Dow climber 134 (but not good enough for a new record), advancers over decliners 3-1 & NAZ recovered 43. The MLP index rose 2+ to the 465s (close to a record) & the REIT index went up 1+ to the 285s. Junk bond funds gained & Treasuries were quiet. Oil pulled back & gold saw selling in the PM.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif)
Photo: Bloomberg
Federal Reserve (FED) Chair Janet Yellen, easing investor concern that interest rates may rise earlier than previously forecast, said the world’s biggest economy will need FED stimulus for “some time.” Yellen said the FED hasn’t done enough to combat unemployment even after holding interest rates near zero for more than 5 years & pumping up its balance sheet to $4.2T with bond purchases. “This extraordinary commitment is still needed and will be for some time, and I believe that view is widely shared by my fellow policy makers,” Yellen said in Chicago. “The scars from the Great Recession remain, and reaching our goals will take time.” Yellen spotlighted as evidence “real people behind the statistics,” describing how one person lost 2 jobs, endured homelessness & now serves food samples part-time at a grocery store. Today’s speech shows Yellen is inclined to press on with accommodation to boost employment because she focused on slack in the labor market & didn’t mention economic growth.
Yellen Says Slack in Job Market Shows Need for Support
Photo: Bloomberg
Russia began pulling back some troops from Ukraine’s eastern border as diplomatic moves continued to ease the crisis over its annexation of Crimea. Pres Putin told Chancellor Angela Merkel that he’d ordered a partial withdrawal. A Russian motorized battalion was returning to its base in the Samara region on the Volga river after exercises near the Ukrainian border. Secretary of State Kerry & his Russian counterpart, Lavrov, discussed Ukraine a day after 4 hours of talks between the 2 in Paris. “I have the impression that a process of reflection has begun” in Russia, Merkel said. “We would also like to have Russia closer to Europe if it plays by the rules.” Putin & Merkel also discussed “possible further steps to stabilize the situation in Ukraine and in Transnistria,” the breakaway pro-Russian region of Moldova on Ukraine’s southwest border. Putin’s office said the 2 leaders agreed to continue close cooperation, while saying the Russian pres had stressed the need for “constitutional reforms” in Ukraine that would also reflect the interests of Russian-speakers concentrated in the east of the country. Ukraine has rejected the Kremlin’s demands that it grant its regions greater powers. Shrugging off sanctions from the US & European allies, Putin has justified Russia’s takeover of Crimea as righting a historical wrong that split the region off from Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed.
Russia Pulls Back Some Troops Amid Moves to Ease Crisis
Microsoft, a Dow stock, CEO Satya Nadella announced new leadership roles for Scott Guthrie. Nadella, who took over as CEO last month, wrote in an e-mail that he had appointed Guthrie to lead company’s cloud & enterprise organization. Spencer will run the Xbox business & VP of the devices group when MSFT completes its acquisition of Nokia’s handset unit. The CEO earlier this month named a chief strategy officer & disclosed the exits of several top executives. Nadella is lining up his leadership team as he seeks growth in devices & cloud services. He is also replacing execs who’ve left after Ballmer’s management overhaul in Jul & Nadella’s own appointment. The changes among execs show “how we’re continuing to evolve and tune our organization for maximum focus and impact,” Nadella wrote. Guthrie, who has been named a new exec VP, has been the acting head of the cloud unit for the past 2 months, replacing Nadella. The stock went up 69¢ to the highest level in more than a decade. If you would like to learn more about MSFT, click on this link for Trend Analysis:
http://club.ino.com/trend/?symb=MSFT&a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Makes Management Changes Ahead of Conference
The S&P 500 held on for a new record close, but that title eluded the Dow (needing another 120). As a consolation prize, it managed to advance 136 in Mar. The moves today don't mean much when numerous portfolio adjustments were being made. Tomorrow's numbers will be of greater interest. Of course, kind words from Janet Yellen can always be counted on to bring out buyers. As she indicated today, more such comments will be coming.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month |
0.03% | |
U.S. 2-year |
0.43% | |
U.S. 10-year |
2.72% |
| CLK14.NYM | ....Crude Oil May 14 | ....101.57 |  ...0.10 | (0.1%) |
Federal Reserve (FED) Chair Janet Yellen, easing investor concern that interest rates may rise earlier than previously forecast, said the world’s biggest economy will need FED stimulus for “some time.” Yellen said the FED hasn’t done enough to combat unemployment even after holding interest rates near zero for more than 5 years & pumping up its balance sheet to $4.2T with bond purchases. “This extraordinary commitment is still needed and will be for some time, and I believe that view is widely shared by my fellow policy makers,” Yellen said in Chicago. “The scars from the Great Recession remain, and reaching our goals will take time.” Yellen spotlighted as evidence “real people behind the statistics,” describing how one person lost 2 jobs, endured homelessness & now serves food samples part-time at a grocery store. Today’s speech shows Yellen is inclined to press on with accommodation to boost employment because she focused on slack in the labor market & didn’t mention economic growth.
Yellen Says Slack in Job Market Shows Need for Support
Russia began pulling back some troops from Ukraine’s eastern border as diplomatic moves continued to ease the crisis over its annexation of Crimea. Pres Putin told Chancellor Angela Merkel that he’d ordered a partial withdrawal. A Russian motorized battalion was returning to its base in the Samara region on the Volga river after exercises near the Ukrainian border. Secretary of State Kerry & his Russian counterpart, Lavrov, discussed Ukraine a day after 4 hours of talks between the 2 in Paris. “I have the impression that a process of reflection has begun” in Russia, Merkel said. “We would also like to have Russia closer to Europe if it plays by the rules.” Putin & Merkel also discussed “possible further steps to stabilize the situation in Ukraine and in Transnistria,” the breakaway pro-Russian region of Moldova on Ukraine’s southwest border. Putin’s office said the 2 leaders agreed to continue close cooperation, while saying the Russian pres had stressed the need for “constitutional reforms” in Ukraine that would also reflect the interests of Russian-speakers concentrated in the east of the country. Ukraine has rejected the Kremlin’s demands that it grant its regions greater powers. Shrugging off sanctions from the US & European allies, Putin has justified Russia’s takeover of Crimea as righting a historical wrong that split the region off from Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed.
Russia Pulls Back Some Troops Amid Moves to Ease Crisis
Microsoft, a Dow stock, CEO Satya Nadella announced new leadership roles for Scott Guthrie. Nadella, who took over as CEO last month, wrote in an e-mail that he had appointed Guthrie to lead company’s cloud & enterprise organization. Spencer will run the Xbox business & VP of the devices group when MSFT completes its acquisition of Nokia’s handset unit. The CEO earlier this month named a chief strategy officer & disclosed the exits of several top executives. Nadella is lining up his leadership team as he seeks growth in devices & cloud services. He is also replacing execs who’ve left after Ballmer’s management overhaul in Jul & Nadella’s own appointment. The changes among execs show “how we’re continuing to evolve and tune our organization for maximum focus and impact,” Nadella wrote. Guthrie, who has been named a new exec VP, has been the acting head of the cloud unit for the past 2 months, replacing Nadella. The stock went up 69¢ to the highest level in more than a decade. If you would like to learn more about MSFT, click on this link for Trend Analysis:
http://club.ino.com/trend/?symb=MSFT&a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Makes Management Changes Ahead of Conference
Microsoft (MSFT)
The S&P 500 held on for a new record close, but that title eluded the Dow (needing another 120). As a consolation prize, it managed to advance 136 in Mar. The moves today don't mean much when numerous portfolio adjustments were being made. Tomorrow's numbers will be of greater interest. Of course, kind words from Janet Yellen can always be counted on to bring out buyers. As she indicated today, more such comments will be coming.
Dow Jones Industrials
I’m a huge fan of INO & from what I have seen so far, their service Marketclub! This isn’t a stripped down version, everything in MarketClub is available to you. I don’t want to give everything away, but you’ll have unlimited access to my favorite 3 tools: Trade Triangles, Smart Scan & Alerts! The best part is that the MarketClub customer support team will be providing UNLIMITED support! You can call or email for an instant response to any question, comment or concern.
Here’s that link:
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I’d recommend you jump on this now.
