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The U.S., the European Union and Japan complained at the World Trade Organization today over Chinese limits on exports of rare earths that are critical to the world

China had its largest trade deficit since at least 1989 last month as Europe

We are extending the deadline for Top Workplaces nominations to April 6.

We’ve gotten a great response so far — with nearly 200 companies across the St. Louis region nominated by our original deadline of Friday, March 9, and a large percentage agreeing to participate. But we also know, from the many inquiries we have had (and the natural inclination to procrastinate), that many more local companies will be interested.

Our Top Workplaces list will be the centerpiece of an upcoming special section of the Post-Dispatch this summer. For the project, we have teamed with Workplace Dynamics, a survey company that has similar partnerships with dozens of other newspapers nationwide cash advance in one hour.

Working from your nominations, Workplace Dynamics will recruit employers with at least 50 employees to participate in a comprehensive satisfaction survey of their employees. Those employers that score highest locally — and meet national benchmarks — will make our list.

To nominate a company, please visit stltoday.com/topworkplaces. For more information, email stlouis@topworkplaces.com or call 314-561-9028.

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Some of the world’s largest drugmakers will face an uphill battle next week in their bid to revive a class of experimental arthritis drugs that have been sidelined by safety concerns for nearly two years.

The Food and Drug Administration says there is a clear association between the nerve-blocking medications and incidents of joint failure that led the agency to halt studies of the drugs in 2010.

However, the agency also notes that those side effects were less common when the drugs were used at lower doses, potentially leaving the door open for future use. The agency released its safety analysis ahead of a public meeting.

On Monday Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Regeneron will make their case to continue studies of the drugs, with precautions to protect patients.

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The U.K. government should bolster aid to companies to help them weather headwinds from Europe

TRAVELS WITH CHARLES: Our town’s low-profile, high-finance specialist, Charles Lowenhaupt, flew home from Sydney the other night on a flight loaded with such high-profile Aussies as Nicole Kidman and hubby Keith Urban, Tobey Maguire and Orlando Bloom.

Lowenhaupt, who is recognized worldwide for managing wealth for ultra-high net worth families, was there for meetings at his office, Lowenhaupt Global Advisors Australia.

When he flew home via Los Angeles on Qantas airlines, Lowenhaupt was in first class and found himself seated with the stars. He says all minded their own business while Kidman and Urban had dinner together with one of their children, Sunday Rose, 3. Their younger daughter, Faith Margaret, 14 months, was upstairs in business class with a nanny.

According to the entertainment mags, the family of four spent a stint in Australia visiting their families while Kidman was a judge at Tropfest, an annual festival of short films. Other judges were Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush and Toni Collette.

Urban also had business there, filming an Australian version of “The Voice” with Joel Madden and Delta Goodrem.

On a side note, Bloom’s gorgeous model wife, Miranda Kerr, is an ambassador for Qantas.

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Japan may cancel its multibillion-dollar plans to buy dozens of F-35 stealth fighter jets from the United States if prices continue to rise or delays threaten the delivery date, its defense minister said Wednesday.

Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said failure by manufacturer Lockheed Martin to deliver on time at current price levels would force Tokyo to consider switching to a different aircraft.

Japan announced late last year that it would purchase 42 F-35 jets in a deal expected to cost more than $5 billion. The next-generation fighter is set to become the centerpiece of the U.S. military and allied air forces around the world, but the program has been plagued by delays and its cost overruns.

Japan hopes to receive its first F-35s in 2016, at a cost of about $120 million per plane.

“I think we will reach a formal agreement before the summer,” Tanaka told a session of Parliament. “If we cannot reach an agreement at that time, this would create a great deal of uncertainty for our national defense and preparedness. We would naturally have to view the possibility of canceling our plan or selecting another aircraft.”

Lockheed Martin, in conjunction with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems, is building 2,400 F-35s for the U payday advance low fees.S. as well as partner nations. But the cost of the program has jumped from $233 billion to $385 billion. Some estimates suggest that it could top out at $1 trillion over 50 years.

Lockheed is building three versions of the F-35 _ one each for the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The plane would replace Cold War-era aircraft such as the Air Force F-16 fighter and the Navy’s F/A-18 Hornet.

Last January, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates had put the Marines’ version of the aircraft on a two-year probationary period because of “significant testing problems.”

His successor, Leon Panetta, ended the probation late last month.

But the Pentagon has said it will slow its purchases of the fighter to save money, which has raised concerns abroad. Slowed production could lead to delays in delivery to foreign buyers, and could make the planes more expensive to produce.

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JEFFERSON CITY – A state-sponsored workers’ compensation company has given out huge severance checks to its former executives and hefty bonuses to other employees, according to a state audit released today.

The company, Columbia-based Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance Co., also has bankrolled lavish vacation trips to Hawaii and Mexico as well as paid for sporting events tickets for its board members, executives, employees and guests, the auditor found.

The audit paints a picture of a firm that operates like a private entity, while enjoying federal tax-exempt status and other advantages that its private competitors lack.

Because it is considered an “independent public corporation,” the company has been able to avoid about $50 million in federal taxes since 1993, the audit revealed. That tax exemption has enabled the company to accumulate a surplus of $163 million. The firm has never paid any dividends to its members.

“MEM essentially operates as a private entity, compensates officers and employees at rates that are in excess of public sector entities, incurs expenses that are not considered acceptable in the public sector, and does so without complying with state open records laws,” the audit states.

Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich released the findings today. He undertook the audit after the Post-Dispatch raised questions last year about MEM’s public records policy and the legal status of its board members, along with its executive compensation and other expenditures. The auditor concluded that MEM is a “quasi-public governmental body for purposes of the Sunshine Law” – and thus subject to public records requests.

In a formal response filed with the audit, the company said: “The auditor’s report raises some immaterial, questionable expenditures that MEM already had identified and addressed prior the audit. MEM’s new management has strengthened governmental policies to be sure that expense policies are clearly understood and followed and that the company follows best practices. MEM’s board and management are responsible stewards who operate with integrity.”

The Legislature established Missouri Employers Mutual in 1993 to encourage competition and lower workers’ compensation premiums for employers, particularly small businesses. The state provided a start-up loan of $5 million, which was repaid in 1999 with interest.

Since then, Missouri Employers Mutual has become the leading workers’ compensation insurer in the state, controlling about 16 percent of the market.

The firm’s inner workings drew questions last spring after two former board members were indicted separately for alleged theft and fraud involving other organizations. Questions mounted in June when the company fired its chief executive officer, former Missouri Gov. Roger Wilson, without explanation.

In August, the board agreed to a one-time audit by Schweich. Amid the swirling controversy, both indicted board members – Doug Morgan and Karen Pletz – died late last year. The company is now run by chief executive officer Jim Owen of Chesterfield, a law school classmate and close friend of Gov. Jay Nixon’s.

The 20-page audit sheds light on MEM’s executive compensation, perks, severance benefits, freebies, and political contributions, as well as legal questions surrounding the company’s taxes and refusal to observe public records laws.

According to the audit, MEM also paid about $1.58 million in severance benefits or settlement payments to four former top executives and employees who either resigned or whose employment was terminated in 2009 and 2010.

Schweich’s audit does not name names, so it is impossible to tell who received the severance money. Former state Sen. Dennis Smith served as the company’s first chief executive from 1994 through June 2009, when he became “CEO emeritus.”

The audit called the severance benefits “excessive” and said that “recent discussions with a MEM official indicate that any future severance benefits paid to executives will be substantially reduced, or eliminated.”

Executive compensation at MEM also “appears significantly higher than would be considered appropriate for a public sector entity,” the audit states.

During 2010, MEM’s top 10 compensated employees made salaries totaling $1.8 million. The top salary was $312,820.

In addition to their salaries, MEM paid its top 10 executives a total of $659,405 in incentives, for an average bonus of $65,940. In other words, when bonuses are counted on top of salaries, the top 10 employees were paid an average almost $250,000 apiece.

Lower-level MEM employees also received substantial bonuses, based on the company’s “performance benchmarks” such as premium growth.

“Compensation and employee incentive bonuses for 2010 totaled over $17 million for approximately 200 employees, an average total payout of approximately $85,000 per employee,” the audit said.

MEM executives also received valuable perks such as the use of company automobiles, paid health insurance coverage for a spouse, five weeks paid time off, paid dues in professional societies and paid memberships in golf and athletic clubs.

Responding to the audit, MEM wrote that its “compensation and expenses are reasonable and necessary for a mutual insurance company. … MEM’s employee compensation averages in the 50th percentile” of other private insurers.

The audit also highlights numerous miscellaneous expenditures that MEM paid:

 A total of $300,000 for an all-inclusive “Presidents Trip” for 64 invitees including MEM board members, top executives, top performing employees, and other guests to Lanai, Hawaii, from Feb. 20 through Feb. 25, 2010. In 2009, MEM’s board chairman, vice chairman and their guests attended the company’s President’s Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. About $17,000 for St. Louis Cardinals suite tickets. The suite was used to entertain insurance agents as an incentive to doing business with MEM. The tickets were purchased from an unnamed associate of a former board member. About $60,000 for a suite, tickets, and parking passes for University of Missouri football games; an additional $12,000 for basketball tickets and parking passes; and about $5,000 to cater its tailgate party at the university’s homecoming in 2010. $80,000 for company functions in 2010, including $10,000 for a board of directors retreat in Ridgeville, Mo.; $16,000 for MEM’s annual golf tournament; about $8,800 for 15-year anniversary jackets; and about $7,000 for a 15-year anniversary luncheon.

In addition, the audit challenges MEM’s $7.2 million purchase of a for-profit subsidiary. Under state law, the auditor concluded, it is unclear whether the company may legally insure workers who work outside the state.

The audit also noted that MEM conducted an internal inquiry, which revealed that company funds were used for $8,000 in political contributions to the Missouri Democratic Party; $7,400 in cash and in-kind donations to the Insurance Coalition Political Action Committee; $4,000 in donations to gubernatorial inaugural festivities in 2005 and 2009; and $8,000 for a former top executive’s personal legal fees.

The audit is likely to raise additional questions in the Legislature about whether Missouri Employers Mutual should continue to enjoy tax-free status and other advantages over private insurers.

Originally, the company was supposed to become a private firm after the governor appointed the original five board members. But instead, the state has retained control. The governor appoints three of the firms’ five board members, based on nominations from the board and policyholders.

The structure is authorized in company bylaws but not in state law. Schweich said he took no position on whether MEM can prolong its public corporation status beyond that allowed by law by amending its bylaws.

MEM contended that it faces special mandates that partially offset its tax advantages. For example, it must let any of the 4,000 workers compensation insurance agents in the state write a policy for MEM. The company also is required to design and monitor work safety programs for policyholders.

Schweich said the firm was unable to quantify the impact of those requirements.

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Consumer sentiment improved a tad in February to rack up a year high as Americans became more confident about the economy’s resilience, a survey released on Friday showed.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 75.3, edging up from 75.0 the month before. It was the highest level since February 2011.

It surpassed economists’ expectations of 73.0 and recovered from a decline to 72.5 in February’s preliminary reading.

“It is not that surging oil prices, instability in the Mideast, the European crisis or uncertainties about future tax and spending policies could not ultimately derail the recovery, but that consumers expect the pace of overall economic growth to continue to slowly restore lost jobs despite these potential problems,” survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.

The survey’s barometer of current economic conditions eased to 83.0 from 84.2, but the survey’s gauge of consumer expectations also rose to its highest level in a year at 70.3 from 69.1.

A third of consumers spontaneously reported hearing about more job opportunities, the highest proportion ever recorded by the survey.

But consumers’ outlook for the economy and job growth was more positive than their views on their own finances. Improving finances were reported by 27 percent of respondents, down from 29 percent in January.

The survey’s one-year inflation expectation held steady at 3.3 percent, while the survey’s five-to-10-year inflation outlook rose to 2.9 percent after sitting at 2.7 percent for four months.

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Builders broke ground on more homes than forecast in January, helped by warmer weather and adding to signs the U.S. residential real estate market is stabilizing.

Starts rose 1.5 percent to a 699,000 annual rate from December