Stock stumble to close out the week
NEW YORK, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Stocks dropped on Wall Street Friday after the U.S. Commerce Department said the trade deficit grew substantially in November.
The department revised October's deficit to $43.3 billion and said that jumped to $47.8 billion in November.
Stock indexes closed lower in Britain, France, Germany and Italy, despite a successful auction of three year bonds in Rome.
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded several European countries, including France and Italy, which shook markets late in the day.
By close of trading in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 48.96 points or 0.39 percent to 12,422.06. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 6.41 or 0.49 percent to 1,289.09. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 14.03 points or 0.51 percent to 2,710.67.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,060 stocks advanced and 1,972 declined on a volume of 3.4 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note rose 17/32 to yield 1.867 percent.
The euro fell to $1.2676 from Thursday's $1.2814. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 77.00 yen from Thursday's 76.77 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index gained 1.36 percent, 114.43, to 8,500.02.
In London, the FTSE 100 index shed 0.46 percent, 25.78, to 5,636.64.
S&P: France loses top credit rating
PARIS, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's Corp. downgraded nine European countries Friday, including France, which had been perched at the highest triple A rating.
The rating agency that notched the U.S. rating down from the top tier in August 2010 also dropped Portugal's credit Friday, sending down to junk status. It dropped Italy's rating by two notches, The New York Times reported.
S&P had said it would resolve questions by the end of January about 15 countries in Europe it was reviewing in December, including Germany and the Netherlands, which appear to have come through their review unscathed, the Times said.
S&P reassigned France's rating to AA+ from AAA, the highest rating.
"It's not good news. But it is not a catastrophe," said French Finance Minister Francois Baroin.
When S&P downgraded the United States for the first time ever in August, stock markets turned in a chaotic week. The Dow Jones industrial average moved up or down by 400 points on four consecutive days -- the most volatile week in its 75-year history.
In Europe, both Prime Minister Mario Monti of Italy and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France informed German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week that stimulus measures were required to spark growth in Europe's sluggish economy. Merkel, who has advocated for fiscal discipline as a path out of the financial crisis, responded by acknowledging that austerity budgeting was not a panacea, the Times said.
Marchionne open to headquarters talk
ROME, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Fiat Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said he would meet with Italy's labor minister to discuss the future location of a Chrysler-Fiat headquarters.
Fiat is in the process of buying Chrysler outright. It currently owns 58.5 percent of the company, which it rescued from bankruptcy in 2009.
Marchionne said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week it was an open question where to locate the company's headquarters, which provoked a quick response from Italian unions.
Italian news agency ANSA reported Friday that Italian Labor Minister Elsa Fornero said she would schedule a discussion with Marchionne ''as soon as possible.'
"As labor minister I am interested to know Fiat's investment plans, especially in regard to how they will affect employment," she said.
In Detroit, attending the North American International Auto Show, Marchionne said he would meet with Fornero, but there was "nothing to negotiate."
The company had "asked nothing" of Italy, but it was "up to Italy to decide whether it wants to return to being a manufacturing nation or not," he said.
"All we ask is that there is peace between labor and management to allow us to operate," he said.
"I have been perfectly clear, I don't know what I can add. There is an automobile market (in Europe) where the volume of sales has fallen to 1985 levels. We cannot go back 20 years, the basics have to be re-established."
Trolley lookalikes coming to Miami
MIAMI, Fla., Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Trolley lookalikes will soon offer free transportation to the Miami Marlins' new ballpark and elsewhere in the city, officials say.
The orange-and-green vehicles with rubber tires will feature wooden seats and leather hand straps, and will go to Brickell, downtown, Overtown, Biscayne Boulevard, the Culmer Center and the Marlins' new ballpark in Little Havana, The Miami Herald reported.
City commissioners approved the $20 million trolley plan.
The $20 million will go toward buying the vehicles and paying for operations for years. It comes from sources including $14 million from half-cent transit surtax funds, $4.1 million in federal stimulus funds and $1.5 million from the Florida Department of Transportation.
The city predicts operating costs will be $2 million-$3 million a year.
Limousines of South Florida is to be paid $2 million to run the trolleys and store them at a facility near Miami International Airport. The city is requiring the company to ensure 20 percent of its employees come from Miami's workforce.
