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Monday, August 1, 2011

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DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer all the questions?
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http://freeenglishlessons-denise.blogspot.com/
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks wavered between slight gains and losses Tuesday after the Dow Jones industrial average had its best week in two years.
The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 2 points to 12,580 in afternoon trading. The Dow had risen as many as 19 points after the Commerce Department reported an increase in factory orders. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2, or 0.2 percent, to 1,338. The Nasdaq composite index rose 4, or 0.2 percent, to 2,820. All three indexes were moving in a narrow range.
Trading volume is expected to be light this week. U.S. markets were closed Monday for the July 4th holiday. Many traders are looking ahead to next week, when aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. becomes the first major U.S. company to report financial results.
Last week the Dow rose 648 points, its best week in two years, after Nike reported strong earnings and Greece cleared its final hurdle before receiving another round of loans. Automakers also reported that their sales rose 7 percent in June, compared to a year ago.
The gains erased nearly six weeks of losses. Prior to last week stocks had been falling since late April because of concerns about the debt crisis in Europe, weak home sales in the U.S. and slowing manufacturing. By mid-June, stocks had given up most of their gains for the year.
With last week's rally, the Dow is now down just 1.8 percent from April 29, when it reached a three-year high. The Dow is up 8.5 percent for the year. The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq composite are both up about 6 percent.
Analysts are optimistic about the corporate earnings reports that will start to come in next week. Earnings from companies in the S&P 500 index are expected to rise 14 percent from the same period a year ago, according to FactSet. Revenue is expected to rise 11 percent.
"There hasn't yet really been a reason to get concerned about corporate America," said Randy Warren, chief investment officer of Warren Financial Service. "It's the rest of the America that's struggling."
Even while companies have been reporting higher profits, unemployment has remained stubbornly high since the recession officially ended in June 2009. The Labor Department will report the latest figures on unemployment and payrolls on Friday, and analysts expect to hear more bad news. They forecast that the unemployment rate will remain unchanged from May at 9.1 percent. They also expect that employers added only 90,000 jobs last month, below the 100,000 threshold that economists say is needed to prevent the unemployment rate from increasing.
Several stocks rose sharply after deals were announced. Immucor Inc. rose 30 percent after the maker of blood-testing equipment agreed to be bought by private-investment firm TPG Capital in a deal worth $1.97 billion.
Southern Union Co. rose 2.9 percent after Energy Transfer Equity LP said it would pay $5.1 billion for the pipeline company. The deal trumped a $4.9 billion bid made in late June by rival Williams Cos.
Netflix Inc. rose 7.4 percent to $287.85 after announcing that it would expand its online video streaming service to 43 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Stocks wavered between slight gains and losses Tuesday after the Dow Jones industrial average had its best week in two years?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE

Southern Union Co. rose 2.9 percent after Energy Transfer Equity LP said it would pay $5.1 billion for the pipeline company. The deal trumped a $4.9 billion bid made in late June by rival Williams Cos?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE

Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer, On Friday July 29, 2011, 12:32 am EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy likely grew in the first half of the year at the slowest pace since the recession ended, and the second half isn't looking much better.
Weak consumer spending, dismal hiring and cuts in government spending likely held back growth in the April-June quarter. The government will report on second-quarter growth on Friday.
Economists forecast the economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.7 percent, according to a FactSet survey. That follows a 1.9 percent growth rate in the first three months of the year. Those are the slowest back-to-back quarters since the economy began recovering from the recession two years ago.
Even if the economy picks up later this year, growth in 2011 will likely be slower than the 2.9 percent expansion last year. Economists at RBC Capital Markets, for example, forecast growth of 2.3 percent this year.
Complicating an already-weak economy is the debt crisis in Washington. No matter what lawmakers do to resolve that crisis, their decision will likely slow growth in the short term. A deal to raise the borrowing limit would likely include long-term spending cuts, which would withdraw government stimulus at a precarious time. If Congress fails to raise the borrowing limit and the government defaults on its debt, financial markets could fall and interest rates could rise.
Most economists expect growth to pick up slightly in the second half of the year, as the impact of high gas prices and supply disruptions stemming from Japan's March 11 earthquake ease. But growth won't be strong enough to lower the unemployment rate, now 9.2 percent.
"We're starting off the quarter in weaker shape than we thought," said Nigel Gault, an economist at IHS Global Insight. Gault notes that data for June showed little growth in retail sales, factory output and hiring.
Gault said he expects growth of less than 3 percent in the July-September quarter. That's down from his earlier forecast of 3.4 percent. Economists at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase project third-quarter growth of only 2.5 percent. That's barely enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising.
The economy needs to expand at a 5 percent pace to make a significant dent in unemployment.
Economists cite several reasons for the disappointing growth:
-- Weak consumer spending. Held back by stagnant wages and high unemployment, people simply aren't spending money. Economists forecast that consumer spending grew in the April-June period less than 1 percent, the slowest pace since the recession ended. High gas prices forced consumers to cut back on other discretionary purchases. Sales of furniture, appliances, sporting goods and electronics fell last month for the third straight month, according to the government's June report on retail sales.
-- Cuts in government spending. Governments at all levels -- federal, state and local -- are short on cash and being forced to rein in spending. All told, the cutbacks reduced economic growth 1.2 percentage points in the January-March quarter, the biggest hit to the economy from reduced government spending since the early 1980s. While the impact won't be as large in the April-June period, economists expect lower government spending restrained growth.
-- Dismal hiring. Employers added only 18,000 jobs in June, the second-straight month of weak hiring and much slower than the average of 215,000 jobs added each month from February to April. And even people with jobs aren't getting any raises. Adjusted for inflation, average hourly pay fell 1.5 percent in the past year, the Labor Department said earlier this month.
One wild card for Friday's report on the economy will be how much companies added to their stockpiles. If companies built up more inventory in their warehouses than economists forecast, that would mean factories produced more and the economy grew at a faster pace. But that could also mean slower growth in subsequent months, because consumers aren't spending much and it would take time for companies to reduce their stockpiles. That would slow the production of new goods.

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Doubts about Europe's ability to manage its debt hammered global markets Monday, pushing the dollar up sharply and dragging down commodities and stocks.Following a three-notch cut of Greek debt by Fitch Ratings Friday, which pushed the country's rating deeper into junk status, rival Standard & Poor's revised its outlook for Italy to "negative" from "stable" on Saturday.

"Removing equity exposure amid sovereign debt concerns is highlighting a headline-driven morning," said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York. "We are experiencing another cycle of concerns that is causing investors to question the risk-reward scenario in equities. Until there is better visibility, investors will play their cards close to the vest."
The dollar [EUR=X 1.4042 -0.0089 (-0.63%) ] hit a two-month high against the euro. The euro also hit a record bottom against the Swiss franc, as investors worried about the potential for the eurozone's main currency as the region's sovereign debt problems mounted.
Commodities often move in reverse to the dollar and correspondingly with the euro.Oil and copper fell 3 percent, extending the sharp swings seen through most of May. Grains markets also gave up early gains, pushing the 19-commodity Reuters-Jefferies CRB index down more than 1 percent.
Gold went in the opposite direction, however, climbing to its highest level in nearly two weeks.
"We remain negative towards most commodity markets," said Edward Meir, analyst for metals and energy markets at MF Global in New York. "Bulls have to contend with a backdrop of a stronger dollar, weakening macro readings from a number of countries, and interest rate increases that still loom on the horizon," Meir wrote in his daily commentary.
U.S. crude oil [CLCV1 97.24 -2.86 (-2.86%) ] shed more than $3.50 per barrel to touch as session low of just above $96.50.
Analysts said the market may be on track for further losses if negative developments out of the eurozone news kept pounding the euro.
"Crude oil has not been able to find any follow-through buying over the last 10 days and without new fundamental developments it is likely to be harder to find strong fresh buying into crude oil if the Euro weakens further," Olivier Jakob with Petromatrix said London's Brent crude futures [LCOCV1 109.99 -2.40 (-2.14%) ] fell more than $3.80 to an intraday low of $108.58 a barrel.
The Dow Jones industrial average [.DJIA 12364.95 -147.09 (-1.18%) ] dropped over one percent, while the the Standard & Poor's 500 Index [.SPX 1316.57 -16.70 (-1.25%) ] and Nasdaq Composite Index [NDX 2314.00 -37.43 (-1.59%) ] had similar declines.
In Europe, the ruling Spanish Socialists were hit by stinging losses in local elections and now face walking a tightrope between voter anger over sky-high unemployment and investor demands for strict austerity measures.
Investors are increasingly concerned that voter rebellions against austerity plans could cause bailouts and budgetary pact agreements to unravel, leaving large swathes of debt in jeopardy.

Did crude oil fall 3.50$ per barrel?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE

Did Doubts about Europe's ability to manage its debt hammered global markets Monday?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE

DIRECTIONS: Read the folowing and answer all the questions?

In 1995 often calle the " Olden Days " of the public internet the average computer connected online via a telephone line, reaching down load speeds of merely 56 Kbps. We would wait patiently often for several minutes while images loaded, pages displayed, and long paragraphs of text rendere font sizes and colors combinations to challenge our optical nerve endings. And we didnt have many choices. For many, the idea of having a Web based shopping cart to accept product orders from a web site was far into the future of possibilities as owning a flying car. Because of the manual effort and knowledge base required to create a web site back then, business owners with forward thinking minds but limited budgets would neotiate paying a few hundred dollars for a single basic web page or even a mini page just to have some type of presence om the web. Web sited with multiple pages were restriced to the technical companies who could employ programming staff and designers. In short, ahving a presence on the web of any kind was a luxry and more of a status symbol than anything.

In what year was often called the olden days?
A. 1995
B. 1999
C. 1993

How fast was the internet in 1995?
A. 56 Kbps
B. 66 Kbps
C. 86 Kbps

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government is selling off a chunk of its stake in American International Group Inc., narrowly squeezing out a profit as it moves to bring an end to its bailout of the insurance giant.
The New York company and the Treasury Department said they were selling 300 million shares of AIG at $29 each. The per-share price was the low end of the insurer's expected $29 to $30 dollar range but just above the $28.73 price per share that the government needs to recoup its investment in the company.
Treasury said in a statement late Tuesday that the government could get gross proceeds of $7.1 billion if the underwriters exercise their option to buy an additional 45 million shares owned by the government. The sale included 200 million shares sold by the government and 100 million shares held by the company.
The stock sale represents a crucial step in the government's effort to exit its ownership of AIG Inc., which received a bailout package of more than $182 billion during the financial crisis that hit with force in the fall of 2008.
When this week's sale closes, government's stake in AIG will drop from 92 percent to 77 percent.
"Today's announcement represents an important milestone as we continue to exit our stake in AIG and wind down TARP," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement, referring to the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.
The $700 billion TARP was authorized by Congress in October 2008 and it provided billions of dollars in support to banks, auto companies and AIG.
"The decision to provide this assistance was exceptionally difficult, but it's clear today that it was essential to stopping a financial panic, preventing a severe economic collapse and helping to save American jobs," Geithner said.
The global insurance company, based in New York, has seen its shares drop by about half since hitting a 52-week high of $52.67 on Jan. 7. AIG closed at $29.46 on Tuesday, a drop of 52 cents from Monday's closing price.
Tim Massad, Treasury's acting head of the TARP program, said that with the sale of the AIG shares on Tuesday and the payment by Chrysler of its government loans, Treasury has now recovered more than 75 percent of the money invested in the bailout effort.
Going forward the government will continue to reduce its stake in AIG in "an orderly manner," Massad said in a conference call with reporters. He said that the next sales of AIG stock will not occur for at least 120 days, a period during which the government agreed to refrain from further sales.
Massad refused to predict whether the government will eventually turn a profit on its AIG investment.

How many shares is the government selling?
A. 300 million shares
B. 500 million shares

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ENGLISH LESSONS
DIRECTION: Read the following and answer the questions?
The battle for the top job at the International Monetary Fund kicked into high gear Thursday, with Europeans staking their claim for the post as the continent grapples with economic problems and Asian and emerging nations arguing now is their time to lead the international institution.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said global leaders have started the formal process to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who early Thursday resigned following his weekend arrest on sexual-assault charges.
"There's a process that the countries will use, and the shareholders and you can see it starting to form now," Mr. Zoellick said after speaking at the Bretton Woods Committee annual conference in Washington. "It's up to the shareholders to decide the next process that they take in leadership and I'm sure they'll pick a very fine person
Asked whether the process would live up to promise by global leaders for a more transparent, merit-based process, Mr. Zoellick said, "I'm sure it will be."
The Group of 20 industrialized nations has promised to change the leadership selection process at both the IMF and World Bank, suggesting a move away from the automatic appointment of a European to the IMF and an American to the World Bank.
Mr. Zoellick spoke as European governments coalesced around Christine Lagarde, a corporate lawyer who has been France's finance minister since 2007 and who has emerged as the frontrunner for the IMF job in the days since Mr. Strauss-Kahn's arrest in New York.

1. Who is the world bank President?
A. Robert Zoellick.
B. Christine Lagarde
C. John Lake.

2. What does the IMF stand for?
A. International Money Fund.
B. International Music Foundation.
C. International Monetary Fund.

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NEW YORK (AP) -- People are paying more to fuel up these days -- on coffee.
Coffee price increases have outpaced even the hike in gasoline prices the past year. A one-pound can of ground coffee sold for $5.10 in April, up 40 percent from $3.64 the year before, according to the Department of Labor. By comparison, a gallon of regular gasoline cost $3.83 on average on Tuesday, up 37 percent from a year earlier.
And while fuel prices are expected to stabilize, coffee increases could continue for some time because the prices that coffee companies pay for unroasted beans are still climbing -- fast. Coffee futures were trading for $2.61 per pound Tuesday, roughly double a year earlier.
J.M. Smucker Co., the maker of grocery store stalwart Folgers and of packaged varieties of Dunkin' Donuts coffee, said Tuesday that it is raising prices of most of its U.S. coffee products by 11 percent, its fourth increase in a year. Kraft Foods Inc., Peet's Coffee and Tea Inc. and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. have also recently hiked their prices for coffee.
Starbucks Corp. also said Tuesday that it will raise prices on packaged coffee in its stores by an average of 17 percent in the U.S. and 6 percent in Canada. That follows a 4 percent increase in 2009. The company also raised prices in March for its packaged coffee sold in grocery stores and at other retailers.
But the drink remains essential to many.
Eboney and Tyson Owens say they've noticed higher coffee prices. The couple aren't about to give up their buzz, but they're buying different brands depending on what costs least among their top four preferred brands -- Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Godiva and Seattle's Best.
"I'm a Starbucks fan, I swear by it," Eboney Owens, 32, said during a recent grocery trip in Portland, Ore.
However, if something else is on sale or has a coupon available, she'll switch.
"We won't go bottom of the barrel, though," Tyson Owens, 31, added.
Overall coffee crops increased 8 percent last year, according to the International Coffee Organization, helped by strong supplies from Ethiopia, the Ivory Coast and other countries. But this year, some major exporters, including Indonesia, are suffering from smaller crops because of drought, flooding or other inclement weather, which is affecting prices. The rise in coffee prices also has roots in the economic growth of China, where an upwardly mobile work force is fueling demand.
Unlike many other discretionary items, coffee usually emerges from a recession relatively unscathed, economists say. That's because when money is tight, people may buy cheaper brands of coffee, but they won't give it up completely. Americans consumed 21.7 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee in 2008, during the depths of the recession, up from 21 million the year before, according to the ICO. That's nearly 2.9 billion pounds of coffee.
Coffee is part of a bigger story about rising prices for household staples as diverse as food, clothing, diapers and batteries. Food prices soared 5.5 percent in 2008, then ticked up a slower 1.8 percent in 2009 and 0.8 percent in 2010 as meat and produce prices steadied. But in recent months oil and grain prices have soared, sending global food prices to their highest point in 20 years, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.
Labor Department data showed that food prices in the U.S. increased 0.8 percent in March, the largest monthly increase in nearly three years. The pace slowed to a 0.4 percent increase in April.
U.S. Department of Agriculture economist Ricky Volpe notes that food price inflation was much higher in the '70s, when year-over-year increases averaged 8.1 percent. While food price increases are far below that, more are expected. In the most recent quarter, 89 percent of consumer product makers tracked by FactSet said they have raised some prices or have plans to do so.
Sara Lee Corp., which sells Maison du Cafe, L'Or and Cafe Pilao, said this winter that rising green coffee costs led it to raise its prices. Kraft, which sells Maxwell House coffee, cited rising coffee prices in a broad price hike it levied this winter. Peet's Coffee and Tea Inc. has raised its retail prices twice recently in response to raw material costs.
Starbucks said Tuesday that it has been continually monitoring the costs of green coffee, fuel and other operational costs and has made price adjustments as needed. A one-pound bag of coffee currently goes for $9.95 to $13.95 in stores. After it puts the latest price changes in place, the price will jump to between $11.95 and $14.95 a pound.
Smucker said that its latest price increase includes Smucker's Millstone and Folgers Gourmet Selections packaged coffees. For the Dunkin' Donuts brand, the increase affects only packaged coffee sold in grocery, club, drug and general-merchandise stores. Items sold at Dunkin' Donuts shops are not Smucker products.
The company also raised coffee prices by 10 percent in February, 9 percent in August 2010 and 4 percent last May.
The cost increases haven't deterred Smucker from expanding its U.S. coffee portfolio. It announced last week that it purchased privately held Rowland Coffee Roasters Inc. for $360 million in cash. Rowland, based in Miami, sells Cafe Bustelo and Cafe Pilon, which are sold primarily in the Northeastern U.S. and South Florida and target Latino shoppers. Rowland is a leading producer of espresso coffee in the U.S.
Sarah Skidmore in Portland and Michelle Chapman in New York contributed to this report.

How much is the stock up?
A. 37 percent from a year earlier.
B. 87 percent from a year earlier.
C. 67 percent from a year earlier.

Whot did they purchase?
A. Rowland Coffee Roasters Inc
B. Coffee Bean
C. Starbucks

English Lesson to help and instruct with English conversation. English lesson are concentrated around our student individual needs. English lesson will help you improve your spoken English. Our English Lessons can help you achieve a great knowledge of the English language. With our English lessons you will see your self improve greatly. English Lessons, English Lessons.

ENGLISH LESSONS :

High gas prices are driving a wider wedge between the wealthy and everybody else.
The rich are back to pre-recession-style splurging: Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom customers are treating themselves to luxury items like $5,000 Hermes handbags and $700 Jimmy Choo shoes, and they're paying full price.
At Target and Walmart, shoppers are concentrating on groceries and skipping even little luxuries. BJ's Wholesale Corp. said Wednesday that its customers are buying more hamburger and chicken and less steak and buying smaller packs to save money.
"The average shopper isn't in the game, except for necessities," said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of retail leasing and marketing at Prudential Douglas Elliman. At the same time, among the rich, "Luxury products are selling like bread."
J.C. Penney, Wal-Mart and home-improvement retailer Lowe's Cos. all said they're noticing their customers are consolidating shopping trips to save money on gas as the average price hovers near $4 a gallon.
More than a half-dozen corporate earnings reports this week show that, for the affluent, rising prices are merely a nuisance. For others, they can mean scrimping to put food on the table.

1. Are the rich only buyinmg what they need?
A. TRUE.
B. FALSE.

2. What type of luxury items are the rich buying?
A. Hermes handbags.
B. Jimmy Choo shoes.
C. All of the above.

DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer the questions?
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Private debtholders, including euro zone banks, should accept a debt extension or other form of "soft default" to alleviate the debt burden for countries such as Greece if Europe wants a solution to the sovereign debt crisis, Bill Gross, Co-CIO of PIMCO told CNBC on Tuesday."We wouldn't go so far as to suggest that Greece or any other country leave the euro," Gross said. "What I think needs to be done....is for private debtholders and Euroland banks...to take a debt extension or some kind of soft default that alleviates the burden for these countries."

Gross admitted it was difficult to suggest that countries such as Germany, which have been more forthright and fiscally conservative, should help peripheral nations."But if they want a consolidated solution, that's really the way to go," he said.
"Countries like Greece and Ireland are subject to the euro currency and can't lower their high debt to GDP ratio by offering interest rates in the low to negative range such that a country can pay for its debt by real growth," Gross said.
That might have provided a solution, he said. "It's a rather surreptitious and sneaky way to do it, but it's quite effective."
Despite concerns that European banks have taken on too much risk and will not be able to withstand future shocks to the economy, Gross believes they are an attractive investment.
"Lloyds [LLOY-LN 49.74 -1.13 (-2.22%)] and Royal Bank of Scotland [RBS-LN 40.44 -0.44 (-1.08%)]and Rabobank all have cocos (contingent convertible bonds) which provide yields of 300-400 basis points more than typical senior bank capital, and we think it's attractive. Admittedly there is a risk and if these banks move down to a certain equity as a percentage of capital level then the price has to be paid, but ultimately we think banks such as those are in the process of recapitalizing... and that going forward they will be much more careful in terms of riskiness," he said.
Bond investors needed to look for opportunities from the standpoint of currencies where real interest rates are high as opposed to low or negative, Gross said.
"We're looking currencies and bonds in those currencies which offer high real interest rates. Brazil does that at 6-7 percent real. Canada... basically offers a half to 1 percent higher real interest rate. Same thing for Mexico," he said.

Bill Gross, Co-CIO of PIMCO told CNBC on Tuesday."We wouldn't go so far as to suggest that Greece or any other country leave the euro," Gross said?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
Despite concerns that European banks have taken on too much risk and will not be able to withstand future shocks to the economy, Gross believes they are an attractive investment?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
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At a Berlin meeting on Friday German and French leaders appear to have come to a compromise that would ultimately lay the groundwork for the next round of emergency IMF loans to Greece. Prime Minister Papandreou shuffled his cabinet Friday appointing a new finance minister along the way. Two pieces of news drove currency trading on Friday with a former Fed official predicting a U.S. recession resulting from an inevitable Greek default, while the news conference in Berlin took precedence and sent the euro surging.
Euro Alan Greenspan talking on Bloombergs Charlie Rose show warned that a default by Greece was almost certain and as such would likely drag the U.S. economy into recession. His prediction, while likely accurate, has been diluted on Friday on account of the positive words flowing from Berlin. German Chancellor Merkel said shes willing to compromise on demands for bondholders to carry the burden and asks instead for purely a voluntary participation by private creditors. French leader Sarkozy said that such agreement requires the approval of the European Central Bank. Indeed the attitude of its President Trichet and company will be key here although investors have seized the opportunity to drive the single currency sharply higher. Earlier the unit slumped to $1.4127 before a moonshot lifted it to $1.4289. With the entire market watching and reacting to headlines, its important to understand that the end game for the ECB here is to avoid any situation under which any ratings agency would claim a default. The bid behind the euro following the Berlin conference is a market attempt to put words in the mouth of the central banks mouth.
U.S. Dollar Of course a surging euro is at this point positive for risk appetite and is surrounded at the end of a choppy week for trading by a reversal in stock indices from Europe to North America as investors hope for a longer-lasting resolution to the crisis. The dollar basket has slumped by 0.5% with the greenback taking slingshots left and right from every other major unit. Data due for release Friday may show a rebound for economic activity over the coming three-to-six months. The Conference Boards leading indicator for June should reverse last months dip as fears over supply bottlenecks resulting from the Japanese earthquake events unwind, while a welcome slide in fuel costs may also boost both sentiment and activity. A University of Michigan confidence index is expected to show little change in consumers mood.
British pound An attempt to match Thursdays weakest moment for the pound against the dollar just failed before rebounding European sentiment dragged the pound up by its shirttails. Attitude to the unit remained grim with investors remaining concerned over the vigor behind the British economic recovery. Just how resistant the central bank is to raising interest rates to tackle inflation running at twice its target pace was embodied in Governor Kings Mansion House speech earlier in the week. Tightening monetary policy would have meant a weaker recovery, or even further falls in output and a risk of inflation falling well below the target in the medium term. The pound bounced from its session floor at $1.6093 to a high at $1.6194.
Aussie dollar The Aussie was perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the rebound in confidence Friday turning from a session low against the dollar at $1.0506 to $1.0635. The unit was subject to losses after the Greenspan view further dampened risk appetite and invited a test of Thursdays lows. Like the pound, the Aussie remained above its weekly lows and remains buoyant as evidence of short-covering continues to offer support.
Japanese yen The rise in risk appetite has taken the shine off the dollar and cast the spotlight back on the yen, which rallied from ¥80.65 to ¥80.25 against the dollar as European tensions eased. There was also more concern for the health of the domestic economy with May store sales declining 2.4% on a year-over-year basis indicating a further weakening in consumer confidence. Rising economic tensions maintain the spotlight on a rising yen as investors look to the government to find ways to further tackle an already challenging economy. The political straightjacket ensures that the yen is bound to maintain a positive bias when economic bellwethers sound glum.
Canadian dollar The turnaround for risk appetite reversed an intraday loss for the Canadian dollar as it traded losses for gains against the dollar by rising to $1.0207. Thats more than a penny above Thursdays panic-driven low for the week at $1.0101 U.S. cents. Later this morning the latest piece of the jigsaw for the Canadian economy will be released and is expected to show a dip in wholesale manufacturing sales of 0.3%.

Did the Prime Minister Papandreou shuffled his cabinet Friday appointing a new finance minister along the way?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE

The turnaround for risk appetite reversed an intraday loss for the Canadian dollar as it traded losses for gains against the dollar by rising to $1.0207?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE

English Lessons

Asian shares fell on Tuesday on concerns about a downgrade of the United States credit rating and economic worries after sluggish manufacturing data, while the yen gave some gains on jitters over the possibility of intervention by Bank of Japan.

An 11th hour deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling cleared its biggest hurdle in the House of Representatives, staving off the prospect of a calamitous default but failing to allay fears Washington could still lose its coveted triple-A credit rating.

The FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index [.FTFCNBCA Loading... ()] , which measures markets across Asia, fell 1.3 percent.

Japan's Nikkei benchmark fell 1 percent, hurt by weak U.S. manufacturing data and worries about a possible cut to the United States' credit rating but heightened risks of intervention in currency markets by Japanese authorities lent support.

The benchmark Nikkei [.N225 Loading... ()] shed 1.1 percent to 9,855.21 after hitting an intraday low of 9,830.12, erasing gains made the previous day. The broader Topix fell 0.8 percent to 845.25.

Shares of Tokyo Electron fell 6.2 percent after the world's No.2 supplier of chipmaking equipment cut its annual forecast by half on Monday, hit by slowing investment by makers of chips used in PCs, smartphones and tablets.

Seoul shares lost ground following a weak finish on Wall Street. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) [.KS11 Loading... ()] was down 1.4 percent at 2,141.81.

Shares in STX Group companies gained after a media report on possible limits to foreign investment in the bid for a $2.3 billion stake sale in Hynix Semiconductor. STX Corp jumped 6 percent and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding surged 6.5 percent.

Imarketkorea dropped by the intraday limit of 15 percent after its parent Samsung Group announced it would sell a combined 58.7 percent stake in the firm.

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Australian shares fell 1 percent by mid-day after data showed a slowdown in manufacturing growth in emerging and developed economies alike, and local building approvals took and unexpected fall in June.

Global miners BHP Billiton dropped 1.9 percent, Rio Tinto fell 1.5 percent as metal prices fell. Copper posted its biggest one-day loss in two months on Monday.

Coal miner Macarthur Coal was flat at A$15.85. The firm stoked the fires of takeover speculation on Tuesday, saying it remained in "positive" talks with bidders Peabody Energy [BTU Loading... () ] and ArcelorMittal as well as unnamed rival suitors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index [.AXJO Loading... ()] fell 47.6 points to 4,450, reversing part of Monday's 1.7 percent gain. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index slipped 10.3 points to 3,403.57.

Hong Kong shares opened lower, weighed by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) [1398.HK Loading... ()

] after Goldman Sachs [GS Loading... () ] offered up to $486 million of shares to help a client hedge its position in the bank.

The Hang Seng Index [.HSI Loading... () ] dropped 0.6 percent at 22,532.8 points.

China shares fell, tracking losses on Wall Street overnight, with sentiment hurt by nagging worries about a slowing domestic economy and high inflation. The Shanghai Composite [.SSEC Loading... ()] slid 1.3 percent at 2,670.09.

Finally, in Southeast Asia, Singapore's STI [.FTSTI Loading... ()] slipped 0.9 percent.

Did the Seoul shares lost ground following a weak finish on Wall Street. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) [.KS11Loading...()] was down 1.4 percent at 2,141.81?

A. TRUE.
B. FALSE.

Did the Hang Seng Index [.HSILoading...()] dropped 0.6 percent at 22,532.8 points.

A. TRUE.
B. FALSE.

English Lessons

DIRECTIONS: Read the following and answer all the questions?http://www.americanenglishconversation.com/
http://www.freeenglishconversation.blogspot.com/
http://www.grammar-help.blogspot.com/
http://freeenglishlessons-denise.blogspot.com/

Traders work on the main trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange July 29, 2011. …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks are likely to face more selling pressure next week as the Tuesday deadline draws near for raising the U.S. debt ceiling and Washington remains paralyzed by political brinkmanship.

Anxiety over the debt crisis sent the S&P 500 lower for five straight days, resulting in the worst week and month for the benchmark index since August. The CBOE Volatility index, Wall Street's "fear index," rose more than 40 percent for the week, its biggest jump since early May.

With four days before the United States loses its ability to borrow, U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday told Republicans and Democrats to stop bickering and find a way "out of this mess.

"Right now, overall the market is being totally driven by the debt situation, whether it is in Europe or the U.S.," said Rick Bensignor, chief market strategist at Dahlman Rose in New York.

The deadline for raising the U.S. debt ceiling has investors on edge. Volatility, currently at its highest since the earthquake in Japan, can be expected to increase as time runs out.

"You've got individual stocks that can make significant moves but the market itself collectively is being pushed and pulled by every headline and how the wind is blowing out of Washington at any given moment."

The recent slide has also put stocks in a precarious position from a technical perspective as the S&P 500 index moves closer to its 200-day moving average, a level which could bring about additional selling if the index breaks below it.

The benchmark index successfully bounced off the level on Friday after the early morning decline.
"That is the line in the sand that really divides things going maybe bad -- to things really turning bad," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.
"If we take that out next week -- man, I'm not neutral, I'm short."

Even if a deal is struck, the possibility remains the United States could lose its prized triple-A credit rating if the terms are not stringent enough to satisfy credit rating agencies.

"You are definitely going to get the downgrade by S&P," said Ken Polcari, managing director at ICAP Equities in New York.

"You are still waiting on what the ultimate deal is going to be and it's just not going to be what everybody expects, so you are going to see disappointment in the markets."

Investors can still find some solace in corporate earnings. According to Thomson Reuters data through Friday, of the 327 S&P 500 companies that have posted earnings, 73 percent have reported results higher than analysts' expectations.

Companies expected to report earnings next week include Kraft Foods Inc, Clorox Co, Pfizer Inc and Prudential Financial Inc.

"Individual stocks, especially after earnings are trading on their own accord and you are seeing moves of 5 to 10 percent sometimes after earnings come out," said Bensignor.

But added pressure is coming from economic data, with the latest revision of gross domestic product showing the U.S. economy stumbled badly in the first half of 2011 and came close to contracting in the January-March period.

The flagging data offers little hope next week's data -- including July's employment report -- can turn the tide of the pressure.

"I don't think the market is pricing in very much for the possibility we don't get a debt deal done, given how bad the economic data has been," said Michael Marrale, managing director and head of sales trading at RBC Capital Markets in New York.

"Put it this way, putting all the debt deal concerns aside, the market would probably be here anyway."

As investors asses the debt ceiling debate, slowing economic data and corporate earnings, they must remain prepared for any developments from the simmering debt crisis in the euro zone, which could further heighten investor angst.

"There are two things I keep my eye on -- one on Washington and one on Brussels, because between the two of them you never know which headline risk is going to hit you over the head next," said Mendelsohn.

English Lessons

Can Obama Really Use The 14th Amendment To Raise The Debt Limit?

Here is the scenario that is becoming all too possible-

It is Tuesday morning, August 2^nd 2011. The Boehner Bill to raise the debt limit has gone down to instant defeat in the Senate. In turn, the Reid Bill, assuming it was not filibustered out of existence in the Senate, has been defeated in the House.

Meanwhile, Minority Leader McConnell, who has refused to negotiate a resolution with Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, meets with the president but nothing is going anywhere.

It is do or die day.

The President appears to have two choices – he can allow the nation to default and then instruct the Treasury Department to pick and choose which of the nation’s bills we will pay, or he can raise the debt ceiling on his own relying on Section 4 of the 14^th Amendment.

While the Supreme Court has yet to rule on what the President’s power might be when it comes to usurping the powers of Congress so as to avoid the catastrophe of defaulting on our credit obligations, the highest court in the land has ruled on whether or not the executive branch can pick and choose which bills it will pay and which bills they will not.

According to SCOTUS, the President does not have the power to make these choices.

Writes UCLA Law Professor Jonathan Zasloff, an expert in this area of the law,

In Clinton v. New York, the Supreme Court struck down the line-item veto, arguing that the President is not allowed to pick and choose among provisions of a duly enacted piece of budget legislation even if Congress has given him to power to do so.

Keep in mind that raising the debt ceiling is about allowing for the payment of obligations already authorized by Congress. It’s not about having more money to spend on future government expenditures or programs. Rather, it is permitting the President to borrow enough money to pay the bills created when Congress authorized certain payments, thus requiring the President, by law, to make those payments.

As a result of Clinton v. New York, the Treasury not only does not have the Constitutional right to decide which of the bills previously authorized by Congress it will or will not pay, even the Congress is not permitted to tell the President what bills he should and shouldn’t pay or give him a general authorization to make those choices.

Thus, it would appear clear that were the President to instruct the Treasury Secretary to start picking the winners and the losers, he would be acting in direct contravention of the Supreme Court’s ruling and, as such, would be using his powers in an unconstitutional manner.

So, if the President wishes not to run afoul of Clinton v. New York, his only remaining choice would be to claim the Constitutional power to act in order to forestall a national catastrophe and choose to raise the debt ceiling on his own.

I can hear some of you wondering who gets to decide what is and what is not a catastrophe? You're thinking that just because Obama says it is a catastrophe doesn't mean it actually is a disaster. Indeed, according to Rep. Michele Bachmann and others, nothing bad is going to happen if we default come Tuesday night.

However, there are enough economists out there, not to mention a majority of the nation if the polls are to be believed, to support the notion that default would, indeed, be catastrophic. Thus, the President would likely not be nailed for improperly deeming the situation a catastrophic event just to grab some Constitutional power away from Congress.

Where Obama is more likely to get into trouble is dealing with the question of whether or not a unilateral raising of the debt ceiling is Constitutional- catastrophe or not.

So - is it Constitutional?

Your guess is as good as mine as the Supreme Court has never addressed the question.

But here is what we do know - or think we know.
Section 4 of the 14^th Amendment reads-

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

In order to attempt to work out whether or not this grants the President the power to act without Congress in this regard, let’s look at the history behind this Amendment.

Section 4 of the 14^th Amendment was the direct result of a concern, following the Civil War, that members of Congress from states that previously formed the Confederacy would attempt to block the country from paying the bills incurred by the North during the war. After all, the Congress wasn't about to pay for the Confederacy's war bills leaving the Southern states to face their obligations on their own. This did not make the Southern caucus very happy. To insure that this would not be a problem, Congress passed the 14th Amendment and put it out to the states for ratification, making it clear that the North's bills would be paid by Constitutional requirement while the South's would expressly not be covered by the government.

While the situation then is not clearly on point with now, there are some similarities.

What you had following the Civil War was the introduction of new Congressmen from what had been the Confederacy. Obviously, they had not been a part of Congress when the appropriations were made to pay the bills of the Northern army. When they arrived, they took the position that they were not interested in honoring those commitments of a previous Congress because it was not in their interest to do so-especially when Congress was unwilling to pay the war debts incurred by these Confederate States.

That is somewhat analogous to what we have happening today in the Congress.

The debts incurred that we will need to borrow more money to pay for were authorized and appropriated by prior Congresses. Now, we have an influx of Tea Party members who do not wish to honor those obligations because they don’t like that these prior Congresses ran up these debts - just as the members of Congress arriving from what was once the Confederacy didn’t like that previous Congresses authorized payment of the costs of the Civil War for the North- but had, obviously, not authorized payment for their one-time enemy.

Thus, there would appear to be some historical precedent -if not legal precedent - that says that the debt ceiling must be raised because the Constitution requires we pay those bills that Congress has already authorized and commanded the President to pay.

So, what happens if President Obama should take this road?

The first question is whether or not the Administration caneven be sued in court, thus setting up the opportunity for the Supreme Court to review the action.

In law, there is something called having ‘standing’ to sue. Nobody can get help from any court of law if they do not have standing to bring an action in the first place.

While you might imagine that Congress and/or American taxpayers who disagree with the President’s actions would be in such a position, it is nowhere nearly as clear as you would think.

1. In order to have standing in a federal court, a plaintiff must -

(a) be able to show that the plaintiff has suffered an injury and that the injury must be actual or imminent, distinct and palpable and not distract;

(b) have a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of so that the injury can be traced to the actions of the defendant; and

Can anyone really say that they have been injured by the President’s deciding to pay the debts our elected officials, past or present, have already authorized and ordered him to pay?

Wouldn’t that be like saying that you have been injured by your bank when they have the nerve to ask you to pay your mortgage pursuant to a contract you previously signed but now have decided that you don’t care to pay going forward?

If you think that, by being a taxpayer, you have standing to sue the President for spending your money, think again.

The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that- except in cases where taxpayers have challenged that the government has allocated funds in a way that violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment-the conduct of the federal government, when it comes to spending your tax dollars, is too far removed from the taxpayer to constitute an ‘injury’ for purposes of determining standing.

Oh well. Surely, Congress can sue for us, right?

Not so much. Congressional Members have typically failed in efforts to sue an Administration as Courts have ruled that Members of Congress lack the standing to do so just as taxpayers do as discussed above.

So, what happens?

Probably nothing happens.

While there is a chance that a loud cry will arise in the House of Representatives calling for the impeachment of the President for violating the Constitution, a cry that might lead to a vote of impeachment in that body, the Senate will never convict as a 2/3 vote is required to do so and there aren’t enough Republicans to make that happen.

Either way, if the Congress fails to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling that the President is willing to sign, the President will find himself in the position of having to choose between two actions, each presenting difficult questions of Constitutionality.

Talk about being stuck between a Ba-rack and a hard place.

Clearly, anyone who wants to be President of this country in the times we live in should have his or her head examined.

Did a trucker who stepped outside his tractor trailer to urinate was killed when the vehicle lurched forward and struck him alongside a Vermont highway on Friday, police said?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE

Was there Either way, if the Congress fails to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling that the President is willing to sign, the President will find himself in the position of having to choose between two actions, each presenting difficult questions of Constitutionality?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE