Wal-Mart May Appeal $33.5 Million North Carolina Court Decision

(Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, may appeal a judge's dismissal of its attempt to get a $33.5 million refund from North Carolina's tax authorities.

The retailer contends it's entitled to the return of taxes and penalties it paid after the state said it couldn't deduct store rents to Wal-Mart real estate units.

The decision threatens tax deductions Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart and other companies can get by paying rent to real-estate investment trust units that transfer tax- free income to their owners. The Wall Street Journal reported that Wal-Mart may have saved $230 million in state taxes across the U.S. over four years through similar arrangements.

 

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Trade Deficit Probably Widened on Oil: U.S. Economy Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. trade deficit probably widened in November as Americans spent a record amount on imported oil, economists said a report this week may show.

The gap between imports and exports expanded to $59.5 billion, a five-month high, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News ahead of the Commerce Department's Jan. 11 report. Earlier in the week, a private report may show a decline in contracts to buy existing homes.

The trade report is also likely to show exports continued to increase, preventing a steeper decline in manufacturing. Sales to customers overseas are even more important now that rising fuel prices, a deepening housing slump and rising unemployment threaten to stall economic growth.

 

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US STOCKS-Market sinks as jobs data stirs recession fears

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday, dragging the Dow to its worst three-day start to a year since the Great Depression, as a sharp rise in the unemployment rate heightened fears the economy is heading into a recession.

Technology shares were the worst performer in a broad-based decline after chip maker Intel Corp skidded 8.1 percent on concerns that businesses are unlikely to upgrade computer equipment in the face of a slowdown.

The Nasdaq fell 3.77 percent, bringing the index to its worst three-day kick-off to a new year since it was created in 1971.

The U.S. Labor Department reported job creation nearly ground to a halt in December and unemployment rose to a two-year high of 5 percent.

"The payroll numbers are showing that we don't have the jobs, and if you don't have job income you don't have consumers doing any spending," said Gary Shilling, president of A. Gary Shilling & Co. of Springfield, New Jersey. "I don't think there's much question we're in a recession now."

 

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U.S. Stocks Fall After Job Growth Misses Forecast; Apple Drops

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. stock market got off to its worst start since 2000 after government reports on jobs and manufacturing added to concern the economy will sink into recession.

Apple Inc., maker of the iPod music player, fell the most since April 2005 and was the biggest drag on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Apple declined after Intel Corp., the largest chipmaker, was downgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Alcoa Inc., Home Depot Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its third retreat in four days.

 

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Consumers late payers on most loans since recession

(Reuters) - Americans are falling further behind on consumer loans, with late payments rising to the highest level since the nation's last recession in 2001, data released Thursday show.

In its quarterly study of consumer borrowing, the American Bankers Association said the percentage of loans at least 30 days past due rose to 2.44 percent in the July-to-September period from 2.27 percent in the previous quarter.

The delinquency rate, which covers eight loan categories, was the highest since a 2.51 percent rate in the second quarter of 2001. Late payments on some types of loans rose to levels not seen since the 1990s.

The ABA attributed some of the summer increase to rising oil prices and the inability of thousands of homeowners to keep up with mortgage payments.

 

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Oil majors' winnings from $100/barrel seen limited

(Reuters) - Crude prices at a $100/barrel should boost major international oil companies' profits, but increasing competition from governments and suppliers for a bigger share of the bonanza will cap their gains.

Shares in European oil companies opened higher on Thursday after U.S. crude hit a record $100/barrel on Wednesday.

The DJ Stoxx European oil and gas sector index was up 1.9 percent at 8:40 a.m. EST on Thursday, echoing a smaller rise across the U.S. oil industry on Wednesday.

 

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Tata in Talks to Buy Ford's Jaguar, Land Rover Units

(Bloomberg) --Ford Motor Co. selected Tata Motors Ltd. as the preferred bidder for Jaguar and Land Rover, putting India's largest truckmaker in a position to take over two of the best-known luxury auto brands.

Tata and the U.S. automaker ``will proceed with further substantive discussions,'' Ford Executive Vice President Lewis Booth said in a statement today. ``There is still a considerable amount of work to do.''

Buying the iconic British brands would give Mumbai-based Tata a presence outside Asia and provide access to new technology. A sale would allow Ford, the world's third-largest automaker, to focus on revamping its North American operations, the biggest cause of a record $12.6 billion loss in 2006.

``Tata gains an entry into the prestige market, although the snob factor says an Indian Jaguar will be a tough sell,'' said Stephen Pope, chief global markets strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in London. Ford, of Dearborn, Michigan, may get 1 billion pounds ($1.98 billion) from a sale, he estimated.

The talks comes less than a year after the 139-year-old Tata group, led by Harvard-educated Ratan Tata, bought steelmaker Corus Group Plc. for $12.9 billion. That made Tata Steel Ltd. one of the world's top 10 steel producers.

 

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