Asian stocks hit record high as dollar falters

Asian stocks outside of Japan hit a lifetime high on Monday, but the dollar headed lower after a solid U.S. jobs report failed to dent expectations for another cut in U.S. interest rates.
On Friday, the dollar rose sharply and U.S. stocks gained after data showed September U.S. jobs growth of 110,000, the highest since May. August's jobs fall was reversed to a gain and July's numbers were revised up.
But the dollar was pressured again on Monday as analysts concluded the U.S. jobs market was still weakening and the Fed Reserve could cut rates again before year-end.
"The market cooled off a bit after the non-farm payrolls on their Fed easing expectations," said Markus Ammann, director of global foreign exchange at Bayerische Hypo Und Vereinsbank.
The Aussie hit a new 23-year high of $0.9023 in early trading, while the Japanese yen, which is used to fund carry trades, came under selling pressure.
The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's value against a basket of major currencies, was at 78.34 above last week's all-time low of 77.66. After Friday's jobs data, the index had risen as high as 78.819.
Trading volumes in Asia were thinned by a holiday in Japan, and traders expected the dollar to be volatile, with markets in Canada and the United States also closed on Monday.
Traders expected the euro to be listless ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Luxembourg later in the day.
The euro changed hands at 1.4135, little changed from late Friday.
By 10:33 p.m. EDT, MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan had risen 1.5 percent to 555.87 points, after hitting a record 556.43 earlier in the session.
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.7 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index ended 1.7 percent higher.
Australian shares touched a lifetime high, with U.S.-focused firms such as James Hardie Industries gaining after the solid U.S. jobs data boosted optimism about the U.S. economy, while firmer base metal prices boosted mining firms. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose as much as 1.2 percent to an all-time high of 6,684.4, surpassing its previous peak set on October 3.
"One of the concerns that investors had was whether the U.S. economy was going to slow and how far it was it was going to go down," said Tony Russell, senior equities adviser at ABN AMRO Morgans.
"So any indication that suggests that business is not going to be as bad as what they think certainly has given optimism to future earnings to companies there and that's flowing on to us as well."
Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index rose 1.3 percent in opening trade to a new all-time high of 3,871.87 points.
Seoul shares rose to a record as LG.Philips LCD surged a day ahead of what are expected to be solid earnings results, while STX Pan Ocean rallied after UBS said it had acquired a stake in the shipping firm.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 2 percent, while Taiwan's benchmark index Oil prices fell, extending the previous session's losses, as investors turned their focus to slower growth in the U.S. economy and after hurricane concerns in the Atlantic abated.
U.S. crude fell 36 cents to $80.86 a barrel in Globex electronic trading.
Gold was flat, with analysts eyeing continued weakness in the U.S. dollar. Cash gold was at $741.40/742.20, barely changed from $741.10/741.90 in New York on Friday.

Oil holds above $81 on winter stocks worries

Oil held above $81 a barrel on Friday, clinging to its first gains in five days after data showing unexpectedly low distillate and natural gas stocks in the United States stirred concern about peak winter supplies.
U.S. crude fell 19 cents to $81.25 a barrel by 0616 GMT after rallying $1.50 on Thursday, its first rise in a week. Brent crude lost 34 cents to $78.63 a barrel.
Thursday's gains were fuelled by data showing U.S. natural gas stocks rose less than expected last week, expanding by 57 billion cubic feet (bcf) instead of the 67 bcf expected by analysts, the Energy Information Administration said.
That followed figures on Wednesday that showed distillate supplies, including heating oil, dropped by 1.2 million barrels last week, about 9 percent below last year's average.
Taken together, the data painted a picture of tighter heating fuel supplies ahead of winter, although forecasters said separately that they expected another warmer-than-average winter this year.
A resumption in the dollar's decline on Thursday, snapping a three-day rally, also aided oil. The dollar steadied just above a record-low against the euro on Friday, as dealers awaited September U.S. payrolls data, expected to keep the Federal Reserve on track to cut interest rates later this month.
"Crude prices might gain further as the weaker dollar could encourage funds to use oil as a hedge," said Koo Ja-kwon, crude analyst at Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC).
Oil has traded around the $80-mark for about three weeks despite OPEC's agreement on September 11 to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from November 1.
ConocoPhillips and Valero Energy Corp said on Thursday their Los Angeles-area refineries were expected to resume normal operations during the week after being shut down Wednesday morning by a power outage.
Both Valero's 135,000-bpd refinery and Conoco's 139,000-bpd plant were working on Thursday through processes to restart from cold shutdowns

Dow tops 14,000

Stocks rose on Monday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average above 14,000 for the first time since July, as investors snapped up technology shares, including IBM and Intel Corp at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 105.02 points, or 0.76 percent, at 14,000.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 9.19 points, or 0.60 percent, at 1,535.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 18.21 points, or 0.67 percent, at 2,719.71.

Dollar touches fresh lows

The dollar hit a record low against the euro for the third session on Monday on concerns that the troubles in the housing sector could crimp economic growth and trigger more interest rate cuts in United States.
Trade was light with market attention shifting to housing and consumer confidence data due on Tuesday.
Investors are worried that additional monetary easing after last Tuesday's half-percentage-point rate cut by the Federal Reserve could further erode the dollar's appeal against higher yielding currencies such as the euro.
"We have interest rate differentials and growth differentials working against the dollar and speculators continue to seek record highs against the euro," said Michael Woolfolk, currency strategist at Bank of New York in New York. "There is simply no reason to be buying the dollar."
Several Wall Street firms have downgraded their outlook on U.S. gross domestic product over the next several quarters.
The euro rose earlier to a record high at $1.4130, according to Reuters data. It last traded at $1.4095, almost flat on the day. Analysts saw technical resistance at $1.4210.
The dollar traded at 114.94 yen, 0.43 percent lower on the day.
Still, analysts say the recent sharp declines in the dollar may provide to some investors a short-term buying opportunity.
"The U.S. dollar feels quite weak, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some short-term profit-taking, people buying some U.S. dollar and selling some euro, but I do not expect it (the euro) to move too much lower than here," Firas Askari, head currency trader at BMO Nesbitt Burns in Toronto.
Interest rate futures are pricing in a roughly 66 percent chance of a 25 basis point Fed rate cut in October, down from 72 percent at Friday's close. At least one more quarter-point cut has been factored in by year-end on top of any move at the Fed's next meeting in October.
"It's all about interest rates. Once the Fed starts an easing cycle, I don't believe it's ever gone one move and out. I am confident we will have more easing, at least 25 (basis points), probably another following early next year," said Askari.
The dollar index, which tracks the dollar's move versus a basket of six currencies, slipped to a 15-year low of 78.313, but recouped some losses to trade at 78.487.
Market players are keeping a close eye on whether the dollar index breaks the all-time low of 78.19 struck in September 1992, a level analysts said would provide a key test of whether the U.S. currency's sell-off deepens or pauses.
Investors shrugged off more criticism of the European Central Bank by the French government. An aide to French President Nicholas Sarkozy in an interview published on Sunday repeated recent comments arguing the euro's strength is eroding the competitiveness and productivity of businesses.
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet dismissed the criticism, calling it an outdated debate and saying the central bank's first mandate was to ensure price stability.

Wall St slips as dollar's fall raises worries

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as weakness in the dollar raised worries about inflation two days after the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest-ate cut and FedEx Corp. (FDX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) cut its earnings outlook.
Oil prices touched a record high above $84, adding to the inflation worries.
The move by package delivery company FedEx raised doubts about growth in the economy. In addition, the National Retail Federation said U.S. holiday sales are expected to rise at their slowest pace in five years.
A drop in the dollar to a record low against the euro, now worth more than $1.40, was a worrying side effect of the Fed's decision Tuesday to cut benchmark lending rates by a hefty half a percentage point, analysts said. The Fed cut rates to keep the economy from slipping into recession.
Financial stocks, which surged following the Fed's move, were among the top drags. The S&P financial index (.GSPF: Quote, Profile, Research) was down 1.8 percent. Home builders' stocks also dropped.
"It's waves of profit-taking, and concern about the lower dollar, which is in reaction to the Fed cutting rates as aggressively as it did," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist in the San Francisco office of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI: Quote, Profile, Research) was down 64.30 points, or 0.47 percent, at 13,751.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX: Quote, Profile, Research) was down 12.43 points, or 0.81 percent, at 1,516.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC: Quote, Profile, Research) was down 17.77 points, or 0.67 percent, at 2,648.71.
While a weakening dollar can give a lift to shares of companies that are big exporters, it also threatens to worsen inflation because of the United States' heavy reliance on imported goods. A weaker dollar may make owning U.S. shares less attractive to foreign investors.
FedEx lowered its full-year earnings outlook due to the weaker-than-anticipated economic environment, sending its shares down 1.8 percent to $105.55.
Shares of Circuit City Stores Inc (CC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) sank 18.4 percent to $8.63 after the home electronics seller reported a larger-than-forecast quarterly loss.
Bear Stearns Co Inc (BSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shares declined 0.4 percent to $115.24, reversing earlier gains, when they climbed as high as $119.50. The investment bank posted a sharply lower profit but its chief financial officer Sam Molinaro said the worst of times are behind the company. He said he sees business returning to normal in 2008.
Among retailers, shares of Home Depot Inc. (HD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 2.7 percent to $35.22. The S&P retail index (.RLX: Quote, Profile, Research) was down 2.5 percent.
At midday, stocks had briefly pared losses after stronger-than-expected data on factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Euro hits record high vs dollar just shy of $1.40

The euro struck a record high against the dollar on Thursday, extending gains after the Federal Reserve's deep half percentage-point cut in interest rates earlier this week sparked a broad sell-off in the U.S. currency.
The euro climbed to $1.3997 on electronic trading platform EBS, the highest since the launch of the single European currency in 1999 and just shy of the psychologically important $1.4000 level.

AAR Corp (AIR.N: Quote, Profile, Research), a provider of parts and maintenance services to the aviation industry, said it is maintaining its company-wide forecast of top line growth in the mid teens for the full year.
In repsonse to an analyst's query in a conference call, a company executive said the company still sees near-term margins of 10 percent and longer-term margins of 12.5 percent.
Earlier, the company had reported first-quarter earnings of 36 cents a share, which fell short of analysts' expectations of 39 cents a share.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Japanese unit Seiyu Ltd (8268.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it would aim to cut about 450 jobs as part of a restructuring plan.
Seiyu said it planned to book a special loss of 4.5 billion yen ($39.2 million) for the early retirement programme, and accordingly widened its group net loss forecast for 2007 by that amount to 10.4 billion yen.

Stocks may rise on expected interest rate cut

Wall Street expects Federal Reserve policy-makers to cut interest rates next Tuesday to help ease a global credit squeeze, a much anticipated event that spurred stock prices higher this week and could boost them next week.
Investors expect the Federal Open Market Committee to cut the federal funds rate in response to growing concerns that the U.S. economy is slowing and may be heading into recession.
Short-term interest rate futures on Friday indicated investors believe a half a percentage point cut in the federal funds rate is slightly more likely than a quarter percentage point cut when the FOMC meets.
Some investors say the stock market has priced in a quarter-percentage point rise, limiting any upside. But if the past is a guide, investors will react to the actual event, said David Bianco, chief U.S. equity strategist at UBS in New York.
"I think the market's going to have a positive reaction to it, I really do," said Bianco, who expects a 25 basis point cut in the federal funds rate and a 50 basis point cut in the discount rate.
"It will signal a response to what's going on, to try to prevent credit market troubles from spreading to the real economy," he said.
Reuters polls showed on Thursday that economists see about a 30 percent chance that the United States enters recession in the next 12 months should the effects of a housing slowdown continue to seep into the wider economy.
Major U.S. stock market gauges moved up this week in anticipation of a rate cut, with the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI: Quote, Profile, Research) posting its best week since April.
For the week, the Dow rose 2.5 percent, the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX: Quote, Profile, Research) gained 2.1 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 1.4 percent.
On Friday, the Dow closed up 17.64 points, or 0.13 percent, at 13,442.52; the S&P 500 closed up 0.30 points, or 0.02 percent, at 1,484.25, and the Nasdaq closed up 1.12 points, or 0.04 percent, at 2,602.18.
OPTIONS EXPIRATION TO STIR VOLATILITY
Investors will want to see if the subprime mortgage trauma has worsened for four big investment banks -- Lehman Brothers (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. (BSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) -- when they release fiscal third-quarter earnings results over three days next week.
The release of third-quarter earnings for most companies doesn't begin in earnest until October.
The banks have diversified business models and are able to profit from worldwide economic growth, which will alleviate any downdraft of credit market issues, said Michael Cuggino, chief investment officer of the Permanent Portfolio family of funds in San Francisco.
"We may be surprised to find the negative impact was not as great in the third quarter as people may have expected," Cuggino said.
Volatility is likely to intensify at week's end because of the expiration of four different options and futures contracts, a quarterly event known as "quadruple witching."
Investors also will be parsing inflation data for August, information on housing starts and building permits, also for August, and unemployment claims for the week ending September 15.
According to a Reuters poll of economists, producer prices, which are a measure of prices paid at the farm and factory gate, are expected to decline 0.2 percent in August when the Labor Department releases data on Tuesday.
The following day, a Labor Department reading for the Consumer Price Index, a key inflation gauge, is expected to be unchanged from July.
Also on Wednesday, housing starts for August are expected to decline to 1.35 million and building permits are expected to decline to the same amount, 1.35 million.
On Thursday, a Labor Department report on U.S. workers signing up for jobless benefits is expected to show initial claims of 321,000.
Although the labor market has shown recent softness and the housing sector is clearly suffering, both Bianco and Cuggino said the overall U.S. economy is not in that bad shape.
"It's been almost astounding how good things have been outside of the financial economy," Bianco said. "For the most part the energy companies, the industrial companies and the technology companies are on the verge of a full recovery of the dip."
Cuggino said that "for every financial service firm that's having difficulties, there's a technology firm that's experiencing pretty good earnings growth and pick-up in business."

Argentina 2008 budget bill sees 7.7 pct inflation

Argentina's 2008 budget bill, presented to Congress on Friday, sees inflation of 7.7 percent and calculates gross domestic product growth at 4 percent.
Latin America's number-three economy is in its fifth straight year of expansion at about 8 percent. In the country's 2007 budget bill, the center-left government of President Nestor Kirchner had also underestimated growth.
The strategy has allowed the government to announce economic results that have exceeded the budget's stipulations.
A central bank survey carried out among analysts last month gave a median outlook for 2008 growth of 6.2 percent (BCRA31: Quote, Profile, Research), with inflation for the year estimated at 10 percent.
High inflation has dogged Kirchner's government. Last year's budget included estimates for inflation in a range of 7 percent to 11 percent.
Inflation has come in below market expectations since January, when the government replaced the head of the consumer price unit at INDEC, the national statistics unit, with a political ally, prompting fears of government meddling with the data.
As a result, investors have become increasingly wary of the country's inflation-indexed bonds, which account for more than 40 percent of total public debt.
Inflation in the first eight months of the year stands at 5 percent, with 12-month inflation through August of 8.7 percent.
In relation to the local currency, the budget bill for next year envisages an exchange rate of 3.21 pesos per dollar. The peso closed on Friday at 3.1950/3.1975 against the dollar in informal trade as measured by Reuters .
The budget will be in force for the first year of a new government following a presidential election on Oct. 28. First lady and senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has a wide lead in opinion polls.
It calculates a primary budget surplus of 3.15 percent of gross domestic product and a $10.06 billion trade surplus.
Official details of the bill broadly confirmed those given by an Economy Ministry source earlier this week.

Tokyo Star lifts year profit forecast by 35 pct

Tokyo Star Bank Ltd (8384.T: Quote, Profile, Research), up for sale by its majority owner, private equity fund Lone Star [LS.UL], lifted its full-year profit forecast by 35 percent on Friday, helped by a property sale.
Dallas-based Lone Star has been in exclusive talks to sell its two-thirds stake in Tokyo Star, a regional bank, to Japanese private equity firm Advantage Partners.
For the year to March 2008, Tokyo Star said it now expected a net profit of 23 billion yen ($200 million), up 35 percent from its previous forecast of 17 billion yen.
Recurring profit was unchanged from the lender's previous estimate of 21.5 billion yen.
The bank said it would book a larger-than-expected special profit of 18.1 billion yen from the sale of property in central Tokyo.
Although a niche player in Japanese banking, Tokyo Star has benefited from solid growth of its deposit-linked mortgages and consumer loans to high-income borrowers.
Tokyo Star said before the close of Tokyo stock trading that it would revise its forecasts later in the day, sending its shares down 3.3 percent to 322,000 yen as investors bet on a downward revision.
The Tokyo bank index (.IBNKS.T: Quote, Profile, Research) finished up 3.3 percent.
Lone Star acquired Tokyo Star's predecessor, Tokyo Sowa Bank, in 2001 for 40.4 billion yen after the lender collapsed under a pile of problem loans. ($1=114.98 yen)

Canada industrial capacity use rises in 2nd-qtr

Canadian industries ran at 83.0 percent of capacity in the second quarter of 2007, the second straight gain after four quarterly declines as stronger output in most sectors offset weakness in autos, mining and forestry.
The figure, reported by Statistics Canada on Thursday, was below the average market forecast for a 83.2 percent industrial capacity utilization rate. Statscan revised the first-quarter rate to 82.8 percent from 83.0 percent and revised all data back to 2005.
The Bank of Canada said last week that the economy is operating further above its production potential than it had estimated in July, a situation that would normally create inflationary pressures.
In its July projections, it said the economy was running at 0.6 percent above capacity in the second quarter.
Manufacturers ramped up their capacity use in the second quarter to 81.3 percent from 81.0 percent in the first quarter despite pressures from a strong Canadian dollar and softer U.S. demand. That followed declines or stagnation in manufacturing capacity use in the previous four quarters.
But weakened U.S. demand for vehicles and parts dampened output at Canadian auto plants and led to a decline in capacity use by transportation equipment manufacturers to 80.5 percent from 82.4 percent in the previous quarter.
Mining capacity use tumbled to 74.4 percent from 82.6 percent because low natural gas prices discouraged exploration. A tough market for lumber meant wood products manufacturers dropped their capacity use to 73.9 percent, the lowest since 1991.

Dollar hits low vs euro, Nikkei dips as PM resigns

The dollar sunk to a record low versus the euro on Wednesday as an expected cut in U.S. interest rates was seen eroding the U.S. currency's yield appeal, while Japanese stocks and the yen slipped after Japan's embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned.
Shares elsewhere in Asia rose, with energy stocks in favor after U.S. crude hit a record closing high the previous day, and on expectations the Federal Reserve will lower its benchmark interest rate next week.
European stocks were seen steadying after making strong gains on Tuesday, with financial bookmakers anticipating Britain's FTSE 100 (.FTSE: Quote, Profile, Research), Germany's DAX (.GDAXI: Quote, Profile, Research) and France's CAC 40 (.FCHI: Quote, Profile, Research) all to open little changed.
MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan climbed 0.2 percent by 0630 GMT, adding to Tuesday's 0.7 percent rise, but the Nikkei average (.N225: Quote, Profile, Research) ended 0.5 percent lower after Abe resigned.
"One of the reasons why Japanese stocks have been underperforming, compared to other global markets, was political uncertainty," said Hiroshi Motoki, managing director and chief investment officer at AIG Global Investment Corp in Japan.
"That news will add another negative factor."
Analysts said Japanese stocks would remain under selling pressure until Abe's successor is announced. They added that political uncertainty would support the JGB market, which rose on the news.
Japanese government bond futures ended up 0.23 point at 136.33, after climbing to 136.41, the highest level hit by a lead contract since February 2006.

The impact on the yen was short-lived, with attention more closely focused on weak U.S. economic fundamentals.
"Amid strengthening expectations for interest rates to be cut in the United States, interest rate differentials in the United States and the euro zone seem likely to narrow," said a trader at a Japanese trust bank.
"It looks like the euro will continue to be well supported."
The euro climbed to $1.3880, edging up around 0.3 percent on the day.
The dollar traded at 113.90, retreating from the day's high of 114.40 yen after initial reports that Abe would resign.
The euro was supported by European Central Bank Executive Board member Juergen Stark saying interest rate rises had not been abandoned.
Stark said on Tuesday the ECB had to remain "very vigilant" on inflation developments, comments which suggested the ECB may press ahead with tightening borrowing costs once the current market volatility abates.
Against the yen, the single currency traded around 158.00 yen, after climbing as high as 158.27 yen.

STOCKS GAIN

Although Japanese stocks struggled, bourses elsewhere in the region continued their rally from recent sell-offs.
The MSCI index has risen around 19 percent from a five-month trough plumbed on August 17, and is now just 5 percent below the July 24 record high.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (.HSI: Quote, Profile, Research) climbed 1 percent, while Chinese stocks rose 0.6 percent, recovering after posting their biggest drop in two months on Tuesday on concerns about rising inflation and tighter monetary policy after consumer inflation jumped to a 10-year high.
In favor were energy firms such as Japan's Nippon Oil Corp (5001.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Australia's Santos (STO.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) after U.S. crude traded around a record high close of $78.23 on Tuesday, not far off the lifetime high of $78.77 set on August 1.
The rise in oil came after an OPEC deal to ramp up production failed to calm concerns about thinning world inventories, which in turn helped boost base metals.
Gold miners including Lihir Gold (LGL.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) powered ahead after the precious metal hit 16-month highs above $714 an ounce on bearish sentiment toward the dollar and chart-based buying. At 0605 GMT, spot gold was at $713.25.

Soaring food prices propelledChina's annual consumer price inflation to 6.5 percent inAugust, the fastest pace in nearly 11 years, cementingexpectations the central bank will defy the global trend andkeep raising interest rates. The inflation rate published on Tuesday, up from 5.6
percent in July, easily surpassed economists' forecasts of 5.9
percent and was the highest reading since December 1996. "Going forward we believe there are non-trivial risks that inflation may continue to edge up," economists at Goldman Sachs
said in a note to clients. "We expect the central bank to respond to higher
inflationary pressures with decisive tightening measures, including two interest rate hikes to the benchmark lending and deposit rates by the end of this year." China also reported a trade surplus for August of $24.97 billion. It was the second biggest on record but slightly lower
than forecast as the ending of some tax rebates dented exports. The ruling Communist Party, aware that inflation has touched off unrest in China down the ages, has voiced increasing concern about the speed of price rises. A senior party researcher warned on Monday that inflation becomes difficult to control once it exceeds 5 percent, while a local paper said Beijing had told schools and colleges in the capital not to raise canteen food prices as inflation climbs. The National Bureau of Statistics said inflation was driven by an 18.2 percent leap in the cost of food, which accounts for a third of the consumer price basket. Meat prices rose 49.0 percent in August from a year earlier, reflecting a shortage of pork, China's staple meat. China's pig population has fallen 10 percent due to blue-ear disease and reduced incentives to rear hogs, including fast-rising feedgrain costs and low prices last year. China, the world's biggest producer and consumer of pork, could quadruple its imports of the meat this year to 100,000
tonnes to ease the shortage, industry sources said on Tuesday. The government has already introduced a raft of incentives to increase the supply of pork. In one downtown Beijing alley
on Tuesday, the inducements seemed to be working: a woman was taking an oinking piglet, and her dog, for an early-morning walk.
CENTRAL BANK ON ALERT
Most economists accept that a central bank can do little about supply shocks such as a shortage of pigs; non-food prices, moreover, rose just 0.9 percent in August from a year earlier. But the People's Bank of China has voiced worries that inflation will start rippling through the economy as people start to expect prices to keep rising and demand higher wages. "The risk is that if the economy continues to grow very rapidly, this inflation, which looks concentrated in food,
starts spreading and influencing inflationary expectations," said Rob Subbaraman, chief Asia economist for Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong. But if people do respond to higher prices by rearing more pigs, food prices could start to fall sharply at a time when weaker U.S. growth might be sapping Chinese exports, he said. "That could unmask severe oversupply in China's industrial sector, which could lead to a flip from concern about inflation to worries about deflation. So you don't want to overtighten," Subbaraman added. To keep a lid on inflation and prevent the world's fourth-largest economy from overheating, the central bank has
raised interest rates four times this year and ordered banks on seven occasions to tie up more of their deposits in reserve. CONCERNED Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, said he was not too concerned by current inflation as it was confined to food; supply shortages were likely to ease. But, like many economists, he frets that too much cash is pouring into the banking system from the trade surplus, which jumped 71 percent in the first eight months to $161.76 billion. "What worries me more is the liquidity in the market. There is so much money, and given all these exports and the money that comes back in U.S. dollars and also this easy credit, that really causes a major concern," Wuttke told reporters. Li Mingliang, an analyst with Haitong Securities in Shanghai, expects inflation to accelerate in September, triggering another rate rise in October. Food oil cost 34.6 percent more in August than a year earlier, eggs were up 23.6 percent and vegetables 22.5 percent. It is the rising cost of such everyday goods that has people grumbling and China's leaders worried. Inflation was an
important ingredient in the unrest that led to the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests that were crushed by troops. Zhao Qingming, an economist with China Construction Bank in Beijing, said the near-term outlook for inflation could depend on the autumn harvest. "It seems China will have a bad harvest this year because of droughts and other disasters, and that will push up food prices further," he said.

Average house price near £200,000

The UK's biggest mortgage lender said prices rose by another 0.4% in August, taking the average price to £199,770.
Its latest survey says the increase pushed the annual rate of house price inflation up from 11.2% to 11.4%, despite higher interest rates.
However, the lender predicts prices will slow down this autumn, as the past year's five rate rises take effect.
"The increase in mortgage rates since last summer is having an effect on housing affordability and will bite further during the coming months," said Martin Ellis, the Halifax chief economist.
"Negative real earnings growth in the first six months of this year, and rising food prices, are also reducing the income households have available for housing."
Further slowdown?
The strong economy, growing employment and shortage of housing were among the factors pushing prices higher, said the lender.
But it pointed to evidence that the market would slow down soon.
Lenders approved fewer mortgages during the summer months, interest from new buyers has fallen for eight months in a row, and actual property sales in July were 10% lower than a year ago.
Meanwhile, the higher level of interest rates has been eating into most people's take home incomes.
"Prices rose by 1.6% between June and August, compared with 4.5% in the three months to March," said Mr Ellis.
"Whilst the market remains robust, this provides further evidence that house price inflation has slowed since the beginning of the year."
Price breakthrough?
This is not the first time that a house price survey has claimed that average prices are at or near £200,000.
The monthly survey from the Communities and Local Government department (DCLG) said UK prices passed that level last December.
It takes its figures from a very large sample of all completed house sales, whereas those of the Halifax and Nationwide are taken from a sample of mortgage offers made to their own customers.
The effect that different methodologies can have on the final figures is illustrated by the experience of the Land Registry for England and Wales.
Its recently-introduced monthly survey of house prices, measured when they are registered with it at the end of the house buying process, says that they currently stand at £181,460.
But a previous quarterly survey, now discontinued by the Land Registry, reported last year that the £200,000 mark for England and Wales was passed between July and September 2006.

Oil holds above $74, investors on hurricane watch

Oil held above $74 on Tuesday, as investors tracked a potentially catastrophic hurricane threatening Central America and OPEC stuck to supply curbs ahead of its meeting next week.
U.S. crude (CLc1: Quote, Profile, Research) was up 10 cents at $74.14 by 1122 GMT, after trading electronically on Monday when the U.S. Labor Day holiday shut the New York trading floor. London Brent crude (LCOc1: Quote, Profile, Research) was down 10 cents at $73.31.
Felix, now a dangerous Category 5 hurricane, was due to hit land in Nicaragua and Honduras on Tuesday, though oil and gas producers had yet to evacuate rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, home to a third of U.S. crude and 70 percent of Mexican crude output.
"Helpfully for the oil price and OPEC, Hurricane Felix is on a westerly path that could reach Mexico's Cantarell, the world's third-largest oilfield, by the end of the week which suggests a picture of tight market supply," said Richard Batty of Standard Life Investments.
Traders were also waiting for OPEC's meeting on September 11, with expectations the exporter group will retain output curbs. A Reuters survey showed OPEC kept supply restricted last month.
Consumer nations have been urging the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to pump more crude as U.S. oil climbs back towards its all-time high of $78.77.
Analysts also are convinced OPEC must boost supplies to keep pace with growing demand this winter.
An OPEC source told Reuters on Tuesday the 12-member group may have to raise supplies by up to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) later this year.
OPEC officials have said repeatedly that -- for now -- the
world has more than enough crude. The only member suggesting the possibility of an imminent supply boost was Indonesia, OPEC's second smallest producer.
OPEC agreed last year to lower production by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from November 1 and by a further 500,000 bpd from February 1.

HSBC to buy 51 pct of Korean bank for $6.3 billion

HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has agreed to buy a 51 percent stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) (004940.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) from U.S. private equity firm Lone Star for about $6.3 billion in cash to boost its profile in Asia's third-largest banking market.
The deal will mark Lone Star's (LS.UL: Quote, Profile, Research) exit from a controversial investment in South Korea, if it goes through, and allow the private equity fund to more than quadruple its initial investment in KEB.
HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, said it did not intend to make a tender offer to remaining KEB shareholders and that South Korea's sixth-biggest bank would remain listed on the Korea Exchange.
It said the deal would boost its earnings in the first full year of ownership. The deal is subject to governmental and regulatory approvals, and HSBC said the purchase price would increase by $133 million if the deal was completed after January 31, 2008.
"Our stated strategy is to focus on expanding HSBC's presence in important growth economies," HSBC Chairman Stephen Green said in statement. "This prospective acquisition reflects that strategy."
A deal would be the second-largest acquisition in South Korea's financial sector after Shinhan Financial Group's (055550.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) $7.2 billion acquisition of LG Card (032710.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) in 2006 and comes after Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) bought Korean banks.
HSBC may have to brace for a long, tough battle to get its KEB purchase approved by local regulators, however.
South Korean authorities have said that they would put on hold a review of the current deal until all legal issues surrounding KEB are resolved.
Prosecutors say a former government official colluded with a lawyer hired by Lone Star and KEB's chief executive to inflate KEB's losses, allowing Lone Star to buy it in 2003 for around $900 million less than it was worth.
The allegation is being reviewed by a Seoul district court.
The head of the South Korean unit of Lone Star, Paul Yoo, has meanwhile been standing trial on suspicion he tried to lower the share price of the former credit card unit of KEB by spreading incorrect information and thus to making it cheaper to absorb the card unit.
The protracted legal tussle led the U.S. investment fund to cancel a $7.3 billion agreement to sell KEB to top local bank Kookmin (060000.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) last November.
Kookmin and KEB had no immediate comment.
Singapore's DBS Group Holdings (DBSM.SI: Quote, Profile, Research) said in June it had ended talks to buy Lone Star's stake in KEB, hinting at legal issues to explain why it walked away from KEB.

The crisis in U.S. mortgages is unlikely to have a direct impact on Spain's housing market or financial systems, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday.
The remarks were more upbeat than those of Spanish Economy Minister Pedro Solbes on Friday, who said the economy faced risks from the global liquidity squeeze via its potential impact on other big world economies and the euro zone.
"Our financial systems, our lending institutions are among the most solvent in the world," Zapatero said in an interview with left-leaning newspaper El Pais.
The prime minister said he believed interest rates had reached their upper limit, echoing comments made on Friday by Solbes, and that Spain's economy was growing at a solid pace.
"The message is one of calmness and confidence," he said.
The subprime crisis coincides with the end of a nine-year residential construction and property boom in Spain and a rise in mortgage rates to a seven-year high.
Spanish growth, still well above average euro zone growth, came off a six-year high during the second quarter due to a slowdown in construction and consumer spending.
Economists expect growth to fall further as Spanish banks become more risk averse and reduce lending to firms and households that have some of Europe's highest debt levels.
Zapatero also said in the interview that he expected to book a public sector budget surplus equivalent to 1.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2007.
This is higher than previous government estimates of a full-year surplus of 1 percent of GDP and in line with 2006's surplus of 1.83 percent.

Bernanke: Fed ready to act

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke described the recent housing downturn as "sharp" and added "that further declines in homebuilding are likely" in a highly anticipated speech Friday morning.
But he also hinted that the central bank was prepared to cut rates if necessary, news that may soothe jittery investors.
Stocks, which were trading significantly higher before Bernanke's prepared remarks were made public, initially gave up some of their gains following the release of the speech. But they bounced back a bit as the day progressed and investors turned to President Bush's speech about reforming the mortgage market. The Dow closed up more than 119 points, or 0.9 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both gained more than 1 percent.
Bernanke, making the remarks at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wy., said that "if current conditions persist in mortgage markets, the demand for homes could weaken further, with possible implications for the broader economy." He added that the Fed was "following these developments closely."
Concerns about increased defaults by subprime mortgage borrowers, consumers with poor credit histories, have rattled Wall Street, causing wild swings in stocks over the past month and prompting the Fed to cut its discount rate two weeks ago.
Bernanke further explained the reason behind the cut of the discount rate, which is what banks pay to borrow money from the Fed, in his speech and added that the Fed was ready to take more action if need be.
He said that the purpose of the discount rate cut was to assure that funds would be available to banks and "alleviate concerns about funding that might otherwise constrain depositories from extending credit or making markets" and that "the Federal Reserve stands ready to take additional actions as needed to provide liquidity and promote the orderly functioning of markets."
Investors were eagerly awaiting Bernanke's comments ahead of the long Labor Day holiday weekend Friday in order to see if there would be any clues as to whether the Fed would lower the federal funds rate, which influences the rates on various consumer loans, at its next meeting on September 18, if not before.
One economist said that it is increasingly likely the market's growing wish for a rate cut will be met.
"This looks like the Fed will cut rates on September 18. Obviously, events between now and then can change things but the markets are priced to the expectation that the fed, will at the very minimum, cut rates by a quarter of a point," said Keith Hembre, chief economist with First American Funds in Minneapolis.
Ashraf Laidi, chief currency analyst with CMC Markets US, a currency brokerage firm, added that he thinks the Fed will cut the fed funds rate by a quarter of a percentage point in September and one more time after that, leaving rates at 4.75 percent by the end of the year.
"The market is getting some sense of assurance from Bernanke's remarks, the reiteration that the Fed will do what is needed," he said.
Hembre said that investors might also be encouraged by the fact that Bernanke said the Fed would rely more on anecdotal evidence going forward and not solely on hard, historical data.
Bernanke, an academic by training, has been criticized by some for being out of touch with what is really going on in the economy and that he should be more like his predecessor Alan Greenspan, who was quicker to react to economic and market crises.
"Even though he's an academic, he has to realize the limitations of hard data. The Fed is going to have to take into account anecdotal pieces of information and make judgments based on them," Hembre said.
In his speech, Bernanke conceded that "in light of recent financial developments, economic data bearing on past months or quarters may be less useful than usual for our forecasts of economic activity and inflation. Consequently, we will pay particularly close attention to the timeliest indicators, as well as information gleaned from our business and banking contacts around the country."
But Bernanke maintained that it is not the Fed's responsibility to bail out borrowers who took on risky loans or the financial institutions that made them, saying that it would not be "appropriate...to protect lenders and investors from the consequences of their financial decisions."
Nonetheless, he did say that "developments in financial markets can have broad economic effects felt by many outside the markets, and the Federal Reserve must take those effects into account when determining policy."
Bernanke also said that there is a risk that "the further tightening of credit conditions, if sustained, would increase the risk that the current weakness in housing could be deeper or more prolonged than previously expected, with possible adverse effects on consumer spending and the economy more generally."
Still, both Laidi and Hembre said Bernanke's remarks were not too surprising since they differed little from what the Fed said about the economy in the minutes from its August 7 meeting, which were released earlier this week.
The Fed indicated in those minutes that it was keeping an eye on the woes in the credit markets but it ultimately decided against a rate cut at that meeting.
But David Resler, chief economist for Nomura Securities International Inc., said it was important for Bernanke to further hammer home the notion that the Fed now gets how significant the mortgage crisis is. And Resler thinks he succeeded in that regard.
"It's more than a reiteration. It's reiteration with added context. Bernanke didn't say anything substantively new but he verifies the obvious. The turmoil has the potential to change the economic outlook and until we know more, the Fed needs to proceed cautiously," Resler said.

Peru ministry ups 2007 growth view despite quake

Peru's finance ministry said on Friday it raised its forecast for economic growth this year to 7.2 percent from 7 percent.
The ministry had said it might have raised the estimate to 7.5 percent but a powerful earthquake on Aug. 15 trimmed the new forecast.
"It is expected that the economy will expand 7.2 percent this year and 6.2 percent in 2008. The most dynamic sectors of the economy will be services like construction and commerce," the ministry said in a statement.
Peru, a minerals exporter, plans to spend millions of dollars to rebuild infrastructure along its central coast that was damaged in the earthquake. Peru's economy has been growing for six years.

Canadian economy up 3.4 pct in qtr on strong spending

Canadian consumers kept spending strongly in the second quarter and were the biggest contributor to stronger-than-expected 3.4 percent annualized economic growth in the quarter, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
A surge in oil and gas exploration boosted June gross domestic product by 0.2 percent, down from 0.3 percent in May.
Analysts had expected growth to moderate to 2.8 percent in the second quarter, and they had expected the economy to stagnate in June.
Statscan said the economy grew 3.9 percent in the first quarter, revising its previous estimate of 3.7 percent.
The government statistics agency noted strength throughout the economy. Personal spending, particularly purchases of durable goods such as cars and household appliances, was the main motor of growth. But exports, business investment and housing construction also posted healthy gains.
Even the beleaguered manufacturing sector, reeling from job losses and a strong Canadian dollar, registered its first quarterly gain since the fourth quarter of 2005. Industrial production was up 0.4 percent.
Compared to the first-quarter of this year, Canada's economy grew 0.8 percent.

The hard, fast life of a greenback

Chances are you take me for granted, as much time as we spend together. Moola, bucks, greenbacks -- you make it, you spend it, right? I understand. No hard feelings.
But as the song says, you don't know me. Not really.
Here's an example. I have a face, just like you. Can you tell me, without peeking, whose face is on the $10 bill? The $20 bill? The $50 bill? It's only been in recent years that old Ben Franklin became famous, thanks to the street slang "Benjamins" for $100 notes. And he isn't even a dead president. Answers are below, by the way.
Where do I come from? What is my life expectancy? Who determines when I retire? And how might your office desk turn out to be my final resting place?
I'm Bill. This is my life story. This is your money talking.
Birth of a bill I was born in the Washington, D.C., facility of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, or BEP, a branch of the U.S. Treasury Department. A second BEP facility opened in 1991 in Fort Worth, Texas (bills produced there are designated by the initials "FW" on their face side).
You think of me as paper money, but cloth money would be more accurate. I'm composed of a special blend of 75% cotton and 25% linen with blue and red synthetic fibers -- no wood pulp at all. Crane, a private printer in Dalton, Mass., has produced my special paper for more than a century. An embedded metallic security strip, introduced in 1990, reveals the paper's ultimate denomination.
It takes numerous steps, at least three separate press runs and a highly proprietary blend of Old World and cutting-edge technology to produce me. If it didn't, counterfeiting would be a growing industry, right? In fact, the more colorful "next generation" of $10 (Hamilton), $20 (Jackson) and $50 (Grant) bills are packed with new security features, including microprinting, portrait watermarks, a security thread that glows under ultraviolet light and special ink that changes color when I'm tilted.

Stock Futures Point to Higher Open

U.S. stocks looked to rebound Monday after central banks around the world pour billions into the markets to stave off a credit crunch.After enduring sharp swings to the downside, the Dow Jones industrials and other major indexes ultimately finished the week with a gain, and stock futures on Monday pointed to an extension of those gains when trading begins. Investors will be eyeing this week's economic data, as well as any further moves by the Federal Reserve or European Central Bank to cushion the global banking system with additional liquidity.Asian financial markets stabilized on Monday after central banks in the region added modestly to the liquidity injections.Dow futures expiring in September rose 70, or 0.50 percent, to 13,307, while Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 10.00, or 0.69 percent, to 1,461.00. Nasdaq 100 index futures advanced 10.25, or 0.53 percent, to 1,939.25.Although investors seemed to be in a better humor Monday, there was still a great deal of uncertainty in the market because there is still no way of knowing the extent of problems in the subprime mortgage sector. Defaults among subprime mortgage holders -- people with poor credit -- began the chain of events that led to the turmoil on Wall Street and other stock markets the past few weeks.The dollar was mixed against other major world currencies. Gold futures slipped in premarket activity, while crude oil prices rose in electronic trading.In economic news, the Commerce Department on Monday reports retail sales for July and business inventories for June. Investors will also monitor two key barometers of inflation -- the Labor Department's Producer Price Index on Tuesday and Consumer Price Index on Wednesday. Because the Fed has made it clear as recently as last week that its primary concern is fighting inflation, Wall Street could react poorly if the PPI or CPI comes in higher than expected.In corporate news, private equity firm Blackstone Group LP is scheduled to report results for the second quarter on Monday. The company's much-anticipated initial public offering in June raised about $4 billion, but the stock has fallen short of expectations.

H&R Block Inc (HRB.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it is renegotiating the planned sale of its Option One Mortgage Corp subprime lending unit to Cerberus Capital Management LP, a move that casts doubt on the largest U.S. tax preparer's ability to complete the sale.
Kansas City, Missouri-based H&R Block agreed in April to sell Option One to Cerberus, a private equity firm, for an estimated $1 billion, but on Thursday said some closing conditions have not been met.
It is in talks to divest or wind down Option One's mortgage lending business, and might incur costs in doing so. Cerberus would buy Option One's loan servicing operations.
The company also said its quarterly loss more than doubled to $302.6 million, or 93 cents per share, from $131.4 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier, hurt by Option One losses. The loss from continuing operations, excluding Option One and two other businesses, was $109.8 million, or 34 cents per share.
H&R Block is also seeking waivers of conditions requiring Option One to fund $2 billion of loans within 60 days of closing, and have at least $8 billion of so-called warehouse lines of credit.
The company is trying to complete the transaction ahead of the December 31 termination date, but said if talks fail, "there can be no assurance" the transaction will close.
Subprime lenders make loans to people with weaker credit histories. Dozens have quit the industry this year, including many that went bankrupt. Rising borrowing costs and stagnating home prices led to increases in delinquencies and defaults, while tight capital markets deprived lenders of needed cash.
Shares of H&R Block closed Wednesday at $19.50 on the New York Stock Exchange. They began the year at $23.04.

The old saying that the rich get richer is very true. As long as you manage your money well, it's far easier to make money if you've already got some cash socked away than it is to start from scratch. The reason is simple: compounding.
When you've already got money working on your behalf, each percentage point of return simply adds that many more dollars to your account balances. After all, if a stock you own goes up in value, it's far better to own 10,000 shares than it is to own 100.
Start smallFortunately, anyone with even a little cash to invest can take advantage of the power of compounding. It just takes a little while longer for the rest of us to get to the point where it can really work its magic.
To show how it works, here are a few charts that showcase how many years it takes to reach each $1 million threshold given that you regularly invest and earn a decent rate of return.

Net income for the quarter ended June 27th totaled 20.6 million dollars, or 38 cents per share, versus a loss of 17.2 million dollars, or 12 cents per share, in the prior-year quarter.
Revenue rose nearly 2 percent to 1.68 billion from 1.65 billion dollars last year.
Same-store sales grew 1.3 percent during the quarter. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.
Winn-Dixie currently operates 521 stores in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi. The company said it predicts fiscal 2008 same-store sales will see slight growth, and gross margin also is expected to improve.

Murray fit for US Open challenge

Andy Murray says is ready to go out and hit the ball as hard as ever at the US Open having got over his wrist injury.

He said: "It's time to go back out on the court and start giving 100%. I feel confident that I can do that."
The British number one revealed he had consulted a sports psychologist to help with the mental side of his recovery.
"I wouldn't say it was totally mental, but I just needed to work on that one shot and get the confidence back where I feel like I can hit it 100% again."
Murray is seeded 19th for the US Open at Flushing Meadows, which starts on 27 August, and faces Uruguyan qualifier Pablo Cuevas in the first round.
The 20-year-old Scot suffered a right wrist tendon injury in May at the Hamburg Masters and has lost two of three matches since making his comeback.
But he said: "I feel much better now than I did 10 days ago. I've got confidence back in my shot. I've played really well in practice, hitting the ball much harder.
"This is one of the hardest things I've had (to deal with) in my career, but I'm looking forward to getting back onto the court and getting into it.
"I might take a set, maybe a couple matches, before I'm hitting it absolutely perfect again, but I'm playing much better than I was before Cincinnati and Montreal."
Murray has reached the fourth round of his past three Grand Slam starts, including last year's US Open, but he is not looking too far ahead.
"I haven't even looked at my draw," he said. "It's the first time I've not seen who my second or third round opponent is. I'm trying to focus on one match at a time."
Murray's coach Brad Gilbert is also pleased with his charge's recent progress.
"The last couple of days we have had our best practice in a long time," Gilbert told BBC Radio 5live.
"We are hoping every day will get a bit better and hopefully he will be able to work his way into the tournament.
"The pain is gone and now it's about muscle memory and getting back out there and getting back into a good daily routine of what we had before.
"Andy is feeling good, nothing is bothering him and now it's not about the injuries, it's about the tennis, which is much more important."

Beckham's air miles

The Galaxy also suggested he could miss some England friendlies.
Beckham, 32, faces at least 22 games, almost 80,000 air miles - across 128 time zones - and nearly a week in the air over the next three months.
"I'm not going to deny there comes a point when your body can't do it anymore," said Galaxy boss Alexi Lalas.
"If at any point we felt it was detrimental to his health or ability to help our team we would take action."
Beckham, who has been struggling with an ankle injury, flew back to LA and played all 90 minutes in the Galaxy's 3-0 defeat against local rivals Chivas on Thursday - just 30 hours after appearing for England.
"I wasn't going to play him at all," Galaxy coach Frank Yallop said. "But he wanted to play and realises the situation that the team is in.
"We need points and he's that kind of a guy - at 2-0 down he could have a bit of magic and make a difference.
"At the end, he looked a bit hobbled and he should have been rested."
It capped a busy few days for the midfielder, who made his long-awaited first start for his new team in New York on Saturday before flying to London for England's friendly against Germany on Wednesday.
This week has just been a taste of what is to come as Beckham throws himself into his American adventure whilst trying to help England qualify for next year's European Championships.
Of particular concern are two blocks of four games in nine days and a run of seven games away from his new home in LA in 21 days. His diary is especially crowded around what promises to be a crunch game for England in Moscow on 17 October.
And Beckham will face more games - and travel - if the Galaxy reach the MLS play-offs, which are scheduled for the weeks before England's final qualifier against Croatia.
Sports doctors consulted by BBC Sport have said the former Manchester United and Real Madrid maestro will find it increasingly difficult to perform at his peak as the short-term and long-term effects of air travel mount up.
They have also warned he will become more susceptible to injury - and his body will be less able to recover from injury - as he criss-crosses the globe.
But Beckham's spokesman, Simon Oliveira, told BBC Sport: "We are not worried. David is very confident he will be in peak condition - both for England and his club."
And Lalas said he thought the player would relish the challenge of combining international duty with his Galaxy exploits.
He did, however, warn there could come a time when the club would have to say no to their star's trips back to England for friendly matches.
"We would never stand in the way of a player representing their country," Galaxy boss Lalas told BBC Sport.
"And David's love of England and the honour that it is for him to represent his country is evident from the first time you talk to him.
"But there will certainly be moments when we need to sit down with him and do what's best for our organisation and him.
"There are Fifa dates that we have to abide by and will continue to do so. But if it is a friendly game that doesn't fall on a Fifa date that is obviously something we will have to discuss with the player.
"We have a vested interest in this player and we have spent a tremendous amount of money to retain his services. We want to make sure we get our money's worth and that he is healthy and both physically and mentally ready to go when he plays for the Galaxy."
Wednesday's game against Germany was on a Fifa-sanctioned date and 6 February and 26 March are the two dates set aside for next year's build-up to the European Championships. If England qualify for the tournament they would normally play at least five warm-up games in the preceding months.
Lalas added that no special provisions have been made by the club for Beckham's travel commitments and that he would be expected to fly to games in the US with the rest of the squad.
Major League Soccer rules stipulate that all teams must fly "commercial" flights to prevent the richer clubs from gaining any unfair advantage - the Galaxy do occasionally charter flights but only under exceptional circumstances.
"David Beckham is a part of the Galaxy so he will be expected to be a part of that team and how we travel," said Lalas.
He also confirmed Beckham, who signed a five-year contract with the Galaxy worth a reported £128m in January, would be expected to join the team on their trip to Australia at the end of November for an exhibition match against Sydney FC.

Women, children taken in Iraq battle

Al Qaeda fighters kidnapped 15 Iraqi women and children after rival Sunni Arab militants repelled their attack on two villages in a fierce battle on Thursday in which 32 people were killed, police said.
The fighting, rare on such a large scale, underscored the growing split between Sunni Arab militant groups and al Qaeda that U.S. forces have sought to exploit as they try to quell sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands.
U.S. President George W. Bush, under pressure to show progress in the war or start bringing troops home, on Wednesday compared Iraq to Vietnam in urging Americans to be patient. His administration had previously avoided such comparisons, saying there were few parallels.
Many U.S. Democrats have likened Iraq to Vietnam, calling the war a quagmire that has exacted a toll in American lives and money without furthering U.S. interests.
About 200 al Qaeda fighters raided the villages of Sheikh Tamim and Ibrahim Yehia in restive Diyala province, north of Baghdad, in the early hours of Thursday after launching a mortar attack on the area, police said.
The attack came despite a U.S. offensive in Diyala targeting al Qaeda. U.S. troops launched an operation in June to oust fighters who had taken over large parts of the provincial capital, Baquba. Many escaped to fight on.
Brigadier-General Ali Delayan, the police chief of Baquba, told Reuters that 22 residents had been killed in the fighting along with 10 al Qaeda fighters.
Several wounded residents said villagers were loyal to the Sunni Arab insurgent group, the 1920 Revolution Brigade.
Delayan said the attackers had escaped with eight women and seven children as hostages.
A mosque that served the two villages was destroyed in the fighting and its imam was among those killed, he added.
Delayan said the al Qaeda attackers mortared the villages before storming into them. Rocket-propelled grenades were used in the fighting, in which three houses were destroyed.
He said the gun battle with fighters loyal to the 1920 Revolution Brigade, which has recently distanced itself from al Qaeda, was triggered by the execution of four men, including the mosque imam.
Police said they arrested 22 of the attackers.
LUKEWARM SUPPORT FOR MALIKI
The Shi'ite-led government and the U.S. military still view al Qaeda as the main threat to peace in Iraq, despite the fact that is fighters make up only a small percentage of Sunni Arab militants and many of its leaders have been killed or captured.
The group is foreign-led, although many fighters are Iraqi. Most suicide car bomb attacks responsible for large-scale casualties are blamed on al Qaeda. The U.S. military says the bombers are normally foreign and cross into Iraq through Syria.
Washington has built up its forces in Iraq to 160,000 to help curb sectarian violence and give Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government breathing space to forge a political compromise among the warring sects.
But the U.S. ambassador this week criticized the pace of political progress as "extremely disappointing", and Bush himself offered only lukewarm support for Maliki, saying there was frustration over the slow pace of reform.
Analysts, however, note that there are few viable alternative leaders to Maliki, who hit back at the criticism by saying no one outside Iraq had the right to set timetables.
In arguing for perseverance in Iraq on Wednesday, Bush said it was in U.S. interests not to withdraw from Iraq too soon. He raised the example of the emergence of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and violence in Vietnam after U.S. troops pulled out.
"Like our enemies in the past, the terrorists who wage war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places seek to spread a political vision of their own: a harsh plan for life that crushes freedom, tolerance and dissent," he said.

Ramos 'snubbed huge Spurs offer'

Sevilla coach Juande Ramos says he rejected a "dizzying" offer to take over from Martin Jol at Tottenham.
Jol's future as manager was in doubt after Spurs lost their first two games of the season before beating Derby.
"They made an excellent, dizzying offer, but I'm under contract and my decision is to fulfil it," said Ramos.
But Spurs have denied making any offer and said: "No individual was or has been offered the position while that position has been held by Martin Jol."
Spurs were reported to have met the Ramos camp over the weekend before telling Jol his job was safe providing he delivered Champions League football.
"There was not the slightest possibility that I would accept it because I'm under contract. It did not interest me or the club," added Ramos.
"I wasn't in a meeting with anyone, what happened was that I met with a person and that person went on to meet other people who were surely Tottenham."
Ramos, whose current contract expires next summer, is regarded as one of the most promising coaches in European football after guiding Sevilla to back-to-back Uefa Cups.
Sevilla beat Spurs on the way to their success in last season's Uefa Cup, while Ramos also led his side to third in La Liga and victory in the Copa del Rey - Spain's top domestic cup competition.
The Andalucian club are now primed to qualify for the group stages of this season's Champions League after a 2-0 win over AEK Athens in the first leg of their third round qualifier.
Ramos has already won the club's first trophy of this season after a 6-3 win on aggregate over league champions Real Madrid.
He said: "We are in the middle of a great project with Sevilla and there is still work to do."
Meanwhile, Jol, 51, has led Spurs to fifth place in the Premier League in the past two campaigns, while going out in the last eight in the FA Cup to Chelsea and Sevilla in the Uefa Cup last season.
BBC Radio 5live football correspondent Jonathan Legard said: "It would seem to confirm his worst fears that he is living on borrowed time as Spurs manager, as if he didn't know that, after last night's board meeting."

Dean lashes Mexico's coast

Hurricane Dean, a huge Category 5 storm, lashed Mexico's Caribbean coast on Tuesday, with heavy rain and howling winds that battered beach resorts where thousands of tourists huddled in shelters.
Seas churned as the storm, which has already killed 11 people on its rampage through the Caribbean, began to whip Mexico's "Mayan Riviera" hotel strip.
Tourists squeezed into a hotel serving as a shelter for 400 people in the resort of Playa del Carmen, where winds violently shook palm trees. As many as 12 people were sharing some rooms.
"We could be two or three days without water or electricity," said Italian vacationer Emanuela Beriola, 41, who stockpiled tinned meat, energy drinks and cans of tuna fish.
Category 5 hurricanes -- the strongest possible -- are rare but there were four in 2005, including Katrina, which devastated New Orleans. The higher number of powerful storms in recent years has reinforced research that suggests global warming may increase the strength of tropical cyclones.
Out to sea, Dean was packing winds of around 160 mph (260 kph), and the eye of the storm was 100 miles from the shore.
"I'm not scared. I telephoned my daughter and my mother and they are more worried than me," said German tourist Christian Muller, an engineer.
The center of Dean was due to make landfall within hours in a marshy zone near Mexico's border with Belize. Troops and police patrolled the area to enforce a curfew declared by the state government.
Store windows were boarded up along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, a strip of beach resorts with bright white sands that is yet to fully recover from the devastation of Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
The strongest Atlantic storm recorded, Wilma wrecked Cancun and other beach resorts. It washed away whole beaches, killed seven people and caused $2.6 billion in damages.
BELIZE THREATENED
Mexico's state oil company was closed and evacuated all of its 407 oil and gas wells in the Campeche Sound, meaning lost production of 2.65 million barrels of crude per day.
Heavy rain drenched Belize, a former British colony that is home to some 250,000 people and a famous barrier reef.
"Absolutely this is one of the most dangerous and biggest hurricanes we have had so far," said Robert Leslie, cabinet secretary of the Belizean government.
Dean swiped Jamaica at the weekend with roaring winds and pelting rain. Roads were blocked by toppled trees and power poles and police said two people were killed.
That took the death toll from Dean to eleven. Haiti was worst hit with four people dead there.
Poor local residents with badly built homes are often the worst hit by hurricanes in Mexico.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon planned to cut short a visit to Canada, where he met President George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to return home to oversee the emergency effort.
Dean was due to cross the Yucatan Peninsula and come out in the Gulf of Mexico before hitting land again in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

U.S. foreign policy experts oppose surge

More than half of top U.S. foreign policy experts oppose President George W. Bush's troop increase as a strategy for stabilizing Baghdad, saying the plan has harmed U.S. national security, according to a new survey.
As Congress and the White House await the September release of a key progress report on Iraq, 53 percent of the experts polled by Foreign Policy magazine and the Center for American Progress said they now oppose Bush's troop build-up.
That is a 22 percentage point jump since the strategy was announced early this year.
The survey of 108 experts, including Republicans and Democrats, showed opposition to the so-called "surge" across the political spectrum, with about two-thirds of conservatives saying it has been ineffective or made things worse in Iraq.
Foreign Policy, published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the experts polled on May 23 to June 26 included former government officials in senior positions including secretary of state, White House national security adviser and top military commanders.
The findings were published in the form of a Terrorism Index in the magazine's September/October issue, to be released on Monday. The magazine published similar indices in July 2006 and in February.
Bush has deployed 30,000 additional U.S. forces in and around Baghdad to quell sectarian violence in a bid to foster political reconciliation between Iraqi's Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish communities.
The strategy was announced early in the year but U.S. forces did not reach their intended strength in Baghdad until mid-June.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, are due next month to provide Congress with a progress report that could prove vital in determining how long U.S. troops stay.
Democrats and some Republicans in Congress say it is time to begin bringing troops home.
Foreign Policy said seven of 10 experts supported the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq. Experts have increasingly cited the war as the root cause of what they believe to be U.S. failure to win in its war on terrorism.
Ninety-one percent of those polled said the world has grown more dangerous for Americans and the United States, up 10 percent from February.
More than 80 percent of the experts said they expected another September 11-scale attack on the United States over the next decade, despite what they described as significant improvements among U.S. security, law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
A decade from now, the Middle East still will be reeling from the ill-effects of the Iraq war, particularly heightened Sunni-Shi'ite tensions in the region, 58 percent said.
Thirty-five percent believed Arab dictators will have been discouraged from pursuing political reforms as a result.
Only 3 percent believed the United States will achieve its goal of rebuilding Iraq into a beacon of democracy within the next 10 years.

Hurricane batters Jamaica's south

Jamaica has taken a battering from Hurricane Dean, being hit by severe winds and heavy rain as the storm passed south of the island overnight.
The Category Four storm is pushing winds of up to 145mph (230km/h).
A Jamaican reporter told the BBC that many people who had chosen to remain in their homes were forced to flee, such was the severity of the storm.
Dean is now expected to pass close by the low-lying Cayman Islands, before hitting Mexico later on Monday.
Dean has already claimed at least six lives in the eastern Caribbean.
Areas of the Cayman Islands and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula are being evacuated, amid meteorological reports the storm could intensify into a Category Five hurricane in the next few hours.
As of 0200 (0600GMT) Dean was located about 150 miles (240KM) south-east of Grand Cayman, travelling west at 20mph, the US National Hurricane Center reported.
The eye of the storm was some miles out to sea as it passed by Jamaica, but it still caused widespread damage as it careered along the south coast.
Trees have been uprooted and roofs ripped off houses in southern Jamaica, as Hurricane Dean's devastating journey through the Caribbean continues.
PM Portia Simpson Miller declared a month-long state of emergency, widening the powers of security forces.
The country's general election was due to take place on 27 August, but the storm has cast doubt over that date.
Rhian Holder from Christian Aid described to the BBC the scene as the storm moved in:
"It's very, very loud, the wind is roaring and shrieking. The trees are breaking, you're hearing branches snapping, you're hearing thuds, things falling, you're not sure what it is."
As heavy rain began to fall, there were reports of mudslides north of Kingston and the St Mary area on the island's north-east coast.

Hurricane Dean poised to hit Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaicans headed inland and tourists fled the country hours before a large and powerful Hurricane Dean appeared poised to make a direct hit on the island Sunday after a deadly and destructive march across the eastern Caribbean.
Jamaica converted schools, churches and the indoor national sports arena into shelters and authorities urged people to take cover from a storm that could rake the country with winds of 150 mph and dump up to 20 inches of rain.
"It's going to be very, very serious," said Lawrence Samuel as he shopped for emergency groceries while his wife and son went to the hardware store for plywood and other supplies.
The storm, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, rolled through the Caribbean to the south of Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where heavy rain and surging seas caused flooding Saturday in coastal areas.
In Gonave, an island with no electricity west of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, thousands of people huddled in shelters as the storm brought heavy rain and fierce winds, said Samuel Menager, an employee of the international aid group World Vision who helped evacuate people from the coast.
Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said late Saturday the country was confronting a national emergency and urged people in flood-prone areas to head for shelter.
"Do not wait for the last minute to make the decision to move from where you are," Simpson Miller said. "Decide now and begin to make arrangements to leave now."
Thousands of alarmed tourists were not waiting. They jammed Caribbean airports for flights out of Hurricane Dean's path as the fierce storm that has claimed at least six lives began sweeping past the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The storm's wrath could be felt Saturday in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, where a boy was pulled into the ocean and drowned while watching waves strike an oceanfront boulevard, the Dominican emergency operations center reported.
Rough surf churned by Dean destroyed five houses and damaged 15 others along the Dominican coast, emergency officials said.
In Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, which was also in the path of the Category 4 storm, fear gripped many islanders and tourists alike.
People jammed supermarkets and hardware stores in Kingston to stock up on canned food, bottled water, flashlights, batteries, lamps and plywood. In malls in the Jamaican capital, storeowners hammered plywood over windows.
Elaine Russell recalled Hurricane Ivan's destruction in 2004.
"I can't take it," she said. "The storm is bad enough but it's what happens afterwards — there's no light, no water."
Farther west, the low-lying Cayman Islands were expected to take a direct hit on Monday. Tourists there jammed Owens International Airport in snaking lines that stretched outside onto a lawn. A police officer with a bullhorn kept order.
Cayman Airways added 15 flights to Florida from the wealthy British territory, and they were quickly sold out.
The government ordered a mandatory evacuation by noon Sunday of Little Cayman, which is the smallest of the territory's three islands and has a population of about 150.
Authorities in the eastern Caribbean were assessing the damage after Dean hit on Friday as a Category 2 storm with winds of near 100 mph.
In the island of Martinique, an overseas department of France, authorities on Saturday confirmed two deaths, including a woman who apparently fell and drowned in her home.
Officials there estimated that up to $270 million is needed to repair infrastructure. Agriculture Minister Louis Daniel Berthome said all banana crops were destroyed.
Dean was on course to clip Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and enter the Gulf of Mexico by Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Forecasters said it was too soon to say whether it will strike the United States.
Playing it safe, NASA shortened the last spacewalk for astronauts aboard the shuttle Endeavour and ordered the spacecraft to return to Earth on Tuesday — a day early — fearing the storm might threaten the Houston home of Mission Control.
At 5 a.m. EDT, Dean was centered about 245 east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 155 miles south-southwest of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. The storm was moving west-northwest at 18 mph and had maximum sustained winds near 145 mph.
The Cuban government issued a tropical storm warning and said it was evacuating 50,000 people from three central and eastern provinces.

Beckham backlash

David Beckham scored his first goal for LA Galaxy in Wednesday's SuperLiga semi-final win over DC United.
The strike, courtesy of a trademark free-kick on 28 minutes, will go some way to placating those supporters who had begun to question his commitment.
But the 32-year-old midfielder knows he has more convincing to do as he attempts to win over hearts and minds following his high-profile move to the United States.
Beckham's move to Major League Soccer has not gone to plan so far.
A persistent ankle injury had severely limited his involvement with the Galaxy prior to the win over DC United, leading to discontent amongst some fans.
A small section had even go so far as to register their frustration with provocative t-shirts and placards.
One banner at a recent match bore the words "Welcome to America where people like you get paid to do nothing", leaving few in any doubt what the writer felt about Goldenballs.
True, the former Manchester United star is being paid millions to strut his stuff in Major League Soccer.
But then he is generating plenty of revenue and publicity for both the league and his club since agreeing to see out his career in the United States.
And that is part of the problem. After all the hype and numerous promotional appearances, people want to see Beckham out on the pitch doing what he does best, not stuck on the bench looking good for the cameras.
Recognising the growing frustration amongst Galaxy fans, Beckham took time out before the game with DC United to plead for their understanding and support.
"Just please be patient because there is nothing I can do injury-wise," he said.
"I can only let nature take its course and hopefully get as fit as I can as quick as possible.
"Keep supporting us, keep supporting me and the players, and keep on coming to see the games because at some point I will be playing every game."
His 63-minute performance against DC United is sure to help alleviate some of the disappointment felt by Galaxy followers.
Speaking before the match, Peter Bowes, the BBC's news correspondent in Los Angeles, made it clear that Beckham's popularity was starting to wane.
"As far as the Galaxy are concerned, if he does make it through even half of this game I think there will be a huge sigh of relief because the fans are indeed getting very impatient," he said.
"You get that sense today that he has to appear on that pitch at least to ease the fears of those fans who feel they've been led down the road by all the hype. They are getting very irritated."
But it is not solely Galaxy fans who have been upset with the hype surrounding Beckham.
MLS supporters in general have been growing increasingly frustrated.
When his move to the Galaxy was confirmed back in January, the MLS bigwigs immediately sought to capitalise on his popularity by selling tickets in blocks.
That meant if fans of Toronto FC or FC Dallas wanted to see Beckham in action they had to buy tickets for several games not just the one against the Galaxy.
When he subsequently failed to show because of his injured ankle some fans understandably felt hard done by.
There is every chance Galaxy supporters will soon forget any grievances they may have had with Beckham once he does eventually put his fitness problems behind him.
Last night's goal will certainly have helped, too.
But it might not be easy for the MLS and the Galaxy to make up ground lost in the publicity stakes.
"A month ago they were the talk of the town during the relatively quiet mid-summer period," said Bowes.
"But now with all this uncertainty surrounding Beckham and competition from other sports as we move into the autumn, there is the sense that they have blown it in terms of capitalising on that surge of initial publicity."
Isaac Lowencron, a reporter with LA sports station KLAC-AM 570 Radio, agreed.
"The biggest problem in southern California is no-one is talking about Beckham and the Galaxy, and when they do it's pretty much scornful talk," he said.
I'd be surprised if they aren't talking about Beckham now.

Three rescuers killed as Utah mine caves in

Three of the rescuers attempting to find six workers trapped in a Utah mine since last week have been killed following a cave-in, officials said on Thursday.
Additionally, six rescuers were injured, said Tammy Kikuchi, a spokeswoman with Utah's Department of Natural Resources.
She confirmed the third death, but it was not known at which hospital that rescuer died.
The others died at Castleview Hospital in Price, Utah -- about 20 miles from the mine site at Crandall Canyon in Huntington -- and at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, Utah.
The cave-in, which occurred about 6:35 p.m. MDT (8:35 p.m. EDT), was referred to as a "mountain bump" -- an eruption of rock and coal under increased pressure from overhead rock as drilling removes surrounding rock and material shifts in an area of the mine.
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said all rescue workers were evacuated from the mine and were accounted for, the Salt Lake City Tribune reported on its Web site.
The six trapped miners who were the subject of the search have not been heard from since the central Utah mine caved in on August 6.
"Tonight we have witnessed a most unfortunate incident on top of last week's tragedy," Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said in a statement. "I hope the lessons we learn from this week in Utah will be instrumental in improving mine safety everywhere."
Crandall Canyon Mine co-owner Robert Murray said earlier on Thursday the cavity found by a third bore hole had enough oxygen to sustain life indefinitely and that his crews would keep up efforts to contact the missing men.
Rescue crews were preparing to drill a fourth hole into the mine on Thursday. Work on a tunnel that could eventually get them out was proceeding slowly because of seismic activity.
It is not yet clear what caused the mine to collapse. Murray has said it was triggered by an earthquake despite disagreement from geologists.

Paulson says U.S. economy can withstand turmoil: report

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the turmoil in global markets will "extract a penalty" on growth but the financial system and economy was strong enough to withstand it without provoking a U.S. recession.
"The economy and the markets are strong enough to absorb the losses," Paulson told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on its Web site on Thursday.
Paulson also said the repricing of risk in markets should not surprise anyone and was inevitable, and that nothing should be done to guarantee market players against losses or restrain them from taking risks.

Storm Dean becomes first Atlantic hurricane of 2007

Tropical Storm Dean strengthened into the 2007 Atlantic storm season's first hurricane on Thursday as it revved up over warm waters and raced toward Caribbean islands, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The hurricane, with top sustained winds of 75 miles per hour by 5:00 a.m. EDT, was expected to strengthen further over coming days and could pass to the south of Jamaica on Monday as a Category 4 hurricane with 131 mph winds.

Sport and mobiles seek 'dream team'

After four years of trying to sell sport on mobile phones to fans, operators have hit on tactics which they hope will bring success in this new football season.
So far, the majority of mobile phone owners have shown themselves resistant to the idea of turning their devices into miniature TVs to watch sporting action.
Rather, they have preferred to access websites from their phones to catch up on the latest information, or signed-up for score alerts by text.
A hoped-for-breakthrough at the 2006 Fifa World Cup did not take place.
But this season, BSkyB, which owns the mobile Premiership rights, is providing action from top-flight matches for the next three years, and most importantly, at an "all-you-can eat" price of £5 a month.
Post-game highlights are being made available along with goals and key moments from some matches, depending on what time they are being played.
of the cash they splashed out to secure 3G licences, the major mobile networks have got on board with Sky and are hoping that this is the season football on mobiles makes a significant breakthrough.
Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, 3, and O2 are all offering some form of content from Sky Sports' Mobile TV offering - be it full access to Sky Sports, the 24-7 football video clips and highlights deal, or goals on a clip-by-clip basis.
And in another new move, Football League highlights will be available on Virgin mobiles.
'New media markets'
Rachael Church-Sanders, editor of Sport and Technology e-newsletter, observes: "Sky will be looking to get back the money it has forked out to secure the mobile rights.
"Meanwhile, the mobile networks are trying to take customers away from competitors by offering football highlights as part of their mobile TV offering, while at the same time reducing their own churn rate.
At the same time they are also hoping to justify their spending on 3G networks, and are looking for a return on the money they have spent."
Reflecting the importance of mobile rights, the Premiership has just concluded deals for countries such as China, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and, Saudi Arabia, as well as more traditional markets.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore says: "New media markets are an increasingly important part of our international broadcast strategy and landscape."
However, alongside these packages of goals and highlights, perhaps the most intriguing offering this summer comes from Orange, in the form of Frank TV.
This is nothing less than an entire mobile channel dedicated to giving us "fly-on-the-wall" experiences from England and Chelsea player Frank Lampard.
The channel is being made available to the 1.3 million Orange 3G customers on its mobile phone TV service, Orange TV. It will be broadcast alongside other Orange mobile TV channels, including the BBC, Channel 4, Sky and FHM.
It includes Lampard's own video diaries filmed in the last two seasons at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's training ground and Frank's house.
Sprouts and puppies
Orange was an official partner of Chelsea, providing content and behind-the-scenes news, but the deal has ended.
However, Lampard has a separate deal with Orange, which includes personal appearances and the Frank TV video diaries.
Orange claims he is the first footballer to launch his own dedicated mobile television channel.
It includes Lampard's own video diaries filmed in the last two seasons at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's training ground and Frank's house.
Sprouts and puppies
Orange was an official partner of Chelsea, providing content and behind-the-scenes news, but the deal has ended.
However, Lampard has a separate deal with Orange, which includes personal appearances and the Frank TV video diaries.
Orange claims he is the first footballer to launch his own dedicated mobile television channel.
Jake Redford, head of mobile, Orange UK, said: "Frank TV makes for great bite-size viewing and provides our mobile TV viewers unique insight to the life behind the footballer."
Footage shown at the launch mixed football-related material with "Frank at home" material, swinging from the player meeting Brazilian star Ronaldinho to a clip of him explaining how to peel sprouts.
Material featuring the Lampard puppies is perhaps for the diehard fan only. But for those more interested in what goes on at Chelsea, there is footage from behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge, much of it featuring masseur Billy Blood.
"I've enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would," says Lampard. "I'm pleased with the end product and that people can see the real you."
Exclusive content
However, whether the temptation of watching Frank TV would be enough to convince football fans to sign up for sport on mobile TV is another matter.
As Rachael Church-Sanders says: "I think people want to have some sort of access to sport on the move - what the score is, who has scored - and so on.
"What Frank Lampard did previously for Orange was successful and liked by fans.
"And there will always be users who will want to see content that is not available elsewhere. If the channel is to be successful, then they will be hoping to attract a number of new customers."
But she warns: "At the end of the day, many people are still just using their mobiles for texting and phoning."
But for now, the mobile networks will be hoping that the lure of Premiership action - and for Orange, footage of Frank Lampard wrapping his Christmas presents - will be enticing enough to make a growing number of football fans sign up for sport on mobile TV.
If so, this season could be the one that really sees the formation of the "dream team" of sport and mobile networks.