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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45696285#45696285
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Equity mutual funds: Investors pull money out
Equity mutual funds lost a net $16.1 billion in November. Foreign equity mutual funds lost $2.6 billion.?
Investors pulled cash out of stock?mutual?funds?for the seventh month in a row, as the European debt crisis continued to drive U.S. market volatility in November.
Skip to next paragraphInvestors withdrew a net $16.1 billion from U.S. stock?funds?last month, extending a string that began in May, industry consultant Strategic Insight said on Monday.
Stock?funds?attracted new cash during the first four months of this year, on the heels of strong market gains in late 2010. But the market was dominated this summer and fall by fears that Europe's debt crisis was getting impossible to contain.
As the continent's leaders struggled to come up with a debt-control plan, U.S. stocks again followed a volatile path last month. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid about 9 percent in mid-November before recovering most of its gain to finish down less than 1 percent for the month.
"With the market still gyrating, investors still lack enthusiasm" for U.S. stock?funds, said Avi Nachmany, research director with New York-based Strategic Insight.
Through November, investors withdrew a net $65 billion from stock?funds. That exceeds the full-year total of 2010, when they pulled a net $49 billion from stock?funds. Investing has taken a more conservative turn since the financial crisis of 2008, with money consistently flowing out of stock?funds, and bond?funds?continuing to attract new cash.
Other details of how investors moved their money in November:
? Foreign stock?funds: Investors withdrew a net $2.6 billion from these?funds, as debt troubles in Europe and slowing economic growth in China continued to depress stock prices in many foreign markets. Through November, investors have deposited a net $45 billion into foreign?funds, reflecting expectations that China and other emerging markets such as India and Brazil continue to have good long-term prospects.
? Bond?funds: Investors deposited a net $11.9 billion in November. About $9 billion in new cash was added to taxable bond?funds, a category that includes corporate bonds. About $2.9 billion was deposited last month into municipal bond?funds, which buy the debt of state and local governments. Year-to-date, bond?funds?have attracted nearly $104 billion in new cash.
? Money-market?funds: A net $42 billion was deposited into these?funds?last month, marking a reversal from the $21 billion in net withdrawals in October. Strategic Insight said investors appeared to increasingly view money-market?funds?as a safety net from stock market volatility. They're designed to be safe harbors where investors can temporarily park cash and quickly access it when needed. Net withdrawals from money?fundstotal $173 billion year-to-date. Their appeal has dimmed because returns have been barely above zero since early 2009.
? Exchange-traded?funds: Investors deposited a net $5 billion into ETFs, which bundle together investments in a particular market index. Unlike?mutual?funds, they can be traded during daily sessions just like stocks. ETFs continue to grow much faster than?mutual?funds, with year-to-date net deposits of nearly $94 billion. At that rate, ETFs could end 2011 with more than $100 billion in new cash for the fifth year in row.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/4AUH2PqZdwo/Equity-mutual-funds-Investors-pull-money-out
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Obama admin: 2.5M young adults gain coverage (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Young adults trying to get traction in a tough economy are getting a welcome assist: the new federal health care law has markedly improved their access to health insurance.
The number of young Americans ages 19-25 lacking health insurance has shrunk by 2.5 million since President Barack Obama's health care overhaul took effect, the administration announced in an analysis released Wednesday.
That drop is 2 1/2 times as large as the decline indicated by previous government and private estimates from earlier this year, which showed about 1 million had gained coverage.
The improvement comes even as the uninsured rate stayed basically stuck for those a little older, ages 26-35.
Under the health care overhaul, adult children can stay on a parent's plan until they turn 26, a provision that has proven popular in an otherwise divisive law.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the numbers show the law is making a big difference for families with adult children.
"Many of them gained coverage earlier this spring, meaning the law was there for young people as they graduated from college or high school and began their careers," she said.
Administration officials said there are a couple of reasons for the better-than-expected result.
First, there is more data available now than earlier this year. Secondly, analysts are slicing the numbers more precisely than the government usually does.
The health care law's main push to cover the uninsured doesn't come until 2014. But the young adults' provision took effect last fall, and most workplace health plans started carrying it out Jan. 1. Since then, families have flocked to sign up adult children making the transition to work in a challenging environment.
The overall fate of Obama's law remains uncertain, with the Supreme Court scheduled to hear a constitutional challenge next year, and Republican presidential candidates vowing to repeal it. But this provision seems to have gotten a seal of approval from consumers.
"The increase in coverage among 19- to 25-year-olds can be directly attributed to the Affordable Care Act's new dependent coverage provision," said the HHS analysis.
Using unpublished quarterly statistics from the government's ongoing National Health Interview Survey, analysts in Sebelius' policy office determined that nearly 36 percent of those age 19-25 were uninsured in the third calendar quarter of 2010, before the law's provision took effect.
That translates to more than 10.5 million people.
By the second calendar quarter of 2011, the proportion of uninsured young adults had dropped to a little over 27 percent, or about 8 million people.
The difference ? nearly 2.5 million getting coverage ? can only be the result of the health care law, administration officials said, because the number covered by public programs like Medicaid went down slightly.
Overall, nearly 30 million Americans are ages 19 to 25.
"From September 2010 to June 2011, coverage rose only among those adults affect by the policy," said the HHS report.
The National Center for Health Statistics has documented a broadly similar trend in its official publications, only it's not nearly as dramatic.
Administration officials said those statistics did not focus on the change from calendar quarter to calendar quarter, as does the new HHS report. Instead, they pool data over longer time periods, and that has the effect of diluting the perceived impact of the law, officials said.
Traditionally, young adults have been more likely to be uninsured than any other age group.
Some are making the switch from school to work. Others are holding down low-wage jobs that don't usually come with health care. And some ? termed the "invincibles" ? pass up job-based health insurance because they don't think they'll use it and would rather get extra money in their paychecks.
Other early coverage expansions in the health care law have not worked as well, including a special program for people with health problems turned away by private insurers. Many applicants found the premiums unaffordable.
Young adults are less expensive to cover than people who are middle-aged, and many companies have spread the extra premiums among their workers. Benefits consultant Delloite LLP has projected additional health plan costs in the range of 1 percent to 2 percent for covering young adults.
Before the health care overhaul, families with adult children faced a hodgepodge of policies. Some health plans only covered older children while they were full-time students. Others applied an age cutoff.
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Friday, December 16, 2011
Italian govt calls confidence vote on austerity
Italian Premier Mario Monti listens to Libyan Transitional National Council chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, unseen, during a media statement at the end of their meeting in Rome's Palazzo Chigi government's headquarters, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. The Italian government on Thursday called for a vote of confidence on an austerity package aimed at persuading bond markets that the country can get it finances under control and emerge from the widening debt crisis. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian Premier Mario Monti listens to Libyan Transitional National Council chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, unseen, during a media statement at the end of their meeting in Rome's Palazzo Chigi government's headquarters, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. The Italian government on Thursday called for a vote of confidence on an austerity package aimed at persuading bond markets that the country can get it finances under control and emerge from the widening debt crisis. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
People wait for a tram at a tram station during a transport strike in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Dec.15, 2011. The Italian government on Thursday called for a vote of confidence on an austerity package aimed at persuading bond markets that the country can get it finances under control and emerge from the widening debt crisis. Discontent over the painful measures has been spreading. Hundreds of firefighters demonstrated outside Parliament on Thursday, as local transport called a strike. A nationwide transport strike was set to begin Thursday evening and run most of the day Friday.(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
ROME (AP) ? In Italy's high-stakes gambit for economic survival, new Premier Mario Monti is facing serious resistance from three tenacious forces: global financial markets, Italian politicians and Italian labor unions.
Monti's challengers are showing little restraint, even when facing a possible worst-case scenario of an Italian default on euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion) in sovereign debt, an event that would break up the 17-nation eurozone and cripple the global economy.
Monti, an economist and university chief tapped last month to lead a technocratic government, pledged Thursday to overcome any naysayers by staying his course. That plan aims to reduce public debt, cut government spending, overhaul the pension system and reform the restrictive labor market to boost growth.
"Resistance is not a novelty when you want to deploy the forces of liberalization and competition," Monti said. "This is resistance that often is not won with the first strike, but with tenacity."
Monti has already issued his austerity and growth measures as an emergency decree, but Parliament must approve it. To make sure that happens, his government of technocrats has called for a confidence vote when the measures go to the lower house Friday and then to the Senate, which is to vote by Sunday. A failure would mean his government would have to step down.
Despite widespread opposition to the measures demanded by the European Union and the European Central Bank, they are expected to pass because the alternative is unthinkable.
"I have the impression that Italians, even with little sympathy for sacrifices, are realizing that the alternative is not a life without sacrifice, but a life with even greater sacrifices," Monti said.
Italy's borrowing costs spiked again Thursday in its last bond auction of the year, forcing the debt-ridden nation to pay 6.47 percent for investors to lend it euro3 billion ($3.95 billion) over five years. Italy is expected to seek to borrow over euro300 billion ($390 billion) next year ? an enormous load as rates edge closer to the 7 percent level that forced fellow eurozone nations Greece, Ireland and Portugal into bailouts.
Italy's weakness on the bond market is not all of its own doing. The eurozone's third-largest economy has been left exposed by the failure of last week's EU summit to pledge additional liquidity to protect Italy as well as Spain.
"There is no credible firewall around Italy to allay investor concerns about its colossal funding needs next year," said Nicholas Spiro of Soiron Sovereign Strategy. "Italy's predicament is dire. It has become a proxy for eurozone risk at a time when its funding requirements are about to balloon."
Monti will face even bigger tests in January, when Italy returns to the bond markets to raise money and the government seeks another round of even tougher austerity measures. Any signs his government is buckling to political interests could blunt market confidence in Italy's ability to avoid default.
"With regard to Italy, the immediate question is whether the European authorities have done enough to prevent a liquidity crisis emerging," said Neil Mellor at the Bank of New York Mellon's Global Markets. "(With) the yield on 10-year Italian government paper having shot back above 7 percent after yesterday's auction, the outlook doesn't look good."
Facing even this, political forces in Italy have refused to bite the bullet and accept sacrifice. Instead, they have bickered for changes and won some, sparing pharmacists and taxi drivers from a first round of labor law reforms.
"In a difficult moment like this, families and enterprises are hurt, and there are those even in the most difficult moments who raise objections and bring politicians to their knees," said Emma Marcegaglia, the head of Italy's industrial lobby Confindustria.
In fact, Monti has surprised even some supporters by turning to the traditional sources of revenue ? raising the sales tax and levies on cigarettes, high-powered cars and yachts ? while shying away from confrontation with trade groups blocking rules opening up restricted professions.
"To disappoint public opinion, above all that sector most able to support the sacrifices, risks being a fatal error," said Stefano Folli, respected political analyst in Il Sole 24 Ore, the newspaper of Italy's business lobby.
Confindustria delivered the news on Thursday that Italy is heading toward recession, and projected an economic contraction of 1.6 percent in 2012 ? more than double the 0.5 percent contraction forecast by Monti's technical government. Confindustria previously had forecast growth of 0.2 percent.
Confindustria economists also predicted that unemployment would rise to 9 percent in 2013, with 800,000 more people out of work than in 2008.
"The situation is even worse than we expected," said Corrado Passera, economic development minister. "We are in a recession. If anyone had any doubts about the numbers, we can no longer hide behind 'maybe not.' "
In the lower house Thursday, the speaker suspended the session and ejected two lawmakers from the right-wing Northern League who held up banners against Monti's resurrection of a tax on primary homes. Northern League lawmakers also whistled in protest of the austerity measures.
"Shepherds whistle, not lawmakers," the clearly agitated speaker, Gianfranco Fini, said as he sought to bring order.
On Wednesday, Northern League members protested with signs saying "Enough Taxes" and calling Monti's austerity program "robbery."
Discontent has spilled over into the streets, with hundreds of firefighters demonstrating outside Parliament on Thursday. They contend Monti's measures would put some 20,000 firefighters without long-term contracts out of work in January without any safety net.
"There are colleagues here with five, ten, 15, 20 years of work experience on their shoulders, and Rome does not recognize us with a full-time position," said Luca Basso, a firefighter with temporary job. "The firefighters crew is drifting, practically collapsing, understaffed in a frightening way."
A nationwide transport strike was set to begin Thursday evening and run most of Friday.
____
Barry reported from Milan.
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Blunt wins Senate GOP leadership post (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, a supporter of Mitt Romney, won a Senate GOP leadership post Tuesday over tea party favorite Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
The secret balloting elevated Blunt, a former House leader and Romney's chief advocate on Capitol Hill, to vice chairman of the GOP conference, the fifth-most senior position in the party's caucus.
Senate Republicans also elected Sens. John Thune of South Dakota chairman of their conference and Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming chairman of the Senate GOP policy committee, the third and fourth most senior party positions, respectively. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky heads the GOP in the Senate, followed by Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona, who is retiring at the end of next year.
The Blunt-Johnson race was considered symbolically important, a test of tea party clout a year after the libertarian-leaning movement helped drive Republicans into the House majority. Blunt is one of the most established Washington Republicans and controls what is widely considered the best GOP fundraising network of anyone in the party not running for president.
The conference vice chairmanship position carries little power or responsibility other than to spread the Senate Republican leadership's message ahead of the 2012 elections. But it often is a stepping stone to higher positions in the seniority-driven chamber.
Blount was House majority whip and briefly majority leader before Republicans lost their House majority to Democrats in the 2006 election.
Johnson announced his candidacy soon after Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander said in September that he would relinquish the position at the end of the year. Johnson was endorsed by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., a prominent figure in the tea party movement.
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Five Favorite Films with Roger Corman
Movies as we know them just wouldn't be the same without Roger Corman. Sure, filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, James Cameron and Joe Dante probably would have found their way into the game eventually, but the fact remains that they all got their start under the tutelage of Corman and his low-budget genre factory -- a tireless B-picture production line that also gave early breaks to unknown young actors like Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone and Jack Nicholson. Perhaps more significantly, Corman was one of the pioneers of the independent movie model, cranking out scores of exploitation and genre films (and distributing foreign titles by Truffaut, Bergman, Fellini and Kurosawa) that turned profits even as they flaunted the traditional studio system. (Not to be discounted: he also directed a handful of genuinely fine movies, like the Edgar Allan Poe adaptation The Masque of the Red Death.) This week, Corman is celebrated in Alex Stapleton's documentary Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, a career-spanning look at his work that gathers together exultant testimonials from many of his most famous pupils. We caught up with Corman earlier this week for a chat about his career and his "graduates," his thoughts on independent film, and how the Lucas/Spielberg blockbusters spelled doom for genre pictures. First, here are Corman's five favorite films.
Well, if I were to pick my five favorites I would probably start with Battleship Potemkin, the great Russian silent film. To me, that is the greatest film ever made. It was probably the originator of a number of cutting techniques -- the "Odessa steps" sequence, with the baby carriage rolling own the steps at the same time the troops are marching down the steps, is still one of the most powerful montage sequences I've ever seen.
If I went on to number two, there it becomes more difficult. I would say probably Lawrence of Arabia. I would say simply for the epic scope; the broad expanses and deserts, and then cutting in tight from these giant long shots to Lawrence and the other characters. And the power of Peter O'Toole's performance as Lawrence.
Citizen Kane: So many people would pick that and there isn't much I could say about it. The photography is extremely good. He was using a lot of low angles, he was using covered sets; and at that time, and still, very few art directors will put a ceiling on a set because it makes it very difficult to light, but he gave it a great feeling of realism. Also, it was a brilliant script. It's well directed, well acted -- Welles himself is brilliant as Kane -- and it really stems from the script.
Did you ever meet Orson Welles?
Yes, I did meet Orson Welles. Orson and Peter Bogdanovich and I had dinner one night, and I met him a few other times. When I did The St. Valentine's Massacre at Fox I wanted classical actors for Al Capone, the leader of the South Side gang, and Bugs Moran, the leader of the North Side gang. We cast Jason Robards for Bugs Moran and I wanted Orson Welles for Al Capone. The executives at the studio said they agreed with Jason, but they said, "Roger" -- and I was fairly young at the time -- "this is your first picture for a major studio, we have to tell you nobody can work with Orson Welles. He takes over the set and does anything he wants." I told the story to Orson and Orson said, "[I'm] probably the most cooperative actor anybody ever saw! I don"t know what they're talking about. I would have been great as Capone!" [laughs]
Then each one becomes more difficult as I go along. On the Waterfront -- you go straight to Marlon Brando. It was a good picture all around, a good script, and Kazan directed it brilliantly. And the shooting on location, I would assume they would have never shot in a studio -- the look of the film gives a great sense of realism, that you are there on the waterfront, you're there in cold weather, you can see the breath coming out of the actors mouths. I would say it's probably -- probably -- Marlon's best performance, although you would have to give a nod to Godfather.
Avatar (James Cameron, 2009; 83% Tomatometer)
You know, I would pick Jim Cameron's picture, Avatar, as a fifth. It's the only new picture, I think, that can be up there in that group. Jim Cameron, one of our graduates -- who started making low-budget science fiction pictures for us -- went and jumped ahead and here's Avatar, the most expensive science fiction picture ever made. Jim's a technical genius, and the fact that he single-handedly brought back 3D -- which had been up there, in and out a few times; in the '50s and then forgotten -- and he used it beautifully and sensitively. So many times when a director's working with 3D you have the shot of the arrow coming out of the screen, shooting straight at the audience, and effects like that; he deliberately stayed away from that type of effect and just showed you the 3D world. And the use of computer graphics, green screen, motion capture and so forth for the blue-skinned people on the planet -- I just thought it all came together as a brilliant film, both technically, in the way he used 3D, and in the beauty of the picture itself.
Speaking of your graduates using 3D -- have you had a chance to see Martin Scorsese's Hugo yet?
Yes, I saw Hugo and I was very impressed with it. Again, Marty used 3D sensitively and intelligently, and once more he was restrained in the use of 3D. You had a few things coming out toward you, but primarily you became immersed in the story, and Marty filmed a great story. The story of Georges M?li?s, the old French director and one of the originators of film, and the story the young boy I thought was beautifully down. I think it's an excellent film.
Next, Corman talks about some of his famous graduates, the state of independent film, and how the Spielberg-Lucas blockbusters spelled doom for his genre movies.
Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924152/news/1924152/
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