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Republican Perry to lay out energy jobs proposals

The Texas governor, who is looking to rebound from a series of recent struggles, is to appear at a steel mill in the Pittsburgh suburbs to promote the first part of an economic growth package.Perry is to call for rolling back some federal regulations and opening up more federal lands for energy exploration and production, particularly for natural gas.”We are standing atop the next American economic boom — energy,” Perry will say. “The quickest way to give our economy a shot in the arm is to deploy American ingenuity to tap American energy. But we can only do that if environmental bureaucrats are told to stand down.”After some shaky debate performances and other distractions, Perry has fallen behind front-runners Mitt Romney and Herman Cain in opinion polls of Republicans who are seeking to determine who their nominee will be to oppose Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 2012 election.Perry, however, has strong backing from many conservatives and raised $17 million in the third quarter of this year, ensuring he will have a well-funded campaign to wage battles in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.In excerpts of his speech released by his campaign, Perry will say his plan can largely be carried out through a series of executive orders without requiring congressional approval.”The plan I present this morning — energizing American jobs and security — will kick-start economic growth and 1.2 million American jobs,” Perry will say.Perry would open up for exploration and production Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which has long been an environmental battleground between Democrats and Republicans.He would allow more offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and areas of the Atlantic while protecting the ecologically fragile Florida Everglades, aides said.And he would back the Keystone XL pipeline to bring crude from Canada’s tar sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The pipeline is caught up in U.S. red tape and opposed by many on various environmental grounds.”My plan will break the grip of dependence we have today on foreign oil from hostile nations like Venezuela and unstable nations in the Middle East to grow jobs and our economy at home,” Perry will say.Perry would seek to rein in both the Environmental Protection Agency and activists who try to slow down energy projects through lawsuits.Perry will zero in on Obama, who is struggling to reduce the stubbornly high U.S. unemployment rate of 9.1 percent amid weak growth.”The choice in this election is between two very different visions for our country. When it comes to energy, the president would kill domestic jobs through aggressive regulations while I would unleash 1.2 million American jobs through safe and aggressive energy exploration at home,” Perry will say.

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UPDATE 2-Gap bets on bolder classics for turnaround

* To aim for less clutter in stores, elegant shelving* Shares up 1 percentNEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Gap Inc is looking to simplify its clothing offerings, dab in more color, and de-clutter its North American namesake stores to help boost its languishing sales.The namesake chain strayed from what it was best known for — high-quality jeans and casual clothes with an American aesthetic — and must go back to what initially made it successful, Art Peck, head of Gap North America, told Reuters in an exclusive interview at the company’s Manhattan design center.”What’s expected of us is pretty clear,” Peck said on Wednesday, the eve of the retailer’s investor day. “I think it’s been us who’ve kind of wandered around.”Peck, 56, oversees the Gap stores in North America, but not the company’s Old Navy and Banana Republic chains.He replaced Marka Hansen in February, when Chief Executive Glenn Murphy shook up senior management because of disappointing North American sales, particularly in womenswear.As far as plans outside of North America, the company said on Thursday it will almost triple the number of Gap stores in greater China from roughly 15 at the end of this year to about 45 by the end of 2012, and will open Old Navy Stores in Japan in the next 18 months.The company also backed its earnings expectations of $1.40- $1.50 a share for the full year, more or less in line with Wall Street estimates.Industry experts and analysts say that Gap North America has confused shoppers in recent years by adding and pulling many lines of clothing. As a result, consumers did not know what they could find at the chain that they couldn’t get elsewhere.”They were not able to hold on to that unique space they had,” said Wendy Liebmann, CEO of consultancy WSL Strategic Retail.Peck intends to remedy that. Although he’s only been on the job for a few months, Gap’s shelves have begun to reflect his back-to-basics-with-a-twist approach, which will become even more noticeable during the upcoming holiday season.He wants to build on the success of Gap’s 1969 brand of high-end jeans, which have become a hit with analysts and customers.For example, Gap has added more color to its denim jeans and introduced skinny jean leggings with animal prints as well as colored corduroy leggings, which Peck said have sold well so far. There will also be more color in women’s jeans in its spring line, he added.Gap’s more formal, sober clothes for women fell flat, Peck said, proving that the chain should stick to what it does best.The Body Fit line of yoga and casual clothing for women, introduced last year in a direct challenge to Lululemon Athletica is doing well, he said.Gap shares were trading up 1 percent at $18.06 Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.CLEANER PRESENTATIONPeck isn’t crazy about how Gap displays clothes on the sales floor. So another change he is implementing is to stack fewer items on top of one another to reduce the clutter that makes shelves look like discount bins and use more elegant shelving to give the clothes a more sophisticated air.”We have far better product in our stores than we’re getting paid for,” Peck said.An avid runner and cyclist, Peck was hired in 2005 from the Boston Consulting Group. He oversaw corporate strategy before being tapped three years later to head the outlet unit, which operates stores under the Gap and Banana Republic brands.Gap’s sales in the United States and Canada have languished for years, a decline from the chain’s heyday in the 1980s and 1990s as the go-to retailer for casual American style.Sales at North American stores open at least a year fell by at least 5 percent in six of the last seven years and have kept dropping this year. In September, they slipped 4 percent.The company has faced competition from specialty retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch and new rival Uniqlo, owned by Japan’s Fast Retailing . That chain intends to have about 200 U.S. stores by 2020, up from three.Gap currently operates about 890 namesake stores in North America, not including its outlet locations, but plans to lower that to 700 by the end of 2013. Gap North America represents about a quarter of the company’s sales.The chain frequently offers deep discounts and will continue to do so this holiday season, but Peck said the focus needs to shift away from price.”We need to start talking about the merits of the product versus the merits of the deal,” he said.Having clothes that shoppers actually want is the best way to reduce the need for the discounting that has dented Gap sales and margins.”If you have compelling merchandise, people will buy it whether it’s on sale or not,” said KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Edward Yruma.Peck said Gap must lure a younger generation of shoppers, which means selling clothes that stay true to its image, but aren’t just the same old clothes.”Predictability ultimately means you fade into the background,” he said.

Tags: UPDATE 2Gap bets on bolder classics for turnaround
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UPDATE 1-AIG gets $4.5 bln in new bank credit facilities

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Bailed-out insurer American International Group on Wednesday said it had taken out $4.5 billion in new credit facilities from a syndicate of 34 banks, giving it more credit on better terms than the lines it took out last year.AIG said it had established a four-year, $3 billion facility and a 364-day facility of $1.5 billion. The four-year facility includes the ability for AIG subsidiaries to take out letters of credit as well.They replace nearly $4.5 billion in credit agreements AIG and its property insurance subsidiary Chartis signed last December, most of which were for less than a year.”These new credit facilities provide AIG and our subsidiaries with financial flexibility on more favorable terms,” AIG Chief Financial Officer David Herzog said in a statement.J.P. Morgan and Citigroup acted as lead arranger.The credit arrangements come three years after AIG nearly collapsed during the financial crisis, and barely a year after the company and the government restructured its $182 billion bailout.The U.S. Treasury continues to own 77 percent of AIG. AIG shares, which rose 6.2 percent to $23.76 in regular trading, were unchanged in after-hours trade on the news.

Tags: UPDATE 1AIG gets $45 bln in new bank credit facilities
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Short-term hopes, long-term gloom

By Tomasz Janowski Optimism that Japan’s economy will bounce back from a post-quake slump and pessimism about its long-term prospects is the prevailing message of economists addressing the Reuters Rebuilding Japan Summit. The reasons for the near-term optimism are well known: strides made by Japanese manufacturers in restoring production and supply networks ripped apart by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and expectations that sooner or later hundreds of billions of dollars spent on rebuilding the ravaged northeast coast will grease the wheels of the stuttering economy. There is also little doubt about what has been holding back Japan, which has been in and out of deflation and recessions over the past decade. Its society is aging faster than any other nation, the productive (and consuming) population is shrinking, its manufacturers keep shifting operations abroad where wages are lower and markets grow and its debt burden makes it impossible for Tokyo to engage in any grand-scale pump-priming. Now, one can also add concerns that a shift away from nuclear power will bring higher costs and doubts about reliability of electricity supply and possibly accelerate the hollowing out of the manufacturing sector. The proposed remedies are also well publicised: greater opening to foreign goods and workers, deregulation, policies making it easier for families to have and raise children, new energy policy and an ambitious overhaul of the state’s finances. What is striking, however, is the air of inevitability with which Japanese economists talk how the rebuilding impulse will eventually fade away and after few years Japan will settle for even more meagre growth than before the disaster. Yasunari Ueno, Chief Market Economists at Mizuho Securities summarised the prevailing sentiment: “I’m pessimistic about the Japanese economy in the long run. A chronic deflation that has plagued this country due to a decline in the working population and excess capacity is the fundamental cause of economic and fiscal problems. Looking at the political situation after the earthquake, I don’t see any movement towards resolving these problems.” The Japanese economy plunged into its second recession in three years after the disaster, shrinking 0.9 percent in the first quarter. It is expected to contract again this quarter and then start growing again and expand at a nearly 3 percent clip in the fiscal year starting in April 2012. But it is doubtful it can maintain that sort of pace for much longer. Photo Credit: Hoon

Tags: Shortterm hopes longterm gloom

Palin’s 2012 plan: help others defeat Obama

“I apologize to those whom are disappointed in this decision… But I believe that they, when they take a step back, will understand why the decision was made and understand that really you don’t need a title to make a difference in this country,” Sarah Palin said on Fox New after closing the door to a 2012 presidential campaign. The former Alaska governor, and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, ended months and months of speculation on Wednesday by announcing her decision not to throw her hat into the ring. While she isn’t hitting the trail as a White House candidate, Palin clearly intends to remain a player on the political stage. “In the coming weeks I will help coordinate strategies to assist in replacing the president, re-taking the Senate and maintaining the House,” she said in a statement posted on Facebook. She also says she’ll continue “driving the discussion for freedom and free market.” Some Highlights from Palin’s flirtation with 2012 presidential race: September 3, 2011 – Palin wows Tea Party of America rally in Indianola, Iowa, with what sounds like a campaign stump speech. It was widely anticipated that she’d use the speech to announce her candidacy. Two days later, she gave a speech at a Tea Party Express Rally in Manchester, New Hampshire. August 12, 2011 – Palin makes a surprise stop at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines — scheduled neatly between a debate between declared Republican contenders and the Ames straw poll. It was her second high-profile trip of the summer to Iowa. June 28, 2011 – Palin attends premiere of “The Undefeated,” a flattering documentary about her at the opera house in Pella, Iowa. She said she was still studying a potential presidential run, although her daughter said she had already made up her mind. May 27, 2011 – Palin’s political action committee releases a video announcing her “One Nation” campaign-style bus tour . The tour stirs speculation that she might be preparing to jump into the race. Less than a month later, the bus was parked on what Real Clear Politics reported was an extended pit stop. May 29, 2011 - Palin rolls into Washington on a Harley-Davidson for the annual Rolling Thunder rally to honor veterans, fueling speculation about a White House run. Jan 12, 2011 -Palin accuses critics of “blood libel” for linking fiery campaign rhetoric to a mass shooting in Tucson in which Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords was severely wounded. Her eight-minute video is posted on YouTube on the same day President Obama delivers an address at a service honoring victims of the shooting. November 14, 2010 - Palin’s reality TV series “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” premieres on cable television’s “The Learning Channel.” September 28, 2010 – Palin is in the audience in a Los Angeles studio to support daughter Bristol, a contestant on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.” September 17, 2010 - Palin speaks at the Iowa Republican Party’s Ronald Reagan Dinner in Des Moines as her influence among Tea Party activists is on the rise. August 29, 2010 - Palin joins Fox TV host Glenn Beck for a “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial urging a return to what they said were traditional American values of service to others and a belief in God. June 23, 2010 - Palin’s “Mama Grizzlies” video is uploaded on YouTube. It looks and sounds like a political campaign ad – “Look out Washington, because there’s a whole stampede of pink elephants crossing and the e.t.a. for them stampeding through is November 2, 2010,” Palin says in the video. It raises questions about whether she intends to run for president. November 18, 2009 – Palin opens cross-country tour promoting her memoir “Going Rogue: An American Life.” July 3, 2009 - Palin resigns as Alaska’s governor with 18 months left in her term. Her decision, announced in a statement in her home town of Wasilla, Alaska, fuels speculation that she might be positioning herself for a presidential run in 2012. January 2009 - Palin’s political action committee, SarahPAC, is launched “dedicated to building America’s future by supporting fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation.” Photo Credits: (Palin at Tea Party rally in Indianola, Iowa; at Iowa State Fair); (Palin at Rolling Thunder); (Palin at Tea Party Express rally in Boston, April 2010); (Palin’s books ‘Going Rouge’ in a Michigan bookstore)

Tags: Palin’s 2012 plan help others defeat Obama
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