Asked if the deadline to buy planes in 2012 was still on the
cards, he said: “It is possible. I don’t dismiss it.”France’s Dassault Aviation-built Rafale, the US
Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Swedish Saab’s Gripen NG
have long been vying for the estimated $4-7 billion contract.
By Luke JeffsLONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Deutsche Boerse’s
planned $9 billion takeover of NYSE Euronext faces
growing opposition from its largest clients who fear the merger
will lead to increased trading costs, a concern the exchanges
reject.”I don’t see clear benefits from mergers. I see increased
complexity and increased complexity rarely implies increased
savings,” said Philippe Guillot, head of trading at broker
Cheuvreux.”Nothing has led us to believe that savings will be passed
on to the end investors,” Guillot told the European Exchanges
Summit in London on Monday.Europe’s largest share-trading firms, including the world’s
top investment banks, fear a merger between Deutsche Boerse and
NYSE Euronext will give the combined entity an effective
monopoly in some areas, which could lead to increased costs.”They’ve not offered us much in the way of assurances over
trading fees, our main outlay, instead they are talking up
connectivity savings,” said one head of electronic trading at a
large investment bank.NYSE Euronext sought to allay these concerns on Monday,
saying costs would come down for clients, though it did not rule
out higher trading fees.”The merger will lead to infrastructure savings. Clients
will have less to do to connect to our platforms and less to do
in clearing and settlement. It does not equal lower fees but it
will mean overall savings,” said Roland Bellegarde, group
executive vice president and head of European cash and listings
at NYSE Euronext.The exchange partners are keen to stress clients will make
hefty savings in their technology budgets because the merger
will mean they need to maintain just one set of infrastructure
links to trade products which today require two sets of pipes.The European Commission is currently studying the exchange
mega-merger, particularly derivatives trading and clearing
services, with a view to announcing whether it has decided to
back or block the deal in December.Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext hoped to avoid tricky
questions over the combination of the two top European futures
platforms by arguing the vast over-the-counter (OTC) futures
market should be factored into any anti-trust deliberations.But three people familiar with the matter said last week the
Commission told the exchanges at the start of the month it had
opted not to include OTC derivatives in its review of the
planned merger, a potential blow to the deal.NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse have until Nov.8 to
address formally the European Commission’s specific concerns,
including the suggestion that the merged firm will have an
effective monopoly in European listed futures trading.Deutsche Boerse’s Eurex and NYSE Euronext’s Liffe have
between them 93 percent of European futures trading and 86
percent of European options activity, World Federation of
Exchanges data shows.
By Matt SpetalnickASHEVILLE, N.C., Oct 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack
Obama sought on Monday to turn up the heat on Republicans for
blocking his jobs bill in Congress as he began a campaign-style
bus tour across states vital to his 2012 re-election chances.Hitting the road again, this time in the swing states of
North Carolina and Virginia, Obama attempted to rally public
support pressuring U.S. lawmakers to pass at least parts of his
$447 billion jobs package, even after the plan as a whole was
defeated last week.”We’re going to give members of Congress another chance to
step up to the plate and do the right thing,” Obama told a
cheering crowd at the airport in Asheville, North Carolina, the
starting point for his three-day trek in a black armored bus.As Senate Democrats prepared to force a vote this week on
one of Obama’s jobs proposals, which would give states money to
employ teachers, the president mocked the Republicans who had
blocked his original bill.”Maybe they just couldn’t understand the whole all at once.
So we’re going to break it up into bite-size pieces so they can
take a thoughtful approach to this legislation,” he said.Obama’s strategy is to force Republicans to accept his
proposals or be painted as obstructionists getting in the way
of economic recovery as campaigning for the November 2012
presidential and congressional elections heats up.White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that the
Republicans opposing Obama’s jobs plan had not put forward a
proposal of their own that would have a meaningful economic or
hiring impact in the next 12 to 18 months.Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Republican House of
Representatives Speaker John Boehner, said the ideas his party
proposed last week to require a balanced budget, promote
foreign trade and push offshore energy exploration would have a
more significant effect than Obama’s short-term stimulus.”The Republican plan is focused on the type of reforms that
will provide a lasting environment for private sector job
creation, rather than a fleeting sugar high,” Buck said, also
questioning why Obama was on the road rather than speaking with
lawmakers in Washington to find areas of agreement.”This bus tour looks a lot like the kind of political game
the president has said the American people are tired of,” he
said.DEADLOCK IN CONGRESSRepublicans say Obama’s jobs package was laden with
wasteful spending and counterproductive tax hikes for wealthier
Americans who tend to be entrepreneurs and job creators.Their disagreement has extended the deadlock that brought
the United States to the edge of sovereign default in August
when Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on deficit cuts
as part of a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.It looks unlikely that any major steps to spur hiring will
be passed before the 2012 election, when Obama will be judged
for his economic stewardship.In Asheville, the president said partisan considerations
needed to be set aside for the economy’s sake.”We can’t do nothing. Too many folks are hurting out there
to do nothing,” he said.The White House billed Obama’s trip — his second bus tour
through small-town America since he visited the rural Midwest
in August — as a chance to reconnect with ordinary citizens.His itinerary takes in two traditionally conservative
states he won in 2008 but which polls show he is in danger of
losing in his bid for a second term. But the White House said
Obama’s trip was official business with all costs covered by
taxpayers, not from his campaign coffers.Waving people lined the streets in front of gas stations,
fast-food restaurants and shopping malls as Obama’s bus, with
dark-tinted windows and red and blue flashing lights, led a
long motorcade across the green, rolling hills.The bus tour takes place well over a year before the
election during a period when incumbent presidents generally
are spending their campaign time raising money.Obama’s focus on retail politicking at this stage suggests
he realizes he has a tough road in 2012 and has to start early
to hammer home his message that Republicans are refusing to
join with him in finding ways to fix the U.S. economy.At a Southern barbecue restaurant where he stopped for
lunch, diners expressed mixed views of the Democrat’s record.”This isn’t ‘Obama Country’ but I voted for him once and
I’ll vote for him again,” said Howard Ward, 76, a retired
textile manager. “He’s doing the best he can with jobs. But
it’s going to be very close in this state in 2012.”An elderly woman sitting nearby shook her head as she ate a
barbecue chicken sandwich. “He hasn’t done anything to fix the
economy. He doesn’t deserve a second chance,” she said.
