| Stocks open higher ahead of week's key data |
 Investors are beginning a holiday-shortened week on a positive note.
Stocks are slightly higher in early trading Monday, following mixed moves in overseas markets. Stocks in Asia were lower, while European markets advanced.
Investors are also buying Treasurys and commodities.
This week, which is shortened by the Independence Day holiday on Friday, brings key data that will give investors a better sense of where the economy is headed.
Of particular importance is the government's monthly employment report, due Thursday.
In the first few minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 21 to 8,459. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 2 to 921, and the Nasdaq composite index is up 3 to 1,842.
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| Wall Street's selective memory |
| Yes, the federal government does a lot of stupid things. And yes, it's
easy to see why Wall Street firms are bailing out of the Troubled Asset
Relief Program: to avoid having to deal with the government's
ever-changing rules and with publicity-hungry congressmen. (Is there
any other kind?) But that doesn't excuse the way that Wall Street is
engaged in selective memory now that the government has shelled out
trillions of taxpayer dollars to keep the Street alive. Wall Street,
which I define as our major financial institutions, is complaining that
the government is messing up the financial system through its attempts
at reregulation, its new credit card rules, and its invention of things
such as a pay czar.
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| Economy dips at slightly lower pace in 1Q |
| The economy tumbled at a 5.5 percent pace in the first quarter, but
appears to be doing better now, even though heavy layoffs persist.
The revised
reading on gross domestic product, released Thursday by the Commerce
Department, showed the economy from January through March didn't fall
as deeply as the 5.7 percent annualized decline reported a month ago.
Economists expected the government would stick with its previous
estimate. A separate government report found new jobless claims
jumped unexpectedly last week, while continuing claims for unemployment
benefits rose more than expected. The data show jobs remain scarce even
as the economy shows some signs of recovering from the longest
recession since World War II.
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| U.S. housing starts jump in May, inflation muted |
New U.S. housing starts and permits surged in May from record lows, while wholesale prices were muted despite higher gasoline costs, indicating the economy was moving closer to the end of a deep recession. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday housing starts jumped 17.2 percent, the biggest rise in three months, to an annual rate of 532,000 units. This was as ground-breaking activity for multifamily homes surged 61.7 percent after diving 49.4 percent in April. |
| Organic dairy farmer bets on customer investment |
If Dante Hesse's hunch is on the money, the people he sells his organic milk to will also become the people who fund his growth. What started as a series of "low key" one-on-one conversations with customers at local farmers' markets near his Ghent, New York farm, has escalated into a serious attempt to raise $850,000 - in as little as $1,000 increments - directly from the dairy-loving consumers who buy his milk by the quart. |
| ‘Global meltdown, an opportunity for India’ |
The global financial crisis can be turned into a great opportunity for growth in India and China if the two Asian giants join hands to collaborate in five key sectors such as gems and jewellery, says a Ficci-KPMG report. The report, which will be presented at the Fifth Ficci-IIFA Global Business Forum meeting on Friday in Macau, highlights opportunities for collaboration for the two countries in gems and jewellery, media and entertainment, luxury brands, health and wellness and tourism. |
| Canyon, Citadel Ride Convertibles Resurgence to Recoup Losses |
Convertible bonds that punished hedge funds in 2008 are driving returns at Canyon Partners and Citadel Investment Group LLC and helping companies from JetBlue Airways Corp. to Alliance Data Systems Corp. raise capital.
Canyon, the $14.4 billion investment firm run by former Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. bankers, gained more than 51 percent in its convertible fund through May 22, according to a May 29 letter sent to investors. Citadel posted a 21 percent return in its two main funds through May, aided by convertible bets. |
| Bad credit student loan options |
Education costs are increasing every year and students have to go through a lot of expenses that often go unmet. Students with bad credit often wonder how to get qualified for student loans to complete their education. There are many better ways to receive bad credit student loans that can help you pay for everything. Money above student aid: There are many government aids and many students will often qualify for it. Government student aid is a better form to cover the bare essentials of attending the college or university of your choice. Stafford or Perkin loans are available but they have a strict borrowing limits on the basis of the number of college hours you have under your belt. |
| Supreme Court delays Chrysler sale |
Chrysler suffered a last-minute setback to its hopes of a speedy restructuring on Monday after the US Supreme Court delayed the sale of the bankrupt carmaker to a group led by Italy’s Fiat. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg halted the deal just minutes before Chrysler’s restructuring was due to close at 4pm “pending further order” of the court following objections from three Indiana pension funds that hold $42m (£26m) of the company’s $6.9bn in secured debt. |
| Barclays and Lloyds lend support to FTSE |
London equities made gains on Tuesday, with banking stocks again in the spotlight on news that Barclays was near to a deal to sell its BGI unit to US group BlackRock and of cost cutting measures at Lloyds Banking Group. Barclays was poised to sell its Barclays Global Investors unit to BlackRock in a $13bn deal that would make the US company the biggest money manager in the world. Shares in Barclays rose 2 per cent to 289.2p, |
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