Finance & Business World

The Greek government and its creditors return to the negotiating table this week to revive stalled talks on a debt swap as German Chancellor Angela Merkel places pressure on both sides to forge a deal.

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said two days ago that talks with the Institute of International Finance will resume on Jan. 18. The Washington-based IIF, which represents banks holding the bonds, said on Jan. 14 there is a

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Wall Street is poised for further gains amid ongoing evidence of a strong start to the U.S. holiday shopping season and hopes for a plan to deal with the European debt crisis.

Dow futures are up 0.5 percent at 11,555. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures are up 0.6 percent at 1,198.

Markets overseas were boosted again on Tuesday by hopes that the 17 countries that use the euro will finally come up with a plan to deal with their crushing debt crisis.

Italy’s borrowing rates shot up Tuesday to above 7 percent, an unsustainable level on a par with rates that forced the others to seek bailouts.

The fear is that the crisis _ which already has forced bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal _ could engulf bigger economies such as Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest. If Italy were to default on its debt of euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion), the fallout could spell ruin for the euro project itself and send shock waves throughout the global economy.

Though no specific details have yet emerged of what will likely result from a Dec. 9 summit of EU leaders, the ministers are thought to be discussing ideas that would have been taboo only recently: countries ceding fiscal sovereignty to a central authority; some kind of elite group of euro nations that would guarantee one another’s loans _ but require strong fiscal discipline from anyone wanting membership.

On Tuesday, finance ministers also were likely to discuss the options _ plus a possible way to boost the region’s rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, at a meeting in Brussels easy payday loans.

On Monday, stocks advanced strongly, particularly in Europe, with the CAC-40 in France up a massive 5 percent or so.

As a result, the gains Tuesday were not as marked but did provide some further evidence of the hopes that European leaders will finally get their act together in around 10 days time.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 0.2 percent at 5,756, while the CAC-40 fell slightly to 3013. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was 0.1 percent higher at 5,320. The euro, meanwhile, was up 0.2 percent at $1.3309.

Earlier, most Asian markets ended higher, with the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo climbing 2.3 percent to close at 8,477.82.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.3 percent to 1,856.52 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.2 percent to 18,256.20. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Australia were also higher.

Mainland Chinese shares advanced, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gaining 1.2 percent to 2,412.39.

Oil prices tracked equities modestly higher _ benchmark crude for January delivery was up 49 cents to $98.70 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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U.S. workers increased their productivity this summer by the largest amount in a year and half, and they cost their employers less. The trend is good for corporate profits but not necessarily for job growth.

The Labor Department says productivity rose at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the July-September quarter after two straight quarterly declines. Labor costs dropped at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in the third quarter, the first decline since late 2010 pay day loan lenders.

Productivity is the amount of output per hour of work. The big jump in productivity in the third quarter reflected the fact that economy had its best quarterly growth in a year while hours worked were little changed.

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

A senior official from the International Monetary Fund says the IMF could help the eurozone’s bailout fund to support pressurized bond markets in Italy and Spain.

The head of the IMF’s Europe program Antonio Borges said the fund could “invest alongside” the European Financial Stability Facility when it buys bonds from Italy and Spain, two large economies that have seen their funding costs spike.

Borges also said the IMF could give the two countries precautionary credit lines.

He said “we have a whole set of options that could be put on the table to restore confidence in those countries.”

The statement comes amid a severe worsening of the eurozone’s debt crisis and a day after Moody’s ratings agency downgraded Italy’s creditworthiness.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

BRUSSELS (AP) _ A senior official from the International Monetary Fund says there is no rush to decide on the next slice of bailout money for Greece since the country faces no big bond repayment until December.

Greece, however, has said it only has money for pensions and salaries until mid-November.

The head of the IMF’s Europe program Antonio Borges also said Tuesday that a second bailout program for the debt-ridden nation tentatively agreed in July will have to be revised amid a worse than expected economy and slower implementation of reforms.

Borges says the euro109 billion estimate for the second bailout made in July was based on assumptions that have since changed. He said the IMF doesn’t think Greek bond holders necessarily have to take bigger losses.

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Last Saturday, I talked about helping readers resolve smaller complaints. Now I’ll highlight some big-ticket resolutions achieved for those in need of assistance.

Carrier air conditioning system: Vinay Aggarwal’s new unit started leaking in the second year. Carrier Canada agreed to cover the part under warranty, but wouldn’t cover labour and refrigerant replacement.

“I had no choice and went ahead with the work. The total bill was $900,” says Aggarwal, who has three children under 6 years old.

This summer, the system leaked again. Carrier said it would cover the part under warranty for a second time, but not the labour and refrigerant.

Colin Jennings, the company’s vice-president of residential sales, reacted quickly when I contacted him. He paid $1,800 to cover both repairs.

“We apologize for the inconvenience and hope that problem is behind you,” he told Aggarwal.

Ford truck purchase: Laszlo Gorgenyi bought a cargo van, a 2011 Ford Transit Connect, at a Mississauga dealer for $28,000. He had it fitted with ladder racks and shelves for his new heating contractor business.

Then, he heard Ford Motor Co. of Canada had a $1,000 incentive for commercial vehicles to pay for such work.

He called the dealer several times and struck out. Ford’s head office said he was eligible for the incentive, but had to work through the dealer.

“It’s costing me $3,500 to up-fit my truck and the $1,000 would be helpful,” he said.

Gorgenyi picked up his cheque two days after contacting me. While he got an apology from Ford’s head office, he’s still waiting to hear why the dealer didn’t help out.

Medication Services Inc: Deborah Carson paid $2,000 for help getting a Canada Pension Plan disability pension. The company’s contract promised to give back half the fee if her case was resolved without a hearing.

Last April, her CPP disability pension was approved without a hearing. But by late August, Carson hadn’t been able to get reimbursed.

Medication consultant Michael Sacco responded within hours, saying he had been away and had other issues to address. He was sending the refund right away.

“I am sorry for the delay and oversight,” he told me. “Please convey my apologies to Deborah.”

CitiFinancial: Rosa Denault financed a retail purchase with Citi and paid all the monthly instalments on time, except for the 12th and last one.

“They are charging me $683.33 interest for paying three days late in error,” she said. “The interest is being calculated on the full balance as if I had not made any prior payments.”

Told she owed $911 in interest at first, Denault had persuaded Citi to cut it by 25 per cent. She hoped she could do better.

After I contacted Citi spokesman Troy Underhill, the late payment charge was cancelled altogether.

Canadian Tire Financial Services: Wolfgang Foullong is retired. He doesn’t need insurance to protect him if he loses his job or can’t work.

After the postal strike in June, he started checking his bills more carefully and found he’d been paying for insurance on his Canadian Tire Gas Advantage card since April 2009. (He stopped working in 2007.)

“I was never informed and I wouldn’t have agreed. I had already declined a similar charge on my Canadian Tire Options card,” he said.

After contacting me and the card issuer, he received a refund of almost $300 to cover all his insurance fees.

Under a new federal law, credit card issuers can only add insurance if you say yes. No longer can they bill you for it and wait for you to opt out.

Ellen Roseman writes about personal finance and consumer issues. You can reach her at eroseman@thestar.ca.

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The European Central Bank says it spent euro14.3 billion ($20.6 billion) last week buying government bonds to keep the eurozone’s debt crisis at bay.

The amount disclosed on Monday was short of the previous week’s figure of euro22 billion ($32 billion) but close to market expectations.

Buying Italian and Spanish bonds on financial markets has driven down borrowing rates that were threatening those two countries with financial ruin fast cash.

European officials want the eurozone’s bailout fund to take over the purchases, but national parliaments will not give their approval to that move until this fall.

That has left the central bank with the main burden of fighting off market turmoil.

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