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Monday, November 15, 2010

Facebook Inc. introduced an email service for users

Facebook Inc. introduced an email service for users of its social networking site, intensifying competition with Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

Facebook is giving all users a "facebook.com @" email address, Mark Zuckerberg, the company's CEO, said today at an event in San Francisco. The new service will include text messaging and instant messaging, as well as traditional email.

By adding e-mail, Palo Alto, California, Facebook offers an alternative to Google's Gmail, the fastest growing service web mail in the last year. It also increases pressure on Microsoft and Yahoo, who are competing for the attention of Web users who rely more on social sites, and contact information with friends.

"This is not a murderer-mail," said Zuckerberg. "Maybe we can help push messaging is to make this time more towards simple, real, immediate and personal experience."

Gmail had 193.3 million global users in September, up 21 percent from the previous year, according to Reston, Virginia, comScore Inc. data monitoring Gmail still trails Microsoft's Windows Live Hotmail users 361,700,000 Yahoo and 273100000. Both of the services recorded declines of visitors in September the same period last year.

With Facebook's new product, users can send messages to friends who appear as text messages from mobile phones, emails or instant messages, based on the preferences that were set for each friend. Previously, users could receive alerts in your e-mail when it was published a photo or friends commented on his Facebook wall.

Best Filter

Facebook users can now drop Microsoft Office documents to your messages in the network, Microsoft said in a blog today.

Facebook, the world's largest social networking services, you may be able to filter spam better than other rivals in the data webmail friend, Danny Sullivan, who runs the Web site Search Engine Land, said in an interview.

"The idea of a white list of people who are just friends with you - it sounds very good," said Sullivan. "This could put pressure on Google" to improve its system of classification of messages that are important to users.

Yahoo last month took steps to make their service more attractive to Web users love social networking. There was a version that integrates e-mail messages and the microblogging site Twitter Inc. provides information at faster speeds. The service, still in a testing phase, also improves search, spam protection and viewing photos.

AOL Inc., the market leader in one-time email, preview changes to your web mail yesterday. New features allow users to view images, maps and other accessories contained in a message on a panel at the side of the screen. AOL was fifth on the website of e-mail in September with 30.7 million users, a decline of 18 percent over the previous year.

"Email remains one of the killer apps on the internet," said Brad Garlinghouse, senior vice president of AOL's consumer products that ran through Yahoo e-mail until you go to AOL last year. "We recognize we are not only in the business of e-mail, we are in the business of communication."

The automobile and the truck is gaining the confidence of bond investors

The automobile and the truck is gaining the confidence of bond investors as sales soar and General Motors prepares an initial public offering of shares this week.

Yields on securities tied to car sales have dropped to 80 basis points more than the reference exchange rate of 95 basis points three months ago, according to Barclays Capital. Spreads on bonds linked to consumer debt such as credit cards and student loans, remained unchanged at 73 basis points.

The increased appetite for the debt means that automakers and their finance units can more easily raise money to make loans, helping sales of cars and trucks and potentially boost its solvency. Global sales of light vehicles, can increase to 71.1 million this year, according to JD Power & Associates in Troy, Michigan, surpassing the record 70.3 million units sold in 2007.

"The automotive sector is the only area that has a strong new issue market," said Joseph Astorina, a bond analyst at Barclays Capital in New York. "It was very strong appetite for new agreements and has helped the ramp in demand and adjust the differential."

Sales associated with auto loans account for 54 percent of the 108 billion in securities backed by family and business loans have been sold this year, according to data compiled by us ,Last year, 36 percent of the 184 billion U.S. dollars of the securities sold were tied to the debt at issue.

Procter & Gamble

GM, rescued last year by the U.S., plans an initial public offering after reporting 2.16 billion U.S. dollars in net income for the third quarter. Ford Motor Co. 's nine-month revenues of 6.37 billion U.S. dollars more than double its 2.72 billion U.S. dollars in profits for the past year.

Elsewhere in credit markets, yields on corporate bonds worldwide rose for the second straight week. Spreads on debt from U.S. company Europe and Asia widened 2 basis points, or 0.02 percentage point last week to 167 basis points, and are up 3 basis points this month, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Broad Market Corporate Index.

Yields increased by an average of 3.58 percent from 3.42 percent on 5 November. Yields were 4.25 percent higher than a year ago.

Procter & Gamble Co., the world's biggest consumer products, can sell tickets for five years in a reference offer, according to a person familiar with the operation. The senior unsecured debt can be sold as early as today, said the person, who declined to be identified as terms are not set. reference sales are typically at least $ 500 million.

Default Swaps Fall

Barclays Capital is marketing the $ 500 million of bonds backed by credit card payments, according to a person familiar with the operation. The class titles, due in 1.98 years, can give 60 points higher than the interbank rate of one month's supply of London, said the person, who requested anonymity because the terms are not public.

The cost of protecting corporate bonds from default in the U.S. fell, Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index, which investors use to cover losses on corporate debt or to speculate on creditworthiness, the decline of 2.1 basis points at an average price of 91.5 basis points from of 11:46 am in New York, according to index administrator Markit Group Ltd.

The overall index falls as improving investor confidence and increases as it deteriorates. Swaps credit-default pay the buyer face value if a borrower defaults on its obligations, less the value of the defaulted debt. A basis point equals $ 1,000 annually on a contract protecting $ 10 million of debt.

Esparza stricter

automobile manufacturers and finance are based on asset-backed securities to raise funds to make loans. The sale of debt is a cheap way to diversify sources of funding, according to Barclays Capital Astorina.

"The all-in cost is very attractive," he said. "It's a cheaper source of financing of unsecured debt or bank loans."

The spreads of the values of auto asset-backed bond rated A to AAA and maturing in three years was reduced by 145 basis points to 100 basis points in the last 52 weeks, according to a report by Citigroup Inc., dated 12 November. Similarly nominal value of credit cards five years have been hardened by 90 basis points.

AmeriCredit Financial Services, a lender to car buyers with bad credit property located in Detroit, GM, and Japan's Nissan Motor Co., sold $ 1,450,000,000 of bonds backed by assets, on 10 November.

Fort Worth, Texas-based AmeriCredit paid 55 basis points more than the reference exchange rate of 90.3 million U.S. dollars of securities with a maturity class at 2.12 years. In his previous sale of similar debt in September, the company paid 45 basis points over swaps, according to Our data.

Most prime-selling Nissan, a slice 223 million U.S. dollars maturing in two years, yields of 47 basis points more than benchmark swap rate.

Sales in Europe

In Europe, sales of bonds backed by car loans increased to 6 million euros (8.23 billion) this year, 1.2 million for full year 2009, according to JPMorgan. Investors demand an average of 80 basis points more than the euro interbank offered rate, or Euribor, maintaining high values of two years backed by European car loans, compared with an extension 135 basis points late last year, according to JPMorgan show.

"Auto loan ABS has attracted considerable investor interest due to their nature short time, liquidity and guarantee good performance of German," said Flavio Rusconi, a London-based analyst at JPMorgan. "This helped to tighten spreads over the past year."

GM would price its IPO above the expected range and to exercise an option to sell more shares amid signs of strong demand, according to two people familiar with the operation.

Ford Turnaround

The six receiving GM executives have received from investors in a promotional tour to announce the IPO has been strong enough to sell the shares at the top of the range offer of $ 26 to $ 29 or more $ 30, said the people, who declined to be identified because the information is private.

Noreen Pratscher, a GM spokesman, declined comment.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally, the automaker turned in Dearborn, Michigan, around after losses of $ 30 million in 2006 to 2008, allowing the company to pay 10.8 billion U.S. dollars in obligations this year and reduce the debt of its automatic printing device 22.8 billion U.S. dollars.

Global sales of light vehicles, increase by 6 percent to 73.8 million next year, of Lexington, based in Massachusetts, said IHS Automotive in September. The forecast is 1.95 million additional deliveries in China and South Asia and an increase of $ 1.5 million in sales in North America.

Declining Market

Offers related to auto loans, leases and debt finance cars have gained a greater share of a declining market for asset-backed securities, the data show Citigroup. While the car market has fallen 0.8 percent this year, issuance of securities backed by credit card debt of $ 5.99 billion represents a decline of 85 percent over the previous year and that households save more.

Default rates on auto loans packaged into bonds are running "well below" the peak levels of 2007 and 2008, according to a report by November 04, Wells Fargo Securities.

"The automotive sector has passed its peak in the losses from the credit crisis and recession," said analysts led by John McElravey in Charlotte, North Carolina. Used vehicle demand is also helping to shore up prices, helping to minimize losses on defaulted loans, they said.

budget deficit of $ 25 billion according to California

California is selling $ 10 billion tickets a year to boost cash on hand, as the state that produces 13 percent of the U.S. Gross domestic product is to assure investors that can repay the loan in the midst of a budget deficit of $ 25 billion.

Investors offered $ 2 billion of bonds maturing in May in the provisional returns of 1 percent to 1.25 percent, according to two people familiar with the offer. That's about 0.58 to 0.83 percentage points more than top-level municipal bonds one year from November 12, according to Municipal Market Advisors. The $ 8 billion of bonds maturing in June was trading at 1.25 percent to 1.5 percent, or about 0.83 to 1.08 percentage points more than top-rated notes.

The problem comes after the state Legislative Analyst's Office said the California deficit may exceed $ 25 billion over the next 19 months, including $ 6.1 billion in the fiscal year ending in June. Treasurer, Bill Lockyer, also is selling 3.75 billion U.S. dollars of long-term liabilities, as of this week.

"If you're full of California, then do not add fuel to the fire," said Marilyn Cohen, president of Envision Capital Management in Los Angeles, which manages $ 250 million in fixed income assets. "If California have little exposure and have cash sitting in money markets, then you better make sure it is worth your time because the news headlines will continue to go from bad to terminal."

Individual investors

The State shall take orders today and tomorrow from individual investors for the revenue anticipation notes, municipal bonds, short-term RAN known as the State provides cash when the pay is low and the collection of taxes later. Institutional investors like mutual funds November 17 orders. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is managing the sale, along with De La Rosa & Co. and Wells Fargo Securities.

California notes hit the market after yields on top-rated municipal bonds a year rose 1 basis point to 0.42 percent on Nov. 12 after falling to its lowest level in August. Top-rated municipal bonds a year yielded 0.3 percent on Aug. 18, according to the MMA, the lowest since the index began in 2001. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

The notes are classified F2 by Fitch Ratings, the third highest. Standard & Poor's rated the SP-1 notes, the second highest, while Moody's Investors Service assigned the notes MIG-1, its highest rating. S & P ranks of the long-term debt of California, A-, its fourth year of lower investment, higher risk among U.S. states.

No Surprise

The deficit projection LAO "not surprising, and it should not surprise investors," said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for Lockyer. "We fully disclosed the potential economic problems in our brochure RAN supply, and do not expect that the projection of the OAI to affect the operation of cash flow borrowing. I still have more than enough cash available to pay RAN in time and in full. "

When California sold $ 8,800,000,000 of debt a year on 23 September last year, notes that matured in May were at a yield of 1.25 percent, or about 59 basis points more than a year bonds primetime according to the MMA, an independent research firm based in Concord, Massachusetts. Notes that matured in June were at a yield of 1.5 percent, or 84 basis points more than the highest rated debt at the time.

Lockyer was able to sell 6.64 billion U.S. dollars of the notes to individual investors, or about 75 percent of the total.

'Punitive' Performance

The "punishment" California Performance pay this year will be determined by the amount of interest from individual investors that the state can draw, Regina said Shafer, who oversees $ 5.3 billion in tax-exempt municipal bonds as senior vice president of investments bond for USAA Investment Management Co. in San Antonio, Texas. The notes will be attractive to retail buyers as compared with cash alternatives like money market funds, which offer lower yields, he said.

"Given the marketing effort will probably be a very easily," said Shafer. "In states with high tax rate, is very attractive. I think retail is going to be very successful."

Texas paid $ 7,800,000,000 August 24 through ticket sales and forecasting tax revenues a year, paying a weighted average interest cost of 0.34 percent, or 4 basis points more than top level bonds a year, according to the Comptroller's web site for sale. The notes carried the highest ratings in the short term from Moody's, S & P and Fitch.

New Jersey, whose short-term debt also carries a higher credit rating, provided 2.25 billion U.S. dollars with a yield of 0.33 percent on Aug. 19. That was 3 points higher than the highest rated debt at the time.

Extra Performance

California sold about $ 6.3 billion in public debt, the obligation after its RAN sale last year, according to data. In the midst of increased supply, the extra yield on AAA bonds for debt investors required 10 years of state issuers have increased to 158 basis points to 104 basis points year on 8 October.

States and municipalities are able to borrow some 16.8 billion U.S. dollars this week, most on record, according to data compiled by dating from 2003. Issuers are expected to offer more than 20.1 billion U.S. dollars in the next 30 days, the index visible supply on November 12, the most since October 23, 2009, almost double the daily average this year.

Avoid Currency Controls & keeping currency gains from damaging their economies

At a time when nations from Japan to Brazil are struggling to maintain foreign exchange earnings of damaging their economies, Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens welcomes a stronger exchange rate.

Australia dollar has advanced 19 percent since late June, most of the 16 major currencies followed by data  reaching parity with U.S. dollar last month for the first time since July 1982. The rally may help curb inflation, sales of iron ore and coal to China bring less local dollars. When Stevens surprised investors by raising interest rates on 2 November, said in a statement that the increase in the money "will help, at the margin, in the containment of inflation pressure."

Stevens is allowing gains, while Japan sold yen for the first time since 2004, and Brazil, South Korea and Taiwan to obstruct foreign investors. World leaders from countries like Japan, Brazil and China have said that the U.S. is degrading its currency through the Federal Reserve's plan to print dollars so you can buy $ 600 billion of Treasuries.

"The Australian dollar is between what we call the world of new shelters," said Jonathan Lewis, the founding director of New York, Samson Capital Advisors LLC, which manages $ 6,900,000,000 and specializes in bonds and currencies. The Australian called "float more freely than others," he said. "Even the free-floating currencies should have an asterisk next to their names because of central bank interventions."

Buying Bonds

After the meetings in Seoul last week, leaders of the Group of 20 countries agreed to seek gradual changes in currency values, providing some cover countries to adopt capital controls to limit exchange rate movements.

The outlook for the Australian has taken some of the world's largest investors in bonds to build the nation's debt, although Stevens said more rate hikes may come.

Lewis has twice the percentage of Australian dollars as contained in its benchmark index used to measure fund performance. Kokusai Global Sovereign Open, the biggest Asian bond fund, increased its investment in Australia to a record 15 percent of assets this year.

"The Australian economy is healthy," said Masataka Horii, one of four managers, 37.5 billion U.S. dollars of funds in the Kokusai Global Sovereign Tokyo. "The Reserve Bank of Australia will increase its policy rate and the currency will appreciate."

"Aggressive" Bank

Samsung Investment Trust Management Co., the largest private investor in South Korea fixed-income next year is starting a fund to invest in the debt of Australia.

"Australia has one of the most aggressive central banks in the world," said Sungjin Park, who oversees the equivalent of 55.9 billion U.S. dollars as head of fixed income at Samsung in Seoul. "Many fund managers in Asia, including China and Japan, Australia's bonds are more attractive" than any other sovereign debt in the region, he said.

The government's November 10 auction of debt maturing in July 2022 attracted bids for 4.55 times the amount of available titles, the most since the country expanded its lending program in 2009.

The Aussie fell 0.1 percent today to 98.36 cents U.S. as of 8:58 am in London, from this year low of 80.67 cents in May. It rose as high as $ 1.0183 on 5 November.

Beating forecasts

Analysts predicted earnings. The Australian ended the third quarter to 96.71 U.S. cents, while the median estimate of economists and strategists surveyed was 88. They are now catching up with the rally, raising its estimate in mid 2011 to 99 cents U.S. 88 two months ago.

The progress of the Australian dollar has become the world's most expensive currency based on purchasing power parity, a measure of cost of goods relative to other countries. The indicator shows the Aussie is trading at a premium of 30 percent, according to data compiled

"It's very overrated and is unlikely to remain so for a considerable period," said Lee Hardman, currency strategist in London at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., a unit of Japan's largest publicly traded bank.

The unemployment rate in Australia of 5.4 percent compared with 9.6 percent in the U.S. and 10.1 percent in the euro area. The IMF predicts that Australia's economy will expand 3.5 percent next year from 3 percent in 2010 compared to 2.3 percent in the U.S. and 1.5 percent in Europe.

China's growth

The figure will be 9.6 percent for China, the IMF forecasts, fueling demand for resources from Australia, the world's largest exporter of iron ore and coal. China's iron imports averaged 51.5 million tons a month this year and last year, compared with 37 million tonnes per month in 2008.

Shipments of products from China are the promotion of employment. BG Group Plc, the third largest UK oil and gas producer, said Oct. 31 it will build a business by 15 billion dollars of liquefied natural gas in Queensland. The project will create 5,000 jobs, reading, the British company said.

Australia's employers added 29,700 workers in October from the previous month, the statistics bureau reported on 11 November. News survey of economists projected 20,000.

Recruitment threatens to increase inflation, the central bank aims to maintain a range of 2 to 3 percent. Consumer prices rose 2.8 percent in the third quarter last year, compared with 3.1 percent in April-June period, the government said Oct. 27.

The rate increase

The Reserve Bank of Australia, known as the RBA has raised the interbank lending rate seven times a day since October 2009. The measure was increased by a quarter point to 4.75 percent on Nov. 2. In his speech that day, Stevens said the growth outlook, saying he hoped that "the strongest private spending over the next couple of years."

benchmark rates in the U.S. and Japan are near zero. The central banks of both countries are also buying government bonds, a strategy known as quantitative easing that pumps money into the economy. Japan sells yen on September 15 rally to stop the coin to a maximum of 15 years.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, said earlier this month the U.S. is implementing a "weak dollar policy" and said the Chinese central bank adviser Xia Bin amounts U.S. Print quantitative easing "uncontrolled" money. President-elect of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, said last week other countries are driving the cost of U.S. debasing its currency.

Stevens tolerance of a stronger dollar in contrast to local officials from other nations who are concerned about the profits to reduce demand for exports and investors seeking higher yields lead to flood markets with money.

Exchange controls

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva tripled a tax on purchases of foreign bonds last month to 6 percent. South Korea may revive a tax of 14 percent of the bonds held by international investors in January, ruling party lawmaker Song Sik Kim said in an interview in Seoul on November 9.

Taiwan, said Nov. 9 that would limit foreign investment in government bonds and money market products to a maximum of 30 percent of the value of foreign fund portfolio is.

Currency gains help Stevens fresh growth, said Ken Leech, chief investment strategist committee overall Western Asset Management Co., the unit of Legg Mason Inc. 's bond.

"We do not believe that they will intervene," said Leech, who helps oversee $ 482,200,000,000 in Pasadena, California, Western Asset, November 02 at a seminar in Singapore.

The Australian economy is attractive enough to draw Franklin Templeton Investments, as the company's San Mateo, California, the second largest holder of the debt of the nation behind Kokusai, according to our data

"The fundamentals are still better in Australia than in the U.S., despite the recent appreciation of the currency should be allowed to remain strong," said David Zahn, who helps oversee Franklin 664.3 billion U.S. dollars in assets such as a fund manager based in London higher in the fixed income group. "We have a responsibility to raise rates to keep the economy from overheating and keep inflation under control," he said in an e-mail. "The rise of the currency does something of this for the RBA."

G-20, the APEC yield little to correct the imbalances stem outflow concerns

The leaders of the world's biggest economies ended four days of talks without taking decisive action to address global imbalances that have fueled asset bubbles and the risk that leads to a protectionist backlash.

Asia-Pacific leaders in Japan yesterday pledged to take "concrete steps" toward creating a regional free trade agreement, without setting a target to achieve that goal. The meeting followed the November 11 to 12 Group of 20 in Seoul that "the actions of opposing trade protectionism," while failing to agree on a remedy to the distortions of trade and investment.

The officers entered the G-20 pledged to reduce global trade friction by agreeing not to weaken its currency to boost exports. Once there, the U.S. and China took turns blaming others for the exchange rate policy, with President Barack Obama calling the yuan "undervalued" and the Chinese authorities saying monetary easing by the Federal Reserve was undermining the dollar.

"The problem that people really care about the effects of U.S. monetary policy in terms of capital flows, addressed almost all," said Uwe Parpart, chief economist and Asia strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald HK Markets Capital. A solution that does not involve boosting domestic demand in China and the U.S. increased savings "refers to the symptoms, not the real cause," he said.

U.S., China Positions

Hu indicated that there was no change in monetary policy of their country in a November 13 speech, adding that the pressure for quick reforms "will not make a good international cooperation." The same day, National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon told reporters that the U.S. wants China to let the yuan rise more before Hu Jintao visits Washington in January.

Obama flew home yesterday after a 10-day trip designed to support its goal of doubling exports in five years. Pressed Hu to allow the yuan to strengthen at a 80 - minute meeting on November 11 that China has a record trade surplus with the U.S. $ 28,000,000,000 in August the biggest criticism that his government is keeping a lid on the currency unfair.

Yuan forwards fell after the summit, with the central bank set its daily reference rate weaker for the first time in five days. Delivery within twelve months fell 0.1 percent to 6.4595 per dollar as of 9:45 am in Hong Kong, reflecting the currency bets strengthened 2.75 percent in a year from spot rate of 6.6373.

China forex reserves

The yuan, also known as renminbi, has risen about 3 percent against the dollar since June 19, when China scrapped its two-year parity. China has 2.65 trillion U.S. dollars of foreign currency reserves, more than double any other country.

"The pressure from the U.S. is more likely to result in not so subtle threats about the dollar's reserve status," said Paul Donovan, deputy head of global economics at UBS AG in an email yesterday. "It is unlikely to accelerate the process of revaluation of the renminbi."

Obama told reporters after the G-20 that the Federal Reserve plan to buy an additional $ 600 billion of Treasuries was designed to boost growth. He said a stronger economy would help the U.S. reduce the budget deficit which reached 1.294 trillion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year ended September 30, surpassed only by the deficit of $ 1,415,000,000,000 in 2009.

Ireland debt concerns

The fragility of the global financial situation was underlined by concerns about debt in Ireland. The country is in talks with European officials on "market conditions" as Germany pushed to accept a ransom. The International Monetary Fund is ready to help Spain if necessary, Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn said November 13 in the APEC.

The G-20 statement said that emerging markets face a wave of capital flows can take regulatory action to address, providing coverage to limit currency fluctuations and stem asset bubbles. Finance ministers of the G-20 will work next year on a set of indicative guidelines call designed to identify the major economic imbalances and the necessary actions to solve them, the leaders said in a statement.

"The decision to create a framework is a useful step, because it can show the relative importance of imbalances in each country and provide an indication that adjustments should be done," said central bank governor of the Philippines, Amando Tetangco in a phone message yesterday.

APEC

Leaders of 21 APEC economies, which represent over 50 percent of the global economy and nearly 45 percent of their trade, said the region "is recovering from the recent economic and financial crisis, but uncertainty remains. " Echoing the G-20 of the statement, the group called for greater exchange rate flexibility, and warned against volatile movements in the currency market that can disrupt economic growth.

"We will move towards more market-determined rate of change" and "refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies," said the statement. Developed countries will remain vigilant to "help mitigate the risk of volatility in capital flows to some emerging market economies."

"The APEC meeting was overshadowed by the G-20, where countries were divided on the yuan and other policies of the coin," said Koji Murata, a professor of international relations at Doshisha University in Kyoto. "The result was vague and lacking in substance."

Trade Negotiations

U.S. pushed for the completion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership nine countries next year's meeting of APEC in Honolulu, the sales representative, Ron Kirk, said yesterday in an interview in Yokohama, Japan. That set the stage for a broader agreement that includes China, he said.

Obama on 13 November, said "well received" interest of Japan to join talks on the PCC, which would be the biggest U.S. trade deal since 1994 Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. The talks now include the U.S., Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Brunei, Chile, Vietnam, Peru and Malaysia.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who favors talks to join the TPP, faces resistance within his own party amid a backlash from farmers who benefit from tariff protection. His Cabinet last week agreed to start preliminary talks only about the negotiations.

"We just want to keep the foot to the pedal and see how far you can go to close by the time they convene next year," Kirk said, adding that five rounds of talks is scheduled for 2011. "What we are creating will ultimately become the Free Trade Agreement of Asia-Pacific."