The Toronto stock market is negative after elections in France and Greece over the weekend resulted in another round of uncertainty about Europe
Dole Food Co.’s fresh vegetables division is recalling 756 cases of bagged salad, because they could be contaminated with salmonella.
The bags of Seven Lettuces salads were distributed in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The company said the bags are being recalled, because a random sample tested by the State of New York came back positive for Salmonella. No other Dole salads are included in the recall.
The recalled salads are stamped with a use-by date of April 11, 2012, UPC code 71430 01057 and product codes 0577N089112A and 0577N089112B, the company said.
The product code and use-by date are located in the upper right-hand corner of the package, while the UPC code is on the back of the package, below the barcode fast payday loans.
Dole said that it’s coordinating with regulatory officials and that no illnesses have been reported.
Consumers should throw out the recalled salads. Dole said it’s also contacting retailers to make sure the bags in question are not available for sale.
The most common symptoms of salmonella are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within eight to 72 hours of eating the contaminated food. The illness can be severe or even life-threatening for infants, older people, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.
Payrolls rose far less than expected in March, keeping the door open for further monetary policy support from the Federal Reserve, even as the unemployment rate fell to a three-year low of 8.2 percent.
Employers added 120,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, the smallest increase since October. Economists polled by Reuters had expected nonfarm employment to increase 203,000 and the jobless rate to hold at 8.3 percent.
The weak employment growth last month likely reflected the fading boost from unseasonably warm winter weather. The payrolls count for January and February was revised to show just 4,000 more jobs created than previously reported.
The drop in the unemployment rate, to the lowest level since January 2009, reflected a drop in the labor force. The separate household survey, from which the jobless rate is derived also showed a drop in employment.
The weak employment gains could hurt President Barack Obama’s chances for re-election in November. The unemployment rate has fallen from 9.1 percent in August.
The painfully slow recovery in the labor market is a concern for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who is keeping open the option of further monetary policy support for the economy if the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high pay day loans.
Minutes of the Fed’s March policy meeting released this week showed policymakers seeing a broadening of the economic recovery, leaving them slightly less inclined to launch a third round of bond purchases, known as quantitative easing, to spur growth.
The private sector added 121,000 new positions in March, while government employment edged down 1,000.
Manufacturing enjoyed another month of strong job gains, with factories adding 37,000 new positions, helped by carmakers trying to meet pent-up demand for motor vehicles. Factory jobs increased by 31,000 in February.
Construction hiring fell 7,000, the second straight monthly decline. In the huge service sector, gains were in healthcare, professional and business services categories. Temporary help fell 7,500 after rising 54,900 in February.
Despite the weak employment gains last month, average hourly earnings rose 5 cents.
The workweek dipped to 34.5 hours from 34.6 hours in February.
The head of the International Monetary Fund says she wants the fund to contribute euro28 billion ($36.7 billion) to a euro130 billion bailout for Greece.
Christine Lagarde said Friday that “the scale and length of the fund’s support is a reflection of our determination to remain engaged” in helping Greece.
The euro28 billion likely includes euro10 billion left over from the IMF’s contribution to Greece’s first euro110 billion bailout.
Lagarde said the IMF’s executive board would decide on the final contribution next week.
Debt-ridden Greece needs the bailout to avoid a disorderly default that could destabilize the rest of Europe.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ Greece’s private creditors agreed Friday to take cents on the euro in the biggest debt writedown in history, paving the way for an enormous second bailout for the country to keep Europe’s economy from being dragged further into chaos.
Greece would have risked defaulting on its debts in two weeks without the agreement, sparking turmoil in the financial markets and sending shock waves through the other 16 countries that use the euro.
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos called the deal _ which shaves some euro105 billion ($138 billion) off Greece’s euro368 billion ($487 billion) debt load _ an important “historic success” in a televised address to the nation Friday night. “For the first time, Greece is not adding but taking debt off the backs of its citizens.”
The country said 83.5 percent of private investors holding its government debt had agreed to a bond swap, taking a cut of more than half the face value of their investments as well as accepting softer repayment terms for Greece.
The radical swap aimed to put the country’s debt-ridden economy on the road to recovery, and was a key condition to secure a euro130 billion ($172 billion) rescue package from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.
Charles Dallara, the managing director of the Institute of International Finance, which negotiated the deal with the Greek government on large investors’ behalf, described the bond swap as “the largest ever” restructuring.
“This has been painful and the pain is not over yet. But I now can see light at the end of the tunnel for the Greek economy,” Dallara told Greece’s Mega television. He estimated Greece could return to the markets “within a few years” and said that if recovery continues, “I think the risk for Greece and the risk on the eurozone will be very manageable.”
Of the investors holding the euro177 billion ($234 billion) in bonds governed by Greek law, 85.8 percent joined. The deadline for those owning foreign-law bonds was extended to March 23.
Creditors holding Greek-law bonds who refused to sign up will be forced into the deal _ breaking a taboo that the eurozone had upheld until just weeks ago.
The decision to force losses on some bondholders means that the debt relief will trigger payouts of so-called credit default swaps, a type of insurance on bonds.
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the private organization that rules on such cases, said its committee “resolved unanimously that a Restructuring Credit Event has occurred.”
When the debt relief plan was first announced last year, eurozone leaders and the European Central Bank worked hard to avoid a credit event because they feared the payout of credit default swaps could destabilize big financial institutions that sold them.
But since then, that prospect has started to look less threatening. The ISDA said that if triggered, overall payouts will be significantly below the $3.2 billion in net outstanding CDS contracts linked to Greece. The exact level of payouts will be determined on March 19.
“We do not foresee a significant impact of the Greek credit event on financial markets,” ISDA CEO Robert Pickel said.
The Fitch ratings agency downgraded Greece to “restricted default” over the bond swap _ a move that had been expected. Fitch was the third agency to downgrade Greece into default, after Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. The agencies are expected to raise the country’s credit rating after the completion of the swap.
Earlier Friday, finance ministers from the 17-nation eurozone said Greece had fulfilled the conditions to get approval for the bailout next week. The IMF has set a tentative date of March 15 to discuss the size of its own participation.
The ministers also released up to euro35.5 billion ($47 billion) in bailout money to fund the debt swap. Investors exchanging bonds will receive up to euro30 billion _ or 15 percent of the remaining money they are owed _ as a sweetener for the deal and euro5.5 billion for outstanding interest payments.
European leaders hailed the deal as a seminal moment in their effort to stem the crisis and get Greece on its feet.
“The page of the financial crisis is being turned,” said French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
And Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told Parliament Friday: “I believe everyone will soon realize that this is the only way to keep the country on its feet and give it a second historic chance that it needs.”
“A window of opportunity is opening” to reduce the country’s euro368 billion debt by euro105 billion, or about 50 percentage points of gross domestic product, he said.
However, some economists are concerned that Greece is merely buying time. The breather allows European governments and banks to strengthen their financial defenses, leaving them less vulnerable if Greece eventually cracks.
The deal and expected bailout do “more to protect Europe from Greece than for Greece itself,” said Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Europe also has to contend with spiraling debt problems of Spain, Portugal and Ireland and Italy.
Markets, which had rallied on Thursday on expectations of a successful deal, were muted on Friday. The Stoxx 50 of leading European shares was up 0.6 percent, but the main stock index in Athens closed down 2.15 percent. The euro retreated 1.19 percent from recent highs to $1.3110.
On the streets of Athens, however, many were skeptical about the deal and pessimistic about the future. Panayiotis Theodoropoulos said the writedown was good “for them.”
“For us? Nothing. Everyone looks out for themselves. In a while the people will be living on the streets,” he said.
The debt crisis, sparked by years of overspending and waste, has left Greece relying on funds from international rescue loans since May 2010. Austerity measures including repeated salary and pension cuts and tax hikes have led to record unemployment with more than 1 million people out of work, a fifth of the labor force.
The country released statistics Friday showing the recession in the last quarter of 2011 was deeper than initially forecast, reaching 7.5 percent instead of 7 percent. The economy is expected to shrink for a fifth straight year in 2012, stagnate in 2013 and modestly expand in 2014.
____
Gabriele Steinhauser reported from Brussels. Nicholas Paphitis, Derek Gatopoulos, and Demetris Nellas in Athens and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
The nationwide average for gasoline prices hovered just above $3.74 a gallon Friday, according to the motorist group AAA.
The average price of regular unleaded gasoline ticked up three-tenths of a cent in the latest 24-hour period, marking the 24th straight increase, AAA said. A month ago, the nationwide average was $3.45 a gallon.
Gas prices are up about 14% so far in 2012. The average price is down 37.3 cents, or about 9%, from the record high of $4.11 on July 17, 2008.
Average prices for regular gasoline top $4 a gallon in California, Alaska and Hawaii. At $4.36 a gallon, Hawaii ranks as the nation’s high. Prices are within a nickel of the $4 mark in New York and Connecticut, according to AAA.
Wyoming has the nation’s lowest gas prices, averaging $3.18 a gallon.
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Gas prices have been rising on the back of soaring oil prices, which have surged 10% over the past month amid fears that tensions with Iran will lead to an all-out war that causes a disruption in oil supplies.
Brent crude, Europe’s benchmark, hit $128.40 a barrel, while U.S. oil futures eclipsed $110 after a disputed report Thursday on Iran’s Press TV and other Middle East outlets of a pipeline explosion in Saudi Arabia.
Prices for Brent crude dropped to $125.45 and U.S. crude was at $108.50 on the NYMEX early Friday.
Signs of an improving economy have also boosted oil prices, as has the stock market. All three major indexes hit multi-year highs this week, and the S&P 500 () has risen by more than 8% in 2012.
As gas prices soar, Republican presidential candidates have tried to tie President Obama’s policies to the increase.
On Thursday, Mitt Romney said Obama "should be hanging his head" over his energy policies and accused the president of slowing domestic production. Romney advocated opening federal lands to drilling and easing regulations on fracking, a controversial policy that involves pumping water into rocks to harvest gas.
Also on Thursday, Obama delivered a speech in New Hampshire that stressed that domestic oil and gas production is at its highest point since 2003. But he also emphasized the need to develop new energy sources, as domestic production alone is not enough to keep up with U.S. demand.
The president also called on Congress to end the $4 billion in subsidies to the oil industry so as to better incentivize companies to seek out clean-energy technologies.
Lee Enterprises, owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, exited bankruptcy Monday, less than two months after the newspaper publisher announced it would seek the protection of the bankruptcy court to push through a debt refinancing plan.
Lee, which is based in Davenport, Iowa, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on Dec. 12. Lee owns 48 daily newspapers and holds an interest in four other daily newspapers. It also owns 300 specialty publications.
On Jan. 23, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross confirmed Lee’s prepackaged reorganization plan that includes new terms with creditors, including interest rates that, when combined, jump to 9.2 percent from 5.1 percent. In an unusual move, the company didn’t shed any debt with the plan; instead, the reorganization plan only pushed back the dates when its debts mature.
Under the new terms, Lee’s first lien debt includes a term loan of $689.5 million and a $40 million revolving credit facility that mature in December 2015. A second lien debt includes a $175 million term loan that matures in April 2017.
Lee also extended its remaining debt, called the Pulitzer Notes, that has a balance of $126.4 million. That debt, which was assumed in 2005 when Lee acquired the Post-Dispatch’s parent company, Pulitzer Inc., matures in December 2015.
As part of the refinancing, some Lee creditors also will end up with a 13 percent ownership stake in the company.
A group supporting Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says it will remove errors from a film it made about Mitt Romney’s business experience _ if Romney helps them figure out what is inaccurate.
The political action committee Winning Our Future sent Romney a letter asking him to respond to several questions about his tenure at Bain Capital, a private equity firm.
The PAC, run by Gingrich allies, says the questions will help clarify any errors in a film the group released this week assailing Romney’s experience at Bain. The accuracy of some of the film’s assertions have been called into question.
On Friday, Gingrich asked the group to either edit out any inaccuracies or take down the ad entirely.
Campaigns and PACs are prohibited from directly coordinating.
Raymond James Financial is nearing a $930 million cash deal to buy Morgan Keegan, a Memphis-based brokerage owned by Regions Financial, Bloomberg News is reporting.
The Bloomberg report, citing a source close to the deal, said St. Petersburg-based Raymond James may announce the deal as early as this afternoon. The deal would include a $250 million from Morgan Keegan to Regions prior to the sale, bringing the total price to about $1.2 billion.
If the deal finalizes, it will make Raymond James among the largest underwriters of municipal bonds and boost its roster of financial advisers from 5,100 to about 6,300.
St business cards. Louis-based Stifel Nicolaus has pursued efforts to buy Morgan Keegan since Birmingham-based Regions put the unit up for sale in June. Bloomberg reported that Stifel’s most recent bid, made on Jan. 8, was $875 million in cash and stock. Stifel has 2,000 financial advisers and has grown its geographic footprint and adviser ranks through acquisitions in recent years.
Check back on stltoday.com for updates to this story.