PITTSBURGH – Three former officers of a defunct Pittsburgh-area medical staffing company and an attorney who worked for them have agreed to settle stock fraud claims filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The settlements, signed by all four participants in the World Health Alternatives Inc. case, must be approved by a federal judge, SEC attorney David Horowitz said Tuesday.

The agreements would end an SEC lawsuit filed last week that parallels a criminal investigation of alleged stock fraud. Federal prosecutors say investors lost $200 million when the company's penny stocks bottomed out following the resignation of president and chairman Richard McDonald in August 2005.

"Our case is settled and over with," Horowitz said, "but it's based on the same set of facts" as the criminal case.

The SEC accused McDonald of leading a scheme to manipulate financial statements to make the company appear more financially sound than it really was, and to hide money McDonald allegedly siphoned from the company to fund a lavish lifestyle.

McDonald is awaiting trial. According to the 20-count grand jury indictment, he took at least $6.4 million from the Wilkins Township-based company while president, chairman and sometime chief executive from 2003 to 2005; failed to pay federal taxes withheld from employees; and evaded his own taxes.

The settlements don't include admissions of wrongdoing by McDonald, 35, of Gilpin Township, and three others: Marc Roup, 36, of Murrysville, another former CEO; Deanna Seruga, 34, of Pittsburgh, the company's controller; and Joseph Emas, 55, of Surfside, Fla., who served as the company's securities counsel.

Instead, Roup has agreed to turn over a Mexican vacation home, its furnishings, a custom motorcycle and jewelry to a court-appointed receiver, who will sell the property low fee payday loans. The proceeds will help repay $5.3 million in illegal profits, income and interest. Roup also will pay a $120,000 SEC fine.

In his settlement, McDonald agreed that he owed the SEC $8.5 million from illegal profits, plus interest. He won't have to pay it back because he has proven he doesn't have the resources. The same goes for Seruga who would have owed more than $500,000 but is also financially indigent, Horowitz said.

If it's later determined that either has the money, or has assets that can be liquidated, the SEC can go after it, Horowitz said.

Emas, the attorney, has agreed to repay $163,000, which includes fees he got for WHA work, plus interest. He also has agreed to a $15,000 fine, Horowitz said.

All four also agreed that they will not engage in securities fraud and, in the case of McDonald and Roup, will be barred from ever serving as officers of publicly traded firms.

Seruga, a CPA, can never represent a publicly traded company as an accountant before the SEC. Emas has agreed to be barred for two years from serving as a securities counsel for any publicly traded company.

McDonald doesn't have an attorney in the SEC case and his criminal defense attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.

Roup has an unlisted home phone. Emas didn't immediately return a message left at his home Tuesday.

Seruga, the former controller, pleaded guilty last year to certifying bogus financial statements to the SEC and is awaiting sentencing. Her defense attorney didn't immediately return a call for comment.

4 settle SEC claims against defunct Pa. firm

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks closed lower again on Friday as worries about capital requirements continued to weigh on banks, offsetting gains in the commodity sector.

The FTSE 100 index reversed earlier gains to finish down 0.4%, or 20.80 points, to 5,196.81. The index lost 1.2% this week. Other European shares also ended in the red. See Europe Markets.

Banks fell once again, with Lloyds Banking Group the index' top decliner, down 4.7%. Royal Bank of Scotland shares fell 3% and Barclays shares declined 3.5%..

"The Basel Committee has published its latest thoughts on capital and liquidity. We are still digesting the main implications of this, but at first read it looks pretty punitive on the sector," said Credit Suisse analysts.

"Our first read is that U.K. banks, in particular Lloyds and RBS, look substantially exposed," they said. The sector's equity tier 1 capital would fall by about 20% were the new proposals to be introduced at December 2009 and risk-weighted assets would rise 20%, they added.

"On this basis, we would expect the sector's equity tier 1 ratio to fall from about 9.8% to 6.5% at December 2009 in a worst case scenario. This is the equivalent of over 50 billion pounds of equity capital, on our numbers," the analysts said.

Still, Lloyds CEO Eric Daniels said in an interview with the Financial Times out Friday that loan impairments have peaked and the bank hasn't changed yet its guidance to take out 1.5 billion pounds of costs by 2011 quick guaranteed personal loans.

Exane BNP Paribas analysts upgraded Lloyds to outperform from neutral on Friday.

"Whereas it is undeniably true that the scale and severity of losses destroyed the deal economics of the HBOS acquisition, we expect 2010 to become a year of delivery, as realized deal synergies overtake incremental investment spend," they said.

On the upside, shares of oil giant BP rose 0.4% after it was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman Sachs. The broker cited the firm's increasing leverage to oil prices and relatively low capital expenditure levels for the move.

Also in the sector, natural-gas producer BG Group rose 0.1% and mining giant BHP Billiton rose 1.1%.

Miners advanced as metal futures climbed, with Vedanta Resources shares up 0.8%.

Outside the top index, shares of temporary power supplier Aggreko rose 7.9%.

Fourth-quarter trading was better than anticipated, the firm said, driven by a strong performance in international power projects. It now expects 2009 revenue to exceed 1 billion pounds and operating profit to reach around 260 million pounds.

Shares of imaging and diagnostics firm Genetix soared 31% to 82 pence in London after Danaher Corp. of the U.S. offered to buy the firm for 85 pence a share, or 63.4 million pounds ($102.8 million).

London Markets: British shares end lower as banks weigh

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Established companies with steep dividends compared to their share prices underperformed this year, putting an investment theory called the "Dogs of the Dow" squarely in -- you guessed it -- the doghouse.

The severe sell-off in financial stocks during the first part of the year was largely to blame.

The 10 stocks that qualified as dogs of the Dow at the start of this year -- including Bank of America Corp. , General Electric Co. , Pfizer Inc. and Alcoa Inc. -- on average gained just more than 11% as of mid-December, according to Bespoke Investment Group LLC.

In contrast, the average change for all 30 component stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 23% as of Friday.

(Unlike Bespoke's calculations, the Dow Jones Industrial Average's publishers give different weightings to the benchmark's components based on their prices. The index itself had gained about 19% as of Friday.)

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Those 20 stocks not considered "dogs" rose an average 29%, according to research recently published by the Harrison, N.Y.-based investment strategists.

Dogs of the Dow, a strategy that gained popularity in the 1990s and was the subject of a 1991 bestseller, suggests picking the Dow industrials stocks with the highest dividend yields at the start of the year. See related Mark Hulbert column.

Yields are calculated by dividing dividends paid per share by a company's share price. High dividend yields are usually an indication that shares have been beaten down and so have more opportunity to rebound.

"It's an appealing strategy," said Ken Tower, senior vice president of research at Quantitative Analysis Service Inc. "At least you know the stocks aren't overvalued and aren't media darlings."

But looking at dividend yields only goes so far. Investors also need to look at prospects for recovery.

"Sometimes the dogs one year are the dogs the next," Tower added.

The pack of 2010

Performance for some of the high-yielding Dow components came under pressure this year as their boards cut their dividends. These moves, which became common during the past year's credit crisis, were unusual for big, established companies that make up the Dow average and reflected the deterioration in their businesses, which prompted investors to dump shares.

Dividend cuts made by Bank of America, GE, J.P. Morgan Chase and Alcoa also means they're no longer fit to run with the pack of 2010 Dogs of the Dow, wrote Bespoke.

Instead, the highest-yielding Dow components -- and those most likely to rise next year, if the theory holds true -- include McDonald's Corp low interest auto loans. , Chevron Corp. , Home Depot Inc. and Intel Corp. .

Not a typical year

Some of the past year's dogs, such as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and aluminum producer Alcoa, have made the promised rebound.

The blue-chip shares of J.P. Morgan, which started off the year with a dividend yield of 4.8%, had gained 30% as of mid-December, as its capital-markets businesses revived and as investors became more confident the banking company would be able to handle its customers' credit problems.

Alcoa's shares added more than 26%, helped by expectations of a global recovery in industrial production. It started the year with a dividend yield of just over 6%.

But for several of the Dow dogs, the sell-off in financial-related stocks early in the year was too steep to overcome.

Bank of America shares have rebounded by a multiple of five from early March, when the stock dropped as low as $3 intraday. Still, the stock had gained just over 9% for the year as of Friday, depressed by a 78% plunge in its shares between Jan. 1 and March 6.

"Financial stocks got hit very hard in the first part of the year," said Bespoke co-founder Justin Walters. "Even though they came back a lot since their March lows, since they had gone down so much, they weren't able to make it all back."

Obama Attacks 'Fat Cat' Bankers

On CBS's "60 Minutes," President Obama decries "fat cat bankers" ahead of Monday evening's meeting between White House officials and banking representatives. Video courtesy of Fox News.

GE's stock chart tells a similar story. Hurt by investor fear about the potential losses at its finance arm, shares plunged during the first two months of the year. A rebound since March hasn't been able to drag the company's stock into a gain for the year.

Other Dow dogs were also on track to post annual losses, including AT&T Inc. , Verizon Communications and, as of last week, Kraft Foods Inc. .

On Monday, U.S. stocks edged higher, helped by Exxon Mobil Corp. and its $41 billion takeover agreement for XTO Energy Inc. as well a financial bailout for debt-ridden Dubai.

Financial stocks -- playing off the House of Representatives' passage of a landmark financial-regulation bill late last week -- kept the advance in check. Read more on Exxon and XTO.

The S&P 500 Index gained 7.7 points, or 0.7%, to 1,114, while the Nasdaq Composite Index added 22 points, or 1%, to 2,212.

The Dow industrials lagged among the equity benchmarks, rising 30 points, or 0.3%, to 10,501 for its first close above 10,500 since Oct. 1, 2008.

'Dogs of the Dow' live up to name as GE, AT&T fall

Hot News: Dubai bailout, Citi TARP deal lift futures

The bond market vigilantes are back.

But this time they are roaming mostly through Europe rather than the United States &S212; at least for now &S212; seeking to impose fiscal rectitude on governments politically unable or unwilling to take the painful steps necessary to close gaping budget deficits.

You remember the bond vigilantes, don&S217;t you? As big investors in the credit markets, they developed a fearsome reputation in the early 1990s by collectively putting pressure on a newly elected U.S. president, Bill Clinton, to abandon his campaign promise of tax cuts. Instead, Mr. Clinton followed the advice of Robert Rubin, who joined the Clinton administration from his post at the top of Goldman Sachs and who made the case that a policy of budgetary restraint would keep interest rates on U.S. government bonds relatively low.

Now, the bond market posse is on the hunt again, turning its attention most acutely on Britain and Greece, where left-leaning governments are struggling to demonstrate that they have a workable plan to reduce deficits that are the highest in Europe &S212; about 13 percent of gross domestic product.

In Greece, the spreads between Greek 10-year bonds and their benchmark German counterparts soared to highs of 250 basis points last week as concerns grew over Greece&S217;s ability to service its enormous debt.

In Britain, bond investors greeted a prebudget Labour Party report that skimped on details of spending cuts with a sell-off that pushed gilt yields to their highest level since the depths of the financial crisis.

In Ireland, by contrast, the government presented the most severe budget in the country&S217;s history, largely to prove to wary bond investors that it was serious about cutting its own deficit.

And it is not just Europe that is feeling the heat. In Dubai, the bondholders of Dubai World&S217;s foundering real estate company, Nakheel, have adopted a highly confrontational approach as they have contemplated forcing Dubai World into default to lay claim to its assets.

&S220;There is a greater market focus now on who the fiscally vulnerable countries are,&S221; said Michael Saunders, the head of European economics at Citigroup.

In particular, Mr. Saunders sees the Labour government in Britain &S212; which is facing an uphill election battle &S212; as being more concerned with pleasing voters than investors, a stance that he says could lead to a bond market rout if gilt holders, a large proportion of them foreign, come to the conclusion that cutting the deficit is not a top priority.

The power of the bond trader once elicited the pointed remark from James Carville, Mr. Clinton&S217;s witty political strategist, that he wished to be reincarnated as a bond trader because, &S220;you can intimidate everybody.&S221;

For most of the past decade, though, the vigilantes have been in abeyance, since public-sector deficits were not an investor concern.

With the onset of the credit crisis last year, they surfed the global liquidity wave, buying up government debt all over the world in the view that, just as most big banks were too big to fail, so were sovereign economies, no matter how crushing their fiscal picture pay day advance.

But Dubai World&S217;s decision to delay payment on its debt has been a slap in the face of complacent bondholders. The immediate result has been a demand on their part for higher interest rates in the most vulnerable countries, adding to the potential borrowing costs of countries like Britain, Greece, Ireland and Spain that have benefited from lower rates because of the dearth of private borrowers in the global downturn.

The United States and Japan also face unusually high debt levels, spurred by huge stimulus programs. For the time being, investors are still willing to lend to them at generous rates. But bondholders are running out of patience with the most vulnerable countries.

In the euro zone, the European Central Bank&S217;s interest in keeping inflation low means that it is likely to maintain a stable euro, leaving the peripheral economies with no opportunity for a cheaper currency to help generate growth from exports.

As a result, governments in Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain have had to turn to increasingly dubious bond markets to raise funds while waiting for their economies to recover through the far more painful process of squeezing wages and shedding jobs to restore competitiveness.

A report from Standard Chartered said as much last Friday, forecasting bailouts, if not actual ejections, from the euro zone for Greece and Ireland once investors decide to pull the plug and stop refinancing the countries&S217; debts.

&S220;The idea that currency unions can&S217;t break up is rubbish,&S221; said Tim Congdon, an economist and admitted Euroskeptic who has advised Conservative governments in Britain. &S220;The critical issue is whether governments can repay their debts in new currencies or euros once they leave.&S221;

If they can pay back bond investors in new and cheaper currencies, then it is in the interests of countries like Greece to go out on their own, Mr. Congdon said.

But with other countries seeking the shelter of the euro and leaders like Angela Merkel of Germany hinting that the big powers would come to the rescue of Greece and other distressed countries if necessary, most economists argue that the euro zone is unlikely to crack.

Still, that hasn&S217;t stopped bond investors from talking up a new divergence trade in Europe &S212; the flip side to the convergence trade earlier this decade, during which Irish, Greek and Spanish government bonds were bought on the theory that a grand economic harmony would sweep Europe.

In Britain, what was once unthinkable is now being discussed: a possible downgrade of the country&S217;s triple-A rating. Moody&S217;s recently affirmed the rating, citing the ease with which the Treasury had been able to raise funds, but some analysts are convinced that a downgrade is inevitable.

&S220;There is a clear drop in confidence on the part of bond investors,&S221; said Mark Schofield, a fixed-income strategist at Citigroup in London. &S220;I think it is all beginning to unravel.&S221;

Bond Vigilantes Prowling Europe

Hot News: House Approves Tougher Rules on Wall Street

DUBAI (Reuters) – Efforts by Dubai World to restructure about &&6;26 billion in debt out of the estimated &&6;59 billion it owes reassured investors that the emirate&&9;s debt problems can be contained, helping global markets edge higher on Tuesday.

Dubai World, the government-controlled conglomerate that led the transformation of Dubai into a regional hub for finance, investment and tourism, unveiled details of a restructuring plan late on Monday that would cover debt owed by its main property firms, Nakheel and Limitless.

"Initial discussions have commenced with the banks of Dubai World and are proceeding on a constructive basis," Dubai World said in a statement, its first comment since the crisis began.

Dubai threw global markets into a tailspin last week when it said it would ask creditors of Dubai World and Nakheel to agree to a standstill on billions of dollars of debt as a first step to restructuring.

News of the restructuring plan helped soothe some investor nerves after the Dubai government on Monday disclaimed responsibility for the debts of Dubai World, crushing assumptions by creditors that the emirate would guarantee its liabilities.

Hassaim Arabi, chief executive at Gulfmena Alternative Investments, said Dubai World&&9;s restructuring statement offered support to worried markets but was not likely to completely stem selling.

"This is definitely good news, it shows they are still committed to their payments and it removes all fears that this is a complete default."

NO CONTAGION SEEN

Stock markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi tumbled on Monday, the first day of trade since the announcement made on the eve of a four-day public holiday.

Abu Dhabi&&9;s 8.3 percent plunge was its worst one-day fall on record, while Dubai&&9;s 7.3 percent slide was the biggest in more than a year cheap payday advance.

Gulfmena&&9;s Arabi said UAE markets could slide further as foreign investors bailed for the exits while other Gulf markets in Qatar and Kuwait, reopening after the Eid holiday, were seen playing catch-up to Monday&&9;s declines.

But after initial sharp falls last week, markets in Asia and the United States rallied on Monday and Asian stocks extended gains on Tuesday.

"Dubai is still a risk but most of Asia has very limited exposure to Dubai other than isolated banks. So people may want to avoid the banks but most other companies are okay," said Francis Cheung, an equities strategist at CLSA in Hong Kong.

Major Wall Street indexes rose 0.3 to 0.4 percent on Monday, while MSCI&&9;s index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan rose 0.6 percent.

Dubai World said its restructuring efforts would not include other firms such as Infinity World Holding, Istithmar World and Ports & Free Zone World, which includes DP World, Economic Zones World, P&O Ferries and Jebel Ali Free Zone, or JAFZA. Dubai World said those firms were financially stable.

The statement said the restructuring plan would look at options for deleveraging, including asset sales, funding requirements and the formulation of restructuring proposals to financial creditors.

"It&&9;s a step in the right direction," said Raj Madha, a banking analyst at EFG Hermes in Dubai.

"I&&9;d like to see the details it promises basically: Which entities they&&9;re talking about (selling), how big a haircut they&&9;re going to take."

(Additional reporting by Rania Oteify and Tamara Walid; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

Dubai World $26 billion debt plan soothes contagion fears

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Treasury prices gained and yields fell Thursday, as bond traders' confidence that concerns about prospects for sluggish economic growth will keep U.S. debt "bulletproof" overshadowed the government's plan to sell a record amount next week.

Treasurys thus resumed a rally that's run for nearly two weeks, pushing 2-year note yields down to the lowest level seen in 10 months. Bond prices move inversely to their yields.

Yields on benchmark 10-year notes fell 5 basis points to 3.32%, which would be the lowest on a closing basis since Oct. 20.

Two-year note yields declined 7 basis points to stand at 0.68%, the lowest since mid-January.

Investors' "interest in the safest debt in the world remains in high favor," said Kevin Giddis, managing director of fixed income for Morgan Keegan & Co.

Looking to next week's debt auctions, the Treasury Department said it will sell $22 billion in 2-year notes on Monday, matching the record amount of the securities sold last month.

That sale will be followed by $42 billion in 5-year notes on Tuesday and $32 billion in 7-year notes the day after that -- all crammed in before the Thanksgiving holiday. The latter two sales set new records for the most ever sold and are $1 billion more than October's sales.

Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke supported bond bulls by reiterating that interest rates would remain low for some time. Read more on Bernanke's speech to the Economic Club of New York.

Recent economic data have also tended to be weaker than anticipated, calling into question how quick or robust of a recovery the U.S. can expect.

Also, as the end of the year approaches, investors and traders tend to unwind short positions and book profits on good bets made during the year, analysts said. That activity tends to support Treasurys, which are bought to show less risky balance sheets.

"The market has embraced a view that the Fed will not tweak its rate policy before it makes amends with the quantitative-easing side of monetary policy," said George Goncalves, chief fixed-income rates strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald faxless payday loans. "We do not view supply derailing the recent bulletproof market behavior in the front-end as the year-end scramble for good collateral will keep rates markets bid."

Assets that tend to benefit when investors want riskier, higher-yielding assets -- equities, oil and gold -- all fell on Thursday. The U.S. dollar, which tends to improve as risk appetite fades, gained during the session. See more on the dollar.

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Treasurys remained up after the Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits were flat in the latest week at 505,000 -- the 53rd week in a row in which they've been above the half-million mark. See more on jobless claims.

"To be certain, 500,000 people filing an initial claim in any given week is a terribly high number," Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak, wrote in an email. It's also still above a level associated with a positive print in the monthly payrolls report, he said.

Treasurys also held their gains after the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators rose 0.3% in October, less than the 0.4% increase predicted by economists. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's manufacturing index rose more than anticipated to 16.7 this month from 11.5 in October. See more on leading indicators.

Rounding out Thursday's data, a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed delinquencies on home loans rose to a new record.

Bond Report: Treasurys advance as risk appetite wanes

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

NEW YORK (AFP) – Wall Street&&9;s gravity-defying rally found new life over the past week, providing optimism for investors heading into what has historically been one of the best periods of the year.

The markets were able to shake off a disappointing report on the US labor market that sparked renewed doubts about the economic recovery.

Some analysts say the market is gaining confidence slowly that an economic recovery will take root soon. Others say the rally, like the recovery, remains fragile.

Over the past week the Dow Jones Industrial Average vaulted 3.2 percent to end Friday at 10,023.42, as the market rebounded from two weekly losses.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite advanced 3.29 percent to 2,112.44 and the broad-market Standard & Poor&&9;s 500 index rallied 3.2 percent to 1,069.30.

The market rallied for most of the week in anticipation of Friday&&9;s labor market report, which turned out to be a disappointment. It showed US unemployment jumped to double digits in October for the first time since 1983, reaching 10.2 percent despite narrowing job losses.

Analysts said the report highlighted slow progress in bringing down unemployment as the economy emerges from recession.

Cary Leahey, senior economist at Decision Economics, said that the stock market has been able to rally on signs of stronger corporate profits, as companies shed workers to boost their bottom line.

"You have a V-shaped recovery in earnings but the V has stalled in employment," he said. "That&&9;s why the stock market can rise even when the situation for many Americans is so bad."

Linda Duessel at Federated Investors said, meanwhile, she expects "upside surprises that are not yet priced into stocks."

She said consumer spending is recovering, and this is seen in sales of retail goods as well as automobiles, which have topped most forecasts.

"The jobs picture isn&&9;t as clear, but today&&9;s October report sported a big jump in temporary hiring, which is a key component of the monthly jobs report that we have been focusing on, as it is a reliable indicator that tends to lead changes in payrolls by 4-1/2 months on average," she said.

Duessel said manufacturing, real estate and credit are all showing positive signs as well easy payday loans.

David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates, said the stunning market rally of some 60 percent since March has been fueled by speculative cash and a recovery supported by extraordinary government stimulus.

"If the overwhelming consensus is correct that the recession is behind us, then what we have on our hands is the mother of all jobless recoveries," Rosenberg said.

"The stock market has had a history this year of shrugging off weak employment report after weak employment report because the expectation is that we will see further rounds of fiscal stimulus, so it&&9;s hard to say what equity investors will do with this latest piece of data."

US Global Investors chief executive Frank Holmes said the market has pulled through what is historically the most difficult period of the year and now faces a generally upbeat season.

"November and December are two of the best months over the past 50 years," he said.

"There are, of course, no assurances, that this year will follow the strong November-December historical trend. In 2007, for instance, the Dow dropped nearly five percent in the last two months of the year as the US and other countries slipped into recession."

Sam Stovall, equity analyst at Standard and Poor&&9;s, said the past week "was a good example of how determined both the bulls and the bears are on their near-term positions."

"The market may move to a period of digestion and need a new catalyst, whether it&&9;s guidance from companies, news from economic data or any kind of developments in (merger) activity," he said.

Bonds fell on the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond increased to 3.503 percent from 3.392 percent a week earlier and that on the 30-year bond rose to 4.394 percent against 4.236 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The coming week has a light menu of economic news, including data on the US trade balance. Results are due from retail giant Wal-Mart and the Walt Disney Co.

Wall Street rally gets second wind

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly jumped to 10.2 percent in October, breaching the politically sensitive double-digit barrier for the first time in 26-1/2 years, even though the pace of job losses slowed.

A Labor Department report showed on Friday that employers cut 190,000 jobs last month, more than the 175,000 markets had expected. Economists had looked for the jobless rate to rise to only 9.9 percent from 9.8 percent the prior month.

The government revised job losses for August and September to show 91,000 fewer jobs lost than previously reported.

U.S. stock index futures turned negative on the data, while government debt prices rose.

"The unemployment rate of 10.2 percent is problematic because it gives a sense of urgency to Washington, D.C. Washington will be looking for any increase in stimulus," said Tom Sowanick, co-president and chief investment officer at Omnivest Group.

President Barack Obama has called job creation priority No. 1, but the scope to take further steps to lift the economy is limited by record budget deficits.

Mounting unemployment could pose problems for the Democrats who control Congress as they head into congressional elections in November 2010. This week, Republicans wrested control of two state governorships away from Democrats in races where the weak economy figured prominently.

The labor market is being watched for signs whether the economic recovery that started in the third quarter can be sustained without government support. The economy grew at a 3.5 percent annualized rate in the July-September period, probably ending the most painful U.S. recession in 70 years.

Labor market sluggishness and weak wage growth suggest inflation is unlikely to get out of hand anytime soon, giving the Federal Reserve scope to maintain supportive policies no fax payday loan.

The U.S. central bank on Wednesday held overnight interest rates close to zero percent and said it would keep them extraordinarily low as long as excess economic slack and a lack of inflation warning signs prevailed.

"The Fed will stay on hold even longer with less likelihood of giving a concrete answer to when and how to withdraw quantitative easing," said Joseph Trevisani, senior market analyst at FX Solution in Saddler River, New Jersey.

Payrolls have declined for 22 consecutive months now, throwing 7.3 million people out of work since December 2007, when the recession started.

However, the pace of layoffs has slowed sharply from early this year, when nearly three-quarters of a million jobs were lost in January. In October, job losses were across almost all sectors, with education and health services and professional and business services bucking the trend.

Manufacturing employment fell 61,000 last month, while construction industries payrolls dropped 62,000.

The service-providing sector cut 61,000 workers in October and goods-producing industries slashed 129,000 positions. Education and health services added 45,000 jobs, while government employment was flat.

The average workweek, which closely correlates with overall output and gives clues on when firms will start hiring, was steady at 33 hours in October. Average hourly earnings rose to &&6;18.72 from &&6;18.67 in September.

(Additional reporting by Nick Olivari and Jennifer Ablan in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

U.S. unemployment rate hits 10.2 percent

PARIS &S212; The British economy remained mired in recession during the third-quarter, according to data released Friday. That stood in stark contrast to the euro area, where reports showed steadily improving activity.

A significant reason for the divergent performance between the economies appears to be the larger debt burden of British consumers, analysts said.

A preliminary report from the Office of National Statistics in London showed gross domestic product contracted by 0.4 percent between July and September from the previous three months, and it shrank by 5.2 percent compared with a year earlier.

The British economy has now contracted for six successive quarters, making this the longest downturn since the agency started its data series in 1955.

Economists had expected growth of 0.2 percent for the quarter, based on recent improvements in housing statistics, purchasing managers&S217; indexes and the wilting pound, which should make exports more competitive.

Rather, the report showed weakness in the service sector, where output fell 0.2 percent; industrial production, down 0.7 percent; and construction, off 1.1 percent.

Britain is starting to further lag the 16-member euro area, where France and Germany are leading steady improvements in manufacturing, services and consumer demand.

Jean-Michel Six, chief European economist at Standard & Poor&S217;s, cited consumer indebtedness as the main factor undermining a recovery in Britain.

&S220;U.K. consumers are coming out of a period of very significant leveraging, and the process of unwinding that is long and painful,&S221; he said. &S220;You would expect savings rates to grow and credit demand to fall, weighing on the economy.&S221;

Meanwhile, German business confidence in October rose to its highest level in 13 months, according to the Ifo economic research institute in Munich bad credit auto loans.

Its business climate index, which surveys 7,000 executives, rose to 91.9 from 91.3 in September. The index touched a recent low of 82.2 in March.

&S220;The third quarter was a good quarter for the German economy,&S221; said Carsten Brzeski, an analyst at ING. &S220;Probably even an excellent quarter.&S221;

He said German companies were benefiting from the pick-up in global activity, stock rebuilding, stimulus-driven private consumption and tax relief.

Another report, from the data firm Markit, showed a composite index of manufacturing and services industries in the euro area improved to 53 in October from 51.1 in September.

The reading was the highest in 22 months, Markit said.

Chris Williamson, Markit&S217;s chief economist, said the data &S220;indicate that the euro-zone economy has entered the fourth quarter on a strong note&S221; and were consistent with G.D.P. rising at a quarterly rate of around 0.4 percent in October.

In France, the national statistics office INSEE said that consumer spending jumped 2.3 percent in September from August, well above expectations of a 0.5 percent rise.

Another release Friday, from the E.U. data agency Eurostat, showed that industrial orders in the euro area increased by 2.0 percent in August from July, but were down 23.1 percent from a year earlier.

Still, Mr. Six of S&P cautioned that smaller euro-area economies like Spain, Ireland, Greece and Portugal have not shown the level of resilience of the two largest members of the currency bloc.

U.K. Stuck in Recession as Euro Area Shows Strength

Hot News: Stocks Narrowly Mixed in Early Trading

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

Mobile phones in Kenya can be used to transfer fundsIn Kenya, sending money home to villages and farms from the city used to be problematic. Many people in rural areas do not have access to banking, making it difficult for them to receive and send money. But a revolutionary mobile telephone system is making it easy to move money, changing Kenyan society. The system was the first of its kind in the world.

As Stephen Mbugua works on his farm a half-hour drive from the capital Nairobi, his mobile phone beeps. He is getting a text message saying that his son has sent the elderly farmer some money - through the mobile telephone.

Mbugua is a customer of a service called MPESA, offered by a mobile phone company called Safaricom.

People who wish to transfer money through their mobile phones can do so at locations across Kenya.

Stephen MbuguaAnd that is good news for Mbugua, who says the service saves him time and money. "I used to go to Nairobi or to any bank to pay my bills. But right now, since MPESA came, I do not go to Nairobi, I just pay my bill from here," he said.

Phelister Omari, 22, who works in a hospital in Nairobi, is sending money to her mother. She fills out a form with the amount she wishes to send, plugs that amount into her telephone, and gives the clerk the amount plus extra for charges.

People who are sent money go to the agent with their mobile phone, sign a form, and receive the cash.

Phelister OmariOmari says she appreciates the service. "It is very fast. The MPESA, they are available everywhere easy fast payday loans. Once you are going somewhere you can drop and get some cash and you proceed. If there is a problem upcountry, you can save those people. Once you have sent them 1,000 [or] 2,000 (shillings), that is enough for that time," she said.

The MPESA service was launched in Kenya in 2007. Similar services have since been introduced in other countries.

"What MPESA provided is a safe and affordable way of doing this instantly from your phone so you longer have to have a third party," said Betty Mwangi-Thuo, the chief officer of new products for Safaricom.

Having a money transfer system that goes directly from phone to phone is changing Kenyan society.

Sociologist Beneah Manyuru Mutsotso says that, while MPESA has not closed the rich-poor gap, it has allowed people to increase their social and financial status. "One, to own the phone enhances status. Two, the fact that you have money in the mobile phone in a kind of bank in which you have total control, full control, with almost no charges, and the fact that it works almost, I would say, 24 hours. It has no limitations; it has no obstacles and constraints of time or other physical constraints [such as] the fact that you don't have to queue for long," Mutsotso said.

Mutsotso says people no longer have to go without food or other basics if they can reach out for help through the telephone.

 

Kenya Pioneers New Way to Transfer Money

NEW YORK (Reuters) – CIT Group Inc (CIT.N) launched on Thursday a debt-exchange plan that the struggling lender to small and mid-sized companies hopes will prevent it from filing for bankruptcy.

CIT, however, also asked bondholders to approve a prepackaged plan of reorganization that would allow it to initiate a voluntary filing under Chapter 11 if the debt exchange failed.

CIT said around a third of its bondholders agreed to participate in the exchange offer or vote for the prepackaged plan of reorganization.

Under the terms of the exchange offer, a tendering holder of an existing debt security would receive a pro-rata portion of each of five series of newly issued secured notes, with maturities ranging from four to eight years, and/or shares of newly issued voting preferred stock, CIT said.

The exchange offers are conditional upon achieving a debt reduction of at least &&6;5.7 billion in aggregate, with specific targets for the periods from 2009 to 2012.

The company said the plan has been approved by its board of directors and by a committee of bondholders no telecheck payday loans.

The exchange offer expires on October 29.

Founded more than a century ago, CIT&&9;s problems emerged in recent years following CEO Jeffrey Peek&&9;s idea to tap into potentially profitable but risky businesses such as subprime mortgages and student loans.

The financial meltdown triggered a sharp rise in CIT&&9;s loan losses and credit costs, leaving the company on the verge of collapse. The lender to businesses from retailers to sport teams has lost close to &&6;5 billion since the end of 2007.

CIT shares closed down 15 cents, or 12.4 percent, at &&6;1.06 on Thursday. (Reporting by Dan Wilchins and Paritosh Bansal; Additional reporting by Jennifer Ablan and Walden Siew; editing by Andre Grenon and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

CIT launches debt-swap plan, warns about bankruptcy

Hot News: Bernanke says new super currency would weaken dollar

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian shares edged higher on Wednesday looking past a surprise fall in U.S. consumer confidence and the Australian dollar jumped to a 13-month high after August retail sales data beat forecasts.

China&&9;s main stock market opened higher boosted by the acquisition plans of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (601398.SS), the world&&9;s biggest bank by market value, while the Korean won rose to a near one-year high.

"GDP and earnings are still being upgraded, valuations are not horribly expensive and cash is still zero percent, we are in a sweet spot," said Khiem Do, head of the Asia multi-asset group at Baring Asset Management.

He expects the stock rally to sustain and corrections to remain mild for the rest of the year.

Referring to U.S. consumer confidence he said: "It is a volatile data, next month it may be up again and it is very difficult to predict. Its not as if its been falling for months in a row."

AUSTRALIANS SPEND

The Aussie dollar, which has been on a uptrend after recent market talk about an imminent rate hike lifted its yield allure, received a further boost as data showed consumers continue spending even as the stimulus program nears its end.

The data took the currency to a peak of &&6;0.8800 and pushed interest rate swaps to a three-week high as markets priced in a greater chance of a rate increase in October.

The Shanghai Composite Index (.SSEC) rose as much as 1 percent after ICBC said it was bidding to buy Thailand&&9;s ACL Bank (ACL.BK) for up to &&6;545 million to tap rapid growth in the Thai economy and in trade.

Yet, the benchmark stock index has lost around 7 percent so far this quarter and is heading for its worst quarterly performance this year, mainly reflecting worries about an oversupply of shares easy payday loans.

South Korea&&9;s won currency rose as high as 1,180.1 to a dollar, the strongest since October 14, 2008, forcing foreign exchange authorities to buy the greenback to curb the won&&9;s strength.

Exporter deals and foreign fund inflows also boosted the Taiwan dollar to a near one-year high. The currency rose to as high as T&&6;32.198 to the U.S. dollar.

Broadly, Asian stock markets were higher as investors ignored an unexpected fall in U.S. consumer confidence in September, which brought down shares at Wall Street.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was up 0.5 percent and is set to post a second straight quarterly gain.

The index is up 21 percent this quarter, adding to the second quarter&&9;s 32 percent gains.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar slipped against the yen as the recent short-covering, which had given the greenback a brief boost, abated. The dollar fell 0.3 percent from late New York levels to 89.77 yen, although it remained above its eight-month low of 88.23 yen set on Monday.

Traders are not surprised the dollar is reversing track as the broad downtrend for the U.S. currency is still down.

"It&&9;s hard to believe dollar selling is over," said Shuichi Kanehira, senior vice president of the forex division at Mizuho Corporate Bank.

(Additional reporting by Rika Otsuka in Tokyo; Editing by Jan Dahinten)

Asian shares rise, Aussie dollar at 13-month high

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Sales of new single-family houses edged up a 0.7 percent in August, following three strong monthly gains, the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday.

New home sales of one-family houses in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 429,000, according to estimates released by the department.

This represents 0.7 percent above the revised July rate of 426,000, but is 3.4 percent below the August 2008 estimate of 444,000.

Analysts had expected a 1.6-percent rise in August. Sales have so far risen 30.4 percent above their low in January of this year.

The median sales price of new houses sold in August 2009 was 195,200 U.S. dollars. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 262,000. This represents a supply of 7.3 months at the current sales rate online payday loans.

Although many economists expressed disappointment over the tepid increase of new home sales in August, the Commerce Department was optimistic about the prospect of the housing market.

"The rise in new home sales so far this year has sparked an increase in building activity. Residential construction is likely to grow this quarter after 14 consecutive quarterly declines," the department said in a statement.

"We are encouraged by the signs of stabilization in the housing market represented by today's data on new home sales, helped by the strong fiscal and monetary actions that have been taken to stimulate economic growth," it said.

New home sales in U.S. edge up by 0.7% in August