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Prime Minister Mario Monti

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Consumer prices in the euro zone fell more than previously expected in December, the start of a retreat from a November peak that should give the European Central Bank more room to cut interest rates as the economy heads for recession.

Inflation in the 17 countries sharing the euro was 2.7 percent in December on an annual basis, revised down from an earlier estimate of 2.8 percent for the month, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said.

“The pressure is abating although the risks from energy are still there,” said Fabio Fois, an economist at Barclay’s Capital. “We think the ECB could bring rates as low as 0.5 percent in March,” he said.

The bank made two 25 basis points cuts after Mario Draghi took over as president in November before holding fire this month.

Many economists expect it to take rates below 1 percent for the first time ever in the coming months but comments by Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny published on Tuesday hinted that the bank was in no hurry to move again.

“We are all agreed that now the point is to allow these measures to take full effect. Only then will we take further decisions,” he told the Wall Street Journal’s German website.

“For the ECB ‘We never precommit’ always applies, but there are no plans whatsoever at the moment.”

Reuters’ latest polling of some 66 economists before the ECB met earlier this month suggested the bank will cut interest rates to a new record low of 0.75 percent in February or March no fax payday loans.

Economists had expected euro zone inflation to remain at 2.8 percent in December.

IRAN EFFECT

Stripping out volatile energy prices, the main driver behind a 3 percent peak in the headline number in September, October and November, inflation was 1.9 percent.

Without energy and food, it was 1.6 percent.

That sits better with the ECB’s target of below, but close to 2 percent, which the Frankfurt-based bank judges to be right for price stability and a healthy economy.

The euro zone’s economy, however, is anything but. The bloc’s gross domestic product probably contracted in the fourth quarter of 2011 and is expected to do so again in the first quarter of 2012 - showing it has fallen into a recession.

The weakening economy and rising unemployment across the bloc are cutting demand for goods and with it pressuring retailers to reduce prices. That has offset continuing high prices for crude oil globally due to concerns about a supply disruption in Iran.

Oil futures rose on Monday after Saudi Arabia told its Gulf Arab neighbors not to make up any shortfall caused by an embargo on Iranian crude oil exports.

In the euro zone in December, fuels for transport, heating oil, gas and electricity had the biggest impact on inflation in December. Energy inflation was a massive 9.7 percent in the month, compared to December 2010, Eurostat said.

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Boeing is starting to fly right.

An Indonesian airline’s commitment to buy $21.7 billion worth of new planes is the latest good news for the company after a year when some things could have gone better.

Earlier this week, Emirates Airlines ordered $18 billion worth of 777s. Both deals come shortly after Boeing finally began delivering its two newest planes, the next-generation 787 and the latest version of the iconic 747.

Just a year ago, the outlook was dicier.

The new 787 was already running nearly three years late when an electrical fire on a test plane in November 2010 forced it to suspend flight tests. The revamped 747 was running late, too. And Airbus announced plans to put a new engine on its A320, making the plane more fuel efficient and a more potent competitor to Boeing’s 737.

The Airbus move forced Boeing to switch gears and offer a new-engine version of its 737 rather than build an all-new plane as it had originally expected to do.

Boeing needed some successes, and it found them in Asia and the Middle East, where rising wealth is turning more people into travelers.

Boeing expects demand for 11,450 planes in the Asia-Pacific region over the next 20 years, more than in any other part of the world. That number includes planes made by Boeing and competitors such as Airbus and new entrants into the market. Airbus has already booked 1,268 firm orders for its A320neo, so named for its “new engine option.”

The commitment by Indonesia’s Lion Air announced on Thursday is for 230 Boeing 737s. Lion Air also has options for 150 more planes, valued at $14 billion, bringing the deal’s total potential value to $35 billion.

The order would be Boeing’s largest ever in terms of both volume and dollars.

“This order is a big deal,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Robert Stallard wrote in a research note to clients. The deal “gives a meaningful boost to Boeing’s backlog.”

Most of the planes are the 737 Max, a new version of Boeing’s most popular plane with more fuel-efficient engines. It won’t be delivered to its first customer until 2017. Boeing has said it has about 600 commitments for the 737 Max.

But the Lion Air deal is not a certainty. The airline still has to finalize the order, and it’s struggling no teletrek payday advance. The Jakarta Post reported in August that Lion Air was ordered to ground 13 planes so it would have more in reserve because it had too many late flights.

“There’s always a risk that a deal’s going to fall through,” Citi analyst Jason Gursky said. “It’s a brutal industry, and when we go through periods of slower economic growth, there will be failures. It’s Boeing’s job to pick the winners and losers. But I think they’re pretty agnostic right now as to who they sell to.”

Gursky said Boeing went on “order holiday” in 2011 because it didn’t have a product to sell. That has changed now that it decided to put a new engine on the 737. He expects Boeing’s deliveries to increase by 27 percent next year, compared with a 9 percent increase at Airbus.

“That’s why we think this year is going to be the year of Boeing,” he said.

Even before Lion Air announced its plans, Boeing has been ramping up production to try to meet demand for the 737 as well as the 777, a larger plane used mostly on international routes. It already has a backlog of 2,191 737s that have been ordered by airlines around the world but not yet built.

Boeing already completes about one 737 every day in Renton, Wash. It is raising that to 42 per month in 2014. It has not yet said whether the 737 Max will be assembled in Renton or somewhere else, perhaps in South Carolina, where it is opening a second assembly line for its new 787.

Boeing already employs some 80,000 people in Washington state. Gursky, the analyst, has written that the biggest risk to Boeing’s planned rate increases appears to be its ability to hire the thousands of new workers it will need.

Lion Air already has orders for 125 more Boeing 737-900ERs. Its fleet currently stands at 73 planes, according to Airfleets.net. Sixty-five of those are Boeing 737s.

Also Thursday, Boeing said that aircraft leasing company Aviation Capital Group had ordered 20 of its 737-800s and committed to buy 35 of the planned 737 Max.

Shares of Chicago-based Boeing fell 25 cents Thursday to close at $66.09.

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that he was finishing his fourth round of chemotherapy in Cuba and expressed optimism that he will not require any further treatment.

Chavez spoke by phone from Havana to hundreds of supporters who gathered at the Riverside Church in New York to pray for his health. Those in the church included Bolivian President Evo Morales and the foreign ministers of Cuba and Argentina.

“Those prayers today have great meaning for me,” Chavez said in the call, which was broadcast on Venezuelan state television. “We’re closing the fourth round of chemotherapy and with the grace of God, this will be sufficient.”

“I’m just about to finish,” Chavez said. “It’s something malignant that’s turning into something benign.”

“I promise you I will live,” he said poor credit personal loans.

He supporters chanted: “Oh, no, Chavez won’t go!”

Chavez underwent surgery in Cuba in June to remove a tumor from his pelvic region. Since then, he has undergone three rounds of chemotherapy, and has said this should be the final phase.

Chavez has said previously that tests have shown no signs of a recurrence.

Venezuelan Vice President Elias Jaua said Wednesday that Chavez’s health was steadily improving.

Chavez “is doing well, better every day,” Jaua said.

(This version CORRECTS that Chavez said he was finishing, instead of finished with, fourtth round of chemotherapy.)

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The Toronto stock market tumbled again Friday, a day after investors punished stocks and sparked the worst one-day decline in two years, with no comfort coming from a stronger-than-expected reading on U.S. employment.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 216.03 points or 1.74 per cent to 12,164.1, led by sliding resource stocks as investors feel slowing economic conditions will heavily impact demand.

Medical device maker Boston Scientific is reporting a nearly 50 percent increase in second-quarter profit and says it will cut up to 1,400 employees to streamline operations.

The company is announcing a restructuring program to eliminate unnecessary administrative positions and automate other production work. The company expects to shed between 1,200 and 1,400 employees by the end of 2013. Boston Scientific expects the cuts to save between $225 and $275 million annually, some of which will be invested in other areas of the company.

For the second quarter, the Natick, Mass., company earned $146 million, or 10 cents per share, up from $98 million, or 6 cents per share, in the prior-year period.

Company sales grew 2 percent to $1.98 billion, which was above Wall Street estimates.

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“Store closing” banners should soon go up outside the six remaining Borders stores in the St. Louis region.

The beleaguered bookseller announced this afternoon that it will ask a judge on Thursday to approve a sale to liquidators. Store closing sales at its remaining 399 stores could begin as soon as Friday.

At the beginning of this year, there were nine Borders in this area. Three of those locations — Chesterfield, St. Peters, and Ballwin — closed earlier this year after the company first filed for bankruptcy.

Now the six stores left in this region appear headed the way of their counterparts. The remaining stores are in Brentwood, Sunset Hills, Creve Coeur, Fairview Heights, Edwardsville, and South County cash advances pay day loan.

“Bam!” multimedia superstores have already claimed two of the vacant Borders — in Chesterfield and St. Peters. But I’m not sure if the Joplin-based company would be interested in the other Borders locations.

As I’ve mentioned before, Ross Dress for Less is reportedly looking around for other locations in the St. Louis region, so they might be interested in some of these spots. Or maybe Big Lots?

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China’s surging inflation should rise again this month after flooding damaged crops and pushed up food costs, the government said Wednesday.

Communist leaders have declared taming soaring living costs their priority this year and have been frustrated as inflation climbed steadily, hitting a 34-month high of 5.5 percent in May. Inflation is especially dangerous for the ruling party because it erodes economic gains on which the communists base their claim to power.

“The estimate is that the overall price increase in June will be higher than May,” said a statement by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Cabinet’s economic planning agency. It gave no specific June target.

In the second half of the year, “new price increases should decline and prices for the full year can be controlled,” the statement said.

The agency said floods in eastern and southern China that damaged crops were partly to blame totally free credit score. The May price rises were driven by an 11.7 percent jump in food costs.

Earlier reports by state media cited farmers who said vegetable output in some areas was down 20 percent. The official Xinhua News Agency said prices of green vegetables were up 40 percent in some areas.

Private sector analysts blame China’s inflation on the dual factors of demand fueled by higher incomes that is outstripping food supplies and the effects of a bank lending boom that helped the country ward off the 2008 global crisis.

Beijing is trying to cool an overheated economy that grew at a sizzling 9.7 percent rate in the first quarter of the year.

The government has raised interest rates four times since October and has told banks to increase their reserves to limit lending.

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Stock futures are pointing to a lower opening as worries about Europe’s debt problems continue to fester.

Greece needs more cash to avoid defaulting on its debt, an event that would trigger losses for banks that hold Greek bonds. In order to get its next installment of bailout money, euro-area finance ministers say Greece must first further cut its deficit. Such moves have been unpopular, and the Greek government faces a Tuesday confidence vote.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 62, or 0 loans for people with bad credit.5 percent, to 11,876. S&P 500 futures are down 6.60, or 0.5 percent, to 1,259.40. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 9.75, or 0.4 percent, to 2,180.50.

Stock futures do not always accurately predict how prices will change once the market opens.

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Germany softened its position on giving Greece more help by agreeing with France on Friday that private investors would be involved only on a voluntary basis, a move that boosts hopes the debt-ridden country will get another rescue package.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced they had reached common ground on the delicate topic of involving Greece’s bondholders, calming fears Germany wanted to see losses forced on private creditors.

Eurozone finance ministers earlier this week failed to reach a deal on a second set of rescue loans necessary to save Greece from defaulting on its massive debts amid divisions over the role of banks.

Merkel told reporters that Germany had agreed that “participation of the private creditors, on a voluntary basis, and I stress that,” was needed in order to swiftly secure a new rescue package for Greece and ensure the stability of the common currency.

In recent weeks, Merkel had backed her finance minister’s calls for banks and other private bondholders to give Greece an extra seven years to repay its bonds. Rating agencies as well as the European Central Bank, however, warned that such a moved would likely count as a “credit event,” a partial default by Greece that could spread panic on financial markets and hurt Greek banks.

After the meeting, Merkel indicated she now favored a so-called “Vienna-style” agreement, which had previously received support from the ECB and France.

Under such a deal, banks and other private investors would commit to maintaining their exposure to Greece by buying new bonds as old ones expire and keeping their Greek banking subsidiaries afloat. That type of bond roll-over would likely have to come with some tweaks, as market interest rates on Greek bonds are currently way above what the Greek state could afford.

“It is about a voluntary participation of the private sector, and for that the ‘Vienna-style,’ as it is called, is a good basis and I think that we can use it to move forward,” Merkel told reporters.

Sarkozy said “relatively precise principles” for the private-sector involvement would now have to be fixed, adding that “this can be put into place relatively quickly.”

Merkel also ruled out the idea of triggering anything that could be counted as a default payday loans. “We do not want that,” she stressed. “This is about a voluntary participation.”

J.P. Morgan wrote in a research note that “Germany appears to have backed down” and welcomed the move as the clearing of a key obstacle to a solution for Greece.

European finance ministers meet Sunday and Monday to discuss the crisis.

A decision to extend the maturities of Greek bonds without the creditors’ consent or a haircut on the value of the debt would have been an immediate hit to banks, with the biggest fear being that of contagion _ a difficult-to-predict chain reaction that could roil markets and make it harder for other indebted countries to cope with their debts, with the result being higher borrowing costs for eurozone countries.

The European Central Bank has been very hostile to seeing private creditors sharing a part of the burden for fear it would be considered a credit event that would erode trust in the 17-nation currency.

Merkel therefore stressed that any solution must be found in accordance with the ECB.

“This should be worked out with the European Central Bank. There may be no contradictions here,” she said.

The EU’s top financial official, Olli Rehn, indicated Thursday that Greece will likely get its next financial lifeline in July if Prime Minister George Papandreou’s government can pass new budget cuts and privatizations before the end of the month. The next euro12 billion ($17 billion) injection would keep the country afloat until September.

In Athens, Papandreou replaced his finance minister Friday as part of a broad reshuffle in an effort to calm criticism and meet the requirements to get the fresh aid injection.

The Franco-German announcement on private creditors was reminiscent of a similar bilateral deal last fall, when the two leaders set out the cornerstones of new pan-European fiscal rules and a permanent bailout mechanism.

“I believe that this meeting … again shows the power of the Franco-German couple,” Sarkozy said.

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Gabriele Steinhauser contributed to this report from Brussels.

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