Financial Freedom. Best business news.

Airlines began to cancel flights and get planes out of the way as Hurricane Irene barreled toward the U.S. mainland on Thursday.

The storm will likely force hundreds of flights to be cancelled through this weekend and create delays that could ripple across the country.

Airlines said passengers could rebook those trips to many East Coast destinations, from Boston to the Carolinas, for free.

American Airlines and its American Eagle affiliate, with an extensive network in the Caribbean, canceled 126 flights on Thursday. Most were in the Bahamas and south Florida, including Miami, a jumping-off spot for flights to the Caribbean and Latin America.

Delta Air Lines reported four cancelations, and United one. Those and other airlines were watching Irene’s path before deciding how many flights to scrub and where on Friday.

Even before Irene’s arrival, unrelated thunderstorms were causing delays of up to two hours Thursday at major airports in the New York and Washington areas, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. The service’s CEO, Daniel Baker, predicted that Irene-related cancelations would pick up Friday afternoon and become significant on Saturday. Thataeuros when the storm is expected to come ashore in North Carolina.

The airlines’ preparation reflects a new approach to dealing with big storms. In recent years, they have waived ticket-change fees and canceled flights long before storms arrive. That has helped reduce the number of travelers and flight crews who get stranded at airports. Canceling flights ahead of time keeps planes out of the path of damaging storms and lets airlines resume normal schedules more quickly after the bad weather passes.

But sheltering planes far from a storm carries risks. If the storm changes path and misses big airports, hundreds of flights will have been canceled unnecessarily.

Irene presents another challenge. Because major travel hubs such as Washington and New York are in its potential path, flights that are canceled or delayed there tend to ripple across the country.

“Most everyone expects New York to get hit, so you’re obviously not going to leave a lot of planes on the ground in New York, waiting for a problem,” said Tim Smith, a spokesman for American Airlines.

He said all the airline’s Thursday flights in the Bahamian capital of Nassau were canceled and there were delays in Miami due to heavy rain. He said the airline would track forecasts before making decisions about cancelations for Friday.

The airlines announced policies for changing trips free of the normal ticket-change charges.

Travelers on American going to 14 cities from Boston to Raleigh-Durham, N.C., could delay trips as late as Sept. 7 without penalty. Policies on Delta and United Continental were more restrictive at midday Thursday.

The offers were too late for some travelers whose long-planned trips turned soggy.

Noelia Chacon of Spain, touring the East Coast with her husband and son, were evacuated from the Smithsonian in Washington after Tuesday’s earthquake and now might limit their New York sightseeing because of Irene. Their tickets and hotel in Newark, N.J., are nonrefundable.

“We’ve had an earthquake and a hurricane so far. We’ll see what’s next,” Chacon said, as rain fogged the windows of the hotel lobby. “This is a trip we will not soon forget.”

Source

Police say rioters fired gunshots at unarmed officers and a police helicopter during this month’s disturbances in the English city of Birmingham.

West Midlands Police released footage Saturday showing masked men firing shots during riots on Aug. 9.

The force said 11 shots were fired. Chief Constable Chris Sims called it “a concerted and organized attempt to kill or injure police officers.”

Police also said they had arrested an eighth suspect over the deaths of three men run down by a car in Birmingham as they protected shops from looters fast cash loans.

Four people have already been charged with murdering Shazad Ali, Abdul Musavir and Haroon Jahan.

More than 1,300 people have been charged over the riots that flared in London and other English cities for four nights.

Source

Congress and the Obama administration are weighing their options as time closes in on the deadline for raising the nation’s debt ceiling, and the White House may call another meeting Sunday of congressional leaders and President Barack Obama.

White House and congressional and aides will continue discussions as Congress moves on two tracks to find a solution for increasing the nation’s borrowing authority while reducing long-term deficits.

The government will exceed the current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling on Aug. 2, after which it will be in default of its obligations. The consequences could be far-reaching, with potentially higher interest rates on mortgages and car loans, a halt in Social Security checks and unsettled world financial markets.

Republicans and some Democrats want to use the debt ceiling countdown as an opportunity to reduce long-term deficits, but both sides have reached an impasse on how to accomplish that.

House Republicans are preparing to vote this week on allowing an increase in the government’s borrowing limit through 2012 as long as Congress approves a balanced-budget constitutional amendment, which is highly unlikely.

In the Senate, the Republican and Democratic leaders are working on a bipartisan plan that would allow Obama to raise the debt limit without a prior vote by lawmakers payday loans lenders. The talks are focusing on how to address long-term deficit reduction in the proposal to satisfy House Republicans.

“Lines of communication remain open with all parties,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner.

White House budget director Jacob Lew was scheduled to make a round of appearances on Sunday television news shows to make the case for Obama’s call to reduce deficits with a mix of spending cuts and revenue increases. Republicans have rejected any plan that contains tax increases.

Obama made the argument himself in his weekly radio and Internet address.

“We have to ask everyone to play their part because we are all part of the same country,” Obama said Saturday, pushing a combination of spending cuts and tax increases that has met stiff resistance from Republicans. “We are all in this together,” he said.

Source

AWARDS

Chesterfield-based Hexagrid announced that its flagship product, VxDatacenter, won the 2011 Cloud Computing World Series Award for best virtualization product.

Hazelwood-based Household Essentials LLC received a Gold Winner award from the 23rd DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation for the company’s environmentally friendly ironing board cover and pad packaging.

GETTING BETTER

Clayco Inc. now holds the No. 52 position among the nation’s leading contractors and the No. 16 position among the nation’s leading design-builders in terms of revenue, according to the Engineering News-Record.

HELPING OUT

First Bank employees in Missouri and Illinois raised $12,151 for the American Heart Association during a recent Heart Walk campaign.

Auffenberg Ford in Belleville in cooperation with Belleville West High School raised $7,230 for the school’s cheer and dance club at a test-drive event.

MILESTONE

St. Louis-based Daniel And Henry Co. insurance agency is celebrating its 90th anniversary.

NEW BUSINESS

Citizens National Bank of Greater St. Louis and Beyond Housing have partnered in developing a community mortgage product to serve low- to moderate- income clients in the city of St. Louis who have limited or no credit history.

TGA Premier Junior Golf, a national after-school enrichment junior golf program, started a new program in St. Charles County, headed by business partners Valeria Williams, Shirley Colvard and Ivan Mickens.

OPENING

Tumi opened a store at Plaza Frontenac.

86 Plaza Frontenac

Frontenac, Mo. 63131

314-432-2360

RECOGNITION

Steven Harris, a certified public accountant and partner in RubinBrown’s assurance services group, was named a Young Professional of the Year by the Urban League Young Professionals of St. Louis.

Midwest Breast Care Center, a St. Luke’s Hospital’s Center for Diagnostic Imaging affiliated center, was designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology.

Mosby Building Arts was ranked as the top remodeling company in St. Louis, according to Professional Remodeler magazine’s Market Leaders poll.

Jeffrey L. Zelms, retired former CEO of the Doe Run Co., is among the 2011 inductees into the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum at Leadville, Colo.

The American Red Cross recognized Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Crystal City for a fourth consecutive year as a Gold Level recipient for hosting six blood drives throughout the year. The Red Cross also recognized Christian Hospital for holding blood drives leading to the hospital reaching Gold Level status.

John Qualy, managing partner with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, The Qualy Group in St. Louis, received two proclamations from state officials for his work with Scramble for Kids, a charitable organization that raises money for local children’s hospitals.

SCI Engineering Inc. was recognized by the American Concrete Pavement Association and the Missouri Department of Transportation for the best Portland Cement Concrete Parking Area Project completed in Missouri in 2010 for the company’s high quality testing on the Fort Zumwalt South High School Parking Lot project in St. Peters.

Source

Greece’s financial meltdown overshadowed yet another European Union summit on Thursday, forcing leaders to discuss new ways to get the country back on its feet and protect the euro.

Eurozone governments earlier this week delayed any final decision on new aid for Greece until July 3, when they will know whether the parliament in Athens backs massive new budget cuts, government asset sales and economic reforms.

But the first victim of Europe’s debt crisis will still dominate discussions Thursday, for without the next euro12 billion ($17 billion) bailout installment Greece will default in mid-July.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will urge leaders to help Greece access billions in EU development funds to create jobs and make its businesses more competitive.

The funds are designed to help underdeveloped regions catch up with richer parts of the 27-nation bloc. About euro15 billion ($22 billion) is still available for Greece until 2013, but the country is struggling to prove it can use the funds well and come up with matching financing.

However, Barroso’s last-ditch attempt to sweeten the new austerity measures Greece must pass faces serious resistance, as some countries are reluctant to make any concessions to Greece before the parliament vote.

“We are ready to look into it in a constructive way, how we can do something in a wise manner?” said a German government official. “But the precondition is that the austerity measures pass the Greek parliament before.”

The official declined to be named in line with department policy.

Other, poorer countries are likely to frown at easing the rules for just one country.

Leaders will also take another look at finance ministers’ decision to ask banks and other private creditors to share the burden of a second massive bailout for Greece, on top of the euro110 billion ($158 billion) the country was granted a year ago.

The German official said discussions with banks have already started, adding that the eurozone was in close talks with rating agencies and the European Central Bank to avoid triggering a negative rating.

If rating agencies declared Greece to be in partial default of its debts that could spark panic on financial markets, hurt Greek and European banks and endanger other EU nations struggling with heavy debt.

EU President Herman Van Rompuy will also make a push for eurozone leaders to give an even clearer sign they will fund a second rescue package for Greece as long as Greece manages to push through the new austerity measures in a June 28 vote.

The International Monetary Fund, which has provided about one-third of the European bailouts, has made continued financing for Greece a precondition to paying out its share of a euro12 billion ($17 billion) installment of Greece’s first rescue package.

Despite all these efforts, however, many financial experts believe that Greece’s debt burden is too great in the long term and the country is heading for an eventual default.

The divisions among EU countries are reaching beyond the problems of Greece. Another key item planned for the summit _ the formal appointment of Mario Draghi as the new president of the ECB _ may be put off as fellow Italian executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi has so far refused to leave his post.

The French, who with the departure of current ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet on Oct. 31 would not have a representative on the board, will only support Draghi if a Frenchman or a woman takes over Smaghi’s spot.

European finance ministers, the European Parliament and the board of the ECB have already backed Draghi, but without the formal approval of the leaders his appointment will not be valid.

Source

The head of the Royal Navy warned Monday that the British fleet off Libya will be unable to maintain its scale of operations without cutbacks elsewhere if the mission drags on until the end of the year.

Adm. Mark Stanhope said in a briefing that he was comfortable with NATO’s decision to extend the Libya operation to the end of September. Beyond that, he said, the government would need to make “challenging decisions.”

“If we do it longer than six months we will have to reprioritize forces,” he said.

Meanwhile, a senior NATO official said that if the alliance’s intervention in Libya’s civil war continues, the issue of resources will become “critical.”

Gen. Stephane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, told reporters during a NATO conference in Serbia that “at this stage the forces engaged do have the means necessary to conduct the operation.”

But he noted that “if the operation were to last long, of course, the resource issue will become critical.”

“If additional resources are needed, this of course will need a political decision,” he said.

The comments come amid concerns about mounting costs for the Libya campaign _ and its lack of a clear endgame. Britain has a destroyer, a minehunter, an assault ship with four Apache jets, and a submarine engaged off the coast of Libya.

Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered an unusual public rebuke to the United States’ European allies, saying NATO’s shaky operations in Libya exposed the alliance’s shortcomings and opened the “real possibility of collective military irrelevance.” Gates called on members to look at new ways of raising combat capabilities in procurement, training and logistics.

Britain is carrying out steep spending cuts intended to cut the country’s budget deficit. The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and its Harrier jump jets were scrapped _ a decision that has made it more difficult for Britain to operate in the Libyan mission.

Had the Ark Royal remained in place, the Harrier jets could have been deployed in 20 minutes, rather than the 90 minutes taken to send Tornado and Typhoon aircraft from a base in Italy.

But Defense Secretary Liam Fox said Britain had shown it had the resources to play its part in the NATO operation.

Fox said in a statement that Britain’s leading role in the Libya operation showed it remained a “leading military power.”

Source

VF Corp., whose brands include Wrangler, Nautica and The North Face, says it will buy boot and clothing maker Timberland Co. for more than $2.2 billion.

VF is offering $43 for each Timberland share, a premium of 43.4 percent to the latest Timberland closing price.

Timberland shares climbed $12.26, or 40.1 percent, to $42.25 in pre-market trading.

Greensboro, N.C.-based VF says the boards of both companies have approved the deal. It expects the sale to close during the third quarter.

Timberland, of Stratham, N.H., is expected to have about $1.6 billion in sales in 2011, and VF says it is targeting annual revenue growth of 10 percent for the company.

VF says the deal will add 25 cents per share to its profit and $700 million to its revenue in 2011.

Source

Moody’s Investors Service is reviewing the ratings of Bank of America Corp. Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. for possible downgrades.

The three banks’ current ratings get a boost from an assumption the federal government would prevent them from failing in a crisis. Moody’s said Thursday that this assumption may no longer be true.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Moody’s senior vice president Sean Jones said the Dodd-Frank Act makes clear the government “does not want to bail out even large, systemically important banking groups.”

Moody’s currently rates Bank of America’s senior debt A2, Citigroup’s A3 and Wells Fargo’s A1. Implied government backing pushes Bank of America’s rating up five spots, Citigroup’s up four spots and Wells Fargo’s three spots.

A downgrade would raise the banks’ borrowing costs.

Source

The U.S. trade deficit widened in December for a second month as the cost of imported oil climbed to the highest level in two years.

The gap grew 5.9 percent to $40.6 billion, in line with the $40.5 billion median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists, Commerce Department data showed today in Washington. Excluding petroleum, the shortfall shrank to $15.3 billion, the smallest since March.

For all of 2010, the trade gap surged 43 percent, the biggest jump in a decade, as the recovery in spending led to record imports of consumer goods. At the same time, manufacturers like Caterpillar Inc. benefited from a drop in the value of the dollar that drove the biggest annual increase in exports in two decades, capped by record demand in December from China and newly industrialized Asian nations.

Source

Samsung Asset Management Co., South Korea’s largest bond-fund manager, said it’s reducing holdings of short-term government debt and buying more longer-term notes on expectations the central bank will raise interest rates.

The Seoul-based company, which oversees 66 trillion won ($60 billion) of assets in bonds, is shifting into South Korean debt with a maturity of 10 years or more and into corporate bonds, Chief Investment Officer Eugene Kim said in an interview yesterday.

“Short-term debt is hit most when interest rates begin to rise and you’d better stay away from it,” Kim said. “Our central bank may raise the base rate as much as possible in the first half and up to 3.5 percent or even higher this year.”

Nine of twelve economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predict the Bank of Korea will increase the seven-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 3 percent when it meets on Feb. 11, joining Thailand and India in extending interest-rate increases this year. Kim said the local bond market will weaken further on selling by overseas investors after the government revived a tax of as much as 14 percent on interest income from treasury and central bank bonds held by foreigners.

“Corporate bonds, especially those of consumer financiers and credit-card issuers with better earnings outlooks, are attractive,” Kim said, without naming any companies. “I won’t be buying inflation-linked bonds because there isn’t enough liquidity yet.”

The company is reducing holdings of three-year local treasuries and shorter-term notes, according to Kim.

Trigger to Buy

Yields on 3 percent government bonds due in December 2013 were at 4.06 percent yesterday, according to prices from Korea Stock Exchange. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. The won advanced 0.3 percent to close at 1,104.68 per dollar yesterday in Seoul.

“The odds are increasing that the Bank of Korea will raise the base rate to 3 percent this Friday and the market has been quickly pricing it in,” Kim said. He added that if yields on three-year bonds reach as high as 4.5 percent, Samsung may start buying again.

The yield on the 3 percent bonds has jumped 117 basis points since Dec. 7, compared with 50 basis points for equivalent 10-year debt, according to the data provided by the Korea Financial Investment Association.

The consumer-price index rose 4.1 percent in January from a year earlier, after gaining 3.5 percent in December.

China Impact

Consumer-price inflation may stay around 4 percent in the first quarter and exceed the government’s 3 percent target this year, with pressure coming from rising raw material costs and accelerating inflation in China, finance ministry Director- General Yoon Jong Won said on Feb. 1.

Asia’s fight against price gains lacks “urgency” and policy makers need to raise interest rates more aggressively to restrain inflation expectations, Morgan Stanley Asia’s Stephen Roach said in a note on Feb. 7.

President Lee Myung Bak last month declared “war” on inflation and tightened price controls, saying it must be contained at 3 percent to protect people on low incomes.

Kim at Samsung said that foreign investors have already started their exit from the South Korean bond market, disappointed at the bond taxes and emboldened to invest in riskier assets elsewhere as the U.S. economic outlook improves.

“Thai investors are no longer rolling over much of their Korean short-term bonds at maturity and global funds, including hedge funds, are shifting from debt to equities,” Kim said. “Still, Asian central banks, including China, seem to be still buying, partly for asset diversification.”

Thailand cashed out a net 249 billion won from the Korean debt market in December while China invested a net 425 billion won, according to the Financial Supervisory Service data. Net outflows by overseas investors were a record 5.3 trillion won in December, according to the data.

Source