A top U.S. labor group Thursday asked the Obama administration’s "pay czar" to stop any retirement payments to Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Chief Executive Ken Lewis. The Service Employees International Union sent a letter to pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, calling Lewis "one of the chief architects" of the economic crisis and saying he should not receive any retirement or severance package until the bank stops foreclosures and increases lending. "Taxpayers have already provided nearly $200 billion in bailouts and backstops to Bank of America," the letter said. "This enormous public investment entitles taxpayers to have a say in the bank’s executive compensation practices." –CNN Money
The U.S. trade gap unexpectedly narrowed in August to $30.7 billion on a big drop in imports of crude oil, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The trade gap is the difference between exports and imports of goods and services. After a big increase in trade in July, volumes dropped back in August, a sign of fits and starts in the U.S. and global economic recoveries. Imports fell by $913 million, or 0.6%, to $158.9 billion in August, as imports of crude oil fell by $1.28 billion. Read the full report. Exports rose by $228 million, or 0.2%, to $128.2 billion, the highest since December. Exports were led by autos, metals and soybeans. Exports of capital goods fell to the lowest level in four years. -Marketwatch
President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for giving the world "hope for a better future" and striving for nuclear disarmament, in a surprise award that drew both warm praise and sharp criticism. The decision to bestow one of the world’s top accolades on a president less than nine months into his first term, who has yet to score a major foreign policy success, was greeted with gasps of astonishment from journalists at the announcement in Oslo. -Reuters
Canadian employers added jobs for the second straight month in September, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell, adding to evidence the U.S.’s largest trading partner is emerging from its recession. Employment rose by 30,600, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. The jobless rate fell to 8.4 percent from August’s 8.7 percent. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 5,000 gain in jobs and unemployment at 8.8 percent. The report may increase pressure on the Bank of Canada, with its benchmark rate at a record low, to follow Australia into raising borrowing costs. The central bank lowered its benchmark lending rate to 0.25 percent this year and pledged to keep it there until June 2010 unless the inflation outlook changes materially. –Bloomberg
United States Oil Fund (NYSE: USO) closed $36.68. WTI Crude futures are recently down .45% to $71.40 according to Bloomberg. USO unit net asset value reflects the performance of the spot price of West Texas intermediate light crude. USO over all option implied volatility is at 44; verses its 26-week average of 46, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement. Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) closed at $23.28. HOG is scheduled to report Q3 EPS on October 15. HOG October option implied volatility is at 76, November is at 55; verses its 26-week average of 60, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement after EPS. –Blogging Stocks
General Motors Co. (OTC: GM), Toyota Motor Corp. and other automakers want to sell consumers electric cars powered by hydrogen within six years. Their plans clash with the U.S. government’s infrastructure priorities. GM, Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and Daimler AG say durability improvements and cost reductions may enable them to sell the zero-emission vehicles by 2015. Costs to make the fuel-cell cars have fallen from $1 million each a few years ago, and automakers are working to meet a proposed goal of slashing the premium for the cars to $3,600 more than a midsized gasoline model. As the federal government, utilities, cities and states plan charging infrastructure for battery cars, hydrogen fueling stations are also needed, automakers say. While Germany and Japan are moving to build large-scale fueling networks, the U.S. lacks a national infrastructure program and the Energy Department has sought to cut hydrogen-related project funding. –Bloomberg
-Jutia Group
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