Retailers ring up solid September, holidays loom (Reuters)

(Reuters) – Brisk back-to-school shopping benefited many U.S. retailers in September, with strong sales growth at chains from Kohl's Corp to Nordstrom Inc suggesting optimism for the holiday season. Shoppers largely brushed off the prolonged economic malaise and the U.S. East Coast's recovery after Hurricane Irene. Chains with fresh items enticed shoppers while others were left to question their strategies heading into the critical winter holiday shopping season. Overall, 23 U.S. retailers posted an average sales gain of 5.1 percent at stores open at least a year, or same-store sales, according to Thomson Reuters. "I'm not saying it's going to be going to an exceptional or a blow-away holiday, but I wonder if people are being overly pessimistic," Madison Riley, managing director for retail...

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ECB opens cash taps to avoid new credit crunch (AP)

BERLIN – The European Central Bank is opening its money taps wide to prop up an increasingly shaky banking sector and keep the region's debt crisis from spawning the type of credit crunch that plunged the global economy into recession two years ago. In the move announced Thursday, the top monetary authority for the 17 euro nations offered to flood banks with any amount of one-year loans through 2013. The hope is that will shield them from malfunctioning credit markets, in which banks are becoming too worried to lend to each other, and keep loans flowing to businesses and households. But outgoing ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet resisted calls for an interest rate cut to spur growth despite fears that the eurozone economy is sinking toward a renewed recession. The bank's main mandate is...

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Wall St rises for 3rd day on ECB liquidity move (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks rose on Thursday after the European Central Bank launched fresh liquidity measures to help banks weather the euro zone's debt crisis, easing one of the major concerns overhanging markets. Anxiety that the region's lingering debt crisis could lead to a bank collapse has pressured equities and pushed the S&P 500 briefly into bear market territory earlier this week. The ECB, wary of the region's fiscal woes spiraling into a global crisis, said it will revive 12-month loan operations and purchases of covered bonds, while it kept key interest rates unchanged at 1.50 percent. The ECB's buying of covered bonds is intended to boost confidence in stocks and other risky assets such as commodities and high-yielding bonds. John Brady, senior vice president at MF Global...

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EU works on banks, Obama urges swift action (Reuters)

BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) – European Union moves to shore up ailing banks moved into higher gear on Thursday as U.S. President Barack Obama urged European leaders to act faster to tackle a sovereign debt crisis that threatens global economic recovery. The EU's executive arm said it would present a plan for member states to coordinate a recapitalization of their banks, as regulators met in London to reassess the capital buffers of stressed lenders that received a clean bill of health in July. The European Central Bank threw a lifeline to commercial banks by turning up its liquidity pumps to provide longer-term cheap money for the growing number of European lenders which have seen wholesale funding dry up as market confidence ebbs. The moves came amid fears that Greece, the most heavily indebted...

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30-year mortgage below 4 pct. for first time ever (AP)

WASHINGTON – The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage this week fell below 4 percent for the first time ever, to 3.94 percent. For those who can qualify, it's an extraordinary opportunity to buy a home or refinance. On Thursday, Freddie Mac said the average rate dropped from 4.01 percent last week, the previous low. The average rate on a 15-year fixed loan, a popular refinancing option, dipped to 3.26 percent, also a record. The 15-year loan has fallen for six straight weeks. Mortgage rates are now lower than they were in the early 1950s, when the average rate reached 4.08 percent for a few months, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Back then, mortgages typically lasted just 20 or 25 years. Still, rates have been below 5 percent for all but two weeks in the past...

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Jobless claims hint at labor market improvement (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New claims for unemployment benefits rose modestly last week but hovered near levels normally associated with improving labor market conditions, a hopeful sign for the struggling economy. Initial claims for state jobless aid climbed 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 401,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. It was the second straight week first-time claims hugged the 400,000 mark, which is usually associated with some improvement in the jobs market. Economists, who had expected claims to rise to 410,000, saw the data as the freshest sign the ailing economy was not falling back into recession. "Claims suggest that layoffs remain contained despite high uncertainty in the economy. We continue to expect moderate growth rather than a recession," said Guy Berger, an economist...

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Vintner Constellation Brands' 2Q profit climbs (AP)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Constellation Brands Inc. said Thursday its fiscal second-quarter profit jumped 78 percent on improved wine and spirits sales in North America, a lower tax rate and a drop-off in charges after four years of cost-cutting. Its stock rose more than 7 percent in afternoon trading. The world's No. 2 vintner raised its full-year guidance, acquired the rest of Italy's Ruffino wines that it didn't already own and said it had bought back $251 million worth of its own shares. Constellation has been pruning methodically to solidify its supremacy in higher-margin wines priced from $5 to $20 a bottle and revive profits and revenue in a choppy economy. Its brands range from Robert Mondavi, Clos du Bois and Ravenswood wines to Svedka vodka and Black Velvet Canadian whiskey. Through a...

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Messages Conflict on Anonymous Hacking Threat on NYSE (NewsFactor)

Anonymous, the "hacktivist" group that has acquired legendary status, may be threatening to take the Occupy Wall Street protests to a new level. This past weekend, a video message on YouTube, purportedly from Anonymous, vowed to "erase" the New York Stock Exchange "from the Internet." But another message, also said to be from the group, claims the threat is a fake. Anonymous is a loosely knit group, and this is not the first time that different communications with conflicting messages have both claimed to be genuine. On the Pastebin site, a statement posted Tuesday, also allegedly from Anonymous, said that "something very disturbing has come to our attention." 'We Are the 99 Percent' The Pastebin message said that the "Operation Invade Wall Street" video is a "fake planted operation by...

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Boehner: Obama has given up on country to campaign (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Thursday said President Barack Obama has "given up on the country" to focus on his re-election rather than working with Republicans to boost the economy. "Mr. President, why have you given up on the country and decided to campaign full time instead of doing what the American people sent us all here to do?" Boehner said. "And that's to find common ground to deal with the big challenges that face our economy and our country." As Obama held a news conference in the White House a few blocks away, Boehner said the Democratic president had shown no leadership by holding rallies around the country to promote his $447 billion jobs bill rather than negotiating with Republicans to pass legislation that would bring down the 9.1...

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Greek government pushing on with harsher austerity (AP)

ATHENS, Greece – The Greek government is to shortly submit a bill Thursday that includes the suspension of thousands of civil servants, as it pushes ahead with harsh austerity measures to stave off a potentially-disastrous default. Parliament will vote next week on the bill which aims to suspend 30,000 government workers at reduced pay by the year-end and to further cut salaries by an estimated euro2.8 billion ($3.73 billion). The new cutbacks come on top of salary and pension cuts, as well as a string of tax hikes over the past year and a half that have outraged ordinary Greeks trying to cope with a 16 percent unemployment rate. A day after a nationwide strike by civil servants shut down the government and much of public transport, about 50 finance ministry workers protested peacefully...

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AP source: NY fraudster tried to get witness slain (AP)

NEW YORK – A man convicted of leading a $100 million mortgage fraud scheme tried from behind bars to get a key witness against him killed, plotting in a prison visiting area with an undercover investigator posing as a hit man, a person familiar with the case said Thursday. Former AFG Financial Group Inc. President Aaron Hand was expected to be arraigned in a Manhattan court Thursday on charges of attempted murder and conspiring to commit murder, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case before the arraignment. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.'s office declined to comment, but he was expected to make an announcement later in the day. Hand was in custody and couldn't be reached; his former lawyer said through his office he hadn't been aware of the...

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EU crisis poses risk to global recovery: Geithner (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Europe's worsening debt crisis could significantly damage the U.S. economy, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned on Thursday as he urged Europe to shore up its bailout fund. "Europe is so large and so closely integrated with the U.S. and world economies that a severe crisis in Europe could cause significant damage by undermining confidence and weakening demand," Geithner told the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. A growing number of economists expect the crisis will tip the euro zone into recession, putting a further drag on an already weak U.S. recovery and endangering President Barack Obama's chances of being reelected next year. The United States and the International Monetary Fund have been trying to get European leaders to put in place a strategy to stabilize...

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Calif. gov signs law expanding auditor authority (AP)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill that expands the state auditor's authority to investigate misuse of city and county taxpayer funds. The legislation was introduced by Bell Gardens Assemblyman Ricardo Lara because of the Bell financial scandal. His district includes the tiny Los Angeles County city. The Los Angeles Times ( http://lat.ms/rmW9Xo) says the new law allows the state auditor to investigate local government agencies to determine whether they are at risk of fraud, waste or mismanagement. Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo was fired last year after it was learned he had an annual salary and compensation package of $1.5 million and was paying huge salaries to other officials. Rizzo, his chief assistant and six former council members are charged with fraud...

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Oil above $80 on positive news for Europe banks (AP)

NEW YORK – Oil rose Thursday as Europe's central bank tried to strengthen the region's financial system. Benchmark crude rose 79 cents to $80.47 per barrel in New York, while Brent crude rose 21 cents to $102.94 in London. Oil climbed for a second day after plummeting to 12-month lows earlier in the week. The fall came as credit problems in the eurozone rattled energy markets. Investors fear that a Greek default could spark a wider banking crisis that threatens the U.S. economy and weakens demand for oil. In an effort to deal with that the European Central Bank on Thursday offered new emergency loans to banks that could shield them from possible losses. Europe's financial problems have scared many investors out of oil markets this year, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at...

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World mourns Steve Jobs (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Outpourings of public grief and appreciation swept the globe on Thursday after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Jobs, who touched the daily lives of countless millions of people through the Macintosh computer, iPod, iPhone and iPad, died on Wednesday at age 56 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He stepped down as Apple chief executive in August. Reaction in the stock market was muted as Apple shares quickly recovered from an initial 1.5 percent decline. The shares were up 1 percent to $382.15 at midday. In New York City, an impromptu memorial made from flowers, candles and a dozen green and red apples was erected outside a 24-hour Apple store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, with fans snapping photos of it on their iPhones. "It was really sad news for us,"...

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