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MYB: Gun retailers stock decline
Christine Romans is minding your business this morning with the latest in U.S. stock futures and world markets. U.S. stock futures are trading higher after some positive economic news out of China overnight.
And the run on guns fizzled out a bit yesterday. Gun retailers stock declined after a gun violence task force meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, she reports. There were also a record number of background checks for gun sales in December.
MYB: AIG may join lawsuit vs. U.S. govt.
Christine Romans is minding your business this morning with the latest on world markets and U.S. stock futures, which are flat ahead of the opening bell after markets closed lower yesterday. And outrage this morning over a lawsuit brought by the former CEO of a company American taxpayers had to save from the “verge of taking down the global economy with it because of stupid, stupid derivatives bets they made.” Romans says, “Today, AIG, the board will consider whether to join a lawsuit to sue the government for being bailed out.”
MYB: Debt ceiling alarm bell
Christine Romans is minding your business with the latest on world markets and U.S. stock futures. Unemployment has hit a record high in the Eurozone, she reports. And a debt ceiling alarm bell rings on the home front. “The Bipartisan Policy Center saying the Treasury Department's going to run out of room on the debt ceiling earlier than we thought,” Romans says. “February 15th, they say.”
MYB: Stocks in first five days of 2013; all of them higher
Christine Romans is minding your business with the latest on U.S. futures and world markets this morning. Romans reports good news for the banking sector with international banking regulations pushed off four more years. Bank stocks around the world are rallying.
She also looks at an outlook for stocks that is essentially an automatic warning system for the rest of the year. “According to Stock Trader's Almanac, if you look back in history, when stocks are up the first five days of the year, almost always it portends an increase for the rest year,” Romans reports. And the first five days of the year were really good for U.S. stocks.
MYB: Fiscal cliff and your taxes
After two strong days of gains, U.S. markets closed lower yesterday. Also, U.S. stock futures are down this morning as fiscal cliff talks stall in Washington. Christine Romans is minding your business this morning with more.
Romans stresses the problem with your taxes as Congress continues to stall on a deal. Tax season begins in a couple of weeks "and the government can’t change in just one week or two weeks," she says. "It’s really a mess." The IRS Acting Director has warned Congress about the consequences of not passing an AMT patch, Romans reports. “Thirty million more people would pay the AMT and 100 million tax refunds would be delayed.”
Romans also looks into the business of guns, which made one billion dollars in profits this year, according to one forecast. The fasting growing part of the market is in military style refiles. “There is huge, soaring demand for those,” Romans says. “There are more gun shops in America than there are supermarkets and McDonalds restaiurants locations combined.” Gunmakers' stocks also bounced back on Wednesday after three days of solid decline.
MYB: Stocks up, but shares for gunmakers tumble
U.S. stock futures are pointing to a higher open for markets. Christine Romans is minding your business this morning with more on that and stocks yesterday. “It was a good day for your investments yesterday,” Romans says, “as long as you weren’t invested in gun companies.”
The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P were all up yesterday. If the Dow continues like this, up more than 9% so far this year, “it would be the tenth best year since 1950," Romans says, "on track for one of the best years ever.”
Shares for gunmakers tumble, meanwhile. “Publicly traded companies hammered for three days in a row now” include Smith & Wesson Holding Corp, down 19%, and Sturm Ruger & Company Inc, down 15%.
MYB: Economic bars set by the Federal Reserve
U.S. stock futures are down slightly this morning after closing mixed yesterday. The big announcement from the Federal Reserve is driving the markets right now. Christine Romans is minding your business this morning with the latest.
Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, set very clear bars yesterday about "what the Fed is doing and what it will do” regarding stimulus measures and more. “They say they’re gonna keep helping the economy until the national jobless rate falls to 6.5%,” Romans reports. “And they’re setting an inflation limit of 2.5%.” Setting these explicit bars is “new territory for the Fed,” she adds.
Romans also reports Bernanke warning, however, “that all of these Herculean measures from the Fed would not be enough to undo the fiscal cliff.”
Minding Your Business: Friday, November 30, 2012
Powerball fever may be over for those of us that did not win, but Christine Romans is minding your business with how lottery winners are taxed. Whether they choose to take it as a lump sum or an annuity, it will be taxed at the highest federal tax rate of 35%. The lump sum still gets you $192.5million before taxes. The winning tickets were found in Arizona and Missouri. After taxes, the winner in Arizona will receive $114 million, while the Missouri winner will get $117.5 million.
Minding Your Business: Thursday, November 29, 2012
With both President Obama and Senate leader John Boehner expressing optimisim on fiscal cliff negotiations, stock futures are all trading up this morning.
Several Fortune 500 CEOs met with the President to discuss raising taxes for those making more than $250,000. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein told The Situation Room's Wolf Blitzer yesterday, "If that's what it took to make the math work when you look at the entitlement side and the revenue side, I wouldn't preclude that. of course we would have to do that if the numbers drive that way." Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner will be making the rounds on Capitol Hill today in continued discussions on how to avoid the fiscal cliff.
The economy may be doing better. Today, the third quarter GDP is expected to be revised higher, up .8%.
