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BRUSSELS — As concerns intensify about countries like Iran and North Korea and their nuclear capabilities, this may be a risky time to sell more of the technology to the developing world.

Yet furthering nuclear exports is what several governments are seeking for their industries amid talk of a renaissance for the technology.

Take the promotion by the French government of a nuclear conference in Paris last week.

France said it wanted to help representatives of delegations that reportedly included those of Syria and Libya overcome “the challenges of finding financing, obtaining access to the technology and the latest research and training people to satisfactorily conduct their projects.”

The “peaceful use of nuclear power should not be confined to a handful of states that already hold the technology,” the government added in the message, posted at the Web site for the conference of which President Nicolas Sarkozy of France was host.

That will be a tall order.

France first must reconcile a number of competing objectives, including encouragement of the spread of nuclear expertise while preventing proliferation of military applications of the technology; building plants that are both affordable and safe enough to convince skeptics that there can be no recurrence of accidents that blighted the industry in the 1970s and 1980s; and convincing citizens that burying radioactive waste deep underground is an environmentally sound trade-off for generating nuclear power free of greenhouse gases.

The stakes are high. The number of reactors worldwide could approximately double between now and 2030, to more than 800, according to industry figures.

France should be well placed to stake a claim to that market. It is the world’s second-biggest nuclear power producer after the United States, and France already generates almost all of its own electricity from atoms. France also is home to Areva, a state-controlled company that is the world’s biggest reactor builder and is a leader in fuel reprocessing.

But Areva faces stiffening competition from its archrival Westinghouse, owned by Toshiba of Japan; G.E.-Hitachi, based in the United States; Rosatom of Russia; and up-and-coming international vendors like Korea Electric Power of South Korea.

Mr. Sarkozy called last week for international training schools with funding by France so that a new generation of technicians and designers in countries like Jordan could learn the skills required to run those new reactors safely. José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, also sought to help, by pressing for global application of nuclear safety standards set by the European Union.

Those initiatives could reduce opposition to nuclear power and exports of the technology by reducing accidents and by preventing technology from falling into the hands of terrorists.

The initiatives could also help European companies like Areva with designs that already meet those specifications.

The primary market for nuclear vendors is China, which probably will build three-quarters of the world’s new reactors through 2020 payday loans with no fax. But Westinghouse already has a firm foothold in China with its AP1000 model, and Chinese companies will soon start building those models using a “production line” approach, said Jeremy Gordon, an analyst for the World Nuclear Association, an industry group.

India is another one of the world’s most promising markets for nuclear power. But Mr. Gordon said there was no guarantee that India would become a major business hub for a single vendor like Areva. The company is already smarting after being beaten to a contract worth $20 billion in the United Arab Emirates by the South Koreans, who offered a much lower price.

Indeed, the biggest challenge for Areva in coming years may be overcoming the cost and complexity of its so-called E.P.R. model, which is loaded with multiple safety systems. The competing Westinghouse model relies more on so-called passive systems for safety, and it may prove simpler to build.

Another possible advantage for Westinghouse is that it has been more willing than other vendors to allow buyers to adopt aspects of a reactor’s design and allow them to develop a homegrown industry, Mr. Gordon said.

That means Areva’s most promising markets could be in the United States and Europe, where France and Britain will be refreshing their arrays of reactors, and where Italy has begun the process of reintroducing nuclear power after a break of more than two decades.

But large numbers of Europeans remain skeptical about the safety and environmental consequences of nuclear power, particularly the industry’s highly radioactive waste. That could limit Areva’s sales closer to home.

Günther Oettinger, the E.U. commissioner for energy, reiterated Friday that the European Commission would propose legislation promoting the permanent burial of high-level waste deep underground in geologically stable areas by the end of the year.

That move is designed to address worries about the waste, which is currently stored on an interim basis in pools of water or in casks, many near ground level and in some cases is exported.

But Mr. Oettinger also acknowledged that the issue of nuclear power would remain fraught in Europe, and he stressed that the European Commission recognized there were limits to how far it could push any nuclear agenda.

“We accept that the president of France, in nuclear plants, is seeking as many contracts as possible, both in the E.U. and beyond,” Mr. Oettinger said, but the Union had to “accept France’s energy mix just like Austria’s.”

He said Austria, which banned nuclear power in the late 1970s, already was able to generate most of its electricity without producing greenhouse gas emissions — by using hydropower.

Green Inc.: Taking a Risk With Nuclear Technology

Hot News: Dodd Lays Out Details of Financial Overhaul Bill

PARIS – A conference bringing together more than 60 nations Thursday added $1 billion to the fight against deforestation and boosted the morale of those hoping to save the world’s forests — a key defense against global warming.

Three months after a morose ending to climate change talks in Copenhagen, the one-day ministerial meeting in Paris attended by heavily forested countries such as Indonesia and those in the Amazon and Congo basins amounted to a confidence-builder for nations wondering what comes next in the battle against deforestation, many delegates said.

“We entered the meeting with $3.5 billion. It went to $4.5 billion (here) and we want to arrive in Oslo with $6 billion,” Brazilian Environment Minister Carlos Minc said after the closed-door talks.

A follow-up to the Paris meeting is planned in Oslo, Norway, in May.

Brice Lalonde, who heads climate negotiations for France, said: “We must go on. … There is a post-Copenhagen landscape where we will be more pragmatic.”

The 64 nations agreed to create a core structure of some 10 countries to work on the mechanics of equitably distributing funds and other issues. The idea is to arrive at the U.N. climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, in December with a concrete plan devoted specifically to the critical issue of deforestation.

Efforts to halt that culprit in climate change have bogged down along with the wider goal of reaching a legally binding global agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions while helping poor nations adapt to, and cope with, climate change.

Thursday’s meeting focused on an aspect of a forest program — Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, or REDD — that was approved at the Copenhagen conference.

REDD Plus, discussed in Paris, is an incentive program based on providing funds to nations working to reduce emissions through good forest governance and protecting biological diversity and the rights of indigenous people.

Reclaiming the forest in many cases entails retraining people whose livelihoods are linked to the forest — or its destruction.

Deforestation — the burning of woodlands or the rotting of felled trees — is thought to account for up to 20 percent of C02 released into the atmosphere — as much as that emitted by all the world’s cars, trucks, trains, planes and ships combined cash advance payday loan.

Due to deforestation from logging, crop-growing and cattle grazing, Indonesia and Brazil have become the world’s third- and fourth-largest carbon emitters, after China and the U.S.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, opening the conference, said defending the world’s forests demanded more aggressive funding.

“Those who don’t want to do anything are those who don’t want to pay,” he said. He reiterated his appeal for a tax on financial market transactions worldwide that could be earmarked for a global climate fund.

“Together, we will demonstrate that it is possible to achieve concrete and measurable results, as of this year, starting with … the fight against deforestation,” Sarkozy said. He called the Copenhagen conference “frustrating.”

France, Norway and four other countries pledged an initial $3.5 billion to REDD Plus through 2012. The core coordination group established in Paris will, among other things, see where the funds are spent and ensure it is done fairly.

Minc, the Brazilian minister, said: if “we will arrive in Cancun with things that work, we won’t repeat the problems of Copenhagen.”

Many delegations were seeking a share of the funds and guidance about how to obtain them.

“What we need here are step-by-step guidelines to be followed to access funding,” said Wandoso Sisnanto, an adviser for Indonesia’s Forest Ministry.

“After Copenhagen, we have had no chance to talk … and now we can work with each other, coordinate. It’s really worthwhile to again build trust among us,” he said.

Many funding programs are in the works, and individual countries are moving ahead with their own programs to fight deforestation and educate local populations who live off forests — estimated at more than 1 billion worldwide — to do so in a sustainable way.

Meeting on deforestation boosts morale, budget

ZURICH — A Swiss court ordered tax officials to drop two more cases involving account holders of the banking giant UBS, adding urgency to the government’s effort to find a political solution that would preserve a data-sharing agreement with American regulators.

The Federal Administrative Court, in a decision published on Friday, told Switzerland’s tax authority to comply with an earlier ruling that blocked it from sending American regulators information on 26 UBS customers. The court, located in Bern, said Switzerland could lift bank secrecy rules only when there was evidence of tax fraud.

The decision increases pressure to find a way to salvage the agreement to hand over data on as many as 4,450 UBS account holders as part of an American crackdown on tax evasion. Parliament, however, may be asked to approve the settlement to get around the court rulings cheap payday advance.

With parliamentary approval, the court will not be able to “regard the UBS agreement as merely a mutual agreement” as it will have the same legal weight as a treaty, the government said.

The two UBS clients involved in the latest decision are among 26 covered by last month’s ruling. The court said that the account holders’ conduct — failing to complete tax forms or declare income — was tax evasion rather than tax fraud. Under Swiss law, tax fraud is a criminal offense, while evasion is a civil matter.

Officials with UBS, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration and the Internal Revenue Service all declined to comment.

U.S.-UBS Deal Is Undermined by Swiss Ruling

JOB PICTURE STILL BLEAK: New claims for jobless benefits rose sharply last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. Most of the rise resulted from state agencies processing a backlog of claims left over from two weeks ago when snowstorms closed government offices.

IMPROVEMENT STALLS: Still, a steady drop in claims in the second half of last year has stalled, a sign layoffs are no longer declining cheap business cards. More layoffs could weaken consumer spending and slow the recovery.

WEAK ECONOMY: Other recent economic reports have also been disappointing, evidence that economic growth may weaken later this year.

Summary Box: Jobless claims rise in weak recovery

TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A document claiming Toyota Motor Corp saved over $100 million by getting U.S. regulators to agree a cheap fix for unintended acceleration problems raised pressure on the company's president as he arrived in Washington to prepare for a grilling from congress.

Akio Toyoda is set to testify before the U.S. lawmakers this week in an effort to contain a safety crisis that threatens the reputation and continued success of the automaker in the market that made it a global powerhouse.

Toyota has recalled over 8.5 million vehicles globally in recent months for problems including sticky accelerators, accelerators that can be pinned down by loose floormats and a braking glitch affecting its hybrid models.

The company said on Monday it had received a federal grand jury subpoena for documents related to unintended acceleration that led to the recall of millions of cars in the United States.

Regulators believe five deaths are associated with floor mats and are reviewing up to 29 other fatality reports to see if they are related to unintended acceleration.

A 2009 internal document turned over to lawmakers and made available on Sunday shows Toyota's Washington D.C. staff trumpeting savings of more than $100 million by convincing regulators to end a 2007 investigation of sudden acceleration complaints with a relatively cheap floormat recall.

The document seems certain to add to the high-stakes debate about whether Toyota missed or ignored complaints about sudden acceleration in its vehicles and whether U.S. safety regulators were tough enough.

Toyota shares rose as much as 3 percent earlier on Monday, lifted by a rally in exporters after the yen slipped against the dollar, but pared gains to close up 1.2 percent.

"Investors remain reluctant to buy up Toyota, given uncertainty over how the congressional hearings will go," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, head of the investment information department at SMBC Friend Securities.

"We are likely to see more selling of Toyota shares and buying of Honda shares," he said.

Toyota stock has lost 19 percent over the past month but has steadied over the past 10 trading sessions.

"VERY TELLING" DOCUMENT

Toyota on Sunday reiterated that it was conducting a top-to-bottom review of all its operations.

"Our first priority is the safety of our customers and to conclude otherwise on the basis of one internal presentation is wrong," the company said home kerosene heaters.

But the U.S. Department of Transportation said the document highlighted Toyota's slow response to the safety problems.

"Unfortunately, this document is very telling," said department spokeswoman Olivia Alair in an emailed statement.

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. said General Manager Bob Carter would provide an update on its recall actions later on Monday.

Toyota has launched a publicity campaign to convince current and prospective customers that the company is addressing the problems. Its U.S. sales plummeted 16 percent in January and the company has estimated the recalls will cost it $2 billion at the operating level in the fiscal year ending March.

Toyota said it would temporarily halt production in France over the next two months due to soft sales, although it did not specify the number of idle days.

Last week, it had announced a similar stoppage at its factory in Britain for an extra week after Easter, on top of recent and planned output cuts in North America and Japan.

Japanese rival Mazda Motor Corp said it would not launch a special marketing campaign to draw customers away from Toyota, shunning a strategy used by other car makers keen to capitalize on Toyota's recall woes.

TOYODA TESTIMONY KEY

Toyoda, who is set to testify Wednesday after initially ruling out such an appearance, has acknowledged that the automaker founded by his grandfather let its standards slip during fast growth over the past decade.

The company has been tight-lipped about Toyoda's schedule, with a spokesman declining to confirm whether its president was already in the United States. Japanese media reported he had arrived in Washington and television showed images of his private jet.

Analysts said Toyoda's appearance in Washington will be a defining moment in whether and how quickly it can move beyond its safety crisis.

"Congress is doing him a favor. He can be apologetic and be contrite and take responsibility and acknowledge that there have been some stress points in growth of the company," said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a Yale School of Management senior associate dean and an expert on corporate leadership.

(Additional reporting by David Bailey and Soyoung Kim in Detroit and Chang-Ran Kim, Yumiko Nishitani and Yoshifumi Takemoto in Tokyo; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Jon Loades-Carter)

Toyota memo raises stakes for chief’s U.S. hearings

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) reported a higher quarterly profit on Thursday but said sales at its existing U.S. namesake stores fell during the holiday quarter and forecast earnings for the current quarter that could miss Wall Street estimates.

Profit for the fourth quarter that ended January 31 rose to $4.63 billion, or $1.21 per share, from $3.79 billion, or 96 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company said earnings per share excluding a charge of 4 cents per share for restructuring and a tax benefit of 10 cents per share were $1.17.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $1.12 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S easy fast payday loans.

Sales in the quarter rose 4.6 percent to $112.82 billion.

Total U.S. same-store sales fell 1.6 percent, with sales rising 0.7 percent at its Sam's Club warehouse division and falling 2 percent in its Walmart stores. It had forecast U.S. same-store sales to be flat, plus-or-minus 1 percent.

For the first quarter it expects earnings per share from continuing operations to range from 81 cents to 85 cents. Analysts were expecting 85 cents.

(Reporting by Nicole Maestri; editing by John Wallace)

Wal-Mart profit rises but forecast light

LONDON (AFP) – World oil prices plunged on Friday as traders took their cue from the strengthening US dollar and eyed a crucial update on energy stockpiles in the United States, analysts said.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, fell 1.64 dollars to 73.64 dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for March delivery plunged 1.48 dollars to 72.64 dollars a barrel.

Oil sank after the European single currency fell close to a nine-month dollar low, as markets took a dim view of eurozone growth data and unclear EU proposals to help debt-ridden Greece.

In late morning London trade, the euro tumbled to 1.3532 dollars, the lowest level since May 19. That compared with 1.3695 in New York late on Thursday.

A stronger dollar usually dampens demand for oil because it makes dollar-priced crude more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies.

"While European key players and the IMF will not allow a complete failure of Greece, the euro is likely to remain under pressure from the issue and similar concerns for other countries in the region," said analysts at the JBC Energy consultancy in Vienna.

EU leaders stopped short Thursday of offering a bailout to rescue eurozone member Greece. Deep problems in Greek public finances have highlighted the parlous debt of other crisis-hit countries such as Italy and Spain.

Investors also sought the safe-haven dollar after China ordered financial institutions to increase the amount of money they keep in reserve, as Beijing looked to rein in rampant lending amid fears of asset bubbles no fax needed payday loans.

The development was an additional concern for the oil market because China is the world's second biggest energy consuming nation after the United States.

Later Friday, traders will digest a key US inventories report for the week ending February 5. The report, usually published on Wednesdays, was delayed due to a snowstorm in the northeastern US.

This week, crude futures have edged higher as investors mulled the prospect of EU financial support for crisis-hit Greece — and as the US east coast experienced its second huge snowstorm in less than a week.

The International Energy Agency forecast on Thursday that world oil demand and prices would rise this year, driven higher by strong growth in emerging economies, revising upward its earlier forecasts.

The Paris-based agency said demand was now expected to be 86.5 million barrels per day in 2010 compared to a forecast last month of 86.3, while average prices will rise to 75 dollars per barrel from 58 in 2009.

Global daily demand is now estimated at 84.9 million barrels per day (mbd) in 2009, and thus the IEA is predicting a 1.6-mbd increase.

Demand growth is expected to come "entirely" from outside the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a grouping of 30 developed economies including Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the United States.

Oil prices slide on back of strong dollar

Filed at 2:33 a.m. ET

YOKOHAMA, Japan, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co (NASDAQ:NSANY) , Japan’s No.3 carmaker, said it returned to profit in the third quarter from a year earlier and raised its annual forecast for the second time this financial year, boosted by brisk sales globally.

Nissan, in which France’s Renault SA holds a 44 percent stake, reported on Tuesday an operating profit of 134.07 billion yen ($1.5 billion) for the October-December quarter, swinging from a loss of 99.19 billion yen a year earlier.

The result beat the average estimate of 80 billion yen from three analysts.

For the year ending in March, Nissan now expects an operating profit of 290 billion yen, up from the 120 billion yen profit it forecast in November. That compared with the average 210 billion yen estimate in a poll of 19 analysts by Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) (TSX:TRI) I/B/E/S short term personal loan.

Nissan had initially projected a second straight year of losses this financial year, but it revised its outlook to a profit three months ago as government incentives helped rev up sales in China.

Bigger Japanese rivals Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) and Honda Motor Co (NYSE:HMC) also upgraded their annual forecasts last week. [IDs:nSGE61209G]

Shares of Nissan have risen 8.7 percent in the last three months, outperforming the Nikkei stock average’s 1.7 percent gain.

Nissan shares closed up 2.4 percent at 731 yen before the results announcement, against a 0.2 percent fall in the Nikkei.

Nissan Returns to Profit and Lifts Forecast

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — When China began its massive stimulus and bank-lending program, almost immediately its equity markets moved higher. But rather than this being an example of the Efficient Market Theory at work, the explanation was the more messy unintended consequences — the huge bank-lending effort was spilling directly into the stocks and not just building roads and railways.

When that stimulus goes into reverse, you might expect equity markets to follow. So far, they’re right on cue. Shanghai’s benchmark share index has fallen 9% this year, and last week, China XD Electric became the first A-share to fall on its debut in nearly four years. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index is now testing the psychologically important 20,000-point level, and there have also been IPO casualties, the latest being SouthGobi , which debuted with an alarming 11% fall on Friday.

Only days ago, accountants were forecasting Hong Kong and Shanghai would again lead the world with record IPOs this year. This may need to be rethought. Already stories have been circling that regulators in Shanghai are planning another moratorium on new issues to shore up the market, while in Hong Kong, at least one IPO luncheon was abruptly cancelled last week.

As the first month of 2010 has progressed, investors have grown rattled as Beijing’s exit strategy from its stimulus program has taken on an increasingly desperate look. First we had a hike in reserve requirements for banks before it was reported that all new loans for the rest of the month had been banned, amid reports new lending had already reached 1.45 trillion yuan in the first three weeks — nearly 20% of the full-year target.

It also appeared mainland Chinese banks were scrambling to raise fresh capital and drop lending projects. Bank of China’s proposed fund raising ballooned from an initial 40 billion yuan ($5.86 billion) to a stock offering of up to 230 billion Hong Kong dollars ($29.6 billion). The new frugality has led to China shelving some of its high-speed rail infrastructure projects, according to a report last week in the South China Morning Post.

The need for Beijing to find a change of gear for the economy has taken on greater urgency after the consumer price index came in 1.9% higher for last December, up from a 0.6% rise a month earlier.

At the same time authorities do not want to stall the economic recovery. This, to some extent, is no different from governments around the world seeking a painless exit from last year’s giant stimulus programs — but for China’s unbalanced economy, withdrawal could be particularly challenging payday loan companies. According to Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman Stephen Roach, who spoke in Hong Kong recently, stimulus investment and bank lending accounted for almost 95% of China’s growth in 2009.

Another complication China faces is that, unlike many countries coming out of the deep global recession, it has to tighten into a potential property-market bubble after steep price-rises last year. It may look as if it all doesn’t quite add up, although some brokers say there is no need to worry.

CLSA’s strategists argue the tightening noise is just a speed bump in a bull market, and those with a view extending beyond two months should buy more interest-rate-sensitives in China, such as property and bank stocks. They add that talk of a slowdown or “collapse” in residential property sales this month should be ignored, as the Chinese government wants to see a cooling off, as authorities hope to use the continuing residential-property development cycle to drive economic growth.

A new report from HSBC research also dismisses concerns over tightening, saying regulators are only seeking to smooth quarterly lending, not restrict loans. They suggest a good way to assess the current period of tightening is to look back to 2004, when Beijing also raised interest rates. Then, the H-share market bottomed one month after the first tightening measure with a 15%-20% correction, although less reassuringly, the A-share market entered a two-year bear market.

Fast forward to today and added into the mix is a general weakening in emerging-market equity risk appetite for global investors, as the U.S. dollar strengthens and uncertainty over new regulation on banking and capital movements overhangs the market.

We can expect news on policy coming out of Beijing to be watched closely in the days ahead. It’s odds-on that regulators will tread carefully so as not to destabilize equity markets further with planned cash calls for banks and a new listing pipeline ahead.

Still, while authorities may find its possible to efficiently control bank lending by decree — and even to do so with year-end gross domestic product numbers — stock markets and property markets are quite different animals.

Craig Stephen’s This Week in China: Low follows stimulus high in China

FRANKFURT (AFP) – The German chemical and cosmetics group Henkel, maker of Persil soap powder, reported on Friday that its core earnings jumped last year and that the 2010 outlook was good as well.

Henkel's earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) surged by 38 percent to 1.08 billion euros (1.51 billion dollars) in 2009, even though sales slipped by 3.5 percent to 13.57 billion euros according to preliminary figures.

The final figures are to be published on February 25, and the results were noticeably better than expected in the group's adhesives and laundry and home care product units, a statement said no fax cash advance.

For 2010, Henkel said it "is confident of again outperforming its relevant markets in terms of organic sales growth," after allowing for foreign exchange effects and acquisitions or divestments.

The group also expects core earnings "to improve noticeably compared to the prior-year figures."

German Henkel reports surge in 2009 core earnings

HONG KONG – Asian stock markets dropped sharply Friday as disappointing company forecasts and growing concerns about debt-laden European nations shook investor hopes for a quicker global recovery. European markets opened higher.

Steep falls across Asia followed strong gains the day before, marking a return to heavy selling that’s pulled markets worldwide lower in the past week. The dollar continued to strengthen as investors looked for safer bets, pulling down prices for commodities.

Lackluster outlooks from major U.S. technology companies Qualcomm Inc. and Motorola Inc. exacerbated worries that global demand and corporate earnings, after improving in 2009, could prove weaker than expected this year.

Investors are also increasingly unnerved by rising debt levels in European countries like Greece and Portugal — focusing the market’s worries on the huge amounts of government borrowing and its ultimate effects on the financial system. Moody’s ratings agency added to fears that have dragged the euro to multi-month lows with a warning that Portugal’s credit rating could suffer unless its deficit was reduced.

Mark Tan, fund manager at UOB Asset Management in Singapore, said uncertainty surrounding U.S. bank regulation plans, Chinese lending curbs and other problems were being used as an excuse to book profits after last year’s rally. He expected the markets to resume an upward trend soon.

“We believe this correction will be short and sharp,” said Tan, who helps manage more than $10 billion in assets. “There’s a lot of confusion in the market at the moment. But the liquidity and economic fundamentals are still good, so this is a correction in a relatively positive market.”

Early going in the Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.7 percent, Germany’s DAX was up 0.8 percent and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.7 percent. Wall Street futures pointed to a slightly higher open in the U.S. Friday. S&P futures gained 0.9 point, or 0.1 percent, to 1,08.40.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 stock average tumbled 216.25, or 2.1 percent, to 10,198.04. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid 234.38, or 1.2 percent, to 20,121.99, and South Korea’s Kospi fell 40 points, or 2.4 percent, to 1,602.43.

India’s market shed 0.4 percent and Shanghai was down 0.2 percent. Australia’s benchmark tumbled 2.2 percent, its resource-heavy market dragged lower by easing commodity prices fast payday loans.

Adding to investors’ unease was an initial report, to be released Friday, on U.S. gross domestic product in the fourth quarter. American GDP, a measure of the country’s economic output, is expected to rise 4.5 percent.

Global markets have gotten off to a rough start in 2010, with most down sharply for the year. Developing countries have been hit especially hard in the latest downdraft.

China and Indian benchmarks are now off about 9 percent and 7 percent for the year, respectively, as investors scale back their investments in riskier assets like equities in so-called emerging markets.

Overall, investors pulled more money out of developing market investment funds than they put into them during the week ending Jan. 27, according to a survey by EPFR Global, a Boston-based firm that tracks global fund flow data. It was the first time emerging market funds had suffered outflows of money in about 3 months.

Asian tech stocks felt part of the brunt of Friday’s selling as sentiment toward the industry continued to sour. South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. lost 3 percent even as it posted a fourth quarter profit. Japanese memory chip maker Elpida tanked 9 percent.

Also slammed were resource companies, with mining giant Rio Tinto down nearly 5 percent as a stronger greenback brought down prices for commodities, which are priced in dollars.

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp. fell another 2 percent. The world’s largest automaker is struggling to salvage its safety reputation in the wake of massive recalls in the U.S., Europe and China.

Another bout of selling in the U.S. further weakened sentiment.

The Dow fell 115.70, or 1.1 percent, to 10,120.46. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 12.97, or 1.2 percent, to 1,084.53, while the Nasdaq fell 42.41, or 1.9 percent, to 2,179.00.

In currencies, the euro continued to slide, falling to $1.3967 from $1.3976. The dollar was higher at 90.25 yen from 89.87 yen.

Oil prices lingered near a six-week low below $74, with benchmark crude for March delivery fluctuating before rising 26 cents to $73.90 a barrel. The contract lost 3 cents to settle at $73.64 on Thursday, the lowest since Dec. 14 when crude dropped to $73.46.

Asian markets resume slide; Europe stocks gain

This Wednesday, Steven P. Jobs will step to the stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and unveil a shiny new machine that may or may not change the world.

In the magician’s world, that’s called “the reveal.”

And the most magical part? Even as the media and technology worlds have anticipated this announcement for months, Apple has said not word one about The Device. Reporting on the announcement has become crowdsourced, with thousands of tech and media journalists scrambling for the latest wisp and building on the reporting of others.

However miraculous the thingamajig turns out to be — all rumors point to some kind of tabletlike device — it can’t be more remarkable than the control that Apple and Mr. Jobs have over their audience.

“The reason that we all write about Apple is because we are, of course, interested, but also because everybody likes to read about Apple,” said Matt Buchanan, a contributing editor at the technology site Gizmodo. “Even if they hate Apple.”

As an organization, Apple is more disciplined in managing message than even the Obama campaign, with a culture — some would say cult — of corporate omertà. The only reason we know that the tablet is for real, that it is probably a 10-inch touch device that will cost $600 to $1,000, is that at some point, Apple had to reach out to partners who do not share its sense of pristine hygiene around information.

“Other companies put things in beta, let people try it out and then bring it out,” said Steven Levy, a senior writer at Wired. “With Apple, they say nothing, build the suspense and then say: ‘Here it is. You may discuss.’ Other companies don’t have the discipline, the heart, to do that.”

John Gruber, who writes at DaringFireball.net, says that there may be a business and communications lesson here: make something rather than talk about it.

“When I was younger, I used to love to go to the Philly car show, but I learned after a while that the coolest cars at the show — the prototypes — never get built,” he said. “Apple builds and unveils actual products. They don’t do prototypes.”

Even David Blaine, who is a real magician, calls Mr. Jobs “the ultimate showman who keeps the audience excited the whole way leading up to the reveal.” The strategy carries a measure of risk: Apple TV and the Cube were both introduced with the fanfare of an ocean liner, but behaved more like boat anchors in the marketplace. And iTunes was a soft unveiling that took its time in taking over the world in part because it came out on a Mac-only platform.

But more often than not, Apple has delivered on Mr. Jobs’s showmanship. People remember the debut of the iPhone three years ago, and Apple’s promise that it would change everything car loan. It promptly did, so who wants to miss out on the reveal for the next big thing? (I took the bait, by the way.)

Other properties unique to Apple may be at work. There is a well-chronicled reality distortion field around Mr. Jobs, and his bout with illness and industrious recovery have only reinforced his otherworldly properties. That aura, combined with the company’s history of producing technology that jailbreaks digital culture and transforms entire industries, means it’s best to remain vigilant, even when the company is saying nothing.

Another media dynamic is in play: shared interests. Because the tablet is said to create a new digital reading experience, offering publishing companies a kind of do-over, many media types see the tablet as a life preserver in the midst of the tall waves. Already, the prospective challenge has pushed Amazon to open up its Kindle reader to applications and sweetened royalty arrangements for certain kinds of content.

There was a suggestion at the beginning of the month that Apple actually quietly engages with the news media in a way that does not leave fingerprints. Writing for The Mac Observer, John Martellaro, a former senior marketing manager at Apple, said it had happened before: “The way it works is that a senior exec will come in and say: ‘We need to release this specific information. John, do you have a trusted friend at a major outlet? If so, call him/her and have a conversation. Idly mention this information and suggest that if it were published, that would be nice. No e-mails!’”

That would be news to people who have covered Apple for decades.

“What Steve wants to do more than anything is surprise the world,” said John Markoff, the longtime technology reporter at The New York Times. “It is not in his interest to have a steady drip of product information before he takes the stage.”

Paul Saffo, a veteran technologist in Silicon Valley who has known Mr. Jobs for years, said he hadn’t seen any traces of Apple in the current frenzy.

“We used to say that Apple was a ship that leaked from the top, but it’s been a lot more like North Korea for the past few years,” Mr. Saffo said. “When you look at the night sky, would you notice a single bright star or a huge black hole? Steve creates a black hole and then fills it in with stars.”

So it’s simple really. If you make a product that turns the culture upside down, drives stock price and reconfigures other industries, you step to the stage amid a herald of trumpets and perform magic.

Just make sure the dang thing works.

E-mail: carr@nytimes.com http://twitter.com/carr2n

The Media Equation: Conjuring Up the Latest Buzz, Without a Word

TULSA, Okla. – Williams Cos. said Tuesday it will create one of the largest natural gas partnerships in the nation by combining its pipeline and processing units.

The deal provides Williams with more money to explore for natural gas. Many energy companies are manuevering to get a bigger portion of the huge natural gas reserves in the U.S. that have been discovered due to advances in drilling technology.

The deal is worth about $10 billion plus $2 billion in debt. Williams, based in Tulsa, Okla., will get about $3.5 billion in cash from Williams Partners, its natural gas processing company. It will also receive 203 million units of the partnership and its stake from 24 percent to 80 percent.

The restucturing will also allow the company to borrow money more easily.

Williams is one of the biggest natural gas operations in the U faxless pay day loans.S., producing enough gas for more than 4 million homes per day and transporting about 12 percent of the nation’s daily supply of natural gas. One its most important assets is the Texas Transcontinental Gas pipeline, which carries gas from the Gulf Coast to New Jersey and New York City as well as the Northwest.

Shares of Williams rose $1.73, or 8.1 percent, to close at $23.10. Earlier, shares reached a 52-week high of $23.76. Williams Partners shares shot up $5.60, or 18.2 percent, to $36.39, and hit a 52-week high of $36.40. Williams Pipeline Partners shares gained $3.84, or 16.5 percent, at $27.19. The shares hit $27.25 during the session, their highest price over the past year.

Williams creates giant natural gas partnership

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Profits from top U.S. technology companies like IBM (IBM.N) and financial companies like Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) next week could help stocks gain as long as investors see room for more profit growth.

Stronger-than-expected results late Thursday from tech bellwether Intel Corp (INTC.O) failed to excite investors on Friday, while steep loan losses reported by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM.N) dragged down the market.

The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index (.SPX) rose 23.5 percent last year, with information technology the top-performing sector. It jumped 60 percent, raising questions about whether the sector may have become too expensive.

"It's all about how fast they can grow earnings to catch up to those valuations," said Jeff Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial in Boston.

"This is a business spending-led recovery rather than consumer recovery … so I think earnings growth will remain above average and justify those valuations."

Fourth-quarter results are expected to show a sharp improvement compared with 2008's last quarter, when the economic downturn took a heavy toll on corporate profits.

S&P 500 earnings for the quarter are forecast up 186 percent versus a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters estimates. It would be the first quarter that S&P 500 company earnings grew year over year since the second quarter of 2007.

Next week the earnings period accelerates, with some 57 S&P 500 companies reporting.

International Business Machines Corp is scheduled to post results on Tuesday while Google Inc (GOOG.O) is expected on Thursday. Among financials, Goldman Sachs is expected on Thursday, while Bank of America (BAC.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) should report on Wednesday.

STOCKS END DOWN FOR WEEK

For the second week of the new year, the three major indexes lost ground. The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 0.1 percent, while the S&P was down 0.8 percent and Nasdaq (.IXIC) was down 1.3 percent.

The S&P 500 is still up 68 percent since its early March lows, largely because of stronger-than-expected earnings and economic data.

On the economic front, data that could influence stocks next week includes reports on housing starts, producer prices and leading indicators easy payday loans.

Data on December housing starts, expected on Wednesday, is forecast to show 580,000 new units from 574,000 in November.

More than 70 percent of companies beat estimates in recent reporting periods, and investors are eager to see if the fourth-quarter will produce similar results. The last quarter of 2008 was the worst earnings period in the history of the index.

"I think we're going to get decent numbers relative to estimates," said Fred Dickson, market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

"Valuations have gone up, but so have earnings."

Intel, which fell 3.2 percent to $20.80 on Friday, "had such a good run on the margin front that I think a lot of people are a little bit leery that there's going to be any further improvement in margins," said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of U.S. Equity Group, Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, said.

FINANCIALS KEY TO MARKET

IBM shares have risen almost 60 percent in the past year as the company cut costs and changed its business mix. Analysts expect the company to report fourth-quarter revenue of about $27 billion, about even with a year earlier, and profit per share of $3.47 versus $3.27 a year earlier.

Financials, which were up 14.8 percent as an S&P sector last year, could benefit from gains in investment banking and other factors, Kleintop said.

"Financials still remain the sore spot in the market. If financials are going down, the whole market is going down," he said.

Financials, materials and consumer discretionary companies are expected to have the highest earnings growth for the fourth quarter, Thomson Reuters estimates showed. Energy and industrials are expected to have the lowest.

Also set to report next week: General Electric (GE.N), McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) and American Express Co (AXP.N).

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Earnings growth takes center stage

LONDON (MarketWatch) — European shares traded lower on Friday with investors cautious after a mixed start to the U.S. fourth-quarter earnings season.

The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index traded down 0.6% at 257.39.

“Overall, the market has been strong since the beginning of the year and I think that we could see a bit of profit-taking,” said Stephen Taylor, strategist at Dolmen Stockbrokers.

European banks came under pressure after the release of fourth-quarter earnings from U.S. banking giant J.P. Morgan, with Societe Generale shares down 2.9%, Deutsche Bank shares down 3.7% and Barclays shares down 2.2%.

J.P. Morgan reported that it earned more than analysts expected in the fourth quarter, but its credit costs remained high and it set aside nearly $2 billion to cover consumer-loan losses. Read more on J.P, Morgan results.

“There’s still a lot of risk with financials; their balance sheets are complicated,” said Taylor.

The German DAX index declined 2% to 5,872.96, the French CAC-40 index moved down 1.3% at 3,964.34 and the U.K. FTSE 100 index fell 0.6% to 5,466.05.

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Asian stocks ended broadly higher. U.S. stocks retreated. Shares rose on Wall Street Thursday ahead of results out from Intel Corp., .

The world’s biggest chipmaker posted a jump in fourth-quarter profit and topped Wall Street estimates after higher sales for PC processors. See full story.

Carrefour , Europe’s largest retailer, rose 3.7%, after it reported late on Thursday a 1% rise in fourth-quarter sales to 25.99 billion euros. Latin American sales growth offset a stagnant performance in its home market of France.

Carrefour, which twice lowered its earnings outlook for the year, estimates operating profit of 2 free business cards.78 billion euros, down from 3.3 billion euros in 2008 but above its previous estimate of the “bottom end of the 2.7 billion euro to 2.8 billion euro range.” Read more on Carrefour.

Back with earnings-related decliners, shares of Man Group fell 6.1% in London after it said that its funds under management declined around 4% to $42.4 billion at the end of December after redemptions from institutional investors and a negative performance from its AHL fund. Read Man Group story.

Business-software giant SAP fell 3.2% after it was downgraded to equal weight at Morgan Stanley. The brokerage said the German software giant will want to re-energize its top line through more investment.

Vodafone Group shares were down 1.4%.

The wireless telecom giant’s Verizon Wireless venture with Verizon Communications lowered its basic wireless service fee by about $29 a month on Friday. Read more on Verizon Wireless move.

Autos were also lower, with Renault down 3% and BMW shares down 1.2%..

Taylor at Dolmen said he’s cautious on companies that sell relatively high-priced consumer products. “They had a good rally last year, but I think that they may underperform,” he said.

And QinetiQ shares dropped nearly 12%. The U.K. defense and intelligence group said orders from the U.K. and U.S. governments have been delayed, so the normally seasonally strong second half won’t occur. Its second-half performance is seen broadly similar to the first. Read more on order delay.

However, media stocks were higher, with newspaper publisher Daily Mail and General Trust up 5.5% on the London Stock Exchange after upgrades at UBS and Credit Suisse.

In addition, Pearson shares were up 1.4% after the publisher of the Financial Times said that its majority-owned unit, Interactive Data Corp., is mulling strategic options.

Europe Markets: Europe shares lower after mixed earnings