Ghana Beat US with 2:1 in World Cup -- Soccer

Grim-faced American players filed by one by one on their way out of Royal Bafokeng Stadium. Their World Cup was over.

They'll have four long years to dwell on what might have been, how the most-talented team in U.S. soccer history was knocked out in a game the Americans were convinced they should have won.

No nail-biting comeback this time. The U.S. relied on late rallies once too often.

Life on the World Cup edge came to an exhausting and crushing end against a familiar foe Saturday night, when Ghana — led by Asamoah Gyan's goal 3 minutes into overtime — posted a 2-1 victory that ended a thrilling yet futile tournament for the United States in the second round just when it seemed the Americans had a relatively easy path to the semifinals.

"We felt like we had a great opportunity," goalkeeper Tim Howard said. "We just gave ourselves too much of a mountain to climb. We just couldn't come back."

Kevin-Prince Boateng put Ghana ahead when he stripped the ball from Ricardo Clark in the fifth minute and beat Howard from 16 yards. It was the third time in four games the U.S. fell behind early, and once again the Americans rallied.

Landon Donovan tied the score with a penalty kick in the 62nd minute, his record fifth goal for the U.S. in World Cup play, after Jonathan Mensah pulled down Clint Dempsey streaking in. But that was it.

There was no offense left, no spark, no fire — unlike the first-round come-from-behind draws against England and Slovenia, and Donovan's memorable injury-time goal against Algeria that lifted the U.S. into the knockout phase.

"We tried to push and push," U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra said. "I don't know if we just didn't have anything left because we had been pushing so much the entire tournament."

Ghana, the only African team to advance past the first round of Africa's first World Cup, eliminated the Americans for the second straight World Cup following a 2-1 win that knocked out the U.S. in the group phase in Germany. The Black Stars joined Cameroon (1990) and Senegal (2002) as the only African teams to reach the quarterfinals and will play Uruguay for a berth in the semifinals, a round the U.S. has not reached since the first World Cup in 1930.

"A stinging, tough defeat," said Bob Bradley, who faces an uncertain future as U.S. coach.

With former President Bill Clinton watching and Mick Jagger sitting next to him, the U.S. was done in by a porous defense and forwards who failed to score a single goal in four games.

"When you give up this many goals, you're not going to go very far," Bocanegra said.

All five U.S. goals in the tournament came from the team's midfield backbone: three by Donovan, one by Dempsey and one by Michael Bradley, the coach's son.

In the first-ever extra time World Cup game for the U.S., Gyan got the winning goal when he took a long ball from Andre Ayew over the defense and beat Bocanegra, his teammate on the French club Rennes. Gyan let the ball bounce, took a touch with his chest, and with Jay DeMerit vainly trying to catch up, scored over goalkeeper Tim Howard with a left-footed shot from 16 yards.

"I had my angles right there. There no question about it," Howard said. "He absolutely crushed it."

The goal set off horn-honking celebrations in Ghana, a West African country nearly 3,000 miles away.

"We've made everybody proud," Gyan said. "Not Ghana alone, but all of Africa."

There was nothing to equal Donovan's injury-time goal that provided a 1-0 victory over Algeria and moved the Americans into the second round. The closest the U.S. came to tying it again was in the 98th minute, when Maurice Edu's header off Donovan's corner kick went wide.

With Howard pushed up, DeMerit's desperation long shot in the final minutes went over the crossbar. Then Dempsey sent a header wide.

At the final whistle, Howard consoled Bocanegra and Edu collapsed to the ground. Donovan exchanged jerseys with a Ghana player and walked off the field, put on a coat, sat on the bench and hung his head.

"If we're a little less naive tonight, we would have advanced," said Donovan, at 28 in his prime and the best American player ever. "I said all along this was a young team and a relatively inexperienced team at this level."

After Donovan tied the score with his American record 45th international goal, Jozy Altidore had the best opportunity. But he went wide in the 81st minute.

No American forward has scored in the World Cup since Brian McBride in 2002.

"Let's face it, you count on your forwards," Bradley said. "We need to get better at forward."

While the U.S. came from behind to draw England 1-1 and Slovenia 2-2 in the first round, the Americans looked ragged this time. They go home pondering a World Cup that could have been so much more. They thrilled the large number of Americans who were the largest group of overseas ticket buyers, but failed to do as well as the 2002 team, which reached the quarterfinals in the best U.S. finish since 1930.

An upset of European champion Spain in the semifinals of last year's Confederations Cup in South Africa had raised expectations.

"We always understand the responsibility we have as a national team to show how far the game has come in the United States, to fight for respect," Bradley said. "We certainly felt we moved things along with our performance in the Confederations Cup and as we went through the first round we felt that we were continuing to go in that direction."

Because a growing fan base watched on television in record numbers, the loss was even more painful for a team still struggling for recognition both in the soccer world and among sports fans in America.

"Soccer can be a cruel game," Donovan said. "Sometimes you're at the top and sometimes you are at the bottom of the mountain."

Ghana's only two goals in the first round had been penalty kicks by Gyan, but Boateng, whose half-brother plays for Germany, quickly put the Black Stars ahead from the run of play. After stealing the ball from Clark at midfield, he sprinted in on DeMerit, cut to the outside and turned the defender around as Clark chased in vain.

Clark, who hadn't played since the opener against England, was given a yellow card and was replaced by Edu in the 31st minute.

"He felt badly about the ball he lost. And I simply said, `That's part of soccer,'" Bob Bradley recalled.

Benny Feilhaber replaced speedy but ineffective forward Robbie Findley at the start of the second half, with Dempsey moving up. Feilhaber immediately had a chance when Altidore tipped the ball to him, but a sliding goalkeeper Richard Kingson, who also foiled the U.S. four years ago, got a hand on it.

On his penalty kick, Donovan kneeled behind the ball in concentration, then clanked it in off the far post. With his third goal of the tournament, he surpassed Bert Patenaude (1930) as the American career World Cup leader.

"I thought we had a good grip," Michael Bradley said "We were pushing the tempo. We were the ones getting chances."

Herculez Gomez came in for Altidore at the start of extra time. But nothing worked. The supporters in red, white and blue wigs and Uncle Sam hats were as deflated as the players.

"It's a feeling of disappointment for the team," Bob Bradley said, "and also all our fans." (GHHBVSM20440857)

IT-How's Apple

Stock Market -- S&P 500

U.S. stocks Plunge On Europe as S&P 500 Loses Most in 13 Months

-- U.S. stocks plunged, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index losing the most in 13 months, after jobless claims increased and concern grew that Europe’s debt crisis is spreading.

Caterpillar Inc. helped lead industrial shares lower. General Electric Co. dropped 5.8 percent as all 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated. ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp. retreated with oil prices. The decline in stocks deepened after the June futures contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped below levels monitored by traders who base investments on chart patterns.

The S&P 500 slid 3.9 percent to 1,071.59 as of 4 p.m. in New York, closing below its 200-day average for the first time since July 2009. It was the benchmark’s biggest drop since April 2009. The Dow lost 376.36 points, or 3.6 percent, to 10,068.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index joined the S&P 500 and Dow in erasing its gains for 2010, declining 4.1 percent to 2,204.01.

“There are a lot of well-known negatives or obstacles to a speedy recovery, specifically in the U.S. economy and even the developed markets around the world,” said Charles Stamey, who helps manage $30 billion at Manning & Napier Advisors Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida. “Earlier this year, everyone was assuming that the modest economic improvements were going to continue. It’s almost as if the market overshot itself.”

Jobless Claims

The decline accelerated after the index fell beneath its average for the last 200 days, which it had breached yesterday before paring losses. Technical analysts have also said a level of about 1,100 represents a point at which selling may worsen for both the S&P 500 and the June contract, said Mary Ann Bartels, head of U.S. technical analysis at Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit, in a note.

“This is not a typical retracement,” said Mohamed A. El- Erian, chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., which runs the world’s biggest bond fund, in an e-mail. “We are in uncharted waters on account of several issues, including what is going on in Europe and other important structural regime changes. In economic terms, European developments are unambiguously bad for global growth.”

A Drop from 2010 Highs

The major indexes ended at the days’ lows. The S&P 500 has now fallen 12 percent from its 2010 high on April 23 of 1,217.28. All 30 Dow stocks were down more than 2.2 percent, while all but three of the S&P 500 companies declined. The ratio of securities that advanced to those that declined on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market reached its lowest level since at least July 2004, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. About 20 stocks fell for each that rose on those exchanges.

“The last 30 minutes of the day were highlighted by analyst after analyst calling for being in cash,” said Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at Cabrera Capital Markets in Boston. “This market is trading 95 percent on fear and 5 percent on fundamentals. What we also saw was the last few pockets of year- to-date gains see profit-taking. That moved all 30 Dow stocks negative.”

Erasing 2010 Gains

U.S. stocks fell for a second day yesterday, wiping out the 2010 gain for the S&P 500, as Germany’s ban on some bearish investments and a jump in mortgage foreclosures triggered a flight from equities. France, The Netherlands and Finland said they have no plans to follow German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s effort to control what she called “destructive” markets.

The euro fell as much as 1 percent to $1.2297, and in the morning was near the four-year low it reached yesterday before paring the losses. It rose 0.8 percent to $1.2513 at 4 p.m. in New York.

The VIX, as the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index is known, climbed 29 percent, or 10.25 points, to 45.57. That level is nearly triple the 2010 low of 15.58 on April 12 for the benchmark U.S. stock-options index.

“It’s just a complete lack of clarity for what the plan is for Europe,” said Dan Veru, who helps oversee $3.1 billion as co-chief investment officer at Palisade Capital Management in Fort Lee, New Jersey. “We now have a big amount of uncertainty with that and with the overall economy. A lot of people have been waiting for this move downward in the market this is as good as any to sell.”

Exxon, Spectra

Exxon, the world’s largest oil company, dropped 3.4 percent to $60.33, while ConocoPhillips, the third-biggest U.S. energy company, lost 4.4 percent to $51.04. Crude oil for June delivery fell 2.3 percent to $68.28 in New York after declining below $65 earlier in the session.

Spectra Energy Corp., the third-largest U.S. pipeline operator by market value, slumped the second-most in the S&P 500 after Jefferies & Co. cut the stock “underperform” from “hold.” The shares fell 8.2 percent to $19.37.

Caterpillar dropped 4.5 percent to $58.67, contributing to a 4.6 percent decline among industrial companies in the S&P 500. The world’s largest maker of construction equipment said its global retail sales of machines fell 4 percent last month.

Materials Producers Slide

All 10 S&P 500 industry groups each lost at least 2.7 percent. Materials producers slid 4.4 percent as gold, aluminum, copper, lead and nickel all declined. Alcoa Inc. fell 6 percent to $11.07. The group is down the most for the month of May.

Sears Holdings Corp. reported first-quarter revenue that missed the average analysts estimate, according to a Bloomberg survey. Shares of the largest U.S. department-store chain fell 11 percent to $88.70, the most in the S&P 500.

Rockwell Automation Inc. also slid, falling 8 percent to $52.16 after JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut the maker of factory software to “neutral” from “overweight.”

Stocks extended earlier declines after the Conference Board’s measure of the economy’s outlook for the next three to six months fell 0.1 percent last month. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for a 0.2 percent gain. The figures follow a 1.4 percent gain in March that was the most since a similar rise in May 2009.

Japanese Economy

In Japan, the economy grew less than forecast in the first quarter as an export-led recovery failed to stoke consumer spending. Gross domestic product rose an annualized 4.9 percent, less than the 5.5 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 21 economists, a Cabinet Office report showed.

The U.S. Senate agreed today to move toward a final vote on the financial-regulation bill that overhauls Wall Street oversight, including strengthened regulation of hedge funds and derivatives. The procedural vote count was 60-40 today, after the Democrats failed yesterday to get the minimum 60 needed.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average, whose 20 companies include FedEx Corp., Union Pacific Corp. and Ryder System Inc., joined the industrials gauge in falling below its May 7 closing level, signaling to followers of Dow Theory that losses are likely to deepen.

Stemming from observations made by Wall Street Journal founder Charles Dow during the late 1800s, Dow Theory holds that moves by the industrial average must be “confirmed” by the transportation measure, and vice versa, to be sustained.

‘Severe Downside Action’

“If the May 7 lows are violated by the industrials and the transports, I expect some severe downside action by the stock market,” Richard Russell, the La Jolla, California-based editor of the Dow Theory Forecasts newsletter, wrote to subscribers yesterday.

The drop below the S&P 500’s 200-day moving average may not necessarily signal more losses to come, according to Harrison, New York-based Bespoke Investment Group LLC.

The last time the index closed below the level was in July 2009. On the previous occasions when it closed below the 200-day moving average after having stayed above it for at least 100 days on a closing basis, the S&P 500 “has actually done well” in the following months, according to Bespoke, with positive returns one, three and six months later.

Stock Market

Stock Decline: It's Not Just About Greece

As the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 9.2% today -- the biggest intraday decline since Oct. 19, 1987 -- cable news channels were showing protests in Athens. The video gave the impression that the stock decline and the Greek fiscal crisis were directly linked.

Not so fast. Many suspect there was some technical problem that spooked the markets and sent stocks diving, then dramatically rebounding this afternoon.

"We're due for a correction, but nothing of this magnitude," says Gary Wolfer, chief economist at Univest Wealth Management. "What occurred here is unfathomable and it must have been some technical problem."

[UPDATE: Indeed, Bloomberg News is reporting that a NYSE Euronext spokesman says "there were a number of erroneous trades" during the market's steep drop.]

But even if there wasn't, U.S. investors have reasons other than Greece to be skittish and so ready to sell. At its peak this year, the stock market "was very fully valued," says Jerry Webman, chief economist at OppenheimerFunds. Stocks were priced to reflect an optimistic scenario. Investors know, Webman says, that "when people have underestimated bad news in the past, they got socked in the stomach."

Indeed, stocks have been on the decline for two week. Even before today, the S&P 500 was down 7.3% since Apr. 23. Greece's woes aren't enough to be the only driving force behind this big market correction.

"Greece is not such a big share of the global economy to justify the concern," says Michele Gambera, head of quantitative analysis at UBS Global Asset Management. Instead Greece is one contributor to a lot of uncertainty in fixed income markets. In the last year, Gambera says, there was a "dash for trash," as investors bought up riskier assets in anticipation of a worldwide economic recovery.

"Maybe we are having a pause here, an assessment of [whether] we've gone too far into risky assets," Gambera says.

By the logic of some market bulls, the Greek and European problems are just that -- European problems. "The Euro problems are the Euro problems," Wolfer says. Even if it spreads from Greece to other debt-ridden European nations, trouble in Europe might push more assets toward the safe haven of U.S. government debt. That could help stimulate the U.S. economy by keeping U.S. interest rates lower for longer.

Once bullish investors realized the stock market was crashing, they jumped in and started buying again. These are not the gloomy days of Fall 2008 or March 2009, when investors were so depressed that almost no one was buying stocks.

The danger, as always, is that market panic spreads, creating more market panic and spreading further. Fear creates fear. That's how the 2008 financial crisis happened. Luckily, the vast majority of investors don't yet believe Greece's problems warrant that level of concern. (Source: zt)

China Raises More Than 615 Million USD For Quake-Hit Yushu

BEIJING, May 2-- Chinese had donated 4.2 billion yuan (615 million U.S. dollars) in money and materials for quake-hit Yushu by Saturday, said a statement on the website of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The donations included 3.51 billion yuan, and quake-relief materials worth 681 million yuan.

The post said 604 million yuan, including 56 million yuan and materials worth 548 million yuan, had been channeled to the quake zone.

It said 68,130 cotton-padded tents, 118,027 cotton-padded coats, together with other quake-relief materials, had been delivered to Yushu.

At least 2,200 people died and more than 100,000 were left homeless when the 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai Province on April 14.

Finance

Can Greece Get Out From Financial Crisis? Or Go to Bankrupt?

European policy makers may need to stump up as much as 600 billion euros ($794 billion) in aid or buy government bonds if they are to stamp out the region’s spreading fiscal crisis, said economists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.

With Greece’s budget turmoil infecting markets from Rome to Madrid, economists are urging German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and other officials to come up with unprecedented measures. Other steps could see governments guaranteeing bonds and the ECB abandoning collateral rules or reviving unlimited lending to banks, the economists said.

Bonds and stocks plunged across Europe in the past week as Merkel’s government delayed approving a rescue plan for Greece and Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece, Portugal and Spain. As OECD head Angel Gurria likens the crisis to the Ebola virus, Europe may need to come up with a plan equivalent to the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program deployed by the U.S. after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

“It is perhaps time to think of policy options of the last resort in the current sovereign crisis,” said David Mackie, chief European economist at JPMorgan in London. “It may now be time for the euro area to do something much more dramatic in order to prevent the stress from creating another broad-based financial crisis which pushes the region back into recession.”

‘Resolute Action’

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chancellor Merkel yesterday discussed “the importance of resolute action by Greece and timely support” from the International Monetary Fund and Europe, the White House said in a statement.

The extra yield that investors demand to hold Portuguese 10-year bonds this week reached the most since 1997 and the spread on Spanish debt increased to the most in a year. The gap on the bonds of Italy, the euro region’s third-largest economy, reached the highest since July. The premium on Greek bonds surpassed 8 percentage points yesterday.

“This is like Ebola,” Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Secretary General Gurria told Bloomberg Television yesterday. “It’s threatening the stability of the financial system.” The World Health Organization calls Ebola “one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind.”

The first stage of an enhanced rescue would be for the euro area and the IMF to boost the size of the Greek lifeline package from the 45 billion euros initially discussed for the first year, said Erik Nielsen, chief European economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Speed

Talks between the European Union, the IMF and the Greek government are likely focused on assistance in the first year of between 55 billion euros and 75 billion euros with an announcement by early next week, Nielsen said April 27. That would ensure Greece doesn’t have to access the market for the next year or so, he said.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told German lawmakers yesterday that Greece may need a total of as much 120 billion euros, Green Party lawmaker Juergen Trittin said. Trichet emphasized the importance of quickly handing out funds if talks in Athens by Greek, EU and IMF official conclude this weekend.

“The rapidity of the decision is absolutely essential,” he told reporters. Merkel said aid talks “need to be speeded up now.”

Within three hours of the officials speaking in Berlin, S&P announced it had cut Spain’s credit rating to AA, putting it on par with Slovenia. The previous day, S&P reduced Greece’s rating to junk and pared Portugal’s by two steps to A- from A+.

Greek Junk

A Greek agreement may not be enough to end a crisis that’s ricocheting through all euro-region markets and governments may have to come up with a blanket plan for the bloc as a whole, said Mackie. He calculates that in a worst-case contagion scenario, supporting Spain, Portugal and Ireland and Greece may require aid worth 8 percent of the gross domestic product of the rest of the region. That’s equivalent to about 600 billion euros.

“This is a big number, but the region has the fiscal capacity to backstop both banks and these countries,” said Mackie. Governments also could guarantee each other’s debt for a limited period such as three years, an “attractive form of support because no money is needed up front,” he said.

The ECB may also have a role to play even if the crisis has its roots in fiscal policy. With Greek debt now rated as junk by S&P, the Frankfurt-based central bank may need to dilute its collateral rules again so as it can keep accepting the country’s bonds when making loans, said economists led by Juergen Michels at Citigroup Inc.

‘Nuclear Option’

Under current rules, Greek bonds will be ineligible at money-market operations if Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service cut them to junk as well.

“The collateral rules may have to be changed soon again in order to maintain the eligibility of Greek bonds,” Michels’ team said in a note to clients yesterday.

The central bank could eventually start accepting all government debt regardless of its rating and revive last year’s policy of lending unlimited amounts for periods up to a year so as to support the region’s banks, said Jacques Cailloux, chief European economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.

What Cailloux calls the “nuclear option” of the ECB purchasing government bonds is also attracting attention among economists. While the ECB is prohibited from buying assets directly from authorities, it can do so on the secondary market.

“We need 300 billion euros of purchases and then the problem goes away overnight,” said James Nixon, co-chief European economist at Societe Generale SA.

‘Extremely Unrealistic’

Obstacles to a sweeping bailout package abound. The EU’s structure means no one elected politician is responsible for ensuring Greece’s survival and Trichet, the only major official solely responsible for the euro, has no authority to disburse taxpayers’ funds.

In Germany, Merkel has delayed approving the release of funds for Greece in the face of voter opposition and an election in North Rhine-Westphalia in May 9.

German politicians and central bankers may also oppose government bond purchases by the ECB as that would run counter to the country’s tradition of fiscal conservatism since World War II.

That option is “extremely unrealistic,” said Marco Annunziata, chief economist at UniCredit Group in London. It “would be seen, correctly, as direct monetary financing of excessive fiscal deficits. German opposition to such a move would be even stronger than to fiscal bailout operations.”

‘Growing Risk’

There is even a “growing risk that the euro-zone breaks up” as indebted nations are forced to retrench and political tensions mount, said Jennifer McKeown, an economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London.

European policy makers continue to play down speculation of contagion, with ECB Executive Board member Juergen Stark saying yesterday that Greece should be seen as a “unique case.” Leaders will wait until around May 10 before meeting again to discuss Greece, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said yesterday in Tokyo. He also said there was “no question” of Greece restructuring its debt.

Some economists are optimistic that market turmoil will ultimately force politicians and central bankers to do what’s necessary to rescue the euro region.

Eric Kraus, a strategist at Otkritie Financial Co. in Moscow, said he’s buying Greek bonds on the bet policy makers will eventually strike back.

“Sooner or later those morons in Brussels and Berlin will realize that they are playing with fire, have already been burned, and will have to stop feeding the flames,” said Kraus, who works at a brokerage part-owned by Russia’s second-biggest bank. “Then we should see a very nice bounce.”

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Series--Report About U.S.A and Canadian Companies

Today I would like to write the Series--Report1-- Canadian Big Retail Corporations: Sears Canada

Sears Canada Inc is a listed public company in TSX: SCC. As of year 2009, Sears Canada has some changes in its equity part. Sears Holdings Corporation of the U.S owns 73.1 percent of Sears Canada common shares and Pershing Square Capital owns 17.3 percent of them, and the rest of shares are publicly traded.

Sears Canada mainly operates its business by its flaship stores across Canada. The company has relocated its head office to surplus space at its flagship store in the Toronto Eaton Centre. Currently the largest Sears stores are located in Toronto Eaton Centre and Pacific Centre in Vancouver. For more details you'd like to know about Sears, please refer to the links below.