Final Keystone pipeline decision still months away

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman's approval of a revised route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline puts the long-delayed project back in the hands of the federal government.

But don't look for a quick decision on the $7 billion project, which would carry oil from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast if allowed to move forward.

State Department officials said they do not expect to complete a review of the project before the end of March.

"I think we need to let our folks continue to do the work that they're doing," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Tuesday. "I think we obviously want to take the Nebraska environmental study, we want to compare it with the work that we've done ... and crunch it into our own work."

The Obama administration has twice thwarted the 1,700-mile pipeline, which Calgary-based TransCanada first proposed in late 2008. The State Department delayed the project in late 2011 after environmental groups and others raised concerns about a proposed route through environmentally sensitive land in Nebraska.

Under pressure from congressional Republicans, President Barack Obama blocked the pipeline in January 2012, saying his concerns about the Nebraska route had not been resolved. TransCanada submitted a new application last spring.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Heineman's decision leaves Obama with no other choice but to approve the pipeline, which would carry up to 800,000 barrels of oil a day from tar sands in western Canada to refineries in Houston and other Texas ports. The pipeline also would travel though Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

"Nebraska's approval of a new Keystone XL pipeline route means there is no bureaucratic excuse, hurdle or catch President Obama can use to delay this project any further," Boehner said.

Boehner said all six states along the proposed route now support the project, which also is backed by a bipartisan coalition in Congress. Polls show a majority of Americans also back the pipeline.

Boehner said he recognizes the political pressure Obama faces from environmental groups and others who oppose the project, but said "with our energy security at stake and many jobs in limbo, he should find a way to say yes."

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the State Department was reviewing the project and he did not want to "get ahead of that process."

Once that review is completed, "we'll obviously address that issue," Carney said Tuesday.

Environmental groups have been pressuring Obama to reject the pipeline, which they say would transport "dirty oil" and produce heat-trapping gases that contribute to global warming. They also worry about a possible spill.

Even as they cheered Obama's vow during his inaugural address to respond to climate change, some of the president's strongest supporters say they fear his legacy on the issue could be damaged if he approves the pipeline.

"If we are going to get serious about climate change, opening the spigot to a pipeline that will export up to 830,000 barrels of the dirtiest oil on the planet to foreign markets stands as a bad idea," said Anthony Swift of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Environment Committee, said approval of the pipeline would "undo" much of the good on climate Obama achieved by sharply raising fuel-economy standards for cars and trucks.

"If he did that plus 17 other good things" her concerns might be lessened, Boxer said Tuesday. "It depends. It's such a dirty pipeline."

Heineman had previously said he would oppose any pipeline route that endangered the Ogallala Aquifer, a massive groundwater supply for much of the Midwest.

In a three-page letter to federal officials Tuesday, Heineman said he believes any spills along the new route would be localized and cleanup responsibilities would fall to TransCanada. He also said the project would result in $418.1 million in economic benefits for the state, plus $16.5 million in state tax revenue from the pipeline construction materials.

Canadian officials welcomed Heineman's action and urged Obama to approve the project.

"As we have repeatedly said, the Keystone XL Pipeline will create thousands of jobs on both sides of the border ? including 140,000 in Canada," said Andrew MacDougall, a spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Jane Kleeb, a pipeline opponent, said Heineman "just performed one of the biggest flip-flops that we've seen in Nebraska political history."

___

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-23-Oil%20Pipeline/id-9576dec9188f4f5fba2d86361acee0c9

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Indian banks must finance the poor to prevent another subprime ...

India is trying hard to get the rural poor access to bank accounts and loans.?It is a laudable aim. As Reuters reports, only 35% of Indians have bank accounts. The country?s farmers are incredibly unproductive as they do not have the cash to invest in upgrading processes or machinery. That inefficiency holds the economy back. Bank loans could be a partial solution.

But Indian banks may be reluctant to help. Lending cash to poor farmers is high risk. This makes lenders want to charge extremely high interest rates on loans to compensate for likely high defaults caused by bad harvests, monsoon damage, or farmers simply not understanding the economics of interest rates and repayment schedules.

The gap in the market created by Indian banks? reluctance to lend to the poor has been filled before, but at times catastrophically.

Several years ago, hoards of small, specially created lending companies rushed into ?micro-credit? to dole out small, high interest loans to the rural poor. The result was India?s own version of America?s subprime real estate crisis. Attracted by the high interest yields on micro-loans, and encouraged by investment banks who were attracted by the possibility of slicing, dicing and selling the debt, Indian banks and private micro-credit companies over-lent. By 2010, the micro-credit industry was on the verge of collapse, and banks greatly reduced their exposure to the small lenders.

Heartbreaking reports such as this one?showed how some Indian borrowers were driven to suicide after being aggressively chased for loans they could not repay by some of the more rapacious credit providers. The debacle led one state, Andra Pradesh, to change its rules, forcing lenders to?write off?a large chunk of their rural debts.

Now, as the Economist notes here, micro-lending companies are experiencing a revival. Investors are supporting the industry again.?There is new hope because Indian?regulators have taken steps to clean up micro-finance.

The Reserve Bank of India has published guidelines for micro-financiers and set up a licensing system. Interest rates have been capped at 10-12 percentage points above lenders? borrowing costs, after the rates they charged customers soared to 28-30% in 2010. And companies are barred from lending to anyone with more than one outstanding loan.

The revival looks dangerous, however, as the new rules may not prevent old problems re-occurring.

Vijay Mahajan, the president of the Microfinance Institutions Network of India, outlines here?how small micro-lenders may have to push farmers? borrowing costs back into the mid 20%?s again. They need to charge this much to make a profit.

Because Indian interest rates are already high and independent micro-finance companies are considered a high credit risk, these small lenders have to borrow at double-digit rates themselves. To make money, allowing for farmers? high defaults, they have to pile on the interest. And they can do so while fitting in with the RBI?s new caps on lending rates. If a micro lender borrows at a 14% annual rate, it can charge 26% to its customers.

Mahajan says breaking even is ?a function of scale?.Assuming the [micro-lenders'] borrowing rates are at around 13-14%, if you have a million customers, you could break even [by lending] at 24%?.Anything less than [half a million customers], you will not really break even at ?26%.?

The risk, then, is that micro-credit firms and poor farmers find themselves back where they were three years ago.

The solution is for bigger Indian banks to step in and help. Mahajan?s comments imply that large banks,?who can borrow cheaply and ?build rural customer bases quickly if they put their minds to it, could lend to farmers at more palatable rates than the micro-lenders can manage. Hopefully the government can persuade them to try.

Source: http://qz.com/45905/indian-banks-must-finance-poor-to-prevent-subprime-microcreditloan-crisis/

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Leading candidates in Israel's election

Leading candidates in Israel's election:

?Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to return to power in Tuesday's elections after nearly four years as prime minister. Netanyahu insists he has mobilized the international community against Iran's disputed nuclear program and brought economic stability despite global financial downturns. His opponents counter he has ignored the Palestinian conflict and estranged Israel from world powers, particularly its main ally, the U.S.

?Avigdor Lieberman, the former foreign minister and one of Israel's most divisive and ultranationalist politicians, is running on a joint list with Netanyahu's Likud. His Yisrael Beitenu party is expected to join the next government, but Lieberman's own future remains unclear. He stepped down as foreign minister late last year after he was indicted on charges of breach of trust and fraud. Lieberman draws many of his supporters from Israel's 1 million immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

?Shelly Yachimovich, a former broadcaster and leader of Israel's Labor Party, took over Labor in late 2011 at one of its lowest points. She revitalized the party, moving it away from its traditional platform of promoting peace with the Arabs and focusing almost entirely on economic and domestic issues. She has ruled out joining a Netanyahu-led coalition. Critics accuse her of ignoring Israel's diplomatic and security challenges and failing to present a viable alternative to the security-obsessed right.

?Naftali Bennett has been responsible for the surging popularity of the once-marginal religious Jewish Home party. Bennett rejects the idea of a Palestinian state and wants Israel to annex parts of the West Bank. Polls suggest that the high-tech entrepreneur and former military commando has a crossover appeal to secular Israelis as well.

?Yair Lapid leads the new Yesh Atid, or "There is a Future" party. Lapid left his job as anchor of a popular weekend news TV show to set up a party representing middle class needs. Lapid wants ultra-Orthodox Jewish men to serve in the military and enter the workforce, instead of getting subsidies to pursue religious studies.

?Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister, formed a new party, "Hatnua," or "the Movement," putting peacemaking with the Palestinians at the top of its agenda. Livni was the chief negotiator with the Palestinians under a previous government.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leading-candidates-israels-election-172430706.html

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In Chicago, seeking the next bright ideas in energy efficiency ...

(Photo by crabbyman6 via Creative Commons)

CHICAGO ? Working at the Michigan Public Service Commission in the 1990s, Martin Kushler would often end up at utility meetings where energy efficiency was discussed.

?It was fairly embarrassing to go to national conferences and have to explain almost nothing was going on in your state,? said Kushler at the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance?s (MEEA) annual Energy Solutions conference in Chicago last week.

A lot has changed since then. Kushler is now a senior fellow at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). And as numerous experts explained at the Energy Solutions conference, the Midwest has become a leader in energy efficiency ? effecting ?a sea change? as Kushler described it.

(MEEA and ACEEE are members of RE-AMP, which also publishes Midwest Energy News, and Midwest Energy News was a media sponsor for the event.)

The gains of the past decade, however, will be a challenge to maintain in coming years, speakers warned, because of factors including pushback from elected officials, low natural gas prices, a still-slow economy and the fact that much ?low-hanging fruit? has already been plucked.

When energy prices are low, utilities often have less revenue to invest in efficiency programs, and the financial savings are lower for customers. Additionally, meeting percent-of-revenue targets or mandates means less actual money spent on energy efficiency when energy prices are low.

Also, a slow economy inherently means lower energy demand ? hence less incentive to reduce demand even further. Not to mention that the economic crisis left many families, business owners and developers with less money to spend on upgrades.

Despite these issues, the overall tone of the Energy Solutions conference was one of cautious optimism. Speakers asserted that technological innovations, emphasis on the side benefits of energy efficiency and increased public outreach can mean continuing progress ? if people think bigger and more creatively.

In other words, after countless compact fluorescent light bulbs have already been distributed and many drafty windows replaced, utilities and other parties will have to work hard to continue reducing energy demand.

?If CFLs were the engine behind Energy Efficiency 1.0, what will be the engine behind Energy Efficiency 2.0.?? asked Anne Pramaggiore, President and CEO of ComEd. ?I believe the word can be summed up in ?networks?? ? of both the social and physical type.

Midwest could lead the way

This month the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory released a study examining the prospects of customer-funded utility energy efficiency programs through 2025.

It found that energy efficiency spending is at an all-time high, having doubled from $2 billion in 2006 to $4.8 billion in 2010 (for gas and electric programs combined, though electric counts for 80 percent of the investments).

However, the investments are concentrated in a handful of states, with just 10 states accounting for two-thirds of the spending. The top three states are California, New York and New Jersey, with Minnesota ranking eighth and Michigan tenth.

The study predicted that the bulk of future energy efficiency investments ? roughly two thirds ? will be driven by state mandates, including energy efficiency components in Renewable Portfolio Standards. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and Michigan all require utilities to invest in efficiency.

And the report notes that Midwestern states with aggressive standards ? namely Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan ? will account for disproportionate amounts of energy efficiency investment in the future, outpacing the coastal states that ?historically have dominated the EE program landscape.?

Policy needs and political will

Common sense dictates that utilities are unlikely to enthusiastically invest in energy efficiency if their bottom line depends on how much energy (gas or electricity) they sell. Hence it has long been accepted that disconnecting utility profits from the amount of energy they deliver is key to driving meaningful energy efficiency programs.

Numerous states have moved in this direction with policies that decouple profits from energy sales or set flat fees for customers, and speakers at the conference emphasized that this trend should continue. In terms of natural gas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan have decoupled rate structures. Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska and Ohio have flat fees. And Illinois combines both concepts.

Dianne Munns, vice president of regulatory relations and energy efficiency for MidAmerican Energy, noted that Iowa has not decoupled profits from energy sales, but MidAmerican has voluntarily made some important strides regardless, including programs for agribusiness, low-income weatherization and special pricing at critical peak load times.

Munns said energy efficiency should figure significantly into a five-year plan currently being drafted. ?It?s kind of embedded in our culture,? she said.

Jack Laverty, manager of Demand Side Management for Columbia Gas of Ohio, said that his company has invested in energy efficiency programs, including for low-income people, since 1983. He indicated that in the midst of the state?s fracking-driven natural gas boom, there should be more emphasis on energy efficiency.

?There?s a lot of focus on shale right now, but I?d like to talk about the jobs and economic benefits of energy efficiency,? he said. ?Shale is getting all the attention?it?s going to create a lot of jobs, it?s getting way more attention than the jobs we can create with energy efficiency.?

Laverty also said utilities or regulators should work with the real estate industry and mortgage lenders to better reflect the value of energy efficiency in home prices. In other words, if someone knew the value of a property would climb appropriately based on efficiency upgrades, they might be more likely to pursue them, or to pay more for an energy efficient home or business.

Meanwhile John Freitag, vice president of operations for the Illinois Association of Electric Cooperatives, demonstrated that sweeping energy efficiency programs and investments are possible even without state mandates. The co-ops, which serve much of rural Illinois ? and the municipal utilities or ?munis? that serve smaller cities ? are not subject to the state?s Renewable Portfolio Standard or energy efficiency standard. Nonetheless many of the co-ops and munis have launched their own energy efficiency programs.

For example City Water, Light & Power in Springfield offers rebates for people to install heat pumps, insulation, high-efficiency appliances and other upgrades.

?The challenge for our sector is to design and promote energy efficiency measures that also work from the business aspect,? said Freitag. ?If you serve on the board of a co-op or city council, you have a direct obligation to the bottom line?I think we?re meeting that challenge in a lot of good ways, but it definitely is a challenge.?

Non-energy benefits

Energy efficiency projects typically offer a wealth of ?non-energy benefits? for individual customers, society as a whole and utility companies.

For example new windows, insulation, appliances or lights typically mean more comfortable, attractive and user-friendly spaces. And decreased energy demand ideally means less power that must be generated by fossil fuel plants that pollute the air and water. Benefits to utilities include fewer hassles and greater customer satisfaction when electricity flows smoothly and spikes in demand don?t burden the system.

Utility officials and environmental experts at the Energy Solutions conference agreed that such non-energy benefits should be figured into evaluating and promoting energy efficiency programs. But figuring out how to quantify them is subjective and complicated.

Rebecca Stanfield, senior energy advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that many analyses presented to the public and policymakers ?consistently, knowingly and dramatically undervalue the benefits of energy efficiency.?

She listed non-energy benefits to regular citizens including increased property values, aesthetics, durability, comfort and health benefits; and cited larger societal benefits including job creation, economic growth and environmental improvements.

Consultant Steve Schiller noted that the way a given utility?s energy efficiency programs are designed, and how the non-energy benefits are quantified, can play a major role in their success.

He noted that when different components of an energy efficiency plan are examined in isolation, some might not pass a cost-effectiveness test. But if a portfolio of programs is evaluated in its entirety, programs that offer important non-energy benefits can be carried along by other programs that deliver more bang for the buck.

And there can be tough questions. For example how do you deal with the issue of ?free riders? who benefit from investments without contributing; and when energy efficiency investments are made for various reasons, to what extent does a utility get ?credit? for the investment toward its mandates or goals?

?If you do a window retrofit and part of it is for savings and part is for broken windows, how do you assign that?? asked Schiller, who was formerly a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Outreach and public cooperation

Plenty of utility customers have already installed efficient lights and appliances, and even smart meters to monitor and change their energy use. But conference speakers emphasized that there are deep gains still to be made in terms of public awareness and participation, which can lead both to important behavior changes and political will for policy shifts. Numerous utilities have created grassroots outreach and engagement efforts.

For example, ComEd held a competition to make public art projects out of old inefficient refrigerators and freezers. Through two separate Ambassadors programs the utility also provides paying jobs for youth and adults with developmental disabilities to advocate for energy efficiency. The youth program provides summer and year-round work for students in impoverished neighborhoods with high unemployment rates; while the adult program trained eight ?ambassadors? and hired them to create interactive workshops or exhibits that they can share with larger audiences.

Similarly, Energy Ambassador Kevin Duffy described We Energies? program in Burlington, Wisconsin, wherein the utility works with teachers to develop lesson plans on energy efficiency and conservation.

?Those teachers encourage their students to go home and become their home?s energy manager; they sit down with their parents and show them how they can save energy,? he said, comparing it to public outreach efforts promoting seatbelt use when he was a kid.

Burlington, a town of about 15,000 residents 45 miles southwest of Milwaukee, logged significantly higher energy savings compared to a ?control town? of similar size without such a program.

?It?s about integrating into the community on the ground, pounding the pavement,? said Duffy. ?And establishing trust.?

Strategist Jennifer Benz revealed that, perhaps surprisingly, people already do have a relatively high level of trust in their utilities. A phone survey of 1,008 people carried out by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs found that utilities were the only institution trusted for information on energy by more than half of respondents, at 52 percent, while 48 percent trusted consumer groups. (Thirty-five percent trusted government agencies).

While respondents generally voiced strong support for energy efficiency, they were largely opposed to mandates either on the utility or on consumers. The study also asked respondents whether they did a better job conserving energy than their neighbors.

?Forty-five percent said they are above average, and only nine percent said they use more energy than others in their communities,? Benz said. ?There was a ?Lake Wobegon? effect.?

Source: http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/01/22/in-chicago-seeking-the-next-bright-ideas-in-energy-efficiency/

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Obama starts second term in White House ceremony

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama took the official oath for his second term on Sunday at the White House in a small, private ceremony that set a more subdued tone compared to the historic start of his presidency four years ago.

Gathered with his family in the Blue Room on the White House's ceremonial main floor, Obama put his hand on a family Bible and recited the 35-word oath that was read out loud by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts.

"I did it," Obama said as he hugged his wife, Michelle, and daughters Sasha and Malia. "Thank you, sweetie," he told Michelle when she congratulated him. "Good job, Dad. You didn't mess up," 11-year-old Sasha Obama told her father.

It was a low-key start to the first African-American U.S. president's second term, which is likely to be dominated - at least at the start - by budget fights with Republicans and attempts to reform gun control and immigration laws.

Obama, 51, will be sworn in publicly on Monday outside the West Front of the Capitol overlooking the National Mall in front of as many as 800,000 people, a much bigger ceremony replete with a major address and a parade.

Downtown Washington was all but locked down with heavy security. Many streets were closed, lined with barricades. Police sirens blared. Outside the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, an elaborate presidential viewing stand encased in bullet-proof glass was set up for Obama and other VIPs to watch the parade.

Sunday's ceremony, shown live on television, was needed because the U.S. Constitution mandates that the president take office on January 20. Planners opted to go with a private ceremony on the actual date and then hold the ceremonial inaugural activities the next day.

By Monday, Obama will have been sworn in four times, two for each term, putting him equal to Franklin Roosevelt, who won four terms. A second Obama swearing-in was deemed necessary in 2009 when Roberts flubbed the first one. On Sunday, Roberts read the oath carefully from a card and there were no mistakes.

Obama, who won a second four years on November 6 by defeating Republican Mitt Romney after a bitter campaign, opens round two facing many of the same problems that dogged his first term: persistently high unemployment, crushing government debt and a deep partisan divide over how to solve the issues.

This has taken some of the euphoria out of his second inauguration, with TV pundits debating how successful he will be and whether he can avoid policy over-reaching that often afflicts two-term presidents.

If the president harbored any doubts himself, there was no sign of it as he attended a rousing service at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Washington where he and Michelle, who is sporting a new hair style featuring bangs, clapped and swayed to gospel music.

"Forward, forward," shouted Reverend Ronald Braxton to his congregation, echoing an Obama election campaign slogan.

Early Sunday morning, Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, making her the first Hispanic judge to administer an oath of office for one of the nation's two highest offices.

Obama and Biden then joined forces to lay a wreath of flowers at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in a solemn remembrance of those killed in the line of duty.

Biden's family, about 120 guests and a few reporters witnessed the private swearing-in ceremony in the main foyer of his Naval Observatory residence. Biden used a Bible with a Celtic cross on the cover that has been in his family since 1893.

The audience for Monday's ceremony is not expected to be as big as in 2009 when a record 1.8 million people crammed into the National Mall to witness the swearing-in. Turnout is projected at 600,000 to 800,000, with millions more watching on television.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS IS CENTERPIECE

Obama's Inauguration Day speech will set the tone for the start of his second term and gives him a chance to lay out his vision on where he would like to lead the country. He has been drafting the speech on yellow legal pads and working with his speech writers.

Senior Obama adviser David Plouffe told CNN that Obama would talk about how "our political system doesn't require us to resolve all of our disputes or settle all of our differences," but that it does encourage common ground.

"I think it's going to be a hopeful speech," Plouffe said.

Lately the president has been using a more combative tone against his Republican opponents, a possible foreshadowing of a more aggressive effort at trying to get his way.

After his tumultuous first term during which he achieved an overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, his second term opens in the midst of a feud with congressional Republicans over taxes and spending.

His top policy goals for the first year, so far, include tightening gun regulations in response to the massacre of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school a month ago. Obama is also seeking an overhaul of immigration laws and tax reform.

Abroad, he is facing a challenge from a resurgence of Islamist extremists in North Africa exemplified by the recent hostage-taking that turned deadly at an oil facility in Algeria. He is also winding down the war in Afghanistan and dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Obama will save specific policy proposals for his annual State of the Union speech before Congress on February 12.

In his inaugural address, Obama is expected to talk about the need for political compromise where possible, a reminder of the intense battles in his first term that led to paralysis and dysfunction in Washington.

"It'd be great if the inauguration were a unifying moment - though I honestly can't say it will be. But just maybe for a day they can bury the hatchet and celebrate an important day for American democracy," said Brian Hurley, 57, a local salesman, as he guided an out-of-town visitor outside the White House gates.

With the public ceremony falling on the national holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., Obama will also have a chance to draw historic parallels. While taking the oath on Monday, he will place his left hand on two Bibles - one once owned by Abraham Lincoln and the other by King.

The Obamas will attend two official inaugural balls - compared to the 10 that were held in 2009.

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Alistair Bell and Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/two-day-inauguration-obama-sworn-white-house-060652512.html

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Ahead of the bell: Google's 4Q to give ad insights

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google's fourth-quarter earnings report should provide a barometer on how much more advertising shifted to the Internet during the holiday shopping season.

The results, due out after the stock market closes Tuesday, will also give investors a better sense on how the growing popularity of smartphones and tablet computers is affecting the prices in the digital advertising market.

Advertisers so far haven't been willing to pay as much to market their wares on mobile devices as they are on laptop and desktop computers because of the disparity in screen sizes. That factor has been cited as the main reason why Google's average ad prices have fallen from the previous year for four consecutive years, a streak that analysts believe will be extended when the company breaks down its results for the final three months of last year.

Despite the downturn in ad prices, Google's earnings have still been rising because the total number of clicks on the ads has been steadily climbing. Most of Google's advertising deals call for the company to get paid by the click.

Comparisons to Google's fourth-quarter performance in the previous year will be muddied by the company's $12.4 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings, which was completed eight months ago. Motorola has been losing money, so it will likely lower Google's fourth-quarter earnings compared to 2011 while boosting the total revenue substantially higher.

To complicate matters further, Google last month agreed to sell a Motorola division that makes cable-TV set-top boxes for $2.35 billion. Although the deal won't be completed until later this year, Google says accounting rules require the company to classify the set-top box division as a discontinued operation that doesn't count in the fourth-quarter results.

Google Inc. suspects most analysts who follow the company still included the set-top box division when they were drawing up their fourth-quarter projections. If that's true, the analyst forecasts that steer investor expectations could be envisioning substantially more revenue than Google will report.

In the third quarter of last year, the set-top box division generated an operating profit of $25 million on revenue of $797 million

Analysts, on average, foresee Google earning $10.57 per share on revenue of nearly $12.4 billion, according to a survey by FactSet. The earnings projections subtracts Google's expenses for employee stock compensation and the revenue forecast reflects how much the company has left after paying commissions to its advertising partners.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ahead-bell-googles-4q-ad-111914642.html

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