Oct 18 (Reuters) - Billionaire Wilbur Ross-backed Assured Guaranty Ltd said it was restating its net profit for 2011 quarters and the last two years to fix errors in the elimination of certain transactions related to financial guaranty variable interest entities.The Bermuda-based bond insurer said the estimated impact of the restatement on net income was a decrease of $11.2 million for 2009, $55.2 million for 2010, and an increase of $30.3 million for the first two quarters of 2011.The adjustments … will have no impact on cumulative operating income over the affected periods or on operating shareholders’ equity or adjusted book value as of June 30,” Chief Financial Officer Robert Bailenson said.The restatements will reduce consolidated shareholders’ equity by $36.1 million, which is less than 1 percent, Bailenson said.On Monday, Assured sued Credit Suisse Group AG for allegedly misleading it about the quality of mortgage loans underlying securities it insured, exposing it to hundreds of millions of dollars in potential claims.Shares of Assured closed at $11.88 on Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin, Lisa’s father, appeared on NBC’s “Today” show and ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday morning.Lisa has been missing since Jeremy Irwin reported her gone from the family’s Kansas City home at 4 am on October 4 when he returned from work. Police have questioned the parents at length but have not identified them or anyone else as suspects.Surveillance video at a nearby grocery store showed Bradley buying a box of wine at about 5 p.m. October 3. Bradley told “Today” she drank enough to be drunk later that day, but she insisted that her drinking does not mean she somehow hurt her daughter.”If I thought there was a chance, I’d say it,” Bradley said. “I don’t think that alcohol changes a person enough to do something like that.”Bradley previously said she last saw Lisa when she put her to bed in her crib at 10:30 pm on October 3, but told “Today” she last saw her at 6:40 p.m.Irwin told both network news shows that he did not think Deborah had anything to do with Lisa’s disappearance.”I know the kind of mother she is, and I know what kind of person she is in general,” Irwin told “Today.”Irwin said when he came home that night the lights were on, the front door was unlocked and the window in Lisa’s bedroom was open. He told “Good Morning America” that Deborah was awake in bed and the couple didn’t know Lisa was gone until he went to her room.Bradley told “Today” that police have accused her of killing Lisa and that she failed a lie-detector test question about whether she knew the whereabouts of her daughter.Bradley said her arrest in the case would be misguided and unfortunate.”The main fear with that is if they arrest me, people are going to stop looking for her and I will never see her again and I’ll never know what happened to her,” she told “Today.”On “Good Morning America,” Bradley said police showed her burned clothing as well as a record of pings on her missing cell phone. She doubts that evidence.”I’m led to believe at this point that none of that was real,” Bradley said. “I hope the burned clothes weren’t real.”(Writing and reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Greg McCune)

Texas is among 15 states challenging a January deadline for implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) which sets stricter limits on sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants in order to protect the health of residents in states downwind from the emissions.”They did not alter the January 1 implementation date,” Nelson said. “They did not revise their model based on the errors we reported to them.”In a meeting last month with high-ranking EPA officials, Texas officials noted several factual errors the EPA relied on to calculate the impact of the Cross State rule on SO2 emissions in Texas, Nelson said.The EPA overstated the amount of Texas generation available in future years by more than 10,000 megawatts, Nelson said, by including plants that are already retired and failing to adjust the state’s wind generating fleet to account for wind’s intermittent nature.”It’s disappointing that none of that was reflected in the changes,” said Nelson during a public meeting. “We were told nothing was off the table,” leading Texas officials to believe they might have a chance to respond to issues seen in ERCOT, the state’s primary grid.ERCOT has warned that stricter SO2 limits will force coal-fired plants to shut or operate fewer hours each year, increasing the likelihood of blackouts in the state which operates as a stand-alone grid with little ability to import power from other states.Luminant, Texas largest power generating company, notified ERCOT that it will suspend operations at two coal units, totaling 1,200 megawatts, at the end of the year to comply with the rule.NRG Energy Inc, Texas’ No. 2 generator, does not expect to shut plants or cut jobs due to the rule.EPA’s proposed changes to CSAPR would result in the government issuing about 1 to 2 percent more credits, which could result in 1.3 percent more emissions.ERCOT officials expect to tell the PUC what the EPA tweaks will mean for each power plant by the end of October.On the legal front, Texas is suing the EPA over the eleventh-hour inclusion of the state under an annual SO2 limit in the final rule issued in July. Texas had not been included under the agency’s draft rule.The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said changes in the final rule that reduced Louisiana’s cap for NOx emissions by 36 percent were done “without any opportunity for DEQ to review or comment on the final version,” the agency said in a statement.Other states challenging the Cross State rule in federal appeals court include Kansas, Nebraska, Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio and Wisconsin.

“The question is not whether we can stay. It is whether they will let us stay and follow what we believe,” the Rev. Jeffrey Miller of the South Carolina diocese said in the statement.The statement followed the national church formally charging South Carolina Bishop Right Reverend Mark J. Lawrence recently with “abandonment” of the church’s doctrine, discipline and worship.Lawrence and many in the South Carolina diocese disagree with the tolerance of the national denomination for gays in the church.The South Carolina bishop accused the national church of preaching a “false gospel of indiscriminate inclusivity … that has suffocated the mission of the Church,” according to the charges leveled against Lawrence.About 100 clergy members met Tuesday in Charleston to respond to the charges. The South Carolina diocese is one of the conservative Episcopal groups distancing themselves or leaving the national church over the issue of allowing homosexual ministers, and other disagreements.The Episcopal church is not the only Protestant denomination struggling with the issue of gays in the church. The Presbyterian Church ordained its first openly gay minister last week in Wisconsin, and an openly gay Methodist minister in the same state was sanctioned earlier this year for performing a same sex marriage.The South Carolina clergy believe the national church is on a “fast track” to depose their bishop, according to the statement.In 2003, the Episcopal Church ordained an openly gay man as bishop in New Hampshire. Conservative churches around the country distanced themselves from the national denomination.Two churches in South Carolina left the national denomination and joined Anglican organizations.Lynn Pagliaro, 70, a member of Grace Episcopal Church in Charleston, a city that is home to several historic Episcopal churches, said the differences go beyond homosexuality.He said many parishioners believe the national church has gone too far in its openness.”In the last eight years or so, those Episcopalians who feel very strongly on the evangelical side have coalesced on the homosexuality issue,” he said. “They’ve really worked themselves to the point that they can define what they disagree with and can’t coexist with.”

* Slovakia EFSF vote could come Thursday, hopes high* Global stocks rally spurs more selling in TreasuriesBy Emily FlitterNEW YORK, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Treasury prices fell on Wednesday as global stocks rallied on hopes that Europe’s financial crisis could soon be contained, while traders sold off Treasuries in preparation for a $21 billion auction of 10-year notes.The 30-year Treasury bond saw the heaviest selling, losing two points in price in early trading. Yields on 10-year notes were at their highest since Sept 1, while 30-year yields returned to highs last seen Sept. 21.Optimism appeared strong among market participants that European leaders would move to recapitalize struggling euro zone banks and would also succeed in expanding the European Financial Stability Fund. Slovakia is the only one of the 17 euro zone countries that must still approve the expansion of the EFSF, in a vote that could come as early as Thursday.George Goncalves, head of U.S. rates strategy at Nomura Securities in New York, said higher hopes for Europe and better U.S. economic data have “led to an overall risk-positive theme for US markets.”That atmosphere was fueling selling in the Treasury market.”We look for consolidation in the near term,” Goncalves wrote in a note to clients.William O’Donnell, head of U.S. rates strategy at RBS Securities in Stamford, Connecticut, said in a note to clients he saw several technical indicators for continued selling in Treasuries, especially in longer-dated securities. He pointed to bearish weekly momentum in 10s and 30s, and a break above the bull rate trendline on Tuesday by the 30-year yield.”Long term Treasuries are at serious risk of surprising the crowd (me too) with the magnitude of ongoing back-up,” O’Donnell wrote.That sentiment could create some confusion around Wednesday’s auction. The Treasury Department will sell $21 billion in reopened 10-year notes at 1 p.m. (1700 GMT).While selling ahead of an auction usually bodes well for demand at the auction, a widespread belief that yields are still too low could cause potential bidders to hang back.Last month’s 10-year auction drew the lowest yield ever, at 2 percent. Wednesday morning’s trading brought 10-year yields to 2.22 percent, more the 20 basis points higher. Ten-year notes were last off 21/32 in price.The 30-year bond was down two points in price and yielding 3.20 percent, up from 3.10 percent at Tuesday’s close.

“We have reaffirmed our position repeatedly. The renminbi’s exchange rate is not the cause of the trade imbalance between China and the U.S.,” Hong said. “We hope the U.S. will maintain the overall interests of bilateral trade and economic relations and refrain from politicizing this issue.”Renminbi is the formal name for China’s currency, which is also called the yuan.The Foreign Ministry has no say in China’s currency policy, but it is typically the only government department that will regularly comment on the issue.China has repeatedly rejected criticism that it deliberately undervalues its currency to give its companies a price advantage in international markets.It says it is committed to moving to a more flexible exchange rate but at its own pace.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he planned to bring up the legislation next week when lawmakers return from a break.A key provision of the Senate bill would instruct the Commerce Department to treat undervalued currencies as a subsidy under U.S. trade law, allowing companies to ask for countervailing duties against imports on a case-by-case basis.The bill reflects growing frustration in the United States over its ballooning trade deficit with China, which hit a record $273 billion in 2010.Many lawmakers believe China’s currency practices contribute to the deficit. They argue that Beijing undervalues its currency by as much as 25 percent to 40 percent against the U.S. dollar, which gives Chinese companies an unfair price advantage and has caused U.S. companies to layoff workers or shut down.China says it is being blamed for problems stemming from the U.S.’s own domestic economic problems.