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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been calling for Russia, the world

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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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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Federal monitors said this week they have found more evidence that Monsanto’s genetically engineered corn is failing to kill the insects it is designed to repel.

The US Environmental Protection Agency posted a report this week saying that corn rootworm — a major agricultural pest — is damaging Monsanto’s corn. 

This summer researchers said they found evidence of problems in cornfields in Iowa and Illinois. The agency said this week, they also have found evidence of corn rootworm damage in Minnesota and Nebraska, and called Monsanto’s monitoring of the problem “inadequate.”

Researchers, in lab settings, have found evidence that the pests are growing resistant to a protein that is genetically engineered into the plants and designed to kill the pests after they consume it.

Monsanto issued a statement saying it takes the report “seriously and remains committed to working with farmers to encourage the adoption of integrated pest management practices when managing high rootworm populations on farm.”

Monsanto did not provide a company representative for an interview, but has said in a previous interview that the problem seems to be confined only to fields with high insect pressure.  The company also says there is no “scientific confirmation” that the pest is developing resistance to the protein.

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HEAD NORTH: More than just northside visitors, merchants, residents and this colyumnist are impressed with development of the Old North St. Louis community.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and Sean Thomas, head of the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, are in D.C. today to receive the 2011 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement, which was given to the community by an office of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Old North was given the Award for Overall Excellence in Smart Growth, which is the highest honor that is given out by the EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities. The award “recognizes an outstanding comprehensive approach to growth,” the EPA said. The selection committee also noted that the award “is for the best overall approach to implementing smart growth on a variety of fronts …”

Among factors that contributed to the community’s selection was the 28 percent population gain the area has seen in the past decade. Winning projects must have an impact on the community, and not merely be a design for development, the Old North restoration group said in a post on its website.

The restoration group is the not-for-profit that laid the foundation for the development, which used strategies that promote walking, rehabilitate vacant buildings and establish green spaces, the EPA said.

A specific effort cited by the EPA was the revitalization of two main blocks of the neighborhood — 14th Street north from Warren Street to St. Louis Avenue (nearly to the door of the Karandzieffs’ venerable Crown Candy Kitchen) — into something called Crown Square. The $35 million project involved the redevelopment of 27 buildings along 14th Street and surrounding side streets. It resulted in 80 new households in an area that had been largely abandoned, and the opening of a growing number of new locally owned businesses.

There are also new sidewalks, benches, trees and lights and newly cultivated community gardens sprinkled through the neighborhood. The area includes a North City Farmers’ Market and a community-owned Old North Grocery Co-op.

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The European Commission backed the introduction of jointly issued eurobonds, coupled with stricter budgetary discipline, as the best way out of a debt crisis that’s threatening the 17-country eurozone.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Wednesday that the countries using the euro currency needed to work more closely together to dovetail their budgetary policies and avoid having one nation endanger all others by not living by its financial commitments. The crisis, which started in Greece nearly two years ago, has now spread to much-bigger economies such as Italy and Spain and there was a hint Wednesday that not even Germany is immune.

Barroso, who heads the executive arm of the European Union, said there was a need to “embrace deeper integration for the euro area” and that “implemented in the right way, the joint issuance of debt in the euro area could bring tremendous benefits.”

Barroso said it could lead to greater financial integration and to the creation of a much larger bond market, comparable to that of the United States treasuries.

Germany has opposed the use of eurobonds and has long called on profligate member states to clean up their own houses with as little outside intervention as possible. A big worry for Germany is that its low borrowing costs would get diluted if eurobonds came into issue and it would then be forced to pay higher rates to tap bond markets.

Anticipating the proposal, Chancellor Angela Merkel poured cold water on the idea in the German Parliament earlier in the day.

“It is extremely troubling, I might say inappropriate, that the Commission is now focusing on proposals on eurobonds in different varieties,” she told legislators.

Merkel argued that it was a pretense to suggest that a “collectivization of the debt would allow us to overcome the currency union’s structural flaws.”

While Merkel was voicing her opposition to the idea of eurobonds, Germany suffered what many in the markets are describing as a failed bond auction.

Despite being touted as the European bedrock of financial stability and rigor, Germany failed to raise as much money as it hoped in its latest bond auction, in a sign that even it may not be immune from the debt crisis raging across the continent.

Germany’s Financial Agency said its latest euro6 billion ($8.1 billion) auction of 10-year bonds met with only 60 percent demand. It blamed “the extraordinarily nervous market environment” for the weak demand.

Since Greece pushed the eurozone into its ever-worsening financial mess last year, many member states have seen their cost of government borrowing rise to record levels. Germany’s borrowing rates though have dropped sharply as investors buy up its bonds as a safe haven.

Germany has long been reluctant to bail out member states like Greece, Ireland and Portugal, insisting it was up to their governments to live by sound economic principles and win investor confidence.

Barroso said that eurobonds, or so-called stability bonds, “will not solve our immediate problems.”

Still he said “stability bonds are examples of reinforced governance, of a strong will to live together in the euro area and a good example of discipline.”

_____

Juergen Baetz in Berlin contributed to this report.

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The government delivered a blow to some desperate patients Friday as it ruled the blockbuster drug Avastin should no longer be used to treat advanced breast cancer.

Avastin is hailed for treating colon cancer and certain other malignancies. But the Food and Drug Administration said it appeared to be a false hope for breast cancer: Studies haven’t found that it helps those patients live longer or brings enough other benefit to outweigh its dangerous side effects.

“I did not come to this decision lightly,” said the FDA’s commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg. But she said, “Sometimes despite the hopes of investigators, patients, industry and even the FDA itself, the results of rigorous testing can be disappointing.”

Avastin remains on the market to treat certain colon, lung, kidney and brain cancers. Doctors are free to prescribe any marketed drug as they see fit. So even though the FDA formally revoked Avastin’s approval as a breast cancer treatment, women could still receive it _ but their insurers may not pay for it. Some insurers already have quit in anticipation of FDA’s long-expected ruling.

However, “Medicare will continue to cover Avastin,” said Brian Cook, spokesman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The agency “will monitor the issue and evaluate coverage options as a result of action by the FDA but has no immediate plans to change coverage policies.”

Including infusion fees, a year’s treatment with Avastin can reach $100,000.

The ruling disappointed patients who believe Avastin is helping to curb their incurable cancer.

“It’s saved my life,” said a tearful Sue Boyce, 54, of Chicago. She’s taken Avastin in addition to chemotherapy since joining a research study in 2003. Her breast cancer eventually spread to her lungs, liver and brain, but Boyce says she is stable and faring well.

“So I’m hoping the insurance company will grandfather me in to continue taking it,” she said.

The Avastin saga began in 2008, when an initial study suggested the drug could delay tumor growth for a few months in women whose breast cancer had spread to other parts of the body. Over the objection of its own advisers and to the surprise of cancer groups, FDA gave Avastin conditional approval _ it could be sold for such women while manufacturer Genentech tried to prove it really worked.

The problem: Ultimately, the tumor effect was even smaller than first thought. Across repeated studies, Avastin patients didn’t live longer or have a higher quality of life. Yet the drug causes some life-threatening risks, including severe high blood pressure, massive bleeding, heart attack or heart failure and tears in the stomach and intestines, the FDA concluded. In two public hearings _ one last year and one this summer _ FDA advisers urged the agency to revoke that approval.

“The science is clear: Breast cancer patients are more likely to be harmed than helped by Avastin,” said Diana Zuckerman of the National Research Center for Women and Families in Washington.

Genentech had argued the drug should remain available while it conducted more research to see if certain subsets of breast cancer patients might benefit, and some patients and their doctors had argued passionately for the drug.

“There certainly are patients who benefit tremendously,” said Boyce’s oncologist, Dr. Melody Cobleigh of Rush University Medical Center. “We’ll just be battling with the insurance companies.”

“For those not fortunate enough to be on Medicare or an insurance plan that covers it, it’s a death sentence,” Christi Turnage of Madison, Miss., said of the FDA’s decision. Her breast cancer had moved into her lungs before she began Avastin three years ago and the spreading stopped, but Turnage said her insurer is ending coverage and she will seek financial help from Genentech’s access program.

Hamburg said that she considered those arguments but that scientifically there are no clues yet to identify who those rare Avastin responders would be _ putting a lot of people at risk in order for a few to get some as-yet-unknowable benefit. She urged Genentech to do that research, saying the FDA “absolutely” would reconsider if the company could find the right evidence.

Genentech, part of Swiss drugmaker Roche Group, pledged to begin that research.

“We are disappointed with the outcome,” said company chief medical officer Dr. Hal Barron. “We remain committed to the many women with this incurable disease and will continue to provide help through our patient support programs to those who may be facing obstacles to receiving their treatment in the United States.”

The breast cancer organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure said that it respected the FDA’s decision and that it was time for researchers to concentrate on finding so-called biomarkers that would tell which drug is right for which patient.

“Each type of cancer is very different from another in important ways, and in the end it’s no surprise that Avastin’s effectiveness may not be equivalent against all types of cancer,” said Dr. Neal Meropol of University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, who has long used Avastin for colon cancer.

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Thailand’s prime minister is urging people in flooded areas to be patient because the government is working as hard as it can to drain the water.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Monday the flooding situation that has plagued the country since late July is improving as waters recede. However, she noted that water spreading across western Bangkok could drain more slowly than in other areas of the capital.

She urged people to “tolerate the flooding situation and turn unity into power to struggle through the crisis payday advance low fees.” Yingluck made the comments on her Facebook page.

The national death toll from Thailand’s worst floods in more than half a century has reached 562. The floods are still affecting 22 of the country’s 77 provinces.

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