Stocks jump on positive economic reports
Pending home sales and durable goods orders are up more than expected. German and French leaders are set to meet ahead of the eurozone summit. Best Buy may go private.
Updated at 12:27 p.m. ET
By Andrea Tse
Stocks rose Wednesday after better-than-expected reports on durable goods and pending home sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) was up 93 points at 12,628. The S&P 500 ($INX) was up 13 points at 1,333. The Nasdaq Composite ($COMPX) was up 27 points at 2,881.
"The housing market is clearly superior this year compared with the past four years," Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist, said in a statement. "We're on track to see a 9 to 10 percent improvement in total sales for 2012."
The Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders rose 1.1% to $217.2 billion in May, better than the expected rise of 1%, according to Briefing.com. Still, April's figure was cut to a 0.2% decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.4%, and excluding defense, new orders increased 0.7%.
"There is nothing in today's report to change the view that orders and shipments are likely to be weak in the second quarter," cautioned Dan Greenhaus, the chief global strategist at BTIG. "Shipments of core goods are a proxy for an important component of the GDP report were up a modest 0.4%, only partially recouping some of April's move lower."
In Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was scheduled to meet with French President Francois Hollande in Paris on the eve of the two-day eurozone summit after Merkel's reassertion that her country objects to shared liability.
Germany, however, may consider the idea of eliminating the preferred creditor status of the European rescue fund, which is believed to have discouraged investors from taking up sovereign debt for fear of much steeper losses if a default were to occur.
"Markets are waiting for nothing to happen, with the euro heads of government summit looming on the horizon," said Paul Donovan, a global economist at UBS. "Expectations have been lowered so much that it is just possible that markets react positively to any decision. Alternatively, markets look at the broken structure of the euro and ask, 'Is that it?'"
The FTSE in London was up 0.97%, and the DAX in Germany was up 0.65%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed up 1.03%, and the Nikkei in Japan rose 0.77%.
Best Buy (BBY) is reportedly a buyout candidate. According to The Wall Street Journal, founder Richard Schulze is working with bankers to put together a deal to take the company private.
The board of News Corp. (NWSA) will decide Wednesday whether to proceed with a split of the media giant into two companies, according to the Journal. The newspaper, which is owned by News Corp., first reported Monday that the company was mulling separating its smaller publishing business from its entertainment businesses. If the board approves the split, News Corp. is expected to announce the restructuring Thursday morning, a person familiar with the situation told the Journal. News Corp. on Monday confirmed it was contemplating a split.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) announced an additional $3 billion buyback authorization after Tuesday's close.
More from TheStreet
CGT, if you would offer a written guarantee, I would sign up my dead relatives to vote for Mitt.
Whats that you say? No can do? Nope, well then I cant either.
Its not me...My index-based annuity requires it.
The point of the article was the ATF was defanged in this kind of transaction,
they turned over evidence like this to prosecuters before with no charges. Why would they stop this transaction? They did not have legal standing to stop it. The person was a suspect, innocent till proven guilty. These transactions continue to happen, until the state or congress acts nothing will change. Different states have different gun laws.
Doesnt sound like a computer database to me.
The Form 4473 contains name, address, date of birth, government-issued photo ID, National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background check transaction number, make/model/serial number of the firearm, and a short federal affidavit stating that the purchaser is eligible to purchase firearms under federal law. Lying on this form is a felony and can be punished by up to five years in prison in addition to fines, even if the transaction is simply denied by the NICS, although prosecutions are rare in the absence of another felony committed by the gun purchased.
The dealer also records all information from the Form 4473 into their "bound-book". A dealer must keep this log the entire time they are in business and is required to surrender the log to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) upon retirement from the firearms business. The ATF is allowed to inspect, as well as request a copy of the Form 4473 from the dealer during the course of a criminal investigation.
retog,
" Otherwise Bush wouldn't be worth the waste of breath or words.
The Republicans and supporters are extremely ept at REVISIONIST HISTORY"
With his wars and budget busting drug plan and then the first of the bailout and stimulus,
yes he led the way on that, he managed to accumulate 5 trillion dollars in debt and left
Obama with 2 unfunded wars, and economy in worse shape than the depression, and
and underfunded drug plan.
And they blame this all on Obama and the democratic congress in the last two years of the Bush reign. Ever hear of the veto power? Guess who had that.
I'd say in the past 5 administrations, 3 republican, that there is plenty of blame to go around.
How much on each side depends on what side of the aisle you set on and which letter
appears after your name.
Some call it the "parade of ants"; others the "river of iron." The Mexican government has estimated that 2,000 weapons are smuggled daily from the U.S. into Mexico. The ATF is hobbled in its effort to stop this flow. No federal statute outlaws firearms trafficking, so agents must build cases using a patchwork of often toothless laws. For six years, due to Beltway politics, the bureau has gone without permanent leadership, neutered in its fight for funding and authority. The National Rifle Association has so successfully opposed a comprehensive electronic database of gun sales that the ATF's congressional appropriation explicitly prohibits establishing one
features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/27/fast-and-furious-truth/?hpt=hp_t2
To ReTog and not easily fooled:
The military forces are very picky now about who they choose. My son joined the Army National Guard and had to have his High school diploma, his birth certificate, social security CARD (not just the number), clean background check AND he had to be physically fit BEFORE he was accepted. It's not as easy to join as some people think.
Vail and Bever Creek, yes, Big Sky, no. Love the back bowls at Vail, hate the drive from Denver. I've not been to Montana, but I've heard nothing but good things about the Big Sky/Moonlight Basin combo.
I usually go to Alta/Snowbird in Utah. Colorado kind of sucks. I love the lower elevation (don't need to acclimate), proximity to Salt Lake Airport, and quantity/quality of snow Utah gets.
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