Obama to Focus on U.S. Competitiveness, Jobs, Deficit

President Barack Obama said tomorrow’s State of the Union address will focus on cutting the deficit, reducing unemployment and ensuring the U.S. can compete with economic rivals.In a video to supporters that previews the nationally televised Jan. 25 speech, Obama said the economy is growing, corporate profits are rising and more than 1 million jobs have been created in the past year.Obama said he will be pivoting from responding to the financial crisis that occupied much of the first two years of his presidency to meeting longer-range economic challenges.“My principal focus, my number one focus, is going be making sure that we are competitive, that we are growing, and we are creating jobs not just now but well into the future,” Obama said in the video, released over the weekend. “I’m focused...

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Stocks Drop Worldwide as Oil, Dollar Surge After Egypt Protests

Stocks worldwide plunged the most since November, crude oil posted the biggest jump since 2009 and the dollar rose versus the euro after protesters posed the biggest challenge to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. Egypt’s dollar bonds sank, pushing yields to a record.The MSCI World All-Country World Index of stocks in 45 countries lost 1.4 percent at 4:59 p.m. New York time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4 percent to 11,823.70, preventing its longest weekly winning streak since 1995. Oil futures increased 4.3 percent to $89.34. The dollar appreciated 0.9 percent to $1.3611. Yields on Egypt bonds due in 2020 surged 22 basis points to 6.51 percent. Gold futures jumped 1.7 percent, the most in 12 weeks.Egyptian protesters clashed with police throughout the country and...

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Harper Pressured to Scrap Tax Cuts as Canadian Lawmakers Return

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be under pressure from opposition lawmakers to reverse corporate tax cuts and extend government stimulus as a condition for keeping his government in power when Parliament reconvenes today.Lawmakers from the opposition Liberals and New Democratic Party have called on the government to scrap reductions in the corporate income tax rate that they say are unaffordable. They want more spending on programs to sustain the recovery.Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said he’ll present his next fiscal plan in March. The Conservative government holds a minority of seats in the House of Commons and needs support of one of three opposition parties to pass the budget. If the fiscal plan is defeated, elections would follow.“If the Conservatives persist in their...

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