Finance Blog number 1

Japan’s top automakers helped lead the Nikkei 225 index out of negative territory Friday after a key auto parts supplier announced the early resumption of some operations that had been halted after last month’s devastating earthquake.

Renesas Electronics Corp., a key provider of microprocessors that control brakes, engines and transmissions, said operations would resume early at its Naka factory in Ibaraki prefecture, where production was temporarily halted after the March 11 quake and tsunami that wreaked havoc along Japan’s northeastern coast.

Renesas had earlier said it intended to restart partial manufacturing at the Naka factory in July. The company said it is working “with more than 2,000 additional support workers dispatched from outside Renesas Electronics companies to help speed up the resumption of production as much as possible.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.3 percent to 9,713.94, with automakers posting major gains. Toyota Motor Corp. rose 3 percent, Honda Motor Corp. bumped up by 2.3 percent and Nissan Motor Corp. jumped 3.6 percent.

However, some major Japanese exporters slipped as the yen gained against the U.S. dollar. Canon Inc. dropped 1.3 percent and Sony Corp no fax pay day loan. was down 0.6 percent.

The Nikkei was one of a handful of exchanges open in Asia on the Good Friday holiday.

South Korea’s Kospi index was flat at 2,198.30, and mainland China’s Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.6 percent to 3,007.63 as investors booked profits following a week of gains. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index was down 0.7 percent to 1,273.01. Taiwan’s TAIEX rose 0.1 percent to 8,969.43.

Markets in Hong Kong, India, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore were closed.

On Wall Street, strong earnings from large companies like Apple Inc. and UnitedHealth lifted stocks broadly higher Thursday. Gains were spread across the market, with all 10 company groups that make up the S&P 500 index closing the day with gains.

The Dow rose 52 points to close at 12,506. The S&P 500 rose 7 points to 1,337. The Nasdaq rose 18 points to 2,820.

The euro rose $1.4577 from $1.4544 late Thursday in New York. The dollar dropped to 81.85 yen from 81.90 yen.

Oil was untraded in Asia due to the holiday.

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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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Pitching the promise of energy independence, President Barack Obama cautioned Wednesday that it’s going to be tough to transition from America’s oil-dependent economy and acknowledged there’s little he can do to lower gas prices over the short term.

“I’m just going to be honest with you. There’s not much we can do next week or two weeks from now,” the president told workers at a wind turbine plant. It’s a theme Obama’s struck before as he tries to show voters he’s attuned to a top economic concern with gas prices pushing toward $4 a gallon.

Obama said he wants to move toward “a future where America is less dependent on foreign oil, more reliant on clean energy produced by workers like you.” That will happen by reducing oil imports, tapping domestic energy sources and shifting the nation to renewable and less polluting sources of energy, such as wind, the president says. He has set a goal of reducing oil imports by one-third by 2025.

But the president said it won’t happen overnight and if any politician says it’s easy, “they’re not telling the truth.”

“Gas prices? They’re going to still fluctuate until we can start making these broader changes, and that’s going to take a couple of years to have serious effect,” Obama said.

Obama needled one questioner who asked about gas prices, now averaging close to $3.70 a gallon nationwide, and suggested that the gentleman consider getting rid of his gas-guzzling vehicle.

“If you’re complaining about the price of gas and you’re only getting 8 miles a gallon, you know,” Obama said laughingly. “You might want to think about a trade-in.”

The president spoke at a town hall meeting at Gamesa Technology Corp., a Spanish company that makes giant turbines that use wind to generate electricity. According to the White House, it is the first overseas company of its kind to set up shop in the U.S.

Back in Washington, negotiations continued on a budget deal to avert a government shutdown Friday and Obama urged lawmakers to get it done. The president said he wants to cut spending, but not at the expense of cutting priorities like energy and education.

As fuel prices rise because of growing demand worldwide and political unrest in oil-producing nations in North Africa and the Middle East, drivers are feeling pinched at the pump. Republicans blame Obama and his policies and he, in turn, is striving to show the public that he gets it.

Gasoline prices rose another 2 cents Tuesday to a new national average of just over $3.68 a gallon, according to AAA and other sources. Obama’s visit to Gamesa was his fourth energy event since March 11. He’s scheduled a fifth for Friday in Indianapolis.

Obama argues that shifting to cleaner and domestic energy sources will help create jobs and boost U.S. competitiveness.

Education is another item on Obama’s competitiveness agenda. That issue was to be the focus of a speech he was giving later Wednesday to the Rev. Al Sharpton’s civil rights group in New York City. Obama’s appearance keeps a promise he made to the National Action Network when he spoke there as a presidential candidate in 2007. Obama pledged to return, win or lose.

He returns just two days after launching his re-election bid. He is facing a key constituency that at times has scolded him for not being attentive enough to certain issues, such as double-digit black unemployment, but continues to hold him in high regard.

Obama deflects such criticism by arguing that his polices to expand the economy, create jobs and improve the education system, among other goals, will help the country as a whole, blacks included.

Ninety-five percent of blacks who voted, opted for Obama in 2008. A Gallup poll released last week showed his job approval among blacks holding at 84 percent, about the same as six months earlier.

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Stomach churning fairground rides are nothing compared to the nausea caused by receiving a brown Canada Revenue Agency envelope in the mail. Even the colour of those CRA missives seems somehow accusatory. Almost 3 million returns are reviewed annually with millions of the dreaded brown envelopes sent out with a request (demand) for additional information from taxpayers.

The best way to avoid panic-filled evenings scrambling for receipts and other documents is to know some of the agency

Bell Canada has backed off a unpopular plan to make small, independent Internet service providers, which lease space on its network, apply caps on individual Internet use.

The unit of BCE Inc. said Monday it will propose an alternative scheme for the imposition of usage fees on independent ISPs, a move observers say could help keep a lid on Internet costs for consumers.

Bell

You never want to kick a nation when it’s down. It’s time, though, to consider the depth of Japan’s coming recession.

A week ago, before radiation fears prompted a mass exodus from Tokyo, a downturn was of the “if” variety. Japan’s prospects then dimmed with each passing day of blackouts and panicked news reports. The questions now are when the recession will officially begin, how bad it will be and when might it end?

There’s this bizarre notion that Japan’s crisis is a non- event for the world economy — that at just 9 percent of global gross domestic product, Japan’s zigs and zags mean little. And besides, it’s thought, the Group of Seven stepped in to cap the yen and all’s well again. Perhaps. Yet Japan’s near-term trajectory may surprise the global bulls out there.

The G-7’s intervention halted the yen’s rally to a postwar high of 76.25. It was a rare success for a grouping so out its depth as America’s economy burned in 2008 and Europe’s debt crisis heated up in recent months. The G-7 showed that multilateralism may be making a comeback.

The international response to Japan’s disaster has been rapid, heartfelt and genuine. China and other regional rivals put aside contentious issues, and Asian relations will be better off for it. There’s also reason to hope this crisis catalyzes a sclerotic leadership class to put Japan on a more dynamic course. Count Sony Corp. Chairman Howard Stringer among those who hope recovery efforts will jump-start the lagging economy as the country uses savings to rebuild.

‘BP Moment’

Yet the fallout from what some pundits call Japan’s “BP moment” is broadening as we speak. In a perfect world, rebuilding efforts would help GDP in the second half of 2011. Lots of infrastructure needs to be restored in Japan’s northeastern Tohoku region, which accounts for roughly 8 percent of the economy.

The trouble is the intangibleness of Japan’s current situation. Many worry that aftershocks and rolling blackouts following the March 11 earthquake are with us indefinitely. That augurs poorly both for business investment and household spending for the remainder of 2011. Household savings may soar as Japanese worry about another huge temblor or tsunami.

Events at two of Japan’s most fabled names — Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. — tell the story. Both face worst-case scenarios of long-term production shortfalls as scores of plants remain closed and workers are idled. And this will be playing out for weeks, if not months, to come as the nuclear reactors Japan Inc. took for granted stay offline.

Reconstruction Efforts

Myriad other industries will be affected as shipments of chemicals, plastics, steel and other metals, precision ball bearings and electronic components are disrupted indefinitely freecreditscore. It’s certainly possible that reconstruction efforts near Sendai will pick up some of the economic slack, but not all.

Let’s consider, too, the nascent backlash against all things Japanese. It started with sushi. In Hong Kong, the Mandarin Oriental International Ltd.’s flagship and the city’s Four Seasons Hotel stopped buying food from Japan. In Taiwan, a small amount of radiation found in a shipment of peas is the first case of such contamination on imports from Japan, the Associated Press reported yesterday.

A backlash in mainland China would be especially painful. China turned away a Japanese cargo plane operated by All Nippon Airways Co. at Dalian airport. Authorities said the plane’s shipment, which departed from near Tokyo on March 16, had radiation levels that exceeded limits. A sense of wariness about the Japan brand among 1.3 billion can’t be good news for Asia’s second-biggest economy.

Cheap Japan

Of course, all this could be a boon for value investors. In the days before the quake, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and David Herro of Oakmark International Fund were among those viewing Japanese equities as significantly undervalued. Even Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, says it’s time to buy and hold Japanese stocks. Well, now they are cheap for sure.

Yet on top of the uncertainty factor emanating from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant, Japan is afflicted by political paralysis. Prime Minister Naoto Kan invited the head of the largest opposition party to join his cabinet to build political support for its battle to contain the nation’s deepest postwar crisis. Sadakazu Tanigaki, who leads the Liberal Democratic Party, declined.

Folks, this is no time for partisanship.

Pre-Quake Worries

Japan didn’t enter this crisis in a position of strength. Its economy shrank at an annualized 1.3 percent rate in the three months ended Dec. 31. Even before the quake, Japan had the world’s largest public debt and arguably the lowest interest rates.

And now this. The surge in the yen — as traders front-run a massive repatriation of money to Japan by insurance companies — is a reminder that the quake is the stimulus package that Japan didn’t want.

There’s every reason to think Japan will bounce back in the long run. Unless Japan gets a decisive handle on this uncertainty factor, its prospects will darken in the short run.

Still think that’s not a worry for the global economy?

(William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

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Entering the workforce in a serious way for the first time isn

Stocks fell for the third straight day Wednesday as surging oil prices overshadowed signs of an improving job market.

Oil prices neared $100 a barrel as clashes in Libya intensified between forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi and anti-government protesters. Rebels control much of the eastern part of the country, effectively splitting Libya into two.

Libya is the world’s 15th largest exporter of crude, accounting for 2 percent of global daily output. Traders are worried the revolt could threaten Libya’s oil production and spread to other countries in the region, such as oil-rich Saudi Arabia. Higher oil prices can also slow the U.S. economy by increasing transportation costs.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 79 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,026. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 7, or 0.5 percent, to 1,300. The Nasdaq composite fell 3, or 0.1 percent, to 2,719.

The Labor Department said fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, a sign that the job market is recovering. The four-week average for applications, a figure closely watched by financial analysts, fell to its lowest level in more than two and a half years credit reports free. The Commerce Department said sales of new homes fell significantly in January, another sign that the housing industry is still struggling

Several companies rose after announcing better than expected earnings.

Priceline.com Inc. jumped 6.7 percent after the online travel service reported a 73 percent surge in fourth-quarter earnings and raised its income forecast for the current quarter. Target Corp. rose 2.4 percent after the retailer reported an 11 percent gain in profit. H&R Block Inc. rose 6 percent after the tax preparation company said it expected to report near break-even earnings in its fiscal third quarter.

Bond prices rose, pushing their yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.42 percent from 3.49 percent late Wednesday.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy called a summit of euro-area leaders next month on economic competitiveness as they sought to bridge differences over how to end the region’s debt crisis.

The German and French leaders announced a joint push for a “pact for competitiveness” to flank more immediate steps — still the subject of dispute — to shore up Greece and Ireland and prevent fiscal woes from swamping Portugal and Spain.

The two didn’t say whether Germany and France have resolved disagreements over the expanded use of the 440 billion-euro ($600 billion) rescue fund for debt-strapped countries.

“The year 2010 was a year of trials for the euro,” Merkel said at a joint briefing with Sarkozy at a meeting of European leaders in Brussels today. Germany and France are firmly committed that 2011 will be the year of new confidence for the euro.”

No date was set for the 17-nation euro summit. It could come as late as the eve of the next scheduled meeting of all 27 European Union leaders on March 24, a French official said.

The euro region’s two leading economic powers are at odds over how to retool the rescue fund, with Germany opposing buybacks that would enable high-debt countries to buy their own bonds at a discount on the market, according to three European officials involved in the talks who declined to be identified because the deliberations remain private personal loan for poor credit.

Instead, the focus is on mobilizing the full potential of the fund, now able to lend only about 250 billion euros due to collateral rules that underpin its AAA credit rating.

Euro Dips

Signs of discord helped snuff out a three-day rally in European bond markets yesterday and knocked the euro off a three-month high, as investors questioned when Europe will come up with an anti-crisis formula.

The euro fell for a third day today, weakening as much as 0.5 percent to $1.3568.

The competitiveness proposal calls for debt-limitation rules in national constitutions, a revival of EU plans to harmonize the corporate-tax base, the abolition of wage indexation and promises to clean up the banking system.

Only the principles have been worked out so far, the French official told reporters, ruling out a further increase in the French retirement age after it was lifted to 62 from 60 last year.

“We are working together, Germany and France, hand in hand with an absolute determination to support the euro, to defend the euro, which we see as a major element in the European project,” Sarkozy said.

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DAVOS, Switzerland