18Feb

CA-CANADA Summary (Reuters)

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[unable to retrieve full-text content]Reuters – Canada’s annual inflation rate rose more than expected in January, boosted by higher energy and transportation prices, but the increase was not seen as strong enough to spur the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates this year. The annual rate increased to 2.5 percent in January from 2.3 percent in December, Statistics Canada said on Friday. The year-over-year increase was slightly greater than the 2.3 percent predicted by economists.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120217/wl_canada_nm/canada_summary

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11Feb

Generation Y Doesn't Trust The Stock Market, But Is Heavily …

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Growing up during America’s “lost decade” has certainly taken a toll on Generation Y, which has lived through the tech bust in 2000 and the financial catastrophe of 2008.

Forty percent of Gen Yers — 18- to 30-year-olds — say they will “never feel comfortable investing in the stock market,” according to a study from MFS Investment Management that was reported in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

Yet for all that pessimism, Gen Y is heavily invested in the market, as Journal columnist Carolyn T. Geer points out. Thanks to a six-year-old law that offers companies incentives for automatically enrolling employees in 401(k) plans, the number of twenty-somethings who are investing in stocks has grown.

The law, signed by President George W. Bush in 2006, most affected workers who were newest to the workforce, often Gen Yers. According to the Investment Company Institute and Employee Benefit Research Institute, which examined the portfolios of 23 million individuals with 401(k)s, the percentage of twenty-somethings with 80 percent or more of their 401(k) funds in the stock market grew from 55.3 percent in 2000 to 60 percent in 2010.

Generation Y encompasses 77 million Americans who have combined earning power of $1 trillion, according to MFS Investment Management. Saving is currently not a priority for a large portion of Gen Yers — 38 percent say they live from paycheck to paycheck.

Investing young, however, is key. Reuters reports:

According to data from Baltimore-based fund shop T. Rowe Price, if one saver puts away $500 a month from ages 21 to 30 and enjoys a 7 percent annual return, she will end up with almost a million bucks at age 65. That handily beats another saver who waits for that level of return until age 31 yet contributes all the way to 65, despite putting up $150,000 more than the first investor.

“Whether wealth is transferred to Gen Y from older generations or they generate it themselves, it is a demographic imperative that the financial services industry embraces younger investors,” William Finnegan, senior managing director of U.S. retail marketing for MFS, stated in the MFS study.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/generation-y-investing-stocks_n_1262998.html

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03Feb

Rwanda: Non performing loans on decline ? IMF – In2EastAfrica …

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BCR is one of the banks that have significantly whittled down the level of non performing loans. The New Times

Local banks have posted a slowdown in loans that end up in non performing category, a sign of the strong activity in the financial sector, which is occasioned by the central bank?s improved supervisory capacity.

According to statistics from the International Monetary Fund, Non Performing Loans (NPL) dropped to 9.3 percent as of September last year from 17 percent in 2007.

?The banking system has remained well capitalised with nonperforming loans declining from 11.3 percent at end-2010 to 9.3 percent at end-September 2011, and profitability improving,? IMF said in a report.

According to IMF, the decline in NPLs is attributed to the central bank?s continued efforts to strengthen its supervisory capacity by hiring and training new supervisors for banks and SACCOs.

The central bank hired five bank supervisors and 60 inspectors for SACCOs. Francoise Kagoyire, the Director of Banking Sector at the central bank said the decline is also driven by best practices in banks especially in risk management.

?Procedures to give out loans were tightened and this ensured that newcomers don?t worsen the situation,? she said in a phone interview.

Official forecasts indicate that NPLs are expected to be reduced further to seven percent this year with an overall target of five percent in all banks.

The other driver of low NPLs is sharing of borrowers? information amongst banks where bad borrowers are identified.

In an effort to reduce the NPL to the central bank?s threshold, the credit reference bureau is expected to provide a platform for lending institutions to strengthen their credit appraisal procedures with a view to enhancing credit quality and responsible credit behaviour in the financial system.

Kenya Commercial Bank Managing Director, Maurice K. Toroitich said the situation is a combination of many factors including an improved debt repayment culture amongst borrowers supported by Credit Reference Bureau.

?In addition, banks are exercising prudent lending practices plus certain old bad debts have been written off by banks,? he said.

KCB has one of the lowest NPLs in the market at five percent.

The Managing Director of Rwanda Commercial Bank, Sanjeev Anand, said that the Bank?s NPL dropped from 19 percent in January last year to 5.5 percent as of December 2011.

Commercial bank credit to the privates sector grew by 28.4 percent last year to Rwf509.8b last year, reflecting a serious rebound in economic activity.

By Gertrude Majyambere, The New Times

Do you have a story or an article to publish? Please email us to submit@in2eastafrica.net.

Source: http://in2eastafrica.net/rwanda-non-performing-loans-on-decline-imf/

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27Jan

Pharmacies Respond Inaccurately to Teens Seeking Contraception (LiveScience.com)

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Pharmacies may misinform teens about whether they are allowed to buy emergency contraception, which can prevent pregnancy after sex, a new study finds.

Such misinformation is more commonly given by pharmacies in low-income neighborhoods, the study showed.

The researchers called 943 commercial pharmacies in five states. The caller posed as a 17-year-old girl seeking emergency contraception after unprotected sex. Under Food and Drug Administration rules, the emergency contraception drug called Plan B may be sold over the counter (without a prescription) to women ages 17 and older (those ages 16 and younger need a prescription).

But of the pharmacies who said they had emergency contraception available that day, 19 percent said the 17-year-old caller could not buy the emergency contraception under any circumstances. The pharmacies who responded this way usually hung up the phone quickly.

“We were really surprised that so many pharmacies actually ended the conversation at that point,” said study researcher Dr. Tracey Wilkinson, a pediatrician at Boston Medical Center.

The misinformation was more common in poor neighborhoods: 23.7 percent of pharmacies in low-income neighborhoods said the teenage caller could not obtain emergency contraception at all, compared with 14.6 percent in other neighborhoods.

In addition, just under half (44 percent) of pharmacies surveyed gave the incorrect age at which a teenager can obtain emergency contraception without a prescription. Most who got it wrong said a person needed to be older than 17 to obtain emergency contraception. In low-income neighborhoods, about 50 percent of pharmacies gave the incorrect age, compared to about 37 percent in other neighborhoods.

The findings suggest that access to emergency contraception is particularly difficult for young women living in low-income areas ? areas that also have higher rates of teen pregnancy, Wilkinson said.

While access to Plan B isn’t the only factor that affects teen pregnancy rates, “knowing that teen pregnancy rates are higher in low-income neighborhoods makes this disparity an even bigger problem,” Wilkinson said.

The researchers noted their results are based on calls to pharmacies and not in-person visits, which may have yielded different responses. But adolescents may call pharmacies beforehand, and may be discouraged from going to a pharmacy in person if they receive incorrect information about emergency contraception, Wilkinson said.

Pass it on: Women ages 17 and up can buy Plan B without a prescription.

This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily staff writer Rachael Rettner on Twitter @RachaelRettner. Find us on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20120125/sc_livescience/pharmaciesrespondinaccuratelytoteensseekingcontraception

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20Jan

Wholesale prices declined slightly last month

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WASHINGTON (AP) ? U.S. wholesale prices fell last month because companies paid less for food and energy, evidence that inflation remains tame.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that the producer price index, which measures price changes before they reach consumers, declined 0.1 percent in December. That follows a 0.3 percent rise the previous month and is the second drop in three months.

Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core wholesale prices rose 0.3 percent. It was the largest increase in five months. Higher prices for pickup trucks, cars, and pharmaceuticals drove the increase.

Still, overall wholesale prices are trending lower. They increased 4.8 percent in December compared to the same month a year ago. That’s the slowest annual increase since January and down from a recent peak of 7.1 percent in July.

And the increase in core prices may be temporary. Flooding last year in Thailand may have disrupted some auto supply chains, pushing pickup truck and car prices higher.

Higher truck prices accounted for about one-third of the increase in core prices.

“Both headline and core inflation should be a lot lower by the end of this year,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, in a note to clients.

Lower wholesale costs mean manufacturers and retailers don’t face as much pressure to raise prices for consumers in order to maintain profits. That could keep consumer price inflation in check.

Low also inflation allows the Federal Reserve with more leeway to keep interest rates low and take other steps to boost the economy.

The Fed projects consumer price inflation will fall from about 2.8 percent in 2011 to roughly 1.7 percent this year. That’s in the Fed’s preferred range for core inflation of about 1.7 percent to 2 percent.

Food prices fell 0.8 percent, mostly because of a big drop in vegetable prices. Tomatoes fell 36.9 percent, the most since May, while lettuce prices dropped by almost 25 percent. The drop follows a big increase in vegetable prices in November.

Pork prices fell last month by the most in more than three years, and chicken costs also declined.

Energy costs also dropped 0.8 percent, in part because of a decline in seasonally adjusted gas prices. Residential natural gas costs also fell, reflecting an increase in natural gas drilling from U.S. shale rock deposits.

A small amount of inflation can be good for the economy. It encourages businesses and consumers to spend and invest money sooner rather than later, before inflation erodes its value.

Wholesale price inflation peaked last year and most economists expect that it will continue to moderate. The prices of oil and agricultural commodities such as cotton and corn have fallen after spiking in early 2011.

The decline in commodity prices pushed down gas prices and enabled retailers to offer discounts on many goods. That helped boost consumer spending, which makes up 70 percent of economic activity.

Consumer spending likely grew at the fastest pace in a year in the final three months of 2011. Some economists estimate that it rose at a 3 percent annual pace in the October-December quarter, up from a 1.7 percent rate in the third quarter.

As a result, overall growth may top 3 percent in the fourth quarter. That would be an improvement from the 1.8 percent annual pace in the July-September quarter and 0.9 percent in the first six months of the year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-18-Wholesale%20Prices/id-b6049ce8ab7c47c08dbd58aa06f849b2

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13Jan

Summary Box: China auto sales slow in 2011 (AP)

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THE DATA: Vehicle sales in China rose a scant 2.5 percent in 2011, the slowest growth in more than a decade, as higher prices and traffic controls kept buyers out of showrooms.

THE HISTORY: Car sales in China soared 32 percent in 2010 after the government cut sales taxes and offered subsidies to spur demand, but growth slowed once the incentives ended.

THE OUTLOOK: China’s market is bound to continue to expand, given the relatively low level of vehicle ownership among increasingly affluent families, but most analysts do not expect a return to the torrid growth of the past.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120112/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_auto_sales_summary_box

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30Dec

German businesses, consumers upbeat despite crisis (AP)

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BERLIN ? German business and consumer confidence ended 2011 on a high note despite ongoing fears about the European economy, two closely watched surveys showed Tuesday.

The Ifo Institute’s monthly index of business confidence increased to 107.2 points from 106.6, as participants’ assessment of their current situation remained unchanged but expectations for the next six months rose.

“Overall, latest Ifo data give ground for optimism that the German economy will weather the ongoing negative influence from eurozone debt crisis developments and the general worsening of prospects for external demand from the rest of Europe fairly well,” said Timo Klein, an economist with IHS Global Insight.

Economists had been predicting a drop to 106 amid weakness in the global economy and serious concerns about the financial future of several eurozone countries.

“The German economy seems to be successfully countering the downturn in Western Europe,” said Ifo president Hans-Werner Sinn. “This bodes well for Christmas.”

Consumer confidence also proved resilient, according to the GfK research institute’s forward-looking indicator for January. It remained unchanged from December’s 5.6 points as people were optimistic “despite rising economic risks and further escalation of the debt crisis.”

There were mixed messages from the survey, however, as German income and economic expectations both rose but consumers’ willingness to buy dropped significantly, GfK said.

“Willingness to buy did not benefit from the improvement in economic and income expectations…” Gfk said, noting that it still remained at a “comparatively high level.”

GfK said its survey of 2,000 consumers was almost complete before the most recent EU summit in Brussels and that it is unclear whether the inclination to hold back on purchases may now be resolved with the broad agreement reached there.

But it also said that while economic expectations are “defying the rising fears of recession,” that might change as the debt crisis hurts German exports.

“With most German companies operating at above average capacity, the labor market is very robust and unemployment figures continue to fall,” GfK said. “Whether this trend can be sustained remains to be seen ? the European debt crisis is increasingly likely to become a problem for Germany’s export economy.”

Dutch consumer confidence, by contrast, fell sharply in December to below the deepest lows of 2008 and 2009, according to a new report Tuesday.

The differing outlook is unusual, given the two economies’ close trade links and common view on economic policy, as the Dutch government has consistently backed German policies throughout the crisis.

The country’s Central Bureau for Statistics pointed to worries over the Dutch housing market, wage stagnation, and forecasts for a mild recession in the Netherlands in 2012 as key differences.

Ifo, which surveyed approximately 7,000 German businesses, said that their assessment of their current situation remained unchanged for the third month in a row, while expectations for the next six months ticked up for the third month in a row.

Earlier this month, Ifo lowered its forecast for German growth for 2012 to 0.4 percent because of the financial turmoil and a cooling global economy.

The government’s independent economic advisers last month predicted that output would expand by 0.9 percent in 2012. Both forecast growth of 3 percent this year.

Another German think tank, the IfW institute, on Tuesday lowered its 2012 growth projection from 0.8 percent to 0.5 percent, while Essen’s RWI institute lowered its forecast from 1 percent to 0.6 percent.

Carsten Brzeski, an economist with ING Global Research said that while it is clear that the German economy is cooling, the Ifo results indicate it is “heading towards a soft patch but not falling off the cliff.”

“The length of the soft patch will to a large extent be determined by the management of the debt crisis,” he said. “The German economy should remain the stronghold of the Eurozone. It is faltering, but not falling.”

_____

Toby Sterling in Amsterdam contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111220/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_germany_economy

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21Dec

US stocks drop; Citi and other big banks fall hard (AP)

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NEW YORK ? U.S. stocks edged lower in midday trading with bank stocks leading the way down.

Stocks opened higher Monday but quickly fell after an hour of trading. Cautious comments from the head of the European Central bank soured any hopes the ECB would find a resolution to Europe’s debt crisis anytime soon.

Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley fell nearly 6 percent. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lost more than 4 percent, the biggest drop among the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial average.

“If Europe is going to be bring us down it’s going to come through the financial firms,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade.

A report in The Wall Street Journal also said U.S. regulators will likely force U.S. banks to follow stricter rules to shore up their finances. The new rules are aimed at keeping banks from failing but would pinch profits.

The Dow fell 51, or 0.4 percent to 11,814 as of 12 noon Eastern time. Pfizer Inc. was the Dow’s leading stock, rising 1.2 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 7 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,212. The Nasdaq composite index fell 10, or 0.4 percent, to 2,545.

Among companies making large moves, Winn-Dixie soared 71 percent. The supermarket chain is being sold to Bi-Lo LLC, another supermarket operator with stores in the southern U.S., in a deal valued at $560 million.

Cablevision Systems Corp. rose 1 percent after an analyst from Citibank said a recent drop in the company’s stock seemed “way overdone.” The stock has lost 27 percent from the end of October through last Friday following the unexpected resignation of its chief operating officer.

Commercial Metals Co. dropped 1 percent. The company’s board rejected a $1.7 billion takeover bid from the investor Carl Icahn, saying the proposed deal undervalued the company.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index inched up two points to 21 in December, the highest level since May 2010. But any reading below 50 is still a negative outlook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111219/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street

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20Dec

Wall Street erases gains (Reuters)

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NEW YORK (REUTERS) ? Stocks cut gains with all three major indexes turning negative on Monday after an initial bounce was eroded by weakness in financial stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) rose 1.85 points, or 0.02 percent, to 11,868.24. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (.SPX) dropped 2.16 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,217.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) dropped 0.85 points, or 0.03 percent, to 2,554.48.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111219/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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18Dec

Stocks higher amid upbeat euro outlook

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By msnbc.com news services

Wall Street moved higher Friday as investors were attracted to risk assets, with the euro higher and key euro zone bond yields down.

Reflecting improved investor confidence, benchmark Italian bond yields stabilized below 7 percent and Spanish yields also fell. Still, worries persisted over possible sovereign credit downgrades to the euro zone members.

European shares were slightly lower, but mining stocks rose, tracking metals. Copper prices added nearly 2.3 percent.

The euro rose against the U.S. dollar in a rebound from recent losses.

Stocks continued to be supported by strong U.S. data from Thursday, according to Jim Paulsen, chief investment officer at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis.

“The reality is this morning, (jobless) claims are still way down, manufacturing sectors had a nice pop and that provides a nice floor to the market,” he said.

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell to a 3-1/2-year low last week and factory activity in parts of the Northeast picked up in December, data showed Thursday.

Online gamesmaker Zynga Inc was expected to make a strong debut on the Nasdaq Friday after it priced its initial public offering at $10 per share, the top end of its range.

U.S. consumer prices were flat in November as Americans paid less for cars and gasoline, while the 12-month inflation reading fell for the second straight month, which could give the Federal Reserve more room to help a still-weak economy.

Paulsen said that subdued inflation will be a long-term positive as consumers benefit from contained prices.

“That’s one of the reasons you’re seeing better consumer (confidence) of late,” he said.

Research In Motion Ltd posted a sharp drop in profit on Thursday, offered a dismal outlook for BlackBerry shipments during the holidays and delayed an overhaul of its smartphones. The stock dropped nearly 10 percent to $13.64 in premarket trading.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/16/9493790-stocks-higher-amid-upbeat-euro-outlook

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