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The Revolution was a technological success.

The Revolution was a technological success.

"Before the 1960s, the population of India was multiplying like rats in a barn," said Jagjit Singh Hara, "but we didn't have the grain to feed them. After the Green Revolution, we doubled our yield and now we have proved that India can feed the world".

But the process has limits and they may have been reached. Population, on the other hand, has continued to rise in poor parts of the world.

The graph, compiled for the BBC by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, shows that while yield per hectare has increased, the amount of land used for the major staple grains has remained fairly constant; this is because the amount of good farmland is finite.

NYSE Amex Options reviewing large number of erroneous trades

NEW YORK Aug 20 (Reuters) - NYSE Amex Options is reviewing a large number of erroneous trades that took place in stocks beginning with H, I, J, K, and L between 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) and 9:47 a.m. EDT (1347 GMT), NYSE Euronext said. The exchange operator said while it is still reviewing the issue, it anticipates that most of the impacted trades will be busted.Nasdaq OMX Group and CBOE Holdings have also said they are reviewing a batch of options trades from this morning.

This article is taken from Reuters.com

Finnish adjusted jobless rate 7.7 percent in July

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was roughly flat at 7.7 percent in July, compared to a revised 7.8 percent in June, Statistics Finland (SF) said on Tuesday. (Reporting by Helsinki Newsroom)

This article is taken from Reuters.com

FINNEWS LATAM-Latin America corporate defaults hit four-year high, Moody's says

The default rate for speculative-grade Latin American companies rose to 4.2 percent in the 12 months through July 2013, the highest level for the indicator since June 2010, when it stood at 4.4 percent, Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday. According to the ratings company, modest regional and global economic growth will present challenges for Latin American issuers amid modest economic activity. The forecast for the region's speculative-grade default rate in the next 12 months is 3.3 percent, compared with 2.5 percent for global corporates. Seven companies - two from Brazil and five from Mexico - fell behind on their payments during the period, Moody's said. The default by Brazil-based Banco Cruzeiro do Sul SA was the largest corporate default by volume in the region since 2002.Other notable defaults in the past year were those afflicting the Mexican homebuilding industry. Over the past year, rating downgrades have been more numerous than upgrades in Latin America, according to Moody's. For methodological purposes, Moody's rated the debt of 336 companies in 21 Latin American countries by the end of July 2013, a 10 percent increase during the year. The majority of new issuers were based in Brazil and Peru.

This article is taken from Reuters.com

European shares hit three week low as volatility spikes

* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 1.1 percent * Fears of reduced U.S. monetary stimulus hit banks* Miners suffer after Glencore, BHP updates* AXA hit by concerns over equity exposureBy Alistair SmoutLONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - European shares hit a three-week low and a major volatility index spiked higher on Tuesday, as expectations hardened that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start to scale back monetary stimulus measures next month.The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 1.4 percent to 1,207.89 points in afternoon trade, marking the index's lowest point in August, led lower by a 2.3 percent drop in banks.At 1435 GMT, the index traded 1.1 percent lower at 1,211.69 points.The FTSEurofirst 300 reached a five-year high of 1,258.09 points in late May but has since slipped back on growing speculation that the Fed will soon start to scale back its monthly bond buying programme, which has driven much of the global equity rally this year by hitting returns on bonds.Minutes from the Fed's July meeting, due out on Wednesday, could indicate whether the U.S. central bank is preparing to start withdrawing stimulus, which could hurt growth-sensitive "cyclical" stocks."If the Federal Reserve are to start cutting back on quantitative easing, it would be the financial sector that would take the initial hit, and defensive stocks are doing relatively well today versus cyclicals such as financials," Manoj Ladwa, head of trading at TJM Partners, said, although he cautioned against reading too much into the session's moves."The market is very thin at the moment. We've had a few corporate stories, from the likes of Glencore, that are not so great, but volumes down over 10 percent on this time last year, so you expect a few exaggerated moves in the market and a bit of intraday volatility."The Euro STOXX 50 Volatility Index surged 12.8 percent to 19.73 points, highlighting investor uncertainty over the near-term outlook for financial markets, but volumes were a mere 62.5 percent of an already low 90 day average.Glencore Xstrata fell 2.3 percent after taking a $7.7 billion hit on Xstrata's mining assets, with fellow basic materials firm BHP Billiton down 1.3 percent after profit missed forecasts.The cyclical basic resources sector fell 1.7 percent, suffering along with other stocks that are sensitive to economic optimism.NOT RIGHT TIMEThe prospect of reduced Fed stimulus has led to parallel gains in core sovereign debt yields that have made stocks less attractive to investors.Concern over the outlook for stock markets hit insurer AXA , down 4.7 percent and the top FTSEurofirst faller, with investors worried about its exposure to the asset class.British insurer Prudential fell 4.1 percent.However, Swiss bank Reyl's chief investment officer, Francois Savary, categorised the current pullback as a "consolidation" as investors book profits on this year's rally, rather than a more serious stock market collapse."The short term is shaky, but we should still finish the year higher," he said.Savary said he remained optimistic on the longer-term outlook for European equities due to signs that the region's economy is recovering from the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.He was considering adding to his European equity exposure, but felt now was not the right time as the market retreat was "not advanced enough".

This article is taken from Reuters.com

BHP delays $14 billion Canada potash push as profit drops

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - BHP Billiton's new chief has put his stamp on the top global miner, mapping out a cautious approach to expanding into the potash market, which it sees as its next big growth business beyond 2020. CEO Andrew Mackenzie outlined the low-risk course as he handed down his first results, reporting a 15 percent drop in half-year profit before one-offs, which missed forecasts largely due to Australian mining tax adjustments and other non-operational items.BHP and Glencore Xstrata wrapped up the results season for the world's big five miners, with BHP holding up slightly better than its peers as it stepped up output of iron ore, copper, coal and oil and slashed $2.7 billion in costs in the face of sliding commodity prices.Major miners have come under pressure to rein in spending, sell off underperforming assets and tackle debt after years of rampant spending on new mines and acquisitions as commodity prices soared.Reflecting the austerity drive, BHP said it plans to invest $2.6 billion over the next four years digging shafts at the Jansen potash project, delaying production at least until 2020 from its original 2015 target, while inviting offers for stakes in the mine."The whole basis of the strategy that we're being clear about today is that we want to retain complete flexibility to enter the market at a timing which we think is right to maximize returns for our sharheolders," Mackenzie told reporters.BHP put more than $40 billion worth of new projects on ice a year ago to combat costs that had grown out of control over the previous decade as miners raced to feed booming Chinese demand.Mackenzie reiterated that BHP remains confident in China's long-term growth prospects, as 250 million people move into cities and the country rebalances its economy toward consumption-led growth."In the short to medium term, I think the signs are reasonably positive that they'll hold to their forecast for 7-8 percent annual growth," he said.He outlined a more aggressive cut in capital and exploration spending than recently flagged, with spending to fall 26 percent to $16.2 billion in the 2014 financial year.Attributable profit excluding one-offs fell to $6.12 billion for the six months to June from $7.18 billion a year ago. That was well below analysts' forecasts of $7.16 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.BHP increased its final dividend by 2 cents to 59 cents, just short of analysts' forecasts at 60 cents.BHP's shares fell 3.2 percent in early London trade, underperforming a 0.8 percent fall in the FTSE 100 index."We believe that the market may be surprised that the group is pushing ahead with its Jansen potash project in Canada," Investec said in a morning note in London.POTASH PLANSBHP has long planned to break into the potash industry, targeting a lucrative new business that has been controlled by two cartels, as developing countries look to grow more food over the next few decades.It has already invested $1.2 billion in Jansen and the timing of its entry has been closely watched by the world's major producers, led by Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, which BHP tried to take over in 2010.Its $39 billion bid was blocked by Canada on fears that potash prices and royalties would drop as BHP planned to split from the North American cartel. Now Russia's Uralkali has given potash producers a taste of what could happen as it recently quit the Belarusian Potash Co cartel.Mackenzie said once Jansen's shafts and infrastructure are in place, the mine would be about three years away from production, but the company would decide on when to begin producing based on the market and its ability to fund further development.BHP believes the project will generate returns well above the company's average returns over many decades, he said."As long as we get the timing right, we're not overly aggressive, we think those returns are there," Mackenzie said.(Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Richard Pullin)

This article is taken from Reuters.com

China oil imports to overtake U.S. by 2017: WoodMac

LONDON (Reuters) - China will overtake the United States as the world's biggest crude oil importer by 2017 as Chinese motorists drive domestic oil demand higher, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said on Tuesday. China is on track to spend $500 billion on crude oil imports by 2020, far outstripping the peak cost ever incurred by the United States on crude imports of $335 billion, Wood Mackenzie said in a report.It forecasts the U.S. crude oil import bill will fall to around $160 billion by 2020 as U.S. tight oil output from shale resources replaces imports from the Middle East and Africa."China will surpass U.S. demand for oil imports and peak spend," William Durbin, Wood Mackenzie's Beijing-based president of global markets, said in a statement.The consultancy said the turning point for Chinese crude imports to surpass U.S. imports would be around 2017.It forecasts China's oil imports will rise to 9.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 from 2.5 million bpd in 2005. U.S. oil imports, meanwhile, will fall to 6.8 million bpd from a peak of 10.1 million bpd."It means the United States is becoming more North America-centric for its supply needs and China more dependent on Middle East and OPEC crude," Durbin said."We will therefore see OPEC suppliers, who traditionally focused on the United States for crude sales, compelled to shift their focus towards China."Between 2005 and 2020, OPEC's share of Chinese oil imports is expected to rise to 66 percent from 52 percent."China will look towards OPEC supply more as the United States relies on it less," Durbin said.(Reporting by Christopher Johnson; Editing by Dale Hudson)

This article is taken from Reuters.com

Deutsche Wohnen makes $2.3 billion bet on Berlin property with GSW bid

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Wohnen (DWNG.DE) offered to buy rival residential landlord GSW Immobilien (GIBG.DE) for 1.8 billion euros ($2.3 billion) to expand in Berlin's booming rental market and tap nascent interest from international investors. The all-share deal would push an enlarged Deutsche Wohnen closer to the top five European real estate firms by market value, such as British Land (BLND.L) and domestic rival Land Securities (LAND.L), giving it easier access to funding from investors across the continent.Deutsche Wohnen said on Tuesday it plans to finance the bid for GSW by issuing as many as 135 million new shares, more than four-fifths of its existing share capital.The acquisition would be Germany's second-biggest residential real estate deal since Whitehall bought LEG Immobilien (LEGn.DE) for 3.4 billion euros in 2008.Deutsche Wohnen said it would offer 51 of its shares for every 20 shares in GSW, which would give GSW investors a stake of around 43 percent in the enlarged company.The offer represents a 15 percent premium to GSW's three-month volume-weighted average share price and the company's net asset value (NAV), making it more expensive than other recent residential real estate deals.Patrizia Immobilien (P1ZGn.DE) paid a 7 percent discount to NAV when it bought most of GBW in April and property firms LEG Immobilien and Deutsche Annington (ANNGn.DE) both joined the stock market at a discount this year.Still, analysts said GSW was worth the price for Deutsche Wohnen because 72 percent of its portfolio would be in Berlin following the takeover, up from 54 percent, bringing economies of scale.Some 85 percent of Berlin's population rents rather than owns - compared with a nationwide ownership rate of 46 percent - making it an attractive investment for landlords, Close Brothers Seydler analyst Manuel Martin said.GSW, whose chairman and chief executive were forced out by a shareholder rebellion last month, said it would study the offer before deciding how to proceed.The ouster of the two executives followed a campaign led by Dutch pension fund PGGM, which said Chief Executive Bernd Kottmann lacked experience in managing residential real estate.SURGING RENTSIn a sign that European property is beginning to attract investors after a downturn that hammered property values, Blackstone (BX.N) - one of the world's biggest private equity firms - is seeking to raise up to $5 billion for a new fund, a source familiar with the matter said.Last week, data showed the euro zone was emerging from a 1-1/2 year recession, with the economies of both Germany and France expanding faster than expected.The GSW deal would increase Deutsche Wohnen's portfolio of flats by around 63 percent to more than 147,000 and give it a 6.5 percent share of Berlin's rental market. Rents in the capital surged 40 percent between 2007 and 2012, according to research institute Empirica.It would also push Deutsche Wohnen into the No.2 spot in Germany behind Deutsche Annington (ANNGn.DE), the country's largest real estate firm with 179,000 apartments.Shares in GSW were up 6.3 percent at 33.44 euros at 1117 ET, while Deutsche Wohnen was down 4.7 percent at 13.495 euros.Deutsche Wohnen, which has net debt of 3 billion euros, would take on 1.8 billion in debt from GSW.Deutsche Wohnen needs support for the deal from 75 percent of GSW's shareholders, which it expects to get because two-fifths of GSW shareholders also own shares in Deutsche Wohnen.Deutsche Wohnen also has to get backing for the capital increase from its shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting on September 30.(Additional reporting by Christiaan Hetzner and Brenda Goh; Editing by Noah Barkin and Erica Billingham)

This article is taken from Reuters.com

Tesla says Model S won rare 5-star safety ratings across board

DETROIT Aug 20 (Reuters) - Tesla Motors Inc's Model S sedan has won a five-star safety rating in every testing category across the board, a distinction awarded to just 1 percent of all vehicles tested by U.S. safety regulators, the electric car company said. The battery-powered Model S set a record for the lowest likelihood of injury to occupants, Tesla said in a press release issued late Monday.Tesla, based in Silicon Valley and led by billionaire Elon Musk, said the Model S exceeded the safety score of all sport-utility vehicles and minivans tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.A spokeswoman for NHTSA could not be reached for comment.Tesla said NHTSA tested for the probability of injury from front, side, rear and rollover accidents.The Model S does not have a front engine block, giving it a longer "crumple zone" that allows the vehicle to absorb high-speed impacts better than most gasoline-powered rivals. A machine used in the roof-crush test broke while attempting to cave in the Model S roof, the company said.The Model S is the best-selling U.S. electric car despite a starting price of $70,000 before a federal tax credit. The company sold 5,150 cars in the second quarter and expects to sell 21,000 cars this year.Tesla shares have more than quadrupled this year."There will be a segment of the population that will find the safety issue a compelling reason to buy the car," said Theodore R. O'Neill, managing director at research firm Litchfield Hills Research LLC.Separately, General Motors Co said on Tuesday that its new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks snagged an overall five-star safety rating from the U.S. government.GM said the recently redesigned Silverado and Sierra are the first pickup trucks to receive the top rating since NHTSA changed its test procedures for 2011 models.

This article is taken from Reuters.com

Glencore seeks fresh start with $7.7 billion hit to Xstrata

LONDON (Reuters) - Glencore Xstrata (GLEN.L) took a $7.7 billion hit on mining assets acquired in its takeover of Xstrata, drastically reducing the value of projects in the early stages of development. The diversified trader and miner announced the writedown as it posted a 9 percent drop in core first-half profit in its first results since completion of a 16-month acquisition that coincided with falling commodity prices across the industry.Miners have been pummeled by billions of dollars in writedowns since the start of 2013, with cooling mineral prices and demand prospects denting the value of mining projects and boom-year deals.In absorbing the impact of a weaker market, Glencore wiped out all the goodwill value it had provisionally allocated to Xstrata's mines at the time of the merger."We just had to value the business with a blank sheet of paper," Chief Financial Officer Steven Kalmin said, adding that the group had taken a "fairly conservative approach".Glencore did not break down the impairment, but much of the hit is expected have been down to early-stage projects and so-called greenfield operations - mines built from scratch, which have long been unpopular with Glencore management. These include the $5 billion nickel operation Koniambo in New Caledonia.The company dismissed the idea that the writedown demonstrated poor timing or an excessive price paid in the all-paper deal for the Xstrata shares it did not already own."We took a decision at the time to pay that ratio based on what we knew on that day, and we were happy with it," Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg said. "We do believe we are going to get it back in time and we do feel comfortable with the deal."NICKEL PAINGlencore itself was not immune to falling nickel prices and took a $452 million hit on its legacy Murrin Murrin operation in Australia. Nickel, used in stainless steel, is trading at almost a quarter of pre-crisis highs hit in 2007."Equity markets have already de-rated the value of mining assets - share prices are down by a lot since last year, and the book value of Xstrata did not reflect that," Jefferies analyst Chris LaFemina said."Other companies had taken writedowns, but Xstrata had not done that yet. It is really just catching up with the industry."Asset sales are also expected to come out of Glencore's review of Xstrata's assets, but Glasenberg said he was in no rush to sell even the unpopular greenfield projects.Glencore has already flagged the start of a sale process for $5 billion-plus Peruvian copper mine Las Bambas - demanded by Chinese antitrust regulators - and said on Tuesday that interest was "very strong", mostly from Chinese suitors.Glencore hopes to close that sale by the end of the year.Shares in Glencore were down 1.4 percent at 0940 ET, underperforming a 0.8 percent drop in the wider sector, as metal prices fell and miner BHP Billiton (BLT.L) missed its forecasts.Glencore was hit by weaker prices in the first half, with adjusted core profit - earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) - down 9 percent at $6 billion, at the higher end of analyst estimates.OUTPUT UPLIFTImproved output from mining operations in copper and coal helped to cushion the full impact of weaker prices, which took $2.2 billion off Glencore's operating profit.It also benefited from profit from its trading arm, with adjusted operating profit for marketing alone rising 6 percent to $1.2 billion as metals and profits from trading oil and coal offset the impact of a weaker agricultural contribution.There was a 39 percent drop at its industrial arm, which includes the group's mines.Net earnings came in at a little more than $2 billion, down 39 percent on the same period last year.Glencore's completion of the Xstrata takeover three months ago ended a marathon deal for Glasenberg, whose team now faces the challenge of digesting its biggest acquisition.The company said that progress on integration was exceeding expectations, with achievable cost savings likely to be "materially" above previous guidance of $500 million a year.It is still seeking a new chairman, a role currently held by former BP boss Tony Hayward in an interim capacity. Glasenberg said Hayward was a candidate, but Glencore will struggle to appoint the chief executive of a listed company - Hayward is head of oil firm Genel (GENL.L) - to that full-time role.Glasenberg brushed off questions over his own future at Glencore, where he is also the largest single investor, telling analysts he was "not going anywhere".Glencore is expected to update the market on the integration, progress and associated cost-savings on September 10.(Editing by Andrew Callus and David Goodman)

This article is taken from Reuters.com

UPDATE 3-Penney sales tumble but back-to-school "encouraging" so far

By Phil WahbaAug 20 (Reuters) - J.C. Penney Co Inc said on Tuesday quarterly sales tumbled again last quarter, even as reinstated CEO Myron Ullman worked to roll back his predecessor's failed merchandising strategies, but there were signs that customers were returning for the back-to-school season.The company, which reported another steeper-than-expected loss, said sales trends improved every month in the quarter and that business so far this back-to-school period, the second-most important for Penney after the holidays, was "encouraging."Penney forecast it would have $1.5 billion in cash at the end of the year, enough to have ample merchandise on shelves.Its shares rose nearly 3 percent to $13.63 in late morning training.But the lingering impact of Penney's failed efforts to remake itself into a more upscale destination in 2012 under previous CEO Ron Johnson continued to weigh on results and Chief Executive Myron Ullman said the retailer still had a lot of work to do to steady itself."It is no secret that the company's prior merchandising and promotional strategies weren't working. We had to make changes, but these changes take time and they have financial implications," Ullman said on a call with analysts.Sales at stores open at least a year fell 11.9 percent in the quarter, during which it reverted to a promotions-heavy strategy to try to stop the sharp sales decline. Analysts were expecting a 7.4 percent drop, according to Thomson Reuters.The quarter was the first full period under Ullman, who had been CEO from 2004 to 2011, since he returned in April to fix the damage wrought by Johnson, who left after his efforts led to a 25 percent sales decline last year and a $1 billion loss.The company's gross margin fell 3.6 percentage points to 29.6 percent of sales after it had to slash prices to clear merchandise shoppers did not want, much of which was brought in by Johnson who wanted to transform Penney into an emporium of dozens of boutiques each showcasing a trendy brand.The quarter was a tough one generally for retailers, including Penney rivals Macy's Inc and Kohl's Corp , which last week reported disappointing sales in an very discount-heavy retail environment.UNDOING HOME MAKEOVERShoppers have not latched on to many of the new, trendier brands in the home-goods section, Ullman said in a statement. Those have included products by designer Michael Graves,After spending hundreds of millions of dollars under Johnson to re-launch the home-goods section, which in June the company said was crucial to its turnaround, the Penney will now re-organize items by category rather than by brand and bring in more lower-priced merchandise."Ullman is rolling up his sleeves and working to get this ship back on track and bringing in the merchandise Penney shoppers want," said Walter Loeb, an analyst with Loeb Associates.Home-goods last year accounted for 12 percent of overall sales compared with 21 percent six years earlier. The relaunch was meant to re-invigorate an important business that generates shopper traffic.The company also said it expected to have $1.5 billion in overall cash liquidity at year's end. Despite the re-organization of the home section, Chief Financial Officer Ken Hannah said capital expenditures would return to the much lower levels of the past.Penney said it would have enough inventory in stores and online well in advance of the holiday season. Another encouraging sign for Penney was online sales fell 2.2 percent in the quarter, suggesting the decline in that business is bottoming out.The higher level of markdowns and lower-than-expected sales deepened Penney's net loss in the quarter to $586 million, or $2.66 per share, from $147 million, or 67 cents per share a year earlier. Overall sales fell 11.9 percent to $2.66 billion.Excluding items such as a loss associated with the tax valuation allowance, Penney lost $1.17 a share, 11 cents worse than expected.The quarter was also full of boardroom drama: William Ackman, the activist billionaire investor who brought in Johnson and is still Penney's largest shareholder, feuded publicly with Penney's chairman earlier this month before quitting the board a few days later.He and the company reached an agreement last week on how he can divest his 18 percent stake if he so chooses.

This article is taken from Reuters.com

Ally to raise capital, buy back stock from U.S.

(Reuters) - Ally Financial Inc has sold $1 billion of stock in a private placement and will repay the U.S. government nearly $6 billion as the auto lender works to boost its capital levels and exit government ownership. With the transactions, Ally will have repaid the Treasury about $12.1 billion of the $17.2 billion it received during the financial crisis under the Troubled Asset Relief Program."Ally has made great progress in restructuring and strengthening its business in order to repay the taxpayer, and we look forward to continuing to work with the company to recover the remaining investment," Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad said in a statement.The company entered agreements with investors for a private placement of 166,667 shares of the company's common stock for $1 billion. An Ally spokeswoman declined to disclose the investors' identity but said they were a diverse group of existing and new shareholders.Ally agreed to pay $5.2 billion to repurchase outstanding preferred securities held by the U.S. Treasury. The car loan company also paid $725 million to terminate the Treasury's right to receive extra payments if the company sells shares below a particular price, a term the company and the government had previously agreed to in 2010 when the U.S. converted some of its preferred Ally shares into common stock.The lender was singled out as the weakest of 18 major banks in the Federal Reserve's stress test in March as being the most weakly capitalized. The Fed objected to Ally's capital plan "both on quantitative and qualitative grounds," and it was the only bank that failed to meet the minimum threshold of a 5 percent capital buffer in a scenario where unemployment rose to 12.1 percent and share prices fell 50 percent.The private placement must take place before November 30, and both that and transactions with the U.S. Treasury is contingent on the Federal Reserve approval of the bank's resubmitted capital plan. Ally has to resubmit its new capital plan by the end of September.Ally reported a net loss of $927 million in the second quarter, driven by a $1.6 billion charge related to a settlement in the bankruptcy case of its subsidiary Residential Capital LLC.(Reporting by Peter Rudegeair and Aman Shah; editing by Andrew Hay)

This article is taken from Reuters.com

Penney sales tumble but back-to-school 'encouraging' so far

(Reuters) - J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N) said on Tuesday quarterly sales tumbled again last quarter, even as reinstated CEO Myron Ullman worked to roll back his predecessor's failed merchandising strategies, but there were signs that customers were returning for the back-to-school season. The company, which reported another steeper-than-expected loss, said sales trends improved every month in the quarter and that business so far this back-to-school period, the second-most important for Penney after the holidays, was "encouraging."Penney forecast it would have $1.5 billion in cash at the end of the year, enough to have ample merchandise on shelves.Its shares rose nearly 3 percent to $13.63 in late morning training.But the lingering impact of Penney's failed efforts to remake itself into a more upscale destination in 2012 under previous CEO Ron Johnson continued to weigh on results and Chief Executive Myron Ullman said the retailer still had a lot of work to do to steady itself."It is no secret that the company's prior merchandising and promotional strategies weren't working. We had to make changes, but these changes take time and they have financial implications," Ullman said on a call with analysts.Sales at stores open at least a year fell 11.9 percent in the quarter, during which it reverted to a promotions-heavy strategy to try to stop the sharp sales decline. Analysts were expecting a 7.4 percent drop, according to Thomson Reuters.The quarter was the first full period under Ullman, who had been CEO from 2004 to 2011, since he returned in April to fix the damage wrought by Johnson, who left after his efforts led to a 25 percent sales decline last year and a $1 billion loss.The company's gross margin fell 3.6 percentage points to 29.6 percent of sales after it had to slash prices to clear merchandise shoppers did not want, much of which was brought in by Johnson who wanted to transform Penney into an emporium of dozens of boutiques each showcasing a trendy brand.The quarter was a tough one generally for retailers, including Penney rivals Macy's Inc (M.N) and Kohl's Corp (KSS.N), which last week reported disappointing sales in an very discount-heavy retail environment.UNDOING HOME MAKEOVERShoppers have not latched on to many of the new, trendier brands in the home-goods section, Ullman said in a statement. Those have included products by designer Michael Graves,After spending hundreds of millions of dollars under Johnson to re-launch the home-goods section, which in June the company said was crucial to its turnaround, the Penney will now re-organize items by category rather than by brand and bring in more lower-priced merchandise."Ullman is rolling up his sleeves and working to get this ship back on track and bringing in the merchandise Penney shoppers want," said Walter Loeb, an analyst with Loeb Associates.Home-goods last year accounted for 12 percent of overall sales compared with 21 percent six years earlier. The relaunch was meant to re-invigorate an important business that generates shopper traffic.The company also said it expected to have $1.5 billion in overall cash liquidity at year's end. Despite the re-organization of the home section, Chief Financial Officer Ken Hannah said capital expenditures would return to the much lower levels of the past.Penney said it would have enough inventory in stores and online well in advance of the holiday season. Another encouraging sign for Penney was online sales fell 2.2 percent in the quarter, suggesting the decline in that business is bottoming out.The higher level of markdowns and lower-than-expected sales deepened Penney's net loss in the quarter to $586 million, or $2.66 per share, from $147 million, or 67 cents per share a year earlier. Overall sales fell 11.9 percent to $2.66 billion.Excluding items such as a loss associated with the tax valuation allowance, Penney lost $1.17 a share, 11 cents worse than expected.The quarter was also full of boardroom drama: William Ackman, the activist billionaire investor who brought in Johnson and is still Penney's largest shareholder, feuded publicly with Penney's chairman earlier this month before quitting the board a few days later.He and the company reached an agreement last week on how he can divest his 18 percent stake if he so chooses.(Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Maureen Bavdek)

This article is taken from Reuters.com

Cautious consumers, wet weather cloud Dick's Sporting outlook

(Reuters) - Outdoor enthusiasts spending less on camping and golfing gear due to a sluggish economy and a wetter season hit Dick's Sporting Goods Inc's (DKS.N) results, leading the company to slash its earnings forecast for the year. Shares of the company, which also sells sports footwear and apparel, fell 6 percent to $47.48 by midday.Consumers have tightened spending amid higher payroll taxes and gasoline prices and a slowing job market. A host of retailers from Macy's Inc (M.N) to Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) have reported tepid sales for the latest quarter."It's been pretty well chronicled the consumer seems to be a bit sluggish and may have other priorities right now in the short term of where they want to spend their money," Dick's Chief Executive Edward Stack said on a conference call.Morningstar analyst Paul Swinand said people have been spending on cars and home improvement, while cutting back on discretionary items.Stack said wet and cool conditions in the most recent quarter also discouraged outdoor activity such as water sports, camping, biking and golf, hurting sales in those businesses.Dick's now expects full-year earnings of $2.60 to $2.65 per share, well below its prior estimate of $2.84 to $2.86 per share.The forecast missed the average analyst estimate of $2.83 per share. The company said it expects sales to continue to be weak in the second-half of the year.Dick's will increase advertising to help pull in customers, CEO Stack said.The company's net income in the quarter ended August 3 rose to $84.2 million, or 67 cents per share, from $53.7 million, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier.Excluding items, the company earned 71 cents per share. Net sales rose 6.6 percent to $1.53 billion.Both numbers were below the average analyst estimate of a profit of 74 cents per share on revenue of $1.57 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Adjusted for an extra week in 2012, the company's same-store sales fell 0.4 percent, missing its forecast of a 2 to 3 percent rise.Same-store sales at Dick's Sporting Goods stores rose 0.1 percent while those at Golf Galaxy shops fell 6.1 percent. As of August 3, the Company operated 527 Dick'S Sporting Goods stores and 81 Golf Galaxy stores.(Additional reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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Florence tomb opened in search for identity of Mona Lisa

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Researchers opened a centuries-old Florence tomb on Friday in a search for remains that could confirm the identity of the woman whose enigmatic smile Leonardo da Vinci immortalized in the "Mona Lisa", one of the world's most famous paintings. A round hole, just big enough for a person to wriggle through, was cut in the stone church floor above the family crypt of Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, whose wife Lisa Gherardini is thought to have sat for the Renaissance master in the early 16th century.Theories abound about who the real Mona Lisa was, but Silvano Vinceti, a writer and researcher who heads Italy's National Committee for the Promotion of Historic and Cultural Heritage, plans to test DNA in the bones in the dank space and try to match it with those of three women buried at a convent nearby.Historians say Gherardini - whose married name 'Gioconda' is used in Italy to refer to the Mona Lisa - spent her last years at the Saint Orsola convent, a dilapidated building where the hunt for her bones began last year.Vinceti believes one of the three could be Lisa Gherardini."For centuries, historians the world over have been coming up with various theories about who this enigmatic, mysterious woman could have been," he told journalists outside the Santissima Annunziata basilica in Florence.Vinceti hopes some of the bones lying in the cramped underground room behind the Santissima Annunziata's main altar will belong to at least one blood relation of Leonardo's muse, probably her son Piero.Once a DNA match is made, Vinceti says an image of Gherardini's face can be generated from the Saint Orsola skull and compared with the painting, the biggest attraction in the Louvre museum in Paris."When we find a match between mother and child - then we will have found the Mona Lisa," he said.HALF SMILEThe painting, which draws millions of visitors each year, is famous for the sitter's mysterious half-smile. The Louvre says it was probably painted between 1503 and 1506.Opening the Giocondo family tomb for the first time in 300 years is a critical phase in the search by Vinceti and his team, who in 2010 said they had discovered that the mysterious death in 1610 of another Italian master, Caravaggio, was likely caused by lead from his paint.The researchers say carbon-dating tests on three of eight skeletons exhumed from the Saint Orsola convent are under way and they will do the same with the contents of the Giocondo tomb - although it could take a year before the DNA testing process is started."If we succeed, we can finally resolve three questions which have obsessed historians and art-lovers worldwide," Vinceti said."Was Gherardini the model for the Mona Lisa? Or was it some other model, as some people say? Or is it just a construction of the painter's fantasy?"Leonardo is famous for the huge range of his genius, ranging from painting to sculpture to anatomy. He is known not only for paintings like the "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper", but for conceiving modern machines like helicopters and tanks many centuries before they were finally built.(Additional reporting by Antonio Denti; Editing By Barry Moody and Sonya Hepinstall)

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ECB's Asmussen to check up on Greek reform progress

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen will visit Greece on Wednesday to discuss progress on reforms needed to ensure more bailout money, the ECB said. Greece got an aid tranche of 5.8 billion euros ($7.75 billion) from its international lenders - the euro area, its national central banks and the International Monetary Fund - in July and stands to receive another 1 billion euros in October, subject to implementation of further reforms.The international lenders, known as the troika, will return in Athens in the autumn to find out whether the government needs to find further savings to meet its 2015-2016 budget targets."In the run-up to the next troika review mission, ECB Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen will visit Athens for bilateral meetings with Greek policy makers and representatives of society and the business community to discuss the Greek adjustment program and wider euro area developments," the ECB said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.Asmussen will meet Central Bank Governor George Provopoulos, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras and George Zanias, chairman of Greece's biggest lender, National Bank (NBGr.AT), Greek sources told Reuters.ON TRACKProgress on reform in the recession-stricken country has been patchy and there have been several reports that Greece may need another aid package or more debt relief to get back to a more sustainable financial position.Earlier this month, the German government, one of Greece's biggest creditor, dismissed a report by Der Spiegel magazine, which quoted a document that said Europe "will certainly agree a new aid program for Greece" and that the existing aid package carried "extremely high" risks.German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said at the time that Greece was absolutely going in the right direction. This message was echoed by France's Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday."It seems to me that this program is on track," Moscovici told Inter radio. "I don't see an urgent need for a new aid plan for Greece."Tax revenues continue to lag targets, however, and the Greek economy is deep into a depression. It shrank at an annual rate of 4.6 percent in the second quarter. This was, however, a little better than forecast, leading some economists to predict the contraction may decelerate in the fourth quarter.(Reporting by Eva Kuehnen, George Georgiopoulos in Athens and Nicholas Vinocur in Paris; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

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China oil imports to overtake U.S. by 2017: WoodMac

LONDON (Reuters) - China will overtake the United States as the world's biggest crude oil importer by 2017 as Chinese motorists drive domestic oil demand higher, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said on Tuesday. China is on track to spend $500 billion on crude oil imports by 2020, far outstripping the peak cost ever incurred by the United States on crude imports of $335 billion, Wood Mackenzie said in a report.It forecasts the U.S. crude oil import bill will fall to around $160 billion by 2020 as U.S. tight oil output from shale resources replaces imports from the Middle East and Africa."China will surpass U.S. demand for oil imports and peak spend," William Durbin, Wood Mackenzie's Beijing-based president of global markets, said in a statement.The consultancy said the turning point for Chinese crude imports to surpass U.S. imports would be around 2017.It forecasts China's oil imports will rise to 9.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 from 2.5 million bpd in 2005. U.S. oil imports, meanwhile, will fall to 6.8 million bpd from a peak of 10.1 million bpd."It means the United States is becoming more North America-centric for its supply needs and China more dependent on Middle East and OPEC crude," Durbin said."We will therefore see OPEC suppliers, who traditionally focused on the United States for crude sales, compelled to shift their focus towards China."Between 2005 and 2020, OPEC's share of Chinese oil imports is expected to rise to 66 percent from 52 percent."China will look towards OPEC supply more as the United States relies on it less," Durbin said.(Reporting by Christopher Johnson; Editing by Dale Hudson)

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BAE Systems' U.S. CEO to retire in 2014

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Linda Hudson, chief executive officer of the U.S. unit of Britain's BAE Systems Plc (BAES.L), will retire early next year, the weapons maker said on Tuesday. The company said it would start a search for a successor. Hudson, 62, joined BAE in 2007 and took over as CEO of the U.S. unit in 2009.That promotion made Hudson the first woman to head a major U.S. defense operation and placed her in a small club of female CEOs heading what amounts to a Fortune 500 company.Hudson will stay in her post through the first quarter of 2014 and will remain on the U.S. company's board through April 2015, BAE said. She will step down from the BAE Systems Plc board and the parent group's executive committee at the end of March 2014.Hudson, who has worked in the defense industry for 40 years, held senior positions at General Dynamics Corp (GD.N), another major weapons manufacturer, before joining BAE in 2007.RBC Securities analyst Rob Stallard said Hudson won high marks for managing BAE during a time of huge growth and for aggressively attacking costs after war demand peaked."We ... don't expect this to be a major catalyst for the shares, assuming successful continuity," he said in a note to investors.BAE stock was up 0.6 percent in London.Ian King, CEO of BAE Systems Plc, credited Hudson for streamlining the U.S. unit, which accounts for about 40 percent of the company's total revenues, and diversifying its portfolio.Hudson told employees in a statement that she had mixed emotions about leaving the company, but still had many goals left to achieve."I have many more things I want to do professionally and philanthropically; many places I want to go; and family and friends I'd like to see more often," Hudson said.She said she felt confident that the company was well-positioned for success at "a time when the dysfunction in Washington has created a cloudy and uncertain environment."Charles Stanley analyst Tina Cook said Hudson was highly regarded for her management of the company and her breadth of experience.Michael Chertoff, chairman of the board of the U.S. unit, said in a statement that Hudson had guided the company through both wartime growth and preparation for defense spending cuts, "clearly establishing it as a major and leading defense company in the United States."(Additional reporting by Brenda Goh in London; Editing by W Simon, Jim Marshall and Lisa Von Ahn)

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