Germany-seeks-revenge-for-2008-euro-final

Germany Takes On Spain in World Cup Semifinal

DURBAN, South Africa (AP) -- Leave it to the Germans to make things interesting.

Spain has gone out of its way to downplay the rematch of the 2008 European Championship title game in Wednesday night's World Cup semifinal, refusing to even acknowledge the grudge match factor.

Not Germany's Lukas Podolski.

"We want revenge for 2008," Podolski said Tuesday night. "When you are in a final you want to win. We still think about that defeat, and it still hurts. We want to reach the final and we'll do all we can to achieve that."

Spain ended a 44-year major title drought with its 1-0 victory over Germany two years ago -- a win that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated. But Germany is a far different team now -- in age and in attitude.

Youngsters such as Mesut Oezil, Sami Khedira and Thomas Mueller have given Germany the speed and sharpness it lacked in 2008. Despite their youth-with an average age under 25, this is the second-youngest team Germany has ever sent to a World Cup-the Germans are playing with discipline and a seamless chemistry that makes their plays unfold like a symphony. 

Their spacing in the midfield is awe-inspiring, their passing so exquisite it almost looks as if the ball is on an invisible wire from one player's foot to another's. As for the defense, it's simply scary. Whenever Argentina's Lionel Messi or Carlos Tevez appeared on the verge of doing something in the quarterfinal, German defenders swarmed around to force a turnover or a bad shot.

And when Germany is on the counterattack, look out.

"In 2008, my team may not have been as consistent," Germany coach Joachim Loew said. "We were fluctuating a little bit in terms of the quality, and might not have had the quality at all positions compared to the team we have today. The players we have now are incredibly skilled technically and tactically.

"Our flow is clearly superior to what we had in 2008."

The Spanish have lost all of two games since November 2006. David Villa has five goals-tied for most in the tournament with the Netherlands' Wesley Sneijder, and Spain's defense hasn't allowed a goal in the knockout stage.

Spain hasn't had quite the same flair that it did at Euro 2008. It was stunned by Switzerland in the group stage, and needed a late goal from Villa to beat Paraguay 1-0 in the quarters after both teams had penalty kicks saved.

But Spain is winning, and that's all that matters at this point in the World Cup.

Spain also caught a break Tuesday, when Cesc Fabregas was able to work out with the rest of the team. Fabregas had taken a ball off the exact spot where his leg was broken in March during practice Monday night, but tests ruled out any bone injuries and coach Vicente del Bosque said he's available for the game.

"I don't think there are favorites at this stage," Andres Iniesta said. "What they say about us, we can also say the same thing about them. You can say they are a great team, a team that has players of a very, very high level. For that, it will be a well-deserved semifinal."

The winner earns the right to play the Netherlands in Sunday's final at Soccer City. The Dutch beat Uruguay 3-2 on Tuesday in the other semifinal.

Netherlands advance to World Cup final with 3-2 victory over Uruguay

CAPE TOWN, South Africa | Arjen Robben emerged from the bottom of a celebration pile, mud on his brow and a smile on his face.

For good measure, he threw kisses at his teammates and fans. His goal gave the Netherlands a 3-2 victory over Uruguay on Tuesday and a spot in the World Cup final.

Now that’s a Dutch treat!

The big prize — that elusive first title — is still one game away. But this was such a moment to savor that most of the squad made a curtain call nearly an hour after the biggest Netherlands victory in decades, leading about 1,000 orange-clad fans in cheers that figure to last until Sunday.

That’s when the Dutch play either Spain or Germany for the championship of the world.

“If you win the final, you make yourself immortal, at least in our country,” Robben said. “We will do everything we can to take the Cup back.”

Stars Wesley Sneijder and Robben scored 3 minutes apart in the second half as the Netherlands advanced to its first title match since losing in 1978 to Argentina.

“We are so close,” Sneijder said. “There is nothing bigger than the World Cup.”

Winners of all six games in South Africa, 10 in a row overall and in the midst of a 25-match unbeaten streak, the Dutch have the look of champions.

“This is unforgettable,” said Sneijder, now tied with Spain’s David Villa for top scorer at the tournament (five goals).

Besides the loss to Argentina in ’78, the Netherlands fell in its only other appearance in the final, to West Germany in 1974.

A tournament that looked like a South American fiesta early on will end in a European showdown for the second straight World Cup. Sneijder and Robben made sure of that.

After stunning long-distance goals, first from the Netherlands’ Giovanni van Bronckhorst and then one by Uruguay’s Diego Forlan, the score was 1-1 at the half.

Sneijder’s go-ahead goal came somewhat unexpectedly because Uruguay had shut down the Dutch offense for much of the second half. His left-footed shot from just inside the penalty area barely ticked the leg of defender Maximiliano Pereira and, with the Netherlands’ Robin van Persie almost deflecting it again, the ball skidded past Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.

Then Robben sent a cross from Dirk Kuyt past a flat-footed Muslera with a brilliant header. His teammates piled on in an Oranje Crush celebration, and Robben came up from it muddied and merry — and with the knowledge that, ahead 3-1, the Netherlands was likely headed to the championship match.

Pereira made the Netherlands sweat with a goal in injury time, but the Netherlands was able to hold on for the win.

Uruguay was without striker Luis Suarez, whose hand ball on the goal line in the final seconds of extra time against Ghana saved his team in the quarterfinals. He drew a red card for that, and spent his suspension on the bench Tuesday.

Robben was replaced late in the match, and at the final whistle he fell flat to the turf as he ran back onto the pitch. Mark van Bommel ran over to where the ball came to rest, picked it up and hugged it. His teammates began a joyous stroll around the field as the vuvuzelas blared and Dutch flags waved in the stands.

“Sunday we play in the World Cup final. I have to get used to that,” Sneijder said.

Saratoga company's eye telescope wins OK

In a decision cheered by advocates for the visually impaired, federal regulators Tuesday approved a Saratoga company's first-of-a-kind implantable eye telescope for elderly people with an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration.

The device made by VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies is aimed at about 750,000 people in the United States who have the most severe and untreatable form of the disease, which causes a blind spot in the center of their vision.

"This innovation has the potential to provide many people with an improved quality of life," said Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which approved VisionCare's device.

Getting the FDA's approval is a big moment for privately held VisionCare, which has been developing the telescope for more than a decade. In 2006, an FDA advisory panel recommended the telescope not be approved because of concerns about its usefulness and safety. But after VisionCare did more studies, the panel unanimously gave the device its blessing.

Although VisionCare has raised $59 million since it was founded in 1997, it has no other products on the market and has consistently lost money. Now the company is planning to roughly double its work force of 23, and "we hope to turn a profit after we launch the product," said Chet Kumar, VisionCare's vice president for business and market development.

Even though most of the approximately 8 million people suffering from the disease in this country won't qualify to be treated with the device, advocates for patients suffering from the ailment hailed the FDA's approval.

"It's very exciting," said Dan Roberts, founding director of Macular Degeneration Support, a group he founded after he was diagnosed with the illness. "The product needs to be given a chance — anything that is going to give the patients better sight until we have a cure, anything that's going to give hope."

Dziem Nguyen, a supervisor at the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center, also was enthusiastic.

Noting that most of the center's patients suffer from age-related macular degeneration, she called the FDA's action "really good news to our folks here."

The ailment, which primarily afflicts the elderly, damages the center of the retina — or macula — which is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The result is deteriorated sight in the center of the visual field, causing blurriness and eventually an inability to recognize faces, read or watch television.

The FDA limited VisionCare's telescope to people 75 or older, whose disease has progressed to a severe state. The device — which is about the size of a pea — is implanted in an outpatient procedure behind the colored portion of the eye known as the iris after the patient's own lens is removed.

By magnifying vision by 2.2 times to 2.7 times, depending on which model is used, the device projects visual images away from the damaged macula and onto the surrounding healthy retinal tissue. It is placed in only one eye, since the patient's other eye is needed for peripheral vision.

In a study involving more than 200 patients implanted with the device, the FDA said, 75 percent "improved their level of vision from severe or profound impairment to moderate impairment."

Although the device is approved for people with advanced wet or dry age-related macular degeneration, patients need to consult with a specialist and be tested to determine whether they are good candidates for the surgery.

In some cases, the implantation can distort the cornea's clarity, the FDA said. As a result, the federal agency is requiring VisionCare to conduct follow-up studies on patents outfitted with the telescope.

How Economics Explains the Evolution of Soccer Tactics

Does economic theory have anything to offer a coach in the World Cup? And if it did, would Diego Maradona have cared?

So asks the Times’ Economix blog in a post titled “What Economists Can Teach World Cup Coaches,” by Jack Ewing. As Ewing points out, German economists have noted a pattern by which particular soccer tactics that are indomitable for a certain period of time are eventually overcome and ultimately made obsolete by a new set of tactics. That pattern, they theorize, follows the evolution of financial strategies over time — and may explain the current success of conservative, defense-based footballing tactics. To read all about it, go to the Economix blog.

These small-bank stocks are good values now

Tiny financial services companies could see big benefits from new regulations

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Every Friday afternoon for the past year, it's been the small-bank death watch: Which U.S. bank would federal regulators seize next?

In 2009, it was 140 banks stretching from Florida to Washington state. The number is 85 and counting so far this year, including two failures announced late Friday.

Yet with federal banking reform moving ahead this week, shares of the smallest community banks are a good bet on any recovery in the credit cycle, say money-managers and industry analysts, who are becoming more bullish about a turnaround for banks with assets of $1 billion or less. See how financial stocks fared on Friday.

"We're in value territory for the right banks," said Michael Natzic, senior vice president of Stone & Youngberg's Community Bank Group, which tracks 60 California banks. "The strong will continue to get stronger and the weak will get weaker."

Branching out

Like their larger peers, tiny community banks have been struggling under the weight of the massive credit crunch. Since the end of 2007, when the U.S. recession took hold, the SNL Small Bank Index is down 36% as of June 24, compared to a 14% decline for the S&P Small Cap 600 Index and a 23% drop for the Russell Microcap Index.

Yet lately small bank stocks have been gaining traction. So far this year, the SNL Bank Index is up 14%, outpacing the 2% gain for the S&P Small Cap Index and a 3% gain for the Russell Microcap Index.

Investors and analysts who specialize in microcap banks say the ones that will emerge from the economic downturn in stronger shape are the banks that didn't make too many loans on speculative construction of commercial buildings, strip malls, or housing developments.

Debt pressure

For others, the picture is more ominous. Sinking commercial real estate projects have hammered bank profits, forcing companies to write-off bad loans and to allocate capital to shore up loan-loss reserves. For some banks, bad loans have become overbearing and regulators have moved in.

Moreover, many small banks are trying to pay back TARP monies, while commercial real estate vacancies and loan defaults are both still high.

G-20 leaders to discuss economy, global rebalancing, capital

Canadian prime minister says he 'seriously doubts' G-8 will be replaced by G-20

TORONTO (MarketWatch) -- The U.S., Europe and other G-20 countries are expected to spend Saturday and Sunday sparring over the proper timing for withdrawing fiscal stimulus packages, the need to rebalance global growth and the necessity for banks to hold more capital as a cushion against future economic disasters.

There is hope among members that the countries can get closer to reaching a consensus by the time leaders have their next meeting in Seoul, Korea in November on how much capital banks around the world should hold to ensure they can survive future financial crises.

"There is much more consensus that the global system was under-capitalized," said Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney in a radio interview. "It [new capital standards] will apply equally to Canadian banks as it does to American banks, European banks, Japanese banks and emerging-market banks."

Carney added that Toronto has been a useful summit already to help "push people" to make some decisions and restrict the range of discussion about what capital levels each country's institutions should have.

However, Simon Johnson, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management professor and a former International Monetary Fund economic counselor, believes that the capital requirements G-20 leaders will agree on fall short of what is necessary to protect against future economic crises.

"Most indications are that they will seek tier-one capital requirements in the range of 10%-12%, which is what Lehman had right before it failed," Johnson wrote recently. "How would that help?"

G8 won't fade away: Harper

The G-20 includes 19 major economies plus the European Union, and encompasses more than three-fourths of global output and two-thirds of the population. It includes the G-8 -- America, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and Britain - a group that met in Huntsville, Canada, on Friday. In addition to the G8 countries, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and South Korea, are members of the G-20.

On Saturday, after the conclusion of the G-8 summit in Hunstville, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the Group of 8 world leaders known as the G8 is an essential organization that will not disappear, responding to assertions that the organization will be replaced by the year-and-half old Group of 20 world leaders.

"I think there is greater understanding of the necessity of like-minded advanced countries who can exchange views in much less formal setting and who can quickly bring resources to bear on certain world problems," Harper said to reporters. "The G-20 has done an amazing job in year and half, of responding to the economic crisis. But there are limits to what we can discuss and what we can achieve in a group of 20, which leads to much less informal discussion and much less commonality of purpose."

Goldman told to pay creditors in Bayou scam $20.6M

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has been ordered to pay $20.6 million to scammed investors who say the investment bank should have known about the Ponzi scheme pulled off by the collapsed Bayou Hedge Funds.

A three-person arbitration panel of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority held two of the bank's units, Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing and Spear Leeds & Kellogg, liable in the dispute.

Stamford, Conn.-based Bayou collapsed in 2005, after the firm's then-CEO Samuel Israel III and Chief Financial Officer Daniel Marino admitted they lied about the company's profits and set up a fake accounting firm to falsify audits.

The $20.6 million award represents the money Bayou deposited into its accounts at Goldman, said attorney Ross Intelisano of Rich & Intelisano LLP, a New York firm that represents investors in securities cases. Goldman handled all of the hedge fund's trading between 1999 and 2004, when it stopped trading altogether, he said.

The fraud totaled about $250 million. The victims were mostly individuals who invested relatively modest amounts, about $300,000 to $500,000, he said. They were promised annual returns of 10 percent to 12 percent.

The Goldman money, when added to other funds recovered, will result in the investors getting back a total of about half of what they lost, according to Intelisano.

The case, heard by the FINRA panel, centered on the Bayou investors' claim that Goldman either knew or should have known of the deception, because it had marketing materials claiming consistent investment gains as well as account records showing losses.

"They should have done an investigation," said Intelisano. "They would have discovered, at least, that there was something wrong."

"We are disappointed with the award and are considering our options," said Goldman spokesman Ed Canaday.

Arbitration cases are rarely overturned, however. Intelisano maintains that the award will encourage other brokers and clearing houses to act if there is an indication their clients engage in questionable activity.

"I don't think that this is the last time that someone's going to steal money at a hedge fund," he said. "Now the firms that clear all those trades will have to pay more attention."

Israel and Marino pleaded guilty in 2005 to conspiracy, investment adviser fraud and mail fraud. Israel was sentenced to 20 years in jail for his role in the scheme, then staged his own suicide in 2008 in an attempt to avoid serving the time. He turned himself after a month on the lam.