Supreme Court Justices Express Support for Arizona Immigration Law

Source

“Supreme Court justices expressed support for the Arizona immigration law at oral arguments today, according to CBS’ chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford.

Even some of the court’s liberal justices seemed to support the most controversial part of the law: the part that requires officials to check the immigration status of people during routine traffic stops and anyone detained or arrested. From NBC:

Based on comments during Wednesday’s oral arguments on the case, even some of the court’s liberal justices seemed to find no strong objection to the most controversial part of the law, which requires local police to check on the immigration status of anyone they detain or arrest.

It’s another blow to the Obama administration, which last month endured the fallout from a more skeptical than anticipated Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act. ”

Summary of world markets

Currency rates

Source

“1:00 pm : The major equity averages are up with varied gains. Heavyweight Apple has been a leader, but many market participants remain on edge as they await the more from the Fed following the latest FOMC statement.

Apple (AAPL 614.52, +54.24) — the largest stock by market cap — has rallied higher after it had set a monthly low yesterday. The stock’s snapback comes in response to the company’s latest quarterly report, which featured earnings that easily surpassed what Wall Street had expected. That has helped lift the overall Tech sector to a near 3% gain, and boost the Nasdaq to a 2% gain after the Tech-rich Index had lagged during the prior day of trade.

The positive response to Apple’s earnings has been strong enough to overshadow disappointing durable goods orders numbers that featured a 4.2% drop in overall orders and a 1.1% decline in orders less transportation items. Both were worse than what had been expected.

The latest FOMC Policy Statement was little changed from recent versions in that it stated the economy continues to expand at a moderate pace, but low resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run are expected to warrant exceptionally low levels of the fed funds rate at least through late 2014. Although that report is out of the way, the FOMC’s forecast will draw plenty of attention when it is released at 2:00 PM ET. Fed Chairman Bernanke follows it with a press conference at 2:15 PM ET. DJ30 +69.63 NASDAQ +60.40 SP500 +16.22 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1755/865 mln/685 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2155/335 mln/755

12:35 pm : Action among stocks has turned somewhat choppy in response to the latest FOMC statement, but the major equity averages continue to sport impressive gains.

The latest statement from the FOMC indicates that the economy continues to expand at a moderate pace and that even though the unemployment rate has declined, it remains elevated. Still, the committee believes that the unemployment rate will decline gradually toward levels that it judges to be consistent with its dual mandate.

The FOMC also noted that inflation has picked up somewhat, but it maintains a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run. Accordingly, the FOMC anticipates exceptionally low levels of the fed funds rate at least through late 2014.

Still to come is the FOMC’s forecast at 2:00 PM ET. It will be followed by Fed Chairman Bernanke’s press conference at 2:15 PM ET. DJ30 +61.84 NASDAQ +59.13 SP500 +14.75 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1775/790 mln/645 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2180/305 mln/720

12:00 pm : Stocks are coasting along ahead of the latest FOMC statement, which is due at the bottom of the hour. No changes to the target interest rate or its outlook are expected, but the verbiage will likely receive close scrutiny by those looking for clues about the Fed’s mindset ahead of the FOMC forecast at 2:00 PM ET. Market participants will also pay close attention to the comments made by Fed Chairman Bernanke during his press conference at 2:15 PM ET.DJ30 +69.85 NASDAQ +55.77 SP500 +14.04 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1760/690 mln/635 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2165/265 mln/690

11:30 am : Stocks have started to tick higher after recently returning to their opening levels. Despite the strong gains among stocks today, Treasuries have traded with only modest losses. In fact, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note is only back at the 2.00% threshold. Results from an auction of 5-year Notes have just hit the newswires, but there hasn’t yet been any knee-jerk reaction among Treasuries.DJ30 +79.55 NASDAQ +57.75 SP500 +14.65 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1740/570 mln/605 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2120/225 mln/725

11:00 am : Stocks have drifted lower in recent trade, but the broad market continues to boast a 1.0% gain while the Nasdaq sits on a gain of nearly 2%. The Dow is also up today, but its less impressive gain comes after blue chips had helped it outperform in the prior session.

Financials have fallen to the flat line over the past hour of action. The sector benefited from a strong, broad bid in the early going, but it has since been undermined by renewed weakness in bank stocks. However, insurance outfit Aflac (AFL 44.70, +2.70) has been a strong performer following its latest quarterly report, which featured better-than-expected results for its bottom line. DJ30 +77.35 NASDAQ +57.40 SP500 +14.02 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1835/470 mln/510 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2275/190 mln/555

10:35 am : Oil prices were just shy of $104 per barrel in the minutes that preceded the latest weekly inventory report, which showed a build of 3.98 million barrels when a build of 2.70 million barrels had been widely anticipated. Prices have since moved down to $103.60 per barrel, which leaves them flat for the day.

Natural gas prices continue to trade near $2.00 per MMBtu, making for a 1.4% gain. Natural gas weekly inventory numbers are due tomorrow.

Gold has traded with a modest loss all morning. It was last quoted at $1639.50 per ounce, down 0.3% for the day. Silver was up in early pit trade, but it has since traded down to $30.75 per ounce, which makes it unchanged for the session. DJ30 +79.58 NASDAQ +64.20 SP500 +15.75 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1825/325 mln/470 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2290/135 mln/475

10:00 am : Stocks have eased off of their morning highs, but overall gains remain strong. That said, the Dow, which outperformed in the prior session, is trading with a gain that is less than half of what the Tech-rich Nasdaq has achieved.

Tech stocks are out in front of the rest of the market. The sector is currently up a little more than 3% as computer hardware stocks and related plays rally in response to the latest report from Apple (AAPL 615.25, +54.97). The action comes in contrast with that of the prior session, when Tech stocks lagged for virtually the entire session and even settled with a 0.6% loss. DJ30 +91.66 NASDAQ +67.29 SP500 +17.06 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1785/124 mln/385 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2345/70 mln/345

09:45 am : The major equity averages are off to a positive start to today’s trade. The Nasdaq is looking especially strong after it had lagged in the prior session.”

Via Yahoo

The FOMC statement is nearly identical to the last one. A modest downward revision in the economy and a slight uptick in inflation.

(Inferred language) – Essentially, it is not likely to see additional QE for the moment.

Full report 

NYPOST.com COMMENTARY

The apparent epidemic of autism is in fact the latest instance of the fads that litter the history of psychiatry.

We have a strong urge to find labels for disturbing behaviors; naming things gives us an (often false) feeling that we control them. So, time and again, an obscure diagnosis suddenly comes out of nowhere to achieve great popularity. It seems temporarily to explain a lot of previously confusing behavior — but then suddenly and mysteriously returns to obscurity.

Not so long ago, autism was the rarest of diagnoses, occurring in fewer than one in 2,000 people. Now the rate has skyrocketed to 1 in 88 in America (and to a remarkable 1 in 38 in Korea). And there is no end in sight.

GETTY IMAGES

The 10th Annual Walk Now for Autism Speaks on Saturday in Pasadena, California.

Increasingly panicked, parents have become understandably vulnerable to quackery and conspiracy theories. The worst result has been a reluctance to vaccinate kids because of the thoroughly disproved and discredited suggestion that the shots can somehow cause autism.

There are also frantic (and probably futile) efforts to find environmental toxins that might be harming developing brains, explaining the sudden explosion of autism.

Anything is possible, but when rates rise this high and this fast, the best bet is always that there has been a change in diagnostic habits, not a real change in people or in the rate of illness.

So what is really going on to cause this “epidemic”?

Perhaps a third of the huge jump in rates can be explained by three factors: the much-increased public and provider awareness of autism, the much-reduced stigma associated with it and the fact that the definition of autism has been loosened to include milder cases.

Sixteen years ago, when we updated the DSM (the official manual of psych diagnoses) for the fourth edition, we expanded the definition of autism to include Aspergers. At the time, we expected this to triple the rate of diagnosed cases; instead, it has climbed 20 times higher.

That unexpected jump has three obvious causes. Most important, the diagnosis has become closely linked with eligibility for special school services.

Having the label can make the difference between being closely attended to in a class of four versus being lost in a class of 40. Kids who need special attention can often get it only if they are labeled autistic.

So the autism tent has been stretched to accommodate a wide variety of difficult learning, behavioral and social problems that certainly deserve help — but aren’t really autism. Probably as many as half of the kids labeled autistic wouldn’t really meet the DSM IV criteria if these were applied carefully.

Freeing autism from its too tight coupling with service provision would bring down its rates and end the “epidemic.” But that doesn’t mean that school services should also be reduced. The mislabeled problems are serious in their own right, and call out for help.

The second driver of the jump in diagnosis has been a remarkably active and successful consumer advocacy on autism, facilitated by the power of the Internet. This has had four big upsides: the identification of previously missed cases, better care and education for the identified cases, greatly expanded research and a huge reduction in stigma.

But there are two unfortunate downsides: Many people with the diagnosis don’t really meet the criteria for it, and the diagnosis has become so heterogeneous that it loses meaning and predictive value. This is why so many kids now outgrow their autism. They were never really autistic in the first place.

A third cause has been overstated claims coming from epidemiological research — studies of autism rates in the general population. For reasons of convenience and cost, the ratings in the studies always have to be done by lay interviewers, who aren’t trained as clinicians and so are unable to judge whether the elicited symptoms are severe and enduring enough to qualify as a mental disorder.

It’s important to understand that the rates reported in these studies are always upper limits, not true rates; they exaggerate the prevalence of autism by including people who’d be excluded by careful clinical interview. (This also explains why rates can change so quickly from year to year.)

So where do we stand, and what should we do? I am for a more careful and restricted diagnosis of autism that isn’t driven by service requirements. I am also for kids getting the school services they need.

The only way to achieve both goals is to reduce the inordinate power of the diagnosis of autism in determining who gets what educational service. Psychiatric diagnosis is devised for use in clinical settings, not educational ones. It may help contribute to educational decisions but should not determine them.

Human nature changes slowly, if at all, but the ways we label it can change fast and tend to follow fleeting fashions.

Dr. Allen Frances, now a professor emeritus at Duke University’s department of psychology, chaired the DSM IV task force.

3D heat map

S&P A/D line

NASDAQ

NYSE

New Highs 111 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      HIGH                VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
Ace Ltd                       ACE         76.02              796,872 
Alamo Grp                     ALG         32.98                7,961 
Alleghany Corp                Y           340.98               4,574 
Alliant Energy                LNT         45.07              282,234 
Allied World                  AWH         71.36               16,743 
Amdocs                        DOX         32.10              255,921 
American Tower REIT           AMT         64.70              472,681 
Avalonbay Communities         AVB         145.82             122,359 
BB&T Corp                     BBT         32.36            1,151,598 
BRT Realty Trust              BRT         8.35                 3,347 
Bally Technologies            BYI         48.50              410,688 
Bank Of Hawaii                BOH         49.65              130,032 
Barnes Group                  B           28.41              165,696 
Bluegreen Corp                BXG         6.43                36,493 
Blyth                         BTH         85.69               28,715 
Brown & Brown                 BRO         26.84              270,686 
Brown Forman B                BF/B        85.90               18,739 
CTS Corp                      CTS         11.22               29,714 
Cabelas                       CAB         39.88              159,950 
Canadian Natl Railway         CNI         84.22              358,216 
Carlisle Cos                  CSL         56.05              220,326 
Carriage Services             CSV         7.76                16,972 
Carters                       CRI         52.44              162,156 
Cleco Corp                    CNL         40.22              185,294 
Coca-Cola                     KO          74.85            2,713,916 
Colgate-Palmolive             CL          99.53              694,746 
Colonial Properties Tr        CLP         22.69              165,356 
Cooper Cos                    COO         87.54               79,875 
Crown Castle Intl             CCI         56.29              330,568 
Diebold Inc                   DBD         42.93              966,011 
Douglas Emmett                DEI         23.60              250,516 
Duff & Phelps Cl A            DUF         16.50              107,003 
Education Realty Trust        EDR         11.34              114,376 
Embraer ADS                   ERJ         35.55              274,844 
Equity One                    EQY         20.76              162,138 
Essex Property Trust          ESS         159.96              30,574 
Everest Re                    RE          95.72              117,269 
Extra Space Storage           EXR         30.13              274,273 
Federal Realty Inv Trust      FRT         99.73               75,382 
Fidelity Ntl Financial        FNF         19.32              347,226 
First American Financial      FAF         17.91               78,161 
Franklin Universal            FT          7.10                19,301 
GNC Holdings A                GNC         39.59            1,732,675 
Gabelli Hlthcr & Well         GRX         8.55                21,394 
Gallagher                     AJG         36.85              144,896 
General Growth Prop           GGP         17.55              543,788 
H&Q Healthcare                HQH         16.75               16,944 
H&Q Life Sciences             HQL         14.11               11,676 
Harley Davidson               HOG         53.03            2,015,533 
Heartland Payment             HPY         30.45               54,896 
Hershey                       HSY         67.00              436,194 
IHS Inc                       IHS         101.90              88,195 
KKRFinlHldgsLLC8.375%         KFH         27.00                6,858 
Kansas City Southern          KSU         77.65              437,948 
Kilroy Realty                 KRC         47.54              126,181 
Kimberly-Clark                KMB         79.20            1,110,154 
LeapFrog Cl A                 LF          9.24               409,708 
Lockheed Martin               LMT         91.89              398,131 
MFA Finl Nts 2042             MFO         24.95              112,439 
Macerich                      MAC         61.29              116,105 
Main Street Capital           MAIN        26.51               97,806 
Mastercard                    MA          444.87             315,972 
MeadWestvaco Corp. Wi         MWVw        28.75                  700 
Mine Safety                   MSA         44.34              108,618 
Monmouth Real Es Inv Cl A     MNR         10.31               31,691 
Montpelier Re                 MRH         19.95               45,769 
Movado Group                  MOV         27.60               45,668 
NCR Corp                      NCR         23.85              471,788 
NVR Inc                       NVR         775.00               5,666 
Navigant Consulting           NCI         14.57               75,387 
Newcastle Inv                 NCT         6.99               377,861 
NextEra Energy                NEE         64.62              429,713 
PNC Fincl Svcs                PNC         66.10              731,951 
PPG Industries                PPG         103.51             275,928 
PS Business Parks             PSB         68.13               19,781 
PennyMac Mortgage Inv Tr      PMT         20.01               67,847 
Pfizer                        PFE         22.88            6,922,879 
Pionr Muni HI Tr              MHI         15.53               26,653 
Post Properties               PPS         48.55              188,694 
Public Storage                PSA         142.66             136,891 
Putnam Muni Opportunities     PMO         12.78               22,711 
Raymond James Notes 2042      RJD         26.14               17,516 
Raytheon                      RTN         53.55              393,687 
Realty Income                 O           39.52              151,139 
Robert Half Intl              RHI         32.32            1,870,451 
STAG Industrial               STAG        14.34               13,239 
SandRidge Miss Tr II          SDR         22.06              184,946 
Schiff Nutrition Intl         WNI         16.09               34,996 
Sherwin-Williams              SHW         120.39             202,116 
Simon Property Group          SPG         152.23             329,060 
AO Smith                      AOS         47.98               62,252 
Sovran Self Storage           SSS         52.23               21,035 
Stepan 5.5% Conv. pfd.        SCLp        103.53                 200 
Tanger Factory Outlet Ctr     SKT         31.26              231,525 
Taubman Ctrs                  TCO         77.54               65,326 
Teledyne Tech                 TDY         65.08               44,622 
Telus Corp                    TU          58.84               20,501 
Thai Fund Inc                 TTF         16.18                7,854 
3D Sys                        DDD         28.94              225,799 
Total Sys Svcs                TSS         23.60              542,620 
TransDigm Group               TDG         124.95             159,644 
Tyler Tech                    TYL         40.62               21,146 
USANA Health Sciences         USNA        42.14               99,170 
Valmont Indus                 VMI         128.67              93,364 
Valspar Corp                  VAL         50.89              118,642 
Vantiv Inc                    VNTV        20.96               37,127 
Wstrn Asset Worldwide Inc     SBW         14.87               14,672 
Western Digital               WDC         43.14            1,429,129 
Williams Cos                  WMB         32.77              828,157 
Wisconsin Energy              WEC         36.03              182,320 
Wyndham Worldwide             WYN         49.65              897,772 

New Lows 8 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      LOW                 VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
Accretive Health              AH          14.12            2,361,455 
Chesapeake Engy 4.5% pfd.     CHKpD       80.95               26,320 
DeVry                         DV          30.02              508,455 
Enerplus                      ERF         17.53              467,641 
Intermec Inc                  IN          5.04                95,920 
Jaguar Mining                 JAG         2.70               440,708 
San Juan Basin Royalty Tr     SJT         15.73              157,630 
Xerium Tech                   XRM         4.99                17,106

NASDAQ

New Highs 64 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      HIGH                VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
Actuate                       BIRT        7.07                59,910 
Amsurg                        AMSG        29.04              109,584 
Arch Capital Grp              ACGL        39.05              135,703 
Ardea Biosciences             RDEA        31.67            1,141,105 
Auburn National               AUBN        24.44                  909 
Biogen Idec                   BIIB        130.58             354,723 
Bridge Capital Hldgs          BBNK        14.18               10,296 
Cardinal Fincl                CFNL        12.31               37,091 
Community Trust Bancorp       CTBI        32.70               11,227 
Cray                          CRAY        9.19               791,214 
Crimson Exploration           CXPO        5.09               207,824 
CryptoLogic                   CRYP        2.57                 2,590 
Datawatch Corp                DWCH        15.09               12,035 
Delta Natural Gas Co          DGAS        40.54                  875 
Dentsply Intl                 XRAY        40.78              202,703 
Digital Cinema Destinatn      DCIN        7.00                 2,449 
eHealth                       EHTH        17.45               22,854 
Encore Bancshares             EBTX        20.72                2,838 
EnteroMedics                  ETRM        2.95               119,037 
Euronet Worldwide             EEFT        22.50              147,683 
Famous Dave's of America      DAVE        11.95                3,024 
GeoResources                  GEOI        36.84            1,407,665 
Harleysville Group            HGIC        59.90               52,925 
Heartland Fincl USA           HTLF        17.99                7,001 
Hercules Tech Growth Cap      HTGC        11.35               50,668 
Home BancShares               HOMB        29.51               20,616 
Horizon Bancorp (Indiana)     HBNC        26.00               10,739 
ICU Medical                   ICUI        51.48               23,253 
Jeffersonville Bancorp        JFBC        11.50                3,530 
Lincoln Electric Hldgs        LECO        48.34              100,959 
MWI Veterinary Supply         MWIV        92.91                7,128 
Madison Square Garden         MSG         35.49               26,182 
Manhattan Associates          MANH        50.99              136,382 
Marine Petroleum Tr Un        MARPS       29.49                1,725 
MutualFirst Fincl             MFSF        10.17               20,400 
Nathan's Famous               NATH        23.00                  300 
National Research             NRCI        48.99                  400 
Nortek                        NTK         47.11                  700 
OakRidgFnlSvc                 BKOR        5.75                   100 
Onyx Pharmaceuticals          ONXX        46.66            1,766,735 
PDF Solutions                 PDFS        9.08                33,687 
Penford                       PENX        7.84                12,151 
Radware                       RDWR        38.49              150,965 
Repligen                      RGEN        6.74               301,222 
Rurban Fincl                  RBNF        4.10                12,400 
SLM CPI-Lnkd Md Trm Nts A     OSM         23.89                1,415 
SS&C Techs Hldgs              SSNC        24.03               15,663 
John B Sanfilippo & Son       JBSS        14.11                4,525 
SeagateTech                   STX         31.32            7,224,900 
Super Micro Computer          SMCI        18.87              196,764 
Synergy Pharms Wt             SGYPW       2.23                 2,580 
Tetra Tech                    TTEK        27.21               97,897 
Trinity Biotech PLC (ADS)     TRIB        11.37               39,678 
Trustmark                     TRMK        26.01              156,559 
UMB Fincl                     UMBF        47.90              103,083 
Ultimate Software Group       ULTI        75.69              131,075 
Utd Natural Foods             UNFI        49.43               27,659 
Verisk Analytics Inc          VRSK        48.48              115,492 
ViewPoint Fincl Group         VPFG        15.91               23,250 
Washington Federal            WAFD        17.50               92,669 
Wayside Tech Group            WSTG        16.60               12,818 
West Coast Bncrp (Oregon)     WCBO        20.86               23,128 
Wintrust Fincl                WTFC        36.76              100,289 
Young Innovations             YDNT        33.25               19,324 

New Lows 17 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      LOW                 VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
AEterna Zentaris              AEZS        0.60               559,216 
Anthera Pharmaceuticals       ANTH        1.76               141,341 
CH Robinson Worldwide         CHRW        61.15            2,231,673 
DynaVox                       DVOX        2.56                14,752 
Ecotality                     ECTY        0.59                43,590 
EnerNOC                       ENOC        6.06                43,055 
First Solar                   FSLR        18.05            2,121,906 
Marchex   (Cl B)              MCHX        3.25               128,597 
Microvision                   MVIS        1.62                93,120 
Mission NewEnergy             MNEL        0.31                69,697 
NCI                           NCIT        4.86                55,974 
Otelco IDS                    OTT         5.23               248,497 
PostRock Energy               PSTR        2.06                 1,435 
Skywest                       SKYW        9.53                57,761 
Somaxon Pharmaceuticals       SOMX        0.36                32,484 
Torm A/S                      TRMD        0.32                60,725 
Zipcar                        ZIP         12.00              457,019

Source

The first amendment will not protect you….

Source

“If you’re concerned with how some factory farms might be handling their livestock, two US states have made it illegal to conduct undercover investigations — and now animal rights activists and whistleblowers alike have a bone to pick with lawmakers.

Only four months into 2012, Utah and Idaho have passed legislation that outlaws going undercover to investigate conditions and conduct inside the confines of factory farms — and now authorities in Missouri are coming close to approving a similar “Ag-gag” act. If passed before the end of April, the Show Me State will become the third state in only two months to tell investigative journalists and whistleblowers alike to forego following leads concerning agricultural operations or else face the consequences.

Last month Iowa approved House File 589, a legislation advertised as outlawing “agricultural production facility fraud.” Once Governor Terry E. Branstad signed the act into law in early March, police and prosecutors in Iowa were allowed the power to bring criminal charges against anyone who enters farming facilities by means of deception. The act was touted as a way of keeping agriculturists within the state from having outsiders infiltrate harm to their businesses, however, opponents of the law say that farmers were upset over how video footage and other information captured from their facilities were introducing information to the public that would cut profits by way of revealing the real conditions that livestock are subjected to.

Mercy for Animals, an advocacy group, is opposed to House File 589 on grounds that it makes anyone who “expose cruelty to animals, corporate corruption, dangerous working conditions, environmental violation, or food safety concerns at factory farms” a criminal in the eyes of the state. The American Veterinary Medical Association explains in their own report that in the last three years, Mercy for Animals has released footage that shows abuse within Iowa farming facilities, which means that the state can now prosecute journalists that obtain that footage by surreptitious means with the alleged intent of harming business.

Those trying to overturn these new Ag-gag laws say they are only trying to prevent the harming of animals. State leaders seeking approval of an Ag-gag act in Missouri insist they are fighting a politically-motivated agenda waged by activists that are only trying to disrupt the business.

“Unfortunately we live in a society where these activists are becoming more and more of a problem to agriculture,”Missouri State Rep. Casey Guernsey, R-Bethany, explains to the News-Leader while supporting the proposed measure in his state. “We cannot afford to allow these groups to target our industry of agriculture in Missouri like they have in Iowa.”

Read more

This is the first split in 16 years….

$BA posted $1.22 vs consensus of $0.94…

“Demand for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods was the weakest in three years in March and a gauge of business spending plans fell, suggesting the economy lost momentum as the first quarter drew to a close.

Durable goods orders dropped 4.2 percent, the largest decline since January 2009, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday after a downwardly revised 1.9 percent increase in February.

Economists had forecast orders for durable goods, which range from toasters to aircraft, falling 1.7 percent after a previously reported 2.4 percent rise in February.

“This adds to the evidence that momentum in the economy sort of fell flat in March,” said Ellen Zentner, a senior U.S. economist at Nomura Securities in New York.

The data came as officials at the Federal Reserve met for a second day to deliberate on policy. The U.S. central bank is not expected to make any policy changes and will issue its statement at the end of the meeting around 12:30 p.m. (1630 GMT)

U.S. stock index futures pared gains on the data, while prices for Treasury debt pared losses to stand little changed. The dollar extended losses against the yen.

The report was the latest to show the manufacturing sector losing a step in March and it added to signs that the economy ended the first quarter on a soft spot.

Data last week showed industrial production was flat in March for a second straight month, while some gauges of regional factory activity weakened in April.

In addition to weakness in factory gauges, U.S. jobs growth slowed sharply last month and consumer confidence ebbed.

Manufacturing has been one of the main sources of economic growth, but is slowing as euro zone economies slide into recession and China cools.

Even though there are signs of some weakening in economic data early in the second quarter, economists believe the bar remains high for the Fed to ease policy further through a third round of bond purchases or quantitative easing….”

Read more

Source 

“Hundreds of small banks can’t afford to repay federal bailout loans, a top watchdog will warn Wednesday in a report that challenges the government’s upbeat assessment of its financial-system rescue.

Christy Romero, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said 351 small banks with some $15 billion in outstanding TARP loans face a “significant challenge” in raising new funds to repay the government.

Ms. Romero made the comments in her quarterly report to Congress, the first since the Senate approved her appointment in March as special inspector general for the program. She urged the government and regulators to find a way to help banks raise funds to repay the loans.

“The status of those banks is one of the major issues facing TARP nearly four years after the financial crisis,” the report says.

The report is the latest sign of a yearslong squeeze on smaller banks, those with less than $1 billion in assets. Their numbers and profitability have been declining due in part to regulatory and technological changes that made bigger institutions more profitable.

StoneCastle Partners LLC, a New York firm that has invested in about 800 community banks, estimates that community banks need $90 billion in fresh capital to clean up their balance sheets and acquire other institutions.

Many of the banks cited in the report aren’t known outside of their neighborhoods, where they count local business owners and prominent families as their investors and customers. Some cater to specific customers. For example, Saigon National Bank in Westminster, Calif., serves the Vietnamese community through one branch.

Saigon National, which received $1.5 million in TARP funds, has missed 13 dividend payments to the government worth $265,328. The report cited the bank, which has $59 million in assets, as one of the smallest that received TARP funds. William Lu, the bank’s president and chief executive couldn’t be reached for comment…”

Read more

Source

“Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell last week, dragged lower by a slump in refinancings, but demand for new purchases improved, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, declined 3.8 percent in the week ended April 20.

The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications dropped 5.6 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases gained 2.7 percent.

The refinance share of total mortgage activity slipped to 73.4 percent of applications from 75.2 percent the week before. Fixed 30-year mortgage rates dipped one basis point to average 4.04 percent from 4.05.

The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.”

Source

“Earlier we mentioned a tweet from Doug Kass where he said that “frankly” the bears might be screwed.

The reason? It was all looking bad for the market a few days ago, but suddenly the bearish momentum has stopped. And if the bearish momentum can’t continue in this environment, then there’s really no hope for those on the short-side.

In a post up at RealMoney, Kass identifies 4 things that have changed.

1. Overall earnings and forward guidance were far better than many of the pessimists expected.
2. Apple remains a pivotal stock and an important contributor to aggregate corporate profits, and its blowout results cannot be overstated in consequence and on investor sentiment.
3. The general concerns regarding domestic economic weakness might have been overstated — my baseline expectation of a muddle-through 2% real GDP trajectory still seems likely.
4. Lower market prices began to discount the known economic and market headwinds and threats.”

Source

“Richard Russell the bearish author of the Dow Theory Letters, has yet another reason to be bearish: the VIX.

The VIX, aka the fear index, is a measure of implied volatility.

He writes in King World News:

Starting in August the VIX headed down again as investors’ nerves settled down.  The VIX hit a low in April.  But the latest reading is a sudden surge above the 50-day MA.  This suggest that investors are getting a bit nervous again, and that some rocky weather may lie ahead.  I think hat the dividing line for the VIX is around 25.

If the VIX climbs above 25 I take it as a sign of forthcoming trouble.  The latest VIX is around 18.23 — basic complacency, but the complacency has probably dropped as low as it’s going to go.  ‘After the calm comes the storm.’

Russell’s piece was accompanied by this VIX chart from StockCharts.com.

StockCharts.com

Russell also warns that Brazilian, Chinese, and Russian markets don’t look that great either.”

“Stephen King, the top economist at UK bank HSBC, is out with a new note on the popular topic of “financial repression.”

The main ideas are basically distilled in these bullet points.

In other words, with the governments of big Western nations running up so much debt, they’re resorting to various tricks to keep funding themselves — tricks like QE and so on, which hurt savers, etc.

He also recorded a video to explain his thoughts on the matter. It may take a minute to load.”

Watch the interview here