Pay attention #OWS…if your still out there.

Washington (CNN) — The Justice Department obeyed a federal appeals court’s unusual order Thursday in a legal and political spat over the health care law championed by President Barack Obama.

Administration lawyers met their deadline and filed a three-page, single-spaced letter — following the specific instructions of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is hearing a challenge to the health care law.

The letter affirmed the government’s stance that federal courts indeed have the authority to decide the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act — and any other law Congress passes.

“The power of the courts to review the constitutionality of legislation is beyond dispute,” said the letter, signed by Attorney General Eric Holder.

It added that the Justice Department “has not in this litigation, nor in any other litigation of which I am aware, ever asked this or any other court to reconsider or limit long-established precedent concerning judicial review of the constitutionality of federal legislation.”

Referring to comments by Obama that set off the imbroglio, the letter concluded: “The President’s remarks were fully consistent with the principles described herein.”

A dispute involving the court and the executive branch has elevated the political stakes over whether the law will survive various legal challenges, including a pending a Supreme Court decision. The high court’s ruling, expected in June, would take precedence over any other courts hearing similar appeals.

The latest dispute surfaced Monday when the president said, “I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically-elected Congress and I just remind conservative commentators that for years, what we’ve heard is, the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint, that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a dually constituted and passed law.”

Some conservative critics interpreted those remarks as a challenge to judicial authority, suggesting Obama was putting political pressure on the high court, which is expected to issue its ruling on the constitutionality of the health care by June.

New York, April 05, 2012 — The US energy sector is undergoing a permanent change as natural gas prices will remain low for the foreseeable future, with significant implications over the next decade for the power, pipeline, coal and rail industries, says a new report by Moody’s Investors Service.

“Moody’s believes that low natural gas prices — currently at a 10-year trough — will continue well beyond 2013. This is creating a fundamental shift in North America’s energy infrastructure, as low prices continue to erode margins for unregulated power companies such as Exelon, First Energy and PPL,” said Jim Hempstead, a Moody’s Senior Vice President and author of the report.

“Coal will find it increasingly difficult to compete with gas as a power source over the next decade and we expect miners to continue their shift toward non-domestic revenue opportunities,” added Hempstead.

Moody’s says that coal-fired power plant retirements will cut the power sector’s demand for coal by up to 10% between 2012 and 2020, and as coal consumption drops by roughly 100 million tons the industry will become increasingly focused on exports. The report highlights Peabody Energy, Arch, Consol and Cloud Peak Energy resources as industry players that are already securing additional port capacity to reach export markets.

The drop in domestic coal demand, one of the US railroad industry’s most profitable segments, will lead to long-term changes in that sector too, says Moody’s. Higher exports from western coal producers will increase volumes for Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Illinois Basin and met coal production in the east will increasingly benefit CSX and Norfolk Southern.

The report also notes that new natural gas pipelines serving the shale production regions will create new competitive risks for the existing interstate pipeline network. Companies with assets near the production basins, such as NiSource and Dominion Resources, will benefit, but disappearing arbitrage opportunities will hurt the marketing arms of such utilities as AGL Resources and Vectren.

[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOWNmM0W9rY 450 300]

NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers from discounter Target to department-store chain Macy’s reported better-than-expected sales in March in the latest sign that Americans are feeling better about the economy.

A combination of warm weather and high demand for spring fashions boosted revenue for the month, but analysts say there’s much more than higher temperatures at play: Americans who cut back on spending in the slow economic recovery are encouraged by the improving job market.

“There’s a growing belief we reached bottom a while ago,” said Joel Bines, managing director of the retail practice of AlixPartners “Rather than confidence that things have turned the corner, it’s confidence that things are unlikely to get worse from here.”

Even though only a handful of retailers report monthly figures, industry watchers say March figures are a reason to be optimistic. That’s because the numbers offer a snapshot of consumer spending, which accounts for more than 70 percent of all economic activity.

Overall, revenue at stores open at least one year — an indicator of a retailer’s health because it excludes results from stores that opened and closed during the year — rose 4.1 percent, according to a preliminary tally of 22 retailers by the International Council of Shopping Centers. That figure is within the range of the group’s March estimates, but several retailers from luxury chain Saks Inc. to food and fragrance retailer Limited Brands Inc., had monthly gains that beat their own expectations.

The strong sales reports were boosted by unseasonably mild weather and a flurry of positive economic news. The housing market had its best winter in five years. Consumer confidence was relatively flat in March, but near February’s 12-month high. And on Friday a government report on March job growth is expected to show the fourth straight month of strong hiring.

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The Euro dropped for the fourth consecutive day as sovereign debt woes have begun to move back into the foreground. These concerns have forced the EURCHF to momentarily breach the 1.2000 floor – will the Swiss National Bank intervene?

Data was sparse in the overnight, with the most prominent event being the Bank of England rate decision. As expected the Monetary Policy Committee held the key rate at 0.50 percent where it has been since March 2009. Further information will be disclosed when the BoE meeting minutes are released on April 18. However, the market is not abuzz over whether or not that BoE will extend or cut short its quantitative easing program (although that is very important); instead the focus is back on the Euro-zone where the secondary bond markets are starting to show stress among the periphery.

After a poor Spanish bond auction yesterday, there was no rest for the weary early this morning as periphery sovereign debt slid. Italian and Spanish debt has been under increasing pressure the past few weeks, with their respective 10-year bond yields rising to 5.422 percent and 5.709 percent. By no means are their respective yield curves inverted yet; but stress is more prevalent on the short-end signaling rising concerns in the near-term.

The Euro, as expected, has taken the brunt of the markets’ distaste for sovereign debt woes, and the EURUSD has now fallen for four consecutive days. But this isn’t the news; the news is that the EURCHF briefly ticked below the 1.2000 currency floor set in place on September 6 by the Swiss National Bank. As I noted weeks ago and as recently as yesterday, not only was the EURCHF likely to test 1.2000, but as the EURCHF approaches 1.2000, the SNB is likely to become more active in the markets. Indeed, with the Euro-zone concerns pushing the EURCHF below 1.2000 if only briefly, the SNB was forced to step in and intervene, pushing the EURCHF back up above 1.2020.

“In another black eye for Newt Gingrich, the flagship of what’s known in Washington as “Newt, Inc.,” has filed for bankruptcy.

In a Chapter 7 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Georgia, The Gingrich Group LLC, doing business as the Center for Health Transformation, filed for bankruptcy Wednesday. (Chapter 7 is “the chapter of the Bankruptcy Code providing for ‘liquidation,’ that is, the sale of a debtor’s nonexempt property and the distribution of the proceeds to creditors,” as defined by the federal courts.)

The vast majority of Gingrich’s net worth is tied up in the Gingrich Group. Gingrich is worth overall between $7.1 million and $31 million, according to his financial disclosure. He lists a promissory note from Gingrich Group as being worth between $5 million and $25 million….”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was mostly unchanged this week, as the cost of home-buying and refinancing stayed near record lows.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan fell slightly to 3.98 percent from 3.99 percent last week. In February, the rate touched 3.87 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.

The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage also fell, to 3.21 percent from 3.23 percent. That’s above the record low of 3.13 percent hit last month.

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek bank shareholders are under pressure from Athens to contribute billions of euros to recapitalize the lenders so that the government can avoid taking them over.

Investors will find out by April 20 the details of the financial support package on offer from the Greek government, technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said on Thursday. Athens desperately wants to keep the banks in private hands.

The terms are likely to determine whether shareholders decide to take part. If they balk at the offer, the heavily indebted Greek state could end up owning the banks.

In a worst-case scenario, 50 billion euros ($65.6 billion) or a quarter of Greece’s gross domestic product (GDP), may be required to shore up the banking system. The money is needed because loan losses and a bond swap that saved Greece from bankruptcy hit its lenders – big buyers of Greek debt – particularly hard.

The government wants at least 10 percent of the capital to come from banks’ shareholders through rights issues, a senior banker close to the talks told Reuters.

“Main shareholders will need to make decisions, come up with 10 percent to keep the keys,” the banker said. “The total bill could reach 50 billion euros, including recapitalization and resolution which is more costly.”

“U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is telling business and political leaders to be careful about major cuts in spending, suggesting that too much, too fast might lead to a new recession.

Economists have been warning that the United States faces a “fiscal cliff” in the next year as the Bush tax cuts expire and automatic spending cuts equaling $1.2 trillion kick in. Half would come from domestic spending, half from defense.

Some fear that extending the tax breaks again while cutting spending will hurt U.S. GDP growth, prompting a quick decline just as the economy gets back on its feet….”

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(Reuters) – Global food prices rose in March for a third straight month with more hikes to come, the UN’s food agency said on Thursday, adding to fears of hunger and a new wave of social unrest in poor countries.

Record high prices for staple foods last year were one of the main factors that contributed to the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as bread riots in other parts of the world.

The cost of food has risen again this year after coming down from a February 2011 record peak.

The FAO index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 215.9 points in March, up from a revised 215.4 points in February, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.

Although below the February 2011 peak of 237.9, the index is still higher than during a food price crisis in 2007-08 that raised global alarm.

“The food crisis has not gone away since then,” said Emilia Casella, spokeswoman for the U.N.’s World Food Programme. “Prices are a big concern and have remained a large reason why people are food insecure.”

The FAO’s senior economist and grain analyst Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters there was scope for more price rises in the first half of this year, particularly for corn and soybeans, which could also drive up the price of wheat.

Higher food prices mean higher import bills for the poorest countries, which do not produce enough food domestically.

ST. LOUIS (Reuters) – A top Federal Reserve official said on Thursday that the central bank’s projection of late 2014 for the first likely increase in interest rates sends too pessimistic a signal as the economic recovery strengthens.

“The 2014 language in effect names a date far in the future at which macroeconomic conditions are still expected to be exceptionally poor,” St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said. “This is an unwarranted pessimistic signal for the (Fed) to send.”

Bullard, who is not a voting member of the Fed’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year, said the central bank should now pause for several months and assess developments in the economy.

The June end of the Fed’s current program of lengthening the average maturity of its bond portfolio — known as “Operation Twist” — should not be interpreted as a de facto tightening of monetary policy if it is not replaced by any new programs, he said.

“I don’t think the end of the program is a particularly significant event,” he said.

Interest rates did not spike as some had feared after the Fed ended past easing initiatives and are unlikely to jump when Twist ends, Bullard added.

His comments illustrate a likely debate within the Fed on whether to declare that recent improvements in labor markets signal the recovery is firmly on track and policymakers should begin to consider the timing of the exiting their ultra-accommodative monetary policy stance.

Bullard is viewed as a centrist on the spectrum of Fed officials, although he has recently stressed his belief in the durability of the recovery and his concern about the risks of committing over a long period of time to an ultra-easy stance.

However, a core group of Fed leaders, including Chairman Ben Bernanke, have been more cautious about the outlook, questioning whether the lofty 8.3 percent unemployment rate will continue falling as quickly as it has since last August.

The Fed cut rates to near zero in December 2008 and has bought $2.3 trillion in bonds to keep rates low and boost growth. Minutes of the Fed’s March policy meeting released Tuesday showed that at that gathering, a dwindling number of officials thought the central bank should launch another bond-buying initiative if the outlook worsened.

Fed officials disagree on how to calibrate policy given the conflicting pressures of continued high unemployment and a brightening outlook for the economy. While some still believe the central bank should be poised to deliver more stimulus should the recovery falter, others like Bullard believe monetary policy is close to the limits of its abilities to spur faster growth.

Bullard on Thursday reiterated his view that the so-called output gap — how much the economy is falling short of its full potential — is overstated.

Full article

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“NEW YORK—A federal appeals court has revived a $1 billion lawsuit by Viacom Inc. against Google Inc.’s YouTube over alleged unauthorized posting of Viacom content.

Viacom had sued YouTube, claiming the website allowed users to post copyrighted Viacom content without permission between 2005 and 2008, including content from Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.”

In an order Thursday, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the case to a lower court, instructing the district judge to determine if YouTube had knowledge or awareness of specific infringing material and whether it willfully blinded itself to that specific …”

LONDON (Reuters) – Gold prices rose on Thursday as its fall to a near three-month low the previous day tempted some buyers back, but gains were capped by a rise in the dollar and fading hopes for more U.S. monetary stimulus.

Spot gold was up 0.6 percent at $1,628.34 an ounce at 1420 GMT. It briefly broke back above $1,630 an ounce as a drop in jobless claims pulled the dollar from its highs and stocks from their lows, but was unable to sustain the move.

Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said a countermove after the sharp price fall of recent days was to be expected, but said he expects prices to trade lower, possibly below $1,600 an ounce, after the current correction has run its course.

“Gold is highly correlated to equities and commodities at the moment and as long as the equity markets and the commodity markets are going down, so is gold,” he said.

European shares hit a two-month low on Thursday and more losses are expected as worries build over Spain’s debt burden and the possibility of more trouble in weaker euro zone states. safe-haven German bunds rose.

Investors will be looking to the March nonfarm payrolls report from the United States on Friday for further clues on the health of the labour market.

A spate of better-than-expected U.S. economic data has curbed investor appetite for gold by raising expectations that quantitative easing will prove unnecessary, especially after Fed minutes on Tuesday suggested more monetary stimulus was unlikely.

Ultra-loose monetary policy, which keeps real interest rates and consequently the opportunity cost of holding gold low, helped push the metal to record highs in 2011.

Is it me or is there a ridiculous amount of stupid people working for the TSA ?

A Grad rocket has landed in the southern Israeli city of Eilat, but has caused no damage or injuries, Israeli security officials said.

District police chief Ron Gertner told Israeli radio the rocket had been fired from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula.

He said it struck a construction site close to a residential area shortly after midnight (21:00 GMT).

The blast took place as thousands congregated in the resort town for the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Rocket attacks from Egyptian soil are uncommon. Attacks on Eilat and the nearby Jordanian town of Aqaba in 2010 killed one person and injured another four.

Source

Crack spreads are down $1.65 or 4.7% @ $34.46

not sure; but i think this is a new record spread….

U.S. equities pare early morning losses. The bulls a re thankful that there was no follow through from yesterday’s sell off. Our markets are shaking off the bad news and performance out of Europe and we are trying to trde higher in the face of a stronger dollar.

Retail sales have given us some hope regarding the consumer.

DOW unch

S&P unch

NASDAQ up 13

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