Live Financial And Business News By SaneBull

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Representative John Murtha, chairman of the House of Representatives defense appropriations subcommittee who exercised enormous influence on defense issues, died on Monday.

(Reuters) - A major snowstorm will hit the Midwest and Great Lakes on Tuesday and then gather even more force and sweep into the Northeast, dumping heavy amounts of snow. Winter storm warnings were in effect throughout the upper South.

(Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Tuesday that the United States wanted a U.N. Security Council resolution "within weeks" to tackle Iran's nuclear program as Iran said it had begun making higher-grade nuclear fuel.

(Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp said it was recalling nearly half a million of its flagship Prius and other hybrid cars for braking problems as it seeks to address criticism over the handling of its worst safety crisis.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for immediate and "crippling" sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, as it began making higher-grade nuclear fuel in defiance of international censure.

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* UAL shares hit year high (Recasts, adds further analyst comment, updates shares)

* Shares up 0.1 percent (Adds CEO, analyst comments)

* Stock rises 7 pct (Adds CEO comments on thermal coal outlook; stock up)

MEXICO CITY, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Mexican stocks rose sharplyon Tuesdsay, extending gains on news that euro zone countriesmay have decided to help debt-stricken Greece, boostinginvestor appetite for riskier emerging market assets.

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* Thales, Sikorsky group set for 6 billion pound contract * Consortium to use Sikorsky S92A helicopter

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. House Republican leaderJohn Boehner said on Tuesday he was considering appointingRepublicans to President Barack Obama's planned deficitcommission and also that it was time to "start over" onhealthcare reform.

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Chipmaker Vishay Intertechnology Inc posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results,helped by strong end-market demand, and forecast first-quarterrevenue above Wall Street expectations, sending its shares up11 percent.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. House Republican leaderJohn Boehner said on Tuesday he was considering appointingRepublicans to President Barack Obama's planned deficitcommission and also that it was time to "start over" onhealthcare reform.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. job openings rosemodestly in December, while hirings were little changed,government data showed on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Top White House economicadviser Lawrence Summers said on Tuesday that the job marketwas stabilizing but the economy still had a long way to go toreturn to health.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. wholesale inventoriesunexpectedly fell 0.8 percent in December, while sales rose 0.8percent, a government report showed on Tuesday.

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence fellin February to near a level seen at the beginning of therecession, as high unemployment and some stock market weaknesssapped January's optimism, a research group said on Tuesday.

REUTERS FORECAST: Median -7.2 percent year-on-year Novembervs -14.0 percent October. Twelve clients participated in thesurvey and the range was -4.0 percent to -12.5 percent.

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Redbook Research on Tuesday released thefollowing seasonally adjusted weekly data on U.S. chain store sales:Year-over-year: Week (w/e 02/06/10 vs year ago) 2.0 pctYear-over-year:Month (February 2010 vs February 2009) 2.0 pctMonth-over-month: (February 2010 vs January 2010) 1.7 pct

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Feb 9 (Reuters) - The International Council of ShoppingCenters and Goldman Sachs on Tuesday released thefollowing seasonally adjusted weekly data on U.S. chain storeretail sales.WEEK ENDING INDEX 1977=100 YEAR/YEAR CHANGE WEEKLY CHANGE

MADRID, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Spain is struggling to convincedebt markets that it can make the painful cuts and reformsnecessary to cut its fiscal deficit from 11.4 percent of GDP in2009 to the EU limit of 3 percent by 2013.

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NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Bank of America's credit lossesmay remain at high levels for the rest of this year, warnedcredit rating agency Standard & Poor's on Tuesday.

* US clients withdraw $11.2 billion in assets (Adds background on UBS earnings, links to earnings story andBREAKINGVIEWS commentary)

* Borthwick previously headed global i-grade debt markets

* Q4 rev up about 1 pct * Sees 2010 rev $315 mln-$325 mln

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Investors turned cautious onU.S. government securities in advance of $81 billion in supplythis week, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's on Tuesdayrevised its rating outlooks on Bank of America Corp andCitigroup Inc to negative from stable, saying there isuncertainty that the government will provide more extraordinarysupport that benefits debt holders.

* U.S. stocks open higher on Greece talk, analyst views

* Ghana threatens to block $4 bln deal, has not yet done so

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WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. House Republican leaderJohn Boehner said on Tuesday he was considering appointingRepublicans to President Barack Obama's planned deficitcommission and also that it was time to "start over" onhealthcare reform.

* German official says euro zone countries to help Greece

* EU lawmakers say banks should pay into emergency cash pot

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The global junk bond defaultrate fell to 12.5 percent in January from a revised 13 percentin December and will likely tumble to 3 percent within a year,Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday.

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The price of U.S. governmentdebt fell on Tuesday after news of a euro zone initiative tohelp Greece with its debt crisis.

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Bank of America's credit lossesmay remain at high levels for the rest of this year, warnedcredit rating agency Standard & Poor's on Tuesday.

ATHENS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Greece outlined on Tuesday itspublic sector incomes policy and a tax reform bill, as part ofan EU-endorsed plan to increase state revenues and reduce itshuge deficit.

ATHENS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Greece's public sector union ADEDYsaid on Tuesday it was more likely it would stage furtherstrikes after the government unveiled a new wage and tax bill aspart of its austerity plan to reduce a huge deficit.

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* UAL shares hit year high (Recasts, adds further analyst comment, updates shares)

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* EU lawmakers say banks should pay into emergency cash pot

NEW YORK, Feb 09 (Reuters) - Rules proposed by theregulator of U.S. futures markets to fight fraud in foreigncurrency trades are too restrictive for retail trading firmsand could dramatically cut into the growing business, dealerssaid.

* Seeks 1.2 bln euros from Britain, Spain, Poland, Austria

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The global junk bond defaultrate fell to 12.5 percent in January from a revised 13 percentin December and will likely tumble to 3 percent within a year,Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday.

* Ruling upholds earlier decision that HGS patent is invalid

BRUSSELS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - European Union leaders shouldtell Greece on Thursday that it will receive the bloc's supportin exchange for clear budget commitments, EU Economic andMonetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Tuesday.

* Shares jump 6 pct (Adds comments from CEO and analyst, share price, SANFRANCISCO to dateline)

MEXICO CITY, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Mexican stocks rose sharplyon Tuesdsay, extending gains on news that euro zone countriesmay have decided to help debt-stricken Greece, boostinginvestor appetite for riskier emerging market assets.

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Fund firm Fidelity Internationalsaid on Tuesday it plans to raise about 630 million pounds ($982million) in an initial fund raising for the new China fund to berun by its investment figurehead Anthony Bolton.

ACCRA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Ghana has repeated its threat toblock the $4 billion sale of an oilfield stake to ExxonMobil by Kosmos Energy, the latest move in a tussle overcontrol of key assets in the west African country.

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - British home improvement retailerFocus DIY said it was continuing to pay rent and was not seekingfurther funding after press reports it had asked for extra timeto pay rent for January and February.

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The 35 billion euro ($48 billion)pension fund for Dutch metal and mechanical workers plans to cutwestern property exposure as it seeks to diversify throughhigher allocations to emerging and Eastern markets.

TORONTO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - After a volatile year, Canada'sbig life insurance companies are expected to report higherfourth-quarter profits this week, boosted by stock market gainsand a brighter economic outlook.

* US clients withdraw $11.2 billion in assets (Adds background on UBS earnings, links to earnings story andBREAKINGVIEWS commentary)

* Q4 rev up about 1 pct * Sees 2010 rev $315 mln-$325 mln

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Shares of Encore Capital Group Inc rose as much as 19 percent on Tuesday, a day after thedebt collector posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit,driven by higher collections.

* Ghana threatens to block $4 bln deal, has not yet done so

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Oil and gas company Toreador ResourcesCorp said its offering of 3 million shares was pricedat $8.50 apiece, a 16 percent discount to the stock's Mondayclose.

ACCRA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Ghana's Jubilee oil field hasrecoverable reserves of 800 million barrels, Energy MinisterJospeh Oteng-Adjei told a conference in Accra on Tuesday.Jubilee was discovered in 2007 by a partership of theGhanaian government and international firms.

ACCRA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Ghana's Jubilee oil field hasrecoverable reserves of 800 million barrels, the West Africancountry's Energy Minister Jospeh Oteng-Adjei told a conferencein Accra on Tuesday.Jubilee was discovered in 2007 by a partership of theGhanaian government and international firms, and is expected tobegin producing in the last quarter of this year.

BEIJING, Feb 9 (Reuters) - China National Petroleum Corp(CNPC) will start building a 6.2 million-barrel crude-oil tankfarm next month in the northern port of Tianjin, which it aimsto complete by end of this year, state media said.

Feb 8 (Reuters) - PetroQuest Energy Inc's 2009proved reserves and production slightly declined over theprevious year, but the independent oil and natural gas companymore than doubled its projected capital budget for 2010.

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Independent oil and gas company ComstockResources Inc reported wider-than-expectedfourth-quarter loss, as low natural gas prices offset higherproduction.

* Sells properties to EV Energy and its parent EnerVest

MOSCOW, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The Nord Stream group said onMonday its initial schedule for commissioning a gas pipeline onthe bed of the Baltic Sea "remains valid" despite the delay indevelopment of Shtokman gas field, one of its resource bases.

MOSCOW, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The Nord Stream gas pipeline groupsaid on Monday its initial schedule "remains valid" despitedelay in development of Shtokman gas field, one of its resourcebases.

MOSCOW, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Rosneft kept its gripfirmly on the top spot among world's publicly traded oilcompanies as it reported on Monday a 2.5 percent rise inhydrocarbon reserves for 2009 under PRMS rules.