| NLRB could be shut down in new year and Italian yields drift back above 7% |
| News - Financial News |
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The agency, which is supposed to be governed by a five-member board, is down to three active members because of Senate Republican opposition to Obama's nominees. And one of them, Craig Becker, will see his term end at the conclusion of the current session of Congress.That's a problem, because the NLRB requires a three-member quorum to do anything, like set rules or consider a complaint. President Obama has nominated four appointees in the last two years, none of whom have come up for a confirmation vote in the Senate."Unfortunately and perhaps unsurprisingly, some in Congress have refused to allow votes on nominees to the board -- not on the grounds of qualifications, but simply political maneuvering and desire to render the Board unable to enforce the law," said Josh Goldstein, spokesman for the AFL-CIO. [Read the full article] But it also may be a gift-wrapped present under the tree for TransCanada (TRP), the Calgary-based company that wants to build the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline that would go from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.Republican lawmakers got what they wanted in the deal. As part of the bill, President Obama must now make a decision on whether to approve construction of the 1,700 mile pipeline within the next 60 days.It's not clear if Obama will sign off. There is a lot of opposition to Keystone among Democrats, particularly from environmentalists who worry about the impact of transporting "dirtier" oil from Alberta's tar sands down through the Midwest of the U.S.Still, it appears that investors are betting that Keystone will eventually get a green light from the U.S. government. Shares of TransCanada are up nearly 15% this year and are just 4% below their 52-week high. [Read the full article] The U.S. bankruptcy court trustee says that the $700 million in MF Global client funds is all from U.S. customers and should be returned to them by the British authorities. But the Joint Special Administrator of MF Global UK said only that the $700 million has been discovered in client funds and that it is not prepared to distribute the money yet."We are pleased with progress in the collection of both client and company monies, and are working hard to prepare to make an interim distribution of client money as soon as reasonably practicable," said the British authority.James Giddens, the U.S. trustee appointed to try to recover assets in the MF Global (MFGLQ) bankruptcy case, said in a statement Friday that he's disappointed with the British response. He has retained UK lawyers to try to get the money returned immediately. [Read the full article] 
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