Citi shares down on concerns of U.S. government sale

Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C - News) shares were trading down around 5 percent on Tuesday after reports that the government may begin shedding its stake in the New York-based bank.

Citigroup, eager to escape the burden of a significant government ownership stake, is in talks with U.S. officials about selling part of the government's 7.7 billion shares in the bank, sources familiar with the situation said.

Investors have generally welcomed banks unwinding government investments made during the financial crisis, but selling a large block of shares could pressure Citigroup stock.
How such a sale would take place is unclear, as is whether the government would ultimately go along with such a plan after having to give more than $45 billion in support to Citigroup over the past year.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup executives were eyeing plans for a joint stock sale in which the bank would issue as much as $5 billion in new shares to the public while the U.S. Treasury would sell an undetermined portion of its 34 percent stake.
Citigroup Spokeswoman Shannon Bell declined to comment.

Mike Holland, president of money manager Holland & Co in New York, said fears of an over-saturated market for Citi shares could be the reason why they are trading down today.

"One plausible explanation could be the huge supply coming on the market," said Holland, who nonetheless welcomed the news that Citi was exploring options for exiting the bailout program.

Citigroup shares were down 22 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $4.30 in late morning trading. The bank's stock was the trading session's biggest decliner on the KBW Banks index (Philadelphia:^BKX - News).

The Journal reported that Citi contacted a U.S. Treasury official during the weekend with the message that the company wanted to begin discussions about the government shedding its stake.

The government would stand to make billions of dollars in profit from its stake in Citi, as the shares have rallied about 40 percent since the announcement of a deal to convert the Treasury's stake into common stock.

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"Overview: Upbeat bonds cast shadow over equities
By Neil Dennis
Published: August 28 2009 19:16 Last updated: August 28 2009 22:07
Economic data this week were more positive than observers had expected, but investors were divided over whether the path out of recession was straight and true, as government bond prices rallied alongside global equities.
There were no nasty surprises from growth data from the US and Germany, which confirmed it had emerged from recession in the second quarter. Meanwhile, UK numbers on Friday were revised to show the economy contracted by 0.7 per cent in the second quarter, not the 0.8 per cent estimated earlier in the month.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
US stocks retain positive edge despite rally fatigue - Aug-28Share sale rumours lift Thomas Cook - Aug-28On Wall St: Bernanke and Congress - Aug-28UK finances fears dent sterling - Aug-28Lead and sugar rally as crude takes tumble - Aug-28Natixis gives impetus to Eurofirst - Aug-28In the US, home sales data and durable goods orders pointed to a continued warming up of economic activity, while investor and consumer confidence measures in the eurozone and the US showed a gathering of momentum.
So why, analysts asked, were bond prices rising, forcing yields lower, while equity markets continued to rise? Normally, an equity rally of the magnitude seen in recent weeks would drive bond yields sharply higher.
Riccardo Barbieri, at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, said: “Central banks remain cautious about the outlook and are signalling continuing accommodation while paying lip service to ‘exit strategies’. This explains why both equities and bonds have performed well of late.”
Sean Maloney, at Nomura, suggested tha"

Ben Bernanke

For an academic from Dillon, S.C., Ben Bernanke is an unlikely gunslinger.
In nominating the Federal Reserve chairman to a second term, President Obama on Tuesday compared Bernanke's efforts to avert a second Great Depression to FDR's "bold, persistent experimentation" to get the country out of the first one.

But Bernanke's efforts weren't easy -- or without critics.

The Fed has taken on unprecedented risk: It took on a trillion dollars of troubled assets, slashed interest rates, bailed out financial industry titans and launched more than a dozen expensive lending programs.

Bernanke is sure to face a lively confirmation debate in the Senate before his first term is up in January of next year.

"The problem with all of the risk is that it has created an unhappiness with Congress," said Lyle Gramley, a former Fed governor. "It's going to create problems for Bernanke in his confirmation, but these things had to be done to prevent an absolute meltdown in the economy."
Exit strategy: Walking the tightrope

In part because of the Fed's aggressive efforts, there are some signs that the economy -- in free-fall late last year -- has stabilized. Gross domestic product is not falling as steeply. Neither are job losses. On Tuesday,home prices posted their first gain in three years from weak levels earlier in the year. U.S. stocks are rallying, up more than 50% in 5 months.

But all of the Fed's moves come at a cost: potential inflation down the road if the central bank is unable to rein back in the money it has pumped into the system.

Bernanke has acknowledged that concern, saying that the Fed will wind down the programs as the economy enters a recovery phase and will begin to raise interest rates.
"The fact that he had to take on a lot of risk and we have these huge debt loads shouldn't be a complete surprise -- after all, this is the Great Recession, the worst downturn we've seen since the Great Depression," said Lakshman Achuthan managing director Economic Cycle Research Institute.
"It's not about how much, it's about when they exit from this: If they leave too early, we get deep deflation, and we get spiraling inflation if they leave too late," he added. "It's a high-wire act the Fed is performing."

But that may be easier said than done. Bernanke and the Fed have come under intense scrutiny for missing the subprime mortgage bubble, and the risky solution to the crisis may lead us down the same path again.

"Bernanke has demonstrated that he is skilled at high-drama, emergency surgery, but it's not at all clear that he is good at preventative medicine to avoid the need to visit the ER," said Achuthan. "We are all hopeful that they get the timing right, but I wouldn't bet on that heavily."
Gramley agreed that timing is everything, but argued that Bernanke is the best man for the job -- because he's the one that got us into this situation.

"Obama's nomination is not just a reward for Bernanke's past performance," said Gramley. "He is the most well-qualified person to deal with the problems that the Fed has created for itself by doing what it had to do to avoid another Great Depression."
Risky assets: Counting to a trillion

The Fed's balance sheet is a measure of the assets that the central bank holds on to. Prior to the Sept. 15 collapse of Lehman Brothers, which marked the start of the credit crisis and the point in which the recession took a turn for the worse, the Fed held less than $1 trillion in assets, most of which were in safe U.S. Treasurys.

By mid-December, the Fed's balance sheet had more than doubled to over $2.3 trillion. Many of those holdings are mortgage-backed securities -- the hard-to-value assets that brought down the financial sector.

The massive expansion began after Sept. 15, when Bernanke's Fed began rolling out lending program after lending program, sending banks cash in exchange for the risky assets.
There is a Fed program that buys up corporate debt, a program that funds foreign central banks with billions of dollars, direct purchases of mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500), loans to AIG and ramped-up purchases of government bonds, among many others.

These initiatives have been largely successful at restoring lending among banks, and financial institutions have begun to withdraw from the programs. But the Fed is still hanging onto a majority of the assets it has taken on in the past year, and the balance sheet now stands at just under $2.1 trillion.

In another bold move, Bernanke and the Fed dropped interest rates to a record-low range of 0% to 0.25% in December in an effort to jumpstart lending. Prior to December, rates had never been below 1%.

Bernie Madoff

In her book "Madoff's Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie and Me," Sheryl Weinstein reveals the details of her alleged affair with convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, who she says was in love with her and was "a good kisser."

"He really got into it more emotionally than he expected to," Weinstein said, talking about the affair for the first time on television on "Good Morning America" today. "I think he loved me and was very afraid of that type of connection."

Weinstein writes that she met Madoff more than two decades ago while working as the chief financial officer for a Jewish charity, Hadassah, which was one of the hundreds of organizations Madoff eventually ripped off. At their first meeting, she wrote, he gave her a "welcoming smile, a smile [she'd] never forget."

"I knew instantly that he was attracted to me," she wrote. During the course of their 21-year relationship, Weinstein says she and Madoff had a sexual affair for a year and a half.
Weinstein had previously denied a romantic relationship with Madoff to ABC News earlier this summer. At Madoff's sentencing on June 29, she maintained she had only a professional relationship with Madoff, calling him a "beast."

Weinstein said today that she decided to write the book out of guilt over losing her family's money by investing with Madoff. "He took everything," she said.
"Investing money, investing my family's money was my responsibility," she said. "When this happened, the feelings of guilt, responsibility, failure became overwhelming

"I don't have any art, I don't have any jewelry," she added. "What I have to sell is my story." In addition to Weinstein's own money, according to Hadassah, the charity had invested more than $40 million with Madoff as of 1997, when it stopped adding principal. It believed its account was valued at $90 million when Madoff was arrested.

In June, Weinstein sat next to her husband of 37 years as she told the judge that Madoff "should not be given the opportunity to walk into our society again."

In response to the book, Madoff's lawyer Ira Sorkin blasted Weinstein for claiming the affair. "I certainly hope that Mrs. Weinstein was more discrete about her investment decisions on behalf of Hadassah than she was about her sex life -- and that is not to confirm the allegation [of an affair] is true," Sorkin said in a statement to "Good Morning America."

Sheryl Weinstein Shares Personal Details of Relationship With Bernie MadoffWeinstein's television appearance today follows reports that Madoff is dying of cancer -- reports that have since been dispelled by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Weinstein says her long relationship with Madoff has given her insight into how he could have defrauded thousands of people, including many who were close to him.

"I think it was more important to Bernie to keep up the façade, the image at all costs … no matter what the moral implications," she said. "It was about Bernie and who Bernie had to be to the world."

That desire "could have stemmed back to his childhood," she said, adding that isn't an excuse for his actions.

In the book, Weinstein also divulges personal details about the man she referred to as "Mr. Winky Dink" because of a funny face he would make

"It was just a code name between me and a friend or two that was aware of the situation," she said.

She added that "he was a good kisser. Very nice."

As for her view of the relationship, Weinstein said, "I didn't like being second. I didn't like playing the back room type of person."

She says Madoff was afraid of what would happen if his wife, Ruth Madoff, learned of their affair. "He was petrified of Ruth … of his wife finding out," she said. "Divorces or something like that leads to books being opened … something might come out."

When asked if she had a message for Madoff, she said she wanted him to know that the victims of "this immense human tragedy ... will survive."

Airlines Frequent-Flier Programs

After years of shrinking benefits and increasing fees, frequent-flier programs are courting their most loyal customers again.

In recent weeks, American Airlines introduced new awards for one-way flights; United dropped its $75 to $100 fees for booking an award within three weeks of travel; and Delta Air Lines made it easier for elite frequent fliers to retain their V.I.P. status.

Carriers have also been dangling mileage offers, including double-mile promotions, and have even resurrected bonuses for booking online.

Those who follow the programs describe the changes as a slight shift in a more consumer-friendly direction, giving customers more ways to earn and redeem miles.

“What we’re seeing is a bit of a resurgence on the airlines’ part in focusing on their frequent-flier programs,” said Tim Winship, who tracks loyalty programs for SmarterTravel.com. But he added that the issue members care about most — being able to use their miles for free tickets — remains a challenge, especially with planes flying nearly full.

“I think award availability remains the elephant in the room,” he said. “The travel slump has not resulted in any increase in award availability, and in fact, if anything my sense is that people are having a more difficult time now.”

That assessment, while hotly debated on travel Web sites, is difficult to confirm.
Randy Petersen, founder of the frequent-flier hubs InsideFlyer.com and FlyerTalk.com, said 2008 was a record year for award redemption, which he attributed to travelers using miles for more mundane trips, like visits to relatives in less exotic locales.

“In a good economy, everyone wants to use their miles to go to Hawaii, London or San Francisco,” he said. “But when the recession hit, award redemption really started to spread out because people were using their miles not as much for vacation as necessary travel.”

Another factor spurring award redemption, Mr. Petersen said, has been the shift to “dynamic pricing.” If a seat that requires 25,000 miles is available for the outbound leg of a trip, but there is only a 50,000-mile seat on the return, many airlines now offer the itinerary for an amount in between — say, 37,500 miles — rather than charging the higher price for the entire trip.
In a similar vein, the new one-way award from American Airlines lets members book a flight after as little as 12,500 miles, a good option for students returning to college or snowbirds heading south for the winter.

There have also been changes in financial regulations that require airlines to account for unused frequent-flier miles as a liability, which has motivated carriers to make awards easier to redeem.
“There really is an incentive now for the airlines to get all of their miles redeemed because it’s expensive for them to carry them as a liability,” Mr. Petersen said.

Even so, he acknowledged that as travelers prioritize low-priced tickets over flying with a preferred airline, carriers need to work harder to earn loyalty, especially among their elite fliers.
Delta Airlines, for example, recently announced new benefits for its elite SkyMiles members, which take effect in 2010.

Among the more significant changes, Delta added a “diamond” tier to its existing levels of Medallion membership (silver, gold and platinum) — all referred to as having elite status, which comes with benefits like free upgrades and fee waivers.

Paul R. Skrbec, a Delta spokesman, said adding a fourth tier encouraged Medallion members to stay with Delta, rather than switch to another carrier after obtaining platinum status. The higher the tier, the better the benefits. For example, a diamond member will get a 125 percent mileage bonus versus a 100 percent bonus for platinum elites.

Seth Miller, a freelance technology consultant in Manhattan, is one of the elite frequent fliers airlines have been courting, having maintained top-tier platinum status in Continental’s OnePass program for 10 years.

“The legacy airlines especially are doing as much as they can to generate loyalty, and these days that means crazy bonuses — double miles for this, triple miles for that, miles are being given out like candy on Halloween,” Mr. Miller said.

“It’s great now,” he added, but he worries that the airlines’ largess could have a downside. “The question is, what happens when everyone tries to take advantage of all these benefits that are being handed out now? I’ve got elite status, but am I going to be able to get upgrades or will everybody else have status, too?”

Another question is whether nonelite frequent fliers have dropped off the radar as airlines focus on their biggest spenders — a message that average consumers may be responding to by shifting their loyalty to other rewards programs, like those offered on credit cards.

A research company that tracks loyalty programs found that membership in credit card reward programs surpassed membership in frequent-flier programs for the first time in 2009.

According to Colloquy, the company that conducted the research, the average household in the United States is signed up for 14 loyalty programs, ranging from grocery stores and gas stations to airlines and hotels, but actively participates in only six.

The recession has diminished participation in multiple travel programs, said Kelly Hlavinka, a partner at Colloquy. She said this could bring about a return to the original premise of loyalty rewards: to cement a relationship with just one airline or hotel.

“Savvy travelers may be saying, ‘I may not be able to spread my business out to two or three airlines, but I can consolidate my travel with one company,’ ” Ms. Hlavinka said. “The real opportunity for airlines is to try to keep that business with their airline.”

Starbucks Hikes Prices, Customers Take a Hike?

In the midst of a nasty recession, will customers want to pay more for their daily cuppa joe? Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) may soon find out.

In some markets, the java giant is adjusting prices on what it calls "more complex" beverages. Some venti-sized fancy drinks will cost as much as a quarter more than they used to, but other drinks will decline in price by an average of $0.05 to $0.15.

Starbucks heralded these price changes back in April, and it's hardly clueless about the possible impact. In a memo to baristas, the company warned that its employees should "expect customers to be sensitive to pricing changes in this economic climate." In response, the chain apparently encourages baristas tell customers that the coffee giant is looking for ways to provide value. I'm not sure customers who are paying a quarter more will buy that line of thinking, but those paying a bit less just might.

Hiking prices could make sense if Starbucks wants to reestablish its credibility as a premium coffee purveyor. I could hardly complain about that, given my previous concerns that some of the company's "value" initiatives might tarnish its brand. Still, miffed customers could turn to many alternatives, including Peet's (Nasdaq: PEET), Caribou, and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR). And nobody underestimates the power of lower-end competition like McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) or Dunkin' Donuts, either.

Nor should we forget Starbucks' diminished traffic. Companies like Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) (NYSE: CMG-B) and Panera Bread (Nasdaq: PNRA) have successfully raised menu prices to offset flagging customer visits, but that's a dangerous game to play. Given its current precarious position, I have to wonder whether Starbucks should have left well enough alone.

Stocks touch new '09 highs

Stocks gained Tuesday, extending a recent rally, after reports showed that consumer confidence and home prices are starting to recover.

News that President Obama is nominating Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke for a second term in office added to the positive sentiment.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added 30 points, or 0.3%, according to early tallies. The S&P 500 (SPX) index gained 2 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) rose 6 points, or 0.3%.

Stocks slipped Monday as investors took a step back after pushing the major gauges to new 2009 highs Friday. But after Monday's brief hiccup, stocks resumed their advance Tuesday.
Stock gains were pretty broad based, with 21 of 30 Dow stocks rising, led by Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), United Technologies (UTX, Fortune 500) and Travelers Companies (TRV, Fortune 500).

But falling oil prices cut into any stock gains, dragging down the influential energy sector. Dow components Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) and Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) declined and the Amex Oil (XOI) index was off 1%.

Since bottoming at a 12-1/2 year low on March 9, the S&P 500 is up 52% as of Tuesday afternoon. The pace and breadth of the run up has left many Wall Streeters calling for a big selloff in September and October. But so far, there has been no indication of that.

"Generally, the market keeps moving higher even though so-called experts are saying it's overbought," said Terry Morris, senior equity manager, National Penn Investors Trust. "It's surprisingly strong. Maybe we have turned a corner."

Consumer confidence: Stocks hit the highs of the day just after the 10 a.m. ET release of the August Consumer Confidence index. The index rose to 54.1, surprising economists who thought it would rise to 47.9. The index stood at a revised 47.4 in July.

While the report was significant, it doesn't often correlate to what the consumer ends up doing, said Kim Caughey, senior equity analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group.

"Unemployment is continuing to rise, and that's going to keep the consumer out for the time being," Caughey said. She said inventory rebuilding on the part of corporations will help support the economy in the short term, rather than a rise in consumer spending.
She said the Bernanke announcement was more notable.

Fed: President Obama nominated Ben Bernanke to chair the Federal Reserve for a second term, announcing the reappointment months ahead of the expiration of Bernanke's current term.
The reappointment is expected to receive the approval of the Senate.

"There was a bit of uncertainty around Bernanke's reappointment and the fact that the announcement was made today is driving the gains," Caughey said.

Housing: Home prices rose 2.9% in the second-quarter versus the first quarter, according to an S&P/Case-Shiller report. That's the first quarterly rise in prices in three years and could signal that the housing market has bottomed.

The 20-city index declined 15.4% in June versus a year ago, but that was shy of forecasts for a drop of 16.4% versus a year ago.

Budget: The White House released its deficit and economic forecast. It predicts a federal budget deficit of $9 trillion over the next decade and a deficit of $1.58 trillion in 2009. The $9 trillion is $2 trillion more than what the administration had forecast previously.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its own forecast shortly after the Obama administration. The CBO said the 2009 deficit will total $1.6 trillion.

World markets: European markets rallied, while Asian markets slid, with the Japanese Nikkei losing 0.7%.

Bonds: Treasury prices inched higher, lowering the corresponding yields.

Oil: U.S. light crude oil for October delivery fell $2.32 to settle at $72.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after touching a new 10-month high in the morning.

response to the first of three government debt auctions this week. The rise in prices lowered the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.44% from 3.47% Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Treasury sold $42 billion of 2-year notes Tuesday and is planning to sell $39 billion of five-year notes Wednesday and $28 billion of 7-year notes Thursday.
Other markets: COMEX gold for December delivery rose $2.30 to settle at $946 an ounce.
In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and the Japanese yen.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers three to two on volume of 890 million shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners seven to six on volume of 1.65 billion shares.

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GM could exit Chapter 11 this month

Detroit-based GM /quotes/comstock/11i!gmgmq/quotes/nls/gmgmq (GMGMQ 0.82, -0.09, -9.64%) has been in bankruptcy court this week seeking approval to sell most of its assets to the so-called New GM, an entity that will be majority owned by the U.S. Treasury. Without that approval by July 10, the government said it would cut off funding for GM, which could lead to a liquidation.

WStreet.com auto industry analyst David Silver sees the deadline as more bluster than anything.

GM's CEO threatened liquidation by July 30 and now the auto task force is threatening July 10. I wonder if President Obama were to testify, would he throw the gauntlet for the sale to be done by July 4?" he said.

"From an American's point of view, it would be great to see the judge stand up to both GM and the administration because both have been trying to manipulate the courts," added Silver, who isn't convinced GM can pull out of bankruptcy anytime soon.
If and when the automaker does emerge, t

he U.S. government will hold about 60% and the Canadian government and a union-retiree trust fund will hold the rest.

The U.S. is looking to shed its holdings no later than 2018, in line with the Canadian government's plan, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.

Canada would hold about 12% of the automaker and proposes to unload at least 5% of its GM shares a year until its fully divested in no more than eight years. The U.S. hasn't said how it plans to reduce its stake in GM.
A day earlier, automakers reported another month of poor U.S. sales, with GM's 33% decline for June even worse than anticipated.

GM's shares have managed to draw buying interest despite the bankruptcy, though it's a near certainty they will eventually be worthless.
Underscoring this, GM reminded investors in a statement Wednesday that it strongly believes "there will be no value for the common stockholders in the bankruptcy liquidation process, even under the most optimistic of scenarios."

The stock ended the week at 82 cents, down 9.6% in Thursday's session.

Air France Crash Searching for Black Boxes

Modern airplanes are marvels of technology. Yet when they crash, as two have in the past month, investigators often must hunt for the recordings of the flight data and pilot communications since these "black boxes" are located on the plane. Both the June 1 Air France and June 30 Yemenia Airways Airbus crashes happened over water; in both cases, the boxes are thought to sit at major depths, not easily recoverable. Which prompts an obvious question: Why are such data even stored on the airplane? Isn't it more logical to transmit it to a land-based receiver, where it could be accessed quickly in a crash investigation?

The answer, say flight data experts, is "Yes, but…" Yes, most of the technology exists to send flight data and voice from commercial airplanes. But the cost remains so immense no one would fund it. Moreover, such a change would not address any safety issues—and safety almost always takes priority in spending decisions by airlines and regulators.

"The volume of information you're talking about is infeasible in terms of what it would cost to do that for every airplane," says Ray Oishi, a senior engineering fellow at Annapolis (Md.)-based ARINC, which transmits texts and other data for airline customers. Airlines would also discard virtually all the routine data that were sent, Oishi notes. "Just because it's imaginable doesn't mean it's practicable."

Another factor is that black boxes are nearly always recovered. In the past few decades, only the two jets that crashed on September 11 at the World Trade Center lost their flight data and voice recorders, industry officials say.

But it's possible that the Air France Flight 447 crash will add to that short list of unrecovered boxes. July 2 marked the end of the 30-day period during which the Air France devices were expected to transmit a useful locator beacon. Nonetheless, French investigators say they will extend their search until July 10. France has mounted a significant naval expedition some 900 miles northeast of the Brazilian coast, deploying ships and listening devices to locate the boxes. The jet appears to have struck the sea at high speed and intact, based on inspection of wreckage debris, French authorities said.

Investigators already have more than a dozen automatic data transmissions the Airbus A330 sent shortly before it was lost, and those signaled various operational problems. However, without the sophisticated data stored aboard the plane—25 hours of data on 88 flight parameters plus the final two hours of cockpit audio—the investigation will remain hampered. Ultimately, a mystery around an air disaster could also provide fresh impetus for finding a different system. Says Dan Elwell, vice-president of civil aviation for the Aerospace Industries Assn., a trade group representing airplane and component builders: "At some point we'll look back and remember when we sent divers down in the water."

Seven years ago, L-3 Aviation Recorders (LLL), the largest maker of flight data recorders, partnered with a satellite company to study the cost of moving to a flight-data transmission system. The exercise assumed a 50% reduction in future satellite transmission costs. But even that cost proved to be prohibitive: $300 million annually for a U.S. carrier flying a global network. "And that doesn't even address other hardware costs," says Bruce Coffey, president of the L-3 recorder unit, which is based in Sarasota, Fla. That compares with the $20,000 cost for on-board data and voice recorders, which are certified for 100,000 flight hours, or about 30 years. That essentially makes the boxes a one-time expense for an airline, Coffey says.

Yet many in the field expect that someday flight data and pilot communications will be beamed from airplanes, as transmission, computing, and storage costs continue to fall. "I don't think it's going to happen in my career," says Coffey, 52. "Change occurs very slowly in this industry," he said. "I think eventually if satellite transmission rates become affordable, then…you will have some operators looking at this." He expects transmission will ultimately become standard.

Elwell, with the AIA, says fuel costs will also factor into the math for airlines. Each box weighs roughly 10 pounds…a minor load except when calculated across a growing global air fleet in an era when fossil fuel costs are likely to rise. "At some point it will be cheaper to transmit the information off-ship and store it than the gas you burn to haul the…box," Elwell says.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates U.S. airline incidents and recommends regulatory changes to the Federal Aviation Administration, has not taken a position on flight data or voice-recorder transmissions. Neither agency is pursuing the issue.

As for finding such boxes in the deep oceans, mapping sonar is one potential aid. The French investigative authority, BEA, has sought information from C & C Technologies, a Lafayette (La.) outfit that operates underwater sonar vehicles for oil companies, shipwreck exploration, and other deep-sea work. A search of the area using that equipment would cost as much as $90,000 per day, C & C president and CEO Thomas Chance said. C&C's "autonomous underwater vehicles" transmit low-frequency sonar to map undersea terrain. If an object needing further inquiry is spotted, high-frequency signals provide a more detailed read. The vehicle also has a camera. "We're ready to go if they ever decide to call us," Chance said Thursday

Until they're found, the missing boxes leave uncertainty about whether a safety problem exists for other Airbus planes. And the lack of crash details adds to the pain of those who lost loved ones. Marco Tulio Moreno Marques, a Brazilian attorney who lost his parents in the Air France crash, told the Associated Press on July 2: "They can say a flying saucer hit the plane, but if they don't find the black boxes we will never know for certain what happened."

Yemen Airways crash

Some bodies were seen in the area of the crash," said Muhammed Abdul-Qadber, chairman of the Yemeni National Civil Aviation Association. "There is no further information available about the survivors."

The Airbus CM-300, was en route from Yemen to Moroni, the capital of the Comoros Islands, when flight controllers lost contact with the plane at 1.51 a.m. There were 153 people on board, including 11 crew members and three infants. Reports out of France said there were 66 French nationals on board the plane. The flight had originated in France, with a stop in Yemen before proceeding to the Comoros, according to French media reports.

Abdul-Qadber could provide no more information about the nationalities of the passengers.
He said the plane crashed in stormy weather with wind gusts reaching 161 km an hour.

Eyewitnesses have already sighted bodies and an oil slick 16-17 nautical miles from the Moroni airport. Investigation teams from Yemen Airways and the Yemen aviation authority plan to fly to Moroni on Tuesday.

French Navy units, including a frigate and military helicopters, have begun search and rescue operations. Comoros is located off the eastern coast of Africa between Madagascar and Mozambique.

michael jackson dies

michael jackson die

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived. A cardiologist at UCLA tells TMZ Jackson died of cardiac arrest.

Once at the hospital, the staff tried to resuscitate him but he was completely unresponsive.

A source inside the hospital told us there was "absolute chaos" after Jackson arrrived. People who were with the singer were screaming, "You've got to save him! You've got to save him!"We're told one of the staff members at Jackson's home called 911.La Toya ran in the hospital sobbing after Jackson was pronounced dead.

Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.

10 large US banks to repay $68B in TARP funds

A key government effort to ease the credit crisis reached a milestone Wednesday as 10 large banks said they had repaid a total of $68 billion in bailout funds.

Treasury said last week that the banks could begin repaying money they received under the $700 billion financial system bailout known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. The government created the program in October as its flagship effort to address the global credit crisis and teetering financial markets.

Meanwhile, officials hustled to prepare an announcement about the pricing of stock warrants Treasury holds -- a final barrier to the banks' ending their ties to the bailout program. The warrants allow Treasury to buy the banks' stock at a fixed price at some future date. The banks now want to buy back those warrants

The flurry of activity around TARP followed months of criticism from opponents of government intervention in the financial industry. It showed that some of the biggest TARP investments are winding down sooner than many had feared.

More than $70 billion has been returned to the fund. That includes Wednesday's redemptions and about $2 billion in earlier repayments from smaller banks.

But until the banks can buy back the stock warrants Treasury holds, they remain entangled in a program that has subjected them to limits on executive pay and other restrictions. The banks have chafed against TARP from early on, fearing government-imposed rules could hurt their profits and prevent them from hiring or keeping top talent.

The warrants are hard to price because their values will fluctuate along with the banks' stock prices. Treasury wanted more money to unwind the contracts than the banks were willing to pay.

Uncertainty surrounding the warrant sales raises questions about whether Treasury "is getting the best possible price for taxpayers," the Government Accountability Office charged in a report released Wednesday

The GAO also urged Treasury to create consistent rules for evaluating bank requests to buy their way out of TARP.

Wednesday marked the first repayment opportunity for the 10 large banks whose exit applications Treasury approved last week. Throughout the day, the banks announced that they had finished repaying the government money

The list included some of the largest and best-known banks in the country. They were: JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., U.S. Bancorp, Capital One Financial Corp., American Express Co., BB&T Corp., Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Northern Trust Corp. and State Street Corp.

To begin the process of leaving TARP, the banks had to clear a series of hurdles designed to make sure they would remain viable despite the financial crisis and the recession

All but Northern Trust underwent government "stress tests" to ensure they had an extra capital buffer in case the recession worsened. The 10 also were required to raise equity from investors and raise debt without a government guarantee.

Despite their relative strength, the banks still rely on government subsidies, including guarantees on debt they already issued and discounted credit lines from the Federal Reserve

The rapid repayments are not necessarily a sign that TARP itself will be scaled back. Treasury has said the money would be returned to the $700 billion bailout fund. It could be recycled in loans to other institutions the government hopes will lend money to people and businesses, supporting an economic recovery.

But an announcement about warrant pricing is expected by Friday, according to two industry sources who would speak only anonymously because the matter was not yet public.

That clarification and Wednesday's repayments provide a clearer way forward for banks wishing to end their involvement with the government's financial stabilization plans.

That clarification and Wednesday's repayments provide a clearer way forward for banks wishing to end their involvement with the government's financial stabilization plans.

That clarification and Wednesday's repayments provide a clearer way forward for banks wishing to end their involvement with the government's financial stabilization plans.

In addition, taxpayers will receive billions in exchange for the warrants, once Treasury and the banks agree on how to price them.

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Air France-KLM

Air France-KLM is an airline company. The Company's core business is passenger transportation and represented approximately 80% of revenues at March 31, 2009. Its activities also include cargo, aeronautics maintenance and other air-transport related activities, including principally catering and charter services. The Company has three core businesses: passenger transport, cargo transport and aircraft maintenance services. As of March 31, 2009, the Air France-KLM Company fleet comprised 641 aircraft, of which 621were operational. The main fleet consists of 429 aircraft, of which 164 long-haul aircraft, including six at Martinair; 29 cargo aircraft; including 11 at Martinair and 236 medium-haul aircraft, including 35 aircraft in the transavia.com group fleet. The regional fleet comprises 212 aircraft. On March 25, 2009, the Company announced the acquisition of a 25% stake in Alitalia.

45, rue de Paris, Roissy-CDG Cedex, 95747 France +33-1-41567800 (Phone)

Company website:http://www.airfranceklm-finance.com/Investor Relations, Financial Information, Corporate History/Profile, Executives, Products/Services

Air france crash

The Air France plane that disappeared between Brazil and France with 228 people on board today has almost certainly crashed, airline and government officials said.If no survivors are found it will be the worst loss of life involving an Air France plane in the firm's 75-year history.
The officials believe the Airbus A330-200 aircraft crashed after running into lightning and thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean.

Gordon Brown said he feared Britons were among the passengers. "I do fear there may be some British citizens on board," the prime minister told Sky News. "We are doing all the checking that is necessary."

The Air France chief executive, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, told a news conference: "We are probably facing an air catastrophe."

He said the aircraft went through a thunderstorm with strong turbulence at about 3am BST.An automated message was received at 3.14am indicating a failure of the electrical system, Air France said in a statement.

"The whole company shares the anxiety of the families," Gourgeon said. "We are doing everything possible to get information through, little by little, as it comes through."

François Brousse, an Air France spokesman, said several of the plane's mechanisms had malfunctioned, preventing it from making contact with air traffic controllers.

"It is probably a combination of circumstances that could have led to the crash," he said.Brazilian air force planes are searching the Atlantic for flight AF447, which left Rio de Janeiro at 7pm local time (11pm BST) yesterday. It had been expected in Paris at 11.15am .

Brazilian air force officials told the Associated Press a search was under way near the island of Fernando de Noronha, about 1,500 miles north-east of Rio, but an Air France source was quoted as saying that there was "no hope" for those on board.

Jean-Louis Borloo, the second most senior figure in the French cabinet, said: "By now it would be beyond its kerosene [aviation fuel] reserves … unfortunately we must now envisage the most tragic scenario."

Borloo told the France Info radio station the plane had disappeared from both military and civilian radar screens.

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, expressed "extreme worry" and sent the junior minister for transport, Dominique Bussereau, and Borloo to Charles de Gaulle airport to monitor the situation.

The Air France flight was full – today is a French bank holiday and Brazil is an increasingly popular tourist destination among the French.

At midday, the flight was still up on the arrivals board with the word "delayed" beside it, even after official statements said that it had probably been lost. By 1pm, it had been removed from the board.

Relatives and friends of passengers who had arrived at Charles de Gaulle's terminal two to meet the plane were ushered into a closed area away from journalists, where they were being counselled by airport staff.

A former pilot told France Info he believed the plane was the first passenger-carrying Airbus A330 to crash. The model is known as having a good safety record.

The plane was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew. Of the passengers, 126 were men and 82 were women. Seven children and a baby were on board.

According to the French media, Paris airport authorities were told by their Brazilian counterparts that the aircraft had vanished from radar screens.

Douglas Ferreira Machado told Brazil's Globo TV that he believed the plane must have left Brazilian waters and could have been near the coast of Africa by the time contact was lost, based on the speed it was travelling.

"It's going to take a long time to carry out this search," he said. "It could be a long, sad story. The black box will be at the bottom of the sea."

French military aircraft took off from Senegal in western Africa to take part in the search.
France Info quoted an airport authority source as saying it was possible, but extremely unlikely, that the radar drop-out had been caused by a transmitter failure.

Chris Yates, an aviation expert, told the BBC: "There is not radar coverage across the Atlantic, because it is too far from radar stations.

"But the fact [the plane] has not appeared on radar when it neared land gives me cause for concern."

He said that "if we are talking about an aircraft coming down over the ocean … then survivability is quite limited".

Air France said the pilot had flown 11,000 hours, 1,700 of them on an Airbus 330, making him a highly experienced pilot. Of the two co-pilots, one had 3,000 hours of flight time and the other 6,600 hours. Flight AF447, which had flown 18,870 hours, entered service in April 2005. Its last engineering overhaul was in April.

The A330-200 model has not had any fatal accidents involving passengers. In June 1994, an A330 owned by Airbus on a test flight simulating an engine failure on take-off crashed shortly after leaving Toulouse, killing all seven people on board.

In October last year, a Qantas A330 flying from Singapore to Perth reportedly experienced a sudden change in altitude.

The crew issued a mayday call before diverting the aircraft. About 36 passengers and crew members were injured, more than a dozen seriously.

The last major incident involving an Air France plane was in July 2000 when one of its Concordes crashed just after taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport, bound for New York.All 109 people on board were killed, along with at least four on the ground.

Sony Blu-ray investigation

It would appear Sony Corp.�s moment of basking in the glory of its recent HD victory is over

following news that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has launched an

investigation into possible patent infringements connected to Blu-ray HD hardware and various other related devices.

Sony is believed to be just one of around 30 companies currently being scrutinised by the ITC, with other notably prominent tech industry names including mobile phone titans Nokia Corp. and Motorola, along with consumer electronics giants Toshiba, LG, Hitachi and Panasonic (Matsushita Electrical).

According to the ITC�s official Web site, the investigation is centred on the allegedly illegal usage of short-wavelength LEDs and lasers commonly found in electronic devices such as mobile phone handsets and high-definition DVD players.

The ITC probe has been launched on the back of a patent violation complaint filed on February 20 of this year by retired Columbia University professor Gertrude Neumark Rothschild, who is demanding that U.S. imports of all patent-infringing products are blocked.

According to Rothschild�s lawyer, Albert Jacobs of Dreier LLP, his client is responsible for making a �seminal breakthrough� in the production of blue, ultraviolet and white light.
Unlike red lasers, blue and ultraviolet laser technology requires less electricity and has subsequently been integrated into everything from computers and HD disc players through to traffic light systems and instrument panels, reports Bloomberg.

The ITC, an official government agency that exists to better protect the U.S. market from unfair trade practice, commented that is �has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.�It would appear Sony Corp.�s moment of basking in the glory of its recent HD victory is over following news that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has launched an investigation into possible patent infringements connected to Blu-ray HD hardware and various other related devices.

Sony is believed to be just one of around 30 companies currently being scrutinised by the ITC, with other notably prominent tech industry names including mobile phone titans Nokia Corp. and Motorola, along with consumer electronics giants Toshiba, LG, Hitachi and Panasonic (Matsushita Electrical).

According to the ITC�s official Web site, the investigation is centred on the allegedly illegal usage of short-wavelength LEDs and lasers commonly found in electronic devices such as mobile phone handsets and high-definition DVD players.

The ITC probe has been launched on the back of a patent violation complaint filed on February 20 of this year by retired Columbia University professor Gertrude Neumark Rothschild, who is demanding that U.S. imports of all patent-infringing products are blocked.

According to Rothschild�s lawyer, Albert Jacobs of Dreier LLP, his client is responsible for making a �seminal breakthrough� in the production of blue, ultraviolet and white light.
Unlike red lasers, blue and ultraviolet laser technology requires less electricity and has subsequently been integrated into everything from computers and HD disc players through to traffic light systems and instrument panels, reports Bloomberg.

The ITC, an official government agency that exists to better protect the U.S. market from unfair trade practice, commented that is �has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.�It would appear Sony Corp.�s moment of basking in the glory of its recent HD victory is over following news that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has launched an investigation into possible patent infringements connected to Blu-ray HD hardware and various other related devices.

Sony is believed to be just one of around 30 companies currently being scrutinised by the ITC, with other notably prominent tech industry names including mobile phone titans Nokia Corp. and Motorola, along with consumer electronics giants Toshiba, LG, Hitachi and Panasonic (Matsushita Electrical).

According to the ITC�s official Web site, the investigation is centred on the allegedly illegal usage of short-wavelength LEDs and lasers commonly found in electronic devices such as mobile phone handsets and high-definition DVD players.

The ITC probe has been launched on the back of a patent violation complaint filed on February 20 of this year by retired Columbia University professor Gertrude Neumark Rothschild, who is demanding that U.S. imports of all patent-infringing products are blocked.

According to Rothschild�s lawyer, Albert Jacobs of Dreier LLP, his client is responsible for making a �seminal breakthrough� in the production of blue, ultraviolet and white light.

Unlike red lasers, blue and ultraviolet laser technology requires less electricity and has

subsequently been integrated into everything from computers and HD disc players through to traffic light systems and instrument panels, reports Bloomberg.

The ITC, an official government agency that exists to better protect the U.S. market from unfair trade practice, commented that is �has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.�It would appear Sony Corp.�s moment of basking in the glory of its recent HD victory is over following news that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has launched an investigation into possible patent infringements connected to Blu-ray HD hardware and various other related devices.

Sony is believed to be just one of around 30 companies currently being scrutinised by the ITC, with other notably prominent tech industry names including mobile phone titans Nokia Corp. and Motorola, along with consumer electronics giants Toshiba, LG, Hitachi and Panasonic (Matsushita Electrical).

According to the ITC�s official Web site, the investigation is centred on the allegedly illegal usage of short-wavelength LEDs and lasers commonly found in electronic devices such as mobile phone handsets and high-definition DVD players.

The ITC probe has been launched on the back of a patent violation complaint filed on February 20 of this year by retired Columbia University professor Gertrude Neumark Rothschild, who is demanding that U.S. imports of all patent-infringing products are blocked.

According to Rothschild�s lawyer, Albert Jacobs of Dreier LLP, his client is responsible for making a �seminal breakthrough� in the production of blue, ultraviolet and white light.

Unlike red lasers, blue and ultraviolet laser technology requires less electricity and has subsequently been integrated into everything from computers and HD disc players through to traffic light systems and instrument panels, reports Bloomberg.

The ITC, an official government agency that exists to better protect the U.S. market from unfair trade practice, commented that is �has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.�

Air Force One Integrated Defense Systems

Historically, several U.S. presidents have flown on Boeing aircraft.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt flew to Casablanca aboard a Boeing model 314 Clipper.

In 1962, Boeing introduced U.S. presidents to modern jet transportation with the introduction of the Boeing model 707-320B. In all, seven presidents were served by the 707-320B.

Today, the chief executive flies aboard a specially configured 747-200B, the newest and largest

presidential airplane. Its capabilities include:

Longer range for presidential travel

Aerial refueling

Self-sufficiency at airports around the world

The "flying Oval Office" has 4,000 square feet of interior floor space. Among its accommodations are:

Conference/dining room

Quarters for the president and the first lady

An office area for senior staff members

Another office that converts into a medical facility when necessary

Work and rest areas for the presidential staff, media representatives and Air Force crews

Two galleys that can provide 100 meals at one sitting

Multi-frequency radios for air-to-air, air-to-ground and satellite communications

Principal differences between Air Force One and the standard Boeing 747 include state-of-the-art navigation, electronic and communications equipment; its interior configuration and furnishings; self-contained baggage loader; and front and aft air-stairs.

Air France Flight Missing Air France Flight Status Unknown

Air France Flight 447 has gone missing, the flight left Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and was scheduled to land at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris at a little after 11:00 a.m. on Monday; there are 228 people aboard the plane.

Air France Similar Model
The Air France-KLM Group has not had a fatal accident since the Concorde disaster nearly 10 years ago. The missing Air France Flight is a twin engine Airbus SAS A330 model; and has never had a fatal commercial flight.

The plane had encountered an area of strong turbulence, according to Air France, and an automatic message was received indicating a breakdown in the electrical circuitry. This in itself would not have been enough to bring the plane down.

“Modern airliners do not just go missing,” said David Learmount, safety editor at Flight

International in London. “They were en route and should have been fine. The question is, what happened after the electrical fault, because a short circuit in itself should not bring down a plane. That would be different if there was a fire, for example.”

The Airbus SAS A330 was last serviced in April and had over 18,000 flying hours since it began flights in 2005; according to Air France. The flights pilot has over 11,000 hours including 1100 hours on this specific type of plane.

For an airliner to just go missing is a terrible sign; in today’s world of modern aviation and communication, if this flight was okay, someone would have heard from them by now.

It seems that the worst fears of those related to the 228 souls onboard will most likely come true.

The Air-France Group last suffered a fatal accident when the Concorde, the famous supersonic jet, crashed in 2000; 113 people were killed in that incident.

Air france crash

The Air France plane that disappeared between Brazil and France with 228 people on board today has almost certainly crashed, airline and government officials said.
If no survivors are found it will be the worst loss of life involving an Air France plane in the firm's 75-year history.

The officials believe the Airbus A330-200 aircraft crashed after running into lightning and thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean.

Gordon Brown said he feared Britons were among the passengers. "I do fear there may be some British citizens on board," the prime minister told Sky News. "We are doing all the checking that is necessary."

The Air France chief executive, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, told a news conference: "We are probably facing an air catastrophe."

He said the aircraft went through a thunderstorm with strong turbulence at about 3am BST.
An automated message was received at 3.14am indicating a failure of the electrical system, Air France said in a statement.

"The whole company shares the anxiety of the families," Gourgeon said. "We are doing everything possible to get information through, little by little, as it comes through."

François Brousse, an Air France spokesman, said several of the plane's mechanisms had malfunctioned, preventing it from making contact with air traffic controllers.

"It is probably a combination of circumstances that could have led to the crash," he said.
Brazilian air force planes are searching the Atlantic for flight AF447, which left Rio de Janeiro at 7pm local time (11pm BST) yesterday. It had been expected in Paris at 11.15am .

Brazilian air force officials told the Associated Press a search was under way near the island of Fernando de Noronha, about 1,500 miles north-east of Rio, but an Air France source was quoted as saying that there was "no hope" for those on board.

Jean-Louis Borloo, the second most senior figure in the French cabinet, said: "By now it would be beyond its kerosene [aviation fuel] reserves … unfortunately we must now envisage the most tragic scenario."

Borloo told the France Info radio station the plane had disappeared from both military and civilian radar screens.

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, expressed "extreme worry" and sent the junior minister for transport, Dominique Bussereau, and Borloo to Charles de Gaulle airport to monitor the situation.

The Air France flight was full – today is a French bank holiday and Brazil is an increasingly popular tourist destination among the French.

At midday, the flight was still up on the arrivals board with the word "delayed" beside it, even after official statements said that it had probably been lost. By 1pm, it had been removed from the board.

Relatives and friends of passengers who had arrived at Charles de Gaulle's terminal two to meet the plane were ushered into a closed area away from journalists, where they were being counselled by airport staff.

A former pilot told France Info he believed the plane was the first passenger-carrying Airbus A330 to crash. The model is known as having a good safety record.

The plane was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew. Of the passengers, 126 were men and 82 were women. Seven children and a baby were on board.

According to the French media, Paris airport authorities were told by their Brazilian counterparts that the aircraft had vanished from radar screens.

Douglas Ferreira Machado told Brazil's Globo TV that he believed the plane must have left Brazilian waters and could have been near the coast of Africa by the time contact was lost, based on the speed it was travelling.

"It's going to take a long time to carry out this search," he said. "It could be a long, sad story. The black box will be at the bottom of the sea."

French military aircraft took off from Senegal in western Africa to take part in the search.

France Info quoted an airport authority source as saying it was possible, but extremely unlikely, that the radar drop-out had been caused by a transmitter failure.

Chris Yates, an aviation expert, told the BBC: "There is not radar coverage across the Atlantic, because it is too far from radar stations.

"But the fact [the plane] has not appeared on radar when it neared land gives me cause for concern."

He said that "if we are talking about an aircraft coming down over the ocean … then survivability is quite limited".

Air France said the pilot had flown 11,000 hours, 1,700 of them on an Airbus 330, making him a highly experienced pilot. Of the two co-pilots, one had 3,000 hours of flight time and the other 6,600 hours. Flight AF447, which had flown 18,870 hours, entered service in April 2005. Its last engineering overhaul was in April.

The A330-200 model has not had any fatal accidents involving passengers. In June 1994, an A330 owned by Airbus on a test flight simulating an engine failure on take-off crashed shortly after leaving Toulouse, killing all seven people on board.

In October last year, a Qantas A330 flying from Singapore to Perth reportedly experienced a sudden change in altitude.

The crew issued a mayday call before diverting the aircraft. About 36 passengers and crew members were injured, more than a dozen seriously.

The last major incident involving an Air France plane was in July 2000 when one of its Concordes crashed just after taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport, bound for New York.
All 109 people on board were killed, along with at least four on the ground.

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