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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. financial shares retreated Friday, battered as a weak profit forecast from a major Wall Street firm trumped an upbeat outlook from Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group PLC.

The SPDR KBW Bank ETF moved 0.7% lower, picking up from a decline of nearly 2% on Thursday when its three-day winning streak was snapped. The exchange-traded fund is up nearly 20% so far this year amid the robust rally in bank stocks.

McGraw-Hill beefs up India business

India Bureau Chief Paul Beckett speaks with Terry McGraw ,chairman of McGraw-Hill Companies, at the 20th Asian Corporate Conference in New Delhi, India.

U.S.-listed shares of Lloyds soared 6.7% after the company, which was bailed out by the U.K. government, said it expects to turn a profit this year. Read more on Lloyds’ outlook.

Goldman Sachs analysts lowered profit forecasts for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. , Bank of America Corp. , Morgan Stanley , Jefferies Group Inc. and Piper Jaffray Cos. by an average of 15% for the first quarter, and by 3% for 2010 overall.

In a research note, Goldman said that capital markets have gotten off to a “choppy start” in 2010 but that the outlook remains rosy.

“We continue to have a positive view on the outlook for capital markets activity despite a weak February,” the analysts wrote personal loans for bad credit.

They favor “diversified companies where a weak February is more easily absorbed and may be offset by better-than-expected consumer provision leverage” such as blue chips Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase, both of which are rated buy.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers provided more fodder for media headlines on Friday. Former Merrill Lynch officials warned regulators that Lehman was incorrectly calculating its liquidity position months before its collapse, according to a published report. See full story on latest Lehman revelations.

The Financial Times also reported that J.P. Morgan used the same accounting gimmick that Lehman used to inflate its balance sheet. J.P. Morgan was down 0.8%.

Fannie Mae shed 1.8% and Freddie Mac was down 2.3%. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, introduced legislation in the House that would either privatize the mortgage-finance giants or place them into receivership, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

Financial Stocks: Financial shares stumble on weak profit outlook

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

NEW YORK – An industry trade group says the manufacturing sector expanded in February for the seventh straight month, but at a slower pace than in the previous month.

The Institute for Supply Management said Monday its manufacturing index read 56.5 last month, slightly slower than the 58.4 growth in January. It was also slower than the 58 level expected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion guaranteed approval cash loans. It was the seventh consecutive month of growth.

ISM says its employment measure grew for the fourth time in five months.

A pickup in business investment in equipment and software, increases in exports and slower cutbacks of inventories is helping drive production gains.

Manufacturing grows in Feb., but at slower pace

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

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

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

European stock markets rose Monday as speculation of a pickup in corporate deal making kept investors interested on a day Wall Street was closed for the Martin Luther King public holiday and Greece’s budgetary woes continued to weigh on the euro.

The FTSE 100 in London closed up 39.02 points, or 0.7 percent, at 5,494.39, while DAX in Frankfurt rose 42.58 points, or 0.7 percent, at 5,918.55. The CAC-40 in Paris ended 23.08 points, or 0.6 percent, higher at 3,977.46.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average ended 127.02 points, or 1.2 percent, lower at 10,855.08 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 194.15 points, or 0.9 percent, to 21,460.01. Markets in Singapore and Taiwan also lost ground.

A lot of the interest in Europe centered on International Power of Britain and Gaz de France and whether weekend speculation that they were looking at some sort of tie-up would materialize.

However, International Power’s statement that merger talks had ended saw a massive reverse in the company’s fortunes and a share price that had been 8 percent higher in the day ended over 3 percent lower — making it the biggest faller on the FTSE 100.

The British candy maker Cadbury also remained in the spotlight amid speculation that its suitor Kraft Foods was preparing to sweeten its offer before a Tuesday deadline. Cadbury ended around 1.5 percent higher but investors remain skeptical that the current stand-off between the two companies can be ended.

“Some traders seem to feel that this has dragged on long enough, making any sort of deal unlikely,” said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index.

Even though talks between International Power and Gaz de France failed to yield anything, analysts said there are expectations that the amount of mergers and acquisitions taking place will increase over the coming months as the global economy recovers from recession. One corollary of increased confidence is an increase in mergers and acquisitions.

When Wall Street returns on Tuesday, the focus will turn towards the next batch of fourth quarter corporate earnings — so far, earnings have been fairly mixed, with upside surprises from the likes of the chipmaker Intel offset by disappointments elsewhere, most notably the aluminum Alcoa Inc free instant credit report.

Banks will be in the spotlight especially after U.S. stocks fell 1 percent on Friday — the Dow Jones industrial average suffered its worst day of the year so far — as JP Morgan Chase & Company offered a cautious earnings guidance even though it reported a fairly strong set of results.

“We get Citigroup tomorrow which has less of the good bits of banking and more of the bad bits,” said Kit Juckes, chief economist at the ECU Group.

A meeting of the 16 finance ministers of the countries that use the euro in Brussels later will be closely monitored in the currency markets as the main topic of debate will be the shaky state of Greece’s public finances.

Concern about Greece’s debts has been one of the reasons why the euro has floundered over the last month or so from 16-month highs above $1.50. Earlier it hit a ten-day low of $1.4336 before recovering slightly to $1.4380.

Greece’s problems have fueled concerns that the country may eventually have to be bailed out by its partners in the eurozone. Some observers are even speculating about a possible Greek exit from the single currency zone.

“With rising concerns about the workability of the Greek government’s stability and growth plan, the firm rejection from within the eurozone of the idea of a bailout, the rapidly rising cost of default insurance on Greek sovereign debt and concerns over deficits elsewhere in the region, the problems for the single currency are mounting rapidly,” said Neil Mellor, a currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon.

Europe Markets Rise Amid Rumors on Deals

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross on Thursday said he was not considering buying American International Group's (AIG.N) mortgage insurance unit United Guaranty.

"It is certainly the case that we're not buying the division," Ross said in an interview with Reuters Insider. "We do think the mortgage insurance space is an interesting one and we hope to be in it at some point, but we have no transaction right now."

Ross, chairman and chief executive of private equity and turnaround firm WL Ross & Co, said the firm's latest fund was around 60 percent invested, and he expects it to be fully invested long before the end of the year payday cash loan.

Ross also said he was "quite possibly" interested in teaming up with Richard Branson's Virgin Money to bid for state-owned British bank Northern Rock.

Ross was part of a group led by Virgin that bid for Northern Rock in 2008.

(Reporting by Michael Erman, editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Investor Wilbur Ross not buying AIG unit

Hot News: Fed makes the case for keeping its power intact

McDonald’s, the fast-food company, said on Monday that it had promoted Don Thompson, the head of its United States division, to become its No. 2 executive.

Mr. Thompson succeeds Ralph Alvarez, who retired unexpectedly last month, citing health concerns. Like Mr. Alvarez, Mr. Thompson will have the dual titles of president and chief operating officer.

He becomes the third person to hold the No. 2 post at McDonald’s since 2004, when the company lost two chief executives to fatal illnesses. Since then the company has stressed the importance of succession planning, and the No. 2 executive has been widely viewed as a chief executive in waiting.

James A. Skinner, the chief executive, said Mr. Thompson would oversee operations at McDonald’s nearly 32,000 restaurants worldwide. The company operates in more than 117 countries.

Despite the importance of its international markets — revenue from outside the United States made up nearly two-thirds of the company’s total of $23.5 billion in 2008 — a company press release and profile of Mr. Thompson showed little evidence of foreign experience.

Walt Riker, a company spokesman, said that Mr. Thompson had worked with the company’s international restaurants when he was executive vice president of restaurant systems in 2004, a job that included involvement with such things as modernized drive-throughs, new cooking systems, cashless payment systems and new menu items.

McDonald’s has a long history of choosing its top executives from within unsecured personal loans.

Mr. Thompson, 46, started working at McDonald’s in 1990 as an electrical engineer in the restaurant systems group. He then moved into restaurant operations and rose to executive posts in its West and Midwest divisions. In 2006 he was named president of the company’s United States division, when Mr. Alvarez was promoted from that post to the No. 2 spot.

Mr. Alvarez’s predecessor, Michael J. Roberts, also left the company abruptly, reportedly over frustrations that Mr. Skinner, who became chief executive in 2004, had failed to step down as quickly as anticipated.

McDonald’s has been a success story during the global recession, reporting strong sales and generally outperforming its fast-food rivals. Possible signs of weakness began to show in the United States business late last year, however. Same-store sales in the United States for the month of November were down 0.6 percent compared with the same period the previous year, the company reported. But year-to-date same-store sales for the period that ended Nov. 30 were up 2.8 percent in the United States and 3.9 percent companywide.

The company also announced on Monday that Jan Fields would succeed Mr. Thompson as president of its United States division. Ms. Fields had previously been the executive vice president in the division.

McDonald’s Names U.S. Chief as Its No. 2 Executive

Hot News: JAL lenders to cave in to bankruptcy plan-sources

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street rose at the open on Tuesday after data showed U.S. home prices were unchanged in October, ending five straight months of increases but suggesting a slow stabilization in the sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was up 20.63 points, or 0.20 percent, at 10,567.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ( loan until payday.SPX) added 2.16 points, or 0.19 percent, at 1,129.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) rose 2.75 points, or 0.12 percent, at 2,293.83.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Wall Street opens up after home price data

WASHINGTON — Under fire from Democrats and Republicans alike, Ben S. Bernanke defended his record Thursday as chairman of the Federal Reserve but admitted that the central bank’s own lapses contributed to the financial crisis.

“I did not anticipate a crisis of this magnitude,” Mr. Bernanke acknowledged in an occasionally contentious hearing on his nomination for a second term as Fed chairman.

Mr. Bernanke volunteered that the Fed had been “slow” in protecting consumers from high-risk mortgages during the housing bubble and that it should have forced banks to hold more capital for all the risks they were taking on.

“In the area where we had responsibility, the bank holding companies, we should have done more,” he told lawmakers. “That is a mistake we won’t make again.”

As he faced the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Mr. Bernanke still seemed to have enough support to win Senate approval for a second term.

But he and the Fed came under withering criticism from some lawmakers for failing to recognize the crisis until it was too late and then bailing out financial giants like Citigroup and the American International Group.

“In the face of rising home prices and risky mortgage underwriting, the Fed failed to act,” said Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee. “The Fed chose not to use its rule-making authority over mortgages to arrest risky lending and underwriting practices.”

“Many of the Fed’s responses, in my view, greatly amplified the problem of moral hazard stemming from too big to fail treatment of large financial institutions and activities.”

Mr. Shelby said he had lost much of his confidence and trust in the Fed, and made it clear he had not yet decided whether he will support Mr. Bernanke for a second four-year term.

Mr. Bernanke and the Fed were already under fire from populist wings of both the Democratic and Republican parties.

On Tuesday evening, Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont declared that he would try to block Mr. Bernanke’s approval on the Senate floor by placing a “hold” on his nomination. Senate leaders would need 60 votes, rather than a simple majority, to override the hold.

Senator Jim Bunning, a Kentucky Republican who was the only person to vote against Mr. Bernanke’s original appointment as Fed chairman in 2006, vowed to “do everything I can to stop your nomination and drag this out as long as I can.”

Mr. Bernanke did not flinch. While acknowledging that the Federal Reserve had made mistakes, he assert that the massive rescue operations put in place by the Fed, the Treasury and by Congress had prevented the financial crisis from being “markedly worse” than it was pay day loan lenders.

“Taken together, the Federal Reserve’s actions have contributed substantially to the significant improvement in financial conditions and to what now appear to be the beginnings of a turnaround in both the U.S. and foreign economies,” Mr. Bernanke said in his written remarks.

The Fed chairman also highlighted the central bank’s efforts to tighten financial regulation in many areas, from tougher rules against subprime mortgages and credit card fees to tougher capital requirements and new proposals to regulate executive compensation at banks.

“A financial crisis of the severity we have experienced must prompt financial institutions and regulators alike to undertake unsparing self-assessments of their past performance,” Mr. Bernanke acknowledged.

“At the Federal Reserve, we have been actively engaged in identifying and implementing improvements in our regulation and supervision of financial firms,” he said.

Mr. Bernanke appeared to have the support of most Democrats on the banking committee, including its chairman, Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut. Mr. Dodd praised Mr. Bernanke’s response to the financial crisis and forcefully endorsed him for a second term, but he argued that the power to regulate financial institutions should be turned over to a new and separate regulatory agency.

“Under your leadership, Mr. Chairman, the Federal Reserve has taken extraordinary actions to right the economy,” Mr. Dodd told Mr. Bernanke. “I believe that you deserve another term as chairman of the Federal Reserve, and I intend to vote for your nomination.”

Mr. Bernanke, a Republican, was appointed to his first term as Fed chairman by President George W. Bush. But he has forged a closing working relationship during the financial crisis with President Barack Obama, who nominated him for a second four-year term.

If critics like Mr. Sanders and Mr. Bunning follow through on their pledges to block Mr. Bernanke’s nomination, Senate leaders will need to come up with 60 votes override their “holds.”

But unlike so many of the partisan battles that have often paralyzed the Senate, because Democrats hold 60 votes, Mr. Bernanke has enough support in both parties to clear that hurdle eventually.

Mr. Bernanke’s term as Fed chairman expires on Jan. 31, 2010. But even if the Senate does not confirm him or some other candidate by that date, Mr. Bernanke would still hold his seat as a Fed governor and would be allowed to remain an acting Fed chairman until a successor was confirmed.

Bernanke Tells Senators Fed ‘Should Have Done More’

MADRID (MarketWatch) — Self-storage isn’t always just for extra boxes and furniture that you can’t bear to toss out.

One self-storage facility in the U.K. has featured a Dalek — a robot-like creature who was a feared enemy of “the Doctor” in the 1960s British science fiction television series Dr Who. Featured as part of a BBC special on self-storage a couple of years ago, a fan of the show bought a Dalek and stored his prized possession inside in one London storage unit, often taking it out for a spin around the corridors.

The industry of self-storage is still fairly new in Britain, but growing — from just a handful of units in the early 1980s to 750 plus now, according to the U.K. Self Storage Association. And it’s big enough to have three companies — albeit small-caps — listed on the stock market here: Safestore Holdings , Big Yellow Group and Lok’nStore Group .

Unlike the U.S., where the self-storage industry has existed for much longer, in Britain, there is even less space to store goods. Across Europe, though, the growth of self-storage has been less dramatic, as it’s simply less common for individuals to store personal items anywhere but their homes.

Only France, with 199 storage facilities in 2008-09, and The Netherlands, with 133 come close to the numbers seen in Britain, according to the U.K. Self Storage Association.

Though it’s not a straight line, companies in the self-storage business are often linked to the housing market and shares can suffer guilt by association. In Britain, the housing market is showing signs of stabilization but economists see few prospects for a robust, sustained recovery any time soon.

“We went through a difficult period last Christmas when people seemed to stop renting, but now we’re certainly seeing some growth,” said Rodney Walker, chief executive of the U.K. Self Storage Association in Britain. “The housing market has dropped, but that has its pluses and minuses of course because if you’re going to move and you don’t, you might be storing already and potentially will continuing to store.”

“There are others who would like to move and have goods and are looking for spare space. Another thing is certainly clear. There are more businesses storing now than the historical balance… these are businesses again having to downside to meet recessionary problems, happy to store some of their goods stores in self storage having downsized facilities they’re working from,” said the Cheshire, U.K.-based Walker.

That trend has apparently helped out at Safestore. It’s the biggest of Britain’s listed storage providers — followed by Big Yellow, then Lok’nStore — in the U.K. Paul Pulze, analyst at Evolution Securities in London, noted that over 50% of Safestore’s tenants-to-let are business customers, which makes the company more of a retailer. Big Yellow’s clients are one-third business.

He likes Safestore’s operations and the management, noting the company has shown strength in the past couple of years, with average rent for square foot up along with occupancy year-over-year in October, whereas at Big Yellow, it was the opposite in September annual figures low fee pay day loans. Safestore also operates in France.

Pulze rates Safestore a buy and Big Yellow reduce, with no rating on Lok’nStore. Safestore is a real estate investment trust, but he said because management really doesn’t have any intention of selling properties, the metric valuation for share prices — stock price to net asset value — doesn’t really fit.

Shares of all three companies were hard hit during the downturn in 2008, hurt by the global stock market downturn and the association to real estate woes. Safestore has bounced back more than the rest, up 182% year-to-date, with shares of Big Yellow up 52% and Lok’nStore up 50%. Pulze said Safestore shares still have a cheaper valuation, trading at 15.6 times forward 2010 price/earnings, versus 30 times for Big Yellow.

“If there is negative news on the housing market, shares of self-storage companies do stay vulnerable, said Pulze. “Clearly, if there’s positive signs for the housing market, this will help shares, but that’s not going to be a key driver,” he said, noting that cash flow remains key for these companies.

And if the housing market starts to recover, that will not only improve sentiment, but also cash flow for these companies, he said.

Lok’nStore said pre-tax losses for the year to July 31, 2009 improved as occupancy rose and operating and financing costs were reduced in results released November 9. It also noted revenue hadn’t been hit as hard by the property slump, with trade since the beginning of 2009 “encouraging.” The company also proposed a dividend.

Analysts at Investec rated Lok’nStore shares a buy in an investment note shortly after the results were announced, saying they anticipate a 5% fall in revenue to reflect tougher times, but said shares are undervalued — with a target price of 100 pence — and that the company is keeping a good hold on costs.

Michael Burt, London-based analyst with Noble Group, an independent investment bank, said self storage as an industry “has a slow recovery to get back to where it was two or three years ago.”

He recently went negative on Big Yellow. “Management said in their recent results that they expect a difficult time in the next three years and used the word ‘boring’ to describe the outlook. The shares are trading not far off 30 times earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization”, he said.

“That’s the kind of rating you give to a very high-growth company,” said Burt. “A ‘boring’ outlook doesn’t deserve that kind of rating.”

He said shares of Big Yellow have had a pretty good run. “Self-storage occupancy is 90% correlated to housing transactions. If you buy into the story of recovery, stocks which are highly geared to housing and discretionary spending are good to hold, but Big Yellow still looks expensive.

“Therefore despite the fact you may see positive news flow, rents going up, occupancy increasing, the fact is you’ve got a rich rating already,” said Burt.

European Stocks to Watch: Self-storage providers peek under housing covers

Hot News: China tightens rules on cross-border money flows

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 (Reuters) – Investors bet on growth opportunity in the IPOs of a Chinese hotel chain and an online education company on Friday, but saw murkier prospects for a spin-off of mining giant Rio Tinto, sending its shares lower.

Rio Tinto's U.S. coal-mining spin-off Cloud Peak Energy Inc (CLD.N) edged down in its debut on the New York Stock Exchange after its initial public offering fell short of expectations on concerns the money raised was going to the Anglo-Australian parent company rather than its own growth.

By contrast, shares in both Chinese economy hotel chain 7 Days Group Holdings Ltd (SVN.N) and online education company Archipelago Learning (ARCL.O) rose 15 percent.

Shares in Global Defense Technology & Systems Inc (GTEC.O) which drew 74 percent of its 2008 revenue from contracts with the U.S. government, were flat on Nasdaq.

Analysts said the company could suffer if the government cuts defense budgets.

Cloud Peak stock was off 2.7 percent late on Friday afternoon, but investors lapped up shares in 7 Days and Archipelago Learning. 7 Days was up 15 percent while Archipelago Learning was up 15.8 percent.

Historically, IPOs have risen about 10 to 12 percent in their debuts, according to Thomson Reuters data.

"IPO investors are used to having growth," said Matt Therian, an analyst with Connecticut-based investment firm Renaissance Capital.

"Cloud Peak is really tied up in coal prices. It's kind of a murkier growth outlook for this company."

Gillette, Wyoming-based Cloud Peak raised about $459 million in its IPO on Thursday, but it priced at $15, below its expected range of $16 to $18.

Cloud Peak shares opened at $14.50 on the NYSE, more than 3 percent below the IPO price, and fell as much as 6.7 percent before recovering to trade at $14 faxless payday loans.60 late Friday afternoon.

"The Cloud Peak deal was really a divestiture by Rio Tinto. The cash streams in coal are predictable … It's not a real sexy industry and it depends very much on energy prices," said Morningnotes.com founder Ben Holmes.

Analysts said 7 Days and Archipelago benefited from strong growth potential.

On 7 Days, Therian said: "They've gone from five hotels in 2005 to almost 300 now."

Therian said private equity-backed on-line education firm Archipelago Learning has a significant backlog of business.

Archipelago raised about $103.1 million in its IPO.

Earlier this week, fast-growing network security provider Fortinet Inc (FTNT.O), whose sales rose 18.8 percent in the first part of the year, put in one of the best debuts of the year with a 33 percent rise.

Cloud Peak is the third-largest U.S. producer of coal and owns surface mines in Wyoming and Montana. Almost all the proceeds from its IPO will go to Rio Tinto (RIO.L)(RIO.AX), which will retain a 48.3 percent stake in Cloud Peak, leading to investor pushback, analysts said.

Cloud Peak was the seventh spin-off this year in a total of 46 IPOs. Typically, IPOs by spin-offs are well received as the companies are better known to investors, who believe the new company can tap into the parent's resources, but Cloud Peak is the fifth carve-out in a row to fall below its IPO price.

This week was one of the busiest weeks for U.S.-listed IPOs this year, as companies rushed to get their deals done before the Thanksgiving break. Currently there are no IPOs scheduled for pricing.

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin and Phil Wahba)

Rio’s Cloud Peak down in debut, others fare better

WASHINGTON – The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday it has charged former executives at semiconductor company Tvia Inc. with improperly inflating the company’s revenue.

The SEC said Santa Clara, Calif.-based Tvia’s former vice president of worldwide sales, Benjamin Silva III, made side deals with customers — concealed from the company’s executives and auditors — which caused the company to report millions of dollars in excess revenue.

An attorney for Silva did not immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.

The SEC also alleged that the company’s former chief financial officer, Diane Bjorkstrom, played a role in the company’s improper accounting as well. According to the SEC Bjorkstrom did this by allowing Tvia to recognize revenue on merchandise shipped to a customer weeks before the customer had agreed to accept it, and by failing to act on red flags surrounding Silva’s misconduct payday loans online.

Bjorkstrom agreed to settle the SEC’s charges against her by paying a $20,000 penalty without admitting or denying the charges. An attorney for Bjorkstrom did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The SEC’s complaint says Silva’s side deals illegally inflated Tvia’s revenue by about $5 million from September 2005 through June 2006. This, the SEC charges, let Silva meet revenue targets at the company and for this he received an award of options to buy Tvia stock.

Silva, the SEC said, exercised and sold all of his available Tvia options for a profit of $300,000 before the fraud was discovered.

The SEC’s complaint was filed in federal district court in San Jose, Calif.

SEC says former Tvia execs inflated revenue