Blago names Obama replacement, Senate tries to block

Update: Senate Dems will refuse to seat

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich named a replacement for Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat on Tuesday, and Senate Democrats and the Illinois Secretary of State are trying to block the appointment.
The embattled governor, who is accused of trying to sell the seat, announced his plan to appoint former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the Senate.

"The people of Illinois are entitlted to have two United States Senators representing them in Washington, DC," Blagojevich said. "As governor, I am required to make this appointment."
In a statement released Tuesday evening, Obama said Burris was a "fine public servant" but reiterated his stance that Blagojevich should resign and not appoint a replacement.
"Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat. I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it. I believe the best resolution would be for the Governor to resign his office and allow a lawful and appropriate process of succession to take place. While Governor Blagojevich is entitled to his day in court, the people of Illinois are entitled to a functioning government and major decisions free of taint and controversy," said President-elect Obama.

He asked that Burris be judged on his own merits.
"Please don't allow the allegations against me to taint this good and honest man," Blagojevich said.
The governor avoided questions about the myriad public corruption charges swirling around him. While he's "enjoyed the limelight" of the last few weeks, Blagojevich tried to keep the focus on Burris.
After Burris danced around several questions about the myriad roadblocks he needs to overcome -- from Senate Democrats, state officials and others -- Rep. Bobby Rush, a Democrat who represents parts of Chicago, made a surprise appearance. Rush said Blagojevich had "answered his prayers" by appointing an African American to replace Obama, who had been the Senate's only African American member.
"It has tremendous national importance," Rush said of the appointment. "We need to have not just one African American in the US Senate, we need to have many African Americans in the US Senate."

Senate Democratic leaders released the following statement Tuesday:
“It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety. We say this without prejudice toward Roland Burris’s ability, and we respect his years of public service. But this is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.

“Next week we will start one of the most important debates of the year – outlining an economic recovery plan to create jobs and invest in America. And in the coming weeks, we will be working to protect homeowners and consumers, make America more energy independent, strengthen our national security, and improve health care and educational opportunities. There is much work to do and a lot at stake. It is thus critical that Illinois and every other state have two seated Senators without delay.

“We again urge Gov. Blagojevich to not make this appointment. It is unfair to Mr. Burris, it is unfair to the people of Illinois and it will ultimately not stand. The governor must put the interests of the people of Illinois and all Americans first by stepping aside now and letting his successor appoint someone who we will seat.”
While Senate Democrats can refuse to admit Burris as a member of the caucus, it remains unclear whether they can keep him out of the chamber altogether.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White says he will refuse to certify any paperwork Blagojevich signs regarding the seat.
The governor apparently is ignoring warnings from Senate leaders that they would not seat anyone appointed by the allegedly corrupt governor.
An aide to Senate Majority leader Harry Reid tells Politico's Ben Smith that Reid views the pick as "unacceptable.
It remains unclear whether the Senate would be able to refuse Burris's appointment, although a 1969 Supreme Court case seems to suggest it would have to accept him. The case involves Adam Clayton Powell, who was re-elected to his House seat the prior year; the House tried to refuse to seat Powell based on allegations that he had misused the resources of his office. As MSNBC's First Read explains, Powell sued.
The Supreme Court ruled -- by a vote of 8 to 1 -- that the House was wrong and that Powell must be seated. The court said in deciding whether to exclude, Congress is limited to considering only whether a member meets the very minimal requirements for office set out in the Constitution.

There have been other cases in which Congress refused to seat incoming members based on allegations of irregularities in elections, and many legal experts believe Congress has the Constitutional authority to examine potential election violations.
But given that Blagojevich is still legally the governor of Illinois and has the sole power to fill vacancies in the U.S. Senate, the Senate's power to refuse to seat his appointee may be far more limited than the leadership was implying.
Sources tell the Tribune that Burris had expressed interest in the appointment in the days following Obama's election but was never seriously considered for the Senate seat. He apparently stepped up his campaign following news of Blagojevich's arrest on public corruption charges.
Early reaction to the news indicates Burris has a fairly clean record after several decades in Illinois politics and that Blagojevich choose the best possible candidate if he insists on trying to make an appointment.


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Blagojevich Names Obama Senate Replacement

Obama Releases Statement | 5:42 p.m. The President-elect released a statement Tuesday on Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich’s decision to name Roland Burris to replace him in the Senate:

Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat. I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it. I believe the best resolution would be for the Governor to resign his office and allow a lawful and appropriate process of succession to take place. While Governor Blagojevich is entitled to his day in court, the people of Illinois are entitled to a functioning government and major decisions free of taint and controversy.
Updated | 4:11 p.m. Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois has named Roland Burris, a former state attorney general, to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the United States Senate.
“Please don’t allow the allegations against me to taint this good and honest man,” Governor Blagojevich said during a news conference Tuesday announcing the decision to appoint Mr. Burris.
“As governor, I am required to make this appointment,” he said. “If I don’t make this appointment, then the people of Illinois will be deprived of their appropriate voice and vote in the United States Senate.”
Mr. Burris asked Illinois voters to place their faith in him. “I am humbled to have this opportunity,” Mr. Burris said. “I promise the citizens that I will dedicated my utmost effort as a U.S. senator and uphold the integrity of the office, and ask for the people’s continued confidence in me.”

Mr. Blagojevich, who faces federal corruption charges including allegations that he tried to sell Mr. Obama’s former senate seat for a high-paying job or money, had not been expected to try to fill the seat. As recently as ten days ago, his lawyer, Edward Genson, said he would not attempt to make an appointment, since Senate leaders had indicated they would not accept anyone whom the beleaguered Mr. Blagojevich had appointed.
The Democratic leaders of the Senate repeated that view on Tuesday, issuing a statement saying it was “truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Governor Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety.”
The statement continued, “We say this without prejudice toward Roland Burris’s ability, and we respect his years of public service. But this is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.”
The leaders concluded by saying the appointment was “unfair to Mr. Burris, it is unfair to the people of Illinois and it will ultimately not stand.” They called on the governor once again to resign.
Mr. Burris, 71 and a Democrat, is a longtime political player in this state, who has run for governor before, including mounting a primary challenge against Mr. Blagojevich. Mr. Obama backed him over Mr. Blagojevich in that race.

An aide to Mr. Obama said Tuesday that the news came as a surprise.
Mr. Blagojevich’s arrest in December prompted national and local political leaders of both parties to call for his resignation. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, warned him that he should ”under no circumstances make an appointment,” and Senator Dick Durbin, a fellow Democrat and the senior senator from Illinois, said that “no appointment by this governor could produce a credible replacement.”
The United States Constitution makes each house of Congress “the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members,” but cases of either house refusing to seat a new member, either elected or appointed, have been rare. An extremely close race in New Hampshire in 1974 whose outcome was reversed twice on recounts led the Senate to refuse to seat the candidate eventually recorded as winning by two votes, and to call for a fresh election to settle the issue instead.


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Elect, don't select, Senate replacements

A lawmaker in Rhode Island introduced legislation last week that would set up a special election in the event there is a Senate vacancy in the state.
Under current law, the governor has the authority to appoint a senator to serve until the next scheduled election.
Democratic state Rep. Chris Fierro said the allegations that then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich tried to sell the seat left vacant by President Obama show problems with the system.

"U.S. Senate seats belong to the voters. No one person, regardless of his or her party affiliation, should get to decide who is going to represent the entire state in the Senate," said Fierro. "Inevitably, politics are going to play a role in that appointment, and that's not how the Senate is meant to be constituted."
Earlier in the week, Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., announced he planned to introduce a constitutional amendment ending gubernatorial appointments of Senate seats.
The proposal is backed by group of bipartisan lawmakers in the Legislature.


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Blagojevich Names Obama Replacement Amid Protest

Governor Names Former State Attorney General Roland Burris To U.S. Senate
CHICAGO (CBS) ― A defiant Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday appointed a black political trailblazer in Illinois to Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat, a surprise move that put race front and center in the ongoing drama surrounding the scandal-tarred governor.

The decision put his opponents in the uncomfortable position of vowing not to seat a veteran politician who would become the Senate's only black member.
"I have faith in the record that I've forged over the last four decades and I am proud of my record as a public servant," Burris said Tuesday.
Blagojevich, arrested Dec. 9 on charges of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder, appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the seat. He praised the 71-year-old Burris' integrity and asked that the corruption allegations don't "taint this good and honest man."
"The people of Illinois are entitled to have two United States senators represent them in Washington D.C.," Blagojevich said at a news conference in Chicago. "As governor I am required to make this appointment."

Burris says he knows he can make a difference.
"This is my life," Burris told CBS 2's Dana Kozlov. "I'm committed to be a public servant."
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports this is a two-pronged bet by Gov. Blagojevich. First, that the Senate, especially Senate Democrats, dare not reject an experienced African-American politician. And secondly, that no other state official will be able to stop him from making the appointment.
It's a defiant statement to the world from Blagojevich: I'm still in charge.
Burris, standing at the governor's side, said he's eager to get to work in Washington "to face a convergence of parallel crises." He said he has no connection to the charges against Blagojevich and first discussed the appointment with Blagojevich Sunday night.
Burris was the first African-American elected to major statewide office. He's served as Illinois' comptroller and ran for governor three times -- the last time losing to Blagojevich.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush came out of the crowd at the news conference to urge U.S. senators to seat Burris, noting Obama's departure leaves the chamber without a black member. Earlier in the day, Senate leaders released a statement saying they would not seat anyone Blagojevich appointed.
"This is a good decision," Rush said. "Roland Burris is worthy. He has not in 40 years of public service had one iota of taint on his record as a public servant. "
By all accounts, political analyst Paul Green says if Blagojevich was going to make this move, Burris was a safe choice.
"Of all the things the governor has done, this has been the most logical thing he's done," Green said.
But political watchdogs call Burris' decision an unwise one.
"You cannot separate yourself from Rod Blagojevich if you willingly accept this appointment and I think Roland Burris has diminished himself by doing so," said Jay Stewart of the Better Government Association.
And that's not the only concern. Another is the issue of Burris' campaign contributions to a governor now charged with trying to sell a Senate seat.
In a statement Tuesday, Senate Democrats maintained that Blagojevich should not make the appointment because it is unfair to Burris, unfair to the people of Illinois and ultimately won't stand.
"It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety," the statement said.

"Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus."

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn said Blagojevich's decision to appoint Burris is an "insult to the people of Illinois."
"We believe in clean government, and Rod Blagojevich has unclean hands," Quinn said.
One of the accusations brought against Blagojevich is that he schemed to benefit from his power to name Obama's replacement in the Senate. Federal prosecutors said they recorded conversations in which Blagojevich discussed appointing someone Obama favored in exchange for a position in the new president's Cabinet or naming someone favored by a union if he got a high-level union job.
Blagojevich has faced a flood of calls for his resignation, and the Illinois House has begun impeachment proceedings. He maintains his innocence, and has vowed to stay in office.
His own lawyer said recently that there would be no point in Blagojevich naming someone to the Senate because leaders there would reject his appointment.

Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago, a member of the impeachment committee, said Burris' appointment will have no bearing on their decision.
"Anybody that wants to put the race card in there, they're playing with the wrong group of people. We're not going to operate that way, we're not going to deliberate that way, we're not going to say, 'Oh, look what a good thing he's done.' We're not going to do it," Davis said.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who handles the state's paperwork, said he would not formally certify any appointment made by Blagojevich "because of the current cloud of controversy surround the governor."
It's not clear whether White's administrative hurdle would be enough to prevent a Blagojevich appointment from taking effect.
Burris was the first black politician elected to major statewide office in Illinois and has connections across the state. He's a native of Centralia in southern Illinois who graduated from Southern Illinois University before earning his law degree from Howard University.
Burris served as Illinois' comptroller from 1979 to 1991 and as the state's attorney general from 1991 to 1995. He also served as vice-chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1985 to 1989.

More recently, however, Burris has had a string of political disappointments.
He lost campaigns for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1994, 1998 and 2002 -- the last time losing to Blagojevich. In 1995, he was badly beaten when challenging Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in the primary.
Before taking public office, Burris worked in banking and served as national executive director and chief operating officer for Operation PUSH, the Chicago-based civil rights organization.
He failed in his first brush with politics -- a 1968 run for the Illinois House. But five years later, his political service got him appointed as an aide to Gov. Dan Walker.
Burris has been a consistent donor to Blagojevich, giving thousands of dollars to his campaign in recent years. Burris donated $1,000 to the Friends of Blagojevich fund in 2005, $1,500 in 2007 and, $1,000 in June 2008, according to Illinois campaign finance data.
On a national level, Burris has given to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as well as several members of the Illinois congressional delegation, including Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.


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Lott's Senate Replacement Sworn In

01-22) 08:42 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday swore in Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., to replace retiring Sen. Trent Lott.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour appointed Wicker to succeed Lott on Dec. 31.
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., escorted Wicker to the well of the Senate as Cheney opened session with a two-minute swearing-in ceremony.

Wicker, 56, will serve until a state-mandated special election is held Nov. 4 and is a candidate in that race. The winner will serve out the remainder of Lott's term, which runs through 2012.
Wicker was elected to the U.S. House in 1994 to succeed the late Rep. Jamie Whitten. He has been re-elected six times from the 1st District in north Mississippi.
Lott was the Republicans' vote-counting whip in the Senate before he resigned Dec. 19. That ended a congressional career of 16 years in the U.S. House before moving to the Senate in 1988. He ruled out any health concerns, but said it's time for a younger voice to represent Mississippi in the Senate.
Barbour said the recovery and the renewal of south Mississippi after Katrina remains the highest priority for state government and added that Wicker did yeoman's work as a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

An attorney, Wicker said hurricane recovery would continue to be a top priority in the Senate.
Also on the special election ballot for the Senate seat are former Rep. Ronnie Shows and former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, both Democrats. Candidates will run in special election without party labels.
Mississippi's attorney general, Jim Hood, has filed a lawsuit challenging the timing of the special election. Hood contends Barbour should have set the special election much earlier in the year than the general election.


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TRADITIONAL OWNER WINS INJUNCTION RESTRAINING BARRICK GOLD MINE EXPANSION

Yesterday the NSW Land and Environment Court handed down a decision in favour of Wiradjuri Traditional Owner, Neville Chappy Williams, with an injunction restraining the NSW Minister of Planning from determining the E42 Modification Request for the proposed expansion of Barrick Gold’s mine in Lake Cowal.
“We are very pleased with the result”, stated Mr. Williams, “We have been fighting against the world’s largest gold mining company, Barrick Gold, for nearly 10 years, we will continue to fight until we get justice. Barrick Gold has ridden shot gun over our this ecologically significant and sacred land for far too long. “

“We are also concerned about ongoing pit wall slippages and the incredible increase of water use that would come with the proposed mine expansion.”
Last year Mr. Williams made the journey to the Seventh Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York to put his recommendations forward about the human rights and environmental concerns of Barrick Gold’s operation in Lake Cowal. This was part of a delegation of Indigenous Leaders from Papua New Guinea, Chile and the United States who voiced their concerns at Barrick Gold’s shareholder meeting in Toronto, Canada.

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Stimulus Bill Funds Democrats Near Agreement on $789.5 Billion Stimulus

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic House and Senate leaders are near agreement on a $789.5 billion economic stimulus plan, a leadership aide said today.
The tentative dollar amount, reached after late-night talks, is smaller than the $838 billion bill approved by the Senate yesterday and the $819 billion package passed by the House last month. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity. Lawmakers are trying to reconcile legislation passed by the two houses and get a final bill to President Barack Obama this week.
“The White House believes we are making good progress toward an agreement on a plan to put Americans back to work,” administration spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
House Education Committee Chairman George Miller of California said “it appears” as though some funds for school rehabilitation are being restored to the stimulus. “It’s not a done deal,” said the congressman, who said he’s been getting “a lot of calls” from lawmakers demanding the money be restored.
At least three senators whose votes are critical to the plan’s approval are insisting that the final bill must be kept below $800 billion.
The three senators’ demands may prove pivotal because the Senate plan cleared a 60-vote procedural threshold this week by a single vote. Democrats say they expect a compromise plan would also need 60 votes.

Ben Nelson
The compromise proposal “has to be under $800 billion,” said Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat. “It’s not just me who believes that; there are some Democrats who believe that and our colleagues from the Republican side as well.”
He said he voted for the $838 billion package only to get it off the Senate floor and into negotiations with the House.
A spokeswoman for Senator Susan Collins of Maine, one of three Republicans who supported the stimulus bill in the chamber, yesterday said she agrees with Nelson. Another Republican backing the Senate bill, Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter, said on MSNBC that he wants the compromise plan to total less than $800 billion.
Earlier today, Senator Dick Durbin, the chamber’s second- ranking Democrat said on the Senate floor that “last-minute negotiations are under way” and “I hope we can get it done, even done today.”
Yesterday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said congressional negotiators may not be able to come to an agreement by the end of the week.

Met With Obama
“I don’t know what Steny’s talking about,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. Reid also said he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met yesterday with Obama to discuss a compromise. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Budget Director Peter Orszag met behind closed doors with Democrats about a plan.
Reid said lawmakers wouldn’t leave for their scheduled recess next week without completing work on the bill. “We need to get this done as fast as we can,” said Reid.
The competing House and Senate measures differ on several provisions, including the parameters of the income group targeted for a payroll tax cut, whether to provide sizable tax cuts to the housing and auto industries, how much aid to provide state governments and how much to spend building schools.
A group of more than a dozen senators that included Nelson, Collins and Specter forced Democratic leaders to strip more than $100 billion from a previous draft of the bill before allowing it to come to a vote. Pelosi said last week she opposed many of the cuts agreed to in the Senate and would seek to have them restored.

‘Threaten Its Passage’
Nelson countered yesterday that “material changes to the bill threaten its passage when it comes back” to the Senate after the compromise talks. Asked about the opposition among House Democrats to the Senate’s spending cuts, Nelson said, “If they can come over here and find three other Republicans” to vote for the legislation, then “they can probably put anything in it they like.”
Pelosi indicated yesterday the stimulus plan may end up smaller than what either chamber approved. “Usually you go to conference and split the difference between the two houses,” she said. “That may not be case here.”
One of the casualties in the compromise talks may be an $11 billion amendment approved by the Senate last week that would temporarily allow new car buyers to write off from their income taxes the interest on their loans and the local sales taxes on their purchase. Senator Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat who sponsored the amendment, said yesterday she is concerned the proposal may be deleted from the final bill.
‘It Is the Politics’
“The problem now is not the idea, but it is the politics,” Mikulski said on the Senate floor. “Let’s get the White House on our side. Let’s get the House of Representatives on this side. Flood not the streets, but flood them with phone calls.”
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, questioned the proposal. He said “all of that seems pretty bizarre to me” and “very expensive.”
Obama, 47, has used high-profile appearances this week to prod lawmakers to quickly complete their work on a stimulus bill. He continued that effort yesterday during a campaign-style stop in Fort Myers, Florida.
“Creating jobs and turning this economy around is a mission that transcends party,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting. “When the town is burning, you don’t check party labels. Everybody needs to grab a hose.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, attacked the stimulus plan as fundamentally flawed, saying he doubted it would do much to boost the economy.
“We’re taking an enormous risk, an enormous risk, with other people’s money,” McConnell said before yesterday’s passage of the Senate bill. “The president was right to call for a stimulus, but this bill misses the mark. It’s full of waste, we have no assurance it will create jobs or revive the economy. The only thing we know for sure is that it increases our debt.”

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Daimler AG Germany Stocks Update: DAX Index Rises 61.50 to 4,469.06

Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Germany's benchmark stock index, the DAX Index, rose 1.40 percent at 9:05 a.m.

The index of 30 companies traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange rose 61.50 to 4,469.06. Among the stocks in the index, 29 rose and 1 fell.
Gains in the DAX were led by Siemens Ag, Allianz Se and Daimler Ag. About 2.75 million shares traded in the DAX

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Europes prices Most European Stocks Fall on Recession Concern; GDF Decline

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Most European stocks fell, led by consumer-goods companies and utilities, as concern that the U.S. recession is deepening overshadowed China's biggest interest- rate cut in 11 years.
Royal Philips Electronics NV dropped 3.7 percent and Hennes & Mauritz AB slumped 3.9 percent after government reports showed a worse-than-estimated decline in U.S. durable-goods orders and the steepest slide in consumer spending since 2001. GDF Suez SA sank 5.5 percent as the world's second-largest utility said sales will be hurt by French regulated natural-gas prices.
Six stocks retreated for every five that rose in Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index. The gauge advanced less than 0.1 percent to 198.85 as China's rate reduction sparked gains of more than 5 percent in raw-material producers including BHP Billiton Ltd. and Anglo American Plc.
``Policy makers are recognizing the sense of urgency involved in responding to this crisis,'' said Mike Lenhoff, who helps oversee about $36.4 billion as chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin Securities Ltd. in London. ``The market is trying to establish some kind of platform.''
Europe's Stoxx 600 has fallen 45 percent in 2008, headed for its worst year on record, as credit losses and writedowns approach $1 trillion in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

National Markets
National benchmark indexes declined in 12 of the 18 markets in western Europe. The FTSE 100 lost 0.4 percent. France's CAC 40 sank 1.2 percent, while Germany's DAX was little changed.
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said there may be ``negative figures'' for economic growth in the euro area next year. Europe's economy slipped into its first recession in 15 years in the third quarter.
Philips, Europe's biggest consumer-electronics company, slipped 3.7 percent to 12.895 euros. H&M, Europe's second- largest clothing retailer, slumped 3.9 percent to 287 kronor.
The 6.2 percent drop in U.S. bookings of goods meant to last several years was the biggest in two years and followed a revised 0.2 percent decrease in September, the Commerce Department reported. The 1 percent decline in consumer purchases followed a 0.3 percent drop in September.
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, the world's largest maker of luxury goods, slumped 6 percent to 42.98 euros.
Tiffany & Co., the world's second-largest luxury-jewelry retailer, reduced its forecast full-year earnings after third- quarter profit declined and sales shrank.
GDF Suez tumbled 5.5 percent to 30.97 euros. The world's second-biggest utility said it expects a ``shortfall'' of 440 million euros ($570.3 million) in the fourth quarter unless French state-set prices for natural gas are raised before the end of the year.
BHP Surges
France is studying possible cuts or caps on regulated natural-gas and electricity prices as a way to raise spending power, said government official who declined to be identified because of internal government rules.
BHP Billiton added 9.9 percent to 1,155 pence. Anglo American, the world's fourth-biggest diversified mining company, gained 5.2 percent to 1,525 pence.
The key one-year lending rate will drop 108 basis points to 5.58 percent, the People's Bank of China said on its Web site today. The deposit rate will fall by the same amount to 2.52 percent. The changes are effective tomorrow.

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Labor Markets Unemployment Reaches 7.6%, Highest in 16 Years

WASHINGTON — - Spooked by the deteriorating economy, businesses are continuing to shed jobs at an alarming rate, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent, its highest level in 16 years.
The government Friday gave its latest damage report: 598,000 jobs lost in January, the largest number for any single month since 1974.
And job losses for November and December were much worse than previously estimated, the Labor Department said, likely reflecting layoffs at smaller companies that are slower to report their data.

"The recession has deepened, and we're in the worst part of it now," said Mickey Levy, chief economist at Bank of America in New York.
Some 3.6 million jobs have disappeared so far in this recession, which is shaping up as the biggest job killer in the post- World War II period.
Many economists expect the job losses to continue for months and the unemployment rate to reach 9 or 10 percent before improving.
And job seekers' prospects aren't likely to become noticeably better until 2011 — at the earliest — when job growth should return to a more healthy pace, analysts said.
Still, the stock market rallied, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising more than 200 points, as investors looked forward to Monday's expected announcement on President Barack Obama's plan for resuscitating the nation's banks and easing the housing crisis.

Financial stocks led the way up on hopes that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will announce a comprehensive plan that could revive bank lending without having the government nationalize major institutions.

"Any good news — meaning there's anticipation of a well-thought-out solution for the financial system — is welcome," said Robert W. Bissell, president of Wells Capital Management in Los Angeles.
Investors also viewed the dreary unemployment numbers as ratcheting up pressure on lawmakers to speed the enactment of the long-awaited economic stimulus package.
Obama has said he is pursuing a three-pronged attack on the economic crisis. The first part is the $800 billion stimulus plan, which the president is pushing Congress to complete by the end of next week. The second part is the bank stabilization plan, and the third, a program to stem the tide of home foreclosures that triggered the economic downturn.
To address the housing crisis, the administration is expected to leverage the size and expertise of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — the mortgage giants now controlled directly by the federal government — to spur the refinancing of millions of troubled mortgages.

Lee Ohanian, a UCLA economist, said that the recession that began in December 2007 was relatively mild until the financial crisis accelerated in September and businesses lost confidence in the economy.
As a result, he said, it's critical that Geithner's plan restore confidence in the markets. And if it does, then Wall Street may be right that recovery is on the way.

"Geithner's proposal could be a key ingredient in a recovery," Ohanian said. "The stock market, more than anyone else, understands that we had a perfect storm of bad regulations and bad policies that led to this. And they understand better than anyone else that once we have the financial system addressed, we can start making progress."
Still, financial markets tend to be forward-looking and to rebound quickly. The labor market, on the other hand, tends to react more slowly, and job losses often continue well after stocks and other financial indicators improve.
Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist for IHS Global Insight, an economic forecasting firm in Lexington, Mass., said he's "not as confident as the stock market is that things are going to get better any time soon."
The stimulus plan "will make things less bad, but that doesn't alter the fact that these numbers are bad and the downward momentum is severe," Gault said. "If we're bottoming, it's in the sense that the most severe rates of decline are what we're experiencing now."
Since the recession began, the economy has shed 3.6 million jobs, and the losses in the last two months of 2008 were even worse than previously reported. The Labor Department issued a revised tally on Friday indicating that December's job losses were 577,000, up from an estimated 527,000 and November's came in at 597,000 up from 584,000.

The pink slips are hitting all categories of workers — blue collar, white collar, those without high school diplomas and those with college degrees. And they're sparing few occupations or regions.
Connecticut lost 29,300 jobs in 2008, or nearly 2 percent of its total, about the same rate as the nation, preliminary reports showed. Unemployment stood at 7.1 percent in December. It has not yet been reported for January but all indications are that job losses accelerated here in the first month of the year. Experts forecast the state economy will lose as many as 60,000 more jobs in the next two years.

Around the country, economic setbacks have forced consumers to retrench, and those spending cutbacks have, in turn, led companies to pull back and slash jobs. As the cycle persists, the economy's problems are feeding on each other.
With no replacement work to be found, the ranks of unemployed workers climbed to 11.6 million. In addition, 7.8 million people were working part time. That category includes those who would like to work full time but whose hours were cut back or those who were unable to find full-time work.
The recession is likely to turn out to be the longest since the 1930s. The two record holders since then — downturns in the mid-1970s and early 1980s — each lasted 16 months. This recession, which would reach that milestone in April, probably won't end until September, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, and other analysts said.
Some Americans have been hit harder than others. The unemployment rate for blacks jumped to 12.6 percent in January, a 15-year high. The rate for Hispanics climbed to 9.7 percent, the highest since 1995.
"The job market is unraveling," Zandi said. "Businesses are panicked. They are fighting for survival and slashing payrolls to conserve cash, and there's no sense this is going to stop any time soon."

An Associated Press report is included.

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Sigma Dealing Room operate 24/5 from Sunday 23:00 CET until Friday 23.00 CET.
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Margin Requirements
The margin requirements must be respected by Friday at 23:00 GMT and before holidays.
One of our dealers will contact you if you are below your margin requirements at that time. Your margin requirements will depend on the client's account equity. However, if you approach the level where the loss of your open positions approaches the balance of your account, you will be stopped out and your positions will be closed. Stop positions will be executed when there is only around 50% equity of the required margin left in your account.

Streamline Dealing
Clients will not suffer Price Re-Quote that you can buy and sell directly on real-time prices without a request for quote (RFQ).
Clients taking advantage of wrong price quotes in the Market Watch will be requoted.
Sigma Forex effort is taken to ensure correct pricing at all times. However, there are rare circumstances when wrong prices are given.

Stop Order Execution
Volatile market conditions can result in prices gapping, which may prevent the execution of stop orders (sell stop, buy stop, stop loss) at the price you initially requested. However, our dealers strive to execute all stop orders at the price, or failing that, at the best attainable rate the market allows.

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