8/6/2019 East Asia Growth

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ECONOMY DowJones-62.44 12,240.11 Nasdaq+1.46 2,766.25 S&P500-4.22 1,300.67 10-yr. T-note-0.03 2.95% Yen/Dollar-0.1650 77.7450 Oil futures-0.16 97.24 Euro/Dollar-0.0047 1.4322

NEWYORK A late sell-off wipedout the stock markets gainsThursdayas investorsworriedthat a bill headed for a vote in

the House of Representatives wouldfailto break a stalemateoverraising the countrys debtlimit.

Themarketwas up formuchof the day but started to sinkin the last half-hourof trading.SenateMajority LeaderHarryReid saidin theafternoonthatthe House bill wouldnt get asingle Democratic vote in theSenate, meaning it would fail.

That gave a catalyst forselling, said Quincy Krosby,

market strategist at PrudentialFinancial.The Dow Jones industrial

average fell 62.44 points toclose at 12,240.11. The indexhad been upas many82 pointsearlier in the day following anunexpected decrease in newclaims for unemployment benets.

Just ve days remain untilthe Treasury Departmentsays the government wonthave enough money to coverallits bills.The Dowhas falleneveryday sinceFriday becauseof worries that the U.S. mightdefault on its debt.

The Standard & Poors 500fell 4.22 to closeat 1,300.67. TheS&P500has fallen for the pastfour days. The Nasdaq com-posite index edged up 1.46 to2,766.25.

The Dow is now down 3.5percent for the week and isheadedfor itsworst week sinceearly July 2010.

TRENTON, N.J. Johnson &Johnson said Thursday thatits reducing the maximumdaily doseof itsExtra StrengthTylenol pain reliever to lowerrisk of accidental overdosefrom acetaminophen,its activeingredient and thetop cause of liver failure.

The companys McNeil Con-

sumer Healthcare Divisionsaid the change affects ExtraStrength Tylenol sold in theU.S. one of many productsin short supplyin storesdue toa string of recalls.

Starting sometime thisfall, labels on Extra StrengthTylenol packages will list themaximum daily dose as sixpills, or a total of 3,000 milli-grams, down from eight pills aday, or 4,000 milligrams. Begin-ning next year, McNeilwill also

reducethe maximumdaily doseforits RegularStrength Tylenoland other adult pain relieverscontainingacetaminophen, themost widely used pain killer inthe country. AP

From the WashingtonBUSINESS J OURNAL

LOCAL DIGEST

HEALTH

ON WALL STREET

Stock rally fadesahead of Housevote on debt deal

HONG KONG Surging inationin many Asian countries includ-ing China, a weak post-tsunamieconomic recovery in Japan anddebt woes in the United Statesand Europe threaten East Asiaseconomic outlook, theAsian Devel-

opment Bank said Thursday.The Manila-based lender main-tained its growth forecasts for 14emerging and newlyindustrializingEast Asian economies in 2011 and2012. But it said the region facesrisks that also include more volatilenancial markets and destabilizinginows of short-term capital, alsoknown as hot money.

The ADBs growth forecastswereunchanged from a report in April, with East Asia forecast to expandnearly 8 percentthisyear andnext.

It forecasts Chinas gross domesticproduct growth at 9.6 percent this year and 9.2 percent next year.

But it indicated that economicgrowth forecasts for China, Malay-sia, Thailand andVietnam likelywill becut. That wouldresultin a down-grade forthe region,whichincludes

10 SoutheastAsian countriesas wellas theeconomies of China,Taiwan,Hong Kong and South Korea.

Inthe rst half of 2011, economicgrowthacross East Asia eased froma blisteringpace as ination surgedacross much of theregion, driven byhigher commodityprices and strongeconomic recovery.

Rapidly rising ination risks a

wage-price spiral that could derailthe regions recent strong growth,the report said,noting thatinationin many economies hasrisenabove10-year averages.

In many East Asian economiespropertypricesare climbingquickly.

The devastating tsunami andnuclear disaster in Japan in Marchhas also spurred a debate over theuse of nuclear power, which coulddrive up energy prices by boostingdemand for other energy sourcessuch as oil and gas.

Thethreat of ination hasbeen amajor worry in Asia this year. TheADB warned in April that surgingfood prices of 10 percent on aver-age in many Asian economiescoulddrive 64 million more people intopoverty.

Iwan J. Azis, head of the lenders

Ofce of RegionalEconomic Integra-tion, said he expected governmentsto use a mix of different methods toght ination, including allowingtheir currencies to strengthen.That wouldmake importedgoods includ-ing food cheaper.

The ADBs economists also fret-ted about the dismal prospectsfor the United States and Europe,

which are plagued by high unem-ployment and debt problems. Bothare majorcustomers forEast Asiasexports.

Azis warned that the regioncould also be hurt if the U.S. gov-ernments top-notch credit ratingis downgraded amidfears that U.S.lawmakersmay fail tocomeup witha way to prevent a debt default inthe worlds biggest economy.

That could depress the dollaragainst other currencies, hurtingAsian governments that hold large

amounts of U.S. government debtin their foreign reserves, Azis toldreporters in Beijing.

China isthe biggest holderof U.S.government debt, with $1.15trillionin Treasury debt bythe endof April,according to U.S. government datareleased earlier this month.

Strayers prots slipas enrollment falls

Strayer Education Inc., the par-ent company of Strayer University,posteda 17percentdeclinein earn-ings in the second quarter as arecent decline in new student enroll-ments continued.

Net income fell to $29.6 millionfrom $35.7 million in the year-agoperiod.

TheDepartmentof Education last year revealed data showing gradu-ates of many for-prot colleges anduniversities had a hard time ndingemployment in their chosen eldsandpayingback their studentloans, which has prompted tighterregula-tions and falling enrollments.

United Therapeuticsprots jump

United Therapeutics nearlydoubled its net income in its latestquarter as revenue rose 36 percent.

The Silver Spring company, which continuesto expand its salesof drugs to treat pulmonary hyper-tension, said that net income in its2011 second quarter rose to $73.9million from $37.7 million in the year-ago period.

LightSquared reaches

deal with SprintReston-basedLightSquared said

it would speed the deployment of its next-generation wireless net- work through a 15-year agreement with Sprint in which the wirelessupstart will pay Sprint $9 billion incash to build and operate its new4G network and $4.5 billion worthof credits toward buying networkcapacity from LightSquared.

Mortgage rates hold steadyLong-term mortgage rates

remain in a holding pattern amidcontinued mixed signals about thehousing market.

McLean mortgage purchaserFreddieMac said a 30-year xed-ratemortgage averaged 4.55 percent intheweekendingJuly 28,up from4.25percent last week. A 15-year xed-rate loan averaged 3.66 percent,unchanged from lastweek.

MARK F. BREGMANNeustar Inc. named Bregman its chieftechnology ofcer. He will be responsi-ble for the Sterlingcybersecurity anddirectory-servicescompanysproduct technol-

ogy strategy andproduct develop-ment. Previously,Bregman workedat Symantec Corp., where he wasexecutive vice president and chieftechnology ofcer.

DETROIT Ford cant make enoughFocus cars to keep up with risingdemandbecauseof equipmentprob-lems that havecauseda shortageof dashboards, two people familiar with the situation told the Associ-ated Press.

Machinery that makes the skinthat covers dashboards at a Fordparts factory outside Detroit worksintermittently. That is forcing thecompany to take the unusual and

costly step of ying in parts fromEurope to keep its assembly linesmoving,the peoplesaid.Despitethoseefforts, the Focus plant near Detroitcantrun atfull speed,theysaid.

The problem comes at a time when high gas prices and shortages

of Japanese small cars have driven

up demand for the Focus. Dealerssay theyre having trouble gettingthe newlyredesigned compacts, andtheyve beenforced to putcustomerson waiting lists.

The people, who didnt want to beidentiedbecausetheyre not autho-rized tospeakaboutthe matter, saidFordis working to x theequipmentproblem at the parts plant in Saline,Mich., but so far the company hasntfound a solution.

Ford spokesman Todd Nissensaidcompanypolicyis notto commenton

internal workings atits plants.But hesaid the Saline factory continues tomake dashboardsfor the Focus.

Despite the problem, Ford soldmorethan 21,000Focuses lastmonth,making it the companys top-sellingpassengercar.

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Ination threatens East Asia growthBy KelvinChanThe Associated Press

J&J cuts maximum

Tylenol dosage toprevent overdoses

By TomKrisherThe Associated Press

Sources: Parts woes hurt Ford sales

Ford Motor Co.faces productionproblems of itsFocus compactcar. Sources saythe automakeris ying inparts from itsEuropean plants.

FORD MOTOR CO. VIA AP

ByChip CutterThe Associated Press