Exxon Mobil, the world's
largest publicly traded oil company, is making a $29 billion bet that pressure
to curb climate change will mean natural gas -- cleaner than coal and suddenly
much easier to reach -- will become a crucial source of U.S. power.
Exxon agreed to buy XTO
Energy in an all-stock deal at a 25 percent premium, showing how eagerly a
company that is among the most conservative in a conservative industry is
jumping into the market for natural gas.
As negotiators haggled in
Copenhagen over a global plan to curb carbon emissions, the deal suggested
Exxon sees change coming for an energy source best known now for heating homes.
Dubai's $10B bailout by Abu
Dhabi calms fears
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
(AP) -- Oil-rich Abu Dhabi pumped $10 billion into its indebted neighbor
Monday, sending stocks soaring while sparing Dubai and the rest of the Emirates
federation the humiliation of an imminent default by one of the struggling Arab
boomtown's star companies.
The bailout was about more
than petrodollar transfers from one United Arab Emirates sheikdom to the other.
Dubai officials seized on the news to try to repair damage done by weeks of
uncertainty stemming from their unwillingness to fully stand behind Dubai World
as the conglomerate looked to restructure some of its $60 billion in debts.
Investors cheered Monday's
news. Dubai's main index shot up 10.4 percent at the close and markets
elsewhere rose modestly.
Citigroup to repay $20
billion in bailout money
NEW YORK (AP) -- Citigroup
said Monday it is repaying $20 billion in public bailout money, freeing the
banking giant from the close scrutiny and pay restrictions that came with the
rescue program. The government also will sell its one-third stake in the
company.
Paying back the government
gives an immediate lift to Citigroup's reputation and will save the bank $1.7
billion a year in dividend payments, but it comes at a heavy cost. Raising the
new capital will significantly dilute current shareholders' stake in the
company, and Citi's shares fell more than 6 percent.
The government gave Citi
$45 billion in loans and agreed to protect losses on nearly $300 billion in
risky investments.
Stocks rise to 2009 highs
after Dubai, Exxon deals
NEW YORK (AP) -- Easing
concerns over global credit problems and more signs of corporate dealmaking
nudged major stock indexes to new highs for the year.
Stock indicators rose but
posted uneven advances Monday following news that Abu Dhabi had extended $10
billion to Dubai to help the Middle Eastern city-state stay afloat. Markets had
been worried in recent weeks that debt problems in the former boomtown could
send ripples through global credit markets. The Dow Jones industrial gained
about 30 points to 10,501.05.
Despite the gain in stocks,
investors were being cautious, refraining from making big bets in any one area
of the market as they have for the past few weeks. Bond prices were little
changed and commodities were just slightly higher.
Obama to banks: ease
lending to businesses
WASHINGTON (AP) --
President Barack Obama challenged top bankers Monday to explore "every
responsible way" to increase lending, saying they were obliged to help
after being rescued by taxpayers. He asked them to "take a third and
fourth look" at their small-business lending.
US Bancorp CEO Richard
Davis told the group meeting at the White House that his bank would be willing
to take a second look at every loan it rejects. And he said he would present
the idea to other members of the Financial Services Roundtable -- a group
representing the largest financial companies, according to the Roundtable.
Davis is its incoming chairman.
Greek premier says country
risks sinking in debt
ATHENS, Greece (AP) --
Greece's prime minister announced a barrage of spending cuts Monday, promising
to control a ballooning government budget deficit and warning that the country
risked drowning in debt.
George Papandreou called
for unity during a speech to business and union leaders in Athens. He pledged
that his new Socialist government, elected in October, would take steps over
the next few months that are decades overdue.
The raft of measures
included a reduction in defense spending in 2011 and 2012; slashing bonuses
across the public sector; reducing social security and government operating
expenditure by 10 percent each, and salary caps for public utility directors.
Oil slumps for ninth
straight day
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices
fell for the ninth straight day Monday, dipping below $68 per barrel on
persistent concerns about high inventories and weak demand.
Retail gasoline prices have
slipped for weeks as well, falling overnight by less than a penny to $2.603 per
gallon.
The government is due to
release its own gasoline price figures late Monday.
The supply of crude has
moved back into the spotlight one week before the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries meets in Angola to talk about production.
A number of member states
have strayed from lower production quotas that OPEC put into place to help
shore up collapsing oil prices earlier this year, analysts say.
Bipartisan budget group
says deficit curbs needed
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A
bipartisan group of former lawmakers and budget officials called on Congress
and President Barack Obama Monday to commit to reining in trillion-dollar plus
budget deficits to avoid dragging down the economy.
Policymakers must take
steps next year to enact policies to stabilize the debt at 60 percent of the
size of the economy to avoid higher interest rates or crisis in global markets
with disastrous implications for the U.S. economy, according to a report by the
Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform, a bipartisan group of deficit hawks.
The bipartisan group
includes former lawmakers and directors of both the Congressional Budget Office
and the White House budget office.
Eurozone industrial output
fell 0.6 percent in October
LONDON (AP) -- Industrial
output in the 16 countries that use the euro fell in October after five months
of expansion, official figures showed Monday, stoking fears that the recovery
from recession in the eurozone will be muted.
Eurostat, the EU's
statistics office, said industrial production fell by 0.6 percent in October
from the previous month. The decline was in line with market expectations after
figures last week showed German industrial output slid 1.8 percent during the
month.
The main reason behind the
monthly fall was a 1.4 percent drop in the production of consumer goods, which
provided further evidence that the recovery in exports is not yet spreading to
the household sector.
Cadbury launches defense
against Kraft offer
LONDON (AP) -- Britain's
Cadbury PLC kicked off a robust defense against Kraft Foods Inc.'s 9.8 billion
pound ($16.3 billion) hostile takeover offer on Monday, urging shareholders not
to let the U.S. maker of cheese, cookies and macaroni dinners "steal your
company with its derisory offer."
Cadbury also confirmed that
it had received rival approaches from The Hershey Co. and Italy's Ferrero
International SA, but said they were too preliminary to begin proper talks and
warned that it would not accept a sub-par offer from any suitor.
Kraft said Monday that its
offer stands and that it was reviewing Cadbury's response. Kraft could still
raise the bid under British regulations.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 29.55, or 0.3 percent, to 10,501.05, its highest close since Oct.
1, 2008.
The broader S&P 500
index rose 7.70, or 0.7 percent, to 1,114.11, its highest finish since Oct. 2,
2008. The Nasdaq composite index rose 21.79, or 1 percent, to 2,212.10.
Benchmark crude for January
delivery fell 36 cents to settle at $69.51 on the New York Mercantile Exchange
after falling as low as $68.59.
In other Nymex trading in
January contracts, heating oil rose less than a cent to $1.9161 while gasoline
fell 1.49 cents to settle at $1.8267. Natural gas rose 8.6 cents to $5.249 per
1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude for
January delivery gained a penny to settle at $71.89 on the ICE Futures
exchange.