Financial thoughts

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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The son of an assassinated Kurdish opposition leader in Syria says his father’s death will encourage more Kurds in Syria to protest against the regime there.

In a telephone interview Sunday with The Associated Press from Irbil, Faris Tammo called on Syrian Kurdish groups to take a more active role in the country’s nearly 7-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad.

Tammo has been living in Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region since 2008, when he fled Syria when his father was arrested instant credit report.

His father, Mashaal Tammo, was assassinated Friday by masked gunmen.

Kurds make up 15 percent of Syria’s 23 million people and have long complained of discrimination.

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Stocks edged higher Thursday as investors weighed stronger September retail sales in the U.S. against a decision by the European Central Bank not to lower interest rates.

Target, Nordstrom, Macy’s and other retailers reported September sales results that beat Wall Street’s expectations. While some of the sales were driven by deep discounts, analysts said higher sales figures suggested the U.S. economy was not falling into another recession.

“The market has been pricing in an out-and-out recession, but the fact that consumer spending is holding up shows that we’re more likely to continue muddling through at a 1 to 2 percent growth rate,” said Brain Gendreau, market strategist at Cetera Financial Group.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 28 points, or 0.3 percent, to 10,967 as of 11:00 a.m. Eastern.

The S&P 500 rose 4, or 0.4 percent, to 1,148. The Nasdaq composite added 19, or 0.8 percent, to 2,480.

Consumer discretionary stocks led the market higher after the stronger retail sales reports. Target Corp. jumped 4 percent after its September sales beat Wall Street’s expectations.

Investors also remained focused on Europe’s debt problems. The European Central Bank offered new emergency loans to European banks. It also announced that it would buy bonds issued by banks, making it easier for them to lend.

Investors have been worried that major European banks could face big losses if Greece defaults on its debt, as many expect will happen Same day payday loans. That would likely cause the value of Greek debt held by those banks to fall sharply in value. If that causes a big enough shock to those banks they could stop lending to each other, causing another freeze in global credit markets, as happened following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

The European Central Bank disappointed some investors, however, by announcing that it would keep interest rates unchanged. Analysts were hoping the bank would cut rates to encourage lending and give a boost to Europe’s sagging economy.

In the U.S., the Labor Department said the number of new applications for unemployment benefits rose slightly last month to 401,000. While that is a signal that the job market continues to be weak, the increase was slightly less than what Wall Street economists had predicted, a signs that layoffs are easing. Unemployment benefits typically need to fall below 375,000 to signal job growth.

Corning Inc. rose 3.1 percent after it said it would increase its dividend and buyback shares. Apple Inc. rose 1 percent. The company said company co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs died Wednesday. Several analysts and large investors said Thursday they believe the company would continue to grow under new CEO Tim Cook.

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DETROIT

The economy is showing signs of modest improvement

The headline on this section says it all: 61,000.

Of all the numbers generated by the economic downturn, this one puts the enormity of the employment crisis for St. Louisans in context.

Neither percentage, forecast nor trend, it’s a simple head count of the toll exacted on our friends, neighbors and loved ones.

And they should be counted one at a time.

In the nearly three years I’ve spent covering employment, I’ve been able get to only about 500 area residents displaced by a recession that allegedly ended 27 months ago.

One by one, they’ve shared their stories.

Sixty-one thousand people could overflow Busch Stadium by half, fill the Scottrade Center three times over and nearly fill the 70,000-seat Edward Jones Dome. One, by one, by one, each of them bears the scars of a job crisis the likes of which we last endured during the Great Depression.

When all this started, we never expected we’d have to count so high.

As the economy headed down, my editors assigned me to cover an emerging and important story the experts predicted would dominate the economic conversation for maybe the next year.

That was three years ago; the story shows no signs of fading any time soon.

The mere fact that I have a full-time job covering jobs - even as the newspaper business has shed thousands of its own workers - underscores the degree to which job security has become the central focus of our lives. I used to cover education, a beat that spawned hundreds of stories on the benefits of a college degree. Now even an education doesn’t guarantee you a job.

My only comparable reference point to what I’ve encountered on this beat are the years I spent as a young police reporter, interviewing shocked relatives reeling from the homicides and accidents that stole the lives of loved ones.

George Batten, a laid-off area executive out of work three years, put it in perspective last week: “A lot of carnage comes with losing a career,” he said. “It carries into your family. It attacks your life.”

That was never more clear than on the morning a year or so ago that I wandered into a salon for job-hunters at the moment the facilitator was conducting a word association exercise.

“First word that pops into your head when I say,