Financial life in a big town

Hong Kong will spend nearly HK$80 billion ($10.3 billion) to bolster growth as the government forecasts the weakest expansion since 2009 on a

Listen up, beer lovers — you may soon be able to get your suds in grande form. At Starbucks.

Starbucks said Monday that it would begin offering beer and wine at select locations in Atlanta and Southern California by the end of this year, to go along with several locations in the Chicago area that have previously been announced.

Starbucks (, Fortune 500) began the initiative in the Pacific Northwest in late 2010.

"As our customers transition from work to home, many are looking for a warm and inviting place to unwind and connect with the people they care about," Clarice Turner, Starbucks’ senior vice president for U.S. operations, said in a statement payday loan lenders.

"We’re pleased with the response of our customers to the introduction of wine, beer and premium food at several of our stores in the Pacific Northwest, and we’re excited to see how the idea translates to other markets."

The "enhanced menu" at these locations will also include savory snacks, small plates, and hot flatbreads, Starbucks said. The wines and beers on offer "will be hand-selected to reflect local customer tastes and preferences," the company added. 

Source

China will roll out measures to boost consumption this year as it strives to meet challenges posed by a global slowdown, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said.

The government is studying policies to encourage spending on energy-saving products, and will take other measures including the promotion of online shopping and tourism, Chen told the ministry

President Nicolas Sarkozy appeared to temper his calls for the European Central Bank to play a bigger role in solving Europe’s debt crisis as he agreed to a German effort to change EU treaties to improve the governance of the troubled eurozone.

Speaking after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Premier Mario Monti on Thursday, Sarkozy said “propositions for the modification of treaties” would be presented in the coming days.

He wouldn’t elaborate on what these changes may be but said they would be ready in time for the next EU leaders summit on December 9.

This was the first meeting of the three leaders since Monti took over last week following mounting market concerns over Italy’s huge debts.

The meeting in Strasbourg, France comes amid signs that even Germany and France _ the eurozone’s two biggest economies _ are not immune from the crisis that’s already seen three relatively small countries bailed out.

All three leaders said they would do what it takes to stabilize the situation and save the euro.

“We want the euro, we want a strong, stable euro … we will do everything to defend it,” Merkel said.

France has been reluctant to resort to changes to EU treaties to improve the way the eurozone countries work together and set policies and prevent future crises low fee payday advance. Germany had pushed for such changes, saying voluntary pledges by national governments are no longer enough to boost market confidence.

Merkel insisted that the proposed changes would “not deal with the European Central Bank,” which she stressed was responsible for monetary, not fiscal, policy. Sarkozy did not push for a greater role at their closing press conference, while Merkel insisted on the bank’s independence.

Many think the ECB is the only institution capable of calming frayed market nerves.

Potentially, the ECB has unlimited financial firepower through its ability to print money. However, Germany finds the idea of monetizing debts unappealing.

Monti, meanwhile, reiterated his pledge to balance Italy’s budget by 2013 though he sidestepped the question on whether achieving that aim would require more austerity measures, and if so, whether it risked triggering a recession in the eurozone’s third largest economy.

Source

Honda Motor Corp. says it is beginning to restore some production of cars and motorcycles that took a hit from the recent flooding in Thailand.

The Japanese company has restarted output of some motorcycle and power products at its subsidiary in Thailand. It had suspended motorcycle output at the plant since Oct. 11 due to supply problems.

Honda’s auto factory in Thailand remains closed because of the floodwaters.

Honda will continue to limit production at six auto plants in the U.S. and Canada. But it says some factories will produce at rates exceeding the 50 percent the company announced previously. It expects to return to normal levels on Dec. 1 and 2.

Honda says it plans no layoffs at its North American plants.

Source

Russia’s finance minister has said he will step down rather than serve under Dmitry Medvedev if the president becomes prime minister next year as planned.

Alexei Kudrin has been finance minister since 2000 and his conservative fiscal policies are widely credited with helping Russia weather the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

He is close to Vladimir Putin, the current prime minister, who Saturday announced his intention to return to the presidency next year. Putin said he would then name Medvedev prime minister.

Kudrin told reporters from Russia’s state news agencies in Washington later Saturday that he would not serve in Medvedev’s government because of disagreements over economic policy.

He specifically cited Medvedev’s plans to increase military spending.

“I do not see myself in the new government, and it is not just that I have not been offered the job,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. “I think that those differences of opinion that I have will not allow me to join the government.”

During Putin’s presidency from 2000 to 2008, Kudrin stashed some of the revenue from Russia’s oil exports in a stabilization fund cash advance loan no fax. In doing so, he had faced strong opposition from other government ministers who wanted the money for expenditures, but when the financial crisis hit and oil prices fell, those savings proved crucial in reducing the blow.

Medvedev’s spokeswoman, Natalya Timakova, said it was too soon to discuss the composition of the next government.

“President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin proceed from the understanding that all federal officials are continuing to perform their duties at their place of work,” she was quoted by state news agencies as saying. “If someone has other ideas, they should be ready to change their place of work.”

Putin’s spokesman said Kudrin has never hidden his disagreements with Putin or Medvedev on economic policies.

“He is a professional economist,” Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying. “He is an economist with a capital letter.”

Kudrin, 50, had been mentioned as a possible prime minister under Putin if he returned to the presidency.

Source

U.S. stocks alternated between gains and losses Friday after European finance ministers pushed back a decision about how to solve the region’s debt crisis.

Blackberry maker Research in Motion Ltd. lost one-fifth of its value after reporting sharply lower revenue and income. The company is facing stiff competition from Apple Inc.’s iPhone and phones that use Google Inc.’s Android software.

At 11:17 a.m. Eastern time, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 5 points to 11,439. It had been up as many as 99 points earlier.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 1, or 0.1 percent, to 1,208. The Nasdaq composite index rose 2, or 0.1 percent, to 2,609.

Traders are waiting for news from a gathering of European finance ministers. The group is meeting in Poland to discuss a debt crisis that threatens to engulf several countries. They are joined by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who helped craft the response to the 2008 financial crisis.

The group will not decide until next month whether Greece has qualified for its next round of bailout money, its leader said early Friday. Geithner had urged his counterparts to provide a decisive solution to the crisis.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet is expected to speak after European markets close, around midday in New York.

Analysts said some stock-sellers were pocketing profits after a week that lifted shares nearly 5 percent. Antony Conroy, head trader for BNY ConvergEx Group, said traders’ sentiment is mixed, with some buying undervalued stocks and others selling on long-term concerns about Europe.

“Even though we’ve had a good couple of days, people still believe there’s a good chance that the credit crisis in Europe is going to cause something like a 2008 event,” he said.

Stocks rose every day this week, their first four-day winning streak since August. The rally lifted the Dow and the S&P by about 5 percent. The Dow is still down 1 percent for the month, the S&P 0.3 percent.

Research in Motion said after the market closed Thursday that it lost ground against competitors in the three months ended Aug. 27. The company sold far fewer tablets and phones, struggling in a category dominated by the iPhone and iPad.

The troubled company has lost more than half of its market value this year. RIM said July that it would lay off 2,000 workers, about 10 percent of its work force.

Stocks have not risen for five days in a row since the week ending July 1, before nervousness about the sluggish economy and Europe sent shares falling.

Markets surged on Thursday after five central banks said they would offer unlimited dollar loans to the European banks. Some banks have been unable to borrow to pay for their daily operations. They can’t get loans from other banks because no one knows how much bad debt they hold.

Source

British banking company HSBC said Monday it will sell just under half its retail banking branches in the United States to First Niagara Bank for around $1 billion.

The bank said most of the 195 branches to be sold are in New York Upstate region, while six are in Connecticut. Six others are in New York State - four in northern Westchester County, and two in Putnam County.

HSBC currently owns over 470 bank branches throughout the U.S. The sale to First Niagara is part of new chief executive Stuart Gulliver’s strategy to cut back on retail operations in some parts of the world and instead focus on fast growing markets in Mexico and Turkey.

The bank is still dealing with the legacy of bad loans in the U faxless payday loans.S. from the 2003 acquisition of consumer lender Household International Inc. The acquisition made HSBC the biggest subprime lender in the United States at the time, which resulted in billions of losses to HSBC.

The sale will be carried out through HSBC’s wholly owned subsidiary HSBC Bank USA, N.A.

As of 31 May, the branches held approximately $15 billion in deposits, $15 billion in gross assets _ including $2.8 billion in loans _ and $4.3 billion in assets under management.

Source

Minnesota may soon have an end to its government shutdown, but re-starting the machinery of the state will probably take a few days.

Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders fell short Sunday of their goal of being ready for a special session Monday to finalize a deal struck late last week. They issued a joint statement saying the work “continues to move in a positive direction” but wasn’t over.

Dayton spokeswoman Katharine Tinucci said they didn’t expect to make any more news later in the night.

“Considerable progress has been made,” said the statement, issued Sunday night. “A special session will be called as soon as our work is completed, and all bills have been reviewed and agreed upon.”

If rank-and-file lawmakers sign off on the deal, it will end a shutdown that’s the longest in recent U.S. history.

But for residents whose lives have been disrupted, the relief won’t be immediate.

“It’s not like we can just flip a switch,” said Doug Neuville, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, which has halted renewal of driver’s licenses and vehicle tabs during the shutdown. The computer systems used to issue renewals take time to bring back online, and the services won’t be immediately available, he said.

Same goes for closed rest stops and state parks. State budget office spokesman Jonathan Pollard said those must be cleaned and thoroughly checked before people can use them again. Road construction projects idled by the shutdown are likely to require safety checks before work can resume.

Licensing hang-ups for beer distributors could take several days to unsnarl as well, as returning state workers deal with backlogs that built up during the shutdown.

“It depends on the level to which the services were down,” Pollard said. “If you have an agency that’s mostly been up and functioning, it may be easier than if you have an agency that’s been completely shut down.”

The Dayton administration will likely consider the shutdown officially over once the governor signs new budget bills into law, Pollard said.

It’s not clear yet when that might happen. The governor and Republican leaders agreed late Thursday to the framework of an agreement to end the shutdown, and they spent the weekend trying to fill in the details. Once a session starts, Republican leaders need to get the spending bills through the House and Senate and to Dayton’s desk, which means getting rank-and-file Republicans to sign on to a deal that some will have a hard time with.

One big question after the last shutdown was whether state workers would be able to claim back pay for lost time.

But Michael Kuchta, spokesman for AFSCME Council 5, said a memorandum of understanding between unions and the Dayton administration before the shutdown granted laid-off workers the right to apply for unemployment with the understanding that they couldn’t claim lost pay when recalled.

The state could still face lawsuits, however, from businesses and citizens who decide they were harmed by the shutdown.

Tom Hanson, who was former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s lead budget negotiator during the 2005 shutdown, said he hoped contingency plans drawn up then would serve the state well now.

“They are better prepared today, in 2011, than we were in 2005,” Hanson said. “There are detailed plans for starting up government after a shutdown.”

Source

Iraqi police say three rockets have hit Baghdad’s Green Zone during a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Police say the rockets were fired from a Shiite-dominated neighborhood in eastern Baghdad.

No casualties were reported in Monday’s attack.

The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media business card.

Panetta is in Baghdad to meet with Iraqi leaders to discuss the possibility of keeping some U.S. troops in Iraq beyond 2011.

Source