Dow advanced 55, advancers ahead of decliners 3-2 & NAZ rose 6. The Financial Index was up 1+ to the 243s. The MLP index extended yesterday's decline, falling fractionally in the 445s while the REIT index went up a very large 4+ to the 391s, another multi-year high. Junk bond funds slid lower & Treasuries rallied on central banks stimulus moves. Oil had its biggest 2 day drop in months & gold finished up pennies, stuck in the mid 1500s.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif)
Photo: Bloomberg
Based on anonymous sources, The White House is telling DC politicos that its budget plan will mirror previous deficit-cutting proposals, which included changing the calculation for Social Security cost-of-living increases & tax brackets. The budget plan, set for release Apr 10, will track the offer on spending cuts & revenue increases that Obama made to Speaker Boehner as part of an end-of-the-year deal on expiring tax cuts. That plan included a new inflation gauge that would effectively reduce cost-of-living payments for Social Security beneficiaries, a measure that is sure to draw opposition from many Dems. It also proposed using the calculation for adjusting income tax brackets, which would mean higher payments for many taxpayers. The administration had no comment. Changing the inflation calculator potentially provides Obama & congressional Reps with a way to accomplish their goals: raising more revenue thru the tax-code adjustment, & reducing spending through smaller increases in Social Security payments. Changing the inflation yardstick for tax brackets would make the annual adjustments smaller than they are now. As a result, more income would be subject to higher income tax rates. The administration in its earlier proposal estimated that would bring in additional tax revenue of about $100B over 10 years (a pittance in solving the deficit mess & sure to anger many).
Obama Budget Said to Include Earlier Offer for Deficit Reduction
Photo: Yahoo
Facebook is unveiling a new experience for Android phones. The idea behind the new Home service is to bring content right to you, on the phone's home screen, rather than require you to check apps on the device. The FB event comes amid rapid growth in the number of people who access Facebook from smartphones & tablet computers. More Android integration could help FB attract more mobile advertisers. Though mobile ads have been a big concern for investors even, some of the worry has subsided as the company muscles its way into the market. Last year, FB began showing ads to its mobile audience by shoehorning corp-sponsored content into users' news feeds, which also include updates from friends & brands they follow. FB now faces the challenge of showing people mobile ads without annoying or alienating them. The stock rose 82¢.
Facebook moves to home screens of Android phones AP
Research firm Gartner says it expects worldwide PC, tablet & mobile phone shipments to reach 2.4B units this year, up 9% from 2012, & device shipments should continue to grow, hitting more than 2.9B in 2017. But the mix of devices is shifting away from PCs. Gartner expects desktop & notebook PC shipments to continue to decline as people move toward more portable devices like tablets & "ultramobile" electronics that fall somewhere between a laptop & a tablet, such as the MacBook Air. The research firm says that tablet shipments will likely reach 197M units this year, up nearly 70% from 116M in 2012.
PC, tablet, phone shipments to hit 2.4B in 2013 AP
Stocks held their own on what could have been a bad day. The Bank of Japan strengthened a stimulus program that will see it buy ¥7T ($73B) of bonds a month, exceeding expectations. More spending on securities is what bulls like to see. Of course there are consequences but they're are given little thought by the bulls. The budget battle will heat up next week when the pres presents his ideas on how to solve the overspending problem. That will coincide with the beginning of earnings season. Dow is inches from its record reached on Tues with today's gain coming in the last ½ hour. Another way to look at it is that Dow has pretty much gone sideways since Mar 14.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month |
0.068% | |
U.S. 2-year |
0.224% | |
U.S. 10-year |
1.758% |
| CLK13.NYM | ...Crude Oil May 13 | ....93.08 |  ...1.37 | (1.5%) |
Photo: Bloomberg
Based on anonymous sources, The White House is telling DC politicos that its budget plan will mirror previous deficit-cutting proposals, which included changing the calculation for Social Security cost-of-living increases & tax brackets. The budget plan, set for release Apr 10, will track the offer on spending cuts & revenue increases that Obama made to Speaker Boehner as part of an end-of-the-year deal on expiring tax cuts. That plan included a new inflation gauge that would effectively reduce cost-of-living payments for Social Security beneficiaries, a measure that is sure to draw opposition from many Dems. It also proposed using the calculation for adjusting income tax brackets, which would mean higher payments for many taxpayers. The administration had no comment. Changing the inflation calculator potentially provides Obama & congressional Reps with a way to accomplish their goals: raising more revenue thru the tax-code adjustment, & reducing spending through smaller increases in Social Security payments. Changing the inflation yardstick for tax brackets would make the annual adjustments smaller than they are now. As a result, more income would be subject to higher income tax rates. The administration in its earlier proposal estimated that would bring in additional tax revenue of about $100B over 10 years (a pittance in solving the deficit mess & sure to anger many).
Obama Budget Said to Include Earlier Offer for Deficit Reduction
Photo: Yahoo
Facebook is unveiling a new experience for Android phones. The idea behind the new Home service is to bring content right to you, on the phone's home screen, rather than require you to check apps on the device. The FB event comes amid rapid growth in the number of people who access Facebook from smartphones & tablet computers. More Android integration could help FB attract more mobile advertisers. Though mobile ads have been a big concern for investors even, some of the worry has subsided as the company muscles its way into the market. Last year, FB began showing ads to its mobile audience by shoehorning corp-sponsored content into users' news feeds, which also include updates from friends & brands they follow. FB now faces the challenge of showing people mobile ads without annoying or alienating them. The stock rose 82¢.
Facebook moves to home screens of Android phones AP
Facebook (FB)
Research firm Gartner says it expects worldwide PC, tablet & mobile phone shipments to reach 2.4B units this year, up 9% from 2012, & device shipments should continue to grow, hitting more than 2.9B in 2017. But the mix of devices is shifting away from PCs. Gartner expects desktop & notebook PC shipments to continue to decline as people move toward more portable devices like tablets & "ultramobile" electronics that fall somewhere between a laptop & a tablet, such as the MacBook Air. The research firm says that tablet shipments will likely reach 197M units this year, up nearly 70% from 116M in 2012.
PC, tablet, phone shipments to hit 2.4B in 2013 AP
Stocks held their own on what could have been a bad day. The Bank of Japan strengthened a stimulus program that will see it buy ¥7T ($73B) of bonds a month, exceeding expectations. More spending on securities is what bulls like to see. Of course there are consequences but they're are given little thought by the bulls. The budget battle will heat up next week when the pres presents his ideas on how to solve the overspending problem. That will coincide with the beginning of earnings season. Dow is inches from its record reached on Tues with today's gain coming in the last ½ hour. Another way to look at it is that Dow has pretty much gone sideways since Mar 14.
Dow Jones Industrials
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