WASHINGTON (Reuters) &<51; Sales at United States retailers rose more than expected in November as consumers spent more on gasoline and a wide range of other goods, data showed on Friday, raising hopes of a self-sustaining economic recovery.

The Commerce Department said total retail sales increased 1.3 percent last month, the largest advance since August, after rising by a downwardly revised 1.1 percent in October. It was the second straight monthly gain. Sales in October were previously reported to have increased 1.4 percent.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales gaining 0.7 percent last month. Overall sales in November were helped by strong receipts from gasoline stations and increased purchases of motor vehicles and parts, building materials and electronic goods, among others. Gasoline sales surged 6 percent, the largest increase since June.

Compared with November last year, sales were up 1.9 percent, the first year-on-year gain since August 2008, a Commerce Department official said.

The data should help to ease concerns that the economy&S217;s recovery could falter because of lackluster consumer spending. The economy resumed growing in the third quarter, mostly because of government spending.

With the labor market starting to stabilize and household wealth rising, there is growing optimism that consumer spending will soon pick up.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, retail sales increased 1 free credit report online.2 percent in November, the largest increase since January, after being flat in October. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent increase.

Core retail sales excluding autos, gasoline and building materials rose 0.6 percent, advancing for a fifth straight month.

Sales of building materials climbed 1.5 percent last month, the biggest gain since April 2008, after falling 1.8 percent in October. Purchases of electronics and appliances jumped 2.8 percent, the largest increase since January. The strong report on retail sales came as the Labor Department reported a rise of 1.7 percent in import prices in November, their largest gain since June, driven higher by fuel costs.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a slimmer rise of 1 percent. October&S217;s gain was also revised up to 0.8 percent from the 0.7 percent previously reported.

Import prices have been steadily rising over the last year and have increased during eight of the last nine months, the Labor Department said. They also rose 3.7 percent from November 2008 in the first annual gain since the October 2007-2008 period.

Excluding petroleum, import prices were up a much slimmer 0.7 percent in November.

U.S. Retail Sales Exceed Forecasts

NANJING, China (Reuters) – The euro zone does not risk the sort of debt problems plaguing Dubai, senior European Union officials said on Sunday.

Dubai was forced to seek a debt standstill last week, rocking global markets and reviving concerns about the fiscal health of some euro zone members, notably Greece.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, said he saw no risk of such a default in the euro area.

European Central Bank Governor Jean-Claude Trichet "entirely" confirmed what Juncker said guaranteed online payday loans.

The two were speaking at a news conference after a day of talks with Premier Wen Jiabao and other senior Chinese officials.

(Reporting by Simon Rabinovitch and Chris Buckley; Writing by Alan Wheatley; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

Euro zone sees no default spillover from Dubai woes

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After Richard Handy of Fairfield received an e-mail from a conservative group calling Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed delay of Ohio's income tax cuts a "retroactive tax increase," Handy fired off a few passionate words to some state senators.

"I am absolutely against changing the rules in the middle of the game," wrote Handy in an Oct. 19 e-mail about Strickland's proposal to delay the final 4.2 percent reduction in income taxes to close an $850 million budget gap.

"I am sure the vast majority of Ohioans agree with me in opposing this idiotic proposal ... If Ohio needs more money, STOP SPENDING! That's what budgets are for."

An Associated Press public records request for constituent correspondence to legislative leaders on the tax proposal found that most was fueled by organized interests — the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity that opposed it, and school teachers and employees and mental health service providers that supported it.

Some Republicans have argued that because current law has the last tax cut in place and because withholding for the tax year has already started, Strickland's tax proposal is a tax increase.

But the relatively light feedback from constituents in comparison to other legislative issues, including the budget earlier this year, suggests that most Ohioans are not particularly inflamed by the tax talk.

Lawmakers considering what to do about the budget gap received both dry form letters distributed among like-minded individuals and more personal — and sometimes humorous — pleas.

"CUT SPENDING! That's what my husband and I are doing, that's what my neighbors are doing," wrote Alice Martin of Huron to Republican Senate President Bill Harris of Ashland on Oct. 20. "I'll bet your wife could explain it to you!"

Peg Carter fired off a few quick words when she was crunched for time.

"I don't have much time here at the library internet because I have ice cream in the car," Carter wrote guaranteed payday loans. "I do think that Ohioans who are still working, are able to accept a tax freeze — in light of your pay cuts — in order to provide help for those who have lost their jobs because of the economy."

The tax proposal approved by the Democratic-controlled House and pending in the Republican-controlled Senate includes a 5 percent pay cut for lawmakers.

Teachers and employees from several school districts used form letters, the most common e-mails sent to legislative leaders on the issue. Democratic lawmakers have said that delaying the tax reduction will protect school funding from both state and federal cuts, even naming the proposal the Education Funding Protection Act.

"My district cannot afford to lose state and federal funding," Debra McRoberts of Westerville told Harris in an Oct. 19 missive. "This will force our district to reduce learning opportunities for students and lead to further elimination of education employees."

The same letter was sent to Harris and House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, from school personnel in Mount Vernon, Perrysburg, Sunbury, Shelby, Mansfield and other towns.

Many e-mails sent to Republican leaders opposing the tax proposal called it a "retroactive tax increase," a description the Strickland administration said is inaccurate. Several constituents said they received an e-mail from Americans for Prosperity describing it as "retroactive."

The state constitution bans retroactive laws. And Ohio Department of Taxation spokesman John Kohlstrand noted that "retroactive" is a legal term. He said a retroactive tax hike would be, for example, if lawmakers changed the tax rate for the 2008 tax year after that year is over.

Proposed delay of Ohio tax cuts spurs e-mails

European markets were pushed higher by oil stocks Tuesday after BP&S217;s third-quarter results beat analysts&S217; expectations. Asian indexes closed lower, following losses on Wall Street the previous day amid fears that equities have become overvalued.

On Wall Street, stock futures were little changed ahead of Tuesday&S217;s opening as investors prepared for new reports on home prices and consumer confidence.

In afternoon European trading, Britain&S217;s FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent to 5,215.48, Germany&S217;s DAX added 0.2 percent to 5,655.26 and France&S217;s CAC 40 climbed 0.4 percent to 3,760.88.

Major Asian markets dropped by around 2 percent or more, with shares in resource companies hit after a steep fall in commodity prices.

In London, BP gained 4 percent after it reported a 34 percent fall in third-quarter profit to $5.3 billion, as oil and gas prices fell from record levels a year earlier.

The figure from Europe&S217;s second-largest oil company compared with an $8 billion profit in the third quarter of 2008, but was up from $4.4 billion in the second quarter and well ahead of analysts&S217; forecasts.

&S220;The fall in earnings was well trailed, but the numbers nonetheless have obliterated market forecasts, as evidenced by the spike in the share price in early trade,&S221; said Richard Hunter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.

Two other oil stocks, Total and Shell, added 2.1 percent and 1.4 percent respectively, partly offsetting weakness in financials.

In Asia, investors unloaded shares after American markets got pounded as the dollar strengthened and anxiety grew about the market overheating, given the troubles still facing major Western economies and a number of financial companies free instant credit reports.

Some analysts said the markets, up massively since March, could get more choppy even if they continued to advance.

&S220;The market has gotten high enough, so there&S217;s some profit-taking right now,&S221; said Francis Lun, general manager of Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong. &S220;The summer rally seems to be over, and I think we&S217;re facing a cold winter.&S221;

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index lost 1.5 percent to 10,212.46 points. Hong Kong&S217;s market, which was closed Monday, dropped 1.9 percent to 22,169.59.

China&S217;s Shanghai market led Asia&S217;s declines, tumbling 2.8 percent to 3,021.46. Australia&S217;s market lost 1.6 percent and India&S217;s Sensex was 2 percent lower.

South Korea&S217;s Kospi shed 0.5 percent to 1,649.53 a day after new figures showed the country&S217;s economy, Asia&S217;s fourth largest, expanded at its quickest pace in seven years in the last quarter.

Oil prices lingered below $79 a barrel Tuesday in Europe after three days of losses as investors eyed a volatile dollar. Benchmark crude for December delivery rose 28 cents to $78.96; the contract fell $1.82 overnight.

Oil Stocks Push European Markets Higher

A day after the Obama administration proclaimed significant progress in its effort to spare troubled homeowners from foreclosure, an oversight panel on Friday sharply criticized the program and declared it would leave millions of Americans vulnerable to losing their homes.

In a report mild in language but pointed in substance, the Congressional Oversight Panel &<51; a watchdog created last year to keep tabs on taxpayer bailout funds &<51; said the administration&S217;s program would, &S220;in the best case,&S221; prevent &S220;fewer than half of the predicted foreclosures.&S221;

The report rebuked the administration for failing to shape a program that addressed the most significant engines of the foreclosure crisis &<51; soaring joblessness and exotic mortgages with low introductory interest rates that give way to sharply higher payments over the next three years. Many of those mortgages are too large to qualify for modification under the administration&S217;s plan. People who lose their jobs often lack enough income to qualify for relief.

The administration&S217;s plan appears &S220;targeted at the housing crisis as it existed six months ago, rather than as it exists now,&S221; asserted the oversight panel in its report. &S220;The panel urges Treasury to reconsider the scope, scalability and permanence of the programs designed to minimize the economic impact of foreclosures and consider whether new programs or program enhancements could be adopted.&S221;

In a telephone briefing with reporters, the oversight panel&S217;s chairwoman, Elizabeth Warren, said the administration&S217;s housing program was so limited that it was unlikely to keep pace with the growing wave of foreclosures.

&S220;Even when Treasury&S217;s programs are running at full speed, foreclosures are estimated to outpace modifications by about two to one,&S221; Ms. Warren said. &S220;It simply isn&S217;t clear that the programs in place will do enough to tame the crisis and have a significant impact on the broader economy.&S221;

The Treasury acknowledged that its anti-foreclosure program was limited, with the effect of rising unemployment not fully checked. But the department said other relief efforts, like extended jobless benefits and continued health insurance for people who lose work, were better suited to alleviating economic distress than the housing program.

&S220;In developing this program, it was critical that we address challenges that could be solved quickly with the tools available to us to ensure the most effective use of taxpayer money,&S221; said Meg Reilly, a Treasury spokeswoman.

The administration&S217;s decision to limit the cost of its one program aimed at helping homeowners could become more contentious as the foreclosure crisis grinds on. Populist anger has flashed over the rescues of major institutions including Citigroup and the American International Group &<51; the most prominent components of a $700 billion taxpayer-financed bailout &<51; while homeowners struggle.

&S220;These Treasury people are all from Wall Street, and they&S217;re not doing anything but protecting Wall Street,&S221; said Melissa A. Huelsman, a Seattle lawyer who represents homeowners fighting foreclosure. &S220;They don&S217;t care in the least about protecting homeowners.&S221;

When the Obama administration began its $75 billion Making Home Affordable program in March, it said the plan would spare as many as four million households from foreclosure. On Thursday, Treasury announced that 500,000 homeowners had since had their payments lowered on a trial basis, celebrating this as a milestone.

But the report from the oversight panel directly challenged the administration&S217;s characterizations.

Most prominently, the panel had grave uncertainty about whether large numbers of the trial loan modifications &<51; which typically run for three months &<51; would successfully be converted to permanent terms easy fast payday loans.

As of the beginning of September, only 1.26 percent of trial modifications that had made it through the three-month trial period had become permanent, the report found. Of course, very few of those trial loans had reached their three-month expiration because the program only recently began processing large numbers of applications. As of Sept. 1, the Obama plan had produced 1,711 permanent loan modifications.

Some homeowners complain they have received trial modifications only to have them canceled for what seem dubious reasons &<51; checks sent but supposedly never received, documents once in the file but suddenly missing.

&S220;We&S217;re on the phone arguing with mortgage companies every day,&S221; said Dan Harris, chief executive of Home Retention Group, a company that negotiates with mortgage companies for loan modifications on behalf of homeowners, adding that trial modifications for four of his clients had been canceled over the last month. &S220;It&S217;s incredible.&S221;

Major mortgage companies say they have significantly increased staffing to better manage the flow of paperwork, while notifying customers of the need to send in fresh documents to make their trial modifications permanent. But the companies offer no assurances that a large number of trial modifications will indeed become permanent.

&S220;The process is too new,&S221; said Dan Frahm, a spokesman for Bank of America. &S220;We don&S217;t know the number.&S221; He estimated that 15 percent to half of all trial modifications would fail to become permanent.

The Treasury expressed hopes that a newly streamlined process that allowed borrowers to submit documents to mortgage companies more easily would help make large numbers of trial modifications permanent.

&S220;We are intent on working with servicers to ensure that eligible borrowers receive permanent modifications,&S221; said the department spokesperson, Ms. Reilly.

The oversight panel&S217;s report expressed chagrin that the vast majority of loan modifications did not lower loan balances, leaving many homeowners still &S220;under water,&S221; or owing more than their homes were worth.

This tends to lower all property values, the report noted, because underwater borrowers have less incentive to care for their homes, and greater reason to stop making payments and default.

An Obama administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing a lack of authorization to speak publicly, said the Treasury would have preferred that the program focused more on writing down principal balances but ultimately opted against it because &S220;that would make it significantly more expensive to the taxpayer.&S221;

In Wauwatosa, Wis., Theresa Lutz, 47, has been seeking to lower the payments on her home for several months. She is a graphic designer whose working hours were cut last summer. In September, her employer cut her salary by 6 percent. That has made it difficult for her to pay her monthly mortgage of $1,307.

As Ms. Lutz described it, her mortgage company, Wells Fargo, initially agreed to lower her payments. But then, last week, the bank informed her that she would have to come up with a fresh $3,000 to compensate the investor who owned her loan.

A Wells Fargo spokesman, Kevin Waetke, said that information had been conveyed &S220;in error&S221; and &S220;the customer has been notified that payment does not need to be made.&S221;

As Ms. Lutz struggled to clarify her agreement with Wells Fargo, she expressed dismay at news of the oversight panel&S217;s report, and its finding that not enough help seemed to be on the way.

&S220;It looks to me like Wall Street is too invested in our government,&S221; she said. &S220;Big business is winning out over the average person.&S221;

Panel Says Obama Plan Won’t Slow Foreclosures

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Dow and S&P 500 suffered their worst one-day fall in three months on Thursday after economic reports fueled fears about the recovery&&9;s strength.

The pullback occurred a day after stocks ended the third quarter with strong gains, with the Dow and S&P each up 15 percent from the previous quarter.

Cyclical stocks, which are sensitive to the economy&&9;s cycles, were among the worst performers, including technology and bank shares. The KWB bank index (.BKX) dropped 5 percent while an index of semiconductors (.SOXX) fell 4.8 percent. Airlines also fell sharply, with an airline index (.XAL) down 8.3 percent.

The Institute for Supply Management&&9;s index of national factory activity declined in September from August&&9;s reading, and although the latest reading still indicated growth, it was sharply below economists&&9; forecast in a Reuters poll.

Data on jobless claims also was worse than expected.

"There was disappointment from the ISM this morning. It missed expectations," said Mike O&&9;Rourke, chief market strategist at BTIG in New York.

"With the last quarter ending, a lot of people were holding stuff up for window dressing and now you&&9;re seeing profit-taking," he added. "We&&9;ve had a tremendous run up."

Analysts said the news added to anxiety ahead of Friday&&9;s September jobs report from the government, the month&&9;s biggest data release.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) tumbled 203.00 points, or 2.09 percent, to end at 9,509.28. The Standard & Poor&&9;s 500 Index ( make quick cash.SPX) slid 27.23 points, or 2.58 percent, to 1,029.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) lost 64.94 points, or 3.06 percent, to 2,057.48.

It was the third straight day of declines for stocks and the Nasday&&9;s worst fall since June 22, just before the market suffered a modest pullback.

All 30 Dow components finished in the red, with the Dow&&9;s biggest decliners including JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), down 5.6 percent at &&6;41.37, and Boeing Co (BA.N), down 3.8 percent at &&6;52.11.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) shares slipped 4.2 percent to &&6;16.21 after Chief Executive Ken Lewis said he was retiring after months of being dogged by a series of government investigations into the company&&9;s acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The company did not name a successor. The news was announced late on Wednesday.

Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar (CAT.N), down 3.7 percent at &&6;49.45, also ranked among the Dow&&9;s biggest decliners.

Among the Nasdaq&&9;s major losers were tech bellwethers Apple Inc (AAPL.O), down 2.4 percent at &&6;180.8599; Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O), down 5.1 percent at &&6;42.70 and Microsoft (MSFT.O), down 3.3 percent at &&6;24.88.

The ISM&&9;s manufacturing reading fell to 52.6, below economists&&9; forecast of 54.0, and August&&9;s 52.9.

The S&P 500, however, is still up 52.2 percent from its 12-year closing low on March 9.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

Wall Street marks worst day in 3 months as Q4 begins

LONDON (AFP) – London stocks retreated from previous gains on Wednesday while investors remained on tenterhooks before a US Federal Reserve interest rate call.

The FTSE 100 index of leading shares dropped 0.06 percent to 5,139.37 points.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was the most traded stock, seeing 164 million stocks switch owners, followed by telecom giant Vodafone which saw 134 million shares change hands.

Fashion label Burberry was the top blue-chip gainer, adding 25.9 pence -- or 5.43 percent -- to finish at 502.5, followed by Standard Chartered bank, which added 64 pence -- or 4.32 percent -- to end at 1544.

Shopping-centre owner Liberty International was under heavy selling pressure after announcing plans to sell shares for the second time in five months no fax payday loans. The company&&9;s shares slipped 57.0 pence -- or 10.1 percent -- to end at 507.

Real estate investment trust British Land was the second sharpest faller shedding 23.0 pence -- or 4.48 percent -- to close at 490.

Sterling edged higher against both the dollar and the euro.

The pound was worth 1.6391 dollars at 16:58 BST, up from 1.6359 at Tuesday&&9;s close, while it stood at 1.1120 euros, up from 1.1058 over the same period.

FTSE retreats from previous gains

WASHINGTON (AP) &<51; Federal regulators are proposing new rules intended to stem conflicts of interest and provide more transparency for Wall Street&S217;s credit rating industry, which was widely faulted for its role in the subprime mortgage debacle and the financial crisis.

The changes proposed Thursday by the Securities and Exchange Commission could reshape an industry dominated by three firms: Standard &&8; Poor&S217;s, Moody&S217;s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings allied insurance.

S.E.C. commissioners were also proposing a ban on &S220;flash orders&S221; &<51; a practice that gives some traders a split-second advantage in buying or selling stocks. The practice has become a hot-button issue in recent weeks amid questions about transparency and fairness on Wall Street.

Proposals Ban ‘Flash’ Trading and Limit Rating Firms

Investors pushed up stocks Thursday on Wall Street after a drop in weekly unemployment claims and an upbeat forecast from Procter &&8; Gamble.

The Labor Department&S217;s report that jobless claims fell more than expected to 550,000 last week provided a new dose of optimism about the economy and helped the stock market advance for a fifth straight day.

P.&&8;G.&S217;s prediction that sales will rebound this fall also improved the mood on Wall Street. The company&S217;s stock rose more than 4 percent.

Investors still found room for worry, however. The agricultural company Monsanto warned that its 2009 earnings would come in at the low end of its forecast and said it would cut more jobs than previously announced.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 80.26 points, or 0.8 perecnt, to 9,627.48.

The broader S.&&8;.P. 500-stock index gained 10 payday loan lenders.77 points, or 1 percent, to close at 1,044,14, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 23.63 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2084.02.

Overseas, Japan&S217;s Nikkei stock average rose 2 percent, Britain&S217;s FTSE 100 fell 0.3 percent, Germany&S217;s DAX index was up 0.4 percent, and France&S217;s CAC-40 was flat.

In other corporate news Thursday, Corning and General Mills both provided improved earnings outlooks.

Corning, a specialty glass maker, said it expected third-quarter sales volume to be higher than previously forecast. General Mills said its fiscal first-quarter earnings per share topped the food maker&S217;s expectations, helped by margin improvement and growth of its food brands.

U.S. Stocks Rise After Jobs Report

SAN DIEGO &<51; The inside of computers has been Intel&S217;s territory, as the world&S217;s biggest maker of microprocessors reminds consumers with its &S220;Intel Inside&S221; campaign.

The cellphone&S217;s guts have been the domain of Qualcomm. As the cellphone becomes more like a computer and the computer more like a cellphone, it was inevitable that the two chip makers would clash.

Intel wants to get inside smartphones, and Qualcomm, one of the largest suppliers of chips for wireless phones, wants to get into small notebook computers.

&S220;Intel is trying to come down from the computer and bring their software ecosystem along,&S221; said Qualcomm&S217;s chief executive, Paul E. Jacobs. &S220;We&S217;re trying to go up from the phone and build the software ecosystem.&S221;

Qualcomm, which sells about 22 percent of all chips used in wireless devices including the iPhone, BlackBerry Storm and T-Mobile G1, believes it has never been better situated in its 24-year history to break into the market for computing devices.

PCs are evolving into tablet PCs and small laptops, essentially big smartphones that are always on, always connected to the Internet, with all-day battery life &<51; in short, very much like a large iPhone or BlackBerry. Qualcomm calls these devices smartbooks because the design resembles a large smartphone.

Mr. Jacobs sees his company at the center of an industry that is driving the most cutting-edge innovations, as seen in devices like the iPhone and BlackBerry Storm.

&S220;That energy is now coming out of the phone industry,&S221; Mr. Jacobs said. &S220;The PC became so standardized that the degree of innovation was not the same as what you see in the phone space.&S221;

Intel, whose revenue is approximately triple Qualcomm&S217;s, disagrees. &S220;As mobile devices become smarter with PC-like performance, computer and Internet capabilities, this is Intel&S217;s strength,&S221; an Intel spokeswoman, Suzy Ramirez, said.

Qualcomm is counting on its Snapdragon chip to power these devices. Developed by a team of former I.B.M. engineers who worked on the PowerPC microprocessor, it is the first chip of its kind to reach a speed of 1 gigahertz, a significant milestone for ARM, a processor design renowned for using so little power the device&S217;s battery can last all day.

Snapdragon is already being used by Toshiba in its ultra-thin TG01 smartphone that is being sold in Europe. More devices using Snapdragon are expected later this year, Mr free business cards. Jacobs says.

Hardware alone will not win the battle, however. Qualcomm has been working with Google, which developed the Android operating system for cellphones. The fruit of this partnership was T-Mobile&S217;s G1 phone, the first smartphone using Android and a Qualcomm chip.

&S220;There was a lot engineering back and forth,&S221; Mr. Jacobs said. &S220;The thing that we&S217;re doing now is helping them scale. Because they have a relatively small team focused on evolving the operating system.&S221;

What may prove more significant than Android is software that Google will bring out next year: the Chrome operating system, which is intended for larger, computerlike devices to challenge laptops running Windows.

Qualcomm is betting that Google becomes a major operating software company.

&S220;They&S217;re onto what the future of computing is,&S221; said Bill Davidson, Qualcomm&S217;s senior vice president for global marketing and investor relations. &S220;It&S217;s about taking advantage of the computational power that already exists within the Internet.&S221;

He went on: &S220;The whole push for Chrome is to have the much thinner, lighter, smaller client so that you don&S217;t need as much memory to run this big honking OS,&S221; he said, referring to Microsoft&S217;s Windows operating software.

The Qualcomm chip will be designed to work with Chrome to move some of the computing functions off the device to fast computers based in data centers, a model the industry calls cloud computing.

&S220;I think a hybrid model is the model that will work best, where there are certain applications that are downloaded on the device and they live there,&S221; Mr. Jacobs said. &S220;And other ones that are coming up and down through the cloud. We&S217;ll support both.&S221;

It is not going to be a cakewalk to displace the most potent partnership &<51; Microsoft and Intel &<51; in the history of the personal computer.

&S220;One of the key issues is brand,&S221; said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for compute platforms research, at the market researcher iSuppli. &S220;Google Chrome OS, Android and ARM are not traditionally seen in PC retail stores. Therefore they will be competing against established and recognized brands: Intel, Microsoft and Windows.&S221;

Intel and Qualcomm Eye Each Other’s Terrain

Commercial lenders long for the days of &S220;3-6-3&S221;. That&S217;s when bankers could borrow at 3 percent, lend at 6 percent and tee off on the golf course by 3 p.m. Now banks are trying to return to this pleasingly simple business model. Their first-half results show how hard it is.

British lenders, for instance. All of their net interest margins &<51; the difference between what they pay for funds and what they earn on loans &<51; slumped in the first half of 2009. The country&S217;s biggest bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, reported its net interest margin dropped from 2.1 percentage points to 1.7.

But it&S217;s not just a British problem. While the net interest margins of several large United States lenders improved slightly in the second quarter, a number of smaller banks, like United Western Bancorp and Pacific State Bancorp, experienced sharp year-over-year declines. Even Asian lenders like the Industrial Commercial Bank of China reported falling net interest margins.

The problem lies with low official interest rates. This hits banks&S217; liability spreads, the margin between base rates and the interest they pay on customer deposits. During the boom, liability spreads were where banks made their money. In Britain, base rates were about 4 percent and depositors received tiny returns, typically less than 0.5 percent. In the United States, the federal funds rate was 5.25 percent in 2006, while depositors earned about 2 percent.

On the other side of the balance sheet, boom-time margins on lending were held back by competition. The so-called asset spread, the margin between base rate and the rate charged on customer borrowing, was thin. In other words, 3-6-3 looked more like 0-5-3.

Now the opposite is true. Banks cannot cut deposit interest rates below zero, so plunging base rates have savaged liability spreads. True, lenders are repricing loans upward to account for the real risks of lending. But demand for credit is subdued.

This won&S217;t stay the same forever. Rising base rates will restore spreads on customer deposits, and asset spreads should stay high. But pressure from regulators to replace hot wholesale financing with more stable deposits will mean banks have to offer higher interest rates. Competition could erode the benefit of wider liability spreads. A return to the world of &S220;3-6-3&S221; could be some way off.

Fantastic Skeptics

Walt Disney has long inspired impressionable youngsters no fax cash advance. The entertainment company may now give some imaginative ideas to acquisitive chief executives. It didn&S217;t take any Spidey sense to think that the superhero creator Marvel would make a good fit with the Magic Kingdom. But the purchase&S217;s very logic just might spawn imitators.

The credit crisis has left the mergers and acquisitions market a wasteland, inhabited almost entirely by defensive and desperate deals. Even leftovers from better times, like Volkswagen&S217;s long courtship of Porsche, have failed to prevent merger activity from declining to almost Lilliputian dimensions.

The $4 billion Marvel purchase, along with the $5.5 billion oil industry purchase of BJ Services by Baker Hughes announced on the same day, suggests some rain may be falling in the deal makers&S217; desert as confidence in the equity and credit markets reaches boardrooms. True, three years ago, both transactions would have been dwarfed by bigger leveraged buyouts. But they rank in this year&S217;s top 10.

Stronger financial markets are apt to make other sellers feel more Hulkish and buyers less mousy. In a wobbly economy, companies may think about buying growth through acquisition. And with the Standard &&8; Poor&S217;s 500 index trading at a healthy 19 times estimated earnings, takeover targets may find the premiums on offer quite palatable.

When deal-making picks up, the first transactions are usually bargains. But the market recovery was too sharp for that. So it looks like the ride has sped on to sensible, if expensive, purchases. The Marvel acquisition requires something close to heroic profits to pay off for Disney&S217;s owners.

Disney investors didn&S217;t get caught up in the action &<51; they sold. The share price decline may be healthy. When merger momentum really gets going, companies splash out for takeovers that make little sense to anyone except the investment bankers involved. If Disney&S217;s deal confidence spreads, so too should shareholder skepticism. Otherwise fantasy figures could wind up costing real money.

GEORGE HAY and JEFFREY GOLDFARB

For more independent financial commentary and analysis, visit www.breakingviews.com.

Breakingviews.com: Thin Rate Spread Par for the Course

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc&&9;s (AAPL.O) board plans to meet next Tuesday and discuss potential replacements for Google Inc (GOOG.O) Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, who stepped down from the board earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Schmidt&&9;s departure had been expected by many analysts as Apple and Google began to increasingly compete against each other in areas such as smartphones and computer operating systems.

According to corporate governance guidelines posted on Apple&&9;s Web site, the company&&9;s directors meet at least four times a year.

Apple&&9;s board currently has seven members, of which only one, Chief Executive Steve Jobs, is an officer of the company.

Some analysts believe the company may move to name Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook to the board. Cook oversaw day-to-day operations for Apple while Jobs was on medical leave.

The other Apple board members are J. Crew CEO Millard Drexler, Intuit Chairman Bill Campbell, Harwinton Capital CEO Jerry York, Avon Products CEO Andrea Jung, former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson and Former Vice President Al Gore.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway)

Apple board to discuss Schmidt replacement: report

THESE days, dealing with medical bills and insurance claims makes April 15 look easy. The medical jargon and inscrutable coding on invoices and explanations of benefits are indecipherable for most lay people. Worse, seriously ill patients may simply be too sick or too broke to deal with the mountains of red tape. That can lead to unpaid medical debts and even bankruptcy.

It&S217;s no wonder that a cottage industry has sprung up to fill this void. Known as medical billing advocates, these middlemen and women help patients deal with the paperwork and haggling often associated with medical costs.

In general, medical billing advocates help you find errors in your bills, negotiate with your insurer to appeal coverage denials, or negotiate lower fees with your medical care providers. Some advocates do all three tasks equally well. But others, because of their training or background, may specialize in one area or another.

Still others give the client the ammunition he or she needs to negotiate. That&S217;s what happened to Susan Redstone, a freelance fashion stylist and author. When she broke her back in a horseback riding accident last summer, she held only a bare-bones insurance policy. So Ms. Redstone, who has since recovered, knew that she would be responsible for the bulk of her medical expenses.

Five months after the accident, just when she thought she had paid everything off, she got a bill for $16,000 from the helicopter ambulance service that ferried her from the remote location in Colorado where the accident occurred to a large medical facility 75 miles away. &S220;I was completely taken by surprise to get this bill so long after the accident happened,&S221; Ms. Redstone said.

She consulted with Victoria Caras, a medical advocate in Aspen, Colo., who coached her on how best to approach the medical transportation company to lower her bill. With Ms. Caras&S217;s advice, Ms. Redstone was able to negotiate a 25 percent discount in exchange for paying the bill in full.

Medical advocates are costly, often charging 30 percent of whatever costs they recover or an hourly fee of $100 or more, depending on the type of work they are doing for you. (The initial consultation with a medical advocate should be free. After that, fees should be spelled out in a formal contract.)

The high charges can certainly be worth the expertise an advocate can bring to a medical billing quagmire. But because the profession is so new, there are no degree or certification programs in place. &S220;Anyone can hang out a shingle in this business,&S221; says Kevin Flynn, a health care advocate in Philadelphia who is working with the University of Miami to start an online education and certification program. Thus, he adds, it&S217;s important to choose your advocate as carefully as you choose your doctor.

The Medical Billing Advocates of America does list advocates in various states and by specialties on its Web site at http://www.billadvocates.com, but an advocate is listed only if he or she has completed &<51; and paid for &<51; courses sponsored by the organization.

For now, recommendations from family, friends and, in some cases, your doctor or other health care provider are the best way to get started. Most important, says Mr. Flynn, is to find an advocate with a strong background in the type of problem you&S217;re facing. Here are some things to keep in mind when looking for a medical advocate: BILLING ERRORS According to some surveys, as many as 9 out of 10 bills from hospitals and medical providers include errors, according to the Medical Billing Advocates of America. Often these errors have to do with billing for services that were not provided. Lin Osborn, a medical advocate in Westchester County, N.Y., says she has seen several cases in which patients were charged a separate fee for closing a surgical incision. That practice, says Ms. Osborn, is a clear violation of government Medicaid and Medicare guidelines; it should be included in the fee for surgery credit report.

Or, Ms. Osborne adds, someone may be charged for an expensive &S220;level 4&S221; pathology report when they received a less comprehensive and less costly &S220;level 2&S221; report. &S220;This kind of thing happens all the time,&S221; said Ms. Osborne. &S220;But if you don&S217;t know how to read the codes and ask the right questions, you might never know you&S217;re paying too much.&S221;

Then there are the well-publicized overcharges like $11 for a box of tissues, itemized as &S220;a disposable mucus recovery system&S221; or a $15 bag of ice listed as &S220;thermal therapy.&S221;

Medical advocates can wade through these charges, point out the absurdities and negotiate more realistic rates. Finding billing overcharges and errors like these can be especially helpful for uninsured or underinsured patients who are paying these expenses out of pocket.

If you think you&S217;re being overcharged, look for an advocate who has worked previously in a hospital or medical provider&S217;s billing office. He or she will be familiar with some of these tricks and will also understand the hieroglyphics on your bills and explanations of benefits.

Ask the advocate you are considering if he or she is familiar with diagnostic codes. Many professionals supplement their previous knowledge with courses specifically designed to learn the medical coding process. They may even earn a designation as a certified professional coder, or C.P.C.

DENIAL OF COVERAGE If your claims have been denied for whatever reason, you have the right to appeal that decision. But you&S217;ll soon learn that the appeals process is complicated, frustrating and time-consuming, especially if you&S217;re trying to fight while you&S217;re sick. &S220;An outsider can take the emotion out of the argument and speak the insurer&S217;s language. We&S217;re not intimidated,&S221; says Ms. Caras, the Colorado advocate.

Judy Medeiros, a health care advocate in Stanfordville, N.Y., recently talked with a client who had knee-replacement surgery. During his recovery, he started receiving bills from physicians other than the surgeon who treated him during his hospital stay. Coverage for those fees was denied because the insurer claimed these doctors were not part of the patient&S217;s network.

In cases like this, Ms. Medeiros and other advocates handle the appeal and negotiate with the insurance company to get the fees covered, hopefully in full, or at least partly under the insurer&S217;s out-of-network coverage.

If you need help handling a dispute with your insurance company, advocates who have a background in insurance claims departments or lawyers with a strong health care background often have the skills you&S217;re looking for. Be sure to ask for several references of previous clients with cases where the advocate has successfully negotiated with an insurance company.

NEGOTIATING FEES Unfortunately, appeals may be denied and the patient may remain responsible for the bill. Or, a patient may already realize that his or her insurance policy, or the lack thereof, won&S217;t cover certain medical expenses. In these cases, a medical advocate can often help reduce your out-of-pocket costs by negotiating lower rates directly with your medical care provider.

Doctors and other providers often accept much less in fees from insurance companies than they charge individuals. Advocates try to get providers to charge individuals the same rate they would charge someone with group coverage, and in many cases they will also negotiate a payment plan over several months on a client&S217;s behalf.

Again, an advocate with a strong health care background and a long history of successful negotiations is your best bet in these situations.

Patient Money: A Guide Through a Medical Wilderness

An unexpectedly large increase in new home sales gave Wall Street a shot in the arm early Monday, but the effect lasted only for a few minutes. Shares fell back after jumping briefly into positive territory on the report. The Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes rose 11 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted rate of 384,000, a sharper increase than the 3 percent rise economists had been expecting. Sale prices fell for another month, to a nationwide median of $206,200, the government reported.

But the home sales report was not enough to blunt investor concerns over earnings reports coming out Monday.

At 11:50 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 16 points, or 0.2 percent, while the broader Standard &&8; Poor&S217;s 500-stock index and the Nasdaq were essentually flat.

On Friday, the Standard &&8; Poor&S217;s 500 index rose 0.3 percent, but the Nasdaq broke its string of 12 consecutive higher closes.

Earnings reports on Monday offered a mixed picture to investors. Shares of Aetna fell after the health-insurance company reported a 28 percent decline in profits and reduced its outlook. Verizon Communications reported a 7 percent drop in profit, yet its results met Wall Street expectations. Verizon, however, continues to struggle with the loss of landline customers and said that it planned to cut another 8,000 jobs.

In Europe, the major markets were slightly, following another day of strong performances on Asian markets. In afternoon trading, the DJ Euro Stoxx-50 index, a barometer of euro-zone blue chips, rose 0.72 percent, giving the index a gain for the year of 6.28 percent. The CAC-40 in Paris was rose 0.18 percent, and the DAX in Frankfurt was up 0.42 percent.

The FTSE-100 index in London ended 0.21 percent higher, as Ryanair weighed on European airline shares. The Irish carrier beat the market&S217;s second-quarter profit expectations, but it warned that demand was falling, and it cut its full-year guidance. Its shares fell 9.2 percent in London. British Airways fell 2.9 percent, while Air France-KLM fell 1.9 percent in Paris.

Shares in most major markets have rallied on the last two weeks, primarily fueled by a renewed sense of optimism that the economy has bottomed out and on better-than-expected earnings in the United States.

Earlier in Tokyo, the Nikkei rose 1.5 percent to close at 10,088, its highest level in six weeks. It was also the ninth consecutive session of gains for the Nikkei, which is up 12 percent in July and 40 percent since March. The compiler of the Nikkei index reported that it was the best run for the Nikkei in more than 20 years. In February 1988, it recorded 13 consecutive sessions of advances.

Financial analysts typically do not put much stock in round-numbered index levels, and there was clearly some skepticism about the &S220;breakthrough&S221; performances on Monday, especially that of the Nikkei. Several analysts said the index could be overheating.

&S220;Japan is a very, very strange market, and there are a host of reasons to remain very negative on Japan,&S221; said Stephen Davies, chief executive of Javelin Wealth management in Singapore.

Mr. Davies cited three worrisome factors &<51; the negative impact of a relatively strong yen on Japanese exporters, depressed domestic consumption and what he called &S220;political paralysis cash till payday advance.&S221;

&S220;Japan remains,&S221; he said, &S220;a relatively moribund market and a relatively moribund economy.&S221;

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index finished the day up 1.4 percent, closing at 20,251.62, buoyed in part by China Mobile, which jumped 2.9 percent on speculation that it could soon be allowed to sell shares in mainland China.

Three apparel makers posted significant gains on expectations of renewed strength in the Chinese economy. Bossini rose 11 percent and Giordano, both based in Hong Kong, rose 10.1 percent. Li Ning, the Beijing-based maker of athletic shoes and sports clothing, rose 5.7 percent.

The Shanghai Composite also finished up 1.9 percent to reach a 13-month high. The index is up 87 percent this year, the second-best market performance in the world, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of 89 indexes. Only Peru has done better.

The first public offering on the Shanghai exchange since last August created a sensation, with shares of Sichuan Expressway nearly tripling on Monday. Shares in the toll-road operator closed at 10.90 renminbi, or $1.60, a jump of 203 percent. The initial offering price had been 3.60 renminbi. At one point in the afternoon the share price had zoomed to 15.25 renminbi, which triggered a trading halt, one of two suspensions during the day.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Singapore index was up 1.8 percent, the Kospi in Seoul was 1.4 percent higher &<51; reaching an 11-month high &<51; and the ASX-200 in Sydney registered a 1.2 percent gain to close at its highest level since Nov. 4.

&S220;The markets are still very volatile, and a couple bad numbers could certainly create a pause for reflection,&S221; said Mr. Davies. &S220;But I don&S217;t think we&S217;re in the position of re-testing the March lows.&S221;

Financial stocks led the way Monday in Tokyo, notably Daiwa Securities, up 4.5 percent, and Nomura Holdings, Japan&S217;s largest brokerage, which was 3.1 percent higher. Nidec, a maker of motors for disk drives, rose 3.5 percent.

Hitachi climbed 3.4 percent after the Nikkei business daily reported that the company firm would spend $3.2 billion to acquire five key affiliates in a broad-ranging corporate reorganization. Shares of Hitachi and the five subsidiaries were temporarily suspended from trading in the morning.

Macao casino stocks showed strong gains on the Hang Seng, notably Galaxy Entertainment, which was up 3.5 percent, and SJM Holdings, which rose 2.8 percent.

Stanley Ho, the SJM founder, is a strong backer of Fernando Chui, who was elected Sunday as the new chief executive of the Chinese territory. His pro-Beijing leanings are expected to bolster the gaming industry in Macao.

Crude oil prices were down slightly, 10 cents a barrel to $67.95 a barrel.

Bond prices fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury, which moves in the opposite direction of the price, gaining three-hundredths of a point to 3.69 percent.

David Jolly and Mark McDonald contributed reporting.

Shares Slide After Brief Bounce on Home Sales Data

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. small businesses say they feel slighted by the Obama administration and efforts to shore up the economy, with large companies taking much of the government&&9;s attention and stimulus cash.

The government decision last week against bailing out small business lender CIT Group raised fears of thousands of companies left without funding for day-to-day operations, and the lack of support showed big corporations can get bailout cash but small business interests are less pressing, some say.

With only some potential relief buried in the healthcare reform proposals in Congress, small businesses feel pushed aside in the stimulus and recovery efforts, they say.

"There has been nothing really in all the stimulus package that has really helped small business in general," said Kelli Glasser, president of Exhibit Concepts in Dayton, Ohio, whose 87 employees build trade show and museum exhibits.

"Most of the help has been in the form of supporting loans, but we&&9;re not looking for loans right now," she said. "We&&9;re not looking to heavily invest in equipment. We&&9;re just trying to keep our doors open."

Small business is not that small, representing 99.7 percent of all U.S. employer firms.

The U.S. Small Business Administration got &&6;730 million this year to recharge the small business lending market, nearly doubling its budget. However, some say the package was not well structured and dwarfed by the &&6;180 billion the government committed to save insurer American International Group.

&&9;HAVING A TOUGH TIME&&9;

"Only &&6;730 million going to the SBA didn&&9;t really help the small business owners," said James Tracy, president of America&&9;s Best Companies in Illinois, which represents small businesses nationwide.

"Small business owners are having a tough time financing themselves today because I believe that the stimulus plan should have allowed for more loans to small business owners," he said.

A &&6;15 billion administration plan to buy small business loans for resale on the secondary lending market has not taken effect, in part because market activity picked up after the plan was announced in March, the administration says.

The Obama administration wants small businesses to come out ahead in the reform effort, said Melody Barnes, a domestic policy advisor at the White House no teletrack payday loans.

"We absolutely want to make sure that small business owners and small business can continue to thrive," she said in an interview with Reuters Television.

But applying for a small business loan can be more trouble than it&&9;s worth, said Joe Olivo, owner of Perfect Printing in Moorestown, New Jersey, who said his bank advised against it.

"The paperwork was so onerous that my bank told me it was not worth my effort to try and get that money," Olivo said.

PROPOSED INSURANCE EXCHANGE

Where small businesses may benefit is in healthcare reform being considered in the House of Representatives, specifically a proposed insurance exchange through which businesses and individuals could shop for policies.

Small businesses have seen insurance premiums more than double in the last decade. Many Americans who lack insurance work for smaller firms that do not provide the benefit.

Small businessman Chris Link, who co-runs a promotional marketing distributorship in Nashville, said he is encouraged by the healthcare reform efforts.

"I am very impressed that the administration keeps pushing the matter," he said. "I know it is not easy, but it is not an option staying where we are."

In the proposed insurance exchange, businesses with 10 or fewer employees would have access in the first year. That would broaden to businesses with up to 20 workers in the second year, with a promise larger employers would gain access over time.

Those restrictions, plus mandates forcing businesses to provide health insurance or pay an 8 percent payroll fee, nevertheless make some small companies angry.

"We are irate," said Amanda Austin of the National Federal of Independent Business, which says the mandates would drive firms out of businesses. "Talk about an overreach."

Terry Gardiner of the Small Business Majority advocacy group advised patience. "It is way too early in the game to throw in the towel and oppose healthcare reform," he said.

Small business seeks help in U.S. economic storm