Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the government will focus more on bolstering economic growth, indicating policies may be loosened further as inflation moderates.
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Avon says it’s considering a sweetened buyout offer of almost $10.7 billion from Coty Inc.
Avon says that it expects to respond to the new offer within a week. The offer was made in a letter on May 9.
Coty sweetened its 2-month-old offer by about 6.5 percent to $24.75 per share and demanded a response from Avon by Monday.
Coty indicated that Avon has said it wouldn’t review any bid until its brand new CEO, Sherilyn McCoy, finishes reviewing all of Avon’s operations instant payday loan.
Coty’s financing sources include Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., German holding company Joh. A. Benckiser GmbH, which controls Coty, and BOT Capital Partners.
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World powers share a “profound concern” that Syria is descending into civil war but have pledged to deploy 300 cease-fire monitors there by the end of the month, international envoy Kofi Annan said Tuesday. He warned, however, that the world can’t wait forever for the truce to work.
Annan said in Geneva that there has been “a spate of bombings that are really worrying” and that the U.N.’s cease-fire-monitoring mission “is the only remaining chance to stabilize the country.”
“There is a profound concern that the country could otherwise descend into full civil war, and the implications of that are frightening,” he said. “We cannot allow that to happen.”
Annan spoke to reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council by videoconference from Geneva, where he warned that failure to prevent a civil war “will not only affect Syria, it will have an impact on the whole region.”
Annan said he also told the Security Council that “unacceptable levels of violence and abuse” are continuing in Syria _ that government troops are still present in and around cities and towns and human rights violations are extensive and may be increasing.
“There have been worrying episodes of violence by the government, but we have also seen attacks against government forces, troops and installations. And there have been a spate of bombings that are really worrying and I’m sure creates incredible insecurity among the civilian population,” he said paydayloans.
He said there has been “some decrease in the military activities, but there are still serious violations in the cessation of violence that was agreed and the level of violence and abuses are unacceptable,” he said.
Annan warned that his six-point peace plan aimed at halting the fighting and initiating political talks to end the 14-month conflict is not an open-ended one. The Security Council has endorsed Annan’s plan and authorized 300 unarmed military observers to monitor actions by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime and opposition for three months.
The fighting between the two sides is estimated to have killed more than 9,000 people.
“We may well conclude down the line that it doesn’t work and a different tack has to be taken, and that will be a very sad day, and a tough day for the region,” he said.
Yet, he also tried to sound a note of optimism.
“We’ve been small in numbers, but even where we’ve been able to place two or three observers, they’ve had a calming effect,” he said. “And I think that when they are fully deployed and working as a team, establishing relations with the people, we will see much greater impact on the work that they are there to do.”
Shares of Tilly’s Inc. rose Friday above their offered price in the clothing retailer’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Irvine, Calif.-based company’s stock jumped $2.30, or 14.8 percent, to $17.80 in morning trading after opening at $18.80 and briefly rising as high as $19.29 per share.
The company had priced its initial public offering of 8 million shares at $15.50 per share. It is offering 7.6 million shares and selling stockholders are offering 400,000 shares.
Tilly’s sells surf-inspired and casual West Coast-styled clothing and accessories at its chain of 140 stores in 19 states. It was founded by Hezy Shaked and Tilly Levine, who opened their first store in Orange County, Calif., in 1982 and are still principal shareholders.
Tilly’s expects to receive net proceeds of about $107.6 million after expenses. It won’t receive any proceeds from the sales by the selling stockholders cheap credit report.
Tilly’s is a holding company and does its business through Tilly’s World of Jeans & Tops. It plans to use proceeds from the IPO to pay shareholders with a stake in Tilly’s World Jeans & Tops, which will be made into a wholly owned subsidiary of Tilly’s.
In the fiscal year ending Jan. 28, the company earned $34.3 million. That was up 41 percent from the prior year. Its revenue rose 20 percent to $400.6 million for the year.
The underwriters of the IPO included Goldman, Sachs, BofA Merrill Lynch, and Piper Jaffray. Underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an extra 1.2 million shares to cover overallotments.
U.S. investors were set to hold steady at Tuesday’s open, awaiting new reports on manufacturing, auto sales and corporate results for clues about the strength of the U.S. economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average (), S&P 500 () and Nasdaq () futures were all little changed. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.
On tap for Tuesday are new readings on manufacturing, construction spending and auto sales. Investors will be searching for signs to assuage concerns that the recovery in the U.S. economy may be stalling.
The latest round of corporate results include reports from BP () and Pfizer (, Fortune 500).
U.S. stocks finished in the red Monday, ending a mostly sour month on a weak note. Following three months of solid gains, all three major U.S. indexes posted their worst monthly returns of the year in April.
Resurfacing concerns about Europe and a possible hard landing in China have helped put a brake on the momentum from earlier this year.
A report on manufacturing in China rose slightly, which could help allay concerns about the economy slowing too quickly.
Meanwhile, Australia’s central bank announced it was cutting its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage point to 3.75%, due to below trend growth both in Australia and globally. It was the bank’s biggest rate cut since February 2009, when global financial markets were still in near free fall.
On Monday, Spain’s government said its economy declined for the second straight quarter, revealing that the nation is in recession. The report came with Spanish bond yields still at perilously high levels, and just days after Standard and Poor’s downgraded the country’s credit rating.
World markets: Britain’s FTSE 100 () edged higher 0.4% in midday trading. Markets in Paris and Frankfurt were closed for the May Day holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei () ended down 1.8%, while markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for the holiday.
Economy: The April installment of the Institute for Supply Management manufacturing Index is expected to come in at 53, down from 53.4 in March, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com. Any reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector that has helped to lead the U.S. economic recovery.
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April U.S. auto sales are forecast to be up to a seasonally-adjusted annual sales pace of about 14.3 million vehicles. That would be a rise from the year-ago rate of 13.4 million, but down from March sales’ pace of 14.7 million.
U.S. automakers General Motors (, Fortune 500) and Ford Motor (, Fortune 500) are both forecast to report lower sales.
March construction spending is expected to have risen by 0.5%, according to economists’ estimates.
Companies: Oil company BP posted a drop in quarterly earnings to $1.52 a share from $1.76 a year earlier, missing estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. BP joined Exxon Mobil (, Fortune 500) and ConocoPhillips (, Fortune 500) as major oil companies to miss forecasts for the first quarter. Shares of BP lost 2.8% in premarket trading.
Drugmaker Pfizer (, Fortune 500), a Dow component, reported earnings of 58 cents a share for the first quarter, down from 60 cents a share a year earlier but 2 cents better than forecasts. Shares of Pfizer slipped 0.7% in premarket trading.
Delta Air Lines (, Fortune 500) announced plans Monday to purchase an oil refinery outside of Philadelphia, a novel approach to reducing its fuel costs. Shares gained 1.7% in premarket trading.
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Currencies and commodities: The dollar lost ground slightly against the euro, but gained on the British pound and Japanese yen.
Oil for June delivery lost 30 cents to $104.57 a barrel.
Gold futures for June delivery fell $1.50 to $1,662.50 an ounce.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury edged higher, but the yield was little changed at 1.91%.
Advocates for ex-offenders are hailing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission report they hope will improve job opportunities for individuals often turned away because of criminal histories.
The EEOC, in an “enforcement guidance” issued last week, ruled that undue emphasis on an ex-offender’s background in some some instances violates federal statutes governing employment discrimination.
The EEOC said the specter of discrimination becomes even more pronounced when hiring managers factor race or ethnicity into employment decisions.
Citing studies reflecting a felony conviction rate of African American men that tops 25 percent, the National Employment Law Project welcomed the new guidelines as an antidote to what it termed “especially severe” discrimination against ex-offenders of color.
Michael Holmes, executive director of the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE), says the obstacles encountered by individuals with a criminal backgrounds cuts across racial lines.
“We have a major public institutions that discriminate against both white and black people because they have a criminal record,” said Holmes. “Now they can’t use that as a way to eliminate (an ex-offender) with the skills they are looking for.”
The ruling could give a boost to thousands – by some estimates up to 18,000 - ex-offenders in the St. Louis region who are currently-out-of-work and searching for employment.
“Some businesses do have a blanket policy about not hiring ex-offenders,” said David Kessel, chief operating officer of the Employment Connection, a St. Louis non-profit that helps ex-offenders overcome job barriers. “(The EEOC) guidance gives employers clarification on what they should be doing to make better hiring decisions.”
Kessel believes the unemployment rate for ex-offenders in the St. Louis area runs as high as 75 percent.
The EEOC guidelines were not universally acclaimed.
The National Retail Federation criticized a recommendation that employers eliminate queries about criminal and arrest records on application forms.
A ban on the “box” that alerts a company of an an applicant’s brushes with the law will restrict an “employers’ ability to ensure the safety of their workers and customers,” Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French said in a statement.
A 2011 NRF survey revealed that 87 percent of its members turn to criminal background checks prior to hiring bad credit personal loan lenders.
Les Johnson, the vice president for grant and management services for ARCHS, an advocate that sponsors programs that support at-risk populations including ex-offenders, praised the EEOC initiative.
But he cautioned the hiring process will continue to require discretion and common sense on the part of applicants with criminal records.
A paroled bank robber, for instance, needs to make a better choice than seeking employment with a financial institution. Just as a convicted drug offender may want to steer clear of opportunities at a pharmacy.
“We’ve always said that a criminal record should not be the sole qualification for an (ex-offender) applying for a job as fork lift driver at a warehouse producing pallets,” Johnson said. “But we also ask ex-offenders to take responsibility on the front end, explain to the employer what the offense (entailed), that time has been served, amends have been made and that they are now trying to earn a decent wage.”
The EEOC report also points employers to the difference between a conviction and arrest.
“The fact of an arrest does not establish that criminal conduct has occurred, and an exclusion based on an arrest, in itself, is not job related and consistent with business necessity,” the EEOC said.
Holmes questioned why ex-offenders have a particularly difficult time landing job offers from governmental institutions.
He understands why a local or state government office would want to avoid public backlash over tax-payer supported salaries going to people with criminal records.
But points out that many of those same institutions welcome state and federal funds for job training.
“You’re taking training money, but not hiring ex-offenders? That’s crazy,” Holmes said.
Companies that stiff-arm ex-offenders, he added, need to take responsibility for contributing to a vicious cycle.
“In prison, they get three meals a day, healthcare and a roof over their head and when they get out they don’t have any money. If they can’t provide for themselves, they’re going do what they know in order to survive and go back to crime rather than starve to death,” Holmes said. “If you do your time, and you’re qualified for a job, then you should be given another chance.”
Egypt is facing daunting challenges, a leading candidate for president said Sunday, presenting his decades as a senior government official as a prime reason to vote for him and not an Islamist.
Amr Moussa said Egypt is going through an economic and social crisis that requires the talents of an experienced statesman, not a president who learns on the job.
Egyptians pick a new president to replace deposed Hosni Mubarak in a process that begins May 23-24. It is unclear how much power the new president will have, as the process for writing a new constitution is snagged over disagreements about makeup of the body that will write the new document.
Moussa served as Egypt’s foreign minister under Mubarak and in 2001 moved over to head the Arab League. He resigned that post last year to run for president.
At a news conference Sunday in Cairo, he disagreed with the goals of Islamist parties, which have won clear majorities in parliamentary elections running on a platform of Islamic principles.
“I believe that Egypt has been injured, Egypt has been mismanaged and that Egypt should not get into an experiment that has not been tried before,” he said when asked about his top Islamist opponent, a member of Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood.
Such an experiment, he said, could enter Egypt “into a period of confusion.”
Critics charge that Moussa’s record as a top official under Mubarak could mean his election would mark a return to the ways of the former regime, characterized by corruption, inefficiency and nepotism.
Egypt’s economy has been hard hit in the aftermath of the popular uprising. Tourism and investment rates have plummeted, foreign currency reserves have dipped dangerously and the national budget reels under the burden of heavy subsidies on fuel and basic food products.
Thirteen candidates are running to replace Mubarak. Since he resigned after a popular uprising, Egypt’s military has been running the country.
Facing Moussa are candidates from the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist factions, as well as another Mubarak-era official, Ahmed Shafiq, his last prime minister instant personal loans guaranteed.
In a last minute decision, the Brotherhood decided to field a candidate in the race, after it had promised it would not. This led many to accuse the Brotherhood of being power hungry, aiming to lead Egypt toward into a religion-based system of government. The Brotherhood says it would have Islam as its reference for governing.
The group’s candidate, Mohamed Morsi, said Saturday if he wins, he will be president of all Egyptians, but it is now time to put into practice the group’s slogan, “Islam is the solution.”
The Brotherhood’s main candidate was among 10 disqualified this month by Egypt’s election commission, along with another leading Islamist and Mubarak’s former intelligence chief, boosting Moussa’s chances. Morsi replaced the group’s first choice.
Moussa pointed to his credentials as a longtime government official with deep knowledge of the system.
“I believe I can start from minute one as president with my knowledge of the government, the administration, the management and also the connection with the world and the Arab world and the African world, and Europe,” he said. “The country is in a major crisis. A major crisis doesn’t justify at all a president who will ask around, what should I do at this point or that point and gaining experience as he goes.”
The Brotherhood was outlawed for decades before Mubarak was overthrown in February 2011, so its leaders have never held high office.
Moussa, 76, is popular among Egyptians who see in him a seasoned and outspoken diplomat, particularly voicing criticism of Israeli policies.
On the other hand, he has been harshly criticized in recent protest rallies for his association with the Mubarak regime, and many protesters say that he, like other former regime officials, should not be allowed to run in the first post-Mubarak elections.
Biotech firm Human Genome Sciences announced Thursday that it had rejected a takeover bid from pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline that valued it at just over 80% of its closing price Wednesday.
HGS () said the offer — at $13 per share, or $2.6 billion — "does not reflect the value inherent" in the company. It added, however, that it was reviewing "strategic alternatives" including the possible sale of the company, and that Glaxo () had been invited to participate in the process.
HGS shares jumped on the news, opening at $14.21, nearly double Wednesday’s closing price of $7.17.
Glaxo CEO Andrew Witty said in a statement that his firm was "disappointed that Human Genome Sciences has rejected our offer without discussion and are confident that our offer is in the best interest of shareholders of both companies."
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The two firms, Witty noted, have collaborated for nearly 20 years, including on the lupus drug Benlysta, a joint venture.
HGS shares traded around $30 just a year ago, but have dropped sharply since then as the company has reported heavy losses. In February, HGS reported a net loss for 2011 of $381 million.
The announcement comes a day after Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche () announced that it was abandoning its bid for U.S. biotech firm Illumina ().
HGS has attracted controversy in the past with its attempts to patent genetic sequences, which have raised questions about whether such information can be subject to intellectual property laws.
France’s foreign minister says an array of international sanctions targeting Syria’s repressive regime have depleted its financial reserves by half _ and Damascus is actively trying to evade them.
Alain Juppe called Tuesday for a solid international response to such “maneuvers” as he opened a Paris meeting of 57 countries to tighten sanctions against President Bashar Assad.
The actual size of Syria’s financial reserves isn’t known, but it was believed to be around $17 billion at the start of the uprising in March 2011. Juppe didn’t specify how much of Syria’s finances were impacted by sanctions, but said “our information” is that they have been cut in half.
Diplomats and finance ministry officials from the Arab world, the West and elsewhere were meeting in Paris to coordinate sanction measures against Assad’s repressive regime.
The Arab League and the European Union are among more than 50 participants who want to keep up pressure on Assad.
Juppe was set to kick off Tuesday’s closed-door talks in Paris under the “Friends of Syria” banner. But two Arab League nations _ Syrian neighbors Iraq and Lebanon _ were not attending.
Diplomats say a string of EU, U.S. and other sanctions are affecting Assad by curbing Syria’s ability to export oil.
Speaking at a separate meeting in Moscow, Syrian opposition members say they have sensed a shift in Russia’s stance on the conflict in their homeland and voiced hope Tuesday that Moscow will crank up pressure on Assad’s regime.
On a visit to Moscow, Haytham Manna, spokesman for the Arab Commission for Human Rights, said Russia has voiced support for democratic changes in Syria and believes the Syrians themselves should determine the country’s future.
“The representatives of the Russian government aren’t inclined to support the idea of preservation of the dictatorial regime,” Manna told a news conference. “They are talking about the need for continuing democratic changes, and it’s very important for us.”
Abdul-Aziz al-Kheir, a spokesman for the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, said Russia’s position has been changing over the past two months and “particularly fast over the past two weeks payday loan.”
Members of the Syrian opposition said they hoped Russia will apply its power to persuade Assad to observe U.N. and Arab league envoy Kofi Annan’s cease-fire plan to end 13 months of violence in Syria.
“Russia has all the necessary levers to apply pressure on Assad’s government and help Annan’s mission,” Manna said.
Hassan Abdul-Azim, the head of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change who is leading the delegation, said Moscow’s support is essential for the success of Annan’s mission.
“That is the last chance to end the fratricidal massacre and create preconditions for the transfer to a democratic form of government,” he said.
Manna said that while the opposition was encouraged by the talks in Moscow, differences remain. Russia continues to be strongly critical of Assad opponents using force, Manna said, while the opposition views it as a legitimate response to the violence on the part of the regime.
He said that the opposition delegation also sought to assuage Russia’s concerns about the rise of Islamism in Syria and prospects of continuing violence in the country in case of regime change.
The opposition delegation is expected to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later Tuesday.
Lavrov has recently criticized Assad for dragging his feet on reforms and using excessive force. He and other Russian officials have strongly urged their old ally to observe Annan’s plan.
Russia, along with China, has twice shielded Assad’s regime from U.N. sanctions over its deadly crackdown on a popular uprising. But Moscow has strongly supported Annan’s cease-fire plan to end 13 months of violence and begin talks on Syria’s political future.
Foreclosures increased through most of the St. Louis metro area during the first three months of the year, RealtyTrac reported Thursday.
The increases varied widely by county. In St. Louis County, where 1,874 homes were threatened with foreclosure or already in bank’s hands, the number rose by 3 percent during January-to-March period, compared to the last three months of 2011. But St. Charles County saw a 30 percent increase, bringing the number of foreclosed and threatened homes to 663.
The severity of the foreclosure situation also varies by area. St. Louis city is faring the worse, with one out of 218 homes in foreclosure. By contrast, only one in every 957 homes in Monroe county were in foreclosure.
Foreclosure hit one in 234 homes in St. Louis County, one in 213 in St. Charles County, one in 228 in Jefferson, 539 in Lincoln, 253 in Madison and 274 in St. Clair.
Nationally, RealtyTrac reported that foreclosures declined 2 percent in the first quarter, and were 16 percent below the same period in 2011 on line pay day loans. Foreclosures were at their lowest since late 2007.
Analysts generally expect foreclosure filings to increase in the wake of February’s settlement between the government and major mortgage servicers over abusive foreclosure practices.
“The low foreclosure numbers in the first quarter are not an indication that the massive reservoir of distressed properties built up over the past few years has somehow miraculously evaporated,” said Brandon Moore, chief executive at RealtyTrac, an online market for foreclosed homes. “The dam may not burst in the next 30 to 45 days, but it will burst.”