Gold tanks to 2-year low as China weighs on stocks

LONDON — Weaker-than-expected Chinese economic growth figures weighed on markets Monday as the price of gold slid another $130 to hit a two-year low amid concerns that a 12-year bull run for the commodity has come to an end.

Though Chinese government figures showed that the world's second-largest economy expanded 7.7 percent in the first quarter of the year compared with a year earlier, the figure was down on the previous period's 7.9 percent rate and was worse than expectations for a modest increase to 8 percent.

The report stoked worries about the strength of China's economy at a time when a run of U.S. economic data has disappointed and Europe remains embroiled in its crisis over too much government debt.

"Weak economic growth in China has taken investors by surprise," said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at stockbroker Interactive Investor. "With the recent run or weaker global economic data investors have reached an impasse and without a great deal in sight this week to inspire them, we should see markets drift lower."

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.6 percent at 6,343 while Germany's DAX fell 0.4 percent to 7,712. The CAC-40 in France was also 0.5 percent lower at 3,710.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 1.06 percent at 14,703 while the broader S&P 500 index fell 1.42 percent to 1,566. The falls came despite a 13 percent rise in the value of Sprint shares after it agreed to be acquired by Dish Network for $25.5 billion and Citigroup, which rose over 1.8 percent after solid earnings.

Much of the interest in financial markets though is centered on gold, which has taken a battering over recent sessions.

By early evening London time, an ounce of the yellow metal was trading around $132, or 8 percent, lower at $1,368, its first foray below $1,400 since March 2011.

Gold has fallen sharply over recent trading sessions from over $1,600 10 days ago and there is talk in the markets that a number of institutions are cashing in following a reduction in gold price predictions from leading investment banks, including Goldman Sachs.

Many reasons have been put forward to explain the sudden change of course, including speculation that Cyprus may sell a chunk of its reserves to finance its part of its financial rescue. Though that may not materialize, it was enough to prompt some investors to think that a gold-selling strategy may be used elsewhere in the troubled eurozone.

Another reason put forward is that the Federal Reserve will outline a strategy to withdraw its monetary stimulus later this year despite recent mixed signals out of the U.S. economy, the world's largest.

One of the reasons why the price of gold has been so well-bid in recent years is a direct result of the Fed's policy — the new dollars created under so-called quantitative easing have found themselves recycled in financial markets and many of them have gone to the perceived haven of gold.

"Investors are clearly turning away from gold here, using the price action as justification for unwinding positions and taking capital away from what was once considered as almost a one-way bet," said David White, a trader at Spreadex. "Even those naturally contrarian are struggling to find reasons to own gold."

The sharp decline in the price of gold has had knock-on effects throughout commodity markets. The price of oil has been in retreat too and the benchmark New York rate was down another $2.45 at $88.85 a barrel.

Subdued investor appetite for risk, as seen by the performance of stocks, was evident in the currency markets too, where the euro was trading 0.3 percent lower at $1.3071.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 finished 1.6 percent lower at 13,275.66, falling for a second straight trading day after a series of gains. The Bank of Japan's aggressive monetary easing to lift borrowing and spending drove Japanese stocks to their highest close in nearly four years last week as well as weighing heavily on the yen. However, the yen has gained some ground over the last couple of sessions, and the dollar was 0.4 percent lower at $97.77 yen.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1.4 percent to 21,772.67 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.9 percent to 4,967.90 and China's Shanghai Composite Index shed 1.1 percent to 2,181.94.

South Korea's benchmark index narrowed its losses amid expectations that policymakers in major economies may put pressure on Japan to halt the yen's slide, which has hurt South Korean exporters. The Kospi closed at 1,920.45, down 0.2 percent.

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Paris' Crillon hotel to sell furniture, bathrobes

PARIS — One of Paris' most elegant hotels is selling off everything from its front desk to the bathrobes that snuggled the rich and famous.

The Hotel de Crillon on the French capital's Place de la Concorde has welcomed stars and heads of state for more than a century. Now, it is renovating and jettisoning furniture, fittings, paintings and even some of its wine collection. The auction catalog lists 3,500 lots, including sofas, tables, light fixtures, a Louis XV-style mantel and the pigeon-holes used by the concierge to keep messages for guests.

The auction will be held April 18-22 inside the stately 18th century building, which became a hotel in 1909. The hotel said the money from some sales will donated to charity.

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The lots: http://www.artcurial.com/fr/actualite/cp/2013/2013_04_18_2355_hotel-de-Crillon.asp

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Dish Network offering to buy Sprint in $25.5B deal

NEW YORK — Dish Network Corp. is trying to snag U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. away from its Japanese suitor in recognition of the way satellite dishes are losing their relevance in the age of cellphones that play YouTube videos.

Dish offered $25.5 billion in cash and stock on Monday for Sprint, which Dish says beats the offer from Japan's Softbank Corp. Softbank is offering $20 billion in cash, and shareholders get to keep 30 percent of Sprint. Dish is offering $17.3 billion in cash, and Sprint shareholders get 32 percent of the combined Dish-Sprint.

Sprint Nextel Corp.'s stock jumped on the news, as investors started looking forward to a bidding war between Dish and Softbank. Sprint had accepted the Softbank offer and was expecting to close on it this summer. Sprint, the country's third-largest cellphone carrier, said it would evaluate Dish's offer.

Charlie Ergen, Dish's executive chairman, has been looking for a way into the wireless world for years. Dish has been buying space on the airwaves for cellphone service or wireless broadband. The Englewood, Colo., company has tried to partner with cellphone companies to put its spectrum rights to use, but has been repeatedly rebuffed.

"People have generally blown him off and not taken him seriously," technology consultant Tim Farrar said. "This is really saying 'We are serious.'"

The wireless world is in a ferment of deal-making. The largest two carriers, Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc., are trying to bolster their spectrum holdings, while the next largest, Sprint and T-Mobile USA, are trying to make alliances to better compete after years of seeing their subscribers move to the bigger players. T-Mobile USA has struck a deal to merge with No. 5 MetroPCS Communications Inc., and Sprint's deal with Softbank would give Sprint a much-needed cash infusion.

On a conference call Monday, Ergen said that Dish is a better fit for Sprint because it can combine its spectrum rights with Sprint's. Dish can also use its army of satellite dish technicians to install antennas for wireless broadband on customer's roofs, creating a competitor to cable and phone-line broadband. It could also save money by combining its call centers and back-end functions with those of Sprint.

"You want to be in your home with video, broadband, and data, and voice, and you want to be outside your home with those same things," Ergen said. "And while the cable industry does a really good job in your home, and the current wireless industry does a really good job outside your home, there's really no one company on a national scale that puts it all together. The new Dish-Sprint will do that."

Dish has 14.1 million TV subscribers, making it the No. 2 satellite-TV company after DirecTV. Comcast Corp. is larger than both and is the nation's largest subscription-TV provider. Sprint, which is based in Overland Park, Kan., has 55.6 million wireless devices on its network.

Dish said that its proposed transaction includes $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock. It put the total worth at $7 per share, which is a 13 percent premium to its Friday closing price of $6.22. This includes $4.76 per share in cash and 0.05953 Dish shares per Sprint share.

Shares of Sprint rose 83 cents, or 13 percent, to $7.05 in midday trading. Because that's above Dish's offer, it indicates that investors are expecting a sweetened bid from Softbank or Dish.

Dish shares fell $2.46, or 6.5 percent, to $35.17, as the market figured that buying Sprint shares would be a cheaper way to buy into a combined company.

Ergen said during the conference call that Dish believed that Softbank undervalued Sprint. Although he would not say whether Dish would raise its bid for Sprint if Softbank came back with a higher offer, he said that Dish would be more than will to pay the $600 million breakup fee for Sprint and Softbank to terminate their proposed transaction.

Another component of the Sprint purchase is wireless network operator Clearwire. In December, Sprint agreed to buy the portion of Clearwire it didn't own for $2.2 billion.

The deal would give Sprint control of an affiliate it depends upon to provide high-speed "Sprint 4G" data services on some of its phones. The Clearwire deal is contingent on the Softbank deal going through, as Sprint lacks the money to complete it on its own.

Dish made its own bid of about $5.15 billion for Clearwire in January. Ergen said that Dish has not formally withdrawn its Clearwire offer and that its Sprint buyout bid is not contingent on Clearwire going through with the Sprint offer.

Further complicating the picture, Clearwire revealed Friday that it has received an offer of $1 billion to $1.5 billion for some of its spectrum rights from an unnamed company. The Wall Street Journal on Monday identified the prospective buyer as Verizon Wireless. Verizon declined to comment.

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AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.

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Citigroup execs sound a cautious note

NEW YORK — Citigroup isn't convinced the economy is back.

The bank's executives were more cautious than celebratory Monday, even after announcing strong first-quarter results.

Citigroup's investment bank advised more companies on mergers and acquisitions; its retail bank wrote out more mortgages; it set aside less money for bad loans. The bank's earnings beat expectations and its stock price rose. Even so, executives stopped short of declaring victory.

"The environment remains challenging and we are sure to be tested as we go through the year," said CEO Mike Corbat.

Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach says the bank doesn't think consumers are confident enough to drive the economy, whose growth he described as uneven. "We're still going to be moving somewhat sideways."

Citigroup's view was more pessimistic than those of rivals JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, whose CEOs last week described the economy as improving and consumer sentiment as healthy. Both banks reported record earnings but their revenue slipped, lowering their stock prices.

The split in the banks' outlooks appeared in the past two quarters as well. Citigroup, for example, wasn't as confident as its competitors about a comeback in the housing market.

Monday's results marked Citi's first full quarter under Corbat, who took over last fall from Vikram Pandit. Pandit stepped down under pressure from a board that was unhappy with his efforts to turn around the bank. Corbat is now under the same pressure.

So far he's been cutting jobs and trimming businesses in slow-growth areas, continuing Pandit's plan to slim down the bank and make it more manageable and less susceptible to special scrutiny from regulators. In a call with reporters, CFO Gerspach said he didn't anticipate any "large scale repositioning charges," but rather a steady move toward more efficiency.

"To use a baseball analogy, a series of singles," Gerspach said.

More on Citi's results:

—Investment banking vs. retail banking: Investment banking revenue there jumped 31 percent while revenue from consumer banking was flat. Citi's investment banking unit advised more companies on mergers and acquisitions and underwrote more stock and bond offerings. In the consumer bank, credit card revenue inched down.

—Mortgages: Citigroup funded $18 billion in mortgages in North America, up 26 percent from a year earlier. For the first time, the bank released some of the reserves it had set aside to cover bad mortgage loans in Citi Holdings, the unit where it has quarantined troubled assets from the financial crisis. Investors, Gerspach noted, are also willing to pay more for investments made of mortgages.

Does this mean, a reporter asked, that "even John Gerspach (is) positive about the housing market?"

"I wouldn't say that I'm positive about the housing market," he replied.

—What else helped results: The bank's own borrowing costs fell as it retired debt. The drag from Citi Holdings shrank: The unit's loss narrowed to $789 million from more than $1 billion a year earlier.

The bank continued to free up money it had set aside for bad loans. Total allowance for loan losses is $23.7 billion, or 3.7 percent of total loans, down from $29 billion, or 4.5 percent of total loans, a year earlier.

Citi also benefited from a deferred tax credit. When companies have big losses, they get a break on taxes. Citigroup, which suffered big losses in 2008, was allowed to hold onto tax credits to use in the future, in years when it was profitable.

—Around the world: Revenue climbed 20 percent in North America, but rose only 4 percent in Latin America and 1 percent in Asia. It fell 3 percent in the unit covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Gerspach said Asia was "not seeing what I'd consider to be vibrant growth." Europe, he said, is still recovering, and the bank probably wouldn't look to expand there except to support existing clients with specific services.

—Legal expenses: Gerspach said the bank recorded about $700 million in legal expenses in the first quarter. That's on pace with last year, when it recorded about $2.8 billion. The bank's higher legal expenses were related to Citi Holdings, but Gerspach declined to give details.

—By the numbers: Citigroup earned $4 billion, up 17 percent from a year earlier, after stripping out the effects of an accounting charge. That amounted to $1.29 per share, beating the $1.17 expected by Wall Street analysts.

Revenue totaled $20.8 billion, up 3 percent from a year earlier. That also beat the $20.2 billion that analysts had expected.

The stock rose more than 2 percent, or $1.13, to $45.91, in midday trading.

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Court: Can human genes be patented?

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed worried Monday about the idea of companies patenting genes that can be found inside the human body, as it heard arguments in a case that could profoundly reshape U.S. medical research and the fight against diseases like breast and ovarian cancer.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been awarding patents on human genes for almost 30 years, but opponents of Myriad Genetics Inc.'s patents on two genes linked to increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer say patent protection should not be given to something that can be found inside the human body.

"Finding a new use for a product of nature, if you don't change the product of nature, is not patentable. If I find a new way of taking gold and making earrings out of it, that doesn't entitle me to a patent on gold. If I find a new way of using lead, it doesn't entitle me to a patent on lead," lawyer Christopher Hansen said.

Allowing companies like Myriad to patent human genes or parts of human genes will slow down or cripple lifesaving medical research like in the battle against breast cancer, he said.

But companies have billions of dollars of investment and years of research on the line, with Myriad arguing that without the ability to recoup their investment through the profits that patents bring, breakthrough scientific discoveries needed to combat all kind of medical maladies wouldn't happen.

That concerned several justices. "Why shouldn't we worry that Myriad or companies like it will just say, 'Well, you know, we're not going to do this work anymore?'" Justice Elena Kagan said.

Hansen said that a company could get recognition for its work and that money for research would always be available, a statement that Justice Anthony Kennedy said wasn't sufficient. "I don't think we can decide the case on, 'Don't worry about investment. It'll come,'" Kennedy said.

The Supreme Court has already said that abstract ideas, natural phenomena and laws of nature cannot be given a patent, which gives an inventor the right to prevent others from making, using or selling a novel device, process or application.

Myriad has used its patents to develop its BRACAnalysis test looks for mutations on the breast cancer predisposition gene, or BRCA. Those mutations are associated with much greater risks of breast and ovarian cancer.

Women with a faulty gene have a three to seven times greater risk of developing breast cancer and a higher risk of ovarian cancer. Men can also carry a BRCA mutation, raising their risk of prostate, pancreatic and other types of cancer. The mutations are most common in people of eastern European Jewish descent.

Myriad sells the only BRCA gene test.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups challenged Myriad's patents, arguing that genes couldn't be patented, and in March 2010 a New York district court agreed. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has now twice ruled that genes can be patented. In Myriad's case, it's because the isolated DNA has a "markedly different chemical structure" from DNA within the body.

But the ACLU is arguing that isolating the DNA molecules doesn't stop them from being DNA molecules, which they say aren't patentable.

Justices attempted to break the argument down to an everyday level by discussing things like chocolate chip cookies, baseball bats and Amazonian jungle plants in attempts to understand the complicated issues. For example, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said if a new way was found to extract the ingredients of a cookie, a company still wouldn't be able to patent flour, eggs or salt.

"I can't imagine getting a patent simply on the basic items of salt, flour and eggs, simply because I've created a new use or a new product from those ingredients," she said.

Myriad lawyer Gregory A. Castanias argued that justices could think about their invention like a baseball bat. "A baseball bat doesn't exist until it's isolated from a tree. But that's still the product of human invention to decide where to begin the bat and where to end the bat," he said.

But that didn't work for Chief Justice John Roberts.

"The baseball bat is quite different. You don't look at a tree and say, well, I've cut the branch here and cut it here and all of a sudden I've got a baseball bat. You have to invent it, if you will," Roberts said. "You don't have to invent the particular segment of the strand. You just have to cut it off."

The court will rule before the end of the summer.

The case is 12-398, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc.

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Massachusetts gas prices drop 9 cents

Bay State gas prices are down nine cents this week, according to AAA Southern New England.

Self-serve, regular unleaded gas is currently averaging $3.47 a gallon, five cents less than the national average of $3.52. Local prices are down 18 cents over the past month.

A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was 42 cents more at $3.89.

Midgrade unleaded is down eight cents this week to $3.71 a gallon, while premium unleaded fell six cents to $3.84 a gallon. Diesel gas dropped two cents to $3.97 a gallon.

The range in prices in the latest AAA survey for unleaded regular is 44 cents, from a low of $3.29 to a high of $3.73.

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Prospects for background checks remain unclear

WASHINGTON — The fate of a bipartisan Senate effort to subject more firearms buyers to background checks remains uncertain as seven Republicans amenable to a gun control debate are still likely to resist such an expansion.

On an initial showdown over the gun control bill last week, 16 Republicans voted to reject a conservative effort to derail the measure, a roll call that allowed debate on the legislation to begin. Gun control supporters are hoping they can get enough votes from this group to help win approval for expanded background checks, the cornerstone of the effort by President Barack Obama and others to reduce firearms violence.

So far, seven of the 16 have said they will oppose the bipartisan background check proposal, or are leaning toward doing so. Four said they will support it or are likely to, and the remaining members of that group haven't indicated a position.

The Senate starts debate Tuesday on an amendment by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., that would expand background checks to cover transactions at gun shows and the Internet. The system, aimed at stopping criminals and others from getting firearms, now covers only sales handled by licensed gun dealers.

"The Toomey-Manchin proposal, while well-intentioned, is not a solution to illegal gun violence. We already have major holes in the current" background check system, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Monday in a written statement. Graham was among the 16 who voted to allow the gun control debate to begin.

Two Democrats, both facing re-election next year in GOP-leaning states, voted against beginning the gun control debate last week.

Spokesman Devon Kearns said that Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, is still reviewing the amendment, while aides to Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., did not immediately return emails and a phone call. Some Democrats from conservative-leaning states are expected to oppose the Manchin-Toomey plan.

There are 53 Democrats and two-Democratic-leaning independents in the Senate. Gun control advocates will need 60 votes for the background check proposal to survive.

On Sunday, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine issued a statement saying that she would vote for the Manchin-Toomey compromise, which exempts private gun sales.

The plan would "strengthen the background check system without in any way infringing on Second Amendment rights," Collins said. But Collins took a wait-and-see approach on the entire package, saying "it is impossible to predict at this point the final composition of the overall legislation."

Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has a B+ rating from the National Rifle Association, said he was "very favorably disposed" to the Manchin-Toomey compromise. It was in McCain's home state that a gunman with schizophrenia shot then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the head during a 2011 rampage in Tucson that left six people killed.

Even with their support, the vote on the measure — expected as early as Wednesday — will be close.

"It's an open question as to whether or not we have the votes," Toomey said.

Asked how many votes he thought he had now, Manchin said, "Well, we're close. We need more."

The measure requires background checks for people buying guns at gun shows and online. Background checks currently apply only to transactions handled by the country's 55,000 licensed gun dealers. Private transactions, such as a sale of a gun between family members, would still be exempt.

Advocates say the measures would make it harder for criminals and the mentally ill to get weapons.

Opponents argue that the restrictions would violate the Constitution's right to bear arms and would be ignored by criminals.

Manchin later noted that one gun rights group, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, has announced support for his plan.

And later Sunday, the Manchin-Toomey compromise was endorsed by the Independent Firearms Owners Association, a pro-gun group that is smaller and more moderate than the NRA.

The senators' agreement includes language expanding firearms rights by easing some restrictions on transporting guns across state lines, protecting sellers from lawsuits if buyers passed a background check but later used a gun in a crime and letting gun dealers conduct business in states where they don't live.

The compromise, if successful, would be added to broader gun control legislation to strengthen laws against illegal gun trafficking and to slightly increase school security aid.

Other additions to the legislation also are expected to be debated this week, including a measure that would allow concealed hand gun permits issued by one state to be accepted nationwide as a de facto background check.

The Senate is also expected to consider, and reject, Democratic amendments to ban assault weapons and ammunition magazines carrying more than 10 rounds.

Manchin and Toomey were on CNN's "State of the Union" and CBS' "Face the Nation." McCain was on CNN.

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Stocks drop in afternoon trading; gold plunges

NEW YORK — A steep fall in commodity prices pulled down energy and mining stocks for a second day on Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 160 points, putting it on course for its worst one-day loss since February.

Gold plunged below $1,400 an ounce for the first time in two years as a sell-off in metals continued from last week. Oil prices hit their lowest level since mid-December.

"I think you're getting some panic selling right now," said Frank Fantozzi, CEO of Planned Financial Services, a wealth management firm. "People who have been holding on to gold expecting a rebound are now thinking, 'I better get out.'"

Shortly before 1 p.m., the Dow was down 164 points at 14,700, a drop of 1.1 percent. Caterpillar led the Dow lower, losing 3 percent to $82.67.

A report that China's economy unexpectedly slowed pummeled copper and other commodities. The world's second-largest economy expanded by 7.7 percent in the first three months of the year, well below forecasts of 8 percent or better.

Gold prices dropped $123 to $1,377, an 8 percent fall. Crude oil slid $2.50 to $88.78 in New York trading.

The plunge in commodity prices hit mining and energy stocks. Cliffs Natural Resources lost 7 percent to $17.95. Freeport-McMorRan Copper & Gold fell 8 percent to $29.52. Analysts at Citigroup placed a "sell" rating on the mining giant on the expectation that copper prices will continue sliding.

In other trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 index slumped 18 points to 1,570, a loss of 1.2 percent. Of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500, materials and energy stocks fared the worst, sliding 3 percent.

The Nasdaq composite fell 47 points, or 1.4 percent, to 3,248.

Among the stocks climbing higher, Citigroup rose 2 percent to $45.87, one of the best gains in the S&P 500. The country's third-largest bank reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates thanks to stronger revenue from trading and investment banking.

Sprint Nextel jumped after Dish Network offered $25 billion to buy the company. Dish's bid is aimed at beating an offer from the Japanese phone company SoftBank. Sprint surged 13 percent to $7.01, while Dish fell 6 percent to $35.41.

Thermo Fisher Scientific offered to pay $13.6 billion to buy genetic testing equipment maker Life Technologies. Thermo Fisher agreed to pay $76 in cash for each share of Life Technologies. Both stocks jumped. Thermo Fisher rose 2 percent to $81.43, and Life Technologies rose 8 percent $73.15.

In the market for U.S. government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note dipped to 1.71 percent from 1.72 late Friday. The yield remains near its low point of the year, 1.69 percent, reached April 5 following news that U.S. employers hired far fewer workers than expected last month.

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Draghi urges leaders to solve euro's core problems

AMSTERDAM — European Central Bank head Mario Draghi said Monday that it was up to politicians to solve the region's core problems including fixing the banking system and improving long-term growth.

Draghi said in a speech delivered in Amsterdam that the central bank had given governments time to change things by warding off an environment of "panic and fire sales" by investors through its emergency measures — but it couldn't finish governments' work for them.

The ECB's steps included launching €1 trillion ($1.3 trillion) in cheap, three-year loans to banks to steady their finances and helping lower the borrowing costs of indebted countries by offering to buy government bonds on the open market.

Nonetheless, the economy of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro is mired in recession and is suffering from record unemployment. Meanwhile, borrowing conditions across the eurozone are fragmented: Companies in the indebted countries are paying more to borrow due to troubled government and bank finances than their more financially stable neighbors.

He said governments must pass structural reforms to make their economies more competitive and business-friendly, such as easing rules on hiring and firing people. The aim would be to improve growth that would, in turn, boost tax revenues and help governments shrink debt long-term.

"To conclusively address the root causes of the crisis these efforts need to be maintained and, in some countries, stepped up," he said.

"Let me be clear: undertaking structural reforms, budget consolidation and restoring bank balance sheet health is neither the responsibility nor the mandate of monetary policy."

Draghi did not appear to rule out further emergency actions by the central bank but gave little hint what those could be. He has talked about looking for ways to ease borrowing conditions for the small and medium-sized businesses that employ most people.

He did mention so-called quantitative easing efforts by other central banks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan to purchase of securities from banks. This adds new money to the economy and can drive down longer term interest rates.

However, he said, those policies were "tailor made" for those large single economies. Introducing such a scheme across the 17 countries of the eurozone would be complicated and Draghi warned there was "no uncontroversial way" to determine what the target interest rate would be. It's also unclear how the bank would decide which countries' bonds to buy.

The ECB has already cut interest rates to a record low 0.75 percent — but this is still higher than rates set by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. Analysts have not excluded a further cut.

Draghi in particular urged quick action to set up a single European authority that can wind down busted banks and protect euro member governments from heavy losses.

Troubled banks have contributed to the bloc's three-year debt crisis. Most recently, they helped pull down the public finances of Cyprus, which became the latest eurozone country to need a bailout.

Draghi said such an authority would wind up banks "without reinforcing the vicious link between banks" and government finances.

European leaders have said they intend to set up such a resolution authority but action on the proposal has lagged.

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McHugh contributed from Frankfurt, Germany.

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AP: Court decision is victory for media

ORLANDO, Fla. — A recent court ruling that an Internet news clipping service infringed on the use of Associated Press content is a victory not only for the media but for the public, the news cooperative's CEO said Monday at the AP's annual meeting.

A federal judge in New York ruled last month that Meltwater News had infringed on AP's copyright by using unlicensed AP content verbatim to produce a service for paying customers. The judge granted AP's motion for summary judgment. Meltwater has vowed to file an appeal.

"The judge's decision in Meltwater vindicated our position that what all of us here do has value, and deserves protection from free-riders and those who take our hard-earned content without compensating us for it," Gary Pruitt said at the AP meeting in Orlando.

In her decision, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said that news reporting is expensive and that copyright law is what allows journalists to support their work.

"That is what we do," Pruitt said. "And what we must continue to do for a public faced with so much misinformation in this age of information overload."

Mary Junck, chairman of AP's board of directors and CEO of Lee Enterprises Inc., reported that AP strengthened its financial health in 2012, growing operating cash flow for the first time in five years.

"Although revenue declined in 2012, the AP team reduced expenses much more," Junck said. "We have tackled costs the same way you have - with a sharp pencil and an ongoing process of transforming the way we do business, including dramatically reduced rates for members."

"At the same time, AP is working harder to provide you with a stronger, more relevant news report, including in-depth coverage of significant issues, such as our extensive examination of the Affordable Care Act," she said.

The annual meeting included a live appearance by Seoul Bureau Chief Jean Lee via satellite from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and an in-person presentation from West Africa Bureau Chief Rukmini Callimachi and West Africa chief photographer Rebecca Blackwell.

The AP is owned by 1,400 U.S. newspapers and is largely a wholesaler of news. It sells the content it gathers and produces to newspapers, commercial websites and radio and TV stations.

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http://www.ap.org/company/annual-meeting/2013/annual-report/

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