Tanzania c/a deficit widens on higher oil import costs

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania's current account deficit increased by 13.1 percent in the year to October following a rise in imports of oil and of machinery for gas and oil exploration, its central bank said on Friday.
The deficit in east Africa's second-biggest economy, which is fast becoming a regional energy hub following recent major discoveries of natural gas in its offshore waters, widened to $3.84 billion from $3.397 billion in the year-ago period.
Oil imports surged 21.3 percent to $3.516 billion due to a rise in domestic demand.
"There was ... a substantial increase in imports of machinery associated with an increase in gas and oil exploration activities," said the central bank in its latest monthly economic review.
The country's total imports bill rose by 15.8 percent to $13.06 billion, while exports jumped by 14.9 percent to $8.43 billion from a year ago.
The central bank said gold exports, the country's top foreign exchange earner, fetched $2.17 billion in the year to October from $2.15 billion in the same period last year, reflecting an increase in gold prices on the world market.
Tanzania, with a population of around 43 million people, is Africa's fourth-largest gold producer after South Africa, Ghana and Mali. Gold accounted for 51.5 percent of the country's total non-traditional exports.
Also a big tourism destination in the region, Tanzania said earnings from that sector increased to $1.53 billion from $1.34 billion a year ago as tourist arrivals rose.
Gross official foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank increased to $4.1 billion in the year to October, or about 3.8 months of import cover, from $3.484 billion a year ago.

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The American Economy Is on Fire Again, Apparently

For the first time in years, everyone seems to agree that the economy truly appears to be back on track, as most of this week's new economic indicators zoomed past expectations. Earlier this morning, durable goods orders (an important of measure of how the manufacturing sector is doing) came in with impressive figures, while personal income and savings rates all blew past economists' expectations, and consumer spending is up, too. Yesterday, it was GDP, which beat even the highest predictions and was the best number seen in years.
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That's not all. Other manufacturing surveys show huge gains. Home sales are up, foreclosures are down, and more construction is on the way. FedEx and UPS are both setting holiday shipping records. All this despite the expected slowdown from Hurricane Sandy. Even the international news is good. Japan's stock market is way up, Greece got its bailout, and the European debt crisis is (for now) under control. The recession is over, and the people are actually starting to notice:
Also big beat on income and spending. Economy is humming.
— Joseph Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) December 21, 2012
The economy is on fire
— Also sprach Analyst (@theanalyst_hk) December 21, 2012
Recent strength of economy shows how sad it would be if Washington decided to kill the momentum.
— Zachary A. Goldfarb (@Goldfarb) December 21, 2012
That's what makes the ongoing fiscal cliff fight so frustrating. Already markets were down after the House Republicans' failure to pass Speaker John Boehner's Plan B last night, and if no deal is made on taxes or the sequester, odds are that the economy will come to a grinding halt in January. (The current growth is even more remarkable when you consider that many people are expecting that scenario to happen.) If a deal is stuck, no matter what form it takes, some people are seeing their taxes go up and at least some government programs meant to provide stimulus will die. Even if you believe in the (dubious) long-term benefits of austerity, the economy will almost certainly take a hit at the beginning of 2013, economists say.
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There's also one major data point that sadly refuses to budge: unemployment. Claims were still up this week, even as companies and consumers are spending more money. Maybe a solution on taxes would get people hiring again, but all the positive economic gains have just not created as many jobs as had been hoped. However, if things keep improving at this rate, 2013 could be a different story. If the government can manage to stay out of its own way.
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Still, everyone said that whoever won the presidential election would also be winning the chance to oversee (and take credit for) a big economic recovery. The hard part will be keeping it going.

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GE to buy aviation unit of Italy's Avio for $4.3 billion

MILAN (Reuters) - General Electric Co has agreed to buy the aviation business of Italy's Avio for $4.3 billion, in a sign of confidence about the country's underlying strength despite its deep recession.
The deal comes as Europe's fourth-biggest economy labors to become more competitive under a reform agenda set by technocrat prime minister Mario Monti, who is due to step down on Friday before general elections seen in February.
"We are convinced that Italy will exit the crisis," Nani Beccalli, president and chief executive of GE Europe, told reporters on Friday. "There are undoubtedly hurdles linked to red tape. But the strategic value of the deal is so big (it would offset other issues)", Beccalli said.
GE agreed to buy Avio from private equity fund Cinven and Italian state-controlled defense group Finmeccanica . The move frustrated the aspirations of France's Safran and Italy's state-backed Strategic Fund, which had been trying over the last few months to take over Avio.
GE, whose businesses range from infrastructure technology to financial services, said Avio would boost its global supply chain capabilities as its engine production rates rise to meet growing customer demand.
Avio, which makes components for the GE Dreamliner engine used by Boeing Co , ranks among Italy's industrial jewels and is one of the most technologically advanced companies in its field.
William Blair & Co analyst Nick Heymann said the move, which amounts to GE buying a supplier to its jet engine program, was intended in part to protect new technologies.
"They're trying to get more vertically integrated and have more control over critical aspects of the manufacturing process," he said.
GE is developing composite ceramics for jet engines, a technology it also plans to use in other products such as electric turbines and equipment used in oil and gas production.
"Rather than developing (composite ceramics) and trust someone not to give it away, you want to keep it in-house," Heymann said.
The move could be a sign that GE in coming years might be ready to consider larger acquisitions outside of the $1 billion to $3 billion range that GE's CEO, Jeff Immelt, has described as the company's sweet spot over the past few years.
"We're slowly inching our way back into larger capital redeployment," Heymann said.
GE shares were down 0.6 percent at $20.92 on Friday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.
STRATEGIC ASSET
GE said the purchase price values the aviation business of Avio, which also supplies Rolls Royce Holdings , at 8.5 times its expected 2012 core earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
"No nitpicks here. This is an excellent deal," said Brian Langenberg, of independent research firm Langenberg & Co.
Debt-laden Finmeccanica, which owned 14 pct of Avio, will use the 260 million euros it is earning from its stake sale to lower debt. The sale is the first of a number of disposals the company needs to carry out to keep its investment-grade credit rating.
The U.S. group will not be buying Avio's space unit, which the Italian government considers strategic. The unit, which is expected to make sales of between 280 million euros and 285 million in 2012, will remain for the time being under the control of Cinven and Finmeccanica.
Avio's revenue in the aviation sector was 1.7 billion euros ($2.25 billion) in 2011, with more than 50 percent derived from components for GE and GE joint-venture engines.
Cinven had bought Avio in 2006 for some 2.6 billion euros.
Under GE's ownership, Avio will invest 1.1 billion euros over the next 10 years, company executives said.
GE said it planned to pursue new opportunities for Avio in the power generation, oil and marine products industries.
The GE deal comes after a planned initial public offering for Avio was scrapped earlier in 2012 because of weak market conditions.

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Two killed in supermarkets looting in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - At least two people were killed in Argentina as looters broke into supermarkets in several cities, stirring memories of the country's devastating economic crisis 11 years ago.
The violence erupted on Thursday in the Patagonian ski resort of Bariloche when dozens of looters stormed a supermarket and made off with LCD televisions and other goods.
Government officials condemned the violence and deployed 400 military police to the southern city. Similar unrest broke out in the central city of Rosario and in several parts of the urban sprawl that surrounds the capital Buenos Aires early on Friday.
"These are isolated incidents and in none of them have we seen people stealing food. They've been taking televisions," said Cabinet Chief Juan Manuel Abal Medina, blaming the unrest on opposition trade union groups.
Two people were killed during looting in Rosario, said provincial security secretary Matias Drivet. Several hundred people were arrested nationwide.
The unrest is more bad news for President Cristina Fernandez, who often contrasts the country's current economic stability with the 2001/02 crisis that plunged millions of Argentines into poverty and unleashed a wave of looting for food in supermarkets.
Fernandez was re-elected by a landslide just over a year ago, but her approval ratings have since plunged due to sluggish economic growth, high inflation and middle-class anger over currency controls, and the leader's combative style.

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US budget negotiations setback drives stocks down

PARIS (AP) — A failed attempt find a compromise in U.S. budget negotiations sent global stock markets plummeting Friday, as investors feared the world's largest economy could teeter into recession if no deal is found.
Without an agreement, the U.S. economy will fall off the so-called "fiscal cliff" on Jan. 1 when Bush-era tax cuts expire and spending cuts kick in automatically. The measures were designed to have a negative effect on the U.S. economy, in the hopes that the feared outcome would push lawmakers and President Barack Obama to find a deal.
"We've seen Europe's politicians repeatedly flirt lemming-like with cliff-diving in 2012, and now it's the turn of U.S. 'leaders,'" said Kit Juckes, an analyst with Societe Generale. "The nagging fear is always there that someone, on one side of the Atlantic or the other, will forget to let rational thought take over at the last second."
Amid the uncertainty, European shares fell. France's CAC dropped 0.15 percent to close at 3,661, while the DAX in Germany dropped 0.5 percent to end the day 7,636. The FTSE index of leading British shares retreated 0.3 percent to 5,939.
The euro also fell sharply, dropping 0.5 percent to $1.3159.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed 1 percent lower at 9,940.06. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.7 percent to 22,506.29. South Korea's Kospi shed 1 percent at 1,980.42. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2 percent to 4,623.60. Mainland Chinese stocks were mixed.
U.S. stock futures tumbled after rank-and-file Republican lawmakers failed to support an alternative tax plan by House Speaker John Boehner late Thursday in Washington. That plan would have allowed tax rates to rise on households earning $1 million and up. Obama wants the level to be $400,000.
In midday trading trading in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1.25 percent to 13,147, while the broader Standard & Poor's index fell 1.3 percent at 1,424.
"The fiscal cliff is a real threat not just for U.S. growth next year but for the outlook for global growth," said Jane Foley, currency analyst with Rabobank.
When growth slows, energy demand does, too, and oil prices fell in anticipation.
Benchmark crude for February delivery fell $1.78 to $88.35 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Tom Cruise tabloid lawsuit: abandonment claims "substantially true" - publisher

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The publisher of "Life & Style" and "In Touch," which is being sued by Tom Cruise for printing that the "Jack Reacher" star had abandoned his daughter Suri following his divorce from Katie Holmes, has fired back at the actor's suit.

In an answer to Cruise's defamation lawsuit, filed in October, Bauer Publishing Co. says that its reporting is "substantially true."

Bauer's answer, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in California, also asserts a number of defenses, including that it's protected by the First, Fifth and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution, as well as Article 1, Section 7 of the California Constitution.

Bauer asserts that it's not liable for damages because, among other things, "one or all of the allegedly defamatory statements complained of by the plaintiff are true or substantially true."

Bauer also claims that Cruise "cannot prove that he has suffered any compensable damage as a result of any actionable of any actionable statement published by the Bauer Defendants," and that he is "a public figure and the Bauer Defendants did not act with actual malice."Cruise's attorney has not responded to TheWrap's request for comment.

The actor sued over stories published by "Life & Style" and its sister publication, "In Touch," claiming that Cruise had "abandoned" his six-year-old daughter, Suri. Cruise's attorney called the stories, published in July and October, "a disgusting, vicious lie."

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Paramount alters marketing campaign for "Jack Reacher" after Newtown shooting

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Paramount has altered the marketing for its upcoming Tom Cruise film "Jack Reacher" to minimize the gunfire and violence, an individual with knowledge of the studio's plans told TheWrap.

While the studio declines to give specifics, its move was made because of the recent school shooting in Newtown, Conn. Paramount postponed last week's Pittsburgh premiere of the film, which opens in theaters on Friday.

"Jack Reacher" stars Cruise as a drifter and former military cop tracking down a sniper guilty of killing five. He becomes convinced the sniper is innocent and works to prove it.

The film opens with sniper fire, and the trailer features semi-automatic weapons (above) and a taser.

The studio took any appearance of gunfire and use of weapons under consideration in light of the recent tragedy, the second worst school shooting in United States history, the individual told TheWrap.

It has made no changes to the film and plans to release it as scheduled.

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"Amour" review: A wrenching but essential look at a disintegrating life

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Movies love to speed up the dying process, whether it's the rosy-cheeked young girl who succumbs to a mysterious fatal illness in the final reel or the hero cop suddenly felled by one random bullet after committing an act of extraordinary heroism.

But the actual mechanics of death and dying - the slow degeneration of mind and body, the subtle shadings in which people gradually lose their mobility and faculties and independence - those tend to be absent from the big screen.

It's not compact or convenient. It's a subject people would just as soon avoid, whether or not they've faced it firsthand in their own lives. And frankly, as plots go, it's exceedingly depressing.

I won't argue that Michael Haneke's "Amour," winner of this year's Cannes Palme d'Or and Best Picture from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (of which I am a member), isn't sad and wrenching and devastating, but it's those qualities that make it such a powerful piece of moviemaking.

While this might not be the post-gift-unwrapping movie destination of choice this holiday season, the brutal honesty and emotional truth of "Amour" make it one of this year's best films.

Veteran French film stars Emmanuelle Riva ("Hiroshima mon amour") and Jean-Louis Trintignant ("My Night at Maud's") star as Anne and Georges, an upscale, educated older couple in Paris who live in a sophisticated bubble of art and classical music and books and witty friends. And none of these trappings, as it turn out, will help much when Anne suffers a minor stroke, so brief that it's practically over before Georges can even respond to it.

But this event marks the beginning of a slow decline for Anne: Soon, she's lost the use of one side of her body. Before long - and it's part of Haneke's deft grace as a storyteller that the passage of time is more often suggested than literally spelled out - she becomes bedridden, then loses her ability to speak or control her bodily functions, as Georges devotes himself more and more to her caretaking, even to the exclusion of their ostensibly concerned daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert).

Haneke eschews sentimentality in telling this story, and he allows us to draw our own conclusions about the characters and their motivations. Is Georges being overly controlling? Does Eva really want to participate in her mother's care, or does she feel obligated to make a show of concern given the circumstances? And does Anne, for her part, even want to stay alive as she fades away? (In their first major discussion following the stroke, she all but tells Georges that she'd rather not be around for the next part.)

With his previous film, "The White Ribbon," and now "Amour," Haneke seems to be showing a more humane side than the manipulative and even sadistic streak he revealed in films like "Funny Games." But even so, he keeps things cool and detached enough to avoid the easy bathos that could come out of a story like this one.

He bolts his camera still for long periods and expects you to figure out why, and he shuns anything extraneous.

There's a sequence late in the film when Georges imagines he's seeing Anne back at her piano. Almost any other director would, after cutting to Georges, cut back to the empty piano bench, but Haneke trusts us enough to get the moment without spelling it out in big, bold letters.

Riva, 85, and Trintignant, 82, tackle these roles that are both physically and emotionally complex with gusto; any discussion of the ability of actors to continue to do challenging and gut-wrenching work after the age of 75 would have to include these two extraordinary performances.

Is "Amour" hard to watch? Emotionally, yes, but it's never tedious or meandering or spinning its wheels. It pulses with vitality, even as its main characters cope with life's passing.

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"The Guilt Trip" review: Not like buttah, but better than margarine

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The trailer, the casting, even the title of "The Guilt Trip" sets us up for a specific kind of movie: Nice neurotic boy henpecked by his nagging, smothering Yiddishe mama. It's a dynamic we've seen everywhere from the novels of Philip Roth to Woody Allen's "Oedipus Wrecks" and countless other movies and sitcoms over the last half-century or so.

But "The Guilt Trip," starring gravelly voiced everyslacker Seth Rogen as the son and Barbra Streisand as the mom, has its own agenda that goes far beyond cheek-pinching and boiled chicken.

The movie, directed by Anne Fletcher ("The Proposal," "27 Dresses") from a script by Dan Fogelman ("Crazy Stupid Love," "Cars"), may occasionally err on the side of innocuousness, but at least it explores actual facets of the mother-adult son relationship without veering into caricature.

Young inventor Andrew Brewster (Rogen), at the end of his financial rope, sets out on a cross-country road trip in an attempt to sell his organic cleaning product to one of the major retail chains. Flying to his home in New Jersey from L.A., he pays an all-too-rare visit to his mother Joyce (Streisand), who dotes on her son cross-country with a seemingly endless series of phone messages, sharing everything from encouragement to tips on underwear sales at The Gap.

During his visit, Andrew tries to get Joyce to go to a singles' mixer for older people, but she's clearly not having it. That night, she tells him about her first love, a boy from Florida whom she loved passionately but who ultimately never proposed to her, suggesting instead that she accept the offer from Andrew's father.

Andrew tracks the man down on Google, finds him in San Francisco, and suggests that Joyce accompany him on the trip, mainly so he can attempt a reunion by the bay for his mom and the guy she never fully got over.

In a cheesier movie, the rest of the film would just be about overbearing Joyce getting on Andrew's nerves in an enclosed space, but "The Guilt Trip" goes in smarter directions than that, whether it's the two of them listening to the audiobook of Jeffrey Eugenides' "Middlesex" (a constant source of discomfort for Andrew, who feels awkward listening to discussion of genitals in his mother's presence) or Joyce's attempts to help Andrew out with both his professional and romantic life.

Viewers of a certain age will be thrilled to know that Joyce's advice is right far more often than it's wrong. In fact, one of the film's strengths is that both characters genuinely learn things from and about each other in ways that rarely feel contrived or phony. Mother-love tends to get a bad rap in pop culture, but not here.

There's not a ton of plot, granted, but the real pleasure of the film comes from watching Rogen and Streisand (looking more loose and relaxed than she's appeared in any medium for some time) interact.

I will always, always laugh uproariously at "What's Up, Doc?" no matter how many times I see it, so it's been disappointing to see Streisand ignore her comedic roots for so long. (And let's not count the "Fokkers" movies, which did no one's funny bone any favors.) Her unflagging insistence and his laid-back withdrawal mesh perfectly; this is a comic duo that should keep working together.

The movie's also peppered with lots of great character actors, who apparently agreed to glorified walk-ons just for the opportunity to spend a day with an icon like Streisand: Keep an eye peeled for the likes of Kathy Najimy, Adam Scott, Casey Wilson, Rose Abdoo, Miriam Margolyes, Colin Hanks, Dale Dickey and Nora Dunn, among others. (Special mention to Brett Cullen, most recently seen in the "Red Dawn" remake, as a soft-spoken Southwesterner smitten with Joyce and her skill at putting away a big steak dinner.)

"The Guilt Trip" is too gentle to be uproarious (although no one makes a comment like "This place smells like strawberry gum" about a topless bar the way Streisand can), but if you're in the mood for something easygoing and well-acted, it's a sweet little character piece. Take your mom - or at least call her. You know how she worries.

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Kevin Nealon, Tig Notaro fill out "Walk of Shame" cast

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Kevin Nealon, Tig Notaro and Liz Carey are among the 11 actors who have joined the cast of "Walk of Shame," a comedy starring Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden and Gillian Jacobs.

Written by Steven Brill, who will direct, the film stars Banks as an uptight anchor who gets locked out of her apartment after a late night out. Stranded without her wallet, phone, ID or car, she embarks on a series of adventures. Marsden plays her love interest.

Lakeshore and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment have filled out the cast with Nealon (left), Notaro, Carrey Bill Burr, Ken Davitian, Willie Garson, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Oliver Hudson, Alphonso McAuley Ethan Suplee and Sarah Wright.

Brill's previous directorial efforts include "Drillbit Taylor" and "Mr. Deeds. He also wrote the three "Mighty Ducks" movies.

Lakeshore Entertainment's Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi will produce, along with Sidney Kimmel.

FilmDistrict will distribute this film domestically, while Lakeshore and Sierra/Affinity are shopping it internationally.

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