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Saturday, April 6, 2013
Stocks dip; worst week of year for S&P, Nasdaq
Stocks closed well off their lows Friday, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq still logged their worst one-week declines this year, pressured by a disappointing March unemployment report in addition to ongoing jitters over North Korea.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 40.86 points to close at 14,565.25, cutting most of its losses after being down more than 170 points at its session low. American Express and Cisco led the blue-chip laggards, while Boeing gained. The Dow posted its worst week since February and logged its second weekly decline in the last seven weeks.
The S&P 500 slipped 6.70 points to finish at 1,553.28. Major averages have struggled for direction since the S&P 500 pierced through its 2007 closing high last week. The index has zigzagged between gains and losses for the 13th-consecutive session.
The Nasdaq fell 21.12 points to end at 3,203.86.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, ended unchanged near 14.
For the week, the Dow erased a negligible 0.09 percent, the S&P 500 dropped 1.01 percent, and the Nasdaq tumbled 1.95 percent. Hewlett-Packard was the worst weekly performer on the Dow, while UnitedHealth soared.
Among the key S&P sectors, techs slumped for the week, while telecoms rallied.
U.S. employers hired at the slowest pace in nine months in March, adding just 88,000, while the unemployment rate notched lower to 7.6 percent, largely due to people dropping out of the work force, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate is the lowest since December 2008, while the labor force participation rate is at the lowest since 1979. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a gain of 200,000.
(Read More: Unemployment Rate Falls, but Hold the Champagne)
"Today's number was heavily telegraphed by the data received earlier this week, which were unanimously disappointing," said Lawrence Creatura, Portfolio Manager, Clover Small Value Fund. "So to a certain extent, the disappointment was foreshadowed, but the magnitude of the disappointment was the real eye-opener."
Earlier this week, private sector employment and jobless claims data indicated weakness in the labor market. Reports on the manufacturing and services sectors also disappointed.
"This jobs number is going to have to revise GDP lower?at the end of the day, if people aren't making money, they're not spending. So this number has huge ramifications," said Alan Valdes, director of floor operations at DME Securities. "More striking is the fact that this may be the new norm."
(Read More: Lousy Jobs Report Means 'End of the End of QE Talk')
Adding to fears, geopolitical tensions remained in focus after North Korea placed two of its intermediate range missiles on mobile launchers and hid them on the east coast of the country, according to South Korean media. In addition, North Korea asked several foreign embassies including Russia to consider evacuating staff from Pyongyang because of increasing tension.
Shares of the iShares MSCI South Korea Capped Index Fund ETF, hit a seven-month low, dropping for the sixth-consecutive session.
"The situation in North Korea is escalating ? and investors are nervous because it's not just chatter anymore," said Creatura. "We're going to be stuck with focusing on national and geopolitical events until earnings season comes and we get more granular information."
But Japan's benchmark Nikkei index continued its upward momentum after the Bank of Japan launched a $1.4 trillion stimulus program.
(Read More: Nikkei Erupts and This Time It May Be Different)
F5 Networks plunged nearly 20 perecnt after the network appliances company slashed its second-quarter outlook. At least six brokerages slashed their price target on the company. Rivals Cisco and Juniper also declined.
First-quarter earnings season is scheduled to kick off next week with results from aluminum producer Alcoa on Monday after the closing bell. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have increased just 1.6 percent from a year ago, according to the latest data from Thomson Reuters, down from 4.3 percent forecast in January.
Facebook gained a day after the company unveiled its new software for Android devices called 'Home,' which will be deeply integrated with Google's Android operating system. The social-networking giant also showcased the HTC First, a smartphone that will come pre-installed with Facebook's new 'Home' software. In addition, Argus Research upgraded its rating on the company to "buy" from "hold."
Boeing turned higher after the company said it plans to make a test flight later this afternoon with its 787 Dreamliner jet after more than two months on the ground.
Also on the economic front, the U.S. trade gap narrowed unexpectedly to $43 billion in February, from an unrevised $44.5 billion in January, as crude oil imports fell to their lowest level since March 1996 and overall exports increased slightly, according to the Commerce Department. Economists surveyed by Reuters expected the gap to widen to $44.6 billion.
And consumer credit rose by $18.14 billion in February to $2.799 trillion and January was revised to show a smaller jump than previously expected, according to the Federal Reserve.
(Read More:Stocks, Bonds Tell Two Stories; So Who's Right?)
?By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)
? 2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved
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Friday, April 5, 2013
Small Business Owners Support Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Small business owners throughout the United States have a pulse on the goings on within their local communities. They recognize that immigrant workers and their families are also consumers, which helps to create additional jobs and bolster local economies. Within that context, two new polls highlight small business owners? perspectives of immigration and its positive effects on the ground in communities. Overwhelmingly, the surveys show small business owners, regardless of political affiliation, support comprehensive immigration reform.
Small Business Majority recently released the results from a poll exploring the extent to which small businesses support comprehensive immigration reform. The results stem from an internet survey conducted in early March of a sample of 500 small business owners from across the United States. Main Street Alliance and the American Sustainable Business Council released the results of a similar survey yesterday. Their results derive from a telephone interview survey of small business owners also conducted in March. The sample populations for both surveys were demographically, geographically, and politically diverse, with strong bipartisan agreement across party lines for most items in each report.
The detailed Small Business Alliance report and Main Street Alliance report both contain similar key findings around small business owners? views on immigration reform and immigration?s impact on local economies and communities:
- Most small business owners ? nine in ten ? in the Small Business Majority report recognize that our current immigration system is tragically flawed and the majority of respondents support a bipartisan effort to reform it. Similarly, the Main Street Alliance report shows strong small business support for immigration reform, with further emphasis on the role of immigrants in the economy and in communities.
- The Small Business Majority report shows that small business owners recognize that immigration and immigration reform is good for America (84 percent) and that immigrant entrepreneurs help facilitate business and economic growth for the country (66 percent).
- According to the Small Business Majority report, almost three-quarters of small business owners recognize the need to allow more high-skilled workers to enter the country to benefit the overall economy, while 64 percent agree that there is an economic need to allow more less-skilled workers to enter the U.S.
- Many small business owners (73 percent) in the Small Business Majority report see a need to revise the guest worker system by creating a new worker visa that would allow portability and mobility for workers to change employers as part of a protection from abusive employers, as well as a path to transition beyond temporary status.
- The Main Street Alliance report shows that two-thirds of small business owners support a roadmap to citizenship for immigrants already living in the U.S., and 61 percent favor a roadmap to citizenship for future immigrants over a temporary worker program with no path to citizenship. Most small business owners (three-fourths) in the Small Business Majority report support a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S.
Furthermore, the Main Street Alliance report finds small businesses largely agree with the following three statements about immigration?s role in American communities, economy, and society:
- 82 percent agreed with the statement: ?Generations of new Americans, both business owners and workers, have helped build strong local economies and communities. Today, outdated and out-of-touch immigration policies are hindering our economic progress. Addressing immigration is important.?
- 71 percent agreed with the statement: ?Our immigration policies should encourage the economic integration of new American immigrants. This will strengthen the customer base for small businesses, bring new talent to the nation and help those businesses grow and create jobs.?
- 67 percent agreed with the statement: ?Small business owners and their employees are like family. When an employee?s family is separated by our current immigration laws, it impacts morale and focus in the workplace. Keeping families together is important to ensure a productive and focused workforce for small businesses.?
These two survey reports offer yet more evidence that small business owners value immigration reform not only for its economic impact, but for the role it plays in strengthening families and communities.? While small businesses see the positive impacts of immigration in local economies and communities, big business is also beginning to get that message too, as the example of Facebook supporting a new comprehensive immigration reform group suggests. More and more, immigration reform is being recognized for what it is?one of the ways that we can create a better and more productive country that benefits everyone.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
With Record Growth, Direct Capital Named Top 5 ... - Franchising.com
April 03, 2013 // Franchising.com // PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - Backed by remarkable growth that outpaced any other independent business lender and $330 million in new business volume, Direct Capital was named No. 4 on Monitor?s 2013 Top Independents list. The annual benchmark list measures the overall new business volume and percentage growth for all independent business lenders in the United States.
Direct Capital, which is celebrating its 20th year in business, recorded new business volume growth of nearly $100 million over the previous year, outperforming the next closest lender by more than $35 million. With 43.2% growth year over year, Direct Capital was the only company in the Top 5 to record double-digit percentage organic growth.
The company, a leading provider of equipment leasing, business loans and working capital, has been highly successful in delivering capital to the grossly underserved small business market by offering a wide range of finance options and deploying unique scoring algorithms that significantly expand its ability to approve businesses. That capability has been well received by the small business community, which has responded with very positive feedback on the company. Direct Capital?s Net Promoter Score ? which measures customer satisfaction ? reached 65% versus a financial industry average of 23%.
?Our goal is to deliver the financial products that small businesses need at competitive prices and with extraordinary speed and wrap it all in a remarkable customer experience,? said James Broom, CEO of Direct Capital. ?Our growth in 2012 is a strong endorsement that we are on the right track. I?m especially proud of our repeat business growth. When customers continue to return to us for their financing needs we are doing the right things. It?s that simple.?
To learn more, visit the Monitor website.
About Direct Capital
Established in 1993, Direct Capital (www.directcapital.com) is a financial technology company that delivers financial solutions for small & medium sized businesses, franchisors, and equipment and technology sellers. The company is headquartered in Portsmouth, N.H. and operates offices in New York, California, and Georgia. You can follow Direct Capital on http://blog.directcapital.com.
SOURCE?Direct Capital
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Source: http://www.franchising.com/news/20130403_with_record_growth_direct_capital_named_top_5_us_i.html
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U.S.: N. Korea poses 'real and clear danger'
By Jack Kim and Phil Stewart
SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said it would soon send a missile defense system to Guam to defend it from North Korea, as the U.S. military adjusts to what Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called a "real and clear danger" from Pyongyang.
Hours later, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said North Korea had moved what appeared to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast. It was not clear if the North planned to fire the rocket or was just putting it on display as a show of force, one South Korean government source was quoted as saying.
North Korea also barred entry to a joint industrial complex it shares with the South for a second day on Thursday and said it would shut the zone if Seoul continued to insult it.
Events on the Korean peninsula have begun to unnerve global financial markets long used to the rhetoric North Korea routinely hurls at Seoul and Washington.
"The assumption remains that this is more bluster ...," said Rob Ryan, a strategist with RBS in Singapore. "But from here, we've reached a level of tensions that say things can't get too much worse without an actual exchange of fire."
The broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.6 percent, dragged down by a 2 percent slump in South Korean shares, while the South Korean won slid 0.7 percent against the U.S. dollar.
U.S. stocks sank on Wednesday after Hagel's comments and the Guam deployment news.
North Korea also repeated its threat to launch a nuclear attack on the United States. Pyongyang said it had ratified a potential strike because of U.S. military deployments around the Korean peninsula that it claimed were a prelude to a possible nuclear attack on the North.
Washington had been informed of the potential attack by North Korea, a spokesman for its army said in a statement carried by the English-language service of state news agency KCNA. It was unclear how such a warning was given since North Korea does not have diplomatic ties with Washington.
The report from KCNA appeared to re-state many of the month-long fusillade of threats emanating from Pyongyang.
Experts say North Korea is years away from being able to hit the continental United States with a nuclear weapon, despite having worked for decades to achieve nuclear-arms capability.
North Korea has previously threatened a nuclear strike on the United States and missile attacks on its Pacific bases, including in Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific.
Those threats followed new U.N. sanctions imposed on the North after it carried out its third nuclear test in February.
"Some of the actions they've taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger," Hagel told an audience at the National Defense University in Washington.
Despite the rhetoric, Pyongyang has not taken any military action and has shown no sign of preparing its 1.2 million-strong armed forces for war, the White House said on Monday.
That indicates its threats are partly intended for domestic consumption to bolster young leader Kim Jong-un ahead of celebrations marking the anniversary of the April 15 birthday of Kim Il-sung, the state's founder and the younger Kim's grandfather.
Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, criticized the latest North Korean statement.
"It is yet another offering in a long line of provocative statements that only serve to further isolate North Korea from the rest of the international community and undermine its goal of economic development," Hayden said.
HAGEL: TAKE THREATS SERIOUSLY
Hagel said he had to take the threats seriously, language he has used in recent weeks as the United States has revamped its missile defense plans and positioned two guided-missile destroyers in the western Pacific.
The United States has also flexed its muscles during annual military drills with South Korea, flying two radar-evading stealth bombers on a first-of-its-kind practice bombing run over South Korea.
In the latest move, the Pentagon said it was deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to Guam in the coming weeks. The THAAD system includes a truck-mounted launcher, interceptor missiles and an AN/TPY-2 tracking radar.
Last month, Hagel said the Pentagon would add 14 new anti-missile interceptors in Alaska and move ahead with the deployment of a second missile-defense radar in Japan.
Yonhap quoted multiple government sources privy to intelligence from U.S. and South Korean authorities as saying North Korea had moved what appeared to be a Musudan missile to its east coast.
The missile is believed to have a range of 3,000 km (1,865 miles) or more, which would put all of South Korea and Japan in range and possibly also Guam. North Korea is not believed to have tested the Musudan mid-range missiles, according to most independent experts
South Korea's defense ministry declined to comment.
The missile was moved to the coast by train. The North has a missile launch site on its northeastern coast, which it has used to unsuccessfully test-fire long-range rockets in the past.
The Yonhap report did not say if the missile had been moved to the missile site.
The South Korean government said the North would allow 222 South Korean workers to leave the Kaesong industrial zone on Thursday. That would leave another 606 South Koreans in the complex. Seoul has urged its citizens to get out.
North Korea has threatened to shut the complex, one of the impoverished North's few sources of ready cash.
The industrial park, just inside the border with North Korea, has not formally stopped operations since it was inaugurated in 2000. It houses 123 companies and employs 50,000 North Koreans making cheap goods such as clothing.
(Additional reporting by Christine Kim in SEOUL, Ju-min Park in PAJU, David Alexander in WASHINGTON and Vidya Rangananthan in SINGAPORE; Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Paul Tait)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-send-missile-defenses-guam-over-north-korea-011546394.html
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