U.S. stocks ended mixed Thursday as investors digested a cautious economic outlook from the chairman of the Federal Reserve one day before a key report on the job market.
The Dow Jones industrial average () fell 11 points, or 0.1%, to end at 12,705. The S&P 500 () rose 1 points, or 0.1%, to 1,324. The Nasdaq () rose 11 points, or 0.4%, to 2,860.
"It’s a quiet day," said Paul Zemsky, head of multi-asset strategies at ING Investment Management. "The market is taking a pause before payrolls."
On Friday, the government is expected to report the U.S. economy added 130,000 jobs in January, according to economists surveyed by CNNMoney.
That would mark a sharp slowdown in hiring versus December, when 200,000 jobs were created. The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 8.6%.
Speaking before Congress Thursday, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy has shown some signs of improvement recently, but described the pace of the recovery as "frustratingly slow."
The sluggish recovery leaves the economy "vulnerable to shocks," including the debt crisis in Europe, the central bank chief added.
The comments raised speculation that the Fed is willing to take additional steps to support the economy if conditions deteriorate, said Doug Roberts, chief market strategist for Channel Capital Research.
"He’s saying that if things get worse, I’m available and we’re going to ease," said Roberts. "Clearly, he’s telling the market that if you decide to bet against me you’re going to get killed."
The Fed has purchased billions of dollars worth of Treasury bonds and other assets under its quantitative easing program. Some analysts say the Fed could hold a third round of asset purchases this year, depending on how the recovery progresses.
Europe: Where things stand
Meanwhile, investors remain on the lookout for an official agreement on a debt-reduction plan and second bailout for Greece. The deal is expected to come by the end of the week, though deadlines have been missed in the past.
U.S. stocks rose Wednesday, but closed off the highs of the day, on a combination of improved economic data and easing concerns about Europe’s debt crisis.
Economy: Initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 28 totaled 367,000, according to the government. They were expected to total 375,000, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com.
Data released Thursday morning from outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows planned job cuts surged 28% in January to 53,486 — marking the highest total since 116,000 job cuts were announced in September.
The Challenger report follows data Wednesday from payroll processor ADP saying that the private sector added 170,000 jobs in January, down sharply from 292,000 in December.
Companies: Retailers reported better-than-expected same-store sales in January, according to data from sales-tracker Thomson Reuters.
Abercrombie & Fitch’s () stock fell 13% after the clothing retailer reported weak same-store sales for the latest quarter and lowered its earnings guidance.
Zynga () shares rallied 17% following Facebook’s IPO filing. Zynga’s gaming apps and advertising contributed about 12% of Facebook revenue last year.
Facebook IPO: Morgan Stanley is big winner
Sony () shares fell 6% after the company reported disappointing earnings and revenue.
Unilever () shares slumped 3.5% after the maker of Lipton teas, Dove soaps and other consumer products said it had difficulty passing higher raw material costs on to consumers last year, and announced a gloomy outlook for 2012.
Qualcomm (, Fortune 500), a company that sells chips used in cell phones, boosted its forecast for its 2012 performance. Shares rose 2%.
Viacom (, Fortune 500) shares fell after the media giant reported better-than-expected earnings in its fiscal first quarter, but cited ratings weakness and softness in the U.S. television advertising market. Its film division swung to an operating loss in the quarter.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters () shares jumped 24% after the company reported its first-quarter revenue soared 102% compared to a year earlier, boosted by K-Cup sales.
World markets: European stocks closed modestly higher. Britain’s The DAX () in Germany added 0.6% and France’s CAC 40 () gained 0.3%. The FTSE 100 () in London ended little changed.
Asian markets ended higher. The Shanghai Composite () climbed 2%, the Hang Seng () in Hong Kong added 2% and Japan’s Nikkei () rose 0.8%.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro and the British pound, but fell versus the Japanese yen.
Oil for March delivery slipped $1.25 cents to end at $96.36 a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery added $9.80 to $1,759.30 an ounce.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 1.85%.
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Companies added 170,000 workers in January, reflecting job gains in services and at small businesses, according to a private report based on payrolls.
The increase was less than forecast and followed a revised 292,000 rise the prior month that was smaller than previously reported, the report from the Roseland, New Jersey-based ADP Employer Services showed today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists called for an advance of 182,000.
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Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong Soo said that South Korea
French President Nicolas Sarkozy secured a small boost from Moody’s rating agency Monday following a bruising downgrade last week of the way the country had been handling its economy.
Moody’s said Monday it was maintaining France with a top AAA rating and stable outlook for its debt. Rival agency Standard & Poor’s, more downbeat about the prospects for France and Europe as a whole, stripped France of its long-cherished triple A rating last Friday.
In early trading, markets appeared to brush off S&P’s decision to cut the credit ratings of nine European countries, including France. Though the downgrades late Friday had been expected, they served as a reminder that the 17 countries that use the euro as their currency still have a long way to go to get a handle on the two-year debt crisis.
Europe’s economies will likely remain the focus of attention across markets all week as a number of bond auctions are due at the same time as Greece tries to clinch a debt-reduction deal with its private investors.
Sarkozy’s budget minister Valerie Pecresse said Monday she was optimistic that S&P’s knockdown would not lead to a rise in the country’s borrowing costs. A short-term French bond auction later on that day is seen as a test of the impact of the downgrade.
In its announcement, Moody’s cited the French economy’s overall strength but said bleak growth prospects in France and the region present “risks to the French government’s fiscal consolidation plans.”
Moody’s had said in October it was putting France on review, as Sarkozy and other European leaders struggled to find solutions to Europe’s protracted debt crisis.
Moody’s said Monday it “will update the market during the first quarter of 2012 as part of the initiative to revisit the overall architecture of our sovereign ratings in the EU.”
The rating agency detailed the strengths of the French economy, but noted that the country’s debt levels have deteriorated because of the “global economic and financial crisis” and were now among the weakest of all AAA countries.
“France, like other eurozone sovereigns, may face a number of challenges in the coming months. The need to provide additional support to other European sovereigns or to its own banking system cannot be excluded no teletrack payday loan. In that case this could give rise to significant new (contingent) liabilities for the government’s balance sheet,” Moody’s warned.
Moody’s notes the government has less room to maneuver than during the 2008 meltdown. “The domestic and external economic growth outlook presents significant risks to the French government’s fiscal consolidation plans.”
Sarkozy meets later Monday with Spain’s new Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, whose country was also downgraded Friday by S&P.
The S&P move was especially brutal for France, one of the world’s biggest economies and a financier of bailouts for smaller, poorer eurozone countries.
Sarkozy has yet to speak publicly about the downgrade, leaving his government ministers to try to calm the public.
Pecresse said on Europe-1 radio Monday that she doesn’t expect “mechanical consequences” of the downgrade because France has “credibility” and is a “sure value.”
She noted that the United States didn’t see its borrowing costs spike after last August’s decision by Standard & Poor’s to strip it of its AAA rating. Like France, the U.S. is rated AA+.
Pecresse and the prime minister promised to continue cost-cutting reforms, despite criticism from the left _ and S&P itself _ that austerity measures alone could crimp growth.
Sarkozy’s challengers for the presidency have seized on the downgrade as what they call evidence that his policies are wrong-headed and ineffective.
Sarkozy hasn’t announced his candidacy but is near certain to seek a second term in two-round elections in April and May. He trails Socialist Francois Hollande in polls and is facing increasing pressure from far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and a centrist, Francois Bayrou.
It will be a bruising battle for Sarkozy, a dynamic leader who has a strong international profile but is widely disliked at home. Leftists say he has coddled the rich, while many of those who supported him in his 2007 campaign say he hasn’t fulfilled his promises.
When a collection agency contacted Letitia Mika in the summer of 2010 about $5,640 in credit card debt, she agreed to a settlement in which she would make monthly payments on half of it and the rest would be forgiven.
Then about a year later, a different company began calling her to try to collect that same debt. As the Chicago resident began to untangle a confusing web, she discovered that the first agency - P.N. Financial - did not have authority to collect her debt, but the second one did.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed suit against Skokie-based P.N. Financial last week, alleging that the company not only pursued debts it was not authorized to collect, but also broke laws by revealing information about debts to employers and family members and intimidating consumers with fake court case numbers.
Complaints about harassment from debt collectors have spiked nationally in recent years. Part of that may be a reflection of more Americans being unable to pay their debts in these shaky economic times. But consumer advocates also say that collection agencies have become more aggressive in their tactics.
Both states’ attorney generals offices in Missouri and Illinois rank complaints against debt collectors among one of the top consumer complaints they receive every year.
Madigan said she has seen a rise in brash - and illegal - techniques employed by the commission-based industry.
Of the 52 complaints her office received about PN Financial, she said, “Those were among the most egregious of violations that we’ve seen.”
An employee at P.N. Financial on Friday said no one was available to comment on the lawsuit and then hung up.
The Federal Trade Commission, which says it receives more complaints about debt collection than any other industry, logged a 17 percent increase in consumer complaints about debt collection in 2010 for a total of 140,036 complaints. The FTC hasn’t yet published the 2011 figures.
Nearly half of the complaints were about collectors harassing consumers by calling them repeatedly or continuously, which is prohibited under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Another common issue was consumers being contacted about debts they did not owe or that had been discharged in a bankruptcy.
In a recent study and survey by the Better Business Bureau in St. Louis, a third of respondents said they were called at least 20 times by debt collectors.
Another problem flagged by the report was consumers often don’t show up in court to defend themselves in suits and so default judgments are often entered, leading to garnishment of the debtor’s wages payday loans.
So Michelle Corey, the BBB’s president, said it’s important that consumers show up for those court dates, even if they don’t think they owe the debt or else they risk losing some of their wages.
There are a number of collection agencies in the St. Louis region who have a mixed track record. Some of them have an A rating from the BBB all the way down to an F, Corey said.
The BBB report also notes that Missouri is one of few states in the country without its own debt collection law that mirrors the federal law, making it difficult for state law enforcement authorities to take action against debt collectors. Illinois does have such a law.
Mark Schiffman, a spokesman for the trade group Association for Credit and Collection Professionals, said it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why the number of complaints against debt collectors have been on the rise.
“There was a significant volume increase in the amount of debt defaulted on in the last 3 to 4 years through the recession,” he said. “So significantly more volume would result in a rise in complaints.”
And he cautioned that many of the numbers of logged complaints, including those with the FTC, are not verified and are not necessarily about illegal behavior.
According to his group, third-party debt collectors recovered $55 billion and employed 148,000 people in 2010. But despite an increase in volume in the last several years, the amount of recovered debt has not increased much, he added.
“Consumers are struggling with the economy,” he said. “Many don’t have the ability to pay what they owe. It’s not boom time for the collection industry as people might think. Just because there is more volume doesn’t mean you can collect it.”
Rob Swearingen, an attorney at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, sees a steady flow of complaints come into his office about harassment by debt collectors. One company told a client that a sheriff was on the way to arrest him so he should give them access to his bank account right away, he said.
“Debt collectors will say all kinds of things - there are as many crazy things as you can imagine,” he said. “They frighten people who are the most vulnerable.”
World markets mostly rose Wednesday on hopes that the U.S. economic recovery will gather pace, helping corporate earnings and easing some of the stress generated by Europe’s debt crisis.
Stocks have been largely buoyant since U.S. jobs data last week showed an increase in the rate of hiring, suggesting that American consumer spending _ one of the drivers of world economic growth _ could recover faster than expected.
In Europe, however, the outlook is dark. Though Germany’s economy expanded 3 percent in 2011, new figures Wednesday implied it contracted slightly in the fourth quarter. Earlier figures showed industrial production and retail sales had fallen in recent months, indications that even Europe’s largest economy is feeling the pinch of the debt crisis.
Those concerns were mostly offset Wednesday by hopes that an improving U.S. economy would translate into solid fourth-quarter profits, which companies will announce over the next few weeks.
One positive early sign came from aluminum maker Alcoa _ considered an economic bellwether because so many companies use its products _ which said late Monday that its fourth-quarter revenue far outpaced analysts’ projections.
By mid-morning, Germany’s DAX gained 0.1 percent to 6,167.64 and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.6 percent to 3,230.51. while Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat at 5,695.42.
Wall Street appeared set for small gains on the open, with Dow Jones industrial futures up 0.1 percent at 12,406 and the broader S&P 500 futures also up 0.1 percent, to 1,286.90.
European debt markets also improved, with Italy’s benchmark 10-year bond yield falling below the 7 percent threshold that many consider dangerous over the longer-term. The performance of Italian bonds is a key indicator for the eurozone debt crisis because the country, the currency bloc’s third-largest economy, is too large to bail out.
Italian Premier Mario Monti was meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin later in the day, and will likely ask for greater support from fellow EU countries.
In an interview with Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Monti said Italy wanted to see more concrete support in exchange for having passed painful austerity measures.
Some economists say the European Central Bank should help Italy more by buying its government bonds on the open market in larger quantities. That would lower Italy’s borrowing rates and ease pressure on its finances free online credit report. But the ECB, along with Germany, resists such a move.
The ECB will hold its monthly policy meeting on Thursday but most economists expect it to keep interest rates steady.
Another key focus in the debt crisis is Greece’s talks with private creditors about having them take a 50 percent cut in their Greek bondholdings. That demand is considered crucial to reducing Greece’s enormous debt load, and Merkel has indicated that Greece would not get any more rescue loans until that deal is clinched. A deal is expected by next week, according to Greek officials.
Earlier in Asia, financial markets closed mostly higher on expectations that China will tweak its monetary policy to encourage growth, but in a limited way to prevent inflaming its already sizzling property market.
Andrew Sullivan, principal sales trader at Piper Jaffray in Hong Kong, said he believes a move from monetary authorities could come shortly after Chinese New Year, which begins Jan. 23 and lasts a week.
“I think we’re in a little bit of a wait-and-see period. A lot of larger things are waiting in the wings at the moment,” he said.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.3 percent to close at 8,447.88. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.8 percent to 19,151.94. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 added 0.9 percent to 4,187.50.
Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, and India also rose. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.4 percent at 1,845.55.
Mainland Chinese shares edged lower as traders booked profits following two days of sharp gains. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4 percent while the Shenzhen Composite Index was marginally lower at 880.71. Inflation data was expected out of China on Thursday.
Commodity prices, which rose on expectations that China’s economy will continue to grow this year, helped boost mining and energy shares.
Benchmark crude for February delivery lost 12 cents to $102.12 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 93 cents to finish at $102.24 per barrel in New York on Tuesday.
In currency trading, the euro fell to $1.2759 from $1.2790 late Tuesday in New York. The dollar rose to 76.97 yen from 76.82 yen.
Exxon Mobil Corp. and the Norwegian oil producer Statoil have reached an agreement with the federal government that will allow the companies to continue developing a potentially lucrative oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico.
The government will get more money from Exxon and Statoil as part of the agreement to settle federal lawsuits over their leases in the oil field known as Julia, which is about 250 miles southwest of New Orleans. The proposed settlement was filed in federal court Friday but still must be approved by a judge.
Exxon spokesman Patrick McGinn said Saturday that the settlement will allow the company to develop the resource as quickly as possible. The initial phase of the project is expected to produce more than 175 million barrels of oil from six wells.
Exxon has estimated that the oil field may hold billions of barrels of oil and gas equivalent but it is remote and technically challenging to develop.
Exxon and Statoil have five leases in the field; three signed in 1998 and two in 2003. Each company owns 50 percent interest in the leases.
The dispute began in October 2008, when Exxon applied to extend the leases but the government refused low fee payday loans. It said the company didn’t present a specific production plan. Exxon and Statoil sued the government after losing several appeals.
Under the settlement, the two companies will develop their leases in phases as initially planned with the goal of starting initial production by June 2016.
They also will pay more to the government in exchange for the lease extensions. For example, the companies will pay $11.2 million each year until the three original leases reach at least 87.5 million barrels of total production, McGinn said in an emailed statement.
The agreement also raises the royalty rate on those three leases to 18.75 percent from 12.5 percent, he said. Annual rent on those three leases rose to $11 per acre from $7.50 per acre. The royalty rate for the other two leases is 12.5 percent.
If Exxon and Statoil had lost the lawsuit, the leases would have reverted to the government.
Billionaire investor George Soros said a fracturing of the euro area would have
South Korean consumer confidence fell to a three-month low in December, as concern the political outlook in the North will worsen in the wake of Kim Jong Il
+%3Cp%3E+As+expected%2C+BlackBerry+maker+Research+In+Motion+said+Thursday+that+it+had+a+miserable+past+three+months%2C+reporting+a+quarterly+profit+that+got+squeezed+by+slumping+sales+and+service+outages.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EWhat+wasn%27t+expected+was+such+a+miserable+outlook+for+the+current+quarter.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+company+said+it+expects+to+earn+between+80+cents+and+95+cents+a+share+on+revenue+of+between+%244.6+billion+and+%244.9+billion.+That%27s+way%2C+way+below+analysts%27+profit+forecasts+of+%241.16+per+share+on+sales+of+%245.1+billion.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3ERIM+also+said+it+expects+to+ship+just+11+million+to+12+million+BlackBerry+phones%2C+a+truly+disappointing+forecast+that+is+just+barely+higher+than+the+company%27s+smartphone+shipments+from+a+year+earlier.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EMaking+matters+worse%2C+the+company+also+said+that+its+future+platform%2C+BlackBerry+OS+10+–+the+cornerstone+of+RIM%27s+turnaround+plans+–+will+be+delayed+until+late+2012.+The+company+says+it+is+waiting+on+the+development+of+a+special+chipset+for+its+new+devices.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EShares+fell+by+8%25+after+hours%2C+even+though+RIM+%28%29+had+already+warned+investors+two+weeks+ago+that+its+financial+results+would+fall+short+of+the+company%27s+earlier+expectations.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+company+blamed+its+bad+third+quarter+on+lackluster+demand+for+its+new+PlayBook+tablet%2C+on+consumers+opting+for+cheaper+BlackBerry+smartphones%2C+and+on+its+three-day+service+outage.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%26quot%3BThe+last+few+quarters+have+been+some+of+the+most+trying+in+the+history+of+this+company%2C%26quot%3B+said+Jim+Balsillie%2C+RIM%27s+co-CEO%2C+on+a+conference+call+with+analysts.+%26quot%3BWe+understand+shareholders+may+feel+like+we+let+them+down.+%5BCo-CEO%5D+Mike+%5BLazaridis%5D+and+I%2C+as+two+of+RIM%27s+largest+shareholders%2C+understand+that+sentiment.%26quot%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EBalsillie+said+that+he+and+Lazaridis+have+decided+to+take+a+salary+of+just+%241+a+year%2C+effective+immediately.+Last+year%2C+both+made+%241.2+million+Canadian%2C+which+was+around+%241.15+million+U.S.+at+the+time.+They+also+each+took+home+a+%241.2+million+cash+performance+bonus.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EDespite+the+terrible+results%2C+RIM%27s+co-CEOs+remained+upbeat+in+their+discussion+with+analysts.+BlackBerry%27s+user+base+grew+to+75+million%2C+up+35%25+from+a+year+ago%2C+they+pointed+out.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThey+also+said+that+the+company+is+%26quot%3Bmore+determined+than+ever%26quot%3B+to+overcome+its+execution+challenges.+They+preached+continued+patience+and+said+that+RIM%27s+transition+to+new%2C+improved+BlackBerry+OS+software+will+slowly+gain+traction+–+once+it+finally+releases.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3E%26quot%3BWe+ask+for+your+patience+and+confidence%2C%26quot%3B+said+Lazaridis+on+the+call.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EBy+the+numbers%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3EThe+Waterloo%2C+Ontario-based+company+said+net+income+for+the+third+quarter%2C+which+ended+last+month%2C+fell+to+%24265+million.+That%27s+down+19%25+from+a+year+earlier.+%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3ERIM%27s+results+included+a+one-time+charge+of+%24485+million+write-down+due+to+underperforming+PlayBook+sales+and+a+%2454+million+charge+for+the+outage.+Without+the+charges%2C+RIM+said+it+earned+%241.27+per+share.+Analysts+polled+by+Thomson+Reuters%2C+who+typically+exclude+one-time+items+from+their+estimates%2C+had+forecast+earnings+of+%241.19+cents+per+share.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3ERIM%27s+sales+in+the+quarter+rose+24%25+to+%245.2+billion%2C+missing+analysts%27+reduced+forecasts+of+%245.3+billion.%3C%2Fp%3E%3Cp%3ERIM+said+that+it+shipped+14.1+million+BlackBerry+phones+last+quarter.+While+RIM%27s+third-quarter+smartphones+shipments+were+in+line+with+the+company%27s+forecast+of+between+13.5+million+and+14.5+million%2C+RIM+said+phones+were+sitting+on+store+shelves%2C+as+it+sold+fewer+devices+to+end-users+than+it+had+expected.%26nbsp%3B+%3C%2Fp%3E++%3Cp%3E%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2011%2F12%2F15%2Ftechnology%2Frim_earnings%2Findex.htm%27+rel%3D%27nofollow%27%3ESource%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fp%3E+
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