khanhdongil

MONEY

2007-06-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

Bond guru Gross turns bearish
PIMCO manager says strong economic growth worldwide should push up interest rates and yields.
By Grace Wong, CNNMoney.com staff writer
June 7 2007: 5:11 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Legendary bond investor Bill Gross expects strong economic growth worldwide to push up global interest rates and put a damper on the Treasury market.
A long time bond market bull, the PIMCO manager says he's now a "bear market manager" and has raised his forecast range for the benchmark 10-year U.S. yield to 4 percent to 6.5 percent. That's up from last year's forecast range of 4 percent to 5.5 percent.
PIMCO's Bill Gross
Gross, manager of the world's largest bond fund, discussed his economic and investment view at an annual PIMCO event. His comments were made available on PIMCO's Web site Thursday.
Benchmark Treasury yield above 5%
Stocks extended their losses on Gross's bearish view of the bond market. Recent concerns about rising interest rates have sent Wall Street into a tailspin. The Dow has shed about 400 points in the past three sessions.
Treasury prices have dived on inflation worries, global rate hikes and concerns of possible rate increases from the Federal Reserve. On Thursday, the 10-year yield rose above the key 5 percent level for the first time since August. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Gross said he expects global growth to advance at a strong pace of 4 percent to 5 percent over the next three to five years and for inflation to rise mildly in the United States and worldwide. That combination "is not necessarily bond-friendly," his comments said.
Years of strong growth in low-cost countries have helped keep inflation contained, but inflation should drift higher as the labor forces of Asia and other emerging markets are incorporated into the global economy, Gross said.
Besides inflation rising slightly higher, the bond market faces other pressures. Central banks and asset managers are likely to shift away from safe-haven investments, such as U.S. Treasurys, as they seek out higher yields, Gross said.
The appetite of foreign central banks for low-risk assets like U.S. Treasurys has been one of the reasons why yields on U.S. government bonds have remained low for so long.
Gross said investors should take advantage of global growth. He said PIMCO is making bets on emerging market currencies as well as commodities. When it comes to bonds, developing markets like Brazil should offer attractive yields, he added.
Shaking off global rate worries High-yield strategies for a low-yield era

window.onerror=function(){clickURL=document.location.href;return true;}
if(!self.clickURL) clickURL=parent.location.href;
SAVE EMAIL PRINT REPRINT

Dow Jones stock up on News Corp. meeting

2007-06-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

Dow Jones stock up on News Corp. meeting
Shares of Wall Street Journal publisher close above the $60-a-share bid as controlling family says it will meet to discuss offer.
June 1 2007: 6:56 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Dow Jones shares closed sharply higher Friday after the Bancroft family, which has a controlling interest in the company, said it would meet with News Corp. to discuss its $5 billion buyout offer.
Shares of Dow Jones (up $7.89 to $61.20, Charts), the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, closed nearly 15 percent higher at $61.20 on the New York Stock Exchange Friday, above the $60-a-share from News Corp. that the Bancroft family initially rejected.
Video
More video
CNNMoney's Jim Ledbetter sits down with Fortune's David Kirkpatrick to discuss media magnate Rupert Murdoch's bid for Dow Jones.
Play video
Michael Elefante, a company director who represents the family, told the Dow Jones board Thursday evening that Bancroft family representatives would meet with News Corp. (up $0.59 to $24.22, Charts, Fortune 500), including chairman Rupert Murdoch, to see if "it will be possible to ensure the level of commitment to editorial independence, integrity and journalistic freedom that is the hallmark of Dow Jones."
The family also said it is open to other options and that all aspects of the News Corp. proposal could be the subject of negotiation by Dow Jones' board of directors and the Bancrofts.
Dow Jones board members said there no assurance that a deal would take place as a result of the talks with News Corp or that they would support such a move.
Another shareholder, former Dow Jones executive Jim Ottaway Jr. who controls 5.2 percent of voting power, said Friday he was disappointed by the Bancrofts' decision to consider Murdoch's bid and urged the company to find a "more trustworthy" buyer.
On May 1 News Corp. offered $5 billion, or $60 a share, for Dow Jones. Shortly thereafter, News Corp.'s Murdoch offered the Bancrofts a seat on the company's board if they accept his bid.
The Dow Jones board initially did not act on the offer since it believed the Bancroft family, which owns 52 percent of the outstanding voting power, would vote against the deal.
Members of the Bancroft family have spoken out against the deal, contending that the buyout would endanger The Wall Street Journal's independence.
Shaking the Bancroft family tree Murdoch's bold bid for the Journal

The new Facebook is on a roll

2007-06-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

The new Facebook is on a roll
The social network's new strategy has already led to surprising innovation - and another million or so users.

By David Kirkpatrick, Fortune senior editor
June 1 2007: 10:23 AM EDT
Sign up for the Fast Forward e-mail newsletter
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- It's been an eventful week since Facebook launched a new strategy to turn itself into a platform for applications created by outsiders. The social network has gained another million users and is now up to 25 million. And now that the company has created a new green field for developers, innovation is exploding.
The hottest application on Facebook is from a music social networking company called iLike. That service is now approaching a million users, growing at about 200,000 per day. This is amazing for a company whose own website had a total of three million members prior to the Facebook launch.
More from FORTUNE
Help! My boss is nuts
Gen Y women: Don't be martyrs!
The new Facebook is on a roll
FORTUNE 500
Current Issue
Subscribe to Fortune
Video
More video
Fortune's David Kirkpatrick and Oliver Ryan talk about the changes at Facebook and what it means for the future of the company.
Play video
Video
More video
Fortune Magazine's David Kirkpatrick talks with the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg about opening the site up to programmers and creating a platform for new technologies.
Play video
In this excellent interview at VentureBeat, iLike CEO Ali Partovi says that company president (and his twin brother) Hadi Partovi, a Microsoft (Charts) veteran, believes that "in the history of computing, there was the personal computer, there was Windows, there was the web, and now the Facebook platform."
That might seem strong stuff, but one can understand the Partovis' enthusiasm for Facebook, since after four days iLike was getting more traffic on Facebook than on its own site.
Exclusive: Facebook's new face
What makes it all the more amazing is that the iLike application on Facebook isn't even very good. But its tremendous success tells me two things. First, that music applications are craved by Facebook's membership. After all, music info and promotion has been the single biggest factor other than sex and dating to fuel the growth of MySpace, the dominant social network> But it hasn't up to now been a big part of Facebook.
But iLike also demonstrates the viral power of Facebook's platform. This is probably its most under appreciated aspect. Neither Facebook itself nor application partners like iLike did any explicit promotion or advertising of the new applications. Facebook didn't even tell its membership that it was opening up to outside applications.
But with Facebook's "News Feed" feature, information about the activity of your friends is broadcast into your own home page. I joined iLike after I noticed other friends doing so. A little note just appeared in my News Feed saying something like "Jim Aley added the iLike application." (Jim is my close Fortune colleague and editor.) That sort of thing has happened about a million times. Popularity begets more popularity, and iLike is spreading like wildfire.
When Facebook unveiled the applications strategy last Thursday, it had 65 partners who launched about 85 new applications. Now there are already 300 applications, many created by solo programmers in dorm rooms. One, called "Last.fm," was written by Jake Jarvis, a New Jersey high school freshman, and already has about 23,000 users.
Facebook's plan to hook up the world
It builds a simple link to the popular music social network application of the same name, which was purchased this week by CBS and has not yet built its own official Facebook application. (Here is an interesting TechCrunch post on Jarvis' work.) Another new application, called "x me," created by a student at Cambridge University in the UK, already has over 184,000 users who use it to signal their affection, distaste or other feelings to other Facebook members.
The launch of the Facebook platform represents a major shift in how the web works, and it put punditocracy into overdrive. Popular tech blogger Paul Allen (not the one who co-founded Microsoft) writes that just in the way the so-called LAMP stack of open-source applications allows companies to build higher-value business applications with less effort than ever, the Facebook platform eliminates labor in the creation of social applications.
Partovi, in that interview with VentureBeat, goes further: "Anybody who is currently...building a consumer-facing website should be thinking about...building a Facebook app instead...Developers who don't ask themselves that question are like the people building multimedia CD-ROM software in 1996 who didn't ask themselves if they should be building websites."
The new realities of social software will mean painful transitions for marketers, according to columnist Joe Marchese at MediaPost. Like Allen, he focuses on the attitude that Facebook brings to the entire project, which assumes that what is good for its users will be good for the company.
iMeme 07: Musing with tech's top people
That attitude will not be easy for many marketers to adopt. Marchese is addressing the advertising/marketing community when he writes: "When was the last time you, like Facebook, asked your staff not what social media communities can do for your brand - but what your brand can do for social media communities? Advertisers need to start with this question and work backward to marketing goals."
It's certainly not going to all be smooth sailing for Facebook. Facebook shut down an application called "Statistics," meant to track visitors to your Facebook profile, because it violated the company's "terms of service," according to company strategy chief Matt Cohler. The application apparently did not properly incorporate privacy controls.
Facebook executives say privacy is central to all that the company does. Cohler acknowledges the company needs to do a better job explaining how to install and uninstall applications, and to use the extensive privacy controls that can work with them.
As always there were naysayers, like the acid-tongued Rafat Ali of Paidcontent.org , who attacked the entire Facebook project (and last week's articles about it by yours truly) as unimportant and over hyped. He's wrong.
Many say their biggest worry about Facebook is that it won't be able to handle the growing volume of usage as it becomes more and more popular. There have already been repeated instances of applications stuttering under the load.
But Facebook CTO Adam D'Angelo insists that the service can grow much bigger without major incident. And even if that weren't true, isn't it a nice potential problem to have?

Russia bullies BP - U.S. motorist, take note

2007-06-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

Russia bullies BP - U.S. motorist, take note
How the aggressive behavior of the world's second largest exporter could drive prices higher for everyone.
By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
June 1 2007: 6:06 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Russia is again flexing its energy muscle.
On Friday, reports said Russia may cancel a contract it has with BP to develop a huge natural gas field in the middle of the country, claiming BP wasn't producing enough gas at the project.
To bypass some of its pesky former satellite states, Russia may expand ship-borne energy exports in Novorossiysk and add them in Murmansk.
The vast majority of Russia's energy flows West to Europe via pipeline, but the country is currently building a pipeline east across Siberia to serve the fast-growing Asian market.
Special Reportfull coverage

Russia bullies BP - U.S. motorist, take note
Oil jumps over $1 on supply fear
The new Salem witch trials
BP likely to lose giant Russian gas field
Gasoline in-depth
Get ready for $4 gasoline
With prices at record high, demand and refining problems could push them much higher. Any relief in sight? (more)
The refinery crunch
When gasoline prices surge, a lack of refining capacity is often blamed. What's being done, and is it enough? (more)
6 ways to cut gas prices
From a big fat tax to more efficiency to boosting production, there are ways to do it - but which really stand a chance? (more)
Fuel economy wimps
Instead of ensuring that we use less gas, politicians and consumers take the easy way out, says Fortune's Alex Taylor. (more)
Video
More video
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is taking over control of one of the world's most lucrative oil deposits. CNN's Jim Boulden reports. (May 1)
Play video
This would be the latest in a string of incidents generally interpreted as Russia strong-arming its partners into deals more favorable to the government. These moves, analysts say, could hurt worldwide production and drive up energy costs for consumers everywhere.
The bad boys of oil
Earlier this winter, the Kremlin shut off gas supplies to Europe after a dispute with Belarus, through which the pipeline passes.
That dustup echoed a similar spat with Ukraine the previous winter.
As evidenced by Friday's BP (Charts) news, private oil companies have also felt the Kremlin's wrath.
In December, a consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell (Charts) agreed to sell its majority stake in the $20 billion Sakhalin II project off eastern Siberia to Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled natural gas firm, after facing heightened scrutiny from Russian regulators that many saw as politically motivated.
The French energy company Total (Charts) has run into a similar problem with a project near the Barents Sea.
And then there's the Yukos affair. In October 2003, the head of the giant private energy company was arrested and eventually jailed for tax evasion, though most observers say his real crime was challenging the political power of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Most of Yukos' assets have since gone to state-controlled oil company Rosneft, at what many said was a considerable discount.
"The [Russian] government has become much more empowered by high oil prices," said Andrew Neff, a senior energy analyst at the consultancy Global Insight. "They see that control and access to energy is their key to a seat at the top table" of the world's most powerful nations.
The stakes are high.
Russia is the world's second largest oil exporter, at 9.6 million barrels per day, and accounts for over 10 percent of total world production. That makes it the world's second largest producer behind Saudi Arabia's 11.1 million bpd. Some years, when the Saudis undergo OPEC-mandated production cuts, Russia is number one.
And its natural gas reserves are the largest on earth, nearly double that of No. 2 Iran.
Yet most analysts see little danger of Russia shutting off its energy exports for any length of time.
Indeed, up to a quarter of the country's gross domestic product is tied to energy, according to the Energy Information Administration.
"It's not like Russia does whatever it wants to," said Denis Maslov, an analyst covering Europe and Eurasia for the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. "It does rely on selling its energy to sustain its budget."
As much as Russia may be a problem, the countries that surround it - and through which its energy shipments must pass - also pose obstacles.
One analyst earlier this week blamed the Belarus disruption on the Belarussian government, which imposed a tariff on Russian oil and was then accused of stealing it after Russia tried to eliminate subsidies on Belarus' natural gas.
"They just cannot blackmail Russia and Western Europe," said Fadel Gheit, an energy analyst at Oppenheimer. "Who said they are entitled to a discount?"
But getting Russian oil and gas out of the country without going through politically dicey regions is a challenge.
A pipeline is being constructed across Siberia to the Pacific, but its completion is being hindered by political snags with the Chinese and Japanese, who each want the pipeline to end in or near their country.
Other ideas floated include pipelines to the Arctic town of Murmansk, where crude or, more likely, liquefied natural gas could be put on ships and sent to North America.
Piping more to the Black Sea town of Novorossiysk is also a possibility, where it could then be sent by ship to Europe or Asia, though passage through the crowded Bosphorus Strait in Turkey is a headache.
And sending oil by ship to Europe might be more expensive than sending it by pipeline, a cost that will ultimately be shouldered by the consumer.
Driving away dollars
While a complete or even lengthy partial energy shutoff on the part of Russia isn't likely, experts say that the country's recent tactics have soured Western oil companies on investing in the country.
And that's not good for the global market, since Western oil companies are often cited for their technical expertise, which might help bring more Russian product to market at a cheaper cost.
Neff cited Exxon's (Charts, Fortune 500) recent experience in the country, where it spent $60 million exploring off Eastern Siberia only to find that it didn't get first dibs when the time came to bid on production - contrary to how most exploration contracts work.
"The producers say there's too much risk in this situation." he said. Indeed, Western companies are scrambling to find new deposits in a world fast running low on giant, new, easily accessible fields.
"[These conditions] definitely pose a problem for the majors that want to play over there," said Neal Dingmann, a senior energy analyst at Dahlman Rose & Co., a New York-based energy investment boutique. "Particularly when they are reporting production that is down."
But providing foreign oil companies, or Western motorists for that matter, with less risk may not be one of Russia's top priorities.
After all, many of the contracts Russia signed with foreign oil firms were in the mid-1990s, when oil prices were cheap and Russia was desperate for foreign investment.
"What's become somewhat apparent over the years is this idea that what's good for world markets isn't necessarily good for Russia," said Neff. "The fact of the matter is the Russians want to control foreign investment, and aren't nearly as concerned with X amount of oil coming from Russia to meet U.S. demand."
That dynamic, Neff says, is something Westerners should get used to.
"More and more oil is going to come from politically unstable countries," he said. "Either accept the fears and deal with it, or do something to limit demand."
This story is an update to a January 12 filing
My big fat American gas tax Where gasoline is cheap

Wal-Mart slows U.S. expansion; stock jumps

2007-06-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

Wal-Mart slows U.S. expansion; stock jumps
After star-studded performances at its annual meeting, Wal-Mart announces plans to scale back on new supercenters.
By Parija B. Kavilanz, CNNMoney.com senior writer
June 1 2007: 4:59 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wal-Mart, eager to please its shareholders, assembled an impressive array of entertainers at its 37th annual meeting on Friday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Despite its numerous business challenges, the world's largest retailer chose to dedicate two hours of its four-hour shareholders meeting to star-studded performances by Jennifer Lopez, the newest American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, and funny skits by comedian Sinbad.
5 ways to fix Wal-Mart
Video
More video
CNN's Jonathan Mann visits a Wal-Mart to see how they are taking an Earth-friendly approach. (May 4)
Play video
Not all shareholders bought the pomp and circumstance. Peter Flaherty, president of the National Legal and Policy Center, attacked executives over Wal-Mart's (Charts, Fortune 500) sagging stock price.
"In 2000, Wal-Mart's stock price was $60. Now it's $47. In 2000, Target's stock price was $34. Today it is $60," Flaherty said. "Wal-Mart is too busy answering union groups and it's now being guided by the liberal Edelman [PR] agency. What do they care about the future of this company?"
Wal-Mart's stock price has been stuck in a range between $45 and $60 over the past seven years. But shares bounced higher Friday after Wal-Mart said it would scale back on supercenter growth the United States.
"Look at the price of gas. It's over $3 a gallon. If Wal-Mart's customers spend all their money on gas what will they have to spend in the stores?" he asked. 'How is this good for Wal-Mart? People shop at Wal-Mart for low prices, not to be politically correct."
Sister Susan Mica with the Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas, presented a shareholder proposal requiring Wal-Mart to report on the gap between senior executive compensation and its lowest-paid workers.
"There is growing concern among investors about this very big gap. Wal-Mart is the nation's largest [private sector] employer. In spite of underperforming, its senior executives are still highly rewarded," Sister Mica said. "In 2006, Wal-Mart's CEO [Lee Scott's] compensation was 600 times the average pay of a Wal-Mart U.S. employee. From our perspective, this is a scandal."
The meeting was monitored via Web cast in New York.
Moderating U.S. growth
Wal-Mart outlined plans to improve the retailer's U.S. sales at its stores open at least a year, which is a key measure of retail performance known as same-store sales.
They include slowing down U.S. supercenter growth to 190 to 200 new and relocated stores this year and approximately 170 supercenters each year for the next three fiscal years. Wal-Mart last year opened between 265 to 270 supercenter stores.
Wal-Mart said it would grow consolidated square footage approximately 6 percent for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 and grow U.S. square footage between 4 to 5 percent over the same period. That's much slower than its typical 8 percent annual increase in square footage.
The retailer said these efforts would reduce capital expenditures to about $15.5 billion, down from the previously projected $17 billion. Wal-Mart's board also authorized an increase in the company's share buyback program to $15 billion.
Investors applauded the news by boosting the stock almost four percent on the New York Stock Exchange.
Indeed, Wall Street has fretted that Wal-Mart was being too aggressive with its expansion strategy in its already saturated home market, expressing concern that its new stores were starting to eat into sales at older stores.
As Wal-Mart runs out of room to grow at home, its same-store sales have slowed considerably to an average increase of between 1 to 3 percent from earlier levels of a more than a 5 percent increase per year.
Wal-Mart executives said the retailer's current cannibalization rate was around 1 percent but declined to say how the new supercenter strategy would impact that rate.
"We are committed to improving return on investment, while continuing to grow in the United States," Scott told attendees. But it will be a bumpy road ahead. "'The macro-economic environment is tough for our customers but we have to work through the difficulties," he said.
Scott was referring to record-high gas prices and softness in the housing market, two economic shifts that especially hurt Wal-Mart's paycheck-to-paycheck consumers.
Earlier in the day, Rob Walton, chairman of Wal-Mart's board, told attendees that he and Wal-Mart's board had "absolute confidence in Scott's leadership. We appreciate you and thank you," Walton said.
Walton's public declaration of support for Scott isn't surprising as Scott faces mounting pressure over Wal-Mart's less-than-stellar stock and sales performances.
All 15 directors, including former J.C.Penney CEO Alan Questrom were elected to the board and all 11 shareholder proposals, including one that asked Wal-Mart to report on the disparity between senior executive compensation and compensation for its lowest-paid employee, were defeated.
During a separate meeting with analysts, Sam's Club CEO Doug McMillon responded to a question about whether he still sees value in the warehouse club division being a part of Wal-Mart.
"I see tremendous amount of benefit. If we weren't a part of the company and Lee Scott asked me to, I'd sign up for it," McMillon said.
Meanwhile, Scott talked about future opportunities, including financial services. Wal-Mart claims it saves customers $250 million a year through services such as check cashing, money transfers, and Wal-Mart branded credit cards.
"I think there's more opportunity ahead but I don't think we'll have a bank in the near future," Scott said.
Wal-Mart's online unit Walmart.com can also do better, he said. "I'm NOT satisfied. There's just so much we can do with it. It should have a more societal connection than just being transactional," he said. "I'm afraid we'll wake up in 10 years and realize we missed the opportunity."
Regarding Wal-Mart's international operations, which currently account for 23 percent of its total sales, Scott told analysts that his one criticism of management is that Wal-Mart isn't moving fast enough to enter new markets.
"We have the capability in our management and our structure to take advantage of growing [countries] in the world where consumer products companies are making lots of money," Scott said. "But we need to do this when there is growth and not when we're ready."
"We now have amassed the appropriate [management] team that can take advantage of our opportunities," Scott told analysts. "We don't have to have modest [sales] increases when energy costs are higher. We have the wherewithal to do better by running our stores better, sharpening our prices and having the right merchandise."
"This company is rock solid. It doesn't require a great genius to do all that we want to do," Scott said.
New anti-Wal-Mart ads target 'Southerners,' 'Republicans'Wal-Mart CEO's expensive tastes

Consumers undaunted by high gas prices

2007-06-01T21:29:00.000-07:00

Consumers undaunted by high gas prices
Michigan sentiment index rises and beats forecasts; long term inflation reading unchanged.
June 1 2007: 10:18 AM EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- U.S. consumer sentiment rose in May as consumers remained resilient despite record high gasoline prices, according to a poll published Friday.
The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its final May reading on consumer sentiment index rose to 88.3 from 87.1 at the end of April. The preliminary May reading, released in mid-May, was 88.7.
The median forecast on the overall sentiment reading among analysts polled by Reuters was 88.0.
The survey's gauge of current consumer conditions edged up to 105.1 in May from April's final reading of 104.6, while its final measure on consumer expectations was 77.6, a shade higher than 75.9 at the end of April.
"To be sure, lower income households complained that high gas prices had devastated their budgets, but even among those vulnerable consumers their complaints were less frequent than last May when the price of gas was 34 cents (a gallon) lower," Reuters/University of Michigan said in a statement.
The survey's one-year inflation index held steady from late April at 3.3 percent, and its five-year inflation index was unchanged at 3.1 percent.
The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, a monthly series of data on U.S. consumer sentiment, are produced by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. From January 2007, Reuters has exclusive rights to distribute the data.
May jobs gain stronger than expected Incomes see first drop in two years

window.onerror=function(){clickURL=document.location.href;return true;}
if(!self.clickURL) clickURL=parent.location.href;
SAVE EMAIL PRINT REPRINT

Record Turnout Marks Rolling Thunder Ride's 20th Anniversary

2007-05-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

By Chris L. JenkinsWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, May 28, 2007; Page B04
The day is known for its ability to evoke power through the thunderous collective rumble of thousands of motorcycles rolling through downtown Washington.
But for Johnny "Halftime" Penn, 31, of Lancaster, Pa., the power is also in quiet solemnity. That's how he described his mood yesterday as he sat near the Lincoln Memorial and paid tribute to his father, Thomas, a Vietnam veteran who died of cancer in 1987.

Buy This Photo
Rosa Samuel of Fort Meade cheers for thousands of bikers in the 20th annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle parade to honor U.S. military members past and present. Organizers said this year's event was the largest ever. (By Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)
#extrasPromo { width: 228px; background-color: #333; color: #CCC; padding-bottom: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; }
#extrasPromo h3 { margin: 0; }
#extrasPromo b { color: #FFF; }
#extrasPromo p { font: 11px/135% Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #CCC; margin: 0; padding: 7px 7px 0 7px; }
#extrasPromo a img { border: 0; }
#extrasPromo a:link, #extrasPromo a:visited { color: #9CF; text-decoration: none; }
#extrasPromo a:hover, #extrasPromo a:active { color: #FFF; text-decoration: underline; }

Want to learn more about your community? Experience events from our neighborhoods captured in photos, through the Washington Post Community Guides.
View this week's photos »
Archive: Previous weeks »
var technorati = new Technorati() ;
technorati.setProperty('url','http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052700675_Technorati.html') ;
technorati.article = new item('Record Turnout Marks Rolling Thunder Ride\'s 20th Anniversary','http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052700675.html','The day is known for its ability to evoke power through the thunderous collective rumble of thousands of motorcycles rolling through downtown Washington.','Chris L. Jenkins') ;
document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );
Who's Blogging?
Read what bloggers are saying about this article.
Avonturen vanuit ons hoekje van de wereld
.Common Sense
Peace and Freedom
#technorati_link a {color:#339900;}
Full List of Blogs (5 links) »
Most Blogged About Articles
#technorati_link a {color:#339900;}
On washingtonpost.com On the web
Save & Share Article
What's This?
Digg
Google
del.icio.us
Yahoo!
Reddit
Facebook
"This is for my dad. . . . Every year, it's for him," said Penn, who added that he usually participates in the event with his father's friends but this year decided to come by himself. "I've ridden ever since I was 18 to honor his memory . . . but this year I decided to come and just kneel and be quiet and think about his sacrifice."
Penn joined thousands of military veterans and their loved ones who marked the 20th anniversary of the pilgrimage to the nation's capital in support of U.S. military members past and present.
Known as Rolling Thunder, the riders honked, waved and gunned their engines to the delight of onlookers as they circled the Mall and rode up and down Constitution and Independence avenues. Clad in leather vests adorned with pins and buttons, bandannas, black helmets and motorcycle boots, riders cheered speakers who extolled the nation's veterans and urged the U.S. government to bring home its dead and missing, in Vietnam and elsewhere.
A group of the organization's leaders rode up the White House's driveway on eight bikes, led by Rolling Thunder founder and Executive Director Artie Muller, to meet with President Bush.
"Artie -- how you doin', Artie?" Bush said as Muller pulled up with his wife, Elaine, according to a pool report released by the White House. "Good to see you again."
After posing for pictures, Bush invited the 13 riders into the Oval Office. Muller said the group met with Bush for 35 minutes and discussed topics from how the United States could be more aggressive in looking for prisoners of war to mental-health issues among veterans.
"The president has always been receptive to our issues," said Muller, who met with Bush during Rolling Thunder's 2004 event.
Meanwhile, thousands of riders thronged the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to pay homage. They left flowers and wreaths, along with handwritten notes. A spokesman for the U.S. Park Police said there was one reported arrest for disorderly conduct. Maryland officials said there was a morning accident on Interstate 270 involving a Rolling Thunder biker, but authorities said the event went off well.
As it has been every Memorial Day since 1987, the ride was attended by thousands of Vietnam veterans, many of whom rode with their families. Organizers said it was the largest ride yet.
Street closures to accommodate the event caused traffic jams and frustration near the Mall and on the Potomac River bridge crossings. Traffic from the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge was routed from Constitution Avenue starting mid-morning, causing backups into Arlington. Some motorists complained that they were not notified about the closures, saying no warnings were provided by overhead traffic advisory signs. Officials at the Virginia Department of Transportation said they began informing Interstate 66 motorists of the detours on signs about 9:30 a.m.
In the District, Pennsylvania Avenue between 15th Street and Seventh Street was jammed as motorists were routed away from the Ninth Street tunnel.
"Traffic, traffic, weekday, weekend," said Hank Jackman, an Alexandria resident who said he was stuck in traffic approaching the city yesterday morning. He was careful not to blame parade participants. "It's part of life."

http://washingtonpost.com

NEW PICTURE ABOUT BLOGGER FOR ME !

2007-05-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

I THANK YOU TO THEY GO TO BLOGGER FOR ME !

I CAN SPOT ALL THE WORLD NEWS . PLEASE , THANKS A LOT ALL THEY VISITING.....?

SONY.....!

pkav

2007-05-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

long

38M plan to travel over holiday weekend

2007-05-25T22:00:00.001-07:00

By GARY GENTILE, AP Business Writer 1 hour, 4 minutes ago
CALABASAS, Calif. - Like many holiday travelers, Ron Evenhaim isn't going to let rising gasoline prices curtail his plans for a weekend getaway.
Evenhaim rented a 40-foot diesel RV to take his family of five on the 300-mile round trip from his home in suburban Los Angeles to Lake Isabella in the Tehachapi Mountains.
"That's 30 gallons," he said, using the vehicle's average mileage of 8 to 10 mpg.
"Even if gas prices go up $1, that's an extra $30. You buy the kids a sandwich halfway and you've spent more," he said.
Americans are expected to do slightly more driving this Memorial Day weekend than they did last year. But the near-record gas prices are prompting some travelers to take shorter trips and economize in other ways.
About 38 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more this weekend, a 1.7 percent increase from last year's holiday, according to the AAA. About 83 percent of them will drive, with the remainder taking airplanes, trains or other transportation.
An AP-Ipsos poll showed that nearly half the country says gas prices are causing a "serious hardship," but fewer people than last year are reducing their driving, trimming other expenses or curtailing vacation plans due to higher energy costs.
Holiday travelers will find gas prices nationwide averaging $3.225 a gallon for self-serve regular, according to AAA. That's up 36 cents from a month ago.
Hotel rates are also up about 13 percent from last year, the association found, but flights and car rentals are expected to be a bit cheaper.
Vacationers seem resigned to current gas prices and confident that, as in previous years, prices will drop after the traditional start of the summer driving season.
At a Marathon station just south of Chicago's downtown, there was a steady stream of customers where regular gas cost $3.79 a gallon.
George Blakemore, 65, of Chicago, was gearing up to drive more than 1,000 miles to attend a wedding in Florida.
He said because he would spend so much on gas, the family packed snacks and lunches to save money.
"We are limited in our budget," he said. "We are not able to spend as much at convenience stores or buy souvenirs."
At a Citgo station along the Florida Turnpike in Miami, regular gas was selling for $3.21 a gallon.
At one pump, 29-year-old David Cook of Hollywood, Fla., and his younger brother, Danny, made a quick stop for gas and snacks before the four-hour drive to Key West to meet friends for a bachelor party weekend.
"Sure the price of gas here is a little high, but compared to other cities I've heard, it's not that bad," David Cook said as he filled up his Honda Civic.
Matt Reveley, a 23-year-old chemical company engineer from Cambridge, Mass., paid $3.09 per gallon to fill up his Toyota at a Mobil station in Cambridge as he looked forward to sharing a ride with a friend for a weekend getaway to Maine.
Reveley said he's carpooling mainly for convenience, and to avoid spending too much time behind the wheel.
"The gas prices are really not going to affect my plans that much," he said.
But he does feel the effect of higher gas prices when he makes his daily commute.
"I drive to work, and when it gets to $3 a gallon, it's kind of a big deal," he said. "I've got to drive."
In California, several RV rental agencies reported brisk business.
Martin Onken, owner of Expedition Motor Homes in Calabasas, said his business is up 12 percent from last year's Memorial Day weekend. But people are renting the hotels on wheels for 10 percent fewer days and traveling 12 percent fewer miles.
"People are asking me, 'Where can I go that's close?'" Onken said. "We have a lot of people who would normally drive the 1,200 miles round-trip to the Redwoods who want to go to Santa Barbara or Yosemite instead."
In Miami, Carlos and Stephanie Mendez started their holiday weekend early by taking their two children to see Mickey Mouse in Orlando. They seemed unfazed by gas prices.
"Well, this trip was planned for a long time, but we didn't plan on spending a lot on gas," Stephanie said. "But what are you going to do? Enjoy your weekend vacation or stay home? We decided to enjoy our weekend."
___
Associated Press Writers Damian Grass in Miami, Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Mark Jewell in Boston contributed to this story.

Gap Inc.'s 1Q profit falls 26 percent

2007-05-25T21:23:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO - Gap Inc.'s management has changed, but the troubled clothing retailer's financial trends remain distressingly familiar with both profits and sales still evaporating.

ADVERTISEMENT

Although it wasn't quite as bad as analysts feared, Gap's first-quarter profit fell by 26 percent as the San Francisco-based company struggled to win back shoppers after several years of fashion missteps.

Meanwhile, comparable-store sales — a key gauge of a merchant's health — crumbled by another 4 percent.

It marked Gap's seventh straight quarter of earnings erosion and 11th consecutive quarter of declining sales, measured by the yardstick that tracks the performance of stores open for at least a year.

The results released Thursday served as another reminder about the challenges facing Robert Fisher, who has been shaking things up since he became Gap's interim chief executive officer just before the first quarter began.

Fisher, part of the family that owns about one-third of Gap's stock, replaced Paul Pressler, a former Walt Disney Co. executive who ended his nearly 4 1/2-year stint at Gap after a miserable holiday shopping season.

Since taking the helm, Fisher has been trying to dismantle some of the administrative bureaucracy that he blames for stifling creativity and saddling the company's stores with an unappealing selection of clothes.

As part of the makeover, Fisher is granting more autonomy to each of the company's three chains — Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic. Combined, the chains operate more than 3,100 stores.

Fisher also is aggressively recruiting new talent, an initiative that led to the hiring of prominent fashion designer Patrick Robinson to oversee men's and women's clothing at the Gap chain in North America. Old Navy is now looking for a new design chief as well as a market trends guru.

"I feel good about the path we are on," Fisher told analysts during a conference call.

Some investors seemed encouraged, as Gap shares gained 8 cents in extended trading Thursday after shedding 8 cents to close at $18.29 before the first-quarter results were released.

Fisher has made it clear that ending Gap's malaise won't be easy. He has already advised investors that the company's profit may decline by 8 percent to 18 percent this year after plunging 30 percent last year.

In the fiscal first quarter ended May 5, Gap earned $178 million, or 22 cents per share, down from net income of $242 million, or 28 cents per share, at the same time last year.

The results included $45 million in losses triggered by the closure of Forth & Towne, an experimental chain catering to women over age 35 that never gained traction.

If not for the Forth & Towne costs, Gap would have earned 25 cents per share — a penny above the average estimate among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Sales edged up 3 percent to $3.56 billion, but that figure was overshadowed by the drop in comparable-store sales — sales at stores open at least year.

Reflecting the tough times, Gap refrained from buying back any of its shares in the first quarter. After spending more than $4 billion on stock buybacks during the past four years, Gap decided to hold on to more of its cash until its business stabilizes, Chief Financial Officer Byron Pollitt said in Thursday's conference call.

With its sales shriveling, Gap is shedding some of its expenses — a process that will result a still-unspecified number of layoffs among the company's work force of 154,000 employees.

Pressed by analysts Thursday, Gap management refused to set a specific target for its cost reductions. Fisher said the company eliminated about 100 jobs within its personnel department during the first quarter.

Even as it jettisons some workers, Gap continues its search for a permanent CEO — a task that Fisher indicated still may take several more months to complete.

Sony develops film-thin display

2007-05-25T01:38:00.000-07:00

TOKYO - In the race for ever thinner displays for TVs, cell phones and other gadgets, Sony may have developed one to beat them all — a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-color video.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). posted video of the new display on its Web page Friday. The display is being held up by a hand that's squeezing the 0.3 millimeter, or 0.01 inch, display, while showing color video of a bicyclist stuntman, picturesque lake and other images.

Sony will present the research and video at an academic symposium in Long Beach, California, for the Society for Information Display this week, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company said in a release.

The display combines Sony's organic thin film transistor, or TFT, technology, which is required to make flexible displays, with another kind of technology called organic electroluminescent display, it said.

The latter technology is not as widespread for gadgets as the two main display technologies now on the market — liquid crystal displays and plasma display panels.

Although flat-panel TVs are getting slimmer, a display that's so thin it bends in a human hand marks a breakthrough.

Sony said plans for a commercial product using the technology were still undecided.

Sony President Ryoji Chubachi has said a film-like display is a major technology his company is working on to boost its status as a technological powerhouse.

In a meeting with reporters more than a year ago, he boasted Sony was working on a technology for displays so thin it could be rolled up like paper, and that the world would stand up and take notice.

Some analysts have said Sony, which makes Walkman portable players and PlayStation 3 video game machines, had fallen behind rivals in flat-panel technology, including Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea and Sharp Corp. of Japan.

But Sony has been marking a turnaround under Chubachi and Chief Executive Howard Stringer, the first foreigner to head Sony, including reducing jobs, shuttering unprofitable businesses and strengthening its flat TV offerings.

___

On the Net:

Video of Sony's new display: mms://station.streaming-tv.net/sonypr/OLED070524_750kbps.wmv

The 'miracle pill'

2007-05-10T02:10:00.000-07:00

The highlight of the Pope's visit to Sao Paulo will be the canonisation ceremony of Brazil's first native-born saint.

Brazil has the largest number of Catholics in the world

His name was Brother Antonio Galvao and he lived two centuries ago in a rather modest monastery still standing among the skyscrapers in sprawling modern Sao Paulo, where he used to dispense a cure-all "pill" to people who sought his aid to relieve such painful illnesses as kidney stones.

These "pills" were made of tiny scraps of paper with a minute inscription - a prayer to the Virgin Mary in Latin - written on them and then scrunched up to be small enough to swallow whole.

Brother Antonio died in 1822 but his "pills" are still being dispensed by the 14 nuns who live cloistered lives in the convent that he originally built.

I had to travel 30 times back and forth across the Atlantic ... before those difficult Monsignori at the Vatican finally caved in and agreed to create our first native Brazilian saint

Sister Celia Cadorin

In fact, there has been a huge demand for them this week - 10,000 a day at the moment, as sainthood looms for their inventor.

The nuns no longer have the time to write out the Latin prayer inscriptions by hand. The tiny scraps of paper are cut from a printed sheet.

One man outside the convent told me that he had come along to get the "pills" for his mother, who was absolutely convinced that they work miracles.

I queued to get my three minuscule paper "pills", carefully hand-wrapped in a another tiny piece of white paper by these industrious nuns.

The canonisation mass is expected to attract two million people

You almost need a magnifying glass to see them. I'm not quite sure if I shall take them or hoard them for some future undefined illness.

But Sister Celia Cadorin, the 70 year old Brazilian nun (in Vaticanese she is called the "postulator" of the cause of Brother Antonio) who brought about the successful conclusion of Brother Antonio's sudden final spurt to sainthood 185 years after his death, is justifiably proud about Friday's canonisation mass, which is expected to attract two million people.

She is a frequent flier.

In fluent Italian she told me: "Do you know I had to travel 30 times back and forth across the Atlantic from Sao Paulo to Rome to argue Brother Antonio's case before those difficult Monsignori at the Vatican finally caved in and agreed to create our first native Brazilian saint?"

Blair tells Cabinet he will quit

2007-05-10T01:14:00.000-07:00

Chao cac ban ! moi cac ban doc ban tin nhe !

Tony Blair is travelling to his Sedgefield constituency where he will make public his plans to stand down as Labour leader and prime minister.
Mr Blair has already briefed the Cabinet on when he will quit, with his likely successor Gordon Brown reportedly paying tribute to him.
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said it had been a "cordial, comradely" meeting with "quite a lot of laughter".
Mr Blair will stay on for seven weeks until a new Labour leader is chosen.
A Cabinet source told the BBC "Gordon Brown made a short and very moving tribute to Tony Blair's leadership, not just of Labour and the United Kingdom but also of the world".
Mr Hain, who is a candidate for Labour's deputy leadership, said Mr Brown would now "take up Tony Blair's mantle in the next period of our government".
Mr Blair is expected to make a speech on his retirement plans at 1145 BST.
Succession
His election agent and close friend John Burton said he expected Mr Blair to continue as Sedgefield's MP until the next general election, unless he was offered a major international job.
He's going of his own choice. He's doing it at a time which he thinks is good for the country, is good for the government
Peter Mandelson
Q&A: What happens now?
Mr Blair's official spokesman insists he will remain "focused" on being prime minister until Labour has chosen his successor - a process expected to last seven weeks.
He said Mr Blair still has lots of work to do on domestic issues and had a number of international commitments in the run-up to this summer's G8 and EU summits.
But with a new prime minister expected to be in place by the beginning of July, attention at Westminster has already shifted to his succession.
Mr Brown is unlikely to face a Cabinet-level challenge for the leadership as all of the likely contenders have ruled themselves out.
But he could still face a challenge from one of two left wing backbenchers - John McDonnell and Michael Meacher. The pair are meeting later to see if one of them can muster enough support to get on to the ballot paper.
'Paralysis'
Candidates need the signatures of 45 Labour MPs to enter a contest.
Six deputy leadership hopefuls will also be battling for nominations to enter the race to replace John Prescott, who is due to stand down with Mr Blair.
Conservative leader David Cameron has said the country faces seven weeks of "paralysis" until Labour chooses a new leader, accusing Mr Blair of running a government of the "living dead".

We have grown used to having a leader who is always centre stage
BBC political editor Nick Robinson
Read Nick's thoughts in full
The Liberal Democrats have, meanwhile, tabled a Parliamentary motion urging the Queen to dissolve parliament and call a general election.
But European Union Trade Commissioner and close Blair ally, Peter Mandelson, denied that Mr Blair's last weeks in office would be as a lame duck leader.
"'He's going of his own choice. He's doing it at a time which he thinks is good for the country, is good for the government."
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version

Personal Finance

2007-05-10T01:05:00.000-07:00

Spring Home-Buying Guide: Six Ways to Do It Right
by Jeanne Sahadi
Thursday, May 10, 2007
provided by

It's peak home-buying season. Even though buyers have a greater advantage than they've had in awhile, it's still easy to take a wrong, frustrating and costly turn. Here are six ways to make sure you don't.

1. Aim for pre-approval

What should come first: Affording a home goes beyond being able to pay the mortgage. You have to have enough money set aside for a down payment, closing costs, moving costs, and the initial costs of living in the home (e.g. new furniture and paint). So before you do anything, "take a hard look at your finances and figure out what you can afford," said John M. Robbins, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

As a general guideline, it's best not to spend more than 2-1/2 times your income on a home. Your total housing payments should not exceed 28% of your gross income. Total debt payments, meanwhile, should come in under 36%. That means payments on all loans, including your mortgage loan, school loans, auto loans and credit card debt.

More from CNNMoney.com:

• Buyers in Charge: 4 Strategies

• Nail That Sale: Joe and Jeannie Leocha

• Homes From the Fastest- and Slowest-Growing Markets

Next, shop around for pre-approval: Approach at least four to five lenders (or have your mortgage broker do so) to see what kind of loan you can get pre-approved for, Robbins suggested. Generally, you want to go with the lender that offers the best rate and the lowest loan costs.

A pre-approval letter makes you more attractive to sellers, since it's an indication a mortgage lender has investigated your finances and is willing to lend you a stated amount. Approval typically takes several days.

Pre-approval letters are usually good for 60 to 90 days, Robbins said. If you do make an offer during that time, the loan will be made to you contingent upon a number of factors, including a satisfactory appraisal of the house and the lender's satisfaction with your financial situation at the time of purchase.

What if you don't qualify for pre-approval: If your financial situation raises a red flag with lenders and they're not willing to pre-approve you for a loan, find out what you'll need to do to qualify for one and how long it will take, Robbins said.

If your credit score is an issue, one way to boost your score is to avoid making any big purchases on your credit card for 60 days prior to applying for a loan.

2. Find a good buyer's agent

What buyer's agents do: When you go to an open house and meet a real estate agent showing the property, that agent represents the seller's interests. So you might be better off using a buyer's agent whose job is to represent your interests. In addition to showing you homes that meet your criteria, a buyer's agent can help you negotiate a contract and may help you get a better deal on title insurance.

Ensure your interests come first: A buyer's agent typically shares the sales commission with the seller's agent. So keep in mind your agent may want to push some houses over others if they offer a higher commission or bonus on top of the commission to get a deal done. That's why Tom Early, spokesman for the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents, told Money Magazine that buyers should ask their agents to sign a contract before looking at houses that stipulates that any bonus being paid by a seller be used to pay closing costs.

Where to find one: To find a buyer's agent in your area, check with the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents.

3. Find a good real estate attorney

What they do: A lawyer can help you negotiate the real estate contract, and renegotiate it if a home inspection finds flaws or an appraisal deems the house less valuable than the sales price. A lawyer also represents your interests at the closing and does the lion's share of paperwork and coordination associated with it.

Why you might want one: Unlike most of the people involved in the purchase of a home, a real estate lawyer is dedicated to looking out for your interests at each stage. You don't need one technically, but the short-term savings of not hiring one may pale in comparison to the long-term costs of not negotiating the best deal or walking away from a bad one.

Where to find one: Ask for referrals from your local bar association, your real estate agent or your mortgage broker. Also, ask friends, colleagues and family whom they've had a good experience working with.

Cost: Varies by state and by amount of work required. Fee structures also vary (some lawyers charge by the hour, others by flat fee, some by both depending on the task) but a ballpark range for what a buyer may pay in total is $350 to $1,000, said Marjorie Bardwell, a real estate attorney at Chicago Title Insurance Company. In high-cost areas like New Jersey, you may pay as much as $1,500, said real estate attorney Stuart Lieberman.

4. Make an offer

Put your words into action: When you see a house you want, you'll make a verbal offer. If the seller is interested, your next step is to commit yourself in writing. The written offer, or contract, is usually drawn up by the seller's agent, but if you choose to use a buyer's agent and real estate lawyer, they can negotiate and review that contract on your behalf.

Mind the contingencies: Typically, contracts are offers to buy contingent upon several factors, most notably a satisfactory appraisal of the home, a satisfactory home inspection and your ability to obtain adequate financing. If the appraisal or inspection is unsatisfactory or you can't get mortgage, that's an opportunity for you to renegotiate the contract with the seller or back out of the deal.

If you're buying an older home, you might consider putting in a cost-of-repair contingency. That lets you back out if the estimated cost of repairs recommended by the home inspector exceeds a certain amount. So even if the seller agrees to pay for the repairs before you close, you can still walk away if you fear that the home will have too many structural problems down the road.

Here's a more detailed look at what is included in your written offer.

Put money where your mouth is: When the seller accepts your written offer, you pay what's called "earnest money" -- essentially a deposit that's usually up to 10 percent of the purchase price. If the deal falls through because the contingencies weren't met you get the money back. But if you just change your mind, the seller can keep the money.

5. Get the home inspected

Why you need one: No matter how good a house looks and no matter how much you love it, you want to be sure it's sound structurally and in every other way. If it's not, you want to know whether the seller will address the issue before you seal the deal. If not you have to decide whether you want to back out of the deal or take care of the repairs yourself.

When it needs to be done: Many states require that inspections be done within five days of the seller accepting your written offer; others may allow up to 10 days. Whenever it is, "go to the inspection. There's nothing more important you can do than that," said Frank Lesh, president of the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI). You'll learn a lot more about the home than you would otherwise and the inspector can give you good maintenance tips.

When to call: Given the relatively short time-frame you have to conduct an inspection, it's smart to call an inspector before the contract is signed (but when it seems likely that it will be) to make sure you lock in an appointment when you need it.

When the inspector recommends fixing something: Say the inspector finds something wrong such as mold or water damage. Talk to your real estate attorney to determine your next step: it might be to ask for a price reduction or to ask the seller to arrange and pay for repairs. If you choose the latter and the seller agrees, be sure to get a written receipt of all the work that was done. That will give you recourse in case less work was done than the seller agreed to do or the work done was shoddy (e.g., unsafe electrical wiring).

Cost: $350 to $1,000. "Generally speaking, the larger and older the home, the more you'll pay," said Frank Lesh, president of the American Society of Home Inspectors. Likewise, if you live in a high-cost area you'll pay on the higher end of the range.

Where to find an inspector: ASHI-certified home inspectors in your area can be found here. You also might ask neighbors and friends if they have used an inspector before whom they liked. Make sure the inspector you choose has experience working in your area and specializes in the type of residence you're buying (e.g., single-family home vs. multi-family building).

6. Get the home appraised

Why you need one: Your mortgage lender will require an appraisal (and hire its own appraiser) to make sure the value of the house you want to buy is worth at least as much as the sales price. The appraiser will consider, among other things, the quality of construction and comparable data from the sales of homes in the same neighborhood.

When the appraisal takes place: After the contract is signed.

When the appraised price is lower than the sales price: If the lender's appraiser deems the house worth less than the sales price you've negotiated with the seller, you need to renegotiate the contract with the seller. Either the seller will need to lower the price to satisfy the lender and hence, allow you to secure a mortgage. Or you can back out of the deal if you can't afford the home by paying for the difference between the appraised price and the sales price yourself.

If the appraised value comes in above the sales price, however, you needn't do anything but enjoy the fact that you got yourself a good deal.

Cost: Even though the lender orders the appraisal, you will have to pay for it. Typically appraisals run between $300 and $600 for a single-family home, depending where you live, said Donald Kelly, spokesman for the Appraisal Institute.

Copyrighted, CNNMoney. All Rights Reserved.

Stocks recover after Fed rate decision

2007-05-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer
34 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Wall Street wobbled, then regained its stride Wednesday after the Federal Reserve told investors what they expected to hear: that inflation is still too high for comfort, but the central bank is holding interest rates steady. The Dow Jones industrials rose to another record close.

ADVERTISEMENT

The central bank's Open Market Committee as anticipated left interest rates unchanged at 5.25 percent, as it has done since last summer. The statement that accompanied the decision was little changed from the one the Fed released after its last meeting in March; the assessment said policy makers are keeping their inflation watch the priority despite a slower economy.

Though some investors were hoping the Fed would raise the possibility of a future rate cut, they weren't surprised by the committee's stance. Moreover, they were relieved to hear the Fed is not more inclined than it has been to raise rates, a move that would make access to capital more expensive and potentially hurt the stock market.

"The Fed said we're not going anywhere," Larry Smith, chief investment officer at Third Wave Global Investors. "They're not saying inflation is going to the moon, they're not saying it's a huge problem right now, but they're concerned that inflation won't come down to their comfort range."

Stocks drew support Wednesday from more takeover news, particularly speculation about a possible bid by mining company BHP Billiton Ltd. for rival Rio Tinto Group. Investors were also pleased about a government report that showed that after three months of declines, the nation's gasoline inventories rose last week. If they keep increasing, fuel costs for U.S. drivers are likely to ease.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 53.80, or 0.40 percent, to 13,362.87, after reaching a new trading high of 13,369.29. It was the blue chip index's 21st record close since the beginning of the year.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 4.86, or 0.32 percent, to 1,512.58 — a new six-and-a-half-year high. The index is near its closing record of 1,527.46, reached March 24, 2000.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 4.59, or 0.18 percent, to 2,576.34.

The stock market has reacted well to the Fed's rate stance; the Dow has hit 43 record closes since the start of October, soon after the Fed stopped raising rates.

"I think the markets can react favorably without the Fed lowering rates," said Steven Goldman, chief market strategist at Weeden & Co., noting that rates will remain stable as long as the economy keeps growing moderately, as the Fed predicts it will, and inflation doesn't accelerate too much. "We walk this tight line, and equities continue to edge higher."

Bonds, however, have struggled in recent months, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note remains lower than that of shorter-term issues — indicating that traders are betting on even slower economic growth going forward. Bond prices dropped after the Fed statement, pushing the 10-year yield up to 4.67 percent from 4.64 percent late Tuesday, and the 2-year yield up to 4.73 percent.

The current interest rate environment is beneficial for the overall stock market, but not for bonds or financial institutions such as banks, noted Fred Cannon, Managing Director of Research at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. "I would say the biggest risk to the banks is if the Fed stays on hold and we start to see credit deteriorate significantly."

Though market participants are not expecting a rate hike anytime soon, they will be closely reading Friday's report on producer prices and next week's data on consumer prices to gauge whether inflation is accelerating or moderating.

All the major stock indexes advanced Tuesday, boosted in part by signs that takeover activity will continue to surge. Rio Tinto's stock jumped $31.62, or 12 percent, to $296.27, on rumors that BHP Billiton might bid for the company. BHP rose $2.51, or 4.9 percent, to $53.41.

But the technology-laden Nasdaq posted weaker gains, as Cisco Systems Inc. reported an abrupt slowdown in orders from U.S. business in its quarterly financial results. The computer network equipment maker's stock fell $1.85, or 6.5 percent, to $26.51, even though its fiscal third-quarter profit soared 34 percent.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Crude oil prices dropped 71 cents to $61.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after the U.S. government said the nation's gasoline stockpiles increased last week. Gas prices at the pump are still, on average, above $3 a gallon for regular unleaded.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 7 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.56 billion shares, up from 1.50 billion Tuesday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.87, or 0.47 percent, to a new record close of 834.77.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.52 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.01 percent, Germany's DAX index advanced 0.45 percent, and France's CAC-40 added 0.29 percent.

___

On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney

2007-05-09T23:54:00.000-07:00

Vice President Dick Cheney and General David Petraeus, commander of the U.S. forces in Iraq, at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, May 9, 2007. (Gerald Herbert/Pool/Reuters)

Cheney presses Iraqi leaders on security

2007-05-09T22:42:00.000-07:00

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 44 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday that "we've got a long way to go" in reducing violence in Iraq in a trip punctuated by an explosion that shook windows at the U.S. Embassy, where Cheney was visiting.

ADVERTISEMENT

The vice president urged that Iraq's parliament abandon plans for a two-month summer vacation while U.S. forces are fighting. With important issues pending, including how to share Iraq's oil wealth, "any undue delay would be difficult to explain," Cheney said.

As Democrats clamor for an end to the four-year-old war and President Bush sags in the polls, the White House is under intense political pressure to show that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government is making progress. Cheney urged Iraq's leaders to do more to reduce violence and promote political reconciliation.

White House counselor Dan Bartlett said in Washington that Cheney's trip "gives an opportunity at a very high level for this message to be delivered."

Eight days after Bush vetoed a bill setting deadlines for U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, the White House also served notice that Bush would veto a follow-up bill drafted by House Democratic leaders that would pay for the Iraq war only into summer. At the same time, Defense Secretary Robert Gates held out hope that troops can begin withdrawing if the Iraqi government makes progress by fall.

Supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rallied in Baghdad and Shiite areas to the south to protest the Cheney visit and demand the withdrawal of American forces. Protesters in Baghdad and the holy city of Najaf chanted "No to the occupation" and "No to America."

Baghdad was Cheney's first stop on a weeklong trip to the Middle East to seek support from moderate Arab leaders for help in bringing stability to Iraq. The vice president, joined by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, met with Iraqi political and military leaders.

"I emphasized the importance of making progress on the issues before us, not only the security issues but also on the political issues that are pending before the Iraqi government," Cheney said.

Earlier, the vice president appeared with al-Maliki, and the prime minister said they had discussed "the challenges that we are facing in our own political process. ... The meeting with the vice president put the foundation for practical steps in order to support our efforts working on both the security front as well as the domestic political issues."

Cheney spent most of the day at the U.S. Embassy inside the heavily protected Green Zone in central Baghdad. He was in the building when an explosion rattled windows and prompted officials to move reporters accompanying Cheney to the basement for several minutes. Witnesses said a mortar or rocket appeared to have been fired from the mostly Shiite areas on the east side of the Tigris River toward the Green Zone.

The vice president, at a news conference a half hour later, did not mention the blast. He had been wearing an armor-plated vest when he got off his plane at the airport.

Cheney said that Iraqi leaders felt sectarian violence was "down fairly dramatically" even though car bombings and suicide attacks still claim a heavy toll. "I think everybody recognizes there still are serious security problems, security threats, no question about it. But the impression I got from talking with them ... is that they do believe we are making progress, but we've got a long way to go."

Separately, Cheney's spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride said, "His business was not disrupted (by the explosion). He was not moved."

In February, a suicide bomber attacked the main gate of the U.S.-run Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan while Cheney was staying there after having been stranded by a snowstorm. The vice president was rushed to a bomb shelter but was not injured.

That explosion killed 23 people, including two Americans, and delivered a propaganda blow that undercut the U.S. military and the weak Afghan government it supports.

The vice president's visit came two days after Bush held a video conference with al-Maliki about the need to move forward on political reconciliation among the majority Shiites, the Sunnis and the Kurds. Al-Maliki's aides said the prime minister had reassured Bush he was pushing to meet benchmarks but noted that disbanding militias would take time.

Panel approves fuel economy increase

2007-05-08T23:37:00.000-07:00

By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 8, 4:15 PM ET

WASHINGTON - A plan to increase fuel efficiency standards to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 won approval from a Senate panel Tuesday in a vote closely watched by automakers and environmental groups.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved the measure, which would raise the nationwide fleet fuel economy average by about 40 percent from current levels of 25 mpg for cars and trucks. The bill, approved on a voice vote, would also increase standards by 4 percent a year from 2020 through 2030.

"This is not a perfect bill, but I think we have reached a stage where most parties would say this is fair," said Sen. Daniel Inouye (news, bio, voting record), D-Hawaii, the committee chairman.

He said the bill would be considered before the full Senate in June.

This was lawmakers' first step in demanding more efficient vehicles from automakers amid concerns about global warming and the nation's dependence on imported oil. Gasoline prices have leapt in recent weeks to a record nationwide average of $3.07 a gallon, or nearly 20 cents higher than two weeks earlier, according to the Lundberg Survey.

"Saturday night my husband and I were in San Francisco and we paused at a gas station and we literally couldn't believe our eyes — $4.24 a gallon," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif.

Fuel economy standards have made little progress in the past 20 years. Passenger cars are required to meet a fleetwide average of 27.5 miles per gallon while SUVs, pickup trucks and vans must meet a standard of 22.2 mpg.

Lawmakers said the bill was a compromise that would likely face a number of changes on the Senate floor. Sen. Ted Stevens (news, bio, voting record) of Alaska, the committee's top Republican, and Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record), R-Miss., said they had concerns about how it might affect trucks and its overall fairness.

Sen. Bill Nelson (news, bio, voting record), D-Fla., meanwhile, said he would aim for a fleet increase of up to 40 mpg by 2020, while Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., wants to guarantee 31 mpg by 2015 and 35 mpg by 2020.

The committee also approved by voice vote a proposal by Sen. Maria Cantwell (news, bio, voting record), D-Wash., to create federal criminal penalties for price gouging at the fuel pump if the president declares an emergency because of high energy prices.

Republicans opposed the plan, saying it included an arbitrary definition of price gouging. Sen. Jim DeMint (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., said it "creates a new playground for the lawyers."

Under the broader bill, large work trucks and tractor trailers would have to meet fuel economy requirements for the first time. But the timeline was unclear because any requirements would first require a federal study.

Other provisions include letting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reform passenger car standards to take into account a vehicle's dimensions and requiring the government to purchase more fuel-efficient fleet vehicles.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which includes Detroit's automakers and Toyota Motor Corp., have said the proposal would be unattainable and threaten jobs. General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group have already announced thousands of job cuts in the past two years.

Alan Reuther, the United Auto Workers' legislative director, wrote Inouye that it would force manufacturers "to close more facilities, destroying tens of thousands of additional jobs and undermining the economic base of communities across this country."

Environmentalists said they were concerned that the proposal was weaker than one offered by President Bush, which would set a goal of a 4 percent annual increase while expanding use of alternative fuels.

"When you look at all the loopholes in this 35 mpg bill, it kind of looks like Swiss cheese," said David Friedman of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

___

On the Net:

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee: http://commerce.senate.gov

Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers: http://www.autoalliance.org/

Union of Concerned Scientists: http://www.ucsusa.org/

Oil prices flat in Asian trading

2007-05-08T22:56:00.000-07:00

SINGAPORE - Oil prices were flat Wednesday amid expectations that an upcoming U.S. inventories report would show a rebound in gasoline stocks for the first time in three months.

ADVERTISEMENT

Light, sweet crude for June delivery was steady at $62.26 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Prices had climbed Tuesday after the U.S. government said the price of gasoline was expected to rise this summer due to ongoing problems at the nation's refineries.

Increased violence in Nigeria's oil region also heightened supply worries in the energy market and lifted prices.

Traders did not react noticeably to the overnight seizure of four more foreign workers in Nigeria's southern petroleum-producing region. Oil industry officials said attackers carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades stormed a transport vessel carrying the workers in the southern Niger Delta just after midnight Tuesday.

The latest kidnappings — following dozens last week — came just hours after militants staged coordinated attacks on three pipelines in the wetlands region, knocking out tens of thousands of barrels of crude oil and keeping global supply fears alive.

Nigeria is Africa's largest producer of crude, one of the top 10 exporters in the world, and a leading supplier of oil for the United States.

The weekly U.S. Energy Department report on gasoline inventories was due later Wednesday.

Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected the report to show gasoline stocks rose 370,000 barrels last week, on average. It would be the first increase in gasoline stocks in 13 consecutive weeks.

Unplanned outages and scheduled maintenance at refineries, sluggish imports, and strong demand have plagued gasoline supplies. There have been at least a dozen additional partial shutdowns in the U.S. and internationally that cut refining capacity.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures dropped marginally to $1.8295 a gallon, and natural gas prices slipped 0.3 cent to $7.634 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Email Story IM Story Printable View RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Recommend It:

Average (2 votes)
» Recommended Stories

YAHOO! COM

2007-05-08T22:52:00.000-07:00

Get all the best with one Yahoo! ID.
Your Yahoo! ID gives you access to powerful communications tools like mail and instant messaging, security features like email AntiVirus and Pop-Up Blocker, and favorites like online photos and music — all for free.

Pentagon prepares 35,000 troops for Iraq

2007-05-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon on Tuesday alerted more than 35,000 Army soldiers that they could be sent to Iraq this fall. In Congress, House Democrats defiantly pushed a plan to limit war funding to two-month installments.

ADVERTISEMENT

The deployment orders signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates would allow commanders to maintain the buildup of troops through the end of the year if needed. President Bush has ordered nearly 30,000 additional troops to Iraq to quell a spike in violence, particularly in and around Baghdad. There are currently about 146,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the orders do not mean the military has decided to maintain the increased force levels through December. The Pentagon "has been very clear that a decision about the duration of the surge will depend on conditions on the ground," he said.

The announcement comes as Bush is under increasing pressure to pull troops out of Iraq. Bush last week vetoed $124.2 billion legislation that would have funded the war while requiring troops to start coming home this fall. According to a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll released Tuesday, just over half of Americans disapproved of the veto.

House Democratic leaders briefed party members Tuesday on new legislation that would fund the Iraq war through July, then give Congress the option of cutting off money after that if conditions do not improve. Bush requested more than $90 billion to fund the war through September.

The proposal is aimed at appeasing Democratic lawmakers who want to end the war immediately and are urging leaders not to back down after Bush's veto last week. But lacking a firm endorsement by the Senate, the challenge by House Democrats seemed more for political show than a preview of another veto showdown with Bush.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), D-Nev., told reporters before meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) that "nothing's been ruled out and nothing's been ruled in" as he would continue to try to work with the White House.

House Democratic leaders struck a more defiant tone.

"I didn't commit to any compromise" with the White House, said Pelosi, D-Calif.

Asked whether Democrats were still talking with the White House, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill., said, "They know what we're doing obviously. I don't think their subscriptions to the newspapers ended at any time recently."

Democratic leadership aides said Reid and Pelosi acknowledged in their meeting Tuesday that the House plan would be considerably more difficult to pass in the Senate, where 60 votes are often required and that the two chambers may have to pursue different tracks.

Earlier in the day, Bush met with more than a dozen Democrats, most of whom with fairly conservative voting records.

"They (the White House) seemed to be concerned about their relationship with a number of us, and I think they should be," said Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Ala., one of the members who attended. "It's perplexing why we couldn't have had a couple of these meetings earlier."

The House bill would provide $30 billion to fund military operations through July, as well as more than $12 billion more to pay for equipment, training security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and defense health. Some $15 billion more would be provided for other high-priority projects, including $6.8 billion for hurricane relief, $3.1 billion for base closings and $2.2 billion for homeland security.

Under the proposal, Bush would have to update Congress by July 13 on whether the Iraqi government was meeting certain political and security reforms. Congress would decide 10 days later whether to end the war and bring troops home or provide funding through September.

The House would vote separately this month on a bill providing about $3.5 billion in agricultural assistance and about $1 billion for rural schools, wildfire relief and aid to salmon farmers.

"We're trying to prepare a second option so that if the administration wants to continue to just hold its breath and turn blue until they get their money, we're going to have another alternative," said Rep. David Obey (news, bio, voting record), D-Wis., who planned to brief White House chief of staff Josh Bolten on Tuesday.

White House spokesman Tony Snow called the approach "just bad management."

"We think it is appropriate to be able to give commanders what they are going to need, and also forces in the field, so that you can make long-term decisions in trying to build the mission," Snow said.

Congressional Republicans also dismissed the Democratic proposal as unfairly rationing funds needed in combat and said their members would not support it.

Democrats "should not treat our men and women in uniform like they are children who are getting a monthly allowance," said Rep. John Boehner (news, bio, voting record), R-Ohio, his party's leader.

Gates and his military leaders have said that commanders in Iraq will make recommendations in September on whether the buildup has been successful and whether it should continue or if troops can begin coming home.

Snow and other administration officials have tried to tamp down expectations of the September review, although several senior Republicans say it will prove critical to whether the GOP continues to support the war.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (news, bio, voting record), R-Maine, introduced legislation Tuesday that would require the Iraqi government to meet certain benchmarks within four months. If Baghdad fails, military commanders would begin planning to bring some troops home and refocusing remaining forces on noncombat missions, such as training the Iraqi security forces. Snowe's bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Evan Bayh (news, bio, voting record), D-Ind., sets a nonbinding goal of ending combat six months later.

___

Associated Press writer Ben Evans contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

Defense Department: http://www.defenselink.mil