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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meeting on deforestation boosts morale, budget

NEW YORK (AFP) – Embattled US automaker General Motors on Wednesday announced its vice chairman Robert Lutz would retire in May.

"Lutz will retire effective May 1, 2010, capping a 47-year career in the global auto industry that included senior leadership positions at four of the world?s leading automakers," GM said in a statement personal business card.

GM says vice chairman to step down in May

The 70-28 roll call Wednesday by which the Senate passed a jobs bill offering tax breaks to companies that hire unemployed workers.

A “yes” vote is a vote to pass the bill.

Voting yes were 55 Democrats, 13 Republicans and 2 independents.

Voting no were 1 Democrat and 27 Republicans.

ALABAMA

Sessions (R), No; Shelby (R), No.

ALASKA

Begich (D), Yes; Murkowski (R), Yes.

ARIZONA

Kyl (R), No; McCain (R), No.

ARKANSAS

Lincoln (D), Yes; Pryor (D), Yes.

CALIFORNIA

Boxer (D), Yes; Feinstein (D), Yes.

COLORADO

Bennet (D), Yes; Udall (D), Yes.

CONNECTICUT

Dodd (D), Yes; Lieberman (I), Yes.

DELAWARE

Carper (D), Yes; Kaufman (D), Yes.

FLORIDA

LeMieux (R), Yes; Nelson (D), Yes.

GEORGIA

Chambliss (R), No; Isakson (R), No.

HAWAII

Akaka (D), Yes; Inouye (D), Yes.

IDAHO

Crapo (R), No; Risch (R), No.

ILLINOIS

Burris (D), Yes; Durbin (D), Yes.

INDIANA

Bayh (D), Yes; Lugar (R), No.

IOWA

Grassley (R), No; Harkin (D), Yes.

KANSAS

Brownback (R), No; Roberts (R), No.

KENTUCKY

Bunning (R), No; McConnell (R), No.

LOUISIANA

Landrieu (D), Yes; Vitter (R), No.

MAINE

Collins (R), Yes; Snowe (R), Yes.

MARYLAND

Cardin (D), Yes; Mikulski (D), Yes.

MASSACHUSETTS

Brown (R), Yes; Kerry (D), Yes.

MICHIGAN

Levin (D), Yes; Stabenow (D), Yes.

MINNESOTA

Franken (D), Yes; Klobuchar (D), Yes.

MISSISSIPPI

Cochran (R), Yes; Wicker (R), Yes pay day loan lenders.

MISSOURI

Bond (R), Yes; McCaskill (D), Yes.

MONTANA

Baucus (D), Yes; Tester (D), Yes.

NEBRASKA

Johanns (R), No; Nelson (D), No.

NEVADA

Ensign (R), No; Reid (D), Yes.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Gregg (R), No; Shaheen (D), Yes.

NEW JERSEY

Lautenberg (D), Not Voting; Menendez (D), Yes.

NEW MEXICO

Bingaman (D), Yes; Udall (D), Yes.

NEW YORK

Gillibrand (D), Yes; Schumer (D), Yes.

NORTH CAROLINA

Burr (R), Yes; Hagan (D), Yes.

NORTH DAKOTA

Conrad (D), Yes; Dorgan (D), Yes.

OHIO

Brown (D), Yes; Voinovich (R), Yes.

OKLAHOMA

Coburn (R), No; Inhofe (R), Yes.

OREGON

Merkley (D), Yes; Wyden (D), Yes.

PENNSYLVANIA

Casey (D), Yes; Specter (D), Yes.

RHODE ISLAND

Reed (D), Yes; Whitehouse (D), Yes.

SOUTH CAROLINA

DeMint (R), No; Graham (R), No.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Johnson (D), Yes; Thune (R), No.

TENNESSEE

Alexander (R), Yes; Corker (R), No.

TEXAS

Cornyn (R), No; Hutchison (R), Not Voting.

UTAH

Bennett (R), No; Hatch (R), Yes.

VERMONT

Leahy (D), Yes; Sanders (I), Yes.

VIRGINIA

Warner (D), Yes; Webb (D), Yes.

WASHINGTON

Cantwell (D), Yes; Murray (D), Yes.

WEST VIRGINIA

Byrd (D), Yes; Rockefeller (D), Yes.

WISCONSIN

Feingold (D), Yes; Kohl (D), Yes.

WYOMING

Barrasso (R), No; Enzi (R), No.

Senate roll call on tax breaks for new hires

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just make sure the dang thing works.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Williams creates giant natural gas partnership

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vodafone Group shares were down 1.4%.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Europe Markets: Europe shares lower after mixed earnings

LONDON – European and U.S. stock markets recovered some earlier losses Thursday, helped by a string of upbeat trading updates from U.S. retailers a day ahead of crucial jobs data.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX index closed down 14.97 points, or 0.3 percent, at 6,019.36 while France’s CAC-40 closed 7.13 points, or 0.2 percent, higher at 4,024.80. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares ended 3.32 points, or 0.1 percent, lower at 5,526.72 — unmoved by the widely expected Bank of England decision to keep policy unchanged at its monthly meeting.

European stocks had been trading even lower for most of the day until Wall Street pared its losses. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 6.12 points, or 0.1 percent, at 10,567.56 around midday New York time while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.53 point, or 0.1 percent, at 1,136.61.

Some support was provided by decent Christmas sales figures from U.S. retailers, such as Sears Holdings, Macy’s and JC Penney. The state of household spending in the U.S. is key for the global economic recovery as it accounts for around 70 percent of the country’s economy.

“A rebound on Wall Street shifted sentiment in the final hour of trade (in Europe) although attention is now going to start shifting to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls tomorrow,” said Philip Gillett, a sales trader at IG Index.

The U.S. economy remains at the forefront of investors’ attention, specifically Friday’s jobs data for December.

Many market participants reckon the figures could show jobs rising for the first time in two years, which would be a clear signal that the recovery from recession is on a sound footing.

The consensus in the markets at the moment is that around 10,000 jobs were shed during December.

The key driver to stock market performance, at least in the first part of the year, will likely be whether the economic figures, particularly out of the U.S., back up the optimism that is evident in company valuations following a near ten month bull run.

Stock markets around the world have rallied strongly since March’s lows — the Dow and the S&P 500 for example surged more than 60 percent since then — as investors grew more optimistic about the global economic recovery after central banks and governments pushed through extraordinary policy measures to mitigate the deepest recession since World War II.

Chinese stocks had led world markets lower for most of Thursday after the country’s central bank unexpectedly increased the interest rate on one of its treasury bills and indicated that it was looking to rein in bank lending allstate insurance company.

Shanghai’s main index slid 1.9 percent to close at 3,192.78 as monetary authorities pushed through further measures to prevent the Chinese economy from overheating.

Charles Dumas, an analyst at Lombard Street Research, said the People’s Bank of China’s decision to raise the interest rate on its three-month bills by 4 basis points to 1.36 percent would normally have gone unnoticed but that investors saw it as a hint that further tightening of monetary policy in the months ahead was likely in order to combat inflation.

“The PBoC’s comment that it would seek moderate loan growth this year means observers were clearly right to say that it was,” he said.

The Shanghai composite is now down 4.5 percent from its late-November peak, while other markets around the world have continued to post their highest levels in over a year.

What occurs in China is crucial for the world economy as it was strong economic growth there that helped limit the depth and breadth of the global recession.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock average lost 49.79 points, or 0.5 percent, to 10,681.66 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 147.22 points, or 0.7 percent, to 22,269.451. South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.3 percent to 1,683.45.

Australia’s index lost 0.5 percent and Taiwan’s market was off 1.1 percent.

Oil prices recovered most of their earlier losses, with benchmark crude for February delivery down only 8 cents to $83.10 a barrel. On Wednesday, the contract rose $1.41 to settle at $83.18, a 15-month high.

The dollar strengthened by a further 0.9 percent to 93.16 yen after Japan’s new finance minister called for a weaker yen.

In unusually explicit remarks for a Japanese finance minister, Naoto Kan vowed to work closely with the central bank to steer the currency toward an “appropriate” level around 95 yen to the dollar.

Kan takes over from Hirohisa Fujii, whose health problems led the 77-year-old to resign Wednesday after just four months as the top finance official.

Meanwhile, the euro was down 0.7 percent on the day at $1.4315.

_____

AP Business Writer Jeremiah Marquez in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

US retailers give world stocks measure of support

Hot News: Earnings to test Wall Sts bet on recovery

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Cadbury's (CBRY.L) board of directors has been actively talking to the boards of Hershey (HSY.N) and other potential bidders as it seeks a rival offer to Kraft's (KFT.N) hostile takeover bid, a source familiar with the discussions said on Wednesday.

Cadbury is seeking not only a higher price than the $16.8 billion offered by Kraft, but also a merger partner that would let the British chocolatier have some management say in a combined company, the source said payday loan company.

Spokesmen for Hershey and Cadbury declined comment.

(Reporting by Brad Dorfman; Editing by Gary Hill)

Cadbury board actively talking to potential bidders

TORONTO – The Canadian mortgage insurance business of American International Group Inc. will be sold to a private investor group headed Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, the groups said Tuesday.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

AIG’s sale of the Canadian mortgage division is the latest business unit to be sold by the insurance giant, which has been selling assets and spinning off divisions in an effort to help repay a government bailout package received last year when it was on the brink of collapse.

AIG United Guaranty Mortgage Insurance Company Canada, based in Toronto, is a leading mortgage provider in Canada with assets of about $264 million.

Teachers’ Private Capital is the private investment department of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, the largest single-profession pension plan in Canada. It is an independent corporation responsible for investing the fund’s assets and administering the pensions of Ontario’s 284,000 active and retired teachers.

AIG, based in New York, was bailed out by the government last fall at the peak of the credit crisis free online credit report. As losses continued to pile up, the government eventually extended AIG an aid package worth more than $180 billion. The government also received a stake of almost 80 percent in AIG in return for the support.

Just last month AIG said it would slash the amount of money it owes the government by $25 billion when it gives the government preferred equity stakes in two of its life insurance companies, American International Assurance Co. and American Life Insurance Co.

The companies will be placed into special holding units as AIG decided whether to complete initial public offerings or sell them privately.

As of Sept. 30, AIG had tapped $122.31 billion of the aid package and owed the government $85.66 billion in loans. The separation of AIA and Alico would reduce the outstanding aid package to $97.31 billion and the amount owed in loans to $60.66 billion.

Shares of AIG fell 8 cents to $29.81 in morning trading.

AIG sells Canadian mortgage insurance unit

Hot News: Bankrupt Factory City Keeps Humming, Courtesy of the Kremlin

BOSTON (AP) — The State Street Corporation, the financial services provider, said Tuesday that it would buy the securities services business of Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo for about $1.87 billion in cash.

State Street said the acquisition would broaden its presence overseas, as the Intesa unit has offices in Italy and Luxembourg. State Street anticipates financing the transaction with available capital.

The deal includes the global custody, depository banking, correspondent banking and fund administration components of the securities services operations. About 555 employees will join State Street when the deal is closed.

The transaction may also include about $16 billion in cash deposits if levels stay consistent with those as of June 30.

Additionally, State Street expects to support the acquired Intesa balance sheet with approximately $800 million of additional capital at the closing

As part of the acquisition, State Street will enter into a long-term investment servicing arrangement with Intesa to service all of its investment management affiliates, including Italy’s biggest fund manager, Eurizon Capital no credit check payday loan.

State Street anticipates about $120 million in acquisition-related costs over a five-year period, with most costs taking place in the first three years.

The Boston company expects to save about $90 million over five years and sees the deal modestly adding to its fiscal 2010 earnings.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter.

State Street to Buy Securities Business of Italian Bank

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