EU ministers to mull Greek rescue plan

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Detailed options for concrete European-level financial support to help Greece out of its debt crisis will be presented to eurozone finance ministers next week, sources said Friday.

Alongside longer-term ideas to create a European Monetary Fund, "the idea is to get a result in terms of Europe's options for addressing the Greek problems if they ever get to that stage," one European source told AFP.

European leaders have promised they will come to Greece's aid "if necessary," but the detail of how eurozone or EU aid could be provided has to-date remained murky.

The European source said that officials have in fact "left no stone unturned" in examining available options, essentially confirming a report in French daily Le Monde on Friday.

According to the newspaper, a deal could be agreed in principle on Monday, with two plans of action on the table.

One involves a series of loans by European partner countries, coordinated by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.

The other would involve the Commission borrowing money on markets and extending loans to Greece that would be guaranteed by EU states.

The loans would be at a lower interest rate than Greece is able to get at the moment because of the EU's status and higher credit rating.

According to an internal Commission document cited by Le Monde, the first is seen as easier in the short term, but the second is favoured in the long-run.

However, implementing the latter approach would require the assent of sceptics in Britain and Sweden because the Commission acts for all 27 EU member states, and not just the 16 that share the euro.

Given current and heated rows over financial supervision of the City of London, there could be a question mark over London's consent airconditioners. AFP was unable to obtain a position from London on the question on Friday.

Le Monde put the value of the aid at between 20 billion and 25 billion euros (27.5 billion and 34.4 billion dollars).

"That's the (same) amount and the two options that have always come up in recent weeks" of discussions between senior officials, the source told AFP.

"As soon as governments say they will help Greece if necessary, technical work takes place on different means through which to provide that support," another diplomatic source said.

The head of the commission, which polices EU deficit and debt levels against agreed thresholds, said on Tuesday that Brussels was ready to propose a "framework" for coordinated aid.

Greece is not about to go bankrupt, but faces new financing requirements in April and May -- with Athens pushing heavily for backing to reduce the interest rates it has to pay for borrowing.

"Everybody hopes that the aid measures, if they are agreed on Monday, will never have to be implemented," the source underlined.

A Greek report on progress towards reducing its deficit in 2010 by a target of four percentage points will be considered by the ministers first. Greece's financial crisis in words

Following pressure from the so-called Eurogroup last month, Athens announced an additional 4.8 billion euros of cuts on March 3.

Another source said the reaction would likely be "peaceful" given the latest Greek action.

The finance ministers will also debate proposals to create a European Monetary Fund, which are backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

EU ministers to mull Greek rescue plan

Jobless aid measure clears Senate hurdle

WASHINGTON – Legislation to give additional months of unemployment benefits to people who have been out of a job for more than half a year has won key GOP support that means it will soon pass the Senate.

The sweeping bill also would prevent doctors from absorbing a crippling cut in Medicare payments and extends health insurance subsidies for the unemployed through December.

Eight Republicans voted with Democrats to defeat a GOP filibuster of the measure, setting up a final vote later today.

The bill also extends a variety of tax breaks for businesses and individuals that are popular with senators in both parties.

The $66 billion cost of providing the extended unemployment checks is added directly to a budget deficit expected to hit $1.6 trillion this year.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation extending unemployment insurance for the long-term jobless appears poised to clear a key hurdle in the Senate Tuesday, its momentum helped by about 60 popular tax breaks for individuals and businesses that expired at the end of last year.

The measure also prevents doctors from absorbing a crippling cut in Medicare payments, extends health insurance subsidies for the unemployed and gives cash-starved states help with Medicaid, the federal-state program providing health care to the poor and disabled.

The unemployment insurance alone — to provide weekly unemployment checks averaging above $300 to people whose core 26-week benefit package has run out — will cost $66 billion through December. In some states people are eligible to receive benefits for up to 99 weeks.

The bill demonstrates the difficulty Democrats face as they focus on jobs. It doesn't include new ideas for boosting jobs, but instead reprises elements of last year's $862 billion economic stimulus bill, which is earning mixed reviews from voters. Simply extending those provisions has produced a far more expensive measure than a separate so-called jobs bill that Democrats hope to soon send to President Barack Obama. That measure would boost highway spending and give tax breaks to companies that hire the unemployed and could clear the Senate for Obama's desk this week.

At a gross cost of about $148 billion, Tuesday's measure illustrates the extraordinary cost of the unemployment safety net as the economy inches out of the recession. Democrats say the unemployment benefits inject demand into the economy and say renewing the tax cuts helps preserve existing jobs.

The measure closes $29 billion of tax loopholes to help defray its cost, including one enjoyed by paper companies that get a credit from burning "black liquor," a pulp-making byproduct, as if it were an alternative fuel payday loan.

All told, the measure would add $107 billion to the deficit over the coming decade. Democrats have labeled most of the bill an emergency measure, exempting it from stricter budget rules enacted just last month.

Democrats need to muster at least one Republican vote Tuesday to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to limit debate and guarantee an up-or-down vote. But Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, provided crucial help last week to keep the measure out of another procedural tangle, and Democrats sound confident they will prevail.

The measure could subsequently pass the Senate as early as Thursday. The House passed companion legislation last year and talks between the chambers would produce a final version for Obama.

Earlier Tuesday, the Senate rejected a plan by Patty Murray, D-Wash., to create a $1.3 billion youth summer jobs program. Republicans were unanimous in opposition, several Democrats joined them, and the plan failed to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a procedural challenge.

The bill includes about 60 popular tax breaks for individuals and businesses that expired at the end of 2009. The bill would extend the tax breaks through 2010, at a cost of about $26 billion.

Congress routinely extends the tax breaks each year with large bipartisan majorities. Businesses and tax planners would prefer a more permanent solution, but lawmakers can't agree on how to pay for a longer extension.

The tax breaks include a property tax deduction for people who don't itemize, lucrative credits that help businesses finance research and development and a sales tax deduction that mainly helps people in the nine states without income taxes: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and Wyoming.

There is a deduction for college tuition for couples making less than $160,000 a year, and one for teachers who use their own money to buy school supplies. There is a tax credit for community development agencies that invest in low-income neighborhoods, as well as a tax break for restaurant owners and retailers who remodel their stores.

The expiration of one tax break, a $1 per gallon credit for the production of biodiesel, has already caused "a pretty substantial blow to the industry," said Michael Frohlich, a spokesman for the National Biodiesel Board. The credit would cost $1 billion to extend for the rest of the year.

Jobless aid measure clears Senate hurdle

Banks shuttered in Fla., Ill., Md., Utah

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Regulators on Friday shuttered banks in Florida, Illinois, Maryland and Utah, boosting to 26 the number of bank failures in the U.S. so far this year following the 140 brought down in 2009 by mounting loan defaults and the recession.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Sun American Bank, based in Boca Raton, Fla., with $535.7 million in assets and $443.5 million in deposits. Also seized were Bank of Illinois of Normal, Ill., with $211.7 million in assets and $198.5 million in deposits; Waterfield Bank in Germantown, Md., with $155.6 million in assets and $156.4 million in deposits; and Centennial Bank in Ogden, Utah, with $215.2 million in assets and $205.1 million in deposits.

First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co., based in Raleigh, N.C., agreed to assume the assets and deposits of Sun American Bank and to share losses with the FDIC on $433 million of the failed bank's loans and other assets. It was First-Citizens' fourth acquisition of assets of a failed bank since last July; the others were First Regional Bank of Los Angeles, Venture Bank of Lacey, Wash., and Temecula Valley Bank of Temecula, Calif.

Heartland Bank and Trust Co., based in Bloomington, Ill., is buying the assets and deposits of Bank of Illinois, and is sharing losses with the FDIC on $166.6 million in loans and other assets.

For Waterfield Bank, because no buyer was found, the FDIC set up a new savings institution that will operate until April 5 to allow customers access to their deposits and give them time to open accounts at other banks.

The FDIC was also unable to find a buyer for Centennial Bank, and it approved the payout of the institution's insured deposits. As a result, checks to the retail depositors for their insured funds will be mailed on Monday. Zions First National Bank in Salt Lake City agreed to accept the failed bank's direct deposits from the federal government, including Social Security and Veterans' payments.

The failure of Sun American Bank is expected to cost the federal deposit insurance fund $103.8 million. The cost of resolving Bank of Illinois is estimated at $53.7 million; that of Waterfield Bank is $51 million; and Centennial Bank is $96.3 million.

The pace of bank seizures this year is likely to accelerate in coming months, FDIC officials have said Faxless payday loans.

As the economy has weakened, with unemployment rising, home prices tumbling and loan defaults soaring, bank failures have mounted, sapping billions of dollars out of the deposit insurance fund. It fell into the red last year, hitting a $20.9 billion deficit as of Dec. 31.

Banks, meanwhile, have tightened their lending standards. U.S. bank lending last year posted its steepest drop since World War II, as the volume of loans fell $587.3 billion, or 7.5 percent, from 2008, the FDIC reported recently.

President Barack Obama recently promoted a $30 billion plan to provide money to community banks if they boost lending to small businesses. The program, which must be approved by Congress, would use money repaid by banks to the $700 billion federal bailout fund.

But many lawmakers want the $30 billion sent directly to the federal Small Business Administration. It would then decide which businesses should get loans.

The number of banks on the FDIC's confidential "problem" list jumped to 702 in the fourth quarter from 552 three months earlier, even as the industry squeezed out a small profit. Banks earned $914 million, compared with a $37.8 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2008, at the height of the financial crisis. Still, nearly one in every three banks reported a net loss for the latest quarter.

The 140 bank failures last year were the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. They cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. There were 25 bank failures in 2008 and just three in 2007.

The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to grow to about $100 billion over the next four years.

The agency mandated last year that banks prepay about $45 billion in premiums, for 2010 through 2012, to replenish the insurance fund.

Depositors' money — insured up to $250,000 per account — is not at risk, with the FDIC backed by the government. Apart from the fund, the FDIC has about $66 billion in cash and securities available in reserve to cover losses at failed banks.

___

Augstums reported from Charlotte. Gordon reported from Washington, D.C.

Banks shuttered in Fla., Ill., Md., Utah

Hedge Funds Return 1.2% In February: Hennessee

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hedge funds tracked by consultant Hennessee Group climbed in February, leaving them ahead of benchmark equity indexes, but lagging bonds so far this year. The Hennessee Hedge Fund Index advanced +1.2% in February, leaving it up 0.6% year to date, according to early estimates. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2 Payday Loan for Bad Credit.9% last month, leaving it down 1% in the first two months of 2010. The Barclays Aggregate Bond Index gained 0.4% in February, leaving it up 1.9% year to date, Hennessee said.

Hedge Funds Return 1.2% In February: Hennessee

Business owners can avoid common tax time pitfalls

NEW YORK – Small business owners who compile their own income tax returns can find themselves falling into some common quicksand pits. The mistakes can be costly if they raise a company's tax bill unnecessarily or subject it to penalties and interest in the future.

Some of the problems are mechanical in nature, such as not filling out the right forms. Others are more strategic, including not considering how the deductions you take on your 2009 return might affect your taxes in future years.

Other mistakes are the result of owners not being well informed about the tax laws and the requirements they can impose, for example, on an owner's salary or the way employees are classified.

A look at some of the common problems business owners encounter at tax time:

RECORDS, RECORDS, RECORDS

Accountants say many owners' mistakes begin long before they start filling out tax forms because they keep poor records.

Joseph Maloney, a certified public accountant with Maloney Reed Scarpitti & Co. LLP in Erie, Pa., said that leads many owners to have a hard time determining, for example, how much of their vehicle expenses they can deduct. Without mileage logs or diaries, they don't know how much a car or truck was used for personal errands or for business purposes. He said owners who don't keep separate checking and credit card accounts for personal and business expenses can also run into problems.

FILE ALL THE RIGHT FORMS — AND FILL THEM OUT PROPERLY

Another common mistake occurs when owners don't file the forms needed for some specific deductions.

One is related to the deduction for a home office. Many owners using Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, or one of the 1120 forms for corporations, don't realize that they have to also complete Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home,to deduct business-related home expenses. Instead, they'll use the lines for items like "repairs and maintenance" or "other deductions" for deductible home expenses.

Similarly, owners claiming the Section 179 deduction for equipment purchases may lump those expenditures together under a Schedule C line like "supplies," Maloney said. The deduction allows owners to deduct up front rather than depreciate over years the cost of many kinds of equipment. To claim it, owners need to complete Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization.

Maloney said owners often make a mistake when they enter the amount they paid for their own health insurance. That goes on the front page of Form 1040. Employees' health insurance is listed on Schedule C.

These are problems owners don't have if they use tax prep software. The programs will remind users that additional forms need to be completed. And they'll insert data in the right places.

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR OR EMPLOYEE

Many small businesses that laid off employees have taken on freelancers when they need extra help. That means the company doesn't have to pay employment taxes including Social Security and Medicare no fax payday loan. But it also means companies need to be completing 1099 forms and submitting copies to the government and the freelancers.

Owners also need to be sure that they've been treating these freelancers like independent contractors and not employees. If an owner controls aspects of the job including where the work is done and the hours that are put in, the IRS is likely to consider the worker to be an employee rather than an independent contractor. If the employer hasn't been paying employment taxes, he or she faces penalties.

Alan Weiner, a certified public accountant with Holtz Rubenstein Reminick in Melville, N.Y., gives this example of an employee and an independent contractor: "A plumbing supply house has a delivery man working, gives him a truck, tells him what time to come in, gives him a lunch hour ... versus someone with a delivery business and who works for several people."

The IRS has information about the differences between employees and independent contractors on its Web site at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/.

S CORPORATIONS

Weiner said a common mistake owners make, and that the IRS is on the lookout for, happens when a company has what's known as S corporation tax status. Under an S corporation, the income passes directly to shareholders who are taxed on that money. The business does not pay its own income taxes, as is the case with C corporations, the status held by major corporations.

The problems that arise with S corporations happen when owners who are also employees take too small a salary and receive the bulk of the money as a shareholder distribution. Because it's a distribution, and not a salary, they don't have to pay employment taxes. That's a violation of the tax code.

"The S corporation owner or owners have to pay themselves, in IRS language, a reasonable salary," Weiner said. And pay the taxes on that money.

NOT SO FAST

Completing tax forms isn't just a matter of plugging numbers into little boxes or lines. Owners need to be making decisions along the way. And thinking ahead. If you don't you could be costing yourself money, and not just for 2009

For example, while it might be tempting to use a full Section 179 deduction, it might make more sense to depreciate the cost of the equipment over time. That's especially the case if you think business will be picking up this year.

For example, "you have to think about whether the tax rate is going to be higher in 2010 and beyond than it was in 2009," said Bob Steere, an analyst with Business Owner's Toolkit, a division of Wolters Kluwer. "It might be beneficial to have more of those deductions and expenses when they're potentially going to be at a higher tax rate."

"You really want to think through how all of things are going to impact (your taxes) before you make the final decision," he said.

Business owners can avoid common tax time pitfalls

German Feb. New Car Registrations Down 30%: Report

LONDON -- New car registrations in Germany totaled around 195,000 in February, down 30% from the same month last year, the German Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, or VDIK, said Tuesday, according to Dow Jones Newswires. For the first two months of the year, registrations are off 20%, to 376,000 units, compared to the same period in 2009, the report said payday loans online. The decline is attributed to the expiration of Germany's car-scrapping incentive program in the fall.

German Feb. New Car Registrations Down 30%: Report

HSBC Disappoints on Profit and Warns on Bad Loans

LONDON — HSBC, the biggest British bank, reported earnings for last year that fell short of expectations and said Monday that it had set aside more money for bad loans, sending its shares falling.

The company also reported a big drop in profit in the Asia-Pacific region, which it attributed to economic weakness early in 2009.

In his first media briefing since moving to Hong Kong in January, the chief executive, Michael Geoghegan, reaffirmed the bank’s belief that Asian growth would outpace that in the rest of the world.

“Emerging markets will motor ahead three times faster than the developing world,” he said. “Asia will lead the way, and take an increasingly influential role on the global stage, while the developed economies are “stuck in first gear and still in danger of stalling.”

HSBC shares were down 3.3 percent in early trading in London.

Mark Phin, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, called the earnings report “over all, a slightly weaker set of numbers than we had hoped.”

The bank said its profit for 2009 rose 1.9 percent to $5.8 billion, from $5.7 billion a year earlier. The median estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for $7.76 billion.

The bank also said it had set aside $26.5 billion for bad loans and other credit risks last year, up 9 percent from the year before. That was a contrast to some of its rivals, which had reported falling charges for 2009.

HSBC said, however, that such loan impairment charges should fall in 2010, and that its performance in January 2010 was “strong and ahead of our expectations.”

Set up by a Scot working for a shipping company in Asia more than 144 years ago, HSBC moved its chief executive and a group of senior managers to Hong Kong in January to try to tap the region’s potential better.

HSBC already generates the bulk of its earnings from Asia, but shrinking economies in Europe and an unsuccessful expansion into the United States subprime mortgage market some years ago made the bank focus even more on the region.

For 2009, however, it reported that pretax profit in Hong Kong declined to $5 billion from $5.46 billion and fell almost 11 percent in the rest of Asia-Pacific, to $4.2 billion, from $4.7 billion.

“Many Asian economies were hit hard by falling trade and investment flow in the first part of the year,” Mr on line pay day loans. Geoghegan said in a statement.

At the news conference, he played down fears of bubbles in China, saying they “could be overblown.” He said investments in infrastructure and welfare would help generate healthy growth in that country.

Before the earnings report, he also issued a statement saying he had decided to accept a bonus this year, after having turned one down a year earlier, because “this year the performance of HSBC is significantly stronger and shareholders have seen rises in the equity value of their stock, as well as continuing to receive quarterly dividends.”

He said, however, that the bonus would be paid in deferred stock, releasable over the next three years and subject to certain conditions, and that he would donate as much as £4 million, or $6 million, to charities in Britain, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Banking executives have rejected bonus payments amid public anger about large payouts shortly after the government spent billions to rescue the banking system.

Mr. Geoghegan’s counterparts at Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, which are partly owned by the government and reported a 2009 loss, and top executives at profitable Barclays waived their bonus payments for last year.

The HSBC chairman, Stephen Green, noted that the “entire industry is in a very uncertain stage,” referring to the global debate over new regulations, liquidity rules and taxes.

“Until we know how the debate settles, the industry will face more than normal uncertainty,” he said, though he stressed that HSBC was well positioned and had a strong capital base.

He addressed the news conference in Hong Kong through a video connection from London, along with other board members.

Colin McLean, managing director at SVM Asset Management in Edinburgh, agreed the bank seemed to be “pretty well positioned.”

“They weren't overall good numbers and Asia was a mild disappointment but the company itself has good liquidity and capital ratios,” he said.

Bettina Wassener reported from Hong Kong.

HSBC Disappoints on Profit and Warns on Bad Loans

California Subpoenas Records From 7 Health Plans

SAN FRANCISCO -- California Attorney General Edmund "Jerry" Brown late Thursday subpoenaed records from seven health insurers in a probe concerning potentially illegal claim denials and rate hikes. Brown subpoenaed financial records and other documents from Aetna Inc. , Cigna Corp. , Anthem Blue Cross, Health Net, Blue Shield of California, Kaiser Permanente and PacifiCare business cards design. The probe follows reports that California's five largest health insurance providers were denying nearly 40% of claims and hiking rates by up to 40%.

California Subpoenas Records From 7 Health Plans

KBR Profit Drops As Revenue Falls

LONDON -- Engineering group KBR said its fourth-quarter profit fell to $73 million, or 45 cents a share, from $88 million, or 54 cents a share, as sales fell to $2.96 billion from $3.39 billion. The quarter also included a 70 cents a share gain on arbitration, a 50 cents a share charge on the reversal of previously recognized award fees, a 9 cents a share on an unfavorable court ruling, a 7 cents charge to correct prior period errors on legal fee revenue recognition, and a 2 cents a share charge on the abandonment of a Westside Houston resource center development project best humidifiers. Its backlog was up 5% to $14.1 billion at the end of December. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 39 cents a share on revenue of $2.82 billion.

KBR Profit Drops As Revenue Falls

Putin Warns Over Russian Utility Underinvestment

LONDON -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday blasted four billionaires for not investing enough in the nation's power sector and said their firms will face sanctions, news reports said. Putin said OGK-3, controlled by Vladimir Potanin, TGK-2, controlled by Leonid Lebedev, TGK-4, controlled by Mikhail Prokhorov, and Complex Energy Systems, controlled by Viktor Vekselberg, had not met their obligations, Reuters reported portable air conditioners. The firms face fines and won't be able to sell power at market prices, the report said.

Putin Warns Over Russian Utility Underinvestment

Crude Edges Higher To End Above $80 a Barrel

NEW YORK -- Crude-oil futures on Monday ended above $80 a barrel, with analysts saying the price of the commodity is meeting technical resistence after a two-week rally. "The bias is to the upside, but we've had such a good rally that we're finding some pullback at about $82" a barrel, said Jeffrey Friedman, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock. The March contract, which expired at the close, ended 35 cents higher at $80 payday loans.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It ran to an intraday high of $80.51, its highest level since mid-January. The more-active April contract added 25 cents to finish at $80.31 a barrel.

Crude Edges Higher To End Above $80 a Barrel

Bloomberg Shifting Fortune to New Firm

New York City’s billionaire mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, has decided to remove his fortune from a private equity firm founded by his longtime friend, just 10 months after that firm became embroiled in a scandal involving the state pension fund.

The mayor is shifting about $5 billion from Quadrangle Capital Partners into a new investment firm devoted solely to his interest and that of his charitable foundation. About a dozen workers from Quadrangle will join the new enterprise, according to a letter sent by Quadrangle to its investors on Friday, suggesting the move is not being driven by a desire to change investment strategy.

In assets, Quadrangle will shrink by more than half, leaving the firm only private equity investments in the media and telecommunications industries.

The setback caps a year of struggle for Quadrangle, after Steven Rattner — the founder who is Mr. Bloomberg’s friend — departed last year to run the Obama Administration’s automobile task force. Mr. Rattner was implicated in the New York pension fund scandal within months of that appointment and stepped down from his government role last summer.

No charges have been brought against the firm or Mr. Rattner by the attorney general of New York or the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are both investigating Quadrangle’s past dealings with the New York state pension.

Mayor Bloomberg’s private fortune — built around his media business, Bloomberg L.P. — fueled his improbable victory in the 2001 mayoral campaign and helped secure a close re-election last fall. His decision to relocate his money may fuel speculation about his political ambitions: he is considered a potential candidate in the presidential campaign of 2012. If he were to run, he would undoubtedly finance the campaign himself, at a staggering cost: his aides previously put the price tag at $1 billion.

Quadrangle said in its letter that “Mayor Bloomberg believes creating this independent entity will allow his investment team to operate with the flexibility and privacy that he seeks no teletrack payday loan.”

The mayor’s decision to disentangle himself from Quadrangle ends a storied partnership that elevated Mr. Rattner into spheres of influence in government and business, and that allowed Mr. Bloomberg to take bigger risks with his overall fortune, which is estimated at $15 billion, including his large stake in the media company.

Since the S.E.C. revealed details about Quadrangle’s dealings with the state pension last spring, Mr. Bloomberg has steadfastly defended Mr. Rattner. At the time, the mayor praised his work and called him “a great public servant.” Initially, the mayor said he had no plans to take his investments elsewhere, despite the questions that dogged its founder.

Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Rattner remain close, frequently dining together and speaking by telephone, according to mutual friends. On Wednesday night, the mayor and his girlfriend left a book party for Henry M. Paulson, the former Treasury secretary, alongside Mr. Rattner and his wife, according to a person who attended the party.

Mr. Rattner’s involvements with the state pension investigation came to light when the S.E.C. filed a case against middlemen who helped investment firms like Quadrangle garner investments from the state pension. Mr. Rattner handled the discussions about hiring the middlemen. One of the middlemen was producing a movie called “Chooch,” and a company owned by Quadrangle made a deal to distribute the low-budget film, according to an S.E.C. complaint filed against the now-indicted middlemen.

The mayor’s office, and representatives of Quadrangle and Mr. Rattner, declined to comment.

Bloomberg Shifting Fortune to New Firm

Two Editors at The Times Are Appointed to New Roles

Richard L. Berke, an assistant managing editor at The New York Times, was named on Friday to be the paper’s next national editor, replacing Suzanne M. Daley, who will return to reporting as a correspondent writing about Europe.

The appointments, to take effect March 22, were made by Bill Keller, the executive editor, and announced in a memorandum to the news staff.

“I’ve long subscribed to the principle, if it ain’t broke, fix it anyway,” Mr. Keller wrote. “Sometimes the best way to keep people fresh and excited is to move them when they’re at the top of their game.”

Mr. Keller wrote that in a time of political upheaval, Mr. Berke, 51, whose background is primarily in covering politics, would be well suited to the national editor’s job of directing a staff of reporters in New York and in bureaus around the country.

As for Ms. Daley, 53, he wrote, “The question of whether there will ever be anything like a united Europe is now more than ever in doubt, and Suzanne’s job will be to help us stay ahead in the quest to answer it sears kerosene heaters.”

Mr. Berke has covered Congress, the White House and four presidential campaigns for The Times. He was the national political correspondent for more than a decade and the Washington editor for three years before moving to New York in 2005.

A graduate of the University of Michigan and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Mr. Berke joined The Times in 1986, after working as a reporter at The Baltimore Evening Sun, The Minneapolis Tribune and The Los Angeles Herald Examiner.

Ms. Daley became the national editor in 2005, after being the education editor and directing a group of reporters covering social trends. Before that, she spent eight years as a foreign correspondent and a dozen years on the metropolitan desk.

Two Editors at The Times Are Appointed to New Roles

Wal-Marts profit rises 22 percent for 4Q

NEW YORK – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says its fourth-quarter profit rose 22 percent as the world's largest retailer cut costs and slimmed down its inventories.

But the discounter says a key measure of sales showed its third consecutive quarterly decline.

Wal-Mart says it earned $4.63, or $1.21 per share, in the quarter ended Jan. 31. That compares with $3.8 billion, or 96 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

The company says that total sales rose 4 no faxing payday loans.4 percent to $113.6 billion. However, sales at stores open at least a year fell 1.6 percent. That's considered an important measure of a retailer's health.

Analysts expected a profit of $1.12 per share on revenue of $114.4 billion.

Wal-Mart's profit rises 22 percent for 4Q

PPR full year net profit increases 7 percent

PARIS – Retail-to-luxury group PPR SA reported a 7 percent increase in 2009 profits Thursday and said it is launching a sales offensive to boost revenues in fast-growing markets such as China.

PPR, owner of the Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci brands, said net profit rose to euro984.6 million ($1.35 billion) after it sold its African distribution business CFAO.

The sale in December raised euro806 million and is part of PPR's strategy to "refocus" on its luxury and lifestyle businesses.

The group did not break out quarterly profit figures.

CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said he is starting the year "with determination and confidence."

"We are launching an energetic sales offensive aimed at further strengthening our leadership on the highest-growth markets, such as e-commerce and emerging countries, and at raising our business and financial performances in 2010," he said in a statement.

CFO Jean-Francois Palus told journalists in a conference call that PPR is switching from a priority of cost reduction to trying to boost sales through product launches and catalogs easy payday loans.

PPR wants to expand its network of stores in growing markets, he said.

Revenue fell 4 percent to euro16.52 billion in 2009 and 3.2 percent in the October to December quarter.

Revenue at PPR's Gucci Group subsidiary, which comprises luxury fashion and leather brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta as well as its namesake Gucci brand, was down 0.3 percent at euro929.2 million in the fourth quarter.

PPR's FNAC books and electronics chain reported a 0.8 percent increase in quarterly revenue to euro1.56 billion, and its Conforama furniture stores saw 0.1 percent sales growth to euro848.8 million in the period.

The Redcats catalog unit reported a 9.9 percent fall in revenue to euro904 million.

PPR's German sportswear company Puma AG on Wednesday reported a doubling of net income for the fourth quarter to euro16.2 million as the company lowered expenses and saw higher operating profits.

PPR full year net profit increases 7 percent