Money world

TORONTO

President Barack Obama, saying he

Wall Street is heading higher on the last day of trading at the end of a raucous year on positive signals this week about jobs and, depending how you look at it, housing.

Oil prices edged higher in the absence of any major economic data Friday.

The government said Thursday that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits each week has dropped by 10 percent since January and pending home sales jumped to their highest point in a year and a half.

Still, investors will wait to see if those home sales actually close and also for a raft of data next week on manufacturing.

Dow futures rose 0.07 percent, to 12,225 and S&P 500 futures added 0.17 percent to 1,259.50. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.13 percent to 2,280.25.

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The Sappington Farmers Market, which filed for bankruptcy Friday, will remain open despite its troubles.

“The reorganization of Sappington Farmers Market will allow the store to remain open and viable,” said Nancy Smith, the market’s manager, in a written statement. “We feel this will position us to be successful in the future.”

Smith didn’t provide an interview.

The store, on Watson Road in Marlborough, has roots going back to the early 1980s, and has been at its present location since 1995 where it has gained a loyal following of bargain hunters and proponents of local farming.

The store’s mission has long been to support area farmers by featuring their products.

In her statement released Saturday, Smith said the store would continue to feature local farmers, and would continue distributing their products not only through the store, but through schools, restaurants and a “mobile market instant payday loans.”

The store’s founder, Tessa Greenspan, sold it in 2008 to a cooperative of small-scale farmers known as the Missouri Farmers Union, which formed a company called Farm to Family Naturally LLC to buy the business.

Farm to Family Naturally, which does business as Sappington Farmers Market, was the organization that filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday.

Members of the original cooperative who purchased the store have since left, according to employees.

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The General Motors plant in Wentzville has completed the hiring of 437 employees who will work a second shift that’s set to begin in early January, which will mark the first time in two years that the plant has run more than a single shift.

GM, which builds the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans in Wentzville, will add a second shift of van production on Jan.3, bringing the total employment at the plant to 1,940 hourly workers and 155 salaried employees.

Of the 437 hourly employees added for the second shift, 235 are new hires, said Tom Brune, UAW communications coordinator for Local 2250, which represents hourly workers at the plant. GM also recalled 38 employees to the plant and transferred 164 GM employees from across the country.

“It’s a long time coming,” Brune said about the second shift, which was announced in September as part of a new labor contract.

Plant manager John Dansby said many of the transferred employees planned to move their families to the St. Louis region over the holidays.

“We’ve gotten them familiar with the plant and have them working side by side with current employees to understand how we work and how the plant works,” he said of the new employees.

Recalling laid-off workers and preparing for a second shift has “been a great boost to morale,” Dansby added.

The second shift isn’t the only new development at the Wentzville plant. GM also plans to build the next generation of its Colorado midsize pickup there, which will bring an additional 1,260 hourly and salaried jobs in 2013.

To prepare for the line, the automaker plans to invest $380 million in the plant, including the construction of a 500,000-square-foot addition to the current 3.7 million square feet.

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Enthusiasm for riskier assets such as stocks faded Monday as skeptical investors assessed a new European fiscal pact aimed at fixing the continent’s debt crisis and preventing a breakup of the euro currency bloc.

Benchmark oil dropped below $99 per barrel while the dollar rose against the euro and the yen.

European stock markets skidded in the first day of trading after the European Union adopted a new fiscal pact meant to prevent the kind of financial fiasco that is now sweeping across countries that use the euro.

Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.5 percent to 5,500.94. Germany’s DAX dropped 0.8 percent to 5,940.05 and France’s CAC-40 lost 0.7 percent to 3,149. Wall Street also headed for a lower opening, with Dow Jones industrial futures dipping 0.4 percent to 12,090 and S&P 500 futures down 0.5 percent at 1,247.50.

Asian stocks registered approval of the deal earlier in the day: Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.4 percent to close at 8,653.82. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.3 percent to 1,899.76 and benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Australia and Indonesia also rose.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng swung from early gains to end trading in the red, albeit marginally, at 18,575.66. China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1 percent to 2,291.54 as a three-day economic conference of Chinese leaders got under way.

No major shifts in policy for 2012 are expected during a conference of Chinese leaders that began Monday. China has made headway in slowing inflation _ raising some hopes for a looser monetary policy _ while weak demand for exports from the West has sparked concerns that the economy may slow too quickly.

Under the deal, all 17 countries that use the euro agreed to allow a central European authority to oversee their future budgets and impose tighter controls on spending. They also agreed to automatic penalties if countries spend too much.

Europe’s new “fiscal compact” also calls for the launch of a permanent bailout fund for euro nations in 2012 _ a year ahead of schedule _ and an additional 200 billion euros ($267 billion) to the International Monetary Fund for a separate emergency fund for countries in crisis.

But some analysts wondered where debt-stricken Europe, which many economists say is hurtling toward recession, will find the money to make good on the pledges.

“It’s so easy for ministers to say they will contribute to this, but we’ll find out in a week or 10 days time who is,” said Andrew Sullivan, principal sales trader at Piper Jaffray in Hong Kong.

Another caveat is that the deal doesn’t help cut debt today, which in Italy, Greece and Spain has driven government borrowing costs close to levels considered unsustainable.

That loose end brought into focus the future monetary policy of the European Central Bank, and whether it would be willing to buy enough national bonds from troubled countries to keep interest rates down.

Analysts at Credit Agricole CIB said “the lack of ECB action in terms of stepping up to the plate as lender of the last resort” still weighed on investment sentiment.

There were also doubts about the willingness of each individual country to ratify the agreement.

In Tokyo, Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s biggest car maker, fell 0.7 percent after sharply downgrading its earnings forecast for the fiscal year due to a strong yen and massive flooding in Thailand that disrupted production.

Camera and medical equipment maker Olympus Corp. surged 7.8 percent amid renewed investor faith in the embattled company. Olympus recently admitted falsifying accounting records to cover up huge investment losses from the 1990s and has vowed to investigate about 70 people, including current board members, for their possible involvement.

In Australia, energy shares led the gains. Woodside Petroleum rose 1.5 percent and mining giant BHP Billiton rose 1.9 percent.

Australian miner Whitehaven Coal Ltd. fell 1.4 percent after it agreed to a 5.1 billion Australian dollar ($5.2 billion) business combination with Aston Resources Ltd. that will create one the country’s biggest coal producers. Aston rose 1.4 percent.

High-tech shares posted strong gains. Japanese chipmaker Elpida Memory rose 4.5 percent. South Korea’s LG Electronics, which ranks No. 2 globally in flat screen televisions, also gained 4.5 percent.

Benchmark oil for January delivery was down 85 cents to $98.57 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.07 to finish at $99.41 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3300 from $1.3370 late Friday in New York. The dollar rose to 77.66 yen from 77.54 yen.

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Apple Inc. won a small victory on Friday in its global patent battle with rival Samsung, after Australia’s highest court temporarily extended a ban on sales of Samsung’s Galaxy tablet computers in the country.

Samsung Electronics Co. is desperate to begin selling the Galaxy in Australia in time for Christmas sales, but the High Court’s decision means the device can’t go on the market until at least Dec. 9.

Apple took Samsung to court in Australia after accusing the Suwon, South Korea-based company of copying its iPad and iPhone. In October, a Federal Court judge ordered Samsung to halt sales of the device ahead of a trial. Samsung appealed, and on Wednesday, a full bench of the Federal Court threw out the earlier ruling and said Galaxy sales could resume on Friday.

But Apple immediately appealed that decision to the High Court, which on Friday said the temporary injunction against sales would be extended for another week while it considers Apple’s latest arguments.

“Samsung believes Apple has no basis for its application for leave to appeal and will vigorously oppose this to the High Court,” Samsung said in a statement.

The legal back-and-forth is all part of a larger, international battle over the technology giants’ competing tablets. Cupertino, California-based Apple struck first when it sued Samsung in the United States in April, alleging the product design, user interface and packaging of the Galaxy “slavishly copy” the iPhone and iPad. Samsung hit back with lawsuits accusing Apple of patent infringement of its wireless telecommunications technology.

The companies have now filed lawsuits in 10 countries. Courts in several nations, including Germany and the Netherlands, have issued rulings that favor Apple.

Apple spokeswoman Fiona Martin declined to comment on Friday’s ruling, instead issuing a general statement blasting Samsung.

“It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” Apple said in the statement. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we’ve said many times before, we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

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The former chief executive of Olympus Corp. spoke with Japanese investigators Thursday, reiterating his determination to get to the bottom of one of Japan’s biggest financial scandals involving a cover-up of massive investment losses.

Michael Woodford, 51, plans to confront the board of the Japanese camera and medical equipment maker at a meeting Friday _ a day after speaking with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission.

Woodford, who was fired last month after questioning dubious accounting at Olympus, remains on the board and can only be removed by shareholders. He declined comment on what he was going to tell prosecutors. He returned to Japan on Wednesday.

Under intense pressure, the embattled company has admitted that a $687 million payment to an obscure Wall Street firm for financial advice and expensive acquisitions were used to cover up investment losses dating to the 1990s.

The board abruptly ousted Woodford last month for questioning the deals and payment. At the time, Olympus said Woodford was sacked because his management style was incompatible with the company’s culture.

The scandal has cast a harsh light on corporate governance in Japan, which has been repeatedly criticized as falling behind global standards. Recent media reports have also pointed to possible ties between Tokyo-based Olympus and organized crime.

A third-party panel created by Olympus to investigate its accounting has said it has so far found no evidence of any ties with the underworld.

Woodford told the throngs of media gathered at Narita International on Wednesday that he is not afraid to be back in Japan and would press for answers during his stay.

“This isn’t going to go away, the truth will come out,” he said. “Please now have the dignity, at least the dignity, to accept that the game is up.”

Woodford went public with his concerns after his sacking, and has become a hero among circles hopeful for better corporate governance in Japan payday advances.

Tsuyoshi Kikukawa resigned as president on Oct. 26 and was replaced by Shuichi Takayama. The company blamed the accounting scheme on Kikukawa, former executive vice president Hisashi Mori and ex-auditor Hideo Yamada.

Prosecutors are questioning the executives, according to Kyodo news agency.

Olympus now risks being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange unless it can rectify past filings with regulators by reporting revised earnings by Dec. 14.

The company’s shares lost four-fifths of their value after the scandal erupted in mid-October, but have since recovered on optimism that Olympus will avoid removal from the stock exchange.

The issue gained 17 percent Thursday, its maximum gain allowed for a single day, to finish at 1,019 yen.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange was closed Wednesday for a national holiday. Olympus shares surged 20 percent Tuesday after the panel said it had found no evidence of links to organized crime.

The practice of hiding investment losses through funny bookkeeping and paper companies has surfaced before in Japan, especially in the 1990s, when mergers and acquisitions became a way for companies to survive in the depressed economy that followed the bursting of Japan’s real estate bubble.

Such scandals have previously ensnared other major names in Japan Inc., such as Yamaichi Securities Co., which went bankrupt in 1997, and cosmetics maker Kanebo, which was forced to undergo a government-backed bailout in 2005.

Woodford is speaking on a panel and with reporters Thursday evening, and has a press conference Friday at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo.

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Greece’s new prime minister will present his policy platform in parliament Monday, ahead of a midweek confidence vote in his coalition government that is tasked with implementing crucial reforms and securing the country’s international loan lifeline.

Lucas Papademos, a former central banker picked by broad party consensus last week after the previous Socialist government imploded, is expected to easily win Wednesday’s confidence vote.

His interim coalition administration is backed by Greece’s two biggest parties and a small right-wing nationalist party. It has a mandate to coast the austerity-fatigued country over the next three months, with national elections tentatively scheduled for February.

Tough work lies ahead. Papademos’ government must pass the 2012 austerity budget, approve a new euro130 billion ($177 billion) international bailout cobbled together last month, and see through lagging reforms that will include thousands of public sector layoffs.

Most crucially, it must secure the next euro8 billion ($11 billion) installment of the rescue loans without which the country will go bankrupt before Christmas.

Greece depends on loans from a euro110 billion ($150 billion) rescue package agreed in 2010, when huge borrowing costs blocked the debt-crippled country from international markets. That bailout later proved inadequate, forcing the new bailout agreed on Oct. 26 that will also see the reduction of the country’s privately held debt by some euro100 billion, or 50 percent.

Athens is expected to officially launch talks in the next few days with banks and other private bond holders on the debt writedown.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has said he hopes the next loan installment can be approved by his 16 eurozone colleagues in a Thursday teleconference. Greece’s eurozone partners are first seeking a written commitment from Athens to support the second bailout, signed by Papademos, the leaders of the main Socialist and conservative parties, the central bank governor and finance minister low fee pay day loans.

But conservative leader Antonis Samaras insisted Monday that he would not sign, arguing that he has already pledged to back the deal and his word should suffice.

“Some say that to unblock the (euro8 billion) installment we need to sign a joint statement with all the parties that support this new transitional government,” Samaras told his New Democracy party lawmakers. “I said it before and I say it now: I will not sign such statements.”

Samaras pledged to back the interim government but said elections must be held as initially agreed on Feb. 19, and promised, if elected, to cut taxes.

Greeks have suffered some 20 months of harsh austerity, with repeated pension and salary cuts compounded by a spate of tax increases. Unions have reacted with a wave of general strikes and demonstrations, many of which led to riots. A small left-wing party has called an anti-austerity protest just ahead of Papademos’ speech in parliament, while civil servants will hold work stoppages Tuesday.

However, Greeks appear relieved by the formation of the new government last Friday, after ten days of political wrangling triggered by the resignation of Socialist prime minister George Papandreou amid a party revolt halfway through his four-year term.

Some 73 percent back Papademos’ selection according to a survey in Sunday’s To Vima newspaper, and 78 percent approved the coalition government. But only 26 percent said they expected the three parties to support the government’s work, with 56 percent voicing fears that the parties will focus on campaigning for February’s elections. The Nov. 11 poll of 1,000 people gave a 3 percent margin of error.

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