Actual finance blog

Stock futures are rising as borrowing costs for Italy and Spain decline, a signal that the European debt crisis might be easing.

Spain and Italy have had to pay high interest rates because bondholders fear that that they will default. Holders of Greek bonds have had to take steep losses.

The Conference Board reports at 10 a.m. on its index of leading economic indicators. Economists expect the index to rise 0.4 percent after September’s 0.2 percent gain.

H payday loans no faxing.J. Heinz Co. slipped in premarket trading after its second-quarter net income fell almost 6 percent.

S&P 500 futures are up 11 points, or 0.9 percent, at 1,225 at 8 a.m. Dow futures are up 84, or 0.7 percent, at 1,823. Nasdaq 100 futures are up 14, or 0.6 percent, at 2,282.

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Surrounded by dozens of cardboard boxes packed with 4 million petition signatures, the presidents of major Japanese automakers demanded Monday the end of what they called exorbitant taxes on cars that threaten to hollow out manufacturing and wipe out jobs.

The plea from the heads of Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Honda Motor Co. as well as representatives from auto unions and dealers _ a rare show of combined forces _ underlines the industry’s crisis from the March tsunami disaster, the surging yen and stagnant sales.

“This goes beyond the problem of a hollowing out of the economy. The industry could be destroyed,” Toyota President Akio Toyoda said after standing with other officials with clenched fists. “Once jobs are lost overseas, it is impossible to recover them.”

The officials said they want to retain manufacturing in Japan as much as possible to keep technological development going, as well as protecting jobs.

But the odds are stacked against them, they said, partly because of a complex system of taxation on cars estimated to be about twice or triple those in Great Britain and Germany, and a whopping 49 times the U.S.

Also battering Japan’s manufacturers has been the strong yen, which eats away at the value of overseas sales. Each time the dollar falls by one yen, the eight major Japanese automakers lose 80 billion yen ($1 billion).

The auto execs appear to have public opinion on their side. They were taking to the government a petition demanding the end of such taxes, signed by more than 4.3 million people in just two months.

Japanese taxeswhich are paid each year for ownership in addition to the time of purchase, are so high that over a decade a car owner pays more in taxes than their original outlay on the vehicle, they said.

Reducing the tax burden would potentially add some 920,000 vehicles to annual auto sales in Japan, according to a government estimate.

Japan’s annual sales of new autos have shrunk to about 4.25 million vehicles, falling from a peak 7.8 million vehicles in 1990.

Studies show younger people’s interest in cars has been fading rapidly, especially in urban areas. Rural residents tend to need more than one car per household, but are suffering from the heavy tax burden.

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan disrupted parts supplies and slowed production, battering the profits at the Japanese automakers. Just as they were starting to recover and make up for lost production, the recent flooding in Thailand has disrupted the supply chain again.

Toyoda said Japan needs to recover from the disaster, and help for the auto industry is critical in the recovery.

“Please look at all of us who are here today,” he told reporters at a Tokyo hotel. “We want to speed up the recovery so we are all here.”

The representatives also asked that tax breaks on green cars, which began in 2008 and are set to end next year, be continued to keep sales of hybrids and electric vehicles going.

“The sense of crisis we have is unprecedented,” said Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga.

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A new study contends that Scott Air Force Base has an annual economic impact on the St. Louis area of more than $3 billion, up from $2.1 billion cited in a similar study done a decade ago.

The study was commissioned by Scott and the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois and was conducted by Woolpert LLC. Its findings were made public on Tuesday.

The study concludes that more than 136,000 area residents benefit directly from Scott either through employment at or retirement from the air base or through jobs that provide goods and services to the base. Scott is the largest employer south of Springfield in Illinois. It also is the sixth largest employer in the St credit score. Louis area, according to the Post-Dispatch employer database.

Scott has nearly 5,800 active duty military and 2,000 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve members stationed there. The base also employs more than 3,100 federal civilian employees and more than 2,400 non-appropriated fund contract civilians and private business employees.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The story was updated to correct the relative size of Scott Air Force Base among local employers.)

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SATURDAY

Patents

The threat that floodwaters will inundate Thailand’s capital could ease by early November as record-high levels in the river carrying torrents of water downstream from the country’s north begin to decline, authorities said Sunday.

Bangkok’s immediate prospects remain uncertain, however, as the front lines in battling the flood from north, east and west of the city draw closer daily.

The relatively rosy longer term projection from the Flood Relief Operations Center came just a day after reports that Bangkok’s main Chao Phraya river was overflowing its banks and at its highest levels in seven years.

People should not be too concerned because the spillover could be drained, said the center’s chief, Justice Minister Pracha Promnok, in a televised news conference. He also said water in an overflowing main canal in Bangkok was receding, and drainage efforts east and west of the city were working well.

The situation was dire in many respects in the capital’s northern outskirts and Thailand’s central provinces, which suffered the worst of the flooding after heavy monsoon rains since July.

Off a highway heading north of the city, Associated Press reporters found people scrambling for safety in flooded streets.

The Thai military used boats to help rescue stranded residents near a domestic airport in northern outer Bangkok that has been the flood-operations headquarters and a shelter for evacuees.

Mothers walked in hip-high water with children strapped to their backs, while other people waded through the murky water holding belongings in plastic bags atop their heads.

There are concerns the Don Muang airport itself may be vulnerable, and the European Union canceled an aid-handover ceremony scheduled there Monday due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

In Nonthaburi province, just north of Bangkok, a 7-foot (2-meter) crocodile was captured while resting on dry land outside a restaurant, presumably after pulling itself out of the surrounding floodwaters. Thai television showed the beast, which had reportedly escaped from a farm, with its snout taped shut and its scaly body covering most of a boat that was carrying it away.

An Associated Press photographer saw two crocodiles that had been killed in Nonthaburi, and unconfirmed recent reports have claimed up to 100 crocodiles may have escaped from farms in the region.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has said the waters may take up to six weeks to recede to manageable proportions around Bangkok payday loans guaranteed no fax. The government has cautioned that rumors have been quick to circulate and people should check all information, advice that follows strong criticism of the government for missteps and confusion since the crisis began.

Residents of Bangkok and its suburbs have settled into a routine of waiting and worrying.

Many are hoarding supplies, and supermarket shelves have emptied faster than they can be restocked. Bottled water, batteries and canned food were among the first items to go.

At a supermarket in central Bangkok’s business district _ which is not under immediate threat _ sandbags lined both entrances Sunday, forcing shoppers to step over to go inside. Many of the shelves were bare, with the handful of shoppers inside grabbing the few snacks that were left. Cat food and toilet paper were gone.

While larger stores in Bangkok have kept their prices fixed, smaller merchants were raising theirs in the flooded zones north of the city. A Rangsit resident, Taweetit Hongsang, complained that the price of a papaya, 10 baht (33 cents) a week ago, had shot up to 30 baht ($1).

The desperate battle to route the water away from the city has led to several conflicts in which people have used force to try to protect their own neighborhoods by removing flood barriers.

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said Sunday one crew of city workers was unable to carry out reinforcement of one barrier because of “a group of people opposing the mission and harassing” them. He said it was necessary to withdraw them “since they are not trained to deal with unruly and armed outsiders.”

In evident response, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she had delegated high-ranking police officers to protect workers carrying out anti-flood duties.

The flooding that began in August has killed 356 people in Thailand and the $6 billion cost estimate could double if Bangkok is badly hit.

The flooding is the worst to hit Thailand since 1942 and is proving a major test for Yingluck’s nascent government, which took power in July after heated elections and has come under fire for not acting quickly or decisively enough to prevent major towns north of the capital from being ravaged by floodwaters.

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Austrian lawmakers have voted to expand the powers of the eurozone’s bailout fund, which is designed to help Greece and other potentially struggling countries deal with their debts.

Friday’s passage means that Austria guarantees to provide euro21.6 billion ($29.4 billion) to the fund, compared to euro12.2 billion previously.

If all 17 eurozone nations agree to increase their share, the fund will have euro440 billion ($600 billion) at its disposal.

Parliament’s backing had been expected, with the governing center-left coalition supported by the opposition Greens in backing the measure. Only two rightist parties opposed the bill.

Austria’s endorsement comes a day after German parliamentarians approved beefing up the so-called European Financial Stability Facility.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

VIENNA (AP) _ Austrian lawmakers have voted to expand the powers of the eurozone’s bailout fund, which is designed to help Greece and other potentially struggling countries deal with their debts.

Friday’s passage means that Austria guarantees to provide euro21.6 billion ($29.4 billion) to the fund, compared to euro12.2 billion previously.

If all 17 eurozone nations agree to increase their share, the fund will have euro440 billion ($600 billion) at its disposal.

Parliament’s backing had been expected, with the governing center-left coalition supported by the opposition Greens in backing the measure. Only two rightist parties opposed the bill.

Austria’s endorsement comes a day after German parliamentarians approved beefing up the so-called European Financial Stability Facility.

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President Barack Obama is keeping up his appeal for public support of his $447 billion proposal to boost jobs and consumer spending by urging Americans to press Congress to pass the legislation. “No more division or delay,” he said.

In his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, he focused on a message that has become central to a presidency struggling to address stubbornly high unemployment numbers and dipping approval of his handling of the economy.

The president announced his jobs legislation to a joint session of Congress last week and has since gone outside Washington to build a case for its passage. He has been to Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina.

“The No. 1 issue for the people I meet is how we can get back to a place where we’re creating good, middle-class jobs that pay well and offer some security,” he said.

His address Saturday came in the face of sobering public opinion ratings for the president.

A New York Times/CBS News poll released Friday showed nearly half of those surveyed worried the economy was headed for another recession and nearly three out of four said they believe the country is on the wrong track.

Obama’s proposal would reduce payroll taxes on workers, cut them in half for most businesses and offer incentives for employers to hire. It would spend tens of billions of dollars on new public works projects, extend unemployment benefits for long-term jobless and help states and localities avoid layoffs of teachers and emergency workers.

On Monday, Obama plans to spell out a long-term debt stabilizing plan that aims to cut the deficit by about $2 trillion over 10 years. Obama is making his proposal to a special congressional committee that has been charged with lowering deficit by $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion.

“But right now, we’ve got to get Congress to pass this jobs bill,” Obama said.

Obama’s jobs plan has received a tepid reception from Republicans, who are willing to consider some of his tax relief proposals, but not his spending plans. His proposal to pay for the plan with limits on tax deductions and closing corporate tax loopholes is facing stiff GOP resistance and even Democrats have pushed back on some of those provisions in the past.

In an interview with MSNBC that aired Saturday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said simply approving tax cuts without including spending on public works and local and state government assistance would not do enough to spur the economy.

“To take one piece or another, it doesn’t create the dynamism we need,” she said.

Still, despite his demand for quick passage, Obama is not likely to get immediate action even in the Democratic-led Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid has said there are some other issues that need to be dealt with first, including transportation money.

In the Republican address, Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois called on Obama to reduce regulations on businesses, saying government agency rules were choking off hiring. “Washington has become a red tape factory,” he said.

He acknowledged Obama’s decision to scrub a clean-air regulation that aimed to reduce health-threatening smog. “He can cancel more,” Roskam said.

He pressed Obama to push the Democratic-controlled Senate to adopt House Republican initiatives, including legislation that would give Congress veto power over certain high-cost regulations.

“Job creators should be able to focus on their work - not on Washington’s busy-work,” he said.

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Japan’s new prime minister chose fresh faces and political unifiers for his Cabinet Friday, promising to steer the troubled nation through disaster recovery, a nuclear crisis and a lengthy economic slump.

Yoshihiko Noda tapped relatively unknown lawmakers as part of his 18-member Cabinet, including 49-year-old Jun Azumi as finance minister and 47-year-old Koichiro Gemba as foreign minister.

Both are young in a Japanese political world normally dominated by elder statesmen. And both are closely allied with Noda, who, at 54, is the third youngest prime minister in post-World War II Japan.

“They will work like loaches mired in mud and sweating to get the job done,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, another Noda ally, said when announcing the lineup. Loaches, a type of bottom-dwelling, eel-like fish, have become a bit of an odd buzzword after Noda described himself as one in what has largely been interpreted as a self-deprecating remark.

Noda’s effectiveness will in large part depend on whether he can contain intraparty bickering that has increasingly plagued the ruling Democrats. In a nod to rival faction leader Ichiro Ozawa, Noda appointed lawmakers close to the veteran powerbroker as defense minister and the chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, which runs the police force.

Noda struck a confident tone in comments shortly after his full Cabinet was approved by the emperor. He pledged to do his utmost to improve disaster relief efforts following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that have left more than 20,000 people dead or missing, destroyed much of Japan’s northeast coast and is expected to be the most expensive natural disaster in history.

He also pledged to bring under control the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, where workers continue to try to cool temperatures and stop radiation leaks.

“We need to speed up and revitalize our restoration efforts,” he said. “Without the rebirth of Fukushima, there is no rebirth of Japan.”

He also said he and his Cabinet would work to jump-start an economy battered by the surging yen. A strong yen hurts Japan’s top exporters like Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. by reducing the value of their overseas earnings.

Noda, who was finance minister in the previous Cabinet, said more needed to be done to prop up the U.S. dollar, acknowledging that he was worried about a hollowing out of Japanese industry if companies move their operations abroad because of the high yen.

He noted that Japanese companies should take advantage of a strong yen by buying up foreign businesses.

Noda’s biggest surprise of the day was his unconventional pick for the powerful role of finance minister. A former television journalist from tsunami-devastated Miyagi prefecture, Azumi has little experience in economics and finance and has made few comments on key issues like foreign exchange.

Financial markets on Friday did not and could not react to the relatively unknown Azumi, said Masayuki Kichikawa, chief Japan economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Analysts had expected more of a political heavyweight for such a key position.

Kichikawa suspects Azumi got the job because he shares Noda’s concerns about Japan’s fiscal health and controlling the country’s massive public debt, now twice the size of gross domestic product.

The appointment represents a “continuity of a relatively fiscal conservative stance,” he said.

Azumi will have little time to settle into his new office. He travels to France next week to represent Japan at a Group of Seven meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors. He must then find money for a third supplemental budget needed to fund disaster recovery.

Noda, Japan’s sixth new prime minister in five years, is keeping around some ministers from the previous Cabinet. He’s retaining Goshi Hosono as the minister in charge of dealing with the nuclear crisis and Agriculture Minister Michihiko Kano, who ran against Noda for the party leadership and is considered well connected to veteran legislators.

The Cabinet also includes two women: Yoko Komiyama as Health, Labor and Welfare Minister and Renho, who goes by a singular name, as Government Revitalization Minister, charged with reforming government and cutting waste.

Koichi Nakano, political science professor at Sophia University, said the picks were balanced enough that he felt optimistic the Cabinet would last at least a year _ a solid achievement given the records of recent prime ministers.

“The neo-liberal reformists who tend to be young and in their 40s are placed in eye-catching ministries,” Nakano said of several new ministers, including Azumi and Gemba. “Those youthful, new leaders of Japan are placed in high-visibility positions.”

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The still fledgling protection for whistle-blowers in Japan received a boost Wednesday by a high court that reversed an earlier decision and awarded damages to a worker who suffered retaliation through a transfer.

The Tokyo High Court ordered Japanese camera and precision-equipment maker Olympus Corp. to pay 2.2 million yen ($29,000) to Masaharu Hamada for transferring him from a sales division where he had a strong work record to a more solitary assignment.

Hamada sued Olympus in 2008, demanding 10 million yen ($130,000) in damages, saying the transfer was punishment for relaying a supplier’s complaint that employees with technological expertise were being lured away by Olympus. According to reports, Hamada first relayed the complaint to his boss, then to the company’s compliance unit.

“I thought I did the right thing for my company and for society. Something is wrong when an honest person loses out,” the 50-year-old Hamada was quoted saying by the Asahi newspaper after his victory.

Olympus said in a statement the ruling was “regrettable” and it was still considering whether it will appeal to the Supreme Court.

Japan is a conformist society that tends to respect the power of companies and demand unquestioning loyalty. A law to protect whistle-blowers was enacted only in 2006. But critics say it is still inadequate since it does not penalize companies that punish employees who report bad company conduct or actions.

Whistle-blowers still need to file lawsuits if they wish to win damages or draw attention.

Last year, the Tokyo District Court ruled against Hamada, saying a company had the right to dole out assignments. The latest ruling reversed the earlier finding and said the company had violated its own internal laws by not protecting Hamada.

Numerous corporate scandals have been brought to light by whistle-blowers _ a systematic cover-up of defects at Mitsubishi Motors Corp., illicit pocketing of government subsidies at Snow Brand Foods, and nuclear plant defects at Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility behind the nuclear disaster in northeastern Japan.

“Whistle-blowers are still seen in Japan as traitors who go against the system,” said Hiroaki Kushioka, who exposed price-rigging at his trucking company 30 years ago, and was confined for years to a closet-like office, denied promotion and pressured to quit. He sued for damages in 2002, and won a landmark victory in 2005.

“In Japan, it is all about the sake of the team, and not about the individual at all,” he said.

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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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