China's exports in April were down 22.6% from a year ago, the sixth successive month of decline.
April's fall in exports was also bigger than the 17.1% annual decline recorded in March.
But other data released on Tuesday suggest that Chinese government efforts to stimulate the economy are pushing up investment levels in the country.
Analysts remain optimistic that China will be the first to make its way out of recession.
For those Chinese factory owners who send most of their products abroad, there is little relief in these latest trade figures.
Some had hoped the worst was over for exporters, but the 22.6% fall was greater than many analysts had expected.
On the other hand, investment in industrial plants and property in cities was 30% higher in the first four months of the year than it had been in the same period of 2008.
Investment projects
In recent months, the government has encouraged banks to lend huge amounts to businesses to help them get through the downturn.
That money has being spent on new equipment as well as massive infrastructure projects.
The outlook for exporters remains uncertain, because they are reliant on improvements in economic conditions elsewhere, which the Chinese government has little control over.
But for the Chinese economy as a whole, the prospects are brighter.
The government's stimulus package and increased lending are helping to keep those businesses that serve the domestic market afloat.
Most analysts expect to see stronger economic growth in the second half of the year.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Japan's economy in record plunge
Japan's economy has seen its worst ever quarterly performance, with GDP shrinking 4% in the first three months of 2009.
The contraction is the fourth in succession, following a 3.8% drop in October to December.
But economists are predicting modest growth in the coming months after a small rise in production in March.
The world's second biggest economy, which depends heavily on exports, has been hit hard by the global downturn.
The contraction is the fourth in succession, following a 3.8% drop in October to December.
But economists are predicting modest growth in the coming months after a small rise in production in March.
The world's second biggest economy, which depends heavily on exports, has been hit hard by the global downturn.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Mussolini's mistress, love-child come to life in Cannes
Mussolini's secret mistress and their love child come to life in a film by Italian director Marco Bellocchio showing in competition at the Cannes film festival on Tuesday.
"Vincere" recounts the ends to which the dictator went to hide the mother and child who potentially could have put a brake on his rise to power in pre-war Italy.
"The Mussolini I talk about is not the affectionate pater familias sometimes shown on television whose only mistake was to ally himself with Hitler," Bellocchio told the leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
Two works inspired the film, Mussolini's Wife by Marco Zeni and The Secret Son of Il Duce by Alfredo Pieroni.
"He's a violent, calculating, merciless man, even towards the woman he loved and his own son," said Bellocchio, 69.
In 1914, Mussolini, then aged 31, belonged to the Socialist Party, directed the daily newspaper Avanti! and had lived for two years in northern Milan with Rachele Guidi, who would later become his wife.
But he chalked up numerous affairs, including with Ida Irene Dasler, a strong-willed woman three years his senior who ran a beauty salon.
Ida staunchly supported him when he was expelled by the Socialist Party for backing Italy's entry into World War I.
She even sold her salon to help him found his own newspaper, Il Popolo d'Italia (The People of Italy).
Some journalists and historians say the couple married in 1914, but this is disputed.
Ida was seven months pregnant when Mussolini left for the front in August 1915. She gave birth to their son Benito Albino on November 11.
She informed Mussolini of the news in a letter, but received no reply.
Instead, she heard he was hospitalised with jaundice and went to his side with the babe in arms.
The day before, Mussolini had married another lover, Rachele, at the hospital.
Nevertheless he promised Dasler that he would recognise their child, and he followed through a few months later before returning to the front.
He also sent a monthly allowance for the boy.
But Mussolini soon turned his back on his former mistress, ignoring her letters and putting her under police surveillance. The young mother doggedly continued to write to him and complained of her situation to the authorities.
Once Mussolini rose to the height of power in November 1922, he ordered even closer surveillance of Dasler lest she make more waves.
In 1926, when Il Duce had become undisputed dictator, muzzling the press and the opposition, Dasler was arrested and thrown into a mental hospital. The boy was forcibly taken from her and put in the care of a tutor.
Dasler, after being moved to two more institutions and never allowed visits or correspondence, finally died aged 57 in 1937.
The boy, who was 11 when his mother was first sent to an institution, studied at boarding school until he was 18 when he entered the marines.
Although Mussolini had no contact with him, he had a close eye kept on the boy.
The fact that the young Benito kept in touch with his mother's family troubled the authorities, who sent him without warning to Asia in 1934.
The next year when Benito returned to Italy he was hospitalised, and like his mother transferred to a psychiatric facility in 1936, where he died six years later, aged only 26.
He and his mother were both buried in unmarked graves
"Vincere" recounts the ends to which the dictator went to hide the mother and child who potentially could have put a brake on his rise to power in pre-war Italy.
"The Mussolini I talk about is not the affectionate pater familias sometimes shown on television whose only mistake was to ally himself with Hitler," Bellocchio told the leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
Two works inspired the film, Mussolini's Wife by Marco Zeni and The Secret Son of Il Duce by Alfredo Pieroni.
"He's a violent, calculating, merciless man, even towards the woman he loved and his own son," said Bellocchio, 69.
In 1914, Mussolini, then aged 31, belonged to the Socialist Party, directed the daily newspaper Avanti! and had lived for two years in northern Milan with Rachele Guidi, who would later become his wife.
But he chalked up numerous affairs, including with Ida Irene Dasler, a strong-willed woman three years his senior who ran a beauty salon.
Ida staunchly supported him when he was expelled by the Socialist Party for backing Italy's entry into World War I.
She even sold her salon to help him found his own newspaper, Il Popolo d'Italia (The People of Italy).
Some journalists and historians say the couple married in 1914, but this is disputed.
Ida was seven months pregnant when Mussolini left for the front in August 1915. She gave birth to their son Benito Albino on November 11.
She informed Mussolini of the news in a letter, but received no reply.
Instead, she heard he was hospitalised with jaundice and went to his side with the babe in arms.
The day before, Mussolini had married another lover, Rachele, at the hospital.
Nevertheless he promised Dasler that he would recognise their child, and he followed through a few months later before returning to the front.
He also sent a monthly allowance for the boy.
But Mussolini soon turned his back on his former mistress, ignoring her letters and putting her under police surveillance. The young mother doggedly continued to write to him and complained of her situation to the authorities.
Once Mussolini rose to the height of power in November 1922, he ordered even closer surveillance of Dasler lest she make more waves.
In 1926, when Il Duce had become undisputed dictator, muzzling the press and the opposition, Dasler was arrested and thrown into a mental hospital. The boy was forcibly taken from her and put in the care of a tutor.
Dasler, after being moved to two more institutions and never allowed visits or correspondence, finally died aged 57 in 1937.
The boy, who was 11 when his mother was first sent to an institution, studied at boarding school until he was 18 when he entered the marines.
Although Mussolini had no contact with him, he had a close eye kept on the boy.
The fact that the young Benito kept in touch with his mother's family troubled the authorities, who sent him without warning to Asia in 1934.
The next year when Benito returned to Italy he was hospitalised, and like his mother transferred to a psychiatric facility in 1936, where he died six years later, aged only 26.
He and his mother were both buried in unmarked graves
Distressed property sales hit upscale condos
More than 170 people crowded the ballroom of a Long Beach hotel for what amounted to an upscale fire sale.
The event was an auction. The products were 38 posh waterfront condominiums. And bidders like Mike Murphy came looking for bargains.
The Internet marketing worker snapped up a two-bedroom unit for $376,000, less than half the original price. In all, he and other eager buyers ponied up $14.9 million in less than 90 minutes.
Last Monday's event represented the latest evolution in distressed-property auctions: These last-resort sales are going high-end. In contrast to auctions of foreclosed homes, which are as ubiquitous as trashed houses in the suburban hinterlands, these sales involve brand-new, often luxurious condominium units in prime locations.
Across Southern California, projects conceived during the housing boom, but completed after the bust, are sitting largely vacant. Developers are desperate to unload these units, but they face some particular challenges. Banks often won't provide mortgages to buyers in buildings that are less than 50% occupied, reducing the pool of eligible purchasers. Converting the projects to rentals means even steeper losses because the cash flow often won't cover a developer's construction costs.
Condo developers are now hosting their own auctions to attract a critical mass of buyers fast. It's a practice that Irvine real estate consultant John Burns projects will become more widespread this year.
"I don't think you have much choice," he said. "You either turn it into an apartment rental complex or find some other way to turn it into 50% occupied very quickly. An auction seems like a logical choice."
Real estate values continue to fall across much of Southern California, keeping many buyers on the fence for fear of paying too much. An auction gives them real-time assurance that the price is set by an open, competitive process, not the seller's whim, said David Parsky, director of West Coast investments for Citi Property Investors. That's a unit of Citigroup Inc. that is the controlling owner of West Ocean Two, the Long Beach building that auctioned its units last week.
"If people don't have to buy, they're not going to unless there's a reason," Parsky said. "If the market had more demand than supply, we wouldn't be doing this."
Other recent auctions include new condominium projects in downtown Los Angeles and South Pasadena. More are coming in places including Pacific Palisades and Playa del Rey.
At last week's sell-off in Long Beach, the lowest price paid was $228,000 for a one-bedroom unit on the second floor of the 22-story building. The developers had originally listed it for $512,800. The highest price paid, $718,000, was for a three-bedroom unit on the 19th floor originally priced at $1,415,600.
Whether these deep discounts were truly bargains depends on how much further the market has to fall. The median resale price for condominium units in Southern California was $230,000 in March, down 30% from the same month the previous year, according to the real estate research firm MDA DataQuick.
Some auction buyers did pay less than others who bought last year. In November, a two-bedroom, 1,040-square-foot unit in West Ocean Two sold for $545,000, public records show. Last week, similar-size units were auctioned for $430,000 and $419,000.
The auction was the second for the building. The first was held in August, after only 20 of the building's 114 units had been sold. That gathering resulted in 33 sales, prompting Parsky to hold last week's event.
Auction participant Murphy showed up at the Long Beach Hilton more than an hour early to get a crack at the bidding. A resident of Long Beach, he had been watching the market for an opportunity to move up from his 700-square-foot condo.
Murphy, 41, said he had been biding his time in his new home search, but the chance to get a bargain at auction sped up his plans.
"It forced me to get my ducks in a row and get a firm idea of where I want to go," he said.
Murphy said he wasn't overly concerned that the value of his new purchase might decline. No one can call the bottom with certainty, he figures, and he believes that he got a deal. Comparable units in the neighborhood are selling for almost $25,000 more than what he paid, Murphy said. Besides, the extra storage in his new garage will be perfect for his hockey equipment.
Converting foot-dragging looky-loos into buyers is the magic of the auction, developer Alon Zakoot said. He plans to unload the last seven condos in his 16-unit Pacific Palisades building at a public sale May 31.
Buyers these days can be downright surly, Zakoot said, because they consider every property to be overpriced.
An auction "is kind of a trick. They don't come in so negative," he said. "They allow themselves the mentality to love the unit.
"You tell them there is an auction, they talk about how pretty the building is, how beautiful. Before, when you set one price . . . all you get is negativity."
Zakoot now gets about 150 weekend visitors to open houses, about double the traffic he got when he was trying, without success, to sell the units conventionally.
More important, "before, when somebody comes, they stay 15 minutes. Now they stay two hours," he said.
Zakoot resorted to an auction because he wanted to cut his losses quickly so he could move on to other projects, he said.
He began designing and planning the project in 2003, when the housing market was still hot.
In 2006, someone offered him $12 million for the still-bare land and project plans. The sum would have yielded an instant profit. Zakoot, a jocular, self-deprecating Israeli immigrant, said he turned it down because "I am a smart guy."
Minimum bids for his upcoming auction start at $449,000 for a two-bedroom unit and $1.149 million for a four-bedroom unit. What he'll get is anybody's guess, Zakoot said.
But he's certain of one thing: Whatever the outcome of the auction, he's done as a condominium developer.
"Never a condominium," he said. "Never again."
The event was an auction. The products were 38 posh waterfront condominiums. And bidders like Mike Murphy came looking for bargains.
The Internet marketing worker snapped up a two-bedroom unit for $376,000, less than half the original price. In all, he and other eager buyers ponied up $14.9 million in less than 90 minutes.
Last Monday's event represented the latest evolution in distressed-property auctions: These last-resort sales are going high-end. In contrast to auctions of foreclosed homes, which are as ubiquitous as trashed houses in the suburban hinterlands, these sales involve brand-new, often luxurious condominium units in prime locations.
Across Southern California, projects conceived during the housing boom, but completed after the bust, are sitting largely vacant. Developers are desperate to unload these units, but they face some particular challenges. Banks often won't provide mortgages to buyers in buildings that are less than 50% occupied, reducing the pool of eligible purchasers. Converting the projects to rentals means even steeper losses because the cash flow often won't cover a developer's construction costs.
Condo developers are now hosting their own auctions to attract a critical mass of buyers fast. It's a practice that Irvine real estate consultant John Burns projects will become more widespread this year.
"I don't think you have much choice," he said. "You either turn it into an apartment rental complex or find some other way to turn it into 50% occupied very quickly. An auction seems like a logical choice."
Real estate values continue to fall across much of Southern California, keeping many buyers on the fence for fear of paying too much. An auction gives them real-time assurance that the price is set by an open, competitive process, not the seller's whim, said David Parsky, director of West Coast investments for Citi Property Investors. That's a unit of Citigroup Inc. that is the controlling owner of West Ocean Two, the Long Beach building that auctioned its units last week.
"If people don't have to buy, they're not going to unless there's a reason," Parsky said. "If the market had more demand than supply, we wouldn't be doing this."
Other recent auctions include new condominium projects in downtown Los Angeles and South Pasadena. More are coming in places including Pacific Palisades and Playa del Rey.
At last week's sell-off in Long Beach, the lowest price paid was $228,000 for a one-bedroom unit on the second floor of the 22-story building. The developers had originally listed it for $512,800. The highest price paid, $718,000, was for a three-bedroom unit on the 19th floor originally priced at $1,415,600.
Whether these deep discounts were truly bargains depends on how much further the market has to fall. The median resale price for condominium units in Southern California was $230,000 in March, down 30% from the same month the previous year, according to the real estate research firm MDA DataQuick.
Some auction buyers did pay less than others who bought last year. In November, a two-bedroom, 1,040-square-foot unit in West Ocean Two sold for $545,000, public records show. Last week, similar-size units were auctioned for $430,000 and $419,000.
The auction was the second for the building. The first was held in August, after only 20 of the building's 114 units had been sold. That gathering resulted in 33 sales, prompting Parsky to hold last week's event.
Auction participant Murphy showed up at the Long Beach Hilton more than an hour early to get a crack at the bidding. A resident of Long Beach, he had been watching the market for an opportunity to move up from his 700-square-foot condo.
Murphy, 41, said he had been biding his time in his new home search, but the chance to get a bargain at auction sped up his plans.
"It forced me to get my ducks in a row and get a firm idea of where I want to go," he said.
Murphy said he wasn't overly concerned that the value of his new purchase might decline. No one can call the bottom with certainty, he figures, and he believes that he got a deal. Comparable units in the neighborhood are selling for almost $25,000 more than what he paid, Murphy said. Besides, the extra storage in his new garage will be perfect for his hockey equipment.
Converting foot-dragging looky-loos into buyers is the magic of the auction, developer Alon Zakoot said. He plans to unload the last seven condos in his 16-unit Pacific Palisades building at a public sale May 31.
Buyers these days can be downright surly, Zakoot said, because they consider every property to be overpriced.
An auction "is kind of a trick. They don't come in so negative," he said. "They allow themselves the mentality to love the unit.
"You tell them there is an auction, they talk about how pretty the building is, how beautiful. Before, when you set one price . . . all you get is negativity."
Zakoot now gets about 150 weekend visitors to open houses, about double the traffic he got when he was trying, without success, to sell the units conventionally.
More important, "before, when somebody comes, they stay 15 minutes. Now they stay two hours," he said.
Zakoot resorted to an auction because he wanted to cut his losses quickly so he could move on to other projects, he said.
He began designing and planning the project in 2003, when the housing market was still hot.
In 2006, someone offered him $12 million for the still-bare land and project plans. The sum would have yielded an instant profit. Zakoot, a jocular, self-deprecating Israeli immigrant, said he turned it down because "I am a smart guy."
Minimum bids for his upcoming auction start at $449,000 for a two-bedroom unit and $1.149 million for a four-bedroom unit. What he'll get is anybody's guess, Zakoot said.
But he's certain of one thing: Whatever the outcome of the auction, he's done as a condominium developer.
"Never a condominium," he said. "Never again."
Jewish day schools facing an economic crisis
At Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy in Beverly Hills, increasing numbers of cash-strapped families are asking for financial assistance or more time to pay tuition.
Trustees at Yeshivat Yavneh in Hancock Park are setting aside additional funds for financial aid even as some families consider home schooling.
In Orange County, Morasha Jewish Day School lost 15 financially ailing families over the summer and will close after this term.
Jewish day schools in Southern California and across the nation face an economic crisis that is prompting calls for major education reforms and increased support from the wider Jewish community.
The Orthodox Union, a New York-based education and service organization, recently proposed a plan to create stripped-down, low-cost schools targeted at families who can't afford to send their children to established institutions.
Other proposals drafted by the group include nationwide, low-cost health insurance for staff and teachers, a solar energy conversion plan and a dedicated fund to which the local Orthodox community would contribute, whether or not they have children in school.
"If things continue the way they are, schools are going to be so cost-prohibitive the system will collapse," said Rabbi Saul Zucker, director of educational services at the Orthodox Union. "There are Orthodox Jewish students attending public schools because of financial issues that a generation ago would never have, and young married couples having fewer children because of tuition costs."
About 200,000 students attend more than 700 Jewish day schools in the United States. Tuitions at the schools average about $14,000 and in the past five years have typically increased about 7% per year, outpacing wage increases for most families, Zucker said.
The most radical of Zucker's proposals would create alternative schools that would charge reduced fees of about $6,500 annually but operate with larger class sizes, scaled-down computer labs and no extracurricular activities unless staffed by volunteers.
Zucker acknowledged concerns about creating a two-tier system but predicted that parents would go along if it were a choice between a basic Jewish education or public schools.
In Los Angeles, 36 Jewish day schools serve about 10,000 students, according to the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles. About 40% of Jewish day students in Los Angeles receive financial aid, a number expected to grow even as philanthropic dollars for some schools decrease.
"While there are a handful of philanthropists who heavily support their favorite Jewish institution, until Jewish education becomes more of a priority for the larger Jewish community, we will have this crisis," said Rabbi Moshe Dear, head of school at Yeshivat Yavneh.
His school, which charges $15,000 in annual tuition, is offering delayed payment plans. But Dear said he has heard that some parents are considering home schooling to save money.
Jewish schools are suffering many of the same economic pressures as secular prep schools and parochial campuses, but many shoulder the added expense of a religious-training curriculum that requires additional staff.
Orthodox families also tend to be larger than many others, which contributes to a heavier tuition burden, Dear and others said. And most consider a Jewish education -- with its emphasis on religious traditions -- indispensable.
That is the case for parents Gil and Iris Harel, who have two children attending Hillel, another at a local Jewish high school and a son in college.
But it has been a financial struggle to keep their children in school. Family vacations, investments, choice of vehicles and day-to-day purchases such as clothing have been affected as the "uncertainty of the economy harms everyone," said Gil Harel, a specialized general contractor.
Meanwhile, there will probably be more scenarios like that in Rancho Santa Margarita, where Morasha Jewish Day School, a pre-kindergarten-through-sixth-grade campus with 60 students, is closing after 23 years.
Even though the school expected to increase enrollment next year, it could not close a $200,000 deficit, said head of school Eve Fein. Morasha lost 15 families this year and had trouble selling two acres of property when the real estate market crashed.
"We had over 50% of our students on tuition assistance and were happy to be able to do so because we didn't want Jewish education to be just for the elite or rich," Fein said. "But it caught up with us."
Trustees at Yeshivat Yavneh in Hancock Park are setting aside additional funds for financial aid even as some families consider home schooling.
In Orange County, Morasha Jewish Day School lost 15 financially ailing families over the summer and will close after this term.
Jewish day schools in Southern California and across the nation face an economic crisis that is prompting calls for major education reforms and increased support from the wider Jewish community.
The Orthodox Union, a New York-based education and service organization, recently proposed a plan to create stripped-down, low-cost schools targeted at families who can't afford to send their children to established institutions.
Other proposals drafted by the group include nationwide, low-cost health insurance for staff and teachers, a solar energy conversion plan and a dedicated fund to which the local Orthodox community would contribute, whether or not they have children in school.
"If things continue the way they are, schools are going to be so cost-prohibitive the system will collapse," said Rabbi Saul Zucker, director of educational services at the Orthodox Union. "There are Orthodox Jewish students attending public schools because of financial issues that a generation ago would never have, and young married couples having fewer children because of tuition costs."
About 200,000 students attend more than 700 Jewish day schools in the United States. Tuitions at the schools average about $14,000 and in the past five years have typically increased about 7% per year, outpacing wage increases for most families, Zucker said.
The most radical of Zucker's proposals would create alternative schools that would charge reduced fees of about $6,500 annually but operate with larger class sizes, scaled-down computer labs and no extracurricular activities unless staffed by volunteers.
Zucker acknowledged concerns about creating a two-tier system but predicted that parents would go along if it were a choice between a basic Jewish education or public schools.
In Los Angeles, 36 Jewish day schools serve about 10,000 students, according to the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles. About 40% of Jewish day students in Los Angeles receive financial aid, a number expected to grow even as philanthropic dollars for some schools decrease.
"While there are a handful of philanthropists who heavily support their favorite Jewish institution, until Jewish education becomes more of a priority for the larger Jewish community, we will have this crisis," said Rabbi Moshe Dear, head of school at Yeshivat Yavneh.
His school, which charges $15,000 in annual tuition, is offering delayed payment plans. But Dear said he has heard that some parents are considering home schooling to save money.
Jewish schools are suffering many of the same economic pressures as secular prep schools and parochial campuses, but many shoulder the added expense of a religious-training curriculum that requires additional staff.
Orthodox families also tend to be larger than many others, which contributes to a heavier tuition burden, Dear and others said. And most consider a Jewish education -- with its emphasis on religious traditions -- indispensable.
That is the case for parents Gil and Iris Harel, who have two children attending Hillel, another at a local Jewish high school and a son in college.
But it has been a financial struggle to keep their children in school. Family vacations, investments, choice of vehicles and day-to-day purchases such as clothing have been affected as the "uncertainty of the economy harms everyone," said Gil Harel, a specialized general contractor.
Meanwhile, there will probably be more scenarios like that in Rancho Santa Margarita, where Morasha Jewish Day School, a pre-kindergarten-through-sixth-grade campus with 60 students, is closing after 23 years.
Even though the school expected to increase enrollment next year, it could not close a $200,000 deficit, said head of school Eve Fein. Morasha lost 15 families this year and had trouble selling two acres of property when the real estate market crashed.
"We had over 50% of our students on tuition assistance and were happy to be able to do so because we didn't want Jewish education to be just for the elite or rich," Fein said. "But it caught up with us."
Found money: L.A. council close to compromise on LAPD [Updated]
threatened cut to the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department apparently will be averted in a compromise reached by members of the City Council.
The council has been considering a police hiring freeze as one way to reach the $530 million in cuts needed to close the city’s looming budget shortfall.
Over the weekend, however, aides to the council and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said they found enough money to hire replacements for up to 480 of the 520 officers who typically leave each year through retirements and such. Apparently, the city’s share of property taxes next year will be $20 million greater than expected, and $4 million provided by the federal government could also be used to hire officers. Plus, the council may decide to use some of the $18 million held in city reserves.
The money will only allow the city to maintain close to its current level of police staffing. It won’t be enough for Villaraigosa to continue his goal to grow the Police Department by 1,000 officers, one of the top priorities of his administration.
The council is expected to vote on the compromise this evening.
-- Phil Willon
A threatened cut to the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department apparently will be averted in a compromise reached between the City Council and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The council has been considering a police hiring freeze as one way to reach the $530 million in cuts needed to close the city’s looming budget shortfall.
Over the weekend, however, aides to the council and mayor said they found enough money to hire replacements for up to 480 of the 520 officers who typically leave each year through retirements and such. Apparently, the city’s share of property taxes next year will be $20 million greater than expected, and $4 million provided by the federal government could also be used to hire officers. Plus, the council may decide to use some of the $18 million held in city reserves.
The money will only allow the city to maintain close to its current level of police staffing. It won’t be enough for Villaraigosa to continue his goal to grow the Police Department by 1,000 officers, one of the top priorities of his administration.
The council is expected to vote on the compromise this evening
The council has been considering a police hiring freeze as one way to reach the $530 million in cuts needed to close the city’s looming budget shortfall.
Over the weekend, however, aides to the council and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said they found enough money to hire replacements for up to 480 of the 520 officers who typically leave each year through retirements and such. Apparently, the city’s share of property taxes next year will be $20 million greater than expected, and $4 million provided by the federal government could also be used to hire officers. Plus, the council may decide to use some of the $18 million held in city reserves.
The money will only allow the city to maintain close to its current level of police staffing. It won’t be enough for Villaraigosa to continue his goal to grow the Police Department by 1,000 officers, one of the top priorities of his administration.
The council is expected to vote on the compromise this evening.
-- Phil Willon
A threatened cut to the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department apparently will be averted in a compromise reached between the City Council and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The council has been considering a police hiring freeze as one way to reach the $530 million in cuts needed to close the city’s looming budget shortfall.
Over the weekend, however, aides to the council and mayor said they found enough money to hire replacements for up to 480 of the 520 officers who typically leave each year through retirements and such. Apparently, the city’s share of property taxes next year will be $20 million greater than expected, and $4 million provided by the federal government could also be used to hire officers. Plus, the council may decide to use some of the $18 million held in city reserves.
The money will only allow the city to maintain close to its current level of police staffing. It won’t be enough for Villaraigosa to continue his goal to grow the Police Department by 1,000 officers, one of the top priorities of his administration.
The council is expected to vote on the compromise this evening
Bank Stocks Help Rally the Markets
Wall Street’s recent buying spree, interrupted last week, revved up again on Monday.
Traders seized on last week’s stock declines as a chance to get back in at lower prices, and they pushed shares of financial firms sharply higher. Rising oil prices lifted energy producers, and a better than-expected profit at the home improvement chain Lowe’s helped to bolster consumer stocks.
At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 235.44 points or 2.8 percent, at 8,504.08. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 26.83 points, or 3 percent, to close at 909.71, while the Nasdaq was up 52.22 points, 3.1 percent, at 1,732.36. Last week the Dow fell 3.6 percent and the S.&P. 500 skidded 5 percent.
Shares of Bank of America were up nearly 10 percent at $11.73 after analysts at Goldman Sachs named the company a “conviction buy.” The financial services provider Corporation rose 8.5 percent after announcing that it would raise more than $1 billion in stock and debt not backed up by the government’s liquidity-guarantee program as it seeks to repay its bailout funds.
Bailout recipients like Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley have been raising new unsecured capital in recent weeks, intending to get out of the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Weaker retail sales helped to stifle some of the momentum of Wall Street’s recent rally last week, raising concerns that talk of economic hope and “green shoots” of recovery could be overblown. But on Monday, many investors used the market dip as an excuse to buy.
“The pullback last week created a little bit of breathing room, and buyers might be more apt to step in at these levels,” said Todd Salamone, senior vice president of research at Schaeffer’s Investment Research.
Shares of Lowe’s, the home improvement chain, rose 8.1 percent to $19.94 after it reported lower earnings that nevertheless beat analysts’ expectations, and rival Home Depot ended up 6.6 percent at $26.02. The results warmed hopes that wary consumers would come out of hibernation this spring and take on building projects and home renovations, breathing some life into the construction and home-improvement industries.
Also, the National Association of Home Builders said its index of builder confidence in the housing market rose in May, ticking up to 16 points from 14 last month. Shares of large home builders like Toll Brothers, Pulte Homes and Centex paced the broader markets.
Other retailers also gained ground after sliding last week. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores were 3.7 percent higher at $49.92, and department stores including Macy’s, Kohl’s and J. C. Penney were all higher.
Although stock markets have surged more than 30 percent from their 12-year lows set in early March, some analysts warn that investors seem to be betting on a quick economic recovery, one that may not materialize.
“That’s going to be quite difficult,” said John Brady, a senior vice president at MF Global. “Unemployment is going to move higher, and consumers are going to continue to increase savings.”
Interest rates were slightly higher. The Treasury’s benchmark 10-year note fell 26/32, to 99 3/32, and the yield, which moves in the opposite direction from the price, was 3.23 percent, up from 3.13 percent late Friday.
Following are the results of Monday’s Treasury auction of three- and six-month bills:
Traders seized on last week’s stock declines as a chance to get back in at lower prices, and they pushed shares of financial firms sharply higher. Rising oil prices lifted energy producers, and a better than-expected profit at the home improvement chain Lowe’s helped to bolster consumer stocks.
At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 235.44 points or 2.8 percent, at 8,504.08. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 26.83 points, or 3 percent, to close at 909.71, while the Nasdaq was up 52.22 points, 3.1 percent, at 1,732.36. Last week the Dow fell 3.6 percent and the S.&P. 500 skidded 5 percent.
Shares of Bank of America were up nearly 10 percent at $11.73 after analysts at Goldman Sachs named the company a “conviction buy.” The financial services provider Corporation rose 8.5 percent after announcing that it would raise more than $1 billion in stock and debt not backed up by the government’s liquidity-guarantee program as it seeks to repay its bailout funds.
Bailout recipients like Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley have been raising new unsecured capital in recent weeks, intending to get out of the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Weaker retail sales helped to stifle some of the momentum of Wall Street’s recent rally last week, raising concerns that talk of economic hope and “green shoots” of recovery could be overblown. But on Monday, many investors used the market dip as an excuse to buy.
“The pullback last week created a little bit of breathing room, and buyers might be more apt to step in at these levels,” said Todd Salamone, senior vice president of research at Schaeffer’s Investment Research.
Shares of Lowe’s, the home improvement chain, rose 8.1 percent to $19.94 after it reported lower earnings that nevertheless beat analysts’ expectations, and rival Home Depot ended up 6.6 percent at $26.02. The results warmed hopes that wary consumers would come out of hibernation this spring and take on building projects and home renovations, breathing some life into the construction and home-improvement industries.
Also, the National Association of Home Builders said its index of builder confidence in the housing market rose in May, ticking up to 16 points from 14 last month. Shares of large home builders like Toll Brothers, Pulte Homes and Centex paced the broader markets.
Other retailers also gained ground after sliding last week. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores were 3.7 percent higher at $49.92, and department stores including Macy’s, Kohl’s and J. C. Penney were all higher.
Although stock markets have surged more than 30 percent from their 12-year lows set in early March, some analysts warn that investors seem to be betting on a quick economic recovery, one that may not materialize.
“That’s going to be quite difficult,” said John Brady, a senior vice president at MF Global. “Unemployment is going to move higher, and consumers are going to continue to increase savings.”
Interest rates were slightly higher. The Treasury’s benchmark 10-year note fell 26/32, to 99 3/32, and the yield, which moves in the opposite direction from the price, was 3.23 percent, up from 3.13 percent late Friday.
Following are the results of Monday’s Treasury auction of three- and six-month bills:
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