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10A Daily News – Tuesday, February 7, 2012 indexes closed slightly lower Monday as talks dragged on between Greek political leaders over a fresh cost-cutting package required for the country to get more bailout loans. On an otherwise quiet day, energy stocks were among the few to rise. Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Schlumberger each rose 1 percent. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Greek leaders that they need to push through the measures or risk let- ting the country go bankrupt. Greece is hoping the Euro- pean Central Bank, the Interna- tional Monetary Fund and the European Commission will Stocks slip on Wall Street as Greek talks drag on Wall Street NEW YORK (AP) — Stock release a second installment of $170 billion in loans. Without that money, Greece will likely default when a bond repayment comes due March 20. In Greece, talks between the prime minister and leaders of parties backing his coalition government were postponed for a day, even as European leaders prodded the government to push through new spending cuts, lay- offs and other austerity mea- sures. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 17.10 points to close at 12,845.13. Travelers Cos. Inc. led the Dow lower with a 1.3 percent loss. In other trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 0.57 of a point to 1,344.33. The Nas- daq composite fell 3.67 points to 2,901.99. Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ, thinks investors are starting to wonder if the stock market's recent stretch of calm trading is a prelude to a big drop. Trading has turned subdued compared with the wild swings of 2011. The S&P has closed up or down by more than 1 percent only three times this year. In Decem- ber, that happened nine times. ''I look at it like a very-low- tide warning of an impending tsunami,'' Stovall said. ''We're setting ourselves up for a decline, the sort of decline that would make you sit up and take notice.'' Large gains in the market, like the Dow's 156-point surge Friday, are often followed by rel- atively modest moves as traders pull some of their winnings off the table. Since 1950, whenever the S&P rose by 1 percent or more in a trading day, the index has inched up an average of just 0.1 percent the next day, accord- ing to S&P Capital IQ. big moves: Among companies making — Boeing Co. fell 1.2 percent following reports that the com- pany found a problem in its 787 Dreamliner. The aircraft maker said it was working to fix it and that there was no safety concern. — Micron Technology Inc. fell 2.8 percent following news that the chip maker's CEO died in a plane crash. Steve Appleton, 51, was at the helm for 18 years, leading the only company he'd ever worked for. — Verizon Communications and Coinstar Inc. edged up after the companies said they will launch a video-streaming service later this year, a challenge to Netflix. Coinstar is the parent of Redbox, a DVD rental company. Coinstar rose 1.8 percent and Verizon 0.8 percent. — Humana dropped 5.4 per- cent. The health insurance com- pany reported revenue that fell short of analysts' expectations. Humana also raised its earnings outlook for 2012 but that, too, was below analysts' forecast. Tens of thousands of lives claimed over five years of Mexican drug war MEXICO CITY (MCT) — The Mexican drug war has claimed more than 51,000 lives in the past five years, and while initial signs point to the conflict sta- bilizing in some of the bloodiest areas, particu- larly along the Texas border, the violence is increasingly spreading into the country's interi- or, according to analysts and government offi- cials. Signs also point to further fragmentation among the cartels, although the paramili- tary group known as the Zetas, with links to Dal- las, has strengthened and is now considered the fastest-growing criminal group and the most powerful force threatening the coun- try's national security. "After a dramatic increase in previous years, violence levels seem to be slowly stabi- lizing," said Eduardo Guerrero Gutierrez, a security analyst at Lan- tia Consultores, a Mexi- co City consulting firm. He said his figures showed more than 16,600 people killed in 2011. Guerrero's figures have been closely aligned with the federal government's statistics. "In some cities, there has even been a sus- tained improvement in violence levels. Never- theless, geographical dispersion of violence continues," Guerrero added, quoting his own study to be published this month in one of Mexico's leading intel- lectual magazines, Nexos. In 2011, homicides rose by 11 percent, a far slower rate than in pre- vious years. Political parties have staked out violence as the key issue in presidential elections this July. Although violence has leveled off, the northern states of Chi- huahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas _ all border- ing Texas _ remain among the bloodiest in Mexico. Last month, the military announced that it will beef up forces in the region. "In spite a number of arrests and hits, the Zetas continue to defy both governments," said a U.S. intelligence offi- cial on the border, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's speaks to both their resilience and skills of recruiting young, often desperate people who want to 'make it' quick and easy." Hope for the End Bible Prophecy Seminars Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday Sunday Evenings 7:00-8:00pm Tuesday's Topic "Buried and Forgotten by God" Please Join Us Seventh-day Adventist Church 720 South Jackson St. Red Bluff Showing Live Via Satellite New killings have shattered a relative peace in Ciudad Juarez, where more than 13 law enforcement officials, mostly local police, have been gunned down in recent days. A group calling itself the New Juarez Cartel has vowed to kill a police officer each day until Police Chief Julian Leyzaola either stops pursuing the group or leaves the city altogether. The chief has reacted by sending police to stay in hotels, since most of the killings have happened as they leave or return home. A recent study Respecting People. Impacting Business Call us. And get back to work. Call us any time for: • An extensive network of recruiting sources • Testing and training • Experienced recruiters • Full-time employees • HR expertise and support services • Temporary Workers • Evaluation hire • Carefully screened candidates • Dedicated service released by the Citizens' Council for Public Security and Justice, a Mexican research group, listed five Mexi- can cities as among the world's most violent: Ciudad Juarez, Acapul- co, Monterrey, Torreon and Chihuahua. All but Acapulco are in states bordering Texas. Meanwhile, violence levels have risen to the south, in the states of Veracruz, Jalisco and Guerrero and even in Mexico City, which has occasionally seen flare- ups, though the violence hasn't been as sustained as in other states. Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert at the Wash- ington-based Brookings Institution, said the decline in killings in some areas may be more the result of one cartel exerting overall control rather than specific suc- cess by the military or federal police. "The violence is lev- www.expresspros.com 530-527-0727 243 So. Main Street eling off some, but this is not because the policy is effective, but because the tempo of violence has been extraordinarily high, very costly and very difficult to main- tain," she said. "Mexico has lost as many people in five years as the number of Americans killed during the Vietnam War over a 25-year stretch. Life and death in Mexico is so cheap and systematic. These are not discon- nected murders but linked to competition over formal and infor- mal parts of the econo- my in Mexico." The latest casualty figures do not include the estimated 10,000 people who have disap- peared since President Felipe Calderon launched the crackdown in late 2006. Some ana- lysts and experts put the loss of life at 60,000 or higher. Calderon remains defiant in his decision to tackle the cartels, even as opposition grows on the part of political rivals and nongovern- mental organizations. They question not so much the reason for going after cartels, whose power had long been established, but whether his administra- tion was adequately pre- pared to face an enemy that has penetrated the very fabric of society and public institutions. 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The key, he said, is to strengthen the social fabric through a more vibrant civil soci- ety, a process similar to "planting a tree for a better Mexico, a more secure, more prosperous and more just country." Confronting crimi- nals, he added, is like "taking out the bad weed that finishes off the nutrients and finish- es off the plants." Critics, however, question how the gov- ernment can claim that most of the victims are criminals when victims are often not identified. An estimated 95 percent of all crimes are never solved. "The administration has focused on captur- ing, killing, extraditing people and has argued that the violence is a regrettable but neces- sary piece to that strate- gy," said Eric Olson, a Mexico expert at the nonpartisan Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. "But if you lost a daughter, son, brother or sister, it's not a satisfying argument. It's hard to convince the Mexican public that this is suc- cess." Even in cities such as Ciudad Juarez, where overall crime dropped by 40 percent in 2011, residents remain skepti- cal. Nightclub owners tout a renaissance of nightlife, signs that Juarenses are slowly taking back their city. But Octavio Mares, a cab driver, isn't so sure. The city recorded about 120 killings in the first month of 2012. "I want to believe the news, just I like I want to believe in miracles," he said. "Only time will tell."