How to sell a structured settlement payment
.Individuals who choose to sell their structured settlement either in part or wholly are in need of some ready money. Most often, people sell a part of their structured settlement to meet near-term requirements. There are various institutions that buy structured settlements. The transactions can vary in amount from ten thousand dollars to 1.5 million dollars. More than two-thirds of the states in the United States allow individuals to sell structured settlements. According to the federal law HR 2884, annuity owners do not come under any tax obligations as a result of selling their structured settlements.
One should research about various settlement purchasers, check their past payment records and their working relationships with the insurance companies so that the transactions can be approved quickly. Also, the purchasers should be licensed, insured, and bonded. This way if a purchaser goes out of business, the seller can still get his cash. In some states it is mandatory to obtain financial and tax advice, in other states an annuity seller needs to sign a waiver if he does not want to take recourse to financial advice. However, it is compulsory to take advance approval from court according to federal and state laws. Companies that purchase a settlement payout without the advance court approval face a heavy tax.
A judge studies the circumstance of the potential transactions to assess whether the seller actually stands to benefit from the transaction and weighs the effect of the transaction upon the seller’s dependents. Often, owners of structured settlement payments cannot raise credit by other means and have to sell off parts of their settlements. The judges are aware of this and do not object to the transactions so long as the owner is able to show a genuine need for the sale. The seller’s presence in court makes it easier for the judge to arrive at a decision. In an instance where a transaction is denied by a judge, purchasing companies take the necessary steps to create the conditions suitable for the transaction, a seller does not have to bear the costs of this process.
To obtain a free quote from a purchaser, one needs to provide information such as the state of residence, the insurance company, and the payments. If an individual is satisfied with the quote offered, he will need to submit copies of the settlement agreement and annuity policy.
The process of finalizing the contract starts with the purchasing firm sending a disclosure document to the seller; the document explains the terms and conditions that will govern the transaction. The contact is dispatched in a day or two, upon the contract being signed; the court order process begins and can take up to 90 days depending upon the state of residence and the insurance firm. Funds are made available to the individual within five to ten working days of the order being approved. .
How a structured settlement annuity works
A Structured Settlement is essentially an agreement under which an insurance company agrees to pay an individual a predetermined amount of cash for a fixed length of time if the individual meets an accident. The documents generated in a structured settlement include an agreement, a qualified assignment, an annuity application, a court order if a claim is made by a minor, and an annuity policy.
Payments for a structured settlement annuity can be made for the duration of the life of the claimant. The amount paid can comprise of equal installments, installments of varying amounts, and lump sums. The payments from a Structured Settlement Annuity are free from income-tax and are guaranteed by contract. Since a structured settlement annuity is meant for long-term financial security, it is important to get an assurance of the credentials of the annuity provider.
The periodicity of payment is entered into the settlement agreement. Factors that individuals can consider in deciding upon the date of commencement of payment, duration, and periodicity include monthly expenses, present age, extent of hazard in occupation, and retirement plans. In order to ensure that the payments remain tax-free, the structure of payments should not be altered once it has been agreed upon by both parties. In the case of a qualified assignment, the insurance company making the payment can transfer its obligation for payments to a third party.
There are issues that one should understand before opting for a structured settlement agreement. If payments are made to an estate, they are free from income tax but subject to estate tax. Purchasing a structured annuity can affect the availability of ready money with an individual.
State and federal laws govern the closing of a structured settlement. The closing process usually gets completed in 3-6 months. Federal laws stipulate that a court order be obtained by either the customer or the funding company that is purchasing the payment stream so that there are no tax liabilities. The manner in which the court order is obtained is regulated by various “Structured Settlement Protection Acts”, which are in force in 36 states in the United States.
A disclosure statement is made available to a customer 3 to 14 days before he receives the transfer agreement. The disclosure statement mentions the amounts to be paid to the customer and their due dates; the IRS Discounted Present Value of the amount at that given point in time; the Gross Advance Amount and the Annual Discount Rate; disclosures desired by the state; and a list of the fees and commissions incurred.
It is advisable to avail attorney advice before going in for a. In fact, in some states, it is a precondition to acquiring a structured settlement annuity. However, depending upon the laws being used for the transaction, customers do have the option of waiving legal representation in the Transfer Agreement or obtain an Estoppel letter from their attorney.
The funding company commences payment to an individual after acknowledging the assignment and receiving a court order. The payments start 30-45 days after the receipt of the court order.
What is a structured settlement
Info taken from www.imoney.com and Wikipedia
A structured settlement is a financial or insurance arrangement, including periodic payments, that a claimant accepts to resolve a personal injury tort claim or to compromise a statutory periodic payment obligation. Structured settlements were first utilized in Canada and the United States during the 1970s as an alternative to lump sum settlements. Structured settlements are now part of the statutory tort law of several common law countries including Australia, Canada, England and the United States. Although some uniformity exists, each of these countries has its own definitions, rules and standards for structured settlements. Structured settlements may include income tax and spendthrift requirements as well as benefits. Structured settlement payments are sometimes called “periodic payments.” A structured settlement incorporated into a trial judgment is called a “periodic payment judgment."
The United States has enacted structured settlement laws and regulations at both the federal and state levels. Federal structured settlement laws include sections of the (federal) Internal Revenue Code. State structured settlement laws include structured settlement protection statutes and periodic payment of judgment statutes. Medicaid and Medicare laws and regulations affect structured settlements. To preserve a claimant’s Medicare and Medicaid benefits, structured settlement payments may be incorporated into “Medicare Set Aside Arrangements” “Special Needs Trusts."
Structured settlements have been endorsed by many of the nation's largest disability rights organizations, including the American Association of People with Disabilities [1] and the National Organization on Disability
The typical structured settlement arises and is structured as follows: An injured party (the claimant) settles a tort suit with the defendant (or its insurance carrier) pursuant to a settlement agreement that provides that, in exchange for the claimant's securing the dismissal of the lawsuit, the defendant (or, more commonly, its insurer) agrees to make a series of periodic payments over time. The insurer, a property/casualty insurance company, thus finds itself with a long-term payment obligation to the claimant. To fund this obligation, the property/casualty insurer generally takes one of two typical approaches: It either purchases an annuity from a life insurance company (an arrangement called a "buy and hold" case) or it assigns (or, more properly, delegates) its periodic payment obligation to a third party which in turn purchases an annuity (which arrangement is called an "assigned case").
In an unassigned case, the property/casualty insurer retains the periodic payment obligation and funds it by purchasing an annuity from a life insurance company, thereby offsetting its obligation with a matching asset. The payment stream purchased under the annuity matches exactly, in timing and amounts, the periodic payments agreed to in the settlement agreement. The property/casualty company owns the annuity and names the claimant as the payee under the annuity, thereby directing the annuity issuer to send payments directly to the claimant. If any of the periodic payments are life-contingent (i.e., the obligation to make a payment is contingent on someone continuing to be alive), then the claimant (or whoever is determined to be the measuring life) is named as the annuitant or measuring life under the annuity.
In an assigned case, the property/casualty company does not wish to retain the long-term periodic payment obligation on its books. Accordingly, the property/casualty insurer transfers the obligation, through a legal device called a qualified assignment, to a third party. The third party, called an assignment company, will require the property/casualty company to pay it an amount sufficient to enable it to buy an annuity that will fund its newly accepted periodic payment obligation. If the claimant consents to the transfer of the periodic payment obligation (either in the settlement agreement or, failing that, in a special form of qualified assignment known as a qualified assignment and release), the defendant and/or its property/casualty company has no further liability to make the periodic payments. This method of substituting the obligor is desirable for property/casualty companies that do not want to retain the periodic payment obligation on their books. Typically, an assignment company is an affiliate of the life insurance company from which the annuity is purchased.
An assignment is said to be "qualified" if it satisfies the criteria set forth in Internal Revenue Code Section 130 [3]. Qualification of the assignment is important to assignment companies because without it the amount they receive to induce them to accept periodic payment obligations would be considered income for federal income tax purposes. If an assignment qualifies under Section 130, however, the amount received is excluded from the income of the assignment company. This provision of the tax code was enacted to encourage assigned cases; without it, assignment companies would owe federal income taxes but would typically have no source from which to make the payments.
Getting Started with Christmas Affiliate Programs
Forget Thanksgiving — anyone who goes Christmas shopping in November is crazy as far as I’m concerned. The first of December marks the beginning of Christmas season for me — the tree goes up, the weather sharply cools down, and I start to plan my shopping. Like every year before it, this year will make new records for the amount of Christmas purchases which are made online. Like every year before it, this year is the best year to start selling online through affiliate programs and make a few extra bucks to pay for those “must-have” gifts that you’ll need to purchase for that special someone, or even yourself.
I’ve spent months reading about affiliate marketing, perusing forums and trying to learn from others who claim to be making upwards of $10,000/month from this stuff. I still haven’t quite figured it out but I’m getting closer, and I wanted to share some of this knowledge with you.
The Basics of Affiliate Marketing
Well, it really isn’t too complicated in theory. You refer someone to a product through a link, and if they make a purchase you receive a kickback. It might be a couple bucks, it might be a couple hundred bucks, it all depends on the terms of the referral program and the size of the purchase. The real work in affiliate marketing is actually marketing someone else’s product. This includes developing a nice brochure-ware website/blog, answering customer questions, and generating traffic to your site. From what I’ve learned, this is the basic process flow for succeeding in this line of business, and the direction I intend to take this holiday season with my own attempts.
Affiliate Marketing To-Do List
1) Find a product you want to market
2) Design a nice website / blog describing the product and provide something of value to the reader regarding this item. A good suggestion is to write a detailed, honest review of the product you are selling.
3) Promote your website on Google AdWords. Find inexpensive keywords to market your site which have a CPC is less than the average return you will see per visitor to your site. More on this later.
4) Sit back and let the referrals roll in.
Step One..
The first thing that you will need to do is find a product which you want to market. Search Google for a few hours with different product names and see what advertisements pop up; This will help you to see how saturated the market already is for this product. Hot items this Christmas are cell phones, cell phone ring tones are another hot item, eBay is another, and the list goes on. Just use your imagination.
Step Two..
Once you have settled on the product you will be promoting, the next step is to design an attractive website to sell the product. This is typically called the “Landing Page”, as it is the first page your visitor will see when they click on an advertisement leading to your site. It is very important to the pricing of Google AdWords ads that you include as much original content here as possible; I’ll elaborate more on this one in a moment. Good suggestions for original content are to write detailed product reviews, perhaps integrate a blog into the landing site, etc. Anything that will set you apart from the others marketing the same product will be helpful.
Step Three..
Now that your landing page is prepared and all of your referral links are configured, you’re ready to start receiving traffic. The best way to bring traffic to this kind of site is to purchase it. Go create a Google AdWords account and check out the prices for a few keywords which relate to your site. Eg. “cell phones”, “ring tones”, “online auctions”, etc. Perhaps if you are marketing a referral link to eBay, you might try the keywords “ipod”, or “playstation 3″, as those will be very popular searches this season.
This step is the trickiest and will require some fine tuning in your keyword selection. The goal here is to find a balance between cost per click of an advertisement, to number of visitors to your site required to receive a referral payout. For example, let’s do some simple math:
Simple Referral / AdWord Cost Calculation:
Let’s say that you’re marketing a product which will give you a $25 referral fee for every item sold. Now, let’s assume that you developed an effective landing page, and will have a 40% click-through rate, and a 25% conversion rate. What this means is that of 1000 visitors to your site, 100 of them will click on your referral link, and 25 of those will actually make a purchase.
Now, of 1000 visitors, you are expected to make the following in revenue: $25 payout * 0.40 (chance of click) * 0.25 (chance of sale) = $2.50/1000 visitors in revenue. This gives us a revenue of 25 cents per visitor to our site.
Now, all we have to do is find some keywords on AdWords, or another contextual advertising network that will give us a cost of less than 25 cents per click! So, if you find that the right keywords for your site will cost 20 cents / click, then for every click, you can count on a 5 cent profit. This may not sound like much, however when you multiply this by 5000 visitors a day * 24 days left until Christmas, you’ll be spending January in the Bahamas!
Picking the Right Affiliate Network
So all of this sounds just great, but where’s the best place to start looking for affiliate programs? There are lots of good affiliate networks out there, but after some time of asking around, you will quickly find that everyone’s favorite is AzoogleAds. They have the largest selection of products & campaigns to select from and have the highest payouts. The only drawback is that applications take a little while to be approved as the demand for their affiliate program is so high. I’ve been told (completely a rumor) that if you register under someone’s referral, that their application will be processed faster. I’m not sure if this is the case, or simply rumor that’s been spread around the Internet to encourage referrals for the owner of the link. Either way, check them out.
Brought to you from CyberWyre
Updated: Highest Paying AdSense Keywords
Google has released a great tool to search for the current CPC for keywords which can be found here. I have used this tool to compile an updated list of the current highest paying keywords. It seems that lawyers are still paying the most out of all. It’s a bit concerning that some of the highest paying keywords are for “Wrongful Death”, and “DUI”, but oh well..
I have updated the Highest Paying Search Terms page to include the current Top 230 paying search keywords which I have found using the tool. Below are a few to check out (in Canadian dollars):
$54.33 mesothelioma lawyers
$47.79 what is mesothelioma
$47.72 peritoneal mesothelioma
$47.25 consolidate loans
$47.16 refinancing mortgage
$45.55 tax attorney
$41.22 mesothelioma
$38.86 car accident lawyer
$38.68 ameriquest mortgage
$38.03 mortgage refinance
$37.55 refinancing
$35.99 auto accident attorney
$35.52 equity mortgage
$34.34 mesothelioma texas
$34.05 mortgages
$33.80 criminal defense attorney
$33.54 epocrates
$32.95 mesothelioma
$32.08 car accident attorney
$31.60 mortgage refinance rate
$31.38 loan refinance
$31.29 personal injury attorney
$31.24 best refinance
$30.14 register domain names
$29.86 medical malpractice lawyer
$29.68 incorporate
$29.68 malignant mesothelioma
$29.49 mortgage refinance
$29.45 freecreditreport
$29.41 fargo refinance
$28.53 mortgage loans
$28.15 125 refinance
$28.05 los angeles lawyer
$27.96 re mortgage
$27.38 how to register a domain name
$27.31 mortgage refinance rate
$26.86 personal injury
$26.48 refinance
$26.17 refinance
$25.43 mortgage loan
$25.35 texas refinance
$25.33 medical malpractice attorneys
$25.33 mortgage application
$24.46 mortgage companies
$24.33 countrywide
$23.92 low mortgage rate
$23.26 va refinance
$22.83 gmac mortgage
$22.17 california mortgage rates
$21.86 ameriquest
$21.68 florida lawyer
$21.41 dui
$21.29 refinance leads
$21.16 domain register
$21.07 refinance new york
$20.62 refinance rental property
$20.46 utah mortgage
$20.38 mortgage lenders
$20.35 find a lawyer
$20.20 mortgage note
$20.17 wrongful death
Post taken from CyberWyre
Refinancing up as mortgage rates decline
30-YEAR FIXED LOANS AT 6.55%, DOWN FROM 6.8%
By Sue McAllister
Mercury News
Finding the right mortgage
Fixed-rate loans
Sorting through the paperwork
Rates for 30-year mortgages this week hit their lowest point since April, and more homeowners are benefiting from the trend by refinancing their mortgages, lenders said this week.
The national average for 30-year loans dropped to 6.55 percent, down from an average 6.63 percent last week, according to a report Thursday from mortgage financing company Freddie Mac. Before this decline, which began three weeks ago, mortgage rates spent most of the summer trudging upward, reaching 6.8 percent the week of July 20.
Many Bay Area homeowners who took out first and second mortgages to buy their homes -- or who have a home equity line of credit whose rate is climbing fast -- are refinancing to a single fixed-rate loan now, said Chris Mohammed of First Horizon Home Loans in Los Gatos.
``The equity loans are adjusting, and it's freaking them out, and so they're consolidating their two loans into one loan,'' she said.
Last week's lackluster jobs report and Tuesday's decision by the Federal Reserve not to raise short-term rates resulted in the latest drop in long-term mortgage rates, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.
The rate decreases are not significant enough to motivate many renters to become homeowners, the way super-low rates in 2004 and 2005 did. Instead, the most pronounced effect is likely to be a further increase in refinancing activity.
``People will be looking even more now to get out of the adjustable loans they're in and move into fixed-rate mortgages,'' said Bill Emerson, chief executive of Quicken Loans. ``It's just the smart thing to do.''
As home prices rose steeply in the past few years, adjustable rate loans became popular because they typically require lower initial monthly payments than fixed-rate loans. But eventually those loans adjust or ``reset'' to a higher rate, and monthly payments can suddenly increase by hundreds of dollars.
Freddie Mac estimates that $500 billion worth of first mortgages will adjust this year, along with $650 billion worth of second mortgages and home equity lines of credit. Equity lines have also been tremendously popular, allowing homeowners to borrow against the value of their homes for improvement projects, college tuition, debt repayment and the like.
Of the mortgage applications submitted last week nationwide, 38 percent were for refinances, up from 37 percent the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. At the peak of the refi boom in 2003, as much as 80 percent of mortgage applications were for refinancing, said Mike Fratantoni, senior economist for the bankers trade group.
The group estimates that $2.4 trillion worth of mortgages will be originated nationwide in 2006, and that $915 billion of that will be refinanced loans. In 2005, mortgage activity totaled $2.9 trillion, $1.4 trillion of which was refi business.
In the second quarter of this year, 88 percent of people who refinanced their mortgages did so-called ``cash out'' refis, Freddie Mac data show. That means borrowers increased the amount of their original loan by at least 5 percent when they got their new loan.
That seems to suggest huge numbers of homeowners pulled out equity to pay for exotic vacations or new cars, said Mohammed at First Horizon Home Loans. But the figures seem less dire considering that they include most of the homeowners who refinanced two loans into one, she said.
Jim Robertson, president of the Silicon Valley chapter of the California Association of Mortgage Bankers, said about half of the new customers refinancing through his company, DBC Financial in Santa Clara, are taking out ``intermediate adjustables'' and half are getting fixed-rate loans.
Intermediate adjustables carry a fixed rate for an initial period of three, five, seven or 10 years. Thereafter, they adjust annually.
``A lot of people want to get into a 30-year fixed and they can't afford it because the payments are too high,'' Robertson said.
He added that news from England about a thwarted terrorist plot to blow up planes sent loan rates slightly lower Thursday, to 6.375 percent for a loan of less than $417,000.
``Investors look at terrorism as a threat to investing,'' he said, and tend to put their money into the more stable bond market when threats arise. As more investors run to bonds, bond yields fall, and rates for fixed-rate mortgages tend to follow suit.
``Those types of global events have much more of an impact on the mortgage market than they ever used to,'' Robertson said.
The Mortgage Bankers Association predicts that the 30-year mortgage rate will approach 6.7 percent at the end of this year and calls for rates ``basically staying level through 2007,'' Fratantoni said.
Home Loans After the Bubble: The Mortgage Refinance Boom
National and Florida area market data research shows slow down in first time mortgage loans but a growing trend in refinance and home equity loans.
Orlando, FL (PRWEB) August 11, 2006 -- National indicators show a significant slowdown in the real estate market’s new residential construction rates. According to the US Census Bureau’s “New Residential Construction” report for June 2006, new housing permit issuances dropped 4.3% from May to June. Permit issuances increased in the Northeast only, where a 6.3% growth indicates significant growth in multi-family structure development.
In tandem with slowing real estate metrics, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued a recent statement indicating it expects mortgage delinquencies to increase over the next few years, particularly for interest only and adjustable rate mortgages.
Despite these disappointing indicators, most real estate and mortgage companies, even in the hottest growth markets, foresee an ongoing growth trend more inline with traditional growth patterns.
“While the market has been explosive over the last few years, we are seeing a general overreaction to market slowdowns,” commented Nabil Dajani, President of Orlando based brokerage firm Homestar Funding. “Many homeowners have had significant equity growth in their homes. With 30-year rates still at relative lows, many homeowners are looking to refinance and convert existing ARMs to a more stable fixed rate.”
www.PersonalHomeLoanMortgages.com provides local market research and housing trend information to help buyers make smart market decisions when purchasing a new home. “The hottest markets – Miami, Las Vegas, Phoenix - are obviously going to see a more significant slowdown,” noted David Bayer, President of PersonalHomeLoanMortgages.com. “Nationwide trends still indicate a steady demand for housing development, particularly in warm weather climates.”
Hiccup or Bubble? As investors and speculators begin to withdraw from the market, some experts are concerned about an overload of excess inventory. “If we don’t see any significant hike in interest rates by the Federal Reserve, the retreat of speculative investors should be less pronounced.” A blend of excess inventory and high rates could drive some investors to unload properties below market values, which could have a downward driving effect on the industry as a whole. “Investors who moved into the market too late and overextended themselves may find themselves in a tight position. As a whole, most non-speculative homeowners have been able to enjoy low rates and equity growth. Things just seem to be settling back to ‘normal’.”
For more local housing trends and real estate market information, please visit http://www.personalhomeloanmortgages.com
For more information about Central Florida mortgages including mortgage refinance & home equity loans in Florida, please visit Homestar Funding at www.homestarfunding.biz.
Kimco Realty Inks $4Bln Merger Deal With Pan Pacific Retail - Update
Monday, July 10, 2006; Posted: 01:27 PM
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(RTTNews) - Monday, real estate giant, Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM | charts | news | PowerRating), which holds the nations largest portfolio of local shopping centers, signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Pan Pacific Retail Properties Inc. (PNP | charts | news | PowerRating).
Under the terms of the deal, Kimco will acquire all the outstanding shares of Pan Pacific for a total merger consideration of $70.00 per share in cash. Kimco may elect to issue up to $10 per share of the total purchase price in the form of common stock.
The terms of the transaction also calls for Kimco to assume Pan Pacific's outstanding debt totaling around $1.1 billion. Including Pan Pacific's outstanding debt and $2.9 billion in equity, the transaction is valued at $4 billion.
The San Diego-based Kimco said that it has received financing commitments of up to $3.0 billion, which it may use to fund the acquisition.
Pan Pacific also headquartered in San Diego holds a portfolio of 138 properties, encompassing about 22.6 million square feet.
Kimco expects the merger to fit well with its strategy of owning the highest quality shopping center portfolio and generating solid investment returns for its partners and shareholders while conserving its own equity capital.
The merger has been unanimously approved by both companies' board of directors. The merger, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by the Pan Pacific stockholders is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2006.
Kimco, which was added to the Standard & Poor's Index on March 31, 2006, has seized every opportunity to expand into new geographical regions. The company acquired Atlantic Realty Trust (ATLRS | charts | news | PowerRating) in April, in a stock deal worth $81.8 million. In March, Kimco acquired interests in two shopping centers and agreed to purchase stakes in five additional shopping centers located in Puerto Rico for an aggregate value of $448 million.
The company's Puerto Rican acquisitions were effective in boosting its first quarter results. For the first quarter Kimco's Funds From Operations (FFO | charts | news | PowerRating) jumped 14.8% to $124.61 million from $108.54 million in the prior year quarter. On a per share basis, FFO rose 12.8% to $0.53 from $0.47 in the comparable period last year, topping analysts' estimate of $0.52 per share for the quarter.
Revenues from rental property rose to $142.71 million from $129.31 million in the year-ago period. Wall Street analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $146.28 million.
Kimco, which has grown by acquisitions, joined Supervalu Inc., CVS Corp and others to buy Albertsons stores in January in a $17.4 billion cash and stock deal. The transaction was completed in June.
The company, while reporting its first-quarter results on April 25 reaffirmed its full year per share Funds From Operations outlook range of $2.12 - $2.16. Wall Street analysts expect the company to earn $2.17 per share for the year.
KIM is currently up 1.36% or $0.50 trading at $37.37 on a volume of 481,400 shares. PNP is down $0.52 trading at $69.48 on a volume of 693,700 shares.
Copyright(c) 2006 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Oil Prices Hit Record Above $75 a Barrel
Oil prices climbed Friday and reached record territory above $75 a barrel for the second time this week on geopolitical tensions and rising gasoline demand.
The ongoing nuclear standoff between the West and Iran is keeping a high floor beneath prices because of fears that sanctions imposed against Iran could prompt OPEC's No. 2 producer to withhold some of its crude from the market. Other geopolitical factors include the war in Iraq, which has hindered output there, and instability in Nigeria, which has forced the shutdown of some 500,000 barrels-a-day of oil production.
The increasing motor-fuel consumption comes despite near-$3-a-gallon pump prices, and analysts say even the slightest interruption to the flow of crude or refined products could push prices above that psychologically significant benchmark.
Still, oil futures have risen in 10 out of the past 11 trading sessions, leading some analysts to anticipate a pullback - on profit-taking - before a continuation of the uptrend.
"The bigger trend is pretty well intact," said Michael Guido, Societe Generale's director of commodity strategy.
Light sweet crude for August delivery climbed as high as $75.78 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before easing back to $75.30, up 16 cents. The previous intraday record was $75.40 set Wednesday.
Nymex gasoline futures were steady at $2.2625 a gallon.
Oil futures are 24 percent higher than a year ago. The average retail price of gasoline is $2.94 a gallon, or 32 percent above year ago levels.
In its weekly inventory report, the Department of Energy said Thursday that U.S. gasoline consumption over the past four weeks averaged 9.5 million barrels a day, or 1.4 percent more than a year ago. U.S. refiners ran their plants at 93 percent of total capacity.
The global oil industry is pumping roughly 85 million barrels a day to meet rising demand but there is little room for error, analysts say, because the amount of spare production capacity that could be tapped in an emergency is razor thin. The same goes for the refining end of the business.
As a result, any real or feared disruptions to output can push prices sharply higher, making energy traders eager to make that bet.
"The financial players are attracted like a moth to a flame to the energy complex," said Larry Goldstein, president of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation, a New York-based industry-financed think tank. "If you bet right, you get unreasonably rewarded."
In London, Brent crude hit a new high of $75.09 a barrel. In later trading, August Brent on the ICE Futures exchange was up 51 cents to $74.59.
In other Nymex trading, natural gas futures fell 6.9 cents to $5.595 per 1,000 cubic feet. Natural gas futures settled Thursday at their lowest level since Sept. 27, 2004.
The United States is awash in natural gas and some analysts believe there may not be enough underground storage capacity, potentially forcing some producers to shut wells. Others predict the falling price will spark demand and cause the supply overhang to be whittled away by fall.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
Big Award on Tobacco Is Rejected by Court
By MELANIE WARNER
Published: July 7, 2006
Tobacco companies in the United States won a major legal victory yesterday when the Florida Supreme Court upheld a decision to toss out a $145 billion judgment against them.
Related
Text of the Opinion (pdf)
The ruling, in what is one of the last remaining personal injury class-action cases against tobacco companies, is a crushing blow to plaintiffs' lawyers, who have pushed for large class-action cases with the potential for multibillion-dollar verdicts. The six-judge Florida court stated that smokers' cases "are highly individualized" and "do not lend themselves to class-action treatment."
Investors applauded the decision, which sharply reduces the possibility of large, bank-breaking awards in tobacco cases. Shares of the two largest companies named in the suit, Altria Group, the parent of Phillip Morris, and Reynolds American, which owns R. J. Reynolds, were up sharply. Altria closed up $4.43, or 6 percent, at $77.76, and Reynolds American closed up $4.59, or 4 percent, at $118.95.
The ruling is perhaps most important for Altria, which is preparing to spin off its Kraft Foods unit. The company has said that the long-running lawsuit, originally led by a Miami Beach pediatrician, Howard A. Engle, who has emphysema, was one of the major litigation hurdles the company needed to clear before it could restructure.
Dawn Schneider, an Altria spokeswoman, said the company would not comment on when a breakup would take place.
Altria consists of Philip Morris USA, Philip Morris International and Kraft Foods, which is 86 percent owned by Altria.
Yesterday's ruling follows another industry-friendly outcome in a large case in Illinois. In December, the Supreme Court of Illinois threw out a $10 billion judgment against Philip Morris USA in a class-action consumer fraud suit that had accused the company of deceiving smokers by marketing its "light" cigarettes as having lower levels of tar and nicotine.
Despite these two victories, analysts say Altria will probably hold off announcing details of a restructuring until after there is a ruling on a civil racketeering case filed by the Department of Justice against Philip Morris and several other large cigarette makers. The government, which originally filed its case in 1999 during the Clinton administration, seeks damages of $14 billion over 10 years as well as fines if youth smoking rates do not decline and government monitoring of company research and development.
A nine-month trial concluded a little more than a year ago and tobacco companies say they are expecting a ruling from Judge Gladys Kessler of Federal District Court in the District of Columbia within the next few months.
Among investors, hopes are high for another tobacco-friendly outcome in the Department of Justice case. Tobacco companies have already won several victories in the case, including a ruling in February 2005 that the government cannot seek financial penalties from tobacco companies for previous wrongdoing, only for future infractions. In response, the Justice Department cut its financial demands from $280 billion to the current $14 billion.
"The D.O.J. case has already been emasculated," said David Adelman, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. "It can't be ignored, but it isn't something that's going to prevent an Altria breakup."
In a research note, a Citigroup analyst, David Driscoll, said a Kraft spin-off could take place two months after the Justice Department case was resolved.
Altria is eager to restructure because it believes it would have greater value as two or three separate units. While sales and earnings at Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International have been on an upswing, Kraft's business has stagnated in recent years and may be dragging down the value of the tobacco business. Altria's price-to- earnings ratio trails that of Reynolds American, though Philip Morris is the global and domestic market leader in cigarette sales.
Some analysts say an Altria breakup could be good for Kraft, the country's largest maker of packaged food. Mr. Adelman of Morgan Stanley said an independent Kraft could use its stock to make large acquisitions and to help retain and attract talented managers.
In June, the directors of Kraft Foods ousted the chief executive, Roger K. Deromedi, and the company has recently experienced a number of high-level departures.
But it is unclear if a Kraft spinoff would bolster the food company's sluggish stock price. Mr. Driscoll of Citigroup said a Kraft spinoff could drive down Kraft's stock, because Altria shareholders who receive Kraft shares in the deal may sell some of them.
Though it is now much less probable there will be a class-action verdict that could bankrupt a tobacco company, yesterday's decision in the Engle case could open the door to a lot of small cases being filed in Florida by individual smokers.
While the Florida court struck down the $145 billion award, it has upheld two individual damage awards to Florida cancer patients: $2.9 million to Mary Farnan and $4 million to the estate of Angie Della Vecchia, who died in 1999.
The court also supported a part of the jury's original verdict in the Engle case that found that smoking causes a variety of diseases and that tobacco companies concealed information and acted negligently. The ruling means any new case filed in Florida can start with those claims already proved.
"This is going to open up a whole new chapter of cases in Florida where you could see a large number of smaller verdicts," said Matthew L. Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an antitobacco group. Both Altria and R. J. Reynolds say they will probably appeal those portions of the court's ruling.
Charles Blixt, general counsel for R. J. Reynolds, said that even if many of these individual cases do come forward, they do not represent a significant financial threat to tobacco companies. "There's always been the potential for large numbers of individual lawsuits being filed," he said. "I think it's proven that we can defend successfully against those kinds of cases."
Jeremy W. Peters contributed reporting for this article.
GM Under Foreign Control Not Farfetched
By SARAH KARUSH Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
DETROIT — It's been said that what's good for General Motors is good for the country. But with a proposal now on the table to link the world's largest automaker with Japan's Nissan and France's Renault, the question arises: which country?
Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who owns 9.9 percent of GM's shares, is proposing that Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. each buy stakes in General Motors Corp. and add the American industrial icon to their existing alliance. On Friday, GM's board of directors voted to pursue "exploratory discussions" with Renault and Nissan.
The idea of foreign companies exerting control over GM doesn't sit well with some U.S. politicians, union leaders and admirers of the company. Their discomfort is compounded by the fact that the French state holds 15 percent of Renault.
"I'm in favor of Michigan winning. I'm in favor of jobs coming here and the concern is, that if it's controlled by businesses on another continent or other continents, that we may end up on the losing end," Gov. Jennifer Granholm told reporters Wednesday in Lansing. "I don't know that to be the fact. Maybe it will make us stronger. But that's certainly my concern."
GM was founded in 1908 by Flint businessman William Durant, who built the company through a series of acquisitions, beginning with the Buick Motor Co. and Olds Motor Works. Later, legendary chairman Alfred P. Sloan pioneered many fundamental ideas of modern corporate management and marketing.
During World War II, GM converted all of its production to the war effort, turning out planes, trucks, tanks, guns, shells and other military equipment.
In 1953, President Eisenhower named GM head Charles E. Wilson secretary of defense. At his Senate confirmation hearing, Wilson was asked about whether his loyalty to the automaker could create a possible conflict of interest. "I cannot conceive of one because for years I thought that what was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa," he answered. A simplified version of the quote became ingrained in the nation's collective memory.
Early on, GM had a global presence, establishing an export division in 1911 and a plant in Argentina in 1925.
David L. Lewis, a former GM speechwriter and a professor of business history at the University of Michigan, recalled the pride he felt working for the company from 1959 to 1965.
"General Motors was at one time not only No. 1, but in such a big way. It was Gulliver among the Lilliputians," Lewis said. "People used to say all the time that something else would be 'the General Motors of.' It was a yardstick."
Lewis said he was saddened by the prospect of a tie-up, though he acknowledged it might not be bad for the company and its shareholders.
United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said the idea would be bad news for workers. "We're seeing a further erosion of good jobs in the country should this come about," he told WJR-AM on Friday.
But Jim Graham, president of UAW Local 1112 in Lordstown, Ohio, said he was trying to take a pragmatic view.
"In the global market that we've been thrust into I guess the more alliances you have the better off you are," he said.
But on the emotional level, Graham, who represents workers at a plant that makes the Chevrolet Cobalt, said the idea was hard to accept after years of urging people to buy American.
Beyond symbolism, it probably doesn't make much difference what country GM's owners are from, said Charles Ballard, an economics professor at Michigan State University.
If sacrificing an all-American identity could help restore GM's financial health, "which would you rather have? Which is better for GM workers and GM stockholders?" Ballard said.
Asked to respond to concerns about foreign ownership, U.S. Senator Carl Levin said Thursday: "We own a British car company, don't we? Doesn't Ford own Jaguar? Who owns Chrysler?"
But Levin told reporters in Southfield that he lacked information to comment directly on the proposal.
Chrysler Corp.'s 1998 marriage with Daimler-Benz AG was billed as a merger of equals, but critics say the German company simply swallowed the American one.
If something similar were to happen to GM, Ford Motor Co. could claim the title of only remaining U.S. automaker.
Currently both companies trumpet their American identity in advertising, for example, with the Chevrolet slogan "An American Revolution."
Ballard said GM would want to do some careful market research on consumer reaction to an alliance before charging ahead. But he added: "At some level, everybody knows that all these companies are international."
___
Associated Press writers Kathy Barks Hoffman in Lansing, Mich., and David Runk in Southfield, Mich., contributed to this report.
UF offers vaccine to help prevent cervical cancer
By REBECCA EHLINGER
Alligator Contributing Writer
The first-ever vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease is now available to UF students.
The recent Food and Drug Administration approval of a vaccine called Gardasil could prevent women from contracting the human papillomavirus, or HPV. It also prevents HPV-related cervical cancer and genital warts.
Nearly 30 of the more than 100 different strains of HPV are sexually transmitted, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 10 of these 30 sexually transmitted HPV strands can lead to the development of cervical cancer.
"Type 16 is the strain that is most responsible for the largest number of cervical cancer cases," said Phylis Craig, a nurse-practitioner at the UF Student Health Care Center's Women's Clinic.
About 9,700 women in the United States will develop cervical cancer in 2006, according to the American Cancer Society. Cervical cancer will kill approximately 3,700 of those women.
In the United States, the most common sexually transmitted infection is HPV, according to the FDA.
At some point in their lives, at least 50 percent of sexually active men and women will contract genital HPV infection, according to the CDC. Most people who are infected don't know that they have HPV because they have no signs or symptoms, yet they can still transmit the virus to their partners.
"During an average week, I myself would probably treat from three to four students for external genital warts," Craig said. These students are only the ones that have the noticeable symptoms of HPV.
Females from ages 9 to 26 are approved for the vaccine. Studies showed that females who were already infected with the HPV virus were not protected when they took the vaccine.
Females at UF who are not sexually active are the best candidates for the vaccine, because they have not yet been infected, and the majority of them are in the specified age range.
Sexually active females at UF who have not contracted HPV are also candidates for the vaccine. Women can determine if they have HPV through a routine Pap smear, according to the CDC Web site.
This vaccine would prevent these females from ever contracting HPV, which would then reduce the spread to other UF students.
Gardasil is given in three doses, at $120 a dose, over a six-month period.
The high cost of the vaccine could be a drawback for students.
"If it costs a UF student more than $50 to go get the vaccine, then I don't think that a lot of them will use it," said Allison Carter, a UF health education and behavior junior.
Craig is not yet sure if UF will be able to offer the vaccine at a discount to UF students.
Green Tea Inhibits Cancer
Green tea is under a microscope by scientists seeking to determine any possible health benefits. Many of the investigations have looked at the disease-prevention properties of green tea polyphenols, its antioxidant compounds.
In a study published in the March 1 Clinical Cancer Research, UAB researcher Santosh K. Katiyar, Ph.D., reported, "We discovered in test tube and in mouse studies that tea polyphenols have the ability to inhibit the growth of breast tumor cells and slow down their metastasis to other organs."
Treatment of highly metastatic breast tumor cells with green tea polyphenols showed several indications that it can cause tumor cell death. Feeding mice green tea equivalent to human consumption inhibited the spread of cancer to the lungs and increased the animals' survival.
Via Thecancerblog.com
Breast Cancer Drug To Extend Lives Of Men With Late Stage Prostate Cancer
29 Jun 2006
Today, the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), UK, releases guidance that recommends that all eligible patients have access to a prostate cancer drug[1] - a move that will affect the lives of thousands of men across the UK[2].
Taxotere® (docetaxel) - which has been routinely given to female patients with late stage breast cancer since 2001[3] - extends the lives of men with late stage prostate cancer (metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer - mHRPC) and improves their quality of life[4].
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer of men in the UK; over 30,000 men are diagnosed with the condition each year[5]. In addition, it is the second most common form of cancer death, annually killing over 10,000 men - that's approximately one death every hour[2]. Although data is limited, it is believed that the majority of these deaths are due to late stage prostate cancer[6]. Late stage prostate cancer is a form of prostate cancer in which patients have become resistant to conventional treatments (hormone therapy).
Patients and patient groups welcome today's guidance and are calling for all men who could benefit to be given immediate access to the treatment, which could extend their lives and improve their quality of life for their remaining months. “NICE guidance supporting the use of Taxotere (docetaxel) based regimens for women with late stage breast cancer has been available since 2001,” says John Anderson, CEO, Prostate Research Campaign UK. “It's about time that men are also able to get to the front of the queue to gain equal access to a treatment that could benefit them. Now that the guidance has arrived there is no excuse for men who could benefit not to get access as quickly as possible. ”
“Taxotere (docetaxel) is the first treatment to improve survival, improve quality of life and reverse progress of metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer,” Professor Nick James, Consultant Clinical Oncologist, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust (Queen Elizabeth Cancer Centre), Birmingham and UK principal investigator on TAX 327. “Now that NICE have supported the use of this treatment, we urge all PCTs to ensure that funding is available for all patients whom could benefit. It is now up to patients to make sure that they are asking for this treatment, clinicians to offer it and PCTs to fund it.”
“The provision of Taxotere (docetaxel) is one of the most important advances in treating late stage prostate cancer that has occurred in recent years,” says John Anderson, Consultant Urological Surgeon, Sheffield. “Now that we have been able to demonstrate that Taxotere is able to extend survival and manage quality of life in late stage prostate cancer, exciting trials have been initiated which will examine the benefits of Taxotere in early stage prostate cancer.”
NICE's guidance was based on the highly influential TAX 327 trial, published in a well-respected journal, the New England Journal of Medicine, in October 2004. The trial found that Taxotere® (docetaxel), plus prednisolone (prednisone), improved overall patient survival by 24%. Median patient survival with the Taxotere based regimen was 18.9 months compared to 16.5 months for the standard treatment (mitoxantrone).
Taxotere® (docetaxel) is recommended, within its licensed indications, as a treatment option for men with hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer only if their Karnofsky performance-status score is 60% or more. The Karnofsky score is a measure of quality of life factors.
Taxotere® (docetaxel) has an acceptable increase of side effects. The most commonly reported adverse reaction associated with Taxotere® (docetaxel) is neutropaenia (low white cell count, which may lead to infection), which is reversible and not cumulative[7].
Other common side effects include flushing, skin rash, chest tightness, back pain, anaemia, nausea, sore mouth and taste change, diarrhoea, hair loss, hypersensitivity and tiredness.
http://www.sanofi-aventis.com
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[1] National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Guidance: Docetaxel for treatment of hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer. June 2006. Available from: http://www.nice.org.uk
[2] Cancer Research UK. Prostate Cancer Mortality Statistics.
Accessed: June 2006.
[3] National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Guidance: Taxanes for the treatment of breast cancer. Review 30. Available from: http://www.nice.org.uk
[4] Tannock IF et al. Docetaxel plus prednisone or mitoxantrone plus prednisone for advanced prostate cancer. N Engl J Med. 2004, 351:1502
[5] Cancer Research UK. Prostate Cancer Incidence Statistics.
Accessed: June 2006.
[6] National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Docetaxel for the treatment of hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer (overview). 2005. Available from: http://www.nice.org.uk
[7] Taxotere Summary of Product Characteristics (May 2006)
Via http://www.thecancerblog.com/
Fewer roadblocks at the FHA for buyers, lenders
Federal agency cuts paperwork, streamlines inspection procedures and raises the limits on home mortgages.
By Lew Sichelman, United Feature Syndicate
June 25, 2006
WASHINGTON — For anyone who has ever been told that government-backed mortgages are too much trouble, Martha Simmons has one word: poppycock.
That might have been the case a few years ago but not anymore, says Simmons, national retail production manager for SunTrust Mortgage in Richmond, Va. Simmons says the Federal Housing Administration has undertaken several significant changes in the last 12 months that have turned the agency into a more efficient lending machine.
Among many improvements, the FHA has raised its loan limits, albeit not as much as the agency and lenders would have liked; moved away from onerous repair and inspection requirements; and generally retooled the entire lending process to make it less cumbersome for borrowers and their lenders.
Borrowers are still wise to obtain conventional mortgages with private mortgage insurance, if they can. But for those with less-than-spotless credit, FHA-insured loans might now be the next best choice.
"When they can get a better price, we want them to take it," says Meg Burns, director of the agency's office of single-family program development. "We are targeting those who can't."
In the past, the government's housing program has missed that target badly. So badly that the FHA's market share shrank from 13% of all loans in 1990 to 3.5% last year.
For much of that period, the slow-moving agency was a sitting duck for more nimble sub-prime lenders offering the hottest new loan products with the quickest approval times.
Never mind that the slick-talking sub-prime guys charged higher rates.
Forget that they did little to help borrowers who found themselves in financial difficulty after they closed on their fancy loans and moved into their new digs.
As long as people qualified for a sub-prime loan, they didn't even consider the FHA — and neither did their real estate agents, who, Simmons says, discouraged buyers from going to the FHA because it was too inconvenient and unmanageable.
Unfortunately, many agents still cling to that belief. And agents, as trusted advisors in the home-buying process, hold sway over a lot of people.
But today's FHA is different. It is waiting for federal lawmakers right now to clear legislation that would, among other things, allow the agency to base its premiums on the risk would-be borrowers represent to the insurance program, allow greater flexibility in determining the down payment — including a zero-down option — and boost its loan limits.
FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery is convinced these changes will "make us a real player in the mortgage market again."
At the same time, though, the agency hasn't exactly been sitting around waiting for something to happen. Here's a brief recap:
In January, it raised its maximum loan limit by nearly $50,000, to $362,790, in the nation's most expensive markets. The ceiling was bumped to $220,160 practically everywhere else.
The maximum still isn't high enough in places like California, where the FHA insured 51,000 loans in fiscal year 2005, down from 109,000 in fiscal 2000, or Maryland, where it backed only 5,400 loans in fiscal 2005, versus 31,000 in 2000.
The FHA is asking lawmakers to raise the lid in high-cost markets to $417,000 this year and possibly even higher in subsequent years.
But $362,790 isn't exactly pocket change. With 3% down, it's enough to buy a house priced at $374,010.
And although that isn't even the median price in places like Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, there are still plenty of houses changing hands at that amount or even less.
The agency also has streamlined its operating procedures in several ways to make them more compatible with the conventional loan process.
In what the FHA's Burns calls the most significant change in a year of change, the agency no longer requires lenders to submit inch-thick binders of documents supporting every single loan transaction.
Now, lenders are permitted to perform file reviews on their own, submit data electronically to the FHA and endorse the loan on the spot without waiting days or even weeks for a nod from the government. If the agency should request a case file for post-endorsement review, that file also can be sent electronically.
"Lenders have really responded," says Montgomery, noting that nearly half the loans insured by the agency since the change was implemented in January have been processed this way.
Also in January, the agency made serious fixes to its appraisal protocols, moving away from what the FHA commissioner admits were "unique" and "onerous" inspection and repair requirements.
"In essence," Montgomery says, "we adopted the industry standards."
That means no more Home Buyer Summary, a laundry list of blemishes and flaws intended to give would-be owners a true and complete picture of the house they were buying — which also served to frighten many of them away. And no more Valuation Conditions form, listing items that required fixing.
The agency still requires appraisers to note all conditions affecting the property's value, but further inspections and repairs are called for only when a defect is structural or when it would affect the health and safety of the occupant. Consequently, sellers are no longer compelled to repair cosmetic items like a cracked windowpane.
Industry consultant Bud Carter, senior vice president of Potomac Partners in Washington, D.C., calls these and other improvements "a major step in the right direction."
And even if Congress fails to approve the additional changes the FHA and lenders are seeking, he believes the agency has done enough in the last year to get itself back on track.
Post From http://www.latimes.com/business/la-re-lew25jun25,1,24080.story?coll=la-headlines-business&track=crosspromo
Home Sales, Spending Cool; Prices Rise: U.S. Economy Preview
June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Inflation pressures are mounting in the U.S. even as the housing market and consumer spending cool, reports this week are forecast to show, increasing the odds the Federal Reserve will keep raising rates beyond this month.
Combined purchases of new and previously owned homes fell to an annual rate of 7.77 million in May, according to the median forecasts of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. If that pace is sustained, this year still would be the third-best on record for home sales.
Fed policy makers will raise their target interest rate by a quarter point to 5.25 percent following their two-day meeting June 28-29, the economists say. A day later, a report is expected to show consumer spending in May rose at the slowest pace in three months and price increases accelerated, suggesting this week's rate increase won't be the central bank's last.
``The data are going to show a further softening on the growth front, but at still-reasonable levels,'' said John Shin, an economist at Lehman Brothers Inc. in New York. ``They will also show more inflation pressures, and that means there are going to be continued rate hikes after June.''
Sales of new homes fell to an annual rate of 1.15 million last month from 1.198 million in April, economists project a report tomorrow from the Commerce Department will show. A day later, the National Association of Realtors is expected to report existing homes sold at a 6.62 million pace, down from April's 6.76 million rate.
If sustained over 12 months, the combined sales pace last month would be the third-highest on record after 8.35 million in 2005 and 7.98 million the previous year.
Incomes, Spending
Consumers bought 0.4 percent more goods and services in May than in the previous month, the smallest gain since February, according to the survey median ahead of a June 30 report from the Commerce Department. Incomes rose 0.2 percent, the smallest increase since November, the report is also expected to show.
Traders and investors will also focus on the Commerce report's core price measure, which excludes food and energy costs, for clue's on the likely direction of Fed policy in coming months.
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke this month called recent increases in core prices ``unwelcome developments'' and said central bankers ``will be vigilant'' to ensure inflation doesn't become entrenched. He highlighted the three- and six-month trends in the core consumer price index and in the Commerce Department's core price index, the Fed's preferred price measure.
Economists estimate core prices rose 0.2 percent last month, matching the April increase, according to the survey median. Such an increase would put the three-month annualized rate at 2.9 percent and the six-month pace at 2.2 percent, according to Bloomberg News calculations. Bernanke says a rate of 1 percent to 2 percent is acceptable.
`Not Satisfied'
``The Fed will not be satisfied to keep rates on hold absent clear signs that growth is slowing to a pace that would ease inflationary pressures,'' Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital in New York, said in a June 22 note to clients.
Signs inflation is accelerating while growth is holding up will prompt the Fed to raise its target rate to 6 percent by the end of the year, Maki said, half a percentage point higher than he previously forecast.
Part of the reason the economy will not buckle is that consumer confidence is stabilizing as the price of gasoline plateaus, economists said. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline at the pump was $2.88 over the first three weeks of June, down a cent from May's average, according to figures from the American Automobile Association.
Consumer Confidence
The New York-based Conference Board's index of consumer confidence rose to 103.8 this month, up from the 103.2 reading in May, according to the survey median. The measure slumped to 85.2 in October, a two-year low, after hurricanes devastated the Gulf Coast. The private research group's report is due June 27.
The University of Michigan's final report on June consumer sentiment, due June 30, is expected to confirm confidence is holding up. The measure is forecast to rise to 82.5 from May's seven-month low of 79.1. It would be little changed from the 82.4 preliminary reading issued earlier this month.
In other reports this week:
The economy probably grew at an annual rate of 5.6 percent in the first quarter, the most in more than two years, the Commerce Department's final revision on June 29 is expected to show. The preliminary report issued last month showed a growth rate of 5.3 percent.
First-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended yesterday rose to 310,000 from 308,000 the prior week, a Labor Department report June 29 is forecast to show.
An index of Chicago-area business activity fell to 59 this month from 61.5 in May, the National Association of Supply Management-Chicago is expected to report on June 30. Readings greater than 50 signal expansion.
Date Time Period Indicator BN Survey Prior
06/26 10:00 May New Home Sales 1150,000
1198,000
06/27 10:00 June Confidence-Conf. Board 103.8 103.2
06/27 10:00 May Home Resales 6.62M 6.76M
06/27 10:00 June Richmond Fed. Manf. 7.0 1.0
06/29 8:30 6/17 Continuing Claims 2430K 2439K
06/29 8:30 1Q F GDP Price Index 3.3% 3.3%
06/29 8:30 1Q F Gross Domestic Product 5.6% 5.3%
06/29 8:30 6/24 Initial Jobless Claims 310K 308K
06/30 8:30 May Personal Income 0.2% 0.5%
06/30 8:30 May Personal Spending 0.4% 0.6%
06/30 10:00 June Chicago Purchasers 59.0 61.5
06/30 10:00 June F Confidence- U. of MI 82.5 82.4
post from http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=adC47eNyrUhg&refer=home#
Like a fairytale, Nicole ties the knot at twilight
JONATHAN MORAN
26jun06
HOLLYWOOD combined with Nashville in Sydney yesterday when Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban married in a romantic twilight ceremony at Cardinal Cerretti Chapel on the clifftop at Manly.
Veiled and wearing an ivory gown designed by Nicolas Ghesquiere for Balenciaga, Kidman was every bit the princess bride as thousands of well-wishers lined the streets in scenes reminiscent of a royal wedding.
The Hollywood star, 39, walked down the aisle accompanied by her father Dr Antony Kidman, with her bridesmaids her sister Antonia as matron of honour, her 13-year-old daughter Isabella as bridesmaid and her niece, Lucia as flower girl.
She was met at the altar by Urban, 38, who wore a simple black suit teamed with black tie, and his groomsmen - his brother Shane, good friend Marlon Holden and his nephew, Blake.
Clutching a simple posy of white roses dotted with tiny red blooms, the bride was joined by her father in a vintage white Rolls Royce.
It was a scene reminiscent of royal visits, with fans lining both sides of the street with cameras, as police officers and private security guards kept order.
With an Aussie theme throughout, Hugh Jackman was accompanied by the choir, who sang Peter Allen's classic Tenterfield Saddler during the ceremony, and former Crowded House frontman Neil Finn.
About 230 family and friends, including Naomi Watts, Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness, director Baz Luhrmann, Russell Crowe, News Corporation chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi Deng and Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch attended the service, presided over by Father Paul Coleman.
Thrilling onlookers as she arrived at the gates of the church, Kidman wound down her window to wave at fans and thank the crowd for turning out.
"It's very simple, there's no big operation - she's just like you, me or any other bride," Kidman's spokeswoman Wendy Day said.
"She didn't want anything strange or odd or underhand about this, no black umbrellas or tinted windows.
Wedding bells chimed at 6.25pm, signalling the couple had become husband and wife.
Soft jazz music was played straight after the wedding bells while guests were served food and champagne. At 7.10pm a huge cheer went up from the crowd after being introduced to the guests as husband and wife.
The reception is believed to have had a Moulin Rouge-style theme. Walking arm-in-arm from their hotel lobby prior to the ceremony the groom's parents Bob and Marienne were full of compliments for their new daughter-in-law. "She's going to be a beautiful daughter-in-law," Mrs Urban announced.
Post From: http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19589018%255E911,00.html
