HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — The Bank of Korea on Tuesday lifted its base rate a quarter-point to 2.50%, citing the need to curb inflationary pressures and signaling a likely shift in strategy to relying more on capital controls to deter rapid gains in its currency.

The move follows a quarter-point rate hike in July, which had lifted the base rate from a record low of 2%.

Larry Summers on China

At the WSJ CEO Council event in Washington, Larry Summers discusses China's economic influence and how it will affect the U.S.'s global standing.

In its policy statement, the Bank of Korea dropped the phrase that it is “keeping an accommodative stance”, reflecting it is now more worried about rising prices than concerns the rising value of the yuan will undermine the competitiveness of its export sector.

Analysts said the BOK likely held off hiking rates over the last three meetings as the won appreciated against the currencies of its major trading partners.

The South Korean currency has since softened as officials indicated they are considering measures to curb sudden and excessive capital inflows.

“Officials have clearly signaled in recent weeks that they are prepared to tighten capital controls if they consider capital inflows and the currency are increasing too sharply,” said Royal Bank of Canada analyst Brian Jackson in Hong Kong. “With these policy options on the table and available if required, today’s rate hike suggests that the Bank of Korea is now more comfortable that it can focus on tackling inflation by continuing to normalize monetary policy.”

Jackson forecast the BOK would raise its base rate by another half point in 2011 fast cash online.

Still, analysts were skeptical the BOK would hike a pace that would to a dramatic strengthening the won, which has risen about 3.5% against the dollar so far this year.

The won  rose after the rate decision, climbing to 1134.4 per U.S. dollar at midday in east Asia, compared to its previous closing level 1138.4, according to Factset.

South Korean shares were weaker following the announcement, with the Kospi index dropping 0.9% to 1,895.9.

Ahead of the decision, analysts were broadly divided on whether South Korea would follow Asian peers Australia, India and Singapore into a fresh round of tightening.

Of 18 analysts surveyed, 10 had expected a rate hike, while eight were looking for the central bank to stand pat, according to a survey by Dow Jones Newswires.

Last week the BOK upwardly revised its inflation forecast, saying it expects gains in the CPI to nudge 3% by the year’s end, and hit 3.5% next year.

The central bank’s forecast in July was for inflation of 2.8% by the end of the year. Consumer prices rose 4.1% in October on year, breaching the central bank’s 2% to 4% target.

Still, in raising rates South Korea runs the risk of attracting further inflows of speculative capital as investor seek out higher yielding currencies.

South Korean officials, including the finance minister and the BOK Gov. Kim Choong-soo have indicated in recent weeks they are studying measures to curb sudden and excessive capital inflows.

Economic Report: Korea lifts rate by quarter-point to 2.5%

BEIJING (Reuters) – China may deploy a mixture of policies to fend off hot money, an official paper cited a central bank executive as saying at the weekend, amid worries that the United States&&9; policies could create unwelcome flows of capital toward China.

Ma Delun, a deputy governor of central bank the People&&9;s Bank of China (PBOC) said such a policy kit would include reserve requirement adjustment, management of foreign exchange positions, and open market operations, expanding on an earlier remark by the PBOC governor.

"The &&9;pool&&9; mentioned by Governor Zhou Xiaochuan does not refer to a specific market, but an array of policies," Ma was quoted as saying by the Shanghai Securities News on Saturday.

Earlier this month, Zhou said China&&9;s existing foreign exchange controls were able to prevent irregular capital inflows, and proposed establishing a "pool" that could help lock and release capital as required.

With the United States weakening the dollar with a second round of quantitative easing, worries are mounting that much of that cash may end up overseas, putting pressure on countries including China to find ways of fending off unwanted capital inflows guaranteed personal loan approval.

Ma also said the inflation rate that reached a 25-month high in October was within expectations, and the central bank would improve the focus of its monetary policy in future to keep inflation in check.

The PBOC launched fresh tightening measures this week to fight excessive liquidity, including a rise in the reserve ratio for all banks on top of a punitive hike for selected banks.

Ma said the increase in required reserves was intended to reduce money supply to the real economy.

China must continue its exchange rate reform efforts, and allow businesses to adapt by conducting reform gradually, he added.

The yuan&&9;s steady ascent picked up steam recently as China stepped up monetary tightening to fight capital inflows. On Friday, spot yuan versus the dollar was up around 2.85 percent since its depegging in mid-June.

(Reporting by Aileen Wang; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

China to consider hot money policies: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) gave a dismal revenue outlook, stunning investors who had hoped for proof of a recovery in technology spending and sending major tech stocks tumbling.

Forecasts for quarterly and yearly revenue fell far short of Wall Street&&9;s expectations, a big disappointment for a company known for solid management and seen as a top beneficiary of the surge in global wireless and Internet traffic. Cisco shares tumbled over 14 percent.

John Chambers, one of the longest-serving CEOs in Silicon Valley whose views on economic trends are well regarded, cautioned of "short-term challenges" in Europe and public sector spending, as well as weakness among its most important customer segment: service providers.

"First of all, our view on this guidance is, we are disappointed," he said. "We are obviously not projecting growth as fast as we would like over the next several quarters," Chambers told analysts on a conference call.

That shaky outlook, at a time investors had held out hope that the worst of the tech-sector downturn was behind them, sent shares in fellow industry heavyweights down in extended trading. Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) fell 1.6 percent, IBM (IBM.N) slipped 1.2 percent, Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) shed 1.4 percent and Intel Corp (INTC.O) dropped 2.1 percent.

The top network gear maker is one of the sector&&9;s prime bellwethers due to its broad, global operations. And its fiscal first quarter runs through late October, later than many peers, offering a more up-to-date indicator of industry trends.

But analysts were uncertain whether weak guidance necessarily meant conditions for its technology peers and rivals had similarly worsened.

"The question is, given the very weak guidance, whether this is very company-specific or whether this is macro, environmental. We&&9;re just not seeing this kind of weakness at any other company," said Jefferies & Co analyst William Choi.

Cisco may be an exception because of its high exposure to public sector clients, many of whom are worried about debt. He also said earlier supply shortages in the technology sector may have generated double orders that were later canceled.

"They&&9;re a well run company, well respected -- they typically set guidance and meet. For them to guide down like this is puzzling," said Choi.

WORSE THAN IMAGINED

Cisco forecast revenue growth of 9-12 percent in fiscal 2011, well below the 13.1 percent analysts had expected on average. A projection for 3-5 percent revenue growth in the fiscal second quarter -- the current period -- also fell far short of Wall Street&&9;s expectations for 13 percent.

Chambers said public sector clients had cut back, and noted weakness particularly in Europe business card design. He also noted a slowdown in orders from service providers, including cable operators.

"It&&9;s worse than we imagined. I&&9;d say we were certainly on the nervous side going into it, but this is not something we were anticipating," said Morgan Keegan & Co analyst Simon Leopold.

While Cisco has a good track record of beating Wall Street&&9;s expectations, it wouldn&&9;t be the first time its outlook and CEO&&9;s comments spooked the market.

Chambers&&9; warning last quarter about "unusual uncertainty" among customers also sparked a sell-off.

Cisco&&9;s customers, who cut back during the recession, have begun spending more on their network infrastructure, with phone companies buying more advanced equipment to handle growing smartphone traffic and corporate clients upgrading their data center equipment.

But the pace of recovery has been in doubt, with both companies and government agencies trying to control their costs by trying to do more with less.

Revenue in the fiscal first quarter ended October 30, rose 19 percent from a year earlier to &&6;10.75 billion. That was roughly in line with the market&&9;s average forecast of &&6;10.74 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

But orders in the quarter, an indicator of sales in the coming quarters, were lower than initial estimates by over &&6;500 million, Chambers said.

Quarterly net profit rose to &&6;1.9 billion, or 34 cents a share, from &&6;1.8 billion, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items, earnings per share rose to 42 cents, beating Wall Street&&9;s expectations by 2 cents.

Chambers described the weakness as an "air pocket" that was likely short term, adding that the company would eventually get back on track to achieve its long-term target of 12-17 percent annual revenue growth.

Morgan Keegan&&9;s Leopold said that Cisco, whose routers and switches help support the massive growth in Internet and wireless traffic around the world, was still a sound investment in the long run.

"If we look at the basic drivers, the traffic growth, and you look at the general trends of how the network is evolving, it&&9;s still sound," he said. "I don&&9;t know if air pocket is the right word. But I think that this is an issue they can recover from."

Shares of the company crumbled to &&6;21.47 in after-hours trade. They had gained around 20 percent since hitting a year&&9;s low at the end of August, as the tech sector rallied on hopes of a recovery in spending. (Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Edwin Chan and Bernard Orr)

Cisco's dismal outlook stuns Street, hits sector

MADRID (MarketWatch) — London’s main stock index pushed to levels not seen for more than two years Tuesday, driven by gains for mining groups and well-received earnings from Barclays PLC, Randgold Resources Ltd. and Schroders PLC.

The FTSE 100 index  rose 0.8% to 5,894.06. That eclipsed a September 2008 high of 5,877.56 and put the benchmark near the next high around 5,906.84, from June 2008.

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“Solid updates from the likes of Schroders and Vodafone have helped cheer investors and shake off the indifference that dogged yesterday’s session,” said Anthony Grech, head of research at IG Index.

“Traders are eyeing up the 6,000 level as the next target for the FTSE — and at the rate that the markets have bounced in recent days, they may not have to wait long,” he said in a note to investors.

Mining stocks played a big role in the rally — the sector is heavily weighted on the London index — as gold futures pushed further into record territory. December gold futures touched a contract high atop $1,422.10 an ounce before edging back to $1,417.60, while other metals stocks were also higher.

Shares of Randgold  jumped 4.8%. The company reported third-quarter net income that more than doubled and also affirmed its outlook calling for gold output to rise 50% in 2011.

Among other big gainers, shares of Xstrata PLC  traded up 2.8%, while Rio Tinto PLC   added 3.2% and Eurasian Natural Resources Corp high risk personal loans.  gained 2.5%.

Fund manager Schroders  ranked as a top gainer in the FTSE 100 after it reported strong net inflows in the third quarter, beating market expectations. Shares jumped nearly 5%.

Mining giant unearths profits

Rising coal prices could fuel a rally in shares of Alpha Natural Resources, the third-largest miner in the U.S.

Also higher, Barclays PLC   gained nearly 3% after the group said profit slipped in the third quarter, due to higher one-time charges and a fall in net interest income and fees. The bank also said that its core Tier 1 ratio remained at 10% and that it’s “well equipped” to deal with new Basel III rules on capital.

Shares of Vodafone Group PLC   rose 0.1%, off earlier highs. The company said it doubled its pretax profit in the first half of the year, and lifted guidance for the full year.

The wireless giant also reintroduced revenue targets — something that Jerry Dellis, equity analyst at Jefferies International, described as a “powerful statement of management confidence,” in a note to investors.

Shares of Rolls-Royce Group PLC  added 1.1% after the company announced a contract worth $1.2 billion to supply engines to China Eastern Air. A day earlier, the company said it had made progress in isolating the cause of engine failure that sparked an emergency landing for a Qantas Airways Ltd.   A380 passenger jet.

On the downside, shares of Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC   led decliners with a 5.2% fall after a trading update. The company reportedly disappointed some analysts after it didn’t update full-year estimates.

London Markets: FTSE 100 rallies, lifted by Randgold, Barclays

Michael Polsky’s wind farm company was doing so well in 2008 that banks were happy to lend millions for his effort to light up America with clean electricity.

But two years later, Mr. Polsky has a product he is hard-pressed to sell.

His company, Invenergy, had a contract to sell power to a utility in Virginia, but state regulators rejected the deal, citing the recession and the lower prices of natural gas and other fossil fuels.

“The ratepayers of Virginia must be protected from costs for renewable energy that are unreasonably high,” the regulators said. Wind power would have increased the monthly bill of a typical residential customer by 0.2 percent.

Even as many politicians, environmentalists and consumers want renewable energy and reduced dependence on fossil fuels, a growing number of projects are being canceled or delayed because governments are unwilling to add even small amounts to consumers’ electricity bills.

Deals to buy renewable power have been scuttled or slowed in states including Florida, Idaho and Kentucky as well as Virginia. By the end of the third quarter, year-to-date installations of new wind power dropped 72 percent from 2009 levels, according to the American Wind Energy Association, a trade group.

Mr. Polsky calls the focus on short-term costs short-sighted.

“They have to look for the ratepayers’ long-term interest,” he said, “not just the bills this year.”

Electricity generated from wind or sun still generally costs more — and sometimes a lot more — than the power squeezed from coal or natural gas. Prices for fossil fuels have dropped in part because the recession has reduced demand. In the case of natural gas, newer drilling techniques have opened the possibility of vast new supplies for years to come.

The gap in price can pit regulators, who see their job as protecting consumers from unreasonable rates, against renewable energy developers and utility companies, many of which are willing to pay higher prices now to ensure a broader energy portfolio in the future.

In April, for example, the state public utilities commission in Rhode Island rejected a power-purchase deal for an offshore wind project that would have cost 24.4 cents a kilowatt-hour. The utility now pays about 9.5 cents a kilowatt hour for electricity from fossil fuels.

The state legislature responded by passing a bill allowing the regulators to consider factors other than price. The commission then approved an agreement to buy electricity from a smaller wind farm, although that decision is being challenged in the courts.

Similarly, in Kentucky this year, the public service commission voted down a contract for a local utility, Kentucky Power, to buy electricity from NextEra Energy Resources in Illinois.

According to the commission, Kentucky Power argued that the contract would position the utility “to better meet growing environmental requirements and impending government portfolio mandates for renewable energy” and that it would benefit customers.

But Kentucky’s attorney general, Jack Conway, joined by business and industrial electricity users, opposed the deal, contending that it would have increased a typical residential customer’s rates by about 0.7 percent and was “a discretionary expense” that the utility’s customers could ill afford.

Commissioner James W. Gardner, the lone dissenting commissioner, protested that “there is a necessity for this power” and said that “there are great pressures nationally and in Kentucky to increase renewables online payday loans.”

Companies that make solar cells and wind machines argue that a national energy policy is needed to guarantee them a market that will allow their industry to develop. Clean power will be an important industry globally for years, they say, and if the United States does not subsidize renewable energy now, it risks falling far behind other countries.

They point to China, which is rapidly increasing the amount of electricity it generates from renewable sources. In its most recent quarterly assessment of the renewable energy sector, the accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young identified China as the most attractive market for investment in renewable energy.

In part, the analysis suggested, this reflected the failure of American lawmakers to pass a national renewable energy standard and the looming expiration of a Treasury program that allowed renewable developers to receive cash grants in lieu of tax credits.

In Europe, many national governments have guaranteed prices for energy from sun or wind. As a result, renewable advocates say, many countries are on track to meet the European Union’s goal of 20 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2020.

The United States has relied on a combination of state renewable energy mandates and federal tax credits to encourage greater reliance on energy from renewable sources. Legislation that would have set a price on carbon-dioxide emissions and included a standard for increasing the share of clean energy in the nation’s electricity portfolio failed in Congress this year.

“Our investors tell us they’re nervous about all the uncertainty,” said John Cusack, the president of Gifford Park Associates, a sustainability management and investment consulting firm in Eastchester, N.Y. “They don’t know what’s going to happen.”

To be sure, a lot of renewable power development is still going forward. The American Wind Energy Association estimates that wind farms capable of producing 6,300 megawatts of wind power are under construction, and that a busy second half of 2010 would leave installations about 50 percent behind last year. Solar power is becoming less expensive, and its use is expanding rapidly. But it still accounts for less than 1 percent of the nation’s electricity needs, providing enough to serve about 350,000 homes.

Renewable energy supporters argue that higher fossil fuel prices will eventually make renewable energy more competitive — and at times over the last two decades, when the price for natural gas has spiked, wind power in particular has been a relative bargain. Advocates also argue that while the costs might be higher now, as the technology matures and supply chains and manufacturing bases take root, clean sources of power will become more attractive.

Fold in the higher costs of extracting and burning fossil fuels on human health, the climate and the environment, many advocates argue, and renewable technologies like wind power are already cheaper.

“One of the problems in the United States is that we haven’t been willing to confront the tough questions,” said Paul Gipe, who sits on the steering committee of the Alliance for Renewable Energy, a group advocating energy policy reform.

“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Do we really want renewables?’ ” he said. “And if the answer to that is yes, then we’re going to have to pay for them.”

Cost of Green Power Makes Projects Tougher Sell

WASHINGTON – The economy added 151,000 jobs last month — the best showing since April, but only about half what it would take to put a noticeable dent in unemployment.

Two big questions: What will it take for businesses to hire that vigorously again? And when will that be?

With Congress facing gridlock, some economists say it will be at least a year before companies gain enough confidence to hit the sweet spot of 300,000 new jobs a month. That's what it would take to reduce the unemployment rate by a full percentage point over a year.

"It could be another year or two," says Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. "Hopefully, I'm wrong and the economy catches fire, but you'd have to be a pretty brave man to predict that's going to happen.

The unemployment rate held steady for the third straight month at 9.6 percent in October, the government said Friday. The private sector added 159,000 jobs, also its best performance since April. Retailers added 28,000 and health care firms 24,000. Financially ailing local governments shed 15,000 jobs.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, holds out hope that "the preconditions are coming into place for much better job growth. Big companies, midsize companies are very profitable."

Zandi says those companies need to get over the shock of the recession and regain the confidence to start hiring again. That will probably take another year or so, he says. He thinks net job creation won't consistently hit the magic 300,000-a-month mark until 2012.

Job creation used to bounce back faster after recessions. When manufacturing occupied a bigger part of the economy, factories would quickly revive the labor market by recalling laid-off workers once conditions improved. After the severe 1981-82 recession, for instance, the economy generated 287,000 jobs a month in 1983 and 323,000 in 1984. Monthly growth exceeded 300,000 jobs 24 times in the 1980s.

Some months were especially explosive: in September 1983, the economy created 1.1 million jobs. In February 1984, it was 479,000.

But advances in automation and the development of a mainly service economy mean employers are slower to recall laid-off workers or hire new ones. Since 1983, the economy has tended to need a lot of time after a recession to create many new jobs. Not until 22 months after the 1990-1991 recession officially ended, for example, did job growth hit the 300,000-a-month mark. It took 28 months after the 2001 recession.

This year, with the Great Recession officially over since June 2009, the average gain is 87,400 jobs a month saving account payday loan. At that pace, it would take until the end of 2017 to replace the 7.5 million jobs wiped out by the downturn that began in December 2007.

The aftermath of the housing crash and the financial crisis is still holding back the economy. Normally, when the economy starts to recover, low mortgage rates and pent-up demand for homes fuel a powerful rebound in housing. Homebuyers snap up appliances. Builders put up houses. Construction workers are hired.

That still isn't happening after the worst housing bust since the 1930s. The supply of unsold new homes on the market remains so vast it would take more than eight months, at the current sales pace, to exhaust. That's hardly a recipe for stepped-up construction.

Banks have also tightened lending standards. Fewer borrowers qualify for loans. Millions of families are stuck in houses worth less than what they owe on their mortgages and can't sell or refinance. Other households are slashing debts and cutting spending and are in no mood to buy.

The economy seems unlikely to get much help from the next Congress. Republicans, who seized the House and gained seats in the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections, have vowed to resist any further stimulus spending. They say the Obama administration's $814 billion stimulus program failed, though most economists say it kept the recession from worsening.

Republicans say they would help the economy by cutting business taxes and giving companies relief from over-regulation. John Makin, an economist with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, says Congress should suspend Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes for both individuals and businesses.

Lawmakers are expected to extend expiring tax cuts originally enacted during the administration of President George W. Bush. But that won't be anything new; it will just maintain the status quo.

Heidi Shierholz, economist at the liberal Employment Policy Institute, argues that the economy will continue to sputter unless the government steps in with more spending.

"Those just elected to Congress had better start coming up with solutions," says Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial, "or risk the same fate of this year's incumbents when they run for re-election in 2012."

Jobs crisis eases, but economy has long way to go

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Dell Inc, the world&&9;s No.2 PC maker, will focus its M&A activity on expanding IT services in specific markets as it diversifies beyond its core PC business, a senior executive said on Thursday.

The company would not concentrate on making huge acquisitions in the near future, Steve Schuckenbrock, global president for Dell&&9;s large enterprise business, told a news conference.

"Services expansion on a geographic basis is a priority," he said. "China is high on that list."

Schuckenbrock&&9;s comments come after Dell engaged in a bidding war with rival Hewlett-Packard Co for high-end storage maker 3PAR, with HP ultimately winning the &&6;2.4 billion battle.

Dell announced it would buy cloud-computing services company Boomi earlier this week to shore up its ability to provide software over computer networks, in a move it says will help smooth data transfers between programs.

Dell also aimed to have its services unit in China contribute up to 25 percent of its revenue there in three years, up from about 10 percent now, said its China Vice-President Alex Yung No teletrak payday loan.

PC companies have increasingly been looking to mobile devices and IT services to diversify away from the heavily commoditized personal computer, where net margins can fall to the low single digits for companies such as Acer Inc.

Demand for Dell&&9;s services was also returning to pre-crisis levels as companies look to perform system upgrades that were put off in the past two years, Schuckenbrock said.

"I think a lot of spend we see today is a &&9;spend to save&&9; mindset," he said. "That is a substantial driver of the growth we&&9;re seeing. It started in the third quarter of last year and I still see it at this point."

Dell and Lenovo Group Ltd, which are heavily reliant on corporate spending, were harder hit during the crisis as companies squeezed their technology budgets.

(Reporting by Doug Young and Kelvin Soh; Editing by Chris Lewis)

Dell to focus on services expansion as demand recovers

PARIS — The Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria said Tuesday that it would acquire a 24.9 percent stake in Turkey’s largest lender, giving it access to a fast-growing market as the financial crisis weighs on its Spanish business.

The move represents a departure for BBVA, which till now has concentrated its efforts overseas on the United States and Latin America.

BBVA will pay €4.2 billion, or $5.9 billion, for the stake in Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, acquiring 18.6 percent from General Electric for about $3.8 billion and the remaining 6.3 percent from Dogus Group, a Turkish conglomerate, which is selling its own stake in Garanti down to 24.9 percent. The price represents at 10 percent discount to Garanti’s average closing price last week.

“BBVA wants to be in markets with the highest growth potential,” Francisco González, BBVA’s chairman and chief executive said in a statement. “Turkey, through a leading bank such as Garanti, is undoubtedly one of them.”

Turkey, where 50 percent of the population of 75 million is younger than 30, is expected to be the fastest-growing country among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members over the next few years, BBVA said. Gross domestic product expanded 3.7 percent in the second quarter from the first, the government in Ankara said in September.

By contrast, the Spanish economy grew 0 payday loans.2 percent in the April-June period from the first three months of 2010, and the unemployment rate, at 19.8 percent, is the highest in the European Union.

Just last week, BBVA posted a 17 percent decline in third-quarter net income, to €1.14 billion, as its Spanish and Portuguese business slowed. The Spanish bank had said Oct. 21 that it was talking with Garanti about a possible deal.

Garanti is the top Turkish bank in most areas, with 9.5 million clients, 837 branches, and total assets over €60 billion, BBVA noted. The bank ranks No. 1 in Turkey for credit cards and loans and ranks third in deposits.

Under the terms of the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, BBVA and Dogus will jointly manage Garanti. The two will each appoint four members to the board, while the chief executive will be appointed “by common consent.”

To fund the purchase, the Spanish bank is offering €5 billion in shares to current shareholders in a rights issue, which was priced at a 29 percent discount to their Friday close. On Tuesday, shares of Garanti, based in Istanbul, rose 1.6 percent on the Istanbul exchange, while BBVA fell 2.4 percent in Madrid.

In Departure, Spanish Bank Looks to Turkey for Growth

NEW YORK – Shares of Le Gaga Holdings Inc. rose about 5 percent in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq Global Market Friday.

The stock rose 45 cents to $9.95 in midday trading.

The initial public offering included 9.2 million American depositary shares offered by the Chinese greenhouse vegetable producer and about 1.7 million ADSs offered by selling shareholders.

Each ADS represents 50 ordinary shares.

Earlier Friday Le Gaga said the IPO was priced at $9 no faxing payday loan.50 per ADS, the top end of its range. The company raised $87.4 million from the shares it offered in the IPO. Selling shareholders offered about 1.7 million ADSs, raising approximately $15.9 million.

The stock trades under the "GAGA" ticker symbol.

Le Gaga rises in its 1st day of Nasdaq trading

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The dollar fell Thursday, extending a decline against major currencies after a U.S. report showed first-time claims for jobless benefits dropped more than analysts expected.

The currency has been under considerable pressure in the last month as traders expect the Federal Reserve to say next week that it will buy a massive amount of government bonds, a process that would tend to weaken the dollar.

The dollar index , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, fell to 77.383, off about 0.8% from 78.138 late Wednesday.

The euro  rose to $1.3903 from $1.3762.

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The British pound  jumped to $1.5935 from $1.5758.

The dollar bought ¥80.95, down from ¥81.73 in late North American trading Wednesday. See real-time currency quotes and tools.

Thursday’s decline against the yen started after the Bank of Japan decided to take no new easing steps at its latest policy meeting. The dollar then extended its losses after the Labor Department said first-time filings for unemployment benefits in the latest week fell by 21,000 to 434,000. See more on jobless claims.

Most of the currency’s market focus, however, has been on expected central bank measures to stimulate the economy.

The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets next week, concluding on Nov. 3. Investors and analysts expect the panel to announce a second round of quantitative easing — a process akin to printing money — intended to boost lending and spending so the economy grows more and can fend off deflation pressures.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the central bank’s arm that conducts such operations, has asked primary bond dealers about the potential impact on yields of various amounts of QE, according to Bloomberg News paperless payday loans.

Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes declined, contributing to downside pressure on the dollar, currency strategists at Citigroup wrote in a note. Read about Treasury bonds.

There remains a “considerable degree of uneasiness in the market about the outcome from the FOMC meeting next week,” they said.

Since Sept. 20, the day before the last Fed meeting, the dollar index has dropped 4.7%, hitting its lowest level this year in the process.

The euro has gained 6.2% since then, reclaiming a 10-month high in mid-October. The dollar has declined 5.4% against the yen and touched a 15-year low at its worst level.

The euro extended gains after Germany said the number of unemployed people fell under 3 million. See more on German unemployment.

Bank of Japan

In Japan, the central bank left its key overnight call rate unchanged, in line with expectations that it wouldn’t take any new measures.

QE circumspection dominates

Financial markets seem to be having a little rethink about quantitative easing. They still think they'll get some, but perhaps it'll be more steady flow than the tsunami some had hoped for. So says Dow Jones Newswires' David Cottle.

The Bank of Japan offered details of its asset-buying program and cut its growth outlook, and also moved forward its next policy meeting to Nov. 4-5 — right on the heels of the FOMC — from the previously scheduled Nov. 15-16. Read more on Bank of Japan meeting.

The yen rallied over “investors’ fears that if the FOMC announces a sizable plan next week it would put the Bank of Japan under pressure to expand its own quantitative measures,” said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers.

Currencies: Dollar extends loss after jobless claims

NEW YORK – The dollar turned higher Tuesday as investors pondered how much to expect from the Federal Reserve next week when it's due to decide on economic stimulus measures.

The dollar has declined sharply over the past two months because investors expect Fed policymakers to announce more measures to boost the economy at its Nov. 2-3 meeting. Investors have been pricing in a huge program of bond-buying, which would drive interest rates lower and weigh on the dollar. A smaller, piecemeal approach by the Fed could offer some support for the dollar.

The dollar has fallen about 7 percent since late August, when Fed chief Ben Bernanke first hinted at the Fed's plans. On Oct. 15, the dollar fell to its weakest point against the euro since January, and struck its latest 15-year low against the yen on Monday.

Investors' certainty that the Fed will act in November may be starting to ebb, said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist at Forex.com.

In a speech Monday night, William Dudley, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that further Fed action was "likely to be warranted" unless the economic outlook improved paydayloans. Still, he added that the Fed "cannot wave a magic wand and make the problems remaining from the preceding period of excess vanish immediately."

Dudley's speech indicated that the Fed may be planning smaller monthly bond purchases of about $100 billion that can be abandoned if the economic outlook improves, rather than a set program of trillions of dollars over a specific timeframe, said David Watt, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital in Toronto.

In a research note, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst David Woo said that "Anything short of ($500 billion) in announced purchases over a six-month horizon could actually disappoint the market."

In late trading in New York, the euro slumped to $1.3850 from $1.3976, while the dollar rose to 81.49 Japanese yen from 80.85 yen. The British pound rose to $1.5835 from $1.5748.

The dollar gained to 1.0246 Canadian dollars from 1.0186 Canadian dollars, and moved up to 0.9861 Swiss francs from 0.9707 Swiss francs.

Dollar gains as investors ponder size of Fed move

NEW YORK – A former utility executive and nuclear opponent is raising concerns about the presence of two large underground natural gas pipelines that cross within a few hundred feet of the Indian Point nuclear facility in Buchanan, N.Y.

The nuclear reactors' owner, the pipelines' owner and regulators say the pipelines do not pose a threat.

Paul Blanch, an energy consultant from West Hartford, Conn., filed a petition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Monday that questions whether the NRC has properly studied the effects of an explosion of the lines or planned for such an accident. The lines supply New England with a quarter of its daily natural gas needs.

"It's a low probability event," said Blanch of a rupture of one of the pipes. "But the consequences are unimaginable."

Concerns about natural gas pipeline safety have been heightened since a large pipeline in San Bruno, Calif. ruptured and exploded in September, killing eight people and destroying 37 homes. Blanch's fear is that similar explosion and subsequent fire at Indian Point could damage or destroy the cooling and safety systems at the site and lead to a catastrophic nuclear accident.

The pipelines near Indian Point carry about double the amount of natural gas as the San Bruno pipeline.

The NRC licenses that allow the plants' owner, Entergy, to operate the two Indian Point reactors expire in 2013 and 2015. Entergy is in the process of trying to extend those licenses for 20 years, and that process has made Indian Point somewhat of a lightning rod for anti-nuclear advocates, including Blanch.

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is running for governor of New York, opposes extending the licenses because, he says, the plants are too close to heavily populated areas. They are 45 miles from New York City. Blanch has testified in hearings on Cuomo's behalf.

Environmental advocates do not want Entergy's licenses renewed because they say the cooling system used by the plants kills unacceptable numbers of endangered fish like the Atlantic sturgeon and other marine organisms.

David Lochbaum, director of the nuclear safety program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, agrees with Blanch that the pipeline issue needs to be explored. He helped Blanch draft his petition.

"This is not to say that this pipeline is a hazard, there may be a good analysis that shows it is not," said Lochbaum in an interview. "But until these questions are answered it is a potential hazard that needs to be looked into."

Mete Sozen, a professor of structural engineering at Purdue University who studies the ability of reinforced concrete to withstand shocks, said it would be extremely difficult for a fire outside a nuclear containment building to affect the reactor core.

The so-called containment structures that house nuclear reactor vessels are built to withstand extremely high temperatures and pressures. "If there's an explosion nearby, I'd want to be inside a nuclear plant," Sozen says.

Blanch is worried that an explosion and fire sustained by large volumes of natural gas would destroy the systems that power and govern the reactor's cooling system. That, he fears, could lead to a breach of the reactor vessel and the release of radioactive material.

The gas pipelines were installed in the 1950s and 1960s, and predate construction of the nuclear plant. Blanch suspects that changes to the pipelines since their safety was first studied in the late 1960s have not been properly evaluated by the NRC.

The NRC said in a letter to Blanch that it had Entergy evaluate the consequences of a failure of the gas pipelines in August of 2008. In September 2008, Entergy concluded that the pipelines do not pose a safety or security hazard, according to the NRC.

The NRC would not make the details of the study available siting "sensitive information."

Entergy also declined to discuss details. In an email, a spokesperson wrote: "An explosion or a fire involving the pipeline does not pose a hazard to the safe operation of the plant no fax payday advance."

Lochbaum says he find it "curious" that the NRC is withholding details of the study. He wrote in an email that if the Entergy evaluation showed that if the pipeline was not a threat, "one would think the NRC would want the world, both good guys and bad guys, to know it."

"Either the alleged expert evaluation does not exist (and therefore cannot be made public)," Lochbaum wrote in another email. "Or it does exist but identifies a hazard to the plant (and therefore cannot be made public)."

The NRC made public a study in 2004 that showed that a natural gas pipeline near a uranium enrichment facility Eunice, New Mexico did not pose a hazard.

And in the past the commission itself has raised concerns about natural gas near nuclear facilities. In 1991 it alerted all nuclear power plant operators to potential hazards after it discovered that natural gas wells were drilled and pipes installed near the Fort St. Vrain nuclear facility in northern Colorado without being properly studied. The plant was closed in 1992.

NRC documents from 1968, when the reactors were being built, say the lines don't pose a threat to the plants in part because automatic shutoff valves near the section that runs near the plant would allow the owner of the gas line to stop the flow of gas within four minutes.

A 1995 NRC document, however, says "automatic shutoff controls have recently been removed from all valve sites" because they had been shutting off gas flow mistakenly. A Spectra spokesperson wrote in an email that those controls were replaced with "more advanced and reliable" controllers.

The company said it would be able to shut off gas in "minutes" but declined to be more specific. The company also declined to say how far away the shutoff controllers are from the section of pipeline that crosses the Indian Point property.

Jim Hall, a pipeline safety expert who served as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board under President Bill Clinton said that pipelines in a sensitive area like near a nuclear reactor should have a backup system that would kick in if the initial shutoff system failed. "And it should be unacceptable to have pipelines there that are 50 or 60 years old," he said.

Spectra says its safety systems have backup electrical systems that will allow them to be activated even if power is lost. It said systems are monitored at all times from a Houston control center. The age of the pipelines, it said in an email, is "not really the issue" because they undergo regular maintenance and inspection.

Spectra says 1.45 billion cubic feet of gas per day flows in the lines near Indian Point, or about 1 million cubic feet per minute. That's double the rate of gas flow that escaped in the San Bruno disaster.

A 2010 study of the feasibility of installing a new cooling system at Indian Point estimated that it would cost $13.8 million to move the gas pipelines.

Blanch spent 20 years at Northeast Utilities, where he was a nuclear operations engineer. While there, he raised safety concerns about Connecticut's Millstone generating station. He was fired by the company, but after the NRC substantiated Blanch's concerns he was rehired and defended Millstone's safety procedures. He believes that the NRC does not enforce nuclear safety strictly enough, and he is especially concerned with the degradation of older reactors like the ones at Indian Point.

The type of petition filed by Blanch, called a 2.206 petition, can be filed by any concerned member of the public. As of the end of August, there were 11 such petitions under review by the NRC. The NRC is expected to decide within a month whether or not to investigate Blanch's claims.

Concerns raised over pipeline near Indian Point

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GYEONGJU, South Korea (AFP) – The United States won G20 backing Saturday to tackle groaning trade imbalances as the world&&9;s biggest industrial nations vowed to avoid tit-for-tat currency devaluations.

After all-night talks among their senior officials, G20 finance ministers forged an agreement in South Korea to "refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies" and aim for "more market-determined exchange rate systems".

South Korean Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-Hyun said the two-day G20 meeting had laid to rest fears of a "currency war" between struggling debtors such as the United States and exporting powers such as China.

The outcome will "terminate the controversial currency issue now", he told a news conference, while conceding that it was "very difficult" for the G20 to reach agreement.

In a statement, the finance ministers vowed to "pursue the full range of policies conducive to reducing excessive imbalances and maintaining current-account imbalances at sustainable levels".

The International Monetary Fund won greater power to oversee G20 commitments. It is tasked with compiling periodic reports that investigate how a country&&9;s economic policies can damage major trading partners.

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the G20 ministers had, in parallel, struck a "very historic" deal to revamp the Washington-based financial watchdog to give China and other emerging powers a greater say.

Under the deal, which has been years in the making, Europe agreed to cede two seats on the IMF board to accommodate developing nations. Brazil, Russia, India and China will all in future rank among the top 10 IMF shareholders.

The G20 also signed off on a deal for tighter regulation of banks and big finance firms blamed for triggering the global economic crisis, raising the amount of top-quality capital that banks must hold in reserve for a rainy day.

Even without the IMF reform deal, the G20&&9;s mandate for the Fund to increase its watchdog role over currencies "would have been enough to make my day", Strauss-Kahn said.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner came to South Korea with a plan for nations running big current-account surpluses to change their exchange-rate policies, and deficit nations to take their own action to rebalance growth fast payday loans.

Targeting China&&9;s hefty current account surplus would be an indirect way for Washington to cajole Beijing into relaxing its tight shackles on the yuan and permit the currency to appreciate.

However, many emerging markets are suspicious that the United States is deliberately allowing the dollar to flounder so that it can export its way back to prosperity.

Geithner, who was to head to China Sunday for economic talks, renewed US backing for a "strong dollar" and said a "gradual appreciation" in the currencies of major trade-surplus nations was required.

Geithner had suggested that G20 members assign a specific limit for their current account surplus or deficit -- four percent of gross domestic product.

But no numerical target was given in the final statement. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said the G20 agreed that it was "not necessary to impose the measures with a nasty stick".

Jittery financial markets were looking for a strong stand from G20 members against beggar-thy-neighbour currency policies, in the leadup to a November 11-12 summit in Seoul.

"I think the agreement will go some way towards calming market fears of currency wars," Marco Annunziata, chief economist with Unicredit Group in London, told AFP.

"Whether the positive impact is durable, however, will depend on whether national policies are in fact changed to be in line with the agreement," he warned.

"Otherwise this will be seen as an empty statement of principle."

Following the world&&9;s worst financial crisis since the 1930s, a super-loose US monetary policy is hammering the dollar, leading to uncomfortably strong currencies for other G20 economies.

Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Indonesia among others have intervened unilaterally in recent weeks to curb the alarming rise in their currencies, which is hurting their exporting companies.

But in a highly integrated world economy, "uncoordinated responses will lead to worse outcomes for everyone", the G20 nations agreed.

Fractious G20 confronts currency row, reforms IMF

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Strong corporate earnings led stocks higher on Thursday, while a weaker U.S. dollar and reassuring data from China gave an extra boost to equities.

Blue chips McDonald&&9;s Corp (MCD.N) and Travelers Cos Inc (TRV.N) rose after reporting better-than-expected results, while eBay Inc (EBAY.O), Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) boosted both the consumer sector and the Nasdaq Composite.

"Corporate earnings and the lower dollar are helping the stock market today," said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners in Chicago. "U.S. equities are looking at China as continuing to have fairly robust growth, and that&&9;s good for the global economy."

Economic growth in China, the world&&9;s No. 2 economy, slowed in the third quarter, but was still at a healthy level, data showed, calming fears after recent monetary tightening.

The euro rose against the dollar in choppy trade as investors wrestled with uncertainty over the size and shape of expected U.S. monetary easing.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) added 84.99 points, or 0.77 percent, to 11,192.96. The Standard & Poor&&9;s 500 (.SPX) rose 8.84 points, or 0.75 percent, to 1,187 cash advance in one hour.01. The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) gained 19.85 points, or 0.81 percent, to 2,477.24.

Online auctioneer eBay rose 8.8 percent to &&6;27.91 and Netflix, the movie rental and streaming service, jumped 14 percent to &&6;173.49 after both reported upbeat results late Wednesday.

Amazon advanced 4.1 percent to &&6;165.18 after it was upgraded by Bank of America Merrill. It is expected to post results after the closing bell.

McDonald&&9;s gained 2.5 percent to &&6;79.31 after it beat expectations for quarterly profit and same-store sales growth in September.

Travelers was up 1 percent to &&6;55.16 after the largest publicly traded U.S. property casualty insurer easily beat estimates as premiums rose in its personal insurance lines.

The Conference Board said U.S. economic activity posted a third successive increase in September, but at a pace so modest that it implied only lackluster growth ahead. Also, new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Nasdaq up 1 percent as earnings boost Wall Street

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Homeowners are likely to wait until the value of their property drops well below what they owe on their homes before walking away from their debts, researchers at the San Francisco Fed said on Monday.

While it might seem reasonable to expect mortgage defaults the moment property values dip below borrowings, homeowners typically stay in their homes until long after that point, the researchers said in the latest issue of the bank&&9;s Economic Letter.

"House price changes alone are not the sole predictor of default," wrote John Krainer, a senior economist at the San Francisco Fed, and Stephen LeRoy, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a visiting scholar at the San Francisco Fed. "The rational default point is below the &&9;underwater&&9; point where house price equals the remaining loan balance, and depends on prospects for future house price appreciation and borrower default costs."

If homeowners believe their houses will regain lost value, or if they perceive big disadvantages from defaulting like the expense of moving or a lower credit rating, they will try to hold on to their homes, the researchers said payday advance.

The finding comes at a tumultuous time in U.S. housing policy, as attorneys general in all 50 U.S. states look at allegations that banks for years failed to review foreclosure documents properly or submitted false statements in support of foreclosure applications.

Housing values have dropped 30 percent since their peak in 2006, and defaults and foreclosures are at levels not seen since World War II. In California, Florida and Nevada, more than 20 percent of mortgages exceed home values, and nearly one-third of homes sold in September were in the foreclosure process.

Not every homeowner will behave rationally, the San Francisco Fed researchers said.

"Many borrowers default when they seemingly have no rational incentive to do so, while other borrowers stay current on loans that appear to be irretrievably underwater," the researchers said, calling for more study on the issue.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

"Underwater" mortgages may not spell default: SF Fed

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