
May 20
Stocks open slightly lower on Wall Street
Stocks are opening slightly lower on Wall Street as the stock market comes off of four straight weeks of gains.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Stocks are opening slightly lower on Wall Street as the stock market comes off of four straight weeks of gains.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said late Monday he will begin tapping into two government employee retirement funds to buy more time before the U.S. Treasury is faced with the prospect of defaulting on the national debt.
BACK IN THE AIR: United Flight 1 flew from Houston to Chicago, the first passenger flight on the airline's 787 since they were grounded in January.
The price of oil rose Monday, taking its cue from the stock market and the dollar.
The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & poor's 500 index edged lower on Monday as investors waited on more information about the Federal Reserve's economic stimulus program. On Wednesday Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will appear before Congress and the central bank will release minutes of its most recent policy meeting.
A Delaware bankruptcy judge has given final approval to the reorganization plan of failed battery maker A123 Systems Inc., which was the recipient of a $249 million Department of Energy grant.

Small-company stocks were a bright spot in a subdued start to the week for Wall Street.
Ryanair reported record profits Monday as Europe's largest budget airline expanded its route network across the continent and into North Africa.
Consumer spending is likely to pick up this year, while government spending declines at a faster rate, according to a survey of business economists.
United Airlines put its 787 back in the air on Monday, with both the airline and Boeing hoping to put the plane's four-month grounding behind them.

Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of the country's biggest bank, faces a key test this week: His shareholders are voting on whether to let him keep both jobs.

It's the narcissist rally.
Facebook made its debut on the stock market a year ago on May 18 in one of the largest IPOs in history and the biggest for any Internet company.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says pessimists forecasting that the economy will not reap sizable benefits from the computer revolution are likely to be proven wrong.

A measure of the U.S. economy's future health rose solidly in April, buoyed by a sharp rise in applications to build homes and a better job market.
TUESDAY, May 21
Gold prices fell for a seventh day in a row on Friday, drawn down by a stronger U.S. dollar and better economic news.
Legislation cleared the House on Friday that would place stricter requirements on the federal agency overseeing Wall Street to assess the costs and benefits of its regulations before they are issued.
A research report by the Pew Charitable Trusts says younger baby boomers and Generation Xers face an uncertain retirement because of reduced savings, high levels of debt, and losses during the Great Recession.
Italy's new cross-party government has adopted its first measures to help the economy. They include suspending a tax on primary residences and allocating funds to extend a short-term layoff scheme.

Encouraging news about the U.S. economy is extending the stock market's rally.
The price of oil rose to $96 a barrel on Friday on hopes that a steady recovery in the U.S. economy could boost fuel use.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress on Friday that the administration will begin taking steps next week to avoid a default on the nation's debt until Congress votes to raise the government's borrowing limit.
Solid hiring helped lower unemployment rates in 40 U.S. states last month, the most since November. The declines show the job market is improving throughout most of the country.
Bloomberg LP, the financial news and information service, on Friday said it has appointed Samuel Palmisano, the former CEO of IBM, as an independent adviser on its privacy and data standards.