Italian banks affected by the threat of downgrading by Moody (AP)

Milano-Italian banks were down sharply on the Milan Stock Exchange Friday after rating Agency Moody's said it was considering lowering their credit worthiness.

Unicredit Bank shares in the country's largest, were down 8 percent in late morning trading on Friday. Intesa Sanpaolo, second largest bank of Italy and Monte Paschi were also down.

In a report released late Thursday, Moody's Investors Service's placed the rating for long-term debt and deposit of 16 Italian banks and two Italian Government related financial institutions on the review for a possible downgrade.

The Agency also changed the rating Outlook to negative from stable on the long-term debt rating and a further 13 Italian banks,

The move comes after Moody's put Italy's public debt on review for possible downgrade on concerns about low growth and high public debt, which, at about 120 percent of GDP, is one of the largest in Europe.

Treated Italy of Moody another shot recently placing several English-government related issuers on review for a possible downgrade. These include energy companies Eni and Enel SpA SpA, engineering and construction company Finmeccanica SpA and Poste Italiane SpA, the postal service nationwide.

It is not only to express concerns about Italy. Standard and poor's recently cut its rating Outlook for Italy's debt from stable to negative.

Italy's financial system has come to further examination on fears of contagion from the Greek crisis.

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Greek banks discuss new rollover plan (Reuters)

Frankfurt/London (Reuters)-European banks and finance officials are discussing a proposal to replace the existing Greek debt with a different type of link to circumvent provisions of credit rating agencies on a scheduled rollover, two senior European banking sources said on Friday.

The proposal provides for a voluntary rollover of debt securities of a composition of different credit and not comparable to avoid moving agencies in Greece default status, sources told Reuters on Friday.

"Only by a completely different composition would bond rating agencies see restructuring as a volunteer and not declare insolvent, Greece," said a senior banker.

Banks, insurers and national finance officials have held meetings this week to seek a solution to the crisis of sovereign debt of Greece.

An elderly German banking source said that banks were still examining a variety of proposals and that they wouldn't agree to commit to any rollover agreement without a signal from rating agencies that there would be no default value.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday that French banks and insurance companies were willing to participate in a voluntary rollover of Greek debt.

German private creditors were invited by the Ministry of Finance of the country to submit data on their exposure and their intentions to roll the debt early next week, two other sources familiar with the meetings said.

Euro-zone Governments are discussing a second rescue package for Greece that would run from 2011 to 2014 and would amount to 120 million euros (170 million dollars), including up to 30 billion euro by the private sector.

Germany and France, along with Greek banks themselves, are the largest holders of Greek State debt and therefore more exposed to any default.

There was increasing pressure in countries like Germany, Finland and Netherlands for aggressive steps to force banks to share the burden of a new aid package, after taxpayers coughed all the money in the previous round.

(Reporting by Alex Chambers, Jonathan Gould and Philipp Halstrick; editing by Patrick Graham)

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Small business: the road not taken MBA (BusinessWeek)

For many students and their schools, MBA stands for Master of Business Administration during the program and then to McKinsey, Bain and Accenture, once you start looking for work. Much is made of return on investment, when the subject of MBAs generates what appears to be an indisputable truth that these programs naturally lead to positions with large, public companies.

In this context, a programme of MBA students toward small channels or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will probably be seen as unsuccessful or lack of ambition. The same view could be taken by students who choose to take the path of SMEs.

Smaller companies are rarely familiar species name employers usually linked MBAs and are likely to evolve in areas where managers have to get their hands dirty. However, there is a case to be made for SMEs the best possible fit for an MBA to be graduated.

A classic, high quality MBA program is a curriculum designed by the Directorate-General for equipparticipants with all the skills required to manage a business. While the structure rests on specific topics such as finance, strategy and leadership, the overall logic is to merge these blocks of knowledge together. In the vast majority of cases, MBA students shy away from too much specialization, preferring instead to focus on a well-rounded education.

Limited >

Despite the high-profile courtship, MBA recruiters multinational programmes, their emphasis on preparing graduates for jobs in high-level management was not always resonate with larger employers. A large company can offer a wide range of articles, these are often limited to specific functions that are particularly suitable for MBA graduates. In this way, alumni become directors of marketing, purchases or perhaps human resources. Just within a multinational company will begin their careers post-MBA in general management.

The same is not true, within SMEs, where sizealone makes a comprehensive high-level position. That is, not to say that alumni MBA cannot operate in specific roles of the classical Department, but that SMEs provide opportunity to put all these skills and more together in a management role.

In the Western world, in particular, rarely management jobs are created at the well-known companies that MBAs would like to work. Schools and students of today must recognize that it is small businesses that are trying to find the right people to help make them able to compete in a world of ever-more-international business. It is no longer the case that only employers with a massive international presence can offer truly international careers. SMEs are increasingly looking to expand beyond their borders and do not always have management teams to make such a change. This is where MBA programs could respond to a need and at the same time help alumni find very satisfying career at companies you might not ever have looked atin past.

If there is a degree of misunderstanding among providers of MBA graduates and students with regard to SMEs, there is also a general misunderstanding of MBAs by SMEs themselves. Smaller companies that seem ideal for the General management MBAs coming out of the business schools also play a role in maintaining often-subconscious notion that no holder of an MBA would like to work in nothing less than a huge group viva. As regards the recruitment of MBA alumni, there seems to be a big dose of self-censorship at work.

Culture >

It seems that for many SMEs, a graduate MBA might be more trouble than he or she may be worth. The image is likely to be one of a handsomely paid with sacks of self-confidence and extremely high standards. A mix of that would be seen as an explosive one by most of the smaller companies. They seem to feel that the cultural shock and cost involved in recruitment of someone with an MBA wouldcreate a series of problems.

Salary, is also an aspect that could easily scare off the PMI. In terms of cost, there is no denying that an MBA quoted a CV means higher wage expectations. This must be weighed against the far-reaching leadership and strategic advantages that a manager can add to a company more compact. The extra value that can be carried by a graduate MBA is potentially huge.

A manager with a background MBA can offer the kind of long-term vision more common among larger groups allied with the latest knowledge management-vision that smaller firms lack the time or resources to implement. As the globalization of markets, manpower and production puts SMEs increasingly compete with larger companies and those who are active in the markets, this type of approach to 360 degrees can make a difference. In short, the rules of competition for SMEs are always much like those for larger companies. Need to play with the same rules. Here, MBAgraduates can be.

For business schools and their students, recruiters largest will always be a key target. The prestige and the confidence of an increasing sense in terms of career, marketing program, and in some cases, the ranking. Could, however, be the case that some old world must evolve. Can have time for SMEs and MBAs to recognize that could be made for each other.

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Home Retail Group acquires Habitat UK (AFP)

London (AFP)-Home Retail Group in Britain on Friday said it had bought the brand Habitat UK and three of his London furniture stores for £ 24.5 million from private equity firm U.S. Hilco.

HRG, which owns the chain Argos and Homebase chain home improvements, has agreed to pay the equivalent of 39 million or 27.5 million after the exclusive Habitat chain was placed in administration in order to save it from bankruptcy.

"Home Retail Group (HRG) today announces that it has agreed to acquire certain rights to the brand Habitat, one of the main contemporary House United Kingdom dealers," it said in a statement.

"Rights are for the exclusive use of the mark, his designs of the brand and intellectual property in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

"In addition, Home Retail Group is also acquiring the site Habitat UK, three of its stores in London and some helper functions."

At the same time, Habitat UK has applied to go into administration-the process by which a troubled company invites independent financial aid in an attempt to restructure the business and remain operational.

The announcement threatens the chain 30 other shops in Britain and about 900 jobs.

Separately, Hilco said it was in "Advanced" talks over the sale of the business Habitat outside of Britain.

The profitable European Division includes 27 stores in France, five in Germany and six in Spain, with franchise agreements in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Habitat established by designer Terence Conran in 1964, represented image young and fashionable of London in the 1960s with a range of pastel colours and products based on his designs.

"The credentials of style led brand Habitat, with its strong, will be a significant addition to the Group's portfolio of brands", HRG CEO Terry Duddy said on Friday.

"In addition to operating the three stores in London and the UK Web site, we will introduce products Habitat throughout the group, including a number of concessions Homebase stores."

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Exclusive: Citi affect customer "standard" monitoring (Reuters)

NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters)-after a massive data breach last month, Citigroup did not offer its customers hacked the same degree of protection identity theft that provide many other companies, privacy advocates and critics.

For customers interested in Citigroup, which had more than 360,000 credit card accounts exposed last month, has sent letters this month with tips on protecting yourself against identity theft.

But unlike other large u.s. companies, violated by cybercriminals, Citigroup did not offer to buy or give all customers affected one year of credit monitoring services, preventive file according to a sample of a letter, the Bank sent to many customers and filed with the regulators in Maine.

A year of monitoring has become a standard that offers large companies after customer information is violated, to reassure customers and to protect them from identity theft, privacy advocates and consumers, he said.

"Consumers might wish to turn to Citibank and ask them to do more. It has become rather trivial to offer credit monitoring these days, "Ruth Susswein, Deputy Director of the national consumers ' priorities for action, told Reuters.

"This is really what standard they can do," he said.

The Bank did remind consumers that could put a fraud alert on their credit file, which tells creditors to contact the consumer before allowing an account must be opened in their name.

Credit monitoring services typically do more, such as tracking consumer credit reports for signs that their identities were stolen and giving them early warnings of theft.

Letter to Citigroup clients offers special services for customers that consider their identities have been stolen. Bank spokesman Sean Kevelighan said that clients by calling a toll free number mentioned in the letter would be automatically offered services including at least six months of monitoring.

Hackers failed to steal social security numbers with the Citi data breach. In general, when they have been compromised social security numbers, there is little risk of new account fraud, said Paul Stephens, Director of policy and advocacy for Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a San Diego non-profit that records violations.

But the facilities are relatively inexpensive and offers now seem to be the norm after most of the violations, he added.

The Bank, already facing legal pressure on its disclosure delayed fracture, now faces additional criticism from supporters who call his reply miser.

"Citigroup has need to take this latest violation more serious than what they have," said Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Rotenberg, who testified this week before the Senate Banking Committee of the United States for cybersecurity in the financial sector, told Reuters that companies generally require additional steps such as reducing the amount of personal information held on file.

OPEN RECORDS

Citigroup, the third largest u.s. Bank, including a sample of the letter sent to holders of 703 accounts in Maine, in a filing with the Office of the Attorney General William Schneider. Maine is one of a number of States that require organizations to report when personal data is compromised. Officials provided the letter to Reuters in response to an open records request.

In his letter Citigroup advises customers to "remain vigilant over the next 12 or 24 months of your account activity monitoring" and tells them that they can put a "fraud alert" on their credit files.

Kevelighan said did not directly because the Bank did not make an offer wider free credit monitoring to date.

He said the Bank is "detection rate of satisfaction for nearly 90 percent with customers by contacting us in particular, were influenced by this," based on evaluations by customer service agents who manage their calls. He also reiterated that customers would not be responsible for any unauthorized use of their Citi accounts.

Citigroup said its cyberattackers not stealing social security numbers of its customers or card security numbers and "none of the data violated was sufficient to perpetrate fraud."

Privacy and security experts, said hackers could still find ways to use customer names, account numbers and email addresses to steal their identity.

"We still think that the violation is very serious," said Rotenberg.

Monitoring was not always common. TJX Companies initially refused to offer the service after it disclosed a violation of important data in 2007, but eventually offered three years of monitoring for some customers as part of a settlement of a class-action lawsuit.

Now the offers are more standard. Other documents from Maine delineate a myriad of other breaches of the data to dozens of companies, universities and other organizations. In many cases, companies mentioned that would free credit monitoring as part of their response, such as when the RiverSource funds unit of Ameriprise Financial said a former employee was unable to return the electronic devices containing client names and social security numbers.

(Edited by Steve Orlofsky)

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Oil, world stocks tumble on signs of dismal economy (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters)-oil prices plunged, falling global stocks and euro shred more than 1.0 percent Thursday after the news of disappointing private sector activities in Europe and China, coupled with an increase in unemployment claims of the United States, sent a shiver through the global financial markets.

Exacerbating fears of slower growth were expected from the International Energy Agency to release 60 million barrels of oil from the strategic inventories.

"It could be a signal to their overall level of concern about slower global economy," said Omer Esiner, senior market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.

Further diminished and European equities and debt prices of Government on both sides of the Atlantic extended gains after initial claims for State unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week.

Gold fell almost 2.0 percent to hit lowest levels in nearly and the euro hit an all-time low against the Swiss franc as anxiety for Greece and a slowing U.S. economy dampened the investors ' risk appetite and encouraged an offer for security.

The euro fell 1.3% to $ 1,451, the lowest level in about a week and also hit a new record low at 1.1873.

"The claims (jobless U.S.) just added fuel to the fire here ... you two months now stuck in this range and they just won't budge. That is certainly a disappointment, "said Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago.

Compounding the worry, the private sector in the euro zone grew only modestly, and would be reduced without the support of Germany and France, while the sector of China barely extended even as inflation eased, purchasing managers ' indices (PMI) has shown.

The data comes a day after the Federal Reserve of the United States said that the pace of recovery of the United States was proceeding more slowly than it had expected, but no new aid for its economy, once the purchase programme of its link expires this month pledged.

"Bernanke's Outlook cautious (President Ben) and persistent turmoil for the American economy that could linger until the end of the year, including concerns about Greece, hit market sentiment," said David Watt, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.

World stocks as measured by the MSCI World equity index of all countries were down 1.1 percent, leaving the index plate so far this year.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 166.76 points, or 1.38 percent, to 11, 942.91. The stock index & Poor Standard of 18.01 was down 500 points or 1.40%, to 1, 269.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 35.95 points or 1.35 percent, to 2, 633.24.

Brent crude oil Futures and United States extended losses in volatile trading after the Labor Department report showed initial claims rose 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 429.000. Economists had expected claims to come in at 415,000.

In London, ICE Brent crude oil for August delivery fell $ 109.06 $ 5.15 per barrel. The New York Mercantile Exchange, the August contract fell $ 4.08 91.33 per barrel.

Gold spot fell from 1.99% to a minimum of 1 session, $ 518.40 per ounce. Prices later barred a little $ 1, 524.46.

Treasury of the United States cut short an early advance after the IEA announced that it would release of strategic crude reserves.

The United States Treasury note of 10-year benchmark price was up to cede 2.92% 16/32.

Bunds had already earned after signs of a slowdown in growth in the euro area has raised fears about the ability of Greece and other countries to combat the debt crisis.

Bund Futures rallied to a session high of 35 126.56, the ticks of the day, pushing yields of 10 years to 2.92%.

(Additional reporting by Steven c. Johnson and Robert Gibbons in New York; Lucia Mutikani in Washington; Jonathan cable, Kirsten Donovan and Brian Gorman in London; Written by Herbert Lash)

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Raw materials largely fall on concerns about the economy (AP)

Commodity prices fell sharply Thursday on further evidence of a slowdown in the global economy and a decision of a group representing 28 countries to release emergency oil supplies in the market in an attempt to lower prices.

The decline came across the Board. Oil is down 4.6 percent, silver fell 4.7%, gold lost 2.1 percent and heating oil fell 5.8 percent.

There were indications of weaker economic growth in China, United States and Europe.

In the United States, the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week rose unexpectedly, indication of weakness in the labour market. That came a day after the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said problems plaguing the economy may be worse than initially thought.

Meanwhile the production grew more slowly in June in China and Europe, according to the Purchasing Manager indexes compiled by HSBC and Markit economics.

Oil prices dipped after the International Energy Agency, which includes the United States and other countries, 27, said he would release 60 million barrels of oil from the emergency stocks for a period of 30 days to try to stave off higher prices of energy that could strain the global economic recovery. Half the supply is by the United States

"There are certainly concerns to go ahead, economic growth," said Dave Meger, vice President of metals trading at vision financial markets. "And, equally important, the idea that there is no hint of any type of stimulus to be ... supplied by the Fed."

Benchmark crude for August delivery fell $4,39 to settle at $ 91.02 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex contracts, heating oil fell 17.15 cents or 5.8 percent, to settle at $ 2.7994 per gallon, gasoline dropped 15.24 cents to $ 2.7764 per gallon and natural gas dropped to $ 12.4 cents per 1,000 cubic feet 4,193.

August gold fell $ 32.90 to settle at $ 1 an ounce, 520.50 and September Palladium fell to $27,30 or 3.5 per cent, to $ 743.35 an ounce.

July contracts in metals, silver fell $ 1,737 or 4.8%, to settle at $ 35,002 ounce, copper fell 4.9 cents per pound to $ 4,039 and Platinum fell $57,90, or 3.3%, up to 1, $ 694.50 per ounce.

Cereals and beans also dropped. September wheat fell 4 cents to settle at $ 6.6925 a bushel, corn December fell $ 6.46 4.25 cents a bushel and November soybeans fell cent to $ 15.25 13.1725 bushel.

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