Oil prices inched lower toward $96 a barrel Thursday in Asia after U.S. crude supplies rose to a 22-year high, suggesting demand remains weak.
Benchmark oil for June delivery was up 16 cents to $96.65 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 20 cents to settle at $96.81 in New York on Wednesday.
Brent crude for June delivery was down 44 cents at $112.76 per barrel in London.
On Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration said that increased oil imports and weaker domestic demand for petroleum helped boost U.S. oil inventories last week to 379.5 million barrels, the highest since 1990.
China reported Thursday that its imports and exports in April grew less than analysts expected, sparking investor concern crude demand may be waning in the world’s second largest economy.
Crude has slumped $10, or about 10 percent, from $106 last week amid fears the global economy may grow less than expected this year business card. Political upheaval in France and Greece this week also renewed worries about Europe’s debt crisis and weak economy.
Some analysts expect oil prices to stabilize after the recent sell-off unless the global economy deteriorates significantly further.
“One could perhaps argue that with inventories building and global oil demand conditions softer in the first quarter, prices were on the high side to begin with,” Barclays said in a report. However, “the path of least resistance in prices is likely to be a slow grind higher from here in the coming months.”
In other energy trading, heating oil was down 1 cent at $2.99 per gallon and gasoline futures slid 0.8 cents to $3.02 per gallon. Natural gas added 0.5 cents at $2.47 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Cashadvance Online without the hassle of credit checks, faxing or long waits. Fill out application 100% online and get your money quickly!
ST. LOUIS • When it comes to deciding how much taxpayers should know about plans to overhaul the Edward Jones Dome, the Rams appear to be calling the shots.
The Rams, who last month rejected a $124 million renovation plan from the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, by Tuesday must present the commission with an alternative plan to upgrade the Dome to “first tier” status.
But the CVC maintains that it will not publicly release the Rams’ plan unless the team gives it permission — even though public money likely would cover much, if not most, of the renovations.
So while key officials at the CVC, city and county will see Tuesday what the team wants to do with the Dome, taxpayers could be left in the dark — depending on the Rams’ whims.
At stake could be the fate of professional football in St. Louis, as the team ultimately could leave if talks break down.
Kevin Demoff, the team’s executive vice president for football operations, declined to say last week whether the team would allow its plan to be released.
The CVC, a public agency that operates the Dome, has taken the same stance since the process to reach a deal began this year: it will release records only if the Rams say it’s OK.
The team gave its blessing on Feb. 1, when the CVC publicly released its own proposal to renovate the Dome. But in March, when the Post-Dispatch submitted a public records request for the letter the Rams sent rejecting the proposal, the CVC said no. Its stated reason: the Rams wouldn’t allow the release of the letter.
At issue is a provision in the Dome lease that states the CVC and the Rams can keep some information confidential, except under certain circumstances — such as when laws or NFL policies require information to be released, or if all parties give permission to making information public.
Kathleen “Kitty” Ratcliffe, president of the CVC, repeatedly has said the commission is legally bound by the clause.
Mike Jones, a senior policy adviser to St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley, backed that stance.
“You live with the contract you’ve got and those are the terms, so we’ve got to live with them,” Jones said. “Ultimately, at the end of the day, everything will see the light of day.”
Dooley and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay each appoint five commissioners of the CVC’s 11-member board. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon appoints the chairman.
Kara Bowlin, spokeswoman for Slay, released a statement, saying only, “We fully expect the CVC to honor all of its legal obligations.” She did not elaborate.
SUNSHINE LAW OFFENSE?
But the CVC’s position may not comply with state law — specifically, the Missouri Sunshine Law, which requires governments and public agencies to keep most records and meetings open to public view.
A representative with the state attorney general’s office said a confidentiality clause can’t supersede the open-records law.
“In my experience, a confidentiality agreement with a third party does not constitute an exception to the sunshine law,” Patricia Churchill, chief of the governmental affairs division, said in statement responding to a question about the law in general Internet Payday loans.
Arnie Robbins, editor of the Post-Dispatch, said he expects the CVC to obey state public-records laws and release the Rams counterproposal, just as it released its own proposal in February.
“We fully anticipate that our public officials will, in fact, make public a proposal that calls for spending millions of dollars in public funds on a public facility. It’s the right thing to do,” Robbins said in a statement. “The public has a right to know how its tax money could be spent. We don’t see how a so-called confidentiality agreement benefits the public, and we certainly cannot imagine how it could trump state laws that protect the public’s right to know.”
There are exceptions in the Sunshine Law that allow public bodies to keep some records closed, like those dealing with ongoing lawsuits or the buying and selling of real estate.
But Kenneth Bunting, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition in Columbia, Mo., doesn’t believe the CVC can argue that any of the exemptions apply. Some exemptions make sense, he said, “but open-government laws start with the presumption of openness.”
“We’re talking about a project involving a public facility and a lot of public money that much of the public are going to view with a lot of skepticism,” Bunting said, adding that it’s a “real outrage” the CVC and Rams “aren’t going out of their way to make this public.”
ARBITRATION IS POSSIBLE
Under the terms of the Rams’ 30-year lease, the CVC is required to come up with a renovation plan to make the Dome “first tier,” or better than three-quarters of all National Football League venues, in 15 categories.
The franchise rejected the CVC’s Feb. 1 plan, and the Rams have until Tuesday to make a counteroffer. If a deal isn’t struck by June 15, the two sides would go into arbitration, which could run through year’s end. Without an agreement, the Rams’ lease would become year-to-year after the 2014 football season, with the team free to move after that.
The Dome, which opened in 1995, was largely financed with $256 million in bonds, and the repayment of that 30-year debt will be $720 million. Every year, Missouri spends $12 million to pay off the debt, and St. Louis and St. Louis County each pay $6 million.
Representatives of Slay and Dooley have said that voters in the city and county would have to approve any deal that involves raising taxes or redirecting existing streams of public money. But some options, such as taxes and fees charged in and around the Dome, might not necessarily trigger a public vote.
Get a paydayloans today by filling out our 100% online application. No faxing, credit checks or long waits. Get funded quickly!
Regulators are proposing that food companies that want to use tiny engineered particles in their packaging may have to provide extra testing data to show the products are safe.
The Food and Drug Administration issued tentative guidelines Friday for food and cosmetic companies interested in using nanoparticles, which are measured in billionths of a meter. Nanoscale materials are generally less than 100 nanometers in diameter. A sheet of paper, in comparison, is 100,000 nanometers thick. A human hair is 80,000 nanometers thick.
The submicroscopic particles are increasingly showing up in FDA-regulated products like sunscreens, skin lotions and glare-reducing eyeglass coatings. Some scientists believe the technology will one day be used in medicine, but the FDA’s announcement did not address that use.
The draft guidance suggests the FDA may require food companies to provide data establishing the safety of any packaging using nanotechnology.
Under longstanding regulations, companies aren’t required to seek regulatory approval before launching products containing established ingredients and materials, such as caffeine, spices and various preservatives.
But FDA officials said Friday that foods and packaging containing nanoparticles may require more scrutiny.
“At this point, in terms of the science, we think it’s likely the exemption does not apply and we would encourage folks to come in and talk to us,” said Dennis Keefe, director of FDA’s office of food additive safety payday loans for bad credit.
Keefe said companies are studying whether nanoparticles can reduce the risk of bacterial contamination in certain foods. He said the agency is aware of just one food package currently on the market that uses nanoparticles but did not identify it. He said more are expected in coming years.
The FDA has previously stated its position that nanotechnology is not inherently unsafe; however, materials at the nano scale can pose different safety issues than do things that are far larger.
“This is an emerging, evolving technology and we’re trying to get ahead of the curb to ensure the ingredients and substances are safe,” Keefe said.
In a separate guidance, the FDA laid out suggestions for the use of nanotechnology in cosmetics, a practice which has been in use since the 1990s. Nanoparticles are used in skin moisturizer, mineral make up and other cosmetics.
The FDA has less authority over cosmetics than food additives. Generally, the FDA does not review cosmetics before they launch, and companies are responsible for assuring the safety of their products.
The FDA will take comments on both proposals for 90 days. There is no deadline for finalizing the documents.
The Federal Reserve said the economy grew in all 12 of its regions as manufacturing, hiring and retail sales showed signs of strength in the face of higher fuel prices.
The CEO of Bank of America was paid $7.5 million last year _ six times what he got in 2010. That’s according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing out Wednesday.
The bank says Brian Moynihan’s pay package for 2011 included a salary of $950,000, a $6.1 million stock award and about $420,000 worth of use of company aircraft and tax and financial advice.
It happened in a year when Bank of America stock plunged 58 percent. The bank struggled with lawsuits from investors who had bought securities backed by problematic mortgage loans online cash advance.
The AP uses a calculation that isolates the value a company’s board places on the CEO’s total pay package. The figure includes salary, bonus, incentives, perks and the estimated value of stock options and awards.
Employers in the U.S. boosted payrolls more than forecast in February, capping the best six- month streak of job growth since 2006 and sending stocks higher.
The 227,000 increase followed a revised 284,000 gain in January that was bigger than first estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median projection of economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for a 210,000 rise. The jobless rate held at 8.3 percent, even as 476,000 more workers sought employment.
More jobs are helping fuel the wage gains that drive consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. The latest pickup in employment bolsters President Barack Obama
Greece
Germany floated the idea of combining Europe
Asian stocks dropped Monday, ignoring signs of job improvement in the U.S., as traders continued to fret about Europe’s unfolding sovereign debt drama.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.2 percent to 1,821.31 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.7 percent lower at 18,463.81. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia also were lower. Mainland Chinese shares rose. In Japan, financial markets were closed for a public holiday.
The U.S. unemployment rate fell in December to 8.5 percent, the lowest level in nearly three years. But signs of strength in the U.S. job market were not enough to offset worries about Europe’s debt problems.
On Friday, Italy’s borrowing costs spiked to dangerously high levels and the euro fell to a 16-month low against the dollar at $1.2696.
Italy is now paying over 7 percent to borrow for 10 years, a sign that investors are concerned the country could default on its debts online payday advance. Many economists believe that those rates are unsustainable over the long term.
Greece, Portugal and Ireland were forced to seek a bailout after their borrowing rates rose above 7 percent.
The euro continued its slide against the dollar. On Monday, it fell to $1.2694 from $1.2724 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.92 yen from 77.02 yen.
In energy trading, benchmark crude for February delivery fell 45 cents to $101.11 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 25 cents to settle at $101.56 in New York on Friday.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced 14.9 billion euros ($19.3 billion) of deficit cuts, with the government
Powered by WordPress -- XHTML 1.0