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Stocks close lower on Wall Street

NEW YORK, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks reversed most of a morning plunge on Wall Street Tuesday after traders came back from the Labor Day holiday to weak markets in Asia and Europe.

As markets closed in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was off 100.96 points after giving up more than 300 points in the opening hour.

The Dow closed off 0.9 percent to 11,139.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 8.73 points, 0.74 percent, to 1,165.24. The Nasdaq composite index lost 0.26 percent, 6.50 points, to 2,473.83.

Traders are facing a backdrop of uncertainty. On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department said the unemployment rate was unchanged in August, holding steady at 9.1 percent.

European and Asian stocks were mixed, although investors are still cautious with fears Europe's debt crisis may not be fully under control.

By close of trading in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was down 2.21 percent, giving up 193.89 points to 8,590.57. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.48 percent and Australia's Standard & Poor's/ASX 200 index was down 1.6 percent.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. treasury note rose 3/32 to yield 1.982 percent.

The euro fell to $1.3998, while the dollar rose to 77.63 yen.

The price of gold -- considered a safe haven at times of uncertainty -- jumped about $25 a troy ounce early, then closed flat, gaining 90 cents to $1.877.10 per troy ounce.

Crude oil was up 6 cents at $86.51 per barrel.

Some suggest collective tax for Europe

BRUSSELS, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Finance officials in Europe are beginning to suggest the road to economic recovery includes an even stronger central power in the Europe.

Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, said in a speech this week the economic crisis "clearly revealed the need for strong economic governance in a zone with a single currency," referring to the 17-member eurozone, which includes countries that share the euro as a common currency, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The director of the International Monetary Fund's European division Antonio Borges said recently European nations "will have to press ahead with structural changes and deeper economic integration."

Essentially, the Times said, officials are calling for a governance that resembles the United States with a pan-European Treasury Department that can act far more quickly than Europe can on, for example, a bailout of Greece.

With the current process in Europe, the parliament of each eurozone member -- all 17 of them -- has to ratify the loan to Greece. That process can take months or even years.

If time is of the essence, such a ponderous system will fail, the report said. In the meantime, while each parliament debates the matter, uncertainly crowds out what confidence is left in stock markets, where losses have accelerated in recent weeks.

Politically, such a radical change would be a risky undertaking. Voters in prosperous countries are unlikely to approve of their tax dollars helping other countries, which have governments that make their own spending decisions.

Generally, taxation at least implies representation, but taxpayers in Germany do not have any government official representing them in Athens.

"If they had the equivalent of the U.S. Treasury, then this treasury could have formulated proposals with the collective objective in mind, said former IMF official Garry Schinasi.

"Instead, they fumbled around and took two baby steps forward and three backward," he said.

Libyan oil may be slow to rebound

TRIPOLI, Libya, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The chairman of Libya's National Oil Co. said it may take 15 months for Libya to bring its oil industry up to pre-conflict levels.

Nuri Berruien, recently appointed to lead the company, said extensive damage to some oil production facilities and land mines put in place at others would slow down the effort to bring exports back to 1.6 million barrels per day, Britain's Financial Times reported Tuesday.

"In 15 months we can reach the pre-war level of 1.6 million barrels per day," Berruien said in an interview.

He called 15 months "the optimistic forecast," then added, "But I think there is reason for optimism."

Before the war that displaced dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who remains at large despite rebels taking control of most of the country, Libya was producing about 2 percent of the world's daily oil supply. As the conflict reduced exports to about 600,000 barrels per day, the International Energy Agency announced a coordinated program among its members to release oil from national reserves to stabilize the price of oil. In addition, Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, increased production.

UAW rank and file speak up

DETROIT, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Rank and file United Auto Workers members say the union accepting contract concessions is what turned around the U.S. auto industry.

"In my eyes, us employees, us line workers, are the one that bailed this company out," said Jason Hrelja, an hourly worker with the Ford Motor Co, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday.

"We took such a hit financially, and now that we are profitable. I feel like we are supposed to get at least the cost-of-living and our raises back," said another Ford employee, Robert Brian Hollifield, who works at Ford's Dearborn Truck Plant.

UAW President Bob King has said many times that it is time for the big three automakers to share more of the profits with either raises or a new formula for profit sharing.

General Motors and Ford have posted profits of $10.7 billion in the first half of 2011, and Chrysler Group LLC would have profits on the books if not for the payments associated with its federal bailout loans.

The UAW is involved in contract negotiations with all three automakers, and King has described the talks several times as going well.

On Sunday, he said, "I think the discussions that are going on are in-depth and there is an understanding of each others' issues."

King also said President Barack Obama "saved our jobs."

"Our members know there would not be an American auto industry today without Obama's leadership," he said.