Kindle owners can ‘Lendle’ books

New sites are springing up to help owners of Amazon’s Kindle ereaders share their books

Amazon’s Kindle ebook lending scheme has taken on a life of its own in the hands of canny book-lovers, with community loaning sites springing up in America to take advantage of free ereading. The latest site, Lendle , was launched this week.

From the start of this year, Kindle users in the US have had the facility to lend their own ebooks, once , to another user for a limited period of two weeks, after which time the ebook is returned for their own use. (Not all books can be loaned, as permission for this has to be granted to Amazon by the publisher/rights-holder.)

But sites such as Lendle and BookLending.com , which are not affiliated to Amazon itself, offer networks where Amazon users can sign up and extend their lending and borrowing to an online community of readers they don’t personally know. Users register the books they possess and request loans in turn: once read, the ebooks are automatically returned to their owners. Nor is lack of an actual Kindle a barrier to using these sharing services: they can also be accessed through Kindle apps on other devices.

Just days after its launch, Lendle now has 1,045 ebooks listed as available to borrow. Users can also access their Amazon accounts through the site to buy titles, with the site receiving a small cut of the profits each time they do so.

In a blogpost on the site, founder Brian Ericford said news of the site had spread “primarily on word of mouth through Twitter mentions.” Lendle had already lent dozens of books, he said, “and – as a note to publishers – sold more books than we’ve lent”.

Lendle will only allow the lending of ebooks to users who also lend themselves, which effectively limits the use of the site to people based within the US. However BookLending.com, which launched in January as KindleLendingClub, but was required to rebrand last weekend, on the grounds that ‘Kindle’ is a trademark owned by Amazon , allows people outside the US to borrow titles. In its FAQs section, the popular site – which started life as a Facebook club, and has over 12,000 members – reassures users that they can still participate even if they live outside the US. “Yes you can! Users everywhere can borrow books with some restrictions but for now only users with US Amazon accounts can lend Kindle books,” it says. “In cases where there are publishing restrictions related to geographic location, the borrower will receive a notification and the lender will receive the returned book.”

The development of the e-lending sites is likely to worry US publishers already twitchy about ebook revenues and their future business models. But Ericford claims the venture should work for everyone. “Our sincere hope is that it quickly becomes clear (to Amazon, to publishers, and to authors) that we’re not only fostering buzz about books by taking advantage of a great lending feature, but we’re also selling books and, eventually, that this realization will lead more publishers to come on board,” he commented. Ebooks Kindle Publishing E-readers Amazon.com Internet Benedicte Page guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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China, Colombia eye Pacific-Atlantic rail link to boost Asia-Latin America trade

Bogota, Colombia (AHN) – China and Colombia are planning to build a railway running from the Latin American country’s Pacific coast up to its Atlantic coast to boost trade between Asia and South America.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos revealed the plan on Monday as he recognized Asia as the engine that will power the world economy.

China, on the other hand, recognizes Colombia as the port of entry to Latin America, according to Gao Zhengyue, Chinese ambassador to Colombia.

The planned 138-mile long railway will run from the port of Cupica on the Pacific coast to the Gulf of Uraba on the Atlantic coast. From Uraba, the railway will extend to a new city near Cartagena on the northern Atlantic coast of Colombia.

China, now the world’s second largest economy, plans to import coal from Colombia, the world’s fifth largest coal producer and China’s second biggest trade partner. The coal will be transported through the planned railway from the mines in the Atlantic coast to the Cupica port, where it will then be shipped by sea across the Pacific Ocean to China.

Trade between China and Colombia was worth $5 billion in 2010.

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Obama tells U.S. Chamber of Commerce that he’s pro-business

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – President Obama tried to reassure the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Monday that the investments he wants to make in education and infrastructure would promote business growth.

Obama spoke to about 200 members of the Chamber of Commerce at their headquarters a short walk from the White House.

The Chamber of Commerce has sometimes accused Obama of frustrating economic growth with programs to subsidize health care, housing and unemployment insurance.

Obama acknowledged his occasional disputes with business leaders, or what he called “pretty strong disagreements.”

However, he said they would see the benefits of his policies soon.

“In the coming months, my administration will develop a proposal to merge, consolidate and reorganize the federal government in a way that best serves the goal of a more competitive America,” Obama said.

The consolidation would begin with the 12 different agencies that regulate U.S. exports, he said. Other efforts would seek to control federal spending.

The infrastructure investments Obama seeks focus heavily on transportation and communications systems. He also said he wants to provide research incentives and to reform the corporate tax code.

Obama said he would try to get Republicans and Democrats to cooperate as he takes “additional steps across the budget to put our nation on sounder fiscal footing.”

He sought common ground with the Chamber of Commerce by mentioning that its leaders supported his 2009 economic stimulus package.

If Obama can convince the Chamber of Commerce to be his friend, it would represent a significant change of political trends.

During his presidential campaign, Obama accused the Chamber of using money contributed from foreign corporations to support Republican candidates. The Chamber also opposed many of his programs, such as health care reform.

In addition, the Chamber – the nation’s biggest business lobbying group – heavily favored Republicans with campaign donations before the November elections last year.

However, during his speech in Washington Monday, Obama seemed to agree with policies advocated by the Chamber.

“We need an economy that’s based not on what we consume and borrow from other nations, but what we make and sell around the world,” he said.

He also said he was willing “to go anywhere to be a booster for American businesses, American workers and American products.”

Tom Donohue, U.S. Chamber of Commerce president, said while introducing Obama that “Our focus is finding a common ground to ensure America’s greatness in the 21st century.”

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Rewriting the Rules of Credit

In his new book, A Call for Judgment: Sensible Finance for a Dynamic Economy, economist and Tufts University professor Amar Bhidé laments a banking system that bases decisions on complex algorithms rather than good old-fashioned loan reviews, a practice that has greatly choked off financing to small business. Here are excerpts from a conversation between Inc.com senior producer Matt Quinn and Bhidé about how we got into this mess-and how we might get out of it.

Lending used to be a subjective matter. Why did we wind up with a system of stringent rules?

First, there was an ethos that developed in academia that said that all risks can be quantified. What economists did was say the stuff that we cannot quantify is really on the margin. And what’s essential to risk, we can pretend to reduce to one or two numbers. Once you do that, then you can create a machine. If you’re required to think of risk in a broad, holistic kind of way, it’s much more time-consuming.

Implicitly and explicitly, the government embraced this view of risk. Almost unwittingly, [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] created the largest mechanistic model of lending in the world simply by saying we will underwrite the risk of mortgages if they meet XYZ criteria. If you followed the model for a loan, the government would take it.

The interesting part is that not all lending can be equally mechanized and scaled up. And therein lies the rub. It means that if I’m a bank, and I want to expand, I’m going to favor the activity where I can put pedal to metal fastest.

And small-business lending does not fit into that mold.

Correct. It was and remains an activity that requires a banker to go and talk to the borrower. Analysts can pretend that all housing loans are the same, but with small business, the pretending completely defies belief. So small business gets the short end of the stick.

What about the bank bailout? Why did so little money reach small businesses?

The way to get more credit into the hands of the small-business owners has been long impaired, and for the money to reach the people who need it, you need more channels. Small-business lending requires a mechanism that frankly will take a long time to rebuild.

How can the U.S. revive small-business lending?

The government should demand that any depository institution whose liabilities are ultimately guaranteed by the taxpayer make its loans prudently-where a banker and an examiner understand the risks and where each loan is made with a case-by-case examination of the risk in the bank. Small-business lending will remain risky. But there’s a difference between a risk taken after a bank has obtained a deep understanding of the situation and a risk taken based on algorithms or rules that do not in fact make a lending decision safer.

What role should regulation play?

I think one of the great strengths of America is people’s willingness to borrow and consume in the expectation of a better tomorrow. That is one of the things that distinguishes America from Europe. I think it’s fantastic that three million iPads have been sold even in a recession. But that primal urge needs to have a brake applied to it sometimes and the brakes used to be provided by the banking system. Something healthy and useful was taken to extremes. It becomes insane. It’s like, protein is good for you so you go on an all protein diet.

For regulators, instead of continuously experimenting with things like quantitative easing, why not pay attention to the things we know are bad?

But there’s no hard and fast rule that says more regulation is good or more regulation is bad. You have to look at the facts of the case. And the facts said with banks that self-policing did not work. We ought to examine the brakes.

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Obama to focus on unemployment in address before a mixed seating arrangement

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama addresses the nation Tuesday night in a State of the Union that will be delivered amid the lingering problems of unemployment, rising deficit and the Afghan war. But partisanship in Congress will, at least symbolically, be different, and Republicans will also have a Tea Party response competing with their official reaction.

Obama will “spend most of his time talking about the economy… challenges that we face both in the short term in terms of doing whatever we can to help create jobs, in the medium and long term to continue working on issues like competitiveness and innovation, and ensuring that in the medium and the long term we get our fiscal house in order,” according to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

The president will reportedly propose investments in infrastructure and education, a report new Republican House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) dismissed as “more stimulus’ spending.” Other reports cite anonymous officials saying the president will call for a spending freeze.

Senior White House advisor Valerie Jarrett said on NBC’s “Today,” “As we look to the future, we really are focusing on winning for America. So that’s going to be the focus of his speech tonight.”

Obama will lay out his vision for the nation following his party’s loss in November of control of the House and a weaker Senate majority. A year ago he pushed vehemently to pass healthcare reform, now he faces the possibility of his administration’s signature legislation being repealed.

He will also be speaking with an eye for re-election, after rebounding in polls from the lowest approval ratings of his political career.

The joint session of Congress will have a bipartisan seating arrangement for the first time during a State of the Union. The idea, suggested by Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) after the fatal shooting in Tucson earlier this month that injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), has not appealed to some lawmakers but others have made official arrangements with members of the opposing party.

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and John Thune (R-SD) will be seated together, as will Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Coburn (R-OK).

In the House, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) will sit with his Democratic counterpart, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD).

The top Republican in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), has dismissed the mixed seating arrangement as “absolutely nothing.”

Whether the symbolic gesture will translate to more collaboration between lawmakers is unclear but what is likely is that there will be echoes of the tone of the president’s speech in Tucson last week during the memorial for the shooting victims. That violence, and the national debate it ignited about partisanship and charged political rhetoric, will be evident in one empty seat in the chamber Monday night for Giffords.

Republicans have chosen Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), chair of the House Budget Committee, to respond to the president’s speech.

Ryan will deliver the GOP address from the Budget panel hearing room, where his office said “the Democrats’ spending spree will end and the Republicans’ push for a fiscally responsible budget that cuts spending will begin.”

Schumer urged Ryan on Tuesday “to explain why he wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare.”

“He can’t sweep his roadmap under the rug just because the spotlight will be shining brighter than usual,” the Democrat said.

Another Republican, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), will be issuing a response on behalf of the Tea Party, which successfully unseated several longtime GOP lawmakers last year.

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Bank of America misses earnings estimates; Posts $1.2b loss on mortgage write downs

New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Bank of America’s bottom line suffered for the second consecutive quarter with the bank posting a $1.2 billion net loss for the last three months of 2010 caused by writing down $2 billion in losses on its mortgage business.

However, that was still better than the $5.2 billion Bank of America lost in the fourth quarter of 2009 and the losses were also lower than analysts expected.

Bank of America, the nation’s largest bank by assets, had earlier announced it would write-down the value of its mortgage business.

Bank officials blamed the ongoing rash of foreclosures prompted by homeowners who fall behind on mortgage payments because of continuing high unemployment and slow job creation.

Excluding its mortgage business, Bank of America earned $756 million in revenue or 4 cents per diluted share.

Analysts had expected the bank to earn 14 cents per share and earn $25 billion.

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Obama picks Bill Daley for White House chief of staff

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama has selected Bill Daley to serve as his White House chief of staff, filling the shoes of Rahm Emanuel who left the Oval Office to run for mayor of Chicago.

Daley has a background in law, commerce, and politics. In 1993, Daley was a special counsel to President Bill Clinton, working with the commander in chief to persuade lawmakers into passing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Later, Daley would serve as Secretary of Commerce in the second Clinton administration before becoming a chairman on Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign.

Recently, Daley has been serving on the executive committee of J.P. Morgan Chase.

“Few Americans can boast the breadth of experience that Bill brings to this job,” Obama said. “He served as a member of President Clinton’s Cabinet as Commerce Secretary, and took on several other important duties over the years on behalf of our country. He’s led major corporations. He possesses a deep understanding of how to create jobs and how to grow our economy. And, needless to say, Bill also has a profound awareness of how our systems of government and politics work. You might say it’s a genetic trait.”

“But most of all, I know Bill to be someone who cares deeply about this country, believes in its promise, and considers no calling higher and more important than serving the American people. He will bring his tremendous experience, his strong values and forward-looking vision to this White House. I’m convinced that he’ll help us in our mission of growing our economy and moving America forward. And I very much look forward to working with Bill in the years to come,” Obama added.

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BofA will take $2bn charge to settle Fannie and Freddie loan claims

Bank of America will take an approximately $2bn (€1.49bn) charge in its fourth quarter as it settles buyback claims on home loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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BofA Resolves Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Loan-Putback Dispute

Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. lender by assets, paid $2.8 billion to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae after the U.S.-owned firms demanded the company buy back mortgages they said were based on faulty data. The bank rose as much as 5.6 percent in New York trading.

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Presidential Candidates Preparing for Campaign Announcements Soon

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The race for the 2012 presidential election has not started officially yet, but unofficially some politicians are dropping hints that announcements about their candidacy are coming in 2011.

The top Republican contenders appear to be former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Others have been making statements recently showing they are leaving their options open.

“If I did run, I do think I would have very significant strength going into it,” Huckabee said during a recent interview published in The Atlantic magazine. “I think I would be one of the best at drawing real contrasts with President Obama.”

Obama’s aides said this month the president plans to run for re-election, meaning the only other viable candidates would be Republicans.

The first Republican debates are expected in about six months as they prepare for the Iowa Caucuses in 13 months.

A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed Obama would defeat all of the potential Republican challengers if the election were held now.

Popular opinion of the president rose during the lame duck session of Congress that followed the November elections.

Obama claimed victories with a tax cut bill, abolishing the military’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy and a new START Treaty with Russia on limiting nuclear missiles.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll revealed that 56 percent of Americans supported the president’s handling of the lame duck session.

However, strong Republican victories in November – that included a takeover of the majority in the House – leave little doubt Obama faces a tough fight to hold on to his presidency, according to political analysts.

Six leading Republicans already have raised millions of dollars for a presidential run through political action committees.

The committees hold campaign contributions in accounts that can be used for travel expenses and to hire staff or political consultants.

In addition to Palin, Romney, Huckabee and Gingrich, candidates with political action committees are Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Romney has raised the most money at $7.4 million, according to Federal Election Commission records. Palin is second at $5.4 million and Pawlenty is third at $3.3 million.

The others all raised less than $2 million.

One of the issues that already is defining differences between the Republican candidates is tax policy.

Before Congress voted last month to extend tax cuts first enacted during the George W. Bush administration, Palin and Romney said they were against the legislation.

Palin said the two-year extension of the tax cuts should have waited for the next session of Congress. It also should have relied more heavily on business incentives to improve the economy, she said.

The new Congress would have given a better “deal for the American public than to accept what I think is a lousy deal, because it creates a temporary economy with even more uncertainty for businesses and it does increase taxes,” Palin said during a Good Morning America interview.

Huckabee and Pawlenty supported the tax bill, saying it would help low-income and middle-income households recover from recession.

Taxes are likely to remain a major issue throughout the 2012 presidential campaign, according to Republican and Democratic candidates.

Immigration policy already is rearing its head as a tough issue that will last throughout 2011.

The DREAM Act that would have granted residency to children brought to the United States as illegal immigrants was defeated in the Senate this month.

It could come up for a vote again next year, where it faces opposition from most Republicans.

While he was governor of Massachusetts, Romney signed an authorization for local police to arrest illegal immigrants.

His successor as governor rescinded the order.

Among potential Republican presidential candidates, Pawlenty is the only one who accepted an invitation to attend a Hispanic Leadership Network conference next month.

The others either declined or did not respond.

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Fidelity Financial Group Featured as Leading Mortgage Violation Audit Firm. FidelityFinanceGroup.com – Fidelity Financial Group via Secure Audit Group Now Established Retail Presence.

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 27, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Fidelity Financial Group and Secure Audit Group, America’s leading real estate audit experts, were recently featured in press showcasing business ideas given to residential and commercial owners to help them better restructure their loan terms. The experts

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Arizona, Nevada sue Bank of America over loan modifications

Attorneys general in Arizona and Nevada filed civil lawsuits Friday against Bank of America Corp., alleging that the lender…

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Obama Signs Bill to Extend Tax Cuts and Unemployment Benefits

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – President Obama signed into law an $858 billion tax bill Friday that extends tax cuts and unemployment insurance benefits throughout next year.

“It’s a good deal for the American people,” Obama said during a signing ceremony. “This is progress and that’s what they sent us here to achieve.”

The House approved the measure late Thursday.

The bill passed by a 277 to 148 margin with strong support from Obama, who said the measure is needed to help households recover from recession.

The new law will “protect our middle class, grow our economy and create jobs,” Obama said.

Critics of the legislation – some from Obama’s own Democratic Party – said the reduction in tax revenue from the bill would deepen the nation’s $14 trillion deficit.

They also said some of the tax breaks – particularly for estate taxes – benefit the rich but do little for middle-income and low-income persons.

The tax breaks were enacted during the Bush administration but set to expire on New Year’s Day 2011.

“This bill, the president of the United States believes and I believe, will have a positive effect on the economy,” said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.). “I will vote for this bill because I don’t want to see middle-income working people in America get a tax increase, because I think that will be a depressant on an economy that needs to be lifted up.”

The Senate approved the same measure on Wednesday by an 81 to 19 vote.

The measure grants unemployed workers in states with the worst joblessness as much as 99 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits through the end of 2011.

It also seeks to stimulate the economy with incentives for consumer spending.

A two-percent reduction in Social Security payroll tax would allow wage-earners to keep as much as $2,136 out of their paychecks that normally would go to the federal government.

The bill represented one of Obama’s greatest bipartisan successes after drawing strong support from Republicans.

In addition, 31 conservative Democrats wrote a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi before the vote urging that it be passed quickly.

“It is time for us to put aside the partisan talking points and accomplish what the American people sent us here to do,” the letter said.

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Fitch Affirms Banc of America Large Loan Trust 2009-FDG

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fitch Ratings has affirmed Banc of America Large Loan Trust 2009-FDG, commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2009-FDG (BALL 2009-FDG) as follows: –$345.2 million class A at ‘AAAsf’; Outlook Stable; –$30 million class B at ‘AAsf’; Outlook Stable; –$33 million class C at ‘Asf’; Outlook Stable; –$47million class D at ‘BBB-sf’; Outlook Stable. The affirmations and Stable Outlooks are a result of stable portfolio performance since issuance. The portfolio-

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Obama Anticipates Political Struggles After Thanksgiving

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – President Obama is spending Thanksgiving Day quietly with his family at the White House but not before sending words of encouragement to the nation in his weekly address during a time of what he called “challenges.”

“This is not the hardest Thanksgiving America has ever faced,” Obama said. “But as long as many members of our American family are hurting, we’ve got to look out for one another.”

High unemployment and America’s involvement in war in the Middle East create a need to “work together,” he said.

He also hinted at the partisan politics between Democrats and Republicans that has prevented agreement on how to overcome economic and diplomatic obstacles.

“That’s why, next week, I’ve invited the leadership of both parties to the White House for a real and honest discussion, because I believe that if we stop talking at one another, and start talking with one another, we can get a lot done,” Obama said.

“For what we are called to do again today isn’t about Democrats or Republicans. It’s not about left or right. It’s about us. It’s about what we know this country is capable of.”

Uniting efforts of both parties became more complicated by the mid-term election this month, when Democrats lost majority control of the House of Representatives by Republican victories.

Lawmakers are expected to return from Thanksgiving to a contentious lame duck session.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would schedule a vote on the DREAM Act, an emotionally-charged proposal to grant citizenship to children of illegal immigrants who enlist in the military or attend college.

A Senate vote also is likely this year on whether to continue the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gay soldiers.

In addition, the Obama administration still is trying to figure out a response to the military escalation between North Korea and South Korea.

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