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MetLife fourth-quarter profit falls, beats Street

MetLife Inc's fourth-quarter earnings fell 70 percent because of investment losses, but its operating profit beat Wall Street expectations by a penny on Tuesday as the credit market began to thaw boosting revenues at the biggest U.S. life insurer.

Daily Forecast - 3/2/2010

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The Australian Dollar opens lower today at 0.8840 after a busy 24 hours. In a decision that surprised financial markets, the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates on hold yesterday at 3.75 per cent causing the currency to dive one US cent in a matter of minutes.
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Pending home sales edge up, vacancies rise

Pending sales of existing U.S. homes edged up as expected in December, while home vacancies rose in the fourth quarter, pointing to a slow and painful recovery for the troubled housing market.
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US home buyers' negotiating power gains-Zillow

Home buyers in much of the United States paid thousands of dollars below asking prices in December and for the first time in 11 months gained negotiating power, real estate website Zillow.com said on Tuesday.
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Ford, GM outsell recall-wracked Toyota

Ford Motor Co posted a 24 percent increase in U.S. sales for January and outsold Toyota Motor Corp as the Japanese automaker was sent reeling by a massive recall of some of its top-selling vehicles.
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Obama to meet Dalai Lama despite China warnings

President Barack Obama still plans to meet the Dalai Lama, the White House said on Tuesday, despite China's warning that such a meeting would hurt ties already strained by U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.
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SEC fraud case against Madoff associates dismissed

A federal court dismissed fraud claims brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against three Cohmad Securities Corp executives accused of helping Bernard Madoff conduct a $65 billion Ponzi scheme.
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Obama's budget sidesteps dramatic health reforms

In releasing his fiscal 2011 budget on Monday, President Barack Obama said his proposal includes funds to lay the groundwork for these reforms. Instead of dramatic action, the plan seeks to boost health information technology, cheaper generic drugs and certain Medicare payment changes.
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SEC mistakenly received Galleon wiretaps: briefs

U.S. prosecutors apparently made the mistake of giving wiretap recordings gathered against Galleon hedge fund insider trading defendants to securities regulators, legal briefs said, potentially compounding a fight over confidential evidence central to the case.
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Obama budget boosts funds for tropical diseases

Funding to fight diseases including parasites that cause disfiguring elephantiasis, hookworms and a blinding eye infection called trachoma, would more than double under the 2011 budget proposal, to $155 million from $65 million.
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Online gamers set for consolidation wave in 2010

Consolidation among online gaming firms is set to spark into life in 2010 with a possible deal between PartyGaming and Austria's bwin seen as the potential catalyst for a wave of takeover activity.
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Senator presses tech firms on practices in China

A Democratic senator said on Tuesday he has asked 30 U.S. companies, including Apple, Facebook and Skype, for information on their human rights practices in China in the aftermath of Google's decision to no longer cooperate with Chinese Internet censorship efforts.
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Intelligence chief: attacks on Google wake-up call

Recent cyber attacks on Google are a wake-up call and neither the U.S. government nor the private sector can fully protect the American cyber infrastructure, the director of U.S. national intelligence said on Tuesday.
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AIG names ex-Lehman lawyer as general counsel

American International Group Inc , which was bailed out with a $182.3 billion U.S. aid package, named a former top Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc lawyer as general counsel on Tuesday.
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Geithner appeals for bipartisan attack on deficits

The Obama administration is prepared to impose fees on financial firms for as long as necessary to ensure that every cent spent on bailing out banks is repaid, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday.
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Ford sales surge, focus on Toyota crisis

Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday its U.S. sales rose 24 percent in January, a month when the industry was rocked by Toyota Motor Corp's massive recall of some of its top-selling vehicles.
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Home buyers' negotiating power gains: Zillow

Home buyers in much of the United States paid thousands of dollars below asking prices in December and for the first time in 11 months gained negotiating power, real estate website Zillow.com said on Tuesday.
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Volcker to urge curbs on big banks' risky trading

White House economic adviser Paul Volcker, whose star is rising in the Obama administration, will urge Congress on Tuesday to rein in risky investing by big banks, according to testimony obtained by Reuters.
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BP profit up as oil prices rise, misses forecasts

British oil major BP Plc reported a lower than forecast 33 percent rise in fourth-quarter replacement cost profit as refining margins were squeezed and warned an operational turnaround would slow in 2010.
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Volcker to urge curbing risky trading by big banks

White House economics adviser Paul Volcker will urge Congress on Tuesday to rein in risky investing by big banks to help prevent them becoming too big to fail, according to testimony obtained by Reuters.
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Geithner: Banks must pay fully for bailout

The Obama administration is prepared to impose fees on financial firms for as long as necessary to ensure that every cent spent on bailing out banks is repaid, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday.

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