Swine flu: 'All of humanity under threat', WHO warns

By Murray Wardrop
30 April 2009
The Telegraph, UK

The World Health Organisation has warned that "all of humanity is under threat" from a potential swine flu pandemic and called for "global solidarity" to combat the virus. The plea came as the WHO raised the swine flu threat awareness level to 5 out of 6, indicating that the world is on the brink of a pandemic. Holland and Switzerland both confirmed their first cases of swine flu on Thursday, bringing the total number of countries affected around the world to 11.
In Mexico there have been eight confirmed deaths from the virus, with another 160 suspected swine flu fatalities. There have been 93 confirmed cases in the US, 19 in Canada, 13 in New Zealand, five in Britain, four in Germany, 10 in Spain, two in Israel, and one in Austria.
The US has confirmed the first death outside of Mexico on Wednesday, while a further "probable" case of swine flu has emerged in Glasgow, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond told MSPs today. The new case is someone with travel links to an affected area, but he also disclosed that Iain and Dawn Askham - the first confirmed cases of the disease - had now been released from Monklands Hospital in Lanarkshire, where they had been receiving treatment in an isolation ward. Dr Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general, urged all countries to activate their pandemic plans as she made the announcement on Wednesday night. Phase 5 indicates that there is evidence of the virus being spread from human-to-human in at least two countries in one WHO region. Phase 6, the pandemic phase, is characterised by increased and sustained transmission in the general population. Dr Chan said that the world was better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time in history.

However, she warned that the threat "must be taken seriously" due to the ability of the swine flu swine flu virus to spread rapidly across the world. Dr Chan said that raising the phase of alert was a signal to governments, health officials and the pharmaceutical industry to take urgent action in readiness to tackle a pandemic. Speaking at a conference in Geneva, Dr Chan said: "Above all this is an opportunity for global solidarity as we look for responses and solutions that benefit all countries, all of humanity. "After all it really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic. "The international community should treat this as a window of opportunity to ramp up preparedness and response. "Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously, precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world. "For the first time in history we can track the evolution of a pandemic in real time. Influenza viruses are notorious for their rapid mutation and unpredictable behaviour. "All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans. Countries should remain on high alert for unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia." She added: "Based on assessment of all available information and following several expert consultations, I have decided to raise the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to phase 5. "This change to a higher phase of alert is a signal to governments, to ministries of health and other ministries, to the pharmaceutical industry and the business community that certain actions now should be undertaken with increased urgency and at an accelerated pace."

The announcement came on the same day that the Prime Minister Gordon Brown disclosed that there are now five confirmed cases of swine flu in Britain. Among them is a 12-year-old girl from Devon, who recently flew back to Britain on the same flight as the first two people who tested positive for the virus – Scottish couple Dawn and Iain Askham. The news prompted the closure of the girl's secondary school in Paignton, Devon, and 200 pupils there have been prescribed the antiviral drug Tamiflu. In response to the WHO's alert, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, the Government's Chief Medical Adviser, said that Britain was well prepared for a pandemic.
Sir Liam said: "Phase five indicates that WHO considers a global pandemic to be imminent, whereas at phase four a global pandemic is not inevitable. "A change to phase five is a signal to countries' governments to ramp up their pandemic preparations – which we are already doing.
"We have been planning for a situation like this for some years. The preparations we have in place and are continuing to make will help to ensure we respond well in the event of a pandemic.
"If you have returned from an affected area and have flu like symptoms stay at home, call your GP or NHS Direct and you will be assessed and receive treatment if necessary." The UK will see "many more cases" of swine flu as the virus spreads but most people will make a good recovery, the Government's Chief Medical Officer said today. He told BBC Breakfast on Thursday : "Most people who get flu, even a new strain of flu, will make a good recovery. It's a nasty illness but it's short and they will recover. "To put things in proportion, in any flu, even the seasonal flu, there are some deaths, often of elderly people and the very frail. "What we will see is many more cases, but on the whole most people make a good recovery from flu." But bacteriology expert Professor Hugh Pennington, of the University of Aberdeen, said the WHO may have raised the level to five slightly prematurely to keep everybody as alert as possible. He said: "A five is where there's good evidence of transmission outside of one country and we're a little bit short of that. "I suspect they just want to keep everybody on their toes. "They are only one short of a pandemic but there has got to be very good evidence of transmission outside of where the virus started for it to be a pandemic.

"There are various definitions of a pandemic but the consensus view would be worldwide spread affecting all ages." He added that if swine flu does reach pandemic levels the scenario might not be as bad as people expect. He said: "We've been thinking of pandemic as shock, horror, millions of people will die. "Of course it may not be quite as bad as that. It may still be a pandemic with an ordinary flu virus that affects a lot of people and will still unfortunately kill people that are in the high risk groups." He said it could take four or five months to develop a vaccine against the virus. The WHO's Dr Chan explained that the decision to raise the awareness level from 4 to 5 was taken because evidence had emerged of human-to-human transmission in Mexico and the US, which are in the same WHO region. Evidence of human-to-human transmission has also been seen in Spain. With an elevated pandemic alert level, WHO might also issue travel advisories, warning against non-essential travel to regions battling outbreaks, trade restrictions, the cancellation of public events or border closures.

Summers Says U.S. Economy to Decline ‘For Some Time’

By Matthew Benjamin

April 26, 2009 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy will continue to contract “for some time to come,” said Lawrence Summers, director of the White House National Economic Council. “I expect the economy will continue to decline,” with “sharp declines in employment for quite some time this year,” Summers said today on “Fox News Sunday.” The International Monetary Fund, which held meetings last week in Washington, cut its forecast for each of the Group of Seven economies for this year and next. The lender said the U.S. economy would shrink 2.8 percent this year and have no growth in 2010, with unemployment rising to 10.1 percent. Summers said the economy will pick up as manufacturers rebuild depleted inventories and consumers replace aging cars. “These imbalances can’t continue forever,” he said. “When they are repaired they will be a source of impetus for the economy.”
Texas Instruments Inc., the second-biggest U.S. chipmaker, said April 20 that customers have begun to increase orders after reducing inventories. Summers said the Obama administration is “on a path toward containment and toward building a path toward expansion,” he said, adding that “even sharp plans take time” to work, perhaps six months or more.

Stress Tests

Summers reiterated the administration’s assertion that “the vast majority of banks in the U.S. are well capitalized.” Regulators have conducted stress tests on the 19 largest banks to determine whether they need more capital and are discussing their findings with bank officials this week. “There’s work that needs to be done,” to fix the ailing financial industry, including raising capital and providing additional government money to banks “where necessary,” Summers said. “We’re going to be in a good position to provide the support and set the framework in which the banking system can move along the process of recovery,” Summers said. Results of the stress tests are due for publication on May 4. Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, said Americans shouldn’t “pre-judge the outcome” of the tests. “Whether management changes occur, whether banks are asked to raise more capital, all of that’s going to come forth in the coming week,” Jarrett said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program today.

Chrysler Deadline

Summers said he was hopeful that Chrysler LLC, facing an April 30 deadline from the Obama administration to come up with a viable reorganization plan or face bankruptcy, would succeed in negotiating an alliance with Italy’s Fiat SpA. “It’s in everybody’s interest, we believe, to see these negotiations succeed, and we’re hopeful that they will,” Summers said. “It’s obviously a situation that we’re monitoring carefully, but it’s a negotiation between Chrysler and its potential acquirer, Fiat. There are important issues with creditors, with a range of stakeholders.”
He wouldn’t rule out bankruptcy for Chrysler, saying such a move wouldn’t mean liquidation but instead a “change in legal form” for the automaker to allow it “to function more effectively.” “You can’t have a situation in which companies proceed on a permanent basis relying only on cash from the government,” Summers said. Summers said the White House is working with credit card companies toward “provisions that would protect consumers.” If legislation the administration supports is passed, “you’ll see benefits to consumers that would come very quickly.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Benjamin

Spain: El paro supera la cifra de los cuatro millones y se dispara al 17,3%

800.000 personas más han engrosado la lista del paro en el primer trimestre del año, según la EPA El desempleo afecta ya a 4.010.700 personas, el dato más elevado desde 1976 Entre enero y marzo se han destruido 766.000 empleos

EP MADRID
ABC, Madrid: Actualizado Viernes, 24-04-09 a las 17:42

El paro subió en 802.800 personas en el primer trimestre del año, el 25% en relación al trimestre anterior, con lo que el número total de desempleados se situó en 4.010.700 y la tasa de paro repuntó casi 3,5 puntos, hasta el 17,36%, alcanzando su valor más alto en 11 años, según los datos de la Encuesta de Población Activa (EPA) hecha hoy pública por el Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). En concreto, la tasa de desempleo es la más alta de la serie histórica comparable, que arranca en 2001, pero remontándose más atrás, utilizando series no comparables, no se alcanzaba un porcentaje de esta naturaleza desde el cuarto trimestre de 1998, cuando la tasa de paro llegó a situarse en el 17, 99%. Además, el número total de desempleados, que ya supera los temidos 4 millones, es el más elevado de toda la serie comparable, que arranca en el tercer trimestre de 1976, periodo al partir del cual el INE tiene realizada una retrospectiva de datos utilizando la nueva definición de paro que entró en vigor hace unos años. Según los datos de Estadística, en los últimos doce meses, el paro ha subido en 1.836.500 desempleados, un 84,4% más, cebándose más en los hombres que en las mujeres. De hecho, el paro masculino se incrementó en 1.177.200 desempleados en el último año, con un repunte del 115,6%, mientras que el femenino aumentó en 659.300 paradas, un 57% más. De enero a marzo se destruyeron 766.000 empleos (-3,8%), alcanzando el número total de ocupados la cifra de 19.090.800 personas. La mayor parte de los puestos de trabajo destruídos, 509.700, estaban ocupados por varones, frente a 295.900 desempeñados por mujeres. En el último año, el número de ocupados se ha reducido en 1.311.500 personas (-6,4%). El sector servicios generó 299.000 parados en el trimestre, un 26% más, y la construcción aumentó su cifra de desempleados en 158.800 personas, con un repunte del 27,1%. Destaca también el incremento en 188. 400 parados del colectivo que perdió su empleo hace más de un año (parados de larga duración), con un avance relativo del 24%.

Los hogares con todos sus miembros en paro aumentaron en el primer trimestre de 2009 en 241.200, un 29,1% más sobre el trimestre anterior, mientras que en el último año los hogares con todos sus miembros en paro se han incrementado en 555.800 hogares, un 108,4% más. En total, la cifra de hogares con todos sus miembros en el desempleo se situó en 1.068.400 al finalizar el mes de marzo. De los 802.800 parados más que se registraron en el primer trimestre, 524.700 eran españoles, con un crecimiento del 21,6% respecto al trimestre anterior, en tanto que 278.100 eran extranjeros (+35,7%). En el último año, más de 1,2 millones de españoles han entrado en el desempleo (+76,9%) frente a los 552.800 extranjeros que se han encontrado en esta situación (+109,5%). Así, la tasa de paro de los españoles se situó en el 15,24%, casi tres puntos más que en el trimestre anterior. No obstante, la tasa de desempleo de los extranjeros sigue siendo más elevada, con un 28,4%, siete puntos más que tres meses atrás. La población española también se llevó la peor parte en materia de ocupación, al perder 546.500 puestos de trabajo en el trimestre (-3,2%), frente a la destrucción de 219.500 empleos entre los extranjeros (-7,6%). La destrucción de empleo en el primer trimestre afectó especialmente a los servicios, que perdió 454.700 puestos de trabajo (-3,3%) en relación al trimestre anterior. En la construcción se destruyeron 202 800 empleos (-9,3) entre enero y marzo y en la industria se perdieron 142.500 efectivos (-4,7%). Sólo la agricultura creó empleo, con 34.000 nuevos puestos (+4,23%). En cuanto a la evolución del paro por sectores económicos, el sector servicios también encabezó los incrementos, con 299.000 parados más en el trimestre (+26%), seguido del colectivo de parados de larga duración, con 188.400 desempleados más en sus filas (+24%). En la construcción se registraron 158.800 parados más que en el trimestre anterior (+27,1%), en la industria el número de parados subió en 85.100 (+29,5%, el mayor aumento porcentual de todos los sectores), mientras que el paro de las personas que buscan su primer empleo se incrementó en 50.200 (+20,1%) y en la agricultura hubo 21.400 desempleados más (+14,3%).

UK economy slumped by 1.9pc in first three months of 2009 as recession deepens

The British economy contracted by 1.9pc in the first three months of the year, far more than economists expected, as Britain braces itself for decades of austerity.

By Angela Monaghan
The Telegraph, UK
24 Apr 2009

The decline in gross domestic product was sharper than the 1.6pc seen in the final three months of 2008, when Britain officially entered recession. Economists had expected expected a fall of 1.5pc. The Office for National Statistics figures show how widespread the crisis that began with the US banking sector has become in Britain, triggering a slump in the amount of goods and services that it produces. It is the sharpest quarterly fall in gross domestic product (GDP) since 1979, when it fell by 2.4pc in the third quarter. At that time, the country was buckling under the pressure of mass unemployment and an intense class war. The figure will embarrass Alistair Darling, who predicted in his Budget statement on Wednesday that in the first quarter the economy contracted "by a similar amount" to the fourth quarter of 2008. It also casts doubt over his prediction that the economy will shrink by a total of 3.5pc this year, which now looks too optimistic. "For that to be achieved, GDP would have to be broadly flat from the second quarter onwards, yet the surveys are already pointing to another fall of 1pc or so," said Vicky Redwood at Capital Economics. Although the economy is expected to fall at a slower pace in the months ahead, economists have warned it will not seem better for many as hundreds of thousands more jobs go. "Although one or two positive signs have started to appear, we face another 12-18 months of serious grief," said Peter Spencer, chief economic adviser to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club. On Wedensday official data showed that unemployment reached 2.1m un February, the highest level since Labour came to power in 1997. The ITEM Club predicts that a total of around 900,000 jobs will be lost this year and a further 500,000 next year. The Chancellor said on Wednesday that there would be a return to growth by the end of the year and growth of 1.25pc in 2010 and 3.5pc in 2011. However, the figures were dismissed as "utter fantasy" by opposition MPs and were significantly more optimistic than most City forecasters. Shortly after Mr Darling’s speech, the IMF said that it believed the British economy would shrink by 4.1pc this year and another 0.4pc next year. The news helped drive sterling more than a cent lower against the dollar at $1.46 while the FTSE 100 shrugged off the news to trade more than 2pc higher.

Spain: El paro supera los cuatro millones de personas por primera vez en la historia

Deterioro del mercado laboral
El mercado laboral destruye empleo a su mayor ritmo en 32 años con una tasa de desempleo del 17,36%, según la EPA. -El Gobierno califica la posibilidad de llegar a los cinco millones de "apocalípticas"

AGENCIAS - Madrid - 24/04/2009
La grave crisis que atraviesa nuestra economía, que ha llevado al país a su primera recesión en 15 años, se está cebando en el mercado laboral, cuyo deterioro ha alcanzado ritmos desconocidos en la historia democrática de España y está superando hasta las previsiones más pesimistas tras rebasar por primera vez los cuatro millones de personas. Según la Encuesta de Población Activa del primer trimestre del año, la tasa de paro ha aumentado en los tres primeros meses de 2009 en 3,45 puntos hasta situarse en el 17,36% de la población activa, con lo que el número de desempleados ha alcanzado los 4.010.700, la cifra más alta de la historia, tras incrementarse en 802.800 personas entre enero y marzo.
Según ha publicado hoy el INE, la nueva EPA, el mejor termómetro del mercado laboral, ha dejado en papel mojado los últimos cálculos del Gobierno, y ha superado en dos puntos las cifras del entonces ministro de Economía, Pedro Solbes, que preveían una tasa del 15,9% para final de año. Hoy la nueva jefa de la política económica del Ejecutivo, Elena Salgado, no ha podido sino admitir que los datos de la encuesta son "malos y peores de lo esperado", aunque también ha anunciado un punto de inflexión en la recuperación de empleo a partir de abril.
Tampoco el titular del departamento de trabajo, Celestino Corbacho, consideraba la posibilidad de rebasar la cota psicológica de los cuatro millones por mucho que se le preguntó sobre este extremo. Aunque la tozuda realidad y la dureza de la crisis han acabado por imponerse a los argumentos del ministro.
De cara al futuro, la vicepresidenta María Teresa Fernández de la Vega ha rechazado hoy hacer "vaticinios" sobre dónde está el límite de la subida del paro, y "mucho menos apocalípticos", ha matizado tras ser preguntada por el hecho de si llegaremos o no a los cinco millones de desocupados. "Analizamos la situación con realismo, pero también con responsabilidad. Los ciudadanos deben saber que lo que estamos haciendo es trabajar, trabajar y trabajar" para dar el máximo rendimiento a las medidas adoptadas, ha añadido.
Por su parte, el secretario de Estado de Seguridad Social, Octavio Granado, ha atribuido a que nos encontramos en el "epicentro de la crisis" además de ser el "peor trimestre del año".
Ritmo récord de destrucción de empleo
Según la EPA, entre enero y marzo se destruyeron 766.000 puestos de trabajo, el mayor descenso desde hace 32 años -cuando comenzó a elaborarse esta estadística-, con lo que el número de ocupados se sitúa en 19.090.800. En los últimos doce meses el paro ha subido en 1.836.500 personas tras cerrar 2008 con una tasa del 13,9% y se han destruido 1.311.500 puestos de trabajo, lo que supone una caída del 6,43% frente a los niveles de hace un año.
La tasa de paro es la más alta desde el cuarto trimestre de 1998 cuando alcanzó el 17,99%, mientras que el total de desempeados es el más elevado desde 1976, primer año del que se tienen datos, ya que en la anterior crisis de 1993 el número de personas sin empleo alcanzó su máximo en 3.932.900 millones de parados al cierre del primer trimestre de 1994.
Pero, a partir de ahora, la crisis de referencia para los futuros historiadores será la crisis que empezó en 2008 y que ofrecerá a lo largo del presente ejercicio su peor cara en forma de aumento del paro. De hecho, todas las comunidades autónomas, grupos de edad, sexo y sectores se han visto afectados por el descenso del empleo y el aumento del paro entre enero y marzo, aunque el mayor ajuste se ha concentrado en los trabajadores temporales, jóvenes y otros grupos desfavorecidos. Además, por primera vez desde 1994 hay más hombres que mujeres en paro, a pesar de lo cual la tasa de desempleo masculina sigue siendo menor, con el 16,86% frente al 18,01% entre las féminas.También ha aumentado el número de hogares con todos sus miembros en paro, un 6,3% hasta las 1.068.400 familias, con lo que las familias sin ningún trabajo duplican a las que atravesan esta dramática situación hace un año.

Tres comunidades superan ya el 20%

El paro subió en el primer trimestre del año en todas las comunidades autónomas, especialmente en Baleares (59,3%), Cantabria (40,6%) y Cataluña (36,6%) y la tasa de paro supera ya el 20% en Canarias (26,1%), Andalucía (24%) y Extremadura (21,7%).
En términos absolutos, el paro subió más en Cataluña (166.900 desempleados más), Comunidad de Madrid (114.700) y Comunidad Valenciana (109.500). Respecto al mismo trimestre del año anterior, el paro subió en todas las autonomías, de manera especialmente significativa en Aragón (120,3%), seguida de Cataluña (114,1%) y Murcia (110%).
En cuanto a la tasa de paro, tras Canarias, Andalucía y Extremadura se sitúan, con las tasas más altas, Baleares (19,7%), Murcia (19,3%) y la Comunidad Valenciana (19,2%).

Iowa City troubled by surge in downtown beatings

April 23, 2009
By NIGEL DUARA, Associated Press Writer

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Gangs of men punching people on the street at random. Street fights where bystanders sometimes cheer, and where those who try to intervene sometimes get beaten themselves. Police in this quintessential college town say there's been a dramatic rise in unprovoked beatings in the downtown area next to the University of Iowa over the last several months. Though the mix of young people and alcohol often leads to fighting, police say the intense violence and random nature of the attacks have them worried. "It isn't always a matter of somebody putting themselves in harm's way," Iowa City police Sgt. Troy Kelsay said. "Now it seems like it's just for the sheer pleasure of it, that's what seems to be different." Police don't break out statistics for the downtown area near campus, but they point to several disturbing incidents in the past month alone:

_On March 27, a college-aged man was assaulted at about 2 a.m. downtown. Witnesses said six to 10 men ganged up on him, and when another man tried to intervene, he too was knocked unconscious. Police say the assailants then ran along a downtown street, punching other men as they passed.
_On April 2, a 22-year-old man was smoking outside a downtown bar when six men approached him and asked for cigarettes. As he was handing them out, the men knocked him to the ground and took the whole pack. Later, the same man walked past a group of men who knocked him to the ground and stole his watch.
_On April 6, a man woke up to bystanders helping him sit up. The man told police someone he didn't know knocked him unconscious. He didn't realize his jaw was broken until a hospital visit the next afternoon.
_On April 16, two college-age men stepped outside a bar to smoke at about 1:15 a.m. After an argument with others, one of the men was pushed to the ground, then kicked and punched by several people. He suffered a broken nose and a head cut requiring staples to close.

"I really don't understand the motivation for the violence," Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey said. "It's severe and concerning that people find this acceptable and people are seeking this out."
Kelsay said police have stepped up late-night patrols downtown, but they have had a hard time tracking down suspects because they usually can't find witnesses. And sometimes those who see a beating actually cheer on the attackers, he said. "It's become an unfortunate part of the bar culture in Iowa City," Kelsay said. Some Iowa City officials think a recent proliferation of bars and liquor stores downtown is partly to blame. There are 46 businesses permitted to sell liquor in the nine-square-block area next to the 29,000-student campus—a 50 percent increase from a decade ago. Next month, the City Council will consider a measure backed by a planning commission that would require future bars to be 500 feet apart and ensure 1,000 feet between liquor stores. City officials earlier rejected such moves. "With too much of a concentration (of establishments) such as bars and liquor stores, it becomes overburdened with that type of use," said Karen Howard, an associate planner in the city's Urban Planning Department. "We want to have a downtown that's open not just in the evening, but to a whole variety of people." Bailey said the city also has sought help from the University of Iowa. Together, the school and city launched an "alcohol summit" in March to address binge drinking and suggest nonalcoholic alternatives. Students acknowledge there's a problem, but few seem intent on resolving the situation. "It's easy to blame alcohol," said 20-year-old Justin Boltz, an Iowa undergraduate. "I don't know if there's a solution." Thomas Reynolds, a 19-year-old Iowa student, said he noticed the violence picking up last summer, when a friend was hospitalized after being beaten by a man asking for a cigarette. But Reynolds also seemed resigned to the problem and didn't think the city's zoning plan would help much. "Then they'll just make the bars bigger," Reynolds said. "You'll still see 100 people outside."

GE exec says economic crisis resetting capitalism

April 22, 2009
STEPHEN MANNINGAP Business Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The top executive of General Electric Co. said Wednesday he couldn't predict when the recession would end or how bad it will be, but said the global economic crisis has "fundamentally reset" the way companies do business and capitalism itself.
Speaking at GE's annual shareholder meeting in Orlando, Fla., following what has been a punishing year for the conglomerate, CEO Jeff Immelt said the downturn was the worst since the Great Depression, and that it would ultimately lead to changes such as greater government involvement in business and a restructuring of the financial services sector that was a root of the crisis. "We are living through history, and I don't mean that in a positive sense," said Immelt, who heads one of the world's largest companies that makes products like jet engines and refrigerators but also has a big financial unit. Immelt told investors "2008 was tough and 2009 is also going to be tough." He added that it was hard to predict "how bad this will be and how long" the recession will last. He tried to assure shareholders that GE has positioned itself for an economic recovery, with a new focus on products that could capture some of what GE estimates is $2 trillion worth of government stimulus spending worldwide. That includes windmills and other clean energy equipment and new health care technology to better diagnose illnesses like Alzheimer's disease. But GE executives acknowledged that GE has suffered during the downturn. Profits at the company's GE Capital lending arm have fallen sharply as losses on loans like credit cards, commercial real estate and overseas mortgages have grown. GE lost its rare 'AAA' credit rating earlier this year due to GE Capital's woes, and company shares reached an 18-year low in March as investors worried greater losses were coming at the finance unit. Shares have since recovered somewhat after GE gave investors an exhaustive look at GE Capital's books in an effort to ease fears. GE Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin was conciliatory when discussing GE's decision to cut its dividend by 67 percent in March, the first reduction in the quarterly payment since 1938. GE has said the move was needed to save $9 billion per year in cash. "We feel terrible about it, but it was the right thing to do," said Sherin. "We know we have to earn your trust back with good performance." Shares of the Fairfield, Conn.-based GE rose 43 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $12.13 in early afternoon trading.