First of two Boeing 787 test flights completed

9:00 AM Boeing, completed, first, flights No Comments

Alwyn Scott and Andrea Shalal-Esa , Reuters – 4 days

NEW YORK - Boeing said on Monday that the first flight test of its reworked battery system for the 787 Dreamliner went "according to plan," enabling it to move on to formal testing.

The successful mission means Boeing can conduct a second flight test that will gather data for the Federal Aviation Administration, which must approve the new system before the 787 can be used for commercial service.

Regulators grounded the global fleet of 50 Dreamliners in January after a battery burned aboard a jet on the ground in Boston, and a second battery overheated on a flight in Japan.

"During the functional check flight (on Monday), crews cycled the landing gear and operated all the backup systems, in addition to performing electrical system checks from the flight profile," Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said in a statement.

The flight carried six crew members: two Boeing pilots, two instrumentation engineers, a systems operator and a flight analyst, Boeing said.

"More than 600 of these functional check flights were completed in 2012 across Boeing commercial airplane programs."

Resuming flights would be a huge boost for Boeing, which is losing an estimated $50 million a week while the 787 is grounded, and for airlines, which are barred from flying the 787. Boeing also is prevented from delivering the planes to customers during the grounding, though it continues to build them.

Some Boeing officials have said the jet could be back in service by May 1. But some experts cautioned it could take longer.

Oliver McGee, an aerospace and mechanical engineer who was a deputy assistant secretary of transportation under President Bill Clinton, said he was skeptical that federal regulators would allow the 787 to resume flights as early as May 1.

"Take whatever date is agreed upon and add three to six months to it," McGee told Reuters. "I don't think that you're going to see any type of quick fix or compromising on the FAA side."

Once data from the flight has been analyzed, Boeing said it would prepare for a ground and flight demonstration aimed at certifying the company's proposed changes to the battery system, a key step toward getting permission from the FAA to resume flights of the grounded plane.

Birtel said it wasn't clear if the demonstration test for the FAA would conclude Boeing's testing of the new battery system, which was unveiled in Tokyo on March 15. The tests are being conducted in the laboratory, in planes on the ground, and in flight.

"Obviously, progress is being made on all three fronts," Birtel said.

The battery system is made by Thales SA of France, while the battery itself is made by Japan's GS Yuasa Corp.

Boeing plans to conduct one certification demonstration flight using the same LOT plane, Line number 86, to show that the new battery system performs as intended during flight conditions.

Separately, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board on Monday said it would hold a two-day forum April 11-12 to examine the design and performance of lithium-ion batteries in transportation -- a comprehensive review sparked by the battery failures on the two Boeing 787 Dreamliners in January.

The public forum will examine the design and development of various lithium-ion batteries, how their use and manufacturing are regulated, and the use and safety of such batteries in various modes of transportation.

The FAA grounded all 50 Boeing 787s in use worldwide in January after failures of two batteries on two separate aircraft - one parked at the Boston airport, and the other forced to make an emergency landing in Japan.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

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Wal-Mart sues union over protests at Fla. stores

9:26 AM Protests, stores, union, WalMart No Comments

Reuters – 4 days

Wal-Mart Stores Inc has sued a major grocery workers union and others who have protested at its Florida stores, the latest salvo in its legal fight to stop "disruptive" rallies in and around its stores by groups seeking better pay and working conditions.

Wal-Mart does not have union-represented workers in its U.S. stores. Nevertheless, it has long faced opposition from various labor groups including the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), and from a small but vocal group of current and former employees backed by the union and known as OUR Walmart.

The lawsuit filed on Friday in Orange County, Florida state court seeks "to help protect our customers and associates from further disruptive tactics associated with their continued, illegal trespassing," Walmart spokesman Dan Fogleman said.

Defendants, however, charged that the world's biggest retailer is trying to muzzle its critics.

"This is another attempt on Wal-Mart's behalf of ... silencing their employees and also the communities that support them," Denise Diaz, executive director of Central Florida Jobs With Justice Corp and a defendant named in the suit, said before reviewing the documents.

"Rather than creating good jobs with steady hours and affordable healthcare, Walmart's pattern is to focus its energies on infringing on our freedom of speech," the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart), also a defendant, said in a statement.

Other defendants include the 1.3 million-member UFCW and the individuals Angela Williamson, Alex Rivera, and Alan Hanson.

The UFCW was not immediately able to comment on the lawsuit.

Wal-Mart alleged that the defendants violated Florida law through coordinated, statewide acts of trespass in several Walmart stores over the last eight months. It has asked the court for a legal ruling that would prevent future trespassing.

In the lawsuit Wal-Mart cited an example where a group of protesters projected a video promoting OUR Walmart on the side of a store in Orlando and passing out literature inside that store in July, 2012.

It alleged that a group of UFCW demonstrators returned to that same store on October 30, 2012 and "confronted the store manager and handed him a rotten pumpkin painted in support of OUR Walmart. The group left the store only after the manager warned that he had called the police."

Wal-Mart filed an unfair labor practice charge against the UFCW in November, asking the National Labor Relations Board to halt what the retailer said were unlawful attempts to disrupt its business in several states including protests that were planned for Black Friday, the busy shopping day right after Thanksgiving. In January, labor groups said that they would stop much of their picketing against the chain, while still trying to push the company to improve working conditions.

The case is Wal-Mart Stores Inc v. United Food and Commercial Workers International Union et al, 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, Orange County, No. 2013-CA-004293.

Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles.

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The crisis of Europe buys time for fed

5:30 PM crisis, Europe No Comments

| By Jim Jubak

A renewed flight to the safety of Treasury bonds euro fears would keep the rally going and the Fed time for an exit strategy to give.

As you unfold another act in the eurozone debt crisis/farce in Cyprus to see, please remember: the longer the eurozone debt crisis rolls, the better the chance that the Federal to shrink its balance sheet, will be reserve without the economy cratering.

Unfortunately for the Fed (but fortunately for people, that lives in Spain, Italy, France, etc.), it is unlikely that the debt crisis in the euro zone over the long pull enough, give the Federal Reserve all the time he needs.

But, ya never know hey. European Heads of State and heads of Government have shown a remarkable ability to drag the crisis with partial solutions, which result in discussion not solutions at all. Maybe they can stretch out the crisis for three or four more years.

Finally managed to turn this group, which should be a crisis for the offshore money would, Cypriot banks to a referendum--filled the survival of the euro zone. And that a "solution" produced late Sunday night the Cyprus crisis, which was carried out in the not-so-long crisis in Spain, Italy, France and, most of all Greece, even worse.

Maybe there is hope for the Federal Reserve - and the US economy, after all. At least if the eurozone fed - debt crisis and U.S. equities and bonds prices-valuable support until September.

Here is the problem: the Federal Reserve, provision of liquidity in the days after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, stimulate the economy in the recovery from the financial crisis, to revive the real estate market, and finally in an effort to turn a faltering economic recovery in a self-sustaining phase of growth, has to be plump, printed money.

Jim Jubak

Trillions of dollars.

The fed the actual functioning is much more complex than Jackson's print and drop from helicopters. The Fed is buying bonds on the financial markets. This gives bondholders cash use to buy new bonds or shares or on everything from BMWs to spend, the expansion of the factories. How does the fed for these assets pay? The Fed needs to do anything quite so specific or primitive as printing money. It easy credits the account of the seller with the purchase price. Meanwhile, therefore everything is summed up, the Fed adds bonds was one of its balance sheet. This means that you can track the amount of money, which add the amount of money the Federal Reserve balance sheet is based on the Fed.

Reserve balance was the Federal $3.1 trillion at the beginning of March. A giant $2.6 trillion increase in the balance sheet is $488 billion on January 19, 2011. $2.6 Trillion is the "created" and added in two years in the United States and the global financial system.

The conventional wisdom says that the Federal to reduce this footprint, sooner rather than later must begin reserve. Sometime soon, says this wisdom needs to slow down the fed and then finished its current program each month $85 billion of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities to buy.

Speculation is that the Fed might stop, that the purchase of early 2014. At this point the Fed will have added $765 billion assets in its balance sheet push that total $4 trillion in close by.

In the next step the Fed would begin perhaps as early as the year 2014, to reduce its balance sheet by some of these Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities for sale.

The conventional wisdom says that two things will happen when the federal reserve its balance sheet not reduce in relatively short time. First is that $3 trillion reserve in the money supply have pumped the Federal end of 2013, to drive inflation because a relaxing business eats up excess capacity starts. Second rising inflation and the Fed will push up selling its portfolio interest rates. It will be difficult, conventional wisdom says that $3 trillion in Treasury bonds for sale and mortgage-backed securities back into private hands without investors 'extra' booty from some as a reward.

At best, higher interest rates and higher inflation as a drag on the U.S. economy will act. In a scenario with something worse higher interest rates and higher inflation in growth would choke off enough to the economy cut. In the worst case, higher interest rates would increase the cost of financing the large federal debt the kinds of budget cuts and perhaps even raising taxes, the cuts in the recession in the euro zone would have made to a degree that require.

Some economists who have studied the structure of the Fed's balance sheet, believe that this scenario could get nasty deed. In an effort to drive the medium-term interest rates and the housing market jump start by lowering mortgage rates. the Federal Reserve has focused its purchase of Treasury bonds in medium-term maturities. Almost half of the Fed $1.78 trillion portfolio of Treasury bonds is in a period of five to ten years. So big the Fed are the enterprises these runtimes that some economists and bond-market analysts fear that the Fed has become the market for these terms take effect.

Sell anyone attempting this part of the portfolio, they fear, would cause very quickly to move interest rates up, because there are simply not enough buyers all this care without this kind of absorb the increase in yield.

In the last week-especially in the last remarks during the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke Humphrey Hawkins to the Congress-the Federal pointed out reserve, that it thinks at least an alternative to the conventional wisdom. The Fed thinking seems to be that selling out to hold the portfolio on a slow enough prices to damage the economy at a minimum would long that just wait the Treasury bonds in the portfolio to tyres and then not rolling over the proceeds in new Treasury purchases not significantly more time it would take would the Fed balance sheet on something like the pre-crisis level to reduce.

That I seen estimates have the portfolio, the tires not older than the Fed schedule would add two or three years.

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How to play the expectations game

11:00 AM expectations No Comments

| By Jim Jubak

Embedded expectations of stock prices. Here are ways you by going with or staking a contrarian point of view on the market today can make money.

What to expect Sie-and millions of other investors – for the global economy and the stock markets in the next six months?

This can be a dysfunctional Congress, the Government shut down for lack of a budget?

The European Heads of State and heads of Government of the cave and bail-out Cyprus with taxpayer money?

That Japan, pushed the yen by almost 16% against the US dollar since Dec. 1, it will be down another 15% from the Government of Shinzo Abe, press says "Arigato Gozaimasu"?

Frankly, if I were looking for predictions, I would advise more my magic 8-ball. No offense, but my experience shows that the wisdom of the crowd is so unlikely that the future right call as the wisdom of the gurus. There is a reason to advise the cynics in the profession of the guru, "forecast early and often."

But if you are looking to a guide, as the market over the next month (or two or three) moves, I don't think that you can do much better than by the payment to the investor-aufmerksam-in its entirety - expect.

Because expectations stock prices is embedded. Prices to anticipate, not what will - happen no one really knows what happened- but what investors think will happen.

Jim Jubak

When thinking to the mass of investors that an economic cooling in China provoke rising inflation, this expectation will be reflected in the price of Chinese shares. And stronger, Erwartung--the more investors know that– - other prizes this expectation statement will look at. If everyone that the Cyprus crisis will take down euro thinks, then this view in the price of Italian bonds, French equities and euro are embedded. If any, that an other debts think battle ceiling suggests the US credit, then this expectation sends Treasury yields up and stock prices down.

What to do with these expectations shares investors in bustling store. Are looking for trend-following investors with expectations to go, as they are expressed in diagrams and momentum indicators. Contrarians are attempting to discover false expectations and before the turn according to out.

Me? I'm agnostic. If the trend is strong enough and the expectation of likely - at least for a Weile--must be supported by the mail flow, you go with the trend, I say. Check out expectations are probably disappointed, then say I, his contrarian and bet against the market's expectations.

And always, always keep in mind think that in most cases, you probably not with a useful security can tell if the trend will continue or specifically reversed enough in each period to be profitable. Are most of the time, you better not try to guess whether confirmed or mixed expectations. (That is of course, the core belief of another school of investors, who say only basics count.)

Most of the time. But not all the time.

In some markets have clear anticipation of trends that you can follow. And clear message flows, saying, the expectations of the market are both correct as also probably enough for a while.

Some markets are so volatile that run expectations quickly to extreme. In these markets, are likely to Erwartungen--good and schlechte--to escape actual events. That suggests, is that in these markets there are made money by going against the grain.

Let me a recent example of each moment consider and propose you, read how you could benefit from this market expectations in these two cases: Japan and the United States. And then I'm going with a short argument for why Chinese and European markets very well to this approach now are not finish.

Everyone knows that the Government Abe, chosen is determined by Shinzo in December, in order to weaken the yen. The Prime Minister ran for Office on a platform that demanded a weak yen as a way to get Japanese to stimulate exports and Japan's economy. Yen began to fall even before Abe was against the dollar elected, and despite a few rallies if the euro crisis led to a flight into safe, which on the yen, the trend pushed to down since then.

Is it a trend-following value? Finally, expected that the yen will fall any further.

Yes, but I consider the level of commitment of the Government to a really weak yen not up to my expectations yet. New Governor who of Japan, took Bank Haruhiko Kuroda, the podium Thursday with 3 1/2-year low is already the yen on one, in the vicinity of 96 Yen to the dollar. Before the speech, some analysts had suggested that Kuroda everything than head of the Japanese Central Bank would not radical in his first appearance. But he promised all the means to take the Bank of Japan in the new target of 2% inflation pushed (based on the old gate of 1% and a big step in the direction of stimulus into an economy that tended toward deflation over the past two decades.)

Early talk that the yen was up 100 dollars, weaknesses the once extreme end of expectations, is now at the end of conservative. At 105 or even temporarily is a Yen at 110 dollars within the current discussion. The yen gets up to 105, I believe it's time to rethink, to ride this expectation how much longer. But from 96 Yen to the dollar, I think that is the trend toward a weaker yen, a weaker than expected.

And that suggests that there are still gains from holding on to shares of Japanese exporters such as Toyota Motor (TM)-a share to the my Jubak picks portfolio on Jan. 5 added to be carried out.

If you now want to add exposure Japan to your portfolio, I would suggest the iShares MSCI Japan Index ETF (EWJ), New York's ADR (American depositary receipt) of banks traded huge Mitsubishi UFJ financial group (MTU), or, if you trade in Tokyo, the shares of the exporter as Office machine manufacturer Ricoh (7752.JP) or carbon fiber maker Toray Industries (3402.JP.) (None of these stocks is enough volume in New York City for me to recommend, to buy this market.)

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What's the matter with China?

12:48 AM China, matter, Whats No Comments

| By Jim Jubak

Investors -- domestic and foreign -- are disappointed that China's new leaders appear unwilling or unable to put together a growth model that will break China out of its economic policy rut.

While U.S. stock indexes have hit all-time high after all-time high, China's markets have been in retreat. After peaking Jan. 30, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index has fallen by 5.4% as of March 15. The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite index peaked on Feb. 6. It was down 6.4% from that peak to the close on March 15. The Shanghai index is still up considerably -- 16.2% -- from its Dec. 3, 2012, low through the March close, but that's a retreat from the 24.2% gain the market had recorded from the December low through the February high.

To understand the drop in Chinese stocks even as U.S. stocks soar, it's important to understand the two groups of investors and traders that -- in the short to medium term -- drive the prices of Chinese stocks. The two groups don't have a lot in common nor do they look for the same things from China's economy and stock markets. But both have been disappointed that trends they thought they saw in December and January are either in jeopardy or else were never there to begin with. And that has left China's stock markets without the support of the two groups that usually lead them higher.

Where China's stock markets go from here -- in the short term -- rests on whether the disappointment of these groups increases or reverses. Certainly with turmoil in the eurozone pushing global markets toward risk-off positions, it's hard to see Chinese stocks getting a boost from macro trends outside of China.

The first group is made up of China's domestic investors and traders. This is the key group for determining prices in Shanghai in the short term, and it has been disappointed by recent government economic and monetary politics. These investors were looking for quick action by the government to stimulate economic growth and to prop up asset prices. This group thought it saw those policies about to drop into place in December and so these investors bought Chinese stocks, especially those -- such as real estate developers and securities companies -- most likely to benefit from this change in government policy.

The second group consists of overseas and institutional investors. This is the key group for determining prices in Hong Kong and Shanghai in the medium term, and it has been disappointed by government economic policy. These investors had counted on measures to increase economic growth but, equally important, they had been looking for signs of new economic policies that had the potential to break China out of its traditional reliance on export-driven growth, which looked increasingly exhausted. Recently, though, they've seen signs that China isn't willing to explore changes to its economic model or -- and this might be even worse -- that China's leaders don't know how to put together a new growth model.

Jim Jubak

Let me take a look at what these two groups thought they saw in December and the grounds for their recent disappointments.

In the late fall and early winter of 2012 China's domestic investors thought they saw exactly the kind of policy changes they were looking for. For example, China moved to expand the number of overseas institutional investors approved to invest in its financial markets. As of Nov. 20 of last year, 64 overseas institutions had been approved to invest up to $11.9 billion in China's markets through the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors program. In January, the head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission said that China could increase these quotas 10-fold.

On the central bank front, China's money supply grew by 13.8% in 2012, up from 13.6% in 2011 but with inflation under control -- inflation climbed at a rate of only 2.6% in 2012, down from 5.4% in 2011 and well under the government's 4% target for the year -- government economists strongly argued that growth in the money supply wasn't too fast and that it even had room to speed up. Analysts inside and outside of China finished 2012 talking about further loosening by the People's Bank of China in 2013. Maybe not a reduction in the central bank's benchmark interest rate but certainly a cut or two or three in the ratio of reserves that banks were required to keep.

No wonder that the stocks of companies that would directly benefit from these policies soared. Shares of Citic Securities, China's biggest securities company, climbed by 60.6% in Shanghai from Nov. 29, 2012, through Feb. 1, 2013. Shares of China Vanke, one of China's biggest real estate developers, moved up 63.1% from Nov. 12 to Jan. 31.

But then doubt began to surface that the government's policy would be as hell-bent on stimulus as those early signs indicated. On March 4, Beijing told cities with higher-than-average rates of real estate appreciation to tighten lending standards and to impose a 20% tax on profits from real estate sales. Then the January-February inflation rate came in higher than expected, at 3.2%. That was close enough to the 3.5% inflation target for 2013 to raise concerns among investors that the People's Bank would become concerned. At the least the new inflation numbers suggested that the central bank would take a wait-and-see attitude toward increasing the speed of growth in the money supply or in cutting either the reserve ratio requirement or the benchmark interest rate.

The hopes for looser money and more stimulus that had fueled the rally that began in December weren't exactly dashed, but they weren't strong enough to bet on either. Domestic investors in China took profits.

At the same time, overseas investors were starting to wonder if China's new leadership was up to the task of breaking China out of its economic policy rut. The consensus among economists outside China is that the country has moved beyond its old policy of export-driven growth. The fuel for that huge leap forward -- a massive army of cheap migrant labor created when workers moved from rural areas to the cities -- was starting to run short. Wages were rising in the traditional coastal areas where exporting companies were located. Companies cut labor costs by moving production to inland areas that had missed out on the earlier phases of the boom. But this was clearly a stopgap measure. China needed to move up the value chain as cheaper labor in countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh took Chinese jobs. And China needed to rebalance its economy so that more growth came from Chinese companies producing goods and services for Chinese customers.

Initially, the trends here were encouraging to overseas investors. Indeed, at the end of 2012, it looked like they might get the best of both worlds. Chinese export growth soared to a seven-month high in December, hitting a 14.1% annual rate after growth of just 2.9% in November. And the new leaders of China looked to be building on domestically oriented policies in the new Five-Year Plan that had promised double-digit annual increases in the minimum wage, increased government contributions to pension plans and higher health care spending outside China's major cities.

Shares of domestically oriented growth stocks, which had lagged behind real estate and financial stocks, began to move up, too --although more slowly in overseas-influenced Hong Kong than real estate and financial stocks were advancing in a Shanghai market dominated by Chinese traders and investors. Hengan International (1044.HK), a maker of baby diapers, advanced 21.2% from Dec. 14 through March 8. Shares of insurance company Ping An (PNGAY), which trades as 2318.HK in Hong Kong, moved up 22.9% from Dec. 4 through Feb. 1.

But then, just as in the Shanghai market but for different reasons, optimism began to fade. The government fell back on the policies of the past that had worked so well to stimulate the economy in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Announcement followed announcement of new (or at least it seemed to be new) spending on rail lines, airports and subways. Infrastructure spending, it seemed, was once more the policy of the day.

But what of the new initiatives to rebalance the economy? The rhetoric was there, certainly, as, for example, new president Xi Jinping told delegates at the closing session of the National People's Congress on Saturday that economic benefits must be shared more equally in China. And in his closing address at the congress, new premier Li Keqiang promised to crack down on corruption and clean up pollution. Li's speech came while China was still in the midst of an effort to pull dead pigs -- 12,000 so far -- from the waters of the Huangpu River, which supplies drinking water for Shanghai.

But overseas, investors and economists are increasingly wondering if China can actually implement policies that will rebalance the economy, reduce pollution, tame corruption and remove the heavy hand of the state from crucial industries.

Typical of these worries is the call from Zhang Zhiwei, the chief China economist for Japan's Nomura Holdings, for a second-half slowdown in China's economic growth. The days when China could turn in 8% or 9% growth without target-busting inflation are over, he told Bloomberg last week. The Chinese economy has matured, he notes, and the speed limit is now more like 7%. Anything above that -- like the 7.9% rate of growth of the gross domestic product recorded in the fourth quarter of 2012 -- will start inflation on an upward track again.

Add to these doubts worries over whether that the central government has the means -- whatever the will -- to contain official corruption or to control pollution from companies with government connections -- and you've got doubts among overseas investors that are serious enough to put a check on the rally that began Dec. 4.

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CSX among 10 stocks to watch

2:30 PM among, stocks, watch No Comments

| By Mark Baumgartner, MSN Money

The largest railway operator in the Eastern United States appear on MSN Money list of recommended stocks.

Economist Ben Bernanke on down love look at the railways an overview of what works in the U.S. economy and what is not.

Data from the Association of American railroads to reflect a relaxed housing market and a return to pre-recession of the demand for automobiles.

At the other end of the spectrum, grain shipments to almost 10% were an indication of the severity of the drought that has plagued farmers in the Midwest last year.

The nation shale gas boom is reflected also in the railway data: shipments of coal, main cargo operators like CSX (CSX), have slumped, as utilities turning to cheaper and cleaner natural gas, to turn the turbines, generating electricity.

CSX said coal supplies 19% were 3.1% in the fourth quarter, the most important factor for the company, that result will go back in time. The company managed to limit the pain, but about cost reductions and higher shipments of other cargo.

CSX is a daily list of StockScouter, a MSN Money tool, the stocks with strong growth prospects in the near future features created. All stock with Scout ratings of 8, 9 or 10 shall apply to the list, which is then truncated, exclude those with a trade volume of under 50,000 shares per day. The remainders are mapped according to market capitalisation, sector membership, and whether they are growth or value stocks.

Jacksonville, Florida, company operates a rail system, which includes 21,000 km of the route, and 70 ports over 23 States, primarily in the Eastern United States and two Canadian provinces. CSX drags also freight on intermodality (rail, ship, and truck).

While coal out of favor in the United States is, remains valuable source of energy worldwide, particularly in developing countries in Europe and where natural gas alternatives Asia, are not easily accessible, and any transition to the gas or renewable energy could take decades.

The International Energy Agency estimates that global coal will grow demand by 600,000 tonnes per day with most of the demand from China and India in the next five years.

China depends on coal for 70 percent of its energy needs. The world's most populous country 16 large coal power plants has reported plans to add up to the year 2016 as part of his economic five-year plan, the IEA.

The United States is a first-class provider of this coal.

In the last five years CSX shipments of coal for export have climbed from 13 tons per year to 40 tons, and the company expected that this trend will continue. The rail shipments of coal to domestic utilities, meanwhile, pointed in 2006 to 162 tons and decreased since, how inefficient plants are locked, and even efficient plants to store carbon, while they burn more natural gas.

Betting on a continuation of the shale gas boom poses risks given the controversial nature of the hydraulic fracturing technology used to tap the reserves previously out of reach.

But economists are increasingly confident that a long-term supply of natural gas will do relatively clean and affordable miracle of growth in the United States, especially in the manufacturing sector, which has started a young "in-sourcing" trend to cheaper fuel costs and skilled workers in the United States use to sending print jobs to cheaper countries for decades.

25 Analysts covering the company 12 rate the stock a "strong buy", and 13 have "keep a recommendation".

CSX has an StockScouter rating of 9, which means that the stock is expected in the next six months with less than average risk clearly to outperform the market.

MFA mortgage investments (MFA)

New York Community Bancorp(NYCB)

Here at MSN Money, we think, that ours is about as good as's StockScouter rating system goes, if you are trying to decide where they invest. StockScouter looks on based predictions for stocks, whose business fundamentals, price, valuation and stock ownership appear characteristics to a rising price in the future as these factors have influenced the stock prices in the past.

The system assigns each bearing a much-anticipated six month return and balance this return against expected volatility of the stock. Scout rates stocks on a scale of 1 to 10 and reviews can change daily. Ratings and data in the table listed goods stand at the publication of this article.

In addition to the daily top 10 list above, of research firm of Verus Analytics StockScouter used described, (previously known as gradient Analytics quantitative business unit), to generate a monthly benchmark portfolio of stocks that has updated monthly since its inception in August 2001 the market grew.

An investor, who in 2001 began, through investments in each of the benchmark portfolio top 10 stocks at the beginning of the month, at the end of the month and then start fresh with a new group of ten shares would sell there, before trading costs and taxes, 909-28 February 2013 have generated %.

A columnist for MSN Money, with companies began working at the time writer Jon Markman, researchers on the tool. Markman suggested the top 10 stocks roll over every six months to keep trading costs, a strategy that may be a better fit for most investors. That would come to different results that are different, would based on your starting point.

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The next Bank of America to buy

2:30 PM America No Comments

| By Charley Blaine, MSN Money

Before it too large, was doomed to failure Bank of America was on financial services for the little guy. These days, smart regional banks fill this role and see off as good buys.

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake devastated the city, Amadeo Pietro Giannini, President of the Bank of Italy, a portable Office eingerichtet-- a Board about two barrels. He took in cash and borrowed money for the reconstruction of a rule with only a handshake. He made each loan was paid.

In 1928, shortly before the stock market crash Giannini merged his bank-which he had Anna-with another in Los Angeles in San Francisco founded and took over the Bank name: Bank of America. As the name represented his ideal. He wanted to build a bank that have large and small businesses across the country with savers and investors.

Today, Bank of America is working with customers in more than 150 countries internationally, in 50 States and more than 40 countries. It has $2.2 trillion in assets and 12% of all bank deposits in the United States. It is the fourth-largest U.S. mortgage lender.

But Giannini might not recognize it. It would be certainly some of the decisions of recent years appalled. The disastrous acquisition of Countrywide Financial. The acquisition of Merrill Lynch , the $45 billion of Government help and$ 118 billion in loan guarantees, to conceal decline of the company required.

The bank notes low on customer service surveys, including a no. 1-ranking in MSN Money "Customer Service Hall of Shame." And is shares, which traded over $50 before the banking crisis, in the vicinity of 12 US dollars per share.

Charley Blaine

Which raises the question: there is a next Bank of America, where you bank or without investing concerns? The answer is Yes, at least for investors; among the best alternatives are BB & T (BBT), U.S. Bancorp (USB) and PNC Financial Services (PNC). Here is the reason.

The alternate fit not just the model, the Giannini presented, but they are much closer than what has become A B.

This model is a basic commercial banks nationwide practiced every day by more than 6,000 banks. Take deposits. Pay interest on savings deposits and Sparbriefe--admittedly not much now. Lend money to corporations new inventory pick, buy lots to build houses, on and to buy new plants and equipment. The loans can farmers and local businessmen to finance their operations. The banks risk management and, if all goes well, they grow, preferably add branches, which can diversify their risks to your company and to build capital.

A.P. Gambaro small bench some banks not always did: serve the little guy as even the rich. His bank took in deposits of immigrant merchants, to lend money to dealers and peddlers, payment of interest on their savings and them.

And, another important idea was Richard Sylla, the Henry Kaufman Professor of the history of financial institutions and markets of New York University says Giannini, a former produce wholesaler and American son of Italian immigrants. Giannini used the Bank of its customers to bring California's liberal law on branch banking. Today, the Giannini model runs through American banks.

Bank of America was a key figure in the development of the economy. The Bank helped to build the State wine industry Golden. It was a player in the financing of films. He bought the bonds, the Golden Gate bridge built. When Walt Disney more than $2 million budget make "snow white and the seven dwarfs" was Bank lent the money, him BofA to stop what should be a classic. The Bank was an early lenders for Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), the classic Silicon Valley startup.

It was perhaps important, a pioneer of the bank credit cards with the BankAmericard, the in Visa (V). In response, MasterCard (MA) invented the Bank competitors.

Giannini began also Transamerica, had the banks in the West, and Giannini would extend across the country are happy. But local bankers resisted change of State laws, particularly in the South and East.

The bank holding company Act of 1956 needs Transamerica and Bank of America, to go their separate ways. Transamerica by banks were what First Interstate Bancorp, now part of Wells Fargo (WFC) was outsourced.

But even the original Bank of America was not immune to problems created by too much growth. You suffered huge losses in the 1980s, when Latin American loans went bad. It suffered additional problems with the mortgage, securities transactions and the like. That gave Group, Charlotte, N.C., Bank, banks in the South and Northeast, an opening of Gambaro buy greedy Bank was. Group took the name of Bank of America, as well as Giannini.

Along the way become anything other than a small bench for the little guy.

The new owners continue to aggressively until the crash of 2008 to buy housing banks and other institutions. Bank of America was offering, as Lehman Brothers was denied, Merrill Lynch itself deeply problematic, because Merrill Lynch supports a risky bet on getting a major dealer in securities of subprime mortgages mortgages to borrowers with little, or had made even no credit histories.

The nationwide $4 billion – the "dumbest" of tenders, purchase by far was, says analyst Richard Bove Rafferty capital. (NYU Sylla is right.) Litigation of fraudulent foreclosures, horribly bad paperwork and fines have amounted to more than $40 billion, not to mention that the Bank absorbed by society losses as portfolio went south the subprime loans in the countrywide.

And you did that Bank of America's stock price-fall 95% from a peak of $54.90 in November 2006.

It is founded in history over the past years an important lesson about banks, at the very least, Bank of America. The enormous financial organizations which grew under deregulation proved to be extremely difficult to understand and even harder to manage. Citigroup (C) almost broke in 2008, hobbled by many of the same problems, the Bank of America charged. In the year 2012, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) suffered a loss deeply embarrassing trade. UBS (UBS), the Swiss Bank, have been forced to impose.

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7 ways boomer retirees are different

4:00 PM boomer, different, retirees No Comments

| By Mark Miller, Reuters

They're more likely to consider living overseas, start a business or still have a mortgage than the generation before them, for starters.

The baby boom generation has broken the mold at every stage of life, and it looks as if old age won't be an exception.

Boomers aren't heading quietly into retirement. They're launching businesses, embracing digital technology and living abroad in greater numbers than ever before. But in other ways, they are struggling more than their parents' generation.

Here is a look at trends shaping the next wave of retirees.

More older Americans are packing it in for foreign countries, where they can save on living costs and enjoy warmer climates.

The number of retired workers, spouses and survivors getting Social Security benefits in a foreign land is rising almost twice as fast as the number of Social Security beneficiaries generally, according to Social Security Administration data.

And 21% of baby boomers say they are "interested or very interested" in retiring abroad, according to a survey by the Center for Medical Tourism Research at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.

"If that were extended across all boomers, you'd have about 3 million people retiring abroad in the next couple decades," says David Vequist, the center's director.

Twenty-one percent of new U.S. businesses started in 2011 were launched by entrepreneurs ages 55 to 64, according to the Kauffman Foundation, up from 14% in 2007. Taken together, that's 49% of all startup activity -- far larger than the 20- to 34-year-old bracket, which accounted for 29% of new ventures.

In part, the surge can be attributed to the 2008 recession, which sent older workers into consulting gigs. However, there are a surprising number of complex, sophisticated and large businesses being created as well, according to Dane Stangler, the director of research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation. He also thinks many of these older business owners are "serial entrepreneurs."

"We're seeing a lot of entrepreneurs in fields like technology and engineering who are launching substantial businesses," he said. "They started companies in their 30s or 40s, and now they're doing it again."

Young people might be leading the digital revolution, but boomers -- the generation born 1946 to 1964 -- aren't far behind.

"Baby boomers got quite comfortable with the Internet and other digital technologies in the workplace," says Lee Rainie, the director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "They won't give that up as they age."

For example, 23% of older boomers and 27% of their younger siblings use tablet devices, compared with 30% of Gen Xers (born 1965 to the early 1980s), according to the Pew Internet Project. The gaps also are small when it comes to smartphones and social-networking services.

"They're not going to be downloading every new app that catches the crowd," he says. "They're very utilitarian -- show me how it will work for me, how it will improve my life." Expect retiring boomers to publish creative works online, connect with friends and children via social media and continue to job-hunt on sites such as LinkedIn.

Older Americans are taking more debt into retirement than previous generations. Mortgage debt is the biggest factor: Forty percent of homeowners older than 65 had mortgage debt in 2010, compared with just 18% as recently as 1992, reports the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

The culprit: the refinancing boom before the housing crash. In the years leading up to 2008, homeowners took advantage of low rates and deductibility of interest to refinance, says Lori Trawinski, senior strategic policy adviser at the AARP Public Policy Institute.

"(They) took out equity for things like education or a new car," says Trawinski. Boomers on the cusp of retirement are still refinancing, sometimes at the behest of their financial advisers, because of the appeal of today's near-record-low interest rates.

Higher debt levels will have a variety of effects. Some retirees will be stuck in homes with underwater mortgages or monthly mortgage payments that sap their spending power; others will use low-interest mortgage debt to keep more cash on hand or to keep other money invested longer.

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8 wise-guy rules for investing

8:00 AM investing, rules, wiseguy No Comments

| By Michael Brush, MSN Money

If you've been scared away from stocks, new highs in the market might very well tempt you to jump back in. We've tapped the wisdom of proven investors like Buffett and Bogle to help you get in the game.

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) hitting new highs, you might be tempted to jump back into stocks after years of hiding out -- or to buy stocks for the first time ever.

But after all the turmoil we've seen in recent years, you no doubt have some doubts. Should you trust this rally this time? Are you already too late because markets always crash? What stocks, if any, are safe to own?

Well, you're in luck. I've tapped into the wisdom of eight market elders with a collective 480 years of investing wisdom and the battle scars to prove it. These stock market wise guys have learned great lessons from their mistakes, and stuck with the game to post far more wins than losses lately.

Their key message: It's ok to jump in, even now at a high point, as long as you follow some basic rules. They also shared some of their favorite stocks right now, including IBM (IBM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), Intel (INTC) and eight more.

My wise guys are at least 70, and started investing as early as 1928. So they've seen it all -- enough scams, crashes, and bull and bear markets to make you weep. They didn't let that keep them from making money, and neither should you.

Here are eight key lessons from these market wise guys.

Few market wise guys possess as much sagacity as Warren Buffett. To find the most relevant wisdom from the Oracle of Omaha, I consulted his latest letter to investors in his company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B).

Michael Brush

Buffett's key lesson: Sure there's lingering paranoia about stocks and the economy, but jump in anyway. Just follow a few caveats.

His reasoning: There have been reasons to worry about the U.S. economy for as long as there's been a country. But the economy has kept going, and stocks have followed. It's a big mistake to try to "dance in and out" of the market, says Buffett, who is 82. "American business will do fine over time. And stocks will do well just as certainly, since their fate is tied to business performance," he says.

Those caveats? There will always be pullbacks, so go in with a long-term view of, I'd say, at least 5-10 years, if not Buffett's favorite holding period, which is "forever." I personally would not be surprised at all to see a pullback now, following the strength since last fall, but you never know for sure.

When you buy, stick with high-quality companies with solid management, high profit margins and protective moats that keep competitors out -- all well-known Buffett measures.

Examples? Buffett added to big positions IBM and Wells Fargo last year. Lately Berkshire has been buying DaVita (DVA). As the second-largest dialysis provider in the world and part of a duopoly, DaVita has a protective moat and pricing power, two qualities Buffett likes. It also benefits from increasing obesity and the aging of the population. Both are linked to diabetes and create a rising need for dialysis.

Aside from brazenly defying the odds by still hitting the office at the age of 107, value investor Irving Kahn is a natural maverick in another way. In his first trade, he bet against a copper stock during one of the biggest bull markets in history in 1928. He made money on the bet.

Most newbies prefer the perceived "safety" of joining the crowd. But as Kahn, his early mentor Ben Graham, and most value investors know very well, the big rewards come from being a contrarian. Just be prepared to stay calm, and consider buying more, when a contrarian play inevitably moves against you, advises Kahn.

True to form, Kahn Brothers Group, where Irving Kahn is chairman, owns many contrarian value plays. One is Citigroup. Kahn Brothers bought it below the current price, when the fears about the big banks were higher. But at $47, Citigroup still trades below book value, the theoretical liquidation value of a company. It just passed the government's "stress test" for financial strength and has announced plans to begin buying back stock.

Kahn also likes the New York Times (NYT), a true contrarian play, given the widespread negativity about newspapers. The New York Times has staunched the bleeding in print subscription sales, and its online subscription model holds potential. Plus it has a powerful brand, and a "hidden asset" in the form of an option to buy the half of the office building it leases in New York at about one fourth of its true value. Interestingly, Buffett has been snapping up newspapers across the country for the past 15 months.

It's best to bet on great companies which look cheap because of temporary problems that have alienated investors obsessed with near-term results, says value investing great Marty Whitman, 88, in his most recent letter to shareholders.

In the fourth quarter last year, chip makers Intel and Nvidia (NVDA) both fit the bill, so his fund initiated positions. Both stocks are cheap because of fears about weak PC sales and concerns about the economy.

But Intel is a leader in the chip space, and it sells chips used in servers where data center growth has been driving strong demand. It should benefit from a computer upgrade cycle driven by Windows 8 operating system, and sales of "ultra book" notebook computers. It pays at 4.2% dividend.

NVIDIA is a leader in graphics chips, where demand should stay strong because of ongoing growth in digital content, and computer-assisted design. It is also a play on mobile computing growth because its chips for these devices use the popular power-saving technology. It's financially solid, with $3.7 billion in net cash.

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States that drink the most beer

9:30 AM drink, States No Comments

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, and that means lots of brew will be downed in honor of the snake-chasing saint. Here's a look at the top 5 states that consume the most beer.

Total consumption of beer in the U.S. fell for the third straight year, according to a report published late last year by the Beer Institute, a beer lobbying group. Since 2008, total beer consumption has fallen by as much as 11% in some states. Americans still, however, consume a massive amount of the foamy beverage -- an estimated 6.3 billion gallons in 2011. Nationwide, 28.3 gallons of beer a year were consumed for every American of legal age.

Some states consume far less than others. In Connecticut, only 21.8 gallons were purchased per resident in 2011. In Utah, it was just 19.2 gallons. In three states, however, the Beer Institute estimates that more than 40 gallons of beer were consumed per person. Based on Beer Institute's report, 24/7 Wall St. identified the five states that drink the most beer.

In an interview with Beer Institute Chief Economist Lester Jones, he discussed the factors that cause beer consumption per capita to be higher in some states. Jones pointed out that the numbers can be misleading. The report measures the total amount of beer sold in the state. It does not, however, indicate how much is actually consumed by residents of that state.

So-called "blue laws," are state laws that prohibit the sale of liquor on Sundays. Other state regulation does not allow beer sale gas stations, convenience stores or grocery stores. These laws likely encourage thirsty residents to drive across state lines to purchase beer.

In fact, many of the states on 24/7 Wall St.'s list have few of those restrictive laws. In eight of the top 10 states, beer is legally sold at gas stations and convenience stores. The sale of beer on Sundays is also legal in the five top states.

According to Jones, there is an even more important reason for residents to seek out some states to purchase beer: taxes. New Hampshire has the highest per capita alcohol consumption because "anyone who is driving through or lives on the border of New Hampshire will probably opt for the 5% or 6% savings, and just go into the state to buy their alcohol there," he said. As a result, it is common for New Hampshire liquor stores to be visited by residents of Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine.

Despite the other factors that can influence consumption, there appears to be a strong relationship between the amount of beer purchased in a state and the prevalence of drinking -- both casual and heavy -- within the state. Based on a Centers for Disease Control survey for 2011, all five states had a larger-than-average proportion of residents who reported binge drinking. Even in states like New Hampshire, where outside purchasers account for a portion of total beer sales, 65.8% of those surveyed reported having at least one alcoholic beverage in the past 30 days, the second-highest percentage in the country.

In North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, high consumption appears to be driven by the type of jobs in the state. Relative to the rest of the country, these states have booming energy, farming and construction industries. According to Jones, these jobs are traditionally filled by men aged 25 to 54, which is the core beer-drinking demographics.

The Beer Institute calculated the total amount of beer sold in the state each year, and, dividing it by the total population over the age of 21, estimated the average consumption per person. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the five states with the highest consumption in gallons per capita in 2011. In addition, the Beer Institute provided data on alcohol taxes, rules and regulations related to the consumption of beer and liquor, and changes in consumption dating back to 2003. 24/7 Wall St. also reviewed heavy-drinking and binge-drinking data provided for 2011 by the CDC.

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Boomers: Do as I say, not as I do

11:00 AM Boomers No Comments

| By Richard Satran, U.S. News & World Report

The adult children of baby boomers are turning to their parents for retirement advice. Here's how to respond wisely.

The children of baby boomers score low on financial literacy tests, but they have one thing right when it comes to money: More young adults in the workforce are saving for retirement than any generation before them.

The amounts they are putting in funds are still low, so there's no guarantee of success. To be sure, the new generation of savers faces a challenge in building a nest egg when investing choices are bleak: Do they go with risky stocks or superlow bond yields? Is there any other choice?

Increasingly, they are going to their parents with questions about savings plans. When they do, it's creates a dilemma familiar to many baby boomers --another potential "Don't do what I did, do what I say" situation like bad grades and partying.

What should parents say? "It's difficult," says economist Anthony Webb of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. "Young people should not be made to feel bad if they are not doing enough for their retirement. Nobody wants another lecture."

He says some of the popular literature on the topic is not very helpful and worse, misleading, with either get-rich-quick schemes or homespun myths from the old school -- sometimes both in the same package.

"These people write books saying if you just cut out a cup of coffee a day and invest it in the stock market, you can make millions over the years. First of all, it's not true. Second, it's up to individuals to make their own priorities," says the British-born economist. "And it's impertinent of me to say coffee is less important than something else."

Experts also say it's not clear exactly how much financial knowledge younger savers have. Webb does not put much stock in those financial literacy tests, either, since they often focus on arcane issues that have little bearing on the basics of saving money. "For most of us, it's a matter of following simple rules to save money and get advice," Webb says.

When young adults do ask parents for their two cents on saving, they often do so with a heavy dose of skepticism, says Lisa Szykman, associate professor at William & Mary School of Business, who has run focus-group research exploring young adults' personal finance behavior. They are likely to filter out stories that sound too facile, or just too parental. Support and encouragement in the right measure, however, could be the right tactic, she says.

"The good thing is that they are putting away money, and that's positive. But they are already feeling like it's never going to be enough," says Szykman. "They are getting discouraged, and those who lost savings in the market in recent years feel like it was a bait-and-switch."

At the root of the skepticism is the pervasive view among young people that they will never get the breaks of previous generations. In some cases, they will mistrust parents, whom they feel squandered opportunities in boom times, she says, while others from wealthier upbringings may think their family's good life is hopelessly out of reach.

Doug Lockwood, a financial planner at Hefty Wealth Partners in Auburn, Ind., says he is having many more conversations with clients lately about young people saving money -- although these tend to involve affluent parents expressing their fears over how their grown children will get by in more trying times. Few clients of firms like Hefty are in the under-35 demographic, Lockwood concedes. The bulge bracket is largely a baby-boomer-and-older phenomenon. Or as Webb puts it, boomers are "the python that swallowed the pig," metaphorically speaking.

"The conversation right now is reflective of the times," says Lockwood. "People want to see their kids save more and have less debt. But what young people are seeing with their parents is the product of the great boom of the 1980s and the 1990s and they can't see how they can get it. They want to have the same things. But they do not see the sacrifices that their parents made to get there."

When it comes to parents giving advice, there are good reasons for skepticism. An International Journal of Psychology study released in January found that 84% of U.S. parents lie to children get them to do the right thing, especially when it comes to food and money. But experts say "white lies" will not help when it comes to advising grown children on managing savings. Szykman says her research has found that young adults don't know about money but won't accept tall tales. They are "the most media-savvy and skeptical generation ever and they are skilled at getting at the truth," she says.

Fortunately for boomer parents, step one -- saving money -- has already been taken care of in some cases. New U.S. regulations are pushing retirement plans toward setting up automatic enrollments. So the decision on whether save at least something will often have been made by employers.

"When it's an opt-out (automatic-enrollment plan), it is more like a benefit, and they are more likely to stick with it," Szykman says. "Young people are already so overloaded with information, it's just one more overload if they have to think about getting out, and that means they are more likely to stay put for a while."

Census Bureau statistics show that the percentage of under-35 participation in savings plans is already twice the level of the 1990s, and experts expect it to be higher still with the new auto-enrollment of workplace savings. Experts expect auto-enrollment to boost savings even as young people faces huge challenges in paying back $1 trillion in college debt and finding solid footing in a difficult workplace.

Another change in retirement plans is that many more are starting to offer Roth-style workplace savings plans. For young people, the Roths are almost a "no-brainer," financial experts say, and parents can offer it as a smart idea that can help maximize early saving. Roths allow savings to grow tax-free and are not taxed at withdrawal time. Traditional savings plans allow tax-free contributions but savings are taxed as normal income at withdrawal.

"This is especially good for young people in lower tax brackets who don't need the deduction as much right now," says Lockwood. "They can really capture the full benefit of long-term savings plans."

And with the first step completed by auto-enrollment, parents can step back from dispensing stern warnings about the life of ruin that awaits people who do not save.

"People are afraid already," says Webb, facing, as they are, a difficult economy and a tough workplace. "The trouble is that fear is not a call to action. Fear is a justification for hunkering down and doing nothing."

For high-achieving millennials, Lockwood suggests another subtle tactic to help to jar the competitive instinct that already got kids through college or put them into the workforce, which is no small feat. "You can let them know the reality," says Lockwood. "If you don't start early putting saving funds into your spending priorities, you are going to have a hard time later catching up to everyone else."

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6 key items in your credit report

7:00 AM Credit, items, Report No Comments

| By Dana Dratch, Bankrate.com

Remembering to pull the report is only part of the job; here's where to find the indicators that could suggest identity theft or hurt your scores.

You've pulled one of your credit reports. Now what?

As you've probably heard by now, you're entitled to free copies of your credit reports. Federal law gives you the right to request your three credit reports, one from each of the three major credit reporting agencies, every year through AnnualCreditReport.com.

You can get them all at once or throughout the year. Personal finance gurus often recommend pulling one report every four months so you're regularly tracking your records. Either way, checking your credit reports is a smart move when you consider that information from your credit reports determines your credit scores.

But once you get a report, what do you do with it?

How about giving it the 6-minute treatment? While you definitely want to read the full report in detail, a quick check on a handful of indicators can give you an instant appraisal of how good --or bad -- your credit is right now.

Here are six markers that can provide an X-ray of your credit health.

Delinquencies are "huge influences" on the credit score, says Stephen Brobeck, the executive director of the Consumer Federation of America. In fact, they make up 35% of your FICO score.

If you see notations that bills have been paid 30, 60, 90 or 120 days late, "that's very damaging" to your credit, he says.

The other factor that's important here: the time frame. How late was the payment, and how long ago did you make this mistake?

The later the payment, the more it hurts your credit, says Evan Hendricks, the author of "Credit Scores & Credit Reports: How the System Really Works, What You Can Do."

But the more time that has passed since you made a late payment, the less it will affect your credit, he says.

Credit scores typically look at your debt-to-credit-limit ratio or "utilization" in two ways: They compare the balance on one revolving account to your available credit from that lender. For instance, if you have a credit card with a $1,000 balance and a $5,000 credit limit, this ratio would be 20%.

Scoring formulas also look at your debt-to-credit-limit ratio a second way: calculating the total of all your debts on revolving accounts against your total credit lines on those same accounts.

So if you have four credit cards each with a $5,000 credit line ($20,000 in credit), and you have a $1,000 balance on two of them and nothing on the other two ($2,000 in debt), this ratio would be 10%.

"In an ideal world, you would want to have (those ratios) under 10%," says Hendricks. "But certainly you want to keep them under 40%. There's no magic number."

But if you're running up a balance of $2,000 to $3,000 with a card that has a $5,000 limit, "that's really going to hurt your score," says Brobeck. "And what's worse is running up balances on several cards."

Most of the time, if you have an account that has gone to collections or been written off as a bad debt, you know about it, says Rhonda Bailey, credit counselor and credit report review manager for the nonprofit Credit Counseling of Arkansas.

But not always.

"There are those few instances, like an old utility bill after you've moved, (where) the collection agency didn't find them and (the consumer) forgot about it," she says. "I see that occasionally."

If you find an item that isn't yours, you can dispute it and have it removed from your report.

If the item is yours, you have some decisions to make, Bailey says. Can you afford to pay it?

It's a good idea to check your state's statute of limitations, which is the period of time creditors have to sue you over a debt. Your state attorney general's office can give you that time limit, she says.

Separate from that time limit, the item can stay on your credit report for seven years. The longer it's been on your report, the less it affects your score.

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Washington's latest budget fiction

8:30 AM budget, fiction, Latest, Washingtons No Comments

The new spending plan from GOP budget guru Paul Ryan appears to rely on political positions, like the repeal of Obamacare, that will never become law. The Democrats' upcoming plan won't be much better.

The spending plan for fiscal 2014 that Republican House Budget Committee chief Paul Ryan is unveiling today will get probed, prodded, and debated for its ideas about balancing the budget over 10 years.

But from all indications, the new budget comes laced with gimmicks and goals -- such as dismantling Obamacare and changing Medicare to a voucher-style program -- that play well to Ryan's base but aren't likely to survive.

A similar story will unfold on Wednesday when Washington Sen. Patty Murray announces the Democratic version of the budget blueprint -- this one laden with increased tax revenues already declared dead on arrival by Republicans, more spending to spur the economy and a much more modest goal of stabilizing the $16.5 trillion national debt as a share of the national economy, rather than creating a surplus in a decade.

If the recent past is any guide, these two budget plans will mostly be fantasies, attempts at partisan branding first and foremost. They are efforts to shape public opinion for the fierce negotiations or brutal stand-off to follow. And in the case of the Senate Democrats who have failed to approve a budget in the past three years, Murray's document will amount to some badly needed face-saving by her party.

"The cynical answer is that neither of these budgets matter," said Michael Linden, director of tax and budget policy at the progressive Center for American Progress. "They are good as statements of principle about where both sides think we should go."

There is wisdom in being cynical, based on the recent fiascos involving the 2011 debt ceiling increase, the collapse of the super committee, the drama around the fiscal cliff at the start of this year, and the $85 billion in across-the-board sequestration cuts that began kicking in this month.

Here is The Fiscal Times' preview of the half-truths and talking points being issued in the competing budget plans this week -- and why real deficit reduction remains so elusive.

Put simply, the Ryan budget depends on a bizarro universe in which President Obama ditches his beliefs and converts to a GOP that he roundly defeated in last year's presidential election.

It is premised on repealing the spending associated with Obamacare while retaining the $716 billion in Medicare savings made possible by the 2010 law to provide near-universal health insurance coverage. As the GOP vice presidential nominee last year, Ryan savaged these same savings at the Republican National Convention, saying, "The greatest threat to Medicare is Obamacare, and we're going to stop it."

"I really can't think of any comparably dishonest episode in recent American political history," commented University of Texas-San Antonio political scientist Jonathan Bernstein in a Monday blog post for The Washington Post. "'Tis well beyond chutzpah."

At the same time, Democrats are committed to raising hundreds of billions in new revenue to reduce the deficit and offset other spending during the next 10 years by closing tax-code loopholes. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has repeatedly pledged to block the measure, after having accepted a rate increase on household incomes above $450,000 at the start of the year as part of the fiscal cliff deal.

For anything to become real policy, it must receive approval from all sides. "So what if you can pass a budget out of your own chamber? That's no big deal. The trick is to be able to pass a budget out of Congress -- a joint-budget resolution," said Robert Bixby, executive director of the fiscal watchdog organization, The Concord Coalition. "It's the best hope to get some kind of grand bargain."

Even then, the budget would merely set overall spending and revenue targets. "It does not provide funding for federal programs or change tax law," Robert Sunshine, deputy director of the Congressional Budget Office, blogged on Monday.

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Germany killed the eurozone?

10:30 AM Eurozone, Germany, killed No Comments

By Jim Jubak

A new budget makes it clear that only the weaker euro zone economies offer Germany lectures on frugality. This will deadlock.



German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with President of the European Parliament Martin Schultz at a EU Summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Today, left March 14, Germany the euro zone.

Oh yeah, nothing official. And I hold my breath not wait for confirmation of objective, such as the reintroduction of the German mark. But the new German budget marks the beginning of the effective end of the eurozone and the euro.

What exactly happened is the so important? How can a single national budget will make such a difference?

Because any upturn in Europe on Germany is on the way.

The German budget 2014 announced by the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Wednesday, containing an extra EUR 5 billion (US$ 6.4 billion) in spending cuts eve of a European Summit. Total net new borrowing for 2014 to 6.4 billion euros (U.S.$ 8.3 billion), will be a 40-year low.

And it is balancing the German budget on a path in the year 2015. This is a year ahead of the German Constitution.

If fiscal prudence is your goal, this budget deserves the praise heaped by Ministers for the economy of Philipp Rosler, who said: "with all modesty, this is a result of historic proportions. The lesson from the crisis is that sound finances are essential. Thanks to this approach, Germany is a pioneer in Europe. Our success with a policy of growth-oriented consolidation is the envy of the world."

The problem-apart from the complacency of this Kommentaren--this is fiscal prudence which isn't the most pressing goal in Europe's largest economies.

Jim Jubak

Everyone knows the Greek economy is a city and the home of the latest unemployment figures was pressed. Unemployment hitting 26% in the fourth quarter from 24.8% in the third quarter. Workers between 15 and 24 years old is the unemployment rate at 57.8%. The percentage of the unemployed hit 65.3% searched for more than a year for a job.

But the real problem is not Greece. The real problem is that the rest of Europe-except Germany-, such as Greece, facing rising unemployment with no medium-term relief in sight. Employment in the euro area as a whole decreased by 0.3% in the fourth quarter from the third quarter. Only Germany showed growth in jobs between the zone's major economies. The decline in employment is particularly threatening in the fourth quarter because the Christmas-shopping season generated usually jobs.

And the Outlook for an improvement? Grim. Ernst & young, for example projects that unemployment continue until 2014 will rise this year, and the recovery will be anemic. Until end of 2017 Ernst & young estimates, the unemployment rate in Europe of 11% is stuck.

At the EU Summit now underway to promote the growth of the European economies to propose measures. But it is not clear where growth maybe could come.

Germany's neighbors have with the land, to stimulate its own economy pleaded because additional demand could produce more spending by German consumers for goods from Spain, Italy and France. The new German budget seems to have taken off the table.

The European Central Bank seems also unwilling to intervene. The International Monetary Fund has to stimulate the ECB on growth in Europe, by man named its benchmark interest rate, but the Bank continued to insist insist that combined with austerity budgets of European governments lead the current monetary policy, to a higher growth in the second half of 2013 sufficient will. The Bank is obliged at the moment, waiting for structural economic reforms to work. This growth to take alternative from the table.

Other members of the euro zone, most particularly France, called for easing of euro-zone 3% budget deficit-GDP ratio rules to Governments higher cyclical deficits in difficult economic times, to allow. The French argue clearly in the Eigeninteresse--it looks as if France were a deficit to GDP ratio of 3.7% or more in this year instead of hitting the 3% target is executed. Germany, however, this has also continued to insist that the countries the budget rules-follow and was particularly insistent on the need for the major economies like France, tax examples of smaller euro-zone economies. To remove this last alternative.

And somehow that heads of State and Government, gathered at the Summit to produce a growth plan for the eurozone. The later post instructions for these sessions are always in advance drawn up, changed through discussion. The design for this event, according to the financial times, called "short-term targeted measures to promote growth and employment."

Before the session, this language took fire from Germany, Finland and the Netherlands. The announcement of the German budget 2014--an announcement that a week pressure at the Summit to hold the line on discipline so that the budget ahead of the Summit would released - seems moved. Germany and austerity measures advocates such as European Commission Minister Olli Rehn have heaped scorn on French calls for the relaxation of the budget rules.

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Washington's latest budget fiction

9:30 AM budget, fiction, Latest, Washingtons No Comments

By Josh Boak and Eric Pianin, the fiscal times

The new issue plan by GOP budget guru Paul Ryan apparently on political positions, such as the repeal of Obamacare that will never become law. The majority of the upcoming Democratic plan will be not much better.



The spending plan for fiscal year 2014, that Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan today is unveiling will be probed, joining, and for his ideas on balanced budget more than discussed 10 years.

But by all indications, the new budget comes laced with gimmicks and targets-such as removing Obamacare and Medicare into a voucher program, which well to Ryan's base play but not likely to survive.

A similar story is unfolding on Wednesday, when Washington Senator Patty Murray the Democratic version of the action plan of household-this one loaded with increased tax revenues already declared dead on arrival by Republicans announces that more spending, public debt as a share of the economy to stabilize the economy and a much more modest goal of $16.5 billion, rather than to promote a surplus in a decade.

If the recent past is a guide, these two budgets are usually fantasies, attempts a partisan branding first and foremost. You are to follow the efforts to shape public opinion for the tough negotiations or brutal distance weapon. And in the case of the Senate Democrats, who have failed in the past three years to approve a budget, Murray's document amount to some desperately needed face of their party.

"The cynical answer is that none of this matter, also budget", said Michael Linden, Director of tax and budget of the progressive Center for American progress. "they are good than policy statements about where both sides think that we should go."

There are wisdom, cynical, depending on the recent failures with the ceiling increase in the breakdown of the super Committee, the drama surrounding the fiscal Cliff earlier this year 2011-debt and the $85 billion in linear capture step cuts, which began this month.

Here, the fiscal times is Preview on the half-truths and talking points, the budget issued in the competing plans this week - and why real deficit reduction is so difficult.

Simply put, depends on the Ryan budget's convictions a bizarro universe, the President Obama ditches and converted to a GOP that he roundly defeated in the last year's presidential election.

It goes on to the abolition of the issues with Obamacare while retaining the $716 billion Medicare savings, which offer 2010 near-universal health insurance by law. As the GOP vice presidential candidate's deportation policies last year Ryan this same savings at the Republican National Convention, said: "the greatest threat to Medicare is Obamacare and we will stop it."

"I can't really think of any comparatively dishonest episode of recent American political history,", University of Texas-San Antonio commented political scientist Jonathan Bernstein in blog posts Monday for the Washington Post. "'Tis far beyond chutzpah."

Required hundreds of billions in new revenue to reduce the deficit to compensate for the Democrats are at the same time, other issues close loopholes in the next 10 years by tax-Nr. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has promised repeatedly that agreement have accepted measure to block after a hike, on household income over $450,000 at the beginning of the year as part of the fiscal cliff.

For everything to be what real policy, it must receive approval from all sides. "So what happens when you pass a budget from your own Chamber can? This is not a big deal. "The trick is a budget of the Congress-a joint budget resolution, passed to", said Robert Bixby, executive Director of the tax corruption organization, the Concord Coalition. "It is to get the hope for a kind of grand Bargain."

Even then, only total spending and revenue targets would set the budget. "Funding for Federal programs or not change, tax law," Robert Sunshine, Deputy Director of the Congressional Budget Office, blogged on Monday.

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Wall St. is manipulated. Benefit

11:52 PM Benefit, manipulated No Comments

| By tiary robes. Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Hybris sentenced nearly the financial system. Railing against the bailouts felt right, but they also should have used, that the system would rally new.

Our system is rigged. Unfair. The little man hopelessly carelessly.

All true. But really have a better choice? Did you honestly think Washington was to make all error - and for good? Finally, the Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) that secure the resurgent mortgage market almost single-handedly supported? Who more than 2 trillion $ in suppressing interest rates to record lows pumped?

This is the lesson that should be we all like the Dow Jones industrial average to yet another record close. How wall the great recession go through Street, contained over Washington after it survived (and thrived) crises such as the collapse of long term capital management and savings & loans carry is the teaching. You could the bailouts shaking your fist at all sollten--; the record Bank profits, which are once again accrue to shareholders and executives. the asymmetry of the bailout of now incredibly large institutions, if so many people had to mail back the keys to their homes. But in hindsight 20/20, it was also clever trust to protect the runaway cynicism, that would take care of system itself.

In other words, you should be in, literally bought.

Yes, food-stamp use is also at a record high. Chronic unemployment is bordered by resistance. Real median household wealth is low on a decade. Historical levels suggest abandonment equity in the last year. Also with this week, nearly six out of ten Americans think market milestone always still the country is in a recession. So, what signal the largest banks. After the big six second-the most profitable year on the books their investors is prepared to more than 40 billion $ in dividend increases, Federal Reserve settings be damned.

She pretty much knew that this posturing back a year ago, when JPMorgan Chase (JPM), the largest U.S. Bank, blindsided the fed with the announcement of its dividend hike, two days before Ben Bernanke & co. thought news would go out. Let alone the fact that the whale in London was at the time a hole in the Bank profit and loss account bubbles; Morgan was the real evidence here declare the Federal Reserve, "Not the boss of me are you more."

In retrospect Wall Street by the generosity of the policy-makers from easy TARP has free conditions a long range largely consumer deposits disproportionately benefited. But you knew that it would not be true? And you had the power, will benefit from this knowledge-assuming of course that you had to survive the money and the stomach lining to the meltdown. The ultra-rich are cut-rate exchange traded funds, not only of the province. You have some outrage aside and bought a simple Bank ETF, which has tripled in four years. Too many of us were able to make such a bet but not entirely worry and trust make the system us, but unfair, it seemed.

Now we see again ascendant housing. Corporate profits break records, thanks in no small part a federal reserve-the richest Bank of the world-again to see both things happen.

"At least the first part of this rally is a solid and reliable footing," noted financial Blogger Barry Ritholtz. "Liquidity and generosity based the second half, that argument going on inorganic matter, first and foremost, fed." He estimates would the Dow 20% to 30% lower, the Fed is missing finger on the scale. "You can't," he said, "Underestimate its impact on corporate earnings."

March 9, 2009, was, it seems this once or twice per-generation moment, when the market completely capitulated. I well remember because it was the same week that a couple of BusinessWeek staff the new great depression and damage that would make it more accurate, called me, to put over their line from the editorial board. A liquidated her 401 k. In the other part of any faith, and she and I have since been revisiting this moment of truth each week-the better the next to go.

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5 steps to deal with student loans

2:30 PM loans, steps, student No Comments

| By Benjamin Feldman, Credit.com

Debt repayment may not have been top of mind when you signed up, and the monthly payments can look scarily large.

When you are 18 years old and on the verge of starting your college experience, you often have no way of understanding the impact that student loan debt will have on your life (once you graduate from college).

In the eyes of the 18-year-old, the numbers are abstract and don't convey what it's like to actually make payments on the loans each and every month.

I was lucky that my student loans were manageable, but even so it was a bit of a shock to realize how hard it is to pay them off. Here are some of my tips from personal experience:

No. 1: Wrap your mind around the numbers, no matter how big.

There's no way around it -- you have to understand exactly what your student loan debt means on a monthly basis. And to do that, you need to compare your student loan payments to your monthly budget. Depending on how big of a percentage of your budget is represented by your student loan minimum payment, you will know what kind of plan is realistic for you.

If your payment is less than 10% of your total monthly budget, then you don't have to worry about your ability to pay. And if your required student loan payment is somewhere between 10% and 20% of your budget, then most likely you can make your payments (and perhaps even add a little extra).

But if your minimum payment is above 20%, and especially if it's more than 30%, then it is going to be a challenge for you to make that payment every month. If that's the case, you will need to take advantage of the advice in the next paragraph.

No. 2: If you can't afford your payments, don't give up -- take action!

It's very important that you don't simply give up if you think you can't afford your monthly payment. Why? Because if you give up, you'll risk becoming delinquent and perhaps eventually defaulting on your loan. Just like with credit cards, making one late payment can have serious consequences, including doing harm to your credit scores and opening you up to being pursued by debt collectors or having your wages garnished (for federal loans).

Fortunately, you can avoid all that! There is an income-based repayment program that allows you to get on a new repayment schedule where your monthly payments are capped at 15% of your monthly income. It does mean that your repayment timeline is extended to 25 years, so you'll have to pay more interest in the long run, but that is a small price to pay if it gives you some breathing room if payments that are too high.

While the IBR program is only for federal loans, many private lenders have similar programs that will allow you to set up an extended repayment schedule. Just call your lender and ask.

No. 3: Know your options and your rights.

But what if you can't make your payments at all? In that case, it's still important to be proactive and make use of forbearance and/or deferment.

Forbearance means that your lender agrees to give you a certain period of time -- perhaps three months -- when you don't have to make any payments on your student loan. This is often granted as a courtesy, especially if you don't have any income and are not able to make a payment. But you have to ask for it and work out the arrangement with your lender. Simply ceasing to make payments without communicating with your lender will usually cause your loan to go into default.

Deferment can also be a great option and is usually available to those who are are in graduate school, unemployed or on active duty in the military. Deferment means that you don't have to make payments and it usually means that your loan or loans are not accumulating interest.

There are other options you should know about, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which will forgive all remaining student loan balances after 10 years for anyone who has worked in a qualifying public service job and consistently made payments during those 10 years.

No. 4: Make a plan and stick with it.

So once you've got a monthly payment and a plan that works with your budget, how do you make sure you stick with it? There are a few tips that may come in handy. For one thing, tell your loved ones about your plan and ask them to encourage you along the way -- the power of emotional support from those you trust and care about may surprise you and will help you accomplish your goal.

I would also recommend that you use online tools to help you track your budget and manage your debt. These tools ensure that you stay on top of your plan and help you continue to be motivated by reminding you of your progress each month.

If you need extra money in any given month in order to stick with your goal, you can try freelancing -- using sites like Elance, oDesk or Mechanical Turk -- and make some side money with a small investment of your time. Whether you like writing, designing, crafting or something else, you can probably find someone who is willing to pay for your skills and your time. And that extra money can go toward paying your student loan payments. Who knows, it may even help you pay off your loans early!

No. 5: Stay positive.

This may be the most important of all. By maintaining a positive outlook and brushing off any negative incidents along the way, you will increase the likelihood that you pay off those loans and become debt free. There will always be some hurdles that interrupt your progress and make your path seem much more difficult, so don't be hard on yourself when these things happen. Just accept that they are a part of the journey and "keep on truckin'." Your positive attitude will ensure you continue to do the things necessary to reach your goal. And that will make all the difference.

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D.r.. Horton, 10 hot stocks

7:00 AM Horton, stocks No Comments

08.03.2013 6:15 PM ET
| By Mark Baumgartner, MSN Money

The nation of largest homebuilder in the closures appears on an MSN Money list of recommended stocks for the coming week.

The February jobs report Friday the Ministry of labour is the latest in a string of stellar news for workers and investors in residential construction:

? Builders breaks ground in the past year on most new homes since 2008.

? the new houses rose 16% in January to its highest level for more than four years.

? The standard & poor's / case-Shiller 20-city home price index increased to 6.8% in December a year earlier, in November 5.5% annual profit after.

These trends have feel many homeowners richer. Wall Street felt the rebound before the data-the standard & Poors building owners select industry index ($ SPSIHO) is up date 21% in the last six months and 47% compared with 11% year on year.

Baked with these gains in stocks some analysts are wondering whether it's for the average investor, enclosure offers a better bet than housing stocks such as D.r.. Horton (DHI), which is a five year-high of trade nearby and has 66% in the last 52 weeks marched.

D.r.. Horton buyer builds single-family homes for first-time and bewegen-Up from hoovers. In addition to close mortgage and title services. Homes range from 1,000 square feet up to 4000 square feet and an average price of $212,000 to sell.

Fort Worth, Texas, company on a daily list of StockScouter, create a MSN Money tool that identifies stocks with strong growth prospects in the near future. All stock with Scout ratings of 8, 9 or 10 shall apply to the list, which is then truncated, exclude those with a trade volume of under 50,000 shares per day. The remainders are mapped according to market capitalisation, sector membership, and whether they are growth or value stocks.

While location remains a beacon for homebuyers and builders, the General State of the nation offers housing market reasons for optimism about the builders according to some analysts.

Inventories of existing homes are a 13-year low, since many homeowners-felt that prices finally gradually adequacy - reluctant to remain their homes for sale list. And as short-selling or foreclosure, proportion of total sales is the number of previously owned homes are offered a wave.

Moreover, builders are wiser sellers, also for cash-strapped buyers and those with blemished credit histories always. D.r. Horton and other builders operations in-house mortgage have can arrange to pay for home loans, part of or all closing costs and buyer State-supported programs that help to control them in a House with a modest deposit.

New home sales rose by 29% in January a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Commerce has reported that while sales of previously owned houses by 9%.

Experts point out that more than 1.5 million new homes per year, only step to keep up with the creation of new households and dilapidated buildings, must build a the United States. The average was just under half of it the last five years. Last year, it was 650,000.

Many analysts increased housing for the next three to five years, you will find in the run-up to the annual housing starts of more than 1 million units by 2014 by a deep of 554.000 2009 Barron's reported.

The increased activity should benefit d.r. Horton. Bullish analysts call the range of the company's business activities; It builds homes in 75 markets in 25 States. The market has better than most during the downturn in its home base of Texas and its scale allows the participation of many regional recovery.

16 Analysts covering the company, eight rating the stock a "strong buy", seven "keep" have a recommendation, and it has a "strong sell"-review.

D.r. Horton has a StockScouter rating of 8, which means that the stock is expected to significantly outperform the market in the next six months with average risk.

NorthStar Realty Finance(NRF)

Here at MSN Money, we think, that ours is about as good as's StockScouter rating system goes, if you are trying to decide where they invest. StockScouter looks on based predictions for stocks, whose business fundamentals, price, valuation and stock ownership appear characteristics to a rising price in the future as these factors have influenced the stock prices in the past.

The system assigns each bearing a much-anticipated six month return and balance this return against expected volatility of the stock. Scout rates stocks on a scale of 1 to 10 and reviews can change daily. Ratings and data in the table listed goods stand at the publication of this article.

In addition to the daily top 10 list above, of research firm of Verus Analytics StockScouter used described, (previously known as gradient Analytics quantitative business unit), to generate a monthly benchmark portfolio of stocks that has updated monthly since its inception in August 2001 the market grew.

An investor, who in 2001 began, through investments in each of the benchmark portfolio top 10 stocks at the beginning of the month, at the end of the month and then start fresh with a new group of ten shares would sell there, before trading costs and taxes, 909-28 February 2013 have generated %.

A columnist for MSN Money, with companies began working at the time writer Jon Markman, researchers on the tool. Markman suggested the top 10 stocks roll over every six months to keep trading costs, a strategy that may be a better fit for most investors. That would come to different results that are different, would based on your starting point.

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