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Treasuries (YCGT0025) had the biggest annual return since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008 as Europe

For the first time, the top export of the United States, the world’s biggest gas guzzler, is _ wait for it _ fuel.

Measured in dollars, the nation is on pace this year to ship more gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel than any other single export, according to U.S. Census data going back to 1990. It will also be the first year in more than 60 that America has been a net exporter of these fuels.

Just how big of a shift is this? A decade ago, fuel wasn’t even among the top 25 exports. And for the last five years, America’s top export was aircraft.

The trend is significant because for decades the U.S. has relied on huge imports of fuel from Europe in order to meet demand. It only reinforced the image of America as an energy hog. And up until a few years ago, whenever gasoline prices climbed, there were complaints in Congress that U.S. refiners were not growing quickly enough to satisfy domestic demand; that controversy would appear to be over.

Still, the U.S. is nowhere close to energy independence. America is still the world’s largest importer of crude oil. From January to October, the country imported 2.7 billion barrels of oil worth roughly $280 billion.

Fuel exports, worth an estimated $88 billion in 2011, have surged for two reasons:

_ Crude oil, the raw material from which gasoline and other refined products are made, is a lot more expensive. Oil prices averaged $95 a barrel in 2011, while gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon _ a record. A decade ago oil averaged $26 a barrel, while gasoline averaged $1.44 a gallon.

_ The volume of fuel exports is rising. The U.S. is using less fuel because of a weak economy and more efficient cars and trucks. That allows refiners to sell more fuel to rapidly growing economies in Latin America, for example. In 2011, U.S. refiners exported 117 million gallons per day of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products, up from 40 million gallons per day a decade earlier cash advance loans.

There’s at least one domestic downside to America’s growing role as a fuel exporter. Experts say the trend helps explain why U.S. motorists are paying more for gasoline. The more fuel that’s sent overseas, the less of a supply cushion there is at home.

Gasoline supplies are being exported to the highest bidder, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. “It’s a world market,” he says.

Refining companies won’t say how much they make by selling fuel overseas. But analysts say those sales are likely generating higher profits per gallon than the fuel sold in the U.S. Otherwise, they wouldn’t occur.

The value of U.S. fuel exports has grown steadily over the past decade, coinciding with rising oil prices and increased demand around the globe.

Developing countries in Latin America and Asia have been burning more gasoline and diesel as their people buy more cars and build more roads and factories. Europe also has been buying more U.S. fuel to make up for its lack of refineries.

And there’s a simple reason why America’s refiners have been eager to export to these markets: gasoline demand in the U.S. has been falling every year since 2007. It dropped by another 2.5 percent in 2011. With the economy struggling, motorists cut back. Also, cars and trucks have become more fuel-efficient and the government mandates the use of more corn-based ethanol fuel.

The last time the U.S. was a net exporter of fuels was 1949, when Harry Truman was president. That year, the U.S. exported 86 million barrels and imported 82 million barrels. In the first nine months of 2011, the nation exported 753 million barrels and imported 689 million barrels.

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Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon will name the state’s new top job creation official on Friday, his office said Thursday.

The new director of the Department of Economic Development will replace David Kerr, who’s stepping down this month after a little more than two years in the post.

The former AT&T executive and Kansas Commerce Secretary worked to significantly boost Missouri’s exports and led an overhaul of the state’s strategic economic development plan. He also played a key role in negotiations with both Ford and General Motors about plant expansions in the state.

But his tenure was also marked by sluggish job growth and, in recent months, controversy over a sugar plant deal gone awry in Moberly. Meanwhile, efforts by the Nixon administration to re-tool Missouri’s menu of economic incentives largely stalled in the General Assembly payday loans guaranteed no fax. Kerr replaced Nixon’s first economic development chief, St. Louis attorney Linda Martinez, who lasted less than a year in the job.

Whoever takes the seat next will do so ahead of a re-election campaign in which the economy is expected to be a major issue. They will also take the seat on the eve of a Legislative session where tax credits will, again, likely see much debate.

Nixon will visit Kansas City and Springfield (though not St. Louis) to make the announcement.

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A resurgent demand for gift cards may extend retailers’ holiday cheer well into January.

Gift card spending rose to nearly 18 percent of total holiday spending this year, the highest percentage since 2006 and up from 14.6 percent last year and 13.1 percent in 2009, according to a consumer tracking survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs.

The spending “might suggest a better sales performance in January as a result,” said the trade group’s chief economist, Michael Niemira, in an email. He added that this week will catch the first wave of gift card redemption with further activity on tap for the first two weeks of January.

Retailers don’t count gift card purchases as sales until consumers redeem them.

Gift cards were already being tapped as the likely top gift choice, topping clothing, toys and electronics, before the holiday season started, Niemira said, adding that demand may have picked up because of a scarcity of must-have items and soft apparel demand this year.

The rise of digital gift cards that can be instantly delivered through Facebook, personalized videos and mobile phones also have made gift cards a novel gift idea in their own right, according to the National Retail Federation.

The trade group’s holiday consumer survey in November showed holiday shoppers were expected to spend an average of $155.43 on gift cards, the highest sum since 2007 and up from $145.61 last year. Total gift card spending this holiday season is expected to total $27.8 billion, the National Retail Federation estimated.

This year was the fifth year in a row in which gift cards were the most requested holiday gift, the survey showed, adding that 80.2 percent of shoppers, versus 77.3 percent last year, said they intended to buy gift cards.

Shoppers also said they planned to spend an average of $43.23 per card, up from $41.48 last year. Men were planning to spend significantly more on gift cards than women this year, shelling out an average of $164.24 versus women’s $147.06, the survey showed.

Retailers have not lost sight of the promise of gift cards.

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which got aggressive in marketing its price-matching guarantee this holiday season, offered customers rebates in the form of a gift card if a rival beat Wal-Mart’s prices.

In the final countdown to Christmas, Wal-Mart and other retailers, including Kohl’s Corp., heavily marketed gift cards as a great last-minute gift option. Wal-Mart’s archrival Target offered shoppers who used their gift cards beginning Monday savings of up to 50 percent on some women’s apparel and other categories.

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Stocks are closing barely changed in very light trading on the last week of the year.

The economic news was mixed, sending stocks bouncing up and down in a narrow range for most of the day. Consumer confidence surged to an eight-month high, but home prices dropped in major cities. Sears plummeted after reporting that it would close more than 100 stores around the country.

The Dow Jones industrial average Tuesday edged up 3 points at 12,291 at the close easy pay day loans. The S&P 500 rose less than a point to 1,265. The Nasdaq composite was up 7 points at 2,625.

Sears Holding Corp. plummeted 27 percent after announcing it would close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores following poor sales during the holidays.

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Molly Curlee, the owner of City Sprouts, debated whether to keep her University City toy store open a bit later on Christmas Eve this year.

“It’s a Saturday, so I’m thinking it will be busy,” she said. She ended up sticking with her decision to close an hour early as planned at 4 p.m. “But if there are still people out, we’ll stay open later.”

Saturdays are typically the busiest shopping days for retailers. They are even more important during the crucial holiday shopping season, which accounts for 20 to 40 percent of many retailers’ annual sales.

So with the calendar including one extra Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year — a Saturday that also happens to fall on Christmas Eve — some industry analysts are expecting stores to be more packed than usual the day before Christmas.

“Retailers are looking at this Saturday as gravy — something extra to help top off their season,” said Megan Donadio, a retail strategist with the consulting firm Kurt Salmon.

Christmas Eve is not typically one of the biggest shopping days of the year, because stores usually close a bit earlier. But it is still a busy day among last-minute shoppers and particularly men, who notoriously descend on jewelry and fragrance counters in a panic in search of gifts for their mothers or wives.

One in five Americans plans to shop on Christmas Eve this year, according to a study by eBay Local and Harris Interactive.

In order to milk every dollar they can, many stores have been holding extended hours this week in the home stretch before Christmas. Some Target stores have been staying open until midnight. And between Tuesday morning and 10 p.m. Christmas Eve, Toys R Us will be open for 112 consecutive hours.

This is the second year Toys R Us has offered 24-hour in-store shopping leading up to Christmas, said Katelyn Leondi, a company spokeswoman. Last year it was for 88 hours because Christmas fell a day earlier in the week.

“There are still many important days between now and Christmas,” she said, adding that consumers seem to have waited longer to start shopping this year in the hunt for better deals. “Every day is very important to us.”

So far, the holiday shopping season has been full of ups and downs. It started with signs that consumers were feeling tepid about spending amid doubts about the economy and financial crises in other parts of the world. But after a better-than-expected Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the National Retail Federation ended up raising its initial holiday growth forecast to 3.8 percent, up from its initial prediction of 2.8 percent. While that is above the 10-year average, it is still lower than last year’s 5.2 percent increase.

Online sales also have been going gangbusters, up about 15 percent so far this season, according to comScore.

There was a typical lull in shopping following Black Friday, said Michael Brown, a partner in the retail practice with the consulting firm A.T. Kearney. But the activity began ramping up again last Friday and is expected to continue at high levels throughout the rest of this week.

Since many people have this Friday off from work, Brown expects that day to be an especially busy shopping day, too.

As the week goes on, Brown expects the bargains and discounts to get sweeter, but the selection will be more limited.

“Consumers are going to see great bargains in the next couple of days, but they might not see them on the items they want,” he said.

Some of the after-Christmas markdowns may begin on Christmas Eve, too, he added, because “retailers realize that the Saturday before Christmas will be their last chance to sell to that frenzied market.”

While overall holiday retail sales seem to be pretty decent, Donadio said analysts won’t know until January or February — after many of the returns are processed — how well retailers actually did. In an ubercompetitive environment, retailers have been doing everything they can, from offering discounts to free shipping to complimentary gift wrapping, to ring up more sales.

“But one of the things some retailers are doing is they are sacrificing margin for market share,” she said.

One of the most well-known cases of that is Best Buy, whose latest financial results showed its efforts to be competitive on pricing with online retailers such as Amazon have led to higher sales, but at the expense of profit margins.

Most of the shopping malls in the region, which are open later this week, will close around 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Sean Phillips, regional marketing director of CBL & Associates, which owns many shopping malls in the St. Louis region, said he thinks this past Saturday will end up being the biggest sales day of the year at his malls.

“There are a lot of people who don’t wait until the last minute,” he said.

Maven, a boutique in Maplewood, has been having its best holiday season to date since it opened in 2007. Kate Bethel, the store’s owner, attributed some of that to people wanting to shop at local, independent stores.

She sells an array of bath products and candles that are made in-house, as well as jewelry and other products.

She usually sees store traffic die down around midafternoon on Christmas Eve. So she’s planning to close her store at 3 p.m. on Saturday. But like City Sprouts, she will play the closing time by ear if there are still people coming through the door.

If past years are any guide, she expects many of those last-minute shoppers to be men.

“And money is no object for them on that day,” she said. “So it’s worth sticking around that extra couple of hours.”

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%3Cp%3EThe+House+intends+to+vote+down+a+bipartisan+two-month+extension+of+the+payroll+tax+cut+that+has+cleared+the+Senate+and+is+backed+by+President+Barack+Obama%2C+and+request+immediate+negotiations+on+a+full-year+renewal%2C+Speaker+John+Boehner+said+Monday.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3E%22It%27s+time+to+stop+the+nonsense.+We+can+resolve+these+differences+and+we+can+do+it+in+a+way+that+provides+certainty+for+job+creators+and+others%2C%22+Boehner+said+at+a+news+conference%2C+although+he+provided+no+estimate+on+how+long+it+might+take+to+produce+a+compromise.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EWithout+action+by+Congress%2C+both+the+payroll+tax+cut+and+a+program+for+long-term+unemployment+benefits+will+expire+on+Jan.+1.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EHouse+Majority+Leader+Eric+Cantor%2C+R-Va.%2C+said+lawmakers+would+not+let+the+tax+increase+kick+in+but+he+did+not+say+how+they+would+resolve+the+dispute.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3E%22In+this+tough+economy%2C+middle+class+Americans+need+to+know+that+their+taxes+won%27t+be+going+up+at+any+point+next+year.%2C%22+Cantor+said+in+a+statement.+%22We+are+going+to+stay+here+and+do+our+work+until+we+guarantee+that+no+one+faces+a+tax+increase+in+the+year+ahead.%22%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EThe+leaders%27+comments+came+after+a+chaotic+weekend+in+which+Senate+leaders+first+failed+to+agree+on+a+full-year+bill%2C+then+coalesced+around+the+two-month-extension+that+passed+overwhelmingly%2C+only+to+spark+a+revolt+among+GOP+conservatives+in+the+House.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EThere+was+no+immediate+reaction+from+either+the+White+House+or+leaders+in+the+Senate%2C+which+adjourned+for+the+year+on+Saturday+shortly+after+approving+its+version+of+the+bill.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EThe+revolt+of+the+rank+and+file+placed+Boehner+and+Republicans+in+a+difficult+position%2C+just+as+it+appeared+they+had+outmaneuvered+Obama+by+assuring+that+the+legislation+would+require+him+to+make+a+swift+decision+on+construction+of+a+proposed+oil+pipeline.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EObama+had+announced+he+would+put+off+the+issue+until+after+the+presidential+election+in+2012+rather+than+decide+the+fate+of+a+project+that+divided+usual+Democratic+allies+_+environmentalists+opposed+and+several+labor+unions+in+favor.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EIn+a+television+interview+shortly+before+Boehner%27s+news+conference%2C+White+House+communications+director+Dan+Pfeiffer+accused+Boehner+of+reversing+his+position+on+the+two-month+measure+because+of+a+%22tea+party+revolt.%22%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EBoehner%2C+R-Ohio%2C+said+he+had+not+changed+his+view+on+the+bill.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3E%22I+raised+concerns+about+the+two-month+process+from+the+moment+I+heard+about+it%2C%22+he+said.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EHe+called+on+members+of+the+Senate+to+%22put+their+vacations+on+hold%22+and+return+to+forge+a+compromise.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EObama+has+said+repeatedly+that+Congress+should+not+quit+for+the+year+until+the+tax+cut+has+been+extended%2C+and+has+said+he+would+postpone+a+planned+Hawaiian+vacation+until+the+bill+is+finished.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EGOP+leaders+planned+House+votes+on+the+payroll+measure+for+Monday+evening.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EWithout+congressional+action%2C+the+payroll+tax+paid+by+160+million+workers+would+rise+2+percentage+points+on+Jan.+1+_+a+boost+that+Democrats+eagerly+said+would+be+the+GOP%27s+fault.+The+brinksmanship+is+a+familiar+pattern+this+year+between+the+two+parties%2C+who+have+narrowly+averted+a+federal+default+and+several+government+shutdowns+in+past+fights.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EExtending+the+payroll+tax+cut+and+jobless+benefits+have+been+a+keystone+of+Obama%27s+and+congressional+Democrats%27+effort+to+spur+a+revival+of+the+flaccid+economy.+Congressional+Republican+leaders+also+say+they+support+the+idea%2C+but+some+of+their+rank-and-file+remain+unconvinced%2C+saying+the+unemployment+coverage+is+too+generous+and+that+cutting+the+payroll+tax+does+not+create+jobs.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EThe+Senate+bill+would+cut+the+payroll+tax%2C+extend+jobless+benefits+and+avoid+cuts+in+Medicare+payments+to+doctors+through+February.+Both+sides+say+they+want+to+renew+all+three+for+a+full+year%2C+but+bargainers+have+so+far+failed+to+agree+on+how+to+pay+for+a+package+that+size%2C+which+could+cost+roughly+%24200+billion.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EThe+White+House%27s+Pfeiffer+said+there+was+still+an+opportunity+for+House+Republicans+to+avoid+triggering+a+tax+increase+and+for+the+chamber+to+pass+the+Senate-approved+two-month+extension.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3E%22You+only+need+a+couple+dozen+Republicans+to+do+it%2C%22+Pfeiffer+said.+%22I+find+it+inconceivable+that+you+can%27t+get+a+couple+dozen+Republicans+to+vote+for+a+tax+cut+for+the+middle+class.%22%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EAfter+Senate+Majority+Leader+Harry+Reid%2C+D-Nev.%2C+and+Minority+Leader+Mitch+McConnell%2C+R-Ky.%2C+struck+a+deal+on+their+two-month+bill+Friday+night%2C+McConnell+expressed+optimism+that+Congress+would+approve+it+and+lawmakers+would+revisit+the+battle+in+February.%3C%2Fp%3E+%09%3Cp%3EThey+expressed+their+views+a+day+after+House+GOP+lawmakers+on+a+confer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The British government will restructure the country’s banks by separating their retail activities from riskier investment banking operations, Business Secretary Vince Cable said Sunday.

Cable said the government will comply with the recommendations of an independent commission set up after the 2008 banking crisis and “proceed with the separation of the banks.”

“It’s absolutely right that we make the British economy safe,” Cable told the BBC. “We just cannot risk having a repetition of that financial catastrophe that we had three years ago.”

Treasury chief George Osborne is due to lay out the government’s plans in Parliament on Monday. Cable told the BBC that the necessary legislation would be passed before the government’s term ends in 2015.

The British government bought up large chunks of the country’s banking system after it ran into major financial difficulties during the 2008 credit crunch. The British taxpayer now fully owns mortgage lenders Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, along with 83 percent of Royal Bank of Scotland and 41 percent of Lloyd’s Banking Group.

Northern Rock, however, is due to be sold to Richard Branson’s Virgin Money.

The Independent Commission on Banking recommended in September that the banks be restructured by 2019 to reduce the risks of taxpayers having to bear the cost of any future bailouts.

The commission, chaired by former Bank of England chief economist John Vickers, said retail banks should be “legally, economically and operationally separate” from the parent companies.

It also recommended that retail banks should be required to boost the amount of equity capital they hold.

The commission estimated its proposals would cost the banks up to 7 billion pounds ($11 billion) a year, and critics of the plan say it could slow lending at a time when the economy is in danger of sliding back into recession.

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Jurors have resumed deliberations in a Utah company’s $1 billion federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. and say they’re close to a verdict.

Novell Inc. sued in 2004, claiming Microsoft duped it into developing a version of its WordPerfect writing program for Windows 95 only to pull the plug so Microsoft could gain market share with its own Word program.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates testified last month that Novell just couldn’t deliver a compatible WordPerfect program in time for the rollout, and that Microsoft’s own Word program was actually better cash advance to savings account.

Jurors said late Thursday they were making progress deciding whether Novell was entitled to damages. On Friday morning, they said they were close to finishing deliberations.

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