Oil hovers at $100 ahead of key US jobs report

Oil prices rose to above $101 a barrel Friday as traders awaited a U.S. jobs report for evidence about the strength of the U.S. economy and demand for crude.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for January delivery was up from $101.02 to $101.22 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 16 cents to settle at $100.20 on Thursday.

In London, Brent crude was up $1.16 cents at $110.15 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Markets were also bolstered by a speech by German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling for tighter fiscal discipline in the European Union, which provided hope that the eurozone would be taking more significant steps to control its debt crisis and ensure the future of its common currency.

Crude has jumped from $75 during the last two months amid signs the U.S. economy will likely avoid a recession. Investors will be closely watching the Labor Department's November unemployment report later Friday for evidence economic growth is strengthening, which could justify higher crude prices.

Analysts expect the economy added about 120,000 jobs last month.

"All eyes remain on the release of the U.S. non-farm payrolls data that could provide a better insight of the U.S. economic conditions, giving the market some clear direction," said a report from Sucden Financial in London.

Traders are also concerned about rising tensions over possible sanction against Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, because of its nuclear program. Some analysts, such as J.P. Morgan, say that Iran may pre-emptively cut oil exports if sanctions are imminent, a move that would send oil prices soaring.

"This would undoubtedly shock the oil market, and the initial market shock could be in the $20 to $30 per barrel range," J.P. Morgan said in a report. "The risks of such a disruption have materially increased."

In other Nymex trading, natural gas fell 3.4 cents at $3.614 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil added 5.67 cents to $3.0262 a gallon and gasoline futures gained 6.61 cents to $2.6240 a gallon.

___

Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-02-Oil-Prices/id-6d40296a91434b89896ce484ba3ea875

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Why Google Is The Most Important Learning Tool Ever Invented

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115637/Why_Google_Is_The_Most_Important_Learning_Tool_Ever_Invented

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Kanye earns 7 Grammy nods, beating out Adele

Adele scored six Grammy nominations on Wednesday, including for record, song and album of the year, but the owner of the 2011's best-selling album with "21" wasn't the night's top nominee ? and that wasn't the evening's only surprise.

Kanye West came away with a leading seven nominations, including a bid for song of the year for his all-star song "All of the Lights." However, the album from which it came ? "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," heralded by many critics as the best album of 2010 ? was not in the best album category, and all of his other nominations were relegated to the rap fields.

Other notable omissions in the top categories included country phenomenon Taylor Swift and veteran crooner Tony Bennett.

Bruno Mars and the Foo Fighters tied Adele with six nominations each, including in the album of the year category. Lil Wayne had five nods and critical-darling folky act Bon Iver scored four nominations, with two in the prestigious record and song of the year categories. But dubstep star Skrillex may have been the night's biggest surprise, getting five nominations, including a bid for best new artist.

"It feels incredible. Me and these guys, we locked ourselves in the studio not too far from here and worked on this album, especially 'Grenade,'" Mars said after the nominations were announced. "That's the song we worked the hardest on. That's like our trophy right there. Of all the songs we've been fortunate enough to be a part of this year, we were most proud of that one."

Story: List of Grammy nominations in top categories

The nominations were announced after the Recording Academy's fourth annual live concert special, which aired on CBS from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. The hour-long event featured key nominees like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and the Band Perry.

Even though Adele didn't get the lion's share of nominations, she got them where it counted: Her "21," the mournful post-breakup album that produced smash hits like the torch ballad "Someone Like You" ? was nominated for album of the year. The searing groove "Rolling in the Deep," which spent seven weeks at No. 1 this past summer, got nominations for both record and song of the year. Only Mars got nominations in all three categories as well.

Other nominees in the record of the year category included Bon Iver's ballad "Holocene"; Mars' ballad "Grenade"; Mumford & Sons' "The Cave"; and Katy Perry's inspirational anthem "Firework." For song of the year, which honors the writers of the tune, contenders included "The Cave," "Grenade, "Holocene" and Lady Gaga's "You and I."

The best album category was as noteworthy for who was excluded as it was for who was nominated. Lady Gaga garnered her third straight nod in the category for "Born This Way," while veteran rockers the Foo Fighters were nominated for "Wasting Light," along with Mars' debut album, "Doo-Wops & Hooligans," and Rihanna's steamy dance album "Loud."

Shut out were perceived favorites like 85-year-old Bennett, who became the oldest person to score a No. 1 debut when his "Duets II" album was released earlier this year, and the megawatt collaboration of Jay-Z and West with the heavily hyped "Watch The Throne."

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The biggest snub may have been to Swift, who won in the category in 2010 and was considered by some critics to be a favorite for "Speak Now," which has sold 3.7 million copies. She did get three nominations, however, including for best country album.

(Another blonde diva, Beyonce, merited just two nominations in lesser categories).

Unlike the past two years, which saw Swift and fellow country act Lady Antebellum soar in the general categories, the only country act that got a mainstream nomination was the country sibling act The Band Perry. Best known for their poignant ballad "If I Die Young," they got a nomination for best new artist. Their competition also includes Bon Iver, Jay-Z rap prot?g? J. Cole, Skrillex and rapper-singer Nicki Minaj, who scored four nominations in total.

The 54th Grammys will be held Feb. 12 in Los Angeles. The ceremony will mark the first since the academy shaved its categories from 109 to 78 this year, amid some protest. Some of the more niched categories, like best Zydeco or Cajun music album, were eliminated.

In addition, men and women now compete together in vocal categories for pop, R&B and country, instead of having separate categories for each sex. This year, the category is best pop solo performance and Bruno Mars is the only man nominated for "Grenade." His competition includes Adele for "Someone Like You," Lady Gaga for "You and I," Pink for "(Expletive) Perfect" and Perry for "Firework."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45492241/ns/today-entertainment/

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China eyes European assets -minister (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China's Commerce Minister plans to lead an investment delegation to Europe next year, in hopes that the crisis roiling the continent will open up some plum assets for acquisition.

China has been reluctant to publically commit to buying additional European bonds, despite European pleas for help in shoring up finances there, but could be much more interested in getting hard assets for its cash.

"Next year, we will continue to send a delegation for promoting trade and investment to the European countries," Chen Deming told a gathering of Chinese firms with overseas investments on Monday.

"Some European countries are facing a debt crisis and hope to convert their assets to cash and would like foreign capital to acquire their enterprises. We will be closely watching and pushing forward the progress."

His comments are in keeping with an editorial in the Financial Times this weekend by Lou Jiwei, the head of China Investment Corp (CIC), who wrote that China was keen to make equity investments in Western infrastructure, especially in Britain.

Chen warned that China may fight back if other countries use trade protectionism against it.

Chinese officials repeatedly emphasize the overseas deals that have fallen through because of political opposition; although far more Chinese purchases have cleared with few problems.

China's largest state-owned shipping firm COSCO (1919.HK) has already made a major investment into Greece's historic Piraeus port (OLPr.AT), as part of Greek divestment plans.

Broadly speaking, overseas investment by Chinese state-owned enterprises has so far been primarily geared toward resources purchases, while CIC has been criticised at home for taking equity stakes in Western financial institutions.

CIC was particularly interested in infrastructure projects where governments could offer lower taxes or discounted bank loans in return for investment, Lou wrote in the Financial Times.

China has been colder to pitches to buy more European nations' bonds without getting anything in return. A Spanish delegation was met with polite disinterest from Chinese officials earlier this month, sources said.

The visiting Spanish minister also tried to interest CIC in upcoming divestments of state holdings in savings banks known as cajas, in the national lottery company, airports and other infrastructure.

Commerce Minister Chen cautioned reporters that China itself faces risks of further economic slowdown in 2012.

Annual inflation in 2011 is likely to exceed 5.5 percent -- overshooting the government target of 4 percent -- and inflationary pressures will continue next year, Chen said.

(Reporting by Aileen Wang and Ken Wills; Writing by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111128/bs_nm/us_china_economy_inflation

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Occupy LA deadline comes, many say they won't go (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? The protesters whose tents line the lawn of Los Angeles City Hall made it clear that they received the eviction notice issued by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Whether they'll heed it is much less certain.

With hours left before the Monday at 12:01 a.m. deadline the mayor and the police chief gave for Occupy LA, very few of the occupiers were packing, and many were instead were making plans for what to do when they stay.

Some handed out signs Saturday mocked up to look like the city's notices to vacate, advertising a Monday morning "eviction block party."

Dozens attended a teach-in on resistance tactics, including how stay safe in the face of rubber bullets, tear gas canisters and pepper spray.

Police gave few specifics about what tactics they would use if protesters ignored the deadline.

Chief Charlie Beck said at Friday's news conference that officers would definitely not be sweeping through the camp and arresting everyone just after midnight.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times published Sunday, Beck said that despite the lack of confrontations in the camp's two-month run, he's realistic about what might happen.

"I have no illusions that everybody is going to leave," Beck said. "We anticipate that we will have to make arrests."

But he added, "We certainly will not be the first ones to apply force."

Villaraigosa announced Friday that despite his sympathy for the protesters' cause, it was time for the camp of nearly 500 tents to leave for the sake of public health and safety.

The mayor said the movement is at a "crossroads," and it must "move from holding a particular patch of park to spreading the message of economic justice."

But occupiers showed no signs of giving up the patch of park too easily.

Will Picard, who sat Saturday in a tent amid his artwork with a "notice of eviction" sign posted outside, said the main organizers and most occupiers he knows intend to stay.

"Their plan is to resist the closure of this encampment and if that means getting arrested so be it," Picard said. "I think they just want to make the police tear it down rather than tear it down themselves."

But some agreed with the mayor that the protest had run its course.

"I'm going," said Luke Hagerman, who sat looking sad and resigned in the tent he's stayed in for a month. "I wish we could have got more done."

Villaraigosa expressed pride that Los Angeles has lacked the tension, confrontation and violence seen at similar protests in other cities. But that peace was likely to get its biggest test on Monday.

Ue Daniels, 21, said as an artist he's "as nonviolent as they come" but he planned on resisting removal any way he could.

"I think we'll comply as far as putting our tents on the sidewalk maybe, that's something that's been going around."

But as far as leaving altogether?

"They would probably have to drag me away," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_re_us/us_occupy_los_angeles

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