BEIJING, Dec. 26 -- The weight of private enterprises in the overall economy is on the rise and that of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) on the decline, Ma Jiantang, minister of the National Bureau of Statistics, said on Friday.

The number of private firms rose by 81.4 percent from 2004 to 2008 to reach 3.6 million and SOEs dropped by 20 percent to 143,000, Ma said at a press conference where China's second economic census results were released.

China has made great efforts over the past 30 years to restructure its economy. It has gradually raised the proportion of private enterprises after the market-oriented reform began in the early 1980s. As a result, the private sector has contributed an ever-growing value to the country's GDP and provided most of the jobs emergency payday loan.

But in recent years, some major acquisitions have seen SOEs buying into private companies, sparking concern that the State may be strengthening its control over the private sector.

Ma said the census figures do not suggest SOEs are buying into private enterprises.

In terms of asset value, SOEs saw their proportion in the nation's total drop by 8.1 percentage points from 2004 to 2008 to 23 percent. In contrast, private enterprises' assets rose by 3.3 percentage points to 12.3 percent.

(Source: China Daily) Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

Private sector plays greater role in China's economy

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Senate will begin voting on amendments to a sweeping health-care reform bill on Thursday, Majority Leader Harry Reid said, taking up proposals related to Medicare and women's health on the fourth day of debate on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

Voting will get underway after Democrats and Republicans have hotly accused each other of delay on the bill, which seeks to extend insurance coverage to 94% of Americans and bar insurers from denying coverage to the sick, among many other things.

"Even for the United States Senate, this is a slow pace," said Sen. Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, on Thursday morning. Debate on the bill began Monday.

Four measures are on deck. The first two deal with women's health: Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., is seeking to provide coverage for mammograms and other preventive measures at little or even no cost to patients. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, has offered an alternative to Mikulski's amendment that she says would ensure patients get doctor recommendations about preventive health services "without interference from government-appointed advisers get a free credit report."

Senators will also vote on a proposal by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would send the bill back to the Senate Finance Committee for a re-write, and strip out proposed cuts to the Medicare program. If it passes, McCain's proposal would have the effect of killing the bill, since its financing relies partly on slowing Medicare's rate of growth and cuts to the Medicare Advantage program, a federal government-subsidized program which allows seniors to choose health plans run by insurance companies.

Democrats say basic Medicare benefits will be preserved under the bill and are offering an amendment to make that explicit.

Republicans argue that the Democrats' bill imperils the program.

"The fact is, cuts to Medicare Advantage are cuts to Medicare," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday.

All amendments need 60 votes to pass.

Democrats are aiming to pass the health bill before Christmas, and Reid has warned that senators will need to put in hours on the weekends for debate.

Senate to begin health-care votes Thursday

Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong, back to camera, gives welcome address to APEC leaders, in Singapore, 14 Nov 2009Leaders of 21 Pacific Rim economies opened meetings in Singapore Saturday to discuss recovery from the global financial crisis and promotion of free trade.Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum leaders have stressed that the global recovery is still fragile, and more coordinated efforts are needed to overcome protectionism and maintain stable growth.U.S. President Barack Obama, on his first visit to Asia as president, arrives in Singapore from Japan within hours for the APEC meetings.Mr. Obama came under fire from some APEC leaders Saturday for allegedly backtracking on free trade.  Mexican President Filipe Calderon singled out Washington for "going in the opposite sense of free trade," while Russian President Dmitri Medvedev made the same point.Mr. Calderon mentioned increasing "buy American" clauses in U.S. legislation. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd spoke Saturday to propose a European Union-style model for cooperation, which he called the Asia-Pacific Community easy payday loans.U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said a high standard regional trade agreement under the Trans-Pacific partnership would be good for America.President Obama said Saturday the United States will engage members of the TPP, which consists of Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.China's President Hu Jintao, speaking Friday at an Asia-Pacific meeting, said China is working hard to increase domestic demand, and he urged fellow Asian-Pacific leaders to work together to open up free trade.Mr. Hu said a major stimulus package and moderate adjustments to China's monetary policy are some of the other measures Beijing has taken. The meeting was also attended by around 800 of the world's business leaders.It was one of a series of gatherings leading up to Sunday's summit of APEC leaders.Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

APEC Leaders Begin Meetings in Singapore

Hot News: Worried About Losing Tax Revenue, Congress to Investigate Airlines’ Fees

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asia-Pacific finance ministers endorsed "market-oriented" exchange rates on Thursday and said they would stick with economic stimulus plans until a sustained economic recovery was under way.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the timing of stimulus exit policies would vary between countries, but business confidence and the financial system must be restored first. "The challenge is growth. First growth, but make sure we have business confidence restored, investments expanding again, unemployment coming down, financial sector definitively repaired -- that&&9;s our basic challenge," Geithner said in Singapore after a meeting of Pacific rim finance ministers.

The ministers of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) discussed strengthening the post-crisis global economy to prevent asset bubbles and excess leverage with prudent macroeconomic and regulatory policies.

In a statement they agreed to "undertake monetary policies consistent with price stability in the context of market-oriented exchange rates that reflect underlying economic fundamentals."

The group includes China, which has effectively pegged its currency against the dollar since the middle of 2008 to help fend off the global downturn.

Other APEC economies aside from China manage their currencies to some degree, including Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

U.S. President Barack Obama told Reuters in an interview this week that he would raise the currency issue on a visit to China next week. [ID:nOBAMAASIA] His administration says an undervalued yuan is one factor contributing to economic imbalances between the first- and third-biggest economies in the world.

China&&9;s central bank said on Wednesday it will consider major currencies in guiding the yuan, suggesting a departure from the effective dollar peg.

"I&&9;d say that ... is the most significant news we&&9;ve had on the yuan for months, and that APEC is more of a formal reminder from China&&9;s closest neighbors, not just the U.S. and Europe, that forex rigidity in a huge trading economy is not a domestic issue," said Westpac Banking Corporation strategist Sean Callow.

WARNING OF ECONOMIC FALSE DAWN

Emergency measures put in place by APEC member governments, including some &&6;1 trillion in Asia alone and &&6;787 billion in the United States, prevented a deeper recession, Geithner said.

However, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan told reporters before going into the APEC meeting: "What we have to do is to make sure that we don&&9;t withdraw global support too early."

"In Australia&&9;s case, our economic stimulus peaked in the middle of this year and is being gradually withdrawn as we go through the rest of the year," Swan said.

World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy cautioned of a false dawn in the recovery easy payday loans.

"There&&9;s certainly a recovery happening, certainly in this region, which has suffered less from the crisis than from other regions of the planet," he told CNBC in an interview on the APEC sidelines in Singapore. "But I would be prudent whether or not this would be sustainable six months or a year from now."

He said rising unemployment was the main threat to free trade and could spark greater protectionist policies around the globe.

Jobless queues have jumped across the industrialized world since the global economic crisis erupted a year ago and have been a prime reason nervous governments have resisted calls to start winding back stimulus measures.

The U.S. jobless rate hit a 26- year high of 10.2 percent in October and economists polled by Reuters expect it to rise to 10.5 percent by the middle of next year.

APEC&&9;s trade and foreign ministers pledged to refrain from raising new barriers to trade and investment, and said a review of measures taken by member economies that began last July to ensure they were not protectionist would continue into 2010.

CLIMATE TAKES BACK SEAT

The ministerial meetings will be followed by a weekend summit of leaders of APEC, which is dominated by members of the Group of 20, including the United States, Russia, Japan and China.

Diplomats expect discussion on the sidelines on how to bring North Korea back to talks on ending its nuclear arms program, and the United States&&9; decision to engage Myanmar&&9;s junta.

On a side visit to Manila on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the unconditional release of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi but suggested there could be high-level contacts with the country&&9;s military leaders at the summit this weekend.

The APEC meeting represents one of the final opportunities ahead of next month&&9;s Copenhagen summit for leaders to overcome differences on the shape of a climate pact to fight rising seas, more chaotic weather and threats to crops and livelihoods.

However, there is little prospect of new initiatives emerging in Singapore this weekend and the climate agenda might instead focus on liberalizing trade in green goods and services.

APEC member economies account for 40 percent of the world&&9;s population across four continents, more than half of global gross domestic product and nearly half of world trade.

But their members range from relatively poor countries such as Papua New Guinea, Peru and the Philippines, emerging markets such as Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, and rich economies, including the United States and Japan.

(Writing by Bill Tarrant; Additional reporting by Glenn Sommerville and Vidya Ranganathan; Editing by John Chalmers)

APEC ministers endorse "market-oriented" currencies

SHANGHAI (AFP) – China on Friday raised the curtain on its long-awaited Nasdaq-style board, ChiNext, in a key step towards setting up a multi-tier capital market and giving a boost to small and medium-sized firms.

Gold confetti rained down on a red ticker reading "Formally launched" in Chinese as the theme from the movie "Superman" blared in a hotel in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, where ChiNext trade will begin on October 30.

The new board will propel the development of high-growth start-ups, especially high-tech firms, Shang Fulin, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said in a ceremony broadcast live on television.

"The launch of the growth enterprise board is an important step towards implementing the national strategy on promoting innovation," Shang said.

Shares in 28 start-ups, ranging from software developers to medical device producers, will be on offer next week on the board run by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

A total of 188 firms from across China have applied to list on ChiNext, according to Shang.

China&&9;s economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, first proposed establishing a Nasdaq-style second board more than a decade ago, but the plan was shelved after the Internet bubble popped in 2000 freecreditreport.

Regulators hope the new market will help fuel start-ups and other companies with high-growth potential in the world&&9;s third-largest economy, just as the Nasdaq has in the United States.

But there have also been worries that the new board, which attracted strong interest from investors, may divert funds from the main indices and drag stock prices down.

Shang said investors must participate in the growth enterprise market in a "rational" way, recognising that start-up stocks have high-growth potential but are also characterised by unstable financial results.

"The growth enterprise market faces relatively higher risks of irrational and speculative trading and market manipulation," he said.

"The Shenzhen bourse... must closely monitor the debut session trading to prevent excessive speculation."

The bourse has said if prices move up or down 80 percent during the first day, trading will be suspended until the final three minutes of the session.

China formally launches Nasdaq-style board

BERLIN (AP) &<51; The European Commission voiced concern Friday over Germany&S217;s planned aid for a group led by Magna International to take a majority stake in the carmaker Opel and suggested that General Motors be allowed to reconsider the deal.

G.M. is expected to sell a majority of Opel to Magna, the Canadian auto parts maker, and a Russian lender, Sberbank, a consortium favored by Berlin, under a deal announced in September.

Germany offered aid worth 4.5 billion euros ($6.7 billion) to support the deal, and hopes other European countries that have Opel plants will contribute financing. Opel has its headquarters in R&>52;sselsheim, Germany.

The European Union&S217;s competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, wrote to Germany&S217;s economy minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, to voice her concerns about the aid, the union&S217;s executive commission said.

Ms. Kroes cited indications that aid promised by the German government to Opel &S220;was subject to the precondition that a specific bidder, Magna/Sberbank, was selected,&S221; according to a statement from Brussels.

Ms. Kroes indicated that such a precondition would be incompatible with state aid and internal market rules payday loans no teletrack.

She said G.M. &S220;should be given the opportunity to reconsider the outcome of the bidding process on the basis of firm written assurances by the German authorities that the aid would be available, irrespective of the choice of investor or plan&S221; to ensure Opel&S217;s long-term viability, the commission said.

The German Economy Ministry had no immediate comment.

The Magna-Sberbank bid beat out a rival offer from the Brussels-based investment firm RHJ International.

Under terms of the deal, the consortium would take a 55 percent stake in Opel, with G.M. keeping 35 percent and 10 percent going to employees.

Belgium called for the European Commission to investigate the deal amid concern that Germany may have sought to protect its own plants at the cost of others. The Magna plan calls for Opel&S217;s four plants in Germany to be kept open, but a factory in Antwerp, Belgium, risks being closed.

Berlin’s Plan to Aid Group Jeopardizes Deal for Opel

Hot News: Market regulators urge tougher enforcement

FRANKFURT/MADRID (Reuters) – U.S. carmaker General Motors was close to signing a deal to sell a 55 percent stake in its European arm Opel to Canada&&9;s Magna Thursday as talks continued with unions over job cuts.

Sources in Germany, home to around half of Opel&&9;s 50,000 staff, said the deal could be signed Thursday or Friday.

The deal, set to close by the end of next month, caps weeks of negotiations by the companies and Opel labor leaders, but still awaits details on financing, including 4.5 billion euros (&&6;6.7 billion) in aid being sought from states with Opel plants.

Opel&&9;s 50,000 staff are supposed to get a 10 percent stake in the new company in return for cost concessions, while GM will keep a 35 percent stake.

GM decided last month to sell a majority stake to Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank.

Countries with Opel plants have fought to save jobs and avoid plant closures amid promises of billions in state aid.

Talks with unions were continuing in Spain after a union representing workers at Vauxhall, Opel&&9;s British sister brand which employs 5,500 people, reached an agreement with Magna earlier in the week.

Magna agreed, among other concessions, not to implement enforced redundancies.

In Belgium, unions agreed to 20.2 million euros of cost savings at the Antwerp plant after Magna pledged to look into keeping the plant open. The facility had been seen as a top candidate for closure.

Poland&&9;s economy ministry declined to confirm a radio report saying the government would award 450 million euros in aid.

"Poland plans to provide assistance whose amount will depend on the requests and needs of the New Opel in Gliwice," a spokeswoman for Poland&&9;s economy ministry said.

The Opel plant in Gliwice builds Zafira and Astra models outdoor fireplace plans.

In Spain Opel&&9;s prospective new owner Magna offered on Wednesday to return 72 percent of production of the new Opel Corsa to its Spanish plant in 2013.

Until then, production will drop to 70 percent in favor of Germany, the Canadian car parts manufacturer said during a meeting with the regional Aragon government and union leaders in Zaragoza, northern Spain, home to the Opel factory which employs around 7,500 workers.

"Magna&&9;s latest offer guarantees the Zaragoza plant&&9;s capacity with two operating lines of 478,000 vehicles. That&&9;s progress, but we&&9;re going to continue negotiating today and tomorrow," said Arturo Aliaga, industry counselor for Aragon.

An official at the Comisiones Obreras union said: "This is step forward, but we&&9;re still waiting for more."

The meeting followed a failed attempt Tuesday in Madrid to reach an agreement over jobs at the Opel car factory in Zaragoza.

The Opel plant at Figueruelas employs 7,500 and Magna had proposed cutting between 1,300 to 1,650 jobs there.

Magna&&9;s initial restructuring plans for Opel, which involve laying off more than 10,500 workers in Europe, have run into stiff opposition from European governments.

Magna and Sberbank have vowed to inject 500 million euros into the car maker, aiming to use it to make a push into the Russian market.

The European Commission is keeping a close eye on the transaction to ensure state aid is not misused for political purposes.

(Additional Reporting by Chris Borowski, Judy MacInnes, Christiaan Hetzner and Phil Blenkinsop; Writing by Helen Massy-Beresford; Editing by David Holmes)

(&&6;1=.6710 Euro)

GM, Magna set to sign Opel deal, job talks continue

HONG KONG &S212; One of Hong Kong&S217;s largest developers announced Wednesday that it had sold an apartment for 439 million Hong Kong dollars, setting a record, just hours after the city&S217;s chief executive warned that the city might be facing a real estate bubble.

The deal, valued at the equivalent of $56.6 million, set a record price per square foot for Hong Kong, and the developer, Henderson Land, said it was not aware of a higher figure&S217;s having been paid anywhere else.

Henderson Land declined to disclose the buyer&S217;s name but said it was a company registered in Hong Kong. The buyer&S217;s representative spoke the local dialect with a strong mainland Chinese accent and appeared to be spending money earned on the mainland, a Henderson representative said.

As China&S217;s economic recovery has gathered force this autumn, wealthy Chinese are pouring fortunes into Hong Kong real estate, producing a powerful surge in prices for luxury real estate. Hong Kong pegs its currency to the U.S. dollar and links its interest rates to American rates; with a flood of money pouring into local banks, adjustable-rate mortgages are available in Hong Kong for an initial rate as low as 2.05 percent, fueling real estate speculation.

Donald Tsang, the city&S217;s chief executive, cautioned in his annual policy address Wednesday that the boom might not last.

&S220;The relatively small number of residential units completed and the record prices attained in certain transactions this year have caused concern about the supply of flats, difficulty in purchasing a home and the possibility of a property bubble,&S221; Mr. Tsang said.

International comparisons of apartment prices per square foot are difficult because different locales have different conventions on how to count terraces, common areas and other features.

Hong Kong in particular has had many controversies over whether developers have overstated the square footage of apartments and the value per square foot of often-complicated transactions.

Henderson Land said that the apartment on Hong Kong Island, near the top of a skyscraper overlooking Victoria Harbor, was a two-story unit with five bedroom suites. It measures 572 square meters, or 6,157 square feet, and has a garden of 340 square feet, for a price per square foot of 71,289 Hong Kong dollars, including the garden. That measurement includes common areas like elevator lobbies that are partially allocated to individual units.

Most real estate markets use a narrower definition of square footage, excluding such common areas. Henderson Land said the price per square foot of usable area, a more common international measure, was about 88,000 Hong Kong dollars, or $11,350.

The apartment building has its own ballroom, outdoor swimming pool, fitness center and outdoor yoga area. Another unit on the same floor just sold for 397 million Hong Kong dollars.

Last month, a local businessman bought a one-bedroom apartment of 816 square feet at a luxury development across the harbor in Kowloon for 24.5 million dollars.

Hong Kong&S217;s real estate market is unusual because the local government owns virtually all of the land and leases it to developers for periods of as long as 99 years fast payday loan. Each lease contains strict zoning rules governing the square footage of the building that may be erected, how the building may be used and other uses; changes to the lease typically require lengthy negotiations with the government, as well as very large payments.

Hong Kong has more than 1,000 old industrial buildings left from its days as a manufacturing hub before almost all of the factories moved across the border to mainland China in the 1980s and 1990s to take advantage of low-cost labor.

Because of a strict requirement that they be used by manufacturing companies, many of the buildings are vacant or serve as warehouses for manufacturers across the border even though the buildings occupy prime locations.

Mr. Tsang said Wednesday that his government planned to start allowing the conversion or redevelopment of these buildings, which have a combined floor area of 87 Empire State Buildings, or 17 million square meters, into commercial real estate.

Property values are a subject of almost daily speculation in Hong Kong, where half of residents own their homes and most of the rest live in subsidized or government-owned housing. Mr. Tsang pointedly avoided any suggestion that the buildings would be turned into residential real estate.

His predecessor, Tung Chee-hwa, tried to address Hong Kong&S217;s chronic housing shortage and high prices by increasing leases to developers so as to increase the supply of apartments. The effort got under way just as the Asian financial crisis hit in 1997 and 1998 and contributed to a 68 percent plunge in residential real estate prices from 1997 until a trough in the early summer of 2003, near the end of an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

Lau Siu Kai, the head of the central policy unit of the Hong Kong government, said at a news conference with foreign correspondents Wednesday that the government particularly wanted to use the nearly vacant industrial buildings to house companies from six industries that Hong Kong was trying to develop: education services, medical services, testing and certification, environmental industries, innovation and technology, and cultural and creative industries.

Some economists warn that if U.S. interest rates start to rise, real estate buyers in Hong Kong could be severely squeezed. Virtually all mortgages in Hong Kong are issued at floating rates pegged to banks&S217; prime rates, with no lock on the interest rate even in the first weeks of the mortgage.

Still, the record price set Wednesday is not likely to last long. The latest deal was for an apartment on the second-highest floor at 39 Conduit Road; the penthouse has yet to go on sale, with Henderson Land expecting to price it at 100,000 Hong Kong dollars per square foot, or $12,900.

In Hong Kong, a $56.6 Million Apartment

LOS ANGELES (AP) &<51; American and Egyptian authorities have charged nearly 100 people with helping an identity theft ring steal money from thousands of bank accounts.

An FBI statement said that an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Los Angeles charges more than 50 people in the United States with running the &S220;phishing&S221; scheme. Egyptian authorities have charged another 47. The FBI says it&S217;s the largest number of defendants ever charged in a cybercrime case.

The indictment claims Egyptian hackers used e-mail messages to direct victims to phony bank Web sites, where they were asked to provide account numbers free credit scores. Authorities say the crooks then raided their bank accounts.

The FBI says 33 people were arrested Wednesday morning, mostly in Southern California, Nevada and North Carolina.

Dozens Arrested in Online Fraud Crackdown

Hot News: Parental Guidance on Web Video for Children

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wednesday, ahead of a Federal Reserve policy statement and following results by food company General Mills Inc, which beat profit estimates.

General Mills (GIS.N) shares rose 4 percent to &&6;63.40 before the bell after the maker of Cheerios cereal and Yoplait yogurt posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by strong sales in the United States and lower commodity costs.

Later on Wednesday, with the Fed likely to keep interest rates unchanged, investors will focus on whether the central bank will signal any change in a policy that has flooded markets with cheap money. The Fed&&9;s statement is expected around 2:15 p.m. EDT.

"People are waiting to see if in fact the Fed says something in terms of upgrading the economy while keeping interest rates at unprecedentedly low levels," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co in New York.

"The more they talk up the economy the more we have to understand that interest rates are going higher at some point," Hogan said payday loans for bad credit.

S&P 500 futures rose 2.6 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 14 points and Nasdaq 100 futures added 4.75 points.

AMR Corp (AMR.N), the parent of American Airlines, and US Airways Group Inc (LCC.N) moved to take advantage of rising airline stock prices on Tuesday by launching share sales to raise money for general corporate purposes.

AMR shares fell 1.2 percent to &&6;8.34 before the bell while US Airways tumbled 9.8 percent to &&6;4.72.

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, as investors bet the Fed will stick to its accommodative policy to foster economic recovery, boosting growth-sensitive sectors such as financials, technology and industrials.

(Editing by Padraic Cassidy)

Stock futures rise on General Mills ahead of Fed

The bank that was the most aggressive financer of condominium construction loans during the real estate boom was closed by federal regulators Friday night, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation estimated that the bank&S217;s $4 billion in outstanding loans and real estate were worth less than 60 cents on the dollar.

The lender, Corus Bankshares, based in Chicago, whose loan portfolio tripled to $4.5 billion in the four years from 2001 to 2005, reported earlier this year that its capital had been wiped out by losses on loans, and its takeover by regulators was expected.

The F.D.I.C. said that the bank&S217;s deposits would be transferred to MB Financial Bank of Chicago, and that MB would acquire $3 billion of Corus&S217;s assets, principally cash and securities.

The regulator said it planned to sell the approximately $4 billion of outstanding loans and other assets, including foreclosed real estate, in a private placement within a month. It did not say what price it expected to receive, but estimated the loss to its insurance fund at $1.7 billion.

In Corus&S217;s last filing with the government, for June 30, it said it had $3.7 billion in outstanding loans, of which $3 no fax cash advance.2 billion were construction loans. It reported owning $463 million in real estate, nearly all of it in condominiums taken in foreclosures.

Corus, formerly known as River Forest Bancorp, had only 11 branches. But it ventured out across the country in recent years, gaining a reputation for aggressive lending to finance condominium projects.

At the peak of its lending activities, in 2005, only 5 percent of its loans were for projects in the Chicago area. Instead, most of its loans were in the hottest markets at the time &<51; markets that have since suffered sharp declines. A total of 29 percent of the loans were in Florida, and 20 percent in California. New York City and Washington each had 14 percent of the portfolio, and Las Vegas had 6 percent.

Earlier Friday, Edward W. Glickman, the brother of Robert J. Glickman, Corus&S217;s former chief executive, disclosed he had sold more than 1 million shares this week, at prices ranging from 26 to 29 cents a share. He retained 2.4 million shares.

U.S. Shuts Corus Bank of Chicago

WHEN I travel, I am always planning for disaster. I&S217;m not some guy who hates to fly. I actually love to fly. But I can&S217;t turn off the &S220;what ifs&S221; in my brain. I&S217;m a former Secret Service agent and the training is ingrained. And now I own a security company.

Part of being an effective Secret Service agent was having what we liked to call &S220;situational awareness.&S221; It&S217;s basically nothing more than looking around your location, sizing up the people around you, and then thinking of the many things that could go wrong, and what you would do if one of those things happened.

Now I do that on airplanes. I just can&S217;t help myself. I&S217;m actually the guy who always pays attention to the preflight safety briefing. And I actually review the safety card, if only to look at the diagram of exits.

The single most important thing in this process is planning how I am going to get out if things go south during my flight. This is particularly true if I am traveling with my family. I actually visualize how we&S217;re going to get out of an emergency.

There are a few other things I do for safety. I never take off my shoes until we&S217;ve reached cruising altitude, and I make sure they&S217;re on before descent. I encourage my wife to wear flats because it&S217;s hard to move quickly in heels, and being barefoot is worse.

And I always carry a few tools. One of my favorite items is a lithium cell flashlight. When I was a Secret Service agent, I found that a good flashlight is the single most useful tool on the planet. Aircraft evacuations happen so quickly that I don&S217;t know if I ever will need to use it &<51; at least I hope I won&S217;t. But I always bring one with me.

Also in the category of things that I may not have time to use, but still carry anyway, is a smoke mask payday loans no teletrack. The one I have is filled with aloe, which filters toxic chemicals out of smoke.

I&S217;ve never had a problem with the Transportation Security Administration. Flashlights like those I carry aren&S217;t on the list of prohibited items. And the smoke mask is in an airtight foil pouch. The density scanners don&S217;t pick it up because it isn&S217;t dense like explosives, and the X-ray machine can&S217;t see through it.

Because of my training, I also pay attention to other passengers. I am looking for two things. First, obviously, is to look for the maniac who is going to take over the plane. Hopefully, the T.S.A. already took care of him or her. But if not, there may be a few clues.

Second, I look for an inappropriate affect as people board the plane. By that I mean those nonverbal clues that you can sense, like someone being inappropriately anxious or stressed. And I don&S217;t mean the nervous flier. Although I sometimes give them a once over.

I also try to find those people who look like they are in the military or law enforcement. The haircuts are usually a dead giveaway. But so is the carry-on luggage. There are special duffels and other items that military and rescue personnel use, and I can always spot it. If something goes wrong, I can count on those folks to help out.

For all I know, maybe there&S217;s some man or woman on the plane who is checking me out. Maybe they&S217;re thinking, &S220;Why is this guy looking at everybody so carefully?&S221; Like I said, I can&S217;t help myself.

By Christopher Falkenberg, as told to Joan Raymond. E-mail: joan.raymond@nytimes.com.

Frequent Flier: Always Mindful of Finding the Nearest Exit

Hot News: Leaving Google, Executive to Back Chinese Start-Ups

Filed at 6:18 a.m. ET

LONDON (AP) -- European and Asian stocks rose Monday after finance officials from 20 rich and developing countries pledged to keep in place their massive stimulus programs to prop up the global economy.

News of corporate takeover activity, with Cadbury rejecting a $16.7 billion takeover offer from Kraft, also helped stocks start the week well on a day when Wall Street will be closed for the Labor Day holiday.

Germany's DAX rose 77.80 points, or 1.4 percent, to 5,462.23 while Britain's FTSE 100 gained 64.47 points, or 1.3 percent, to 4,916.17. France's CAC-40 added 46.71, or 1.3 percent, to 3,645.47.

Benchmarks in Japan, Hong Kong and China added about 1 percent or more after Beijing said it would allow greater access to foreign investors.

Investors reacted positively to the weekend announcements from finance officials at the Group of 20 summit in London, which acknowledged some improvements in economic growth but warned recovery was not sustainable without continued help from governments in the form of deficit spending, low interest rates and efforts to expand the money supply.

''It will come as a relief to markets that G-20 central bankers and finance ministers agreed that it was too early to begin withdrawing massive fiscal, monetary and financial support,'' said Mitul Kotecha, analyst at Calyon.

Markets had been worried that nascent signs of economic recovery would lead countries to unwind their stimulus, but the G-20 dispelled those fears.

''It is hardly surprising that officials are not formulating an early exit from emergency measures, especially given the ongoing uncertainty about the pace and shape of global economic recovery,'' said Kotecha.

He said growing doubts about the duration of an economic rebound will ''pose a risk to the sustainability of any equity rally over coming months'' as stocks look increasingly overvalued.

''Amongst the factors needed is some clarity about the pace and shape of growth once stimulus is reversed.''

Stock markets were also helped by the news that Kraft Foods Inc. proposed a 10.2 billion pounds ($16.7 billion) takeover of Cadbury PLC cheap credit report. The offer was immediately rejected as too low by the British maker of chocolate, gum and candy, but Kraft said it was determined to find an adequate offer. Cadbury shares shot up 38 percent.

''A key question is whether there is a counter bid, most likely from a Nestle-led consortium,'' said Graham Jones, analyst at Panmure Gordon &&8; Co. ''However, we see the most likely scenario being Kraft being successful on improved terms.''

In Asia, Chinese stocks continued their recovery after the government said it would allow foreign investors to sink more money into the mainland's markets.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was up 1.5 percent at 20,629.31. Shanghai's main benchmark gained 0.7 percent to 2,881.12.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average added 133.83 points, or 1.3 percent, to 10,320.94, snapping a three-day losing streak, and the dollar strengthened against the yen.

Australia's index edged up 0.4 percent, Taiwan's market was 1 percent higher and Indonesia's benchmark rose 0.4 percent. Markets in Korea and Singapore were little changed.

On Friday in the U.S., investors pushed stocks up after data showed the unemployment rate rose in August but that jobs were being cut at a slower pace.

In quiet pre-holiday trade, the Dow rose 96.66, or 1 percent, to 9,441.27. The Standard &&8; Poor's 500 index rose 13.16, or 1.3 percent, to 1,016.40, while the Nasdaq composite index added 35.58, or 1.8 percent, to 2,018.78.

Wall Street will reopen on Tuesday.

Oil prices were up modestly in European trade, with benchmark crude for October delivery up 37 cents at $68.39, as investors looked to this week's OPEC meeting for a possible change in the cartel's production. The contract Friday rose 6 cents to settle at $68.02.

The dollar strengthened to 93.07 yen from 92.95 yen Friday night, while the euro rose to $1.4343 from $1.4309.

------

Associated Press writer Jeremiah Marquez in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Stocks Rise in Asia and Europe After G-20 Pledge

NEW YORK, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices rebounded from early sell-off on Thursday as data showed U.S. economy shrank at a slower pace, boosting hopes for a sooner recovery.

The contract dropped below 70 U.S. dollars a barrel in the morning session as ample stockpiles weighted on the market. Oil jumped back to positive territory along with the equities, erasing the earlier loss and ending up more than 1 percent before the end of the session.

Helping to lift the oil prices was the news that U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) shrank at a one percent annual rate from April to June, less than expected bad credit car loans. In a separate report, initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 570,000 last week, suggesting some easing in the pace of layoffs.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose 1.06 dollars, or 1.5 percent, to settle at 72.49 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent Crude for October delivery gained 1.10 dollars to 72.68 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Oil rebounds as upbeat economic data boosts recovery hope

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian shares slipped along with commodities on Tuesday in a reversal of the previous day&&9;s solid gains, with many investors sticking to the sidelines and awaiting more clues on whether the economic recovery is picking up steam.

The Shanghai Composite index (.SSEC) slid 3.4 percent as cautious remarks from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao the previous day stirred worries about the recovery, but the drop had limited fallout on other markets.

Investors showed little reaction to the White House saying that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would be reappointed for another term at the helm of the central bank.

Analysts said that the decision removed uncertainty about the outlook for U.S. monetary policy and was neutral for U.S. assets.

Some analysts had said a decision not to reappoint Bernanke would have been a negative by risking politicizing the Fed chief post at a time when investors fret about record U.S. deficits.

"When you look at responses to last year&&9;s financial crisis, bold action was taken and the market reacted to that favorably," said Takahide Nagasaki, chief FX strategist at Daiwa Securities SMBC in Tokyo.

"I don&&9;t think there will be any major impact, but it should be positive for stock and bond markets in the sense that an element of uncertainty has been removed."

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) dropped 1 percent, with the consumer discretionary and health care stocks the bigger decliners. The index is still up about 47 percent for the year and near an 11-month high struck earlier in the month.

Share trading volumes were very light for a second day running, leading to exaggerated moves across markets.

Japan&&9;s Nikkei average (.N225) shed 0.8 percent after jumping 3.4 percent the previous day, its biggest one-day gain in 3- months.

Foreign investors, which have been increasingly shoving funds back into Japanese shares in the past few weeks, are keeping an eye on Japan&&9;s August 30 general election.

Many are expecting a victory by the opposition Democratic Party but remain hesitant about taking big positions before the see the results.

The dollar dipped against the yen and was down slightly against a basket of currencies, with the yen rebounding after a broad slide the previous day as market players favored riskier assets including higher-yielding currencies.

The dollar shed 0.6 percent to 93.90 yen. The Australian dollar, the highest-yielding of major currencies, dipped 0.2 percent to &&6;0.8354 and dropped nearly 1 percent to 78.45 yen.

Gold prices gained on the dollar&&9;s woes, rising &&6;4.45 an ounce to &&6;945.85. But oil prices pulled back, losing 58 cents a barrel to &&6;73.79 after reaching a 10-month high of &&6;74.81 on Monday.

Safe-haven government bonds popped higher on the retreat in shares and gains in U.S. Treasuries the previous day. September Japanese government bond futures edged up 0.17 point to 139.08 and the benchmark 10-year JGB yield dipped half a basis point to 1.320 percent, back near a five-week low struck last week.

(Editing by Jan Dahinten)

Asia shares and oil retreat in choppy trade

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