foreclosure filings are at their lowest levels since June 2006. As RealtyTrac's Daren Blomquist says, "We're now well past the peak of the foreclosure crisis." I'll say!
In all fairness, foreclosure filings are still running hot ? at about twice the pace experienced in 2005. But we can't overlook the progress being made. In many hard-hit markets, foreclosure sales now account for a dramatically smaller portion of the market (see table below). Take Las Vegas, for instance. In January 2012, foreclosures accounted for a staggering 45.5% of sales. Fast forward to today, though, and that figure has been more than cut in half, to 12.5%, according to calculations by economist, Thomas Lawler.
If we look at the short sale data, a similar trend is developing, too.
(click to enlarge)
Add it all up, and as Bill McBride of Calculatedriskblog.com says, "In every area that reports distressed sales, the share of distressed sales is down year-over-year ? and down significantly in most areas." That means conventional sales are picking up, which is "a major continued improvement for the market," according to Trulia.com's Chief Economist, Jed Kolko. I agree. And once again, the data points to a market on the mend, not in bubble territory.
5. No More Negative Equity for You!
Aside from short sales and foreclosures, the other main factor holding back the real estate market has been the number of homeowners sidelined because of negative equity. But that's becoming less and less of an issue, too. Thanks to rising prices, nearly two million homeowners were freed from negative equity over the last year, according to a report from Zillow. Of course, the number of homeowners underwater remains high, at about 13.8 million. But that just means the real estate recovery has much more room for progress.
That's it for today. In my next column, I'll share five more signs ? backed up by hard data ? that the real estate recovery is here to stay. I'll also share a handful of ways to profit from the continued boom. So stay tuned.
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EIA: Several Causes for Rising Gas Prices
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration , there are several causes for the recent rise in gas prices, including refinery outages, higher crude oil prices and the difference between the wholesale price of gasoline and the price of crude oil. Here are the details.
* The average retail price for a gallon of regular gas has increased about 45 cents since the start of the year, the EIA reported.
* One of the culprits for the increased price, stated the EIA, is what is known as the gasoline crack spread -- the difference between the wholesale price of gasoline and the price of crude oil.
* Previously, the administration has described crack spreads as a "simple measure" based on just a couple of items produced in a refinery -- generally gasoline and distillate fuel. Crack spreads do not take into consideration all refinery product revenues, however, and exclude refining costs except the cost of crude oil.
* According to the EIA, during the period between Jan. 1 and Feb. 19, the price of Brent crude oil -- the grade that drives the wholesale gasoline price in most of the United States -- rose about $6 per barrel, or 15 cents per gallon.
* Crack spreads in late 2012 were very low until, and in some cases negative as a barrel of gasoline was worth less than a barrel of Brent crude oil. The increase in the price of crude oil in December, then, resulted in higher gasoline crack spreads and may account for about two-thirds of the rise in gasoline prices since the start of the year.
* Other factors contributing to the rise in retail prices for gasoline include multiple refinery outages that have reduced the U.S. capacity to manufacture gasoline.
* According to Bloomberg Business Week , planned refinery outages will continue to be of concern, as seasonal plant maintenance usually peaks in March and April. It was noted that refineries used 82.9 percent capacity in the week that ended Feb. 5, the lowest level in 11 months.
* In addition, the EIA reported, the year-over-year global product demand for petroleum is up and expected to rise even more. The rise in demand impacts domestic refinery utilization rates, maintenance needs and product balances.
* Preparation for the seasonal switch to summer grade gasoline have continued to also add to the short-term volatility of gas prices, the EIA reported.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eia-several-causes-rising-gas-prices-172200671.html
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i-mate talks up the Intelegent, a 4.7-inch slab of vaporware
Don't worry if Dubai-based smartphone maker i-mate had slipped your mind. The business unceremoniously collapsed back in 2009 after allegedly suffering a "major fraud" that led it to fire all of its employees. Fortunately, CEO Jim Morrison is back with a new mobile device that, he claims, runs full-fat Windows 8 in the same way that Ubuntu for Android will behave. The i-mate Intelegent is a 4.7-inch handset running the desktop OS on a Clover Trail CPU with 2GB RAM and 64GB storage. The secret, however, is that the $750 handset will slot into a Webtop-esque desktop dock to become your work machine when you get into the office. Morrison has said that there's a factory in California ready to produce 10,000 units a week, and told the Seattle Times that he'd be showing off the device here at MWC. We can't find it on the exhibitor list, but we're about to go hunting...
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: The Seattle Times
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Cf3Qt73UNps/
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1st witness testifies in Gulf oil spill trial
FILE - Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill floats on the water as the sky is reflected in sheen on Barataria Bay, off the coast of Louisiana, in this June, 7, 2010 file photo. A high-stakes trial to assign blame and help figure out exactly how much more BP and other companies should pay for the spill began Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
FILE - Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill floats on the water as the sky is reflected in sheen on Barataria Bay, off the coast of Louisiana, in this June, 7, 2010 file photo. A high-stakes trial to assign blame and help figure out exactly how much more BP and other companies should pay for the spill began Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
FILE - This file photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows oil leaking from the drill pipe of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig after it sank on April 22, 2010, two days after it exploded. A high-stakes trial to assign blame and help figure out exactly how much more BP and other companies should pay for the spill began Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP photo/US Coast Guard)
Protestors from the National Audubon Institute, the Gulf Restoration Network and other organizations stand outside Federal Court on the first day of the Gulf oil spill settlement trial in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier is scheduled to hear several hours of opening statements Monday by lawyers for the companies, federal and state governments and others who sued over the disaster. Barbier is hearing the case without a jury. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
FILE - In this aerial file photo madeWednesday, April 21, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, an oil slick is seen as the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns. Nearly three years after the deadly rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico triggered the nation's worst offshore oil spill, a federal judge in New Orleans is set to preside over a high-stakes trial for the raft of litigation spawned by the disaster on Monday Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, file)
FILE - BP PLC Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward asks members of the media to step back as he walks along Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La., in this file photo taken May 24, 2010, about a month after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Hayward visited the beach to observe efforts to clean oil that washed ashore from the spill. A high-stakes trial to assign blame and help figure out exactly how much more BP and other companies should pay for the spill began Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? BP failed to implement a new safety plan on the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon drilling rig even though the company realized a blowout in the Gulf of Mexico was its greatest danger, an expert witness for people and businesses suing the company testified Tuesday.
University of California-Berkeley engineering professor Robert Bea was the first witness at a civil trial to determine how much more BP and other companies should pay for the spill. Bea said BP PLC didn't implement a two-year-old safety management program on the rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
"It's a classic failure of management and leadership in BP," said Bea, a former BP consultant who also investigated the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill and New Orleans levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The London-based company has said its "Operating Management System" was designed to drive a rigorous and systematic approach to safety and risk management. During cross-examination by a BP lawyer, Bea said the company made "significant efforts" to improve safety management as early as 2003.
However, BP only implemented its new safety plan at just one of the seven rigs the company owned or leased in the Gulf at the time of the disaster.
Bea said it was "tragic" and "egregious" that BP didn't apply its own safety program to the Deepwater Horizon before the Macondo well blowout triggered the explosion that killed 11 workers and spawned the massive spill. Transocean owned the rig; BP leased it.
A plaintiffs' lawyer who questioned Bea showed him a transcript of a deposition of Tony Hayward, who was BP's CEO at the time of the disaster. Hayward was asked if the deadly April 20, 2010, blowout could have been averted if BP had implemented the safety management program in the Gulf.
"There is possible potential," Hayward responded. "Undoubtedly."
Bea said BP's "culture of every dollar counts" was reflected in a May 2009 email sent by BP well team leader John Guide: "The DW Horizon embraced every dollar matters since I arrived 18 months ago," Guide wrote. "We have saved BP millions and no one had to tell us."
In a report prepared for the trial, Bea concluded that BP's "process safety failures" were a cause of the blowout.
"Financially, BP had the resources to effectively put into place a process safety system that could have prevented the Macondo disaster," Bea testified.
Bea said he had warned BP management several years before the Gulf rig explosion that "culture is key" to the company's ability to operate safely. Bea said the company didn't heed his warnings.
"You still don't get it," he recalled telling BP officials in 2007. "You have not implemented any recommendations. Process safety is deadly serious, and you've turned it into a traveling roadshow."
During cross-examination, Bea said those remarks were in response to a skit that BP presented at a conference that didn't reflect his views on safety management.
As he questioned Bea, BP attorney Mike Brock recited a long list of steps that BP took to improve safety, citing them as evidence that the company wasn't "cutting corners in the area of safety."
Bea's testimony opened the second day of a civil trial that could result in BP and its partners being forced to pay billions of dollars more in damages. The case went to trial Monday after attempts to reach an 11th-hour settlement failed.
The second witness slated to appear is Lamar McKay, president of BP America, but it wasn't clear if there would be time for his testimony Tuesday. Other BP officials were expected to give videotaped testimony.
In pretrial depositions and in a report, Bea argued along with another consultant that BP showed a disregard for safety throughout the company and was reckless ? the same arguments made in opening statements Monday by attorneys for the U.S. government and individuals and businesses hurt by the spill.
Attorneys for BP tried to block Bea's testimony, accusing him of analyzing documents and evidence "spoon-fed" to him by plaintiffs lawyers. BP accused Bea and another expert, William Gale, a California-based fire and explosion investigator and consultant, of ignoring the "safety culture of the other parties" involved in the spill, including rig owner Transocean Ltd.
Gale does not appear on a list of potential witnesses.
Just last year, Bea testified for plaintiffs who sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over broken levees in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
In the BP case, U.S. Justice Department attorney Mike Underhill said Monday that the catastrophe resulted from the company's "culture of corporate recklessness."
"The evidence will show that BP put profits before people, profits before safety and profits before the environment," Underhill said. "Despite BP's attempts to shift the blame to other parties, by far the primary fault for this disaster belongs to BP."
Brock, the BP attorney, acknowledged Monday that the oil company made mistakes. But he accused Transocean of failing to properly maintain the rig's blowout preventer, which had a dead battery, and he claimed cement contractor Halliburton used a bad slurry" that failed to prevent oil and gas from traveling up the well.
BP has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other criminal charges and has racked up more than $24 billion in spill-related expenses, including cleanup costs, compensation for businesses and individuals, and $4 billion in criminal penalties.
One of the biggest questions facing U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who is hearing the case without a jury, is whether BP acted with gross negligence.
Under the Clean Water Act, a polluter can be forced to pay a minimum of $1,100 per barrel of spilled oil; the fines nearly quadruple to about $4,300 a barrel for companies found grossly negligent, meaning BP could be on the hook for nearly $18 billion.
___
Follow Kunzelman at https://twitter.com/Kunzelman75
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Elnathan John- The Dark Corner: DISCOVERING DEATH
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Source: http://elnathanjohn.blogspot.com/2013/02/discovering-death.html
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013
India on high alert: Twin bike bombs kill at least 11 in southern Indian city of Hyderabad
The explosions, which injured scores of market goers, come amid ongoing tensions in India over its recent execution of convicted terrorist Mohammad Afzal Guru.
Fire fighters extinguish a fire at the site of an explosion in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad February 21, 2013. Two bombs placed on bicycles exploded in a crowded market-place in Hyderabad on Thursday, and the federal home minister said at least 11 people were killed and 50 wounded.
Reuters
EnlargeA pair of bicycle bombs rocked a crowded marketplace in Hyderabad today, killing at least 11 people and injuring scores more in the southern Indian city of 6.8 million, a major hub for information technology where Microsoft and Google have a large presence.
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Arthur Bright is the Europe Editor at The Christian Science Monitor.? He has worked for the Monitor in various capacities since 2004, including as the Online News Editor and a regular contributor to the Monitor's Terrorism & Security blog.? He is also a licensed Massachusetts attorney.
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Reuters reports that India has gone on high alert after the explosions, which local television stations report may have killed up to 15 people and wounded at least 50.?The last major bomb attack in India was a blast in September of 2011 outside the high court in New Delhi that killed 13 people.
"Both blasts took place within a radius of 150 meters," federal Home (Interior) Minister Sushil Shinde told reporters, adding the explosives were placed on bicycles parked in the crowded marketplace. "Eight people died at one place, three at the other."
The explosions come less than two weeks after India hanged a Kashmiri man for a militant attack on the country's parliament in 2001 that had sparked violent clashes.
Witnesses told Reuters they heard at least two explosions in the Dilsukh Nagar area of Hyderabad just after dusk but there could have been more.
The Hindustan Times reports that Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters that "it was too early to say anything" about whether it was a terrorist attack, but that the government was investigating. But the Times notes that the country had already been on alert for attacks due to the recent execution of Mohammad Afzal Guru, a convict in the 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament.
The Monitor reported earlier this month that Mr. Afzal Guru's death sentence, though handed down in 2002, was carried out on Feb. 9 without advance warning, and appears to involve a significant political impetus.
The execution is being seen by analysts as the ruling Congress party?s way of regaining public confidence in the wake of several corruption scandals and protests over the recent Delhi gang-rape. Political commentator Seema Mustafa says the sudden decision to execute Afzal Guru, after years of dilly-dallying, is part of a Congress party effort?to improve its position for the 2014 general elections. ?The Congress in its usual cynical manipulation of the votes is trying to eat into the majority constituency with this action,? she says.
Executions had become more rare up until [that of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist in the 2008 Mumbai attacks] ? the first in India in eight years. Like Kasab's hanging in November, Azfal Guru's?came just ahead of a parliament session. ?I would just say it's extremely tragic if Indian democracy is going to survive on executing someone or the other before every Parliament session,? says lawyer Vrinda Grover. Congress party spokesman?Abhishek Manu Singhvi called such suggestions about the timing "irresponsible and childish."
The execution led to days of protest in Kashmir, where Afzal Guru was from.
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Obama warns of risks over budget cut uncertainty
President Barack Obama addresses the National Governors Association in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama addresses the National Governors Association in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal listens as National Governors Association Chairman, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, speaks with reporters outside the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, following their meeting with President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, accompanied by White House press secretary Jay Carney, briefs reporters on the sequester, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama on Monday said looming automatic spending cuts are already affecting the economy, while a top administration official warned that the nation's borders would be less secure if billions of dollars are yanked from the budget Friday.
"The uncertainty is already having an effect," Obama said. "Companies are preparing layoff notices. Families are preparing to cut back on expenses. The longer these cuts are in place, the bigger the impact will become."
Despite the urgent rhetoric, there was no indication the White House and congressional Republicans were actively negotiating a deal to avoid the so-called sequester ahead of the end of the week deadline. The last known conversation between Obama and GOP leaders was last week and there have been no in-person meetings between the parties this year.
With Congress back from a weeklong recess, House Speaker John Boehner showed little willingness to move off his long-held position that the sequester be offset through targeted spending cuts, not the package of cuts and tax increases Obama supports.
"Mr. President, you got your tax increase," Boehner said, referring to the tax rate increases that took effect on Jan. 1. "It's time to cut spending here in Washington."
The $85 billion budget-cutting mechanism could affect everything from commercial flights to classrooms to meat inspections. Domestic and defense spending alike would be trimmed, leading to furloughs for hundreds of thousands of government workers and contractors.
The White House continued laying out in stark terms what the cuts would mean for government services, dispatching Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to warn of the implications for critical security functions.
"I don't think we can maintain the same level of security at all places around the country with sequester as without sequester," said Napolitano, adding that the impact would be "'like a rolling ball. It will keep growing."
Napolitano focused in particular on the impact to the border, saying her agency would be forced to furlough 5,000 patrol agents. She tamped down the notion that budget cuts would make the nation more vulnerable to terrorism, but said the sequester would make it "awfully, awfully tough" to minimize that risk.
Also Monday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said visiting hours would be cut at all 398 national parks, just as they prepare for an influx of spring and summer visitors.
Elsewhere in the government, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the cuts would harm the readiness of U.S. fighting forces. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said travelers could see delayed flights. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said 70,000 fewer children from low-income families would have access to Head Start programs. And furloughed meat inspectors could leave plants idled.
Obama will seek to build public support for his call to offset the sequester with a combination of targeted cuts and tax revenues Tuesday when he travels to Newport News, Va., a community that would be impacted by the defense cuts.
The sequester was designed as an unpalatable fallback, meant to take effect only if a congressional super-committee failed to come up with at least $1 trillion in savings from benefit programs.
Many of the nation's governors, who are gathered in Washington for their annual meeting, voiced frustration over the impending cuts, saying Washington's inability to strike a deal had created widespread uncertainty in the economy and hampered economic recovery in their states.
"The president needs to show leadership," said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican considered a potential 2016 presidential contender, following a meeting with Obama. "The reality is it can be done. This administration has an insatiable appetite for new revenue."
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a favorite of her party's conservative wing, pointed her anger at both Democrats and Republicans.
"No one should be playing golf. No one should be taking vacations," Haley said, taking a shot at Obama's recent golf outing and Congress' latest recess. "What they need to do is do what these governors do every day. We stay until we get it done."
Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy of Connecticut concurred.
"They need to get out of that box that sits under the dome and understand that this has real implications in people's lives," he said. "Work with the president, find a way to get it done ? or if you want, just turn it over to us governors, and we'll negotiate."
The governors, emerging from a closed-door meeting with Obama Monday, said the president had assured them the administration is pursuing solutions, but offered no assurances that officials would find a way ahead out ahead of the deadline.
___
Associated Press writers Ken Thomas, Steve Peoples and Josh Lederman contributed to this report.
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Tabasco CEO Paul McIlhenny, Bayou bon vivant, dies
Paul McIlhenny, the chairman and chief executive of the Louisiana company that makes Tabasco brand pepper sauce, has died at age 68, the McIlhenny Co said on Sunday.
McIlhenny died on Saturday, the family-owned company said in a news release that described him as "a true bon vivant" whose passions included hunting, fishing, wine-tasting and game cooking.
He was a sixth-generation member of the McIlhenny family to live on Avery Island in the southern Louisiana bayou, and a fourth-generation member to produce pepper sauces sold worldwide under the Tabasco brand.
The McIlhenny company was founded in 1868 on Avery Island. It supplies hot sauce to the U.S. presidential plane Air Force One and to Britain's royal family, the Times-Picayune newspaper said on its website.
Paul McIlhenny joined the company in 1967 and directly oversaw the production of its sauces for 13 years, expanding both its line of spicy sauces and the array of aprons, neckties and other merchandise bearing the familiar red-and-green Tabasco logo.
He spent much of his time in New Orleans and in 2006 he reigned as Rex, the first King of Carnival during Mardi Gras celebrations after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
"All of McIlhenny Company and the McIlhenny and Avery families are deeply saddened by this news," said Tony Simmons, president of McIlhenny Co and fifth-generation McIlhenny family member. "We will clearly miss Paul's devoted leadership but will more sorely feel the loss of his acumen, his charm and his irrepressible sense of humor."
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/tabasco-ceo-paul-mcilhenny-dies-age-68-1C8516292
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What does Carnival owe for 'nightmare' cruise? Not much
What does a cruise line owe you when your dream vacation turns into a nightmare? As passengers who were trapped aboard the ill-fated Carnival Triumph for five days earlier this month are going to learn ? it?s not very much.
The cruise line has very limited liability even when things go terribly wrong. This is all spelled out in the ticket contract.
?The Carnival passenger contract is standard,? said Steve Danishek, a travel industry analyst based in Seattle. ?They protect the cruise lines from all sorts of liability and make it incredibly difficult for a passenger to take any legal action against them.?
Carnival?s ticket contract specifically bans class action lawsuits.
?All disputes other than personal injury, illness or death must go through arbitration and they get to choose the arbitration company,? said Professor Martin Davies, director of the Tulane Maritime Law Center. ?That means if your claim is simply, ?you ruined my vacation,? then this has to go to arbitration.?
And that arbitration hearing will be in Miami, where Carnival is headquartered. This may discourage people from going this route, but experts tell NBC News it?s perfectly legal.
A Miami law firm that specializes in maritime cases has filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Florida against Carnival Corp. on behalf of all of the passengers on board the Carnival Triumph during its fateful cruise earlier this month.
The suit alleges Carnival was negligent because it allowed hazardous conditions ?to exist on its vessel which it knew or should have known was likely to cause injury, harm and damages to its passengers.?
The class action complaint claims passengers were given ?spoiled or rotting food that was unfit for reasonable safe human consumption, and were generally forced to live in squalid conditions that created a severe risk of injury, illness and/or disease.? The lawsuit alleged that the ?unbearable? conditions ?caused numerous passengers to vomit and/or become nauseous.?
The suit specifically asks the court to rule Carnival?s ban on class action claims to be null and void in this case because of the cruise line?s alleged negligence.
Carnival?s public relations manager, Aly Bello-Cabreriza, said the company cannot comment on pending litigation.
University of Washington Law Professor Anita Ramasastry said it will be an uphill battle for the passengers who file lawsuits.
?There is a chance a court would say that the arbitration clause and the class action waiver are unconscionable, especially for people who got sick because of the conditions on the ship,? she said. ?But that?s unlikely when you look at what?s been done in other cases.?
Compensation for a lousy cruise
Carnival says it will give all of the 3,000 Triumph passengers a refund for their trip and transportation expenses. Everyone will also get $500 and a future cruise credit equal to what they paid to be on the ship.
In a statement on its website, the company also promised to reimburse everyone for all shipboard purchases made during the voyage, except gift shop and casino charges or art purchases.
This may not be enough to appease the angry passengers, but it is significantly more than the company was required to do for them based on the contract. According to clause 7(c):
?Carnival has the right without previous notice to cancel this contract at the port of embarkation or any time during the voyage and shall thereupon return to the Guest, if the Contract is completely canceled, his passage money, or, if the Contract is partially canceled, a proportionate part thereof. Under such circumstances, Carnival shall have no further liability for damages or compensation of any kind.
?Carnival could have pulled the ship to the nearest port, gotten everybody off and that would have been it,? Danishek explained. ?They would have owed nothing but a partial refund because they would have performed to the terms of the contract.?
Very few people read the contract they get when buy a ticket on a boat, plane or train or rent a car. These companies all have tightly written contracts that are designed to protect them from you.
Related:
Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter or visit The ConsumerMan website.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/carnival-has-limited-liability-nightmare-cruise-1C8499971
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Monday, February 25, 2013
Nickelodeon, iPad i?in Nick adl? i?erik uygulamas?n? yay?nlad?
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D?nyan?n en pop?ler ?ocuk kanallar?ndan birisi olan Nickelodeon, video, oyun, ?izgi dizi gibi binden fazla i?eri?e sahip Nick uygulamas?n? iPad i?in indirmeye sundu.
Uygulama hareket eden karolara sahip bir d?zen i?erisinde geliyor ve herhangi bir y?ne karolar s?r?klenerek i?erikler ke?fedilebiliyor. Nickelodeon temal? 1000'den fazla i?erik ise ?izgi dizilerin orijinal ?izimlerini g?steren videolar, kamera arkas? klipler, kanal?n y?ld?zlar?n?n foto?raflar?, animasyon karakterleri, ?ocuk anketleri ve farkl? oyunlar i?eriyor. SpongeBob SquarePants pop?ler ?izgi serisi buna ?rnek. Kanal?n hali haz?rdaki tam b?l?mleri ise abonelik y?ntemiyle elde edilebiliyor.
?cretsiz olan uygulama ilerleyen aylarda di?er cihazlar ve ?lkeler i?in de indirmeye sunulacak.
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Source: http://www.donanimhaber.com/Nickelodeon_iPad_icin_Nick_adli_icerik_uygulamasini_yayinladi-40238.htm
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LG's new Optimus L II series: hands-on with the L7II and the L5II
We've heard (and seen) a fair bit about LG's L-series sequels, but nothing beats seeing them in the flesh, right? Both the 4.3-inch L7II and the smaller (4-inch) L5II were on show here at LG's media event, and while we might have been more easily distracted by more powerful relatives, it looks like LG's middleweight smartphone series has its fans.
As is to be expected from the company's Style line, there's been some design changes, alongside a power increase to dual-core processors on the bigger L7II -- the L5II arrives with a single-core 1GHz processor. Cosmetic changes include a textured backing and, well, you'll have to skip after the break to hear about the other improvements, but be reassured that they're backed up by Android 4.1 and dual-SIM iterations -- although those don't look quite as good. After the gallery, we've got more first impressions and you can check out our hands-on videos too.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/_UsOXYsyQBM/
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Egypt insists food supply secure as wheat imports dive
CAIRO/LONDON (Reuters) - Egypt's wheat imports are sharply down this year as it endures economic and political crisis, but state and private buyers insist they still have funds to keep the nation supplied with its staple bread.
Egyptian officials and traders acknowledge the government's problems with a rising budget deficit and falling currency reserves, but say the state is allocating priority financing for wheat imports. They are also pinning some of their hopes on an increase in domestic production.
Foreign traders and financiers remain skeptical, pointing to a big drop both in wheat stocks - to about three months' supply from over seven last October - and in the number of grains ships arriving at Egyptian ports.
This, they believe, is evidence that the state grains supplier, the General Authority for Supply Commodities, (GASC) is facing problems in maintaining imports.
"It's an ongoing concern that the political and economic turmoil is making it a challenge for GASC to import wheat," said Karel Valken, global head of trade and commodity finance at Rabobank.
Egypt has a history of bread riots but maintained supplies of heavily subsidized flat loaves - which sell to the poor for just 5 piastres (less than 1 U.S. cent) - throughout the popular uprising that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
The man who until last week organized Egypt's state wheat purchases, Nomani Nomani, dismissed any suggestion that the government had failed to produce promised funding or guarantees to ensure that shipments could go ahead.
"The state has not at any point reduced its payments or failed to deliver to us financial guarantees," Nomani, who now advises the supply minister, told Reuters on Sunday.[ID:nL6N0BO1GE] As vice chairman of GASC, Nomani was arguably the most powerful man on the global wheat market as Egypt is traditionally the world's biggest importer of the grain.
President Mohamed Mursi's government faces daunting economic problems. The Egyptian pound has fallen more than 8 percent since the start of January, and foreign currency reserves have tumbled to $13.6 billon in January from $36 billion before the fall of Mubarak.
A HEAVY STRAIN
The pound's drop is putting a heavy strain on the government budget as it has pushed up the cost of state subsidies on energy and food, much of which is purchased in dollars.
At the same time detailed negotiations for a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund have yet to get underway, and Egyptian politics are in turmoil due to disputes between the ruling Islamists and opposition parties over a new constitution and parliamentary elections due to start in April.
Nevertheless, private traders discount talk of delivery disruptions, payments problems or shortages so far.
"If you're asking about any delays in shipping schedules due to contractual liability performance on GASC's side due to a shortage of foreign currency, the answer as of today, as we speak, is no," said Hassan Abdel Fadil, chief executive of Egyptian trader Venus.
"It's obvious to the entire world that there is pressure on the dollar in Egypt, but so far they've been doing well," Fadil told Reuters on Saturday.
"There is a good local supply, both on the private side and on the GASC side. People keep talking about shortage of stocks - no, it's not true, neither on the private nor on the GASC side."
Nevertheless, the figures are striking. GASC has bought 235,000 tons of wheat since January 1, about a third of what it purchased in the same period a year earlier.
And dry bulk vessels over 50,000 deadweight tons (dwt) - the kind of ships used to carry wheat - are arriving in sharply reduced numbers.
Altogether 30 have called at Egyptian ports from the country's main wheat supplier countries in the January to February period. This is down from 59 vessels in the same period last year, ship-tracking data from maritime intelligence publisher IHS Fairplay showed.
Egypt normally buys strategically to ensure it has wheat stocks equal to at least six months' consumption in its silos. By contrast, the government said last week that it has stocks to last until May 29, or just over three months.
The cabinet said this would rise to about four months under current international contracts, but this falls well short of the almost seven months' cover in October last year.
GETTING BY ON STOCKS
Such figures encourage a belief that the dollar shortage is forcing Egypt to import less and make up the shortfall from reserves.
"We've done some business there in the last few weeks and didn't have too much trouble getting paid, but our normal buyers now are saying they are going to live on the stocks they have on hand for the next little while," said Wayne Bacon, president of grain trader Hammersmith Marketing, which is involved with private importers. "They're waiting to see if they can get any foreign currency to pay for things."
Egypt faces a huge task in feeding its people. Most of its territory is desert, and what little land that can be cultivated by using the waters of the Nile is under heavy pressure from development. With its population of 84 million growing fast, buildings are springing up on agricultural land.
Nomani, who left his job at GASC saying only that he had been promoted, said measures to boost domestic production were paying off at a time of difficulty for state finances.
"We have proper planning. We were aware of the conditions the state is going through, and we made a list of factors to rely on for securing our essential supply of wheat, including offering attractive incentives and prices to local farmers," he said.
Nomani expected local wheat production to increase by "at least 500,000 tons in 2012/2013, if not more, raising the amount of local wheat to 4.2 million tons".
This would mark an impressive rise from 2.6 million in 2010/2011, but overall needs are greater.
Egypt imports about half the 18.8 million tons of wheat it consumes a year, with business split roughly evenly between private importers and GASC. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had estimated Egypt's imports at 9.5 million tons in 2012/13.
Nomani said the government had budgeted 11 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.6 billion) for domestic wheat purchases this financial year, which runs from July to June.
Nevertheless, the state is short not only of dollars but also domestic currency. The budget deficit in the last six months of 2012 was 5.1 percent of economic output, up sharply from the previous year.
Planning Minister Ashraf al-Araby predicted the deficit could hit 10 percent of GDP in the financial year to June - a level Egypt cannot afford without outside help.
Cairo's main hope is completing the IMF deal that was agreed in principle last November but put on hold during street violence the following month.
Admitting that foreign direct investment had all but dried up, Araby said the government planned to invite an IMF mission to Cairo within a week.
The funds are sorely needed. Egypt suffered bread riots in 1977 when the state tried to curb subsidies, and a dive in the pound in 2003 forced up the food subsidy bill by 40 percent. Riots erupted again in 2008 over high food prices and low wages.
"I don't think they can afford to jeopardize their subsidies at the moment," said Hammersmith's Bacon. "They're going to have to find funds to finance their wheat and sugar purchases because there's just too many people in the country who can cause a lot of trouble if they don't."
(Additional reporting by Alexander Dziadosz in Cairo, Jonathan Saul in London and Valerie Parent in Paris; writing by Veronica Brown in London and David Stamp in Cairo; Editing by Will Waterman)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-insists-food-supply-secure-wheat-imports-dive-155930349.html
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For Taliban victims, Pakistani peace talks feel like betrayal
Recently, the Pakistani government and Taliban forces in the country have expressed interest in peace talks. But for thousands of civilians who have been injured or lost a loved one at the hands of the Taliban, the idea is abhorrent.
Pakistani student Hazratullah Khan, 14, who was injured in a car bombing on December 17, 2012 in Peshawar, poses for a picture in Peshawar, Pakistan on Thursday. Hazratullah Khan's right leg was amputated below the knee after he survived a car bombing as he was on his way home from school. His response when asked whether peace talks should be held with the Taliban leaders who ordered attacks like the ones that maimed him is simple: Hang them alive.
Muhammed Muheisen/AP
EnlargeHazratullah Khan, who lost his right leg below the knee in a car bombing, answers immediately when asked whether the Pakistani government should hold peace talks with Taliban leaders responsible for attacks like the one that maimed him.
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"Hang them alive," said the 14-year-old, who survived the explosion on his way home from school. "Slice the flesh off their bodies and cut them into pieces. That's what they have been doing to us."
Khan, who is from the Khyber tribal region, pondered his future recently at a physical rehabilitation center in Peshawar.
"What was my crime that they made me disabled for the rest of my life?" he asked as he touched his severed limb.
In recent weeks, the Pakistani government and Taliban forces fighting in northwestern tribal areas have expressed an interest in peace talks to end the years-long conflict. An estimated 30,000 civilians and 4,000 soldiers have died in terrorist attacks in Pakistan since Sept. 11, 2001 ? many at the hands of the Pakistani Taliban.
To many victims of Taliban violence, the idea of negotiating with people responsible for so much human pain is abhorrent. Their voices, however, are rarely heard in Pakistan, a country where people have long been conflicted about whether the Taliban are enemies bent on destroying the state or fellow Muslims who should be welcomed back into the fold after years of fighting.
The Associated Press spoke with victims of terrorist attacks in Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and the tribal areas and their families to find out how they felt about negotiating peace with the Taliban.
Khan's classmate, Fatimeen Afridi, who was also injured in the same bombing in Khyber, said he would be happy to see negotiations with the militants ? but only after those who maimed him were punished. Afridi's left leg was amputated below the knee, shattering his dream of becoming a fast bowler on Pakistan's cricket team.
"If I find them, I will throw them in a burning clay oven," he said.
The push for peace talks gained momentum in December when the leader of the Pakistani Taliban offered to negotiate. The government responded positively, and even hinted that the militants would not need to lay down their weapons before talks could begin. That would be a reversal of the government's long-held position that any talks be preceded by a ceasefire.
So far, there have been few concrete developments, and it's unclear whether Pakistan's powerful military supports negotiations.
Skeptics doubt the militants truly want peace and point to past agreements with the Taliban that fell apart after giving militants time to regroup. Others say negotiations are the only option since numerous military operations against the Taliban have failed.
The biggest question ? especially for many of the Taliban's victims ? is whether the Taliban will have to pay any price for the people they are believed to have killed and wounded. The government hasn't said whether it would offer the Taliban amnesty for past offenses.
Many of the victims feel forgotten, saying no one has asked their opinion about holding peace talks. They have to fight for what little health care they can obtain, and there's almost no assistance for dealing with psychological trauma caused by the attacks.
Dr. Mahboob-ur-Rehman runs a private medical complex in Peshawar, a large facility that houses a prosthetic workshop and a therapy school, where both Khan and Afridi are being treated. Rehman said the Pakistani army has a state-of-the-art facility to treat its soldiers while there is little help for civilians. He estimated that roughly 10,000 civilians have been permanently disabled after losing limbs in Pakistani Taliban attacks.
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Chinese Vitamin Makers Head to Trial for Alleged Price-Fixing
Can Chinese companies that allegedly fixed prices for U.S. customers deflect liability by saying they acted at their government's behest? Jurors may get a chance to answer that question this coming week, as an antitrust trial against a group of Chinese vitamin manufacturers opens in federal court in New York. The long-running class action was brought on behalf of direct purchasers of Chinese vitamin C products.
Source: http://www.cltmag.com/chinese-vitamin-makers-head-to-trial-for-alleged-price-fixing.html
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Afghanistan: US special forces must leave province
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Afghanistan's president on Sunday ordered all U.S. special forces to leave a strategically important eastern province within two weeks because of allegations that Afghans working with them are torturing and abusing other Afghans.
The decision seems to have caught the coalition and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, a separate command, by surprise. Americans have frequently drawn anger from the Afghan public over issues ranging from Qurans burned at a U.S. base to allegations of civilian killings.
"We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them," the U.S. forces said in a statement.
Also Sunday, a series of attacks in eastern Afghanistan showed insurgents remain on the offensive even as U.S. and other international forces prepare to end their combat mission by the end of 2014.
Suicide bombers targeted Afghanistan's intelligence agency and other security forces in four coordinated attacks in the heart of Kabul and outlying areas in a bloody reminder of the insurgency's reach nearly 12 years into the war.
Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said the decision to order the American special forces to leave Wardak province was taken during a meeting of the National Security Council because of the alleged actions of Afghans who are considered linked to the U.S. special forces.
He said all special forces operations were to cease immediately in the restive province next to Kabul, which is viewed as a gateway to the capital and has been the focus of counterinsurgency efforts in recent years.
The Taliban have staged numerous attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces in the province. In August 2011, insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter, killing 30 American troops, mostly elite Navy SEALs, in Wardak. The crash was the single deadliest loss for U.S. forces in the war.
Afghan forces have taken the lead in many such special operations, especially so-called night raids.
"Those Afghans in these armed groups who are working with the U.S. special forces, the defense minister asked for an explanation of who they are," Faizi said. "Those individuals should be handed over to the Afghan side so that we can further investigate."
A statement the security council issued in English said the armed individuals have allegedly been "harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people."
Ceasing all such operations could have a negative impact on the coalition's campaign to go after Taliban leaders and commanders, who are usually the target of such operations.
Faizi said the issue had already been brought up with the coalition.
The U.S. statement said only that the announcement was "an important issue that we intend to fully discuss with our Afghan counterparts. But until we have had a chance to speak with senior Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan officials about this issue, we are not in a position to comment further."
The brazen assaults, which occurred within a three-hour timespan, were the latest to strike Afghan forces, who have suffered higher casualties this year as U.S. and other foreign troops gradually take a back seat and shift responsibility for security to the government.
The deadliest attack occurred just after sunrise ? a suicide car bombing at the gate of the National Directorate of Security compound in Jalalabad, 125 kilometers (78 miles) east of Kabul.
Guards shot and killed the driver but he managed to detonate the explosives-packed vehicle, killing two intelligence agents and wounding three others, according to a statement by the intelligence agency. Provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai confirmed the casualty toll and said the building was damaged in the attack.
A guard also shot and killed a man in an SUV filled with dynamite that was targeting an NDS building on a busy street in Kabul, not far from NATO headquarters. The explosives in the back of the vehicle were defused. Blood stained the driver's seat and the ground where security forces dragged out the would-be attacker.
Shortly before the Jalalabad attack, a suicide attacker detonated a minivan full of explosives at a police checkpoint in Pul-i-Alam on the main highway between Kabul and Logar province. One policeman was killed and two others were wounded, along with a bystander, according to the NDS.
Also in Logar province, which is due south of Kabul, a man wearing a suicide vest was stopped by police as he tried to force his way into the police headquarters for Baraki Barak district, said Din Mohammad Darwesh, the provincial government spokesman. The attacker detonated his vest while being searched, wounding one policeman, according to Darwesh and the NDS.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the Jalalabad attack and two others in the eastern province of Logar in an email to reporters. He did not address the attempted assault in Kabul.
____
Associated Press writers Heidi Vogt, Rahim Faiez and Kim Gamel contributed to this report from Kabul.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghanistan-us-special-forces-must-leave-province-161601103.html
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