Actual finance blog

A military convoy escorting Yemen’s defense minister on Tuesday set off an explosive device that killed two soldiers, an official said, in a brazen attack on security forces fighting al-Qaida-linked militants.

The minister, Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, was not injured.

Tuesday’s attack took place in the area of Wadi Dufas in the southern province of Abyan, where al-Qaida-linked militants have been establishing a strong power base in recent months.

The security official said it was not immediately known who planted the explosive or when. He declined to characterize it as an assassination attempt on the minister.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters, said Ahmed was in Abyan visiting troops on the first day of the three-day Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Security forces have been battling al-Qaida-linked fighters in Abyan for months. The militants have been taking advantage of political turmoil in Yemen around large demonstrations demanding the resignation of longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In June, Saleh was wounded in a bomb attack on his palace and departed for Saudi Arabia for treatment. He is still there, but he insists he will return home, defying international demands that he step down.

Near daily anti-Saleh protests and growing political disarray have created a security vacuum in southern Yemen, where al-Qaida-linked militants are battling the military for control no fax payday loans.

The West views al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen as one of the group’s most violent and dangerous.

The defense minister is a longtime ally of Saleh and has openly pledged the military’s support to him, though the army’s powerful 1st Armored Division is backing the protesters.

The swift takeover of Abyan’s capital city of Zinjibar by al-Qaida-linked militants in June sent tens of thousands of residents fleeing for safety elsewhere.

Also Tuesday, a Yemeni medical official said six suspected al-Qaida militants were killed in clashes in Wadi Dufas. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

An official statement by Yemen’s Interior Ministry said 300 militants have been killed since May.

Abyan Governor Saleh al-Azari said that the Yemeni army has dealt a heavy blow to the al-Qaida-linked militants in the province over the past few days.

The army has also suffered losses. At least nine soldiers and an army colonel have been killed since Sunday in battles near Wadi Dufas, according to security officials.

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Sinopec, Asia’s largest refiner by capacity, said its profit rose 12 percent in the first half of the year as higher oil and gas revenues helped offset a loss in its refining sector.

The company, also known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., said Sunday that its net profit in January-June was 41.2 billion yuan ($6.4 billion), or 0.475 yuan (7 U.S. cents) per share, based on international financial reporting standards.

The results were better than analysts had forecast. Profit a year earlier was 36.8 billion yuan.

The company attributed the improvement to higher oil and chemicals prices and better integration of its upstream and downstream businesses. But it said the outlook for coming months was uncertain.

“We are and we will be facing a complicated macro-environment,” said Sinopec’s chairman, Fu Chengyu, noting the impact of the crises in the United States and Europe on the global economic recovery.

The 44 percent increase in global crude oil prices in the first half of the year was both a help and a hindrance cash advance. While its revenue surged 31.7 percent in January-June to 1.2 trillion yuan ($187.5 billion), buoyed by strong sales of oil, gas and chemicals, higher costs for imported crude oil pulled Sinopec’s refining sector into loss.

The company’s refining sector posted a 12.2 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) loss in the first half, compared with profit of 5.7 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier.

Sinopec said its crude oil output fell 5.4 percent to 156.3 million barrels, as maintenance of machinery in its oil fields in Angola forced a sharp cutback in production. Its natural gas output rose 27 percent to 253.88 billion cubic feet (7.19 billion cubic meters).

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When I last checked in with the fellows at Aisle411, they had just launched their first smartphone application that helps users to locate products

East Coast refineries are likely to close in advance of Hurricane Irene’s arrival this weekend, analysts say. The shutdowns are already boosting gasoline prices.

The storm pounded the Bahamas Thursday with winds of 115 mph and it could reach East Coast refineries, which are concentrated in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, by Sunday afternoon.

Refineries are already starting to turn off equipment.

“Even if the storm eventually misses them, they can’t take chances,” says Ben Brockwell at the Oil Price Information Service, which monitors fuel shipments around the country.

Refineries are sprawling complexes of concrete and steel that turn oil into gasoline, diesel and other kinds of fuels. While the main buildings are designed to withstand hurricane-force winds and earthquakes, some of their pipes, cooling towers and power lines are susceptible to wind damage. Utilities are expecting widespread power outages from winds and downed trees.

It takes several days for a refinery to start operating again following a shutdown. And many would need almost a month to get back to full operation.

Gasoline futures rose nearly 2 percent Thursday.

Tom Bentz, an analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures, said traders are betting that supplies may be squeezed.

“There’s the potential for certainly coastal flooding, potential for refinery outages, potential for shipping delays, things like that,” Bentz says.

Drivers should also see pump prices rise this weekend as Irene approaches. People are now paying anywhere from $3.37 a gallon in South Carolina to $3.91 in Connecticut. Gasoline is down 40 cents from its peak of $3.98 on May 5. But it’s still 87 cents higher than at this time last year.

Shutdowns of more than a few days would put serious pressure on fuel supplies and prices. Fuel stockpiles are already low because distributors need to switch to wintertime grades of gas, which starts being sold September.

“Anything longer than a few days could be a problem,” Brockwell says.

Three years ago, pump prices jumped 21 cents a gallon in just eight days as Hurricane Ike swept through the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall at Galveston, Texas.

East Coast refineries are located in Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They account for 7 percent of the nation’s refining capability, producing more than 19 million gallons of gasoline and diesel a day, according to the Energy Information Administration. Other refining hubs are along with U.S. Gulf and West Coast.

Refinery operators must decide about 72 hours before a hurricane hits whether to go into what is called “cold shutdown.” Furnaces are turned off and fluids are drained from the refining vessels and into storage tanks.

Jeff Hazel, the senior director for refining technology at the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association says refiners are most concerned about losing power due to high winds.

Refineries typically generate some power on site, but they almost all rely also on offsite power. If there is an outage, refiners can’t continue to operate, and they can’t drain their refining equipment as completely or safely because pumps don’t have power.

If flooding is expected, storage tanks that are nearly empty must be at least partially filled with fuel. Empty tanks can more easily float off of their foundations.

If only moderate winds are expected, the refinery can throttle back production. When a refinery is running at less than full capacity, it is easier for the crew to manage problems that may arise during the storm.

When the plant is shut down, all refinery personnel are evacuated except for a small crew.

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Chris Kahn can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/ChrisKahnAP.

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China will appeal a World Trade Organization rejection of its curbs on exports of industrial raw materials, the government said Wednesday, in a case that Washington and Europe hope will lead to an easing of its restrictions on rare earths sales.

“We still consider that China practice and China’s policies do not violate WTO rules,” Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang at a regular news briefing. “We will appeal,” he said. Shen gave no details of when the appeal would be filed or on what specific grounds.

A WTO panel ruled July 5 that Beijing was improperly protecting its companies by limiting exports of nine materials used in the steel, aluminum and chemical industries.

The case did not mention rare earths, a group of 17 minerals used in mobile phones and other high-tech products. But the United States and the 27-nation European Union say they want China to apply its principles to rare earths and lift export restrictions.

China accounts for 97 percent of rare earths production and has alarmed foreign manufacturers by reducing exports while it tries to develop its own manufacturers of magnets and other products made with the minerals.

A European Union trade envoy, Karel De Gucht, said in July that Chinese officials indicated they might change their rare earths curbs due to the ruling easy payday loans. Chinese officials have not confirmed that.

The WTO ruling in a case brought by the United States, the EU and Mexico, applied to Chinese quotas and taxes on exports of materials including coke, bauxite, zinc and fluorspar. It rejected China’s argument that it was trying to protect the environment and said export restrictions should be removed.

China has about 30 percent of the world’s reserves of rare earths, which also are used in some weapons, flat-screen TVs, batteries for electric cars and wind turbines.

The United States, Canada and Australia have rare earths but stopped mining them in the 1990s as lower-cost Chinese ores flooded the market. Companies are developing mines in North America and elsewhere but the Chinese restrictions have pushed up global prices.

Beijing says it restricted exports to conserve scarce supplies and curb environmental damage caused by mining. But foreign governments complain similar limits were not applied to domestic manufacturers that use rare earths.

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Greece’s finance minister says the crisis-afflicted economy will shrink more than expected this year, putting pressure on the country’s deficit-cutting effort.

Evangelos Venizelos said Monday that the ministry forecasts the economy to shrink between 4.5 percent and 5.3 percent in 2011 _ considerably worse than initially estimated.

Venizelos told a press conference he will discuss the matter with representatives of Greece’s international creditors during talks in Athens this week no fax payday loans.

He said that, provided all austerity measures are fully implemented, the government should meet its target of cutting budget overspending from 10.5 percent of GDP to 7.5 percent this year.

Greece is surviving on rescue loans worth euro220 billion ($317 billion) from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C.,

The eurozone’s hard-won deal overhauling its rescue fund and extending Greece a euro109 billion bailout is not in doubt, Greece’s finance minister insisted Friday.

Evangelos Venizelos’ comments come as five countries are demanding collateral in exchange for their contributions. The Netherlands, Slovenia, Austria and Slovakia said Thursday they wanted hundreds of millions of euros in collateral like Finland, which struck a deal with the Greek government earlier in the week to receive cash as security for their part of the bailout.

Although the amount of cash being demanded by the five would probably not be large enough to sink the deal, it could drive up the overall cost of the bailout, which was part of a July 21 eurozone agreement that gave the 17-country eurozone new powers designed to help a country before it is in full crisis.

The demands have also laid bare the tensions over how to deal with Europe’s debt crisis, which has already seen Greece, Ireland and Portugal bailed out.

The July 21 deal “is not in doubt, because it is of vital importance to the eurozone,” Venizelos told Skai radio, adding that the agreement was not just about his country.

“It is a decision that concerns Greece as part of a much more general problem,” he said.

Venizelos stressed the collateral deal with Finland depended on approval by other eurozone members and that the Finns had wanted to make it public. Athens, he said, would have preferred to wait until after the issue had been discussed by the eurozone members before announcing it.

The minister, who assumed his position in late June following a political crisis in Greece, stressed the need for clear messages from the eurozone, saying there were political and financial “side effect(s) each time the eurozone doesn’t send clear messages.”

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Many St. Louis fashionistas have been wondering how the new Nordstrom that opens next month (September 23) will compare to the retailer’s West County Center store. Well, I finally have some answers.

As I noted in my Sunday story about luxury retail, the Galleria store will offer more upscale brands than its West County counterpart. (I have included a fairly extensive list of brands that will be carried at the Galleria store at the end of this post, so make sure you read this to the end if you want those specifics.)

The Galleria store will technically be smaller at 143,000 square feet compared to the West County store’s 193,000 square feet. But John Bailey, a company spokesman, said customers shouldn’t notice much of a difference in the retail space because most of the size differential will be behind the scenes. The West County store opened in 2002. But since then, the company has learned how to be more efficient with its backroom space, he said.

The new Galleria store will also include some new features Nordstrom is experimenting with such as new lighting and mirrors in the dressing rooms that provide more flattering, softer light. It will also have “girl friends” dressing rooms where a group of shoppers can try on clothes together with curtains to separate them. This could come in handy, for example, when friends try on bridesmaids dresses together.

The fact that the Galleria and West County stores will be less than 10 miles apart has led to some questions about whether St. Louis can support two Nordstroms so close together. But Nordstrom officials aren’t worried about. It has more than one store in many markets, they say.

In the beginning, there may be some shift of customers to the Galleria store as loyal shoppers check out the new store, Bailey acknowledged.

“But there is a lot of business to earn in St. Louis,” he said. “So we feel there is room for us to have both stores.”

OK, and as promised, here is the rundown on the new offerings at the Galleria store: Nordstrom is moving its designer collections — its “Collectors” department — from the West County store to the Galleria. Some of those brands include Roberto Cavalli, Piazza Sempione, Akris Punto, Armani Collezioni, Lida Baday, and Missoni. In addition, new brands will be added to the lineup including Jean Paul Gaultier, Michael Kors, and Donna Karan Casual.

But the West County store will not be left completely in the dark. In place of the designer collection, it will get a new “via C” section with up-and-coming and trendy brands such as Helmut Lang, Rag & Bone, Vince, and Alice + Olivia. The Galleria store will also have a “via C” that will carry those same brands as well as Alexander Wang T, Halston Heritage, Carven, Brochu Walker and others.

Some other unique labels at the Galleria store will be Jimmy Choo, Valentino and some exclusive styles of Tory Burch and Stuart Weitzman in the retailer’s infamous shoe departments. It will also have Jimmy Choo, Marc Jacobs and Burberry handbag boutiques.

But there will be lots of things in common between the two stores, too. Like the West County store, the Galleria store will have an eBar (coffee bar) and a Cafe Bistro restaurant.

Both stores will have free wifi. And you will be able to get those nifty e-receipts at both stores, as you can at any Nordstrom after they were rolled out company-wide in March.

Phew. That’s it for now. But there will be lots of more information coming out as the opening date draws near.

To drum up more excitement leading up to then, Nordstrom has planned a number of events. including a swanky $75-a-ticket gala on September 21.  (The proceeds will mostly benefit various arts organizations in town.)

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When a deep-pockets acquirer meets a reluctant target, a few more dollars will often turn “no” into an enthusiastic “yes.”

That’s not the case with Ralcorp, a St. Louis company that has just slammed the door in its suitor’s face for the third time.

ConAgra Foods, the Omaha, Neb.-based maker of Orville Redenbacher popcorn and Peter Pan peanut butter, wants this deal badly. It approached Ralcorp in March with a cash-and-stock offer of $82 a share, which it sweetened to $86 in May and to $94, all in cash, last week. The latest bid values Ralcorp at $5.2 billion.

Ralcorp has refused to even meet with ConAgra, and Chairman William Stiritz sent a letter on Friday saying the two companies “have nothing further to discuss.”

Just saying “no” isn’t usually an effective takeover defense, but Stiritz, when he’s not writing rejection letters, has moved to reshape Ralcorp by spinning off the Post cereal business and acquiring a unit that makes private-label bread dough.

Analysts say the dough deal will add to profits from Day 1, but the spinoff’s success is less certain. Ralcorp is betting that its two parts