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Saturday, December 4, 2010

New York Republicans regained the majority of the State Senate as Judge Certifies Race

New York, the Republicans regained control of the state Senate after Jack Martin was declared the winner of a race in Nassau County today by Supreme Court Justice Ira Warshawsky, The Associated Press.

The ruling gives Republicans at least 32 members in the chamber's 62 seats, with a contest is still undecided. By 2008, when Democrats won a majority in the Senate 32-30, the Senate had been controlled by Republicans since 1966. Democrats held a majority in the Assembly of 150 seats in the Nov. 2 election.

The victory of the Republicans on Democratic Sen. Craig Johnson reinforced the party's position in negotiations for next year close to $ 9 billion budget deficit and the development of new district boundaries from lawmakers.

"The arrogance of one-party rule" in the Legislature voting injured during the past two years, Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre, said. Democrats used their majority to drive increased spending and taxes to the minimum number of votes required, and without Republican support.

Senate Republicans elected as their leader Skelos November 29. Skelos said then he hoped to be elected president of the Senate when lawmakers return to Albany in January. As president, programming control of the Senate.

Most Democrats exposed the left vulnerable to the demands of their own members who helped to delay a budget agreement this year to four months after the start of the fiscal year. In 2009, when the Senate was deadlocked at 31-31 after a Democratic senator temporarily defected to the Republicans, $ 2.9 billion revenue accounts were stalled for a month.

Commitment to Independence

Before the elections, all Senate Republicans and 21 of 32 Democrats signed a pledge to create an independent commission to draw lines to the district legislators, without favoring any party or candidate, according to survey of New York, a group promoter of the idea.

"It will be interesting to see if they honor their words after the election," said Dick Dadey, director of Citizens Union, a New York City non-partisan control group. The commission is required to break the practice of "election of legislators to their voters instead of voters in the election of legislators," drawing district lines to protect incumbents, he said.

In the past, when Republicans controlled the Senate and the Assembly Democrats had "every one said to another, you redistricting," said Ed Koch, former mayor of New York and founder of the Insurrection in New York.

The Republicans retained control of the Senate after the 2000 census although the Board of Elections data showed that they were outnumbered by 5.24 to 3.17 million registered voters this year. Since then Democratic advantage among registered voters has increased from 5.79 to 2.91 million.

Senate Republicans won a majority of seats in the chamber even when the candidate at the top of the ticket, Carlos Paladino, lost to Democrat Andrew Cuomo in the race for governor. Democrats also won races for comptroller, attorney general and the two U.S. Senate seats last month.

Rescue Fund can be increased, Reynders said in a break with Merkel

Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders said the euro region could increase the size of its 750 million euros ($ 1 billion) rescue fund, breaking ranks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

Reynders told reporters in Brussels that the current joint account may be higher if governments decide to create a larger pool as part of a mechanism of permanent crisis in 2013. "If we decide that in the coming weeks or months, why not apply immediately to current installation?

European officials are under pressure to find new ways to stop the contagion spreads from Greece and Ireland amid concerns the rescue package may not be large enough to rescue Spain if necessary. While Sarkozy and Merkel rejected the extension of the fund on 25 November, the European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said yesterday the government should consider only as a movement.

The International Monetary Fund also supports increasing the plant after 2013, Reynders said at the end of a week that saw the Belgian bond spreads jumped to the highest in at least 17 years.

"The IMF is in favor of a larger mechanism," said Reynders, who said the fund is not necessary to increase immediately. "They are ready to continue the process if we decide in Europe."

IMF spokesman William Murray declined comment. Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is scheduled to join a regular meeting of ministers of finance euro region in Brussels on 6 December.

Reynders said the ministers discussed the prospects of Portugal, which is struggling to clear the speculation will also need a bailout.

"I said two weeks ago that is very necessary for Spain to seek help," he said. "Now we have to find a remedy to Portugal to see it is necessary or not, but to avoid infection. We will continue in the coming weeks and months."

Trichet Challenge

Reynders comments at a time when Trichet challenges political leaders to do more to set their budgets and end with a sovereign debt crisis is bounced through the European markets for over a year. Asked about increasing the size of the cash pool yesterday, said "everything they do must be proportionate to the size of the challenges."

"This is true in all aspects, both qualitative and quantitative," said Trichet. "They have to go as far as possible and be as efficient as possible."

A loss of market following the rescue of Ireland last week pushed the ECB in a new wave of bond purchases.

The extra yield investors demand to hold bonds Portuguese 10-year German bonds fell yesterday below 300 basis points for the first time since August after hitting 428 basis points on November 29. Ireland's performance in 10 years fell 30 basis points to 8.2 percent yesterday and the Spanish 10-year yield, which reached 5.67 percent on Nov. 30, closed at 5.1 percent.

Contagion

Belgium premium 10-year bond rose to 133 basis points on November 30.

"The difficulty we have is like other countries of Europe: we have to solve the problem of contagion from Greece, Ireland and Portugal, now maybe," said Reynders. "We have no real problem in Belgium at the moment like that."

The worsening of the crisis this week prompted Spain to push for more measures to cut its budget deficit just a week after saying it would not be necessary.

Spain yesterday Cabinet raised taxes on snuff and set a date for pension reform. Two days earlier, the government said it plans to raise about 14 billion euros ($ 18,400,000,000) from the sale of shares in the airport operator and the lottery company.

Ending

"The time is over, we have been talking for months," said Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, referring to the pension plan. "We will work even harder to reach agreements."

EU ministers are hammering a mechanism of permanent crisis that was created in 2013 and also include a rescue fund.

"The permanent mechanism should be with a huge amount of money - if not organized, there's always speculation whether it is sufficient for one, two or more countries," said Reynders. "At the moment, next week will be discussion on approving the plan for Ireland and then have some information on the situation in Portugal."

The yield on the 10-year Treasury reaches 3 percent of European debt concern fades

Treasury yields rose above 10 years of 3 percent for the first time since July, easing concerns that the European debt crisis would spread and most reports showed U.S. economic recovery at full steam.

Public debt maturing in three years and older declined this week the Fed said the economy was strong in 10 of its 12 regions, such as recruitment of the improvement, expansion of manufacturing and provides stronger retail shopping season. A smaller increase than expected in November payrolls pushed bond yields lower than two years yesterday. Next week the Treasury Department to sell $ 66 billion in debt securities.

"Concerns about the situation in Europe has receded some and economic data has generally been positive, resulting in higher rates," Michael Pond, co-head of interest rate strategy in New York at Barclays Plc , one of the 18 primary dealers that trade with the Fed. "While the fundamentals have improved, there is still much uncertainty out there and the Federal Reserve is constantly buying, which limit the increase in performance."

yields ten-year note rose 14 basis points to 3.01 percent, according to market data BGCantor after touching 3.04 percent, the highest since July 28. The price of 2,625 per cent security due in November 2020 fell 1 4 / 32, or $ 11.25 per $ 10,000 face amount, to 96 23/32. The yield on the 30-year bond rose 11 basis points to 4.31 percent while two-year yields fell four basis points to 0.47 percent.

European Scene

Responsible for the European Central Bank policy meeting in Frankfurt on Dec. 2 kept the benchmark interest rate at a record low of 1 percent. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the central bank to delay its withdrawal from the emergency liquidity measures to combat the "acute" market tensions.

Ireland on November 28 became the second country to take advantage of EU aid, after Greece, prompting a flight to quality amid speculation that the country's crisis, funding can be extended to Portugal and Spain. The rescue package worth € Ireland 85000000000 ($ 114,000,000,000).

The ECB buy government bonds Irish and Portuguese, December 02 and yesterday, according to at least four operators with knowledge of operations, reducing concern that the ECB will not act aggressively to resolve the crisis. The ECB also bought Greece's debt, said another person, who requested anonymity because the bids are confidential. Trichet said the purchase voucher program was underway.

Cloudy

"The timing of these purchases of bonds is perfectly informed," said Peter Chatwell, fixed income strategist at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in London. "The ECB is buying a year-end market very illiquid. Your purchases are always going to move the market in a big way."

The increase in the weekly performance of Treasuries came even as U.S. employers added fewer jobs than economists expected in November and the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose.

Payrolls increased 39,000, less than the most pessimistic forecast of economists surveyed by us, after a revised gain of 172,000 last month, the Labor Department figures showed yesterday in Washington. The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, the highest since April, while the hours worked and incomes stagnated.

The index of the Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing, which covers about 90 percent of the economy, rose to 55 last month from 54.3 in October, according to the ISM report released yesterday. The index of pending home sales won a record 10 percent after falling 1.8 percent in September, the National Association of Realtors said on 02 December in Washington.

Economic News

"The market has seen a lot of good economic news lately and the jobs report was the first to break the trend of good economic data," said Kevin Flanagan, a Purchase, New York-based chief investment strategist at Morgan Stanley's fixed income Smith Barney.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its forecast for U.S. Gross domestic product growth next year to 2.7 percent from 2 percent. The U.S. economy will expand 3.6 percent in 2012, according to a Goldman Sachs report sent to clients on 1 December.

Fed officials on November 12 began a round of $ 600,000,000,000 second asset purchases to support the growth of the economy and reduce unemployment and prevent deflation.

The U.S. central bank bought 37.3 billion U.S. dollars in Treasury bonds during the week, according to the website of the New York Fed. Next week is planning four days of shopping.

Fed Lock

Bill Gross, manager of the largest bond fund in the world at Pacific Investment Management Co., said the Fed is unlikely to raise interest rates for several years with employment growing less than expected.

"The front of the curve is the strong part of the curve" with policy makers required to maintain its target rate from almost zero to sustain growth, Gross said yesterday in a radio interview. The difference between the two - and 10-year notes is known as the yield curve.

The extra yield investors pay to maintain a 10-year debt for two years was extended for a fourth straight day to 2.54 percentage points yesterday, the yield curve steepest since June.

The yield on the 10 years end the year at 2.64 percent, according to the median forecast in a us survey of 63 banks and securities firms, with recent estimates given more weight. The yield on the two years is expected to end 2010 at 0.5 percent.

sales of public debt next week includes $ 32 billion three-year notes on Dec. 7, $ 21 billion 10-year notes the next day and $ 13 billion of bonds at 30 years 9 December.

Trichet keeps the pressure from the EU and the ECB buys bonds to calm investors



The European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet called on political leaders to do more to set their budgets as Spain stepped up measures to combat the threat of contagion.

"We have the same message for all countries -" take all measures to ensure that next year's fiscal targets credible, '"he told RTL radio in Paris yesterday. Germany said that no ad hoc European Union negotiations are planned today or tomorrow in the current sovereign debt crisis in the region.

European finance ministers have spent the last three weekends locked in talks on how to rescue crisis leave Ireland and the region plunged Spain debt. Spanish bonds with sinking more in at least 11 years on 30 November, the government is implementing new deficit-cutting measures and only a week after saying it would not be necessary.

Council of Ministers of Spain yesterday raised taxes on snuff and set a date for a pension reform, two days after saying it plans to raise about 14 million euros (18.4 billion) by selling shares in the operator the airport and the lottery company.

"The time is over, we have been talking for months," said Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, referring to the pension plan. "We will work even harder to reach agreements."

Euro finance ministers from the region will meet in Brussels on 6 December for a regular meeting.

Market Map

A loss of market following the rescue of Ireland must ECB Trichet in a new wave of purchases of bonds this week. The extra yield investors demand to hold bonds Portuguese 10-year German bonds yesterday fell below 300 basis points for the first time since August. Ireland's performance in 10 years fell 30 basis points to 8.2 percent yesterday and the Spanish 10-year yield, which reached 5.67 percent on Nov. 30, closed at 5.1 percent.

The last round of the crisis is forcing the leaders once again to reaffirm their support for the euro.

Trichet said he spoke on "an overview of the euro area," including the economy, in a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris yesterday. Sarkozy said the euro was credible and had become "the second global reserve currency, the government said in a statement.

"The German government backs the euro," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday in Bayreuth, Germany. "It is the struggle for a stable euro and will do everything possible" to encourage other EU countries into embracing a "culture of stability" in its public finances.

Options

Options for EU leaders if the crisis worsens include the promotion of its 750 billion euros ($ 992 billion) bailout fund into a temporary or asset purchase program, reduce interest rates on loans rescue or joint bond issue for the 16 euro countries.

Trichet is putting pressure on EU governments to increase their arsenal to combat the crisis, suggesting yesterday that the emergency fund could be supplied. Asked about the size of the cash pool yesterday, said "everything they do must be proportionate to the size of the challenges."

"This is true in all aspects, both qualitative and quantitative" he said. "They have to go as far as possible and be as efficient as possible."

Objectives of the UN to resume negotiations on Climate Change Amid Rift between rich and poor countries

United Nations sent today try to revive progress in the climate negotiations stalled, the issuance of a draft of the possible holding of the meeting to bridge the gap between rich and poor

Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe, a Zimbabwean that keeps track of negotiations that could lead U.S. and developing nations in a new Treaty, shall deliver the document in Cancun, Mexico, in consultation with the delegates in the 193-nation talks.

China, India, Brazil and Venezuela say the discussions are at risk because Japan, Russia and Canada have refused to sign up for a second round of cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases once the current written in the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. That discord may spread to other areas of the talks.

"The result is at stake," said Todd Stern, the head of the U.S. delegation yesterday on his arrival in Cancun for the talks. "We do not know which way to go yet. We may, if countries do not seek to become obstacles to stop or slow the progression."

In addition, two panels set up to clear the most controversial issues in the negotiations of the proposals made by a result of Cancun. One suggested an emission target for the "comparable" to those for other developed countries under the Kyoto Protocol U.S.. The other gave him options for developing countries to limit pollution.

Venezuela and Bolivia

Venezuela and Bolivia, threatening to derail the talks, led a group of Latin American nations said that any agreement should include new commitments from rich countries to reduce emissions of gases blamed for damaging the Earth's atmosphere.

Japan's refusal to accept a second round of reductions from 2012 means that delegates in Cancun are "wasting time," said Claudia Salerno Venezuelan sent reporters yesterday. She said her country and others can not accept a set of decisions without agreement on a second phase of Kyoto.

"This is a position that is 180 degrees opposite of where Japan and several other developed countries," said Christiana Figueres, the United Nations diplomat who leads the talks. "We have to find a compromise that will make them all equally uncomfortable or comfortable alike."

Since last year's talks in Copenhagen a year ago, the envoys were reined in their ambitions, rather than shooting for progress in the protection of forests, the verification of emission reductions and channeling $ 100 billion a year in aid of the climate in developing countries.

"I'm not worried at all," said Eileen Claussen, former U.S. negotiator climate under President Bill Clinton, who is now president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Arlington, Virginia. "The whole thing was postponed. I do not think it's going to derail anything."

Copenhagen Rift

In Copenhagen, USA President Barack Obama and the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, were among some 30 leaders who drafted an informal agreement that set targets for reducing emissions and pledged to work to sustain the gains of temperature from the 18 th century to 2 degrees Celsius ( 3.6 Fahrenheit). Bolivia and Venezuela are among six nations to reject the offer because they were not consulted.

"There are two scenarios for the next week," said Martin Kaiser, climate policy expert at Greenpeace. "The worst, but still a likely outcome is that going to bury the Kyoto Protocol here. The best is that the parties can agree on some building blocks towards a global deal next year with a clear timetable and a clear mandate to do so. "

Mexico's optimism

Mexico believes that the talks this year are developing "good" and that the future of the Kyoto treaty could be decided within two years, Environment Minister Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, said in an interview on 2 December.

"The Kyoto Protocol is not necessary to change between now and December 10," when the current round of talks ended, he said. "We can devote to other areas in which the world awaits solutions."

With ministers arriving next week for the last few days some of the talks, the rhetoric is likely to be heated, said Artur Runge-Metzger, European Commission representative. Leaders like Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Rafael Correa of Ecuador's plan to attend.

"As we approach the ministerial segment, which typically see is that the different parts begin to raise the stakes and the tone becomes more acute," Runge-Metzger said. "Why not submit a minister with a small crisis to push a little harder?"

Stern, U.S. said "a lot" of work has been done on emissions from Copenhagen anchor of the promises made in the Danish capital, from a green and establishing a mechanism for disseminating clean technologies.

"I do not want to lose that because of conflict over the issue of Kyoto," he said. "Hopefully we can find common ground that both parties can live."

That's not enough to Bolivia, said Pablo Solon, the chief negotiator of the nation in Cancun.

"It's like telling your wife for me to stay married to you, I hope they'll let me take a second wife, '" said Solon.

U.S. states and municipal sales scheduled debt approached the highest since 2005

U.S. states and municipal sales scheduled debt approached the highest since 2005 this week as issuers seek to use the federal subsidy Build America Bond program before the end of the year-end potential.

The index 30-day visible supply of new municipal issues reached 26.3 billion U.S. dollars on 16 November, the highest since February 2005. The index fell to 17.6 billion U.S. dollars today.

Of the $ 11,300,000,000 debt of states and local governments are offering this week, about 4.2 billion U.S. dollars are taxable Americas Building, the third most-since August 2009 . With these programs with federal support, which expires December 31 unless lawmakers agree to an extension, supply may increase, said Justin Hoogendoorn, bond strategist at BMO Capital Markets in Chicago.

"It's not a normal year-end," he said. "Not every incentive to come in and get funding."

From November 1, taxable values have made about 35 percent of total municipal issuance, compared with about 23 percent a week since the program began in April 2009.

Thirty years of tax-exempt sale until Oct. 25 through Nov. 18 when California said the sale of $ 10 billion in notes with yields gained about 77 basis points, or 0.77 percentage points .
'Supply of cash "

December will not be the same type of increase in performance, even with a jump of supply for bonds due Dec. 1 will provide investors with cash to make purchases, said Matt Dalton, chief executive of Belle Haven Investments Inc. in White Plains, New York, which has $ 450 million in municipal property.

"The maturity have created a source of healthy cash at the end of the year to absorb a lot of maturity," said Dalton.

The 10-year yields fell tax exempt under one basis point as of yesterday as yields of 10-year Treasury rose above 3 percent for the first time since July.

The extra yield investors demand to build the Americas over Treasuries to 30 years was 195 basis points yesterday, down a basis point from a maximum of three months on 30 November, according to Wells Fargo index.

Building Americas

A bill pending in the Senate would extend the Build America Bonds program through 2011, while cutting the subsidy to 32 percent of the cost of the interests of 35 percent. Almost 173 billion U.S. dollars of debt liabilities has been sold since the program began in April 2009 as part of the economic stimulus package.

If emissions increase, the total of 2,011 municipalities would be about 395 billion, compared with $ 345 000 000 000 if the program ends, Alex Roever and Chris Holmes, strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said in a note Research on 24 November.

The bill would reduce the advantage of emitting Americas construct rather than tax-exempt securities of the subsidy reduction of 3 percentage points, analysts said.

"A reduction of subsidies of this magnitude, holding other factors constant, would be only a modest reduction in the volume of BAB emission current levels," they said.

Walter Power Agrees to $ 3.3 billion merger of Western Coal as production increases

Walter Energy Inc., a producer of the southern Appalachians carbon steel, agreed to buy Western Canada Coal Corp. for C $ 3,300,000,000 (3.3 billion) to add reserves and increase production of the commodity as prices rise.

Walter Power offered C $ 11.50 per share in cash or 0.114 share Walter Energy companies said today in a joint statement. The agreement, with the unanimous approval of both boards, following a November 18 announcement that they were in exclusive talks.

Mergers and acquisitions in the coal industry are increasing the demand for steel makers in China, the largest producer of the alloy, bidding up prices of raw materials. Prices of coke and steel, coal sold to Asia will rise 8 percent next quarter, according to UBS AG.

"We love coking coal," said Ian Henderson, who manages about $ 7 billion to JPMorgan Chase & Co., including the western part of Carbon. "We were the long-term investors in this particular project, but we think the company was too lowly valued. We do not expect anyone to come in and counter."

Walter previously agreed to pay C $ 630 million for a stake of 19.8 percent in the Western Coal largest shareholder Audley European Opportunities Master Fund Ltd., said on 18 November.

Shares rise

Western Coal rose $ 1.03, or 10 percent to C $ 11.33 in Toronto trading. The shares rose as much as 51 percent on 18 November. Walter Energy rose 84 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $ 106.44 at 9:48 am in the market for New York Stock Exchange.

The offer price is a premium of 26 percent to 20-day average price of coal-based West Vancouver through Nov. 17. This is in line with the average premium rates for the coal industry, announced earlier this year.

"The offer price is a decent premium to where the trade in advance," said Henderson at JPMorgan. "For shareholders is probably the best you can get."

The increased consumption of coal has led to Rio Tinto Group, the world's third largest mining, to team up with Aluminum Corp. of China coking coal projects in China. In the U.S., Massey Energy Co., the largest coal producer in central Appalachia, has received offers from companies like Alpha Natural Resources Inc., two people with knowledge of the case, said last month.

"The outlook for coking coal is good," said Richard Knights, an analyst at Liberum Capital Ltd., by telephone from London. "The picture is all about China's decision to become a net importer."

Funding committed

The total amount of money paid to the holders of Western Coal is expected to be about C $ 2.1 billion, with an estimated 9 million shares to be issued, according to the statement today. Financing of the Offer is fully committed, the companies said.

"This is a transformation event in a time when global demand for metallurgical coal is growing," said Joe Leonard, interim executive director of Tampa, Florida-based Walter Power, in the statement. "The western coal has an attractive high quality asset base of metallurgical coal and has embarked on a strategy of organic growth that is expected to increase the production of more than 60 percent for fiscal year 2013."

Shareholder Audley said other parties, including steel makers were interested in participating Western Coal.

"Walter is the best match because he had a lot of synergies, geographically, in terms of customers and management," said Julian Tregear, managing partner of Audley Capital, in an interview. "It is likely that other shareholders will accept the offer of Walter at the time. In the absence of other alternatives, do not see why not approve."

Treatment Completion

Walter Energy plans to keep its listing on the New York Stock Exchange and will apply to sell shares in Toronto. The company expects the deal to close in the second quarter of 2011. Morgan Stanley is advising Walter, and RBC Capital Markets is advising Western Coal.

"With the strength of their size and financial resources, the combined business will have future growth opportunities that none of us could have in ours," said Keith Calder, president and CEO of Western Coal, in the statement.

The combined entity will have total reserves of coal of about 385 million tons and the world's largest publicly traded "pure-play producer of metallurgical coal, the statement said. The company expects to produce more than 20 million tons in 2021.

"Strategically, this type of attack," said Jim Rollyson, an analyst at Raymond James Financial Inc. in Houston. "I like it. They now have access to Asia did not have before."

Rollyson said restriction of another global economic downturn, prices for metallurgical coal remain strong and the combined company will be able to benefit.

Western Coal will hold a shareholder vote to approve the transaction, the statement said.

Commodities rose & capping the biggest weekly gain since October 2009

Commodities rose, capping the biggest weekly gain since October 2009 as a worldwide shortage of cotton and wheat drove prices higher farm.

The Thomson Reuters / Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities rose 4.06, or 1.3 percent, to close at 316.16, rising rally a week at 5 percent.

Cotton was the biggest weekly rise in 39 years after India put limits on exports. Heavy rain is eroding the quality of wheat from Australia after a drought cut cereal production in Russia. The dollar fell against major currencies, increasing the attractiveness of investment in energy, metals and crops. Crude oil rose to a maximum of 25 months, and gold topped $ 1,400 an ounce.

"The perfect storm of commodities continues another week," said Fain Shaffer, president of Infinity Trading Corp., a brokerage firm commodity in Medford, Oregon. "The weather problems, financial problems and China saying it wants to buy gold, all of these markets are fairly well so far."

The UBS Constant Maturity Commodity Index of 26 prices advanced 1 percent, at 1,561.89. This week, the index rose 4.9 percent, the highest since July 2009.

The dollar fell more than six weeks against a basket of six major currencies after a U.S. government report showed that employers added fewer than a third of many jobs last month as economists' forecast and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, increasing speculation that the recovery is faltering.

Changes of funds in commodity markets also boosted the rally, said Bill O'Neill, partner at LOGIC Advisors in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Commodities in 'art'

"There are a lot of money out there that need to be reversed as we move toward year-end," said O'Neill. "Commodities and gold, in particular, are at the forefront of that as an asset class."

assets under management in commodities rose by $ 19 billion to a record $ 340 billion in October, Barclays Capital, said last week.

The CRB index has risen 20 percent since Aug. 31. During this period, cotton and gold rose to records, silver rose to a 30 - year high and copper rose to more than 30 months.

For the third consecutive day, the price of cotton in the U.S. ICE most animals raised. The contract for March delivery, the most active, jumped within six cents, or 4.7 percent, to settle at 1.3234 dollars per pound in New York, the biggest gain since July 2009.

Wheat futures for March delivery rose 30.5 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $ 7.79 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. This week, the price gained 13 percent, the highest since August.

"Unemployment, stagnation '

Gold futures for February delivery rose $ 16.90, or 1.2 percent, to close at $ 1,406.20 in the Comex in New York. This week, the metal rose 3.1 percent, the most since late May. The metal reached a record $ 1424.30 on 9 November.

"Ongoing economic uncertainty and the possibility of more quantitative easing necessary to counter the high unemployment and stagnant economic recovery is a solid basis for investing in gold," said Bayram Dincer, an analyst at LGT Capital Management in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland .

China should consider the addition of gold reserves to pave the way for the internationalization of the yuan, Xia Bin, a central bank adviser, said in remarks at the China Business News.

Silver futures for March delivery rose 69.9 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $ 29,271 an ounce on the Comex. Earlier the metal hit $ 29.37, the highest since March 1980. This week the price rose 9.3 percent, the highest since January.

Crude oil futures for January delivery rose $ 1.19 to $ 89.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest closing price since Oct. 7, 2008.

"The increase is due to a dollar much lower," said Hamza Khan, an analyst of Schork Group Inc., a consulting firm in Villanova, Pennsylvania. "This is not based on fundamentals."

Commodities are established as follows:

Precious metals: gold February to $ 16.90 to $ 1,406.20 an ounce March silver up 69.9 cents, to $ 29,271 a platinum oz January to $ 15.40 to $ 1728.50 an ounce of palladium in March to $ 6.40 to $ 770.10 Oz

Livestock: February live cattle by 0.1 percent to $ 1.06375 a pound of food donated January unchanged at $ 1.18675 per pound in February lean hogs up 0.575 cent at 76.575 cents per pound of pork February bellies unchanged at $ 1.045 a pound

Grains: Soy January to 20.5 cents at $ 13.0025 a bushel of corn in March to 18 cents to $ 5.735 a bushel of wheat March up 30.5 cents to $ 7.79 a bushel March Oats up 6 cents to $ 3.67 a bushel

Food and fiber: March coffee by 1.1 cents to $ 2.048 a pound cocoa March to $ 67 to 2.935 dollars per ton of cotton in March to 6 cents to $ 1.3234 a pound of sugar to 1 March , 05 cents to 29.5 cents per pound of orange juice in January to 1.35 cents to $ 1.568 one pound

Energy: Crude Oil in January to $ 1.19 to $ 89.19 a barrel in January of natural gas by 0.6 percent to $ 4,349 per million British thermal units in January heating oil up 3.28 cents to $ 2.4874 a gallon Gasoline 0.32 percent in January to $ 2.3521 a gallon

Dar Al Arkan said that he could pay $ 2.1 billion debt without touching Bond Market

Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Co., Saudi Arabia's largest property company by market value, you pay 7.8 billion riyals (2.1 billion) of debt maturing in five years without touching the bond market Again, according to general manager.

"We are at the foot of sound to manage all our debts," said Saud Al Gusaiyer in an interview in Riyadh on December 1. The loans are "nothing compared to our assets."

Rental income from properties in Mecca, Medina and Riyadh will generate 300 million rials a year and the company plans to raise money through the sale of residential properties and land in its portfolio assets, although not fixed, Al Gusaiyer said. Dar Al Arkan has total assets worth 23 billion riyals, according to the balance of the third quarter.

The debts included 3.75 billion Islamic bond Rial, or sukuk, scheduled for July 2012 at 750 million rials due in 2014 and another for a total of 1.7 billion riyals due 2015. Moody's Investors Service cut its rating on Dar Al Arkan on 11 November at Ba3, the third highest degree of non-investment, citing the debt maturity and a decrease in land sales that hurt profits.

"Concerns about the liquidity position of the company are overblown," said Majed Azzam, a real estate analyst AlembicHC in an e-mail. "The company's total assets are stated at cost, with the sale of plots average margins of 45 percent, therefore the market value of these assets may be as high as double." Dar Al Arkan AlembicHC upgraded to "overweight" from "buy" last month.

"The continued weakness"

"Dar Al Arkan will have to balance their available cash from debt service and reinvestment," said Asim Bukhtiar, an equity analyst at capital Riyadh. "The continued weakness in sales of land is expected until 2011, which could mean cash conservation at the expense of project delays." Gradient Dar Al Arkan capital Riyadh to "hold" from "buy" in October.

third-quarter profit fell 53 percent to 289.6 million riyals, the company said Oct. 20. Revenue fell 40 percent to 910 million riyals.

Al Gusaiyer says it expects revenue to increase next year housing demand exceeds supply by 40 percent. He said he was confident the Saudi authorities to adopt a new mortgage law in the first quarter to increase lending in the kingdom.

"The housing market is good" in Saudi Arabia, Al Gusaiyer he said. "Since the beginning of the decade of 1970, real estate has always been on the rise or on hold, but never in decline."

Dar Al Arkan shares fell 0.6 percent to 8.90 riyals at the close today at 3:30 pm in Riyadh. The stock has lost 37 percent this year compared with a gain of 4.9 percent for the benchmark stock index in Saudi Arabia.

Top Saudi shares most in four weeks as crude oil approaches $ 90 a barrel



Saudi Arabia shares, led by the petrochemical, rose the most in four weeks, after U.S. and European stocks rose in the week and oil prices rose to a 25-month high.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world's largest manufacturer of petrochemicals, and National Industrialization Co., the producer of petrochemicals known as Tasnee, rate of progress. The company's 146-stock index Tadawul gained 1.1 percent, the most since Nov. 6 at 6412.1, at 1:11 pm in Riyadh.

"It is not surprising to see an opening in the Saudi market, especially in the petrochemical sector, given the strong performance of international equity markets and oil reaching nearly $ 90," said Fuad Aghabi, director of investments Ajeej capital Riyadh.

U.S., Europe and emerging markets stocks rose this week amid improved U.S. economic data and efforts by the European Central Bank to halt the crisis in the region of the debt.

500 of Standard & Poor's rose 3 percent in the five days of yesterday, its biggest gain in four weeks. The Dow Jones industrial average rallied 2.6 percent.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 1.6 percent this week. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which tracks the shares of the nation's development, advanced 3.8 percent.

Crude oil rose to its highest level in 25 months, with oil for January delivery stood at $ 89.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday. Futures rose 6.5 percent this week and 12 percent this year. Saudi Arabia has one-fifth of the world's proven oil reserves.

Sabic rose to 2.7 percent to 104.5 riyals, the highest since Nov. 7. Tasnee rose to 6.6 percent, the largest amount in more than four months, to 33.9 rials and Saudi Industrial Investment Group gained as much as 3.6 percent to 21.35 riyals, the highest since May 22.

exchange value of Saudi Arabia is the only Gulf Arab stock market open on Saturdays.

PayPal account restricted site WikiLeaks as world comes under scrutiny

PayPal Inc., the payment processor owned by eBay Inc., cut the current access to the website of whistleblowing WikiLeaks.org for violating the acceptable use policy.

PayPal account suspended after the U.S. WikiLeaks said that activities were in violation of the law, a company spokesman. PayPal was not contacted by any government agency and took action on its own, the spokesman said.

PayPal movement marks a new suspension of Wikileaks, which is the release of about 250,000 classified diplomatic cables to the U.S., France and the United Kingdom say that could endanger life. Amazon.com Inc. fell in the WikiLeaks website hosting service this week for breaching the terms of service.

"PayPal has permanently restricted account used by Wikileaks, due to a violation of PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy, which states that our paid services can not be used for any activity that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to participate in illegal activities, "PayPal said in his blog. "We notified the account holder of this action."

Wikileaks had a previous encounter with PayPal in January, when it was temporarily blocked. The payment processor cut off access to the organization after it failed to respond to a request for further information when fundraising efforts led to an influx of money. Cash flow triggered the automatic alerts of money laundering, although the situation was resolved about a day later, the spokesman said.

Terms of Service

Amazon, the online retailer based in Seattle and web hosting service, Wikileaks said it had violated its terms of service by publication of material that did not have and that was potentially "put innocent people at risk."

site Wikileaks' U.S. was closed after the electronic attacks threaten the stability of access to other web sites, according to EveryDNS.net, the U.S. service that translates the online directions to the Internet protocol numbers.

Since beginning the liberation of the cables on November 28, WikiLeaks has also faced calls denial of service attacks, where hackers try to overwhelm a website with the repeated requests for data.

Blankenship Massey to retire Dec. 30, is replaced by Phillips, President

Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship will retire after 31 December, the company said in an emailed statement. President Baxter F. Massey Phillips Jr. will succeed as CEO, the company said.

Blankenship, 60, has worked at Massey for 28 years and served as president and CEO since November 30, 2000, the Richmond, Virginia-based company said. Admiral Bobby Inman, 79, an independent lead director on the board of Massey, will become executive chairman.

Last month, Massey, owner of the mine Upper Great Power in West Virginia, where 29 people died in April, said its board has ordered a review of strategic alternatives, a process that can lead to a sale. Blankenship became the face of the company in public disagreements with U.S. regulators after the mining accident.

"We were surprised indeed to see the announcement that Don Blankenship was removed because the name of Don and Massey are nearly synonymous," said Jeremy Sussman, an analyst at Brean Murray, Carret & Co. in New York.

Massey rose 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $ 50.42 in today's market in New York Stock Exchange. The retirement announcement came after the close of trading. The shares had fallen 35 percent before the October 18 report in the Wall Street Journal that the company was considering a sale. The stock has risen 42 percent since speculation that the company will take over.

Potential Acquisition

Acquisition of consultations was initiated earlier this year after the April 05 accident in the Upper Great Power mine near Montcoal, West Virginia. The accident was the worst coal mining disaster U.S. in 40 years.

Blankenship, who began his career with the company as office manager in 1982, has expressed reservations about the possible sale of the company. Last month, said the merger and acquisition options would be "thoroughly investigated", when the board met at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Nov. 21.

"After almost three decades in Massey is the time for me to move on," Blankenship said in a statement. "Baxter and I worked together for 28 years and will provide great leadership to the company executive."

Massey Reserves

Massey, a company that has been operating for 94 years, is the largest coal producer in central Appalachia, with 2.8 million tons of reserves, 1.3 million of which is metallurgical coal, used to produce steel .

In October it reported a net loss of $ 41,400,000 for the third quarter, citing lower productivity amid increased regulatory scrutiny following the accident Upper Great Power.

Blankenship lives in Sprigg, West Virginia, on the basis of Rawls Massey Sales & Processing Co., near the border with West Virginia, Kentucky, a region where the Hatfields and McCoys fought their legendary fights. He went to high school in Matewan, West Virginia, a city that was home to one of the bloodiest battles of the workforce in U.S. history.

Last month, the company said that encourage Congress to force U.S. Safety and Health Administration to allow more widespread use of scrubbers.

His battles were not limited to regulators. The United Mine Workers union and unions in seven states protested and called for his dismissal at the annual meeting of shareholders of the company in May and today hailed the withdrawal as a "step in the negative image that has cast a shadow" over the industry.

Talented Leader

His peers consider him one of the most talented leaders in the industry. The company's revenue has tripled in the last 10 years to 2.69 billion U.S. dollars last year. At the same time has become a more open advocate of coal.

"Don thinks that their beliefs are morally right and follow them," said Chris Cline, principal owner of Foresight Energy LLC, in an interview earlier this year. "Somehow, people should admire. You should also think," Maybe there's a way to not be a bull in a china shop. "

Blankenship has a Twitter account to send activists railing against regulation and the environment.

"Competitionist am" he wrote in an Aug. 9 tweet. "You have to let American workers go on court with the opportunity to win."

The company initially said Blankenship's retirement would be effective from 30 December. It issued a second statement saying that the date of 31 December.

rising U.S Stocks this week

U.S. stocks rose this week, sending benchmark indexes to their biggest gains in a month, amid improved economic data and the efforts of the European central banks to contain the crisis in the region of the debt.

Home Depot Inc. rose 8 percent, the biggest gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as construction spending and home sales exceeded economists' estimates. Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. advanced at least 5.6 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc., recommends financial stocks. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. rose 16 percent, its biggest weekly advance since July, after same-store sales rose.

500 of Standard & Poor's rose 3 percent, to 1,224.71 within five days of yesterday, its biggest gain in four weeks. The Dow Jones rallied 290.09 points, or 2.6 percent, at 11,382.09. The gauge of 30 stocks had their biggest gain in two days from July 1 to 2 December, rising 3.2 percent.

"In Europe it seems some of the recent flare on the continent would disappear and the markets reacted positively," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, which oversees more than $ 50 billion in Philadelphia. "There are signs of improvement, but the economy is not completely out of danger. The market will be subject to setbacks."

The S & P 500 is 20 percent this year low in July, after the companies reported earnings higher than estimated and the Federal Reserve announced a second round of purchases of Treasury to abolish interest rates and revive growth . Goldman Sachs investment strategist David Kostin said the S & P 500 could increase to 1,450 by the end of next year as economic recovery accelerates. U.S. Bank David Bianco raised his 12-month target for the rate of 1,350 to 1,400.

ECB bailout

U.S. equities advanced as the ECB policy makers kept the benchmark interest rate at a record low of 1 percent and delayed the departure of the bank of the emergency liquidity measures such as debt crisis threatens to engulf Portugal and Spain . Ireland on November 28 became the second country to take advantage of EU aid, after Greece. Received a rescue package worth € 85000000000 (112 million dollars).

Home Depot, the largest U.S. retailer home improvement, up 8 percent to $ 33.48, its biggest weekly advance since July 2009. U.S. Commerce Department said construction spending rose 0.7 in October, driven by higher residential development projects in six months. The median estimate of economists surveyed by us called for a drop of 0.3 percent.

Record Increase

Homebuilders advanced after a report said Americans signed contracts to buy existing homes in October, sending the index of pending home sales a record increase of 10 percent. Lennar Corp., the U.S. construction company third largest, gained 15 percent to $ 17.26, its biggest one-week rally in seven months.

The S & P 500 fell to 0.4 percent yesterday after the Labor Department said the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent from 9.6 percent. The benchmark index then recovered with commodity prices, ending the day with a gain of 0.3 percent. The report also said that U.S. payroll increased by 39,000 last month, behind the median forecast of economists in a survey of an increase of 150,000 jobs.

"There has been a separation between the lack of health and labor market conditions very positive for corporate balance sheets. This is not surprising." Said David Sowerby, a field Hills, a fund manager based in Michigan Loomis Sayles & Co., which oversees $ 150 billion. "The benefits traditionally rebound before making labor markets. If this were to persist for two or three months and combined with a drop in the ISM's manufacturing sector, then investors are more worried."

ISM Report

A December 1 report showed the manufacturing index of the Institute for Supply Management fell to 56.6 in November from 56.9 in October. Readings above 50 signal expansion.

Financial shares rose after Goldman Sachs said banks exceed the market next year due to "stronger economic growth, greater equity investment environment and an environment more favorable interest rates." Marshall & Ilsley Corp. met 18 percent to $ 5.60 for the biggest gain in the S & P 500. Bank of America rose 6.7 percent to $ 11.86 after three straight weeks of declines. JP Morgan rose 5.6 percent, to $ 39.61.

Abercrombie & Fitch had the second biggest advance in the S & P 500, rising 16 percent to $ 56.15. The teen apparel retailer said sales at stores open at least a year rose 22 percent in November. Analysts on average had expected an increase of 6.4 percent, according to Retail Metrics Inc.

Kroger Co., the U.S. supermarket chain who had the biggest drop in a year on December 2 after lowering the upper end of its earnings forecast for the year, fell 8.5 percent $ 21.11, the biggest drop in the S & P 500 . Barclays Plc lowered its rating to "equal weight" from "overweight."

The benchmark for options on U.S. stock fell over this week since May. The VIX, as the Chicago Board Options Volatility Index is known, fell 19 percent to 18.01. The index, which measures the cost of using options to hedge against S & P 500 declines, fell after jumping 23 percent last week.

Canadian dollar advanced for the first time in four weeks



Canadian dollar advanced for the first time in four weeks, as evidence of a global economic recovery helped crude oil, the main export product of the country, rally to a maximum of two years.

The Canadian dollar lost the currencies of other commodity producers such as Australia and Norway reports this week showed Canada added fewer jobs in November than economists forecast the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly rose. The Bank of Canada will refrain from increasing borrowing costs on Dec. 7, according to 12 economists surveyed by us.

"The demand for Canadian dollar assets has led to the recent strength," wrote Shane Enright, executive director of CIBC Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Market World Toronto, via e-mail.

The Canadian currency appreciated 1.7 percent to C $ 1.0039 per U.S. dollar yesterday, at $ 1.0213 on 26 November. It touched C $ 1.0003 yesterday, the strongest level since 11 November. One Canadian dollar buys 99.61 U.S. cents. The currency will weaken to C $ 1.07 by the end of the second quarter, "said Enright.

Norwegian Crown advanced 3.4 percent to 5.9523 against the dollar, while Australia dollar strengthened 3 percent to 99.31 U.S. cents.

The Canadian dollar strengthened to a database one by one against the U.S. dollar in late March, according to the median forecast in a survey of 30 economists. The currency hit a level stronger than the parity of 5 to 11 November.

"Parity still feel it will be sticky," Enright said CIBC. "Our data this week has hardly been stellar."

Job Reports

The currencies of Canada and Mexico, the boat averaged three-quarters of its exports to the U.S., were the only major currency counterparts yesterday not to raise U.S. after reports of job dimmed the prospects of rising interest rates.

Canadian employers added 15,200 jobs in November after an increase of 3,000 in the previous month, Statistics Canada said yesterday. The median forecast of 24 economists surveyed by us was for a gain of 19,800. The unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 7.6 percent from 7.9 percent.

U.S. payrolls grew by 39,000, less than the most pessimistic forecast of economists surveyed by us, after a review of progress in 172,000 the previous month, figures showed Labor Department. The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, the highest since April.

The gross domestic product of Canada's economy 10 º world's largest, grew by a lower than expected 1 percent annual pace in the third quarter after the earnings revised 2.3 percent and 5.6 percent in the previous two quarters, Statistics Canada said Nov. 30. The median estimate of 26 economists surveyed by us was for a gain of 1.5 percent.

View interest rates

Compared traders betting on the prospects for an increase in interest rates after the jobs report. The yield on the March 2011 contract bankers' acceptances, an indicator of the confidence of the cost of short-term loans, fell eight basis points, or 0.08 percentage point to 1.45 percent.

Bax called contracts averaged 20 basis points above the target overnight central bank from 1992 show. Hedge funds and money managers use contracts to protect against exposure to interest rates and betting.

The Bank of Canada kept its target interest rate by 1 percent in October, after three successive increments of a quarter percentage point from June 1, citing a deteriorating U.S. economic outlook, the Canada's largest trading partner.

The yield on the Canadian government two years fell four basis points to 1.63 percent this week after touching 1.72 percent two days ago, the highest since Nov. 25. The price of the guarantee of 1.5 percent due December 2012 rose 8 cents to C $ 99.75.

U.S. yield spread

Two-year bond yielded 117 basis points more than the equivalent maturity U.S. security yesterday. The performance advantage has been reduced from 121 basis points on November 25, which was the largest since January 2004.

Crude oil rose this week a report showed manufacturing in China grew at its fastest pace in seven months. Oil to receive an increase or a decrease in U.S. currency makes commodities more attractive as an alternative investment.

The January crude futures rose 6.5 percent to $ 89.19 a barrel after touching $ 89.49, the highest since October 2008. Canada derives about half its export earnings from raw materials including crude oil, copper, lumber and wheat.

Euro Strengthens for First Time in a Month against Dollar



The euro rose against the dollar during the first week in a month as the European Central Bank moved to curb the spread of sovereign debt crises and economic data in China and Europe increased the demand for higher yielding assets.

The common currency spent by a ramp earlier in the week, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, apply the measures of liquidity and the bank bought bonds to ease the concerns of some countries to pay their debts. Commodity currencies linked gained, with South African rand move more in nine months, as prices of raw materials rose. U.S. consumer confidence is at a maximum of six months, a survey may show next week.

"The ECB was actually very aggressive in the bond market," said Matthew Strauss, senior currency strategist in Toronto at the Royal Bank of Canada. "When the euro was at $ 1.30 level and the market was the decision of whether to push down more or let you correct it, that was enough for the market."

The euro rose 1.3 percent to $ 1.3414 yesterday, the first increase since the five days ended on 05 November, from $ 1.3242 on 26 November. It touched $ 1.2969 on 30 November, the lowest since Sept. 15. The common currency fell 0.6 percent to 110.73 yen, from 111.37.

The yen gained against the dollar for the first time in five weeks, advancing 1.9 percent to 82.53, the strongest level since 15 November. Closed at 84.10 on November 26.

Global growth currencies like the South African rand, the Norwegian krone and the Australian dollar advanced as commodities increased. The Thomson Reuters / Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities gained 5 percent in the week, the most since October 2009.

Rand climbs

The rand appreciated by 4 percent, the highest since March, to 6.8760 per dollar. The crown rose 3.4 percent to 5.9523 per dollar and the Australian rose 3 percent to 99.31 U.S. cents.

U.S. stocks won, with 500 of Standard & Poor's up 3 percent, the biggest weekly rise in a month.

The euro began a three-day advance against the dollar on Dec. 1 amid speculation that the ECB will take further action at its meeting tomorrow morning to stop the spread of the debt crisis and the data showed manufacturing expanded in China, U.S. and Europe.

China's factory purchasing managers index rose for a fourth month in November, according to a report of the federation of logistics. European industry expanded at its fastest pace in four months in a factory measuring the euro area, London-based Markit Economics, said while the index of the Institute for Supply Management showed manufacturing factory in the United . UU. consecutive month to speed up 16.

South Korean won had the biggest weekly gain in two months, rising 1.9 percent to 1,138.55 per dollar.

ECB buys bonds

While Trichet declined to announce further action on the debt crisis of Europe, said that the ECB will keep the banks that offer as much money as they want at a fixed interest rate for seven days, one month and three months until the first quarter . It also continued a program of gift vouchers.

The bank bought the debt Irish, Portuguese and Greek in the last two days, according to traders who requested anonymity because the bids are confidential. An ECB spokesman declined comment.

"The purchase of BCE's debt was the most important role in the decline of the euro," said John Doyle, a strategist at the signing in Washington of currency trading at Tempus Consulting Inc. "The underlying themes of European rulers and the banking sector have not disappeared, but we just changed their approach. "

Index dollar falls

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners, including the euro and the yen fell for the first time in four weeks, losing 1.5 percent to 79.150. The meter has extended its decline Friday as data showed U.S. payrolls grew in November for less than a third of many jobs than forecast. Employers added 39,000 jobs and the unemployment rate jumped unexpectedly to 9.8 percent from 9.6 percent.

The currencies of Canada and Mexico, the boat averaged three-quarters of its exports to the U.S., were the only major non-dollar counterparts up yesterday.

"With Mexico and Canada, who are slaves to the U.S., so today is just a bit of an adjustment," said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group LLC in Greenwich, Conn., yesterday. "This did not sink the ship of recovery, only slower."

The Canadian dollar is up 1.7 percent in the week at C $ 1.0039, and the peso advanced 1.2 percent to 12.3369 per dollar.

The index of Thomson Reuters / University of Michigan consumer sentiment rose to 72.5 in December, the highest in six months, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by us before the data is released on 10 December.