On Monday October 11, 2010, 6:16 pm EDT
3 win economics Nobel for
job market analysis
STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Two
Americans and a British-Cypriot economist won the 2010 Nobel economics prize
Monday for developing a theory that helps explain how many people can remain
unemployed despite a large number of job vacancies.
Federal Reserve board
nominee Peter Diamond was honored along with Dale Mortensen and Christopher
Pissarides with the 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.5 million) prize for their
analysis of the obstacles that prevent buyers and sellers from efficiently
pairing up in markets.
Diamond -- a former mentor
to current Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke -- analyzed the foundations of
so-called search markets, while Mortensen and Pissarides expanded the theory
and applied it to the labor market.
Senior citizens brace for
Social Security freeze
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) --
Seniors prepared to cut back on everything from food to charitable donations to
whiskey as word spread Monday that they will have to wait until at least 2012
to see their Social Security checks increase.
The government is expected
to announce this week that more than 58 million Social Security recipients will
go through a second straight year without an increase in monthly benefits. This
year was the first without an increase since automatic adjustments for
inflation started in 1975.
Cost-of-living adjustments
are automatically set by a measure adopted by Congress in the 1970s that orders
raises based on the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation. If
inflation is negative, as in 2009 and 2010, payments remain unchanged.
Poll: Weak economic growth
expected through 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top
forecasters say the economy will grow this year and next at a slower pace than
previously thought, weakened by governments and consumers spending less so they
can pay down debt.
That's the finding of a new
survey released Monday by the National Association of Business Economics.
The 46 economists polled
tempered their expectations after seeing weak economic data in recent months.
The panel reduced its forecast for annual economic growth to 2.6 percent in
2010 and 2011. That's down from its forecast of 3.2 percent in May.
Stocks end flat at the
start of busy earnings week
NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock
market finished at about the same place where it started Monday as traders
waited for a packed week of reports that will give them a better view of where
the economy is headed.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average remained stuck in a 52-point range throughout the day, ending the day
10 points above the 11,000 milestone.
Traders have been pushing
the stock market higher over the past two weeks, expecting that the Federal
Reserve will act in the coming weeks to stimulate the economy and drive
interest rates lower.
Microsoft bets big on new
phone software
NEW YORK (AP) -- Microsoft
Corp. knows the cell phone world is where it's happening, and it's determined
to be a part of it.
After years of declining
sales of phones based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile software, the company is
starting with a fresh slate -- a completely new operating system for phones.
The new handsets will go up
against Apple Inc.'s highly popular iPhone and the expanding number of phones
running on Google Inc.'s Android operating system.
The first phone with
Windows Phone 7 will be the Samsung Focus, which hits AT&T Inc. stores Nov.
8 for $200 with a two-year contract requirement, Microsoft said Monday.
Gymboree agrees to $1.8
billion buyout by Bain
NEW YORK (AP) -- Children's
clothing retailer Gymboree Corp. has agreed to be bought by asset management
firm Bain Capital for $1.8 billion in what would be the sixth-largest private
equity deal of the year.
Gymboree said Monday that
the deal is for $65.40 per share, a 24 percent premium to Gymboree's Friday
closing stock price of $52.95. The retailer, based in San Francisco, currently
has about 27.3 million shares outstanding.
Gymboree stock surged 22
percent on the news.
The news did not come as a
surprise, as speculation about a potential acquisition had been brewing for a
few weeks.
Asian currency tensions
simmer as dollar sinks
MUMBAI, India -- A surging
tide of foreign cash has helped drive stocks in Indonesia and the Philippines
to record highs, while India's market has been flirting with a lifetime peak.
That rush of money has
forced local currencies to export-bruising highs.
Now many policymakers in
the region have started to intervene to keep their exchange rates competitive,
especially as China keeps a tight rein on its yuan. Many fear a quiet trade war
is brewing, fought not through tariffs but through currency.
Chinese buy third of
Chesapeake South Texas field
DALLAS (AP) -- China's
state-owned offshore oil and gas company has bought a one-third interest in
600,000 acres that Chesapeake Energy leases in a South Texas oil and gas field.
CNOOC Ltd. and Oklahoma
City-based Chesapeake announced the deal worth up to $2.16 billion Sunday in
the Eagle Ford Shale project between Laredo and San Antonio. A joint statement
says CNOOC will pay Chesapeake $1.08 billion in cash at closing and share 75
percent of Chesapeake's drilling and completion costs up to another $1.08
billion.
For Chesapeake, the deal
provides capital to put toward drilling and other aspects of its Eagle Ford
operation. For its part, CNOOC is looking to tap into the expertise that
Chesapeake has used to cheaply tap reserves of oil and gas buried deep in shale
rock formations.
Daimler recalling autos
over power steering
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Daimler
AG said Monday it was recalling more than 100,000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the
United States and the United Kingdom to prevent a loss of power steering fluid.
The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration said in a posting to its website Monday that the
recall involved Mercedes-Benz C-Class vehicles from the 2010 model year and
Mercedes-Benz E-Class vehicles from the 2010-2011 model years. The recall
involves vehicles produced between June 2009 and late February 2010.
About 85,000 vehicles are
being recalled in the United States and more than 22,000 are being recalled in
the United Kingdom, the automaker said. Daimler said it was a global recall but
did not have details on additional markets that could be covered.
Oil settles lower after
dollar strengthens
Oil prices settled lower on
Monday as the dollar strengthened and traders hunkered down ahead of some
important economic news later this week. Benchmark oil for November delivery
lost 45 cents to settle at $82.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
At the pump, the national
average for a gallon of regular gasoline rose to $2.807, according to AAA,
Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's 11.8 cents higher than
it was a month ago and 32.8 cents higher than a year ago.
The dollar grew stronger
against other currencies on Monday. That pressured oil prices, because a
stronger dollar makes crude, priced in dollars, less attractive to investors
who buy it with other currencies.
Geron tests stem cell
treatment on patient
NEW YORK (AP) -- Geron
Corp. has begun testing an embryonic stem-cell treatment on a patient with
spinal cord injuries, marking the first time such a medical therapy has been
used on a human in a government approved study.
The company said it
enrolled the first patient in the early stage study, which will look at the
safety of the treatment and how well the patient can tolerate it.
The patient was enrolled at
Shepherd Center, a spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation center in
Atlanta, one of seven potential sites in the United States.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average gained 3.86, or 0.04 percent, to close at 11,010.34.
The Standard & Poor's
500 index rose 0.17 to 1,165.32, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 0.42, or
0.02 percent, to 2,402.33.
Benchmark oil for November
delivery lost 45 cents to settle at $82.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
In other Nymex trading,
heating oil lost 0.29 cent to settle at $2.2790 a gallon, gasoline added 1.43
cents to settle at $2.1655 a gallon and natural gas lost 5 cents to settle at
$3.601 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude
dropped 31 cents to settle at $83.72 on the ICE futures exchange.