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Show WORLD NEWS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 20oiT 2 - DIXIE SUN Trouble brewin U financial backs change Treasury in coffee market fmm m ' - muiUW - : I ; r future-sourc- super-regulato- ty, so it'll be up to the next president and Congress to determine how to proceed. Leading Democrats who now control Congress didn't rush to embrace the Paulson plan. "I would call this the wild pitch. It's not even close to the strike zone, said Sen. Christopher Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which would oversee many of the proposals. Senate Majority Leader said Harry Reid, he was surprised by the new report, even though it's been known in financial circles for some time that the Bush administration was preparing a blueprint for modernizing the regulation of financial markets. "They've been working on this a year? Why haven't they told us? asked Reid, who with Dodd fielded questions on a conference call. Dodd and Reid questioned the timing of the proposed overhaul, coming out the day that Congress returns from Easter recess to tackle plans to provide loan guarantees for distressed mortgages once they're modified by lenders. Paulson has favored a voluntary approach by lenders to rework troubled home loans, but Dodd and that lenders aren't moving fast enough. Some plans in Congress call for the federal government to purchase distressed home loans at a discount, modify them and then try to auction them off to investors as mortgage bonds. On the campaign trail Monday, the two Democratic presidential candidates said Paulson's effort failed to address current problems, while presumptive Republican nominee John McCain welcomed it as a starting point for a national discussion, particularly on the need for better regulation of mortgage brokers. The Paulson plan offers three timeframes for regulatory changes' short-terproposals that could be enacted before the next president takes office in January, intermediate-ter- plans that could take two to eight years for congressional approval and long-rang-e goals that serve mainly as discussion points. The most immediate thing that Paulson thinks can and should be done this year is creating a Mortgage Origination Commission to provide much-needefederal oversight for the home loan origination process. "Simply put, that process is broken," Paulson said. This new commission, which appears to have support from top Democrats, would be com d Dixie Sun staff positions still open Staff writers, sports writers, advertising salespeople and photographers are needed for the 2008-0- 9 school year. Contact Rhiannon Bent for more information at 6 or her at 652-781- e. per day. e-m- ail bentdixie.edu from each federal agency with some jurisdiction over banking and a representative from the association of state banking supervisors. Together these regulators would design professional standards for licensmg mortgage brokers and others who originate home loans. The group would establish educational requirements and provide for a track record of complaints andor disciplinary action. This idea gets to the heart of today's housing meltdown. Mortgage bro- kers originated about of adjustable-rattwo-third- s sub-prim- e e mort- gages, those issued to borrowers with weak credit. They were spottily regulated on the state level and not at all on the federal; most toxic loans that brokers originated were issued by nonbank lenders who also were regulated only on the state level. The Paulson plan wouldn't place nonbank lenders under federal regulation but its tougher rules hypothetically would rein in bad behavior by lenders. Another area of interest to consumers in the plan is its call to allow national insurance companies to opt out of state regulation if they're willing to be regulated by a federal insurarice regulator, which doesn't now exist. The Treasury argues that 50 separate state regulatory schemes put insurers at a disadvantage when they compete m a global economy. A top Treasury official, in a briefing after the Paulson address on the state-regulate- d sai, Now, daily prices for a pound of coffee swing by as mur as 20 cents. Some of tj instability is because prices. The price spike and jumpy global markets are fueled by higher demand, tight supplies, overall uncertainty about the U.S. economy, and 218-pag- can be set in motion by executive order or under existing regulatory authori- canisters, company spokesman Bryan Brown. Starbuc. Corp. raised U S. pnce by 3 percent last July cover higher energy dairy and coffee costs according to publishec reports. Both Starbuc and Panera Bread Co say they avoided the need for recent price increases because coffee through lor term contracts. Without question, cc fee prices have becom, more volatile. Historically, prices would swing a few cer about 40 cents per pound over the past two weeks to close Friday at $1.30, according to com, a Web site that tracks commodity e plan, the most sweeping overhaul of the financial regulatory system since the Great Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveils a of Depression on Monday at the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. The plan would change how the government regulates thousands businesses from the nation's biggest banks and investment houses down to the local insurance agent and mortgage broker. other Democrats think WASHINGTON (MCT) posed of a representative Very little of the plan Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Monday unveiled the most sweeping proposal to revamp the nation's financial regulatory system since the Great Depression. How much of it is enacted, however, will depend greatly on the political will of the next administration and the next Congress. "These long-terideas require thoughtful discussion and will not be resolved this month or even this year," Paulson acknowledged in a speech detailing his Blueprint for Regulatory Reform. The proposals would broadly expand the powers of the Federal Reserve, merge the regulation of stock and commodities markets, fold savings and loan institutions under the umbrella of bank regulation and even allow insurance companies to opt out of state regulation in favor of a newly created federal insurance regulator. For consumers, Paulson's plan would crer ate a new whose powers would cut across various financial services with overarching responsibility for protecting investors and consumers. The plan also would create a new federal entity to oversee the mortgage origination process so that lending standards never again would erode to the point where they sink the national housing market. for U.S. retailers twice this year before it dropped prices 20 cen on Thursday on 10 5.ar DETROIT (MCT) Global coffee prices have declined over the past two weeks from what was a high, giving Nick Becharas, president of Becharas Brothers Coffee Co., relief - at least for now. "It seems like coffee is stabilizing ... but what the next three to six months holds in coffee is anybody's guess, Becharas said. Global coffee prices skyrocketed over the first three months of this year, but then dropped by 0 uncertainty over how large Brazil's coffee crop will be this year "Brazil always increased investment activity from hedge funds and Wall Street investors. "We are at a, low price compared to where we were a month ago, but we are still high relative to a few years ago," Becharas dictat this market," said Tom Isaia, president of spe cialty coffee roaster Coffee Express Co in Plymouth, Mich. "The; are the Saudi Arabia-coffee.- Isaia's company 80 kinds of specialty coffee under brand name Mountair Country Coffee to in Michigan and Ohio as well as grocery stores. Even with a pi increase in February Isaia said the higher fee prices have cut it his company's profit margin. Isaia is also sensitn, to the challenges fan' by his customers Tbj average grocery reta h price for a of coffee has increased from about $6 99 about $8 99, Isaia said "I'm suspecting that there would be resist ance at the retail leve for more expensive ct fee," Isaia said. Isaia and Becharas both buy coffee on a weekly or biweekly ba and either accelerate their purchases or them down dependin' on the current price, and both expect the market to remain jun,: "We are in a tim nt where any kind of weather in Brazil will send coffee prices ski high," Becharas said said. Becharas Brothers, a coffee roaster and wholesale distributor of coffee, comis a pany that traces its roots to 1914. The Highland Park, Mich., company is best known for its Royal York brand, which it sells to hotels, restaurants and corporations, and has annual sales of about $8 shi third-generatio- n i million. These days, Becharas spends a good bit of time staring at his computer screen, keeping a close eye on all commodities. And while oil is the commodity that is getting most of the attention these days, Becharas watches soybeans, corn, wheat, cocoa, sugar and, of course, coffee. Although crude oil and coffee really don't have anything to do with each other, when one goes up the other one goes up," Becharas said. Coffee prices escalated over the first two to sic months of the year' from $1.35 per pound on Jan. 4 to $1.67 per pound on Feb. 29, forcing Becharas to raise prices to customers twice by a total of 50 cents. Procter & Gamble Co. raised its prices of Folgers Ground Coffee cole (c) 2008, Detroit Press. Distributed Fret by e McClatchy-Tribun- Information Vv Services F vi 4 Vjfc t - .1 TYi ' nc ! er a th ur be ca m Cc fk V ca wl el Je x"4j 'X 4 sa CO ah to me on ets is nu stc the SCI - Services. McClatchy-Tribun- foi th. Pa already talking about here" in the Senate, he said. But, Dodd added, i states probably would do ? a better job regulating 5 the property and casual- S ty insurers, who under- write policies for protec- tion against losses from hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes and other dis- d asters. Larry Information sti pa ar d e V( ht K condition of anonymity, said that insurers could count on regulation that was as robust as any that currently existed on the state level, if not more so. However, Sen. Dodd of Connecticut, where many top insurers are based, suggested that there may be a more middle-grounapproach. He thought that federal regulation of life insurance could be a good idea. "That's a matter we are (c) 2008, i the - v Thompson keeps an eye on cooling coffee at Becharas Brothers Coffee plant in Highland Park, Mich., on Thursday !1 company is best known for its Royal York brand, which it sells hotels, restaurants and corporations, and has annual sales ot about $8 million. J |