October 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
NEW YORK, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Gold prices fell sharply as the U.S. dollar index gained 1.92 percent as Japan sold an undisclosed amount of yen to temper its ration against the dollar. Before the intervention, the dollar was at a record post-World War II low against Japan's currency, MarketWatch reported Monday. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold lost $29.70 to close at $1,717.50 per troy ounce. Silver lost 99 cents to $34.30 per ounce. West Texas Intermediate crude oil ease...
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October 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
ROME, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Italian businessman Luca di Montezemolo called for Premier Silvio Berlusconi to resign Monday after yields on Italian bonds soared. The five-year Italian bonds posted a euro-era record with the spread between those and German five-year bonds reaching 5.9 percent, a high since 1999 when the euro was introduced, ANSA reported Monday. Ten-year Italian bonds were yielding 6.14 percent, widely considered an unsustainable cost of borrowing, the Italian news agency said. "We are at a...
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October 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Proposals by Republican U.S. presidential hopefuls to lop off a chunk of the federal budget may be popular but are unrealistic, a budget watchdog group says. The proposals would, in some fashion, ratchet spending back to levels not seen in decades and would require actions akin to ending a major program such as Medicare or cutting the entire defense budget, The Washington Times reported Monday. The plans include former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's pledge to cap governm...
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October 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
Here is how to recognize a one-trick pony when it comes to economics: Look for the numbers. It is that simple. When President Barack Obama says he is going to solve the unemployment crisis with a $787 billion stimulus bill, the first question a wary economist would ask is: What happens when the money runs out? In Europe last week, finance ministers and then heads of states gathered to outline a strategy that was all numbers. The European Financial Stability Facility would be increased in financial f...
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October 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
NEW YORK, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. markets turned lower Monday morning after a bullish week prompted by the European Union's plan to rescue debt-burdened burdened countries and banks. The plan had pushed stocks ahead for the week, potentially overshadowing weak economic data, which is coming into focus this week. In midmorning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped to 12,099.04 with the loss of 132.07 points or 1.08 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped to 1,269.0...
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October 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
NEW YORK, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices dropped over the weekend, falling under $92 per barrel as the U.S. dollar gained strength. After a week of strong gains due to an international rescue plan in Europe, oil prices eased back on the New York Mercantile Exchange, giving up $1.82 to $91.50 per barrel. Home heating oil prices shed 3.45 cents to $3.0319 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline lost 4.87 cents to $2.5974 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices lost 3.9 cents to $3.884 per milli...
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October 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Is China now emerging as banker to the rest of the world? The United States owes China $1.3 trillion -- out of a total U.S. public debt load of $14.1 trillion. And the United States also owes almost $1 trillion to Japan. So clearly, 17 EU nations that share the euro currency couldn't turn to the United States to help bail them out of their liquidity crisis. China was the only power in the world that could afford to rescue the euro from collapse. China also has almost 6 m...
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October 30th, 2011 by InvestorPoint
TOKYO, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The Japanese government said Monday it intervened in foreign exchange markets to weaken the yen after it hit a post-World War II low against the U.S. dollar. Finance Minister Jun Azumi made the long-anticipated announcement on the intervention by the government and the Bank of Japan as the government seeks to check the yen's rapid rise against major world currencies, a trend that hurts the export-dependent economy by making Japanese goods more expensive relative to those currenci...
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October 30th, 2011 by InvestorPoint
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- With the American political season nearly in full venom, the U.S. Supreme Court is being given the chance to decide when a religious organization wanders off course into the realm of political advocacy, endangering the organization's tax-exempt status. Also in the petition bringing that question to the high court: Whether the Internal Revenue Service can avoid a constitutional ruling by refunding taxes back to the non-profit organization while at the same time maintaining th...
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October 29th, 2011 by InvestorPoint
Today is Saturday, Oct. 29, the 302nd day of 2011 with 63 to follow. The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Neptune, Uranus and Venus. The evening stars are Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Scottish biographer James Boswell in 1740; singer/composer Daniel Decatur Emmett, who wrote the words and music for "Dixie," in 1815; comedian/singer Fanny Brice in 1891; Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels in 1897; political cartoonist ...
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