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- Do Not Call listings to expire in 2008
MoneyDollar slumps to new record low versus euro FRANKFURT, Germany - The euro roared to another record high Tuesday, crossing $1.60 in late afternoon trading in Europe after a pair of ECB governors said high inflation may cause the bank to raise interest rates. The euro rose as high as $1.6018, more than a penny above the $1.5916 it bought in New York late Monday. The euro has risen 20 cents against the dollar in just five months and 10 cents in just two months. The 15-nation currency hit its last record of $1.5982 last Thursday. It dropped back on Friday after a Wall Street rally generated optimism that the worst of the U.S. credit crunch may be over, but rose again on Monday when Bank of America's first-quarter earnings fell short of expectations. The dollar's slump is a boon for U.S. companies that rely heavily on exports, but it's the bane of travelers as worldwide inflation rises, air fares climb and prices rise in dollar terms for everything from beer in Munich to fine wine in Paris to gondola rides in Venice. Tuesday's remarks by Yves Mersch in the Financial Times Deutschland and comments made by Christian Noyer to France's RTL radio showed the governing council of the ECB is committed get euro zone inflation back around 2 percent, below the current 3.6 percent it is at now. It effectively threw water on any hopes of a rate cut by the bank, which has kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 4 percent since June even as the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Canada have consistently lowered their own rates. On Tuesday, the Bank of Canada slashed its interest rate by half a percentage point to 3 percent. It also hinted another cut may be coming as it feels the effects of a slumping economy at its largest trading partner. The dollar has been weighed down by a combination of gloomy U.S. economic data and high European inflation — fueling expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates yet again, while the European Central Bank will leave rates unchanged. Lower interest rates can weigh on a nation's currency as traders transfer funds to countries where they can earn better returns, while higher rates are used to curb inflation.
The high euro is bound to cause more pain for European manufacturers who export cars, food, wine and other products to the United States because it means prices for their goods are more expensive. Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company announced a general price increase for its aircraft of an additional $2 million per single-aisle aircraft and $4 million per wide-body long range and A380 family aircraft as of May 1, citing the high euro and the cost for raw materials. In Germany, automaker BMW AG has said it will start producing more cars in South Carolina in a bid to take advantage of the cheaper dollar. Volkswagen AG has said it is likely to build a new production plant in the United States, too. Do Not Call listings to expire in 2008By JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press Writer Fri Sep 21, 6:28 AM ET WASHINGTON - The cherished dinner hour void of telemarketers could vanish next year for millions of people when phone numbers begin dropping off the national Do Not Call list.
Numbers placed on the registry, begun in June 2003, are valid for five years. For the millions of people who signed onto the list in its early days, their numbers will automatically drop off beginning next June if they do not enroll again. "It is incredibly quick and easy to do," Lydia Parnes, director of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection, said in an interview with The Associated Press this week. "It was so easy for people to sign up in the first instance. It will be just as easy for them to re-up." But Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., says people should not be forced to re-register to keep telemarketers at bay. Doyle introduced legislation this week, with bipartisan support, to make registrations permanent. "When someone takes the time and effort to say 'I don't want these kinds of calls coming into my house,' they shouldn't have to keep a calendar to find out when they have to re-up to keep this nuisance from happening," Doyle said in an interview. The FTC built the five-year expiration date into the program to account for changes, such as people who move and switch their phone number, Parnes said. Doyle, however, points out that the list is purged each month of numbers that have been disconnected and reassigned to new customers. People can register their home and cell phone numbers or file complaints at http://www.donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222. The registry prohibits telemarketers from calling phone numbers on the list. Companies face fines of up to $11,000 for each violation. Organizations engaged in charitable, political or survey work are exempt. Companies that have an established business relationship with a customer also may call for up to 18 months after the last purchase, payment or delivery. In the first week of the program, people signed up 18 million numbers. The registry now has more than 149 million phone numbers. "I think it's fantastic," said Bonnie Darling of Arlington, Va. Darling placed her name on the list this year after being flooded with calls from roofing companies, chimney sweeps and construction businesses. She has not heard from those companies in months. Darling is not worried about the five-year expiration. She said she expects it to be just as easy to register as it was a couple months ago. The FTC plans a consumer education program next spring on the re-registration process. While polls have shown consumers reporting far fewer unwanted phone calls, some telemarketers continue to violate the law. Since the registry began, the government has filed cases against more than 30 companies, resulting in $8.8 million in civil penalties and $8.6 million in redress to consumers and forfeitures. Most of the penalties were paid by satellite television provider DirecTV Inc., as part of the largest settlement in the program's history. DirecTV agreed to pay $5.3 million in December 2005 to settle charges that it and several telemarketing companies it hired had called numbers on the list. The company said then that it had stopped working with those telemarketers and taken steps to avoid calling numbers on the list. Telemarketers are required to pay an annual subscription fee to access the FTC list so those numbers can be blocked from their dial-out programs. The companies also must update their own calling lists every 31 days to ensure there are no numbers from the registry on them. The annual subscription fee for the list costs $62 for each area code, with a maximum cost of $17,050 for access to all U.S. numbers on the list. The FTC reported this year that 6,824 companies and other entities paid $21.7 million in fees to access the database in fiscal year 2006. All told, 15,218 entities have paid $59 million in fees to access the database since the program's inception. Most of the fees charged by the government are used to support the Do Not Call program. ___ On the Net: Information on the House bill, H.R. 3541, can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Download 1.35 Mb. Share with your friends:
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