Citigroup Inc. Chief Economist Willem Buiter said that extending the maturities of Greek debt won’t solve the country’s underlying solvency problem.
“Extension of maturities is of course the final option that would allow them at least to get over the funding gap in 2012,” he said in an interview with Ken Prewitt on Bloomberg radio from Edinburgh. “It doesn’t solve the underlying solvency problem of the Greek sovereign.”
Standard & Poor’s yesterday cut the country’s debt rating two notches to B, citing the likelihood that Greece may need to restructure its debt. Euro-region officials said after an unscheduled May 6 meeting in Luxembourg that Greece needs “a further adjustment program.”
“It’s clear that Greece will have to find money somewhere in a hurry,” said Buiter. Greece “can’t get it in the market, so we either need a new package, an extension of the existing package, or rapid privatization of assets.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel today refused to commit to more aid for Greece, saying that it is still too early to decide whether the Greek government will need more financial help to overcome the debt crisis.
“The consent has to be unanimous so it’s going to be very, very difficult” to get another bailout, Buiter said. “It’s an investment of reputational capital by politicians. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense as you really are lending to an entity that’s insolvent.”
‘Ponzi Finance’
Buiter said that further lending to Greece would be futile.
“The way to deal with insolvency is not to lend more to the insolvent party, that’s Ponzi finance,” he said. “What you have to do is to face up to the reality of restructuring” which means taking “the necessary steps to restructure the sovereigns and the banks that are exposed to the sovereigns.”
Greece has slashed spending and raised taxes to reduce a budget deficit that reached 15.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, requiring a 110 billion-euro ($158 billion) bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. Buiter criticized the Greek policy of raising revenue.
“Last year Greece responded to the tax shortfall by having tax amnesty,” he said. “That’s always a measure of despair which gives you money upfront in return for a complete undermining of your tax enforcement credibility in the future because everybody expects the next tax amnesty five years down the road.”
Singaporeans will vote in record numbers today as they face a choice between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s People’s Action Party and the biggest number of opponents since independence.
A record 2.21 million eligible voters will have the chance to cast their ballot as Lee seeks a new mandate from citizens, who have voiced discontent about the rising cost of living and competition with foreigners for jobs and housing.
“No doubt over the years the PAP has done well for Singapore, but we need a check in parliament,” said Darren Lim, who’s in his 30s and works in health care. Lim, who votes in the Aljunied constituency where the opposition is fielding its top candidates, said he expects the ruling party to retain power and plans to vote for the rival Workers’ Party.
The PAP, whose five-decade rule oversaw a 41-fold jump in gross domestic product, has encountered a more vocal electorate than before, prompting a rare apology from Lee for failing to build enough public housing and expand transport links as the population grew. Lee’s efforts to boost the economy include the opening of two casino resorts, bringing the Formula One race to the island and attracting foreign workers.
The opposition drew thousands to rallies, where candidates including the Workers’ Party’s Low Thia Khiang and Sylvia Lim drew cheers with calls for a stronger voice in parliament and more affordable public housing.
‘High and Mighty’
Opposition groups including the Singapore Democratic Party are vying for 82 of 87 parliamentary seats in 26 out of 27 districts. The only uncontested constituency is that of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, 87, the Cambridge University-trained lawyer who led the island from British rule and became its first premier. He’s also the father of the current prime minister.
The parliament dissolved last month had 82 PAP lawmakers, two elected opposition politicians and 10 non-elected members.
“The PAP has served us well over the many years but it’s gotten too high and mighty,” said Yeo Pei Ming, 56, a vegetable merchant and resident of Aljunied. “I think it’s about time we had more opposition voices.”
The ruling party is likely to keep a majority because it retains support from citizens who have seen their wealth rise over the decades, as the island with no natural resources was built into a Southeast Asian manufacturing and financial hub.
Singapore’s gross domestic product was about S$285 billion ($231 billion) last year, compared with S$6.9 billion in 1960, based on 2005 market prices. GDP grew 14.5 percent last year, the most in Asia.
‘Concrete Solutions’
“I agree that the PAP has its faults, but the opposition is not strong enough,” said Landon Lim, 31, who doesn’t have to vote because he lives in the elder Lee’s Tanjong Pagar district no fax payday loan. “I see the opposition always pointing out PAP’s mistakes, but I want to see concrete solutions.”
Politicians compete in single-seat wards or multiple-seat districts called Group Representation Constituencies, or GRCs. The party that gets the most number of votes in a constituency sends all its members to parliament, and the PAP has never lost a GRC. Polls close at 8 p.m. today.
Worker’s Party Chairman Lim and Secretary-General Low will contest in the Aljunied district led by Foreign Minister George Yeo. Low had the biggest victory margin among opposition candidates in the 2006 election in percentage terms, and has held a parliament seat since 1991.
Chance to Vote
In the 2006 elections, seven GRCs were unopposed, leaving about 936,000 Singaporeans without the opportunity to vote. In 2001, 10 GRCs were unopposed and 1.36 million eligible citizens didn’t get to vote. Singaporean citizens make up 3.2 million of the island’s population of 5.1 million.
Dissent is growing among Singaporeans who may feel less beholden to the ruling party that led the island out of colonial rule than past voters. The PAP won about 67 percent of the votes cast in 2006, down from 75 percent in the 2001 elections.
Singapore’s economic success has widened the income gap, with the world’s highest share of dollar-millionaire households contributing to higher property and consumer prices.
Singapore’s Gini coefficient, a gauge of income inequality, rose to 0.48 last year from 0.444 in 2000, according to the statistics department. A reading of zero means income equality, while a reading of one means complete inequality. Inflation accelerated to a two-year high of 5.5 percent in January.
Vote PAP or ‘Repent’
The government plans to spend S$6.6 billion on benefits for citizens in this year’s budget to ease the burden of inflation.
The elder Lee, Singapore’s prime minister until 1990, appealed to voters by pointing out the PAP’s track record of boosting their wealth.
“Do not risk your assets, property values, job opportunities,” he said in an editorial in the Today newspaper last week. “Vote for men and women of proven character and track records of high performance.”
Lee also warned voters that they will “repent” if they don’t elect the ruling party.
His son has used a more conciliatory tone. Prime Minister Lee, 59, apologized at a PAP rally for not moving faster to address shortfalls in housing and transportation, the Straits Times reported. “If we didn’t quite get it right, I am sorry but we will try and do better the next time,” the paper quoted him as saying May 3.
President Barack Obama says the latest positive jobs report shows the economy is resilient and “can take a hit and still keep on going” despite some strong headwinds, such as rising gasoline prices.
The monthly government jobs report released Friday showed a net increase of 244,000 jobs in April, beating expectations. Obama noted it was the 14th consecutive month of private sector job growth.
Obama says economic progress continues despite high gas prices that are chipping away at people’s paychecks and the Japanese earthquake that has affected some U.S. manufacturing operations.
Obama says there will always be ups and downs coming out of a recession but that the economy is showing its agility.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
President Barack Obama was bringing private words of gratitude Friday to troops involved in the killing of Osama bin Laden and delivering a public reminder that the fight against terrorism isn’t over. His message was reinforced by an al-Qaida threat of retaliation for its leader’s death.
After a stop in Indiana, Obama was visiting Fort Campbell, Ky., home to the Army unit involved in transporting Navy SEALs in and out of bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.
In addition to his private meeting with raid participants, the president, joined by Vice President Joe Biden, also will address soldiers who have returned recently from Afghanistan, speaking in a public forum likely to highlight the military triumph over bin Laden.
But the president has said there’s no need to “spike the ball” and revel in bin Laden’s death, and White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama’s comments would reflect that attitude.
“I don’t expect you’ll hear the president spiking the ball and gloating when he speaks to troops returning from Afghanistan,” Carney told reporters traveling with the president on Air Force One. “The point he will make is that while the successful mission against Osama bin Laden was an historic and singular event, it doesn’t by any means mean that we are finished with the war against al-Qaida. The fight goes on.”
That was underscored by a new al-Qaida statement posted on militant websites, which gave al-Qaida’s confirmation of bin Laden’s killing, opening the way for a successor to be named, and said that Americans’ “happiness will turn to sadness.” Its authenticity could not be independently confirmed.
It was the first statement from al-Qaida since bin Laden died in a U.S. commando raid in Pakistan five days ago, and a reminder that despite his death, threats to America remain.
“We are aware of it. We’ve seen the reports,” Carney said. “What it does obviously is acknowledge the obvious, which is that Osama bin Laden was killed on Sunday night by U.S. forces. … We’re quite aware of the potential for (terrorist) activity and are highly vigilant on that matter for that reason.”
At the same time, Obama was seeking to convey a return to the business of governing. Before arriving in Fort Campbell Friday afternoon the president made a stop in Indianapolis where he planned to promote his energy policies. He was greeted upon arrival by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who is contemplating a presidential run and would be considered a top contender for the Republican nomination to challenge Obama in 2012.
In Indianapolis the president also planned to address monthly jobs numbers released Friday, which showed that the economy added 244,000 jobs in April, beating expectations. At the same time, though, the unemployment rate ticked up to 9 percent.
Without bin Laden’s death to overshadow it, the trip to Indianapolis to showcase a transmission plant that produces systems for hybrid vehicles would have policy and political consequences. Obama has been promoting his energy policies as a long-term answer to rising oil prices and U.S. dependence on foreign oil. The skyrocketing cost of gasoline had caused Obama’s public approval numbers to dip until bin Laden’s death shoved them back up. What’s more, Indiana is a battleground state that Obama won narrowly in 2008 by less than 30,000 votes.
Still, the centerpiece of the day for the president will be the stop at Fort Campbell.
The fort is home to the 101st Airborne Division and many of its combat teams have returned recently from tours of duty in Afghanistan. But its main draw for Obama is the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the highly specialized Army unit that carried Navy SEALs to bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
The unit, known as Night Stalkers, has fought in nearly every U.S. conflict, from Grenada to Afghanistan, and was memorialized in the book and movie “Black Hawk Down.” Many of its missions are classified and among its primary duties are flying special forces commandos behind enemy lines.
They are equipped with Black Hawk, Chinook and MH-6 Little Bird helicopters. Aviation experts said a helicopter used in the bin Laden raid appeared to be a stealthier, top secret and never-before-seen version of a routinely used special ops helicopter. The helicopter made a hard landing and was destroyed by the military team at the site.
Obama has tried to avoid rejoicing publicly over bin Laden’s death. But even while hewing to his regular schedule of policy sessions and routine ceremonial events, he has maintained a steady stream of events that have kept the success of the remarkable commando operation at the forefront. On Thursday he visited New York to lay a wreath at ground zero and visit fire and police stations that responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, attack that was carried out by bin Laden’s al-Qaida operatives. The president met privately there with victims’ families, but in public Obama never mentioned bin Laden by name. He didn’t have to.
“When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say,” Obama told firefighters.
OTTAWA
When people talk green energy in Ontario they mostly discuss two technologies: solar panels and wind turbines.
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Central banks in eastern Europe, the region hardest hit by the global financial crisis, will raise interest rates less than other emerging markets as policy makers signal greater concern about growth, economists said.
Emerging Europe’s economies will expand 3.6 percent this year, compared with 8.4 percent predicted for Asia’s developing economies and 4.3 percent for Latin America, according to International Monetary Fund’s January forecasts. Russia yesterday unexpectedly kept its deposit rate unchanged, while money market rates for Poland and Hungary show that investors have scaled back bets on how far borrowing costs will rise.
Global rate setters are growing more concerned that inflation is accelerating as the world economy gathers strength and food and oil prices rise. While Hungary, Serbia and Poland have raised borrowing costs, emerging Europe’s rates will rise more slowly than in Asia and Latin America, which are growing twice as fast, according to Commerzbank AG, Capital Economics Ltd. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
“With the still sluggish growth rate, east European central banks can’t afford to be very aggressive,” said Michael Ganske, head of emerging-markets research in London at Commerzbank, Germany’s second-biggest lender. “You can’t purely look at inflation when you’re just coming out of a major economic crisis.”
Russian Rates
In Russia, where President Dmitry Medvedev set an annual growth target of 8 percent to 10 percent in five years, the central bank opted to raise reserve requirements for banks to contain inflation without throttling the recovery. It surprised 12 of 16 economists in a Bloomberg survey by keeping the deposit rate unchanged.
Bank Rossii kept all interest rates on hold, including the key refinancing rate at a record-low 7.75 percent. The IMF expects Russia to grow 4.5 percent this year, compared with 9.6 percent for China and 8.6 percent for India.
Forward-rate agreements used to lock in interest costs in a year’s time now indicate Polish rates will increase by 1.08 percentage points by year-end; two weeks ago they predicted 1.25 percent.
Hungarian contracts now show the bank may be done raising rates, compared with rate bets of 52 basis points two weeks ago. Contracts for the Czech Republic, where the bank has kept rates at a record low 0.75 percent since May, signal an increase of 85 basis points, compared with 82 two weeks ago.
India, Brazil
In India, where the central bank last week resumed rate increases, bets on the extent of tightening are rising. The cost of one-year interest-rate swaps used to guard against fluctuations in borrowing costs rose 29 basis points this month to 7.43 percent. Brazil’s central bank last month lifted rates 50 basis points and signaled it will move again in March. Yields on interest-rate futures contracts due January 2013 have risen 52 basis points in the past month.
Interest-rate derivatives markets may still be overestimating increases to east Europe’s policy rates because central bankers may be unable to influence food and energy- related price gains with monetary tightening, said Neil Shearing, senior emerging markets economist at London-based Capital Economics.
Central banks may tolerate some inflation “because they know where it’s coming from, food and energy prices, and they know that they don’t have much control over that,” he said. “In much of the region there are still major growth challenges.”
Inflation Threat
The share of food prices in consumer-price baskets across the region is between 20 percent and 40 percent, BNP Paribas SA economist Michal Dybula said. Inflation is a threat to eastern Europe’s recovery as it may damp consumer spending and prompt interest rate increases, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said last week.
Because of sluggish economic growth, the dilemma for emerging European central bankers is more similar to that of U.S. and western European policy makers than the challenges faced by their Chinese, Brazilian or Indian counterparts, Commerzbank’s Ganske said.
The Federal Reserve last week maintained plans to buy $600 billion of Treasuries through June to help reduce unemployment. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Jan. 26 in Davos, Switzerland that euro-region interest rates were “appropriate.”
‘Most Hawkish’
Serbia’s central bank, which Timothy Ash, head of emerging- market strategy at Royal Bank of Scotland called Europe’s “most hawkish,” led rate increases, lifting borrowing costs times since August by 4 percentage points to 12 percent as losses in the currency fueled inflation.
Hungarian policy makers last month raised the country’s benchmark rate a quarter-point to 6 percent, the third consecutive increase. The central bank sought to tighten policy before Prime Minister Viktor Orban appoints board members more likely to favor lower rates, RBC Capital, Citigroup Inc. and Capital Economics said.
Poland followed on Jan. 19 by raising rates a quarter-point to 3.75 percent from a record low to tame inflation expectations and strengthen the zloty. The Czech central bank has signaled it may raise its main rate in the second half.
Following the rate moves, policy makers toned down their inflation-fighting rhetoric.
‘On a Hair’
Hungarian central bank President Andras Simor said after the Jan. 24 meeting that the vote to raise rates hinged “on a hair” and that council members were “very open” about next month’s decision. Polish central bank policy maker Andrzej Bratkowski, who had in the past favored higher rates, said on Jan. 25 that the next rate increase may only come in May or June rather than March.
Polish, Hungarian and Czech inflation rates will breach the upper limits of monetary policy makers’ targets this year, according to the central banks. Bank Rossii’s 6 percent to 7 percent goal this year will be “very difficult” to meet, the bank’s First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Jan. 20.
“Inflation risk is real, forcing most central banks to react,” said Raffaella Tenconi, a London-based economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “The recovery in domestic spending is nascent, implying the required monetary tightening in the near term remains contained.”
The spread between the yield on Poland’s inflation-linked bonds due in August 2023 and similar maturity government debt was at 3.35 percentage points today. The difference, known as the breakeven rate that reflects investors’ expectations for consumer-price increases, has risen 28 basis points this year.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday defended the central bank’s plans to spur U.S. economic growth, saying they could help reduce unemployment, and — in a message aimed at China — urged developing nations to let their currencies gain in value.
Nations need to work together to correct global imbalances as the world economy recovers at an uneven pace, the Fed chairman said at a banking conference in Frankfurt, Germany.
While praising the global coordination that helped pull the world’s economies back from the brink of collapse, Bernanke said the sense of common purpose that resulted has "waned" and that tensions among nations have "intensified."
Bernanke’s principal complaint is that officials in emerging markets have prevented the appreciation of their currencies to the detriment of developed economies — the same argument employed by Obama administration officials in recent weeks in criticisms of China.
"The strategy of currency undervaluation has demonstrated important drawbacks, both for the world system and for the countries using that strategy," Bernanke said.
Bernanke also defended the Fed’s decision earlier this month to pump $600 billion into the financial system by purchasing U.S. Treasuries. Central bank officials from many U.S. trading partners, including Germany, have criticized the plan for potentially dangerous side effects.
Bernanke acknowledged the rancor, but argued that additional stimulus is necessary given persistently high levels of unemployment in the United States, particularly among those who have been out of work for long periods of time.
"In taking that action, the Committee seeks to support the economic recovery, promote a faster pace of job creation, and reduce the risk of a further decline in inflation that would prove damaging to the recovery," he said.
Bernanke stressed that the Fed has the tools to drain money from the economy if necessary. He also noted that the Fed purchased Treasuries and other assets "on a large scale" during the financial crisis, which he said "appears to have been quite successful in helping to stabilize the economy and support the recovery during that period."
Bernanke argued that the Fed’s action is rooted in conventional monetary policy.
"Even the asset purchases, the quantitative easing, done by the British, the Americans, the Japanese has some pretty classic roots to it," he said during the question and answer portion of the conference.
Some developing nations have blasted the United States for labeling China a currency manipulator, while also pursuing a policy that effectively undermines the value of the dollar. In response, Bernanke said the dollar’s recent decline was a reflection of its safe-haven appeal in the currency markets, adding that fostering economic growth will eventually restore the currency’s strength.
Bernanke also acknowledged criticism from officials in developing countries such as Brazil, who worry that the extra liquidity being pumped into the system will inflate asset bubbles in emerging markets.
He noted that there has been a recent increase in capital inflows to such nations but suggested that it was due more to differences in currency exchange rates, particularly among nations that devalue their currencies.
To that end, Bernanke also discussed the challenges created by the "two-speed nature" of the global economic recovery, in which emerging markets are growing much faster than established ones.
The "bifurcated" recovery is making it difficult to coordinate economic policies, he said, and is fueling tensions between nations that have large deficits and those that are running surpluses.
While world leaders were united by a common cause during the global financial crisis, Bernanke warned "that sense of common purpose has waned" as the world economy has recovered at an uneven pace.
"Tensions among nations over economic policies have emerged and intensified, potentially threatening our ability to find global solutions to global problems," he noted.
ST. JOHNâS, N.L.âA $6.2-billion deal has been reached to develop power from the proposed Lower Churchill hydroelectric project in Labrador, Emera Inc. announced Thursday.
Emera (TSX: EMA) says under the agreement, Newfoundland and Labradorâs Crown utility, Nalcor Energy, would spend $2.9 billion to build a power generating facility at Muskrat Falls.
A transmission link from Labrador to Newfoundland would cost $2.1 billion, $600 million of which would be provided by Emera.
A link between Newfoundland to Nova Scotia would cost $1.2 billion, all funded by Emera, which owns Nova Scotia Power.
In a statement issued by Emera, Premiers Danny Williams and Darrell Dexter touted the agreement as one that would provide cleaner, affordable electricity and boost Atlantic Canadaâs economy.
âThis is an extremely exciting and proud day for our province as we move forward with plans to develop the Lower Churchill project â the most attractive clean, renewable energy project in North America,â Williams said in a statement.
âThis is an historic day for Nova Scotia and all of Atlantic Canada,â added Dexter. âIt lifts the idea of Atlantic co-operation off the page and turns it into fundamental action, building a more prosperous nation.â
The agreement is subject to approval by regulators in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. Under the agreement, Nova Scotia would receive 20 per cent of the power generated at Muskrat Falls for 35 years.
Emera has been in negotiations to develop Lower Churchill power since a memorandum of understanding was signed in January 2008 no credit check payday loans.
Nalcor officials have said it would take about five years to get energy flowing to Nova Scotia once a deal is signed.
Last month, Williams announced he was pursuing the Lower Churchill project in two phases. He said his plan was to build a generating station at Muskrat Falls, followed by a larger facility upriver at Gull Island.
The multibillion-dollar project has been on the drawing board in one form or another for decades. In 1980, it passed an environmental assessment but was set aside due to concerns over market access and financing.
Concerns over the loss of habitat that would result from the development of the project have also stalled its progress. But Nalcor has promised to develop a compensation plan to make up for that.
The desire to build more power plants on the Churchill River in central Labrador can be traced back to 1972, when the Churchill Falls hydroelectric dam was finished with Quebecâs help.
Under that deal, which doesnât expire until 2041 and is often criticized by Williams, Quebec has reaped more than $19 billion in profits while Newfoundland has pocketed only $1 billion, according to the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
As a result of that deal, Newfoundland and Labrador has sought an alternate route for Lower Churchill power that bypasses Quebec.
U.S. Representative Mike Pence, chairman of the House Republican Conference, said he plans to introduce a bill tomorrow that would end the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate, forcing the central bank to focus on inflation.
“The Fed’s dual mandate has failed,” Pence, of Indiana, said in a statement. The central bank is currently required by a 1977 amendment to the Federal Reserve Act to promote stable prices and full employment. Matt Lloyd, communications director for the conference, said in an e-mail that Pence intends the bill to be considered in the current lame-duck session of Congress.
The Fed’s Nov. 3 decision to buy $600 billion of Treasuries in a bid to reduce unemployment is being criticized by officials in China, Germany, and Brazil, as well as U.S. economists John Taylor and Michael Boskin. Pence joined the critics today, saying the Fed’s second round of quantitative easing will monetize the U.S. government’s debt and ignite inflation.
“It’s time for the Fed to be solely focused on price stability and not the recently announced QE2,” said the 51- year-old lawmaker.
Democrats still control both houses during the lame-duck session that began today. Republicans gained at least 60 House seats in the Nov. 2 election, enabling the party to seize a majority in the chamber in January. Republicans gained six seats in the Senate, trimming the Democrats’ control to 53-47.
Yahoo needed a blowout quarter to silence its critics, and this wasn’t it.
Yahoo posted third-quarter earnings Tuesday that topped Wall Street expectations, but sales just missed forecasts — a result sure to disappoint investors hoping CEO Carol Bartz would pull a rabbit out of her hat.
The company said its net income for the third quarter rose 113% from last year, to $396 million. Excluding one-time gains related to selling companies — an Alibaba.com stake last year, and HotJobs earlier this year — Yahoo earned 17 cents a share in its latest quarter, up from 10 cents a year earlier.
Excluding traffic acquisition costs — revenue shared with partners — Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) had sales of $1.12 billion. That just missed forecasts from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who expected $1.13 billion.
Shares fell almost 3% in after-hours trading.
The aging Internet portal has struggled to reinvent itself as it falls behind its rivals and loses ground in major areas like display advertising. Yahoo shares are down more than 6% this year, sparking takeover rumors.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that fellow struggling Internet icon AOL was in early-stage talks with buyout firms about making a joint bid for Yahoo. But on Thursday, a New York Times report said a potential deal was "pie-in-the-sky." Fortune cast doubt on the math, pointing out that few private-equity firms have funds big enough to devour Yahoo.
On a post-earnings conference call with analysts, Bartz shot down questions about the buyout rumors: "As tempting as it is to tell you what I really think, you know I can’t comment."
Bartz, who replaced Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang in January 2009, has said she wants to streamline the company and refocus it around content.
But critics have grown louder as the Yahoo continues to languish.
Yahoo has lost market share in display advertising — once its biggest stronghold — to rivals Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Facebook. In the third quarter, display advertising on Yahoo’s owned and operated sites grew 17% compared with last year. But those gains were partially offset by a 7% drop in search advertising revenue.
Bartz took a defensive tone with analysts, starting off the conference call with a defense of her tenure.
"We stepped back and took a good look at the company … and we realized we had to make substantial changes," she said of the steps taken during her 21-month tenure.
Yahoo is focused on "mobile, local and social" ventures, Bartz said, citing a soon-to-be-unveiled Yahoo Mail system that will integrate photos and social networking sites like Twitter.
Yahoo has bought back more than 7% of its stock so far in 2010 because "we recognize the tremendous value of our assets," Bartz said.
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