NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks could sputter next week as volumes dry up in holiday-shortened trading and with a slew of economic reports likely to illustrate the recovery is still fragile.

Investors will also get a glimpse of how holiday shopping could shape up with Black Friday, which traditionally marks the start of the season as retailers slash prices to tempt shoppers. It will be difficult for the economic recovery to make much headway without a pick-up in consumer spending as it accounts for two-thirds of the economy.

A raft of data is squeezed into the first half of the week, shortened by Thursday&&9;s Thanksgiving holiday. The delicate nature of the recovery has analysts split on whether the economy will advance from here or still faces another leg down.

The debate has plagued the rally throughout its run but now that the S&P 500 is up more than 60 percent from March&&9;s 12-year lows, investors are more wary of taking risks. With just six trading weeks left in the year, market watchers are keen to hold onto profits.

"There&&9;s simply more risk where we are," said Lawrence Creatura, equity market strategist and portfolio manager at Federated Clover Capital Advisors, in Rochester, New York.

"We&&9;re at a higher altitude and even though in some ways it doesn&&9;t feel like it, it&&9;s less safe now than it was in March."

Data has largely shown an economy that is recovering slowly but is still weak, particularly in areas like employment. Reports include home sales, consumer confidence, durable goods and the second reading of gross domestic product.

As well, the Federal Open Market Committee will release the minutes from November&&9;s rate-setting meeting. Investors will be looking for insight as to how the central bank will eventually start to remove its extraordinary stimulus measures and its view on the health of the economy.

The Dow and S&P 500 made 13-month highs this week before easing off, and recent sessions suggest the market is struggling to justify more gains.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.5 percent, the S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq shed 1 percent. The S&P failed to hold above the key 1,100 level and will continue to face resistance there.

Volume is expected to be light throughout the week with U.S. markets closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and shutting early on Friday. Low volume can make stocks more volatile as fewer participants make it easier to move prices.

&&9;TIS THE SEASON

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, will be watched closely with analysts anxious for signs consumers will be opening up their wallets payday loan no faxing.

The phrase Black Friday is used by retailers to refer to the start of the holiday period when their business moves into the black, or turns a profit.

Early data on shopper traffic and anecdotal evidence will give the first snapshot of the day&&9;s performance and a clearer picture will emerge the following week when stores report November retail sales.

"The American consumer historically will continue to spend until there are physically no dollars in their pockets," said Creatura.

"So the question is are there dollars in their pockets? We&&9;ll know after Black Friday."

Recent statements from retailers as they reported quarterly earnings have signaled Wall Street shouldn&&9;t get too carried away with their expectations for the holiday season. Discount retailers Target Corp (TGT.N) and Wal-Mart (WMT.N) both forecast holiday quarter profit that could miss expectations.

The two rivals have already announced deep discounts for the holidays.

"It is very, very hair-raising for retailers because this year hasn&&9;t been wonderful and make or break is right upon us," said Cummins Catherwood, managing director at Boenning and Scattergood, in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

"The question to me is how long can you keep discounting the stuff you used to sell at whole retail prices and still earn a living?"

DATA DELUGE

Third quarter preliminary gross domestic product is expected to come in at 2.9 percent, revised down from an advance reading of 3.5 percent last month, according to Reuters data. Analysts have been scaling back expectations for economic growth after data last week showed a larger-than-expected trade deficit.

Weekly initial claims for jobless benefits will be released on Wednesday, a day earlier than usual. Analysts expect first time claims to dip slightly to 500,000.

"The direction of the economic data continues to be positive, but investors face a two steps forward, one step back scenario," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial, in Westport, Connecticut.

Likewise, the FOMC minutes will be released on Tuesday, a day earlier than previously scheduled. Other data includes new and existing home sales, consumer confidence for November and durable goods for October. See

(The Stocks Outlook column appears every Sunday.)

(Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Stocks could sputter with Black Friday eyed

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian shares slipped on Friday, but recovered some early losses, while the dollar was steady after U.S. data raised fears that a global economic recovery could lose momentum.

European shares, however, were expected to bounce back from the previous session&&9;s sharp drop, while U.S. equity futures were flat.

The dollar (.DXY) held firm against a basket of major currencies as some investors shifted back to safer assets despite extremely low yields, while hedge funds were reported to be taking profits ahead of closing their books for the year-end.

Investors were unnerved by a report showing that a record one in seven U.S. mortgages were in foreclosure or at least one payment past due in the third quarter, signaling a recovery in the U.S. housing market will be tepid at best.

"Hedge funds are cashing out their positions to prepare for year-end redemption requests from the clients. And that move is encouraging others to take profits as well," the head of a trading desk at a big Japanese bank in Tokyo said.

Tech shares suffered some of the heaviest losses after a U.S. brokerage downgrade of the semiconductor industry, which helped send the S&P index (.SPX) down 1.3 percent overnight. The tech sector has been one of the leaders in a strong global equities rally that has extended into its ninth month. (.N)

Japan&&9;s Nikkei index (.N225) slid 0.5 percent, marking a fourth straight week of losses and its longest negative run in more than a year, as the government announced the world&&9;s second-largest economy was back in deflation.

The yen, like the dollar, benefited from demand for safer assets, adding pressure on shares of Japanese exporters. They included electronics giant Sony Corp (6758.T), which slid 2.4 percent to a near four-month low on doubts the company&&9;s new business strategy could deliver strong profit growth.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) and the Thomson Reuters index of regional shares (.TRXFLDAXPU) both slipped 0.5 percent, though the Asia ex-Japan index remains up about 65 percent in the year to date.

In Taiwan, the world&&9;s biggest contract chipmaker TSMC (2330.TW), which sells the bulk of its chips to North America, fell 2 percent.

"Unless Christmas sales (of technology products) are very good, we don&&9;t think the market can rebound significantly," said Alex Huang, director of Mega International Securities in Taipei no telecheck payday loans.

RECORD FUND INFLOWS

While some market watchers fear share prices have run up too far ahead of economic fundamentals, other analysts say the retreat from equities may only be temporary as excess global liquidity will continue to encourage fund inflows into Asia.

The region&&9;s economies are showing signs of rebounding from the global financial crisis far faster than the United States, the UK and Europe, where consumer sentiment remains fragile.

In Hong Kong -- which has attracted record fund inflows of more than &&6;70 billion since October last year -- central bank chief Norman Chan warned that rapid inflows posed a dilemma for policymakers across Asia as they raise the risk of potentially destabilizing asset bubbles.

Even if economies in the region raised interest rates, that could make dollar carry trades even more active and aggravate fund inflows, Chan said.

Carry trades involve borrowing money in a low-yielding currency and using the funds to invest in other assets which potentially offer far higher returns.

Fund house Franklin Templeton, meanwhile, told Reuters that sovereign wealth funds are investing more in property and commodities to hedge against rising inflation risks stemming from massive fiscal and monetary stimulus around the world.

Asian currencies also suffered on Friday as investors retreated from riskier assets, sending the Korean won to a three-week low at one point at 1,164.2 to the dollar.

Japanese government bond futures hit a fresh seven-week high as the stock market sagged and were also buoyed by stronger U.S. Treasuries.

Crude oil futures gained 0.5 percent to &&6;77.87 a barrel after losing more than 2 percent in New York on fears that lackluster economic growth would limit energy demand.

Gold was flat at &&6;1,144.40 an ounce as the dollar gained ground, retreating after hitting another record at &&6;1,152.75 an ounce earlier this week.

(Additional reporting by Baker Li in TAIPEI and Satomi Noguchi in TOKYO; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Asia shares dip in nervous trade, dollar steady

Hot News: GE-Vivendi talks over NBC Universal stalled: report

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.04 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.04 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.07 percent at 1010 GMT (5:10 a.m. EST).

Dell Inc (DELL.O) will be in the spotlight after the No.3 PC maker&&9;s quarterly profit plunged 54 percent on lower-than-expected sales as it lost market share to competitors engaged in a budding price war in the PC market.

Shares of Dell sank 6 percent in extended trading following the results, which also show a decline in gross margin that disturbed analysts. Dell shares traded in Frankfurt (DELL.F) were down 7.2 percent.

Oil prices steadied below &&6;78 a barrel on Friday, looking for fresh direction after a strong U.S. dollar and weak stock markets triggered a 2 percent fall the previous day.

Italian chocolate maker Ferrero could be interested in Cadbury&&9;s (CBRY.L) gum and candy division, a unit worth about 5 billion euros (&&6;7.4 billion), in a possible joint takeover bid, business daily Il Sole 24 Ore said.

Unlisted Ferrero and Hershey (HSY.N) are considering a joint offer for the UK confectioner, which is the target of a hostile bid from Kraft Foods (KFT.N).

Some of Goldman Sachs Inc&&9;s (GS.N) largest shareholders have asked the company to cut the size of its bonus pool and pass along more of its profits to investors, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

General Electric (GE.N) and Vivendi (VIV.PA) are at least &&6;1 billion apart in their valuation of the French group&&9;s stake in NBC Universal, the Financial Times reported business cards design.

After the bell on Thursday, Gap Inc (GPS.N) shares slipped 1.7 percent after the apparel retailer reported third-quarter earnings that were in-line with Wall Street estimates and authorized a new &&6;500 million share repurchase plan. Shares of Foot Locker (FL.N) fell 7.5 percent after it reported results.

The day&&9;s earnings calendar includes quarterly results from J.M. Smucker (SJM.N) and D.R. Horton (DHI.N). The day&&9;s economic agenda includes the Economic Cycle Research Institute&&9;s (ECRI) weekly index of economic activity for November 13.

DuPont (DD.N) expects revenue growth from its solar power business to accelerate above 20 to 30 percent, fueled by demand for clean energy, a top executive said on Friday.

U.S. stocks slid on Thursday as another batch of economic data pointed to the fragility of the recovery and a brokerage&&9;s dim view on the semiconductor sector hit technology shares.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) shed 93.87 points, or 0.90 percent, to end at 10,332.44. The Standard & Poor&&9;s 500 Index (.SPX) slid 14.90 points, or 1.34 percent, to 1,094.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) dropped 36.32 points, or 1.66 percent, to 2,156.82.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

Stock futures mixed; Dell in focus

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – General Motors (GM.UL) should focus on making money and repaying U.S. Treasury loans before turning to public markets to sell the taxpayer&&9;s stake in the automaker, a senior government official said.

Ron Bloom, head of the Obama administration&&9;s autos task force, nevertheless told Reuters that an initial public offering could come as soon as the fourth quarter of 2010 if the automaker meets its recovery targets and the financial markets are receptive.

Bloom said the government had previously expressed concerns about GM operations but now trusts the directors and management to do what is best for shareholders.

"We&&9;re done. We&&9;re not saying what we think anymore," Bloom said of the more passive role assumed by the administration since GM&&9;s bankruptcy.

Ensuring corporate independence at GM and Fiat-led (FIA.MI) Chrysler includes accepting decisions that may surprise the government or diverge from administration goals, such as production of electric vehicles.

Bloom said the administration was caught off guard when GM decided this month to keep its European Opel unit rather than sell a majority stake to a Russian-backed group led by Canadian auto parts maker Magna International (MGa.TO).

The former investment banker and senior executive of the United Steelworkers union said the GM board, which the task force helped create, is as good as any globally and the decision on Opel was never challenged by the administration.

"They made their own decision and we&&9;re not going to try to get them to change it," he said.

The Tuesday interview with Bloom was a rare on-the-record look at the administration&&9;s approach to managing the &&6;40 billion in taxpayer exposure to GM and rival Chrysler after the government facilitated bankruptcy restructurings at both.

Bloom is now wearing two hats -- as a senior adviser to President Barack Obama on manufacturing and as the leader of the task force, which was largely dismantled after the car companies emerged from Chapter 11 protection.

IPO NOT ONLY GM GOAL

Bloom said he agreed with GM Chairman Ed Whitacre&&9;s assessment that the IPO was not the only goal.

The company, he said, first should be focused on making money and paying back &&6;6.7 billion in U quick payday loan.S. debt. That process began on Monday.

"The IPO is a consequence not a cause," Bloom said, adding that a decision on timing would rest with the U.S. treasury secretary. The U.S. taxpayer holds just over 60 percent of GM.

Bloom said the possibility of a GM IPO could be raised in June when he is next scheduled to sit down with the carmaker to reevaluate debt repayment plans.

By paying down its government debt obligations -- including &&6;1.4 billion due to Canada -- GM will cut its current &&6;17 billion in debt almost in half. Chief Executive Fritz Henderson has said the move will create room for the automaker to seek a private line of credit from banks.

On Chrysler, the government is encouraged by the turnaround plan presented by Fiat, but will not push for a quick offering of the automaker&&9;s shares, Bloom said.

"We see management with a huge sense of urgency. We see a huge dedication and commitment, working extremely hard," Bloom said. "It&&9;s an ambitious plan."

Fiat holds a 20 percent stake in Chrysler, the U.S. government holds nearly 10 percent.

Fiat&&9;s five-year turnaround plan projects that Chrysler can more than double sales as it rolls out a dozen new models built on Fiat platforms.

Chrysler set aside plans for a mass-market electric vehicle, saying the timing was not right. The decision raised

eyebrows in Washington, and in the environmental and energy communities, since Chrysler secured help from the government partly on its blueprint for battery powered vehicles.

President Barack Obama has said he would like to see one million electric vehicles on U.S. roads by the middle of the next decade.

Bloom said the administration&&9;s preference for robust electric car production will not influence its oversight of the taxpayer&&9;s stake in the carmakers.

"We obviously would be very happy if Chrysler and GM were making lots and lots of high mileage cars. It&&9;s not a prerequisite. It&&9;s not an obligation," Bloom said of the electric vehicle initiative.

(Reporting by John Crawley; Additional reporting by Kevin Krolicki and David Lawder; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Exclusive: GM must pay debt, make money before IPO

Hot News: Goldman apologizes, offers small businesses help

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose to fresh 13-month highs on Tuesday as upbeat broker views on improving prospects for two Dow components offset disappointing holiday spending outlooks from Target and Home Depot.

Even so, the underlying tone was negative as investors fretted about the strength of the recovery and the recent rally, and more stocks fell than rose.

Weak outlooks for the key holiday season weighed on investor psychology since consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity and is a key factor in corporate profits.

"The news from retailers wasn&&9;t particularly good," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at NorthStar Investment Management Corp in Chicago. "It seems to me the major flavor for today is once again, the market participants questioning the strength of the recovery."

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) rose 30.46 points, or 0.29 percent, to close at 10,437.42. The Standard & Poor&&9;s 500 Index (.SPX) edged up 1.02 points, or 0.09 percent, to 1,110.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) added 5.93 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,203.78.

The three major U.S. stock indexes initially started lower and then spent the bulk of the session near breakeven until the last half-hour of trading, when gains in the technology and energy sectors helped spur some upward momentum.

In Nasdaq trading, shares of software maker Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) gained 2 percent to &&6;30 -- an 18-month closing high -- after Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock and said it was upbeat on the prospects for Windows 7 and the company&&9;s holiday season.

Shares of Exxon Mobil rose 0.8 percent to &&6;75.03 after Barclays raised its recommendation on the stock to "overweight" from "equal-weight." Both Microsoft and Exxon are components of the 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average payday loan.

But shares of Home Depot (HD.N) fell 2.4 percent to &&6;26.99 after the leading U.S. home improvement chain gave a forecast that suggested weaker results at the end of the year and predicted no meaningful recovery until the second half of 2010.

Target Corp (TGT.N), the No. 2 U.S. discounter, forecast a holiday quarterly profit that could fall short of Wall Street&&9;s estimates, saying early November results showed tepid consumer demand.

The stock dropped 3 percent to &&6;48.77, while the S&P consumer discretionaries index (.GSPD) shed 0.7 percent. The S&P retail index (.RLX) dropped 1.4 percent.

"The consumer is a bit restrained. We&&9;re still in a very tough economy, with a 26-year high in unemployment and consumer credit being reduced. So retailers have to work really hard to get through this holiday season in a profitable fashion," added Kuby at NorthStar.

Data showing that U.S. industrial output rose less than expected in October was another headwind, overshadowing news that the Producer Price Index, a gauge of wholesale inflation, was tame last month.

With Tuesday&&9;s slim gain, the S&P 500 is up 64.1 percent from its 12-year closing low of March 9.

Volume was anemic, with only about 972 million shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, sharply below last year&&9;s estimated daily average of 1.49 billion. On the Nasdaq, about 1.92 billion shares traded, below last year&&9;s daily average of 2.28 billion.

On the NYSE, declining stocks outnumbered advancers by a ratio of about 6 to 5. On the Nasdaq, about seven stocks fell for every six that rose.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

Wall St gains on broker views, but retailers sink

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire Warren Buffett&&9;s Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N)(BRKb.N) revealed on Monday new investments in Nestle AG (NESN.VX)(NSRGY.PK) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), respectively the world&&9;s largest food maker and oil company, and that it has nearly doubled its investment in Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), the world&&9;s largest retailer.

In a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing reporting U.S.-listed equity holdings as of September 30, Berkshire said it held 3.4 million American depositary receipts of Nestle valued at &&6;144.7 million and about 1.28 million Exxon Mobil shares valued at &&6;87.6 million.

It also reported boosting its stake in Wal-Mart by 90 percent from three months earlier, to 37.8 million shares valued at about &&6;1.86 billion from 19.9 million shares as of June 30.

Berkshire, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, also reported a new &&6;96.3 million investment in waste collection company Republic Services Inc (RSG easy payday loans.N), and a &&6;1.35 million investment in the insurer Travelers Cos (TRV.N).

Berkshire did not immediately return a request for comment. Buffett, the world&&9;s second-richest person, does not publicly discuss what he is buying and selling, or ordinarily explain purchases and sales revealed in quarterly SEC filings.

Monday&&9;s SEC filing includes investments made by various Berkshire subsidiaries, so it may not be the case that Buffett himself is making particular investment decisions.

A separate filing also revealed that Berkshire had begun accumulating its stake in Exxon in the second quarter. The SEC occasionally gives Buffett permission to delay disclosing investment activity so investors cannot copy him while he is still buying and selling.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; editing by Andre Grenon)

Berkshire buys Nestle, Exxon; ups Wal-Mart stake

Hot News: Hitachi to raise up to $4.5 billion: sources

The financial crisis and its aftermath hurt private jet operators in North America and Europe, but the Middle East seems to have been largely spared.

While the number of private jets in the region remains a fraction of the 3,712 counted in Europe or the 18,531 in North America, it is growing fast. Regional figures from Flightglobal, an aviation news Web site, show an expansion of more than 12 percent in the past year to 403 aircraft, led by a 25 percent expansion in the United Arab Emirates to 94 planes &S212; almost a quarter of the regional fleet &S212; driven by strong demand for charter services.

VistaJet, a Swiss company, is one operator that is planning to put more aircraft into the region to meet demand for travel to both Europe and Asia. &S220;We see that within the next three years, and that&S217;s our stated goal, the Middle East will represent 30 percent of our revenues. Right now, it represents about 10-12 percent,&S221; said Thomas Flohr, the company&S217;s chairman and founder, in a telephone interview.

Despite the economic crisis, VistaJet&S217;s revenue has risen 20 percent this year, Mr. Flohr said, helped by new business in the Middle East. The company now operates 25 Bombardier jets ranging from small, sporty Learjets to the luxurious, long-haul Global Express, and plans to take delivery of two more planes by the end of the year.

With operating bases in Dubai and Beirut, and a third under discussion in Saudi Arabia, &S220;at any given point in time we have 3-5 planes in the Middle East,&S221; Mr. Flohr said. Next year, it may allocate another three to the region, he said.

In Asia, New Dimension Aviation, based in Singapore, and Elite Jets, based in Dubai, have agreed to a partnership deal to fly Middle Eastern clients to Malaysia and Indonesia, countries whose large Muslim populations are attracting the interest of Gulf enterprises. &S220;We&S217;ve noticed an increase in traffic from the Middle East to Asia and we want to capitalize on this,&S221; Nicholas Janitsary, the managing director of New Dimension, said paydayloans.

Under the cross-ownership and chartering clauses of the deal, Elite &S212; run by Ammar Balkar, who earlier started Royal Jets for Abu Dhabi&S217;s Royal family &S212; would transfer two Dassault Falcon jets to Singapore in February while New Dimension would take delivery in March of a top-of-the-range Falcon 7X. The first to operate in the Middle East, the $50 million, 14-seater aircraft will be stationed in Dubai.

&S220;Business has been down in the Middle East if you&S217;re dealing with expats and big companies from overseas,&S221; Mr. Janitsary said, referring to expatriate business clients. &S220;But affluent Middle East customers, whether from royal families or wealthy individuals, they&S217;re actually chartering more. That&S217;s actually the experience that we&S217;ve had out of Dubai. The planes are never on the ground anymore.&S221;

Mike Berry, managing director of ExecuJet Middle East, which runs a fleet of 20 jets, said bookings for business trips out of the Middle East to the Far East and North America had been rising for the past two months, notably to China and Singapore, while some private clients were chartering flights to the casino resort territory of Macao.

Mr. Janitsary said New Dimension also expected to gain from gambling traffic &S212; Singapore has approved two casino resorts which are due to open early next year. &S220;We&S217;re expecting a lot of casino-related business,&S221; he said.

Still, Mr. Flohr of Vistajet, said gambling was a small part of the picture. &S220;We&S217;re having casino clients in Macao, but we see the business traffic as the major traffic,&S221; he said. &S220;Is the traffic between Middle East and Asia as big as Middle East and Europe? Definitely not yet, but we are seeing an increase year over year.&S221;

Special Report: Aviation: Private Jet Operators an Oasis of Growth in Middle East

THE global financial crisis is prompting huge government interventions to stimulate the economies of the United States and many other nations. The burning question is this: Can public-sector initiatives in the private sector be successful, or are they inevitably doomed to failure?

Josh Lerner tries to answer that question, as it pertains to early-stage businesses, in &S220;Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Why Public Efforts to Boost Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Have Failed &<51; and What to Do About It&S221; (Princeton University Press, $27.95).

&S220;To be sure, government has a role in stimulating a vibrant entrepreneurial sector,&S221; Mr. Lerner declares. &S220;But at the same time, it is easy for the government to overstep its bounds and squander its investments. Only by designing a program that reflects an understanding of, and willingness to learn from, the entrepreneurial process can governments be effective.&S221;

Mr. Lerner brings impressive academic credentials and practical experience to his examination of public-private issues. He is the Jacob H. Schiff professor of investment banking at Harvard Business School and has done consulting work for governments around the globe.

Mr. Lerner says that &S220;far more often than not, public programs have been failures&S221; when it comes to entrepreneurship and venture capital. Even so, he says many of these failures could have been avoided if some simple steps had been taken.

He cites the Small Business Investment Company program, which began offering federal loans and tax incentives 50 years ago. Critics quickly contended that it conducted minimal review of its recipients, Mr. Lerner says. Despite some success, the program is marred by a bureaucracy that scares off the best venture capitalists, he says.

Mr. Lerner writes that earlier in this decade, a grant offered through the Small Business Innovation Research Program, a government effort to help small high-tech companies, was pulled from Intronn, a company researching a promising cure for cystic fibrosis. The reason, he writes, was that Intronn had sold a stake to a venture capital firm that had more than 500 employees; that, in turn, forced Intronn to abandon its cystic fibrosis research.

Mr. Lerner says problems with public-sector help have been common worldwide. He relates stories of Norway, decades ago, squandering a substantial portion of its oil wealth on &S220;ill-conceived new businesses begun by relatives of parliamentarians and bureaucrats,&S221; and of the Malaysian government opening a huge complex called BioValley in 2005 without first confirming demand for the facility, which became mocked as the &S220;Valley of Bio-Ghosts.&S221;

But he says partnerships of the public and private sectors are still crucial, for at least two reasons. The first, he says, is the link between innovation and economic growth. The second is the link between innovation and government-supported new businesses, which typically take on much riskier and potentially more rewarding projects than older, bureaucratically hidebound giants cash til payday.

In reply to skeptics who say public-sector interventions can never be effective, he offers a section titled &S220;The (Uncensored) Story of Silicon Valley.&S221; In it, he documents that government was a catalyst in the growth of the high-tech sector and numerous prominent companies.

In World War I and World War II, he notes, military contracts spurred the growth of companies like Magnavox and Hewlett-Packard. More recently, he says, the S.B.I.C. provided support Apple, Compaq and Intel before they went public.

Mr. Lerner provides more than a dozen rules of thumb for effective government intervention in the private sector. Attesting to his own belief in capitalism, he urges governments to &S220;let the market decide the direction&S221; of their stimulus programs and the selection of the appropriate companies and venture capital funds to carry them out.

&S220;Rather than fund dozens of groups immediately, programs should first fund a handful of entities,&S221; he advises. &S220;As feedback comes in from the early participants, second and third batches of capital may be invested, or the capital of the pioneering firms and funds may be supplemented.&S221;

LIKEWISE, he cautions against the me-too approach that national and regional governments often take in supporting entrepreneurial projects. He says, for example, that 49 of the 50 states recently started major programs to promote the biotechnology industry in hopes of creating regional activity clusters.

&S220;Realistically,&S221; he says, &S220;only a handful of these states had the basic scientific resources and the supporting infrastructure (e.g., lawyers versed in biotechnology patent law and financing practice) to support a successful cluster, so the bulk of these funds were wasted.&S221;

The herd mentality, Mr. Lerner adds, is often further fueled by political expediency. &S220;All too often technology transfer offices are encouraged to maximize the short-run returns from licensing transactions,&S221; he says. &S220;This leads to an emphasis on transactions with established corporations that can make substantial upfront payments, even though licensing new technologies to start-ups can yield substantial returns in the long run.&S221;

The book is refreshingly easy for a layman to read, and much of the advice is common-sensical, which is as much a weakness as a strength. He emphasizes the importance of combating so-called agency problems, an academic euphemism for the graft and corruption in government programs that he finds to exist around the globe. His remedies involve things like &S220;creating firewalls between elected officials and program administrators&S221; and &S220;careful assessment of the program.&S221;

But, alas, history shows that politicians and bureaucrats don&S217;t always use common sense.

Off the Shelf: Can Public Aid Really Help Business?

Hot News: S.E.C. Accuses 2 Programmers of Aiding Madoff

When airlines charge extra fees, are they really just another fare increase in disguise?

It is not just a theoretical question to help travelers pass the time in an airport.

Congress has been furrowing its collective brow at the practice. An investigation is under way, and could lead to changes in this increasingly popular tactic that airlines use to bring in more revenue without raising fares.

Such fees have helped the industry offset the effects of the recession, by charging for things like checking bags, selecting seats and even for travel during the holidays.

The reason for the Congressional interest is money. Fees, for the most part, are not taxed, so the government is concerned it is missing out on extra revenue that could help airports.

Penny-pinching travelers may gripe about the fees, but this new inquiry could raise the ultimate cost of tickets, if airlines decide to pass along to their customers the cost of the additional taxes.

The outcome will hinge on the answer to a technical question: do the fees reflect what it costs the airlines to provide the extra service, or are they just an added charge for services the airlines have always provided?

The airlines prefer a different metaphor, and say these fees are akin to an &>24; la carte restaurant menu, allowing passengers to choose what they want as part of their trip.

But to Representative James L. Oberstar, Democrat of Minnesota, who has long followed industry issues, fees mean only one thing: &S220;They&S217;ve found a backdoor way to raise ticket prices.&S221;

He and Representative Jerry F. Costello, Democrat of Illinois, have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the practice. The office&S217;s first meetings with airlines began last month, and Mr. Oberstar said he expected to hold Congressional hearings for airline executives to justify the fees.

So far this year, United States airlines have taken in more than $3 billion in fees. If all those fees were subject to the same 7.5 percent excise taxes as fares, then the government would have at least $225 million more to distribute to airports for improvements and expansions.

Airline executives said they were cooperating fully with the Congressional investigation, but were concerned that it might result in even higher prices for consumers, who are already paying an average of $10 each in baggage and other fees, which the airlines call ancillary revenue.

&S220;It falls in the category, first, do no harm,&S221; said David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the industry&S217;s trade group.

But Mr. Oberstar says airlines may be doing themselves long-term harm. The money collected from excise taxes is a primary source of federal financing for airports, which ultimately helps both the airlines and their customers.

&S220;Maybe we have to teach them a lesson, and make them pay their fair share,&S221; Mr payday loans. Oberstar said of the airlines.

The airlines counter that the recession has forced them to think up new revenue streams. This fall, for example, they began adding a surcharge on tickets booked during the most popular travel days during Thanksgiving, Christmas and spring break.

&S220;We have been aggressive and creative,&S221; John Tague, president of United Airlines, told analysts last month. And it has paid off: United collects about $13 in fees per passenger, or 30 percent more than the industry average.

Collectively, the nine biggest airlines lost $236 million between July and September, which is usually the strongest quarter for travel during the year, according to Airlinefinancials.com, which tracks industry trends.

Along with the overall drop in travel, revenue from business travelers, a major source of income for United and other carriers, was down 25 percent in the third quarter, after falling 40 percent earlier this year.

&S220;There&S217;s no opportunity here for a full revenue recovery until we get premium travel back,&S221; Mr. Tague said. &S220;And it&S217;s not clear how long that will take.&S221;

Southwest Airlines has been a holdout in charging many fees. So far, it has not started charging to check the first two bags, although it is exploring ways to collect more revenue from passengers when it overhauls its frequent-flier program.

&S220;We all know if we charged money, we&S217;d get the bag fee, but we&S217;d lose the customer,&S221; its chief executive, Gary Kelly, said last month. &S220;We believe we&S217;re ahead of the game by not charging a bag fee.&S221;

Robert W. Mann, an industry analyst, said airlines were making a mistake by giving passengers another reason to resent them, and by creating a new incentive for them to search harder for the lowest possible fare.

He added that the airlines should have been clearer on their Web sites and in their ads about the charges for things that were once included in the ticket price.

&S220;There&S217;s a right way, and a wrong way, and the wrong way is what the airlines have done,&S221; Mr. Mann said.

Mr. Mann got his own fee surprise when he flew JetBlue Airways from Orlando to New York in October.

He arrived early at the airport, and asked to rebook his flight. He was told he could do so for $40. The aisle seat he wanted cost him another $25.

&S220;It&S217;s different than buying a car, and adding on the options packages,&S221; he said. &S220;It&S217;s almost as if airlines have turned this on its head and said, &S216;We&S217;ll sell you the Toyota, but the four tires are extra.&S217;&<60;&S221;

Worried About Losing Tax Revenue, Congress to Investigate Airlines’ Fees

SYDNEY &S212; Australian employment rose 24,500 in October, a second month of surprisingly strong growth, which led investors to believe a further increase in interest rates was almost certain to come next month.

The Australian dollar jumped to 15-month highs after the data was released on Thursday, and interbank futures slid as the market priced in almost a 90 percent chance of an interest rate increase in December.

Such a rise would take the cash rate to 3.75 percent and would mark the first time the Reserve Bank of Australia, or R.B.A., has tightened monetary policy for three straight months.

&S220;One month of this data you can take with a grain of salt, but two months in a row of positive numbers is starting to look like a trend,&S221; said Rob Henderson, head of market economics at National Australia Bank.

&S220;For the R.B.A., it&S217;s another bit of evidence to suggest the downturn is not as severe as they first thought,&S221; he added. &S220;It&S217;s another reason to push interest rates higher, so we&S217;re comfortable with our forecast of 25 basis points in December.&S221;

The central bank became the first central bank in the Group of 20 to tighten in October and followed up with another move to 3.5 percent last week, saying the economy was beating all expectations.

Analysts had been uncertain whether the central bank would move in December as well, but the jobs figures changed that.

&S220;It certainly counts toward another rise of 25 basis points in December. The Reserve Bank will surely be keen to remove more of this emergency stimulus,&S221; said Felicity Emmett, an economist at RBS.

The market was certainly leaning that way, pushing December bank bill futures down 0.05 points and the local dollar up over half a U.S. cent to $0.9370.

&S220;Employment is up 60,000 in just two months and the jobless rate might peak below 6 percent,&S221; said Ms. Emmett. &S220;That&S217;s amazing &S212; it&S217;s much lower than expected earlier in the year payday loans guaranteed no fax.&S221;

The jobless rate ticked up to 5.8 percent in October, from 5.7 percent in September, but has essentially been steady around this level since March. That was a marked contrast with the United States where unemployment was up at 10.2 percent.

The labor market has surprised everyone by its resilience this year with firms reluctant to fire skilled labor and instead shifting people to part-time work.

The jobless rate has still risen as more people enter the workforce, keeping the participation rate near historical highs, and could climb further in coming months.

But indicators of demand for labor are beginning to turn higher, albeit from low levels.

The central bank now expects unemployment to peak far below the levels it feared just a few months ago. The government this month sharply cut its forecast for the jobless rate, expecting it to peak at 6.75 percent rather than 8.5 percent.

If right, that has huge implications for consumer confidence, household incomes and consumption. It is also good news for the budget bottom line, raising tax receipts while limiting spending on unemployment benefits.

&S220;On the back of these numbers it looks like the R.B.A. was right in its recent commentary where it signaled it was getting increasingly concerned about capacity constraints and wage pressures,&S221; said Helen Kevans an economist at JPMorgan. &S220;I think that is going to be a key thing going into 2010.&S221;

Investors have been pricing in a whole string of rate moves in coming months. One measure from Credit Suisse implies 180 basis points of tightening over the next 12 months, taking the cash rate to 5.25 percent.

Reuters

Australia Posts Second Straight Month of Strong Job Growth

Hot News: Kimberly Process Chair Defends Recent Decision Not to Suspend Zimbabwe

NEW YORK – Shares of trucking services provider Celadon Group Inc. began trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange after the company switched its listing from the Nasdaq stock market.

The company, based in Indianapolis, had announced its intent to switch last month.

Celadon's subsidiaries provide long-haul, full-truckload freight service across North America and also provide freight brokerage Payday advance.

Celadon shares closed unchanged at $9.99.

Celadon Group switches from Nasdaq to NYSE

HONG KONG, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The world economic recovery is still fragile, World Bank Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Justin Yifu Lin said Monday.

Delivering a lecture on the global financial crisis and economic imbalance at the University of Hong Kong, Lin said there were still many uncertainties in the prospect for the global economy.

The World Bank projected a contraction of 2.1 percent for the world economy in its latest forecasts, he said.

The current world economic recovery can be partly attributed to the effect of the stimulus measures worldwide and the restocking of inventory, Lin said cash till payday advance.

The recent comments by world economic leaders showed that it was still unlikely for them to exit from the stimulus packages in the short run, he said.

Lin said it is necessary for economies, including the United States and China, to work together in the long run to address the structural imbalance exposed in the crisis.

Global economic recovery still fragile: World Bank's Lin

For many women, a $1,000 dress is something they admire in the pages of a glossy magazine or see draped on the frame of a celebrity &<51; not an item hanging in their closet.

But a nascent Web site called Rent the Runway is hoping to make high-end fashions much more accessible and almost as easy as renting a movie from Netflix.

The mail-order service, which finishes the testing phase on Monday, allows women to rent dresses from notable fashion designers like Diane Von Furstenberg, Herv&>33; L&>33;ger and Proenza Schouler for roughly one-tenth of what they would cost to buy in a retail store.

The rentals run $50 to $200 for a four-night loan and are shipped directly to the customer&S217;s doorstep. After wearing the dress, she puts it into a prepaid envelope and drops it in the mail. Dry cleaning is included in the price, but damage insurance costs $5, and in the case of outright destruction of the dress, the renter is responsible for the full retail price.

Rent the Runway is a recession-era twist on the Internet rent-by-mail model, which has been used for things like textbooks and video games in addition to movies. Unlike those utilitarian items, however, the dresses offer a touch of Cinderella &<51; on a budget.

Julia Harris, a 27-year-old graduate student living in New York, turned to Rent the Runway when she needed something chic for a fall wedding. For $50, she got a fuchsia Catherine Malandrino number with an elaborately ruffled bust that would have cost $495 to buy.

&S220;It was so easy. You just wear it and drop it back in the mail to them,&S221; Ms. Harris said. &S220;I don&S217;t spend $2,000 on a dress regularly, so it&S217;s nice to be able to wear some of the more expensive brands I wouldn&S217;t be able to buy otherwise. And instead of just buying one or two dresses for this season, I can still have a lot of things to wear.&S221;

Rent the Runway was founded by two recent Harvard Business School graduates, Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Carter Fleiss. Ms. Hyman said she got the idea for the service last year after watching her younger sister agonize over whether to buy an expensive new outfit to wear to a wedding.

&S220;Here was this young girl who loves fashion and was willing to spend a good portion of her salary on a dress that she&S217;s only going to wear once or twice, and I thought, there has to be a solution for this,&S221; said Ms. Hyman.

The founders say that more than 20,000 women have signed up for the service, which has been shipping dresses for only a week. Bain Capital Ventures provided seed financing, which the company used to build its inventory of 160 styles.

Rent the Runway declined to discuss its business strategy, but it is clear the company faces several risks. Unlike DVDs, fashion changes quickly, and there is no guarantee that the company will be able to rent each dress enough times to cover its costs.

In addition, retail stores in major cities have offered dresses for rent for years. Rent the Runway is betting that its shop-by-Web convenience and the appeal of its top-quality fashions will persuade women across the country to rent a dress for a special occasion without trying it on beforehand business?ards.

The company has also chosen to make the service invitation-only, which gives it an air of exclusivity but may limit its audience.

Jeff Roster, an analyst with Gartner, said that execution would be critical. &S220;If my movie doesn&S217;t come on time, I might be mad, but life goes on,&S221; he said. &S220;But if my fancy dress for a big important event doesn&S217;t arrive, that&S217;s a customer service problem like you&S217;ve never had before.&S221;

Ms. Hyman and Ms. Carter Fleiss said they had taken several steps to guard against service fiascos. For starters, they use a reservation system to ensure that a customer can get a specific dress for the night she needs it.

To assist with fitting, they have on-call stylists who can advise customers on how certain materials feel and how a particular dress might hang on various body types. In addition, the site offers returns within 24 hours for any reason and will include an extra size of a first dress at no additional cost.

Customers who want to be extra-safe can choose a second style as a backup, for an additional $25. And all dresses come with a custom garment bag and a &S220;fit kit,&S221; which includes double-sided tape, bra strap adjusters and deodorant stain removers.

For fashion designers, the service is a creative marketing strategy and a way to reach a new generation of customers, said Ms. Hyman. &S220;If someone wears a dress and absolutely loves it, she will go out and buy it,&S221; she said.

Although most designers are selling their dresses directly to the service, some are providing exclusive runway pieces that are not commercially sold in exchange for a cut of the revenue.

Christian Siriano, a New York designer who was the winner in the fourth season of the &S220;Project Runway&S221; reality TV show, said Rent the Runway was a way to introduce his collection to a broader audience.

&S220;Even though most people probably know who I am, they don&S217;t know the brand yet,&S221; he said. At a boutique, Mr. Siriano&S217;s pieces can cost as much as $3,000. On Rent the Runway, his styles are offered for $150 to $200.

Those prices are especially appealing in a tough economy, said Karen Scheck, president of Lela Rose, a label whose fans include celebrities like Anne Hathaway.

&S220;In challenging economic times, it&S217;s important for brands to reach a larger audience and age demographic that you wouldn&S217;t normally because of the price,&S221; she said. &S220;This is a great way to do it without jeopardizing the brand.&S221;

The real test of the service will be the quality of its collection, said Samantha Durbin, editor of FabSugar.com, a fashion blog. &S220;The key is to have really great products that are on trend,&S221; she said. &S220;No one wants to rent last season&S217;s dress.&S221;

Haute Couture, Available Through Netflix Model

SINGAPORE, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) opened here Sunday, kicking off the APEC Leaders' Week.
Representatives of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) attend the Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting of the APEC in Singapore, on Nov. 8, 2009. The Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting of the APEC opened here Sunday, kicking off the APEC Leaders' Week. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)
Photo Gallery>>>

The theme of this year's APEC Singapore meetings is "Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region". It is expected that when leaders of the 21 APEC members meet on Nov. 14-15, they will focus on how to secure an economic recovery and fight trade protectionism.

Issues of regional economic integration, the Doha Round of negotiations under the World Trade Organization and climate change are also expected to be high on the leaders' agenda.

Senior officials' meetings of the APEC are a series of meetings held three or four times a year, with the concluding session being convened to prepare agenda and documents for the subsequent ministerial and leaders' meetings.

At the two-day closed-door meeting, senior officials will discuss a range of issues, including how to secure that economic growth can become more inclusive so that every member can benefit from the growth, according to the organizer of the meeting.

The officials will deliberate a proposal to set APEC-wide targets in five priority areas to improve the ease of doing business in the region, with the aim of endorsing these targets by the APEC ministerial meeting from Nov. 10 to Nov. 12.

The five priority areas include APEC's ease of starting a business, getting credit and trading across borders.

How to move towards a Free Trade Area for the Asia Pacific will also be on their agenda, said the organizer.

China hoped the APEC leaders' meeting in Singapore would help boost global economic recovery, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said in Beijing Friday. Representatives of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) attend the Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting of the APEC in Singapore, on Nov. 8, 2009. The Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting of the APEC opened here Sunday, kicking off the APEC Leaders' Week. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)
Photo Gallery>>>

"China hopes concrete cooperation plan could be laid out during the summit to help the world out of the international financial crisis and resume economic growth," Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said at a press briefing.

China also hoped the meeting could show clear opposition to trade protectionism and support to the Doha Round negotiation, and make progress in promoting regional economic integration and improving investment environment, he said cash advances pay day loan.

The vice-minister said that China hoped the APEC would set up a review mechanism to assess the Bogor Goals, which stipulate that industrialized economies of the APEC should achieve the goal of free and open trade and investment no later than 2010 and developing economies no later than 2020.

The APEC forum was established in 1989 to capitalize on the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies, and it has grown to become one of the world's most important regional groups.

APEC's 21 member economies are home to more than 2.7 billion people and represent approximately 54 percent of world GDP and 44 percent of world trade.

Since APEC's inception, members have experienced an average annual GDP growth of 7 percent, versus 5 percent growth in non-APEC economies.

Openness, partnership: soul of APEC

SINGAPORE, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Week kicked off Sunday with the opening of the Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting. Around 10,000 delegates, media persons and visitors, including 21 leaders and 63 ministers from the 21 APEC member economies, are arriving in the country for the gathering, a manifestation of the importance of the meetings this year against the backdrop of incipient recovery from the global economic recession. Full story China plays very important role in APEC: Singapore PM SINGAPORE, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- As a major economy, China plays a very important role in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which was formed in 1989 with the aim of promoting free trade in the region, Singapore's Prime Minster Lee Hsien Loong has said. In a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua, Lee Hsien Loong said that China plays a very important role in the APEC, contributing to the cooperation and working with other APEC members to achieve their common goals and he hopes it will continue to do so. Full story Singapore PM says China-Singapore ties good on broad front SINGAPORE, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- China and Singapore have enjoyed good relations on a broad front over the past two decades, and Chinese President Hu Jintao's forthcoming visit to Singapore next week will give the already good relations another push upwards, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said. In a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua, Lee Hsien Loong said that Singapore is very happy that its relations with China have grown and prospered over the last 20 years in many fields. Full story
Backgrounder: APEC Senior Officials' Meetings

Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting of APEC opens

As many as 25 percent of the American farmers growing genetically engineered corn are no longer complying with federal rules intended to maintain the resistance of the crops to damage from insects, according to a report Thursday from an advocacy group.

The increase in farmers skirting the rules, from fewer than 10 percent a few years ago, raises the risk that insects will develop resistance to the toxins in the corn that are meant to kill them, the report says. And it raises questions about whether the Environmental Protection Agency and the agricultural biotechnology industry are adequately enforcing the rules.

The data &S220;should be a wake-up call to E.P.A. that the regulatory system is not working,&S221; Gregory Jaffe, the report&S217;s author, wrote in a letter Thursday to Lisa P. Jackson, the administrator of the federal agency. Mr. Jaffe is the biotechnology project director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington advocacy group that does not oppose genetically engineered crops but favors stricter regulation.

The crops in question, called BT corn, have bacterial genes spliced into their DNA that cause the plants to make toxins that kill certain insects when they feed on the crop. In 2008, about 49 million acres of BT corn was grown, accounting for 57 percent of domestic corn acreage.

So far there appears to be little sign that insects are growing resistant to the toxins in the corn. If they were to, however, it would not only render the crops ineffective but would hurt organic farmers who use sprays of bacterial BT toxins as natural pesticides.

To stave off such resistance, E.P.A. requires farmers in the Corn Belt to plant 20 percent of their fields with non-BT corn to serve as a refuge for insects easy online payday loans. The idea is that if an insect becomes impervious to the BT toxin, it is likely to mate with a nonresistant insect from the refuge, and the offspring would not be resistant.

Four big biotechnology companies &<51; Monsanto, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Syngenta and Dow AgroSciences &<51; jointly do an annual survey of corn growers to assess compliance.

Mr. Jaffe obtained these reports from the E.P.A. under the Freedom of Information Act. From 2003 to 2006, about 90 percent of farmers growing corn resistant to the corn borer established refuges of the required size. But the rate fell to 80 percent in 2007 and 78 percent in 2008.

Only 74 percent of farmers were setting up a big enough refuge for corn resistant to the rootworm in 2008, down from 89 percent in 2006. And only 63 percent of farmers had their rootworm refuges close enough to their fields.

Nicholas Storer, chairman of Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Technical Committee, the industry group that does the surveys, said the seed companies recognized the problems and for the last two years have been undertaking a &S220;Respect the Refuge&S221; campaign, sending postcards to farmers and putting billboards alongside highways in the Corn Belt.

&S220;We&S217;re not happy to see negative trends,&S221; Dr. Storer said.

The E.P.A. said it would evaluate the report and take action if necessary.

Rules on Modified Corn Skirted, Study Says