Pound Gains, Threatens Economy of UK

The Great Britain pound rose today as the safe haven role of the currency helped it to profit from speculation that Greece may leave the eurozone. The strength of the sterling caused worries that it may hurt the UK economy.

The pound gains appeal as the Swiss franc loses it due to the euro-peg. Economists are worried, though, that a strong currency may harm efforts to bring the United Kingdom out of recession. Ian Stannard, the head of European currency strategy at Morgan Stanley, explained:

The U.K. economic backdrop may not be brilliant, but it’s enjoying a haven status because of the political uncertainty in the euro zone. The advantage of sterling over a traditional haven like the Swiss franc is that its asset market is more liquid. The downside is that the strength of the pound may backfire as it hurts exports.

GBP/USD rose from 1.6063 to 1.6072 and GBP/JPY went up from 128.49 to 128.70 as of 8:18 GMT today.

GBP Falls vs. USD & JPY, Gains vs. EUR Over This Week

The Great Britain pound fell against the US dollar and the Japanese yen this week as growing concerns about the health of the UK economy reduced appeal of the currency. The sterling is still perceived as refuge from Europe’s crisis, therefore it gained versus the euro.

Britain’s economy has entered a recession, significantly hurting prospects for the sterling. The Bank of England refrained from expanding stimulus during its last policy meeting, but most economists agree that the country needs quantitative easing. The pound is supported by its status of a safe haven, but such role looks tenuous considering the economic condition of Britain. Anyway, the problems of Europe allowed added to Britain’s strength against commodity currencies of countries that depend on European demand for their exports.

The pound was drifting down against the greenback and the yen since the end of March and it extended this trend for this week. The euro rose on Friday, but that did not help the shared 17-nation currency to erase its losses versus the sterling. The Canadian dollar was more successful, ending the week almost flat after falling for six consecutive trading sessions.

GBP/USD slid from 1.6133 to 1.6070 and GBP/JPY fell from 128.78 to 128.43. EUR/GBP was down from 0.8062 to 0.8033, while during the week it has reached 0.7994 — the lowest since 2008. GBP/CAD climbed from 1.6067 to 1.6201, but retreated to 1.6076 by the weekend.

Australian Dollar Falls as China Signals About Slowing Growth

The Australian dollar slipped, falling to the lowest level this year against its US peer, as negative macroeconomic data hurt prospects for Australia’s exports and general pessimistic sentiment on the Forex market reduced appeal of growth-related currencies.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported that China’s consumer price index fell from 3.6 percent in March to 3.4 percent in April, being in line with forecasts. Industrial production, on the other hand, frustrated forecasters, falling from 11.9 percent to 9.3 percent, while an increase to 12.1 percent was predicted. Other fundamental reports, including retail sales, were also worse than expected. China is the main trading partner of Australia, therefore its fundamentals have a great impact on the Aussie.

The FX market in general also was not supportive for the Australian currency as traders preferred to stick to safer investments. JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced a $2 billion loss, sparking fear among investors. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of equities slid 1 percent and posted the second week of losses.

AUD/USD was down from 1.0075 to 1.0019 — the lowest rate since December 20. AUD/JPY dropped from 80.50 to 80.08. EUR/AUD went up from 1.2829 to 1.2887.

Breitbart.com: Document supporting Elizabeth Warren’s ancestry claim doesn’t exist

The exciting conclusion to the Case of the Missing Marriage Application. Remember, after a bit of sleuthing, Michael Patrick Leahy determined that the whole 1/32 claim came down to an 1894 marriage application that had supposedly been unearthed by an amateur genealogist but which no one else had actually seen. Leahy couldn’t reach that genealogist on Friday; today, he did. Mystery solved:

Lynda Smith, the amateur genealogist who unknowingly found herself at the root of the false “Elizabeth Warren is 1/32 Cherokee” meme introduced to the media by “noted” genealogist Chris Child of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, acknowledged in an email to me this past Saturday, May 12, that her statement in a March 2006 family newsletter upon which Mr. Child based his claim of Ms. Warren’s Cherokee ancestry was made with no supporting documentation. It was, in fact, an honest mistake that Ms. Smith now acknowledges is entirely without foundation…

According to Ms. Smith:

“I am rather embarrassed about this posting of mine [on rootsweb about William J. Crawford], especially since it seems to be of some importance…. I’ve been through all papers in my Crawford file and I didn’t find who sent that Cherokee reference to me…”

Read the whole thing for an explanation of Smith’s mistake. The obvious question: Why did the professional genealogist who confirmed Warren’s ancestry for the Boston Herald rely on an amateur’s research instead of demanding to see the original documents? Investigative reporter and genealogist Thomas Lipscomb was wondering that too and sent this e-mail to Powerline:

No reputable genealogist or genealogical organization would ever use a family newsletter by an amateur genealogist as the basis for an opinion. They require direct documentation from a certified copy of a birth or marriage certificate or some other objective evidence. While family newsletters, or family web postings may provide a useful tip as to where the real documentation may be, they are just as likely to be dead wrong encrustations of family myth that may or may not be true, but can’t be proven.

While family members may find these myths of interest, professionals like the New England Historic Genealogical Society and Christopher Child, or the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, where I have served on the Heraldry Committee, will not accept them as documentation for any kind of genealogical claim. And they certainly won’t take a chance of embarrassing themselves professionally by making a public statement on the basis of flimsy evidence they regard as little more than rumor.

Read all of that too. But wait — you’re not done reading yet. One last piece is William Jacobson’s new post chronicling his e-mail exchange with the New England Historic Genealogical Society and the curious appearance in his comments of someone who’s very interested in spinning what the NEHGS originally told the Herald. Did they really confirm that Warren is Native American, or did they merely confirm that she had an ancestor by the name of O.C. Sarah Smith whom others were claiming was Native American? Spintastic.

Via the Daily Caller, here’s Warren standing by her claim even as Scott Brown’s campaign insists that there’s nothing left of her minority status. Alternate headline: “Elizabeth Warren: I’m very proud of my Native American heritage that apparently no one can document.”

Victory: Federal judge strikes down NLRB’s rule approving “ambush” union elections

Big win, but it’ll probably take electing President Romney to make sure they don’t make it stick on the second try.

“According to Woody Allen, eighty percent of life is just showing up,” Boasberg wrote in an opinion issued today. “When it comes to satisfying a quorum requirement, though, showing up is even more important than that.”

The rule change, challenged in court by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, simplified and shortened balloting at a time when the unionized share of the workforce is falling, according to labor relations consultant Phillip Wilson. The compressed schedule could have cut the time permitted for voting in half to as few as 15 days, Wilson said.

Unions win 87 percent of elections held 15 days or less after a request, a rate that falls to 58 percent when the vote takes place after 36 to 40 days, according to a February report by Bloomberg Government.

O’s two Democratic appointees wanted to give unions a shot at quietly gathering the necessary signatures for an election and then dumping the petition on management before the company had a chance to make its case to the employees against unionization. The third member of the NLRB, Republican Brian Hayes, opposed the plan. No problem, though — Dems win 2-1, right? Nope. Not if Hayes doesn’t vote:

When the final rule came up, the NLRB’s lone Republican commissioner, Brian Hayes, did not cast a vote. He was given only a matter of hours on the NLRB’s electronic ballot system before the Democratic majority went ahead and published it that day, without anyone requesting a response.

Mr. Becker claimed that Mr. Hayes had “effectively indicated his opposition” and therefore he was “present” even though he was not, in fact, present. Basically, the NLRB argued that the quorum requirement was satisfied because there were three members in office when the rule was “approved.”

With a final vote of just 2-0 on what’s supposed to be a five-member Board, the court ruled that there was no quorum and therefore the rule was invalid. Think of Hayes’s absence as the anti-union version of those Wisconsin Democrats who fled the Capitol last year in order to deny Scott Walker a quorum to pass his collective bargaining reforms. What happens, though, now that Obama’s gone and dubiously recess-appointed a bunch of new members to the NLRB? Presumably the new members will pass the “ambush” election rule with a quorum and then the next court battle will be over whether those recess appointments were in fact valid. That suit has already been filed, in fact; if the next court throws out the recess appointments then the ambush rule stays blocked. If not, then President Romney’s our only hope.

FCC rejects Liberty Media bid for Sirius XM control

* John Malone company has 40 pct Sirius XM stake

* Liberty Media claimed de facto control over Sirius XM

* FCC dismisses Liberty Media application

By Liana B. Baker

May 5 (Reuters) - A federal regulator dismissed John Malone's Liberty Media Corp's application to take control of Sirius XM Radio Inc with its current stake of 40 percent.

Friday's decision by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission came after Liberty Media, Sirius XM's largest shareholder, in March requested approval to take over the company's operating licenses, arguing that it had de facto control of Sirius XM with its large stake and board seats.

Liberty acquired its 40 percent stake in 2009 as part of deal in which it loaned the satellite radio provider $530 million to help it avoid bankruptcy.

But its strategy to use the FCC to transfer control of Sirius XM's operating licenses failed.

The FCC said Liberty's application was not "sufficient" to show it was in control of the company. Liberty was not able to get passwords, signatures and other information from Sirius XM to properly submit its application, the FCC said.

Liberty still has other options to gain control of Sirius XM, whose 22.3 million subscribers make it the largest U.S. satellite radio provider.

Executives at Liberty have said the company could boost its stake above 49.9 percent. It already holds five of Sirius XM's 13 board seats.

Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin said on a conference call last week that Sirius XM was not currently "combative" with Liberty. He said he did not know what Liberty planned to do with its 40 percent stake.

"If the time comes that Liberty's interests are different than the other 60 percent of shareholders, we will do what we have to do to protect the interest of our 60 percent of shareholders," he said.

Sirius XM and Liberty Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

• Stamp Out Hunger to collect food May 12

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LinkedIn raises outlook, beats on profit

* Q1 adj EPS 15 cents vs Street view 9 cents

* Total revenue jumps 101 pct, beats expectations

* Revises up 2012 revenue outlook

* Shares rise 10 pct in after-hours trading

* LinkedIn to buy SlideShare for $118.75 million

By Jennifer Saba

May 3 (Reuters) - LinkedIn Corp raised its outlook after smashing first- quarter revenue and profit expectations, racking up strong growth from services that help companies find and hire employees.

"The guidance was surprisingly high," said Ken Sena, an analyst with Evercore Partners. "I think it's a matter of them being able to use the data they have more efficiently to drive better results for their partners."

The company increased its 2012 revenue outlook on Thursday by $40 million to a range of $880 million to $900 million.

LinkedIn shares were up 10 percent in after-hours trading at $120.50 from their $109.41 close.

The company, based in Mountain View, California, was one of the first prominent U.S. social networking sites to make a debut in an initial public offering a year ago, whetting the appetites of those eagerly awaiting Facebook's impending IPO.

With more than 161 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is being closely watched by investors to see if its business model is solid.

LinkedIn shares are up nearly 70 percent year-to-date and are more than double its IPO price of $45.

A combination of international growth expansion and a hiring spree in order to generate more sales are behind the company's revised forecast, said Kerry Rice, an analyst with Needham & Co.

"LinkedIn has the best value out there," said Rice about companies seeking employees.

SNAPPING UP SLIDESHARE

LinkedIn also announced on Thursday that it acquired content sharing company SlideShare for $118.75 million in a mix of cash and stock. The service lets professionals upload presentations and share them with others.

The company was started in the living room of former PayPal executive Reid Hoffman, who co-founded LinkedIn in 2002. It makes money by selling services and subscriptions to individuals seeking jobs and companies looking to hire.

LinkedIn reported first quarter revenue rose 101 percent to $188.5 million, besting analysts' average forecast of $178.58 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The top line results were bolstered by the strong performance of the company's three units.

Revenue at its hiring solutions division, which represents more than half of total revenue, jumped 121 percent, while it grew 73 percent at its marketing solutions unit that sells display advertising.

"I think marketing solutions is the biggest surprise in terms of how much the numbers beat, given the weakness out of Yahoo," said Herman Leung, a senior analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group, which holds a stake in LinkedIn.

Premium subscriptions -- offered to members for more specialized services -- saw revenue increase 91 percent.

Excluding special items, first-quarter earnings per share of 15 cents was well above analysts' expectations of 9 cents per share.

Net income rose to $5 million from $2.1 million in the same quarter a year ago.

TransCanada files new application for permit to build Keystone XL pipeline ...

WASHINGTON —

The Canadian company seeking to build the Keystone XL pipeline submitted a new permit application on Friday for the segment proposed to carry crude from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska. The move sets off a new round of reviews by the U.S. State Department and triggered more criticism from environmental groups and landowners along the proposed route.

TransCanada, which had its application rejected by the Obama administration in January because no route through Nebraska had been finalized, suggested Friday that the State Department could now rely on thousands of pages of material gathered during three years of reviews for its previous application.
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Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and CEO, said in a news release, "Our application for a Presidential Permit builds on more than three years of environmental review already conducted for Keystone XL.

"It was the most comprehensive process ever for a cross-border pipeline and that work should allow our cross border permit to be processed expeditiously and a decision made once a new route in Nebraska is determined."

But environmental groups said Friday that the process should begin from scratch because the consulting company that led the previous environmental reviews was tainted by its ties to TransCanada.

Moreover, the groups and some Nebraskans said the proposed routes through Nebraska still threaten the ecologically sensitive Sandhills region and the Ogallala Aquifer; concern about the pipeline's passage through those areas stalled the original application last year.

The State Department, which must approve the Canada-Nebraska segment since it crosses an international border, has said a new review could last until early next year. Nebraska's state review is expected to take six to nine months.

The department said in a statement Friday that the new review would use "existing analysis, as appropriate" and examine energy security, health, environmental, cultural, economic and foreign policy concerns.

"We will begin by hiring an independent third-party contractor to assist the department, including reviewing the existing Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from the prior Keystone XL pipeline review process, as well as identifying and assisting with new analysis."

The proposed pipeline would carry tar sands crude from Alberta and also pick up crude being produced in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota by companies such as Oklahoma City's Continental Resources.

According to TransCanada, the pipeline will be able to move 830,000 barrels per day to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.

President Barack Obama late last year delayed a decision on the pipeline because of the controversy over Nebraska. The delay angered congressional Republicans, who used a payroll tax bill to force the administration to make a decision; Obama announced in January that the permit couldn't be approved because there was no settled route.

The southern portion from Oklahoma

TransCanada has announced that it would proceed this summer in building the southern part of the pipeline, which will carry crude from the oil storage supply hub in Cushing to the Texas Gulf Coast.

Obama visited Cushing in March to say his administration would expedite the approval of permits for the southern portion.

Erich Pica, president of the group Friends of the Earth, said Friday that an Environmental Protection Agency official had determined late last year that the southern portion of the pipeline didn't qualify for the type of approval TransCanada was seeking.

"In March, President Barack Obama unconscionably stood in front of piles of TransCanada pipe and gave his blessing to expedite the southern segment," Pica said.

"Pandering to the oil industry and political headwinds with a pro-pipeline photo op is one thing, but encouraging his federal agencies to ram through a project that would ignite catastrophic climate change and leaves Americans on the hook to clean up Big Oil's mess is another matter."

But Girling, TransCanada's president and CEO, said the environmental review completed last summer concluded that the Keystone XL would be the safest pipeline of its kind in the United States.

"The multibillion dollar Keystone XL pipeline project will reduce the United States' dependence on foreign oil and support job growth," Girling said.

Fracturing rule offers a concession

MUCH of our economic debate implies we must choose between going green or going for growth. There is now hard evidence that the real choice is between green growth or no growth at all.

For the first time in the postwar period, energy and other commodity prices are unusually high for this point of the global recovery. Normally the cost of basic materials falls in real terms for at least two years after a recovery begins. In the past, this boosted real incomes, supported spending and fuelled recovery.

Today there is a different phenomenon in the developed world: the ''squeezed middle''. Far from boosting incomes and spending, high energy and material prices have undermined an already fragile recovery buffeted by financial crisis and the legacy of debt. The new pattern has consequences for our future.
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The century-long decline in commodity prices seems to have come to an end. The cause is Asia. China is growing at five times the rate of Britain during its industrialisation, and the numbers of people involved are unprecedented.

We can hope, of course, that new resources will gradually substitute for old as prices rise. The most promising candidate is shale gas, which has expanded dramatically in the US, leaving the gas price there at half the European level.

We will need shale gas to compensate for the costly production of declining oil.

The speed of the US exploitation of shale gas is unlikely to be repeated in more densely populated regions such as Europe. Outside the US, mineral rights are usually owned by governments, which means there is less incentive to drill and more incentive to argue ''not in my backyard''. Many shale-rich areas are short of the water essential to the fracking process.

So far, shale gas has not stopped the rise in global gas prices even though cargoes of conventional gas have been diverted from the US. This partly reflects increased demand from the newly industrialising countries, but it also reflects a switch from nuclear after the Fukushima disaster. We will need a lot of shale gas to compensate for three of the biggest industrial economies - Germany, Italy and Japan - going non-nuclear.

Given these trends, we can hope for cheaper energy in the long run, but it would be rash to bank on it. We should encourage resource-frugal growth where possible.

Energy saving is the win-win: it has potential for job creation and supports growth by cutting bills and boosting spendable income. But there must be a wider agenda for resource efficiency, too - recycling, repairing and reusing - as the Rio+20 summit in June will spell out.

Resource-hungry growth could rapidly stall due to commodity price rises, simply because so many of us want it. If we want sustainable growth, we do not have a choice. We must go green.

GUARDIAN

Chris Huhne is a former British secretary of state for energy and climate change.

Carry-ons to cost as much as $100 on Spirit Airlines

LOS ANGELES — Have an unexpected carry-on you need to bring on your flight? If you’re traveling with Spirit Airlines Inc., it’ll cost you $100.

On Thursday, visitors to company’s website found that fees for baggage and other consumer services are going to jump on Nov. 6 — nearly across the board.

Carry-on bag fees at the gate will cost travelers $100 — more than double the $45 they pay now. Carry-ons noted during an online reservation will cost $35, up from $30. Bags paid for at the airport counter or kiosk will cost $50, a $10 increase.

“We don’t want any of our customers to wait until they get to the boarding gate to pay for their carry-on bags as this delays the boarding process for everyone,” said spokeswoman Misty Pinson in a statement. “We expect that our new $100 fee charged for those who wait until they get to the gate will ensure that customers purchase their bags before arriving at the gate.”

The new fees are uniform across domestic and international flights. The airline calls itself “the unbundling leader” because it takes fees normally included in ticket prices and charges them separately on a case-by-case basis.

Spirit considers itself a discount airline, advertising one-way fares from $19.80. It’s also one of a few airlines that charge for the first carry-on bag.

On Tuesday, Spirit reported its earnings for the first quarter,