Sell in May and go away

Sell in May and go away: Stocks close dismal month

By CHRISTINA REXRODE, AP Business Writer
5-31-2012

NEW YORK (AP) — They sold in May and went away, all right.
With a disappointing finish on Thursday, the stock market closed what was by some measures its worst month in two years. Over five dismal weeks, Facebook fizzled, a debt crisis in Europe loomed, and nobody was in the mood to buy.
When May was mercifully over, the Dow Jones industrial average and other major indexes had erased most of the strong gains they built up through March and held on to in April.
"Any time the market dips like this, it erodes some confidence," said Craig Callahan, co-founder and president of ICON Advisers in Denver. "It scares people out of the market. All of the above, May has done that."

New York to ban sale of big sodas by restaurants and food carts

From Ronni Berke, CNN

 Thu May 31, 2012

New York (CNN) -- New York City is poised to ban the sale of large-sized sodas and other sugary beverages in an effort to combat rising obesity rates, a city official said Thursday.

The ban would outlaw the sale of such drinks larger than 16 ounces from restaurants, food carts and any other establishment that receives a letter grade for food service. It would not apply to grocery stores.

Romney gets backing of Rice

Romney gets backing of Rice, Shultz at Calif. fundraiser

By Seema Mehta

May 30, 2012

HILLSBOROUGH, Calif.—

Mitt Romney was endorsed by former secretaries of state Condoleezza Rice and George Shultz at a fundraiser here Wednesday night, with both arguing that Romney is best suited to right the nation’s economy and standing in the world.

Shultz noted that he had served Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon and Reagan, and knew both Bushes well, so he recognized leadership and he saw it in Romney.

“Look at these people, and you see they have good minds, not just intellects, but some sort of creative ability to grasp the depth of what’s going on and that’s really important and this man has that kind of mind,” Shultz told 300 people at a hilltop castle in this Bay Area suburb. “Then you find that all these people have the ability to identify long-term issues that you have to pay attention to.”

Motorcyclist clocked going 193 mph on NY highway

Associated Press 5.23.2012

ROSENDALE, N.Y. — Authorities say a 28-year-old man in upstate New York has been charged with driving his motorcycle at nearly 200 mph on a highway in the rain.

State police say a trooper clocked Anthony Anderson of Poughkeepsie driving at 193 mph around 8 p.m. Wednesday in the southbound lanes of Interstate 87 just south of Albany — the same stretch of road where another motorcyclist was spotted doing 166 mph earlier this month.

The trooper was able to get a description of the high-performance bike and alerted nearby patrols.

Troopers eventually stopped Anderson in the town of Rosendale.

euro zone ...Bank Reform

ECB's Draghi Calls for Bank Reform

 May 31, 2012 

By MARGIT FEHER

BRUSSELS—European Central Bank President Mario Draghi called on European politicians to come up with a vision for the euro zone for the years ahead to better tackle the region's debt crisis and to restore confidence, suggesting that a centralization of financial-sector regulation should be the first step.

"The sooner the vision is clarified the better for the European Union," Mr. Draghi said Thursday at a hearing in front of the European Parliament's Committee of Monetary and Financial Affairs.

Coming forward with a vision for the euro would restore confidence in the euro zone and be the best means to boost sagging economic growth, Mr. Draghi said.

German president ...Israel visit

German president criticizes settlements on Israel visit

May 31, 2012

BERLIN (JTA) - German President Joachim Gauck raised the issue of Israeli settlements during his official visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 30, Gauck asked the Israeli leader to show readiness to make a compromise on settlement construction.

Gauck also was to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who have maintained that settlement expansion must stop if peace talks are to resume. The Israeli position is that peace talks should resume first, and that the settlement policy would then be on the table.

In a statement issued May 30, the American Jewish Committee's Berlin office applauded Gauck's "strong reaffirmation of German-Jewish relations" but also urged him to affirm his commitment to protecting Israel's security, in light of "an increasingly negative climate toward Israel" in Germany.

Recent polls have shown a decline in popular support for Israel among German citizens, noted Berlin AJC director Deidre Berger.

Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen

Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen rise to occasion

By Steve Buckley
Thursday, May 31, 2012

MIAMI — However it all shakes out, Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals is going to be remembered as the night Rajon Rondo [stats] played all those minutes and scored all those points.

As in all 53 minutes in the Celtics [team stats]’ crushing 115-111 overtime loss to the Miami Heat last night at American Airlines [AMR] Arena.

As in a whopping 44 points, making for the most explosive offensive effort of Rondo’s career.
But, yes, the Celtics did lose, and decorum demands that Rondo’s effort be the footnote to that loss, not the other way around. But here’s the thing: This was the rare game in which the losing team produced not one but two significant story lines. You had your Rondo storyline, and you had — insert gasps of surprise here — your Ray Allen storyline.
Can we all agree that Rajon Rondo had a 44-point playoff game in him? Of course! He’s young, he’s healthy, he’s talented and, of course, the red-hot glare of the national spotlight agrees with him.
But can we also agree that Ray Allen didn’t have any clutch, let’s-send-this-baby-into-overtime shots remaining in his decidedly dented tank? He had looked every bit the old and injured player that he is in Game 1, Celts coach Doc Rivers being so candid as to put it out there that “. . . his leg is out on

Foreclosures made up 26%

Foreclosures made up 26% of U.S. home sales in first quarter

By Jessica Dickler @CNNMoney May 31, 2012

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Homes in some stage of foreclosure accounted for more than one in four home sales during the first three months of the year, according to a report released Thursday.

Distressed properties that were either in default, scheduled for auction or bank-owned accounted for 26% of all residential sales during the first quarter, up from 22% in the previous quarter and 25% a year earlier, RealtyTrac said.

Altogether, 233,299 distressed properties were purchased during the quarter, an 8% increase from the previous quarter. Those homes sold for an average of $161,214, 27%

Europe ponders 'banking union'

Europe ponders 'banking union' to avert further euro crises

May 30, 2012 

  From latimesblogs.latimes.com

European leaders called Wednesday for the 17-nation Eurozone to create a "banking union" to collectively stabilize struggling financial institutions and protect national governments from taking on excessive debt to bail out their banks.

crude for July delivery was down 24 cents at $87.58

NYMEX-Crude extends losses, heads for worst month since 2008

Wed May 30, 2012 

TOKYO May 31 (Reuters) - U.S. crude extended losses into a third straight session on Thursday, on track for their biggest monthly drop since the financial crisis of 2008, as risk aversion kept its grip on markets amid mounting tensions about the euro zone debt crisis.

FUNDAMENTALS

* NYMEX crude for July delivery was down 24 cents at $87.58 a barrel by 0103 GMT, after settling down $2.94 at $87.82 on Wednesday. Prices were headed for a loss of more than 16 percent for May, the biggest monthly drop since late 2008.

Apple ... that's not so easy

Apple wants to make products in U.S., but that's not so easy

Critics want Apple to manufacture more products in the U.S. CEO Tim Cook does, too. But there's a lot in the way.

by Andrew Nusca  May 30, 2012

Let's make the iPhone in the good ol' U. S. of A. Who's with me?

There are few Americans who don't like the idea of an all-American iPhone, iPad or MacBook. "Designed in California," sure -- but why not made there, too?

During the D: All Things Digital conference this week, Apple chief executive Tim Cook suggestedthat he wanted his celebrated tech company to make more components, and perhaps assemble them, here in the U.S.

But it's not that easy.

Oracle CEO...

Oracle CEO Preps Cloud Services

By JOHN LETZINGMay 30, 2012

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.—Oracle Corp. ORCL -1.10% Chief Executive Larry Ellison said Wednesday the business software giant will release an extensive collection of tools based on the Internet "cloud" in about a week, as the company strives to maintain its edge.

"We have all our applications in the cloud, starting June 6th," Mr. Ellison said during an appearance at the D: All Things Digital conference near Los Angeles, adding that he may publish his first tweet to mark the occasion.

What Women Need to Know

Hormone Replacement Therapy After Menopause: What Women Need to Know

A government panel confirms that estrogen and progestin replacement therapy should be used sparingly, only to ward off the most intense symptoms of menopause, and not to protect against chronic disease.
By ALICE PARK May 30, 2012

Confirming what a growing number of studies has shown, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a government panel that periodically reviews the evidence on screening and other preventive treatments, recommended this week that postmenopausal women should not take hormone replacement therapy to prevent conditions such as heart disease, cancer or dementia.

Before 2002, doctors recommended that women use supplemental hormone treatments to restore levels of estrogen and progestin, which naturally wane during and after menopause. The thinking was that the

Doc Watson dies

Folk music icon Doc Watson dies at 89
 May 30, 2012, 

Doc Watson, the Grammy-winning blindsinger-songwriter, passed way on Tuesday. He was 89.

According to People magazine, Watson had been hospitalized in Winston-Salem, N.C., for abdominal surgery.

Arthel Lane Watson, who was born in North Carolina, lost his eyesight as an infant due to an infection.

However, he went on to have a successful career as a bluegrass and folk musician, known for recordings including "Tom Dooley" and "Shady Grove."

Watson toured and recorded with his son, Eddy Merle, from the mid-1960s through the early 1980s.

Unfortunately, Merle was killed in a tractor accident on their family farm back in 1985.

However, in the 2000's, Watson was often joined onstage by his grandson, Merle's son Richard.

In all, Watson has won seven Grammy awards during his career, as well as a lifetime

Spain woes drag euro to 23-month low

Spain woes drag euro to 23-month low vs dollar

May 30, 2012

* Spanish banking problems weigh heavily on euro

* Euro hits near 2-yr low vs dollar; dollar index at 20-mth high

* Focus on rising Spanish debt yields and risk of bailout

* Italy pays hefty price to sell bonds

By Jessica Mortimer

LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - The euro fell to it lowest in 23 months against the dollar on Wednesday as concerns grew about Spain's ailing banking sector and soaring borrowing costs, and after Italy was forced to pay dearly to sell debt.

commodities fell 1 percent

Corn, Copper, Crude Oil, Natural Gas Drop: Commodities At Close

By Christian Schmollinger - May 30, 2012

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 commodities fell 1 percent to 611.56 at 5:18 p.m. Singapore time. The UBS Bloomberg CMCI index of 26 raw materials decreased 1.1 percent to 1,455.874.

CRUDE OIL

Oil fell for a second day, heading for the biggest monthly drop in more than three years, before a report that may show stockpiles climbed to the highest level since 1990 in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude user.

Crude for July delivery decreased as much as $1.01 to $89.75 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $89.96 at 8:58 a.m. London time. The contract yesterday slid 10 cents to $90.76, the lowest close since May 24. Prices are down 14.2 percent

Kings, Devils set for Cup finals

Unlikely matchup: Kings, Devils set for Cup finals

By Tom Canavan

AP Sports Writer / May 30, 2012

NEWARK, N.J.—Roughly two years ago, the Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils were the finalists in the free-agent market battle for Ilya Kovalchuk.

The Devils won the right to keep the high-scoring Russian with a bid of $102 million.

Wednesday night, the teams will start fighting for a much bigger prize, the Stanley Cup. In this contest, skill, heart and desire will decide the outcome. Nothing else.

And it doesn't matter that the Devils and Kings aren't the two teams most experts expected to be left standing after three rounds of the playoffs.

Spurs take 2-0 advantage

San Antonio gets 20th straight win

By Chris Duncan

Associated Press / May 30, 2012

SAN ANTONIO - San Antonio is halfway to turning the Western Conference finals into a runaway.

Tony Parker scored 34 points, Manu Ginobili added 20, and the Spurs stayed perfect in the playoffs with a 120-111 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

The Spurs set an NBA record with their 20th consecutive victory bridging the regular season and the playoffs. They came in sharing the longest such streak with the 2000-01 Lakers, who

Russia And China Warn ...

Russia And China Warn Against Military Intervention In Syria

By Henry Meyer and Stepan Kravchenko - May 30, 2012

Russia and China warned against outside military intervention in Syria following the massacre of more than 100 people in the town of Houla that has been blamed by Western countries on regime-backed militia.

“To raise the possibility of some kind of military intervention is more the result of political emotions than careful consideration,” Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov told reporters

A Facebook Phone???

A Facebook Phone: Ambitious Leap or Fatal Mistake?

Posted on GigaOm
By Mathew Ingram on May 29, 2012

At this point, the fact that Facebook (FB) is struggling with its mobile strategy is not really news. The company itself flagged the issue in its pre-IPO documents, saying advertising revenue is not keeping up with expectations, and its $1 billion Instagram purchase was widely seen as an admission it needs a lot of help in the mobile department. But does it make any sense for the company to build its own phone? Some argue this would be a natural extension of the social network’s strategy, but others say it would be a monumentally stupid move to make and is almost inevitably doomed.

Talk of a dedicated Facebook phone resurfaced this weekend with a report from Nick Bilton in the New York Times that said the social network “hopes to release its own smartphone by next year” and has been hiring hardware engineers and developers—including several from Apple (AAPL)—as part of that effort. According to the sources Bilton talked to, Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark

RIM warns of operating loss, layoffs to come

RIM warns of operating loss, layoffs to come

By ROB GILLIES, Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) — Struggling BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion issued a dire warning about its business, saying Tuesday that it will post an operating loss for the second-straight quarter and will lay off a large number of employees this year.
RIM also said it has hired J.P. Morgan and RBC Capital Markets to help it evaluate strategies, including possibilities of partnering with other companies and licensing software, in addition to other alternatives.
Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM made no mention of a sale of the company. But new Chief Executive Thorsten Heins did not rule that out after RIM's last earnings report in late March.
"It's a disaster, it's bad," Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said. "The problem is you can't see a path to a

Williams out of French Open

Williams out of French Open

 2012-05-29

PARIS, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Serena Williams was bundled out of the French Open after she suffered the worst Grand Slam defeat of her career on Tuesday.

The favorite for the women's singles title slumped to a dramatic and thrilling 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 loss to

Sharapova, French Open

Sharapova serves Cadantu double bagel in Paris

Tue May 29, 2012 

(Reuters) - A merciless Maria Sharapova whizzed past unheralded Romanian Alexandra Cadantu 6-0 6-0 to book her place in the second round of the French Open on Tuesday.

Russian second seed Sharapova was her usual sulky, aggressive self, peppering a sunsoaked Court Suzanne Lenglen with winners to crush the world number 78 in 48 minutes.

Sharapova, who has a chance of taking over from Victoria Azarenka as world number one depending of the Belarussian's run in Paris, blew kisses to the crowd after wrapping it up when Cadantu sent a backhand long on the first match point.

China paying billions for oil deals in the Americas

By Steve Hargreaves @CNNMoneyInvest May 29, 2012

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Eager to feed its growing energy appetite, China's worldwide buying binge for oil and other energy assets is spreading to North and South America.

Yet most analysts say China's newfound interest in American energy may actually be good for U.S. consumers, as it will likely increase oil and gas supplies worldwide and possibly lower prices.

Big deals: Earlier this month, reports said PetroChina (PTR) is close to buying an old refinery on Aruba owned by American refining giant Valero (VLO, Fortune 500).

Copper,China, euro zone

Copper up on China stimulus plan, euro zone woes limit gains

29 May 2012 

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - London copper prices edged up on Tuesday after Chinese equities gained on signals that China will soon launch an economic stimulus scheme, but fears that Spain's debt problems will worsen the euro zone debt crisis limited gains.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange inched up 0.4 percent to $7,723 a tonne by 0718 GMT, extending a three-session winning streak during which it has risen 2 percent by Monday's close.

The most-active September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed 0.2

Tropical Storm

Remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl spinning across south Georgia

By Mike Morris 5-29-2012

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl continued to churn across extreme south Georgia early Tuesday, drenching the southern part of the state and bringing a chance of scattered showers to metro Atlanta later in the day.

At 5 a.m., Beryl was centered about 10 miles northwest of Valdosta, the National Weather Service said.

The storm, with sustained winds of 30 mph, was expected to take a turn toward the northeast and increase forward speed later in the day Tuesday, bringing the center of Beryl close to Savannah by

another earthquake

Italy hit by another deadly earthquake

May 29, 2012

(CBS/AP) MILAN - A magnitude 5.8 earthquake rattled northern Italy on Tuesday, leaving at least ten people dead, according to local Italian media and officials.

The United States Geological Survey said the quake, which struck at 9:00 a.m. local time (0300 Eastern) Tuesday, was centered 25 miles northwest of the central city of Bologna.

It hit the same region where a stronger temblor measuring 6.0 earlier this month killed seven people.

CBS News' Costanza Barone reports that, according to local media, as many as 7,000 people were displaced as the result of the quakes in northern Italy. The exact death toll could not immediately be confirmed, but local emergency responders told Italian television networks that at least ten people were dead, and many more missing amid the rubble.

Italian media also said a tower in San Felice sul Panaro had collapsed.