(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.28 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.27 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.51 percent at 3:40 a.m. EST.

Investors were bracing for a flurry of macro data on Tuesday, including a final reading of third quarter gross domestic product, existing home sales for November and the Richmond Fed survey for December.

Oil edged up ahead of an OPEC meeting, with the firm dollar countering an expected fall in crude and distillate inventories in the United States along with the sustained strong demand in China.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) said on Monday it is offering its 41,000 U.S. factory workers buyouts and early retirement offers in a bid to reduce its payroll costs as it aims to return to profit by 2011.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (TTWO.O) said it will sell its Jack of All Games distribution business to Synnex Corp (SNX.N) for &&6;43.3 million, and slashed its forecasts for fiscal 2010 as a result, sending its shares down 5 percent in after-hours trading.

The proposed merger of two live music powerhouses, Live Nation Inc (LYV.N) and Ticketmaster Inc (TKTM.O), was given a huge boost on Tuesday when a British regulatory body dropped its objections and approved the deal paydayloans.

Japan&&9;s Nikkei average (.N225) rose 1.9 percent to reach a three-month closing high on Tuesday as a weaker yen lifted exporters, while Isuzu Motors (7202.T) jumped on a report that the truck maker wants to develop new diesel engines for General Motors (GM.UL). European stocks were up 0.6 percent in morning trade, led by oil and banks shares such as BP (BP.L) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA).

U.S. stocks rose on Monday, with the Nasdaq hitting a 15-month high after brokerages upgraded two Dow components on improving profit prospects, while healthcare stocks rose after a bill to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, which is perceived as less damaging to industry profits than expected, passed a crucial test in the U.S. Senate early Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) shot up 85.25 points, or 0.83 percent, to end at 10,414.14. The Standard & Poor&&9;s 500 Index (.SPX) gained 11.58 points, or 1.05 percent, to 1,114.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) rose 25.97 points, or 1.17 percent, to end at 2,237.66.

The S&P 500 is up 23.3 percent so far in 2009.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

Stock futures signal more gains; eyes on data

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week as the recovery of the nation&S217;s battered labor market proceeds in fits and starts.

The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of new jobless claims rose to 480,000 last week, up 7,000 from the previous week. Economists had expected a decline to 465,000.

The four-week average for claims, which smoothes out fluctuations, did fall, however, dipping to 467,500, the 15th straight decline, viewed as an encouraging sign that the labor market is gradually improving. The four-week average is now at its lowest point since late September 2008, the period when the financial crisis was hitting with full force.

Unemployment claims have been on a downward trend since this summer. That improvement is seen as a sign that jobs cuts are slowing and hiring could pick up as soon as early next year. But the rise in weekly claims of 7,000 last week, which had followed an increase of 19,000 the previous week, shows that the improvement has been halting.

Economists closely monitor jobless claims, which are considered a crucial gauge of the pace of layoffs with continuing claims viewed as an indication of how quickly laid off workers are getting new jobs.

Analysts believe that claims need to fall to about 425,000 for several weeks to signal the economy is beginning to add jobs business cards.

The government said that the number of people receiving regular benefits rose 5,000 to 5.19 million for the week ended on Saturday. That figure does not include millions of people who have used up the regular 26 weeks of benefits typically provided by the state and are now receiving extended benefits for up to 73 additional weeks, paid for by the federal government.

The people receiving extended benefits jumped to 4.73 million for the week ended Nov. 28, an increase of 143,759 from the previous week. That big rise reflected the fact that a total of 17 states are now processing claims for the extended benefits that Congress approved last month.

There were 29 states with increases of more than 1,000 claims for the week ending Dec. 5 led by California, with a rise of 28,353, which it attributed in part to the fact that the unemployment offices were open for the full week giving applicants more time to file after the Thanksgiving holiday. Other states with big gains were Georgia, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

The two states with declines of more than 1,000 were Kansas, with a drop of 3,803, and Kentucky, down by 2,048.

First-Time Jobless Filings Rise Unexpectedly

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.)

DOW INDUSTRIALS (DJIA)

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.

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. .

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."

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

WASHINGTON &<51; The Transportation Department imposed its first penalties for runway delays Tuesday, collecting $175,000 from three airlines for leaving 47 passengers of a regional jet stranded overnight in Rochester, Minn.

The agency said that Continental Airlines and its regional affiliate, ExpressJet Airlines, operating as Continental Express, had deceived passengers by promising, through a &S220;Customer First&S221; statement on Continental&S217;s Web site, to let passengers off planes within three hours when faced with an extended delay on the runway.

The two airlines argued that the promise was not enforceable by the government, but they agreed to pay $50,000 each in civil penalties.

A third airline, Mesaba, agreed to pay $75,000 because its employee told the Continental Express captain &<51; wrongly &<51; that the passengers could not be allowed into the terminal because the Transportation Security Administration was not present.

The Transportation Department said that Mesaba had shown &S220;indifference to the passengers&S221; that amounted to an unfair and deceptive practice. Mesaba also said it had not violated any law but agreed to pay the fine.

The flight, on Aug. 8, was supposed to go from Houston to Minneapolis but was diverted to Rochester because of bad weather. Continental Express does not serve Minneapolis, but asked Mesaba for help so the passengers could have access to the restrooms and vending machines.

A Mesaba ground agent, however, said the Transportation Security Administration forbade passengers from being in the terminal while it was closed. Later, however, the agency said that the passengers could have gotten off and reboarded if they stayed in the area inside the checkpoints, and that it had the ability to recall screeners in the middle of the night if necessary low fee pay day loans.

Instead, the passengers were kept on the plane from half past midnight until 6 in the morning, despite repeated efforts by the crew.

The secretary of transportation, Ray LaHood, said in a statement, &S220;I hope this sends a signal to the rest of the airline industry that we expect airlines to respect the rights of air travelers.

&S220;We will also use what we have learned form this investigation to strengthen protections for airline passengers subjected to long tarmac delays,&S221; Mr. LaHood said.

The department proposed a rule a year ago to require airlines to have a contingency plan for lengthy airport delays, and incorporate the plan into their contracts of carriage, which would make it easier for passengers to sue if the plans were violated. The department said that a final rule was expected by the end of the year.

The House of Representatives passed a passenger-rights bill earlier this year but it does not address runway delays, according to Kate Hanni, executive director of flyersrights.org, a consumer advocacy group. A Senate version, which does set limits on delays, is in the Commerce Committee and may reach the Senate floor early next year, she said.

&S220;I think it&S217;s awesome that the Department of Transportation has set down some punitive damages,&S221; Ms. Hanni said.

Airlines Pay For Stranding Passengers

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Berkshire Hathaway, the insurance-focused conglomerate owned by Warren Buffett, increased its stakes in Wal-Mart Stores and Wells Fargo during the third quarter, according to a regulatory filing Monday.

Berkshire took new stakes in Exxon Mobil , Nestle SA , Republic Services and Travelers Cos. during the period, the filing showed.

Berkshire sold shares of Eaton Corp. , Wabco Holdings , NRG Energy , Moody's Corp. and ConocoPhillips in the quarter, the filing also showed.

Buffett has generated strong returns over several decades, so changes in Berkshire's investment portfolios are closely watched. Monday's filing shows Berkshire holdings as of Sept. 30. It's likely that some of the company's investments have changed since then.

Berkshire's stake in Wal-Mart stood at 37,836,642 shares worth roughly $1.9 billion at the end of September, according to the filing payday loans online. That compares to 19,944,300 shares worth less than $1 billion at the end of June.

Berkshire increased its stake in Wells Fargo by more than 10 million shares during the third quarter, according to the filings.

Berkshire held 1,276,290 shares of Exxon Mobil at the end of September. Three months earlier the company held no shares of the oil company, according to the filings.

Berkshire held 3.4 million American depository receipts of Swiss food giant Nestle worth more than $144 million at the end of September.

The company's new stake in Republic Services was worth almost $100 million on Sept. 30, while its Travelers stake was worth roughly $1.3 million.

Berkshire raised Wal-Mart, Wells Fargo stakes

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

Signs that manufacturing in the United States was on a path to recovery sent Wall Street stocks higher on Monday, the first trading day after the market took one of its steepest plunges in months.

A report by the Institute for Supply Management said the health of the manufacturing sector was at its highest level in three years, substantially beating Wall Street expectations. In addition, a separate report showed increases in the number of home sales, offering hope that a critical sector might be headed for revival.

In response, stocks jumped in early trading, then pulled back at midday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.63 points, or 0.48 percent, to 9,759.36 at 12:45 p.m. The Standard and Poor&S217;s 500-stock index was up 2.45 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,038.64. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index was nearly flat.

On Friday, amid skittishness about the overall state of the economy, the major averages posted some of the biggest losses in months, with the Dow tumbling 250 points, or 2.5 percent, and the S.&&8; P. 500 falling 2.8 percent.

Many Wall Street analysts wonder whether the drops on Friday were simply an adjustment in the market after weeks of enthusiastic gain, or a harbinger of dreary days to come. Over the past seven months, stocks have rallied at an incredible pace, leaving some analysts skeptical the momentum will last much longer.

John F. Merrill, chief investment officer at Tanglewood Investments in Houston, said the ups and downs in recent days were the result of investors looking to latch on to any piece of news that beat expectations pay day loan lenders.

&S220;There&S217;s a seesaw or a tug-of-war going on between those who want to be more invested and those who don&S217;t,&S221; he said. &S220;Those who want to be more invested are looking for reasons to get there.&S221;

Investors were also buoyed by news that the Ford Motor Company posted a higher-than-expected profit of $997 million in the third quarter, its first profitable quarter in North America in more than four years. Ford said cost-cutting and the government&S217;s cash-for-clunkers program helped drive up its earnings. In midday trading, Ford&S217;s stock was up 8.72 percent at $7.61.

European markets turned upward in afternoon trading, with the FTSE 100 in Britain up 1.19 percent, the CAC-40 in France up 0.88 percent, and the DAX in Germany 0.29 percent higher.

Overnight, Asian markets fell in response to the sharp sell-offs in the United States on Friday, with the Nikkei average in Japan closing down 2.3 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropping 0.6 percent.

A key economic data point will come on Friday, when the government releases its monthly report on unemployment. The jobless rate is expected to rise slightly, to 9.9 percent, but a sharp deviation could sway markets significantly.

Economic Gains Send Wall Street Up

Wall Street swung lower on Tuesday after weaker wholesale prices and a tepid report on new-home construction pointed up the economy&S217;s lingering travails.

The backslide came even after a string of bellwether companies including Apple, the drug maker Pfizer and Caterpillar, which manufactures industrial equipment, reported strong profits.

After rising nearly 100 points on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 50.71 points, or 0.5 percent, to end at 10,041.48. The wider Standard &&8; Poor&S217;s 500-stock index fell 6.85 points, or 0.62 percent, to 1,091.06, and the Nasdaq was off about 0.6 percent at 2,163.47.

More than half of companies reporting earnings so far have beaten analysts&S217; expectations, raising hopes that companies are past their worst financial troubles, according to the analyst Howard Silverblatt of Standard &&8; Poor&S217;s.

Earnings per share are coming in nearly 12 percent ahead of expectations, and companies&S217; sales figures are also beating estimates. The higher sales figures could offer a balm to investors worried that companies had been generating profits only through aggressive cost-cutting, and not by increasing revenue.

So far, the earnings have bolstered investors on Wall Street. The major indexes are up about 3 percent for the month, their eighth consecutive month of gains, and shares of Apple are close to record highs.

&S220;This is a broad-based rally,&S221; said William Rhodes, chief investment strategist of Rhodes Analytics. &S220;I did not find anything in the market this week that I could go out and short.&S221;

But on Tuesday, investors seemed preoccupied by signals that the housing market remained sluggish and by signs that some industries were still hamstrung by lower prices.

&S220;The bulls need to see the quality of earnings improve,&S221; Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities, wrote in a note to clients. &S220;The market is so far ahead of the economy that unless the quality of earnings improves, the broad market is due for a consolidation pay day advance.&S221;

Shares of basic-materials producers, utilities and energy companies fell the most, as prices of commodities like oil, copper and coffee receded. Crude oil futures fell 52 cents to settle at $79.09 a barrel in New York, but were still near their highest levels of the year.

Financial stocks also fell, a day before two big players in the world of investment and consumer banking were set to release their results. Those banks, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, are announcing their third-quarter earnings on Wednesday before the markets open, capping the major financial earnings reports.

Earlier this month, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs reported big profits while Citigroup and Bank of America continued to struggle.

Caterpillar gained the most in the Dow&S217;s roster of blue-chip stocks, rising 3.4 percent after its earnings topped estimates. The aircraft maker Boeing fell nearly 3 percent after analysts downgraded its stock, and the military contractor Lockheed Martin fell more than 6 percent after cutting its outlook.

Investors were wary of home-building companies like Brookfield Homes and Pulte Homes after the government&S217;s latest report on housing starts and building permits. The Commerce Department reported that new-home construction rose slightly in September, but fell short of economists&S217; predictions.

Weakness in stocks reinvigorated the dollar for a day, and set off demand for safer investments like Treasury bonds. The 10-year note closed up 13/32, to 102 11/32. The yield fell to 3.34 percent, from 3.39 percent late Monday.

Following are the results of Tuesday&S217;s Treasury auction of four-week and 52-week bills:

Stocks and Bonds: U.S. Stocks Falter on Economic Data

Pascal Baguma carries cassiterite stones rich in tin ore in a mineral processing factory at Bukavu in eastern Congo (file photo)A British aid group is calling for the Congolese government to do more to regulate the country's tin industry. Global Witness says a new industry initiative to trace the origin of tin supplies from the Democratic Republic of Congo will fail to break the link between the mineral trade and the country's ongoing armed conflict. In the past few months a body that represents members of the tin industry, ITRI, has begun developing proposals to control its supply chain. In the new initiative, traders and middlemen will be required to complete a set of forms declaring the origin of minerals. But the Britain-based watchdog Global Witness, which has seen the proposals, says the initiative will not be effective in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Emilie Serralta from Global Witness says suppliers will be asked to tick a box confirming that no armed groups have been involved in the production of the minerals. She says initiatives like this will be pointless if mechanisms are not in place to verify what people declare in the forms."Now in the context of Congo, filling forms is not the answer," said Serralta. "I mean you need spot checks to make sure that actually the situation is as the form is saying or not and it is likely it would not be."The minerals trade has for a long time been a source of revenue for armed rebel groups in eastern Congo, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which is linked to the Hutu extremists involved in the genocide in neighboring Rwanda. But Serralta says government troops also use force to tax miners and this is not being addressed in the ITRI proposal fast cash online. "For the moment ITRI as it stands does not recognize that role and that is something that we pointed out to them and said you need to make sure that the Congolese army is not benefiting, otherwise it is just shifting from one rebel group to the Congolese army," she said.The director of the London-based risk-analysis group Maplehurst, Alyson Warhurst, says the tin industry in Congo is difficult to regulate because mining is not industrialized. According to the World Bank, there are as many as two-million artisanal miners in Congo - just one container load of ore could be sourced from as many as 10,000 miners. Warhurst says governments and international groups need to be involved in regulating the system. "The only way forward, as has been proved by addressing, for example, conflict diamonds - largely successfully - in West and Central Africa in the late 1990s, is by businesses, governments, and non-governmental organizations working together to understand the chain by which businesses procure these minerals from DRC within supply chains and put in place controls," said Warhurst.A leading trader on the London Mineral Exchange, AMC, recently stopped purchases of tin ore from Congo after Global Witness accused the trader of buying tin from middlemen who deal with rebel groups. AMC said bad publicity was undermining moves to make sure rebel fighters in eastern Congo do not benefit from the trade. The Congolese Mines Ministry says it supports ITRI's monitoring plan.  

Congo Tin Trade Needs Tougher Regulation Says Watchdog

NEW DELHI &<51; India will play a significant role in reducing health care costs in the United States as the Asian nation&S217;s health care market expands, General Electric&S217;s chief executive, Jeffrey R. Immelt, predicted here on Friday.

The Indian health care industry is &S220;on the verge of substantial growth,&S221; Mr. Immelt said. Health care products and services developed cheaply here will be exported to Western markets, cutting prices there, he said.

G.E.&S217;s health care business includes diagnostic equipment and services, pharmaceutical research and development and patient monitoring.

The Indian public health care system has historically been overburdened and underfunded, particularly in rural areas. As income levels rise, private clinics and labs are springing up, and governments in some Indian states have begun to increase overall spending on health care.

The health care industry in India is expected to more than double in size from 2008 to 2012, to $75 billion, according to Technopak Advisors, a consulting company. In 2007, Americans spent $2.26 trillion on health care, according to the government.

Mr. Immelt&S217;s comments were made at a news conference related to the restructuring of G.E.&S217;s health care business in India. The company said it was aiming to simplify operations, allowing it to take advantage of the growing market.

GE Healthcare, based in Chalfont St. Giles, England, employs 46,000 people in 100 countries around the world. Revenue from the health care division was $17.3 billion in 2008, less than 10 percent of G.E.&S217;s total.

Many analysts and health care executives say they share Mr instant payday loan no telecheck. Immelt&S217;s belief that innovations from emerging markets, particularly India, could lead to big changes in the United States health care system. Already, American health care companies are cutting costs by outsourcing services to India like reading X-rays or scheduling nursing visits.

India, rather than China, will be the source for new models and ideas about improving and lowering the cost of American health care because the health care industry in the United States has more in common with India than with China, Mr. Immelt said.

G.E. employs more than 14,500 people in India, in divisions from research and development to back-office functions. But to date, just a tiny fraction the company&S217;s revenue comes from India, about $3 billion of a total $182.5 billion in 2008.

G.E. said it was selling three of its health care units in India &<51; Medical Systems India, Life Sciences and Medical Diagnostics &<51; to its venture with Wipro, the third-largest Indian information technology company.

The 19-year-old venture, Wipro GE Healthcare, already distributes 85 percent of GE Heathcare&S217;s products and services in India, which include ultrasound scanners, fetal monitors and cardiology monitors, as well as the software and servicing associated with those machines.

The restructuring will allow G.E.&S217;s units to &S220;develop products even faster,&S221; Mr. Immelt said, by providing &S220;seamless&S221; operations.

G.E. Chief Sees India Helping Cut Costs of U.S. Health Care

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian shares rose on Tuesday as news of several multi-billion dollar takeover bids overseas boosted confidence in a global economic recovery, while the yen slid after Tokyo hinted currency intervention could be an option in some cases.

European stock futures were up 0.2 percent with markets awaiting a flood of data including UK final Q2 GDP, while U.S. equity futures were flat.

Australian shares rose to nearly their highest level in a year as M&A activity overseas on Monday, including Xerox Corp&&9;s (XRX.N) biggest acquisition ever, was seen catching on globally.

"M&A activity is coming, we&&9;re told. It&&9;s difficult to pin down but there&&9;s going to be more in the resources sector," said Bill Bishop, a private client adviser at RBS Morgan in Australia.

In Japan, the yen&&9;s retreat from an eight-month high hit on Monday helped shares of Japanese exporters, lifting the Nikkei average (.N225) by 0.9 percent.

Japan&&9;s currency came under pressure after Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said that intervention might be an option if currency moves were irregular, although he reiterated it was wrong for any country to try to win a competitive edge by devaluing its currency.

The yen slid to as low as 90.23 to the dollar after his comments, further pulling back from 88.22 hit on Monday, its highest level since January. Tokyo has not intervened in the market since March 2004 and analysts do not expect such a moven anytime soon.

"Fujii appears to have been jolted by the yen&&9;s rapid appreciation and is worried that the strong yen would throw cold water on the economic recovery led by exports. But it is unlikely the government actually will intervene in the market," said Takumi Tsunoda, an economist at Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute in Tokyo.

A record drop in consumer prices last month highlighted that Japanese domestic demand is still weak and limited losses in Japanese government bond futures, which dipped as stocks gained.

December 10-year JGB futures were down 0.02 point at 139.29.

AUSSIE DOLLAR SHINES

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan ( free 3-in-1 credit report.MIAPJ0000PUS) rallied 2 percent, and is now up 60 percent this year, while the Thomson Reuters index for regional shares (.TRXFLDAXPU) was 2.4 percent higher.

Technology shares drew buying, notably in Taiwan where they traded on news that Taipei will allow contract chipmakers and flat-panel makers to acquire rivals in China, although analysts said it would be some time before the policy was implemented.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (2330.TW) and UMC (2303.TW), the world&&9;s two largest contract chip makers, rallied 4.9 percent. and 3.6 percent respectively.

China shares bucked the rise in regional stocks, dropping nearly 2 percent as investors were cautious about new listings and ahead of an eight-day national holiday starting October 1.

"Investors are worried that new share supply ... will continue diverting funds from existing shares," said Gui Haoming, head of research at Shenyin and Wanguo Securities.

The Australian dollar got a lift after a senior central banker warned of a potential housing bubble, adding to expectations of an interest rate rise soon. A central bank watcher said the Reserve Bank of Australia was almost certain to raise interest rates by 25 basis points each in November and December although he did not cite any sources.

The Australian dollar was trading at &&6;0.8742, not far off its 13-month high of &&6;0.8790 set last week.

Robust equity markets and geopolitical tensions sparked by Iranian missile tests this week pushed oil prices up to above &&6;67 a barrel at one point, extending a more than 1 percent gain on Monday.

Gold edged up to &&6;992.20 an ounce but traders said investors were cautious, saying bullion may be due a slight correction.

(Additional reporting by Victoria Thieberger in Melbourne, Leika Kihara in Tokyo and Lu Jianxin in Shanghai; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Asia shares rise, yen falls after FinMin speaks

Filed at 11:57 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. bank regulators are considering tapping a line of credit with the U.S. Treasury Department and may explore other lesser-known options to replenish the dwindling fund that safeguards bank deposits.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair said on Friday that the agency would meet at the end of the month to discuss options to rebuild the fund, which has been significantly drained by a sharp increase in bank failures.

"We are carefully considering all our options, including borrowing from Treasury," Bair said, referring to the agency's $500-billion line of credit with the Treasury Department. She was speaking at a global finance conference in Washington.

But regulators are still reluctant to tap the line of credit because they want to avoid temporarily using taxpayer money to clean up the banking mess, she said.

Bair said the FDIC also had lesser-known alternatives for replenishing the fund, such as prepayments of assessments on banks and issuing a note. She did not give further details on those options.

Other options include more special assessments on banks. The FDIC has already charged the industry one emergency fee of $5.6 billion this year, and is authorized to levy two more.

Bair said the FDIC would seek comment on these options before making a final decision.

So far this year, 92 U.S. banks have failed, compared with 25 during all of last year and only three in 2007. Those failures have whittled the balance of the insurance fund down to $10.4 billion from $45 billion a year ago. The FDIC is careful to note that it has $42 billion in reserves to handle failures over the next year.

"There are a few options available to the fund - none of them very palatable," said Brian Olasov, a managing director with McKenna, Long & Aldridge in Atlanta. He said the long-term solution to replenish the fund will be higher quarterly assessments.

MARK-TO-MARKET

Bair's comments touched on a range of topics, from her view that regulators should not have the option of extending "open-bank assistance" to troubled financial firms, to her concerns about accounting proposals that could imperil banks in times of stress.

She said she generally agrees with actions by the Financial Accounting Standards Board but is worried about a proposal to further extend "mark-to-market" accounting to bank loans cash advance.

"During periods of market stress, losses could be exacerbated," Bair said. "We don't need to deepen the crises."

FASB met last month to discuss whether to force companies to value nearly all financial instruments on their balance sheets, including loans, at market value, and to reflect them in earnings. Banks oppose such a change. FASB is expected to release a proposal in the first half of 2010.

Bair also took aim at proposed reforms to combat systemic risk. She said large financial institutions should not be allowed to believe they will receive government assistance if they run into trouble.

The Obama administration has proposed giving the FDIC authority to wind down troubled, large financial firms, but it also gives regulators the option to provide open-bank assistance on a temporary basis.

"So-called open-bank assistance... should be prohibited," Bair said.

She said the FDIC's system for resolving failed depository banks is effective and should be extended to large financial firms. The change is especially crucial because the recent crisis has further concentrated the financial industry, and no firm can be considered too big to fail, she said.

"The process is harsh, it's painful, but it works," Bair said of the FDIC system. "Unless we enact reforms ... our system will be more, not less, fragile after this crisis."

Regarding pay, Bair said she hopes Wall Street has learned its lesson. She urged business students in the crowd to steer clear of the pay structures that contributed to the financial crisis.

"I hope you will be advocates for compensation structures that reward long-term profitability and penalize quick-buck schemes that reward employees who put an entire company at risk for the sake of high, upfront fees," she said.

Her comments come as the Federal Reserve is close to proposing wide-ranging rules on bankers' pay that would apply to any employee able to take risks that could imperil the institution.

(Reporting by Karey Wutkowski; Additional reporting by Alister Bull in Washington and Joe Rauch in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, John Wallace and Tim Dobbyn)

F.D.I.C. to Consider Ways to Replenish Deposit Fund

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese industrial output and other economic data surprised on the upside in August, suggesting its recovery is on a solid course but not so strong that Beijing will need to hit the policy brakes anytime soon.

Asian shares edged up as the data supported regional recovery hopes, while the Australian dollar cut losses against the dollar and yen and oil prices rose above &&6;72 a barrel.

The only weak spot in August&&9;s data was trade. Exports fell 23.4 percent from a year earlier, a sharper drop than expected and accelerating from July&&9;s 23 percent fall as global demand remained frail.

"Clearly, it shows the domestic economy is doing much better because of the (government) stimulus, and external demand is still quite weak," said Tao Wang, economist with UBS in Beijing.

"I don&&9;t think weakness in exports is going to derail the fact that the general economy will continue to recover."

Industrial output grew at a 12-month high of 12.3 percent in August from a year earlier, jumping from 10.8 percent in July and moderately beating expectations, data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.

Investment growth also picked up a touch, and annual growth in the broad M2 measure of money supply rose to a record-high 28.5 percent.

Despite the signs of strength and the potential for mid-term inflationary pressures from such rapid liquidity growth, analysts expect policymakers to proceed cautiously and avoid pulling on the reins of monetary and fiscal policy too quickly.

Premier Wen Jiabao drove that point home on Thursday, saying the government would unswervingly apply its policy mix of massive government spending and loose money because the economic recovery remains fragile.

To see graphics on Chinese output and trade trends, click on:

http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/099/CN_TRD0909.gif

http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/099/CN_INDOT0909.gif

BROAD STRENGTH

"There&&9;s a pretty good configuration of data: on the activity side there is further strengthening and on the inflation side there is still negative inflation, so I don&&9;t think there&&9;s a real urgency to tighten policy aggressively," said Rob Subbaraman, chief Asia economist with Nomura in Hong Kong.

China&&9;s continuing strength and the hopes it has spawned for a regional recovery contrasted with relatively anemic data from Japan, which showed the economy grew by 0.6 percent in the second quarter, less than earlier estimates.

But not all analysts were convinced China should be looked to as an engine of global growth.

Stephen Roach, Morgan Stanley&&9;s Asia chairman, told Reuters that China was unlikely to lead the global economy out of recession because its own recovery lacks balance and is overly reliant on investment.

Continuing weakness in exports underlined the fact that China will have to continue to rely on domestic demand to drive growth in the coming months, even as the impact of the government&&9;s &&6;585 billion stimulus package starts to wane.

Detailed figures suggested that private investment could be starting to take on more of a role in driving growth, even though government investment remains dominant cash advance.

Real estate investment rose 14.7 percent in the first eight months from a year earlier, compared with a low of 1 percent hit in the first two months, boding well for private spending.

Overall urban fixed-asset investment growth reached 33.0 percent for the first eight months, edging up from 32.9 percent in January to July.

Li Xiaochao, spokesman for the statistics agency, told reporters the August figures had laid a solid foundation for China to achieve its 8 percent growth target for this year.

"We can see from the figures that the recovery trend in the national economy is getting more apparent this year," Li said.

One of the biggest challenges policymakers may face down the road is the risk of inflation, as food prices have begun to rise from their year-earlier levels.

Food prices, which make up a third of the consumer price index, rose an annual 0.5 percent in August, resulting in a drop in overall consumer prices of just 1.2 percent from a year earlier, versus a decline of 1.8 percent in July.

The consumer price index rose 0.5 percent from July, the first month-on-month rise in six months.

For a graphic on price trends, see:

http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/099/CN_CPPI0909.gif

BETTER COMPOSITION OF LENDING

However, lending data showed what should be a reassuring trend for policymakers: that credit is being channeled more into mid- and long-term loans as opposed to short-term bill financing, meaning more cash is likely being put into actual investments.

Bill financing actually fell 276.4 billion yuan in the month, while mid- and long-term loans increased by 548.1 billion yuan.

Altogether, new local-currency loans reached 410.4 billion yuan -- far from the average of about 1.2 trillion in the first six months, but up from July&&9;s 355.9 billion yuan. Chinese bank and property shares rose, encouraged by the data.

For a graphic on lending trends, see:

http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/099/CN_LNDG0909.gif

A surge in bill financing early in the year fed worries about dangerous stock and property price bubbles, concerns that came to a head when credit slowed sharply in July, prompting a more than 20 percent fall in Shanghai shares in a matter of weeks (.SSEC).

No such worries were present after the latest data. The Shanghai index, which had been up 0.4 percent before the reports, extended the day&&9;s gains to close up 2.2 percent.

"Today&&9;s readings should be positive for markets from stocks to commodities," Ting Lu and TJ Bond with Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong wrote in a report.

"As growth becomes a lesser concern, macro policies will be gradually geared to carry out structural reforms, to dampen asset prices rallies, to safeguard China&&9;s financial system, and to contain a new round of consumer goods price inflation." (Additional reporting by Langi Chiang, Simon Rabinovitch and Charlie Zhu in Beijing and Susan Fenton in Hong Kong; Graphics by Catherine Trevethan and Claire Morel

(Editing by Ken Wills & Kim Coghill)

China economy surprisingly strong; policy intact

LONDON (Reuters) – Benchmark world stocks hit a fresh 11-month high on Thursday while emerging stocks extended gains to a new one-year peak, levels last seen before the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

The MSCI world equity index rose 0.4 percent to 282.58, its highest since early October, bringing gains this year to 24 percent.

The MSCI emerging stock index rose more than 1 percent to 889 guaranteed payday loan.89, its highest since early September 2008. The index has risen more than 56 percent since January.

(Reporting by Natsuko Waki; editing by Chris Pizzey)

World stocks hit fresh 11-month highs

WASHINGTON (AP) &<51; The watchdog of the Securities and Exchange Commission has found that three agency exams and two investigations of Bernard Madoff&S217;s business were incompetent, despite ample warnings of the multibillion-dollar fraud.

But the report by the S.E.C. inspector general, David Kotz, report found no evidence of any improper ties between agency officials and Mr. Madoff.

Despite speculation that senior S.E.C officials may have tried to influence the investigations, a summary of Mr. Kotz&S217;s report released Wednesday also found no evidence of that.

The S.E.C. enforcement staff, conducting investigations of Mr. Madoff&S217;s business, &S221;almost immediately caught (him) in lies and misrepresentations, but failed to follow up on inconsistencies&S221; and rejected whistleblowers&S217; offers to provide additional evidence, the report says.

Revelations in December of the agency&S217;s failure to uncover Mr. Madoff&S217;s massive Ponzi scheme over a decade touched off one of the most painful scandals in the agency&S217;s 75-year history.

Between June 1992 and last December, when Mr. Madoff confessed, the S.E.C. received six &S220;substantive complaints that raised significant red flags&S221; regarding Mr. Madoff&S217;s operations. But &S221;a thorough and competent investigation or examination was never performed,&S221; the report says.

Many of the S.E.C. staff who conducted the investigations were &S220;inexperienced,&S221; according to the report.

In a statement, the chairman of the S.E.C., Mary L. Schapiro, said the agency had been reviewing its practices and procedures, and that changes &S220;made since January will help the agency better detect fraud quick payday loan.&S221;

It cites examinations of Mr. Madoff&S217;s business done in 2004 and 2005 by the agency&S217;s inspections office. In both exams, the staff &S221;made the surprising discovery&S221; that Mr. Madoff&S217;s mysterious investment business was making far more money than his well-known wholesale brokerage operation. &S220;However, no one identified this revelation as a cause for concern,&S221; the report says.

Even more surprising, the two exams were being conducted at the same time in different S.E.C. offices without either location being aware of the other&S217;s action. It was Mr. Madoff himself who told one of the inspection teams that he&S217;d already given the information they sought to the other team, according to the report.

Mr. Madoff pleaded guilty in March. He is serving 150 years in federal prison in North Carolina for a pyramid scheme that destroyed thousands of people&S217;s life savings, wrecked charities and gave already-rattled confidence in the financial system another jolt. The legions of investors who lost money included ordinary people, Hollywood celebrities and scores of famous names in business and sports &<51; as well as big hedge funds, international banks and charitable foundations in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Report Says S.E.C. Fumbled Madoff Investigation