Ailing Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs said he is unable to continue at the helm of the technology giant and will step down, handing the reins of one of the world's most valuable companies to Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook. Apple said Mr. Jobs submitted his resignation to the board of directors on Wednesday and «strongly recommended» that the board name Mr. Cook as his successor. Mr. Jobs, 56 years old, has been elected chairman of the board and Mr. Cook will join the board, effective immediately, the company said. «I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know,» Mr. Jobs said in his resignation letter. «Unfortunately, that day has come.» «The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,» said Art Levinson, chairman of Genentech and Apple board member, in a statement. He added that Mr. Jobs will «continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.» After a brief halt, Apple's shares slid 5.13% to $355.70 in after-hours trading, after closing at $376.18, up $2.58, at 4 p.m. on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

 

Европейский ЦБ объявил о запуске программы масштабного выкупа долговых бумаг правительств Испании и Италии.Об этом сообщает газета «The Wall Street Journal» со ссылкой на свои источники в ЕЦБ.

NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) — The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's on Friday, in a dramatic reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy.    S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus on concerns about growing budget deficits.    U.S. Treasuries, once undisputedly seen as the safest investment in the world, are now rated lower than bonds issued by countries such as the UK, Germany, France or Canada.    The outlook on the new U.S. credit rating is negative, S&P said in a statement, a sign that another downgrade is possible in the next 12 to 18 months.

Пока основных деталей нового плана нет, и законодателям надо будет еще проработать варианты принятия решения, работа эта будет проходить сегодня, в понедельник 1 августа.Однако в своей воскресной речи, президент Обама раскрыл некоторые детали.По сути они отражают ту часть предложений, которые исходили от спикера палаты представителей, господина Бойлера, хотя и с некоторыми оговорками.Лимит будет повышен на 2.4 триллиона долларов, и расходы на такую же величину.При этом, сумма урезанных расходов составит 900 мллрд.в течение 10 лет, остальную сумму сокращения расходов, будут изыскивать позднее.Лимит госдолга будет повышен в три этапа, после каждого этапа, конгрессмены будут разрабатывать новые проекты по сокращению бюджетных расходов, для чего будет создана специальная рабочая группа.Подробнее здесь: online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903520204576480123949521268.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_3

Moody’s Investors Service said today it expects the U.S. will get to keep its Aaa credit rating, “albeit with a shift to a negative 
outlook,” provided Congress and the White House can work out a deal to avoid missing payments to U.S. bondholders. Moody’s launched a review of the U.S. credit rating on July 13, as the fight over how to raise the current $14.3 trillion federal borrowing limit was starting to heat up.

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) --Australia's second-quarter consumer price index inflation hit 0.9%, compared to a rise of 1.6% in the March quarter, sending the Australian dollar to a fresh high. The CPI reading exceeded the 0.8% reading that economists had expected, according to data compiled by Dow Jones Newswires. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday that fruit prices jumped 26.9% while gasoline prices climbed 4%. CPI rose 3.6% on an annual basis, up from a rise of 3.3% recorded for the March quarter. The Australian dollar traded at $1.1059 after the data, just off a high of $1.1062.

 BEIJING, July 25 (Reuters) — China should not worry about stalled U.S. talks over the debt limit, an academic adviser to the People's Bank of China said on Monday, predicting that politicians will ultimately reach a deal to avert a crisis.

Об этом в своей клиентской рассылке, сообщил Моххамед Эль-Эриан возглавляющий одно из подразделений крупнейшего в мире фонда на рынке облигаций PIMCO.По его мнению, даже если в последний момент законодатели найдут компромисс по поводу повышения лимита государственного долга США, это оставит кредитный рейтинг страны в очень уязвимом положении.

NEW YORK (MNI) — Speculative accounts increased their net euro long position as well as their net yen long position as of July 5, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The non-commercial futures-only (ex-options) section of the CFTC's Commitments of Traders report showed that speculators increased their net euro long to +43,194 contracts from last week's net long of +32,987 contracts. This compares also to the net long of +99,516 contracts seen May 3, which was the largest net euro long since July 10, 2007 (long of 102,896 contracts). The euro topped out at a 17-month high around $1.4940 May 4.Tuesday's net euro short was in contrast to the record net euro long of +119,538 contracts seen May 15, 2007 and the record net euro short of -113.890 contracts seen May 11, 2010. In the yen, as of July 5, speculative accounts had a net yen long position of +14,327 contracts, which compared to the net long of +13,623 contracts seen last week and the net yen short of -1,648 contracts seem the week ending May 31. The yen position, as of Tuesday, was in contrast to the record net long yen position of +65,920 contracts seen March 25, 2008 and the record net yen short of -188,077 contracts seen June 26, 2007.

July 8 (Bloomberg) — European regulators are preparing to publish the results of their stress tests on the region’s lenders at about 6 p.m. Central European Time on July 15, said two people with knowledge of the decision.