February, 2012 Archives
Feb
Colombian Stock Movers Ecopetrol Gains; Avianca Ta
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By Blake Schmidt
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — The following companies had unusual price changes in Bogota trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of 4 p.m. local time.
The IGBC Index gained 0.4 percent to 14,573.77, while the Colcap Index rose 0.3 percent to 1,710.76.
Avianca Taca Holding SA (PFAVTA CB), the owner of Colombia’s largest airline Replica Omega watches, fell 0.2 percent to 4,395 pesos.
The company had a third day of flight cancelations as air traffic controllers protested to demand better labor conditions. Avianca Taca canceled at least 21 flights and another 25 were delayed today, according to a statement by Colombia’s civil aviation agency. Avianca has also blamed foggy weather and infrastructure deficiencies for the operational difficulties, according to a Feb. 15 e-mailed statement.
Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETL CB), Colombia’s largest oil company, rose 1.8 percent to 5,060 pesos, the highest since November 2007.
Fourth-quarter profit jumped 64 percent from a year ago to 4.4 trillion pesos ($2.47 billion), as crude production climbed, the company said Feb. 15. Profit exceeded the 4.36 trillion pesos average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
If Ecopetrol decides to maintain its current dividend policy in a shareholder meeting next month it would have one of the highest payments by a Colombian company in 2012, Samuel David Garcia, an analyst at Valores Bancolombia, said in an e- mailed statement today.
–Editors: Richard Richtmyer, Glenn J. Kalinoski
To contact the reporter on this story: Blake Schmidt in Bogota at bschmidt16@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net
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Feb
Brazilian Rate Futures Yields Drop for Sixth Week;
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By Josue Leonel and Ney Hayashi
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — Yields on Brazilian interest-rate futures contracts declined for a sixth week as traders stepped up bets for lower borrowing costs after a report showed consumer prices increased less than forecast this month.
The yield on the contract due in January 2013 fell four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 9.18 percent today, bringing the weekly decline to 11 basis points. The real rose 0.2 percent to 1.7139 per dollar, extending its gain this week to 0.5 percent.
Consumer prices as measured by the IPCA-15 index increased 0.53 percent through mid-February, the national statistics agency said today, trailing the 0.56 percent median forecast of 46 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The second preview of the IGP-M index measuring consumer, wholesale and construction prices fell 0.11 percent this month through yesterday, more than the 0.02 percent median estimate of 20 economists.
“Food is pushing the consumer price index lower, and soft commodities are falling,” helping drive wholesale prices down, Newton Rosa, chief economist at SulAmerica Investimentos, said by phone from Sao Paulo. “This makes the central bank more comfortable” about lowering the benchmark lending rate.
Central bank President Alexandre Tombini has reduced the overnight rate by 200 basis points, or two percentage points, since August to 10.5 percent to bolster growth in Latin America’s biggest economy. Interest-rate futures contracts showed traders are expecting a further cut to as low as 9 percent by August, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Inflation Measures
President Dilma Rousseff’s bid to lower the highest inflation-adjusted interest rates in the Group of 20 means she’s likely to favor credit measures other than borrowing-cost increases to tame rising prices, said Marcelo Salomon Replica Watches, co-head of Latin America’s economics at Barclays Plc. Brazil’s real rate is at 4.28 percent, compared with 0.45 percent in Mexico and 1.15 percent in Australia, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The central bank raised reserve and capital requirements in December 2010 to slow lending growth, removing at least 61 billion reais ($36 billion) from circulation. Analysts estimated the credit measures were equivalent to lifting the benchmark rate by 0.75 percentage point, according to the median estimate in a central bank survey published in February 2010.
The government this week announced a plan to cut 55 billion reais from this year’s budget proposal as part of a strategy to help slow inflation and allow the central bank to reduce borrowing costs.
Brazil’s unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent in January from 6.1 percent a year earlier, the national statistics agency said today. The jobless rate was a record low 4.7 percent in December.
–With assistance from Ye Xie in New York and Andre Soliani in Brasilia. Editors: Richard Richtmyer, Glenn J. Kalinoski
To contact the reporters on this story: Josue Leonel in Sao Paulo at jleonel@bloomberg.net; Ney Hayashi in Sao Paulo at ncruz4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net
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Feb
Azerbaijans Economy Expanded 1.2% From Year Earlie
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By Zulfugar Agayev
Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) — Azerbaijan’s economy expanded 1.2 percent from a year earlier in January, the State Statistics Committee said today on its website.
The non-oil economy grew 5.9 percent while the oil economy shrank 2.4 percent. Inflation was 4.8 percent Replica Breitling watches, driven by food prices Replica Breitling watches, the committee said.
Gross domestic product rose 0.1 percent in 2011.
–Editors: Andrew Langley, Eddie Buckle
To contact the reporter on this story: Zulfugar Agayev in Baku at zagayev@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hellmuth Tromm at htromm@bloomberg.net
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Feb
Costa Rica LocalCurrency Rating Cut One Level to B
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By Ye Xie
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) — Costa Rica’s local-currency debt rating was lowered by Standard & Poor’s, which cited the country’s “limited monetary flexibility” and rising government spending.
S&P cut Costa Rica’s local-currency credit rating to BB, or two levels below investment grade Special Occasion, from BB+. S&P affirmed Costa Rica’s foreign-currency credit ratings at BB, on par with Guatemala and Turkey.
The ratings “balance the country’s limited monetary flexibility as well as rising fiscal pressures with good economic prospects Prom Dresses, stable political system and relatively high level of social development,” S&P said in a statement.
Costa Rica’s monetary policy lacks flexibility because of the “high level” of dollarization in the economy, S&P said.
–Editors: Brendan Walsh, David Papadopoulos
To contact the reporter on this story: Ye Xie in New York at yxie6@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Laura Zelenko at lzelenko@bloomberg.net;
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Feb
Steven Spielberg Steven Spielbergs War Horse Lands
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Picture: Steven Spielberg The 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards held at The Beverly Hilton – Arrivals Los Angeles Replica Breitling watches, Californ….
Steven Spielberg’s War Horse Lands Genesis Award Nomination
Steven Spielberg has won praise from officials at the Humane Society of the United States – his movie War Horse has landed a top nomination at the group’s annual Genesis Awards.
The film, set during World War One, has been recognised in the Feature Film category alongside Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dolphin Tale and animated family movie Rio.
TV series Hawaii Five-O and The Glades have received nods for Dramatic Series, while the Sid Caesar Comedy Award nominees include news show The Colbert Report, cartoon The Cleveland Show and Melissa Joan Hart’s family sitcom Melissa & Joey.
The Genesis Awards, which celebrate movies with animal-friendly themes and creative portrayals of animal protection, will take place in Hollywood on 24 March (12).
Feb
The New York Times Movie Reviews This Means War
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Movie Reviews This Means War
This Means War is taking a volley of shots from the nation’s leading newspaper critics, most of whom suggest that it’s simply not worth the price of today’s admissions. Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe provides a summary of the plot and then asks, “What if people paid to see this?” Manohla Dargis in the New York Times calls the romantic comedy “mirthless,” although she does concede that it would be “perfectly acceptable watched on the back of an airline seat or at home while you’re doing housework.” Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post rolls out these adjectives in her review of the movie “sloppy, scattered, utterly synthetic,” then remarks that it is “little more than the canned Spam of the movie world — bland, over-processed and cheap.” If you’re thinking of taking it in as an accompaniment to Valentines Day, Liam Lacey in the Toronto Star urges you to think again. It is, he writes, a “Valentine’s date dud Think wilted roses, squashed chocolates and flat champagne.” Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times puts it another way “It’s not so bad it’s good. It’s so bad it’s nothing else but bad.” 17/02/2012
Feb
Cheniere Rises After BG Group CEO Comments on LNG
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By Edward Klump
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) — Cheniere Energy Inc., the liquefied natural-gas importer proposing to build U.S. export plants Watches Replica, climbed to its highest in more than three years after BG Group Plc forecast “strong” demand for the fuel.
Cheniere Watches Replica, based in Houston, surged 15 percent to $14.27 at the close in New York, its highest level since April 2008.
“The outlook for global gas and LNG demand is strong,” BG Chief Executive Officer Frank Chapman said in a statement today. BG announced Oct. 26 a contract to buy 3.5 million metric tons a year from an export terminal Cheniere is seeking to develop at Sabine Pass in Louisiana.
BG expects about 45 million tons of LNG may be exported annually from the U.S. in 2020, or about 10 percent of the country’s current gas demand, said Chapman, who spoke to reporters today.
–With assistance from Eduard Gismatullin in London. Editors: Jasmina Kelemen, Jessica Resnick-Ault
To contact the reporter on this story: Edward Klump in Houston at eklump@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan Warren at susanwarren@bloomberg.net
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Feb
Replica Watches Indias Consumer Spending Set to So
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By Kartik Goyal
Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) — India’s consumer spending is likely to almost quadruple by 2020 to $3.6 trillion spurred by economic growth and rising incomes, the Boston Consulting Group said.
Consumer expenditures are set to expand 3.6 times from $991 billion in 2010, a 14 percent annual pace of growth, the Boston- based company said in a report. That compares with the projected global average pace of 5.5 percent and 9 percent for emerging economies, it said.
Higher consumer spending may give companies such as Hindustan Unilever Ltd. Replica Watches, a unit of the world’s second-biggest consumer-goods maker, an opportunity to expand in Asia’s third- biggest economy. Businesses “with growth ambitions must make India a priority” as household incomes could climb 2.9 times from 2010 to 2020, the company said.
“While inflation and higher interest rates may have momentarily caused consumers to hit the pause button, the long- term trends for consumer spending in India all point north,” said Arvind Subramanian, a partner in Boston Consulting Group’s Mumbai office and an author of the report.
By 2020, India will constitute 5.8 percent of global consumption, compared with 2.7 percent now, the company said.
–Editors: Sunil Jagtiani, Brendan Murray
To contact the reporter on this story: Kartik Goyal in New Delhi at kgoyal@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net
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Feb
Fleece Belgian Regulator Ends ShortSelling Ban Ami
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By Jim Brunsden
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) — Belgium lifted a ban on the short- selling of financial stocks, the country’s markets regulator said today.
The FSMA said its decision reflected “the lower volatility of the markets” and a consistent approach with other authorities, the regulator said on its website today. A ban on so-called naked short selling would remain in place, it said. France confirmed today that it hasn’t renewed a similar short- selling ban.
The Belgian curbs are replaced by requirements for traders to report on their activities and to have a “reasonable expectation” that they can obtain the securities that they sell short Fleece, the FSMA said.
Authorities in Belgium, France, Spain and Italy moved to ban short selling in August in an effort to stabilize markets after European banks including Societe Generale SA hit their lowest levels since the credit crisis of 2008.
Short-sellers sell borrowed shares with plans to buy them back later at a lower price, a practice politicians and some investors blame for roiling markets. The practice is known as “naked” when sellers haven’t first taken steps to ensure that they can borrow the securities.
–Editors: Peter Chapman
To contact the reporters on this story: Jim Brunsden in Brussels at jbrunsden@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net
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Feb
Coast Guard Opens Intracoastal Waterway Near Corpu
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By Gene Laverty Replica Watches
(Updates with cargo in third paragraph.)
Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Coast Guard has re-opened a two-mile section of the Intracoastal Waterway near Corpus Christi, Texas.
A channel was opened within the last hour after a tug with two barges ran aground at about 6:15 a.m. local time today, said Lt. Steven Vanderlaske. The incident occured at Port O’Connor, Texas, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Corpus Christi.
The tug Bolivar Point was towing the barges with about 50,000 barrels of alkylate when it struck a boathouse on the northern shore of the waterway, according a statement on the Coast Guard website. There were no reports of injuries or pollution in the incident.
–Editors: David Marino, Richard Stubbe
To contact the reporter on this story: Gene Laverty in Calgary at glaverty@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
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