Financial thoughts

The Swiss Competition Commission said Friday it has launched an investigation into possible cartel behavior by a dozen banks including the country’s two biggest institutions UBS and Credit Suisse.

The banks are suspected of colluding to influence key interest rates and the trading conditions for derivatives, the commission said in a statement Friday.

“Specifically, collusion between derivative traders might have influenced the reference rates LIBOR and TIBOR,” it said.

The London Interbank Offered Rate, LIBOR, and the Tokyo Interbank Offered Rate, TIBOR, underlay many commercial interest rates.

The commission said the banks are also suspected of illegally influencing market conditions for derivatives based on these reference rates.

The foreign institutions named in the Swiss probe are Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings PLC, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Rabobank Groep N.V., Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Societe Generale SA, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

Competition authorities in the United States and Britain have launched similar investigations.

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World stock markets were mixed Wednesday, as a modest improvement in manufacturing data from China offered reassurance over its economic slowdown, though Asian markets fell back from early gains.

Benchmark oil hovered below $99 per barrel while the dollar rose against the euro but fell against the yen.

In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.8 percent to 5,724.91 and Germany’s DAX both rose 1.1 percent at 6,525.76. France’s CAC-40 jumped 1.3 percent to 3,340.45. Wall Street was set to open higher, with Dow Jones industrial futures rising 0.2 percent at 12,607 and S&P 500 futures gaining 0.2 percent at 1,310.40.

A better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing index for January, issued by a government federation, fueled an early rally in most markets across Asia. But that evaporated after the release later in the morning of a competing, seasonally adjusted survey by HSBC suggesting conditions were still deteriorating.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 edged up less than 0.1 percent to close at 8,809.79. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.3 percent to 20,333.37 while Seoul’s Kospi added 0.2 percent to 1,959.24.

By afternoon, shares in mainland China had retreated back into negative territory, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shedding 1.2 percent to 2,268.08.

“Rumors that pension funds will not be invested in shares have raised worries over inadequate liquidity,” said Cai Dagui, an analyst at Ping’an Securities, based in Shenzhen.

Shares will likely remain unstable as investors await annual earnings reports, he said.

The mixed signals from China compounded uncertainties over its outlook, showing that despite resilient consumer demand exports remain sluggish payday loans with no fax.

Such concerns are especially acute for Australia, whose economy has thrived on exports of coal, iron ore and other commodities to China.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9 percent to 4,225.70, while India’s Sensex edged 0.1 percent higher to 17,208.68.

Taiwan, Indonesia and New Zealand gained ground, though Singapore declined.

Overnight Tuesday, an unexpected drop in U.S. consumer confidence dragged shares down on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average lost 20.81 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,632.91. The S&P slipped 0.60 point to 1,312.41 while the Nasdaq composite index rose 1.90 points to close at 2,813.84.

Overall, though, U.S. shares had their best start in 15 years, thanks to a modest improvement in the economy. Sentiment was further buoyed by hopes of progress in Europe after leaders there agreed on the broad outlines of a deal to tie the countries that use the euro closer together and on hopes that Greece is close to a debt-reduction deal with private creditors.

Benchmark oil for March delivery gained 38 cents to $98.85 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 30 cents to end at $98.48 per barrel in New York on Tuesday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3070 from $1.3084 late Tuesday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.16 yen from 76.20 yen.

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Cass Informations Systems reported fourth-quarter net income of $5.5 million, or 53 cents per share, compared with $5.1 milllion, or 48 cents per share, in the corresponding period of 2010.

For the year, Cass–a Bridgeton-based provider of invoice payment and information services–reported record net income of $23 million, or $2.21 per share, compared with $20.3 million, or $1.95 per share, in 2010.

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After nearly nine years, 4,500 American dead, 32,000 wounded and more than $800 billion, U.S. officials formally shut down the war in Iraq _ a conflict that U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was worth the price in blood and money, as it set Iraq on a path to democracy.

Panetta stepped off his military plane in Baghdad Thursday as the leader of America’s war in Iraq, but will leave as one of many top U.S. and global officials who hope to work with the struggling nation as it tries to find its new place in the Middle East and the broader world.

More than 100,000 Iraqis have been killed since the U.S. invasion in 2003, according to the Iraq Body Count website. Bombings and gun battles are still common. And experts are concerned about the Iraqi security force’s ability to defend the nation against foreign threats.

Still, Panetta said earlier this week, the war “has not been in vain.”

Panetta and several other U.S. diplomatic, military and defense leaders participated Thursday in a symbolic ceremony during which the flag of U.S. Forces-Iraq was officially retired, or “cased,” according to Army tradition. The U.S. Forces-Iraq flag was furled _ or wrapped _ around a flagpole and covered in camouflage. It will be brought back to the United States.

“You will leave with great pride _ lasting pride,” Panetta told the troops. “Secure in knowing that your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people to begin a new chapter in history.”

During a stop in Afghanistan this week, Panetta described the mission as “making that country sovereign and independent and able to govern and secure itself.”

That, he said, is “a tribute to everybody _ everybody who fought in that war, everybody who spilled blood in that war, everybody who was dedicated to making sure we could achieve that mission.”

Iraqi citizens offered a more pessimistic assessment. “The Americans are leaving behind them a destroyed country,” said Mariam Khazim of Sadr City. “The Americans did not leave modern schools or big factories behind them. Instead, they left thousands of widows and orphans.”

A member of the political coalition loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr saw another message in the U.S. withdrawal. “The American ceremony represents the failure of the U.S. occupation of Iraq due to the great resistance of the Iraqi people,” said Sadrist lawmaker Amir al-Kinani.

Panetta echoed President Barack Obama’s promise that the U.S. plans to keep a robust diplomatic presence in Iraq, foster a deep and lasting relationship with the nation and maintain a strong military force in the region.

As of Thursday, there were two U.S. bases and about 4,000 U.S. troops in Iraq _ a dramatic drop from the roughly 500 military installations and as many as 170,000 troops during the surge ordered by President George W. Bush in 2007, when violence and raging sectarianism gripped the country. All U.S. troops are slated to be out of Iraq by the end of the year, but officials are likely to meet that goal a bit before then.

The total U.S. departure is a bit earlier than initially planned, and military leaders worry that it is a bit premature for the still maturing Iraqi security forces, who face continuing struggles to develop the logistics, air operations, surveillance and intelligence sharing capabilities they will need in what has long been a difficult neighborhood payday loans in 1 hour.

U.S. officials were unable to reach an agreement with the Iraqis on legal issues and troop immunity that would have allowed a small training and counterterrorism force to remain. U.S. defense officials said they expect there will be no movement on that issue until sometime next year.

Still, despite Obama’s earlier contention that all American troops would be home for Christmas, at least 4,000 forces will remain in Kuwait for some months. The troops will be able to help finalize the move out of Iraq, but could also be used as a quick reaction force if needed.

Obama met in Washington with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier this week, vowing to remain committed to Iraq as the two countries struggle to define their new relationship. Ending the war was an early goal of the Obama administration, and Thursday’s ceremony will allow the president to fulfill a crucial campaign promise during a politically opportune time. The 2012 presidential race is roiling and Republicans are in a ferocious battle to determine who will face off against Obama in the election.

Panetta acknowledged the difficulties for Iraq in the coming years, as the country tries to find its footing.

“They’re going face challenges in the future,” Panetta said Wednesday during a visit with troops in Afghanistan. “They’ll face challenges from terrorism, they’ll face challenges from those that would want to divide their country. They’ll face challenges from just the test of democracy, a new democracy and trying to make it work. But the fact is, we have given them the opportunity to be able to succeed.”

The ceremony at Baghdad International Airport also featured remarks from Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Lloyd Austin, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Austin is leading the massive logistical challenge of shuttering hundreds of bases and combat outposts, and methodically moving more than 50,000 U.S. troops and their equipment out of Iraq over the last year _ while still conducting training, security assistance and counterterrorism battles.

The war “tested our military’s strength and our ability to adapt and evolve,” he said, noting the development of the new counterinsurgency doctrine.

Over the coming days, the final few thousand U.S. troops will leave Iraq in orderly caravans and tightly scheduled flights _ a marked contrast to the shock and awe that rocked the country on March 20, 2003, as the U.S. invasion began.

Saddam Hussein has been ousted, the reports of weapons of mass destruction largely laid to rest. And the future of a nascent democracy awaits.

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Ninety-three percent of Italians believe cutting the country’s hobbling public debt is a top priority, but few are willing to make personal sacrifices to do so, according to an AP-GfK poll released Tuesday.

Only about a quarter of Italians favor reforming labor laws to make it easier to fire workers, or raising the retirement age from 65 (and sometimes lower) to 67 _ two of the reforms considered critical to curb Italy’s public spending and boost economic growth.

But while the European Union is demanding such reforms, 52 percent of Italians still have a favorable view of the EU, and a full 76 percent think Italy should stay in the 17-nation eurozone, according to the survey, conducted last week.

Italy has been engulfed in financial turmoil for weeks as markets woke up to the enormous size of its debt _ euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion), a eurozone high coming in at 120 percent of gross domestic product. The market turmoil and a loss of confidence in Italy’s ability to repay forced Premier Silvio Berlusconi to resign Nov. 12, ending his 17-year domination of Italian politics.

The AP-GfK poll was conducted Nov. 16-20, during the first days of economist Mario Monti’s new government, made up of bankers, academics and corporate executives instead of politicians. Monti is under enormous pressure to quickly rein in the debt and get the economy growing again.

Italy’s economy is hampered by high labor costs, low productivity, fat government payrolls, excessive taxes, choking bureaucracy, and low numbers of college graduates. Yet as the third-largest economy in the eurozone, Italy is too big for Europe to bail out like it did Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

Monti got high marks from the Italians surveyed after he was tapped to lead the country, garnering a 67 percent favorability rating. Only 10 percent had a negative view and 16 percent were neutral.

“Let’s say there’s hope,” said Fortunato Porcheddu, 63, as he strolled Tuesday with a friend through a piazza in Rome. “If I close my eyes and look back over the past 15 years and everything that has happened, I cringe.”

Monti has pledged to reform Italy’s pension system, re-impose a property tax annulled by Berlusconi’s government, fight tax evasion, streamline civil court proceedings, get more women and young people into the workforce and cut political costs.

But, critically, only 32 percent of Italians surveyed are strongly confident that his technocratic government can fix the country’s economic ills. Forty-two percent say they’re “moderately confident” and 22 percent say they have little or no confidence he can turn Italy’s finances around.

While there is some hopefulness about the future of the economy _ 55 percent anticipate a better situation five years from now _ the longer-term picture is gloomier. Only 35 percent of Italians think people will be better off in 20 years than they are today, while 43 percent anticipate a harder life for the next generation.

“Our generation always looked forward with the possibility of improvement,” said Alfonso Marozzi, 72, as he strolled in Rome. “Now, young people are resigned to wonder if they’ll be able to hold onto what their parents were able to build. There’s a lack of hope in the future.”

The survey found that Italians are especially concerned about corruption: 87 percent called it an “extremely” or “very serious” problem. Unemployment, the debt and organized crime followed.

A full 93 percent of Italians said reducing the public debt was either an “extremely” or “very important” goal for the government to tackle over the next decade cash advance flexible payments. Only 2 percent said it was “not too important” or “not at all important.”

Yet only 26 percent of those surveyed favored raising the retirement age to 67 to help cut spending, while 67 percent were opposed. Parliament recently passed legislation raising the retirement age to 67 starting in 2026 and to 70 by 2050, but critics say the reforms are meaningless because any savings they produce are too far in the future.

Monti is expected to seek more reforms to the pension system and to try to make the contribution system more equitable.

Italian politicians have made few efforts to reform the labor market, and the AP-Gfk poll shows why. Seventy percent of respondents opposed deregulating the labor market to make it easier to fire workers, with only 22 percent favoring it. Of the 70 percent opposed, a full 56 percent were “strongly opposed.”

Ultimately, labor market reforms are likely to be much broader than just changes involving firing. Monti’s government is expected to open up “closed professions,” such as lawyers, notaries and taxi drivers, which in some cases restrict entry to people with connections or set standard prices that deprive the market of competition.

Monti also plans to loosen Italy’s system of collective bargaining, in which unions negotiate with entire industries rather than individual companies. Italy’s biggest carmaker, Fiat, told unions Monday that it is tossing out the old model as of Jan. 1 and will seek to negotiate new contracts plant by plant _ something it has already done in four locations.

Raj Badiani, an economist at IHS Global Insight in London, said Fiat “is probably the forerunner of what we need to see.” But he cautioned: “Trade union opposition to that will be immense.”

Unions have balked at any labor market reforms, and so far the austerity measures that have been passed by Parliament haven’t touched the thorny issue.

Still, the AP-GfK survey found that labor unions in general get broadly negative ratings from Italians, with 53 percent of respondents saying they “only sometimes” or “never” trust unions to do the right thing.

Only 20 percent of Italians surveyed had a favorable opinion of Berlusconi, with 67 percent having an unfavorable view and 56 having a “strongly unfavorable” impression of the billionaire media mogul.

After Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, the leader with the most favorable ratings? President Barack Obama, with a 78 percent favorability rating.

Armando Manni, a 50-year-old who tends olive groves in Tuscany, said young Italians have to become more like their Anglo-Saxon colleagues and leave home to pursue their dreams rather than stay where their mothers cook, clean and wash their clothes until they’re well past age 40.

“A country that doesn’t have dreams is a country that is almost dead,” he said as he shopped for tomatoes.

The AP-GfK poll of 1,025 Italian adults across the country was conducted Nov. 16-20 using landlines and cell phones by GfK Eurisko Italy under direction of the global GfK Group. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

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AP Poll is at http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

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Police say three roadside bombs have killed six people at a market in central Baghdad at the beginning of a Muslim festival.

Officials said the bombs, planted on Sunday in different parts of the Iraqi capital’s Shorja market, killed afternoon vendors and afternoon shoppers buying goods for the Eid al-Adha feast.

Police officials said twenty-one people also were wounded. The casualties were confirmed by health officials. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media quick pay day loan.

Iraqi Shiites mark the beginning of the Eid on Monday, while Sunnis do so on Sunday.

Violence across Iraq has dropped dramatically, but deadly attacks still happen nearly everyday as the U.S. moves to withdraw all of its 33,000 troops from Iraq by the end of the year.

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Chevron Corp.’s quarterly profit more than doubled as a jump in petroleum prices made up for declining production.

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company after Exxon Mobil, said Friday that oil prices soared 41 percent in the U.S. and 47 percent internationally. Natural gas prices also rose.

The third-quarter results mirror other oil giants that reported earlier this week. Despite lower oil production, Exxon Mobil’s net income rose 41 percent while profits doubled for BP and Royal Dutch Shell.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, Calif., reported net income of $7.83 billion, or $3.92 per share, for the quarter. That compared with $3.77 billion, or $1.87 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 26 percent to $61.3 billion instant credit reports.

Results beat expectations of $3.47 per share but fell short of revenue estimates of $70.4 billion, according to FactSet.

Shares slipped 75 cents to $108.51 in premarket trading.

Increased prices lifted Chevron exploration and production profits 74 percent, even though oil and natural gas production declined 5 percent.

Similarly, higher prices for gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products boosted profits at the company’s refineries. Chevron’s downstream business, which includes refineries, posted a more than threefold jump in profit.

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NATO said Friday it plans to end its seven-month bombing campaign in Libya at the end of the month, leaving the battled-scarred country’s new authorities on their own to ensure security after the death of Moammar Gadhafi and the ouster of his regime.

The alliance made a preliminary decision to end the campaign on Oct. 31 and will make the formal decision next week, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after a meeting of the alliance’s governing body, the North Atlantic Council.

Diplomats said NATO air patrols are set to continue over Libya in the next 10 days as a precautionary measure to ensure the stability of the new regime. They will gradually be reduced in coming days if there are no further outbreaks of violence.

The council took into account the wishes of Libya’s new government and of the United Nations, under whose mandate NATO carried out its operations.

Victory in the war represents a major boost for the Cold War alliance, which is bogged down in the 10-year war in Afghanistan, the 12-year mission in Kosovo, and the seemingly never-ending anti-piracy operation off the Somali coastline.

It polished the reputation of France and Britain, the two countries that drove it forward, coming at a time when the alliance’s relevance is increasingly in doubt as countries make deep defense cuts and other austerity measures caused by the international economic crisis.

Rasmussen hailed the success of the operation which started on March 19 with a series of U.S.-led attacks designed to suppress Gadhafi’s formidable air defenses, including missile and radar networks. Libya’s former rebels killed Gadhafi on Thursday, and officials had said they expected the aerial operation to end very soon.

“It shows that freedom is the biggest force in the world,” Fogh Rasmussen said.

Fogh Rasmussen said NATO had no intention of leaving any residual force in or near Libya.

“We expect to close down the operation.”

He said it was up to the new government to decide whether to launch an investigation into the hazy circumstances of Gadhafi’s death.

“With regards to Gadhafi, I would expect the new authorities in Libya to live up fully to the basic principles of rule of law and human rights, including full transparency.”

NATO earlier said its commanders were not aware that Gadhafi was in a convoy that NATO bombed as it fled Sirte short term personal loans. In a statement Friday, the alliance said an initial Thursday morning strike was aimed at a convoy of approximately 75 armed vehicles leaving Sirte, the Libyan city defended by Gadhafi loyalists. One vehicle was destroyed, which resulted in the convoy’s dispersal.

Another jet then engaged approximately 20 vehicles that were driving at great speed toward the south, destroying or damaging about 10 of them.

“We later learned from open sources and allied intelligence that Gadhafi was in the convoy and that the strike likely contributed to his capture,” the statement said.

Intelligence gleaned during surveillance flights around Sirte on Thursday indicated that a “command and control group, including senior military leaders” were attempting to flee from the town, British Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman Steve Field said.

“There was a strike, there was damage to the convoy, the Free Libya Fighters then moved in _ as to what happened next that is not entirely clear,” he said.

NATO warplanes have flown about 26,000 sorties, including over 9,600 strike missions. They destroyed about 5,900 military targets, including Libya’s air defenses and over 1,000 tanks, vehicles and guns, as well as Gadhafi’s command and control networks.

The daily airstrikes finally broke the stalemate that developed after Gadhafi’s initial attempts failed to crush the rebellion that broke out in February. In August, the rebels began advancing on Tripoli, with the NATO warplanes providing close air support and destroying any attempts by the defenders to block them.

NATO was sharply criticized by Russia, China, South Africa and other nations for overstepping the limited U.N. Security Council resolution that allowed it to protect civilians, and using it as a pretext to pursue regime change in Libya.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said earlier Friday that “the operation has reached its end.”

But in London, Britain had suggested that NATO may not immediately complete its mission in Libya, wary over the potential reprisal attacks by remaining Gadhafi loyalists.

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Associated Press writers Elaine Ganley in Paris and David Stringer in London contributed to this report.

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Anti-Wall Street protesters exulted Friday after beating back a plan to clear them from the park they have occupied for the past month, saying the victory will embolden the movement across the U.S. and beyond.

“We are going to piggy-back off the success of today, and it’s going to be bigger than we ever imagined,” said protester Daniel Zetah.

The showdown in New York came as tensions were rising in several U.S. cities over the spreading protests.

The owners of Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan had announced plans to temporarily evict the hundreds of protesters at 7 a.m. Friday so that the grounds could be power-washed. But the protesters feared it was a pretext to break up the demonstration, and they vowed to stand their ground, raising the prospect of clashes with police.

Just minutes before the appointed hour, the word came down that the park’s owners, Brookfield Office Properties, had postponed the cleanup. A boisterous cheer went up among the demonstrators, whose numbers had swelled to about 2,000 before daybreak in response to a call for help in fending off the police.

In a statement, Brookfield said it decided to delay the cleaning “for a short period of time” at the request of “a number of local political leaders.” It gave no details.

Brookfield said it would negotiate with protesters about how the park should be used. But it was unclear when those discussions would occur.

Over the past month, the protest against corporate greed and economic inequality has spread to cities across the U.S. and around the world. Several demonstrations are planned this weekend in the U.S., Canada and Europe, as well as in Asia and Africa.

In Denver, police in riot gear herded hundreds of protesters away from the Colorado state Capitol early Friday, arresting about two dozen people and dismantling their encampment. In Trenton, N.J., protesters were ordered to remove tents near a war memorial.

Organizers in Des Moines, Iowa, warned of a possible “big conflict” Friday night after the state denied their permit to continue overnight protests at the Capitol. Demonstrators in San Diego formed a human chain around a tent in a downtown plaza and ignored police orders to take it down.

In New York City, police arrested 15 people, including protesters who obstructed traffic by standing or sitting in the street, and others who turned over trash baskets, knocked over a police scooter and hurled bottles. A deputy inspector was sprayed in the face with an unknown liquid.

In one case, a defense attorney marching with the group refused to move off the street for police and his foot was run over by an officer’s scooter. He fell to the ground screaming and writhing and kicked over the scooter to free his foot before police flipped him over and arrested him.

Though the park is privately owned, it is required to be open to the public 24 hours per day.

Brookfield, a publicly traded real estate firm, had announced plans to power-wash the plaza section by section over 12 hours and then allow the protesters to return. But it said it would begin enforcing the park’s rules against tents, tarps and sleeping bags, complaining the grounds had become unsanitary and unsafe.

The New York Police Department had said it would make arrests if Brookfield requested it and laws were broken.

As the morning deadline drew near, some protesters rushed to scrub and sweep the park and pick up trash in hopes of preventing a crackdown.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose girlfriend is on Brookfield’s board of directors, said his staff was under strict orders not to pressure the company one way or the other. He noted that Brookfield can still go ahead with the cleanup at some point.

“My understanding is that Brookfield got lots of calls from many elected officials threatening them and saying, … `We’re going to make your life more difficult,’” he said on his weekly radio show.

In Philadelphia, protester Matt Monk, a freelance writer, was cheered by the news out of New York.

“That means at the very least, the powers-that-be, wherever they are, know that they have to contend with us in a less heavy-handed way,” he said.

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A new wrinkle of disagreement has emerged in Missouri’s special legislative session on business incentives: State lawmakers and Gov. Jay Nixon now apparently are at odds over the production of military fighter jets.

The dispute comes after the Missouri House took a roughly half hour break from its debate last week over a wide-ranging business-incentive bill to instead discuss and pass a resolution urging Congress to provide full funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Although the plane is made by Lockheed Martin Corp. in Texas, the House resolution notes that its supplying companies employ more than 500 people in Missouri.

Nixon responded with a written statement last week asserting that the House resolution “simply is not the position of the state of Missouri.” Instead, the governor emphasized Missouri’s support for Boeing Co., makes the F/A-18 jet in St. Louis. Boeing said it employs about 15,000 people in Missouri, including about 5,000 connected with the F/A-18.

Was the House resolution a slap to one of Missouri’s biggest employers? Or was Nixon overreacting to a symbolic gesture that has no real effect?

The resolution’s sponsor, state Rep. Caleb Jones, R-California, said Monday that he had not intended to stir up controversy.

“I’m a big fan of Boeing _ they’re one of our largest employers in the state and I strongly support them,” said Jones, the vice chairman of the House Economic Development Committee. “I also support different companies from throughout Missouri.”

Jones said he sponsored the resolution at the request of a representative of a supplier, though he said Monday that he could not recall the person or the company’s name.

“If this resolution was going to cost Missouri jobs, I wouldn’t have done it,” he said.

The resolution passed the House 127-7, with most of the discussion focused on whether lawmakers were wasting their time on a measure that carried little more importance than a greeting card to Congress, instead of debating their own economic development legislation. Among those voting for the resolution was Rep. Clem Smith, D-St. Louis, a machinist for Boeing.

Representatives ultimately also passed a business incentive bill that would cut corporate income taxes and create new tax credits for computer data centers and international exporters, among others.

Underlying Nixon’s opposition to the House fighter-jet resolution is a concern that Boeing and Lockheed Martin could be in competition to make fighter jets in the future and a desire to avoid more immediate budget cuts to either the F/A-18 or F-35 programs as President Barack Obama and Congress search for ways to reduce the national debt.

Nixon spokesman Sam Murphey on Monday reiterated the governor’s concern about the House’s action.

“This resolution passed by the House last week simply was not the position of the state of Missouri, and it was important for us to clarify the state’s position,” Murphey said.

A Boeing spokesman declined to say whether the company viewed the House resolution as detrimental to its business. Instead the company issued a written statement saying: “We commend Gov. Nixon for his strong commitment to business in the state of Missouri and appreciate his efforts on behalf of the men and women of Boeing.”

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