TOKYO – Japan’s central bank is escalating the fight against deflation by offering more cheap loans to banks.

In a split decision, the Bank of Japan’s policy board decided Wednesday to double the amount available under its short-term lending program to 20 trillion yen ($221 billion) from 10 trillion yen.

Introduced in December, the three-month loans at a fixed rate of 0.1 percent are intended to nourish credit flows and reduce longer-term interest rates.

The seven-member board voted unanimously to keep its key interest rate at a super lean 0.1 percent. In a statement, it pledged to maintain an “extremely accommodative financial environment” for the time being. The central bank has not changed the overnight call rate target since December 2008, when the policy board lowered it from 0.3 percent.

The central bank’s expected move came amid growing political pressure to take stronger action to combat falling prices, which threaten to undermine Japan’s patchy economic recovery.

“The Bank recognizes that it is a critical challenge for Japan’s economy to overcome deflation and return to a sustainable growth path with price stability,” the central bank said. “To this end, the Bank will continue to consistently make contributions as a central bank.”

The world’s second biggest economy grew at an annualized pace of 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter thanks to robust exports, but that has done little to bolster demand or wages at home. Japan’s key consumer price index, which fell for the 11th straight month in January, is expected to keep declining for the next two years.

The troubling outlook separates Japan from growing economies elsewhere in Asia, where central banks are winding down stimulus measures and tightening monetary policy low interest personal loan. Interests rates are rising in Australia and Malaysia, while central banks in China and India are reducing liquidity to control inflation.

Meanwhile, Japan struggles with a familiar foe. The country has battled periods of deflation since the “Lost Decade” in the 1990s. Lower prices may seem like a good thing, but it hamstrings economic growth by shrinking company profits, sparking wage cuts and causing consumers to postpone purchases. It also magnifies debt burdens.

The government’s ability to counter deflation with increased spending is constrained because of Japan’s ballooning debt, the highest among industrialized countries and rising. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has proposed a record $1 trillion budget for the next fiscal year starting April, which will require the government to issue some 44.3 trillion yen ($492 billion) in bonds.

With limited room to maneuver on the fiscal policy front, Finance Minister Naoto Kan has repeatedly called on the central bank to do more. He wants deflation gone by the end of the year and has suggested establishing an inflation target.

The latest move may appease the government for now. But it falls short of a meaningful fight against deflation, economists say.

Richard Jerram, chief economist at Macquarie Securities in Japan, described a temporary increase in liquidity or even a modest interest rate cut as “irrelevant.” Japan needs aggressive, government-led changes to shock prices higher, he writes in a recent report.

“Japan is in such a deep deflationary hole that marginal policy changes are likely to be ineffective,” he said.

Bank of Japan expands lending to fight deflation

It is the Wall Street equivalent of a coroner’s report — a 2,200-page document that lays out, in new and startling detail, how Lehman Brothers used accounting sleight of hand to conceal the bad investments that led to its undoing.

The report, compiled by an examiner for the bank, now bankrupt, hit Wall Street with a thud late Thursday. The 158-year-old company, it concluded, died from multiple causes. Among them were bad mortgage holdings and, less directly, demands by rivals like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, that the foundering bank post collateral against loans it desperately needed.

But the examiner, Anton R. Valukas, also for the first time, laid out what the report characterized as “materially misleading” accounting gimmicks that Lehman used to mask the perilous state of its finances. The bank’s bankruptcy, the largest in American history, shook the financial world. Fears that other banks might topple in a cascade of failures eventually led Washington to arrange a sweeping rescue for the nation’s financial system.

According to the report, Lehman used what amounted to financial engineering to temporarily shuffle $50 billion of troubled assets off its books in the months before its collapse in September 2008 to conceal its dependence on leverage, or borrowed money. Senior Lehman executives, as well as the bank’s accountants at Ernst & Young, were aware of the moves, according to Mr. Valukas, the chairman of the law firm Jenner & Block and a former federal prosecutor, who filed the report in connection with Lehman’s bankruptcy case.

Richard S. Fuld Jr., Lehman’s former chief executive, certified the misleading accounts, the report said.

“Unbeknownst to the investing public, rating agencies, government regulators, and Lehman’s board of directors, Lehman reverse engineered the firm’s net leverage ratio for public consumption,” Mr. Valukas wrote.

Mr. Fuld was “at least grossly negligent,” the report states, adding that Henry M. Paulson Jr., who was then the Treasury secretary, warned Mr. Fuld that Lehman might fail unless it stabilized its finances or found a buyer.

Lehman executives engaged in what the report characterized as “actionable balance sheet manipulation,” and “nonculpable errors of business judgment.”

The report draws no conclusions as to whether Lehman executives violated securities laws. But it does suggest that enough evidence exists for potential civil claims. Lehman executives are already defendants in civil suits, but have not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

A large portion of the nine-volume report centers on the accounting maneuvers, known inside Lehman as “Repo 105.”

First used in 2001, long before the crisis struck, Repo 105 involved transactions that secretly moved billions of dollars off Lehman’s books at a time when the bank was under heavy scrutiny.

According to Mr. Valukas, Mr. Fuld ordered Lehman executives to reduce the bank’s debt levels, and senior officials sought repeatedly to apply Repo 105 to dress up the firm’s results. Other executives named in the examiner’s report in connection with the use of the accounting tool include three former Lehman chief financial officers: Christopher O’Meara, Erin Callan and Ian Lowitt.

Patricia Hynes, a lawyer for Mr. Fuld, said in an e-mailed statement that Mr. Fuld “did not know what those transactions were — he didn’t structure or negotiate them, nor was he aware of their accounting treatment.”

Charles Perkins, a spokesman for Ernst & Young, said in an e-mailed statement: “Our last audit of the company was for the fiscal year ending Nov. 30, 2007. Our opinion indicated that Lehman’s financial statements for that year were fairly presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and we remain of that view payday loans for self employed.”

Bryan Marsal, Lehman’s current chief executive, who is unwinding the firm, said in a statement that he was evaluating the report to assess how it might help in efforts to advance creditor interests.

Repos, short for repurchase agreements, are a standard practice on Wall Street, representing short-term loans that provide sometimes crucial financing. In them, firms essentially lend assets to other firms in exchange for money for short periods of time, sometimes overnight.

But Lehman used aggressive accounting in its Repo 105 transactions: it appears to have structured transactions such that they sold securities at the end of the quarter, but planned to buy them back again days later. These assets were mostly illiquid real estate holdings, meaning that they were hard to sell in normal transactions.

The effect of the accounting was to artificially and temporarily lower the firm’s debt levels to hit certain targets, making the firm look healthier than it really was.

In a series of e-mail messages cited by the examiner, one Lehman executive writes of Repo 105: “It’s basically window-dressing.” Another responds: “I see … so it’s legally do-able but doesn’t look good when we actually do it? Does the rest of the street do it? Also is that why we have so much BS [balance sheet] to Rates Europe?” The first executive replies: “Yes, No and yes. :)”

Mr. Valukas was appointed by the United States Trustee in the case in January 2009 to investigate the causes of the Lehman bankruptcy, as well as to find out if any fraud or misconduct took place.

Mr. Valukas writes in the report that “colorable claims” could be made against some former Lehman executives and Ernst & Young, meaning that enough evidence existed that could lead to the awarding of damages in a trial. He added that Lehman’s directors were not aware of the accounting engineering.

By his reckoning, Lehman managed to “shed” about $39 billion from its balance sheet at the end of the fourth quarter of 2007, $49 billion in the first quarter of 2008 and $50 billion in the second quarter. At that time, Lehman sought to reassure the public that its finances were fine — despite pressure from short-sellers like the hedge fund manager David Einhorn.

Executives, including Herbert McDade, who was known internally as the firm’s “balance sheet czar,” seemed aware that repeatedly using Repo 105 was disguising the true health of the investment bank. “I am very aware … it is another drug we r on,” he wrote in an April 2008 e-mail cited by the examiner’s report. At other times, he is described as calling for a limit to the number of Repo 105 transactions.

By May and June of 2008, a Lehman senior vice president, Matthew Lee, wrote to senior management and the firm’s auditors at Ernst & Young flagging “accounting improprieties.” Neither Lehman executives nor Ernst & Young alerted the firm’s board about Mr. Lee’s allegations, according to the report.

Mr. Fuld is described in the examiner’s report as denying having knowledge of the Repo 105 transactions, and there is no evidence that he directed subordinates to make use of that aggressive accounting. (He did recall issuing several directives to reduce the firm’s debt levels.) But Mr. McDade is reported as telling Mr. Fuld about using Repo 105 to achieve that goal.

Lehman Brothers Hid Borrowing, Examiner Says

CINCINNATI – The Kroger Co.’s profit fell 27 percent in the fourth quarter, even as sales rose with a boost from the grocer’s gasoline incentives for regular customers.

The nation’s largest traditional grocery chain Tuesday reported profit of $255.4 million, or 39 cents per share, down from $349.2 million or 53 cents, a year ago.

Sales rose 7 percent to $18.6 billion. Excluding fuel, sales were up 2 percent.

Analysts expected 34 cents per share on $17 cash advance america.73 billion of revenue.

In the heated competition for recession-strapped households, Kroger has expanded discounts at its gas stations for regular customers, who can get at least 10 cents off a gallon for every $100 in grocery store purchases.

Kroger 4Q profit down 27 percent

NEW YORK – A hotel has opened on the edge of ground zero, and executives say the view it offers on the World Trade Center site rebuilding is a selling point.

The World Center Hotel is still under construction on some floors but began taking reservations last month. Its Web site features photographs of a memorial and the construction.

The hotel offers some rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows that open directly onto the work site. Guests and members will have access to the restaurant patio with views of giant cranes, jackhammers and metal scaffolding auto loan rates.

Australian tourist Josh Rowlands says he would like to stay at a hotel with a view of the rebuilding, especially because it’s so hard to see into the pit from the street.

But German tourist Michael Meindorfer says he thinks staying there would be too sad.

Ground zero hotel wants to attract WTC tourists

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ALAMEDA, Calif. – Celera Corp., a laboratory testing products and disease management services company, reported a fourth-quarter profit on lower costs and a tax benefit.

The company said it earned $7.8 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with a loss of $6.1 million, or 8 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Revenue fell 15 percent to $40 million from $47.3 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 3 cents per share on revenue of $39.6 million.

Celera was part of Applera Corp. until July 2008, but was separated from Applera after that company’s other component, Applied Biosystems, was sold to Invitrogen Corp. Those two companies combined into Life Technologies Corp.

Lab services revenue fell 25 percent to $22 million, while products revenue increased 1 percent to $11.3 million. Corporate revenue fell 3 percent to $6.7 million.

Meanwhile, selling and general expenses fell 17 percent to $22.4 million. The company had a tax benefit of $9 payday loans guaranteed no fax.1 million.

For the full year, the company lost $32.7 million, or 40 cents per share, compared with a loss of $124.6 million, or $1.56 per share, in 2008. Revenue fell to $167.1 million from $175.2 million.

Looking ahead, the company expects a loss between 11 cents and 13 cents per share on revenue between $30 million and $32million in the first quarter. It expects a loss between 15 cents and 21 cents per share on revenue between $145 million and $155 million in 2010.

Analysts expect a loss of 1 cent per share on revenue of $40.5 million in the first quarter and profit of 4 cents per share on revenue of $173.5 million in 2010.

Shares of Celera rose 1 cent to $6.15 in after-hours trading after falling 1 cent to close at $6.14 during the regular trading session.

Celera sees 4Q profit on tax benefit, lower costs

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ATHENS, Greece – Greek drivers lined up for gas at the few stations still open Friday as a customs strike against government austerity measures left many pumps running dry.

The fuel shortage was the first serious consequence of growing labor protests against the Socialist government’s emergency spending cuts program, aimed at easing the debt crisis in Greece and shoring up market confidence.

Customs workers have extended their strike against salary freezes and bonus cuts through next Wednesday, when unions across Greece will hold a general strike that is set to bring the country to a standstill.

European finance ministers have told Athens it must demonstrate signs of fiscal improvement by March 16 or it will be ordered to impose even tougher budget cuts. Greece has promised to slash its deficit from an estimated 12.7 percent of gross domestic product to 8.7 percent this year.

Finance Ministry officials say they are under EU pressure to ax the public servants’ so-called “14th salary.” Greek workers get their annual salary divided into 14 payments, with two of them given as holiday bonuses, in a measure originally designed to alleviate those with low incomes.

“We would consider cutting the 14th (salary) to be an act of war,” said Yiannis Papagopoulos, leader of Greece’s trade union umbrella group, the GSEE.

“The measures must be socially just. And this is something that we have not seen so far. They are generally aimed at wage-earners and pensioners, while business remains immune sears kerosene heaters. It is finally time for those who for so many years gathered riches to pay up, invest, and help deal with the major problem at this time, which is unemployment.”

The customs walkout has hampered imports and exports, but the supply of fuel has been the most affected. Gas stations around greater Athens were rationing fuel while stocks lasted. Traffic policemen were posted at some gas stations in Athens as cars queued for hundreds of meters (yards).

“We’re out of regular unleaded, and now we’re only selling diesel,” said attendant Ioanna Antoniou at a gas station in the northern Athens suburb of Halandri. “There were a lot of cars lined up here earlier while we still had some unleaded left.”

Antoniou said the gas station had rationed fuel to limit sales to euro20 ($27) per customer so they could serve more people.

Taxis also held a 24-hour strike Friday, protesting parts of the austerity package that increased fuel tax and will force them to issue receipts. Taxi drivers chanting “The measures mean unemployment” staged a noisy protest in central Athens that choked traffic.

“These measures won’t do anything, all they will do is throw us out of work,” cab driver Anastasis Damianidis said. “We can’t become tax collectors — that’s what they’re trying to do. We will keep demonstrating.”

Fuel shortage hits Greece as strikes grow

LONDON – The British subsidiary of Reader’s Digest filed for administration, a form of bankruptcy protection, in a move intended to help its parent company complete restructuring under bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

The parent, the Reader’s Digest Association Inc., said the action to isolate the British unit would allow it “to emerge from Chapter 11 promptly.”

The British subsidiary’s filing follows its failure to gain regulatory approval for a plan for funding a pension deficit, the company said Wednesday. Without approval for its plan to deal with the British pension issue, the company said the U.K. unit was unable to meet its debts and sustain its operations, the company said.

Reader’s Digest had hoped to emerge from Chapter 11 protection — under which a company in financial trouble is allowed to shed debts and restructure — by the end of the January but was delayed by the pension problem in Britain.

The pension proposal had been accepted by the company, pension trustees and the U saving account pay day loan.K. Pension Protection Fund, but was rejected by the U.K. Pensions Regulator.

“The agreement, which contemplated a lump sum payment by parent company RDA plus an equity stake in RDA UK, was authorized by the U.S. bankruptcy judge overseeing RDA’s U.S. Chapter 11 proceedings, and would have relieved RDA UK of significant financial obligations associated with its underfunded UK pension plan,” the company said in a statement from its headquarters in Pleasantville, N.Y.

“Absent an agreement, RDA UK is financially unable to meet those obligations and sustain its operations.”

The British pension issue does not affect any other part of the company, Reader’s Digest said.

A U.S. judge has already approved the company’s Chapter 11 plan, which cuts its debt load to $555 million from $2.2 billion.

Reader’s Digest UK unit files for administration

I have a frequent and pleasant daydream in which the Virginia lottery board calls and says, "Congratulations! You've won the highest jackpot ever! Would you like to take that in a lump sum or divided up over 30 years?" This is truly the stuff of fantasy, though, particularly because I don't buy lottery tickets. Much more realistic for my family is what to do in the face of too many important financial goals and too little money to fund them all.

For example, we have:

Several children to send to college.A retirement to plan for.The desire for an extra-large emergency fund.

In addition, our 1994 Honda Civic and 2000 Dodge Caravan will someday go to the great junkyard in the sky, leaving us scrambling for replacements. And somewhere along the line, we'd like to take a trip to China when our youngest (who was adopted from Jiangsu province) is old enough to remember it.

How does the average American family meet these kinds of goals? And which should take precedence if you can't contribute to them all? If you have similar questions and concerns, here's how you can set about prioritizing your goals.

Goal 1: Emergency FundIf you can accomplish only one of your goals, this is it. Saving at least $200 to $300 a month in a high-yield savings account would be a good first step. Your emergency fund should include enough money to pay for three to six months' worth of basic living expenses (rent or mortgage, utilities, medical bills, groceries, and the like).

Don't let the large sum intimidate you into not saving; set a goal of having your emergency fund fully funded within three years. If your initial goal is to save $10,000, it'll take just $278 a month for 36 months to reach that milestone.

In a true emergency, you can rely on credit cards. But if you can't pay off that debt soon, you'll quickly find yourself going backward financially. Better to have the money squirreled away for a stormy day and to pretend it doesn't exist until disaster strikes.

Get creative: Make a deal with yourself that any "found" or windfall money will go to your emergency fund. Whether it's a tax refund check, cash back on a credit card, or a gift check from great-uncle Joe, deposit it immediately in your savings account. Hold a yearly yard sale with all proceeds to go to your retirement fund.

Goal 2: RetirementSecond (or even better, concurrently), fund your retirement, especially if your contributions to your work plan are matched by your employer (that's free money — plus tax breaks — that you shouldn't pass up). If you don't save for retirement, you won't be able to retire.

Get creative: Once a debt is paid off (for example, the $185 a month you pay on your college loans) continue taking out $185, but now designate it for retirement business cards. That's a painless way to bulk up your savings.

Goal 3: Save for CollegeIt may feel disloyal to many of you to put your children's higher education funds close to the bottom of the list. After all, we're used to putting our kids' needs first in most every other way. However, think about it this way: An emergency requires that you access money because you so desperately need it. Taking money out of a college account such as a 529 savings plan means that the earnings are taxed as ordinary income, plus you'll be slapped with a 10% penalty.

If you don't save for your kids' education, they aren't out of luck; there are scholarships and loans that can fund their higher education needs. No such resources are available if you didn't save for your retirement; you can't borrow your way into a retirement income, and there aren't Golden Years scholarships.

Get creative: If you'll be using a credit card anyway, why not sign up for a Upromise credit card that lets you save for your child's college education while you spend? When you use these cards at participating merchants, you'll get a small rebate deposited into a 529 savings account for your child. Grandparents can sign up too and link their cards to your child's account.

Goal 4: Vacation FundAs a mental-health therapist, it pains me to put this at the very bottom of the list. After all, a well-balanced life includes relaxation and fun, especially in today's fast-paced world. Time away can help you put things into perspective and help your cares melt away. But the hard truth is that a vacation is a luxury that someone without an emergency fund can't really afford to take. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go for a cheaper version of R&R, however.

Get creative: Cut one of your household perks: Switch to a lower tier of cable, or cancel altogether, cut your lawn yourself, reduce your cell phone charges, or go out to eat less. A savings of just $5 a day adds up to a nifty $1,825 in one year.

In an ideal world, all of us would have enough money for all of the things we want to do. But if your real world involves making tough choices, start with establishing an emergency fund, and follow this roadmap all the way to financial security.

For more Foolishness:

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Juggling Your Financial Goals

SEATTLE – The needs of the poor are greater than the money available to help them, but that’s not enough to discourage Bill Gates in his work as co-chair of the world’s largest charitable foundation.

In his second annual letter, issued Monday, Gates says investment in science and technology can leverage those dollars and make more of a difference than charity and government aid alone.

In his 19-page letter, Gates says the foundation currently is backing 30 areas of innovation including online learning, teacher improvement, malaria vaccine development, HIV prevention, and genetically modified seeds.

The Seattle-based foundation focuses most of its donations on global health, agriculture development and education. Since 1994, the foundation has committed to $21.3 billion in grants. As of Sept. 30, 2009, its endowment totaled $34.17 billion.

Gates said his and his wife’s experience at Microsoft Corp. is not the only reason they are so taken with technology.

“Melinda and I see our foundation’s key role as investing in innovations that would not otherwise be funded,” he wrote. “This draws not only on our backgrounds in technology but also on the foundation’s size and ability to take a long-term view and take large risks on new approaches.”

Gates begins his letter by talking about how much fun he’s having at his new job: 2009 was the first year he worked full-time as co-chair of the foundation, after a decade of part-time work as he led Microsoft full-time.

He talks about enjoyable visits around the world to talk to scientists, politicians, teachers, farmers and people doing the work of the foundation.

“Seeing the work firsthand reminds me of how urgent the needs are as well as how challenging it is to get all the right pieces to come together,” Gates wrote. “I love my new job and feel lucky to get to focus my time on these problems.”

He talked about the way he and Melinda work as partners at the foundation, each focusing on problems that interest them and then sharing what they’ve learned and making decisions together on what the foundation should do.

Nearly seven pages of the letter focus on the foundation’s work in global health and repeatedly Gates admits the work to reach the foundation’s ambitious goals is harder than they expected no fax pay day loan.

Vaccine development is progressing, but the cost to provide those vaccines to the poor is still a problem. It’s going to be difficult to meet a six-year goal to get the retrovirus vaccine to more than half the kids who need it.

Bed nets are helping decrease malaria deaths over Africa, but “malaria is a particularly tricky disease,” Gates acknowledges. The foundation has resorted to a very expensive scattershot approach to meeting Bill and Melinda’s goal of eradicating malaria, with many researchers pursuing a lot of different ideas.

Despite having one vaccine in a Phase III trial, an effective malaria vaccine is still 8 to 15 years away, he said.

The economy rates a paragraph at the beginning and about two pages at the end of Gates’ letter. He expressed concerns that budget deficits in the richest nations leading them to cut foreign assistance. He applauds Canada and Australia for their significant efforts and chastises Italy for not doing enough. Gates commended President Barack Obama for his proposal to double international aid.

The letter ends with Gates’ explanation about why the foundation hasn’t gotten involved in working to fight climate change, despite its potential impact on the poorest nations.

He said he believes developing electricity that is cheaper than coal and emits no greenhouse gasses is the most important innovation to help fight climate change, but the foundation has not yet found a way it can play a unique role in this area. He added, however, that outside of the foundation he personally is investing in energy research.

“I am surprised that the climate debate hasn’t focused more on encouraging R&D since it is critical to getting to zero emissions,” said the man who admits to spending some of his spare time watching online MIT lectures on physics and chemistry.

Bill Gates says innovation can leverage change

LONDON – Nationalized mortgage lender Northern Rock PLC said Monday it has signed a new four-year sponsorship deal with Newcastle United football club, worth up to 10 million pounds ($16 million).

The deal extends Northern Rock’s relationship with its hometown club as both target renewal — the bank is on the hunt for a buyer to return to the private sector while League Championship leader Newcastle is closing in on promotion to the Premier League after a year in the second tier.

The total value of the contract will vary between 1.5 million pounds and 10 million pounds, depending on Newcastle’s performance on the pitch.

The maximum value will only be realized if the team fulfills expectations and is promoted back to the Premier League — and stays there for the whole of the four-year period beginning next season.

Newcastle-based Northern Rock, which was taken into public ownership in 2008 after it became the first major British victim of the global credit squeeze, said that the agreement represented a good deal for taxpayers.

Northern Rock Chief Executive Gary Hoffman added that it was “an important community link” as he defended the decision to renew the sponsorship deal despite being owned by the government.

“Brand awareness and promotion are important elements in the continuing development of the company,” Hoffman said.

“We remain mindful of our responsibilities under government ownership and only consider those advertising and promotion channels that deliver a high return on investment and good strategic fit,” he added.

Northern Rock was split in two at the beginning of this year, forming a “good” bank that is being readied for a return to the private sector and a “bad” bank that is charged with repaying the taxpayer. Monday’s deal is between the “good” bank and Newcastle United. Reported suitors for the bank include National Australia Bank and Virgin Money.

Newcastle United’s managing director Derek Llambias said extending the sponsorship agreement — Northern Rock’s logo has adorned Newcastle’s Adidas-manufactured jerseys since 2004 — would help the club achieve its goal of a return to the Premier League next season guaranteed pay day loans.

“This alliance underpins the desire of two of the region’s most well known names to continue to work together over the next four years,” Llambias said. “Newcastle United’s aim is to return to the Premier League next season and we believe that collaboration will help both companies achieve our respective goals in the local, national and international marketplace.”

Newcastle is currently at the top of the League Championship table by two points after 24 out of 48 games, leaving it well positioned to achieve promotion.

The Magpies were expected to struggle after leading players Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen, Sebastien Bassong, Damien Duff and Habib Beye left following relegation on the final day of last season.

But coach Chris Hughton rallied the team and has been appointed manager until the end of next season. Newcastle has lost just three league games all season, all of them away from home.

The club’s owner, Mike Ashley, took it off the market last October after failing to find a buyer at the reduced price of 80 million pounds, a bargain compared to the 134 million pounds he paid for it two years ago while it was still in the Premier League.

Ashley is hugely unpopular with fans after overseeing relegation and failing to keep former striker Alan Shearer on as manager.

Fans were also angered by the club’s announcement in October that it is looking to boost revenue by selling naming rights to its famous St. James’ Park stadium for next season.

__

AP Sports Writer Stuart Condie in London contributed to this report.

Northern Rock renews Newcastle sponsorship

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