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If you’re thinking of buying a car soon, here’s some advice: Don’t.

“If you can wait, wait,” says Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds guaranteed pay day loans.com, the car-buying website.

The Japanese earthquake is raising prices and cutting selection

European officials closed ranks Thursday to demand that the IMF’s next leader be one of their own, someone with the political savvy to handle the continent’s relentless debt crisis, but the U.S. balked at offering its immediate support.

Frenchman Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who has been widely praised for his leadership of the Intentional Monetary Fund and its involvement in solving Europe’s woes, resigned Wednesday to devote “all his energy” to fighting sexual assault charges in New York.

The move heated up simmering debate over his successor, with Europe staking its traditional claim to the post even as fast-growing nations like China and Brazil say it’s time to break that monopoly and seek an IMF chief from a developing nation. The IMF is empowered to direct billions of dollars to stabilize the global economy.

In Washington, where the IMF is based, U.S. Treasury chief Timothy Geithner said “We want to see an open process that leads to a prompt succession.”

Geithner’s statement was ambiguous and leaves open the possibility that the U.S., which has a major say in determining who will head the fund, could support a candidate from either group. Some analysts said the U.S. government will make its preference clearer behind the scenes while keeping a more impartial stance in public.

Hours after Strauss-Kahn’s resignation, everyone from the European Commission to the German chancellor to the French finance minister _ herself a potential candidate _ said the replacement should come from Europe. Not because of any tradition, they insisted, but because intimate knowledge of Europe’s debt crisis should be a critical element of any candidate’s portfolio.

“From a European point of view, it is essential that the appointment will be merit-based, where competence and economic and political experience play the key role,” said Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Monetary and Economic Affairs. “And in this current juncture it is a merit if the person has quite solid knowledge of the European economy and decision making.”

There is no indication yet when a decision will be made. But a meeting of the G-8 _ a group of eight developed countries _ takes place next week in the seaside resort of Deauville, France, and all the major decision-makers will be there.

France’s Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has in recent days been touted in many European capitals as a good choice. A sharp, articulate negotiator, she has a strong international reputation and impeccable English after living in the United States for many years.

“I am convinced that she is a good candidate. I made a few trips with her to Asia. I was able to verify her popularity among ministers of large emerging countries,” France’s transport minister, Thierry Mariani, told France-Info radio Thursday.

Despite Lagarde’s popularity, Mariani was the first member of the French government to speak publicly about her as a candidate.

That’s partly because she is a member of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative UMP party, and if Sarkozy openly pushes for her candidacy, that could fuel the widespread belief in France that the accusations against Strauss-Kahn were part of a conspiracy to knock him off what appeared to be his march toward the French presidency.

Lagarde herself mentioned no names but said she too supported a European for the job.

“I’m a true European and I’m convinced that Europe is the way to go, as far as we are concerned,” she told reporters on a visit to a French supermarket. “I am a convinced European and I think that for such a candidacy, the Europeans must be united.”

In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed for a rapid decision and underlined her hopes for another European. “It is of great significance, of course, that we find a quick solution.”

The IMF’s executive board released a letter from Strauss-Kahn on Wednesday in which he denied the allegations against him but said he felt he must resign to protect his family and the IMF.

Strauss-Kahn was back in court Thursday in New York for a bail hearing that could have spelled the end of his leadership of the IMF anyway. He faces charges of assaulting a maid in a New York hotel room and has been jailed in New York since Monday.

The IMF’s statement said the process of choosing a new leader would begin, but in the meantime John Lipsky would remain its acting managing director.

Lipsky said Thursday that he deeply regrets the circumstances that temporarily placed him in the top position.

Europeans have led the IMF since its inception after World War II. Americans have occupied both the No. 2 position at the IMF and the top post at its sister institution, the World Bank. The World Bank funds projects in developing countries.

Developing nations see Europe’s stranglehold on the position as increasingly out of touch with the world economy. China’s is now the world’s second largest economy. India’s and Brazil’s have cracked the top 10.

“We must establish meritocracy, so that the person leading the IMF is selected for their merits and not for being European,” Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Wednesday.

Other potential European candidates include Germany’s former central bank chief, Axel Weber; the head of Europe’s bailout fund, Klaus Regling; and Peer Steinbrueck, a former German finance minister.

Candidates from elsewhere include Turkey’s former finance minister, Kemal Dervis; Singapore’s finance chief, Tharman Shanmugaratnam; and Indian economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

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The FDA has approved the first flu shot injected with a tiny needle into skin cells rather than muscle.

Sanofi Pasteur said Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration approved the company’s Fluzone Intradermal vaccine for adults 18 through 64 years old. It will be available for the 2011-12 influenza season.

Flu shots generally are injected deep into muscle with a needle 1 inch to 1.5 inches long, a sight that distresses many patients.

Sanofi Pasteur’s new product has a needle less than a tenth of an inch long, attached to a pre-filled syringe that holds a smaller amount of influenza vaccine than the company’ standard flu shots. That’s because the dermis, the skin layer just under the surface, has a high concentration of the dendritic cells that are key to generating an immune response.

The company, based in Swiftwater, Pa., said patients have said they prefer the shorter, slimmer needles of the Fluzone Intradermal vaccine, but there’s no data yet on whether they are less painful than bigger needles payday loans. Reactions around the injection site, including redness, swelling and itching, were more common with the new vaccine than with an intramuscular vaccine, company research found.

The product is already marketed in Europe, Australia and Canada by Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine division of French drug giant Sanofi, previously known as Sanofi-Aventis SA.

Olivier Charmeil, CEO of Sanofi Pasteur, said the product may help increase adult influenza immunization rates here.

Flu shots are now recommended for most Americans, but many adults don’t get them. Complications from the flu kill tens of thousands of Americans in a typical year.

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Pakistani media have reported a name they say is that of the CIA’s station chief in Islamabad.

The weekend television and newspaper reports follow last Monday’s U.S. raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and badly soured relations between the two countries.

A spokesman for Pakistani intelligence declined to comment Monday.

It’s the second time in six months that an alleged name of the CIA station chief in Islamabad has been reported in the Pakistani media. The Associated Press has learned that the name being reported is incorrect.

In December, the CIA pulled its then-station chief out of the country after a name alleged to be his surfaced in Pakistan’s media. Pakistani officials have denied unmasking the previous station chief.

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Renren, China’s largest social-networking service, filed for a U.S. initial public offering late Friday in a bid to fund expansion.

The so-called Facebook of China plans to sell shares for $9 to $11 each, according to Renren’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Renren said in its filing that it is the leading social networking site as measured by total page views, total number of visits and total user time spent on its websites as of February. Renren cited data from iResearch.

The company’s platform — which also features an online games site, a social commerce site and a professional networking service — had about 117 million activated users as of March 31, 2011.

Renren said it plans to use proceeds from the IPO to expand its technology, development and marketing. It will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "RENN."

China Internet stocks have been hot on the U.S. market in recent months. Back in December, shares of Dangdang (DANG) and Youku (YOKU) — China’s Amazon and YouTube respectively — soared after making their U.S. debuts.

Experts have said Renren competitor Kaixin001 could also go public in the U payday loans.S. this year.

Meanwhile Baidu (BIDU), China’s top online search company in China, has reported stellar earnings — as has Internet media company Sohu.com (SOHU).

Stateside, the tech IPO market is showing signs of thaw. LinkedIn filed in January, while Demand Media went public the same month. Pandora filed for an IPO in February. And online real estate company Zillow filed to go public Monday.

But everyone’s waiting for Facebook — and the golden child hasn’t shown much interest in going public soon.

Still, the social network said earlier this year that it will begin filing public financial statements by April 2012. That’s a move likely to coincide with an IPO, as regulatory rules are forcing Facebook’s hand.

When companies have more than 499 shareholders, they’re required to publicly disclose their financial results and file quarterly reports to the SEC. Facebook has said it expects to pass the 500 shareholder mark sometime this year. 

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China’s decision to keep its currency weak has caused the government to lose control of inflation and risks fuelling wage-price gains, billionaire investor George Soros said.

While the policy helped insulate China from the financial crisis in 2008, the world’s second-biggest economy has missed its chance to allow the yuan to appreciate to tame inflation, Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC, said yesterday at a conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.

“It would be very advantageous to allow the currency to appreciate as a way of controlling inflation,” Soros said. “The authorities missed that opportunity. You now have inflation somewhat out of control, and causing some serious danger of wage-price inflation.”

The yuan gained 4.6 percent against the U.S. dollar in the past two years, the second-smallest gain of 10 Asian currencies tracked by Bloomberg, even as economic growth rebounded and foreign-exchange reserves jumped to a record. Inflation accelerated to 5.2 percent in March, exceeding government targets for a ninth month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

The yuan’s gain since April 2009 compares with a 31 percent advance for the Indonesian rupiah, a 22 percent climb by the South Korean won and a 21 percent jump by the Singapore dollar. Only the Hong Kong dollar, which is pegged to the U.S. currency, has appreciated less than the yuan.

‘Marginal Role’

China’s currency was little changed at 6.5367 per dollar as in Shanghai, trading near a 17-year high. Twelve-month non- deliverable forwards climbed 0.09 percent to 6.3775 per dollar in Hong Kong, reflecting bets the yuan will gain about 2.6 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

China has resisted pressure from U.S. officials to let the yuan appreciate more rapidly, rejecting Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner’s argument that a stronger currency would make it easier to manage inflation pressures.

“While exchange rates can be an effective tool to contain inflation in some countries, I don’t think that’s the case for China,” said Li Cui, chief China economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Plc in Hong Kong. “It’s not so surprising that we are seeing higher inflation in China as price growth is mainly driven by strong domestic demand, while imported inflation only plays a marginal role.”

‘Critical Question’

China’s economic growth accelerated to 9.8 percent in the fourth quarter, driven by a pickup in industrial production and retail sales. The government will report first-quarter economic data on April 15.

The People’s Bank of China raised interest rates four times and boosted banks’ reserve requirement ratios six times since the third quarter to help contain inflation. HSBC Holdings Plc said last week the possibility of another rate increase is rising. Credit Suisse Group AG forecasts the benchmark one-year deposit rate, which has risen 1 percentage point to 3.25 percent, will climb another 1.5 percentage points by the end of the year.

“This cannot continue indefinitely,” Soros said. “There’s great resistance with the government mechanism to relax the system which serves the interest in power very well. I find that the critical question for the future of China.”

A stronger currency would combat inflation by making foreign goods cheaper in China. The nation reported its first quarterly trade deficit in seven years yesterday, driven partly by rising commodity prices. Inbound crude oil shipments rose 12 percent by volume and 39 percent by value, while iron-ore imports rose 14.4 percent by volume and 82.5 percent by value.

Bretton Woods

Soros, 80, reportedly made $1 billion in a successful bet in 1992 that Britain would fail to keep its currency in a European exchange-rate system that pre-dated the euro. Other successful trades included a bet that the deutsche mark would rise after the collapse of the Berlin wall and a wager that Japanese stocks would start to tumble in 1989.

He spoke at a conference sponsored by the Institute for New Economic Thinking, which Soros helped found and supports.

U.S. and European officials met in Bretton Woods in 1944 to draw up rules that governed much of the world economy for almost three decades. Nations agreed to fix exchange rates, establish the International Monetary Fund and start the process of rebuilding Europe’s economy in the aftermath of World War II by encouraging coordinated economic policies.

The Bretton Woods era ended in 1971, when inflation forced the U.S. to abandon the dollar’s peg to gold, an anchor of the system, heralding the era of floating exchange rates. The Bretton Woods agreement had linked currencies around the world to the price of gold and restricted their fluctuations versus the dollar, requiring intervention by participants to comply.

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U.S. stocks rallied for a third day on Monday, as fears about Japan’s damaged nuclear plants eased and investors cheered a huge merger in the telecommunications industry.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) jumped 178 points, or 1.5%, to 12,037. It’s the first time the Dow has closed above the 12,000-point mark since the day of the Japanese earthquake on March 11.

The S&P 500 (SPX) index added 19.2 points, or 1.5%, to 1,298; and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (COMP) gained 48 points, or 1.8%, 2,692.

Stocks spiked at the open Monday, and remained steadily higher throughout the session.

Investors rallied on positive news regarding Japan’s nuclear crisis, as well as AT&T’s $39 billion deal to acquire T-Mobile USA. Shares of AT&T (T, Fortune 500) and Verizon Communications (VZ, Fortune 500) closed up more than 1%, although both companies pared back some of their earlier gains.

"Mergers are always a shot of adrenaline for investors, because it shows that corporate insiders still see value, despite this two-year bull market," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co.

Shares of AT&T’s smaller competitor Sprint Nextel (S, Fortune 500), which had been reported to be in talks with Deutsche Telekom, fell 14%, making it the worst performer on the S&P 500.

Aside from corporate news, investors continue to react to developments in Japan and Libya.

Over the weekend, Japanese engineers made progress in cooling nuclear reactors that had overheated, following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the country March 11.

Meanwhile, turmoil in North Africa heated up. The United States and its allies launched an airstrike on Libyan military targets Monday, in an effort to subdue forces of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi no fax cash loans.

Oil prices jumped more than $1 a barrel in electronic trading, following the attack. (CNN.com coverage of Libya)

"The fear of a Middle East contagion and a horrible nuclear calamity in Japan has abated, and the good news is that the economy and market fundamentals have returned to the forefront," said Paul Zemsky, head of asset allocation with ING Investment Management.

U.S. stocks ended higher Friday, but the ongoing turmoil in Japan led indexes to end lower for the week.

Economy: The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales fell to an annual rate of 4.88 million in February, which was much lower than the 5.05 million most economists forecasted.

Companies: Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) shares fell 1.6% after the bank announced a 1-for-10 reverse stock split and said it plans to reinstate its quarterly dividend.

Tiffany & Co. (TIF) shares rose 5% after the luxury retailer reported a stronger-than-expected profit.

World markets: European stocks closed broadly higher. The DAX in Germany gained 2.3%, France’s CAC 40 rose 2.5%, and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 1.2%.

Asian markets ended higher. The Shanghai Composite ticked up less than 0.1%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.7%. Japanese markets were closed for a national holiday.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar gained against the euro and the Japanese yen, but was flat versus the British pound.

Gold futures for April delivery rose $10.30, or 0.7%, to $1,426.40 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 3.35% from 3.26% late Friday.  

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Libyan diplomats at the United Nations in Geneva declared they were defecting to the opposition Friday, delivering another blow to Moammar Gadhafi’s flailing regime as international pressure built over his violent attempt to cling to power.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on the long-time leader to step down, demanding during a visit to Turkey that Gadhafi “must go,” and calling for an investigation and sanctions against the regime and those who continue to do business with it.

In a dramatic scene at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council, a senior diplomat with the Libyan delegation to the U.N. in Geneva asked the council to stand for a moment of silence to “honor this revolution” _ and then informed the council the entire mission was quitting the government. Council members gave them a standing ovation.

“The young people in my country today, 100 years after the Italian fascist invasion, are today with their blood writing a new chapter in the history of struggle and resistance,” Shaltut told the 47-nation council.

“We in the Libyan mission have categorically decided to serve as representatives of the Libyan people and their free will. We only represent the Libyan people,” he said.

Libya’s top diplomat in Sweden joined the rebellion against Gadhafi, telling The Associated Press he could not accept the “massacre against my own people.” Abdelmagid Buzrigh, the charge d’affaires at the Libyan Embassy in Stockholm, said, however, he would not step down, because he felt he was serving everyday Libyans.

The resignations come after the U.N.’s top human rights official warned that mass killings in Libya, possibly of thousands, require the world to “step in vigorously” and immediately end a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters in the North African country.

The U.N. high commissioner spoke with the most urgency yet by a U.N. official, citing estimates that thousands may have died at the hands of Gadhafi’s security forces, possibly amounting to crimes against humanity.

“The crackdown in Libya of peaceful demonstrations is escalating alarmingly with reported mass killings, arbitrary arrests, detention and torture of protesters,” Navi Pillay said during the human rights council’s daylong emergency meeting. “Tanks, helicopters and military aircraft have reportedly been used indiscriminately to attack the protesters. According to some sources, thousands may have been killed or injured.”

Diplomats debated whether to call for Libya’s ouster from the council, in what would be an unprecedented suspension of one of its own members. It will also decide whether to heed Pillay’s call for an independent U.N.-led probe of abuses in Libya.

It was only last May that the former U.S. enemy, Libya, was elected to the Geneva-based body as part of a series of attempts at political rehabilitation on the world stage.

European nations were leading the effort to condemn Gadhafi’s regime that has ruled for 42 years but now appears to have lost control of large parts of the country.

“The world is watching you, the world will hold you to account,” British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters Friday, referring to Gadhafi’s regime. “International justice has a long reach and a long memory.”

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a statement on Friday that Libya must not be allowed any “further exacerbation of the situation, the destruction of the civilian population.” It is the Kremlin’s strongest criticism yet of Libya.

It is the first time that the Geneva-based council has held a special session to scrutinize one of its members.

Nigeria and China were among those who condemned the violence but rejected the call to suspend Libya from the council.

Pakistan’s ambassador, Zamir Akram, said the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference “strongly condemn the excessive use of force” in Libya.

Also Friday, a Paris-based Libyan official said Libya’s ambassadors to France and to the U.N. cultural and education organization UNESCO had quit.

Gadhafi’s response to the uprising in his country has been the harshest by any Arab leader in the wave of protests that has swept the Middle East recently, toppling the presidents of Libya’s neighbors Egypt and Tunisia.

Suspending Libya’s “rights of membership” under the rules for the council would require two-thirds approval of all the 192 countries in the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Human rights activists said they expect a strongly worded resolution to pass at the council, though it might be watered down by efforts to achieve the broadest possible consensus.

While efforts to ostracize Libya from the council are being driven by Europe, the United States and some Latin American countries, Asian and African nations will be wary of setting a precedent that can be used against them or their allies in future, said Peter Splinter of Amnesty International.

“This is a test of the council and the willingness of some of its more active members, such as Pakistan, South Africa, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, to take a principled stand on human rights,” he said.

In Brussels, NATO was holding an emergency meeting Friday to consider the deteriorating situation in Libya. It had received no requests to intervene and said it would only do so if it were given a United Nations mandate.

The U.N. Security Council also planned to meet later Friday in New York to consider actions against Gadhafi’s regime.

French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said France and Britain would press the Security Council for a “total embargo on weapons as well as sanctions, and also the referral of a case to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.”

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Associated Press reporters across Europe contributed to this report.

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