G
Greg
Guest
imported post
-
The Forum works well on MOBILE devices without an app: Just go to: https://forum.tsptalk.com
-
Please read our AutoTracker policy on the IFT deadline and remaining active. Thanks!
-
$ - Premium Service Content (Info) | AutoTracker Monthly Winners | Is Gmail et al, Blocking Our emails?
Find us on: Facebook & X | Posting Copyrighted Material
-
Join the TSP Talk AutoTracker: How to Get Started | Login | Main AutoTracker Page
-
The Forum works well on MOBILE devices without an app: Just go to: https://forum.tsptalk.com ...
Or you can now use TapaTalk again!
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Fed's Fisher-Flat yield curves reflect inflation
Thu Nov 3, 2005 06:02 PM ET
BOSTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The convergence of bond yields along the maturity spectrum is a worldwide phenomenon and has been helped by central bank action to keep inflation expectations at bay, Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said on Thursday.
Fisher made no mention of the current economic outlook in the United States, beyond observing that he had voted to raise interest rates at the Fed's policy-setting committee on Tuesday. The central bank raised rates by a quarter point to 4.0 percent.
"Over the past few years there has been a noticeable convergence of rates all along the yield curve," Fisher said.
"I seriously doubt that had central bankers here and elsewhere in the world not managed their affairs in a manner that discouraged inflationary expectations, this would be anywhere near possible," he said.
© Reuters 2005
Fed's Fisher-Flat yield curves reflect inflation
Thu Nov 3, 2005 06:02 PM ET
BOSTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The convergence of bond yields along the maturity spectrum is a worldwide phenomenon and has been helped by central bank action to keep inflation expectations at bay, Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said on Thursday.
Fisher made no mention of the current economic outlook in the United States, beyond observing that he had voted to raise interest rates at the Fed's policy-setting committee on Tuesday. The central bank raised rates by a quarter point to 4.0 percent.
"Over the past few years there has been a noticeable convergence of rates all along the yield curve," Fisher said.
"I seriously doubt that had central bankers here and elsewhere in the world not managed their affairs in a manner that discouraged inflationary expectations, this would be anywhere near possible," he said.
© Reuters 2005
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
US stocks rise on Merck ruling, economy and techs
Thu Nov 3, 2005 06:03 PM ET
By Vivianne Rodrigues
NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as drug maker Merck & Co. (MRK.N) won a key Vioxx liability trial, while reports on labor productivity and the services sector boosted optimism about the economy.
Tech shares rallied, led by Qualcomm (QCOM.O) and International Business Machines Corp.(IBM.N) Qualcomm helped push the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index to its highest close in six weeks. IBM gave the Dow a big lift.
"Stocks started the day on a positive note and the verdict on Merck gave the bullish investors out there another incentive to buy," said Martin Yokosawa, senior portfolio manager at Oberweis Asset Management in Lisle, Illinois.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 49.86 points, or 0.48 percent, to end at 10,522.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 5.18 points, or 0.43 percent, to finish at 1,219.94. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 15.91 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 2,160.22.
A rise in oil prices limited stocks' gains. U.S. crude oil futures for December delivery (CLZ5) added $2.03 to settle at $61.78 a barrel.
Shares of Dow component Merck climbed 3.8 percent, or $1.07, to $29.48 on the New York Stock Exchange and ranked among the major advancers in the blue-chip average.
Merck won a major victory when a jury decided on Thursday that the drug maker had given doctors adequate warnings about the health risks associated with its painkiller, Vioxx, which it withdrew from the market in September 2004.
The American Stock Exchange Pharmaceutical Index gained 1.13 percent. Shares of Merck rival Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) , the world's largest drug maker, rose 1.3 percent, or 27 cents, to $21.87 on the NYSE.
In the tech sector, shares of Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM.O) , the wireless technology company, rose a day after the company reported a higher fiscal fourth-quarter profit.
Qualcomm stock jumped 9 percent, or $3.64, to $44.02, and was the biggest positive influence on the Nasdaq 100. The stock was one of the largest contributors to the S&P 500's gains.
IBM shares rose 2.2 percent, or $1.81, to $82.87 on the NYSE. Intel Corp. (INTC.O) shares climbed 2.6 percent, or 60 cents, to $23.89 on Nasdaq.
"Technology shares are among the most undervalued," said James Huguet, president of Great Companies LLC in Florida, with $1 billion in assets under management. "Investors who are betting on a year-end rally are probably going to favor the sector."
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress the U.S. economy has weathered the blow from the recent devastating hurricanes and still has good momentum.
"More uncertainty, however, surrounds the outlook for inflation," Greenspan said.
Economic reports also helped to lift stocks, including business productivity data for the third quarter, which showed unit labor costs declined, easing worries about inflation.
In another report, the Institute for Supply Management's services index rose to 60.0 in October, beating Wall Street's forecast for an increase to 57.0.
Chain stores such as Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF.N) reported sales that beat Wall Street estimates.
Abercrombie's stock shot up 4.5 percent, or $2.42, to $56.27 on the NYSE.
Retailer J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP.N) , said on Thursday that sales at department stores open at least a year rose 2.4 percent in October and raised its quarterly profit forecast. J.C. Penney's stock rose 3.8 percent, or $1.95, to $53.40 on the NYSE.
Trading was heavy on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 2 billion shares changing hands, above last year's 1.46 billion daily average. On the Big Board, gainers outnumbered decliners by a ratio of less than 3 to 2.
On Nasdaq, volume was also heavy, with 2.37 billion shares traded, above last year's daily average. Advancers outpaced decliners by a ratio of about 8 to 7.
© Reuters 2005
US stocks rise on Merck ruling, economy and techs
Thu Nov 3, 2005 06:03 PM ET
By Vivianne Rodrigues
NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as drug maker Merck & Co. (MRK.N) won a key Vioxx liability trial, while reports on labor productivity and the services sector boosted optimism about the economy.
Tech shares rallied, led by Qualcomm (QCOM.O) and International Business Machines Corp.(IBM.N) Qualcomm helped push the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index to its highest close in six weeks. IBM gave the Dow a big lift.
"Stocks started the day on a positive note and the verdict on Merck gave the bullish investors out there another incentive to buy," said Martin Yokosawa, senior portfolio manager at Oberweis Asset Management in Lisle, Illinois.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 49.86 points, or 0.48 percent, to end at 10,522.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 5.18 points, or 0.43 percent, to finish at 1,219.94. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 15.91 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 2,160.22.
A rise in oil prices limited stocks' gains. U.S. crude oil futures for December delivery (CLZ5) added $2.03 to settle at $61.78 a barrel.
Shares of Dow component Merck climbed 3.8 percent, or $1.07, to $29.48 on the New York Stock Exchange and ranked among the major advancers in the blue-chip average.
Merck won a major victory when a jury decided on Thursday that the drug maker had given doctors adequate warnings about the health risks associated with its painkiller, Vioxx, which it withdrew from the market in September 2004.
The American Stock Exchange Pharmaceutical Index gained 1.13 percent. Shares of Merck rival Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) , the world's largest drug maker, rose 1.3 percent, or 27 cents, to $21.87 on the NYSE.
In the tech sector, shares of Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM.O) , the wireless technology company, rose a day after the company reported a higher fiscal fourth-quarter profit.
Qualcomm stock jumped 9 percent, or $3.64, to $44.02, and was the biggest positive influence on the Nasdaq 100. The stock was one of the largest contributors to the S&P 500's gains.
IBM shares rose 2.2 percent, or $1.81, to $82.87 on the NYSE. Intel Corp. (INTC.O) shares climbed 2.6 percent, or 60 cents, to $23.89 on Nasdaq.
"Technology shares are among the most undervalued," said James Huguet, president of Great Companies LLC in Florida, with $1 billion in assets under management. "Investors who are betting on a year-end rally are probably going to favor the sector."
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress the U.S. economy has weathered the blow from the recent devastating hurricanes and still has good momentum.
"More uncertainty, however, surrounds the outlook for inflation," Greenspan said.
Economic reports also helped to lift stocks, including business productivity data for the third quarter, which showed unit labor costs declined, easing worries about inflation.
In another report, the Institute for Supply Management's services index rose to 60.0 in October, beating Wall Street's forecast for an increase to 57.0.
Chain stores such as Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF.N) reported sales that beat Wall Street estimates.
Abercrombie's stock shot up 4.5 percent, or $2.42, to $56.27 on the NYSE.
Retailer J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP.N) , said on Thursday that sales at department stores open at least a year rose 2.4 percent in October and raised its quarterly profit forecast. J.C. Penney's stock rose 3.8 percent, or $1.95, to $53.40 on the NYSE.
Trading was heavy on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 2 billion shares changing hands, above last year's 1.46 billion daily average. On the Big Board, gainers outnumbered decliners by a ratio of less than 3 to 2.
On Nasdaq, volume was also heavy, with 2.37 billion shares traded, above last year's daily average. Advancers outpaced decliners by a ratio of about 8 to 7.
© Reuters 2005
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
What's in Bush's pockets?
Wed Nov 2,10:09 AM ET
Inquiring minds want to know. What does President George W. Bush carry in his pockets? Not much, it turns out.
A Latin American journalist at a briefing on the president's trip to the region this week told Bush he wanted to ask the "unofficial" question that he asks all presidents -- what does he carry in his pockets?
Bush magnanimously answered by pulling out a white handkerchief with a flourish and then rummaged around in both pockets.
And finally, showing that he had nothing to hide, Bush pulled both pants pockets inside out. They were empty.
"Es todo. No dinero," ("That's all. No money.") Bush joked in his own brand of Spanglish. "No wallet, no bolsa (wallet)."
He even showed off his Timex wristwatch, but quickly added: "I'm not supposed to be endorsing products."
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited.
What's in Bush's pockets?
Wed Nov 2,10:09 AM ET
Inquiring minds want to know. What does President George W. Bush carry in his pockets? Not much, it turns out.
A Latin American journalist at a briefing on the president's trip to the region this week told Bush he wanted to ask the "unofficial" question that he asks all presidents -- what does he carry in his pockets?
Bush magnanimously answered by pulling out a white handkerchief with a flourish and then rummaged around in both pockets.
And finally, showing that he had nothing to hide, Bush pulled both pants pockets inside out. They were empty.
"Es todo. No dinero," ("That's all. No money.") Bush joked in his own brand of Spanglish. "No wallet, no bolsa (wallet)."
He even showed off his Timex wristwatch, but quickly added: "I'm not supposed to be endorsing products."
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited.
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Wartime "sluts" caused diplomatic waves
By Gideon Long
Tue Nov 1,11:44 AM ET
London's "young sluts" wreaked such havoc among U.S. troops during World War Two that the British government feared Anglo-American relations would suffer, files released Tuesday showed.
Thousands of prostitutes and "good-time girls" were drawn to Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square in search of young American men in uniform.
They took advantage of blackouts, which plunged London into darkness during Nazi night air attacks, to evade the police.
The government was so concerned by the problem that it asked the Metropolitan Police to write a report on it in 1942.
The report described how prostitutes working in upmarket Mayfair tended to be French and caused few problems while those around Piccadilly Circus were "a lower type of prostitute, quite indiscriminate in their choice of client."
By early 1943, with thousands of U.S. soldiers pouring in to Britain ahead of the allied invasion of Europe, the Foreign Office was growing increasingly worried.
"Our attention has been drawn to the scale on which the American troops are subjected to accosting by prostitutes and we are beginning to be apprehensive about the long-term effect it may have on Anglo-American relations," Junior Foreign Office Minister Richard Law wrote in a letter to the police.
"If American soldiers contract venereal disease while in this country, they and their relatives in the United States will not think kindly of us after the war."
The government organized a conference to address the issue and mulled a ban on women in certain notorious London streets, according to the police files, which have been secret for 50 years but have now been released by the National Archive.
Britain was worried the Nazis would use the issue to undermine morale by goading British soldiers into believing their wives were cheating on them.
Admiral Sir Edward Evans, head of London's Civil Defense unit, wrote to the police in September 1943 to complain that "Leicester Square at night is the resort of the worst type of women and girls..."
"Of course the American soldiers are encouraged by these young sluts, many of whom should be serving in the forces," he fumed. "At night the square, with its garden, is apparently given over to vicious debauchery."
The police and many government officials played down the issue, saying it was nothing new.
One old-timer at the Home Office recalled the streets and brothels of Paris during World War One.
"London at the moment is by comparison a Sunday school," he wrote.
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited.
Wartime "sluts" caused diplomatic waves
By Gideon Long
Tue Nov 1,11:44 AM ET
London's "young sluts" wreaked such havoc among U.S. troops during World War Two that the British government feared Anglo-American relations would suffer, files released Tuesday showed.
Thousands of prostitutes and "good-time girls" were drawn to Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square in search of young American men in uniform.
They took advantage of blackouts, which plunged London into darkness during Nazi night air attacks, to evade the police.
The government was so concerned by the problem that it asked the Metropolitan Police to write a report on it in 1942.
The report described how prostitutes working in upmarket Mayfair tended to be French and caused few problems while those around Piccadilly Circus were "a lower type of prostitute, quite indiscriminate in their choice of client."
By early 1943, with thousands of U.S. soldiers pouring in to Britain ahead of the allied invasion of Europe, the Foreign Office was growing increasingly worried.
"Our attention has been drawn to the scale on which the American troops are subjected to accosting by prostitutes and we are beginning to be apprehensive about the long-term effect it may have on Anglo-American relations," Junior Foreign Office Minister Richard Law wrote in a letter to the police.
"If American soldiers contract venereal disease while in this country, they and their relatives in the United States will not think kindly of us after the war."
The government organized a conference to address the issue and mulled a ban on women in certain notorious London streets, according to the police files, which have been secret for 50 years but have now been released by the National Archive.
Britain was worried the Nazis would use the issue to undermine morale by goading British soldiers into believing their wives were cheating on them.
Admiral Sir Edward Evans, head of London's Civil Defense unit, wrote to the police in September 1943 to complain that "Leicester Square at night is the resort of the worst type of women and girls..."
"Of course the American soldiers are encouraged by these young sluts, many of whom should be serving in the forces," he fumed. "At night the square, with its garden, is apparently given over to vicious debauchery."
The police and many government officials played down the issue, saying it was nothing new.
One old-timer at the Home Office recalled the streets and brothels of Paris during World War One.
"London at the moment is by comparison a Sunday school," he wrote.
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited.
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Greenpeace to pay fine for damaging reef
Tue Nov 1,11:42 AM ET
Greenpeace said Tuesday it will pay nearly $7,000 in damages after the environmental group's flagship, the Rainbow Warrior II, hit a coral reef at a world heritage site in the southern Philippines.
The accident Monday was "very regrettable," Greenpeace said in a joint statement with the Tubbataha National Marine Park, but it laid some of the blame on maritime charts showing its ship was 1.5 miles from the reef.
Officials from the marine park assessed the area of damaged reef at 96 square metres (113 square yards) and valued it at 384,000 pesos.
"This accident could have been avoided if the chart was accurate," Red Constantino of Greenpeace Southeast Asia said in the statement. "We feel responsible, however, and this amount will be transferred Wednesday."
The visit to the reefs in the Sulu Sea was part of a four-month tour by the Rainbow Warrior II to Australia, China, the Philippines and Thailand to raise awareness about global warming and promote renewable energy.
The ship suffered no serious damage while briefly running aground, Greenpeace said.
The area of the maritime park is designated as a world heritage site by the United Nations.
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited.
Greenpeace to pay fine for damaging reef
Tue Nov 1,11:42 AM ET
Greenpeace said Tuesday it will pay nearly $7,000 in damages after the environmental group's flagship, the Rainbow Warrior II, hit a coral reef at a world heritage site in the southern Philippines.
The accident Monday was "very regrettable," Greenpeace said in a joint statement with the Tubbataha National Marine Park, but it laid some of the blame on maritime charts showing its ship was 1.5 miles from the reef.
Officials from the marine park assessed the area of damaged reef at 96 square metres (113 square yards) and valued it at 384,000 pesos.
"This accident could have been avoided if the chart was accurate," Red Constantino of Greenpeace Southeast Asia said in the statement. "We feel responsible, however, and this amount will be transferred Wednesday."
The visit to the reefs in the Sulu Sea was part of a four-month tour by the Rainbow Warrior II to Australia, China, the Philippines and Thailand to raise awareness about global warming and promote renewable energy.
The ship suffered no serious damage while briefly running aground, Greenpeace said.
The area of the maritime park is designated as a world heritage site by the United Nations.
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited.
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Mike Causey's Federal Report
Investing: Dare To Be Dull
Nov. 1, 2005
The last time anybody checked, only about 160 of the 3.5 million people in the federal Thrift Savings Plan were "actively" managing their accounts. That is making two or more transactions a week, jumping from one fund to another in an attempt to time the market.
Most financial planners would say that's the smart way to do it. Timing the market, that is buying low and selling high, requires incredible self-confidence, a bold heart, and (many would say) a brain of mush.
Last week on our Your Turn radio show (live Wednesdays at 10 a.m. EST) our guest was Allan S. Roth, CFP, CPA, MBA. All those initials indicate that he probably knows more about investing than most of us.
He said there are 10 smart things that investors should know and 5 dumb things that investors should avoid. Lots of listeners asked for the list, so here, courtesy of Roth, it is. You may want to pass it on to a friend. Or an enemy.
10 Smartest Things an Investor Can Do
1. Know we don't know: Understand that in the world of investing, it's knowing we don't know that leads to better investing. The role of the expert is to keep the Wall Street Fantasy alive and keep the market efficient. Okay, a little entertainment too!
2. Understand the arithmetic of investing: Keep costs low. Low cost index investing must beat higher cost active investing as a whole over any period of time.
3. Get Real: Think in real, inflation adjusted terms, and how much of your return you want to give away in costs and taxes. Think realistically, we all want to believe we beat the market - The average investor thinks they are trouncing the market. This is similar to the Las Vegas effect where 2/3 of visitors actually think they won money.
4. Understand our emotions: We are hard wired to buy high and sell low. Highly recommend learning more about behavioral finance (I can expand here later if you want).
5. Explore both your willingness and need to take risk: We think we are pretty fearless in an up market and risk adverse in a down market.
6. Diversify!
* Among several asset classes.
* Within each asset class by owning a large number of securities. Failing to do this increases risk without increasing expected return. This is known as gambling.
7. Think long-term: Once you've built an efficient portfolio, you should first let the power of inertia take over, then the magic of compounding. (Albert Einstein called compounding the most powerful force in the universe.)
8. Rebalance: It's the only proven way to time the market though it's the most daring part of this dull strategy. It's hard to increase ones stock portfolio after 3 straight years of losses.
9. Pick the low hanging fruit: Why do average CDs and money market accounts exist? Why earn 4% on your cash when you are paying 5.5% on your mortgage? If you shop, government backed CDs pay significantly more than treasuries. One of the few advantages for the main street investor.
10. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). With just a few funds, such as those in the TSP, you can execute this strategy.
5 Dumbest Things an Investor Can Do
1. Chase the market: Buy a hot stock or mutual fund or get into the market after it has gone up. The vast majority of investors will do this.
2. Finding patterns out of randomness and following the fad: Were the believers of the Dogs of the Dow method contrarians or followers of a fad? I argue the latter.
3. Buying or selling a security based on a hot tip you heard on a national financial show. You weren't the only one listening and the experts are usually wrong. The cocktail party hot tip is probably just as bad though.
4. Do your investing through insurance vehicles: You are far more likely to make your insurance agent rich with these high cost, tax inefficient vehicles.
5. Getting excitement through investing: That emotional well-being is probably proving quite costly. When you get that irresistible urge to buy a sure winner, just let it pass.
And there you have it. Our humble thanks to Allan Roth for proving, yet again, that some of the best columns I write are in fact written by other people! For more about Roth and his monthly personal finance columns in the Colorado Springs Business Journal, check out his website: http://daretobedull.com
Mike Causey's Federal Report
Investing: Dare To Be Dull
Nov. 1, 2005
The last time anybody checked, only about 160 of the 3.5 million people in the federal Thrift Savings Plan were "actively" managing their accounts. That is making two or more transactions a week, jumping from one fund to another in an attempt to time the market.
Most financial planners would say that's the smart way to do it. Timing the market, that is buying low and selling high, requires incredible self-confidence, a bold heart, and (many would say) a brain of mush.
Last week on our Your Turn radio show (live Wednesdays at 10 a.m. EST) our guest was Allan S. Roth, CFP, CPA, MBA. All those initials indicate that he probably knows more about investing than most of us.
He said there are 10 smart things that investors should know and 5 dumb things that investors should avoid. Lots of listeners asked for the list, so here, courtesy of Roth, it is. You may want to pass it on to a friend. Or an enemy.
10 Smartest Things an Investor Can Do
1. Know we don't know: Understand that in the world of investing, it's knowing we don't know that leads to better investing. The role of the expert is to keep the Wall Street Fantasy alive and keep the market efficient. Okay, a little entertainment too!
2. Understand the arithmetic of investing: Keep costs low. Low cost index investing must beat higher cost active investing as a whole over any period of time.
3. Get Real: Think in real, inflation adjusted terms, and how much of your return you want to give away in costs and taxes. Think realistically, we all want to believe we beat the market - The average investor thinks they are trouncing the market. This is similar to the Las Vegas effect where 2/3 of visitors actually think they won money.
4. Understand our emotions: We are hard wired to buy high and sell low. Highly recommend learning more about behavioral finance (I can expand here later if you want).
5. Explore both your willingness and need to take risk: We think we are pretty fearless in an up market and risk adverse in a down market.
6. Diversify!
* Among several asset classes.
* Within each asset class by owning a large number of securities. Failing to do this increases risk without increasing expected return. This is known as gambling.
7. Think long-term: Once you've built an efficient portfolio, you should first let the power of inertia take over, then the magic of compounding. (Albert Einstein called compounding the most powerful force in the universe.)
8. Rebalance: It's the only proven way to time the market though it's the most daring part of this dull strategy. It's hard to increase ones stock portfolio after 3 straight years of losses.
9. Pick the low hanging fruit: Why do average CDs and money market accounts exist? Why earn 4% on your cash when you are paying 5.5% on your mortgage? If you shop, government backed CDs pay significantly more than treasuries. One of the few advantages for the main street investor.
10. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). With just a few funds, such as those in the TSP, you can execute this strategy.
5 Dumbest Things an Investor Can Do
1. Chase the market: Buy a hot stock or mutual fund or get into the market after it has gone up. The vast majority of investors will do this.
2. Finding patterns out of randomness and following the fad: Were the believers of the Dogs of the Dow method contrarians or followers of a fad? I argue the latter.
3. Buying or selling a security based on a hot tip you heard on a national financial show. You weren't the only one listening and the experts are usually wrong. The cocktail party hot tip is probably just as bad though.
4. Do your investing through insurance vehicles: You are far more likely to make your insurance agent rich with these high cost, tax inefficient vehicles.
5. Getting excitement through investing: That emotional well-being is probably proving quite costly. When you get that irresistible urge to buy a sure winner, just let it pass.
And there you have it. Our humble thanks to Allan Roth for proving, yet again, that some of the best columns I write are in fact written by other people! For more about Roth and his monthly personal finance columns in the Colorado Springs Business Journal, check out his website: http://daretobedull.com
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Holloways say Arubans botched case
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — The family of a U.S. teenager who vanished on a school trip to Aruba urged Thursday that three law enforcement officials be removed from the case, saying they ignored promising leads and did not take the investigation seriously in the crucial early stages.
Natalee Holloway's family made the charges in a letter released as the missing teen's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, left the Dutch Caribbean island after she said prosecutors and the police chief refused to meet with her.
The honors student was last seen early on May 30 leaving a bar with Dutch national Joran van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. They were arrested on June 9 but released after a court ruled there was not enough evidence to hold them.
Twitty, who arrived Tuesday, told reporters she wanted to meet with prosecutors and police to discuss a taped interview in which Deepak Kalpoe allegedly says all three had sex with Holloway, who would have turned 19 last month.
Twitty said she was "disheartened" with the response of Police Chief Gerald Dompig, Chief Prosecutor Karin Jansen and Detective Dennis Jacobs to the disappearance of her daughter.
"They have placed barriers to the advancement of the investigation," Twitty said. "They should be replaced."
The police chief said he and the chief prosecutor were willing to meet with Twitty but first wanted her to clarify statements she made about an investigator whose name he did not disclose. Dompig declined to discuss her criticisms.
In the letter, Dave Holloway, the missing teen's father, said two days after her disappearance, he was told by Jacobs there was no point searching for the girl.
He says the detective told him "She probably just got drunk or fell in love and ran off with someone for a few days," according to the letter.
The father also said that detectives waited too long to question van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers after it became clear they were the last seen in public with the missing teen.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press.
Holloways say Arubans botched case
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — The family of a U.S. teenager who vanished on a school trip to Aruba urged Thursday that three law enforcement officials be removed from the case, saying they ignored promising leads and did not take the investigation seriously in the crucial early stages.
Natalee Holloway's family made the charges in a letter released as the missing teen's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, left the Dutch Caribbean island after she said prosecutors and the police chief refused to meet with her.
The honors student was last seen early on May 30 leaving a bar with Dutch national Joran van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. They were arrested on June 9 but released after a court ruled there was not enough evidence to hold them.
Twitty, who arrived Tuesday, told reporters she wanted to meet with prosecutors and police to discuss a taped interview in which Deepak Kalpoe allegedly says all three had sex with Holloway, who would have turned 19 last month.
Twitty said she was "disheartened" with the response of Police Chief Gerald Dompig, Chief Prosecutor Karin Jansen and Detective Dennis Jacobs to the disappearance of her daughter.
"They have placed barriers to the advancement of the investigation," Twitty said. "They should be replaced."
The police chief said he and the chief prosecutor were willing to meet with Twitty but first wanted her to clarify statements she made about an investigator whose name he did not disclose. Dompig declined to discuss her criticisms.
In the letter, Dave Holloway, the missing teen's father, said two days after her disappearance, he was told by Jacobs there was no point searching for the girl.
He says the detective told him "She probably just got drunk or fell in love and ran off with someone for a few days," according to the letter.
The father also said that detectives waited too long to question van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers after it became clear they were the last seen in public with the missing teen.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press.
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
FERS Folk: Steak or Cat Food
by Mike Causey
Nov. 8, 2005
Unless you plan ahead, or are okay living in a shack on Hamburger Helper™ sans hamburger, check this one out. It's for the majority of working feds who are under the newer Federal Employees Retirement System. Benefits expert John Elliott, who researched and wrote what follows, says there are three things you must do to maximize your benefits.
Here's what he says:
What we want is no surprises in retirement, at least about the money. (You may have many surprises of the non-financial kind, some pleasant, some not so pleasant.)
Your FERS Basic Benefit, or annuity, or pension. You will get one percent for each year of service, prorated monthly, of your high-three average salary. Your high-3 is the highest three consecutive years of total pay, divided by three. So a FERS person with 30 years and six months of service will get 30.5% of their high-3 average salary. If you manage to hang on until age 62 you'll get 1.1% for each year of service, if you have at least 20 years of service at retirement. If you're a law enforcement officer, firefighter (in the literal sense) or air traffic controller, you'll get 1.7% for each of 20 years of service, and 1.0% for all years above 20. So, it should be easy for most of you to come up with a ballpark estimate of your FERS Basic Benefit. You may also get an additional amount of money, called an annuity supplement, if you retire before 62, to bridge the gap until you reach Social Security eligibility. This can be a significant amount of extra money above and beyond the FERS Basic Benefit. Take the number of full years you have under FERS, divide by 40, and multiply by your estimated Social Security Benefit at age 62. You can also visit your HR office where they typically have software to calculate this for you.
Your Social Security Benefit. You can collect your Social Security retirement benefit as early as 62. Each year, three months before your birthday, you get a statement from the Social Security Administration giving you an estimate of your Social Security Benefit at age 62, and your full retirement age, which varies depending upon your year of birth. Or, you can go to Social Security's website and use their calculator to compute an estimate of your benefit.
Your Thrift Savings Plan. This is where most of your money should come from, that is, if you've faithfully contributed the maximum under the law. There is a great tool at to help you gauge how much of a TSP account you'll have at retirement. Go to the website and click on calculator.
The calculator can perform the following functions in helping you plan for retirement, and I quote from the calculator page:
"Estimate the growth of your TSP account by calculating the growth of your future contributions and/or the growth of the money already in your account.
Estimate what your account balance would provide in monthly annuity payments under a variety of TSP annuity options.
Estimate how many monthly payments you can receive from your account when you choose a specific dollar amount, or estimate how much you can receive each month if you choose monthly payments based on life expectancy.
Link to the Ballpark Estimate calculator to estimate how much you will need to save each year to meet your retirement goals."
Use these tools and you should be able to successfully plan for your retirement. It also is very important to attend a retirement seminar offered through your agency at the beginning of your career, mid-career and shortly before retirement. John Elliott.
Yes, it's like math, but it's also your future we're talking about here. I assure you, your steak may taste great to the cat, but the cat's kibble won't taste as good to you.
FERS Folk: Steak or Cat Food
by Mike Causey
Nov. 8, 2005
Unless you plan ahead, or are okay living in a shack on Hamburger Helper™ sans hamburger, check this one out. It's for the majority of working feds who are under the newer Federal Employees Retirement System. Benefits expert John Elliott, who researched and wrote what follows, says there are three things you must do to maximize your benefits.
Here's what he says:
What we want is no surprises in retirement, at least about the money. (You may have many surprises of the non-financial kind, some pleasant, some not so pleasant.)
Your FERS Basic Benefit, or annuity, or pension. You will get one percent for each year of service, prorated monthly, of your high-three average salary. Your high-3 is the highest three consecutive years of total pay, divided by three. So a FERS person with 30 years and six months of service will get 30.5% of their high-3 average salary. If you manage to hang on until age 62 you'll get 1.1% for each year of service, if you have at least 20 years of service at retirement. If you're a law enforcement officer, firefighter (in the literal sense) or air traffic controller, you'll get 1.7% for each of 20 years of service, and 1.0% for all years above 20. So, it should be easy for most of you to come up with a ballpark estimate of your FERS Basic Benefit. You may also get an additional amount of money, called an annuity supplement, if you retire before 62, to bridge the gap until you reach Social Security eligibility. This can be a significant amount of extra money above and beyond the FERS Basic Benefit. Take the number of full years you have under FERS, divide by 40, and multiply by your estimated Social Security Benefit at age 62. You can also visit your HR office where they typically have software to calculate this for you.
Your Social Security Benefit. You can collect your Social Security retirement benefit as early as 62. Each year, three months before your birthday, you get a statement from the Social Security Administration giving you an estimate of your Social Security Benefit at age 62, and your full retirement age, which varies depending upon your year of birth. Or, you can go to Social Security's website and use their calculator to compute an estimate of your benefit.
Your Thrift Savings Plan. This is where most of your money should come from, that is, if you've faithfully contributed the maximum under the law. There is a great tool at to help you gauge how much of a TSP account you'll have at retirement. Go to the website and click on calculator.
The calculator can perform the following functions in helping you plan for retirement, and I quote from the calculator page:
"Estimate the growth of your TSP account by calculating the growth of your future contributions and/or the growth of the money already in your account.
Estimate what your account balance would provide in monthly annuity payments under a variety of TSP annuity options.
Estimate how many monthly payments you can receive from your account when you choose a specific dollar amount, or estimate how much you can receive each month if you choose monthly payments based on life expectancy.
Link to the Ballpark Estimate calculator to estimate how much you will need to save each year to meet your retirement goals."
Use these tools and you should be able to successfully plan for your retirement. It also is very important to attend a retirement seminar offered through your agency at the beginning of your career, mid-career and shortly before retirement. John Elliott.
Yes, it's like math, but it's also your future we're talking about here. I assure you, your steak may taste great to the cat, but the cat's kibble won't taste as good to you.
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Wall St Week Ahead: Stocks may rally on cheaper oil
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Nov 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are poised for a rally next week as lower crude prices fuel investors' optimism that businesses and consumers will get a break from high energy costs and have more cash to spend this holiday season.
With the quarterly earnings period almost over, investors will have more time to sift through a raft of economic data next week. Those numbers could help set the market's tone.
Wall Street's denizens will tune in to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee's hearing on Tuesday on Ben Bernanke's nomination to be chairman of the Federal Reserve.
But the price of oil appears to have the most sway over the market's direction.
This past week, crude extended its slide below $60 a barrel to the lowest levels since late July. The government reported a surprising increase in U.S. oil inventories in the latest week, while unseasonably warm weather enveloped the U.S. Northeast, the biggest energy-consuming region in the United States.
"As long the weather stays warm, the heating bills will stay down, so next week the market should resume a little bit of the upside after some consolidation this week," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.
So far this month, stocks have advanced after a dreary October, thanks in part to growing expectations for a year-end rally. Market strategists said these perceptions could lure investors away from valuation-rich sectors like energy into undervalued sectors like technology.
At Friday's close, stocks scored their third straight week of gains. The Dow Jones industrial average and the Nasdaq Composite Index both climbed 1.5 percent, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.2 percent.
THE FED'S POINT OF VIEW
When the Fed talks, Wall Street listens. The coming week features a heavy roster of speeches from Fed officials, including Chairman Alan Greenspan on Monday via video conference at a Bank of Mexico event.
On Tuesday, Michael Moskow, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, will speak to Chicago business leaders about the economic outlook. The same day, Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Fed, will tell a Dallas forum about the impact of globalization on the Fed's decision making.
On Wednesday, Philadelphia Fed Bank President Anthony Santomero will speak in New York.
On Thursday, St. Louis Fed Bank President William Poole will talk about tracking inflation. The same day, Sandra Pianalto, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, and the Chicago Fed's Moskow will speak at a conference sponsored by the Cleveland Fed.
INFLATION WATCH
Investors will keep an eye out next week for any signs of inflation. The government is set to release the U.S. Producer Price Index on Tuesday, and the U.S. Consumer Price Index on Wednesday. Both reports are for October.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the core PPI, excluding more volatile food and energy items, rose 0.2 percent in October, after a 0.3 percent gain in September. They forecast that core CPI went up 0.2 percent in October, after a 0.1 percent gain in the previous month.
"The numbers are hopefully going to give investors a sign that the Fed may slow interest-rate hikes," said Andre Bakhos, president of Princeton Financial Group.
HOUSING STARTS AND HOLIDAY HOPES
Investors will pay close attention to a reading on the state of the U.S. housing market, a key driver of the economy's growth, after luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL.N) cut its fiscal 2006 profit outlook this past week. The warning from Toll Brothers sparked concerns about a possible slowdown in the housing sector.
The October housing starts report is due on Thursday.
Market strategists said the housing data would be scrutinized as its release will follow quarterly earnings from home improvement chains Lowe's Cos. (LOW.N) on Monday and its bigger rival Home Depot Inc. (HD.N) , a Dow component, on Tuesday. They are among the companies whose fortunes are closely tied to the U.S. housing market.
"You've got a situation where if we have this housing sector slowdown and there's some sort of slowdown in the retailers, the place where it's first going to start to show up is in those 'big box' Home Depot-type companies," said Christopher Johnson, director of quantitative analysis at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N) is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on Monday. But investors probably will concentrate more on what the world's largest retailer says about the prospects for the year-end holiday shopping season.
"Investors will be paying lots of attention to what companies have to say about what they're seeing, in terms of what their plans might be to try to capture the incremental dollar through the holiday season," said Jack Caffrey, equity strategist at JP Morgan Private Bank, which oversees $280 billion in assets.
© Reuters 2005
Wall St Week Ahead: Stocks may rally on cheaper oil
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Nov 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are poised for a rally next week as lower crude prices fuel investors' optimism that businesses and consumers will get a break from high energy costs and have more cash to spend this holiday season.
With the quarterly earnings period almost over, investors will have more time to sift through a raft of economic data next week. Those numbers could help set the market's tone.
Wall Street's denizens will tune in to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee's hearing on Tuesday on Ben Bernanke's nomination to be chairman of the Federal Reserve.
But the price of oil appears to have the most sway over the market's direction.
This past week, crude extended its slide below $60 a barrel to the lowest levels since late July. The government reported a surprising increase in U.S. oil inventories in the latest week, while unseasonably warm weather enveloped the U.S. Northeast, the biggest energy-consuming region in the United States.
"As long the weather stays warm, the heating bills will stay down, so next week the market should resume a little bit of the upside after some consolidation this week," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.
So far this month, stocks have advanced after a dreary October, thanks in part to growing expectations for a year-end rally. Market strategists said these perceptions could lure investors away from valuation-rich sectors like energy into undervalued sectors like technology.
At Friday's close, stocks scored their third straight week of gains. The Dow Jones industrial average and the Nasdaq Composite Index both climbed 1.5 percent, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.2 percent.
THE FED'S POINT OF VIEW
When the Fed talks, Wall Street listens. The coming week features a heavy roster of speeches from Fed officials, including Chairman Alan Greenspan on Monday via video conference at a Bank of Mexico event.
On Tuesday, Michael Moskow, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, will speak to Chicago business leaders about the economic outlook. The same day, Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Fed, will tell a Dallas forum about the impact of globalization on the Fed's decision making.
On Wednesday, Philadelphia Fed Bank President Anthony Santomero will speak in New York.
On Thursday, St. Louis Fed Bank President William Poole will talk about tracking inflation. The same day, Sandra Pianalto, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, and the Chicago Fed's Moskow will speak at a conference sponsored by the Cleveland Fed.
INFLATION WATCH
Investors will keep an eye out next week for any signs of inflation. The government is set to release the U.S. Producer Price Index on Tuesday, and the U.S. Consumer Price Index on Wednesday. Both reports are for October.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the core PPI, excluding more volatile food and energy items, rose 0.2 percent in October, after a 0.3 percent gain in September. They forecast that core CPI went up 0.2 percent in October, after a 0.1 percent gain in the previous month.
"The numbers are hopefully going to give investors a sign that the Fed may slow interest-rate hikes," said Andre Bakhos, president of Princeton Financial Group.
HOUSING STARTS AND HOLIDAY HOPES
Investors will pay close attention to a reading on the state of the U.S. housing market, a key driver of the economy's growth, after luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL.N) cut its fiscal 2006 profit outlook this past week. The warning from Toll Brothers sparked concerns about a possible slowdown in the housing sector.
The October housing starts report is due on Thursday.
Market strategists said the housing data would be scrutinized as its release will follow quarterly earnings from home improvement chains Lowe's Cos. (LOW.N) on Monday and its bigger rival Home Depot Inc. (HD.N) , a Dow component, on Tuesday. They are among the companies whose fortunes are closely tied to the U.S. housing market.
"You've got a situation where if we have this housing sector slowdown and there's some sort of slowdown in the retailers, the place where it's first going to start to show up is in those 'big box' Home Depot-type companies," said Christopher Johnson, director of quantitative analysis at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N) is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on Monday. But investors probably will concentrate more on what the world's largest retailer says about the prospects for the year-end holiday shopping season.
"Investors will be paying lots of attention to what companies have to say about what they're seeing, in terms of what their plans might be to try to capture the incremental dollar through the holiday season," said Jack Caffrey, equity strategist at JP Morgan Private Bank, which oversees $280 billion in assets.
© Reuters 2005
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Management Guru Peter Drucker, 95, Dies
Saturday November 12, 2:33 PM EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Peter F. Drucker, revered as the father of modern management for his numerous books and articles stressing innovation, entrepreneurship and strategies for dealing with a changing world, died Friday. He was 95.
Drucker died of natural causes at his home in Claremont, east of Los Angeles, said Bryan Schneider, a spokesman for Claremont Graduate University, where Drucker taught.
"He is purely and simply the most important developer of effective management and of effective public policy in the 20th century," former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday. "In the more than 30 years that I've studied him, talked with him and learned from him, he has been invaluable and irreplaceable."
Drucker was considered a management visionary for his recognition that dedicated employees are key to the success of any corporation, and that marketing and innovation should come before worries about finances.
His ability to explain his principles in plain language helped them resonate with ordinary managers, said former Intel Corp. Chairman Andy Grove.
"Consequently, simple statements from him have influenced untold numbers of daily actions. They did mine over decades," Grove said.
Drucker championed concepts such as management by objective and decentralization, and his motivational techniques have been used by executives at some of the biggest companies in corporate America, including Intel and Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Business Week magazine hailed him as "the most enduring management thinker of our time," and Forbes magazine featured him on a 1997 cover under the headline: "Still the Youngest Mind." President Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.
In the early 1940s, Drucker was invited to study General Motors' inner workings, an experience that led to his 1946 management book, "Concept of the Corporation." He went on to write more than 30 books and start a foundation for non-profit management.
"He's very much an intellectual leader, and that's not common," said Harvard Business School professor D. Quinn Mills.
Drucker showed a knack for identifying sea changes in business and economics years in advance. He foresaw the emergence of a new type of worker whose occupation would be based on knowledge, not physical labor or management.
After the big stock market decline of October 1987, Drucker said he had expected it, "and not for economic reasons, but for aesthetic and moral reasons."
"The last two years were just too disgusting a spectacle," Drucker said. "Pigs gorging themselves at the trough are always a disgusting spectacle, and you know it won't last long."
Drucker termed Wall Street brokers "a totally non-productive crowd which is out for a lot of easy money."
"When you reach the point where the traders make more money than investors, you know it's not going to last," he said.
"The average duration of a soap bubble is known. It's about 26 seconds," Drucker said. "Then the surface tension becomes too great and it begins to burst.
"For speculative crazes, it's about 18 months."
Drucker was born in Vienna, and educated there and in England. He received a doctorate in international law while working as a newspaper reporter in Frankfurt, Germany. He remained in Germany until 1933, when one of his essays was banned by the Nazi regime. For a time, he worked as an economist for a bank in London, then moved to the United States in 1937.
He taught politics and philosophy at Bennington College in Vermont and for more than 20 years was a professor of management at New York University's graduate business school.
Beginning in 1971, he taught a course for midcareer executives at Claremont Graduate School in California, which named its business school after him.
Drucker's management books included: "The Effective Executive," 1966; "Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices," 1974; and "Managing in a Time of Great Change," 1995. In 2004, he put out "The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done."
He also wrote scores of articles for the academic and popular press, two novels and a 1979 autobiography, "Adventures of a Bystander."
While much of his career was spent studying employees in the workplace, Drucker also dedicated time to the service sector, founding the New York-based Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, known since 2003 as the Leader to Leader Institute.
Jack Beatty, a senior editor at Atlantic Monthly magazine who wrote the book "The World According to Peter Drucker," described the management guru as "uproariously funny (with) a great rapport. You ask him a question and it can go on for some time."
Drucker is survived by his wife, Doris, and four children.
Management Guru Peter Drucker, 95, Dies
Saturday November 12, 2:33 PM EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Peter F. Drucker, revered as the father of modern management for his numerous books and articles stressing innovation, entrepreneurship and strategies for dealing with a changing world, died Friday. He was 95.
Drucker died of natural causes at his home in Claremont, east of Los Angeles, said Bryan Schneider, a spokesman for Claremont Graduate University, where Drucker taught.
"He is purely and simply the most important developer of effective management and of effective public policy in the 20th century," former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday. "In the more than 30 years that I've studied him, talked with him and learned from him, he has been invaluable and irreplaceable."
Drucker was considered a management visionary for his recognition that dedicated employees are key to the success of any corporation, and that marketing and innovation should come before worries about finances.
His ability to explain his principles in plain language helped them resonate with ordinary managers, said former Intel Corp. Chairman Andy Grove.
"Consequently, simple statements from him have influenced untold numbers of daily actions. They did mine over decades," Grove said.
Drucker championed concepts such as management by objective and decentralization, and his motivational techniques have been used by executives at some of the biggest companies in corporate America, including Intel and Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Business Week magazine hailed him as "the most enduring management thinker of our time," and Forbes magazine featured him on a 1997 cover under the headline: "Still the Youngest Mind." President Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.
In the early 1940s, Drucker was invited to study General Motors' inner workings, an experience that led to his 1946 management book, "Concept of the Corporation." He went on to write more than 30 books and start a foundation for non-profit management.
"He's very much an intellectual leader, and that's not common," said Harvard Business School professor D. Quinn Mills.
Drucker showed a knack for identifying sea changes in business and economics years in advance. He foresaw the emergence of a new type of worker whose occupation would be based on knowledge, not physical labor or management.
After the big stock market decline of October 1987, Drucker said he had expected it, "and not for economic reasons, but for aesthetic and moral reasons."
"The last two years were just too disgusting a spectacle," Drucker said. "Pigs gorging themselves at the trough are always a disgusting spectacle, and you know it won't last long."
Drucker termed Wall Street brokers "a totally non-productive crowd which is out for a lot of easy money."
"When you reach the point where the traders make more money than investors, you know it's not going to last," he said.
"The average duration of a soap bubble is known. It's about 26 seconds," Drucker said. "Then the surface tension becomes too great and it begins to burst.
"For speculative crazes, it's about 18 months."
Drucker was born in Vienna, and educated there and in England. He received a doctorate in international law while working as a newspaper reporter in Frankfurt, Germany. He remained in Germany until 1933, when one of his essays was banned by the Nazi regime. For a time, he worked as an economist for a bank in London, then moved to the United States in 1937.
He taught politics and philosophy at Bennington College in Vermont and for more than 20 years was a professor of management at New York University's graduate business school.
Beginning in 1971, he taught a course for midcareer executives at Claremont Graduate School in California, which named its business school after him.
Drucker's management books included: "The Effective Executive," 1966; "Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices," 1974; and "Managing in a Time of Great Change," 1995. In 2004, he put out "The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done."
He also wrote scores of articles for the academic and popular press, two novels and a 1979 autobiography, "Adventures of a Bystander."
While much of his career was spent studying employees in the workplace, Drucker also dedicated time to the service sector, founding the New York-based Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, known since 2003 as the Leader to Leader Institute.
Jack Beatty, a senior editor at Atlantic Monthly magazine who wrote the book "The World According to Peter Drucker," described the management guru as "uproariously funny (with) a great rapport. You ask him a question and it can go on for some time."
Drucker is survived by his wife, Doris, and four children.
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Gold grinds on, with Fed lending a hand
By Peter Brimelow, MarketWatch
Last Update: 9:11 AM ET Nov. 14, 2005
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Even gold's friends seemed surprised by its strength last week, rallying by 2.5% on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold game may not be over yet.
Australia's Privateer, which bills itself as "the private market letter for the individual capitalist," summarized the recent action:
"This was a 'recovery' week for the ... gold correction. ... On the daily chart, last week's $16.90 gold fall pushed gold well below both its 10- and 20-day moving averages. The $11.50 rise this week has reversed the process." See The Privateer's site for more.
The previous week's pummeling was severe. And this last week saw a rampage by the dollar. Oil -- which many presume sets the tone for gold -- was soft, world equities were strong. If that were not enough, Germany's fledgling government has started talking about selling part of the country's gold reserves.
Yet gold did well -- better, in fact, than the simple dollar-denominated price suggests. As The Privateer says in its omniscient way:
"By November 11, gold was at new bull market highs in terms of almost every other major currency in the world. And this time, that includes at least one of the 'commodity currencies,' the Aussie dollar ... all in the face of a U.S. dollar index which has set new 2005 highs almost every day this week."
Gold in euros was particularly impressive. It closed on Friday at an all-time high -- actually above 400 euros per ounce, based on the Nymex close.
This is important, because on both occasions this year when euro gold has broken into new high ground, considerable follow-through buying appeared.
Equally impressive was that fact that the gold shares noticed. They've rudely ignored gold's strength this year, but maybe not this time.
Chartist Martin Pring, a believer in the predictive powers of the sector's equities, assessed the Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI: 231.23, -3.03, -1.3%) on Thursday in his InterMarket Update as follows:
"The shares typically lead the metal at bottoms, and the Chart shows that they have diverged positively with it in recent weeks. ... If the shares can now rally above the 230 level on a daily close basis, the odds would favor a successful assault on September's high. In that event, we would expect the metal to be close on its heels."
(Pring's price point was pinged -- Friday's close was 234.26!)
Gold's friends have dark theories about why gold went down the previous week. As Bob Bishop of Gold Mining Stock Report put it:
"Q: What's the best time to rob a house? A: When nobody's home. This was the same rationale behind last week's short raid on the gold market, timed to coincide with the holiday closure of the Indian markets."
'Make believe' at the Fed?
Why gold went back up, though, divides the letters.
The Gartman Letter, for one, has suggested there's been some purchasing by smaller central banks. And Bill Murphy has a correspondent identifying South Korea's central bank.
Those who incline to a macro view, however, had an arresting fact to consider. It was well put by gold veteran James Turk of the Free Market Gold & Money Report. Turk wants to:
"Berate the Fed for an unbelievable announcement made this past week. Without explanation, the Fed disclosed: 'On March 23, 2006, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System will cease publication of the M3 monetary aggregate.' "
Not unreasonably, Turk concludes:
"Why does the Fed no longer want to report the total quantity of dollars in circulation? They know what's coming -- massive amounts of dollar creation to fund the worsening trade and federal government budget deficits. The Fed is just doing what other government agencies already do when they don't like the result of their statistical calculations. Like children, they play 'make believe.' "
The Fed might have been more discreet. But is gold watching?
Gold grinds on, with Fed lending a hand
By Peter Brimelow, MarketWatch
Last Update: 9:11 AM ET Nov. 14, 2005
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Even gold's friends seemed surprised by its strength last week, rallying by 2.5% on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold game may not be over yet.
Australia's Privateer, which bills itself as "the private market letter for the individual capitalist," summarized the recent action:
"This was a 'recovery' week for the ... gold correction. ... On the daily chart, last week's $16.90 gold fall pushed gold well below both its 10- and 20-day moving averages. The $11.50 rise this week has reversed the process." See The Privateer's site for more.
The previous week's pummeling was severe. And this last week saw a rampage by the dollar. Oil -- which many presume sets the tone for gold -- was soft, world equities were strong. If that were not enough, Germany's fledgling government has started talking about selling part of the country's gold reserves.
Yet gold did well -- better, in fact, than the simple dollar-denominated price suggests. As The Privateer says in its omniscient way:
"By November 11, gold was at new bull market highs in terms of almost every other major currency in the world. And this time, that includes at least one of the 'commodity currencies,' the Aussie dollar ... all in the face of a U.S. dollar index which has set new 2005 highs almost every day this week."
Gold in euros was particularly impressive. It closed on Friday at an all-time high -- actually above 400 euros per ounce, based on the Nymex close.
This is important, because on both occasions this year when euro gold has broken into new high ground, considerable follow-through buying appeared.
Equally impressive was that fact that the gold shares noticed. They've rudely ignored gold's strength this year, but maybe not this time.
Chartist Martin Pring, a believer in the predictive powers of the sector's equities, assessed the Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI: 231.23, -3.03, -1.3%) on Thursday in his InterMarket Update as follows:
"The shares typically lead the metal at bottoms, and the Chart shows that they have diverged positively with it in recent weeks. ... If the shares can now rally above the 230 level on a daily close basis, the odds would favor a successful assault on September's high. In that event, we would expect the metal to be close on its heels."
(Pring's price point was pinged -- Friday's close was 234.26!)
Gold's friends have dark theories about why gold went down the previous week. As Bob Bishop of Gold Mining Stock Report put it:
"Q: What's the best time to rob a house? A: When nobody's home. This was the same rationale behind last week's short raid on the gold market, timed to coincide with the holiday closure of the Indian markets."
'Make believe' at the Fed?
Why gold went back up, though, divides the letters.
The Gartman Letter, for one, has suggested there's been some purchasing by smaller central banks. And Bill Murphy has a correspondent identifying South Korea's central bank.
Those who incline to a macro view, however, had an arresting fact to consider. It was well put by gold veteran James Turk of the Free Market Gold & Money Report. Turk wants to:
"Berate the Fed for an unbelievable announcement made this past week. Without explanation, the Fed disclosed: 'On March 23, 2006, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System will cease publication of the M3 monetary aggregate.' "
Not unreasonably, Turk concludes:
"Why does the Fed no longer want to report the total quantity of dollars in circulation? They know what's coming -- massive amounts of dollar creation to fund the worsening trade and federal government budget deficits. The Fed is just doing what other government agencies already do when they don't like the result of their statistical calculations. Like children, they play 'make believe.' "
The Fed might have been more discreet. But is gold watching?
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
GM shares fall to 23-year low
Tuesday November 15, 5:03 PM EST
DETROIT (Reuters) - Shares of General Motors Corp. (GM) fell to a new 23-year low on Tuesday as news of a new incentive program spread amid concerns about a possible bankruptcy filing at the world's largest automaker.
GM on Monday announced a "red-tag" sale, and new profit-eroding discounts, that will allow anyone in the United States to buy vehicles at the same price employees of GM's auto suppliers pay.
"Their cost structure isn't changing," T. Rowe Price analyst Brian Ropp said. "The new incentives are just bringing down the top line and killing margins which are already negative."
Shares of GM, which has lost nearly $4 billion this year, fell by as much as $1.23 to $22.51, their lowest point in 23 years, before closing at $22.61 in Thursday trade on the New York Stock Exchange, Shares have fallen almost 46 percent this year.
GM's October U.S. sales slipped 23 percent in the absence of new incentives following a highly-publicized summer employee discount program, which pulled many potential car buyers into the market earlier than they might have been otherwise.
The new red-tag sale comes as GM, the world's largest automaker, grapples with high health-care and commodities costs, stalled sales of big sport-utility vehicles -- its longtime cash cows that have now lost popularity due to high gasoline prices -- and the loss of U.S. market share to foreign rivals.
After its "employee discount" program ended in August, GM launched its "value pricing" system, a process that brings sticker prices closer to transaction prices, thus narrowing the room for any bargaining.
"The move to value pricing offered (price) declines that just weren't great enough to attract buyers," Argus Research Group auto analyst Kevin Tynan said.
"Under the value pricing system, on average, the sticker prices are down a couple hundred bucks. To be effective, value pricing has to be four times that, and incentives required to sell vehicles must be removed."
Worries about the carmaker's new discounts amid large losses are compounded by fears of a possible strike at GM's main parts supplier, Delphi Corp. (DPHIQ), that could shut down some plants and force GM to file for bankruptcy, analysts have said.
©2005 Reuters Limited.
GM shares fall to 23-year low
Tuesday November 15, 5:03 PM EST
DETROIT (Reuters) - Shares of General Motors Corp. (GM) fell to a new 23-year low on Tuesday as news of a new incentive program spread amid concerns about a possible bankruptcy filing at the world's largest automaker.
GM on Monday announced a "red-tag" sale, and new profit-eroding discounts, that will allow anyone in the United States to buy vehicles at the same price employees of GM's auto suppliers pay.
"Their cost structure isn't changing," T. Rowe Price analyst Brian Ropp said. "The new incentives are just bringing down the top line and killing margins which are already negative."
Shares of GM, which has lost nearly $4 billion this year, fell by as much as $1.23 to $22.51, their lowest point in 23 years, before closing at $22.61 in Thursday trade on the New York Stock Exchange, Shares have fallen almost 46 percent this year.
GM's October U.S. sales slipped 23 percent in the absence of new incentives following a highly-publicized summer employee discount program, which pulled many potential car buyers into the market earlier than they might have been otherwise.
The new red-tag sale comes as GM, the world's largest automaker, grapples with high health-care and commodities costs, stalled sales of big sport-utility vehicles -- its longtime cash cows that have now lost popularity due to high gasoline prices -- and the loss of U.S. market share to foreign rivals.
After its "employee discount" program ended in August, GM launched its "value pricing" system, a process that brings sticker prices closer to transaction prices, thus narrowing the room for any bargaining.
"The move to value pricing offered (price) declines that just weren't great enough to attract buyers," Argus Research Group auto analyst Kevin Tynan said.
"Under the value pricing system, on average, the sticker prices are down a couple hundred bucks. To be effective, value pricing has to be four times that, and incentives required to sell vehicles must be removed."
Worries about the carmaker's new discounts amid large losses are compounded by fears of a possible strike at GM's main parts supplier, Delphi Corp. (DPHIQ), that could shut down some plants and force GM to file for bankruptcy, analysts have said.
©2005 Reuters Limited.
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
U.S. Senate panel to vote Wed. on Bernanke for Fed
Tue Nov 15, 2005 08:41 PM ET
WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The Senate Banking Committee will vote on Ben Bernanke's nomination to be chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday, Nov. 16, the panel said on Tuesday.
The committee said in a statement the vote on the nomination, which requires Senate confirmation, would occur during a previously scheduled business meeting set for 10:30 a.m. (1530 GMT).
If approved by the committee, the nomination would then be cleared for a final confirming vote in the full Senate.
Bernanke is expected to handily win confirmation.
© Reuters 2005.
U.S. Senate panel to vote Wed. on Bernanke for Fed
Tue Nov 15, 2005 08:41 PM ET
WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The Senate Banking Committee will vote on Ben Bernanke's nomination to be chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday, Nov. 16, the panel said on Tuesday.
The committee said in a statement the vote on the nomination, which requires Senate confirmation, would occur during a previously scheduled business meeting set for 10:30 a.m. (1530 GMT).
If approved by the committee, the nomination would then be cleared for a final confirming vote in the full Senate.
Bernanke is expected to handily win confirmation.
© Reuters 2005.
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Home Construction Drops on Rising Rates
Thursday November 17, 8:39 AM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Home construction in October plunged by the biggest amount in seven months, providing dramatic evidence that rising mortgage rates are beginning to ice the housing boom.
The Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments fell by 5.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.01 million units.
The decline was double what analysts had been expecting and indicated that rising mortgage rates are beginning to take a toll on housing, the economy's star performer in recent years.
Home Construction Drops on Rising Rates
Thursday November 17, 8:39 AM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Home construction in October plunged by the biggest amount in seven months, providing dramatic evidence that rising mortgage rates are beginning to ice the housing boom.
The Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments fell by 5.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.01 million units.
The decline was double what analysts had been expecting and indicated that rising mortgage rates are beginning to take a toll on housing, the economy's star performer in recent years.
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Oil Prices Fall 4 Percent in Past Week
Friday November 18, 4:43 PM EST
Oil prices fell 4 percent in the past week and settled Friday at a five-month low just above $56 a barrel.
The steady move lower since then coincided with mild U.S. weather, the recovery of oil production and refining facilities that were shut down by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and signs that gasoline demand had tapered off.
The average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. is down 25 percent from its early September high of $3.07 a gallon.
Traders are hesitant to declare that oil prices have bottomed out, but said a move higher would not be surprising either given the magnitude of the decline in such a short period of time.
"A lot of the reasons that took us up last year are still there," said oil broker Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York.
After falling as low as $55.40, light sweet crude for December delivery settled at $56.14 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a decline of 20 cents. That is the lowest settlement price since June 15, when front-month crude settled at $55.57, and prices are about 20 percent below the late August peak of $70.85.
There are still plenty of factors supportive of prices, traders said, including the limited amount of excess oil-production capacity around the globe, the war in Iraq and the threat of a cold winter, which would drive up demand for home-heating fuels.
Bentz added that if oil prices continue to slide, OPEC may begin to try to prop them up by talking about, and possibly enacting, a production cut.
A lot will depend on the weather, analysts said.
"The expectation now is that sustained cold weather in the U.S. Northeast is just a matter of time, and that's keeping crude from falling too low," said analyst Victor Shum of Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
Many parts of the United States experiencing chilly weather in the past few days will see an even colder blast next week, according to Accuweather.com.
December heating oil and gasoline futures were essentially unchanged, settling at $1.6962 a gallon and $1.462 a gallon, respectively.
Natural gas for December delivery declined by 52.8 cents to settle at $11.414 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude futures rose 3 cents to $54.88 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Oil Prices Fall 4 Percent in Past Week
Friday November 18, 4:43 PM EST
Oil prices fell 4 percent in the past week and settled Friday at a five-month low just above $56 a barrel.
The steady move lower since then coincided with mild U.S. weather, the recovery of oil production and refining facilities that were shut down by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and signs that gasoline demand had tapered off.
The average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. is down 25 percent from its early September high of $3.07 a gallon.
Traders are hesitant to declare that oil prices have bottomed out, but said a move higher would not be surprising either given the magnitude of the decline in such a short period of time.
"A lot of the reasons that took us up last year are still there," said oil broker Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York.
After falling as low as $55.40, light sweet crude for December delivery settled at $56.14 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a decline of 20 cents. That is the lowest settlement price since June 15, when front-month crude settled at $55.57, and prices are about 20 percent below the late August peak of $70.85.
There are still plenty of factors supportive of prices, traders said, including the limited amount of excess oil-production capacity around the globe, the war in Iraq and the threat of a cold winter, which would drive up demand for home-heating fuels.
Bentz added that if oil prices continue to slide, OPEC may begin to try to prop them up by talking about, and possibly enacting, a production cut.
A lot will depend on the weather, analysts said.
"The expectation now is that sustained cold weather in the U.S. Northeast is just a matter of time, and that's keeping crude from falling too low," said analyst Victor Shum of Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
Many parts of the United States experiencing chilly weather in the past few days will see an even colder blast next week, according to Accuweather.com.
December heating oil and gasoline futures were essentially unchanged, settling at $1.6962 a gallon and $1.462 a gallon, respectively.
Natural gas for December delivery declined by 52.8 cents to settle at $11.414 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude futures rose 3 cents to $54.88 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Oil Prices Fall 4 Percent in Past Week
Friday November 18, 4:43 PM EST
Oil prices fell 4 percent in the past week and settled Friday at a five-month low just above $56 a barrel.
The steady move lower since then coincided with mild U.S. weather, the recovery of oil production and refining facilities that were shut down by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and signs that gasoline demand had tapered off.
The average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. is down 25 percent from its early September high of $3.07 a gallon.
Traders are hesitant to declare that oil prices have bottomed out, but said a move higher would not be surprising either given the magnitude of the decline in such a short period of time.
"A lot of the reasons that took us up last year are still there," said oil broker Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York.
After falling as low as $55.40, light sweet crude for December delivery settled at $56.14 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a decline of 20 cents. That is the lowest settlement price since June 15, when front-month crude settled at $55.57, and prices are about 20 percent below the late August peak of $70.85.
There are still plenty of factors supportive of prices, traders said, including the limited amount of excess oil-production capacity around the globe, the war in Iraq and the threat of a cold winter, which would drive up demand for home-heating fuels.
Bentz added that if oil prices continue to slide, OPEC may begin to try to prop them up by talking about, and possibly enacting, a production cut.
A lot will depend on the weather, analysts said.
"The expectation now is that sustained cold weather in the U.S. Northeast is just a matter of time, and that's keeping crude from falling too low," said analyst Victor Shum of Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
Many parts of the United States experiencing chilly weather in the past few days will see an even colder blast next week, according to Accuweather.com.
December heating oil and gasoline futures were essentially unchanged, settling at $1.6962 a gallon and $1.462 a gallon, respectively.
Natural gas for December delivery declined by 52.8 cents to settle at $11.414 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude futures rose 3 cents to $54.88 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Oil Prices Fall 4 Percent in Past Week
Friday November 18, 4:43 PM EST
Oil prices fell 4 percent in the past week and settled Friday at a five-month low just above $56 a barrel.
The steady move lower since then coincided with mild U.S. weather, the recovery of oil production and refining facilities that were shut down by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and signs that gasoline demand had tapered off.
The average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. is down 25 percent from its early September high of $3.07 a gallon.
Traders are hesitant to declare that oil prices have bottomed out, but said a move higher would not be surprising either given the magnitude of the decline in such a short period of time.
"A lot of the reasons that took us up last year are still there," said oil broker Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York.
After falling as low as $55.40, light sweet crude for December delivery settled at $56.14 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a decline of 20 cents. That is the lowest settlement price since June 15, when front-month crude settled at $55.57, and prices are about 20 percent below the late August peak of $70.85.
There are still plenty of factors supportive of prices, traders said, including the limited amount of excess oil-production capacity around the globe, the war in Iraq and the threat of a cold winter, which would drive up demand for home-heating fuels.
Bentz added that if oil prices continue to slide, OPEC may begin to try to prop them up by talking about, and possibly enacting, a production cut.
A lot will depend on the weather, analysts said.
"The expectation now is that sustained cold weather in the U.S. Northeast is just a matter of time, and that's keeping crude from falling too low," said analyst Victor Shum of Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
Many parts of the United States experiencing chilly weather in the past few days will see an even colder blast next week, according to Accuweather.com.
December heating oil and gasoline futures were essentially unchanged, settling at $1.6962 a gallon and $1.462 a gallon, respectively.
Natural gas for December delivery declined by 52.8 cents to settle at $11.414 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude futures rose 3 cents to $54.88 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
G
Greg
Guest
imported post
Wall St Week Ahead - U.S. stocks set for gains in holiday week
Fri Nov 18, 2005 05:49 PM ET
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks could make fresh gains next week as sectors such as technology draw new money, but overall trading volumes will likely be limited as many investors hit the road for the Thanksgiving holiday, according to analysts.
Stock markets will close all day on Thursday for Thanksgiving Day and will pull down the shutters early on Friday at 1 p.m. (1800 GMT).
But before investors head for home, they will have to contend with economic reports that should provide further clues about the health of the U.S. economy.
Among the reports scheduled for release are the Redbook Research weekly store sales report on Tuesday, initial jobless claims report on Wednesday and the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for November.
In addition, the holiday-shortened week has a roster of speeches by several Fed officials, including one on the U.S. economy by Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Michael Moskow on Monday.
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President William Poole will speak on "Communicating the Fed's Policy Stance" at an event in London.
With inflation still very much a concern, analysts said investors may spend time sifting through economic reports and comments from Fed officials for signs showing when the Fed may stop raising interest rates, or just how far it is willing to go with its recent spate of increases.
But despite lingering interest rate and inflation worries, U.S. stock rallied this week, helped in part by increasing interest in sectors such as technology, which until recently were on the back burner as investors piled into areas such as energy.
Declining crude oil prices have also lent support to the market, raising hopes consumer will have more cash to spend this holiday season as heating costs ease.
Oil sank below $56 a barrel on Friday for the first time since the end of June, as investors grew confident that large fuel stockpiles will see the world's consumers through cold winter weather.
POSITIVE STREAK
At Friday's close, the Dow Jones Industrial average closed at its highest level in 8 months. For the week, it was up 0.8 percent, the fourth straight week of gains.
Both the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index surged to their highest closes in almost 4-1/2-years. The Nasdaq rose for a fifth consecutive week, up 1.12 percent, while the S&P rose 1.10 percent, its fourth straight weekly gain.
"Psychologically, the market obviously feels a lot better than it did in October and, typically, you'll get some sort of year-end kind of rally, and we feel that's what's going on," said Evan Olsen, head of equity trading at Stephens Inc.
But he noted that, with the holiday, a lot investors may be less inclined to be in the market. In addition, corporate earnings reports for the recent quarter are winding down, leaving the market with little to go on.
Among a few remaining earnings reports likely to help set the tone for stock investors is Campbell Soup Co.'s (CPB.N) fiscal first-quarter results, fiscal fourth-quarter results for farm equipment maker Deere & Co. (DE.N) and fiscal second- quarter results for ketchup and packaged food producer H.J. Heinz Co. (HNZ.N) .
Another event closely watched by investors will be the release on Tuesday of the Federal Open Market Committee's minutes for its Nov. 1 meeting at which short-term rates were raised for the 12th time since June 2004.
"We're coming off a very positive week, so the wind is clearly at our backs right now," said Hans Olsen, chief investment officer at Bingham Legg Advisers in Boston.
"The good news is that probably the Santa Clause rally will happen, but the bad news is it takes the focus off some of the real issues that will impede the market going forward."
Analysts said the upcoming week could also see investors tread cautiously after this week's surprise announcement from the European Central Bank that it is ready to raise rates in December for the first time in five years.
"One area that was expected to resist raising rates was Europe, but now with the ECB set to throw in the towel and start raising rates, I think that puts a little bit of inflation fears back into the market," said Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at The Boston Company Asset Management, a Mellon subsidiary.
© Reuters 2005
Wall St Week Ahead - U.S. stocks set for gains in holiday week
Fri Nov 18, 2005 05:49 PM ET
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks could make fresh gains next week as sectors such as technology draw new money, but overall trading volumes will likely be limited as many investors hit the road for the Thanksgiving holiday, according to analysts.
Stock markets will close all day on Thursday for Thanksgiving Day and will pull down the shutters early on Friday at 1 p.m. (1800 GMT).
But before investors head for home, they will have to contend with economic reports that should provide further clues about the health of the U.S. economy.
Among the reports scheduled for release are the Redbook Research weekly store sales report on Tuesday, initial jobless claims report on Wednesday and the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for November.
In addition, the holiday-shortened week has a roster of speeches by several Fed officials, including one on the U.S. economy by Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Michael Moskow on Monday.
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President William Poole will speak on "Communicating the Fed's Policy Stance" at an event in London.
With inflation still very much a concern, analysts said investors may spend time sifting through economic reports and comments from Fed officials for signs showing when the Fed may stop raising interest rates, or just how far it is willing to go with its recent spate of increases.
But despite lingering interest rate and inflation worries, U.S. stock rallied this week, helped in part by increasing interest in sectors such as technology, which until recently were on the back burner as investors piled into areas such as energy.
Declining crude oil prices have also lent support to the market, raising hopes consumer will have more cash to spend this holiday season as heating costs ease.
Oil sank below $56 a barrel on Friday for the first time since the end of June, as investors grew confident that large fuel stockpiles will see the world's consumers through cold winter weather.
POSITIVE STREAK
At Friday's close, the Dow Jones Industrial average closed at its highest level in 8 months. For the week, it was up 0.8 percent, the fourth straight week of gains.
Both the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index surged to their highest closes in almost 4-1/2-years. The Nasdaq rose for a fifth consecutive week, up 1.12 percent, while the S&P rose 1.10 percent, its fourth straight weekly gain.
"Psychologically, the market obviously feels a lot better than it did in October and, typically, you'll get some sort of year-end kind of rally, and we feel that's what's going on," said Evan Olsen, head of equity trading at Stephens Inc.
But he noted that, with the holiday, a lot investors may be less inclined to be in the market. In addition, corporate earnings reports for the recent quarter are winding down, leaving the market with little to go on.
Among a few remaining earnings reports likely to help set the tone for stock investors is Campbell Soup Co.'s (CPB.N) fiscal first-quarter results, fiscal fourth-quarter results for farm equipment maker Deere & Co. (DE.N) and fiscal second- quarter results for ketchup and packaged food producer H.J. Heinz Co. (HNZ.N) .
Another event closely watched by investors will be the release on Tuesday of the Federal Open Market Committee's minutes for its Nov. 1 meeting at which short-term rates were raised for the 12th time since June 2004.
"We're coming off a very positive week, so the wind is clearly at our backs right now," said Hans Olsen, chief investment officer at Bingham Legg Advisers in Boston.
"The good news is that probably the Santa Clause rally will happen, but the bad news is it takes the focus off some of the real issues that will impede the market going forward."
Analysts said the upcoming week could also see investors tread cautiously after this week's surprise announcement from the European Central Bank that it is ready to raise rates in December for the first time in five years.
"One area that was expected to resist raising rates was Europe, but now with the ECB set to throw in the towel and start raising rates, I think that puts a little bit of inflation fears back into the market," said Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at The Boston Company Asset Management, a Mellon subsidiary.
© Reuters 2005
