Markets brush off Spain downgrade on bailout hopes

LONDON (AP) ? Financial markets steadied Thursday ahead of another round of U.S. corporate earnings and despite a downgrade of Spain's sovereign credit rating.

Standard & Poor's downgraded Spain's government debt late Wednesday from BBB+ to BBB-, the lowest investment grade level. That's important because it potentially makes it more expensive for the Spanish government to borrow money.

The agency warned of the impact of the deepening economic recession in Spain and rising levels of social discontent, adding that the government's hesitation in requesting help was "potentially raising the risks to Spain's rating."

The Spanish government has so far refused to tap a new European Central Bank bond-buying facility that has been largely designed to keep a lid on the country's borrowing rates.

Some analysts think the downgrade will help push the government to finally request the help, despite the political humiliation that would represent.

"Investors appear to be drawing the conclusion that this coupled with increasing yields in recent sessions leaves Spain no option but to formally request a bailout," said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at Interactive Investor.

The downgrade prompted a retreat across much of Asian financial markets but the mood improved during the European trading session. Spanish shares were still underperforming their counterparts in Europe, trading 0.4 percent lower.

By contrast, Germany's DAX was up 0.6 percent at 7,246 while the CAC-40 in France rose 0.3 percent to 3,377. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.3 percent at 5,795.

The improvement in sentiment supported so-called 'riskier' assets, which investors buy in good times in search of higher returns. The euro was up 0.3 percent higher at $1.2883 while the price of a barrel of benchmark oil rose 56 cents to $91.81 a barrel.

Wall Street was poised for a solid opening, with both Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.3 percent.

Though the crisis in the eurozone remains a key focus of attention in the markets, investors are also looking for direction from the third quarter U.S. corporate earnings results season.

Earlier this week, aluminum company Alcoa Inc. kicked off the season with upbeat earnings but warned that its outlook was being hurt by waning demand, particularly in Asia.

"Third quarter earnings season continues to gather steam," said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets. Results from U.S. banking group JP Morgan on Friday may be the most closely watched this week, he said.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.6 percent to finish at 8,546.78. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.8 percent to 1,933.09 but Hong Kong's Hang Seng, however, rose 0.4 percent to 20,999.05.

Mainland Chinese shares lost ground, with the Shanghai Composite Index shedding 0.8 percent to 2,102.87 while the Shenzhen Composite Index lost 1.5 percent to 867.21.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/markets-brush-off-spain-downgrade-bailout-hopes-102244940--finance.html

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Has Your Doc Gone Digital? | Aidance Skincare Health Blog

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For better or worse, there are very few questions that someone hasn?t ventured to answer on the Internet. Google it, Bing it ? whatever your search preference, something will pop up. And while much of the content technology spits out is best taken with a grain of salt, when it comes to modern medicine, it?s safe to say ?There?s an app for that.? Your doc may not be Googling away in the ER, but plenty are certainly making use of a growing list of electronic resources at their fingertips.

MedCalc, a clinical calculator, and e-filing system Evernote are among the many in ?a black bag of new tools: new ways to diagnose symptoms and treat patients, to obtain and share information, to think about what it means to be both a doctor and a patient,? according to the New York Times article ?Redefining Medicine with Apps and iPads.?

Whether you opt for a doctor who embraces technology in the visiting room or prefers more traditional methods, it?s worth a read, and gets us thinking?what will they come up with next?

Read the full article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/science/redefining-medicine-with-apps-and-ipads-the-digital-doctor.html?ref=health

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Source: http://www.aidanceproducts.com/blog/2012/10/has-your-doc-gone-digital/

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Homecoming Week at Muskingum! - Orbit Media Online

11 October 2012 No Comment

Hello again friends, I hope all is well.

This week is an exciting week at Muskingum as it the the week leading up to Muskingum?s 91st Homecoming!

In the sports world, what better way to start than Muskie athletics being undefeated this week against Marietta?!

On Tuesday night, Muskie volleyball played a thrilling five-set match, beating the Pioneers 3-2. Women?s soccer played a 1-1 tie against the Pioneers on Tuesday night as well.

Last night, the thrills over the Pioneers kept coming. Tied 1-1 going into overtime number 2, Muskie men?s soccer was looking to pick up their second straight overtime win. With 5 minutes left in overtime, Dan Meehan made space for himself in the box, and placed a shot perfectly, bending into the upper left corner of the net, giving the Men the win. The Muskies now sit alone in 6th and final place for the OAC tournament. The men also play 4 of their last 6 games at home.

Because of homecoming, the John Glenn High School football game v. Tri-Valley will be played tonight with pregame beginning at 7:15 with Doug Knepper and Drew Davis.

On Saturday, WMCO will have all your Homecoming coverage. The parade will be broadcast, going straight into the Fighting Muskie football game against John Carroll.

Even better: the coverage doesn?t stop after football! This year, we will be going straight from broadcasting the football game to joining the volleyball game that begins at 5.

Have a great week, and go Muskies!

-John

About the Author: John Clevinger (9 Posts)

I am a junior at Muskingum University, majoring in Journalism. Aside from calling Muskie Sports on WMCO, I write stories for the Black and Magenta, and am also the Sports and Recreation Editor. I love sports, especially baseball and hockey. I am a huge Cincinnati Reds fan and a Detroit Red Wings fan. In the fall, I support the Buckeyes of Ohio State and the Detroit Lions.

Source: http://www.orbitmediaonline.com/homecoming-week-at-muskingum/

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UPDATE 1-Cycling-Cloud hangs over sport says Brailsford

(Adds Hoy and Dowsett quotes)

LONDON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Accusations that cyclist Lance Armstrong was involved in an elaborate doping conspiracy have cast a cloud of suspicion over the entire sport, the head of British cycling Dave Brailsford said on Thursday.

The 41-year-old Armstrong, who won the Tour de France seven times after surviving cancer, was accused of being part of the "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen" by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

USADA has banned Armstrong for life and stripped him of his Tour de France titles and on Wednesday it published the findings of an investigation into the Texan and his U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team.

Armstrong's lawyers described the allegations as a hatchet job, but Brailsford said the 1,000-page report made it hard for anyone to trust cycling.

"It is understandable now for people to look at any results in cycling and question that," Brailsford told BBC radio.

"It completely and utterly lost its way and I think it lost its moral compass."

The comprehensive report contained the testimony of 11 of Armstrong's former team mates, that, according to USADA, provided undeniable proof Armstrong was at the centre of a sophisticated doping programme.

"It is shocking, it's jaw dropping and it is very unpleasant," Brailsford said.

"It's not very palatable and anybody who says it is would be lying wouldn't they?"

AMAZING ACHIEVEMENT

He added: "I think there are plenty of people out there who saw this guy and what he did as an amazing achievement.

"He is one of the first cyclists that maybe transcended the sport and became a hero beyond cycling.

"It was an amazing thing and people got behind that. So to now find out what was behind (it) is, of course, disappointing."

One of the team mates who testified against Armstrong was Michael Barry, who admitted to doping while he was a member of Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team and who rode under Brailsford for Team Sky from 2010.

"We signed Michael from HTC which was, at the time, highly regarded as being a very sound, clean team," Brailsford said.

"During his time at Team Sky, we have had absolutely no cause for concern whatsoever, there has never been any question in terms of his performances, his training, his behaviour on the team. There have never been any issues in that respect. But ultimately he lied.

"We set out with a zero tolerance policy, so we said that anyone who has had a doping conviction from the past or proved to have been involved in doping hasn't got a place on Team Sky. That is our policy.

"When you take someone you ask them a question and if someone lies to you and you find out later it's disappointing."

Britain's six-times Olympic champion Chris Hoy said the accusations were "pretty depressing".

"I haven't read the report but it's good to get it out in the open and show that nobody is too big," Hoy told Sky Sports.

"It's been coming for a number of years, trying to change the culture, and Team Sky's approach has been about zero tolerance so ambassadors like (2012 Tour de France champion) Bradley Wiggins can inspire people.

"The next generation can see that you don't have to take drugs to win the Tour de France.

"Every day in the Tour de France you have to field questions about are you on drugs. Bradley was frustrated but his frustration is not with the journalists or the media but with the previous generation who have let down the public.

"I'm a bit removed from it being a track cyclist but it's difficult having aspersions put on you but all you can do is win clean."

However, Team Sky's British rider Alex Dowsett told the BBC that Armstrong was "still a legend of the sport, a guy who had cancer, came back and won the Tour de France.

"I think it's not really important and I really don't think it matters," he said. (Reporting by Toby Davis and John Mehaffey; Editing by Clare Fallon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/1-cycling-cloud-hangs-over-sport-says-brailsford-140211656--spt.html

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China rejects US solar tariffs as protectionism

BEIJING (AP) ? China demanded Thursday that Washington repeal steep tariffs on solar panels that Chinese producers fear will shut their equipment out of the American market.

The tariffs upheld Wednesday by the U.S. Commerce Department add to financial pressure on struggling Chinese solar panel manufacturers that are suffering heavy losses due to weak demand and a price-cutting war.

"The United States is inciting trade friction in new energy and sending a negative signal to the whole world about protectionism and obstructing the development of new energy development," Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang said in a statement. It gave no indication whether Beijing might retaliate.

"We hope the U.S. side will correct its erroneous action with early termination of the trade remedy measures," Shen said.

The Commerce Department upheld charges of 18 percent to nearly 250 percent on Chinese solar panel producers to counter what it said was improper subsidies by Beijing to the industry. For some companies, charges are lower than preliminary tariffs announced in May.

A spokesman for one of China's biggest panel producers, Yingli Green Energy Holding Co., said tariffs of about 30 percent imposed on that company would make sales to the United States unprofitable. He said gross profit margins in the solar industry are about 10 percent.

"A tax rate of 30 percent is the same as 200 percent. Both of them mean the door is closed for exporting to the United States," said the spokesman, Wang Shuai. "No one does business to lose money."

Yingli and other leading Chinese manufacturers including Suntech Power Holdings Co. and Trina Solar Ltd. have rejected accusations they were selling goods at improperly low prices.

Foreign competitors complain Chinese solar manufacturers get improper government support in the form of low-cost access to land, bank loans and other resources. Beijing acknowledges giving research grants and tax breaks but says those are in line with its free-trade commitments and practices by other governments.

The dispute highlights tensions over whether China's government-dominated economy should be treated as a free market. Beijing has pressed the United States and Europe to officially grant such status, which would make it harder to bring some dumping and other complaints, but none of its major trading partners has agreed.

Trina Solar said earlier that solar cells or other components affected by the duties could be replaced with components from other countries for shipments to U.S. customers.

In Yingli's case, though, Wang said all of its manufacturing is in China, which means it cannot immediately replace U.S.-bound solar panels with products made elsewhere.

The tariffs come at a critical time for Chinese solar panel manufacturers, which have reported hundreds of millions of dollars in losses this year.

The Chinese solar panel industry grew rapidly over the past decade as Germany, Spain and some other countries promoted renewable energy with subsidies and low-cost loans.

China's communist leaders declared solar power, along with such fields as biotechnology and aerospace, a "strategic emerging industry" targeted for development as part of efforts to transform China from a low-wage country of farmers and factory workers into a creator of technology.

Hundreds of Chinese companies began producing solar panels, which flooded the market and drove down prices to unprofitable levels.

Companies also face possible European trade action.

In July, a group of 25 producers of solar gear including companies from Germany, Italy and Spain filed an anti-dumping complaint with the European Union.

The latest U.S. tariffs were imposed in response to a complaint by a group of companies led by Oregon-based SolarWorld, the largest U.S. maker of silicon solar cells and panels. Some American companies that opposed the probe warned China might retaliate against U.S. suppliers.

Chinese solar equipment manufacturers warned earlier that sanctions could result in a loss of American jobs because U.S. companies are both buyers of Chinese products and suppliers of materials. They said Chinese manufacturers spend some $2 billion a year to buy materials such as polysilicon from U.S. suppliers.

Beijing responded to the investigation by launching its own probe last November into whether U.S. government support for producers of wind, solar and other renewable energy technology is an improper trade barrier.

In August, the Commerce Ministry ruled that U.S. support for six clean energy projects violated free trade rules and called on Washington to stop but made no mention of possible penalties.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-rejects-us-solar-tariffs-protectionism-042311571--finance.html

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A weak open on Wall Street on gloomy IMF forecast

Another dire prediction about global economic growth is sending stocks lower on Wall Street in early trading.

The U.S. corporate earnings season is also shaping up to be weakest in years.

The combination sent indexes slightly lower shortly after the opening bell Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average was off 20 points at 13,564. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost two points to 1,454 and the Nasdaq gave up 10 points to 3,101.

The International Monetary Fund said the global economy is weakening and that the downturn afflicting developing nations has begun to spread.

After the closing bell, aluminum maker Alcoa becomes the first major U.S. company to report third-quarter results. Analysts are expecting earnings at S&P 500 companies to decline overall for the first time in three years.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/weak-open-wall-street-gloomy-imf-forecast-134351097--business.html

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Rian Johnson releases "Looper" commentary to take into the cineplex

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