Stora Enso Reschedules Possible Pulp and Paper Mill Project At Nizhny Novgorod in Russia

Stora Enso has decided to defer its final decision regarding the proposed pulp and paper mill project at Nizhny Novgorod in Russia to a later stage due to the weak global financial situation and near-term outlook for the forest products industry. The project is not cancelled by this decision, and various actions will be taken to facilitate possible implementation of the project in the future.
Stora Enso will hold discussions with the Nizhny Novgorod regional administration in the near future to establish a new timetable for the proposed project.

Previous press releases concerning the project are available http://atwww.storaenso.com/press
23 May 2008: Stora Enso starts feasibility study for a world-class pulp and paper mill in Nizhny Novgorod region
20 December 2007: Stora Enso signs letter of intent concerning possible pulp and paper mill in Russia
17 July 2007: Stora Enso starts pre-feasibility study for a world-class pulp and paper mill in Russia

Stora Enso is a global paper, packaging and forest products company producing newsprint and book paper, magazine paper, fine paper, consumer board, industrial packaging and wood products. The Group has 32 000 employees and 85 production facilities in more than 35 countries worldwide, and is a publicly traded company listed in Helsinki and Stockholm. Our annual production capacity is 12.7 million tonnes of paper and board, 1.5 billion square metres of corrugated packaging and 6.9 million cubic metres of sawn wood products, including 3.2 million cubic metres of value-added products. Our sales in 2008 were EUR 11.0 billion.


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Recession Forecast UK recession forecast put at 50-50

Britain now faces a 50-50 chance of a recession next year amid the "toxic combination" of a housing market slump and the fallout from the credit crunch, experts have warned.

• Damian Reece: The evidence is there, we're heading down
• Your View: Is the UK set for a recession? • Get the latest news and views on the UK economy

The chilling warning underlines the severity of the downturn facing the UK in the coming months. Economists at investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort said the economy faced a major slowdown in the next year, with the worst pain likely to be felt in the first three months of the year.
The bank's chief European economist David Owen said: "We are looking at a toxic combination of headwinds facing the economy.
"The chances of a recession in the UK next year are close to 50pc - as they are in the US."
It comes amid growing evidence that the property market is facing its sharpest falls since the last crash in the early 1990s.
The Monetary Policy Committee cut borrowing costs earlier this month, warning that the economy faces a sharp slowdown next year. The stock market had another bad day with the FTSE 100 falling 119.2 to 6277.8 as traders bet the effects of the credit crunch will worsen in the coming months.
The bank's warning is among the most severe from a major City forecaster.
• Landlords quit the buy-to-let market
• The latest news and analysis of the credit crunch

Mr Owen said that, although he was forecasting growth of 1.8pc over 2008, most of the risks were on the negative side, and that it was quite feasible that there could be two successive quarters of negative growth - the strict definition of a recession.

He warned that the prime reason for a slump was an expected fall in house prices, which, according to Halifax, have now fallen consecutively for the past three months.
"The last time the Halifax house price index was dropping like this was back in 1995, when the housing market was just getting going after the last crash," said Mr Owen. "I'm no longer comfortable with this view that the housing market can just tread water for a few years. What's much more likely is that there will be outright falls in house prices - probably of 5pc-10pc."
He said that there had been four major peaks in house prices and affordability in the post-war period - the late 1940s, 1973, 1989 and, now 2007. "After each of the first three peaks in this post-war period, values dropped by 30pc in real terms. In the 1950s, house prices fell for 10 consecutive years. There is always a severe correction following a bubble."
"I don't think it will be on that scale this time, though it is certainly a possibility."
Bank of England governor Mervyn King is expected to be grilled on the prospects for the economy at his appearance before the Treasury Select Committee today.
Mr King will also be questioned on the increasing difficulty facing the MPC in bringing money market rates back into line with its official base rate.
Dresdner said that, while the prospects for the UK are dim, there are similar troubles on the other side of the Atlantic, where the chances of recession in the coming year are marginally higher.

Dresdner's chief economist Ian Harwood warned that the US housing market crash would last for longer than most economists currently expect.

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Asian markets rally on Wall Street's Recovery

Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region rallied Friday ahead of a two-day Group of Seven industrialized nations' meeting on optimism that a U.S. plan, which is reportedly being contemplated, to aid homeowners by subsidizing mortgage payments would provide a concrete form of financial policy to tackle the global slowdown.

After losing about 14 percent this week, crude oil price rose above $34 a barrel in Asian trading, helped by a modest gain on Wall Street Thursday and on hopes that a new mortgage plan for homeowners could pull the world's largest economy out of the recession.

Overnight, stocks on Wall Street closed mixed amid a better-than-expected report on U.S. retail sales, reports about a government's plan to subsidize mortgages and bad economic news from Europe, where industrial output saw its worst contraction in 15 years. While the Dow closed down 6.77 points or 0.1 percent at 7,932.76, the Nasdaq closed up 11.21 points or 0.7 percent at 1,541.71 and the S&P 500 closed up 1.45 points or 0.2 percent at 835.19.

The Japanese market snapped a three-day losing streak, helped by short covering and gains in exporter stocks such as Canon and Honda Motor following the weakening of the yen relative to the U.S. dollar.

The Nikkei 225 index closed at 7,779, up 74 points or 0.96%, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 4 points or 0.57% to 765. Rubber products, pulp and paper, and mining stocks led the bounce back, while insurance, sea transport and consumer finance stock ended in the red. On the First Section, 1031 stocks advanced compared to 545 decliners, while 130 stocks closed unchanged.


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Most actively traded companies on Canadian stock markets

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange:

Toronto Stock Exchange (8,778.78 up 40.89 points):

Eastern Platinum Ltd. (TSX:ELR). Miner. Up three cents, or eight per cent, to 34.5 cents on 18,450,734 shares.
Yamana Gold Inc. (TSX:YRI). Miner. Up 21 cents, or 1.87 per cent, to $11.45 on 11,049,127 shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Insurer. Down $1.16, or 5.99 per cent, to $18.20 on 10,987,470 shares after recording its first quarterly loss ever since becoming a public company a decade ago. Net loss came to $1.87-billion as it was ravaged by slumping global financial markets.
Teck Cominco (TSX:TCK.B). Miner. Up five cents, or 1.01 per cent, to $5 on 10,057,171 shares.
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD). Financial. Down $1.13, or 2.89 per cent, to $37.93 on 7,704,807 shares.
Uranium One Inc. (TSX:UUU). Miner. Down a penny, or 0.45 per cent, to $2.23 on 6,448,520 shares. A Japanese consortium reported earlier in the week that it will pay $270 million for a 19.95 per cent interest in the Toronto-headquartered miner.

TSX Venture Exchange (915.87 up 4.61 points):
Slam Exploration Ltd. (TSXV:SXL). Junior explorer. Up half a cent, or 25 per cent, to 2.5 cents on 8,750,000 shares.
Cloudbreak Resources (TSXV:CDB). Mining. Up half a cent, or 6.67 per cent, to eight cents on 6,253,658 shares.

Companies reporting major news:
Canadian Tire Corp.(TSX:CTC). Retailer. Up $3.45, or 6.76 per cent, to $54.50 on 400 shares. Canada's largest hard goods retailer reported a 23 per cent drop in its fourth-quarter profit. The iconic retailer also said it's worried about the impact of the growing recession and said it won't provide profit and revenue predictions for the year because of the volatile economy.
Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund (TSX:CGX.UN). Theatre operator. Up 19 cents, or $13.95 on 142,217 shares as the movie theatre operator recorded its best year ever. Cineplex said that Hollywood blockbusters boosted theatre attendance in the final 2008 quarter by 16 per cent pushing revenues up at $211.4 million compared to $182.6 million from a year earlier.
EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA). Energy. Up 29 cents, or 0.55 per cent, to $53.41 on 3,011,569 shares as it posted a flat net income in the last three months of 2008 at $1.08 billion compared to the same 2007 period. The energy giant said it locked in most of its 2009 natural gas production at prices well above their current levels to add a measure of protection against market volatility in the months ahead.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX:SLF). Insurer. Up 15 cents, or 0.65 per cent, to $23.15 on 3,062,480 shares as the firm suffered a 77 per cent decline in fourth-quarter net earnings as a result of deteriorating equity and credit markets.

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Teeing Off on Merrill Lynch

I'm certainly not looking to tar and feather Wall Street. In fact, I've been known to go as far as sticking up for the bonuses that some of those folks take home.

However, I couldn't help but regurgitate a little of my breakfast when I read Dealbreaker's coverage of Merrill Lynch's latest boondoggle in Florida. It seems that Merrill -- which Dealbreaker jokingly refers to as Bank of Amerillwide due to Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC) acquisitions of Merrill Lynch and Countrywide -- took 400-plus brokers to the Ritz Carlton in Orlando for some sun and golfing. Reportedly among the attendees is former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, casting his sinister orange glow on Florida's lush greens.
As a shareholder of Bank of Amerillwide -- both through direct share ownership and the piece that I've inherited as an American taxpayer -- I know that the firms that have received government cheese still need to get on with business. But come on, you'd think that the brouhaha that erupted over Wells Fargo's (NYSE: WFC) (or Wells Wachargo if we stick with Dealbreaker's nomenclature) planned trip to Las Vegas would have rung some warning bells for Merrill's higher-ups.

Of course, I don't expect this to be the last time that we'll have a chance to gasp at some seemingly over-the-top trip that a TARP-taking bank plans. In a business where wooing clients and keeping employees fat and happy is paramount, we'll likely continue to see Wall Street bumble along, trying to figure out what's truly necessary to conduct business and what's holdover from the time when structured desks thought they could perform alchemy by turning bundles of subprime junk into AAA gold. While it looks like Merrill may be taking a devil-may-care attitude in deciding where the show must go on, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) has jumped to the other end of the spectrum, paying Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay $600,000 to move its Technology and Internet Conference from Las Vegas to San Francisco -- without any clear benefit to the firm other than avoiding headlines that may pummel it for sending anybody to Las Vegas.

If you're wondering how an investor might benefit from all of this, the collective opinion of The Motley Fool's CAPS community seems to be to avoid these former financial highfliers altogether. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) has been given a two-star rating (out of five) by the community, whereas Goldman, B of A, and Wells Fargo all carry mediocre three-star ratings. It seems that CAPS members tend to prefer the financial institutions like Umpqua Holdings (Nasdaq: UMPQ), Charles Schwab (Nasdaq: SCHW), and The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS) -- all of which seem to stay out of the headlines.

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Details of Fees in G.M.A.C. Deal

The General Motors Corporation said yesterday that it expected to receive some $100 million a year in fees under the terms of a deal to sell a majority stake in its financing arm, the General Motors Acceptance Corporation.
G.M., which agreed to sell a 51 percent stake in the finance unit to a consortium led by the hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management, outlined the fee payments and the agreed profit-sharing framework yesterday in a filing with regulators.
G.M. said G.M.A.C. would pay the automaker $75 million annually to be the exclusive provider of incentives related to retail financing.

In addition, G.M. would collect royalty fees of at least $15 million a year from G.M.A.C., the automaker said. G.M. said it expected those royalties, related to sales of warranties and auto service agreements, would be $25 million annually.

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About PIMCO

Who We Are

We are PIMCO, a leading global investment management firm with more than $747 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2008 and more than 1,200 employees in offices in Newport Beach, New York, Singapore, Tokyo, London, Sydney, Munich, Toronto, and Hong Kong.
We are driven investment professionals who are motivated by the opportunity to work with the best in a high-performance, entrepreneurial culture.

We are committed to being the best provider of global investment solutions in the world. By leveraging our thought leadership, and combining topflight talent, cutting edge technology and a long-term investment approach, we work around the globe in an effort to provide our clients with consistently superior returns and client service second to none.
We are dedicated to our clients. From our founding in 1971, PIMCO's focus has been our clients. PIMCO's team of investment professionals dedicated to client servicing allows our portfolio managers to focus on returns. We manage assets for a wide and diverse client base, ranging from central banks to multinational corporations to individual investors. For our institutional clients, we offer privately managed separate accounts as well as mutual funds. We serve retail investors as well, through our pooled mutual fund complexes in the U.S. and Europe.

We are a trendsetter in the fixed income industry, and have been throughout our 37-year history. We were at the forefront in sectors like mortgage-backed securities and emerging market bonds. We remain at the forefront today, pioneering the use of innovative solutions for our clients, including portable alpha and absolute return strategies. Our flat management structure allows us to focus on client needs and respond quickly to an ever-changing external environment.

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Sigma Forex provide the clients with the lowest spreads in Forex Market for the most traded pairs and Forex spots.

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The margin requirements must be respected by Friday at 23:00 GMT and before holidays.
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Clients will not suffer Price Re-Quote that you can buy and sell directly on real-time prices without a request for quote (RFQ).
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THE MAIN 'PLAYERS' IN THE FOREX MARKET

The five broad categories of participants are: consumers, businesses, investors, speculators, commercial banks, investment banks and central banks.Consumers, including visitors of countries, tourists and immigrants, do need to exchange currencies when they travel so that they can buy local goods and services. These participants do not have the power to set prices. They just buy and sell according to the prevailing exchange rate. They make up a significant proportion of the volume being traded in the market.Businesses that import and export goods and services need to exchange currencies to receive or make payments for goods they may have bought or services they may have rendered.Investors and speculators require currencies to buy and sell investment instruments such as shares, bonds, bank deposits or real estate.Large commercial and investment banks are the 'price makers'. They are the ones who buy and sell currencies at the bid-and-offer exchange rates that they declare through their foreign exchange dealers.Commercial banks deal with customers on one hand, and with the Interbank or other banks, on the other hand. They profit by utilizing the bid-and-offer spread. The bid price is the exchange rate that the buyer is willing to buy and the offer price is the exchange rate at which the seller is willing to sell. The difference is called the bid-offer spread. They also make profits from speculating about whether the exchange rate will rise or fall.Central banks participate in the foreign exchange market in their effective duty as banks for their particular government. They trade currencies not for the intention of making profits but rather to facilitate government monetary policies and to help smoothen out the fluctuation of the value of their economy's currency.

USD/JPY With Sigma Forex

Sigma Forex News presents: The Japanese authorities must be looking on smugly as we trade ten Yen above the scary and psychological barrier at 100.00. It has now retraced half of the precipitous declines from June last year to March this year, and reached the weekly Ichimoku ‘cloud’. Once again we shall be watching for signs of stalling at this important long term pivotal area. You can download our platform The corrective rally since March’s low is mature, both in terms of distance travelled and time, and the US dollar is very overbought. Here, and in a series of other major currencies against the USD we shall be watching weekly candles for confirmation of an interim top/bottom/’spike high/low’. A ‘doji’ weekly candle is probably more likely here and clearer reversal ones in other majors.

Enjoy The Forex Trading Indicators And The Ever Changing Market Conditions With SigmaForex

Once you enter the Forex trading world you will immediately notice the need of using technical analysis in order to find trends when looking at the Forex charts and also the importance of being aware of when they first develop so you can ride the trend until it ends. The foreign exchange market is a very strong trending market, lots of ups and downs in short periods of time, and it's, therefore, a place where technical analysis can be very effective.
But you should always remember that the indicators are only giving you a high probability behavior the markets may show when you are trading, but will never tell you the behavior of the currency prices with total certainty.
If you want to become a profitable Forex trader you will need to use as many technical indicators as you can, or create a personalized trading strategy based on a combination of these indicators, to recognize with the best accuracy possible the trend. In other words, a professional Forex trader will try to identify the major trend, the intermediate trend, and the short-term trend and then construct his trades in that direction based on how long their rules allow him to hold a position.
The Forex markets are always changing, that's why you should always have an open criterion when using your technical indicators. Markets will be changing and different combinations of indicators may be required with time in order to have the most accurate, highest probability, prediction of future currency price behaviors.
If the action of the market shows your judgment to be correct, then you must consider staying with the market' and look for the maximum profit on each trade, according to your risk-to-reward / equity management rules. If you happen to be in a bad day and the market goes against you, the smart trader will take profits and get out of that trade. In a narrow market, when prices are not going anywhere, but move within a narrow range, there is no sense in trying to anticipate when the next big movement is going to be.
So, you must always be alert and open to use as many and as different indicators in order to stay tuned with the market and become a profitable trader at the end of the day.