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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

Despite fears that snowstorms in February would dampen sales, the nation’s stores posted their strongest results on Thursday since late 2007, suggesting the beginnings of a broad recovery in retailing.

Nearly every major chain turned in robust figures, beating analysts’ expectations and recording the sixth consecutive monthly sales increase. Even long-struggling stores and sectors came back from the dead.

“If anybody was wondering about the real state of the consumer, this is their answer,” said John D. Morris, a retailing analyst with BMO Capital Markets. “The consumer is coming back.”

The results provoked a measure of skepticism, however. A major reason they looked so good was that they were being compared with the deep declines of February 2009. That tempered industry professionals’ enthusiasm, as did the continuing high rate of unemployment, which strongly correlates with consumer spending.

Moody’s Investors Service said in a research note on Thursday that while retailers reported “modestly positive results, we remain unconvinced that this is evidence of a sustainable trend.”

Analysts at Moody’s said that in the year ahead, many consumers would be forced to increase their savings to pay off debt, and that the weak credit market would continue to squeeze consumers.

With February always a slow sales month, retailing analysts said the major test of the nascent recovery in retailing would come at the end of April. Over the next two months, they will be looking to see whether consumers are willing to open their wallets for spring clothes and Easter-related treats and decorations.

But for now, the February results are the best news in retailing in many months.

Comparing this February to last, the industry reported a 4 percent increase in sales at stores open at least a year, according to Thomson Reuters. Analysts polled by the company had expected stores to do well, in contrast to last year’s 4.7 percent decline. Even so, the results exceeded their expectations by more than 1 percent.

The International Council of Shopping Centers, a trade group, published its own figure, saying the industry had a 3.7 percent increase — the strongest since November 2007, when sales grew 4.9 percent by that group’s measure.

Had the weather been better, the results would probably have been even more robust. Retailers have a tendency to blame snow and rain for lackluster sales. But Michael McNamara, vice president for research and analysis at SpendingPulse, an information service of MasterCard Advisors, said this time the retailers’ lament was justified. He pointed out that sales in the Northeast and Middle Atlantic states — hit by repeated storms — account for about 25 percent of all retailing in the United States.

Macy’s, for instance, reported a 3.7 percent increase at stores open at least a year but said that its February increase would have been about 5 percent if not for the storms.

The retailing industry’s 4 percent increase in February was the best monthly percentage jump that the chains had collectively posted since the end of 2007. But that does not mean the stores have returned to the sales levels they hit at the peak of the boom. Sales fell so far in the recession that stores have climbed only part of the way back fast payday loans.

Still, the improvement last month was not only pervasive, it included categories of merchandise that had been hurt most by the downturn.

For example, sales of luxury goods not including jewelry peaked in 2007, and while they have yet to climb back to that level, they rose by double digits last month. Sales of luxury goods increased 15.2 percent year-over-year, according to SpendingPulse. “You’re just growing off of an absolutely tiny sales base last year,” Mr. McNamara said.

The February results continue a positive trend for the sector. Sales were up 8.1 percent in January and 5.5 percent in December, compared with the same months the previous year.

February sales at Saks stores open at least a year, a measure of retail health known as same-store sales, increased 2 percent. Same-store sales in the specialty retail segment of Neiman Marcus, which includes Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores, increased 5.1 percent. At Nordstrom, which offers a wider range of prices than Saks and Neiman Marcus, sales rose 10.3 percent.

As expected, stores that sell brand names at a discount thrived. Analysts said that while luxury retailing was enjoying an uptick, value was still king. Same-store sales rose 11 percent at Ross Stores and 10 percent at TJX Companies, which owns chains like TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Home Goods.

Other clothing purveyors showed improvement. Same-store sales climbed year-over-year at nearly every major department store chain, a long-struggling sector, including Macy’s and Kohl’s (both up 3.7 percent), Dillard’s (up 2 percent), J. C. Penney (up 1.2 percent) and Bon-Ton (up 0.5 percent). Stein-Mart was an exception, posting a 9.3 percent decline.

There were also increases at most specialty clothing stores and retailers that cater to teenagers, including Aeropostale (up 7 percent), American Eagle Outfitters (up 6 percent), Buckle (up 5.1 percent), Wet Seal (up 4.7 percent) and Gap (up 3 percent).

Abercrombie & Fitch, the worst-performing chain for much of the recession, reported a 5 percent same-store sales increase.

Same-store sales rose by double digits at Zumiez (up 11.2 percent) and Limited, which owns chains like Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works (up 10 percent). Hot Topic was an exception, with sales sinking 7 percent.

Yet even as some consumers bought discretionary items like shirts and sneakers, they continued to be frugal-minded, driving sales at stores that sell food and other necessities at low prices.

Same-store sales were strong at discount chains like Costco (up 9 percent), BJ’s Wholesale Club (up 7.5 percent), and Target (up 2.4 percent). Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, does not report monthly sales. Costco said in a statement that customer traffic increased by about 3 percent and that the average transaction amount rose 1 percent.

The International Council of Shopping Centers expects the industry to post a 2.5 percent same-store sales increase in March. Easter, which is a week earlier this year than last, will most likely help increase sales. So might tax refunds.

Despite Storms, Stores Beat Expectations With Relatively Strong Gains

LONDON (MarketWatch) — The European Commission on Monday denied reports that a European Union plan was in the works to provide 20 billion to 25 billion euros ($27 billion to $33.8 billion) in aid to Greece as uncertainty lingers over how Athens’ European partners plan to ensure the nation will meet its debt obligations.

The Focus Will Be On Greek Bond Yields This Week

An expected bond offering will gauge investor appetite for Greek paper. If yields rise too far the country’s debt problems will get worse and the euro will suffer.

A weekend report in Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine and a story reported by the Financial Times Deutschland on Monday said Germany was working with its E.U. partners on a package.

“There is no such plan because Greece has not requested a single euro in financial aid,” a spokesman for the European Commission, the E.U.’s executive arm, told a news conference in Brussels, according to Reuters.

A spokesman for the German Finance Ministry said no decision had been made regarding aid for Greece, reports said.

The euro saw choppy trade and changed hands in recent action at $1.3610, little changed versus the U.S. dollar. The single currency has been under heavy pressure amid sovereign-default worries, dropping around 10% versus the dollar since November.

It remains unclear what authorities plan to do if investor confidence takes another hit, said Kenneth Broux, market economist at Lloyds TSB.

“I think the ECB and the E.U. are still very unclear about what the assistance would look like. And I think that is weighing on the market,” he said.

European Union leaders earlier this month pledged to support Greece, but offered no details of how an aid package would work. E.U. finance ministers last week said Greece must show progress toward slashing its budget deficit in a report due on March 16, or have further deficit-reduction measures imposed on top of the government’s austerity program.

Toe-dipping

Greece, meanwhile, is expected to put forward a 3 billion to 5 billion euro syndicated 10-year-bond issue as early as this week, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Such a move would allow Greece to “dip its toe in the water” and could prove to be a decisive moment for market sentiment, said Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank.

“Either it would confirm the view from Athens that the government should comfortably be able to raise the required funds, or it would trigger the need for support from other euro-zone countries,” he said.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Sunday told the BBC in a television interview that the country isn’t looking for an E personal humidifier.U. bailout, saying that the nation instead needs political support as it attempts to slash its deficit.

“Give us the time, give us the support — and I’m not talking about financial but political support — in order to show you that what we’re saying is being implemented and we are credible again,” Papandreou said.

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“We don’t have at this point a need for borrowing. Our borrowing needs are covered until mid-March. What we’re saying is simply that we need the help so we can borrow at the same rate as other countries, not at the high rates that undermine the possibility for” cutting the deficit, he said.

Greek government bonds have come under heavy pressure since late last year after it was revealed the nation’s 2009 deficit was near 13% of gross domestic product, more than four times the euro-zone’s 3% limit.

Greek debt was downgraded by all three major ratings agencies in December and the yield demanded by investors to hold Greek 10-year debt over benchmark 10-year German bunds remains above three percentage points.

Eurostat still waiting for swaps info

Separately, Eurostat didn’t receive information from Greece regarding its use of currency swaps and its impact on the country’s deficit figures by a Feb 19 deadline, a spokeswoman for the European Union statistical agency said Monday in an email.

Eurostat received information from Greek authorities regarding a previous request from Jan. 21, but were told by Greek authorities that the requested swap-related information could not be sent due to a four-day strike by workers at the Ministry of Finance.

Eurostat on Sunday requested the information be sent “as soon as possible,” the spokeswoman said.

Olli Rehn, the E.U.’s top economic affairs official, last week ordered Greece to provide the data after news reports said Goldman Sachs had helped the government use currency swaps and other instruments designed to hide debt levels in the past.

Greek authorities have insisted the measures were allowed at the time under Eurostat rules, which were subsequently tightened.

E.U. denies Greek-aid details in the works

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

PARIS — Credit Suisse reported a fourth-quarter profit that was below analysts’ expectations on Thursday, but said it was gaining market share in the coveted wealth management business while its rival UBS suffered.

The net profit of 793 million Swiss francs ($740 million) fell below the average forecast of 1.28 billion francs estimated by 14 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Still, it was an improvement on the net loss of 6.02 billion francs in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The bank said its performance was affected by a general weakening in the investment bank business and fixed-income trading, felt by many in the sector, as well as by a fine of $536 million that Credit Suisse paid to authorities in the United States over a breach of sanctions against Iran and other countries.

For the year, the bank reported net profit of 6.7 billion francs, in contrast to a loss of 8.2 billion francs in 2008, most of which came in the final quarter, after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers sent markets downward.

By contrast, in 2009, “our business was resilient in the fourth quarter despite lower client trading activity in November and December,” the bank’s chief executive, Brady W. Dougan, said in the earnings statement.

“Client activity stopped quite early,” said Georg Kanders, an analyst at WestLB Research in Frankfurt. “Many hedge funds had already earned a lot, and with Dubai, people closed their books. Why endanger your bonus and good results?”

UBS, Credit Suisse’s rival, reported on Tuesday that its investment banking unit had earned a pretax profit of 297 million francs for the quarter. But it failed to stanch the hemorrhaging in its wealth management business, as clients withdrew 45.2 billion francs in assets in the fourth quarter.

With net new assets up by 12.5 billion francs for the quarter and 44 free credit scores.2 billion francs for the year, Mr. Dougan said Credit Suisse faced a different situation.

“Our transaction pipelines and net new asset inflows are the best we have seen since the crisis,” he said during a news conference in Zurich. “2008-2009 was not a great time for wealth creation,” and therefore the growth that the bank posted “was actually taking market share.”

Asked how the Swiss banking model would weather the pressure it has come under recently to lift the veil of secrecy, Mr. Dougan was sanguine.

“Of course there are issues to be worked through, but in the medium term, we think the Swiss financial market will continue to be a successful one,” he said. “There are lots of good reasons to do banking in Switzerland that have nothing to do with the tax treatment of your assets.”

The bank has also changed its pay practices for 2009.

“A lot of the compensation our people are receiving, they don’t actually receive,” Mr. Dougan said. “It’s subject to performance in future years.”

In its statement, Credit Suisse said that executive board members had received no traditional bonuses for last year and that the performance criteria attached to the deferred payouts “may result in future negative adjustments.”

Though much of Europe’s attention is directed to Greece and other debt-laden nations on the periphery, where the risk of sovereign default has been perceived to be high, Credit Suisse said that it was not directly affected.

“We don’t have any material exposure to Greece,” Mr. Dougan said.

Credit Suisse Sees Gains in Wealth Management

Export and import statistics released Wednesday for the United States and China offered the latest signs that world trade was starting to recover from the global financial crisis.

China said its exports climbed 21 percent in January from a year earlier, while imports surged 85.5 percent. The healthy jump in exports could fuel further calls from the United States and the European Union for China to break the peg of its currency, the renminbi, to the dollar and allow the renminbi to appreciate.

In the United States, foreign demand for American goods like meat and auto parts increased in December. Exports rose 3.3 percent, to $142.7 billion, continuing an upward trend. That was not enough, however, to offset the 4.8 percent increase in imports, which totaled $182.9 billion. The increase in imports suggested that American businesses and consumers were growing more confident about spending.

“That’s consistent with the rebound in manufacturing activity,” said Julia Coronado, senior United States economist at BNP Paribas. “Companies have to increase production to meet demand, and that requires a lot of imported goods, so in the near term we will probably see further widening.”

Over all, for December, the gap between the value of American imports and exports was $40.2 billion — its highest level in a year — up 10.4 percent from November. Wall Street analysts had expected the deficit to grow to $35.8 billion.

The larger-than-expected trade gap could mean that the government will have to revise its estimate for economic expansion in the fourth quarter of last year. Last month, the government said the economy expanded at a rate of 5.7 percent from October to December — the fastest pace in six years — aided by a narrowing gap between imports and exports.

A weak dollar has made American products, like airplanes and microchips, cheaper for many foreign buyers. “Exports will continue to be boosted by better economic conditions abroad,” Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist for MFR Inc., wrote in a research note on Wednesday.

A surge in exports helped narrow the politically important trade gap with China, which retreated 10 payday loan lenders.3 percent.

Oil imports rose sharply in December, contributing to the swelling trade gap, reaching $28.1 billion, from $24.4 billion in November.

In recent months, steep rises in oil prices have often been a central reason for the widening trade deficit. But that was not the case in December. Prices increased only slightly in December — up 66 cents to $73.20 a barrel — indicating that much of the growth in imports was the result of businesses simply importing more oil. Excluding petroleum goods, the trade deficit in December was little changed from November.

China’s exports have recovered more rapidly, partly because the low value of the renminbi has kept Chinese goods relatively inexpensive in foreign markets. The rebound has been so rapid in fact that some factory executives in the Pearl River delta region near Hong Kong have begun complaining of shortages of steel containers in which to ship their goods. Container shipping companies have begun to raise rates and remove discounts.

“With the export recovery taking hold more strongly, the outlook for export manufacturing, ports and container shipping sectors appears to be brighter, compared to last year,” Jing Ulrich, the chairman of China equities and commodities at J.P. Morgan, said in a research note.

China’s imports in January rose impressively, in line with economists’ expectations, because imports a year ago were so weak. Many Chinese export factories nearly stopped buying raw materials then as their orders dried up, but they have been restocking since late spring.

Exports and imports both benefited this year from the timing of Chinese New Year, which will be Sunday. It fell on Jan. 26 last year, and a weeklong holiday at the end of January last year helped curtail economic activity in China.

The China trade surplus was $14.17 billion last month, compared with $18.43 billion in December and $39.1 billion in January of last year, according to figures released Wednesday by the General Administration of Customs in China.

Latest Data Hints at a Recovery in World Trade

BERLIN — Military officials from the European countries with orders to buy the Airbus A400M military transport plane tried and failed again Friday to resolve differences over how to share billions of euros in cost overruns, but said they would resume negotiations this coming week in Berlin in the hope of meeting a Jan. 31 deadline.

Many of the participating countries need the aircraft urgently as they play a greater and more demanding role in peacekeeping missions. The repeated delays — the A400M is now more than four years behind schedule — represent a big setback for European military cooperation.

Military procurement ministers from the seven customer nations met until late into the night Thursday with top managers from Airbus and its parent company, European Aeronautic Defense & Space.

“We will meet again early next week here in Berlin,” a German defense ministry spokesman, who asked not to be identified, said Friday. “All of the participants do want a solution to this problem.” Two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations said they would likely take place Tuesday.

Alexander Reinhardt, a spokesman for EADS, said nailing down the critical details of how to finance the program remained a thorny issue.

“The negotiations have been difficult, as expected,” Mr. Reinhardt said.

Seven countries — Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey — together ordered 180 A400Ms in 2003 for €20 billion, or $28.2 billion. Last year, EADS and Airbus asked them to help cover an additional €5.2 billion in costs and to accept significant delivery delays. The company has asked the countries to agree to an additional 25 percent payment, or around €5 billion, according to people with direct knowledge of the negotiations.

The Airbus chief executive, Thomas O. Enders, warned this month that without an agreement soon, the project might have to be abandoned, placing as many as 40,000 European jobs at risk.

But while France said it would consider paying more, Germany has been more than reluctant. It has ordered 60 of the 180 aircraft, while France has ordered 50.

France was supposed to receive the first deliveries of the A400M transport aircraft late last year and Germany in 2010, but the plane made its first test flight only last month. Both countries will now have to wait several years more, according to the German Defense Ministry faxless cash advance.

Germany, however, has little room to maneuver. With 4,300 German troops based in northern Afghanistan, Berlin needs access to such aircraft for transporting not only troops but also such heavy equipment as tanks, armored personnel carriers and helicopters.

Without the A400M, it must either modernize at huge expense its Transall aircraft, which are more than 30 years old, or lease Russian Antonov aircraft.

“We want the A400M but not at any price,” the German defense minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, reiterated during an interview with the Bayernkurier newspaper to be published Saturday. “Our willingness to compromise has its limits.”

Britain, too, is furious about the delays, especially given its big role in Afghanistan.

The German Defense Ministry official said that cost was not the only issue still on the table, but range and payload as well. The A400M is currently several tons over its specified weight.

An audit of the A400M program by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was commissioned last year by the governments, has blamed a significant portion of the cost over-runs on EADS and Airbus for failing to put proper budget controls in place. It also said the manufacturer had consistently underestimated development costs.

The auditor’s report, which was leaked to several European media this past week, estimated that the A400M was roughly €7.6 billion over budget.

EADS and Airbus have rejected the findings of the audit, but have so far failed to provide their own cost estimate for the program, now four years behind schedule.

EADS has already written off €2.4 billion in costs for a project that continues to expend cash at a rate of around €100 million each month.

The seven countries failed to meet an year-end 2009 deadline to agree on a new delivery schedule and financing arrangement for the contract, and last month set a new deadline of Jan. 31.

With the financial crisis and recession straining budgets across Europe, the governments have been reluctant to come up with more money.

Nicola Clark reported from Paris.

Pressure Mounts for Deal for Airbus Military Plane

Hot News: Geithner voiced concern on US bank limits-sources

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

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. mortgage applications rose during the first week of 2010, reflecting a surge in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates dropped, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Demand for loans to purchase a home, however, only rose marginally. A continuation of this trend would not bode well for the U.S. housing market, which has been showing signs of stabilization, but remains highly vulnerable to setbacks.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended January 8 increased 14.3 percent to 528.1. The index, however, pales in comparison to its year-earlier level of 1,324.8.

The four-week moving average of mortgage applications, which smoothes the volatile weekly figures, was down 6.4 percent.

The lowest mortgage rates in decades and high affordability helped the hard-hit U.S. housing market find some footing in 2009 after a three-year slump.

Anthony Hsieh, founder and CEO of loanDepot.com, a mortgage lender based in Irvine, California and currently licensed in 18 states, said tight lending standards are one of the sector's biggest obstacles right now.

"I have been in the mortgage business for the past 25 years and I have never seen the industry as tight as it is today."

"Once a borrower leaps over one hurdle in the loan application process they face yet another hurdle, so it is as if they are participating in some sort of triathlon," he said.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase index, a tentative early indicator of home sales, rose 0.8 percent to 213.7.

The seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications increased 21.8 percent to 2,407.2.

The MBA said borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 5.13 percent, down 0.05 percentage point from the previous week no teletrack payday loan. The prior week's rate was the highest rate since late August.

Interest rates, however, were above the year-ago level of 4.89 percent and an all-time low of 4.61 percent set in the week ended March 27, 2009. The survey has been conducted weekly since 1990.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 71.5 percent of total applications from 68.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage, or ARM, share of activity was unchanged at 4.0 percent from the previous week.

Cameron Findlay, chief economist at LendingTree.com in Charlotte, North Carolina, said mortgage rates should rise sharply this year, reaching 6.20 percent in the fourth quarter.

"A rate at or over 6 pct is above my tolerance level."

"The housing market cannot afford to go beyond that level and I am convinced the Fed will take action to bring rates back down if they do," he said.

Interest rates are expected to rise when the Federal Reserve at the end of March stops buying mortgage-related securities. The Fed's agency MBS and agency debt purchase programs, aimed at lowering borrowing costs, will have reached more than $1.4 trillion.

U.S. residential mortgage originations will plunge 40 percent this year to the lowest level in a decade as home refinancing demand sinks with rising mortgage rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in its annual forecast on Tuesday.

Renowned Yale University economist Robert Shiller said on Tuesday he sees U.S. housing prices falling further in coming months, fueling more fears about the broader economy.

The MBA said fixed 15-year mortgage rates averaged 4.45 percent, down from 4.62 percent the previous week. Rates on one-year ARMs increased to 6.83 percent from 6.42 percent.

U.S. home refinancing demand soars first week of 2010

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — HSBC Holdings PLC’s long-awaited Shanghai stock listing will seek to raise $8 billion, a report said Sunday, well above previous forecasts for the banking giant’s mainland Chinese debut.

The British newspaper Observer reported that HSBC’s Shanghai initial public offering will total 5 billion pounds ($8.1 billion). Previous reports had expected the IPO, which has yet to receive approval from Chinese officials, to be worth $5 billion. See previous report on HSBC’s Shanghai IPO plans.

The report also said HSBC will become “the first international company” to list on the Shanghai exchange, beating other companies in the race for a Shanghai share presence. Lawyers in London say that the China Securities Regulatory Commission is expected to change its laws in January to allow foreign and non-mainland companies to list in Shanghai, the Observer report said payday loan lenders.

HSBC is already well capitalized and doesn’t need the money from the IPO, but rather, it is keen to raise its profile with Chinese retail investors as it expands its branch network and looks at buying stakes in rival Chinese banks, the report said.

The unconfirmed report was the latest after months of news accounts tipping moves by large foreign companies seeking to list in Shanghai.

HSBC seeks $8 billion in Shanghai listing: report

BERLIN — European regulators dropped their antitrust case against Microsoft on Wednesday after the company agreed to offer customers a choice of rival Web browsers. The settlement ends what could have been a second costly legal battle for the American software giant.

The agreement, announced in Brussels by the European competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, calls for Microsoft to give Windows users a choice of up to 12 other browsers from competing companies, including Google and Apple.

Users of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows operating system in Europe who have chosen its Internet Explorer as their default browser will receive as an update an option to switch to a rival.

“Millions of European consumers will benefit from this decision by having a free choice about which web browser they use,” Ms. Kroes said in a statement.

The settlement also underlines, according to legal experts, the increasingly conciliatory posture being taken by U.S. technology companies to avoid European sanctions.

“These companies recognized that the European Commission is playing a significant role in global antitrust law and must be taken seriously,” said Susanne Zuehlke, an antitrust lawyer in Brussels at Latham & Watkins, a U.S. law firm. “Of course, the huge fines recently have also focused everyone’s attention.”

For Microsoft, the settlement is a stark contrast to its acrimonious first legal conflict with European officials. That case ended in October 2007 when Microsoft dropped its appeal of a commission judgment that it had abused the dominance of Windows to aid its media player and server businesses.

Microsoft had fought the case for nearly a decade, and ended up paying fines totaling more than €1 bad credit auto loans.68 billion, or $2.44 billion.

Two months after Microsoft gave up, Opera, a small Norwegian browser maker, filed its complaint over browsers, instigating the second case.

Google, which makes the Chrome browser, and Mozilla, makers of Firefox, signed on as opponents in the case. The commission in January said Microsoft’s bundling of Internet Explorer was harming competition. In July, Microsoft proposed the browser distribution plan which, after adjustment to appease rivals, led to the settlement proposal.

Rival browser makers said the agreement represented a huge opportunity for their own Internet-surfing software, which they said would also give Europeans more choice and a better ability to compare browsers.

“I think this settlement has the potential to change the status quo,” Sundar Pichai, the head of Google’s Chrome browser team and Chrome Web-based operating system, said before it was announced. “Most consumers in the past have chosen Internet Explorer because it came on their computers. Now the decision will be made on the merits.”

Microsoft’s Windows operating system runs more than 90 percent of all computers in the world. Under terms of the European settlement, Microsoft will send ballot screens via automatic software updates to new and current users of Windows systems in Europe who have set Internet Explorer as their main browser.

E.U. Drops Microsoft Antitrust Case Over Browsers

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) — The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday announced its decision to set final countervailing duties (CVD) on imports of the 2.6 billion dollar oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from China, the biggest U.S. trade action against China.

The department said in its final determination that it found Chinese producers/exporters of OCTG have received net countervailable subsidies ranging from 10.36 to 15.78 percent, which means that the Chinese companies involved in this case will receive CVD in this range respectively.

As a result of this final determination, the Commerce Department will also instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect a cash deposit or bond based on these final rates.

The antidumping and countervailing petition case was filed in April this year. The Commerce Department made its preliminary determination on CVD in September. On Nov. 4, it also set preliminary antidumping duties on such imports from China.

Under that preliminary determination, the Commerce Department set a 36.53 percent antidumping levy on OCTG from 37 Chinese companies, while some other Chinese companies will receive a preliminary dumping rate of 99 fast cash advance.14 percent.

According to the case calendar, the U.S. International Trade Commission will make its final determination on the CVD case on Jan. 7, 2010.

If the commission makes an affirmative final determination that imports of OCTG from China materially injures, or threaten material injury to, the domestic industry, the government will issue a countervailing duty on Jan. 14, 2010.

China’s Ministry of Commerce has expressed strong opposition to the U.S. decision, saying it is a protectionist move that hurts Chinese companies’ interests.

“This does not comply with WTO agreements on subsidies. The U.S. used an incorrect method to define and calculate the subsidies, which has resulted in an artificially high subsidy rate, hurting Chinese firms’ interests,” ministry spokesman Yao Jian said in September.

U.S. sets countervailing duties on China’s tubular goods

NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) — The Conference Board, an economic research group, said Thursday that its leading economic index (LEI)for the United States increased 0.3 percent for the seventh consecutive month in October.

The LEI for the United States increased 0.3 percent in October, following a 1.0 percent gain in September, and a 0.4 percent rise in August, said the Conference Board in a report.

“After half a year of consecutive increases, the month-to-month growth of the LEI is stabilizing and the gains continue to be broad-based,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, economist at the Conference Board.

“Meanwhile, the coincident economic index has been essentially flat since June, after declining since November 2007. The composite indexes suggest the recovery is unfolding and economic activity should continue improving in the near term,” he added payday loans.

“The data indicate that economic recovery is finally setting in. We can expect slow growth through the first half of 2010. The pace of growth, however, will depend critically on how much demand picks up, and how soon,” said Ken Goldstein, economist at the Conference Board.

The Conference Board coincident economic index for the United States was unchanged in October, following a 0.1 percent decline in September, and a 0.1 percent increase in August.

The Conference Board lagging economic index declined 0.2 percent in October, following a 0.5 percent decline in September, and a 0.4 percent decline in August.

U.S. economic leading indicator increases in October

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Two top Florida Democrats want changes to the makeup of the board that oversees Florida’s $130 billion investment portfolio now under scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

State Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, said Friday he wants Florida’s agriculture commissioner on the oversight board instead of the attorney general — an office he’s seeking.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has pushed for adding a financial expert to the panel that consists of herself, the governor and attorney general.

Sink has had concerns about “governance, transparency, audit processes and risk management policies” at the State Board of Administration since a run on SBA’s local government pool two years ago.

“In other states, the attorney general makes it their duty to keep a watchful eye on the pension fund making sure the people’s savings are secure,” Gelber said. “This will give the Attorney General more arms length oversight.”

The SEC launched its initial inquiry in February 2008 and informed the SBA in July 2008 with a formal order of private investigation, a required step in the legal process that allows them to subpoena records and take sworn statements no fax payday loan.

“There isn’t anything new,” SBA executive director Ash Williams said Friday. “The document itself was held as confidential and the trustees were advised that it was ongoing.”

The trustees presently consist of the governor, CFO and attorney general. All have been updated on the SEC investigation, according to representatives from their offices.

A spokesman for the SEC, John Nester, declined comment Friday on its investigation.

Williams said the local government fund being investigated has since been outsourced to an SEC-registered receiver, Pittsburgh-based Federated Advisers, and is performing well.

“We’ve completely redone all the investment policies to make the fund as safe as possible,” said Williams, who was brought back to Florida last year to take over the management of the SBA.

The SBA reported Wednesday that the fund’s assets increased from $99.6 billion to $110 billion during the quarter ending Sept. 30.

SEC inquiry could lead to Fla. oversight changes

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