MEXICO, Mo.
Stocks are rising at the open on hopes for a plan to restore long-term confidence in the euro.
French and German leaders are meeting to discuss closer political and economic cooperation between the 17 nations that use the currency. They want tighter control of budgets, to prevent the kinds of debts that might to cause Greece and others to default.
Stocks overseas rose modestly Monday, while the yields on Italian bonds dove, suggesting traders believe that Italy is less likely to default. Italy’s government agreed this weekend on a package of austerity and economic growth measures.
The Dow is up 135 points, or 1.1 percent at 12,154. The S&P 500 is up 16, or 1.3 percent at 1,261. The Nasdaq composite index is up 32, or 1.2 percent at 2,659.
Australia’s ruling party voted Sunday to overturn a long-standing ban on exporting uranium to India, despite fierce opposition from critics who argued such sales are unsafe because India has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard urged members of her center-left Labor Party during its annual conference to allow the exports in the interest of the national economy, arguing there are safeguards in place to ensure the uranium would be used for peaceful purposes.
“We need to make sure that across our regions we have the strongest possible relationships we can, including with the world’s largest democracy, India,” Gillard said. “That’s why today we should determine to change our platform and enable us, under safeguards, to sell uranium to India.”
The party’s vote to amend an executive policy does not need parliamentary approval.
Australia holds 40 percent of the world’s known uranium reserves. It does not sell uranium on the open market and bans nuclear power generation at home.
But it sells uranium only for the purpose of power generation under strict conditions banning any military applications in bilateral trade agreements with the United States, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and several European countries.
Australia’s previous conservative government started negotiations with energy-hungry India on uranium sales. But the Labor government immediately ended the talks when it came to power in 2007, ruling out exports unless New Delhi signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Gillard had previously noted that the U.S. lifted a “de facto international ban” on nuclear cooperation with India in 2005 when it signed a deal with New Delhi to trade uranium and work together on civil atomic power generation.
But many Labor lawmakers slammed the policy change, arguing that selling uranium to India in the wake of this year’s nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant in Japan, the 1979 partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island reactor in the U.S. and other nuclear accidents was irresponsible and out of touch.
Labor Sen. Doug Cameron won a standing ovation from the crowd after a fiery speech in which he called the amendment “nonsense.”
“Prime Minster, you are wrong! Ministers, you are wrong!” he shouted to thunderous applause. “This is a bad move for the Labor Party, it’s a bad move for international peace.”
Others argued that India was too important an economic power to ignore.
“India, like China, is a rising superpower and it has to be upfront and center in our foreign policy and our foreign trade,” said Labor member Richard Marles. “(This amendment) will pave the way for our two countries to fulfill our shared destiny as nations and friends.”
The motion passed by a vote of 206 to 185.
On the eve of “Cyber Monday,” online retailers reported an even stronger start to the holiday shopping season than brick-and-mortar stores.
Research firm comScore reported on Sunday that e-commerce spending jumped 26 percent on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, compared with the same day a year ago. ComScore reported $816 million in online sales for the day, up from $648 million.
The 26 percent growth rate for online sales compares with a 7 percent retail sales increase reported for Black Friday by ShopperTrak, which gathers data from individual stores and shopping malls. At $11.4 billion, the brick-and-mortar sales total still dwarfs the online total.
Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman, said in a statement that e-commerce enjoyed a banner day, despite some analysts’ predictions that early store openings on Black Friday could hurt online sales.
“With brick-and-mortar retail also reporting strong gains on Black Friday, it’s clear that the heavy promotional activity had a positive impact on both channels,” Fulgoni said.
Thanksgiving is also a big day for online sales, and comScore reported an 18 percent increase this year compared with a year ago, with $479 million in sales.
Online sales also have been strong throughout November pay day loans. Online sales through Saturday rose 15 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to comScore, which is based on Reston, Va. Through the first 25 days of the month, online sales have totaled $12.74 billion.
ComScore said 50 million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday, up 35 percent from a year ago. Each of the top five retail sites reported double-digit gains in visitors, in percentage terms, led by top retail site Amazon. Walmart ranked second, followed by Best Buy, Target and Apple.
Next up is Cyber Monday, when many online retailers run promotions for the first business day of the week following Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday sales topped $1 billion last year, making it the heaviest day of online spending ever. ComScore’s Fulgoni expects another record will be set this year.
ComScore reported online sales for Black Friday two days after another researcher, IBM Corp.’s Coremetrics unit, reported a smaller online spending gain for Black Friday. Coremetrics reported a 20 percent increase, compared with comScore’s 26 percent.
An Egyptian demonstrator was killed early Saturday outside the country’s Cabinet building, where protesters have camped overnight to prevent the entrance of the country’s newly-appointed prime minister, witnesses and a medical official said.
The death came as a wave of protests against military rule was given extra impetus by the Egyptian military’s decision on Friday to appoint a prime minister who served under deposed President Hosni Mubarak.
Hundreds gathered outside the Cabinet to prevent Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri from entering to take up his new post, and clashed with security forces who tried to disperse them.
An Associated Press cameraman saw three police troop carriers and an armored vehicle being chased off by rock-throwing protesters. The security forces fired tear gas in return before leaving the site.
The medical official confirmed that one protester was killed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Video clips posted on social networking sites showed protesters rushing to rescue a heavily bleeding man. Witnesses say the protester was killed when a police vehicle ran over him.
Officials say more than 40 people have been killed across the country since Nov. 19, when a small sit-in by protesters injured during the Jan. 25-Feb. 11 uprising was violently broken up by security forces.
Thousands of protesters have filled Tahrir Square, a few blocks from the Cabinet building, throughout the eight days.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects to indicate a police vehicle; adds details and background.)
As the Occupy Wall Street protests draw attention to the struggles of young adults, among others, some parents are determined to spare their children the burden of college loans.
Many worry about the college funds they’ve been able to build. Last quarter, the average mutual fund that invests in stocks lost 17 percent. The average 529 college savings plan, which invests in a mixture of stocks and bonds, lost 8.9 percent, according to a recent Morningstar 529 plan study.
But if you’ve been worried about your losses, you may have more control than you think about the outcome if you pay attention to a few details.
For example, some 529 plans charge high fees and give you little in return. And some require you to get help from a financial adviser, but often parents and grandparents can do better on their own simply by investing directly in a top-quality 529 plan.
As consumers become savvy about their 529 college savings options, they are moving money from expensive and weak 529 plans into those that grow money more effectively. During a recent 12-month period, plans sold by advisers, which are often more expensive, lost more than a percentage point of market share relative to those sold directly to individuals, according to Morningstar cash advance companies.
But how do you know if you are getting a good deal on a 529?
Start your analysis by finding out from your state’s department of education if your home state offers a 529 and whether you get a tax break by investing in it.
Some states will allow you to invest in any 529 outside your state and get a break on your taxes. But most give you a tax benefit only if you choose the 529 in your state. The usual benefit: You can subtract the amount of money you invest in a 529 from your taxable income when you do your tax return. That’s a good deal.
Some states, however, are even more benevolent. Indiana gives its residents a credit of 20 percent on the first $5,000 they invest a year in their state 529. People from Indiana can save up to $1,040 on a $5,000 investment, said Morningstar. Maine gives residents a $500 grant if they open a 529 before their child’s first birthday. Other states such as Illinois offer less
Let’s wait and see.
That’s likely to be the message from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, when its two-day policy meeting ends. Few expect any bold new steps to be announced.
Fed policymakers likely want to gauge the impact of action they’ve taken recently to keep interest rates low. The Fed has breathing room because the economy and stock markets have strengthened enough to allay fears of another recession.
After their September meeting, the policymakers said they would shuffle the Fed’s investment portfolio to try to further reduce long-term interest rates. And in their previous meeting in August, they had said they plan to keep short-term rates near zero until at least mid-2013 unless the economy improved.
“They know they are running out of tools, so they don’t want to employ another one unless they have to,” said David Wyss, former chief economist at Standard & Poor’s.
At its last meeting, the Fed left open the possibility of taking additional action to try to help the economy. One option is to further explain the steps it has already taken and their purposes. Another would be to launch a third program of bond purchases.
But the Fed remains deeply divided over what, if any, action to take, which is another reason economists don’t expect any major announcements this week.
The actions taken in August and September were adopted on 7-3 votes, the most dissents in nearly 20 years.
Three regional bank presidents _ Richard Fisher of Dallas, Charles Plosser of Philadelphia and Narayana Kocherlakota of Minneapolis _ all voted no. They have expressed concerns that the Fed’s policies could lead to high inflation later.
On the other hand, four policymakers are worried that the Fed might not be doing enough. Vice Chair Janet Yellen, Governor Daniel Tarullo, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and New York Fed President William Dudley have said the economy is at risk and might need more support.
“I have never seen the Fed more deeply divided than it is at this moment,” said David Jones, head of DMJ Advisors and the author of books on the Fed.
At its meeting in September, the Fed stopped short of expanding its portfolio of investments. Instead, it opted to shuffle $400 billion of its investments to try to lower long-term rates.
But two officials pushed for bolder action, according to minutes of the meeting. The members discussed more bond-buying. Some said it should remain an option.
A brighter outlook for the economy has given the Fed more room to wait. The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the July-September period _ the best quarterly performance in a year.
That’s strong enough to show that the economy isn’t about to slide into recession. Still, growth would have to be nearly twice as high _ consistently _ to make a major dent in the unemployment rate, which has been stuck at 9.1 percent for three straight months.
Stocks have rallied of late. Even after a drop of nearly 2.5 percent Monday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index in October notched its best one-month showing since December 1991.
European leaders have also announced a debt agreement that could help prevent a financial catastrophe on the continent. Still, even if it does, many analysts don’t think Europe can avoid another recession.
Many economists think the Fed will hold off on new action until its December meeting or early next year. The next step could be further clarity on its interest-rate policy.
Evans has proposed that the Fed set benchmarks for raising rates. For example, it could agree not to raise short-term rates until unemployment fell below 7 percent or the outlook for inflation exceeded 3 percent. The unemployment rate has hovered around 9 percent for more than two years, and the Fed’s inflation outlook is under 2 percent.
Yellen, who heads a Fed panel that is examining ways to improve the central bank’s communications, says the idea should be examined. But she cautioned that such benchmarks could confuse investors.
She has suggested that the Fed could add further guidance when it provides its economic forecasts four times a year. The forecast offers estimates for growth, unemployment and inflation. It does not forecast interest rates.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said that adding a Fed forecast on the federal funds rate, its main policy lever, would reassure investors about when it might move interest rates.
“They have given investors more clarity about the timing of future rates, but including an actual forecast of when rates might change would help bring rates down further,” Zandi said.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is warning of a “marked slowdown” in eurozone economies next year and says the European Union needs to clarify its anti-crisis measures.
In an update Monday of economic forecasts timed to coincide with this week’s meeting of the Group of 20 major economies, the OECD says “patches of mild negative growth” are likely in the eurozone in 2012.
It says economic growth in the eurozone will stall at 0.3 percent next year, after just 1 cash advance no faxing.6 percent growth this year.
The Paris-based OECD says “detailed information is needed” on how the EU will implement the package of measures announced last week aimed at resolving the European debt crisis, to prevent a repeat of the global crisis that hammered economies three years ago.
Yahoo
As President Obama prepared to announce new measures Wednesday to help ease the burden of student loan debt, new figures painted a demoralizing picture of college costs for students and parents: Average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose an additional $631 this fall, or 8.3 percent, compared with a year ago.
Nationally, the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high. Throw in room and board, and the average list price for a state school now runs more than $17,000 a year, according to the twin annual reports on college costs and student aid published Wednesday by the College Board.
The large increase in federal grants and tax credits for students, on top of stimulus dollars that prevented greater state cuts, helped keep the average tuition-and-fees that families actually pay much lower: about $2,490, or just $170 more than five years ago. But the days of states and families relying on budget relief from Washington appear numbered. And some argue that while Washington’s largesse may have helped some students, it did little to hold down prices.
“The states cut budgets, the price goes up, and the (federal) money goes to that,” said Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. “For 25 years we’ve been putting more and more money into financial aid, and tuition keeps going up. We’re on a national treadmill.”
Nonetheless, President Obama planned to announce a series of steps to help with one of the consequences of rising college prices: student debt. This year total outstanding student loan debt has passed $1 trillion, now exceeding credit card debt. And concerns about student loan debt have been front and center with many of the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
Obama will use executive authority for two loan-relief measures. First, he will move up the start date _ from 2014 to 2012 _ of a plan Congress already passed that reduces the maximum repayment on federal student loans from 15 percent of discretionary incomes to 10 percent. The White House says about 1.6 million borrowers could be affected, and that remaining debt would be forgiven after 20 years, instead of 25.
The administration also will allow 5.8 million borrowers with outstanding loans from two federal programs _ direct lending the Family Education Loan Program _ to consolidate into a direct loan, potentially saving some borrowers hundreds of dollars per month.
Those changes may not help new borrowers much, but they could put cash in the pockets of millions still paying back their loans. They also could encourage more borrowers to take advantage of the income repayment options that are already in place, but not widely known. Finally, by consolidating into direct lending, more could qualify for that program’s public service loan forgiveness, which can forgive debts after just 10 years of repayments for people working in nonprofit or public service jobs.
In the College Board’s latest price report, some of the increase was driven by huge increases at public universities in California, which enrolls 10 percent of public four-year college students and whose 21 percent tuition increase this year was the largest of any state.
But even without California, prices would have increased 7 percent on average nationally _ an exceptional burden at a time of high unemployment and stagnant family incomes.
Terry Hartle, senior vice president at the American Council on Education, which represents colleges in Washington, said the cause of the price increases for the 80 percent of college students who attend public institutions is clear. State appropriations to higher education declined 18 percent per student over the last three years, the College Board found, the sharpest fall on record.
“To see increases of 20 percent, as we saw in California, to see gains of 15 percent in other states, is simply unprecedented,” Hartle said. “Tuition is simply being used as a revenue substitute in many states.”
The College Board reports roughly 56 percent of 2009-2010 bachelor’s degree recipients at public four-years graduated with debt, averaging about $22,000. At private nonprofit universities, the figures were higher _ 65 percent and around $28,000. Those figures are likely to rise, though private borrowing _ usually more dangerous than government loans _ has been falling.
“Psychologically, practically, it’s a big number, and it will inform important choices, like when and whether you buy a home, start a family, save for retirement or take the risk of starting a new business,” said Lauren Asher, president of The Institute for College Access and Success, who also applauded the Obama announcement.
And Asher and other experts emphasize that the types of loans students take out can be as important as the amount. In general, a college degree remains a good investment.
Other slivers of what passes for good news: While several states had double-digit percentage increases, there were wide variations, and Connecticut and South Carolina held under 3 percent. Roughly half of students are enrolled in nonprofit colleges attend institutions charging under $10,000, and fewer than 1 in 10 attend institutions listing prices over $36,000.
Meanwhile, both community colleges and private four-year colleges reported lower tuition inflation than public universities.
At nonprofit private four-year colleges, tuition and fees were up 4.5 percent to $28,500. Factoring in aid, the average total net cost, including room and board, was about $22,970 _ lower than five years ago. At community colleges, where list prices rose 8.7 percent nationally to just under $3,000, net costs also are lower than five years ago, and aid generally covers the whole price.
Still, while net costs are important to note, they don’t tell the whole story. They don’t cover living costs, which for many students are a higher obstacle than tuition, especially if they can’t work as much while enrolled.
And the aid dollars that help lower the average net price don’t always go to the neediest students.
Colleges award merit scholarships. Federal Pell Grants do support the neediest, and spending on them has nearly doubled in the last two years to around $35 billion (9.1 million students got grants averaging $3,828).
But the latest College Board figures highlight a rapid recent increase in indirect government support through tuition and other tax credits, which have reached almost $15 billion. Around 12 million people are now taking advantage of tax benefits averaging more than $1,200. And while recent changes make low-income families better able to take advantage of those credits, a growing proportion of the benefit goes to families earning more than $100,000.
The tax credit program, dramatically expanded in 2009, “really changes the story of how the federal government subsidizes students,” said Sandy Baum, the economist who directs the College Board’s reports. The credit is “not so much a middle-income benefit as we’re used to thinking about it.”
Some states are not only cutting their appropriations but not even paying what they’ve promised. Illinois is late on payments worth $500 million to nine campuses this year.
The percentage increases in California, once widely considered to have the best-value public universities in the world, are so high in part because the base prices of past years were low. Prices there still aren’t high by national standards, but this year for the first time, California’s tuition and fee rates were above the national average. That in 2011 California’s public universities would be cost more than the national average would have been unimaginable to most experts a decade ago.
Hartle and others say this year’s sharp increases came despite the last chunks of stimulus dollars from Washington used to plug holes in education spending. Looking forward, state budgets remain broken and there’s little indication Washington will come riding to the rescue.
“I’m not exactly sure where higher education in the United States is going,” he said. “But I have a feeling California is going to get there first.”
Also, on Tuesday, an Education Department official testified to a House subcommittee that personal details of as many as 5,000 college students were temporarily visible to other students on the departments’ direct loan web site earlier this month.
The episode lasted six or seven minutes on Oct. 12 and happened during a reconfiguration of data on 11.5 million borrowers to improve website performance times, said James Runcie, the Education Department’s federal student aid chief operating officer. Students who logged on during that window saw other students’ personal details. Those who were exposed were notified and offered credit monitoring services. The department said it had no reason to believe any students’ information was misused.
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