Financial life in a big town

Libya on Thursday barred Italy from future participation in its oil sector because of Rome’s role in the NATO airstrikes on the country, a move that raised serious questions about investments by Italian oil giant ENI SpA in the OPEC member state.

But the North African nation’s prime minister left the door open for other alliance nations to re-evaluate their roles in the strikes or risk facing the same fate.

“The Italian government needs to totally forget about Libyan oil and every agreement we signed in the past,” Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi told reporters in the Libyan capital. “ENI will have to look elsewhere for business.”

NATO has been striking forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and regime-linked military sites under a U.N. resolution aimed at protecting civilians. But the civil war pitting the Tripoli government against rebel fighters has hit a virtual stalemate, with neither side able to make significant advances over the past few weeks.

Libyan officials have warned nations involved in the NATO campaign that they could be barred from investing or participating in the country’s oil sector if they continue to side with the rebels. But Italy _ Libya’s former colonial master _ appears to be the first country to be formally barred.

“If (Italian premier) Silvio Berlusconi says he was pressured (by the coalition) to attack Libya, I was pressured by the Libyan people to cut ties with Italy,” said Al-Mahmoudi. “The countries that attacked us should not expect us to deal with them in the future, especially with regard to oil payday loans with no fax.”

Al-Mahmoudi said Italy was singled out because Rome had signed a friendship agreement with Tripoli in the past that barred any aggressive acts. Italy’s position is that the treaty is “suspended” as a result of the Libyan regime’s attacks on its own population.

Libya sits atop Africa’s largest proven reserves of conventional crude. But months of fighting between pro-Gadhafi forces and the rebels have essentially halted what was once about 1.6 million barrels per day of oil output _ a drop that helped propel crude prices well beyond $100 per barrel earlier in the year.

In the years since Libya re-emerged from more than a decade of international isolation for Tripoli’s support of terrorism, Western oil giants rushed to tap into the country’s reserves, with ENI among the most active in the country.

But the outbreak of fighting in February led to new international sanctions that targeted, among other things, Libya’s oil sector. International companies have largely pulled out their foreign workers and fields are idling well below their production capacity because of the exodus of workers.

“Those who come one step toward us, we will come two steps toward them,” he said. “But Italy is finished.”

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If you don’t have enough money saved for retirement, you’ve got a few ways to close the gap between what you have and what you need in your nest egg: Save more, invest more aggressively, and/or work longer.

Working longer is indeed an option, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s latest study; the only problem is that you may have to work much longer than you anticipated.

In fact, many Americans will have to keep on working into their 70s and 80s to afford retirement, according to the study, titled “The Impact of Deferring Retirement Age on Retirement Income Adequacy.”

What’s more, it’s even worse for low-income workers, according to Jack VanDerhei, one of the study’s co-authors. Those who earned (on average over the course of their careers) less than $11,700 per year, the lowest income quartile, would need to defer retirement till age 84 before 90 percent of those households would have just a 50 percent chance of affording retirement.

Those who earned between $11,700 and $31,200 will need to work till age 76 to have a 50 percent chance of covering basic expenses in retirement Payday Loan for Bad Credit. Those who earned between $31,200 and $72,500 will need to work to age 72 to have a 50 percent chance.

Finally, those who earned more than $72,500, those in the highest income quartile, catch a break: They get to stop working at age 65 to have a 50/50 chance of funding their retirement.

So what can be done to make sure you have enough? The sad truth is that not working is no longer an option and working past age 65 is fast becoming a fact of life, at least for those in the lowest three income quartiles.

One bright spot, according to John Nelson, co-author of “What Color is Your Parachute? For Retirement” is that working works: “For those in the lower half of the income spectrum, delaying retirement from 65 to 69 has a profound effect,” he said.

“It increases retirement income adequacy by 25 percent to 50 percent! That’s a powerful incentive.”

The reality about EBRI’s findings is that many Americans

Consumers spent less on cars in May, sending retail sales down for the first time in nearly a year.

The Commerce Department says retail sales dropped 0.2 percent last month. It was the first decline after 10 straight increases.

A cutback on incentives and supply disruptions stemming from the Japan crises pushed auto sales down 2.9 percent. It was the biggest setback for the industry in three years. When excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.3 percent.

The slump in retail sales was the latest report signaling that the economy lost momentum in May. Consumers are struggling to deal with high gasoline prices and a slowdown in hiring. While the surge in gas prices eased in May, pump prices are still significantly higher than a year ago.

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The rotating strikes have already hit Canada Post hard, with mail volumes falling by half to 20 million items a day from the usual 40 million.

Uganda’s economy may grow 6.6 percent in the 2011-12 fiscal year, boosted by spending on the country’s energy infrastructure, the Finance Ministry said.

Growth may accelerate from 6.4 percent in the current financial year that ends on June 30, the ministry said in a budget document handed to Bloomberg News today in Kampala, the capital. The East African nation’s government is scheduled to present its annual budget on June 8.

Uganda, East Africa’s third-biggest economy, is on the cusp of an oil boom with Tullow Oil Plc (TLW), the U.K.-based energy company, expected to start pumping crude and gas from the Lake Albert Basin in 2012. The country has an estimated 2.5 billion barrels of oil, with about 1 billion barrels in proven reserves, according to Tullow.

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India’s inflation was faster than estimated in April, adding pressure on the central bank to extend interest-rate increases as the biggest rise in gasoline tariffs in three years threatens to intensify price gains.

The wholesale-price index rose 8.66 percent in April from a year earlier, the commerce ministry said in a statement in New Delhi today. The median of 19 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for an 8.5 percent climb. Prices advanced a revised 9.1 percent in March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Reserve Bank of India pledged to maintain the fight against inflation after boosting borrowing costs this month for the ninth time since mid-March 2010, the fastest pace of rate rises among major Asian economies. The nation increased the cost of gasoline as much as 8.5 percent yesterday, triggering protests by the main opposition party.

“Inflation will further accelerate after hikes in oil prices, meaning the central bank’s focus will have to be on tightening to control inflation,” said Rupa Rege Nitsure, a Mumbai-based economist at Bank of Baroda. “There is going to be no respite from inflation this year.”

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index fell 0.9 percent as of 1:42 p.m. in Mumbai after the inflation report. The rupee weakened 0.4 percent to 45.07 against the dollar, while the yield on the 7.8 percent note due April 2021 was up five basis points from 8.25 percent before the report.

‘Elevated’ Inflation

The ministry announced March’s revision after the release, saying the wholesale-price index has been adjusted from April 2004 after errors were discovered.

Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on May 3 inflation will stay at an “elevated level” until September as he raised the central bank’s repurchase rate by half a percentage point to 7.25 percent. Counterparts from China to South Korea have also extended rate increases as Asia fights prices pressures spurred by elevated oil and food costs.

Monetary tightening in India will slow growth this year and help ease inflation to 6 percent “with an upward bias” by March 31, 2012, Subbarao said. India’s economy may expand “around 8 percent” in the year through March from 8.6 percent in the previous 12 months, he estimated.

For now, indicators such as industrial production and credit expansion show that consumer demand is holding up.

Industrial Output

Industrial output grew 7.3 percent in March from a year earlier, the fastest pace in five months, the commerce ministry said May 12. Commercial credit given by lenders including ICICI Bank Ltd., the nation’s biggest private bank, rose 22 percent from the previous year as of April 22, more than the 19 percent rate prescribed by the Reserve Bank.

Stronger consumer demand is giving companies scope to charge more for their products.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL), India’s largest carmaker, boosted the prices of its vehicles by as much as 9,000 rupees ($200) last month, Mayank Pareek, the automaker’s head of sales, said April 5.

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NATO said Saturday it cannot confirm a Libyan government claim that 11 Muslim clerics were killed in an airstrike in eastern Libya but regrets “any loss of life by innocent civilians” whenever it occurs.

NATO has been intensifying airstrikes against Gadhafi’s troops in several areas of Libya in a bid to weaken his brutal crackdown against a rebel uprising. Four explosions _ most likely from NATO strikes _ were heard in Tripoli early Saturday.

On Friday, the government accused the alliance of killing the 11 clerics as they were sleeping in a guesthouse. Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said those killed were part of a group that had gathered to pray for peace in the oil town of Brega. He said 50 people also were wounded, including five in critical condition.

In a statement Saturday, NATO said the building struck had been “clearly identified as a command and control center.” It said it could not confirm civilian deaths but did not deny them either.

The Brussels-based alliance took over command of the air campaign on March 31 with a mandate to protect civilians from government attacks. It repeatedly has said all its targets in Libya are military and that it is not targeting Gadhafi or other individuals.

In a defiant audio recording plays on state TV, the Libyan leader taunted NATO, saying he is alive despite a series of airstrikes and “in a place where you can’t get to and kill me.”

Gadhafi had appeared on state TV but had not been heard speaking since a NATO attack on his Tripoli compound two weeks ago, which officials said killed one of his sons and three grandchildren. In a brief recording played Friday on Libyan TV, Gadhafi said he wanted to assure Libyans concerned about a strike this week on his compound in Tripoli.

“I tell the coward crusaders _ I live in a place where you can’t get to and kill me,” he said. “I live in the hearts of millions.”

He referred to a NATO airstrike on Thursday that targeted his Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli.

Many people “driven by their love for me put in many calls to check on my well-being after they heard of the cowardly missile attack of the crusaders on Bab al-Aziziya last Thursday, May 12,” Gadhafi said in the recording, which lasted just over a minute.

Hours later, explosions again thundered across Tripoli.

Another government spokesman, Ibrahim Uthman, said Saturday’s strikes targeted the country’s Agriculture Ministry. The same building, however, was targeted days ago and, at the time, residents said it was a government intelligence building instant payday loan.

Reporters could not immediately verify the information. They may only leave their hotel in the company of government officials.

The international community also has stepped up efforts to increase pressure on the regime and has been eager to show signs of progress in the bombing campaign, first led by the U.S. and now overseen by NATO.

President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, Tom Donilon, met Friday at the White House with a senior Libyan opposition delegation. While the U.S. stopped short of recognizing the Libyan Transitional National Council as Libya’s legitimate government, which France and Italy already have done, the White House said in a statement after the meeting that the council is a “credible interlocutor of the Libyan people.”

Obama did not meet with the opposition leaders, but the White House and NATO promised to continue military operations in Libya as long as Gadhafi keeps attacking his people.

The White House also said it was looking for ways to increase U.S. financial support to the opposition, in part through congressional legislation that would free up a portion of the more than $30 billion in frozen Gadhafi regime assets in U.S. banks so it could be used to aid the rebels.

The rebels have said they need up to $3 billion in coming months for military salaries, food, medicine and other supplies. They also say no country has sent the arms they desperately need.

Libyan opposition representative Mahmoud Jibril also planned to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy later Saturday in Paris.

A local activist also said Saturday that he witnessed some 50-60 residents attacking military trucks late Friday in the western neighborhood of Abu Sitta. He said the events took place in the late evening on Friday. The physican-turned-activist said the residents burnt down a military truck.

“Everybody escaped after some cheering,” the activist said. His statements could not be independently confirmed.

The rebels control most of eastern Libya, while Gadhafi controls most of the west, including Tripoli. Misrata _ about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli _ is the only rebel stronghold in the west.

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Apple is telling Congress that its iPhone location tracking is meant to improve service, not stalk customers.

The company outlined its stance in a letter released Monday by the House of Representatives. An Apple Inc. vice president, Guy Tribble, is set to testify Tuesday before a Senate subcommittee. A Google Inc. executive, Alan Davidson, is also set to testify.

Congress is demanding details from smartphone companies about their tracking practices, after researchers revealed last month that iPhones and Android phones themselves were secretly keeping track of users’ locations.

Apple and Google say they only record the location of Wi-Fi hot spots and cell towers to improve service, and tracking can be turned off. Apple said a “bug” caused the iPhone to keep location data even when tracking was disabled.

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News Corp., the media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch, says its net income for latest quarter fell by 24 percent as the afterglow of its blockbuster movie “Avatar” faded even though its Fox broadcasting group got a boost from the Super Bowl.

Net income for the fiscal third quarter, which ended in March, fell to $639 million, or 24 cents per share, from $839 million, or 32 cents per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted to exclude the cost of settling a lawsuit at its publishing division, earnings came to 26 cents per share, short of the 27 cents expected by analysts polled by FactSet no fax payday loans.

Revenue fell 6 percent to $8.26 billion, also short of the $8.45 billion expected by analysts.

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Wael Ghonim, a Google executive who shot to international prominence after being detained for 10 days in Egypt, is leaving the search company to start his own venture.

Ghonim tweeted on Saturday: "Decided to take a long term sabbatical from @Google & start a technology focused NGO to help fight poverty & foster education in #Egypt"

As protests broke out in January on the Egyptian streets over the rule of then-president Hosni Mubarak, Ghonim fired off a steady stream of messages to Twitter and Facebook about the uprising. He also worked behind the scenes to galvanize the uprising.

"The plan was to get everyone on the street," he told CNN’s Ivan Watson in an interview after his release. "This is the Internet revolution. I’ll call it revolution 2.0."

Ghonim’s sudden disappearance had his friends and family — and, soon, the whole world — fearing for his safety. Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) posted many tweets in his support, and assured Ghonim that his job with the company would be there when we was ready to return.

Soon after his release, Ghonim tweeted a "thank you" to Google for its aid: "Thanks @Google for all the efforts you did in ’searching’ for me. Today ‘I’m feeling lucky’ that I work for this company."

Though he tweeted "Please don’t make me the face of this revolution," Ghonim became a symbol of the uprising after his disappearance. He was named last week to Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year. 

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