Thursday, March 14, 2013

Dow rises for 10th day, S&P eyes record

from Reuters


Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, March 13, 2013. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK | Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:16am EDT
(Reuters) - Wall Street rose on Thursday as the Dowextended its recent winning streak to 10 days in a row after data showed the labor market recovery was gaining traction.
The broader S&P 500 was also closing in on its all-time high in the wake of new record levels for the Dow. The S&P was roughly 5 points away from its closing peak of 1,565.15.
A 10-day run of advances for the Dow would match a string of gains last seen in late 1996. U.S. equities have accelerated since the start of the year, boosted by improvement in the economy and continued easy monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.
"At this point, it's just pure momentum," said Brian Gendreau, market strategist at Cetera Financial Group, based in Los Angeles.
"We are responding to a lot of pent-up demand - people finally coming into the stock market after having been burned very badly in 2008 and 2009."
Three months into the year, the Dow has shot up more than 10 percent, while the S&P has gained 9 percent.
Data on Thursday offered fresh signs of strength in the U.S. labor market as the number of filings for new unemployment benefits fell for the third week in a row.
A separate report showed producer prices rose in February by the most in five months as gasoline prices spiked. There was, however, little sign of a broader increase in inflation pressures that could force the Fed to tighten monetary policy.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 55.09 points, or 0.38 percent, to 14,510.37. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 5.32 points, or 0.34 percent, to 1,559.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC added 9.87 points, or 0.30 percent, to 3,254.99.
Energy shares led indexes higher with the S&P sector .SPNY gaining 0.8 percent. Chevron (CVX.N) was among the biggest percentage gainers on the Dow, rising 1.3 percent to $119.90.
EBay (EBAY.O) climbed 3.6 percent to $52.83 after Evercore Partners raised its rating to "overweight."
But on the downside, Amazon (AMZN.O) shares fell 2.7 percent to $267.54 after JPMorgan cut its rating on the stock to "neutral" from "overweight" and lowered its price target to $300 from $333.
E*Trade (ETFC.O) shares tumbled 5.9 percent to $11.12 after Citadel LLC, its largest investor, said it is selling its entire stake in the discount brokerage and bank company.
(Editing by Nick Zieminski)
at No comments:

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Paul Krugman Tells GOP Senator: ‘Your Facts Are False’ On Social Security

from thinkprogress.org



Paul Krugman Tells GOP Senator: ‘Your Facts Are False’ On Social Security

By Adam Peck on Mar 10, 2013 at 11:51 am
During a contentious panel on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) found himself at odds with his fellow panelists — and with the facts — about Social Security’s solvency.
Johnson and fellow panelist Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) had been discussing the long-term solvency of Social Security when Johnson made the claim that the Social Security Trust Fund was a myth, and that the revenue generated from the sale of securities to the federal government somehow should not count in calculating the program’s fiscal health.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman jumped in to point out that Johnson was unwilling to accept even the most basic facts over the way Social Security is funded, all for the sake of a talking point:
KRUGMAN: You said ‘let’s start with the facts,’ but we’ve just run aground right there.
JOHNSON: Exactly my point, we have got to agree on the facts and figures.
KRUGMAN: But your facts are false…Social Security has a dedicated revenue base, it has a trust fund based on that dedicated revenue base. You can’t change the rules mid stream and say ‘oh, suddenly the trust fund doesn’t count.’ [...] It’s important to realize that the facts that are being brought out here are in fact non-facts.
Watch it:
The Social Security trust fund is solvent through 2038, and the program would almost certainly have long-term solvency were it not for the Republican-backed cap on payroll taxes for income above a certain level.
at No comments:

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Controversial Interview Exposes 5 Signs Stocks Will Collapse in 2013

from moneynews


Friday, 08 Mar 2013 03:34 PM
By Newsmax Wires
Share:
More . . .
A    A   |
   Email Us   |
   Print   |
“After putting $803,436 in Obama’s re-election campaign, a media giant attempted to keep Americans from seeing the video by banning it from their sites,” stated Aaron DeHoog, the financial publisher who is unapologetic for the release of controversial footage that has gained international attention.
The video DeHoog is referring to is a stunning interview with famed economist Robert Wiedemer, author of the New York Times best-selling book Aftershock.
Wiedemer, best known for correctly predicting the collapse of the U.S. housing market, equity markets, and consumer spending that almost sank the United States during the “Great Recession”, provides disturbing evidence in the video interview for 50 percent unemployment, a 90 percent stock market crash, and 100 percent annual inflation . . . starting as soon as 2013.
When the host of the interview expressed disbelief in Wiedemer’s claims, he calmly displayed five indisputable charts to back up his predictions (click here to see those exact charts).


The interview has become a wake-up call for those unprepared (or unwilling) to acknowledge an ugly truth: The country’s financial “rescue” devised in Washington has failed miserably.
The blame lies squarely on those whose job it was to avoid the exact situation we find ourselves in, including current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Chairman Alan Greenspan, tasked with preventing financial meltdowns and keeping the nation’s economy strong through monetary and credit policies.
At one point, Wiedemer even calls out Bernanke, saying that his “money from heaven will be the path to hell.”
But it’s not just the grim predictions that are causing the sensation in Wiedemer’s video interview. Rather, it’s his comprehensive blueprint for economic survival that’s really commanding global attention.
The interview offers realistic, step-by-step solutions that the average hard-working American can easily follow.
Editor’s Note: See the 5 signs the stock market will collapse in 2013. Click here now
“[The interview] was originally filmed for a private audience,” DeHoog explains. “People were sitting up and taking notice, and they begged us to make the interview public so they could easily share it.”
Since that day, over 40 million concerned citizens have tuned in to prepare for “the unthinkable.”
As for the media giant that wanted to ban the video, DeHoog was able to work out a compromise.
“We agreed to tweak the webpage some, but we didn’t change the content of the interview. That had to stay the same. The interview simply states the financial data as is, and then simple, practical advice is given that viewers can take to protect their wealth, and even profit, during the days ahead.”Asked if he is concerned if Wiedemer’s predictions don’t come true, DeHoog replied, “Absolutely not. The best-case scenario is that Wiedemer is wrong. .
“Unfortunately, he has been dead-on thus far. No, our real concern is this, and it’s the more likely scenario — what if just half of Wiedemer’s predictions come true? Bottom line, it is imperative that Americans be prepared, and that is why we will continue to air this powerful interview.”
Editor’s Note: For a limited time, Newsmax is showing the Wiedemer interview and supplying viewers with copies of the new, updated Aftershock book including the final, unpublished chapter. Go here to view it now.




Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.moneynews.com/Outbrain/interview-exposes-stocks-collapse/2012/09/20/id/456981?PROMO_CODE=109C0-1#v1&utm_source=taboola#ixzz2N4pbtKBF
Urgent: Should Obamacare Be Repealed? Vote Here Now!
at No comments:

Thursday, March 7, 2013

North Korea rages at new UN sanctions

from theguardian.com


Non-aggression pact with South Korea cancelled, adding to threat of nuclear attack on US and 'crushing strikes' on foes
A North Korean rally held after the threat to launch a nuclear strike against the US
A North Korean rally held after the threat to launch a nuclear strike against the US. Photograph: KCNA/AFP/Getty
North Korea has said it is cancelling a hotline and non-aggression pact with the South after the United Nations security council unanimously backed a toughened sanctions regime over the country's third nuclear test.
Pyongyang issued a series of warnings in the run-up to Thursday's vote, and in the hours before the council met it raised the threat of a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the United States. Experts point out it has a history of bellicose statements without matching action, and do not believe it capable of mounting a nuclear warhead on a missile that could reach the US, but expect the North to take action of some kind in response.
Shortly after the resolution was agreed the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, the body dealing with cross-border affairs on the peninsula, announced the cancellation of the hotline and non-aggression pact, repeating its threat to retaliate with "crushing strikes" if enemies trespass on to its territory and to cancel nuclear disarmament agreements with the South.
"According to their strategy and gameplan they have to do something – they have to respond," said Daniel Pinkston, deputy project director for the north-east Asia programme at the International Crisis Group.
"With the announcement of exclusionary zones for ships and aircraft [off the North's coasts] I would suspect a live-fire missile exercise. It may be they will have another nuclear test. They can roll out a number of things ... There is a game of brinksmanship and signalling their resolve."
But he noted: "There is a risk and it increases the likelihood of misperception, miscalculation and inadvertent escalations. The statements and the things they are doing shorten the escalation process, which is of course a concern."
The new resolution was reached after lengthy discussions between the US and China, the North's main ally. It aims to hinder the missile and nuclear programmes, as well as hitting the elite with a more stringent version of the 2006 ban on the export of luxury goods to the country. Measures include tightened financial restrictions and cargo inspections.
Jennifer Lind, associate professor at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, noted: "For a long time we were sanctioning them in the hope [the North] would change its behaviour ... but North Korea seems rather determined to hang on to its nuclear programme."
The other aim of sanctions was "to deny them the things they need to make this effective and I think that's the world we're in now: trying to make it difficult as possible for them to build their nuclear programme".
Marcus Noland of the Peterson Institute for International Economics warned in a blogpost that the resolution was unlikely to have substantial effect.
Referring to the financial measures and the requirement for states to deny ports and overflight rights to ships and vessels with suspect cargo: "Each of these provisions has a kind of 'credible information' clause and a government which does not want to enforce them can say that they lack credible information or that the information that they were provided did not meet the standard of reasonable grounds."
The resolution established for the first time what constitutes luxury goods – including some kinds of jewellery,  yachts,  and expensive or racing cars – rather than leaving the decision to individual countries. But Noland noted that it left out many of the items included on lists by Australia, the European Union and Russia such as expensive fur coats, watches and prestigious liquor brands. "Your cognac and big-screen HDTVs are safe," he said.
Noland also wrote:  "If the Chinese government chooses to enforce resolution 2094 rigorously it could seriously disrupt, if not end, North Korea's proliferation activities. Unfortunately, if past behaviour is any guide, this is unlikely to happen."
China's ambassador to the UN, Li Baodong, told reporters that Beijing wanted "full implementation" of the resolution.
at No comments:

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Dow passes intraday trading record; markets seem undaunted by Washington gridlock

from The Washington Post




View Photo Gallery — The history of the Dow Jones industrial average: The Dow Jones industrial average reached a record high. From the Great Depression to the Great Recession, here’s a look back at the storied history of the index.

By ,


The benchmark Dow Jones industrial average reached an all-time high Tuesday on news that China was pledging to plow more money into its economy, returning the markets to highs not seen since before the 2008 financial crisis.
By noon Tuesday, the Dow was up more than 145 points, or 1.03 percent, to 14,273.70, blowing past both an intraday record and a closing record that were both set in October 2007, during a time when the economy was just peaking and headed toward disaster. The previous intraday-trading high was 14,198.10; the closing record was 14,164.53.
Loading...



Personal Post
Gallery

WonkTalk: Is the American economy doomed?

VIDEO | The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein of WonkBlog talks with economic reporter Jim Tankersley about his recent piece that explores whether America’s slow economic growth is the new normal.
Related stories

Why investors should ignore the economy

Chris Mayer
Now that the “fiscal cliff” drama is finally over, here’s a tip to begin 2013: Don’t rely on economic forecasts to predict what’s on the horizon when it comes to stocks.

Ten finance trends to watch in 2013

Ten finance trends to watch in 2013
Barry Ritholtz
Huge shifts have already taken place, and understanding what they are will help your financial planning.

America's diminished economic potential

America's diminished economic potential
Jim Tankersley
Five things to know about America's lower economic potential.

A little more than five years later, the crisis seems a distant memory for a number of big U.S. companies that are reporting record profits, even though many Americans remain jobless and wages have stagnated.
The country’s most famous index tracks the stock prices of 30 companies, including such iconic firms as IBM, General Electric and JPMorgan, and it is weighted by price.
IBM, which carries by far the most weight in the Dow Jones index, has risen more than 80 percent in the last five years. Even a company like Hewlett-Packard, which also is on the index and has struggled to find its footing in recent years, has seen its shares jump more than 40 percent so far this year.
The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, another oft-cited measure for the market, was also heading toward its record high Tuesday morning, jumping about 15 points, or 1.02 percent, to 1,540.69.
Tuesday’s market gains came as the Chinese government announced overnight it was maintaining a growth target of 7.5 percent for this year. The government said it plans to increase spending to support the country’s economy after a slip in growth last year.
The Dow’s record high confirmed that the ongoing political paralysis in Washington has failed to spook the markets much in the past year. As lawmakers and President Obama lurch from one fiscal deadline to the next — from the debt-ceiling crisis in 2011 to the fiscal cliff to the steep budget cuts triggered last week — the markets have soldiered on with hardly a bump.
“The stock market and the American public are looking at the political theater with a jaundiced eye,” said Ted Weisberg from the New York Stock Exchange, where he has been a trader on the floor for more than four decades.
The markets hardly reacted on March 1, when severe domestic and defense cuts went into effect. The Dow Jones Industrial even rose 0.25 percent that day. A popular index for gauging fear in the markets called the CBOE Volatility Index, or the VIX, dropped nearly one percent.
Wall Street’s reactions have developed into a pattern of near-indifference followed by optimism when a political resolution is found.
In the days building up to the fiscal cliff at the end of last year, the markets were sanguine. But when a compromise was reached on New Year’s Day, the Dow surged more than 308 points, or 2.35 percent. The S&P 500 jumped 36.25 points, or 2.54 percent.
Many on Wall Street feel they’ve seen this movie before, even dismissing the dire warnings of politicians as all theater.
“My sense is that our president and the White House are crying wolf,” Weisberg said of President Obama’s warnings about the sequester last week.
Yu-Dee Chang, chief trader at Ace Investment Strategists in Vienna, Va., said the impact of the sequester is being felt more strongly in Washington than on Wall Street. Investors have been less worried about the cuts themselves, which may be dramatic but still represent a tiny sliver of the national deficit.
Chang also noted that stock prices have been boosted by the Federal Reserve’s massive stimulus program that has pushed down both long- and short-term interest rates. The low rates have encouraged investors to seek out higher returns in the stock market.
“The market has the Fed behind its back,” Chang said. “Everyone is still looking for that yield. . . That’s why the Fed strategy is working.” 
Adjusted for inflation, the Dow is still about 10 percent off the 2007 high. Nevertheless, the market still has shown a remarkable turnaround since the crisis, at least compared to other measures like the country’s economic growth and joblessness figures.
People eyeing their retirement portfolios may be cheering the market’s return to pre-recession levels. But how much longer can the good times last?
Ed Easterling, founder and president of investment firm Crestmont Holdings, says that stocks are at a point that’s “about as good as they can get, absent a bubble.”
“It’s time to be careful,” he said.
Staff writer Ylan Q. Mui contributed to this report.

at No comments:

Monday, March 4, 2013

Dennis Rodman Ambassador ?

at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)