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Ivory Coast Keeps Cocoa Export Tax Below 22%, Document Shows.Export taxes on cocoa beans from Ivory Coast , the world’s biggest producer of the chocolate ingredient, won’t exceed 22 percent of the international price this season, meeting a commitment to the International Monetary Fund , according to a finance ministry document. In the 2008-9 season taxes averaged 25.3 percent of international prices, the IMF said in a document posted on its website in November last year. While the country met the commitment in the season just ended, it had a change in government earlier this year. The rate meets a demand by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to reform the Ivorian cocoa and coffee industries in order to comply with the terms of its Heavily Indebted Poor Countries’ debt-relief program. Last year, the fixed duty on cocoa beans was scrapped and replaced with a levy that varies with prices as part of the reforms that will make the country eligible for $3 billion in debt relief from the Washington-based lenders. The document from the Abidjan-based ministry is dated Oct. 3 and applies to the 2011-12 harvest season, which began on Oct. 1. It was obtained by Bloomberg and hasn’t been publicly released. Norbert Komenan, an adviser to Finance Minister, Charles Koffi Diby, declined to comment when called today. The main export tax has been maintained at 14.6 percent. There are a number of other charges. Cocoa traded at $2,648 a metric ton in New York as of 11:03 a.m. local time. Disputed Election Discussions of the reform strategy with the World Bank are expected to resume in coming months, the IMF said on its website in July, two months after Alassane Ouattara was sworn in as president following a violent five-month political crisis that was sparked by a disputed November election. Cocoa and coffee exports were largely halted during that time, as Ouattara attempted to limit the flow of funds to Laurent Gbagbo , who refused to cede power despite losing the election. Businesses also shut their doors as customers stayed home and banks closed their branches amid the clashes. As many as 3,000 people were killed, according to the International Criminal Court , which is investigating crimes it says were committed by supporters of both leaders. Ivory Coast’s economy may contract 5.8 percent this year before expanding 8.5 percent in 2012, the ministry said last month. To contact the reporter on this story: Baudelaire Mieu in Abidjan at bmieu@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

USDA Boxed Beef Cutout Closing Prices for October 6.October 6 (Bloomberg) -- This table details boxed beef cutout prices supplied daily by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prices and loads traded are as of 3:00 p.m. U.S. central time. Prices are determined from cuts in dollars a hundredweight and vary between higher-quality choice cuts and select beef cuts for sale f.o.b. Omaha, Nebraska. CHOICE SELECT 600-900 600-900 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Cutout Values: 184.82 170.07 Change from prior day: 0.58 (0.20) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Choice/Select spread: 14.75 Total Load Count (Cuts, Trimmings, Grids): 263 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMPOSITE PRIMAL VALUES Primal Rib 289.70 231.58 Primal Chuck 153.19 149.92 Primal Round 168.45 168.20 Primal Loin 233.92 200.00 Primal Brisket 130.74 128.07 Primal Short Plate 125.43 128.65 Primal Flank 116.83 114.70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOAD COUNT AND CUTOUT VALUE SUMMARY FOR PRIOR 5 DAYS CHOICE SELECT Date Choice Select Trim Grinds Total 600-900 600-900 10/05 110 90 24 67 291 184.24 170.27 10/04 81 63 42 40 226 183.74 170.32 10/03 94 65 40 60 259 183.81 170.28 09/30 73 53 22 26 175 182.49 169.34 09/29 102 75 28 39 244 183.26 169.27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current 5 Day Simple Average: 183.51 169.90 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NATIONAL BOXED BEEF CUTS - NEGOTIATED SALES FOB Plant basis negotiated sales for delivery within 0-21 day period. Prior days sales after 1:30pm are included. CURRENT VOLUME - (one load equals 40,000 pounds) Choice Cuts 119.24 loads 4,769,758 pounds Select Cuts 74.19 loads 2,967,743 pounds Trimmings 38.63 loads 1,545,263 pounds Coarse Grinds 30.54 load 1,221,487 pounds ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Choice Cuts, Fat Limitations 1-6 IMPS/FL Sub-Primal # of Total Price Weighted rades Pounds Range Average ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 109A 1 Rib, roast-ready, heavy 109E 1 Rib, ribeye, lip-on, bn-in 22 28,852 560.00 621.00 587.54 112A 3 Rib, ribeye, bnls, light 14 15,927 637.00 711.00 692.34 112A 3 Rib, ribeye, bnls, heavy 56 132,089 604.00 689.25 648.15 113A 1 Chuck, square-cut, 2 piece 113C 1 Chuck, semi-bnls, neck/off 10 54,152 196.10 212.00 199.28 113C 3 Chuck, semi-bnls, neck/off 3 Chuck, semi-bnls n/o sh-cut 0 0 114 1 Chuck, shoulder clod 9 31,674 181.16 205.00 189.40 114A 3 Chuck, shoulder clod, trmd 34 329,311 194.00 214.00 202.34 114D 3 Chuck, clod, top blade 10 13,036 265.00 330.00 299.35 114E 3 Chuck, clod, arm roast 13 48,096 230.19 246.00 238.69 114F 5 Chuck, clod tender 9 21,763 345.00 395.00 362.81 115 1 Chuck, 2-piece, boneless 116A 3 Chuck, roll, lxl, neck/off 49 506,014 256.08 276.00 265.35 116B 1 Chuck, chuck tender 28 83,506 197.85 220.00 212.71 3 Chuck roll, retail ready 120 1 Brisket, deckle-off, bnls 50 465,018 187.97 206.00 193.98 120A 3 Brisket, point/off, bnls 22 31,211 329.00 360.00 341.11 123A 3 Short Plate, short rib 27 50,149 290.00 366.00 335.47 130 4 Chuck, short rib 19 24,524 199.00 260.00 223.07 160 1 Round, bone-in 10 22,865 197.00 205.00 200.07 161 1 Round, boneless 10 8,939 209.50 217.25 213.86 3 Round, bnls/peeled heel-out 167 1 Round, knuckle 167A 4 Round, knuckle, peeled 54 323,904 235.00 262.00 248.32 168 1 Round, top inside round 22 82,248 200.00 215.00 206.47 168 3 Round, top inside round 28 163,032 210.00 224.00 214.98 169 5 Round, top inside, denuded 16 11,477 240.00 256.00 250.67 3 Round, top inside, side off 170 1 Round, bottom gooseneck 7 3,303 203.00 215.00 209.61 171B 3 Round, outside round 31 132,505 233.00 250.00 238.84 171C 3 Round, eye of round 44 93,263 245.00 273.00 261.55 3 Round, flat/eye, heel-out 0 0 174 1 Loin, short loin, 2x3 174 3 Loin, short loin, 0x1 35 126,515 420.00 471.00 435.44 175 3 Loin, strip loin, 1x1 180 1 Loin, strip, bnls, heavy 1 Loin, strip loin bnls. 1x1 18 17,928 390.00 417.50 403.08 180 3 Loin, strip, bnls, 0x1 63 338,482 400.00 472.00 430.81 184 1 Loin, top butt, bnls, heavy 17 15,821 250.00 280.00 260.45 184 3 Loin, top butt, boneless 43 411,258 234.00 287.50 250.90 185A 4 Loin, bottom sirloin, flap 34 55,371 310.00 336.00 324.41 185B 1 Loin, ball-tip, bnls, heavy 21 36,913 222.73 251.00 243.07 185C 1 Loin, sirloin, tri-tip 23 60,385 276.00 301.00 285.71 185D 4 Loin, sirloin, tri-tip, pld 7 18,831 381.25 391.00 383.16 189A 4 Loin, tndrloin, trmd, heavy 27 47,339 932.00 1096.00 987.66 191A 4 Loin, butt tender, trimmed 3 2,570 896.25 990.00 957.24 193 4 Flank, flank steak 12 17,514 417.00 505.00 435.30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Select Cuts, Fat Limitations 1-6 IMPS/FL Sub-Primal # of Total Price Weighted Trades Pounds Range Average ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 109A 1 Rib, roast-ready, heavy 109E 1 Rib, ribeye, lip-on, bn-in 23 35,641 416.85 451.25 429.56 112A 3 Rib, ribeye, bnls, light 12 17,232 476.00 507.00 496.92 112A 3 Rib, ribeye, bnls, heavy 29 51,536 455.30 497.00 465.56 113A 1 Chuck, square-cut, 2 piece 113C 1 Chuck, semi-bnls, neck/off 14 21,021 199.00 212.00 200.87 113C 3 Chuck, semi-bnls, neck/off 3 Chuck, semi-bnls n/o sh-cut 114 1 Chuck, shoulder clod 13 47,673 183.00 200.00 190.79 114A 3 Chuck, shoulder clod, trmd 34 203,408 196.70 214.00 199.79 114D 3 Chuck, clod, top blade 0 0 114E 3 Chuck, clod, arm roast 0 0 114F 5 Chuck, clod tender 10 34,687 340.00 376.00 357.72 115 1 Chuck, 2-piece, boneless 116A 3 Chuck, roll, lxl, neck/off 47 215,575 230.00 256.25 242.36 116B 1 Chuck, chuck tender 27 99,802 201.00 225.00 210.24 3 Chuck roll, retail ready 0 0 120 1 Brisket, deckle-off, bnls 22 127,958 187.00 207.21 190.46 120A 3 Brisket, point/off, bnls 123A 3 Short Plate, short rib 7 5,722 300.00 361.00 340.46 130 4 Chuck, short rib 3 3,218 212.75 257.00 242.19 160 1 Round, bone-in 161 1 Round, boneless 3 Round, bnls/peeled heel-out 167 1 Round, knuckle 167A 4 Round, knuckle, peeled 27 94,105 240.00 265.00 248.09 168 1 Round, top inside round 18 302,079 198.00 208.00 200.46 168 3 Round, top inside round 35 83,054 201.00 227.00 214.42 169 5 Round, top inside, denuded 7 13,639 240.73 265.00 246.68 3 Round, top Inside, side off 170 1 Round, bottom gooseneck 5 81,483 203.00 217.00 209.03 171B 3 Round, outside round 36 144,209 225.00 250.00 230.53 171C 3 Round, eye of round 27 93,153 250.00 270.00 254.58 3 Round, flat/eye, heel-out 0 0 174 1 Loin, short loin, 2x3 174 3 Loin, short loin, 0x1 15 32,093 360.00 395.26 363.51 175 3 Loin, strip loin, 1x1 180 1 Loin, strip, bnls, heavy 1 Loin, strip loin bnls. 1x1 180 3 Loin, strip, bnls, 0x1 25 76,467 345.00 373.00 353.26 184 1 Loin, top butt, bnls, heavy 19 251,083 186.00 205.00 195.36 184 3 Loin, top butt, boneless 24 85,247 204.50 230.00 213.26 185A 4 Loin, bottom sirloin, flap 15 236,178 285.00 320.00 293.00 185B 1 Loin, ball-tip, bnls, heavy 19 75,088 220.00 240.00 226.00 185C 1 Loin, sirloin, tri-tip 16 42,046 267.00 295.00 285.69 185D 4 Loin, sirloin, tri-tip, pld 189A 4 Loin, tndrloin, trmd, heavy 17 33,934 809.70 891.00 818.38 191A 4 Loin, butt tender, trimmed 193 4 Flank, flank steak 6 6,326 416.00 450.00 433.87 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHOICE AND SELECT CUTS, Fat Limitatins (FL) 1-6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 124 4 Rib, Back Ribs, Fresh 124 4 Rib, Back Ribs, Frozen 15 21,034 100.00 151.00 119.92 121D 4 Plate, Inside Skirt 36 252,269 311.00 350.00 326.86 121C 4 Plate, Outside Skirt 23 33,461 355.00 410.00 370.47 121E 6 Plate, Outside Skirt, pld 14 4,095 495.00 550.00 541.42 Cap & Wedge Meat 54 190,853 229.00 250.75 239.52 Pectoral Meat 34 83,598 234.70 255.00 241.98 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GROUND BEEF - STEER and HEIFER SOURC -- 10 Pound Chub Basis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground Beef 73% 25 205,965 138.00 157.00 146.26 Ground Beef 75% Ground Beef 81% 34 142,527 153.47 176.00 163.22 Ground Beef 85% Ground Beef 90% 0 0 Ground Beef 93% 11 33,234 213.31 225.00 216.69 Ground Beef Chuck 31 233,097 159.00 181.00 165.38 Ground Beef Round 18 64,692 176.76 190.00 181.38 Ground Beef Sirloin 0 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BLENDED GROUND BEEF - STEER, HEIFER and COW SOURCE -- 10 Pound Chub Basis -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blended Ground Beef 73% Blended Ground Beef 75% Blended Ground Beef 81% 11 27,475 168.30 183.60 173.76 Blended Ground Beef 85% Blended Ground Beef 90% Blended Ground Beef 93% Blended Ground Beef Chuck Blended Ground Beef Round Blended Ground Beef Sirloin -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BEEF TRIMMINGS - STEER and HEIFER SOURCE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fresh 50% lean trimmings 48 1,545,263 87.84 94.50 89.55 Frozen 50% lean trimmings 0 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FAT LIMITATIONS (FL) DESCRIPTION Maximum Average Fat Thickness Maximum Fat at any point 1. 3/4" (19mm) 1.0" 2. 1/4" (6mm) 1/2" 3. 1/8" (3mm) 1/4" 4. Practically free (75% surface lean exposed) 1/8" 5. Peeled/Denuded 1/8" 6. Peeled/Denuded, surface membrane removed 1/8" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items that have no entries indicate there were trades but not reportable because they did not meet the daily 3/70/20 guideline. Please refer to weekly LM_XB 459 as the item may qualify. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A cutout value is an average of the prices tallied for cuts of beef from cattle carcasses weighing 550-850 pounds. Cutout values are separated into three main product types. Fabricated loads are beef cuts taken from an animal's ribs, chuck, round, loin, brisket, short plate and flank; 50 percent loads are 50 percent lean beef trimmings. Ground loads may contain 73, 75, or 80 percent ground beef. A typical refrigerated truckload carries 40,000 pounds. Choice 1-3 grade is a better grade than Select 1-3, partly because Choice cuts have more fat, or marbling, than Select cuts. Grade quality is determined using a 1-5 yield grade scale. A rating of 1 is the highest ratio of muscle to fat, while 5 is the lowest. Marbling is an important flavor factor.

U.S. September Small Business Jobs Summary.U.S. small business plans to hire declined in September, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Marco Babic at mbabic@bloomberg.net

Greece’s GSEE Says Won’t Meet For Talks With Troika in Athens.Greece ’s biggest private sector union group, GSEE, said it won’t hold talks with European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund officials in Athens, the so-called troika, according to an e- mailed statement from Athens-based GSEE today. “Our red lines were crossed a long time ago and the measures being proposed are completely opposed by Greeks,” GSEE President Yiannis Panagopoulos said in a copy of a letter sent to the troika in response to an invitation to hold talks. To contact the reporter on this story: Natalie Weeks in Athens at nweeks2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Maria Ermakova at mermakova@bloomberg.net

Clean-Tech Companies Should Get 10-Year Tax Breaks, Hundt Says.Reed Hundt, head of the Coalition for Green Capital, said alternative-energy companies should be given a 10-year tax break on profits as a way to create jobs and stimulate innovation in clean technology. Hundt, who was chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission from 1993 to 1997, is working with the government as well as Silicon Valley venture capital and private equity firms to ensure that money is still available for clean-energy projects after the collapse of Solyndra LLC last month. “Step one is that the Silicon Valley venture community has to stand up for the fundamental idea that success can come from failure,” Hundt said in an interview at a clean-tech conference yesterday in Redwood City, California. “And this is a Congress that hates taxes, so how about eliminating all income tax on the sale of clean-energy goods or services for the next decade.” Solyndra, a solar-panel maker in Fremont, California , fired 1,100 workers and filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 6, two years after receiving a $535 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy. The company’s downfall doesn’t change the need for the production of biofuels, solar power and technology that helps reduce energy consumption, Hundt said. State Initiatives In addition to making proposals to Congress, Hundt’s Washington-based nonprofit is working with individual states to make capital more available. In June, Connecticut adopted a measure for a so-called green bank, designed to provide low-cost financing for energy-efficiency projects. The project will be funded by a surcharge on residential and commercial electric bills amounting to about $30 million a year. Legislators in Oregon , Michigan , Pennsylvania , Ohio and New York have reached out to Hundt’s coalition to do something similar, he said. Venture funding of clean-tech companies fell 4.5 percent in the first half of this year to $2.17 billion from $2.27 billion a year earlier, according to the National Venture Capital Association. Still, the $1.23 billion invested in the first quarter marked the second-highest period ever, after the second quarter of 2010, the NVCA said. That won’t slow down just because Solyndra is being scrutinized, said Jim Fulton, co-chair of the clean energy and technologies group at law firm Cooley LLP in Palo Alto, California, which sponsored the conference. Congressional Republicans are leading an investigation into Solyndra’s loan guarantee, and the company faces a probe by the FBI. “Solyndra will not be a defining moment in clean-tech history,” Fulton said in an interview. “There is an alternative universe in Washington , D.C., and politics that is blowing this out of proportion.” Hundt, 63, also works with the Aspen Institute , which describes itself as a “venue for discussing and acting on critical issues,” and worked on President Barack Obama’s transition team from 2008 to 2009. He serves on the board of Intel Corp. (INTC) , the world’s biggest semiconductor company, and Serious Energy Inc., formerly Serious Materials, which provides software for building owners and developers. To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Levy in San Francisco at Alevy5@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

U.K. Pound Weakens Versus Dollar Before BOE Bond-Purchase, Rate Decision.The pound weakened for a second day versus the dollar and yen before the Bank of England ’s latest interest-rate decision amid speculation it will restart a bond- purchase program to help revive the U.K. economy. Sterling dropped against all but two of its 16 major counterparts, sliding most versus the Australian dollar. The Monetary Policy Committee will leave its key rate unchanged at 0.5 percent, according to all 53 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Eleven of 32 economists surveyed separately predict at least a 50 billion-pound ($77 billion) increase in its so- called quantitative easing program. “There might be a short relief rally in sterling on a lack of further BOE action but it’s likely to be short-lived as the market is still focused on the likelihood of further QE by the November meeting,” said Ian Stannard , London-based head of European currency strategy at Morgan Stanley. “The BOE will move towards further QE in coming months and ultimately sterling will come under pressure.” The pound weakened 0.1 percent to $1.5439 at 8:54 a.m. in London. It declined 0.2 percent to 118.47 yen and was little changed against the euro at 86.36 pence. Morgan Stanley recommends selling the pound on any “relief rallies” that are likely to occur should the central bank refrain from announcing further monetary stimulus for the U.K. economy. The Bank of England has faced pressure to embark on further quantitative easing to help revive an economy battling the steepest government spending cuts since World War II and a worsening euro-area debt crisis. The U.K.’s economy grew less than expected in the second quarter, expanding 0.1 percent from the first three months of the year, the Office for National Statistics said yesterday. That was lower than the 0.2 percent previously published by the statistics body and also missed the 0.2 percent expansion forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. U.K. 10-year gilt yields were three basis points lower at 2.34 percent and the two-year note yield was little changed at 0.58 percent. To contact the reporters on this story: Lucy Meakin in London lmeakin1@bloomberg.net ; Garth Theunissen in London gtheunissen@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net

Afghanistan Gets Preliminary Agreement on $129 Million IMF Loan.Afghanistan secured a preliminary agreement for a $129 million loan from the International Monetary Fund after taking steps to strengthen its financial system following the collapse of Kabul Bank. The three-year loan program is likely to come to the board of directors for approval in November, the Washington-based IMF said in an e-mailed statement today. The IMF has said its support was contingent on the country’s strengthening its financial system. “The authorities have made important progress on managing the Kabul Bank crisis that came to the fore in the fall of 2010,” IMF mission chief Axel Schimmelpfennig said in the statement. “The authorities’ program outlines further steps to strengthen and develop Afghanistan’s financial sector.” A loan would signal approval of Afghanistan’s policies, a condition for some governments that provide assistance. The IMF, which reached a similar agreement in July 2010 that never went to the board, had said Afghan authorities needed to prevent a repeat of the conditions that led to the collapse of Kabul Bank before obtaining aid. The government took over Kabul Bank, the country’s biggest commercial financial institution, in September 2010. Thousands of depositors rushed to withdraw their money last year after learning that the bank’s owners had lost hundreds of millions of dollars they had lent to themselves. Recovering Assets “Kabul Bank has been put into receivership, and efforts are under way to recover the embezzled assets from the former shareholders of the bank which will limit the fiscal costs of the crisis,” Schimmelpfennig said. “The central bank is also stepping up supervision and ensuring that the banking law and regulations are fully enforced.” Measures the Afghan government plans to take in exchange for the loan include introducing a value-added tax to make up for the expected decrease in revenue collection when the military withdraws. The IMF said it expects real economic growth of between 6 percent and 8 percent during the program period. To contact the reporter on this story: Sandrine Rastello in Washington at srastello@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net

Germany, France Split on EFSF Bond Purchases, Handelsblatt Says.Germany and France are at odds over whether the European Financial Stability Facility should have limits on government bond purchases, Handelsblatt reported, citing an unidentified high-ranking European Union diplomat. France doesn’t want to restrict the EFSF on how much of its funds it can use for such purchases, the newspaper said in a preview of an article to appear in tomorrow’s edition. Germany wants to limit the amount EFSF can spend for bonds per country and is also considering whether there should be a time limit for bond purchases, Handelsblatt said. To contact the reporters on this story: Karin Matussek in Karlsruhe via kmatussek@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@Bloomberg.net .

Farmland Seen Returning Up to 12% by U.S. Pensions Manager.Farmland investments may return an average of 8 percent to 12 percent annually as global food demand increases, said the largest U.S. pension manager for teachers and academic researchers with $469 billion of assets. The company has $2.5 billion invested in farmland and owns about 600,000 hectares (1.48 million acres) mostly in the U.S., Brazil and Australia, said Jose Minaya, 40, a managing director and head of natural resources and infrastructure investments at New York-based TIAA-CREF. “From a historical point of view, farmland has generated returns of 8 percent to 12 percent a year and we expect that to continue over the long term,” Minaya said. Farms are attracting investors such as billionaire George Soros as rising incomes in China and India and a growing world population increase demand for food and fuel. Food production will have to climb 70 percent by 2050 as the population rises to 9.2 billion from 6.9 billion in 2010, according to the United Nations. Global food costs reached a record in February after weather ruined crops from Canada to Australia and Russia. The Standard & Poor’s Spot Index of 24 commodities has dropped 21 percent from its April high on concern the European debt crisis would slow growth and curb demand. The gauge had more than doubled since the start of 2009. The MSCI All-Country World Index of global equities lost 22 percent from its May high. ‘Pretty Steady’ Farmland is an asset class that’s “pretty steady” and delivers stable income returns with capital appreciation that tracks slightly above inflation, said Minaya, who previously worked for AIG Global Investment Group and Merrill Lynch & Co. The company is seeking to expand in grain-exporting countries and hold investments for as long as 30 years, he said in an interview Sept. 30. “We can easily be twice the size that we are today” if the right opportunities arise, he said. The pension manager buys land and leases it back to farmers, he said. The investments are in “mature and established” regions, in “the bigger farms” and in countries that export grain, he said. Returns in the past few years have been at the high end of the 8 percent to 12 percent range, he said Sept. 30. “On aggregate, it does look like a pretty good bet,” said Michael Creed , an agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank Ltd. “We’re entering a period of rapid growth in emerging- market demand for higher protein,” which is increasing use of grains to feed poultry and livestock, he said from Melbourne. Farmland Values TIAA-CREF is one of eight institutional investors representing $1.3 trillion in assets that have endorsed a set of Farmland Principles ranging from environmental sustainability to transparency and respect for land rights, it said on Sept. 6. Farmland values in one of the most-productive regions in the U.S. Midwest soared 17 percent in the second quarter as higher grain prices made real estate more attractive, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said on Aug. 17. The increase from a year ago in the area including Illinois , Indiana , Iowa and Wisconsin was the biggest since the 1970s, it said. A fund controlled by George Soros owns 23 percent of South American farmland venture Adecoagro SA, Bloomberg data show. The company is involved in the production of grains, oilseeds, dairy, sugar, ethanol, coffee, cotton and cattle meat, and has operations in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, its website said. Shrinking land and water supply in countries including China and India, will limit their capacity to boost food production, creating import demand, Minaya said. That’s going to be met by the major exporting regions in North and South America, Australia, and parts of Central and Eastern Europe, he said. As well as the U.S., Australia and Brazil, the company has a smaller level of investments in Poland and Romania , he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

Airbus German Workers Plan Work Stoppage on Contract Dispute.Airbus SAS labor unions in Germany have called upon workers in Hamburg and three other production sites to stage work stoppages tomorrow after failing to agree with management on productivity increases. Some 16,000 workers spread between Hamburg, where Airbus assembles single-aisle planes, and Bremen, Stade, and Buxtehude, where plane structures are built, have been asked to leave their work stations and gather for rallies, the IG Metall union said in a statement today. Workers and management have been tussling over new contracts that will run through 2020. Management has already agreed to offer job guarantees and is seeking 8 percent productivity increases. Workers say that’s too much and are offering 2 percent productivity gains instead. “Both sides agree that we need to make productivity increases, and management is waiting for them to come back to the table. It’s important to reach a conclusion,” said Florian Seidel, a spokesman for Airbus in Hamburg. Seidel said Airbus doesn’t expect the work actions to last more than an hour or two and said management is eager to resolve differences quickly. Management and labor have different methods of calculating the productivity increases, Seidel said. The strike is planned to stretch over three shifts at the four production centers tomorrow, said Heiko Messerschmidt, a spokesman for the IG Metall labor union for the coastal region, who spoke by telephone from Hamburg. He predicted “several thousand” workers will show up at rallies. “We hope that these actions will put enough pressure on Airbus to return to the negotiation table,” said Messerschmidt. “We know that flexibility is a requirement, but not at any price.” In Germany workers are required to give notice before staging any strike action. Airbus had gone to court in September to block any such action, a bid that was thrown out. Airbus assembles single-aisle A320, A319, A321 and A318 planes in Hamburg and also assembles the bulk of the A320s in Toulouse, France , where Airbus is based. To contact the reporters on this story: Andrea Rothman in Toulouse, France, at aerothman@bloomberg.net ; To contact the editors responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at bkammel@bloomberg.net

Fans Hold IPhone-Lit Vigils for Steve Jobs.Apple Inc. (AAPL) fans worldwide mourned the death of co-founder Steve Jobs , paying tribute to the man who changed the way they listen to music, use their mobile phones and play on their computers. At Apple’s headquarters -- located at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California -- flags flew at half-staff and bagpipes sounded to the tune of “Amazing Grace” as people placed flowers around a white iPad with a picture of Jobs, who died yesterday at 56, after a battle with cancer. Mourners flocked to Apple stores from New York to Hong Kong , while a crowd gathered in San Francisco ’s Mission Dolores Park for an iPhone-lit vigil. “Part of the narrative that made Apple what it is today goes out with Steve Jobs,” said Christopher Smith, 40, a former business development manager in San Francisco who joined the vigil. “I came out to honor the fact that one man with vision, courage and unwavering dedication can still change the world. The way that I communicate and the way that I interact with the world is through things that Steve Jobs has created.” Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates and Sony Corp. (6758) Chairman Howard Stringer were among leaders who expressed admiration for the man who built the world’s most valuable technology company. President Barack Obama and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair also issued statements of sympathy. Jobs’s Home “Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs,” Obama said in a statement. “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators -- brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.” While Apple plans a celebration for staff, it doesn’t intend to hold a public ceremony, a person familiar with the matter said. Teary-eyed mourners left flowers in front of Jobs’s modest home at the corner of Waverly Street and Santa Rita Avenue in Palo Alto , California. Neighborhood children drew hearts with markers and left them on the ground for others to leave messages. Policemen stood watch, barricading the street. “Here’s a guy who’s a billionaire and lives in a regular neighborhood, not behind a gated estate with all the security guards,” said Bruce Gee, a former Apple employee who drove up to the house from his home a couple miles away. “On Halloween, people go trick or treating there like everyone else.” At the San Francisco Apple store near Union Square, Steve Streza, 24, stood holding an iPad displaying Apple’s homepage image of Jobs and the words “Steve Jobs: 1955-2011.” ‘Regular Guy’ “Macs were the reason I got into product development,” said Streza, a developer at readitlater.com who grew up with Mac computers. “If it weren’t for Steve Jobs and Macs, my life would probably be in a completely different place right now.” Steve Somerstein, who says he met Jobs several times since 1986, recalled the time when he bumped into Jobs while apartment hunting in Palo Alto. “He was just a regular guy,” said Somerstein, who was at the Palo Alto store. “I congratulated him on the company and hoped it was going to do well. I didn’t even own an Apple at that point. He was about 10 years younger than me and just a nice kid.” Ron Kent, a food-truck owner who was at the Palo Alto store, likened Jobs to Michelangelo, the renaissance-era artist who painted the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. “He’s the visionary of our time,” Kent said. ‘RIP Steve Jobs’ Some mourned via social media sites. More than 20 “RIP Steve Jobs” pages sprung up on Facebook within hours of the announced passing of Jobs. News of Jobs’s death slowed the mobile websites of CNN and the Washington Post, according to Keynote Systems Inc. (KEYN) , which tracks website performance. “Steve Jobs,” the biography written by former Time magazine editor Walter Isaacson, scheduled for release Nov. 21, was the best seller on Amazon.com Inc.’s website. In New York, Jared and Alexi Roth, 33 and 31, left two red apples by the wall outside the Apple store on Broadway in the Upper West Side. “We were literally walking by a market on Broadway when Jared got a text saying Steve Jobs died,” Alexi said. “We saw the apples and just thought it would be appropriate.” Across the ocean, Charanis Chiu, walked in front of the Apple store in Hong Kong to place a sunflower, the logo of the photo-viewing application on the iPhone. “A lot of companies such as Microsoft and Nokia are following in his direction,” said Chiu, a vendor of photographic equipment. “Apple will continue to grow as long as they are going in the right direction.” ‘Insanely Great Honor’ At the store in Shanghai ’s Lujiazui district, an area of about three square meters was set aside at the front for people to pay tribute to Jobs. Microsoft’s Gates praised the man who for decades was both a rival and a partner in the personal-computer industry. “The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come,” Gates said. “For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.” Stephen Elop, chief executive officer of Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) , said the world lost a “true visionary” in Jobs’s passing. Sachio Kitagawa, 45, was on her way with her son to the Apple store in the Ginza shopping district of Tokyo when she heard the news of Jobs’s passing. “He should receive the Nobel prize,” said Kitagawa, who’s used Apple products for 20 years. “I have a second child who is disabled and even he can use the Macintosh. It shows you how user-friendly Apple products are.” ‘Thank You’ Outside the Apple store a short walk from Frankfurt ’s financial institutions, sunflowers, gerbera daisies and roses were laid alongside a burning candle. “He forged designs which appealed to the mass market and developed technology which you can now find in museums -- not because of its age, but because it was groundbreaking,” said Guenther Uttecht, a 60-year-old artist who uses Apple products to work on abstract photos as he left the shop. At the entrance of the store on Regents Street in London lay a white rose with a hand-written note saying “Rip Steve Jobs. With love from Instagramers London and all Instagramers around the world. You gave us life. Thank you x”. Next to it a passerby had left an apple with a bite out of it, imitating the brand’s iconic logo, alongside a bouquet of lillies. On Rue Halevy, just behind Opera Garnier in central Paris, flowers were tucked into the doors of the Apple store. One bouquet had a card from Mario Baluci, the creative artist at Carre Senart, that said, “Thank you, Steve.” In Singapore , Georgina Koh, 30, recalled the man who inspired her to open her own accessory shop. “The world should remember Steve Jobs’s famous quote ‘Stay Hungry, Stay foolish,’” said Koh, a former Apple worker, in reference to Jobs’s Stanford University commencement speech in 2005. “It’s an honor to have been associated with Apple. It is a company built by a man relentless about creating beautiful products that have changed our lives.” To contact the reporters on this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.net ; Douglas Macmillan in New York at dmacmillan3@bloomberg.net ; Danielle Kucera in New York at dkucera6@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

France Working on Contingency Bank Stakes Plan, Figaro Says.France is working on a contingency plan to take stakes in the country’s banks, Le Figaro reported, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter. The country’s state holding agency is working on the plan which would involve two or three unnamed banks, the newspaper said. Le Figaro added that the country’s economy ministry denied that any refinancing of banks was being considered. To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Whitehouse at dwhitehouse1@bloomberg.net

Uganda Coffee Development Authority’s Robusta Prices.The Uganda Coffee Development Authority today quoted indicative prices for exports of the robusta variety, which accounts for 85 percent of the country’s coffee exports. Uganda is Africa ’s second-biggest coffee producer, after Ethiopia , and the continent’s largest robusta producer. Nearby refers to deliveries to be made within 45 days. Indicative prices are those used by exporters to determine their prices, which are in U.S. cents a pound, based on free on board rail/truck from Kampala: To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net .

New York Times Climbs After Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim Boosts Stake.New York Times Co. (NYT) climbed the most in almost two years in New York trading after Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim boosted his stake in the company. The newspaper publisher rose 76 cents, or 13 percent, to $6.75 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the biggest daily gain since Oct. 22, 2009. The stock has dropped 31 percent this year. Inmobiliaria Carso SA, the closely held investment vehicle for Slim’s family, increased its holdings by 850,000 shares to 11.9 million shares, according to filings yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The purchases boosted the stake in Times Co.’s Class A shares to 8.1 percent. “The New York Times is a great media company, with a great name, excellent content and very good management,” Arturo Elias , Slim’s spokesman, said today in an e-mail. Slim has said that he owns Times Co. shares as a financial investment and isn’t interested in controlling the company, including in an interview last month with the Daily Beast. To contact the reporter on this story: Crayton Harrison in Mexico City at tharrison5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net

Irish Trophy Home Plunges 75% in Price as Property Millionaires Disappear.A six-bedroom Edwardian house on Ireland’s most expensive street is on the market for one quarter of the price paid when it was bought six years ago, a sign that the country’s property crash isn’t sparing high-end properties. Walford, a house on Shrewsbury Road in Dublin’s affluent embassy belt, previously sold for 58 million euros ($77 million), according to Savills Plc (SVS) , which is offering the empty home for 15 million euros. Interested buyers need to submit bids for the house by Oct. 27 with a 1 million-euro bank draft. Prices for some of Ireland’s trophy homes fell at least as much as the rest of the country’s slumping market after the real-estate collapse drained the fortunes of property-boom millionaires. Thorndene, another house on Shrewsbury Road in Dublin’s Ballsbridge, is on the market for 8 million euros, down from an asking price of 14 million euros in 2009. Prime property prices rose faster than the rest of the market during Ireland’s boom “because there was a lot of people chasing too few properties, which gave them a spike,” said Wade Wise of Beirne & Wise, who has been selling Irish high -end homes for 12 years. “Come the crash, they’ve fallen further.” In property markets including London and Paris, luxury home prices fell less following the financial crisis and recovered more quickly than the broader market on tight supply and investment from abroad. Prices in London neighborhoods such as Knightsbridge and St. John’s Wood exceed their pre-recession peaks. Worse Than Average While prices in Dublin have fallen more than 50 percent on average, top end values are down about 75 percent, Wise said. “The drivers of the bubble, especially those who came in later, tend to be among the bigger victims,” said economist Brian Lucey, an associate finance professor at Trinity College Dublin. Ireland was “unique” because the newly made millionaires chose to buy luxury homes in the country rather than abroad. Luxury home prices during the property boom were “underpinned by wealth that wasn’t really wealth,” he said. Investment in housing rose to almost 15 percent of Ireland’s gross domestic product in 2006, up from about 6 percent in 1996, according to the country’s Economic & Social Research Institute. A home formerly owned by Derek Quinlan, once one of Ireland’s richest men, near Shrewsbury Road may be sold to the Belgian Embassy, said two people with knowledge of the matter. The price range is 2.5 million euros to 2.9 million euros, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the talks aren’t concluded. Quinlan bought the house in 2006 for 7 million euros, and spent more refurbishing it, the Irish Times reported in March, without citing anyone. Damage Done “In Ireland it always used to be a cycle, but this time we seem to have done a lot of damage so the natural recovery isn’t there,” said real-estate developer Paddy Kelly, who owned three houses on Shrewsbury Road at different times and has now lost control of some of his assets as prices plunged. The identity of Walford’s owner hasn’t been disclosed. Iris Keating an agent at Savills, which is jointly handling the sale with Irish broker Lisney, said it received instructions to sell the house from the trust Matsack Nominees Ltd. While luxury cars crowd the driveways of Walford’s neighbors, the red-brick house is run down after being left uninhabited for more than six years. Visitors step onto a bare cement floor just inside the entrance. The walls have been stripped, wooden floors are exposed and cobwebs hang in some of the rooms of the house. ‘Best Road’ After the 75 percent discount, Walford is drawing expressions of interest from potential buyers, Keating said. “This is the best road in Dublin,” she said. “We have had number of genuine inquiries from people who we know to be serious at this end of the market.” Telecom billionaire Denis O’Brien owns a home in Ballsbridge, about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) south of the city center. The Belgian embassy is on the street, as is the residence of the Finnish ambassador. Paddy Kelly is currently leasing a property on Shrewsbury Road to the Chinese embassy. Residential house prices in Dublin have fallen by 51 percent since the peak of the property boom, according to Ireland’s statistics office. The government took control of five of the country’s six biggest lenders, after real-estate loans soured. In all, Ireland has injected or pledged about 62 billion euros to shore up the financial system. Further to Fall Average house prices may fall as much as 70 percent from the peak if the government doesn’t take action to ensure lenders provide mortgages, according to Ronan Lyons , an economist based at Oxford University who has written on the Irish property market. “There is a huge problem at the moment with the availability of credit,” Lyons said in an interview. “Banks are trying to cut down their loan books, not increase them.” Keating at Savills still expects Walford to sell. She estimates that 1 million euros needs to be spent renovating the property. “There are some people who will compete to have a trophy residence here even now,” said Keating at Savills, without naming any of the interested parties. “People at this end of the market want to keep their business under the radar.” To contact the reporters on this story: Finbarr Flynn in Dublin at fflynn3@bloomberg.net ; Neil Callanan in London at ncallanan@bloomberg.net ; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Colin Keatinge at ckeatinge@bloomberg.net

Hungary Focusing on Debt, Deficit Reductions in 2012, Simor Says.Hungary’s government is embarking on a tightening of budget policy in 2012 with a focus on reducing the debt and deficit levels, central bank President Andras Simor said. “The government is acutely aware that debt needs to be brought down and budget policy needs to be extremely disciplined,” Simor said in a speech in London today. To contact the reporter on this story: Agnes Lovasz in London at alovasz@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Zoltan Simon at zsimon@bloomberg.net

U.S. Apartment Vacancies Drop to Five-Year Low as Demand Begins to Slow.U.S. apartment vacancies fell to a five-year low in the third quarter, enabling landlords to increase rents even as tepid job growth slowed leasing in what is usually a strong season for demand, Reis Inc. (REIS) said. The vacancy rate dropped to 5.6 percent, the lowest since the third quarter of 2006, the New York-based property-research company said in a report today. It was 5.9 percent in the previous three months and 7.1 percent a year earlier. The average monthly effective rent rose to $1,004 from $997 in the second quarter and $981 in the same period of 2010. Mounting foreclosures, tighter credit for homebuyers and young people moving out on their own have increased demand for apartments after the vacancy rate reached a three-decade high of 8 percent at the end of 2009. Leasing may be starting to cool as the U.S. unemployment rate sticks above 9 percent and concern grows that the economy is weakening, Reis said. Apartment demand in the third quarter “was good, but maybe not as good as it could have been,” Ryan Severino, senior economist at Reis, said in a telephone interview. “Sentiment turned severely negative during August and there was a heightened fear of the economy backsliding.” Landlords saw a net increase in occupied space of about 36,000 units in the third quarter, fewer than the 42,000 units in the previous three months and 95,000 units a year earlier, Reis said. The period is usually one of the strongest for apartment leasing because people tend to move during warmer- weather months and school vacations. Slower ‘Unbundling’ Renewed weakness in the labor market slowed a wave of young people moving out of their parents’ homes or leaving roommates to rent their own place, a phenomenon known as unbundling, said Donald Davidoff, head of marketing for Archstone, the apartment owner based in Englewood, Colorado. The U.S. economy added zero jobs in August, the weakest reading since September 2010, and the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent, according to the Labor Department. “The fact that job growth has slowed is certainly not encouraging additional unbundling,” said Davidoff, whose company owns 434 apartment complexes across the U.S. “The pace of that has clearly slowed over the past couple of months.” Vacancies shrank partly because new completions remain near their lowest since Reis began tracking the quarterly data in 1999, Severino said. About 8,200 units came to market in the past three months, the second-lowest quarterly number of the past 12 years, according to Reis. New supply from developers could start affecting occupancy rates in late 2012, Reis said. Effective-Rent Gains Effective rents, or what tenants pay after landlord giveaways are included, rose on a year-over-year basis in 81 out of the 82 metropolitan areas tracked by Reis. San Jose , California , led with 5.5 percent growth in effective rents from a year earlier, followed by San Francisco at 4.5 percent and New York at 3.7 percent, Reis said. Las Vegas was the only city where rents fell. The 2.3 percent annual growth nationwide in effective rents outstripped the 2.1 percent annual increase in landlords’ asking rents, suggesting that concessions continued to decrease amid strong demand for rental housing, Reis said. Vacancies should decline further as the number of jobs increases for people ages 20 to 34, the prime group of renters, said Severino. Lingering pessimism about home prices and the difficulty of qualifying for mortgages also favor the rental market, he said. Pushing Rents “The market hasn’t quite tightened to the point where landlords can really push rents in excess of inflation,” Severino said. “But we’re not too far away. We can envision within the next year or so seeing a figure more in the 3 to 4 percent range” for rent growth. Effective rents have climbed 4.1 percent from their recession low in 2009, according to Reis. Higher rates may spur people to double up again, move home or downsize to a less expensive rental, according to Ron Johnsey, president of Axiometrics Inc., a Dallas-based apartment-research company. Rent growth is “definitely flattening out,” he said. “The operators really pushed rents the first half of the year and then just stood there to protect those gains,” Johnsey said. “It looks like that may be happening again.” William Kendust, a 26-year-old church youth director in the city of Melbourne on Florida ’s eastern shore, moved back in with his parents in January after sharing an apartment with his brother and a friend for two years. “I just felt that it would be throwing money away to rent a place before I was ready” to buy a house, said Kendust, who plans to stay at home longer to help his mom after his father died unexpectedly. “A lot of young people in their 20s want to be able to get up and go, and the opportunity of going back to school is a draw,” Kendust said. “Living with their parents for a while gives them the freedom to do that.” To contact the reporter on this story: Hui-yong Yu in Seattle at hyu@bloomberg.net ; Katie Spencer in New York at kspencer14@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net

SEC Claims Author Used Ponzi Scheme to Repay Prior Fraud Victims.Eric J. Aronson, a New York man who wrote a self-help book after pleading guilty to fraud more than a decade ago, was accused by U.S. regulators today of operating a $26 million Ponzi scheme in which he used investor funds to pay court-ordered restitution to victims of his earlier fraud. Aronson, 43, lured about 140 people to buy promissory notes from companies he controlled including PermaPave Industries LLC, touting returns of up to 33 percent on investments in natural- stone pavers imported from Australia , the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a complaint filed today in Manhattan. U.S. attorneys filed related criminal charges against Aronson today, the SEC said. Aronson and other executives used new investor funds collected between 2006 and 2010 to make payments to earlier customers and siphoned off money to buy themselves luxury cars, jewelry and gambling trips to Las Vegas , according to the complaint. Aronson, who penned the 2007 book “DASH” with a first chapter entitled “The Buffet of Life,” misappropriated about $2.6 million through two other companies he solely controlled, using the money to pay back victims of a scheme to which he pleaded guilty in 2000, the SEC said. Randy Zelin, an attorney for Aronson and PermaPave , declined immediate comment. Aronson and his associates “created the facade of a profitable business, promised investors extraordinary rates of return, and used much of their investors’ money to fund their own lavish lifestyle,” George Canellos, head of the SEC’s New York office, said in a statement. The SEC is seeking to bar Aronson from serving as an officer or director of a public company, as well as the return of illicit profits and unspecified fines. To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Gallu in Washington at jgallu@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lawrence Roberts at lroberts13@bloomberg.net

Gold, Silver Futures Advance in New York as Commodities, Equities Rally.Gold futures rose for the second straight day and silver surged as commodities and equities rallied amid optimism that European officials were making progress in taming the region’s sovereign-debt crisis. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of 24 raw materials gained as much as 2.6 percent, led by gains in copper and silver. The European Central Bank will resume covered-bond purchases and reintroduce yearlong loans for banks, President Jean-Claude Trichet said. “Gold is back to behaving like a classic commodity,” Frank Lesh , a trader at FuturePath Trading in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “Physical demand is providing support to gold.” Gold futures for December delivery gained $11.60, or 0.7 percent, to settle at $1,653.20 an ounce at 1:40 p.m. on the Comex in New York. The precious metal is heading for the first weekly gain in five. Futures reached a record $1,923.70 on Sept. 6 as investors sought alternatives to equities and some currencies. The metal has climbed 16 percent this year. Spot gold is in the 11th year of a bull market, the longest rally since at least 1920. Silver futures for December delivery climbed $1.653, or 5.4 percent, to $32.005 an ounce, the biggest jump since July 13. The price has advanced 39 percent in the past 12 months. On the New York Mercantile Exchange , platinum futures for January delivery gained $25.20, or 1.7 percent, to $1,508.10 an ounce. Palladium futures for December delivery climbed $28.45, or 5 percent, to $598.80 an ounce, rising for the second straight day. To contact the reporters on this story: Debarati Roy in New York at droy5@bloomberg.net ; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net

Polish Stocks: KGHM, PKO Bank, PZU, TVN Shares Move in Warsaw.Poland ’s WIG20 Index advanced for a second day, adding 28.40, or 1.3 percent, to 2,173.27 at the 5:30 p.m. close in Warsaw. The following are among the most active stocks on the Warsaw Stock Exchange today. Stock symbols follow company names. PKO Bank Polski SA (PKO PW), Poland’s biggest bank, rose 0.64 zloty, or 2 percent, to 32.93 zloty, its second day of gains. PZU SA (PZU PW), the country’s largest insurer, climbed 3.8 zloty, or 1.3 percent, to 302.8 zloty. Financial shares extended gains in Europe on continuing speculation that Europe’s leaders will reach an agreement to contain the sovereign-debt crisis. KGHM Polska Miedz SA (KGH) , the copper producer with the biggest European mine output, jumped 8 zloty, or 6.6 percent, to 129.4 zloty, extending yesterday’s 3.3 percent increase. Copper advanced as better-than-expected U.S. economic data and speculation that Europe will contain the region’s debt crisis boosted demand for industrial metals. TVN SA (TVN) rose 0.16 zloty, or 1.1 percent, to 15.34 zloty, the highest close in two months. ITI Holdings SA will next week pick one bidder to hold exclusive talks on the sale of its majority stake in Poland’s largest television network, Gazeta Wyborcza reported, citing three unidentified people. Vivendi SA and Time Warner Inc. are bidding to buy TVN after RTL Group SA withdrew, the Warsaw-based newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. To contact the reporter on this story: Pawel Kozlowski in Warsaw pkozlowski@bloomberg.net or Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw at mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

Trichet Says ECB to Offer Longer Loans, Will Resume Covered-Bond Purchases.European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet said the ECB will offer banks additional longer- term liquidity and also restart its covered bond purchases. The ECB will offer banks one 12-month loan, starting in October, and a second 13-month loan in December. Both will be operated as fixed rate, full allotment operations. It will also start buying 40 billion euros of covered bonds in November. To contact the reporter on this story: Gabi Thesing in London at gthesing@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Fraher at jfraher@bloomberg.net

Moderate Brazil Rate Cuts Fit 2012 CPI Goal, Tombini Says.Brazil’s central bank President Alexandre Tombini said “moderate” cuts in interest rates will help shield the economy from the European debt crisis and won’t prevent inflation from slowing to 4.5 percent next year. “Looking ahead, given current conditions, moderate adjustments in interest rates are consistent with inflation converging to the center of its target in December 2012,” Tombini said at an event in Brasilia. Traders pared bets today that the central bank will accelerate the pace of cuts after slashing the benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 12 percent on Aug. 31. The yield on the contract maturing in January 2013, the most traded in Sao Paulo today, rose 14 basis points to 10.36 percent at 5:01 p.m. New York time. Tombini’s use of the word “moderate” points to a rate cut of 50 basis points, rather than the 75 basis-point cut that some traders are betting on, said Andre Perfeito , an economist with Gradual Investimentos in Sao Paulo. Estado do S. Paulo reported Oct. 2 that President Dilma Rousseff wants the Selic rate to fall to 9 percent next year, citing three government officials that it didn’t identify. ‘Getting Worse’ “The bets on 75 basis points or even 100 basis points are driven by two main reasons: the belief that the situation in Europe is getting worse, and this talk about the monetary stance that Dilma Rousseff wanted next year,” Perfeito said. Consumer prices rose 7.33 percent in the year through mid- September, exceeding the 6.5 percent upper limit of the bank’s target range for a fifth straight month. Tombini pledged to slow inflation to 4.5 percent by the end of next year. Jankiel Santos , chief economist at Espirito Santo Investment Bank, said there is no case for speeding up the pace of rate cuts without evidence that the Brazilian economy is really being hit by the problems in Europe. Brazil’s economy showed clear signs of slowing in August and will grow 3.5 percent this year, Tombini said. Given slower domestic growth and the impact of the global crisis, policy makers decided to cut rates in August, he said. Brazil hasn’t abandoned its policy of accumulating foreign reserves, and the central bank will resume its dollar purchases when market conditions permit, Tombini said. He added that the central bank is ready to intervene in currency markets when movements in the real are not consistent with the dollar’s global trend. Brazil has $349 billion in international reserves, up 21 percent from the start of the year. The real appreciated 2.8 percent to 1.7811 per U.S. dollar. To contact the reporters on this story: Andre Soliani in Brasilia at asoliani@bloomberg.net Matthew Bristow at mbristow5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net .

Australian Homes for Sale Jump 5.6% in September, SQM Says.Australian properties listed for sale climbed 5.6 percent in September from the previous month, according to data from SQM Research Pty. Homes listed for sale jumped to 383,287 in September from 362,793 in August, the Sydney-based research group said in an e- mailed statement. Listings surged 24.2 percent in September from a year ago. The increase “was to be expected given the normal seasonal rise in listings that occurs this time of year,” SQM Managing Director Louis Christopher said in the statement. “Nevertheless, listings are well up on numbers recorded last year.” Properties listed for sale in Melbourne soared 65.3 percent from a year earlier, the most among Australia ’s eight capital cities. Listings in Sydney climbed the most since the previous month, rising 12.9 percent, SQM said. To contact the reporter on this story: Nichola Saminather in Sydney at nsaminather1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at apapuc1@bloomberg.net

Obama Says China Aggressive in ‘Gaming’ Trading System to Its Advantage.President Barack Obama said China has been aggressive in “gaming the trading system,” including intervening to keep the value of its currency artificially low. “China has been very aggressive in gaming the trading system to its advantage and to the disadvantage of other countries, particularly the United States,” Obama said in response to a question at a White House news conference. “Currency manipulation is one example of it, or at least intervening in the currency markets in ways that have led their currency to be valued lower than the market would normally dictate.” Still, Obama warned that legislation in the Senate to penalize China risked triggering trade sanctions against the U.S. To contact the reporter on this story: Roger Runningen in Washington at rrunningen@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net

False Default Signal Seen With Swaps Cost Most Since January: Muni Credit.The cost of protecting municipal debt against default is at the highest level since January even as past warning signals from derivative contracts proved unfounded. Protection on $10 million of securities for 10 years cost as much as $245,000 this week, according to London-based data provider CMA. That’s the most since Jan. 7, three weeks after banking analyst Meredith Whitney predicted “hundreds of billions of dollars” of defaults in the coming year. Instead, failures plunged to $1.1 billion, a quarter of 2010’s rate, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Prices of privately traded credit-default swap contracts have risen 78 percent since May 31 even after states closed a projected $32 billion in budget deficits, according to the Washington-based National Conference of State Legislatures. States and localities have also recorded seven straight quarters of year-over-year revenue growth, the U.S. Census Bureau said, while enjoying the longest stretch of rising income and falling interest rates since Bill Clinton ’s presidency. While states and cities are balancing budgets and slashing borrowing costs, investors are buying hedges against defaults on concern about a slowing global economy, said Peter Demirali, who manages $350 million of municipal debt at Cumberland Advisors in Mendham Township, New Jersey. “Revenues are increasing,” Demirali said in a telephone interview. “They’re laying off workers and restructuring health and pension benefits. So the risk isn’t really any higher, it’s just that risk around the globe has moved higher.” Economies Slow U.S. gross domestic product growth may slow to 1.6 percent this year from 3 percent in 2010, while Europe ’s expansion rate may cool to 1.7 percent from 1.8 percent, according to economists’ forecasts compiled by Bloomberg. A credit-default insurance contract based on the Markit MCDX credit-default swaps index reached a record of 340 basis points in December 2008, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings. While CDS prices were rising, yields on municipal bonds had already begun plummeting to the lowest levels in at least six years, according to Bloomberg Fair Value data. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. Prices of the privately traded contracts next peaked on June 30, 2010, two weeks after 10-year muni yields began a 29 percent drop lasting through early September. The 2011 high for the CDS index was in January after Whitney’s appearance on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Dec. 19. By mid-February, municipal debt had started an eight-month rally that pushed interest rates to the lowest levels since 1967, when Lyndon B. Johnson was president. Default Drop About 64 percent of municipal bankers, advisers and government officials expect the number of defaults to drop or remain the same this year compared with 2010, according to an RBC Capital Markets survey conducted at a Bond Buyer conference in Carlsbad, California last month. Credit-default swap costs may not be a precise gauge of risk, said Tom Dresslar , a spokesman for California Treasurer Bill Lockyer. The biggest borrower in the $2.9 trillion municipal market saw the price of protecting its debt for 10 years jump to 286 basis points yesterday from 247 basis points on Sept. 29, according to data from CMA, which is owned by CME Group Inc. “Anyone who tried to divine the reasons for movement in municipal CDS prices is on a fool’s errand,” Dresslar said in an e-mail. “There is no rhyme or reason. That’s probably because the entire market has no basis in reality.” Ratio Increase The rise in credit default swaps has accompanied an increase in the ratio of 10-year municipal yields to similarly maturing U.S. government-bond rates. The yields on tax-exempt debt have been at or above 100 percent of Treasuries for five straight weeks, the longest stretch since May 2009, according to Bloomberg data. Still, investors in September added $1.9 billion to tax- exempt funds, the biggest monthly inflow since September 2010 when buyers added $2.6 billion, according to Lipper US Fund Flows. States and cities are set to issue $75 billion in the last three months of 2010, up from an earlier projection of $60 million, as issuers take advantage of plunging interest rates , Chris Mauro, a municipal-debt investment strategist for RBC Capital Markets in New York wrote in a report last month. Yields on 10-year top-rated municipals were 2.36 percent yesterday, after falling to 2.13 percent on Sept. 27, the lowest level since March 1991, when Bloomberg data for the securities begins. Following are descriptions of pending sales of municipal debt: The STATE OF WASHINGTON plans to borrow $1.29 billion in general-obligation bonds as soon as Oct. 10 with $516.7 million of the transaction in new money to help fund the Floating Bridge and Eastside Project. The remainder is to refinance debt. The state is rated AA+ by Standard & Poor’s , second-highest grade. JPMorgan Chase & Co. will lead a syndicate of banks on the deal. (Added Oct. 5) NEW YORK CITY TRANSITIONAL FINANCE AUTHORITY, which finances capital projects for the most populous U.S. city, will sell $750 million of subordinate revenue debt as soon as Oct. 12 to convert variable-rate bonds into fixed-rate securities and refund debt. The authority’s subordinate debt is rated AAA, S&P’s highest grade. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is senior manager of the sale. (Added Oct. 6) The STATE OF MICHIGAN is to borrow $138.7 million of general-obligation bonds as soon as Oct. 12. The transaction will help finance school loan programs and refund environmental program debt. The bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service, its third-lowest ranking. Robert W. Baird & Co. will lead the sale. (Added Oct. 5) CHICAGO BOARD OF EDUCATION, which finances school construction for the third-largest public-education system in the U.S., will sell as soon as next week $398 million of general-obligation bonds secured with dedicated revenue. Proceeds will renovate school buildings and finance expansion. The deal is rated Aa3, Moody’s fourth-highest grade. Jefferies & Co. will lead a syndicate of banks on the sale. (Added Oct. 6) To contact the reporters on this story: Michelle Kaske in New York at mkaske@bloomberg.net ; Andrea Riquier in New York at ariquier@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net

RadVision Advances Most in a Week, Paring Gap With U.S. Shares.RadVision Ltd. (RVSN) jumped the most in a week in Tel Aviv trading, trimming the gap with U.S.-traded shares. The stock advanced 5 percent to 19.65 shekels, or the equivalent of $5.28, as of 1:12 p.m. in Tel Aviv, after slumping 9.6 percent yesterday. The shares closed down 4.8 percent at $5.31 in New York yesterday after the maker of video- conferencing systems cut its third-quarter earnings forecast. To contact the reporter on this story: Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackerman@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net

Vietnam Raises a Key Rate to Support Dong, Fight Inflation.Vietnam ’s central bank increased its refinancing rate for the first time since May, as the nation tries to steady its currency and tame Asia ’s fastest inflation. The State Bank of Vietnam raised the refinancing rate to 15 percent from 14 percent, effective Oct. 10, it said in a statement on its website yesterday. The central bank weakened the dong’s reference exchange rate for the third straight day today, to 20,653 per dollar from 20,648 per dollar. Vietnam has struggled to regain investor confidence hurt by inflation of more than 20 percent, a trade deficit and risks in the banking sector. While the rate increase is welcome, the central bank should further tighten monetary conditions if necessary to reassure the market that economic stability remains its top priority, the International Monetary Fund said. “Vietnam had to raise rates, but a rate hike won’t change the weaker dong trend,” said Shigehisa Shiroki, chief trader on the Asian and emerging-markets team at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. in Tokyo. “The country has a trade deficit and like many other Asian nations now, money is not flowing into Vietnam either due to risk aversion. The dong will continue to see downward pressure.” The currency was little changed at 20,843 per dollar as of 12:00 p.m. in Hanoi, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The weakening of the reference exchange rate on Oct. 5 was the first change since Aug. 24. The dong was devalued for the fourth time in 15 months on Feb. 11, by about 7 percent, partly to help curb the trade gap. The VN Index of stocks fell 0.8 percent. No ‘Huge Effect’ The rate increase is “unlikely to have a huge effect on lowering inflation,” Masato Miyazaki, the IMF’s Washington-based mission chief for Vietnam, said in an e-mailed statement received today. The central bank should abolish the cap on deposit rates for dong to “help normalize the monetary transmission mechanism,” Miyazaki said. Asian currencies from the Philippine peso to South Korea ’s won have tumbled against the dollar over the past month, as concern the world economy faces a slump prompts investors to pare bets on emerging markets. Confidence in the dong is “shaky,” according to Viet Capital Securities, which said yesterday the currency was trading at 21,500 per dollar on the black market. The trade deficit widened to $1 billion in September from a revised $396 million in August. Policy Efficiency Vietnam’s move is the first change to a key interest rate under new central bank Governor Nguyen Van Binh and contrasts with neighbors such as Malaysia and China , which left borrowing costs unchanged in recent weeks to shield their economies. The increase in the refinancing rate is aimed at improving “the efficiency of monetary policy” and regulating “market interest rates,” the central bank said in yesterday’s statement. It left its repurchase rate at 14 percent and its discount rate at 13 percent. The State Bank of Vietnam increased the repurchase, refinancing and discount rates earlier this year in an attempt to stem credit growth, slow price gains and stabilize the economy. It raised the repurchase rate in nine steps from 7 percent at the start of November last year to 15 percent in May 2011, before cutting it in July to 14 percent. The government said in August the central bank will consider lowering rates if inflation slows. The latest refinancing rate increase is “an encouraging sign, but we’ll have to see whether it continues,” said Thomas Harr , head of Asian foreign-exchange strategy at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore. “Because interest rates in Vietnam are too low, you have a lot of money shifting into gold.” Gold-Backed Loans The State Bank of Vietnam asked commercial banks to provide details of gold-backed loans issued since the start of the year until Oct. 7, according to a separate statement dated yesterday and posted on its website today. Commercial banks will also be obliged to file weekly reports on gold-backed lending to the central bank, with the first reports due Oct. 12, it said. The reporting will help the central bank monitor and stabilize the gold and foreign-exchange markets, it said. The July rate reduction and a government push in August for lower commercial borrowing costs “have created uncertainties about the monetary policy strategy,” Trinh Nguyen, a Hong Kong- based economist at HSBC Holdings Plc, wrote in a note released yesterday before the rate increase was announced. Consumer prices climbed 22.42 percent in September from a year earlier, compared with 23.02 percent in August. Vietnam’s inflation rate remains the fastest in a basket of 17 Asian- Pacific economies tracked by Bloomberg. The central bank yesterday also raised overnight interest rates on electronic transactions to 16 percent from 14 percent, effective Oct. 10. Domestic economic imbalances pose a risk to Vietnamese banks’ asset quality, Moody’s Investors Service said last month. Vietnam’s gross domestic product may rise 5.8 percent in 2011, the slowest pace since 2009, Asian Development Bank data show. The economy, a production hub for companies from Intel Corp. (INTC) to Honda Motor Co., expanded 6.8 percent in 2010. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net

Orix May Buy U.S. Asset Manager to Enter Equity Market.Orix Corp. (8591) , the Japanese financial services provider whose operations include investment banking and insurance, aims to acquire a U.S. asset management company to add equities to its investment-product offerings. Tokyo-based Orix may buy an investment management firm or take over a team of fund managers and research staff in the U.S. to start investing in stocks, Deputy President Haruyuki Urata said in an interview in Tokyo on Oct. 3. The company has been in talks with “several firms,” he said, declining to name potential targets or say how much Orix would spend. The financial company aims to boost its asset-management operations in the U.S. and Asia by adding equity-related investment products to its fixed-income portfolio. The firm acquired stakes last year in a U.S. hedge fund manager that invests mainly in debt, and a Vietnamese investment company. “We want to diversify our products and client network by expanding into equity investments and attracting Asian investors,” said Urata, 56, who is also chief financial officer. “It’s crucial to show our stakeholders that we are always challenging ourselves and eying new things.” Shares of Orix, which got about 14 percent of its revenue from the Americas last fiscal year, have fallen 26 percent this year, while the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average shed 17 percent. The shares rose 3.3 percent to 5,880 yen today. Good Timing “The U.S. market is the most important for the asset management business in terms of size and potential,” said Yoku Ihara, an investment adviser at Retela Crea Securities Co. in Tokyo. “It’s positive to see the firm is aggressively trying an acquisition and it’s good timing because of the yen’s appreciation.” Overseas investors account for 52 percent of the company’s shareholders. The yen has climbed 12 percent against the dollar in the past six months, the only one of 16 major currencies to advance. Orix purchased 25 percent of Ho Chi Minh City-based Indochina Capital Corp. , which operates real estate funds with $500 million under management, in November. It also acquired in December a majority holding in Harrison, New York-based Mariner Investment Group LLC, which manages about $11.7 billion. The firm aims to double assets under Mariner Investment within five years to more than $20 billion, Orix USA Corp. President James Thompson said in an interview in October 2010. Orix, formed in 1964, has about 18,000 employees and 883 subsidiaries and affiliates in more than 25 countries, according to its website. The company posted a 44 percent gain in profit for the three months ended June to 23.7 billion yen ($309 million), driven by investment banking and overseas businesses. Orix also plans to add new markets for its financing, and will sell 400 million yuan ($63 million) of bonds by March 31 in Hong Kong , while considering raising funds in Australia , Thailand , South Korea , Singapore and Malaysia, said Urata. Dallas-based Orix USA in 2006 bought Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, a merger and acquisition adviser focused on helping smaller companies restructure. To contact the reporters on this story: Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo at thyuga@bloomberg.net ; Takako Taniguchi in Tokyo at ttaniguchi4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chitra Somayaji at csomayaji@bloomberg.net

Philippine Customs September Collection Below Goal, Biazon Says.The Philippines’ Bureau of Customs collected 20.2 billion pesos in September, lower than target due to “turnover jitters,” Commissioner Ruffy Biazon told reporters in Manila today. The agency’s targets for this year and next have been lowered, he said. Its collection goal in 2012 was reduced to 312 billion pesos from 365 billion pesos, he said, without giving the new target for 2011. To contact the reporter on this story: Max Estayo in Manila at mestayo@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Cecilia Yap at cyap19@bloomberg.net

Baum’s Foreclosure Law Firm Agrees to Pay U.S. $2 Million Over Practices.Steven J. Baum’s foreclosure law firm , one of the largest in New York state, will pay the U.S. $2 million and change its practices, including those related to Merscorp Inc.’s mortgage database, to resolve a probe of its foreclosure filings. The agreement, signed today, resolves an investigation into whether the Baum firm filed misleading pleadings, affidavits and mortgage assignments in courts, according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan. The settlement doesn’t constitute a finding of wrongdoing. “There are no excuses for sloppy practices that could lead to someone mistakenly losing their home,” Bharara said in the statement. “Homeowners facing foreclosure cannot afford to have faulty paperwork or inadequate evidence submitted, and today’s agreement will help minimize that risk.” Steven J. Baum PC, located in Amherst, New York, just north of Buffalo, has attracted lawsuits and fines for its actions during the housing crisis. It has been accused of overcharging, filing false documents and representing parties on both sides of a mortgage transfer. State attorneys general and federal regulators are negotiating with banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) to try to reach a settlement over faulty foreclosure practices in the wake of the financial crisis. The changes in procedure “go over and above what current law requires,” Baum said in an e-mailed statement. “We will continue to adhere to the highest ethical standards.” Shares Address Pillar Processing LLC, which processes foreclosure documents and shares an address with the law firm, is also part of the settlement. Pillar is owned by Manhattan private-equity firm Tailwind Capital LLC, according to its website. Brooke Gordon, spokeswoman for Tailwind Capital, declined to comment on the settlement. Baum acknowledged that the firm “occasionally made inadvertent errors in its legal filings in state and federal court, which it attributes to human error in light of the high volume of mortgage defaults and foreclosures,” according to Bharara’s statement. The agreement calls for the firm’s employees to halt their practice of assigning mortgages as supposed employees of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., an electronic database of mortgages. ‘No Connection’ “Until recently, employees of Baum, with the consent of MERS, had been assigning mortgages on behalf of MERS, even though they had no connection to MERS whatsoever,” according to Bharara’s statement. MERS, a unit of Reston, Virginia-based Merscorp Inc., was set up by the mortgage industry to allow banks to assign and reassign home loans without having to record the changes with county land-records offices. Janis Smith, a MERS spokeswoman, didn’t have an immediate comment on the MERS allegation. The agreement calls for the Baum firm to obtain affidavits from clients attesting that they have the original promissory notes or have searched for them, to have experienced attorneys supervise the preparation of documents and to implement a training program for its attorneys. MERS Assignments “Borrowers and some courts have been questioning the validity of MERS assignments, pleadings and affidavits from the Baum firm for several years,” Jennifer Sinton, deputy director of the foreclosure-prevention project at South Brooklyn Legal Services, said in an interview. “It’s good to see that Baum is now required to discontinue these practices. Hopefully, this will protect courts and homeowners from bogus foreclosure lawsuits.” New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur M. Schack in Brooklyn called the Baum firm’s explanations in one case “so incredible, outrageous, ludicrous and disingenuous that they should have been authored by the late Rod Serling.” Schack threw out the case in part because he said the assignment of the loan by a Baum lawyer on behalf of MERS as nominee of the lender had been done improperly. The same day, the Baum firm represented the buyer of the loan by filing the foreclosure action, the judge said. Schack said it was a conflict for the firm to represent both sides. “Steven J. Baum PC appears to be operating in a parallel mortgage universe, unrelated to the real universe,” the judge wrote in that May 2010 decision. “Next stop, the Twilight Zone,” he said, quoting from Serling’s TV series about science fiction and the supernatural. Baum said last year that in several cases where Schack stated the firm represented both sides in a mortgage transfer, “we have supplied to the court relevant documentation indicating that no conflict of interest existed.” To contact the reporter on this story: Thom Weidlich in Brooklyn , New York, federal court at tweidlich@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net .

Lukoil May Invest $300 Mln in Romanian Project: Ziarul Financiar.OAO Lukoil, Russia ’s second-biggest oil producer, may invest as much as $300 million in exploration blocks off Romania’s Black Sea coast, Ziarul Financiar reported today, citing Constantin Tampiza, the local spokesman for Lukoil’s Chief Executive Officer Vagit Alekperov. The Russian company won licenses together with Vanco International to explore for oil and gas in the Black Sea waters, the Bucharest-based newspaper said today, citing Tampiza. The company needs an approval from the Romanian Justice Ministry and a final government decision before it can start its exploration in the Black Sea, according to Tampiza. To contact the reporter on this story: Irina Savu in Bucharest at isavu@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net

New Zealand Dollar Falls Against U.S. Currency, Yen, Trades at 76.42 Cents.New Zeland’s dollar fell to 76.42 U.S. cents as of 1:47 p.m. in Sydney from 76.62 yesterday in New York. It was at 58.67 yen from 58.84. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Naoto Hosoda at nhosoda@bloomberg.net

Dubai Stocks Gain, End 7-Day Drop, on Arabtec Contract, Europe.Dubai shares rose for the first time in seven days after Arabtec Holding Co. (ARTC) won a contract in India and on investors’ optimism European policy makers will move to contain the continent’s debt crisis. Arabtec, the United Arab Emirates’ biggest construction company, advanced the most in two months. Emaar Properties PJSC (EMAAR) surged the most since August 29. The benchmark DFM General Index (DFMGI) climbed 0.8 percent to 1,395.43 at the 2:00 p.m. close in the emirate, trimming this week’s decline to 2.5 percent. About 41 million shares traded today, compared with this year’s daily average of 111 million shares. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, which tracks the biggest 200 companies in the Persian Gulf region, rose 0.4 percent. “Indexes in the U.A.E. are in positive territory due to a supportive global backdrop,” said Julian Bruce , equity sales head at EFG-Hermes Holding SAE in Dubai. “Arabtec news was well received but volumes are still light and buyers are still exercising caution ahead of the weekend.” The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1.9 percent. European Union officials are working on plans to boost bank capital to contain the debt crisis, the International Monetary Fund said. Banks need the region’s regulators to help with financing to prevent the debt crisis from worsening, said UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Officer Federico Ghizzoni in an interview. Arabtec rose 2.3 percent, the most since Aug. 10, to 1.33 dirhams. The Arabtec Construction LLC-Raheja venture won a contract valued at 750 million dirhams ($204 million). Emaar, the builder of the world’s tallest skyscraper in Dubai, advanced 1.6 percent to 2.57 dirhams. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index (ADSMI) gained 0.2 percent and Qatar’s measure climbed 1.1 percent. The Kuwait Stock Exchange Unweighted Index rose 0.1 percent, Bahrain’s benchmark gauge was little changed and Oman’s MSM 30 Index retreated 0.1 percent. Saudi Arabia’s market was closed. To contact the reporter on this story: Alaa Shahine in Dubai at asalha@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net

PepsiCo May Purchase Russian Drinksmaker Deka, Kommersant Says.PepsiCo Inc. is in talks to buy Russian drinks producer OAO Deka, Kommersant reported today, citing unidentified people familiar with details of the plan. Russian businessmen Konstantin Barinov once owned a 50 percent stake in Deka, and he is seeking to get it back through the courts, Kommersant said. To contact the reporter on this story: Yuliya Fedorinova in Moscow at yfedorinova@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net

Harvard Loses Top World University Ranking for First Time.Harvard University lost its top spot for the first time in eight years in a global ranking of higher education institutions, being overtaken by the California Institute of Technology. Another California institution, Stanford University , tied with Harvard for second spot in the annual table compiled by the London-based Times Higher Education , with data supplied by Thomson Reuters Corp. The University of Oxford climbed to fourth from sixth last year, beating the University of Cambridge at sixth. Princeton University came fifth. Harvard, the world’s richest university, has topped the rankings since they were started in 2004. The U.S. institution was beaten by Cambridge last month in a separate poll by higher education information provider QS. A 16 percent increase in research funding for Caltech helped it leapfrog Harvard in the Times Higher table, said Phil Baty, editor of the rankings. “The difference between Harvard and Caltech last year was minuscule,” Baty said in a telephone interview. “What’s happened this year is Caltech has seen a significant increase in its research income. A 16 percent increase, it’s quite significant in tipping the balance over in its favor. Harvard had an increase as well, but it was more in line with sector averages.” The rankings are based on a survey that gauges universities across five areas, including industry income, teaching, citations, research and international outlook. More than 17,500 academics were surveyed and 50 million citations analyzed and compared with the world average for this year’s rankings. Funding Levels “It doesn’t seem as if financial crisis has really damaged Harvard,” said Baty. “It still wins on the teaching indicator. Once you factor in research impact and universities’ research activities, Caltech is slightly better.” U.S. and U.K. universities dominated the list, with 75 American schools in the top 200. Seven of the top 10 schools were in the U.S., with the rest in Britain, Imperial College London taking eighth place. “The real issue that’s starting to show is that the great public American universities do seem to be suffering, whereas the private universities in America have managed to maintain or protect their funding levels a bit more,” Baty said. Premier U.S. universities that depend on public funding, including Californian universities at Berkeley , Los Angeles , San Diego and Santa Barbara , had slipped on the list compared with a year ago, Baty said. ‘Steadfast Donors’ “Caltech is fortunate to have steadfast donors and partners whose support gives Caltech the ability to invest in new ideas long before they would be eligible for public funding opportunities,” Dr. Jean-Lou Chameau, president of Caltech, said in an e-mailed statement. “This public-private partnership model enables our research funds to go further.” Oxford beat Cambridge, the U.K.’s richest university, after a change in the survey’s methodology put arts, humanities and social sciences on an equal footing with science, Baty said. “At places like Oxford, where there’s a slightly heavier focus on humanities and social sciences than there is at Cambridge, that levelling of the playing field has helped,” he said. The U.K. had the most number of universities in the top 200 after the U.S., with 32. U.K. Reforms While the U.K. did “exceptionally well,” the “biggest issue is that we’re entering into a very uncertain period of major reform, which will have unforeseen consequences,” Baty said. Higher tuition fee, spending cuts and new visa restrictions on international students restricting university income will affect U.K. rankings from 2012, he said. “The U.K. is blessed with some truly brilliant universities, more brilliant than the government understands, judging by its hastily concocted higher education reforms, with all the uncertainty they entail,” said Ann Mroz, the editor of the Times Higher, in a report accompanying the list. The Netherlands, Germany and Canada followed the U.S. and U.K. as the countries with most universities on the list. ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology , was the highest ranked outside of the U.S. and U.K. at 15th position. The University of Tokyo , in 30th place, was the top-ranked Asian school. Japan has five schools in the top 200, the most of any Asian nation, while Hong Kong has four and China three. Three Taiwanese universities dropped out of the list this year, leaving just one, while India had none. Top 20 World University Rankings 2011-12: To contact the reporter on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Colin Keatinge at ckeatinge@bloomberg.net

Hana Financial Pushes for Korea Exchange Takeover After Lone Star Ruling.Hana Financial Group Inc. (086790) will push to complete its purchase of Korea Exchange Bank from Lone Star Funds after a Seoul court ruled on a five-year legal dispute that stalled the U.S. buyout fund’s efforts to sell the lender. “We will do our utmost to complete the Korea Exchange Bank takeover to best serve our shareholders,” Hana President Kim Jong Yeol said by telephone yesterday after the Seoul High Court found Lone Star guilty of stock-price manipulation. The company is now waiting for guidance from the financial regulator, which said it may order the Dallas-based fund to sell most of its 51 percent stake. Wrangling with courts and regulators pushed back Hana’s plan to take over the bank by May and derailed two earlier attempts by Lone Star to sell its stake. A public backlash over the profits the fund has made on its eight-year investment may deter foreign takeovers in South Korea, impeding government plans to sell state assets such as Woori Finance Holdings Co. “It has taken too long for the resolution of the KEB-Lone Star case,” Hank Morris, North Asia adviser at Triple A Partners Ltd., said by e-mail before the verdict. The delay “will have had a negative effect upon the plans of global investors in regard to direct investment into Korea.” Hana Financial rose 2.5 percent to 36,400 won at the 3 p.m. close of Seoul trading and climbed as high as 38,400 won. Korea Exchange shares advanced 6.5 percent to 7,750 won after rising as much as 11 percent. The benchmark Kospi index advanced 2.9 percent. Lone Star Fined Paul Yoo, the former head of Lone Star’s South Korean unit, was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison by Judge Cho Kyung Ran. Lone Star was fined 25 billion won ($21 million) by the court. Korea Exchange Bank (004940) was found not guilty, Cho said after presiding over a retrial ordered by the Supreme Court this year following their acquittal in June 2008. Judge Cho said Yoo spread false rumors of a possible capital reduction at Korea Exchange Bank’s credit card unit in 2003, with the intention of driving down its value before the lender merged it. The case brought into question whether Lone Star is a legitimate shareholder of Korea Exchange Bank and regulators have waited on its outcome before approving a change in ownership. ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ “It doesn’t matter whether Lone Star voluntarily sells the stake or is forced to do so,” Kim Sung Yong, a law professor at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, said before the judgment. “The result is the same: exit from its investment as it has wished.” Korea Exchange Bank spokesman Lee Sun Hwan said the company respects the court’s decision on the lender. He declined to comment on the Financial Services Commission’s remark that it may order Lone Star to sell a 41 percent stake. Jed Repko, a spokesman for Lone Star in New York , declined to comment on the court’s decision and on whether the fund will appeal to the highest court again. He also declined to comment on the regulator’s remarks that the commission may order Lone Star to sell 41 percent stake in Korea Exchange. Hana has lost 18 percent since May 12, when the Financial Services Commission said it wouldn’t approve Hana’s proposed acquisition of Korea Exchange until Lone Star’s legal dispute is resolved. The FSC has left the deal in limbo for almost a year because of the litigation, prompting Hana and Lone Star to extend a deadline for the transaction to Nov. 30 from May and trim the purchase price by 6 percent to 4.4 trillion won. Hard Sell Lone Star shouldn’t be allowed to get so high price from the Korea Exchange Bank stake following the conviction, Yu Won Il, an opposite Creative Korea Party lawmaker, said at a parliamentary audit today. “Public will never understand if after being convicted of criminal stock manipulation, Lone Star takes a huge premium from this stake sale,” Yu told Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok Dong today. Lone Star, which bought Korea Exchange Bank in 2003, first tried to sell the lender to Kookmin Bank in 2006, and the deal was thwarted amid the same legal dispute. Then in 2008, HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) walked away from a $6 billion deal to buy Korea Exchange as regulators delayed approval, citing the case. While the court proceedings have postponed Lone Star’s exit, it has profited from the investment. The U.S. fund has recovered 2.5 trillion won after tax through block share sales and dividends out of a 2.15 trillion won investment in Korea Exchange, according to the bank’s data. Hostile Sentiment South Korean civic groups such as Seoul-based SpecWatch Korea have criticized foreign investors including Lone Star for pursuing an “eat-and-flee” strategy of buying companies and selling them quickly, pocketing big profits. Public discord and the U.S. buyout firm’s legal woes have dissuaded foreign investors from acquiring Korean companies, said Henry Seggerman, president of New York-based International Investment Advisers. “The case is extremely negative for any prospective strategic investors,” Seggerman, whose firm manages the $25 million Korea International Investment Fund, said by e-mail before the decision. “Public sentiment is hostile toward profitable overseas investment, not supportive overseas investment.” Overseas takeovers of Korean companies fell to $3.6 billion last year from a record $8.1 billion in 2005, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Lone Star was one of the first overseas firms to invest in South Korea following the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis that led the country to accept a $57 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. To contact the reporter on this story: Seonjin Cha in Seoul at scha2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brett Miller at bmiller30@bloomberg.net

GE Study Finds Recession’s Job Creators Still See Sales Gain.Midsized U.S. companies that added 2.2 million jobs during the recession and its aftermath say a slowing U.S. economy won’t stall sales growth now, according to a study by General Electric Co. (GE) and Ohio State University. “Middle-market businesses have a solid track record for performance through the recession,” GE and the university’s Fisher College of Business said in a report on the study. “Looking forward into 2012, 80 percent of middle-market companies expect to grow over the next 12 months.” Findings from the study, which included 2,028 executives from companies with annual sales of $10 million to $1 billion, were presented today at Ohio State’s Columbus campus during a summit attended by customers of the GE Capital finance unit. While mid-size firms’ payrolls fared better than those of large companies, which cut millions of jobs amid the worst slump since the Depression, the study also found challenges. About 55 percent of participants reported insufficient access to capital markets, 84 percent lacked confidence in the national economy and only 17 percent reported confidence in their local economies. Still, “this is a lot different than 2008,” GE Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt told reporters before the summit. “There’s liquidity, there are pockets of growth and I think people have confidence that they might be able to find the right pockets of growth.” “By their own self-assessment, the data strongly indicates that there is plenty of room to improve overall business performance,” the study found. Executives’ concerns include developing top leaders, attracting new customers and developing new products, according to the report. About 71 percent reported challenges dealing with regulations including tax law, and 45 percent are seeing challenges from global rivals, the survey said. International ‘Heat’ “While many middle-market companies have embraced global markets and are aggressively distributing their products and services in new geographies, many are also facing the heat from international competitors,” the study’s authors wrote. The U.S. has about 200,000 mid-size companies, accounting for about 3 percent of all the nation’s businesses, the study said, citing U.S. Census data. The firms offer 16 percent more jobs per dollar in assets than large companies and about 80 percent more jobs per dollar in revenue, the study indicated. Of the jobs they added from 2007 to 2010, about 500,000 were in the Midwest, a region where large companies eliminated 4.9 million workers. The unemployment rate in Ohio, the nation’s seventh most-populous state, was 9.1 percent in August, matching the U.S. rate. The state has lost 407,000 jobs, or 7.37 percent, during the past decade, federal data show. 20 Versus 2,0000 Nationwide, large companies cut a net 3.7 million jobs from 2007 to 2010, including firms that expanded employment, the GE survey showed. On average, middle-market companies added 20 jobs each, while their large counterparts cut 2,000, the survey said. GE Capital’s own review of about 1,200 middle-market customers and their fiscal health shows less-leveraged balance sheets and fewer paying down debt. That indicates companies may have arrived at a comfortable level of borrowing, Dan Henson, who oversees the Americas, said in an interview last week. “These companies are armored,” GE Capital CEO Mike Neal said today. “The environment may end up being bad, who knows, but at least in the United States companies are much better prepared for the most part, to deal with that.” The finance unit of Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE is among the largest lenders to middle-market companies. The parent company’s chief executive officer, Immelt, heads President Barack Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. To contact the reporter on this story: Rachel Layne in Boston at rlayne@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net ;

FCC to Revamp Phone Subsidy to Spur Expanded Internet Access.U.S. regulators proposed overhauling an $8 billion phone subsidy program for landline service to help fund a nationwide expansion of high-speed Internet. The changes to the program, known as the Universal Service Fund, will help increase access to broadband and spur job creation , Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said during a speech today in Washington. The agency also plans to revise the fees that smaller regional carriers receive to connect calls, he said. “Broadband has gone from being a luxury to a necessity for full participation in our economy and society,” Genachowski said. “If we want the United States to be the world’s leading market” for innovation, “we need to embrace the essential goal of universal broadband, and reform outdated programs.” Under Genachowski, the FCC has sought to increase the share of people who use high-speed Internet at home to 90 percent from the current 65 percent, according to the agency’s national broadband plan. Between 14 million and 24 million Americans lack access to broadband, “and immediate prospects for deployment to them are bleak,” the FCC said in a report last year. “The costs of this broadband gap are measured in jobs not created, existing job openings not filled, and our nation’s competitiveness not advanced,” Genachowski said today. The proposals will be brought before the agency’s four commissioners at an Oct. 27 FCC meeting. Source of Money The FCC is seeking to transform the USF into a “Connect America Fund” designed to ensure affordable high-speed Internet service in regions that lack access and to promote mobile broadband nationwide. The Universal Service Fund supports phone service to schools, libraries, the poor and high-cost areas. The fund is financed by charges on long-distance calls paid by telephone subscribers, and it subsidizes companies including Windstream Corp. (WIN) and Frontier Communications Corp. (FTR) In 2010, the program paid $4.3 billion to carriers doing business in high-cost areas, according to the website of the Universal Service Administrative Company , a Washington-based independent nonprofit group that administers the fund. More than 1,700 carriers receive support from the program for high-cost areas. Senator Jay Rockefeller , a West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Commerce committee, called for an Oct. 12 hearing to discuss the proposed reforms. Details of the plan announced today have not been released publicly by the FCC. High-Cost Subsidy Genachowski has singled out the subsidy program for high- cost regions as one possible source of money for broadband expansion. The agency voted in February to develop the USF overhaul, and since then has held workshops across the country. The FCC also plans to revamp the fees paid to rural carriers for connecting calls, Genachowski said. The changes would be phased in over several years, he said. Changes to so-called intercarrier connection fees “will result in significant consumer benefits,” Genachowski said. “Consumers can expect reduced costs, better value for their money, or both.” A coalition of telephone companies led by AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) in July asked the FCC to reduce those fees, which can amount to as much as $8 billion annually. Bob Quinn, AT&T’s senior vice president-federal regulatory, said the company was committed to working with the FCC on the changes to the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation. Loitering Rules “Absent reform, these rules will simply loiter on to foster more litigation and arbitrage, and ultimately stifle innovation and the benefits of broadband for consumers,” Quinn said in an e-mail. The FCC’s push to overhaul the USF program may leave “mom and-pop” telephone providers behind, David Mitchell, director of the bureau of economic research at Missouri State University , said in an interview. Small phone companies would likely stop offering service and be unable to afford the investment needed to become broadband providers. Their absence in the market may mean that “the winners would be larger corporations,” as AT&T and Verizon take over those markets, he said. Rural telecommunications providers said they want to ensure that the FCC’s plan strengthens their networks. Common-Sense Reforms “We will continue to press for common-sense reforms that recognize the unique challenges faced by small carriers and the consumers they serve in rural areas across the country,” Shirley Bloomfield, chief executive officer of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association , which represents more than 570 small phone providers nationwide, said in a statement. “The entities that all along face the greatest risk are the small rural” carriers, said Jeffrey Silva, senior policy director for telecommunications, media and technology at Medley Global Advisors in Washington. “Even though they face the risk, their inclusion is essential for at least politically, getting reforms through.” The plan outlined by Genachowski today left a number of questions unanswered, Art Brodsky, a spokesman for Washington- based advocacy group Public Knowledge , said in an e-mail. “There is still a big question mark whether the FCC has the authority to deal with broadband as the Chairman wants to do,” Brodsky said. To contact the reporter on this story: Juliann Francis in Washington at jfrancis31@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net

Bulgaria Files $81 Million Arbitration Claim Against Rosatom.Bulgaria filed a 61 million-euro ($81 million) claim against Rosatom Corp. in a dispute over the construction of a nuclear plant on the Danube. The state-owned National Electricity Co. applied to an arbitration court in Geneva to claw back the sum from Rosatom for unpaid purchases of old equipment, the Sofia-based utility said today in an e-mailed statement. In July, Atomstroyexport ZAO, a unit of Rosatom, Russia ’s state-run nuclear company, said it had filed a 58 million-euro claim against Bulgaria to the International Court of Arbitration in Paris for delayed construction payments. Atomstroyexport was hired in 2005 to build the plant for an initial cost estimate of 4 billion euros. The project then stalled because of a lack of funds and a dispute over new costs caused by the delay. Rosatom gave a new cost estimate of 6.3 billion euros, while Bulgaria said the construction would cost about 5 billion euros. Last month, the two companies agreed to extend an accord to March next year on the building of the proposed 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant, to give them time to complete a feasibility study and consider ways of financing the project. “We can’t take decisions to spend such huge amounts with our eyes closed,” Energy and Economy Minister Traicho Traikov said today in an interview with Bulgarian National Television in Sofia. “We need to know the cost of investment, power market development prospects, estimated electricity prices.” To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Elizabeth Konstantinova at ekonstantino@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:

Breguet Sales to Exceed 500 Million Francs, Hayek Tells Blick.Swatch Group AG (UHR) ’s Breguet brand will have sales exceeding 500 million Swiss francs ($541 million) this year, Blick reported, citing an interview with Marc Hayek, head of Breguet. The brand aims to double its turnover by 2015, provided there is no recession, he also told the newspaper. To contact the reporter on this story: Carolyn Bandel in Zurich at cbandel@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Frank Connelly at fconnelly@bloomberg.net .

Saft Chief Says Infrastructure So Far Proving Resilient to Debt.Saft Groupe SA (SAFT) , a French maker of batteries for aerospace, railway and telecommunications uses, said Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis hasn’t reduced sales as slowing economies hurt its customers later than other companies. “We don’t think we’ve seen anything notable in terms of change in the third quarter,” Chief Executive Officer John Searle said in an interview in Paris yesterday. “It would seem that the financial market pessimism hasn’t yet hit the real economy.” Moody’s Investors Service cut Italy ’s credit rating by three levels on Oct. 4, and said it may lower those of some other European countries, citing potential for a “profound loss” in investor confidence stemming from the debt crisis. The International Monetary Fund forecasts economic growth for euro countries of 1.6 percent this year and 1.1 percent in 2012. Saft, based in the Paris suburb of Bagnolet, may benefit from the euro’s decline against the dollar as 40 percent of the company’s sales are in the U.S. currency, a greater proportion than its costs, Searle said. Saft also stands to gain from a recent drop in the price of nickel, for which at least 60 percent of needs are hedged six months in advance, the CEO said. Many of Saft’s activities tied to infrastructure are “late-cycle” businesses, Searle said. “If there is something bad coming in 2012, we wouldn’t expect to be one of the companies that would necessarily see that first.” Cash From Disposal Searle, who predicted in July that revenue in 2011 will rise at least 7 percent, is looking at options for using $145 million in cash the company got from selling its stake in a car- battery joint venture to Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) The French manufacturer must refinance about 330 million euros ($440 million) of bank loans due in July 2012 before potentially using the disposal’s proceeds for acquisitions or returning part of the money to shareholders, he said. Saft’s gross debt is about 3 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The net-debt ratio, which amounted to 1.24 times Ebitda in late 2010, may fall below 1 at the end of this year, Searle said. The best position may be “somewhere between” the net and gross figures, as Saft needs to fund sales growth of the lithium-ion batteries that it started making last month at a plant in Jacksonville, Florida , he said. Lithium-Ion Technology Lithium-ion technology will probably help Saft boost revenue by 10 percent a year from 2012 to 2016, helped by demand for metering systems installed by utilities and applications in renewable-energy storage and the aerospace industry , the company said in June. The manufacturer plans to reduce the cost of making these high-power batteries, which boast a faster recharge time and longer life cycle. Provided that the “ideal capital structure leaves us with an excess of cash” once the company has refinanced bank debt, one option would be to look at “ways to distribute some of that to our shareholders,” Searle said. The company needs to keep flexibility for “relatively modest” acquisitions in emerging markets to reduce the share of sales from Europe and the U.S., he said. Saft may also seek to buy some niche makers of specialized batteries, or some technology companies whose valuations “seem much more realistic” than a year ago, the CEO said. To contact the reporter on this story: Francois de Beaupuy in Paris at fdebeaupuy@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at bkammel@bloomberg.net

Hana Financial, Korea Exchange, Samsung: Korea Equity Preview.Shares of the following companies may have unusual moves in South Korea trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of the previous close, unless stated otherwise. The Kospi Index (KOSPI) rose 2.6 percent to 1,710.32. Hana Financial Group Inc. (086790) (086790 KS): Hana will push to complete its purchase of Korea Exchange Bank (004940) (004940 KS) from Lone Star Funds after a Seoul court ruled on a five-year legal dispute that stalled the U.S. buyout fund’s efforts to sell the lender. Hana rallied 6 percent to 35,500 won. Korea Exchange Bank gained 2.8 percent to 7,280 won. Poongsan Corp. (103140 KS): Copper futures yesterday jumped more than 4 percent on speculation that European officials will contain the region’s fiscal woes. The copper-product maker added 9.6 percent to 25,750 won. Samsung Electronics Co. (005930 KS): Samsung Electronics is teaming up with rival Micron Technology Inc. to spur the chip industry into switching to stackable memory, part of an effort to cut energy use and speed up computers. Separately, the company is scheduled to announce preliminary operating profit for the third quarter before the market opens today. Asia ’s biggest maker of chips, flat screens and mobile phones added 1.5 percent to 855,000 won. To contact the reporter on this story: Saeromi Shin in Seoul at sshin15@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net

Jordan Central Bank Reserves at 1.16 Billion Dinars, Petra Says.The Central Bank of Jordan (BOJX) ’s required reserves were 1.16 billion dinars ($1.63 billion), the official news agency Petra said today. Excess reserves reached 3.5 billion dinars, including overnight deposits, Petra said. The central bank will sell 50 million dinars of treasury bonds on Oct. 9, the news agency said. To contact the reporter on this story: Nayla Razzouk in Amman at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Inal Ersan at iersan@bloomberg.net

EU Corn Crop to Jump 15% on France, Romania, Coceral Says.The European Union corn crop, which makes up about 11 percent of world production, is forecast to rise more than predicted in June on higher yields in France and Romania, grain-industry lobby Coceral said. The harvest will jump 15 percent to 63 million metric tons this year from 54.8 million tons in 2010, Brussels-based Coceral said in an e-mailed statement today. The forecast was raised by 5.7 million tons from June. The crop would be the EU’s biggest in three years, based on figures from the 27-nation bloc’s statistics office. Coceral’s estimate exceeds those of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the International Grains Council, which forecast EU corn output of 61 million tons and 61.4 million tons, respectively. Production in France, the EU’s largest corn grower, is expected to climb to 15.2 million tons from 13.8 million tons, according to Coceral. Romania ’s harvest, the second-biggest in the bloc, will rise to 10.4 million tons from 8.03 million tons, it said. The EU soft-wheat harvest will come to 128.4 million tons this year against 127.9 million tons in 2010, more than the 126.5 million tons forecast in June, on better-than-expected harvests in France and the U.K., according to Coceral. France, Germany France, the world’s second-largest wheat exporter in the 2010-11 marketing year behind the U.S., will reap 33.5 million tons of soft wheat this year, Coceral said. That compares with a June forecast for 32.7 million tons. The U.K. soft-wheat crop is expected to be 14.7 million tons, up from a previous forecast for 13.9 million tons, while Germany will harvest 22.9 million tons, compared with a June outlook for 23.7 million tons, according to Coceral. EU durum-wheat production is expected to decline to 7.81 million tons from 8.68 million tons in 2010, while the barley crop is estimated at 51 million tons, against 52.7 million tons a year earlier, the industry group said. The 2011 rapeseed harvest in the EU will slide to 18.9 million tons from 20.6 million tons, while the sunflower-seed crop is forecast to increase to 7.8 million tons from 6.72 million tons last year. To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net .

Peru May Keep Interest Rate at 4.25% for a Fifth Month on Global Slowdown.Peru ’s central bank will probably leave borrowing costs unchanged for a fifth month as the threat of recession in Europe and the U.S. outweighs concern about accelerating inflation. The seven-member board, led by central bank President Julio Velarde, will keep the overnight rate at 4.25 percent today, according to 17 of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. One analyst predicts a 0.25-point cut to 4 percent. The board will announce its decision at about 7 p.m. New York time. The threat of stagnation in Europe and the U.S. has dimmed the outlook for Peru’s commodity-dependent economy and led the government to announce what it has called “preventive” stimulus measures. Though the central bank has indicated it will cut rates if global risks intensify and domestic activity slows, rising prices and stronger-than-expected domestic growth indicate there’s no need for laxer policy yet, said Juan Pablo Fuentes, a Latin America economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. “There’s a risk of a hard landing, so the government is preparing its tools for a negative scenario,” Fuentes said in a telephone interview from West Chester , Pennsylvania. “The central bank will be paying attention to the very fluid global situation and change its stance if necessary.” Stimulus, Sentiment The Andean nation is tapping its first fiscal surplus in three years to finance stimulus measures worth about $470 million as it seeks to reverse a decline in public infrastructure spending in the first half of this year. The stimulus will become more “aggressive” should a global slowdown cause exports and company spending to ease, Finance Minister Miguel Castilla said Sept. 22. The International Monetary Fund on Sept. 20 cut its 2011 growth forecast for Peru to 6.2 percent from 6.6 percent previously. Growth will slow to 5.6 percent next year, the Washington-based lender said. The central bank’s latest survey shows companies are less optimistic about domestic demand and hiring prospects because the global outlook has darkened, said Carlos Durand, president of the Lima Chamber of Commerce, in a Sept. 27 interview. Investor caution on the global outlook and “political uncertainty” following Peru’s presidential election is affecting medium and long-term investment, Luis Castellanos, chief executive of Banco Internacional del Peru, told reporters Sept. 29. Demand for consumer loans remains “vigorous,” he said. Policy, Trade, Growth President Ollanta Humala on Oct. 3 confirmed Velarde’s appointment to serve a second five-year term, which Pedro Tuesta , a former Peruvian central bank analyst and current economist at 4Cast Inc. in Washington , said indicated policy continuity. Growth in retail and services helped offset a slowdown in manufacturing and construction in July and fuelled a 6.5 percent rise in gross domestic product, beating analysts’ and the central bank’s expectations. Cement demand rose for the first time in three months in August while electricity output climbed at the fastest annual pace in six months, which suggests growth is accelerating, Tuesta said. Peru’s trade surplus will probably fall to $4.3 billion next year from $7.4 billion this year because of lower copper, zinc, gold and silver prices, Velarde said Oct. 4. China ’s growth will remain “strong” this year and next, which “will guarantee that the price of exports will remain relatively high,” he said. Gross domestic product growth will slow to 5.7 percent in 2012 from 6.3 percent this year, the central bank chief said Sept. 16. Europe , Precautions Economic activity will slow in the next few months amid weaker construction and manufacturing output even though consumer demand remains “very strong” Velarde told congress Oct. 4. “In investment, there isn’t a lot of pessimism, but nor has there been such a strong recovery yet.” Investors “are waiting to see what will happen with the global outlook.” Policy makers will probably give more weight to the fall- out from Europe’s debt crisis, which led global stocks and commodity prices to tumble since their last meeting, said Roberto Melzi , at strategist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York. “Risks to economic activity haven’t dissipated anywhere by any means,” said Melzi, who forecasts a 0.25-point rate cut today to be followed by similar cuts at the bank’s November and December meetings. “The global crisis is deepening.” Higher fuel costs pushed Peru’s consumer prices up 0.33 percent in September from 0.27 percent in August, driving the annual inflation rate to 3.73 percent, a two-year high. The central bank targets annual inflation in a range of 1 percent to 3 percent. Monthly inflation may slow to close to zero before year-end as some prices reverse recent increases, Velarde said Sept. 16. The annual inflation rate will converge toward the central bank’s target range next year, he said. Peru’s sol posted the steepest quarterly decline since 2008 in the July-through-September period as copper prices fell and concern about slowing world growth wiped $10 trillion from global equities. To contact the reporter on this story: John Quigley in Lima at jquigley8@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net .

Euro-Area Leaders to Hold Summit in Brussels on Oct. 18.Euro-area government leaders will meet Oct. 18 in Brussels, the day after the next scheduled European Union summit, the EU said. The summit of all 27 EU leaders was condensed into one day, Oct. 17, to free up time for the euro-area meeting, an EU spokesman said. To contact the editor responsible for this story: James G. Neuger at jneuger@bloomberg.net

Porsche Takes Charges From VW on Purchases, Handelsblatt Says.Porsche AG is incurring “significant” charges over engine and parts purchases from Volkswagen AG (VOW) because of the stalled merger with the German carmaker, Handelsblatt reported, citing Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller. VW and Porsche are forced to treat each other as competitors for as long as their planned merger isn’t completed, the newspaper said, citing Mueller. The CEO said both companies are charging each other a “profit premium” when buying components from one another. To contact the reporters on this story: Andreas Cremer in Berlin at acremer@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net

Spain September Fotocasa.es House Price Index.Following is a summary of the September used homes house price index from Fotocasa.es: To contact the reporter on this story: Ainhoa Goyeneche in Madrid at agoyenechecu@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Marco Babic at mbabic@bloomberg.net

South Korea Sees Wider Current-Account Surplus for Last Month.South Korea ’s current-account surplus probably widened in September from August as exports to the U.S., European Union and Southeast Asian countries increased, the finance ministry said. The economy faces high uncertainties due to the global fiscal crisis and unstable financial markets and the government will continue efforts to sustain the economic recovery and ease “still-high” inflation, the ministry said in a monthly economic report. To contact the reporter on this story: William Sim in Seoul at wsim2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net

U.S. Iron and Steel Scrap Exports by Country for June.Following is a table detailing U.S. iron and steel-scrap exports by country, according to the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia. To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Rose in Washington at srose31@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alex Tanzi at atanzi@bloomberg.net

Bank Default Risk Declines in Europe on Recapitalization Wagers.Credit-default swaps insuring European bank debt fell to the lowest in five weeks on speculation policy makers will inject more capital into lenders so they can withstand government bond losses. The Markit iTraxx Financial Index of swaps linked to senior debt of 25 banks and insurers declined 17.5 basis points to 252 at 12 p.m. in London , while the subordinated gauge was 24 basis points lower at 488, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. A decline signals improved perceptions of credit quality. European Commission President Jose Barroso said today the commission is proposing coordinated action to recapitalize banks. Euro-region lenders may need more than 140 billion euros ($187 billion) through a program similar to the U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program, Morgan Stanley analysts said. “More bank capital is good, but solving the sovereign debt crisis would go a long way in improving the outlook for Europe’s banks,” Gary Jenkins , head of fixed income at Evolution Securities Ltd. in London, wrote in a note to investors. Default swaps on sovereign bonds also dropped, with the Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of contracts tied to 15 governments declining eight basis points to 331.5, according to index administrator Markit Group Ltd. Swaps on German sovereign debt tumbled 11.5 basis points to 96.5, CMA prices show. The region’s lenders are increasing their reliance on European Central Bank funding after U.S. money-market funds pulled back amid concern that Greece , the first euro-area nation to be bailed out last year, will default. The cost of insuring European corporate bonds fell, with the Markit iTraxx Crossover Index of 50 companies with mostly high-yield credit ratings dropping 31.5 basis points to 814, according to JPMorgan. The Markit iTraxx Europe Index of 125 companies with investment-grade ratings was down 9.5 basis points at 189.5. A basis point on a credit-default swap protecting 10 million euros of debt from default for five years is equivalent to 1,000 euros a year. Swaps pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a borrower fail to adhere to its debt agreements. To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Shanahan in London at Mshanahan3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Armstrong at Parmstrong10@bloomberg.net

Ukraine’s Grain Harvest Advances by 17%, UkrAgroConsult Says.Ukraine’s grain harvest rose by 17 percent to 42 million metric tons as of yesterday compared with a year earlier, agricultural researcher UkrAgroConsult said. Average grain yields increased to 3.26 tons a hectare (2.47 acres) from 2.66 tons, the Kiev-based researcher said in an e- mailed statement today. Winter grains have been planted on 5.7 million hectares, which account for 69 percent of the targeted area. To contact the reporter on this story: Kateryna Choursina in Kiev at kchoursina@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

SMBC Nikko Investigated by Japan Watchdog for Insider Trading.SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. is being investigated by Japan ’s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission for a possible insider trading violation by an executive, the brokerage said in an e-mailed statement. The executive allegedly told an acquaintance that management of Enoteca Co., a Japanese wine importer, were preparing to buy the company’s shares through a tender offer, the Asahi newspaper reported earlier, without saying where it got the information. The acquaintance traded the stock before the management buyout was announced, the newspaper said. “We are fully cooperating with the commission’s investigation,” SMBC Nikko said in the statement, declining to comment further. The brokerage is a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (8316) , Japan’s second-biggest banking group by market value. The SESC searched SMBC Nikko’s office and the executive’s house, and will continue the probe before determining whether to recommend charges by prosecutors, the newspaper said. An SESC spokesman, who didn’t want to be identified, citing the commission’s policy, declined to comment. To contact the reporter on this story: Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo at thyuga@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chitra Somayaji at csomayaji@bloomberg.net

Japan’s Trade Minister to Meet Adnoc Chief to Extend Oil Rights.Japanese Trade Minister Yukio Edano will meet Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s Director General Abdullah Nasser al-Suwaidi on Oct. 9 to discuss the extension of oil field concessions, including Adma block. Besides the head of the state-run producer in the United Arab Emirates , Edano will meet on the same day in Abu Dhabi with Salem al Dhaheri, secretary general for the Supreme Petroleum Council, which decides the country’s oil policy. He will meet Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi on the next day in Riyadh , according to the document released by the ministry. Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E., Japan ’s two largest suppliers of oil, provide more than 50 percent of the country’s needs, according to the data compiled by the ministry. “Visiting the Middle East is one of the important missions of the trade minister,” Kenji Totoki, director for the Middle East and Africa division at the trade ministry, told reporters in Tokyo. “Apart from concession rights, the ministers will discuss cooperation on renewable energy as they plan to use more renewable energy at home so that they can export more crude and oil products.” The concession right of the Adma Block held by the Inpex Corp. (1605) ’s subsidiary Japan Oil Development Co. will expire in 2018, Tokyo-based company spokesman Keisuke Yano said. The trade ministry owns almost 19 percent, or the largest share, of Inpex. The Adma block includes Umm Shaif, Lower Zakum and Upper Zakum fields, according to Inpex’s website. Edano will also meet Crown Prince Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed, who heads state-owned investor Mubadala Development Co. in Abu Dhabi and Saudi’s Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah bin Ahmed Zainal Alireza in Riyadh, the ministry said. To contact the reporter on this story: Yuji Okada in Tokyo at yokada6@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

U.S. Aug. Single Family Detached Home Prices.Following is the monthly transaction based price changes for single family homes, detached homes only, in the U.S. from First American CoreLogic, LoanPerformance. Source: First American LoanPerformance HPI To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Marco Babic at mbabic@bloomberg.net

Coal-Price Stability Signals Opportunity in Stock Plunge: Chart of the Day.“Opportunity knocks” in the shares of coal producers because they have fallen far more than the commodity’s price would justify, according to Frank Holmes, chief executive officer of U.S. Global Investors Inc. The CHART OF THE DAY tracks the performance of the Market Vectors coal exchange-traded fund, run by Van Eck Global, and the IntercontinentalExchange’s Newcastle coal futures for the past two years. The ETF tumbled 43 percent between July 22 and Oct. 3 as five of its holdings -- Alpha Natural Resources Inc., Arch Coal Inc., Patriot Coal Corp., Peabody Energy Corp. and Walter Energy Inc. -- reduced profit or production estimates. The Newcastle index lost 0.4 percent in the same period. “This extreme divergence between coal companies and the commodity seems unwarranted,” Holmes, based in San Antonio , wrote in an Oct. 3 blog posting that featured a similar chart. Holmes wrote that producers still stand to benefit from rising demand from China , the world’s largest consumer of coal, as foreseen by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency estimated last month that Chinese coal use will rise by an average of 2.1 percent a year from 2008 to 2035, exceeding the U.S.’s projected 0.5 percent growth rate. Concern that global economic expansion may slow is already reflected in coal-stock prices, according to Holmes. “Fear is the driver” that sent the shares tumbling, he wrote. His firm manages $2.8 billion in assets. To contact the reporter on this story: David Wilson in New York at dwilson@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net

Investors Pull $113 Million From U.S. Muni-Bond Funds.(Corrects starting in headline to show investors withdrew assets, in story published Oct. 6.) Investors withdrew about $113 million from U.S. municipal-bond mutual funds in the week through yesterday, Lipper US Fund Flows said today. To contact the reporter on this story: Michelle Kaske in New York at mkaske@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net

Obama to Run Against ‘Do-Nothing’ Congress If Jobs Legislation Fails.Phil Schiliro, then the White House congressional liaison, put his boss on notice last year. One hurdle stood between him and the start of his re-election campaign: lifting the debt ceiling. While President Barack Obama couldn’t control the European financial crisis or the Arab Spring, the fight over the nation’s borrowing limit was forewarned. Yet the White House didn’t engage immediately; got pulled into fruitless negotiations over a broader budget deal; and finally had to make major concessions at the brink of default. The fight over raising the debt limit is one example of the administration’s strategic missteps that have contributed to the record-low approval ratings for Obama and sparked internal White House dissension. Administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the consequences of the botched debt ceiling negotiations were so devastating it hemmed them in at every pass. They also emboldened Republicans bent on fulfilling Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ’s pledge to make Obama “a one- term president.” The president has acknowledged his fallen standing, calling himself the underdog in the 2012 presidential campaign in an interview with ABC News Oct. 3. In a press conference today, he said his adversaries could be at more risk. ‘Do-Nothing’ Congress “If Congress does nothing, then it’s not a matter of me running against them. I think the American people will run them out of town,” he said. “I would love nothing more than to see Congress act so aggressively that I can’t campaign against them as a do-nothing Congress.” The more aggressive tone is the product of post-debt ceiling meetings in which Obama assessed the damage, identified mistakes, and adjusted his messaging and his team to put his candidacy on a stronger course, according to Senator Richard Durbin , an Illinois Democrat who is close to the White House. “Their new approach is to speak out for what they believe in and take it to the American people,” he said. To that end, the president has embarked on a series of out- of-town trips, pitching his $447 billion proposal to create jobs directly to the American people even as Republicans in Washington -- and some Democrats -- have said they won’t pass it. He made one recent trip through Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota , and another foray scheduled for Oct. 17-19 will take him to North Carolina and Virginia , two more important electoral states. Swing State Interviews Obama held a news conference about his jobs plan today, his first since the summer. He has held two rounds of interviews with regional reporters from swing states, including Florida, North Carolina and Ohio , and salted in national television interviews in an effort to regain control of his own narrative. “There is no question that we have turned the page on what was a tough summer and are headed in the right direction,” said Dan Pfeiffer , the White House communications director. “Until we have an actual opponent where we can have a debate about the future, the president will be judged by the present.” Obama also is trying to streamline the day-to-day management inside the West Wing. With Chief of Staff Bill Daley at the helm and senior adviser David Plouffe managing political strategy and message, it was at times unclear who was in charge of the process during the debt debate, said people aware of the internal dynamics who requested anonymity because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly on the issue. Staff Changes Since then, senior adviser Pete Rouse has been re-engaged in handling more of the daily operations, said people familiar with the internal adjustments who spoke on the basis of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to discuss personnel matters. By an array of measurements, the public’s judgment of current conditions is a harsh one, and the White House in some cases has contributed to its own problems. Almost 8 in 10 Americans say the country is on the wrong track in the Bloomberg National Poll published Sept. 14, and just 9 percent of people say they are confident that the nation won’t slide back into recession. The September Labor Department data due Oct. 7 will probably show that gains in U.S. payrolls were too small to reduce joblessness and the unemployment rate is expected to stay at 9.1 percent, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists. Wrong Direction “We have one of the largest proportions of people saying the country is going in the wrong direction and that’s usually a signal that people throw incumbents out,” said Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “A jobs program is not a job. There is a great deal of cynicism.” Confidence has eroded at the state level, too. In Ohio, Pennsylvania , and Florida recent polls found that a majority of those surveyed said Obama didn’t deserve re-election. “If we don’t beat him, who are we going to beat?” asked Senator Lindsey Graham , a South Carolina Republican. “I can’t imagine this country continuing the Obama presidency four more years given the evidence that his policies are failing the country.” Not Better Off In his new messaging, the president doesn’t try to dissuade the public of its economic plight. Americans aren’t “better off than they were four years ago,” he said in the Oct. 3 interview with ABC News and Yahoo. “They’re not better off than they were before Lehman collapsed, before the financial crisis, before this extraordinary recession that we’re going through.” That approach is raising questions about Obama’s leadership. Absent his ability to deliver on a better economy, the president needs to make people feel like things can and will improve, as President Ronald Reagan did in his 1984 “Morning in America” re-election ad, said political strategists. “It’s hard to be a cheerleader,” said Peter Hart, a Democratic polling expert and president of Peter D. Hart Research Associates. “It’s certainly not morning in America, and it is a question of what’s going to make us feel as though things will be better, things will be more positive.” Leadership Questions Complaints about Obama’s stewardship are now coming from the president’s base. “We’re supportive of the president, but we’re getting tired,” said Representative Maxine Waters, a California Democrat and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, one of the last liberal bastions to begin voicing criticism. “We don’t know what the strategy is.” The hardest hits to absorb may be those the White House brought on itself. For instance, administration officials announced the president’s intention to unveil his jobs plan to a joint session of Congress before getting a firm agreement from House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. Boehner objected and the White House, after initially dismissing the speaker’s concerns, was forced to cede its position and Obama gave the address a day later. By sitting down for an interview with journalist Ron Suskind, Obama gave credibility to the author’s book depicting the president as an ineffective leader unprepared to deal with the economic crisis. It quoted former Obama economic adviser Lawrence Summers as saying, “There’s no adult in charge.” August Adjustments According to Durbin, the August meetings “assessed what he had been through in his efforts, his overtures to Boehner, to Republicans, and how little he managed to bring home for it.” Although the economic data is grim, Blendon said Obama still has an opportunity to turn things around. “It’s not clear that people are convinced yet that Republican candidates or the Republican Party ” would do better, he said. Obama is going the route of President Harry Truman , who rallied voters against a “do-nothing Congress” in 1948. “If Congress does something, then I can’t run against a do-nothing Congress,” Obama said today. “There are too many people hurting in this country for us to do nothing, and the economy is just too fragile for us to let politics get in the way of action.” Harry Truman Truman’s approval rating was at 36 percent in April of that year and he began his second term in 1949 at 69 percent, according to Gallup. Truman won re-election, though, with an election-year unemployment rate that averaged 3.8 percent. “With Harry Truman, for all of his faults and all of his shortcomings, voters in 1948 knew exactly who he was and what he was,” said Hart. “Given all the vagaries of that year, they came back around to him.” Since World War II, no U.S. president has won re-election with a jobless rate above 6 percent, with the exception of Ronald Reagan, who faced 7.2 percent unemployment on Election Day in 1984. The administration’s own forecast, matched by private economists, is for a jobless rate of more than 8 percent in the last quarter of next year. To be sure, historical comparisons have limits because Obama has little precedent on which to model his campaign, according to H.W. Brands, a historian at the University of Texas in Austin. “He’s on foreign territory; no president has ever been in this position before,” Brands said. “Obama has done as well as anybody could under the circumstances, but that’s not saying a whole lot because these are really different circumstances.” One positive for the president is that he enjoys high personal favorability ratings. Time may also work in his favor, especially as the Republican presidential campaign heats up. “There is such a mood shift that goes on in American politics,” said presidential historian Robert Dallek. “It’s like the atmosphere. You can’t touch it, taste it, smell it or feel it, but it’s there. And it just shifts and these moods are very mercurial.” To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net

Hong Kong Doesn’t Plan to Ban Short Selling; Sale Is Normal.Hong Kong doesn’t plan to ban short selling of securities, rejecting a request from some brokerages after the city’s benchmark index tumbled 26 percent this year. “When markets fall, it’s not like we can stop it by just banning short selling,” K.C. Chan, Hong Kong’s secretary for financial services and treasury, told reporters today. “Shorting activities are so far relatively normal and we’re keeping a close watch.” About $10 trillion was wiped from global equities in the third quarter on concerns that Europe ’s debt crisis will worsen and the global economy will falter. Seven brokerage groups said Hong Kong, the world’s fifth-largest equity market, should consider a ban on short selling, according to Christopher Cheung, honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Securities Professionals Association. “The government should disclose more information of short- sellers,” Cheung, also the chairman of Christfund Securities Ltd., said by telephone in Hong Kong. “Short selling recently has disturbed market operations and extraordinary measures are needed to boost investors’ confidence.” Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index (HSI) jumped 4.3 percent as of the midday trading break today. The gauge is headed for its biggest gain in more than two years, after being closed for a holiday yesterday, amid better-than-expected U.S. economic data and optimism Europe will contain the region’s debt crisis. ‘Cost to Bear’ Short selling in Hong Kong climbed to the highest level in 12 years, with bets on declines reaching HK$12.8 billion ($1.6 billion) on Sept. 30, or 14 percent of the total value traded on Hong Kong’s stock market, according to data compiled by the city’s exchange and Societe Generale. The HSI Volatility Index, the benchmark gauge for Hong Kong stock options, sank 10 percent to 42.87, the biggest drop since Sept. 15, indicating options traders expect a swing of 12 percent in the Hang Seng Index in the next 30 days. The gauge soared 45 percent on Aug. 9 as the city’s stocks entered a so- called bear market from its November high. “We are an international financial center, and one of the characteristics is a liberal trading system,” Ben Kwong , chief operating officer at KGI Asia Ltd., said by telephone in Hong Kong “Funds flow in and out easily, and we have a liquid market. There is a cost we have to bear. That means volatility in the market.” Regulators from South Korea to Europe have restricted bearish bets this year to stem market volatility. Spain and Italy extended halts on short selling of financial shares, the European Securities and Markets Authority said last week. Greece lengthened its ban until Dec. 9. South Korea said in August that it will forbid shorting until Nov. 9. The Hong Kong stock exchange suspended short selling in HSBC Holdings Plc, Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd. and China Telecom (Hong Kong) Ltd. on Sept. 2, 1998, after Hong Kong Clearing Co. reported millions of shares failed to be settled. To contact the reporters on this story: Fox Hu in Hong Kong at fhu7@bloomberg.net ; Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hwee Ann Tan at hatan@bloomberg.net

Treasury 30-Year Securities Fall; Yield Rises Two Basis Points to 2.87%.U.S. 30-year bonds fell, sending yields on the securities up two basis points to 2.87 percent as of 7:22 a.m. in London. To contact the reporter on this story: Wes Goodman in Singapore at wgoodman@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net

South Africa Daybook: Mining Output, Zuma, Farmers and Phones.Statistics South Africa will release August mining production at 11:30 a.m. local time in Pretoria. In July South Africa’s gold production fell 3.5 percent while total mining output declined by 5.1 percent. To contact the reporters on this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net ; Robert Brand in Cape Town at rbrand9@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

OMV Petrom Says Started Operations at Romanian Wind Park.OMV Petrom SA (SNP) began commerical operation of the wind park Dorobantu on Oct. 1 with an installed capacity of 45 megawatts. The until of OMV AG (OMV) invested 90 million euros into the project, the company said today in an e-mailed statement. To contact the reporter on this story: Irina Savu in Bucharest at isavu@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Douglas Lytle at dlytle@bloomberg.net

Cocoa Options Show Increase in Bets on Price Rise by December.Bets cocoa will rise to as high as $2,750 a metric ton by December surged this month after prices for the chocolate ingredient fell to the lowest level since 2009, ICE Futures U.S. options trading shows. Investors held 1,651 contracts giving the right to buy cocoa in December at $2,750 as of Oct. 4, up from 151 lots on Sept. 30, according to exchange figures. Bets the price will be $2,700 also increased, with investors holding 5,135 contracts, up from 135 lots on Sept. 30, exchange data showed. Investors are also seeing cocoa at $2,650, with bets increasing to 4,001 lots as of Oct. 4, up from 5 on Sept. 30, according to the data. These are the three December call options with the biggest changes in activity this month. Cocoa for December delivery was up $22, or 0.8 percent, to $2,644 by 1:56 p.m. London time on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Calls give the right to buy. “While there are good prospects for the main crop in West Africa, there is still a lot of uncertainty associated with the mid-crop,” Keith Flury, an analyst at Rabobank International, said by phone from London today. “The move in calls could be playing a role in the market retracing recent losses.” Cocoa fell to $2,540 a ton on Oct. 4, the lowest price since July 9, 2009. The price slid on speculation crops in West Africa would be larger than initially estimated, leaving a small surplus in 2011-12 after supplies exceeded demand by a record 325,000 tons in the 2010-11 season, according to the International Cocoa Organization. Bean supplies will exceed demand by 12,000 tons in the 2011-12 season which started this month, according to a Bloomberg survey of 11 traders, brokers and analysts published on Sept. 23. The market will have a small surplus in the season started October, Jean-Marc Anga, ICCO executive director, said at a press conference in London on the same day. To contact the reporter on this story: Isis Almeida in London at Ialmeida3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at Ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net .

Sri Lanka’s Dheerasinghe Says Inflation May Ease to Below 6%.Sri Lanka ’s inflation rate will likely fall to below 6 percent by December, Central Bank Deputy Governor Dharma Dheerasinghe said in Colombo today. The island’s monetary policy stance is “sufficient,” he also said. To contact the reporter on this story: Anusha Ondaatjie in Colombo at anushao@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sunil Jagtiani at sjagtiani@bloomberg.net

House Panel Seeks Details on IRS Investigations of Nonprofits.Representative Charles Boustany, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee, is pressing the Internal Revenue Service to provide details on its investigations of the nonprofit sector. In a letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, Boustany asks the agency to explain how much of its budget is dedicated to auditing the eligibility of organizations to be structured as tax-exempt nonprofits. The Louisiana Republican also asks how many audits the IRS has opened since 2008 and seeks data on the revenue and assets reported by nonprofits in that period. The request builds on a broader effort among House Republicans to determine whether some nonprofits are improperly classified as tax exempt. Most of lawmakers’ attention has been focused on the American Association of Retired Persons, whose tax-exempt status was the subject of a Ways and Means subcommittee hearing in April. “ AARP is not the only tax-exempt organization that more closely resembles a for-profit enterprise,” Boustany wrote in his letter, obtained by Bloomberg News and dated today. Lawmakers “have expressed concern that other tax-exempt organizations may not be complying with the letter or spirit of the tax-exempt regime, yet continue to enjoy the benefits of tax exemption .” AARP has defended itself against charges that it doesn’t deserve its tax exemption. Barry Rand, the organization’s chief executive officer, testified in April that AARP is “strictly nonpartisan” and said the revenue it collects helps keep membership dues low. Hospitals and Universities Boustany’s letter extends the sumcommittee’s inquiry to the tax-exempt status of hospitals and universities. He asks how the IRS is complying with a statutory requirement that it review the community benefits provided by hospitals every three years and what the agency has learned about executive compensation and unrelated business income at universities. Boustany is also asking the IRS to explain how it reviews whether a tax-exempt organization is engaged in “excessive political campaign activity.” The agency created a stir in May when it confirmed an investigation into whether five taxpayers should pay gift taxes on contributions they made to political advocacy groups that were organized as 501(c)(4) entities. After criticism of the move by lawmakers, including all of the Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, the IRS said in July that it was dropping the inquiry. Boustany asked the IRS to respond to his letter by Oct. 20. To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Sloan in Washington at ssloan7@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net

1st Holdings Revises Planned FY Group Dividend to 21.45 Yen.1st Holdings (3644) revised full-year group dividend estimates for the period to Feb. 29. Figures are in yen. ================================================================================ Forecast Previous Forecast ================================================================================ Full-Year Dividend 21.45 21.10 1st-Half Dividend N/A 11.40 2nd-Half Dividend 9.87 N/A ================================================================================ To contact the editor responsible for this story: Teo Chian Wei at +81-3-3201-3623 or cwteo@bloomberg.net

U.K. Sues Over ECB Limits on Clearing Euro-Denominated Trades.The U.K. sued the European Central Bank over plans to block trades in some euro-denominated securities from being cleared outside of the 17 countries that share the currency. In the first such move by a government, the U.K.’s lawsuit against the ECB over its location policy for clearinghouses was registered at the EU General Court in Luxembourg. A hearing could come within two years and a ruling may take as long as three years. The case was registered at the EU court, the region’s second-highest, on Sept. 15, according to the tribunal’s press service, the same day the U.K. Treasury said it would take action. In parallel with the court case, the U.K. is seeking safeguards in a draft EU law on over-the-counter derivatives that would protect clearinghouses from pressure to relocate. EU finance ministers this week agreed to stipulate in the law that “no member state or a group of member states” should be discriminated against as a venue for clearing services. The final version of the rules must be hammered out in negotiations between governments and lawmakers in the European Parliament. U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said after the ministerial meeting that the draft had been adjusted to take into account his country’s concerns. “We have inserted into the article of the draft directive an explicit reference to non-discrimination against any member state in any currency,” said Osborne said. “Of course we still have our legal action with the ECB, but in terms of the draft directive here on derivatives we have the clearest possible statement of a non-discriminatory location policy.” The case is: T-496/11 pending case, United Kingdom v. ECB. To contact the reporter on this story: Stephanie Bodoni in Luxembourg at sbodoni@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net

Philippines to Import 4,000 Tons of Onions From China, Holland.The Philippines will import 4,000 tons of white and yellow onions from China and Holland to boost supply and stabilize prices, Bureau of Plant Industry Director Clarito Barron said in Manila today. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Cecilia Yap at cyap19@bloomberg.net

South Korean Stocks Movers: Hana Financial, LG Electronics.Shares of the following companies had unusual moves in South Korea trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of 10:17 a.m. in Seoul. The Kospi Index (KOSPI) rose 4 percent to 1,732.37 following a two-day, 5.8 percent retreat. Mobile-phone makers: Samsung Electronics Co. (005930 KS), the world’s second-largest maker of mobile phones, gained 4 percent to 876,000 won. LG Electronics Inc. (066570) (066570 KS), the world’s third-largest, jumped 6.6 percent to 74,100 won. The shares rose amid optimism they will gain market share after Apple Inc.’s former Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs died. “Even without Jobs as the CEO, people thought he would have direct and indirect impact on management, and the company would keep showing its ability to develop new devices,” Choi Do Yeon, an analyst at LIG Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul said. “His death might weaken such ability. I cautiously think it could be a chance for Korean companies to regain some of the leadership they lost to Apple.” Hana Financial Group Inc. (086790) (086790 KS), whose purchase of Korea Exchange Bank (004940) from Lone Star Funds has been pending since November on a legal dispute, rallied 7.8 percent to 36,100 won, ahead of today’s court ruling. The Seoul High Court will rule on a stock manipulation retrial case against Korea Exchange Bank, Lone Star Funds and the U.S. firm’s former local unit head Paul Yoo at 2 p.m. local time today. To contact the reporter on this story: Saeromi Shin in Seoul at sshin15@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net

Remittances to Vietnam Thru July Rose 43 Percent to $5.6 Billion.Remittances to Vietnam in the January to July period rose 43 percent to $5.6 billion dollars, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a statement on the central bank’s website dated yesterday. To contact the editor responsible for this story: K. Oanh Ha at oha3@bloomberg.net

Emdeon Said to Set Rate on $1.2 Billion Term Loan for LBO.Emdeon Inc. (EM) , the provider of billing systems and software for health-care companies, set the initial interest rate on a $1.2 billion term loan B it’s seeking to finance the company’s buyout by Blackstone Group LP (BX) , according to a person with knowledge of the transaction. The seven-year debt will pay 5.5 percentage points to 5.75 percentage points more than the London interbank offered rate, said the person, who declined to be identified because the terms are private. Libor, a rate banks charge to lend to each other, will have a 1.25 percent floor. The Nashville, Tennessee-based company is proposing to sell the loan at 96 cents to 97 cents on the dollar, the person said, reducing proceeds for the company and boosting the yield to investors. The loan, which originally had no financial-maintenance requirements, will now have a first-lien net leverage covenant. Lenders are offered a one-year soft call protection of 101 cents, the person said, meaning Emdeon would have to pay one cent more than face value to refinance the debt during its first year. Emdeon is also seeking a $125 million revolving line of credit maturing in five years. Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and SunTrust Banks Inc. are arranging the deal and lenders must submit commitments by Oct. 14 in New York. The deal is expected to close and fund the week of Oct. 31, the person said. Peter Rose , a Blackstone spokesman, declined to comment. A term loan B is mainly bought by non-bank lenders such as collateralized loan obligations, bank-loan mutual funds and hedge funds. In a revolving credit, money can be borrowed again once it’s repaid; in a term loan, it can’t. To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Amato in New York at mamato3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chapin Wright at cwright4@bloomberg.net

PV Oil Seeks to Buy Gasoline Cargoes for Delivery in November.PV Oil Co., a unit of state-owned Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, or PetroVietnam, is seeking to buy 57,000 metric tons of gasoline for November delivery, the company said in a document e-mailed to potential suppliers. Details of the tender are as follow: To contact the reporter on this story: Yee Kai Pin in Singapore at kyee13@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net

Major League Baseball’s Postseason Schedule, Results.Major League Baseball ’s postseason schedule and results. All start times Eastern. To contact the reporter on this story: Dex McLuskey in Dallas at dmcluskey@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net

S-Pool Inc Announces Planned FY Group Dividend of 0.00 Yen.S-Pool Inc (2471) (2471) announced full-year group dividend estimates for the period to Nov. 30. Figures are in yen. ================================================================================ Forecast Previous Dividend ================================================================================ Full-Year Dividend 0.00 0.00 1st-Half Dividend N/A 0.00 2nd-Half Dividend 0.00 0.00 ================================================================================ To contact the editor responsible for this story: Teo Chian Wei at +81-3-3201-3623 or cwteo@bloomberg.net

Ukraine September Producer Prices: Summary.Following is a summary of the Sept. producer prices report from the State Statistics Committee in Kiev: To contact the reporter on this story: Harumi Ichikura in London at hichikura@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Marco Babic at mbabic@bloomberg.net

Lippo Karawaci Plans to Spend $275 Million on Capex Next Year.PT Lippo Karawaci plans to spend $275 million on capital expenditure next year, Mark Wong, a senior executive at the Indonesian property company, said in Jakarta today. To contact the reporter on this story: Femi Adi in Jakarta at fadi1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Berni Moestafa at bmoestafa@bloomberg.net

Russia May Revise Tobacco, Alcohol Tax Quarterly, Vedomosti Says.Russia may revise alcohol and tobacco taxes every quarter, starting in 2013, Vedomosti reported today, citing Sergei Shatalov, the deputy finance minister. At present, the taxes are revised once a year, the newspaper said. To contact the reporter on this story: Yuliya Fedorinova in Moscow at yfedorinova@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net

California’s Underground Hot Rocks Probed for Energy of 100 Nuclear Plants.For decades, energy companies have tapped steam from deep in the earth to make electricity. Now, at least five American power producers are testing a simple idea that may dramatically expand the industry’s reach: Bring your own water. Instead of producing power only in places where steam flows naturally, these companies are drilling deeper to inject water into superhot, dry rocks and create the vapor needed to generate power. The technology “offers the opportunity of creating additional reserves,” said Mark Walters, a senior geologist at Calpine Corp. (CPN) , the biggest U.S. geothermal power producer. “The heat is a resource in areas around existing plants, but right now we really can’t get at” it. The Houston-based company is expected to begin testing this process today. There are hundreds of sites worldwide where the technology may be used to generate electricity. In the U.S., such plants could supply 100 gigawatts of power by 2050, said Ernest L. Majer, an energy geophysicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. That’s the equivalent of 100 nuclear reactors and would boost geothermal’s share of the country’s power supply to 10 percent, from less than 1 percent now. “There’s a lot of hot rock out there,” Majer said. “That would replace our nuclear power plants .” The U.S. Energy Department has earmarked $182 million in grants for enhanced geothermal systems , or EGS, since 2009. In such projects, water is piped into wells that extend down to hot rocks -- in the Calpine test, the rocks are about 750 degrees Fahrenheit (400 degrees Celsius). Tiny Fissures This causes the stone to crack, creating tiny fissures. Once the site goes into operation, water flows through these fissures and is heated into steam that’s piped back to the surface to produce electricity. The process is similar to the hydraulic fracturing done by the oil and gas industry, though different in scale. With “fracking,” water, sand and chemicals are injected horizontally at extremely high pressure to create cracks in underground rocks so petroleum and natural gas can be extracted. EGS systems have smaller goals. “We are trying to create a cloud of small fractures,” Walters said. “We’re talking millimeter fractures.” Calpine is planning to begin injecting water today two miles (3.2 kilometers) into the ground near The Geysers, a region about 100 miles northeast of San Francisco that’s home to the world’s largest cluster of geothermal power plants. The challenge is to create enough “fractures to heat up a sufficient volume of water,” said Walters. The Energy Department provided $6.2 million in grants for Calpine’s $11 million project, the second EGS test in the U.S. to reach the injection phase. A year ago, Ormat Technologies Inc. (ORA) began injecting water at Desert Peak in western Nevada. Four other projects may be active by late next year, Majer said. Blowouts and Earthquakes While a handful of small EGS plants are operating overseas, some have experienced setbacks ranging from blowouts to minor earthquakes caused by fracturing rocks deep underground. A project in Switzerland was shut down in 2006 after residents nearby started feeling tremors and voiced concerns that the installation may destabilize surrounding areas. In September 2009, Seattle-based AltaRock Energy Inc. suspended a project at The Geysers due to drilling problems. Geodynamics Ltd. shut down a test in southern Australia after an uncontrolled leak in April of that year. Not ‘Commercial’ Yet It’s not yet certain that EGS projects can create enough steam to make them profitable, said Ann Robertson-Tait, business development manager of the geothermal resource consulting company GeothermEx Inc. While the technology has long-term potential, “there are few places where EGS can be considered commercial at present,” she said. Proponents of EGS say it can breathe new life into geothermal fields that are literally running out of steam. Calpine generates roughly 725 megawatts of capacity at 15 traditional geothermal plants around The Geysers, using dry steam power systems that run on vapor piped up from natural underground pockets. Problem is, about 75 percent of the vapor is lost through condensation during the process and the steam output there today is about half its 1987 peak. By injecting more water onto the hot rocks at The Geysers, Calpine expects to add at least 5 megawatts of capacity to an existing plant. The company may expand the use of EGS to other plants in the area if this test is successful. Geothermal has advantages over solar and wind: It’s typically cheaper to operate and generates electricity 24 hours a day (though there’s no guarantee how much power can be produced until a well is drilled). New Development EGS may give the industry a lift by opening up development in regions that lack underground steam pockets. AltaRock is working on an EGS test near the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Oregon , where there’s plenty of heat and little steam, said William Osborn, AltaRock’s vice president of development for the project. “The same technologies will be applicable” at sites all across the U.S., he said, “where you have high temperatures at depths everywhere, but you don’t have open cracks.” To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Herndon in San Francisco at aherndon2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

CO2 Plunge May Create Funding Gap for Carbon Capture, PwC Says.A plunge in carbon prices may create a funding gap for power stations that plan to trap greenhouse gases from smokestacks for permanent burial underground, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The European Union plans to fund carbon-capture-and-storage projects as well as lesser-developed renewable-energy projects using money raised from the sales of 300 million EU emissions permits. Allowances for December have plunged 42 percent from their highest level in May, cutting the pool of money available. Carbon-capture projects, more costly than renewables, may not receive all the funding they need, Jonathan Grant, London- based assistant director of sustainability & climate change at PwC, the management consultant , said by telephone yesterday. “The lower prices could create funding gaps in the projects which applied for the maximum amount,” he said. The European Investment Bank said yesterday it will start sales of a reserve of permits soon after an EU regulation providing for a transfer of the allowances becomes binding. The EU rules, which the EIB said are expected to enter into force in the first half of November, allow the European Commission to deliver the post-2012 allowances to the bank. In the first round of sales, announced in November, proceeds from 200 million permits are to be split among at least eight carbon-capture projects and 34 renewable energy technologies, covering as much as half of the construction and operation costs that companies and national governments will also help finance. ‘Less Funding’ Iberdrola SA’s Scottish Power Ltd., Ayrshire Power Ltd., SSE Plc, 2Co Energy Ltd. and Drax Group Plc are seeking funds for carbon capture projects in Britain. Plans to capture and store emissions from Iberdrola’s 2,400 megawatt coal-fed Longannet power station may be abandoned, according to a report from the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper today. The project may “collapse within weeks”, the newspaper said, citing an unidentified senior Conservative member of parliament. The power station had applied for as much as 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) of U.K. funding and EU money. “The fact they raise less money will mean there’s less funding, which might cause problems for projects,” Grant said. “With less funding overall, you might find they don’t get any projects in some countries or particular renewables or CCS categories.” EU permits for December closed at 10.47 euros a metric ton on London ’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contracts have fallen from as high as 18.18 euros in May, the data show, on a slowing economy that reduces factory output and damps power demand. To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Airlie in London at cairlie@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net

Polish Stocks: Getin, KGHM, Lotos, Orlen, PKO Bank, PZU, TVN.Poland ’s WIG20 Index advanced for a second day, adding 32.34, or 1.5 percent, to 2,177.21 at 1:44 p.m. in Warsaw. The following are among the most active stocks on the Warsaw Stock Exchange today. Stock symbols follow company names. PKO Bank Polski SA (PKO PW), Poland’s biggest bank, rose 0.52 zloty, or 1.6 percent, to 32.81 zloty, its second day of gains. PZU SA (PZU PW), the country’s largest insurer, climbed 4 zloty, or 1.3 percent, to 304 zloty. Getin Holding SA (GTN) , the financial-services group controlled by billionaire Leszek Czarnecki, rose 0.19 zloty, or 2.6 percent, to 7.49 zloty. Financial shares extended gains in Europe on continuing speculation that Europe ’s leaders will reach an agreement to contain the sovereign-debt crisis. KGHM Polska Miedz SA (KGH) , the copper producer with the biggest European mine output, jumped 5 zloty, or 4.1 percent, to 126.4 zloty, extending yesterday’s 3.3 percent increase. Copper advanced as better-than-expected U.S. economic data and speculation that Europe will contain the region’s debt crisis boosted demand for industrial metals. PKN Orlen SA (PKN PW), Poland’s biggest oil company, gained 0.09 zloty, or 0.3 percent, to 35.64 zloty and Grupa Lotos SA (LTS) , the second-largest refiner, climbed 0.11 zloty, or 0.5 percent, to 23.11 zloty. Oil rose as investors bet that shrinking crude stockpiles and signs of economic recovery indicate more demand for fuel. TVN SA (TVN) rose 0.22 zloty, or 1.5 percent, to 15.4 zloty, heading for the highest close in two months. ITI Holdings SA will next week pick one bidder to hold exclusive talks on the sale of its majority stake in Poland’s largest television network, Gazeta Wyborcza reported, citing three unidentified people. Vivendi SA and Time Warner Inc. are bidding to buy TVN after RTL Group SA withdrew, the Warsaw-based newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. To contact the reporter on this story: Pawel Kozlowski in Warsaw pkozlowski@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

U.S. Stock Options With Biggest Changes in Implied Volatility.The following are the U.S. stock options that had the biggest percentage changes in implied volatility from the previous trading day as of 11:30 a.m. in New York. This {OSCH <GO>} search was limited to options that are more than 10 days from expiration, have trading volume of at least 200 contracts and have strike prices within 5 percent of the underlying security's price. Top Volatility Decreases x - Ex-dividend. * - Ex-earnings. -- Bloomberg News To contact Bloomberg News for this story: +1-212-318-2000 or newsdev@bloomberg.net

Philippine Peso Advances as U.S. Economic Data Buoys Sentiment.The Philippine peso strengthened for a second day after U.S. economic data released yesterday allayed concern that the recovery in the world’s biggest economy is faltering. Companies in the U.S. added 91,000 jobs last month, according to ADP Employer Services. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey was for an advance of 75,000. The peso traded at a one-week high after President Benigno Aquino said yesterday that the currency’s trading range has been within a “tolerable” level. The peso has fallen 0.2 percent this year, compared with drops exceeding 4 percent for Taiwan ’s dollar, South Korea ’s won and India ’s rupee. “The peso is externally driven by the slight improvement in data, especially in the U.S.,” said Emilio Neri, an economist at the Bank of Philippine Islands in Manila. “The peso has been a relative outperformer and we suspect there’s some degree of intervention in the market.” The peso gained 0.4 percent to 43.68 per dollar as of the 4 p.m. close of trading in Manila, according to Tullett Prebon Plc. The currency fell 0.9 percent last quarter, the least among Southeast Asian currencies. The peso’s recent weakness “doesn’t reflect our financial condition” as the nation’s economic fundamentals are “still solid,” Aquino told reporters yesterday. The government had a budget surplus of 9.22 billion pesos ($211 million) in August, reversing a 26.5 billion peso deficit in July, official data released last month showed. The yield on the 6.5 percent April 2021 bonds fell 17 basis points, or 0.17 percentage point, to 5.94 percent, according to Tradition Financial Services. That was the lowest rate since Sept. 15. The Bureau of the Treasury will auction 10- and 15-year bonds on Oct. 10 to set the yields of securities that will be offered to individual investors, according to its website. A regular bond auction scheduled for Oct. 11 was scrapped, it said. To contact the reporter on this story: David Yong in Singapore at dyong@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net

Congress Ready to Vote on Three Free-Trade Accords Within Week.Congress is prepared to vote in less than a week on free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama that were reached more than four years ago. The Senate may act on Oct. 12, the eve of a state visit by South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a speech on the floor today. The House plans to vote the same day, according to a Republican leadership aide who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. White House Chief of Staff William Daley urged lawmakers to finish work on the pacts next week and renew aid for workers hurt by foreign competition, known as Trade Adjustment Assistance, calling the measures an “essential piece of the president’s jobs agenda.” President Barack Obama sent Congress legislation for the trade accords on Oct. 3 after House Speaker John Boehner , an Ohio Republican, said he would consider the worker assistance in tandem with the trade deals. “We need to get all four elements of this package -- the three trade deals and TAA -- across the finish line next week,” Daley told representatives of companies including Ford Motor Co. (F) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) at a fund-raising dinner for the National Foreign Trade Council’s educational foundation. The Senate Finance Committee today scheduled an Oct. 11 hearing on the accords. The House Rules committee today backed limiting debate on the bills to 90 minutes each and barred amendments to the worker-aid bill. Plea Against Bickering Daley said he expects the worker-aid program, which has been opposed by some Republicans, to receive a House vote on Oct. 12 and that “we hope to see continuing bipartisan support for a good plan and that we do not see the sort of bickering and partisanship that seems to have taken over this town on so many issues.” The South Korea deal, the biggest since the North American Free Trade Agreement , would boost U.S. exports by as much as $10.9 billion in the first year in which it’s in full effect, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. The accord with Colombia would increase exports by as much as $1.1 billion a year. The House Ways and Means Committee voted to advance the accords yesterday. Obama spent two years after taking office seeking to broaden Democratic support for the trade accords. He negotiated new terms for auto tariffs in the South Korea agreement that won over the United Auto Workers union, a deal on exchanging tax information with Panama and labor-rights assurances from Colombia. Companies from Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) to General Electric Co. (GE) have lobbied for the agreements to increase market access. Job Gains, Losses The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the trade agreements will prevent the loss of 380,000 jobs. The pacts will destroy 159,000 jobs by encouraging companies to send work overseas, according to the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor federation. While Daley said the South Korea agreement will support 70,000 U.S. jobs and open markets to boost American competitiveness, he said businesses should push for Congress to approve the worker assistance to help people who become unemployed because of trade deals. Business groups such as the Chamber have backed the renewal of worker aid. “Those of us who believe trade is worth fighting for must fight equally hard for the program of TAA,” Daley said. “I hope we can continue to work together to break through this ridiculous gridlock in Washington .” To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Martin in Washington at emartin21@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net