Lenon’s main business news

Natural gas prices retreated Thursday after the government said supplies remain well above average, even as snow and bone-chilling cold blew across parts of the nation.

Although more Americans turned up the heat last week, natural gas supplies remained 2.4 percent above year-ago levels. Natural gas for March delivery fell 10.7 cents to settle at $4.419 per 1,000 cubic feet in on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Natural gas supplies in underground storage in the lower 48 states shrank by 138 billion cubic feet to 2.959 trillion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 7, the Energy Department reported. The total was 5.8 percent more than the five-year average.

Natural gas is used in about 20 percent of the nation’s power plants to produce electricity, according to the Edison Electric Institute. EEI said electricity demand rose nearly 1 percent nationwide last week but was 10.8 percent below the same time last year.

The plentiful supplies combined with ongoing weak demand could mean another year for low natural gas prices.

The supply “looks set to outpace demand for a fourth straight year,” energy analyst Stephen Schork wrote in The Schork report.

Yet, BNP Paribas Commodity Futures analyst Tom Bentz said the gas market has been depressed for so long that an uptick in demand over the winter could send prices toward $5 per 1,000 cubic feet before spring. Natural gas hasn’t been at that level since last June.

The Labor Department said a spike in oil and food costs pushed wholesale prices up last month by the biggest amount in nearly a year, a trend that could threaten the still-fragile global economic recovery. About three-fourths of the increase was due to higher energy costs. Energy prices rose 3.7 percent. Home heating oil prices jumped 12.3 percent and gasoline prices rose 6.4 percent.

Oil prices fell Thursday after briefly rising above $92 a barrel. Investors took profits following a Labor Department report that showed a surprising jump in applications for unemployment benefits last week. Benchmark oil for February delivery lost 46 cents to settle at $91.40 a barrel on the Nymex.

Meanwhile, gasoline pump prices continuing to climb, reaching a national average of nearly $3.10 for a gallon of regular gasoline, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service. That’s about 12 cents more than a month ago and around 34 cents more than a year ago.

In other Nymex contracts for February delivery, heating oil fell 0.95 to settle at $2.6091 a gallon, and gasoline futures gave up 1.72 cents to settle at $2.4459 per gallon.

In London, Brent crude fell 28 cents to settle at $97.29 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Source

An alliance of automakers, utilities, regulators and clean-air advocates released an ambitious plan Monday to make California a national leader in accommodating electric vehicles by making charging terminals available in thousands of homes, office buildings, shopping malls and other sites within the next decade.

The California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative touted its plan after the first-ever Nissan Leaf, a mass-market, all-electric car, was delivered to a customer in Redwood City, Calif., over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the first 150 Chevrolet Volts left a Detroit auto plant on Monday and were expected to arrive in California showrooms in the coming days.

Work is under way in the state to upgrade existing charging terminals and install thousands more to accommodate electric vehicles.

One company is even developing a network of “switching stations” where motorists can pull in and swap out their spent batteries.

“All eyes are on California. It will host without question the largest rollout, the greatest numbers of EVs in the country, and it will also have the charge and switch infrastructure,” said Jonathan Read, president of Ecotality, which will soon begin installing 1,600 public charging stations in San Diego and Los Angeles that resemble a giant iPod with a cord and plug attached.

The plan, which supporters believe could serve as a model for other states, outlines steps to get charging stations easily installed at homes and then in high-traffic public areas and apartment buildings to encourage drivers to switch from gasoline-powered vehicles to plug-in electric vehicles.

The collaborative hopes to provide a positive experience for early owners of electric vehicles so they can spread the word. Its goal is to see a million plug-in hybrid and battery-powered cars in the state by 2020.

The plan recommends making installation of home charging stations affordable by offering rebates from the state and regional air quality districts. To further lower costs, the state could reduce registration fees for battery-powered cars, and utilities could offer cheaper charging rates during off-peak hours when there is less demand on the electric grid.

“We want the whole process from getting the charger, figuring out which one to get, getting it installed, having it operate, all of that to be a seamless, easy exercise because in a sense you’re replacing the gas station with the charger in your house,” said Ted Craver, chief executive of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison cash advances pay day loan.

Businesses and municipalities should get incentives to add plug-in vehicles to their fleets, thereby exposing workers to the technology, the plan said.

When automakers first trumpeted battery-powered cars in the 1990s, California installed about 1,300 public charging stations at homes and in public places. Those stations mostly went unused when carmakers pulled the plug on some of their early electric models.

The California Energy Commission said it is upgrading those stations to meet new industry standards and accommodate the latest plug-in electric vehicles.

The commission is helping to fund more than 4,000 residential and public charging stations through state funds. Additional money from the U.S. Department of Energy will go toward charging stations in San Diego, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento.

Advocates said past efforts to introduce electric vehicles to the mainstream car market fizzled because gas prices were low, batteries were weak, and carmakers and utilities were not working together.

“This time is not going to be a repeat. You can say the last time was a dry run,” said Roland Hwang, transportation program director of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The unusual partnership between government, private companies, environmentalists and public health advocates is key to ensuring that electric vehicles will take off in California, said Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board.

“Nobody is forcing us to do this; it is actually all of us getting together and saying we all have a common stake in the success of this new market, what can we do to make that happen,” Nichols said.

Automotive members of the collaborative include General Motors, BMW, Toyota, Nissan, Ford and Tesla Motors. The utilities include the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Pacific Gas and Electric, Sacramento Utility District, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric. The regulators include the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission.

Source

China’s trade surplus may have exceeded $21 billion in November, set to match the biggest quarterly gap since 2008 and adding to pressure for yuan gains to appease U.S. lawmakers and cool inflation.

The excess of exports over imports in the past five months climbed to $114 billion, more than double the $55 billion total for the first six months, the median of 30 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey shows before a government report tomorrow. The renminbi’s advance of 0.1 percent last month and 0.3 percent in October fell short of the 1.7 percent climb in September that Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner signaled was appropriate.

China’s policy makers, seeking to curb the fastest inflation in two years, may allow the yuan to rise 6.2 percent by the end of 2011, the most among BRIC nations, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry said this week that Congress is “impatient” with the artificially low value of China’s yuan and may impose legislation “with teeth” next year.

“The numbers are going in the wrong way,” said Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. The current legislation in Congress targeting China will be “only the first installment unless there’s a fairly major shift in the Chinese currency policy,” he said.

Exports Climbing

Geithner may have indicated to China to allow yuan gains of about 1 percent a month, said Hufbauer, who previously worked at the Treasury Department. Geithner said in an interview on the “Charlie Rose” show aired on PBS Oct. 12 that the currency should rise “at a gradual but still significant rate,” terming the move since the start of September as “pretty significant.”

The yuan fell 0.3 percent to 6.6617 in Shanghai yesterday, trimming its gain this month to 0.1 percent. Twelve-month non- deliverable forwards reflect bets for a 2.2 percent advance in the coming year. The median estimates in Bloomberg surveys of economists are for the Russian ruble to gain 4 percent by the end of 2011 and the Indian rupee 5 percent, while the Brazilian real should drop 2 percent.

China’s exports for November may have climbed to about $140 billion, based on economists’ forecasts and previous data for the same month in 2009. The estimate would be the third-biggest monthly total, and compares with a record high of $145.5 billion in July.

Yuan Gains

The forecast trade surplus would be the fifth this year of more than $20 billion versus $19 billion a year earlier and $27 billion in October. A stronger currency could narrow the gap by making Chinese products more expensive overseas.

Exports climbed 23.6 percent in November from a year earlier, the survey indicated, compared with a 22.9 percent increase in October. Imports may have gained 24.5 percent after rising 25.3 percent.

China’s Poltiburo announced Dec. 3 that the nation will officially switch to a tighter monetary stance next year, as the government seeks to damp inflation. Ba Shusong, a researcher for the cabinet, told the state-run People’s Daily that the nation should allow “appropriate” appreciation in the yuan under the new stance. The nation’s leaders warn excessive gains could cost too many jobs and threaten social stability.

Inflation Surging

The pace of the yuan’s gains is likely to accelerate as inflation rises and the trade surplus remains “high,” said Shen Jianguang, a Hong Kong-based economist at Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd. who formerly worked for the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. Shen also expects interest rates to rise by year-end, possibly as early as tomorrow.

Consumer prices probably increased 4.7 percent last month, the most since August 2008, according to the median forecast of 29 economists surveyed by Bloomberg before government data due Dec. 11. McDonald’s Corp., the world’s largest restaurant chain, raised prices in China last month citing higher costs.

“The current uptrend in inflation has a lot in common with the previous inflation cycle in 2007-2008,” said Shen. “But with more domestic liquidity, a bigger asset bubble, and more upward pressure on resources and labor, we expect the upward pressure to be more severe this time.”

The People’s Bank of China raised lenders’ reserve requirements twice last month and announced in October the first interest-rate increase since 2007. The central bank will lift its one-year lending and deposit rates by a percentage point before the end of 2011, according to the median forecasts of economists surveyed Dec. 2 by Bloomberg.

Bond Yields

The yield on China’s benchmark 10-year bonds reached 4.02 percent on Nov. 29, the highest level since September 2008. The rate on the 3.67 percent note due in October 2020 rose one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 3.82 percent yesterday. One- year interest-rate swaps based on the floating seven-day repurchase rate climbed 11 basis points yesterday to 3.06 percent.

The People’s Bank of China won’t sell three-year bills in today’s open-market operations amid cooling demand from banks, which are demanding higher yields. The central bank said it will sell 5 billion yuan ($751 million) of three-month bills and refrain from offering notes due in three years, halting bi- weekly auctions of the longer-dated securities, according to a statement on its website.

Five-year contracts to protect against non-payment of China’s debt rose 4 basis points yesterday to 71, according to CMA prices in London. Credit-default swaps pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a government fail to adhere to debt agreements.

U.S. Visit

Chinese President Hu Jintao will face criticism from a new U.S. Congress when he visits Washington in January. Vice Premier Wang Qishan will also visit the U.S. this month for meetings on trade. In a Dec. 6 letter to Wang, a group of 30 senators said that the “House of Representatives recently passed legislation intended to address persistent currency undervaluation by U.S. trading partners, and the U.S. Senate may follow suit.”

China had a $151 billion trade surplus with the U.S. in the first 10 months of this year, while posting deficits with Japan and Association of South East Asian Nations this year, according to Chinese data.

“China’s unwillingness to allow for significant currency appreciation even as its trade surplus continues to balloon will ratchet up tensions” before Hu’s visit, said Eswar Prasad, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a professor at Cornell University. Tensions may “boil over into legislative action,” he said.

–Rebecca Christie, Paul Panckhurst. With assistance from Chinmei Sung and Jay Wang. Editors: Paul Panckhurst, Garfield Reynolds.

Source

The International Monetary Fund is backing plans to extend Greece’s repayment of bailout loans but is urging the European Union to seek a “comprehensive solution” to its debt crisis, the head of the agency said Tuesday.

Greece is currently negotiating the terms of repayment for the three-year euro110 billion ($150 billion) bailout loan that saved the debt-ridden country from default. The loan package ends in 2013, but analysts and officials have been concerned over Greece’s ability to cope with the large debt repayments it would face afterward, in 2014 and 2015.

“We saw there was a problem of the length of the period of repayment, and I’m advocating the fact that we should lengthen this period,” IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said during a one-day visit to Athens.

Last month, European Union governments agreed to look into extending the repayment deadline for Greece from three years to 7.5 years, bringing the Greek loan package in line with one agreed recently for Ireland. The terms of the repayment _ the timing schedule and whether it will include the full euro110 billion or just the portion still to be disbursed _ have not been decided.

Strauss-Kahn said a decision would have to be taken by the IMF and EU together, and that “my view is that more and more people in the European Union understand there’s a need to do something like this.”

“It’s not an urgent question, but there’s no reason to wait too much,” Strauss-Kahn said during a joint news conference with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. “And on our side we are ready to do it.”

On Monday, Jose Manuel Barroso, head of the European Union’s Executive Commission, said in Brussels that the EU had already decided in principle to extend Greece’s loans.

“This was a crucial decision for the credibility of the program. The technical details are under study and should be finalized soon,” Barroso said.

Strauss-Kahn said Greece’s priority now should be to restore growth.

“What has to be the most important thing in the coming months is to restore growth. Because without growth there’s no solution to the problem of the country,” he said.

The IMF chief also met with top Greek finance officials and was to speak at a parliamentary economic affairs committee.

Greece is not the only eurozone country to be facing problems, and Strauss-Kahn advocated a comprehensive solution to the European debt crisis.

“We believe in the IMF that dealing with one country, then dealing with another country, maybe tomorrow with a third country, is not a good way of addressing the problem,” he said.

While he disagreed with those saying the debt crisis puts the future of Europe’s single currency at stake, he said the problem is one that needs to be addressed.

“Of course, a comprehensive approach has to be discussed among the members following the rules of the eurozone, takes some time. But I’m confident that they will make it,” he said.

Facing a mountain of debt and a deficit that stood at 15.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, Greece’s Socialist government has imposed tough cost-cutting measures, including reducing civil service salaries, trimming pensions and increasing consumer taxes, in order to receive the bailout loans.

The measures have angered labor unions, which have organized a series of demonstrations and strikes.

On Tuesday, about 500 pensioners marched through the city center ahead of Strauss-Kahn’s arrival to protest the austerity measures, while hundreds more gathered later in the evening against his visit.

Strauss-Kahn said he understood why people were upset at the measures and why they would chant “IMF go home.”

“But really, you’re better off with us here than with us home. And the sooner we will be able to go home, the sooner you will be able to fly alone, the better it is,” he said.

“So don’t fight against the doctor. Sometimes the doctor gives you medicine you don’t like. but even if you don’t like the medicine, the doctor is there to try to help you.”

Source

Facebook will be awarded a trademark for the word "face," pending some action from the social network, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

As first reported by TechCrunch, The U.S. Patent And Trademark Office has sent Facebook a Notice of Allowance, which means the government will award the social networking site the trademark under certain conditions.

The type of application Facebook filed requires the company to provide a sworn statement that it intends to use the trademark on products. The company will have to file that "Statement of Use," and then it will have to use the "in commerce" before it has actual legal claim to the word "face."

Patent lawyers had been skeptical that Facebook would be granted the trademark to such a generic word.

But once Facebook completes the paperwork and uses "face" in commerce, the USPTO will grant the trademark for: "Telecommunication services, namely, providing online chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among computer users in the field of general interest and concerning social and entertainment subject matter."

In August, Aaron Greenspan received an extension of time to file an opposition to Facebook’s "Face" trademark attempt. Greenspan is the president and CEO of Think Computer, the developer of a mobile payments app called FaceCash. He would not comment on whether he did file an opposition to the "face" trademark."

Greenspan, a former Harvard classmate of Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, claimed he had a hand in developing the social networking giant. The case was settled last year.

Facebook has also waged wars against sites using the word "book." In August, Facebook sued start-up site Teachbook.com — which claims it is merely a teacher’s community. The social networking giant also forced the travel site PlaceBook to change its name to TripTrace this past summer.

A representative for Facebook could not immediately be reached for comment. 

Source

Stocks were mixed Friday, with the Dow off nearly 32 points and the NASDAQ up 33. In Colorado, Liberty Global and Liberty Media Interactive led actively traded gainers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the trading day at 11,062.78, down 31.79 points (0.29 percent).

But the S&P 500 closed at 1,176.19, up 2.38 points (0.2 percent).

And the NASDAQ Composite finished at 2,468.77, up 33.39 points (1.37 percent).

Among actively traded Colorado stocks, Liberty Global Inc. (LBTYA) led the day’s gainers percentagewise, up 3.02 percent (98 cents) to close at $33.48.

Other Colorado gainers:

• Liberty Media Interactive (LINTA), a tracking stock of Liberty Media Corp. — Up 2.69 percent (38 cents) to $14.50.

• Bill Barrett Corp. (BBG) — Up 2.35 percent (90 cents) to $39.24.

• QEP Resources Inc. (QEP) — Up 2.03 percent (62 cents) to $31.15.

• Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. (KOG) — Up 1.76 percent (7 cents) to $4.05.

• American Oil & Gas Inc. (AEZ) — Up 1.63 percent (14 cents) to $8.71.

• IHS Inc. (IHS) — Up 1.3 percent (92 cents) to $71.60.

Source

Southwest Airlines reached a tentative five-year employment agreement with its stock clerk workers this week.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airlines Division represented 170 Southwest employees at the bargaining table. The union and Dallas-based Southwest asked for the assistance of the National Mediation Board to help them craft an agreement earlier this year. The tentative agreement reached this week includes both wage and benefit increases for the employees.

Union members will be educated on the agreement before it is put up for a vote in the upcoming weeks.

Source

The economy grew at a slightly faster pace in the second quarter than previously thought, but the pace of growth is still painfully slow.

The nation’s gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, was upwardly revised to an annual growth rate of 1.7% in the three months ending in June, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

While a slight uptick came as good news, the minor revision wasn’t a major shocker either. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast the number to stay unchanged at 1.6%.

Less than 2% GDP growth is considered too sluggish to prompt businesses to start hiring again

"A little bit of good news is better than a little bit of bad news, but it’s still just little," said Robert Brusca, chief economist, Fact and Opinion Economics.

Thursday’s number is the government’s third estimate for second-quarter GDP, after it sharply dropped its forecast in August from an initial 2.4% growth rate.

That revision was so dramatic, it shocked Wall Street and soon after, two thirds of economists surveyed by CNNMoney.com increased their forecasts for a double-dip recession.

But while the odds of the nation slipping back into recession are higher, they are still relatively unlikely at about one-in-four, the survey showed. But most economists are still predicting a weak economy going forward.

Overall, GDP continues to be dragged down by a widening trade deficit between the United States and foreign exporters, said Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo.

But the report did contain a small sign of hope for the recovery, he said: spending by both consumers and businesses was up significantly from the prior quarter, and investments in new equipment and software alone were up nearly 25%.

"When you look into the details of the report, consumer spending and business investment actually ticked up," Vitner said. "They’re not off the charts, but they are posting very solid gains. So in some ways the economy looks a bit firmer."

The Commerce Department calculates GDP as a measure of goods and services produced by labor and property in the United States. The government often revises the number multiple times. 

Source

A new eatery serving up Chicago-style hot dogs, fresh-fired steakburgers and frozen custard has opened in Round Rock.

San Antonio franchise company South Texas Custard Ltd. opened a Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers shop at 707 Round Rock Ave. The restaurant sells a mix of savory entrees, custard and custard cakes, a frozen dessert similar to ice cream.

The Round Rock store employs about 35 employees and is the Texas partners' third Austin area location. The owners James Oberg, Ron Oberg, Jeff Rochelle and George Shaw III also operate locations in Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Georgetown, Bastrop, South Padre Island, Seguin, Del Rio and Kerrville personal loans for bad credit.

Freddy's Frozen Custard LLC is based in Wichita, Kan. and was founded in 2002. The restaurant is named after World War II veteran and Purple Heart recipient Freddy Simon.

The Round Rock store opens 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, except Friday and Saturday until 11 p.m.

Source

Bermuda Run Country Club is out from under control of a court-appointed receiver after businessman Don Angell reached an agreement with the club’s lender.

Members of the club received a letter dated July 1 notifying them of the agreement with Rhode Island-based Textron Financial, which filed suit earlier this year claiming that Angell put the club up as collateral for a more than $8 million loan that the club’s operating company, WFBRCC LLC, took out in 2004.

The letter did not outline details of the agreement.

“Unfortunately, the speed and depth of the worst recession in eighty years caught us completely off guard,” Angell’s letter said. “As a result, we had to enter into some difficult dealings with Textron Financial, our lender, including a possible foreclosure of the club low fee payday loans.”

Georgia-based Affiniti Golf Partners came in to manage the club under the court-appointed receiver and will continue to run the club. Affiniti, along with club staff, “have worked hard to right the ship and put it back on a healthy course once again,” Angell wrote.

Several of Angell’s other companies have faced financial difficulties including tax liens over the past few months. But Angell wrote that “Bermuda Run CC is one of our proudest accomplishments. We love the club, all the people involved, and cherish the memories we have created together over all these years. Its recent troubles were very painful for us.”

Source