Disarming former Libyan rebels could take months and weapons will not be taken by force, Libya’s new prime minister said in an interview broadcast Friday, signaling a shift from previous pledges of quick action.
Abdurrahim el-Keib also acknowledged that the National Transitional Council, which is to lead Libya to its first free election within eight months, has not yet established full control over the country, but said it is making progress. The NTC declared Libya liberated on Oct. 23, three days after the capture and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
The proliferation of armed ex-rebel militias in Libya and the NTC’s still shaky grip have raised concerns about growing instability during the transition period, which is to end with the election of a national assembly by June.
Thousands of civilians across Libya took up arms during the eight-month war that brought down Gadhafi. Some have returned to their pre-war lives, but others have remained in their fighting units, manning checkpoints and patrolling streets. In recent weeks, there have been reports of fighters using weapons to settle personal scores.
El-Keib, who will run the interim government for the next eight months, told France24 radio Friday that collecting those weapons “is going to take some time.”
“We will not force people to take quick and hasty decisions and actions and come up with some laws that just prevent people from holding arms,” he said. Instead, the government will try to work with the fighters, by offering alternatives, including training and jobs, he said.
“Hopefully, before the eight months end, we will be able to have those armed freedom fighters lay down their arms and go back to their business,” he added.
The head of the NTC, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, said earlier this week that Libya’s interim leaders need quick access to billions of dollars in Gadhafi regime assets, frozen by a number of countries since the start of the war, to be able to disarm fighters and secure weapons.
Citing lack of funds, Abdul-Jalil said his government can’t do much in the interim period to secure weapons sites and munitions depots that were left unguarded and exposed to looting during the war. Libya border officials have reported heavy weapons smuggling into Egypt, and Israel has said some of those arms have reached the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Earlier this week, Libyan officials said they discovered chemical weapons that had previously not been declared by the Gadhafi regime when it pledged to abandon the pursuit of non-conventional weapons.
In the Netherlands, the organization that oversees the global ban on chemical weapons said it will work with Libyan authorities to verify and destroy chemical weapons. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it was told earlier this week of suspected chemical weapons caches beyond the stockpiles earlier declared by Gadhafi.
The organization said Friday that none of Gadhafi’s known chemical arsenal was plundered during the civil war. Libya declared in 2004 it had tons of sulfur mustard and other chemicals used to make chemical weapons.
U.S. Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., have introduced legislation that will prevent the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from requiring the removal of homes or businesses built within the boundary of a hydroelectric project, the senators announced this morning.
The move comes in response to a uproar, chronicled recently in the Post-Dispatch and STLtoday.com, over a federal threat to require existing landowners to remove their properties from a federally regulated zone near the shoreline.
According to FERC, thousands of property owners built homes, decks, gazebos and patios on land that belongs to Ameren Missouri’s Bagnell Dam and Osage hydroelectric project, which the agency regulates. So FERC issued an order stating that all of the so-called nonconforming structures must be removed payday loans online.
St. Louis-based Ameren, caught in the middle of the dispute, has asked the federal agency to reconsider, at least with respect to the 1,200-plus residences in jeopardy. The utility, which manages the shoreline under federal oversight, wants to redraw the hydroelectric project boundary to exclude most, if not all, of the homes in danger.
About four thousand properties would be in jeopardy, according to a news release from Blunt and McCaskill. In September, McCaskill and Blunt strongly urged FERC to rescind its plan and allow Ameren to redraw the project boundary, according to the release.
Now they have drawn up the . which would prohibit FERC from issuing any shorelines management plan that requires the removal of structures along the lake, and would be enforced retroactively to January, 2011
The Dow Jones industrial average slipped early Tuesday, giving up some of its 330-point gain the day before, on worries that Slovakia might not approve a plan to strengthen a European financial rescue fund.
If Slovakia defeats the measure it would complicate efforts to deal with Europe’s debt crisis, which has been rattling markets for months. The measure would increase the size and powers of Europe’s financial rescue program, allowing large amounts of funds to be released quickly to banks and struggling governments before a full-blown crisis sets in. Sixteen countries that use the euro have approved it so far; Slovakia is the holdout. A vote is expected later in the day.
Investors worry that if Greece defaults on its debts, it would hurt banks in Europe and in the U.S. by causing the value of Greek government bonds they hold to plunge. With weaker balance sheets, those banks could become even more reluctant to lend to each other and to businesses and consumers, putting a drag on an already weak global economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 44 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,395 at 10 a.m. JPMorgan Chase & Co. fell 1.9 percent, the most of the 30 companies in the average.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 5, or 0.4 percent, to 1,190. The Nasdaq composite index fell 4, or 0.2 percent, to 2,562.
The declines erased some of the gains from Monday, when the Dow jumped 330 points, its largest point increase since Aug. 11. Investors were encouraged after French and German leaders said they would finalize a response to the debt crisis by the end of the month. The plan was light on details.
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. fell 2.7 percent after the car-rental company said it was taking itself off the market after failing to get acceptable takeover proposals from Hertz or other companies.
Discount retailer 99 Cents Only Stores Inc. rose 4.3 percent. Ares Management LLC and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board have offered to buy the company for $22 per share in cash, a 7 percent premium from Monday’s closing price.
Sprint Nextel Corp. fell 1 percent. The stock has plunged 24 percent since Friday, when Sprint said it wants to speed up plans to revamp its high-speed wireless network. Analysts say that will raise its expenses dramatically.
After the closing bell, aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. will become the first company in the Dow Jones industrial average to report third-quarter results. Analysts expect earnings from S&P 500 companies to rise about 12 percent from the same period last year, according to data provider FactSet. Revenue is expected to rise 11 percent.
Chemical manufacturer Solutia Inc. is buying Southwall Technologies Inc., a developer of films and glass products for the automotive and architectural industries, for $113 million.
Town & Country-based Solutia is buying Southwall for $113 million in cash, or $13.60 per share of Southwall’s common stock, the companies announced Friday. Solutia’s tender offer is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter this year. Southwall is based in Palo Alto, Calif.
The nation’s economy is managing to grow modestly, reports Monday showed, despite high U.S. unemployment and growing alarm about Europe’s debt crisis.
Manufacturing expanded in September more than in August, though the pace of growth remains weak, according to a survey by the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM said its manufacturing index rose for the first time in three months.
And construction spending rose modestly in August, the government said. The gain was due mostly to a pickup in state and local government projects.
In addition, U.S. auto sales rose in September, largely because consumers bought more pickups and SUVs, U.S. automakers said.
Collectively, the reports suggested that the U.S. economy may be able to avoid another recession yet will continue to struggle.
Economists said the manufacturing and construction reports are consistent with an annual growth rate of about 2 percent to 2.5 percent for the July-September quarter.
That would be an improvement from growth of about 0.9 percent in the first six months of the year. But it wouldn’t be enough to reduce the unemployment rate, which is 9.1 percent.
The reports are “mildly encouraging,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics. “But even if the U.S. avoids a recession, economic growth is going to remain lackluster.”
Manufacturing executives said their volume of new orders shrank for the third straight month. That doesn’t bode well for future production.
Stocks initially declined, partly because Greece said earlier Monday that it would miss deficit-reduction targets it had agreed to as part of its bailout agreement. That raised worries that Greece could default on its debts, harming Europe’s economy.
The ISM’s manufacturing index rose to 51.6, up from 50.6 in August. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. The increase follows two months of declines.
Measures of production and exports grew, while a gauge of new orders was unchanged. Factories also added workers, the report said. The ISM is a trade group of purchasing executives.
The manufacturing sector has been a key driver of the economy’s growth since the recession officially ended in June 2009 low fee payday loans. The index topped 60 for four straight months earlier this year. It rose above 50 a month after the recession ended and has topped that level ever since.
But manufacturing accounts for only about 11 percent of the economy and can do only so much to support the recovery. And manufacturing has slowed in the past several months as consumer spending has weakened in response to high unemployment and stagnant wages. High gas and food prices are also forcing shoppers to cut back in other areas.
Respondents to the survey expressed “concern over the sluggish economy, political and policy uncertainty in Washington, and forecasts of ongoing high unemployment,” said Bradley Holcomb, chair of the ISM’s survey committee.
The report follows other indicators that show the economy is sputtering though still growing. Companies ordered more machinery, computers and other equipment in August, a government report last week showed.
Twelve of the 18 manufacturing industries tracked by the ISM reported growth in September. They include food and beverages; clothing; autos and other transportation equipment; and chemicals. Furniture, paper products, and electrical equipment were among those that contracted.
Construction spending rose 1.4 percent in August, the Commerce Department said. The increase followed a 1.4 percent drop in July, which had been the biggest setback in six months.
Analysts noted that much of the increase stemmed from a jump in spending on government projects, such as roads and schools. But with many states and cities short of cash, gains of that size aren’t expected to continue.
And private construction is still not healthy.
“The pickup in the pace of spending was … not a sign of revival in private demand,” said John Ryding, an economist at RDQ Economics, in a note to clients.
Building activity reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $799.1 billion. That’s 4.8 percent above an 11-year low hit in March. But it’s barely more than half the $1.5 trillion pace considered healthy.
The world is not an easy place in which to invest these days. To make any headway, investors must exhibit the patient determination of an explorer such as Marco Polo.
“There are really no bright spots, but you can find values,” asserted Daniel O’Keefe, lead portfolio manager of Artisan Global Value Investor Fund (ARTGX). “The greatest times to invest are during periods of greatest uncertainty, which, while not psychologically comfortable, is the way it works low interest rate personal loans.”
The current global environment should not alter anyone’s long-term investing strategy, O’Keefe said. Given current stock valuations and the cleaner balance sheets of most companies, over a reasonable period of time you are going to do well investing globally, he predicted.
“We own shares of two European banks
As the world commemorates the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, Sunday is doubly significant for Japan. It marks six months since the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, a date now seared in the national consciousness.
Up and down the hard-hit northeast coast, families and communities came together to remember victims. Monks chanted. Survivors prayed. Mothers hung colorful paper cranes for their lost children.
At precisely 2:46 p.m., they stopped and observed a minute of silence. March 11 changed everything for them and their country.
The magnitude-9.0 earthquake produced the sort of devastation Japan hadn’t seen since World War II. The tsunami that followed engulfed the northeast and wiped out entire towns. The waves inundated the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, triggering the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
Some 20,000 people are dead or missing. More than 800,000 homes were completely or partially destroyed. The disaster crippled businesses, roads and infrastructure. The Japanese Red Cross Society estimates that 400,000 people were displaced.
Half a year later, there are physical signs of progress.
Much of the debris has been cleared away or at least organized into big piles. In the port city of Kesennuma, many of the boats carried inland by the tsunami have been removed. Most evacuees have moved out of high school gyms and into temporary shelters or apartments.
The supply chain problems that led to critical parts shortages for Japan’s auto and electronics makers are nearly resolved. Industrial production has almost recovered to pre-quake levels.
But beyond the surface is anxiety and frustration among survivors facing an uncertain future. They are growing increasingly impatient with a government they describe as too slow and without direction.
Masayuki Komatsu, a fisherman in Kesennuma, wants to restart his abalone farming business.
But he worries about radiation in the sea from the still-leaking Fukushima plant and isn’t sure if his products will be safe enough to sell. He said officials are not providing adequate radiation information for local fisherman.
“I wonder if the government considers our horrible circumstances and the radiation concerns of people in my business,” said Komatsu, who also lost his home.
Another resident, 80-year-old Takashi Sugawara, lost his sister in the tsunami and now lives in temporary housing. He wants to rebuild his home but is stuck in limbo for the time being.
“My family is not very wealthy, and I only wish that the country would decide what to do about the area as soon as possible,” Sugawara said.
He might be waiting for a while. The Nikkei financial newspaper reported this week that many municipalities in the hardest-hit prefecture of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima have yet to draft reconstruction plans.
Of the 31 cities, towns and villages severely damaged by the disaster, just four have finalized their plans, the Nikkei said. The scale of the disaster, the national government’s slow response and quarrels among residents have delayed the rebuilding process.
The Red Cross also expressed frustration over the layers of bureaucracy that delayed distribution of assistance to victims.
“The speed and scope of implementing the response during the emergency phase was not as swift and comprehensive as (the Red Cross) wished, partly due to the structure of disaster management in Japan, partly because of insufficient preparedness,” it said in a six-month report.
Criticism of the government’s handling of the disaster and nuclear crisis led former Prime Minister Naoto Kan to resign. Former Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda took over nine days ago, becoming Japan’s sixth new prime minister in five years.
He spent much of Saturday visiting Miyage and Iwate prefectures, promising more funding to speed up recovery efforts and trying to shore up confidence in his administration.
But the trip was overshadowed later in the day by his first big political embarrassment. Noda’s new trade minister Yoshio Hachiro resigned, caving into intense pressure after calling the area around the nuclear plant “a town of death,” a comment seen as insensitive to nuclear evacuees.
Public support for the new government started out strong, with an approval rating of 62.8 percent in a Kyodo News poll released last Saturday. Hachiro’s resignation will likely translate into a drop and new doubts about Noda’s ability to lead.
On Sunday, he apologized for hurting the feelings of Fukushima residents.
“I continue to believe that without a revival in Fukushima, there will be no revival of Japan,” Noda said.
Regardless of politics, what’s clear is that the road ahead will be long.
“Given the enormous scale of the destruction and the massive area affected, this will be a long and complex recovery and reconstruction operation,” Tadateru Konoe, the Red Cross president, said in a statement. “It will take at least five years to rebuild, but healing the mental scars could take much longer.”
After more than a year, Peabody Energy’s dogged pursuit of a major Australian coal company now appears to have succeeded.
Spurning earlier offers from St. Louis-based Peabody, the board of directors at Macarthur Coal Ltd. announced this morning that it would recommend that shareholders accept a sweetened $5.2 billion bid from Peabody and its partner ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker.
The deal gives Peabody Energy Corp. and its minority partner control of the world’s biggest maker of pulverized coal used by steelmakers. It also expands Peabody’s coal output in Australia, the world’s largest coal-exporting nation.
“This is a major step forward in our acquisition process,” Peabody Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregory H. Boyce said in a press release. “We are pleased to have Macarthur, Peabody and ArcelorMittal moving forward together to urge shareholders to accept this attractive premium.”
Peabody, the biggest U.S. coal miner, and ArcelorMittal raised their bid to 16 Australian dollars a share from 15.50 Australian dollars, which now values the company at 4.8 billion Australian dollars, or $5.2 billion. The offer is 44 percent more than the stock’s close before the initial bid July 11.
The market for coking coal is increasingly lucrative. Credit Suisse Group AG in July raised its price forecasts for coking coal by an average 15 percent for 2014 to 2018, citing “unrelenting” demand. Prices rose 47 percent to a record $330 a ton for three-month contracts starting April 1 and have traded close to records.
The chase began on March 30, 2010, when the St. Louis-based coal company offered to buy the Australian company for $3 billion. Eventually, Peabody offered as much as $3.8 billion before it was turned away after a two-month pursuit.
However, Peabody was not to be deterred. Last month, the St. Louis-based company teamed up with ArcelorMittal, which owns 16 percent of Macarthur. The two companies, through a jointly owned venture, offered 15.50 Australian dollars for each Macarthur share.
When the board rejected that offer three weeks ago, the two companies threatened to take the offer directly to shareholders.
WHITE KNIGHT?
After receiving the Peabody-ArcelorMittal bid, Macarthur began talks with other possible suitors in the hopes of finding a white knight.
Macarthur’s board said it accepted the 16 Australian dollar offer in the absence of any competing bids that were superior.
“In the period since the initial offer, a number of parties have conducted due diligence,” the company said in the statement. “Although it remains possible that a superior proposal might be made, none have emerged to date, and there can be no assurances that any will emerge.”
Anglo American Plc is exploring a bid for Macarthur, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Teck Resources Ltd. and Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. may also be interested, the Australian Financial Review said in its Street Talk column last month, without citing anyone.
However, Macarthur’s shares rose to as much as 15.94 Australian dollars this morning, indicating investors don’t yet expect any counterbid.
Peabody and ArcelorMittal have the right to match any competing offer, and Macarthur faces a breakup fee of 48.3 million Australian dollars under the terms of the agreement.
The bid is being made through PEAMCoal Pty, a venture 60 percent owned by Peabody and 40 percent owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal.
The Peabody group’s bid for Macarthur will be the second-largest coal takeover this year, second only to Alpha Natural Resources Inc.’s $7.1 billion purchase of Massey Energy Co. in June. This year has yielded about 50 coal transactions globally, with a combined value of more than $20 billion.
Brown Shoe Co. is unloading the men’s basketball brand AND 1 from its portfolio about six months after the company procured it as part of the acquisition of American Sporting Goods.
The Clayton-based footwear company said today that it was selling the brand for $55 in cash to Galaxy International, a newly-formed brand management company. Brown Shoe said it would use the proceeds from the sale to pay down debt.
In February, Brown Shoe completed its $145 million acquisition of American Sporting Goods, which also includes the brands Avia and Ryka. The acquisition of the athletic shoe company was part of Brown Shoe’s strategy to increase its offerings in the active and healthy living category.
“AND 1 is a great brand with a strong heritage, however, it did not cleanly align with our strategy to focus on the key consumer platforms of healthy living, contemporary fashion and family,” Diane Sullivan, the company’s chief executive, said in a statement.
When Sullivan took over the reigns of the company as chief executive in May, she said one of her top priorities would be evaluating Brown Shoe’s portfolio of brands and divesting from those that don’t fit into its strategic focus in key categories fast cash. She said she will continue to review brands in the second half of this year.
The company also reported its earnings today for the second quarter. It had a net loss of $4.6 million, or 11 cents a share, compared to a profit of $5.3 million, or 12 cents a share, in the same period last year. The company blamed the drop in part on a more rapid-than-expected decline in toning footwear and to some continuing costs associated with the implementation of a new information technology system.
Net sales in the quarter rose 7.2 percent to $628 million, up from $586 million. The company attributed much of the gain to the increased sales from the American Sporting acquisition.
UPDATED: at 3:49 p.m. with more details.
ST. CHARLES
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