Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Roseanne Barr has filed the official paperwork necessary to run for the Green Party nomination for president of the United States.

Barr filed her paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Jan. 25. Her filing creates a four-way race for the Green nomination, which is to be decided at the Green Party Nomination Convention in July.

The comedian tweeted Thursday, “I am running for Green Party nominee for POTUS. I am an official candidate. I am4 the Greening of America & the world. Green=peace/justice.”

‘I will run until the convention in July in Baltimore, I fully expect Jill Stein 2b the nominee & I will support her, but till then-I’ll serve,” Barr continued in several tweets that followed her announcement.

Barr’s platform, as detailed in a tweet, is a promise to institute “#Europeanstyle” single payer healthcare within the first 100 days of her term, and to forgive all credit card and mortgage debt “by kicking out the FED-those who all this fake debt is owed.”

In May 2010, in a campaign announcement, Barr outlined a more detailed platform. “First, to make war illegal and legalize hemp and marijuana. Second, change the demographics of government to include more women. Third, outlaw–how do we say this politely–outlaw bull. Yes, that’s it. Outlaw bull.”

On the Green Party website, Barr expressed her support for the Occupy Wall Street Movement and said, “Both the Democratic and Republican parties are bought and paid for by corporate America and cater to the needs of the highest bidder as opposed to the people the claim to represent. I cannot be bought.”

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Wall Street opened lower Friday after a report showed that the U.S. economy expanded less than forecast..

Just after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower by 33 points, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index was flat and the NASDAQ was up by about 6 points.

Weighing on stocks was a report that showed the U.S. economy expanded at 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter, less than the 3 percent that had been projected.

In Europe the Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.7 percent as investors await word on developments on the region’s sovereign debt crisis. European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said authorities are “very close” to reaching an agreement on private-sector involvement in a Greek debt swap.

Despite those words of optimism, the dismal growth of GDP in the U.S. was keeping investors cautious. The health and growth of the U.S. economy is a very important and leading indicator of economic growth worldwide. As analysts like to say, “when the U.S. sneezes, the world catches a cold.”

In corporate news, Ford fell after reporting numbers that missed estimates. Starbucks shares slipped despite reporting better than expected numbers, and Juniper Networks plunged after the second biggest maker of computer networking equipment forecast sales and profits that missed estimates.

In commodities, oil was unchanged at $$99.60 a barrel, gold rose $4.70 to $1,725 a troy ounce and silver was up a few pennies at $33.63.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Wall Street opened mixed to lower Friday morning following earnings reports from General Eclectic and Google that disappointed.

Just after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, the S&P 500 Index was down 3 points and the NASDAQ fell 9 points.

Weighing on stocks was an earnings report from Dow component General Electric. Shares of GE dropped more than 2 percent after the largest U.S. conglomerate reported roughly flat profit from continuing operations, and revenues that missed estimates.

Meanwhile, Internet giant Google tumbled more than 8 percent, or 52.38, to 586.66, after the search engine reported quarterly profit and revenue that missed Wall Street estimates. Google blamed the shortfall on declining search advertising rates.

Microsoft shares rose 3 percent after decent earnings, and IBM rose $4.87 to $185.45 after giving a strong outlook on a strong earnings report.

Investors are still keeping a close eye on developments in Europe regarding the sovereign debt crisis.

Greece and its private bondholders were “converging toward” a long-awaited debt swap deal, with an initial agreement coming as early as Friday that would prevent a default from Greece.

In commodities, oil was trading off $1.19 to $99.20 a barrel, and gold was down $1.20 to $1,652.90 a troy ounce.

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Brussels, Belgium (AHN) – A European Union official said Thursday the 27-nation bloc can start its oil embargo on Iran six months after agreeing to do so as three member countries—Greece, Italy and Spain—need to find alternative sources of oil first.

The official privy to ongoing negotiations of EU foreign ministers on the imposition of the embargo also said the ban on Iranian petrochemical products may start three months after all EU states agree on the oil embargo in their meeting on Jan. 23, the deadline for coming up with a collective decision.

The official added that it is possible that Italy may initially be exempted from imposing the oil embargo as it needs to sell oil imports to pay off its debt to Rome-based oil company Eni SpA.

EU foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to explore ways to implement the oil embargo, according to Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for the European Commission.

The EU imports 450,000 barrels of Iranian oil per day with Greece, Italy and Spain, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the volume in 2010.

Iran is the second largest oil producer among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It produces and exports 3.58 million barrels of crude per day.

The oil embargo is the latest sanction imposed on Iran by Western countries, including the U.S., in a bid to force it to stop its nuclear program. The embargo aims to cut Tehran’s earnings from oil exports, where it sources funding for its nuclear program.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Last year was turbulent, trying and tumultuous for global stocks and commodities, And for many investors and traders, 2011 couldn’t end soon enough.

In the final trading day of 2011, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 69 points, but managed to eck out a 5.5 percent gain for the year.

The closely tracked Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closed virtually flat, ending 2011 down 0.43 percent, while the tech heavy NASDAQ said good-bye to 2011 off 1.80 percent.

Commodities fared much better. Oil gained 8.15 percent in 2011, and gold was the sole double digit finisher bidding the year adieu with a stellar 10.23 percent gain.

The top three performers in the Dow were McDonalds, IBM and Pfizer. Laggards included Bank of American, Alcoa and Hewlett-Packard.

Leading gainers in the S&P were Cabot Oil & Gas, El Paso and Intuitive Surgical. Drags on the index were First Solar, Monster Worldwide, and Alpha Natural Resources.

Intuitive Surgical led the NASDAQ-100, followed by Alexion Pharmaceutics and Hansen Natural. The biggest loser in the index was Blackberry maker Research in Motion with First Solar and Netflix close behind.

Natural gas finished out the year at 2.989 per mil BTUs, its lowest level since 2009.

Gold, which closed 2011 up 10.23 percent, took a beating in December, falling as much as 10.5 percent in the final month of the year. The yellow metal peaked in August with a 33 percent rise.

While high unemployment, a nationwide ailing housing market and government gridlocks all weighed heavily on U.S. stocks, the European sovereign debt crisis was the biggest factor in equities gains and losses during 2011.

Markets were closed Jan. 2 in observance of New Year’s. Exchanges will start 2012 on Jan. 3 with normal trading hours, but volume and volatility is expected to be anything but normal.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama’s administration is preparing to ask Congress to raise the national debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion.

Congress is expected to approve the measure, having reached a hard-fought deal in summer to extend the debt ceiling and fund the government.

Overall, the United States debt ceiling will rise to $16.39 trillion, a record high.

Both houses of Congress are currently in recess, and House lawmakers won’t return to regular session until January 17, 2012. The U.S. Senate isn’t scheduled to meet again this year, and will return January 23, 2012.

If the White House and Treasury Department announce plans to raise the debt ceiling before New Year’s Eve, Congress will need to call an emergency session in order to pass a resolution barring the increase.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – The U.S. Treasury Department sold $13 billion in 30-year bonds Wednesday at a record low yield of 2.925 percent.

Despite the debt security having the lowest yield on record, investors in the U.S. and around the world still have a hearty appetite for the long bond.

Bidders offered to buy 3.05 times the amount of debt sold, compared to an average of 2.81 times at the last four comparable auctions.

Indirect bidders, those that include global central banks, bought 32.5 percent of the sale, compared to 36.1 percent on average.

Direct bidders–domestic money managers–purchased another 21.2 percent, versus an average of 19.5 percent.

Following the oversubscribed and highly successful auction, the broader bond market continued the rally.

Yields on 10-year notes, which move in the opposite direction to prices, fell 5 basis points to 1.92 percent.

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Paris, France (AHN) – Moody’s announced Friday it was downgrading the credit rating of all three of France’s top banks because of the difficulty they have borrowing money.

Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas went down one notch from a Aa2 rating to Aa3, which is the fourth-highest investment grade rating. Societe Generale fell from Aa3 to A1, the fifth-highest rating. The best rating a bank can get is AAA.

BNP is the largest bank, Societe Generale is second and Credit Agricole is third.

The credit rating agency also gave each of the three a negative outlook and warned that it might downgrade them again.

Moody’s said that not only had liquidity and funding conditions deteriorated at each of the banks, but that it was likely the situation would become worse because of further funding pressures from the European debt crisis, which has deteriorated.

The ratings cuts for these three banks follow Moody’s previous downgrades in September of Credit Agricole and Societe Generale.

Part of the problem with liquidity comes from the fact that many money market funds in the United States have refused to lend to European banks since the summer. That has made it difficult for eurozone banks to maintain borrowing in U.S. dollars.

The European Central Bank on Thursday announced new measures to make sure that eurozone banks do not run out of cash.

During the past few months, both BNP and Societe Generale announced asset sales aimed at reducing their reliance on short-term wholesale funding.

However, Moody’s cautioned that if too many European banks try to sell assets at the same time it would depress their value and result in selling them at a loss.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stock markets will close at 1 p.m. on Friday having many investors joking they have only a half a day to lose half as much money.

Just after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 58 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 7 points and the NASDAQ was better by 11 points.

Oil was down 21 cents at $95.84 a barrel, and gold was trading lower by $17 at $1,679.10 a troy ounce.

Weighing on markets were continued fears about the eurozone debt crisis. Yields on Italy’s debt neared recent highs and spooked world markets, sparking a sell-off overseas. Italy paid a record 6.5 percent to borrow money over six months on Friday. Longer term funding costs in the Italian nation soared well above levels seen as sustainable for public finances.

Investors all over the globe are frightened that economic ills in Italy, Spain, Greece and France will spill over into Germany, regarded as the most financially stable eurozone country.

With little on the economic calendar in the shortened trading session, investors were buoyed by signs that Black Friday deals will help retailers post strong profits over the Thanksgiving weekend.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Despite rising and record prices, gold continues to shine, especially overseas. The European sovereign debt crisis has spurred a gold rush across the continent. The World Gold Council reported Thursday that investors in Europe purchased a record $6.2 billion in gold bars and coins in the third quarter.

While not a record in terms of weight, Europe’s demand for about 118 metric tons of the yellow metal in the third quarter amounts to nearly a third of all the investment grade gold demand around the world for the period. It is also a 135 percent increase in demand from Europe from the same period a year ago.

Worldwide, demand for gold bars and coins was up 29 percent from a year earlier.

The increase in demand was not deterred by record high gold prices. Prices for the precious metal surged 20 percent in July and August, and topped record highs above the $1,900 an ounce mark. It has since fallen back a bit.

While inflation worries, hedges, diversification and geopolitical factors are main drivers of gold, economic uncertainties and looming defaults of European nations were the main push behind the recent rush to gold.

And it wasn’t just investors who were paying for gold. Even foreign central banks increased their buying, adding 148.4 tons of the yellow metal in the quarter, up from 22.6 billion tons a year ago.

Some analysts question gold’s stellar run and wonder if the precious metal will continue to shine. Global demand for jewelry, which typically accounts for about two-thirds of all gold demand, fell 10 percent year-over-year and is sitting near its lowest level in 25 years. And gold supply is increasing.

But those figures don’t sway die-hard gold bugs who say the sky is the limit for gold.

On Thursday, in afternoon trading, the gold was down $47 to $1,716 a troy ounce in what some traders were calling profit taking.

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