Lenon’s main business news

Payments processor MasterCard says it took a $495 million charge in its fourth quarter to cover potential losses from an ongoing lawsuit brought by merchants over the fees they pay on credit card transactions.

The Purchase, N.Y.-based company says the charge represents the after-tax portion of a potential settlement in the case. Wall Street had speculated the bill would run about $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion if MasterCard Inc. and rival Visa Inc. settle the suit.

The charge reduced MasterCard’s fourth-quarter profit. The company earned $19 million, or 15 cents per share, on revenue of $1.73 billion. Removing the charge, it says profit came to $4.03 per share,

Analysts were expecting profit of $3.92 per share, on revenue of $1.73 billion.

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fast cash loan is fast becoming a viable financial option for consumers who need a few extra dollars.

World stocks markets fell Wednesday, with trading thinned by year-end holidays and mixed economic news out of the U.S. and Japan.

Benchmark oil hovered above $101 per barrel while the dollar fell against the euro and the yen.

European stocks dropped in early trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2 percent to 5,501.25. Germany’s DAX was 0.9 percent lower at 5,839.98 and France’s CAC-40 lost 0.4 percent to 3,092.01. Wall Street also appeared headed for a lower opening. Dow Jones industrial futures rose 0.2 percent to 12,199 while S&P 500 futures dipped 0.3 percent to 1,256.60.

Earlier in Asia, trading was subdued, as it typically is between the Christmas holiday and New Year’s.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2 percent to close at 8,423.62. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 percent to 18,518.67, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.9 percent to 1,825.12. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 lost 1.3 percent to 4,088.80. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia were also lower.

Japan’s industrial output dropped a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent last month _ the first decline in two months. But the negative news was mitigated by expectations of rebounding manufacturing and production this month and next, which helped to mute stock market losses.

The Shanghai Composite Index reversed course after early losses, rising 0.2 percent to 2,170.01. But the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index sank 0.5 percent at 849.76.

Some investors were “dumping shares” because Beijing has failed to take steps they expected to stimulate slowing economic growth, said Peter Lai, investment manager for DBS Vickers in Hong Kong.

“Some investors believed there would be a reduction in interest rates or the bank reserve ratio. But this hasn’t happened,” Lai said.

Tokyo Electric Power plunged 11.8 percent, a day after Japanese Industry Minister Yukio Edano suggested that the embattled utility be put under temporary state control and warned the company against resorting to electricity bill hikes.

TEPCO operates the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which was heavily damaged in the March earthquake and tsunami, and owes massive compensation payments to people and companies harmed by a nuclear disaster at the plant faxless pay day loans.

Hong Kong-listed property shares also slumped. China Overseas Land & Investment slid 3 percent. China Resources Land lost 2.7 percent.

China Mengniu Dairy, the country’s biggest dairy company, plummeted 24 percent in Hong Kong after acknowledging that a cancer-causing toxin had been found in milk produced by the company. Mengniu apologized and said no tainted milk had made it to the market. The government blamed the problem on bad feed given to cows.

Retail shares also slid on growing anxiety over the global economy in 2012. Hong Kong-listed jewelry retailer Chow Sang Sang shed 4 percent. Australian department store chain David Jones fell 2.1 percent and Woolworth’s lost 0.9 percent.

On Wall Street on Tuesday, the Dow Jones lost less than 0.1 percent to close at 12,291.35. The S&P 500 was up marginally to 1,265.43. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 percent to 2,625.20.

U.S. consumer confidence surged to an eight-month high, but home prices fell in 19 of the 20 cities tracked by the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index. That report dampened investors’ enthusiasm about a jump in consumer confidence to the highest level since April.

Benchmark crude oil rose 2 cents to $101.36 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.66 to finish at $101.34 per barrel on the Nymex on Tuesday.

In currency trading, the euro fell to $1.3075 from $1.3069 late Tuesday in New York. The euro has been weak because of worries about Europe’s government debt crisis. It is still trading just above an 11-month low of $1.2943 reached on Dec. 14.

The dollar fell to 77.73 yen from 77.85 yen.

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We want gift cards and like to give them, but for some reason we don’t always use them and wind up wasting billions of dollars.

A recent poll by Consumer Reports, for instance, found that one-quarter of people who received a card as a holiday gift last year still haven’t used it, and more than half of those had two or more unredeemed cards.

We have lots of excuses. We forgot about the card or lost it. The store didn’t have any merchandise we wanted. Or the retailer isn’t nearby, or we don’t like the store.

This has spawned an online secondary market where gift card exchange sites, such as PlasticJungle.com, Cardpool.com, MonsterGiftCard.com and GiftCardRescue.com, help consumers buy and sell unwanted retail gift cards at a discount. Sellers can get around 70 percent to 90 percent of the value of their cards. The more popular the retailer, the higher the price.

“It at least gives consumers the option to get something for an unused gift card,” said Tod Marks, senior editor at Consumer Reports. “It’s like life support for unwanted gift cards.”

Of course, one way to avoid unwanted or forgotten cards is by giving cash or checks instead. It’s unlikely that someone will fail to spend money that’s in their wallet or deposited in the bank. Another benefit: Shoppers tend to spend more at a store than the amount on the gift card. Not so with cash.

But card experts and consumer advocates cringe at my suggestion of cash, saying bills are “gauche.” At least a gift card to a favorite retailer, they say, makes it seem as if you gave some thought to what the recipient would want.

And besides, some say, people want gift cards. They are the No. 1 requested gift this season and are at the top of most shopping lists, according to the National Retail Federation.

Gift card sales are expected to reach a record $100 billion this year, up nearly 10 percent from the year before, according to TowerGroup, a research and advisory firm. About $2 billion of that, though, will be lost through fees and expired, stolen or misplaced cards.

The losses were much worse before federal protections kicked in last year that, among other things, prevent cards from expiring within the first five years.

Still, $2 billion is a lot of money to leave on the table. And if we don’t use it, somebody else will.

Some retailers recognize unredeemed cards as income after a long period of inactivity. Starbucks Corp., for example, reported $46.9 million in income from unredeemed cards for the year ended in October.

And more than a dozen states now recover funds on unredeemed cards, similar to other unclaimed property, said Brian Riley, senior research director at TowerGroup.

So if you are going to give a gift card, make sure it’s from a retailer that the recipient patronizes. Or if you’re not sure, consider a general-purpose gift card that can be used at any store, although you’ll pay a fee to buy the card. American Express, for instance, offers such cards for a $3.95 fee.

And if you’re stuck after the holidays with cards you don’t want, here’s some advice for getting rid of them:

DON’T SPEND, INVEST • The most innovative use of unwanted gift cards this season goes to GoalMine, which caters to small investors by helping them set goals and begin investing for as little as $25.

Between Dec. 19 and the end of January, GoalMine is accepting unwanted gift cards with values of $25 and up that will be sold at PlasticJungle.com, a card exchange site. Consumers decide whether to deposit the proceeds in an FDIC-insured savings account or in a stock or bond mutual fund.

As a further incentive, GoalMine promises to redeem the first card for 150 percent of its value. The card can’t be worth more than $50.

GoalMine’s general manager, Rimmy Malhorta, said the company figured there were a lot of unredeemed cards that could be put to good use. “Wouldn’t it be great instead of letting Starbucks have that money or iTunes or whoever,” he said, “you could make that money for you and put it toward your kid’s college education, your family home or a rainy day fund?”

GIFT CARD EXCHANGES • These middleman websites for consumers wanting to buy, sell or swap cards have been growing. PlasticJungle, one of the major players, bought and sold cards worth about $18 million last year, three times the amount of the year before, said Chief Executive Bruce Bower. “We are having similar growth right now,” he added.

Sites deal in gift cards from hundreds of national retailers, so you likely won’t be able to sell a gift card from a local shop. Cards usually must have a value of $20 or $25 still on them.

Sellers send their cards to the exchange, which verifies the value. They can get as much as 92 percent of the value of the card, but that’s for the hottest retailers.

Buyers can pick up cards at a discount of up to 35 percent, although the saving is much less on popular cards.

Some sites offer a money-back guarantee if a card’s value turns out to be less than promised. That’s a big advantage over trying to sell a card on your own through Craigslist.

If you’re going to buy or sell on one of the exchange sites, check out more than one. CardHub.com has a gift card exchange feature that aggregates card deals from various sites.

Consumer Reports’ Marks, who researched gift card exchanges earlier this year, says no single site gave the best deal every time.

“The sites often had a different idea of the worth of the same card,” he added. The gap between the best and worst offers for a popular Whole Foods card, Marks said, was 22 percent.

Before buying or selling, read the terms, which also can vary among the sites. And buyers should make sure the site guarantees the cards it sells.

Also, buyers should beware of cards with a value that’s an odd number — say, $63.45 — which could signal that the card was given to a customer as a refund on a purchase, said TowerGroup’s Riley. Refund cards, he said, don’t have the same legal protections as gift cards.

If in doubt, he said, ask the site whether the card is from a refund.

Many of the gift card complaints to Maryland’s attorney general deal with the merchant going out of business. When that happens, card owners generally stand in line with all the other creditors and may get little or nothing. Try to avoid this by buying cards from healthy retailers.

You also can set up an account with ScripSmart.com, which sends out email alerts if a retailer appears headed for bankruptcy. ScripSmart also offers a “nag me” alert to remind you to use your gift card.

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Europe’s fiscal pact may save the euro from collapse and stave off worldwide financial panic. But the concerns of many investors are more personal: Will it lift my flagging 401(k)?

The answer from the stock market on Friday was hopeful. As a summit of European leaders concluded with an agreement to deal with their debt crisis, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.7 percent, capping a second straight week of gains.

Then again, stocks have rallied after other summits _ more than a dozen in two years _ only to fall again. And the reaction to the deal from even the optimists isn’t particularly reassuring.

Hank Smith, chief investment officer of Haverford Investments, says stocks could rise “sharply and quickly” _ but only if there’s more “good news” from Europe. And that assumes you agree that Friday’s deal was good at all.

In that deal, all 17 countries that use the euro agreed to allow a central European authority to oversee their future budgets. They also agreed to automatic penalties if they spend too much.

But the deal won’t help cut debt today, which in Italy, Greece and Spain has driven government borrowing costs close to levels considered unsustainable. All eyes are now on the European Central Bank, and whether it’s willing to buy enough national bonds from those countries to keep interest rates down.

The frustration for investors is that Europe has drowned out a string of good news in the U.S. that should have moved stock prices higher. U.S. companies are making more money than ever, signs are growing the economy is recovering and stocks are cheap compared with earnings.

So far this year, investors have endured stomach-churning moves up and down in stocks. But in the end, not much has changed.

The S&P 500 has barely budged in the past 12 months. The Dow Jones industrial average, which includes some deeply troubled financial stocks not in the S&P, has performed better _ up 5 percent.

Jim Russell, equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management, is befuddled.

“Stocks are bad _ sell them,” he says, mocking the prevailing attitude in the markets. “It doesn’t matter if you blow out earnings.”

Russell is hoping that Europe’s latest deal means U.S. investors will forget about the region for a while, focus on the fact that big U.S. companies have increased profits by double-digit percentages for 10 consecutive quarters _ and maybe even start buying again.

But the only thing he’s convinced is sure to come is more wild stock moves.

Since August, S&P 500 stocks have gyrated by 1.7 percent a day, more than twice its average over two decades. The Dow index of blue chips stocks has seen similar volatility.

The culprit: Europe.

Early last month, the Dow plunged by 389 points on news that squabbling Greek politicians might not be able to push through needed reforms. A few days later, the Italian Senate passed a new austerity budget and the Dow rose 260 points. Then it dropped 326 points over two days on fears that U.S. banks had bet too heavily on Europe continuing to pay its bills and on news of a sudden spike in Italian borrowing costs. Then, another reversal. Several central banks announced they would make it easier for European lenders to borrow themselves, and the Dow jumped 490 points fast cash advance.

In addition to tighter controls on spending, Europe’s new “fiscal compact” calls for the launch of a permanent eurozone bailout fund in 2012, a year ahead of schedule. The deal also will send 200 billion euros ($267.41 billion) to the International Monetary Fund, which controls another emergency fund for countries in crisis.

Jeffrey Sica of Sica Wealth Management thinks the pact is inadequate, and stocks could fall 15 percent once investors wake up to that fact. He doesn’t think the European Central Bank will buy enough bonds to keep borrowing costs down. And that means banks in the region holding government debt will suffer big losses, with some collapsing. U.S. banks will also get hit with losses, and the economy will struggle for years.

“We had all this anticipation leading up to the meeting,” he says. “But nothing much happened.”

Sica, who manages $1 billion for clients, sold all of his stocks in August, and put proceeds in U.S. Treasury bills and into so-called “short” bets that stocks will fall.

His view is a nightmare, but even if you don’t buy it, there is plenty to worry about.

U.S. companies have generated record profits in part by cutting costs. But there’s a limit to how much they can squeeze suppliers and pile work on remaining workers. The other path to riches has been to sell more abroad, but there are signs that may prove difficult soon, too.

This past week, Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, reported its exports plunged in October. That followed bad news from a widely-followed survey suggesting that eurozone economy had likely contracted last month, which would make it the third monthly drop in a row. Many experts now think Europe is already in recession or will soon enter one.

This matters because S&P 500 companies get 14 percent of their revenue from Europe. Not surprisingly, some CEOs have been sounding more dour lately.

Many have slashed their guidance on earnings for next year. On Friday, chemical giant DuPont and semiconductor maker Lattice Semiconductor Corp. cut their financial outlooks for the current quarter. That followed a warning from Texas Instruments Inc. a day earlier that its revenue might fall short of expectations.

“We’ve seen the market highs for the year,” says Peter Boockvar, equity strategist Miller Tabak & Co. “Europe will be in recession and corporate earnings here could be challenging.”

Russell, the US Bank strategist, agrees that Europe is in trouble but he’s still cheery about U.S. stocks. He thinks earnings at S&P companies might grow only 7 percent in 2012, half the rate this year. But he’s still urging investors to buy.

Even at that lower rate, stocks are trading at roughly 12 times their projected earnings versus a long-term average of nearly 17 times, he says.

Translation: They’re cheap.

“We think investors will like what they see,” says Russell, assuming they “refocus on fundamentals.”

Given Europe’s troubles, it’s a big assumption.

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The Internal Revenue Service is under pressure to better police more than $100 billion of refundable tax credits it issues annually after a government watchdog questioned billions of dollars in payments.

Congress passed in October legislation authorizing a five-fold increase, to $500, in the penalty for paid tax preparers who don’t verify the eligibility of applicants for the earned income credit, by far the largest refundable tax credit.

Tax filers collected refunds of at least $55.1 billion in 2009 from the earned income tax credit, and the IRS estimated that more than $11 billion of that total was issued improperly, sometimes by mistake and sometimes as a result of fraud.

“The IRS is really stepping up enforcement,” Cindy Hockenberry, research supervisor for the National Association of Tax Professionals, said. The initial focus has been on the earned-income credit, but “they’re going to be branching out into other areas,” she said.

The association, based in Appleton, Wis., represents more than 21,000 tax preparers, accountants, attorneys and enrolled agents who work independently or for companies such as H & R Block Inc.

The IRS plans to give earned-income tax credit claims extra scrutiny during the 2012 tax filing season.

Oversight of refundable credits has become a political issue, with Republicans in particular demanding that the IRS do more to weed out ineligible recipients.

“We must balance the mandate to get refunds to those eligible as quickly as possible with ensuring that the money goes only to individuals who are eligible to receive it,” IRS deputy commissioner for services and enforcement, Steve Miller, told a House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing in May.

The earned income tax credit, passed by Congress in 1975 to offset the burden of Social Security taxes for the poor, has been expanded several times with bipartisan support, as an incentive to work.

However, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George criticized the IRS’s administration of the EITC and faulted the agency for potential improper payments involving two other refundable credit programs, one for higher education and the other for families with children payday loans.

George’s reports indicate that more than $18 billion of $101 billion for the three programs may have been improperly awarded.

Unlike a regular tax credit that offsets some or all of a tax liability, a refundable credit can include a cash payment in excess of the tax owed. As a result, refundable credits offer an incentive to defraud the government, George told the House Ways and Means subcommittee in May.

Legislation is pending to narrow eligibility for a refundable child tax credit. In a report in September, George’s investigators found that in 2009 about $4.2 billion, or 15 percent of $28.3 billion in additional child tax credits, had gone to people not authorized to work in the U.S.

The IRS declined George’s recommendation to seek more documentation of eligibility. In a statement at the time, the IRS said that the law authorizing the tax credit didn’t explicitly limit recipients to holders of a specific type of identification such as a Social Security number.

The IRS also took issue with George’s findings on the American Opportunity education tax credit, which helps low- and middle-income people pay for college. The credit, part of the 2009 stimulus law, was extended through December 2012 by legislation that also extended the tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush.

In a report last month, George said 2.1 million taxpayers in 2009 received $3.2 billion in American Opportunity and other education credits that may have been wrongly awarded. That’s about 17 percent of the $18.7 billion of such credits distributed by the IRS.

The IRS disputed the findings, with spokesman Terry Lemons saying they were based on “a flawed and superficial analysis.”

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Congressional bargainers have agreed to increase the size of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration in a compromise being hailed by the housing industry but criticized by conservatives.

Under the deal by House and Senate negotiators, the FHA would be able to insure mortgages worth up to $729,750 in the most expensive regions of the U.S. for the next two years. The ceiling had been raised to that level during the financial crisis, but by law it dipped down to $625,500 on Oct. 1.

However, in a bow to conservatives, the bargainers would not increase the current $625,500 limit on mortgages that can be backed in expensive communities by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled mortgage giants, and by the Veterans Affairs Department.

Realtors and home builders had lobbied hard to raise the loan limits for all four entities, arguing that the last thing the country’s stubbornly weak housing market needs is stricter limits on government-backed mortgages. They were backed by members of Congress of both parties from areas where housing costs are high, like Southern California and New York.

“We’d have liked broader language, but the FHA is still an important part of the puzzle,” Jamie Gregory, a lobbyist with the National Association of Realtors, said Tuesday.

Conservatives and a majority of House Republicans oppose the increase, saying the government should reduce its involvement in subsidizing housing in hopes that the private market would step up.

In a written statement, the president of the conservative Club for Growth called increasing FHA’s loan limits “beyond ridiculous” and said his group would note how lawmakers vote on the issue when they rate members of Congress seeking re-election. He said raising the limits does the opposite of reducing the federal role in housing markets _ something that many conservatives and the Obama administration say they want to strengthen the private market and protect federal taxpayers payday advance.

It has so far cost the government about $170 billion to rescue Fannie and Freddie, which nearly collapsed in 2008 because of risky loans in their portfolios.

The size of loans that federal agencies can back is based on a formula that includes a region’s median housing cost. More than a fifth of the country’s roughly 3,100 counties would be affected by the higher FHA loan limits.

FHA insurance is often used by buyers who put down small down payments. The agency has insured more than 40 million homes since it was established in 1934, and last year three quarters of those it insured were first-time buyers.

“It’s good news for the more than 600 counties that faced loan limit decline,” said Robert Dietz, an economist for the National Association of Home Builders. “FHA is important for first-time home buyers, so that will help support housing demand.”

The provision was included in a bill financing the departments of Housing and Urban Affairs, Commerce, Justice, Transportation and several other agencies for the rest of the government’s fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. It would also keep all other federal agencies functioning through Dec. 16 as lawmakers continue working on permanent spending bills.

The Democratic-run Senate had voted to increase the loan limits in its housing bill, but the version approved by the Republican-led House left the ceilings alone.

The House and Senate are expected to approve the overall compromise legislation later this week.

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A lawyer for protesters camped outside London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral said Wednesday that authorities have offered to let the tent city stay until next year, as the leader of the world’s Anglicans backed a so-called Robin Hood tax on financial transactions to alleviate the global economic crisis.

The loosely organized demonstration against capitalist excess, inspired by New York’s Occupy Wall Street movement, has wrong-footed both city and church officials since it began last month, defying pleas to leave and the threat of legal action.

Authorities have suspended legal bids to remove the tents. On Wednesday John Cooper, a lawyer for the protesters, said that local government had offered the protesters a deal “to stay on site until the new year,” then leave on an agreed date.

“My client is considering this offer,” he said on Twitter. Cooper confirmed the offer in an email to The Associated Press.

A spokesman for the local authority, the City of London Corporation, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

While police and bailiffs have removed protest camps in some cities around the world, the London demonstrators have endured, in part due to their location in front of one of the city’s most famous buildings. Their proximity to Christopher Wren’s 300-year-old icon has embroiled the church in a conflict between bank-bashing protesters and the finance industry.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams entered the debate Wednesday, saying “it was time we tried to be more specific” in finding answers to the vague demands represented by the protests.

“The protest at St. Paul’s was seen by an unexpectedly large number of people as the expression of a widespread and deep exasperation with the financial establishment that shows no sign at all of diminishing,” he wrote in a commentary published in the Financial Times.

“There is still a powerful sense around _ fair or not _ of a whole society paying for the errors and irresponsibility of bankers; of messages not getting through; of impatience with a return to ‘business as usual’ represented by still soaring bonuses and little visible change in banking practices.”

The transaction tax _ often called a “Tobin tax” _ was proposed in the 1970s by the late James Tobin, an American economist and Nobel Prize winner. Williams said a low tax rate _ 0.05 percent on each transaction _ could raise more than $400 billion globally each year.

The European Commission supports the tax, estimating that it could raise euro30 billion ($41 billion) a year, but the British government has firmly opposed it, preferring a direct tax on bank assets.

Williams called for a “robust” public debate “to probe how far the government’s preferred option will guarantee the domestic and international development goals central to the ‘Robin Hood ‘ proposals.”

Williams wrote approvingly of three proposals offered last week by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: separation of high-risk investment banking from retail banking; recapitalizing banks with public funds; and a tax on financial transactions.

“If religious leaders and commentators in the U.K. and elsewhere could agree on these three proposals, not as a fixed agenda but as a common ground on which to start serious discussion, the struggles and questionings alike of protesters and clergy at St. Paul’s will not have been wasted,” Williams wrote.

The British Bankers Association opposes a transaction tax, arguing that unless it was applied worldwide it would harm the financial industry in higher-tax countries.

The archbishop’s call for a transaction tax drew a lukewarm response from the bishop of London, Richard Chartres, who is now leading St. Paul’s response to the hundreds of protesters occupying tents outside the cathedral.

“Well, he (Williams) is an intellectual of European standing and I’ll certainly read what he says with great attention,” Chartres said in an interview with The Guardian newspaper.

“He has studied the subject in some detail and, like any other citizen, it’s a totally legitimate thing to do.”

The Anglican church was caught by surprise when demonstrators against corporate greed and banking excess pitched tents outside St. Paul’s on Oct. 15. They had hoped to protest in front of the London Stock Exchange, but were evicted from the private property and moved on to the nearby cathedral.

Since then cathedral officials have appeared uncertain how to respond. They at first welcomed protesters before asking them to leave; closed the building on health and safety grounds then reopened it a week later; and announced legal action to remove the tent city before suspending it and promising dialogue.

The cathedral’s dean and a senior priest have both resigned over the mishandled crisis.

The Corporation of London, the local authority for the cathedral and surrounding area, also has suspended plans to evict the protesters, and the campers say they are prepared for a long stay.

Stuart Fraser, the corporation’s policy chairman, said officials were meeting protesters for the first time Wednesday, “and we will take things day by day.”

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Forecasters say Hurricane Hilary has strengthened into a small, but powerful Category 4 storm in the Pacific.

Hilary’s maximum sustained winds were near 135 mph (217 kph) Thursday. The hurricane is not forecast to make landfall, though officials say it is expected to rake Mexico’s coast with wind, rain and heavy surf.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says a tropical storm warning is in effect for Mexico’s coast from Lagunas de Chacahua to Punta San Telmo. A tropical storm watch is in effect for west of Punta San Telmo to Manzanillo.

Hilary is centered about 85 miles (137 kilometers) southwest of Acapulco, Mexico, and is moving west-northwest.

In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Ophelia is weakening.

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President Barack Obama said Monday the U.S. Postal Service should be allowed to reduce mail delivery to five-days-a-week to help cut its massive losses.

The Postal Service lost $8.5 billion last year and is facing even more red ink this year as the Internet siphons off large amounts of first-class mail and the weak economy reduces advertising mail.

While the post office has cut more than 100,000 workers in the last few years it needs to cut more, close offices and find other ways to reduce costs to keep operating.

In his economic growth and debt reduction plan unveiled Monday, Obama endorsed the idea of dropping one day of mail delivery _ it is expected to be Saturday _ and urged other changes in postal operations

He agreed that nearly $7 billion the post office has overpaid into the federal retirement system should be refunded to the agency, urged that its payments for advance funding of retiree medical benefits be restructured, and said the post office should be allowed to sell non-postal products and raise postage rates.

Currently the post office cannot raise rates more than the amount of inflation.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the president “has offered helpful recommendations to stabilize the Postal Service’s financial crisis.”

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del personal loan for poor credit., who has proposed a bill including many of the same suggestions, welcomed the president’s statement.

“I have been saying for some time now that Congress and the administration need to come together on a plan that can save the Postal Service and protect the more than seven million jobs that rely on it,” he said in a statement.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who has his own postal reform bill in the House, responded that “the president’s proposal is not what taxpayers or the Postal Service needs.”

He asserted that Obama’s plan “will certainly cost taxpayers money.” Currently the post office does not receive tax funds for its operations.

Meanwhile, 75 members of Congress led by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Don Young, R-Alaska, called on the independent Postal Regulatory Commission to block the post office’s plans to close as many as 3,700 local offices across the country.

The proposed closures, most in rural locations that do little business, are currently under review.

The letter called for establishment of a new business model for the post office without closing offices and cutting its work force.

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Europe’s largest retailer Carrefour SA Wednesday posted an unexpected net loss in the first half and abandoned its growth target for the year amid the economic slowdown.

The French retailer reported a net loss of euro249 million ($359 million) in the first six months of the year, compared with a profit of euro97 million a year earlier.

Carrefour said it expects its operating profit to decline this year, reversing a target the retailer set in March when it said an ongoing and expensive “transformation plan” would raise profits this year.

The company’s share price slumped on the Paris stock exchange as investors took fright at the suddenly worsened outlook for the giant retailer, which which operates chains of grocery stores and hypermarkets across Europe as well as in Latin America and Asia.

By mid-morning Carrefour shares were down 4 percent at euro17.88.

As it did last year, Carrefour booked what it calls “significant one-off charges” again in the first half. They amounted to euro884 million in the first half, over half of which went to writing down the value of Carrefour’s Italian assets.

Worringly for Carrefour, after years of failed attempts to turn-around profitability in its core French market, earnings fell 40 percent in the first half. The company blamed a reorganization of its processes and systems which caused large inventory shortages, as well as rising raw commodity costs and sharpened price competition among retailers fighting to draw in increasingly budget-minded consumers.

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