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Sales at U.S. Wal-Mart stores open at least a year have fallen in five straight quarters, hurt by competition from lower-priced dollar stores and an economy that has allowed some shoppers to move up to rivals such as Target Corp (TGT.N).

Bill Simon became CEO of the U.S. unit in June and is expected to outline how he and his revamped management team can spur sales.

"It is really important for them to show that they can get traffic in the stores, because that's going to be the key to that stock," said Sarah Henry, equity analyst at MFC Global Investment Management.

Wal-Mart arguably shot itself in the foot as the U.S. economy pulls out of recession, first through a poorly executed attempt to whittle down the products in its stores, followed by a failed attempt to increase traffic with thousands of temporary price "rollbacks."

While sales have done better outside the United States and the company plans to grow even more internationally, the U.S. performance has weighed down Wal-Mart stock.

Wal-Mart shares are up about 1.9 percent this year, well below the 13 percent increase for the Standard & Poor's Retail Index .RLX and a 12.2 percent jump for Target.

SHAKE-UP COULD CONTINUE

Soon after Simon's appointment, the company announced the departure of U.S. merchandising chief John Fleming. His post has not been replaced and four product heads will instead report directly to Simon, the retailer said in September.

"Given how soft sales have been, we were not surprised by the shake-up and think we could see more down the road if trends don't improve soon," J.P. Morgan analyst Charles Grom said in a note to clients.

Wal-Mart's one-time apparel chief has also left. Last month, the company said long-time Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe would retire at the end of November.

"We have a whole new management team over there, so it will be important for them to articulate a strategy going forward," Henry said.

Wal-Mart has said it will focus on basics in apparel -- items such as T-shirts and underwear -- to revive what has been a lagging business.

The retailer is also bringing back many of the products that were cut from U.S. stores and shifting from high-profile price "rollbacks" that failed to draw traffic back to what it calls "everyday low prices."

Simon has said the changes being made should improve sales by the fourth quarter.

Unless excesses built up during the bubble period are resolved, Shirakawa said, it will take a fairly long time for advanced economies to return to a full-fledged recovery despite unprecedented policy efforts.

Sustaining very easy monetary policies for too long could create another bubble and sow the seeds of a crisis, he said, warning of the risks of relying solely on quick-fix stimulative measures.

"Although easy monetary policy is needed, it alone cannot solve the problem," Shirakawa said in a speech to the Institute of International Finance.

And if strong growth in emerging countries turns into an asset bubble, it could end up having consequences on both emerging and advanced economies, he said.

"A crisis comes to the surface with a different face every time," Shirakawa said.

The BOJ surprised markets on Tuesday by pushing down interest rates to zero and pledging asset purchases to pump more money into Japan's struggling economy.

The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England also have extremely accommodative monetary policies in place.

Expectations the Fed will step back into the markets next month to buy more bonds to support the anemic U.S. recovery pushed the dollar down to a 15-year low against the yen on Friday.

With investors looking for better returns, emerging market currencies have soared. The flood of monetary into developing economies has sparked fears of growing asset bubbles.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Statoil said the deal, its second major shale gas acquisition in North America, would give it recoverable reserves of about 550 million barrels of oil equivalent.

In 2008 Statoil acquired a 32.5 percent stake in the Marcellus Shale project from Chesapeake.

"The magnitude of the shale resources in North America and the significant role these resources are expected to play in the future energy mix make this an attractive opportunity," said, John Knight, Statoil's senior vice-president for business development and global unconventional gas, in a statement.

Statoil said it and Talisman were jointly buying 97,000 acres of land in southwest Texas from Denver-based Enduring Resources for $1.325 billion and have formed a 50/50 joint venture to develop these assets.

"The purchase price equates to about US$10,900 per acre," it said in a statement.

The Norwegian firm will also buy half of Talisman's existing assets in the Eagle Ford play for $180 million.

"As a result, Statoil and Talisman will together hold 134,000 net Eagle Ford acres and associated assets and production in the joint venture," it said.

The two transactions amount to a total consideration for Statoil of $843 million, Statoil said.

(Editing by Greg Mahlich)

Soros' comments to BBC radio on Friday, broadcast on Saturday, come as global finance chiefs at a meeting in Washington seek to prevent tensions over currency valuations from derailing a fragile economic recovery.

"One of the basic imbalances that was at the root of the financial crisis and which needs to be corrected is the chronic (trade) surplus in China and big deficit in the United States," Soros said, referring to the 2008 financial crash.

China has kept its yuan currency undervalued in a managed float to keep its exports competitive.

"Certainly a better alignment of those two currencies would help over time to correct that imbalance," he added.

At annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday, finance ministers and central bank governors repeated a call for export powerhouses, such as China, to spend more at home so indebted countries, like the U.S., can rebuild their finances without risking a still-fragile global recovery.

Officials worry that a weak U.S. dollar and relatively strong currencies elsewhere could push nations into a round of currency depreciations to help their exports.

Soros said China's currency should be allowed to appreciate, but a sudden jump of 20 percent or more would lead to reduced exports and unemployment in China, reducing consumption there.

"So you can't adjust the exchange rate too rapidly, but 10 percent a year should definitely be doable. That would mean that you take two years to get 20 percent."

China, which has rebuffed calls from the West to let its currency rise faster, allowed the yuan to firm on Friday to its highest level against the dollar since a revaluation in July 2005.

The IMF and World Bank meetings continue over the weekend.

(Writing by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by Toby Chopra)

Chairman and chief executive officer Klaus Kleinfeld, speaking on a conference call after reporting third quarter earnings late Thursday, said in answer to an analyst's question, "We are totally supportive. I have said that many, many times, totally supportive."

He added, however, challenges remain to actually bringing an aluminum ETF to market, but he was optimistic they would be resolved.

"The structure is one, physical metal premium is another one. And then, the question of what do you do with large redemptions that require large and major cash outflows? So, these things still need to get solved," he said.

Noting RUSAL, the world's biggest aluminum producer, has said recently it would likely supply aluminum as an underlying asset for an ETF [nTOE65S075], the analyst asked Kleinfeld whether Alcoa would do the same.

"Yes, we would definitely be willing to provide metal in here, and we have always said that. We were very supportive. Whether we provide metal or whether not, this is a good thing for the industry to happen," the CEO said, adding the willingness to issue an aluminum ETF was an indication of the light metal's attractiveness.

(Reporting by Carole Vaporean;editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)