December 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
PARIS, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The message might be predictable, but the number of texts sent on New Year's Eve in France is expected to be enormous, records indicate. On New Year's Eve in 2010, about 930 million text messages were sent in France, testing the capacity of the country's three largest phone services, Orange, SFR and Bouygues, The Local in France reported Saturday. Some customers then found their next bills included charges of $518 for texts that were sent several times erroneously, the newspa...
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December 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
LONDON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- An insolvency program in Britain that caters to those with low incomes is proving most attractive to wage earners ages 25-34 years, records show. The Debt Relief Orders process, dubbed "bankruptcy light," which began in April 2009, has had 44,000 applicants, more than a quarter of whom are under 34 years old, The Independent reported Saturday. The process was designed to offer protection from creditors for those with debts of less than $23,300 and who own assets worth no mor...
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December 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
ROME, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Purchasing power for Italians has gone down significantly in the past 10 years, a consumer group said. The group Codacons said the average family of four has lost $14,052 in purchasing power over 10 years, due to rising prices for goods and housing and cutbacks in government programs, ANSA reported Saturday. Prices for electricity are scheduled to rise an additional 4.9 percent in the new year, while gas prices will go up 2.7 percent. Over the course of the year, the average f...
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December 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
ATHENS, Greece, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The International Monetary Fund in an official report said Greece's financial situation is worse than previously thought. With a new estimate on the country's economic growth, the IMF said even a 50 percent write-off on Greek debt would be insufficient for Greece to avoid default, Ekathimerini reported Saturday. To dig Greece out of its financial trough "requires either a deeper haircut or additional loans from Europe," an IMF official said. While the Greek economy...
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December 31st, 2011 by InvestorPoint
Today is Saturday, Dec. 31, the 365th and last day of 2011. This is New Year's Eve. The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter and Venus. Evening stars are Mercury, Saturn and Mars. Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include French explorer Jacques Cartier in1491; Charles Edward Stuart, Scotland's "Bonnie Prince Charlie," in 1720; French painter Henri Matisse in 1869; U.S. Army Gen. George Marshall, formulator of the Marshall Aid Plan for Euro...
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December 30th, 2011 by InvestorPoint
CUPERTINO, Calif., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- While Apple is still selling millions of the iPad 2 tablet, speculation is already swirling about an iPad 3, tech industry observers say. With the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show and MacWorld/iWorld -- billed as "the world's ultimate fan event" for Apple lovers -- both scheduled for January, observers are debating whether Apple could soon roll out the third generation of the device, CNN reported. Apple debuted the iPad, introducing the world to the concept of a...
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December 30th, 2011 by InvestorPoint
MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- An unseasonably warm and dry December in Northern California has ski resort operators worried about a lack of snow, but they say they're staying optimistic. While last year's snowfall brought huge totals -- 65 feet fell on the mountains around Lake Tahoe resorts, well above the typical 50 feet -- the snow so far this year is being measured in inches, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. It's had an impact on the holiday season business, ski resorts say. ...
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December 30th, 2011 by InvestorPoint
BRASILIA, Brazil, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Brazil may have passed Britain to claim the No. 6 spot in the world's largest economies, but incomes per capita still lag far behind, data shows. In Britain, the per capita income is about $34,600, while in Brazil it is about $10,100, Forbes magazine reported Friday. Although income per capita has jumped from 2006, when it was $5,793, the country is still many years away from developing a strong middle class, Forbes said. The image of the average Brazilian shoppi...
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December 30th, 2011 by InvestorPoint
BEIJING, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- An index of China's manufacturing showed the sector contracted in December, financial research firm Markit said Friday. With numbers below 50 indicating a contraction, the HSBC Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose from November to December, climbing from 47.7 to 48.7, but still remaining below the break-even point, Markit said. The index in the fourth quarter averaged its lowest reading since the first quarter of 2009, Markit reported. The report blamed slack "ext...
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December 30th, 2011 by InvestorPoint
NEW YORK, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Stocks on Wall Street turned lower Friday in midmorning trading with the year hanging in the balance for the broad-shouldered Standard & Poor's 500 index. For the week, the S&P 500 has been trading on both sides of its Jan. 1 starting point, which was 1,257.64 points. It closed at 1,263.02 Thursday and went south Friday morning, dropping 1.27 points or 0.09 percent to 1,261.75. HSBC reported Friday China's diffuse Purchasing Managers Index of manufacturing activity...
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