As RTTNews informed on Friday, the Louisiana and Minnesota senators had risen their bet on the approaching NFC title game, where the New Orlean Saints and the Minnesota Vikings will compete.
The one, who’ll lose would have to prepare something like home-style foods, made by the looser himself – anything the winner prefer.

It means that if Minnesota beat Vikings senator Mary Landrieu would have to cook Minnesota traditional meal - the wild rice casserole for senator Amy Klobuchar. Even more, she would have to deliver her cooking to Klobuchar's office wearing a jumper of Brett Favre (the Vikings' quarterback).

As RTTNews informed, the price for gold drew near $1100 on Friday – the first time in 2010. The week was ended with another substantial loss. It is believed there are reasons for concerns and discussions that dollar would be rising further versus euro, which scaled on goods prices this week.

With the overall rise in prices in check, tradesmen consider not to give the high value to the precious metal. In February the price of gold lowered to $13.50 than to harden at $1089.70 an ounce. Uncontrollable discussion of the governmental charges problems and the weakness of dollar has led to the gold price rising up to record-breaking level - from above 1225 $ in December.

Crude prices fell sharply yet again on Friday, ending a week of losses in characteristic fashion as demand concerns and US dollar strength continued to limit crude's appeal.

Fundamentals remain exceedingly week, driving the price of front-month crude down nearly $10 from its January 11 high near $84 a barrel.

With no positive economic news to reverse its recent downtrend, crude for March lost $1.54 to $74.54 a barrel today. Crude has accelerated lower since China took steps to tighten its fiscal policy earlier this week. Chinese demand was seen as the key factor in oil's recovery from the lows reached during the worst of the global recession.

Yesterday's official data showing a surprise draw down in crude inventories did little to support oil prices.

The dollar kept must of its recent gains Friday, keeping most commodity prices depressed.

The price of gold closed below $1100 for the first time in 2010 on Friday, ending a dismal week with another solid loss. Demand concerns and speculation that the dollar may rise further versus the euro has weighed heavily on commodity prices this week.

With inflation in check, traders are finding little reason to value the precious metal. February gold fell $13.50 to settle at $1089.70 an ounce. A furious rally on concerns about government spending and dollar weakness the drove gold to record highs above $1225 back in December.

The dollar has surged and stocks have tumble of late amid growing talk of a double dip recession. Calls by President Barack Obama for new restrictions on financial institutions further soured the mood on Wall Street.

Market players may turn their attention to the fate of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke next week. Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has joined a growing list of Senators from both sides of the aisle expressing opposition to a second term for Bernanke.

While the public remains divided over Democrats' efforts to enact health care reform legislation, a new poll released Friday found that support for the effort grew when people were advised of its key provisions.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation poll, which was conducted before the Massachusetts special election was won by a Republican, stripping Democrats of the 60th vote needed to overcome a GOP filibuster, 42 percent of Americans supported the Democrats' plan.

Almost as many, 41 percent, were opposed to the effort, while 16 percent were undecided.

However, the poll found that a majority supported the bill more after hearing about some of its elements.

On hearing that the bill offers tax credits to small business owners to help them offer health insurance to their workers, 73 percent said they were more supportive of the legislation.

Former President George H. W. Bush has thrown his support behind Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in her bid against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry for the Republican nomination for governor.

Hutchison, who considered challenging Perry four years ago but ultimately withdrew, has been sharply critical of Perry's record as governor, arguing that he should not be re-elected to a third term.

Bush, who Hutchison's campaign said rarely endorses in primaries, credited Hutchison's long service to the Texas GOP in his endorsement, in which he was joined by his wife former First Lady Barbara Bush.

'Barbara and I are taking this unusual step of endorsing in this primary because of our unbridled belief in Kay,' President Bush said. 'She is strong. She has proven her steadfast commitment to the issues and values that unite Texas Republicans.'

The House Financial Services Committee plans to abolish the housing giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE), according to committee chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

Frank said Friday that the government sponsored entities, which were taken over by federal regulators during the depths of the housing crisis, could not continue in their present form.

'The committee will be recommending abolishing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their current form and coming up with a whole new system of housing finance,' he said. 'That's the approach, rather than a piecemeal one.'

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which between them own or guarantee more than $5 trillion in residential mortgage debt, have received more than $110 billion in federal aid since being taken over by regulators in September.

President Barack Obama signaled Friday that he would not back down from the fight for health care reform despite this week's surprise defeat in a Massachusetts special election.

Many observers had written off the prospects of significant health reform legislation making it through Congress swiftly following the victory of Republican Scott Brown in the race to replace the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

That victory stripped Senate Democrats of the crucial 60th vote needed to overcome the Republican filibuster of the health reform measure.

But Obama, speaking at a town hall meeting in Ohio in a forum on the economy and jobs, said he was still committed to achieving significant reforms.

'There are things that have to get done,' he said. 'This is our best chance to do it. We can't keep on putting this off.'

Senators from Louisiana and Minnesota Friday decided to raise the stakes on this weekend's NFC title game between the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings.

The loser of the bet has pledged to prepare a home-style meal for the other - by the winner's tastes.

That would mean if Minnesota wins Sen. Mary Landrieu would prepare a traditional Minnesota wild rice casserole for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, delivering it to Klobuchar's office while wearing a jersey of Vikings' quarterback Brett Favre.

If New Orleans takes the title Landrieu will be served gumbo by Klobuchar, who will wear Saints' quarterback Drew Brees' jersey.

Klobuchar confessed to a little trepidation about the contest.

'I hope for the sake of Mary's constituents that the Saints don't win, because I've never even made gumbo,' she said. 'But I have strong faith in the Vikings that they'll pull this game out and move on to the Super Bowl, and I'll never have to learn to make the gumbo!'

The dollar was mixed versus other major currencies, extending a comeback bid versus its Canadian counterpart as traders assessed the sustainability of the global economic recovery, which has shown signs of fizzling out without further government support.

Risk averse traders have flocked to the dollar, and to a greater degree the yen, in recent days. Stocks have withered under the pressure of lackluster corporate earnings news, disappointing economic data, and tightening measures from China.

The dollar gave up a fraction of its gains versus the euro, slipping to 1.4175 from yesterday's 5-month high near 1.4025.

Meanwhile, the dollar found its footing versus the resurgent yen, which has become the more fashionable safe haven play since President Barack Obama called for new restrictions on financial institutions aimed at preventing future financial crises.

U.S. government's Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, George Mitchell urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to first return to the negotiating table so that Washington will be able to help the Palestinians achieve their goal of independence.

Mitchell, touring the Middle East as part of the latest US effort to push the parties back to the negotiating table, reassured Abbas that US President Barack Obama remained fully committed to a Middle East peace solution.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told reporters Friday that Mitchell had brought no 'letters of assurances' to the Palestinians, but added 'we do not need these American letters because Israel is the occupying power, not America.'

The US envoy's meeting with Abbas in Ramallah comes a day after he held talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Jerusalem.

Canadian retail sales fell in line with expectations in November, led by a significant drop in sales at clothing stores as the holiday shopping season kicked off.

Retail sales in current dollars declined 0.3% in November to $35.2 billion, after rising for three consecutive months, according to data from Statistics Canada. A contributing factor was lower winter clothing sales as a result of unseasonably warm weather throughout most of Canada.

After removing the effects of price changes, particularly higher gasoline prices, retail sales in volume terms decreased 1.0% in November, the first decline since April 2009.

The automotive sector edged down 0.2% in November. Sales at new car dealers fell 2.2% after rising for six consecutive months.

Sales declined in five of eight retail store sectors in November. A 3.6% decrease at clothing and accessories stores was the largest drop in this sector since September 2002, when above average temperatures also affected seasonal clothing purchases.

Eurozone industrial orders rose more than expected in November, data released by the Eurostat showed Friday.

Industrial new orders grew 1.6% month-on-month in November, reversing a revised decline of 1.9% in October. Economists had forecast a modest increase of 0.5%. The most significant improvement was seen annually with the pace of decline easing to just 1.5% from October's revised fall of 14.4%.

Excluding ships, railway and aerospace equipments, for which changes tend to be more volatile, industrial new orders rose 1.5% month-on-month in November. New orders for intermediate goods increased 1.8% and those for non-durable consumer goods rose 1.2%. Orders were up 0.3% for durable consumer goods, while dropped 1.2% for capital goods.

Recent reports suggest that the Eurozone recovery lost its momentum in January as growth in the private sector slowed. Survey data from the Markit Economics showed on Thursday that the flash composite output index fell in January from December, but continued to stay above no-change mark of 50 to suggest expansion. The index is a weighted average of the manufacturing and services purchasing managers' indexes. Moreover, exports dropped for a second month in November.

Friday, the Bank of Thailand said it expects the economic growth in 2010 to be within the range of 3.3% to 5.3% this year. For 2011, the central bank estimates 2.8% to 4.8% growth. The Monetary Policy Committee assessed that the degree of uncertainty surrounding the growth projection remains high, with risks tilting toward the downside.

The central bank in its latest Inflation Report said today that the inflationary pressure should gradually build in line with strengthening domestic demand as well as higher oil and commodity prices, resulting from a global economic recovery.

The report added that the downside risk to inflation would dominate the upside risk, as demand could expand at a less brisk pace. Headline inflation is projected to average within the ranges of 3% to 5% in 2010 and 2% to 4% in 2011.

Austria's industrial production fell 1.9% month-on-month in November taking the annual decline to 5.9%, data released by the Statistics Austria showed Friday.

Construction production was up 1.1% over October and increased 0.1% compared to the previous year.

Total production in November fell 1.3% month-on-month and 4.7% year-on-year.

Source: Financial: Aust...